F&L: Chapter 49

Greengrass Manor looked different in the summer than it had over the Christmas Holidays. There was a floral scent that seemed to pervade the house, even through the flare-up of smoke from the Floo. A quick Scourgify handled any spots or anything on my clothing, but as soon as I'd finished with that, there was a popping noise and a House Elf in a little waistcoat and jacket arrived, a basket full of eggs still in his hands.

"Ah. Young Master Blaize. Geoffrey hadn't expected you so promptly. Give Geoffrey a moment to stash these in the Kitchens, and Geoffrey will take you to see the Master." Informed the House Elf.

"I can wait." I agreed.

The House Elf, clearly named Geoffrey, nodded once before disappearing with a pop to the kitchens. I hadn't known the Greengrasses had a House Elf, but it made sense. Most of the Pureblood Nobility did, if they could afford it. Even some of the ones that were supposedly on the side of Light, like the Longbottoms, had one. Neville had mentioned his Gran's House Elf, Angus, as being a crotchety old House Elf in a Kilt who took care of Longbottom Hall because his Gran was too Old and his Uncle Algie as being, well, his Uncle Algie. And of course, I had Lucia, not that I considered myself dark or anything. I liked to think I was a light shade of gray, myself. Not completely on the side of the light, but close enough to be, while still taking actions folks might consider dark.

I was jostled out of my thoughts by a second popping noise, looking over to find that Geoffrey had returned from storing the eggs in the kitchens. The House Elf nodded at me before motioning for me to follow him with his comically oversized hands.

"Come along, Young Master Blaise. Geoffrey will show you to the Master's Study. Be warned, the Master has darkened the Study to account for his latest experiment. Geoffrey will show you the way." Informed Geoffrey.

He turned and started walking off. I followed, and we made our way through the halls of Greengrass Manor, up a grand staircase that was practically a work of art in and of itself, and into a hall on the second floor of the left wing of Greengrass Manor. Done the hall, and then to the left, we came to a door that had a paper sign affixed to it with a sticking charm. The sign proclaimed that an experiment was in progress and to knock first. Geoffrey did so, and the pair of us sat back, waiting for a response.

"One moment! I need to make the final adjustments!" Called out a voice I recognized as belonging to Lord Greengrass. It seemed we were in for more waiting. As we waited, I couldn't help but ask about the floral scent that pervaded the Manor.

"What's that scent, Geoffrey? It smells like flowers." I questioned.

"Laurel Blossoms, Young Master Blaise. They were the Mistress's favorite back when she was alive. The Master ensures the House smells like them every summer." Answered Geoffrey.

That was interesting, unfortunately, before I could think of a follow-up question, the door opened and Lord Greengrass peeked out. He looked over at Geoffrey and nodded at the diminutive House Elf in the waistcoat.

"Geoffrey, what is it?" Queried Lord Greengrass.

"Young Master Blaise has responded to your invitation, Master. Geoffrey brought him to you." Informed Geoffrey, gesturing at me. I nodded to Lord Greengrass as he looked over at me.

"My Lord." I greeted.

"Is it time for that already? Apologies, my latest experiment has taken up most of my focus." Apologized Lord Greengrass.

"That's quite all right, My Lord. I know exactly what you mean." I grinned.

"You would at that, wouldn't you?" Asked Lord Greengrass with a chuckle.

"I seem to have garnered a reputation, My Lord." I shrugged.

"Ah, look at me being a poor host. Please, come in. Do watch your step, though. I can only allow candlelight in here until my experiment is complete." Opined Lord Greengrass, opening the door to his study.

Inside was a room that was packed floor to ceiling with bookshelves stuffed with tomes and grimoires, cabinets with potions ingredients, equipment for enchanting and potioncraft, and a portable iron cauldron that was bubbling away on a small camp stove. The whole thing seemed to be bathed in swathes of darkness, only illuminated via bits of candlelight from candles that sat on various surfaces. On the back wall, a mural of a robed woman with angel's wings was painted on the wall, though fortunately, she did not appear to be sentient like the portraits at Hogwarts. A Motto was inscribed in Latin at the top of the mural.

"Stillate sicut pluvia, distillat ut ros. Drop as Rain, Distil as Dew. Not a bad motto for a Family known for being skilled Potioneers." I mused.

"That's exactly what our ancestors thought as well. I must admit, it's not quite as good as your own family's." Agreed Lord Greengrass.

