A Secret from the Past
"I know you will be in good hands" cried Alice. "I want you to know that it isn't because we don't love you. You will take care of him won't you?" She said, turning her attention away from her infant son and toward the woman standing in front of her.
"Of course" said the woman. "I'll treat him as if he were my own."
"Yes, that's good. My husband and I are just married and out of school so we have no way to support him."
"I have two other sons in school, so rest assured that he will be cared for and loved just as much as the others; may be more."
"Good. Well since there is nothing more to discuss," Alice handed the woman her son as she burst into a fresh wave of tears. She bent down and kissed the forehead of the son that she was forced to give up, looked at the woman, holding him, and turned to leave.
The woman stared at the retreating form of Alice Longbottom walking away in tears. She shut the door and turned to the infant, "Well at least you're a pureblood, so you aren't such a total waste. We'll probably raise you better then them anyway. Welcome to the family Jenus Black."
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Eleven years later, Jenus was ready to start at Hogwarts. Being raised by the Black family, Jenus showed great loyalty to the family and supported the views of pureblood supremacy they prided themselves on. And naturally this was the topic of conversation during their trip to Diagon Alley to buy Jenus's school things.
"I do hope that you end up in Slytherin like Regulus, instead of Gryffindor like Sirius" said Jenus's mother. "I had big plans for him. I guess it's a good thing you never met him so there wasn't a chance you would have followed him, and those stupid ideas he had with that Potter boy. Look where it got them, Potter is dead and Sirius is in a cell in Azkaban."
Jenus who had barely been listening to his mother ramble on the subject again was looking around at the store windows had just noticed the woman, staring at him with her eyes full of tears. He interrupted his mother, who continued to talk of all the despicable things her older son had done. "Mom, there is a woman over there staring at us. Why?"
"What?" she said, looking over to the shop window. Just then the woman that was staring at them walked up, with her eyes still full of tears.
"Hello" said the woman. She looked at Jenus "you probably don't remember me, but you probably do. Alice Longbottom" She turned her attention to Mrs. Black with her hand outstretched.
"I'm afraid I don't remember you" responded Mrs. Black with a look of disgust on her face. "I'm sorry, but Jenus and I must return to our shopping."
As the two Blacks walked away without looking back, Alice Longbottom stood staring at them, with a mixed look of horror and sadness. Jenus looked back at the face of Alice, and noticing the sadness in her eyes, he didn't believe that his mother had never met that woman before.
"Mom, who was that woman?" asked Jenus.
"I have never seen her before in my life" she replied.
"Don't lie to me mom, I know you well enough to know when you are lying. Who is she?"
"Well, I was wrong to expect that you would never find out. Alright, I'll tell you who she is." Mrs. Black began telling him how she knew Alice Longbottom, and the truth that he was adopted. Slightly misinterpreting the look of anger on his face she assured him that he was a pure blood wizard, or they never would have taken him in the first place.
At that point Jenus seemed quite distraught and didn't say a single thing the rest of the day. When they got back to Grimmauld Place, Jenus went up to his room and locked the door. His mother was worried, so she sent for the person that Jenus was closest to, his cousin, Bellatrix Lestrange.
Jenus heard a knocking on his door, and shouted "Go away I don't want to talk to anybody!"
"OK. If you insist" came the voice of Bellatrix. Jenus hurried to the door to let his cousin in. She walked in and sat on the bed. Looking at him she stated "What seems to be the trouble?"
He recounted his feelings of anger toward the Longbottoms, refusing to believe that anyone would give up a son, no matter what the reason. Bellatrix looked at him with a small but present smirk on her face.
"Alice Longbottom, the wife of Frank Longbottom the Auror?" asked Bellatrix.
"I don't know, but I could care less. I hate them."
"Well if it is them, I have been meaning to pay them a little visit. There are a few things that I need to ask them," said Bellatrix as a spark ignited in her dark eyes. "I'll take care of it for you."
"Thanks Bella."
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A month later, Jenus was at the Slytherin table for breakfast; when a copy of the Daily Prophet caught his eye. Seeing a picture of his cousin Bella on the front he snatched it out of the fifth year's hands and began to read…
Torturer Apprehended
Bellatrix Lestrange, her husband, and two others were sentenced to a life sentence in Azkaban yesterday by the Wizengamot for the torture of the Auror Frank Longbottom and his wife Alice for the current whereabouts of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named who fell two years ago. The Longbottoms were sent to St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries leaving behind a son Neville, age 3.
