Chapter 27: Quiet Friend

Gracewood Hall, Exmoor, Somerset, England

April 17, 1986

Leonis Black calmly went over the litany of warnings that his dear Aunt Cassie had given him before they left Ivy Hall to apparate to Gracewood Hall to visit the Longbottoms. He walked beside his aunt trying to contain some of his excitement and nerves. He had never met his cousin Neville before. He had spent his childhood playing with his cousins Draco, Harry, Dudley, Daphne, and Astoria. He had only recently met his Weasley relations and though he had met Callidora, the Regent of Lord Longbottom, he had never met her Great-Grandson Neville.

"Now please be kind to Neville, Leo," Cassiopeia had said to him. "He has been through quite a terrible ordeal. He was abused by his Guardians and so Callie took him away from them. He is still trying to recover from that. Also, the poor boy has only had a single playdate with another child before so he probably will not know how to behave around you."

It sounded to Leonis like Neville's previous Guardians were terrible to him and that the poor boy needed some friends. To imagine not getting to play with other children was impossible for Leonis. He had been sheltered yes, but still surrounded by the children of the family Black and Greengrass. He had regular playdates with his half-brother Ernie as well as regular playdates with his various cousins of both Black and Greengrass blood. Poor cousin Neville was surely starved for attention.

Leonis perked up as he saw the front doors being opened for them by Callidora's House-Elf. It was Tilda. No, that was wrong. Tildy! That was the name of the little Elf. He smiled at the House-Elf in greeting as he followed Cassiopeia into the grand entrance hall of Gracewood Hall.

"Ah, Cassie, it is so good of you to come for a little visit," Callidora Longbottom greeted them as she entered the entrance hall. He watched as the elegant Callidora kissed Cassiopeia's cheeks. The two women bore a striking resemblance. He found that most of the Black's did. Callidora's hair was black with silver streaks running through it. There was, he noted, just a bit more silver in Callidora's hair than there was in Cassiopeia's. Her eyes were a pale shade of blue, different from the gray of both his own and of Cassiopeia's eyes. He had been told repeatedly over the years that the Black's usually had either gray eyes or blue eyes. There seemed to be a great sense of pride about having gray eyes in the Black family, but no one had told Leo why.

"It is our pleasure," Cassiopeia assured their hostess. "And where pray is Lord Longbottom?"

Callidora's smile faltered ever so slightly. "He had a bad night last night. Honestly, I think he is just nervous about meeting people that he does not know," Callidora admitted.

Cassiopeia nodded. "You let Algernon Wood get off far too easily," she scolded Callidora even as she and Leonis followed Callidora deeper into the house and into an elegantly decorated parlor room. The room itself was made up of burgundy shades with dark walnut woods. Leo hovered by Cassiopeia's elbow as the woman seated herself into a comfortable sitting chair.

Callidora smirked then, her blue eyes lit with the promise of pain. "You think too ill of me, sweet cousin," she said in a voice that almost purred with menace. "I have no intention of letting Algernon Wood get away with harming my Neville."

Leo glanced at Cassiopeia then and saw her reaction of slight surprise. He was beginning to find the conversation fascinating. When he had learned that Neville had been harmed by his other family, he had wanted to see Neville avenged. He had been plagued on and off for the last two months with dreams of Walburga Black screaming at him and hurting him both emotionally and physically. Sometimes Sirius was in the dream and attempted to save him, only for Leonis to have to watch him be punished too. He hated the dreams and he knew that what happened to Neville had brought them.

"Will you avenge Neville's hurts?" Leonis asked in a voice that was no less bold for its soft tone of address. "Please cousin Callie, will you avenge Neville?"

Callidora smiled at him, one full of warmth and she nodded her head. "No one could mistake you for anything other than the Heir Black, dear one," she murmured fondly. "Bold thing that you are. Yes, dear one, I do solemnly swear to avenge Neville's hurts. I will make Algernon Wood rue the day he ever thought to harm my Neville."

Leonis nodded once and then he asked, "But then why did you not avenge Neville immediately?"