"Nemo liber est, qui sibi ipsi non dominatur. No one is free who does not master themselves. It's from one of my ancestors." I confirmed.

"Yes, the Emperor Claudius. Tell me, do you recognize the Woman in the mural?" Questioned Lord Greengrass.

"I can't say that I do, My Lord." I answered.

"She is Saint Lydia of Thyatria, the Patron Saint of Dyemakers. My family got its start not as powerful wizards or Emperors, unlike yours. Instead, our rise began as Royal Dyemakers to the court of Charlemagne. Even back then, our facility with Potions was well-known and allowing us to thrive. We used the money we received from that position to purchase large estates near Flers in Normandy. By the time William the Conqueror decided to sail to England, we were the largest Magical Landowners in the Orne Region and were one of his primary Wizarding Vassals." Informed Lord Greengrass.

"I see. And you owed it all to dyemaking?" I queried.

"Plus a few savvy investments elsewhere, but yes. When we received our land grant here in England after William's Victory, my ancestor decided that an image of Saint Lydia would adorn each of our halls and castles as thanks. Hence the Mural." Nodded Lord Greengrass.

"That's quite interesting, My Lord, but I have to ask. Why tell me this?" I asked.

"You, Lad, have done something for my family that we thought impossible. Not only have you seemingly gotten your hands on three doses of the Elixir of Life from the Philosopher's Stone, but you also decided to give them up so that my daughters and I could be free of the Blood Curse of our Family. That merits special consideration, and I owe you a boon." Informed Lord Greengrass.

"It was nothing, My Lord. Daphne would have done the same for me. She's honestly my best mate. We look out for each other." I waved off.

"Is that all it is? You're just best mates?" Questioned Lord Greengrass.

"What are you implying, My Lord?" I queried.

"You are both getting to be that age. I know how young people think and act when it comes to the opposite sex, and while Daphne is my daughter, I am hardly blind, Lad." Intoned Lord Greengrass.

"My Lord? What?" I asked, blinking.

"I am saying that if you wished to date Daphne, I would not stand in your way. In fact, you would have my blessing." Reiterated Lord Greengrass.

That. . .was what I was afraid that this meeting was going to turn out to be. Lord Greengrass had clearly decided to play matchmaker. I couldn't very well come out and say that I had the mental faculties of an older teenager and that my dating Daphne while both of us were physically twelve but I was mentally more mature by a few years would be awkward as all hell and sort of gross, to boot. I could see it maybe in a few years, when the differences weren't so pronounced and Daphne had gotten a bit more mature herself, but right now? No way. The problem was, I might not be getting a choice here if I couldn't figure out a way to postpone.

"My Lord, Daphne and I are both twelve. We won't even be able to go to Hogsmeade at school until we're in Third-Year. Maybe we can hold off on any discussions about dating till then?" I tried.

"Daphne told me you might say something like that. Do you know she believes you have some subconscious fear of dating?" Questioned Lord Greengrass.

I frowned at that. Given how I had been worried about the power imbalance from our different maturity levels when it came to this sort of thing, that wasn't too far off. It wasn't subconscious, though, far from it. I was very aware of the problems that sort of thing could bring. Almost too aware, even.

"I didn't know that, My Lord." I shrugged.

"Well, are you afraid of dating?" Queried Lord Greengrass.

"No, My Lord, I am not." I responded.

"Then perhaps my Daughter is not pretty enough for you?" Asked Lord Greengrass.

"What? No! It's not that, My Lord! I just don't really have a whole lot of free time at the moment!" I blurted out in protest.

Lord Greengrass began shaking in his seat, and for a moment, I thought I'd tripped some sort of switch and he was pissed off at me. My Empathy forced me to discard that thought moments before he lost his grip on his laughter. He'd been winding me up the whole time, evident from the large belly laugh he let out as he lost his grip on his emotions, and the jig had been revealed.

"Ah, you should have seen your face, Lad!" Laughed Lord Greengrass.

"A prank?" I questioned.

"Forgive me, it's been a while since I have been able to indulge in such tricks. The Wizengamot and Ministry are such serious places all the time." Chuckled Lord Greengrass.

"I suppose if you tried to prank the Minister, it would be considered treason, wouldn't it?" I queried with a grin.

"Hah! Good one! Not that Fudge doesn't deserve it, Mind. He's the sort of pratt who would do something like bring you up on charges for a prank, though. He's too invested in his image." Beamed Lord Greengrass.

