Paid In Blood - Revised

Chapter 19

At the start of the new year, Augusta Longbottom had been the disappointed grandmother of her son's only child, Neville. He had always been a weak wizard; a shy, spineless boy who seemed to have little of his father in him. Raising him had been a long string of disappointments and embarrassments, the most recent being the breaking of the Potter-Longbottom alliance, but yet he was still her grandson, and she had hope he would one day grow into something worthy of the name Longbottom.

One week later, Augusta Longbottom was the grieving grandmother of a murdered grandson. He had been slain in the Great Hall of Hogwarts, and by a boy her grandson had considered a friend, no less. A boy whose true motivations may never be known, because after performing the deed, he had also taken his own life.

Ronald Weasley.

With a single spell, the Weasley child had guaranteed the extinction of one of the oldest families in Wizarding Britain. Unable to resist the urge to see it for herself, Augusta used her influence to gain access to the students' memories the Aurors had collected as evidence. What she saw in the Pensieve snapped the last fragile thread of her restraint. There had been no warning, no challenge. It was a cowardly attack, and her grandson wasn't given enough time to even understand what was happening, let alone defend himself.

It was at that moment that Augusta Longbottom declared war on the Weasley family, just as she had done with House Lestrange after the attack on her son and his wife. The difference was that this time, the targets of her ire were not already beyond her reach. Regrettably, her only remaining living relatives were in no shape to join in her war, but what she did have was plenty of money and no one to inherit it.

The Weasley family was not faring much better. The Burrow, usually filled with shouting and laughter when the children were home from school, had become a gloomy reminder of the misfortune that had recently plagued their family. Ronald was dead and would forever be known as a murderer, and Ginny had permanently lost her arm. Augusta Longbottom had used her influence to ensure Percy would be fired from his junior position in the Ministry and permanently blacklisted. Arthur was demoted from his already meagre position and sent to the office of Magical Creature Relations, arguably the most thankless and unfulfilling department in the entire Ministry of Magic.

None of them had any idea what had driven Ronald to commit such unspeakable acts. He and Neville were supposedly friends, and they had become especially close following the fallout with Harry Potter. Molly had insisted that there was some sort of foul play involved, but there were no potions in Ron's system, and there was no evidence that he had been subjected to the Imperius Curse or any other mind-altering spells.

They were at a complete loss. While his mood had been sour ever since the split with Potter, especially after the events of the Yule Ball, no one had seen anything that would suggest that Ron was capable of perpetrating a murder/suicide.

The remaining Weasleys had all gathered at the Burrow to support one another. Fortunately, they had the good sense not to attend Neville's memorial, because Augusta would have openly attacked them the moment she laid eyes on them. Bill and Charlie both planned on staying as long as they could, but they would need to return to their jobs sooner or later. The twins and Ginny would also have to return to Hogwarts eventually, and they didn't even want to think about the kind of reception they would receive.

As Arthur sat pondering the events of the past few days and the future of his family, he concluded that this state of being could not continue. He resolved to approach the Dowager Longbottom and apologise on behalf of his son and his family, and to offer any restitution he was able to give. They had always been on friendly terms with the Longbottoms; perhaps there was still a chance to mend that bridge.