6
“Maybe I’m just imagining it but I feel lighter. Like a large weight has been lifted off my shoulders.”Narcissa told Bellatrix after she finished preforming the ritual to break her marriage bond with Lucius with blood Bellatrix obtained from beating him. Narcissa felt guilty that Bellatrix did it because the Dark Lord punished her sister for hurting the weak man. Narcissa of course tended to Bellatrix’s wounds and nursed her back to health. Her sisters health being the best Narcissa had ever seen it. After taking all the potions Hermione gave her Bellatrix’s body looked the same as it did when she was in Hogwarts during quidditch season when she was training daily. Narcissa was somewhat jealous of how put together Bellatrix looked as the eldest Black sister was always the most attractive out of the three of them. When Bellatrix met with the seamstress and got a new wardrobe she was only going to look even more attractive. Narcissa was actually planning on asking Andromeda if she would give Narcissa permission to use the seamstress as well because she would really like to dress in clothing that wasn’t picked out by Lucius.
“I felt the same way. It was like a pressure had been released from my very soul.”Bellatrix had felt an overwhelming sense of relief when her marriage bond was broken.
“I’m excited to see how Lucius reacts to me now.”Narcissa was going to make sure she sought him out when there were witnesses so he would be humiliated in front of them when he got sick.
“I don’t know how Rod is going to be able to attempt his mission if he keeps getting sick.”Bellatrix said.
“Speaking of his mission. Andy’s elf brought us letters. Andy sent one for each of us and Hermione sent one for you.”Narcissa was curious to know what Hermione wrote to Bellatrix.
“I want to start with the one from Andy.”Bellatrix wanted to know what her sister had to say before she read Hermione’s letter.
“Here.”Narcissa handed Bellatrix an envelope then took the one with her own name on it, opened it, pulled out the letter and began reading to herself.
Cissa,
Before I write anything else I feel the need to clear something up. Hermione is not a minor. She was given a time turner last year and used it so much she is now 20 yrs old. Meaning she is an adult and our relationship is legal in the wizarding world. As for the muggle world her parents have not only given us permission to be together they gave their blessing for us to go through with the blood bond. Hermione’s mother is constantly asking when we can have our officially muggle wedding so as you can see they are very accepting of our relationship. Surprisingly Hermione’s mother didn’t even bat an eye at our age difference or the fact that I already have a child. She does expect Hermione and myself to give her grandchildren of her own but we were already planning to have some once the world was no longer at war. I hope knowing all this you will change your view on our relationship being wrong.
On to other things. When I read your letter I had to chuckled at all the questions. I could actually hear the many huffs of frustration you had when writing each of them. I told Hermione about you being a naturallegillimens and your need to know everything. She is one as well and I am very curious to see who would come out on top if you ever went against each other. I am not bias when I am saying that my love would likely be the victor because Hermione is the most talented mind magic user I have ever come across. She has on more than one occasion gotten past Dumbledore’s walls without him knowing.
I guess it’s only fair to answer a few of your questions. The alliances were gotten through Hermione fulfilling each community’s needs. She was able to purchase over a thousand acres of land for the giants to extend their territory. A small territory being the giants’ biggest complaint to the ministry. The vampires she worked out a deal with some muggle governments to provide prisoners who committed violent crimes to feed from. It allows them to have fresh blood and they no longer have to survive on the tainted blood the ministry provides them. The goblins were extremely easy for her. She was able to get a bunch of muggle owned gold and sold it to them for a cheap price with a guarantee she could provide more. With how much the goblins love gold them being able to get their hands on some from the muggle world overjoyed them. They will do anything for Hermione just to keep the direct supply line open.
The Veela were easy as well. During the Tri Wizard tournament Hermione became good friends with the French champion Fleur Delacour. There were many rumors they were dating but they were not. Fleur has a mate that couldn’t travel to Hogwarts at the time and she used Hermione as a buffer to stop people from approaching her romantically. My love of course could care less what people think of her and went along with it. After the tournament the pair stayed in touch and Hermione even visited her in France where she met the whole family. The summer after the tournament was when Hermione and I met and she saved me. Hermione of course told Fleur all about it and she and her flock immediately stopped negotiations with Dumbledore. It was after Hermione and I started planning to strike out on our own that Hermione let Fleur know and Fleur used her influence to gather support from not only her clan but other Veela clans as well.
