It was now Christmas, and Briar had gotten permission from Sirius to stay with Neville for the week after the boy had asked her quite anxiously one day in November. She couldn't quite possibly say no to this offer to get closer to him, and so she felt incredibly grateful for Sirius' understanding in this way.

As the fateful day approached, she was nervous but excited. She had become slightly more jumpy and had a bit more trouble sleeping, but the reasons why she felt this way were not lost on her: Briar had yet to meet Neville's Gran, and she was terrified to find out what she thought of her.

What if she found Briar to be disrespectful or unpleasant?

Briar tried to calm her anxieties and remind herself that Neville loved her and that they were soulmates, but her heart still thumped wildly in her chest for the duration of their train ride that day. As they drew nearer, she wiped her sweaty palms on the soft denim of her jeans as indiscreetly as possible, yet Neville still noticed.

He turned towards her with round eyes full of concern. He placed a hand on her upper back and began to rub gentle circles there. He murmured, "Are you nervous to meet Gran? Or nervous to stay with me?"

"I just don't want your Gran to disapprove of me is all," admitted Briar. She began to trace the lines in her palm to avoid Neville's eye contact, but he noticed and carefully took her hands in his. She let out a breath and met his eyes finally. His brown eyes were round and attentive when they landed on hers.

Neville gave her a soft smile and reassured her, "Gran will love you. I'm certain of it."

Briar was much less confident than Neville for the first time. Usually she was the self-assured one, who couldn't care less what others thought of her, but this was different. This was Neville's family, and her heart seized at the thought of her causing tension in the two's relationship if Gran became disappointed in her grandson's soulmate.

She gave him a half-hearted nod and looked out the window once more. Neville gently intertwined their fingers, but he gave her the space he could tell she wanted. He had learned rather quickly that sometimes Briar just needed a moment to collect herself, to think. Her life hadn't been easy, and she was used to doing everything on her own. He hoped that she would eventually start to realize that she could fully lean on him. He could handle it.

Before long, they arrived at their destination, and Briar felt nervous jitters settle into her fingers. She pressed her hands against the sides of her legs to steady them, but Neville soon took her left hand into his and approached the door. Just as quickly as he started knocking, the door swung open to reveal a short, older woman with Neville's same face shape.

This was it. This was the moment she had been stressing about anxiously for weeks now.

Briar swallowed her fears and gave Gran a bright smile and stuck her hand out for what she hoped would be a respectable handshake. She greeted, "It's so lovely to meet you."

"Ah, you're Briar, I presume?" mused Gran as she eventually captured Briar's hand in her own for a brief shake. She seemed unnerved that the girl had offered her hand, but she complied with the gesture nonetheless.

Briar's head jerked in a stiff nod, and she verbalized, "Yes. I'm Briar Black."

Gran raised her eyebrows and repeated, "Black? As in Sirius Black?"

Uh oh. That didn't seem like the response Briar would have hoped for. Maybe she should have waited a bit longer to share her last name. She had presumed that Neville had already mentioned her last name to his Gran though, so she didn't know this would be revealing a secret. Nevertheless, she swallowed hard and confirmed, "Uh, yes. He's my father."

A silence passed between the group for a moment, and bile slowly made its ascent from her stomach. She hadn't eaten a large breakfast that morning, yet she was now convinced that she was going to be losing the contents of her stomach on their lovely lawn.

Gran already didn't like her.

Another couple beats passed until Gran clucked her tongue and remarked, "You know, I heard about him. An excellent force against You-Know-Who and the death eaters. Heard that evil witch Lestrange even tried to kill him, but he survived somehow, though I've seemed to have forgotten the details."

Neville piped in at this point, proudly announcing, "Gran, Briar here saved him. She disarmed Lestrange mid-curse."

At this, Gran swiveled toward Briar with a wicked grin. She clarified, "You saved him, lass?"

Briar nodded, and a faint blush covered her cheeks at the unexpected praise.

Gran hobbled forward the few steps between them and crushed the younger girl in a hug, but Briar was glad that Neville didn't release her hand during this exchange. His soft hand in hers reassured her that she was safe in this new situation. While her arms were wrapped around Briar tightly, Gran sighed, "Ah, another powerful witch in the family. Your parents would be so proud, Neville sweetie."

Briar was stiff in the hug, but she tried to squeeze Gran back as best she could. This just wasn't something she was used to, even if she never minded Neville's embraces. In fact, she craved his touch.

As if the boy could sense this, he gently rubbed his thumb across the back of her hand once Gran pulled away, and Briar was positively beaming. She noticed now how sunny and beautiful the blue skies were for that wintry day, and she felt the warmth spreading in her chest despite the chill in the air.

Gran ushered the two of them in then, and Briar felt at home within its walls.

When that thought crossed her mind, she jolted. Her mind drifted back to third year when she didn't feel that she had a home anywhere, and she thought that would never change. It felt remarkable to her that she had felt that instant feeling of belonging, safety, and warmth that she could only equate to feeling at home in two places now.

With this revelation, she beamed at Neville, and he returned the most adorable of grins while his eyes scanned her face for any sign of discomfort. He didn't find any there.

———