Jenus stared at that last sentence. So the Longbottoms had another son, he was good enough for them to keep. Well at least the son wouldn't know his parents just like Jenus didn't know them. The only thing that Jenus was sad about was that Bella was being sent to Azkaban for something that she had done as a favor to him.
His cousin didn't leave his mind all day, causing him to mess up his potion. Professor Snape was not happy to see his best student struggle, and asked Jenus to stay after.
"What is the problem Jenus? Why is your potion so dismal today?" asked Snape.
"I am sorry to let something as silly as emotions get in my way, but my cousin was sent to Azkaban for something she did for me."
"You did not ask Bellatrix to torture the Longbottoms."
"No I didn't ask her but I told her that I was angry at them for giving me up as a baby. They are my birth parents."
Snape just stared at him with an unreadable expression. Then he said "Very well, you may go."
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After Jenus graduated from Hogwarts he couldn't bring himself to Grimmauld Place since his adoptive parents had died. In fact he didn't even know if he was allowed to return to the house, since it was technically owned by Sirius.
In the end, he decided to travel, to find a way to help the person who needed him. Bellatrix helped him in a time of need, now it was his turn to repay the favor.
Five years later she had escaped from Azkaban with help from the Dark Lord, and convinced Jenus to join the ranks of Death Eater. Jenus agreed and was sent to the giants that were banished to the mountains by the rest of the wizarding world.
His task was to persuade them to join Voldemort before the person sent by Albus Dumbledore got there. He succeeded in persuading them, despite the efforts of Dumbledore's envoy, and decided to stay in the mountains to ensure that the giants remained loyal to Voldemort.
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Later that year, Neville was sitting through yet another potions class, his least favorite subject and by far, his worst. The antidote that they were supposed to be brewing had gone wrong in every possible way. It even melted his cauldron, forcing everyone to stand on their chairs to get away from the potion traveling across the floor. Not only did he lose house points and receive detention, but he was forced to stay after and spend even more time with Snape.
"Never in my entire career as a teacher has anyone been as horrible at potions as you are" yelled Snape. "Why can't you be more like your brother?"
"Excuse me sir" replied a confused Neville.
Snape continued to tell, know losing is temper. "Your brother, Jenus Black. The only time I saw him make a bad potion was when he blamed himself for sending his cousin Bellatrix Lestrange to Azkaban for something he wanted. That potion was better than your best attempt at anything. Get out of my sight Longbottom."
Neville left the dungeons lost in his thoughts. Did he have a brother? Surely not. Someone would have told him. His grandmother. Dumbledore. He should have heard it from anyone but Snape. When at last he noticed that his feet had lead him to the library. Since he was there, he decided to look up the truth, so he pulled out the adoption records kept by the Ministry. "Frank and Alice Longbottom put their son Jenus up for adoption, and he was adopted by the Black family."
So he did have a brother. According to Snape he considered himself responsible for what happened to his parents. Even though, from the way Snape had talked about it, it seemed that Jenus felt no remorse that it was his fault that they are now in St. Mungo's and don't even recognize their son. Or at least the one they kept. So Neville thought about what to do, and a determined look came across his eye. He was going to find Jenus and do something about it. Though he didn't know exactly what.
That determination to find Jenus stuck with him and he worked extremely hard in his classes, and his marks seemed to reflect it. But the most improvement was in the DA meetings. Neville had mastered the stunning and had shown the most improvement than anyone else that went to the meetings.
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After Neville graduated from Hogwarts, and with Harry's permission he traveled to 12 Grimmauld Place to look for clues as to where Jenus or Bellatrix was, but without any luck in the house. Neville walked out of the house and thought he saw Bellatrix out of the corner of his eye. Why would Bellatrix Lestrange be outside the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix? She wouldn't. Not with all of them looking for her.
"What the hell, I have nothing to lose" Neville said to himself. So Neville walked up to number 13 and knocked on the door. An elderly man answered the door and stared at Neville. "I'm sorry to bother you, but is there a younger, middle aged woman that lives here with you?"
"Of course not" said the man, now outraged. "What kind of person do you think I am Longbottom?"
The elderly man went to shut the door, but Neville got in the way and walked in the house. "I don't believe I told you my name sir."