"So, if you're not pushing for Daphne and I to date, what is this meeting about, then?" I asked.

"If you're not ready to date my daughter, that's fine, although she'll be somewhat disappointed. I still owe you a Boon, Lad. A big one too. Do you have any ideas?" Questioned Lord Greengrass.

"I don't suppose you have a Greater Toadstone you're willing to part with?" I questioned.

"Worried about Poison, Lad?" Queried Lord Greengrass.

"I have an enchantment that requires it." I shrugged.

"Unfortunately, no. Those are a bit difficult to come by. If it's enchantments and potions you need components for, I can offer you my connections with the various hunters and gardeners that I go to in order to source ingredients. Having the Vouch of an accredited Potions Master and Master Herbologist will help you go a long way towards sourcing your needs, though it feels somehow less than what I owe you, what the Most Noble House of Greengrass owes you." Informed Lord Greengrass.

"I think it will be enough, My Lord. I didn't do this for a reward, after all. I did it because Daphne and I watch each other's backs." I reiterated.

"But the Boon is nice when it comes, isn't it?" Asked Lord Greengrass with a smirk.

"It is, My Lord. I'm still Slytherin, after all." I nodded.

"In that case, consider my network of contacts your network of contacts, at least insofar as sourcing Enchantment Components and Potions Ingredients." Intoned Lord Greengrass.

"Thank you, My Lord." I responded.

"No, thank you, Blaise. You've done my family a great service." Retorted Lord Greengrass.

That was as good a dismissal as I was going to get, and I made my way out of the Second Floor, back down the grand stairs, toward the Floo. As I made my way over to the Floo, however, I was stopped by a voice that sounded a lot like Daphne, but younger.

"You're Blaise, yes?" Questioned the Voice.

I turned to see a Six-year-old Girl with long platinum blonde hair in a silver and green wizarding outfit. She looked almost like someone had taken Daphne and shrunk her into a pint-size kid. This, then, had to be Astoria Greengrass, Daphne's Little Sister and the person in the Greengrass Family who had been hit the hardest by their Blood Curse.

"I am. Are you Astoria?" I queried.

"I am. Daphne said you're the reason we got that medicine that makes me not sick all the time?" Asked Astoria.

"I am. Your Sister is my best friend in the whole world. I had something I could do to help you all out, so I did." I confirmed.

"Thank you. Daphne isn't here to say it, she had to leave for Cello Lessons. Daddy is making her learn an instrument. So I'm saying it for her." Offered Astoria.

"You're welcome. Daphne would have done the same for me if our positions were reversed." I shrugged. After I said that, Astoria looked at me carefully, her face scrunching up in thought, then she asked me a question I hadn't been expecting to hear from a six-year-old.

"Are you and Daphne dating?" She questioned.

"What? Why would you ask that?" I queried, blushing somewhat.

"Well, are you?" She asked.

"No. No, we are not." I answered, face beet red.

"Oh. That's a shame. You seem nice, and she likes you." Frowned Astoria.

Then, the tiny terror turned on her heel and stalked off to a different room of the Manor. I had no idea why I was blushing so much. I hadn't acted this way in front of Lord Greengrass. Maybe it was the situation? I hadn't been expecting to be ambushed about it by Astoria, after all, and she'd put it a lot more bluntly than Lord Greengrass had. Either way, it took me a moment to clamp down on my emotions using the Mind Arts, which just told me that I would have to train more, since Puberty was clearly starting to futz with them via hormones. Once I had, I grabbed a pinch of green floo powder and tossed it into the flames.

"Palazzo Zabini, Kent." I intoned.

The flames flared up, turning green, and I walked through, returning home to continue my summer projects. . .

XXXX

AN: All right, so here we have the next chapter. Blaise gets access to a network that can get him a lot of rare ingredients for enchantment and potions, while also getting double-teased about him and Daphne and the possibility that they're going to start dating. We also get our first look at Astoria Greengrass. She's about as different as you can be from Daphne while still being considered a Mini-Me. She's sort of a troll, even at Six Years Old, as you could probably tell from the brief interaction. Kids really do say the darndest things, after all.

At any rate, the next chapter is going to be the first part of Blaise heading into the Malltreath Marsh on Anglesey, that are close to Faerie, in search of a Greater Water Leaper to slay for a Greater Toadstone. Lord Greengrass' connections didn't have one, since you have to slay a Fae to get one, after all.

Stay tuned. . .