They forgot on a Tuesday.

It had been nearly a month since Lily and James Potter had died at the hands of Lord Voldemort and the wizarding war had, for all intents and purposes, ended, and Alice and Frank Longbottom were decidedly still in mourning for their lost friends. Ever the dutiful aurors, however, Frank and Alice had not let their grief overwhelm them and had taken on the arduous task of attempting to locate Lord Voldemort who, although officially proclaimed deceased by the Ministry, had disappeared so suspiciously and without a trace that further investigation was in order.

Despite their extraordinary auror skills, indeed Frank and Alice happened to be well above the regular rate of aurors, particularly due to their tireless assistance in the war, neither had been able to even begin to ascertain where Voldemort had gone to. It was beginning to be accepted by the both of them that he had, in fact, simply died without a trace, for no man could disappear so quickly and without even a hint of clue. Not even the recently brought in Death Eaters had had a notion of where the self-proclaimed Dark Lord may have been hiding.

And there in laid the problem.

The particular day in question, Tuesday as it were, found Alice and Frank making breakfast for themselves and one year old son, Neville. Alice sat next to said boy, pouring over maps ridden with marks and pins as Frank prepared a hearty breakfast for the three, it was his turn.

"I'm beginning to think we've searched all of England," Alice commented, running a finger across the island which certainly looked as though it had been thoroughly checked.

"We'll have to join Caradoc and the others on the continent soon," Frank agreed, placing food in from of Alice and then turning to Neville. "Do you want to feed him or should I?"

"He's been doing pretty well himself lately," Alice commented not looking up from the maps. "Just keep and eye on him and help if he starts to get frustrated, yeah?"

"Such a smart little lad," Frank remarked smiling at Neville. "Mum'll be round to pick him up in an hour or so, I don't know what we'll do once we're on the continent without a permanent babysitter…"

"You're mum's been lovely," Alice agreed. "We can't take her with us though and I won't leave Neville behind, even if the department says it's too dangerous, these are the influential years of his life, to leave him parentless, even for a few months, could be damaging."

"We'll work it out," Frank assured, taking a bite out of his own food. "Although it'll be hard considering I'll have enough of a job making sure you eat."

"Huh?" Alice asked in surprise, looking up from her work for the first time. "I eat."

Frank looked down at her untouched food with raised eyebrows and then back at her.

"It'll get cold," he prompted.

"I'm busy," Alice complained, taking a bite nonetheless.

"You can look at maps and eat at the same time," Frank remarked giving an example as he studied one of them himself.

"I'm rubbish at multitasking," Alice muttered.

"I'm aware," Frank commented. "Which is why I'm revoke you're map privilege until you eat."

Alice's mouth opened and closed for a few seconds like a fish as Frank cleaned up the maps and raised a challenging eyebrow at her breakfast in front of her.

"This is why we haven't found Voldemort yet," Alice informed him accusingly.

"If you don't eat you'll pass out from hunger when we do find him, it's all for the greater good love," Frank teased.

Alice glared at him, begrudgingly starting in on her breakfast. She had, truthfully, not been eating very well with the search for Voldemort, she had always been one to become absorbed in her work to the point that everyday necessities like food and sleep seemed frivolous, and she was, despite herself, rather hungry.

When they had finally finished breakfast, cleaned up Neville who had made quite a mess of himself, and finally handed off their son to his grandmother and current temporary babysitter as Alice and Frank dedicated their time to a cause that was obviously too dangerous to take a baby along to, they started up on their latest lead, which was shaky at best.

Not many of the recently captured Death Eaters were willing to talk out against their leader, and those who were rarely knew anything useful at all. In fact, the closest to Voldemort, the most dangerous, like the Lestrange brothers had seemingly disappeared. Several aurors had been tasked with bringing them in, including the proficient Alastor Moody and Kingsley Shacklebolt, and it was arguable who between the department had gotten the harder job, those trying to find Voldemort or those trying to find the dangerous ex-Death Eaters.

As it was, the point was moot for Frank and Alice, because, after returning from a long day of hunting and, as was typical of those days, finding nothing, they happened to quite accidentally make the biggest discovery in days. Not by a scheme of their own, but rather by that of the Lestranges and their apparent, and unknown, partners in crime, Barty Crouch Jr. and Bellatrix Lestrange, Frank and Alice came face to face with some of the most wanted Death Eaters.

They had come for information, and although none of them got it, it was at great cost to the Longbottoms.

It takes a special sort of person to withstand the Cruciatus Curse, Neville Longbottom would be told time and time again through his childhood, it takes someone with great courage, resilience, someone who knows that the cause that they are protecting is one worth sacrificing for. It takes strength and willpower to withstand even minutes of the heinous spell.

Frank and Alice, however, as Augusta Longbottom would remind her son as they went to visit them in St. Mungo's every week, and then every holiday as Neville went to school, didn't stay strong for mere minutes, they withstood the torture, the mindboggling pain that had driven so many witches and wizards to quit and give up, for hours without letting out a single word. And when they were done, when their brains couldn't stand it anymore, when they had been practically turned to mush, the Death Eaters had been left with nothing.

No clue to their leader's hideout, not even an inkling to the idea that Frank and Alice had been mapping and tracking all possible movements of their renegade group, they had come and left empty handed and the excursion, pointless as it were, had not only cost the Longbottoms their sanity, but it had also cost their attackers their lives.

It didn't take too long, afterwards, for Moody and the rest to capture the Lestranges, and Crouch not much later, and though the Longbottoms would never recover from their permanent insanity they had been given a sort of justice, and above all, they had been made heroes in the wizarding world's eyes.

But most of all, though they would never remember who he was or the importance he or themselves held, they had been made heroes to their son.

And we're out. Thanks for reading. (: Reviews appreciated. Xx