Once in the house Neville looked just past the man into the kitchen, and saw what was unmistakably Polyjuice Potion. Neville asked "So who are you really?"
The old man replied "You know who I am Longbottom. And you know what I did to your parents. I sadly must inform you that the same must happen to you. Crucio."
Neville fell to the ground in pain; he could hardly stand it. He just wanted to die so that he didn't have to live with it. But he had to survive; he had finally found the woman that tortured his parents, and she could lead him to the brother that gave them up. He had to live.
Suddenly the pain went away, and Neville heard Bellatrix say "It's very brave of you to come searching for me; I see why you were put in Gryffindor. But with bravery comes stupidity. By you coming to see me, all I can say is that you will joining your parents by the end of the day."
Something in Neville just snapped at this point. Whatever he did, she wouldn't expect it. While still lying on the floor, Neville shouted the first thing that came into his head, "Expelliarmus."
Bellatrix stood stunned as her wand flew out of her hand and was caught by Neville, who seemed to have new life in him. Neville snapped it in half and pointed his wand at her chest. "Where is he?"
"The Dark Lord, why would I tell you where he is?"
"Not the Dark Lord. I could care less about him at the moment. Where is Jenus?"
"So you found out about him did you?"
"Yes, and I would like to know where he is."
"I'm not going to tell you."
"Crucio," but to Neville's surprise Bellatrix remained silent, and he lifted the curse.
"You think I cannot withstand torture. You are wrong."
"Well, I can do this all day. Crucio."
It seemed like Neville and Bellatrix had been there for days instead of hours. She had finally turned back into her natural form, and was curled on in the floor with Neville standing over her.
"I don't know."
"Don't know what?"
"I don't know where he is, the last time I heard he was in the mountains to make sure the giants remained loyal."
"Now was that so hard?" asked Neville. "And now, I am going to grant you, what you denied them. Death and escape from the pain."
He muttered the words, stared, and stepped over the wide eyed body of Bellatrix Lestrange." He got what he needed from her, and now he was going after his brother.
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Neville had gone to meet up with Harry and Ron and told him all that he had done, and all that he was planning to do. Harry and Ron listened intently and said that they would go with Neville up to the mountain to make his search easier. Though Neville wanted to do this by himself, he eventually agreed, and after a night's rest set off for the mountains.
It was three days before they found any sign of life. When finding the remains of a fire they decided to split up and search in hopes of finding Jenus. Then one day Neville saw a man in the distance, many years older than him, but he recognized him from some old photos in Grimmauld place.
Jenus in turn, had seen Neville. Having not seen a human for many months, Jenus's guard was down, and he approached Neville. Jenus looked at him and said "Hello, it has been a while since I have seen anybody in these parts, can I help you."
"I'm just looking for someone" replied Neville.
"Well I can definitely help with that, I know these parts like the back of my hand. So who it is you are looking for?"
"Just my brother, he disappeared just before I started school. I got a clue from a distant cousin that he was in these parts."
At this last statement Jenus became suspicious. "Who was this distance cousin?"
"I didn't know her that well, she was much closer to my brother, but she is dead now. Her name was Bellatrix Lestrange."
Jenus's eyes flashed with anger. "Who are you?"
"I thought you would have figured it out by now, my name is Neville Longbottom; I am your brother. I killed your cousin, and am now coming after you. It is thanks to you that Mum and Dad are now in St. Mungo's and don't even recognize me."
"Well, they deserve it. They put me up for adoption in the first place."
"Crucio" yelled Neville. His anger rising steadily.
When the curse was lifted Jenus stared at Neville with his cold eyes. "You will pay for what you have done to me, and for what you have done to Bella. Crucio."
Neville's scream rang throughout the surrounding mountains. Harry and Ron rushed to the source of the screams, but they arrived too late. All they see is a flash of green light and Neville's body falling limply to the floor with the tall figure of Jenus standing over him. Jenus was too busy staring at Neville's body to notice Harry and Ron running toward him at full speed, wand pointed at his chest.
They scream together "Stupefy."
Jenus fell to the ground.
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As Jenus sat in his cell in Azkaban, the thought of escape dwindled in his mind. There is no hope I would ever escape from this, he thought to himself. Not without Bella.
With thoughts of his aunt, he drifted off to sleep.