"Leo," Cassiopeia chided.

"No, it is quite alright Cassie," Callidora said, her tone full of amusement. "Let the child ask his questions. It is a safe environment and if he is not allowed to ask he'll never learn."

She then turned her gaze back to him. "Revenge is a fine art. One cannot do it sloppy. I was enraged when I saved Neville and confronted Augusta and Algernon. I could not have gained vengeance then, for I was too reactionary. Algernon Wood and Augusta Longbottom strategically tortured Neville. I care not that Augusta claims it was for the "Greater Good", they tortured my little Grandson and there can be no forgiveness for that."

"No, there cannot," Cassiopeia agreed. "Children are sacred."

Leonis knew that to be true. The adults around him had told him how marvelous and miraculous it was that he existed, that his cousin Dudley also existed. Two Black's in a generation, but the last one had held two and the one before that had four and the one before that, well suffice it to say that the House of Black was dwindling. When Leonis was born there was a great worry that it would become extinct in the male line and that they would be forced to grant the titles to one of the families of the female line.

Another thought struck Leonis then and he smiled at his cousin. "The more time that goes between now and when you strike at them the better. Then Neville shall still be avenged, you will have more time in which to plan it, and so much time will have gone by that it will be hard to make any Auror believe that you are the culprit."

Callidora's laugh was infectious and Leonis found himself smiling at her. A glance at Cassiopeia showed that she too was smiling, but her smile was aimed at him.

"Oh Cassie, he is a delight!" Callidora exclaimed. "This child is bound for Slytherin, I am sure of it. Has he been spending much time with Arcturus?"

"Grandfather has begun to teach me about Politics," Leonis admitted and the wrinkle of his nose showed that Leonis did not particularly care for those lessons.

Callidora laughed again. "The lessons shall be less tedious someday, you'll see. You will need them so do you best pay attention."

"I do pay attention," he protested the very insinuation that he might not. "Aunt Cassie would never forgive me if I didn't apply myself to all of my studies to the best of my abilities."

"Good boy," Callidora said with a smile. "But you must not be allowed to become bored listening to us speak. Come, I will introduce you to Neville."

Leonis watched Callidora rise from her chair and he came to walk beside her. "Cousin Callie, if Neville would rather not meet me today, I will try to understand," he said and bit his bottom lip. When she looked at him askance he rushed to reassure her. "I am eager to meet him, but Aunt Cassie told me that he has been through a great deal of grief due to his previous Guardians. I just thought that if he needs more time before we can meet, that I will try to be patient and understanding of his feelings."

Callidora smiled at him and nodded her head in understanding. "You really are a good boy. I swear it's hard to think that you are Sirius's son. At times, I would swear that you were Regulus' instead," she laughed then, and the way she had said it and laughed made Leonis sure that this was something that the older woman had often said and then laughed away. It made him wonder once more just how alike he was to Regulus Black?

"I will not let Neville hide any longer. I think I have let it go on for too long as it is. I should have arranged for you to meet him back in early March. By now he could have had a solid friendship with you and he could have been having playdates with you and his other cousins," she explained as they walked up the curved staircase to the second floor.

Leonis said nothing more as he followed her. He reminded himself of the things that he now knew. Neville would not be boisterous like Harry and Dudley. He would not be witty and clever like Draco, Theo, and Blaise. He would be quiet, shy, shuttered. The boy was used to being alone and he was used to being hurt.

Despite these thoughts, Leonis was not prepared for his first meeting with Neville Longbottom. He would eventually realize, years later, that nothing could have really prepared him. Callidora opened the door to what looked to be an old nursery turned playroom. The room was in pristine condition without a single toy out of place. Sitting on a window sill, looking out at the world was a young boy with sandy-blond hair.

"Neville, I would like you to meet your cousin Leonis Black the Heir Black," Callidora introduced. "Heir Black this is my Great-Grandson Neville Longbottom the Lord Longbottom."

Leonis bowed deeply to Neville and it was just as deep as he always bowed to Arcturus Black and Abraxas Malfoy. When he slowly arose from the bow he found himself shocked by the intensity of Neville Longbottom's eyes. The color was brown and green, that interesting marvelous color that was called hazel. He had a round and pleasant face and a sturdy frame. It was the eyes that drew him in though. Fear. Misery. Despair. Sadness. Loneliness.

For a moment Leonis felt dizzy swamped with the emotions that did not belong to him. Neville's emotions, Neville's pain and he knew that he needed to do something to take it away, to make it just a little bit better.

"Well, I'll let the two of you play," Callidora said before leaving them alone to rejoin Cassiopeia downstairs in the parlor.

The two boys were left alone to stare at one another and Leonis smiled gently at him. "It's my pleasure to meet you cousin Neville. I have wanted to meet you for some time but I was told repeatedly that your Grandma Augusta would not allow you interaction with your Black blooded relatives."

Neville winced at that, and Leonis mentally kicked himself. He was so stupid to have brought up Augusta Longbottom. Of course, the other boy would be sensitive when it came to her or Algernon Wood.

"She didn't approve of many people," Neville admitted softly. His voice was tentative, timid.

Leo nodded his head in understanding. "Do you like living here at Gracewood?" he asked.

"Yeah," Neville nodded.

"That's good. I bet you love being here with Callidora huh?" Leonis asked and hoped that he was not making the boy think about just how he had come to live with her.

"Yeah, I love Grandma Callie. She's been really wonderful to me," Neville said simply.

Leonis smiled at that even as he tried to think of some way to keep the conversation going. It was frustrating to him. He was far more used to Harry and Dudley's boisterous behavior and really between the triple trouble of Draco, Theo, and Blaise one was at times lucky to have a lag in conversation. Even Ernie had a tendency to talk for the sake of noise because he disliked the silence. Neville was not like those other boys though and Leonis needed to embrace that.

He moved closer to Neville and climbed up on the window sill to sit with him but he did not move too close for fear of spooking the shy boy. "I live with my Great-Aunt Cassie, that is Cassiopeia Black. She counts your Great-Gran as her favorite cousin so I have interacted a bit with Callidora over the years. She is great. You lucked out in having her for a grandmother. You should have met my Grandma Walburga."

"Walburga?" Neville asked with some confusion but there was interest too.

Leo made a noncommittal noise then explained. "Walburga Black was my Grandmother. She was a terrible woman. She was mean spirited and abusive. She really hoped to rule the family through her children. When she could not get Sirius, my father, under control she figured she could rule through her other son Regulus. She had considered Regulus worthless before that as anything other than a means to poke at and hurt Sirius," he blinked in surprise as he finished. Why had he said all of that? He didn't know why but there was a certain ring of truth in it, as if he knew for sure that Walburga had never loved Regulus and that she had meant to use him. The thought made him feel sick for he remembered his dreams of Walburga screaming abuse, and poor Regulus crying and wanting his mother to love him and to love Sirius. How she could twist that love.

"She sounds terrible," Neville said with a shudder.

"No need to worry about a chance meeting. She died last December," he told Neville. "You won't be seeing her at the family gatherings," his voice carried the edge of his own relief.

"Gatherings?" Neville asked and his voice sounded slightly panicked.

Leonis nodded his head as he stared at Neville. "Yeah, the family gets together to celebrate holidays, and we also get together sometimes for family meetings and well sometimes just because the ladies feel like it," he explained and then frowned as he watched Neville begin to fret. "Hey, there is no need to worry. I'll be there and so will your Grandma Callidora and Aunt Cassiopeia too. No one will be awful to you and if they are well, I'll make them pay."

Neville's lips curved into a gentle smile and he blushed as he looked down at his lap. "Thank you, Leonis."

"You can call me Leo if you like," Leonis told him.

Neville smiled brightly then. "I would like that, thank you Leo."

Leonis nodded grateful that Neville seemed to finally be coming out of his shell at least a little. "You keep looking outside, would you prefer that we play outside in the garden?"

Neville blushed and fidgeted. "Would you mind terribly if we did?" he asked Leonis, and then swiftly murmured, "But really we can stay in here and play, whatever you want."

He shook his head in the negative. "You are a kind host, Neville, but I think I understand your draw to the outdoors. I too like to be outside when the day is beautiful like this. We should go outside. Aunt Cassie says we should take advantage of such sunny days when we have them."

Neville smiled and then called out "Jint!"

A House-Elf appeared then and he smiled at it. "Jint, this is my cousin Leo. We are going to play outside. Could you bring me a light jacket please?"

"Of course, young Master," Jint said and then apparated away. The elf returned a moment later with a light brown jacket. The jacket was clean but a bit worn. Clearly it was meant for Neville to play in.

Once Neville had donned his jacket he turned to Leonis and smiled at him. He led the way out of the play room and down the corridor to the back servants' stairs. The two boys held the hand rails as they went down the stairs and soon enough they were out into the bright sunshine.

Leonis wander the gardens with Neville and listened attentively as Neville told him about some of the plants that were growing there. He watched in awe as Neville fed magic into two of the plants that seemed to have not fared well in the winter chill.

"That was amazing!" Leo exclaimed.

Neville blushed and fidgeted before looking back at him. "Was it? Lavender, she's one of my distant cousins, I think we are third cousins once removed," he frowned in thought and then continued. "Well in any case, Lavender is the one who really taught me how to do this. I was able to before, but she showed me just how to measure how much power I gave and she warned me to be careful."

"Why do you need to be careful?" Leo asked in confusion. Surely Neville would not be in danger of giving too much of his magic to the plant.

"Plants that are given too much of a Witch or Wizards magic begin to become addicted to it. They begin to grow strange," Neville explained.

Leonis frowned for a moment and then his gray eyes lit with knowledge. "Oh, I have a book at home that has drawings, old paintings in it. The book is about Great Powerful Witches. In at least three of the paintings there are plants that seem to be growing strangely. I just thought at the time that the painter wasn't very good at drawing fauna and florae but now I think that maybe it was supposed to look like that."

Neville nodded. "It's most likely supposed to look that strange."

"I'll let you see it when you visit me at Ivy Hall," Leonis promised.

"I'd like that," Neville said and it was clear to Leonis that he meant it. Neville liked him and wanted to see him again.

It was some hours later when Leonis reluctantly said goodbye to Neville. Like the good little Lords that they were being raised to become they bowed to one another, Neville's was more of a nod of acknowledgement as was proper for a Lord of Family to give while Leonis had to bow to Neville since he was a Lord and Leo was still just an Heir. Then the two boys grinned at each other and Leo threw ceremony away and gave Neville a big hug. "We'll see each other again soon cousin, and we can owl each other in the meantime," he promised.

"Thank you so much Leo, for everything!" Neville whispered fiercely in his ear as he hugged Leo back just as tightly.

"We shall see you next week," Cassiopeia reassured both Neville and Callidora. "And remember if you need someone to watch over Neville while you have to deal with the Wizengamot sessions, you should send him to me at Ivy Hall."

Callidora nodded. "I would like that. I also wish to assess how far along he is in his studies. If he and Leo are a match, then perhaps you would consent to allowing Neville to attend lessons with Leonis. I will pay the tutors to teach Neville, of course."

Leo and Neville gave each other excited looks. It would be wonderful to have Neville in classes with him. It put in Leonis' mind to inquire why he could not likewise have Ernie, Draco, Theo, Blaise, Harry, and Dudley in classes with him. Well perhaps not Harry and Dudley since they attended Muggle School for reasons he still did not understand.

"Very well. Get Neville tested and we shall talk about it then," Cassiopeia promised. With one last round of happy farewells, Leonis and Cassiopeia walked outside of the gates passed the anti-apparition wards and then Cassiopeia apparated the two of them back to Ivy Hall.


HAPPY HOLIDAYS DEAR READERS! Thank you for all of the support so far. I really appreciate it. I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter. In the next chapter we shall see Leo and Harry visit with Sirius and we shall see how he is progressing with his mental and physical healing.