I guess I should probably tell you the exact plan. I didn’t want to get to into it until I knew you both were on my side. It’s not that I doubted your love for me but with the curse still having a hold on Bella I couldn’t risk it. What Hermione and I are planning is that we are going to bring down the light side and ruin Dumbledore’s alliances. We have already turned a lot of people to our side. It honestly hasn’t been hard with how bad the old man treats people. In some cases people didn’t even ask what were planning all they cared about was the money we were offering them to help. We have found that a lot of people Dumbledore has conscripted to his cause live well below the poverty line and are not able to get good jobs while performing whatever tasks he sets out for them.
We even have many people in the Order questioning him. Especially after Hermione got the ring. Dumbledore is pushing for someone else to take over and is being very obvious about not wanted Hermione in charge. Even though I convinced Harry Potter that Sirius didn’t actually love him and had no intention of passing on the title. The idiot boy refused it in front of Dumbledore and many witnesses so Hermione is safe for now. We both believe that Dumbledore is likely going to try and set up an accident to kill her. Not that she would go down easily. As to how Hermione knew that Harry wasn’t the heir it’s very simple. She saw a copy of the family tapestry and he wasn’t on it. Of course she never told anyone about it because that would have likely made Sirius follow through on the adoption.
She had actually been planning on killing him and handing over the title to Bella long before she met me. For some reason you, me and Bella fascinated her and she did a bunch of research on all of us. That was why she noticed something wasn’t right with me. I wasn’t acting like the stories she heard about me. She also didn’t understand how I could turn my back on the two of you. After she killed Ted and visited me we talked for hours about everything that happened and that was when we realized that we had to reach out to you two somehow. The only problem we had was that we didn’t know how to get through to Bella. So Hermione broke into not only some of the Black family estates but a few Malfoy’s and some of the ones the Dark Lord was known to stay at during the first war. There she collected Cygnus’ journals, some of his personal effects and some books from the libraries. She got the same kind of items of the Dark Lord’s as well.
With all the information we figured we had enough to convince Bella that we were telling the truth. Luckily it worked. Now that we have someone on the inside of the Dark Lord’s inner circle we will be able to disrupt both sides. That is the main part of our plan. We want the two sides to focus on each other while we quietly turn their followers against them and break all their alliances. It’s our hope that we won’t have to fight an all out war but we are all prepared for it. Once both sides are defeated we will overhaul the entire government. No longer will there be purebloods and old white men in charge of everything. In our new society magical creatures will have prominent roles in the ministry. Goblins will have the option to have wands, there will be laws about how house elves are treated, the Hogwarts curriculum will be overhauled and some professors will be replaced and the face of this new society will be the Black sisters.
I know you probably think there is no way we will be able to accomplish all this but that’s because you don’t know anything about Hermione. Her role in the muggle world gives her more power than the Dark Lord and Dumbledore combined and if she really wanted to she could have any of our enemies killed without blinking an eye. It’s only because she hates killing people that she doesn’t make this a bloody takeover. So I ask you to please put your faith in us because we have the assets to come out on top.
As for other things about my life I really can’t tell you much. I have been a healer for the past couple decades a job I don’t particularly like and learned that I was instructed to take because they wanted a healer available for the Order members. My daughter Dora is the light of my life. She is the only thing I don’t regret about my marriage to Ted. I haven’t told her what happened with her father but I doubt she will hesitate to take the Black name. She didn’t get along with the man that well and wouldn’t have gone to his funeral if I hadn’t forced her. When you write back tell me about your life as well.
All my love,
Andy
“I really want to know more about Hermione.”Narcissa had a lot more questions about the answers Andromeda gave her in her letter.
“What did Andy write you?”Bellatrix asked.
“Here.”Narcissa handed her the letter.
“You can read mine.”Bella took the letter and gave Narcissa her own.
“Thanks.”Narcissa unfolded the paper and began reading it silently to herself.
Bella,
You and Cissa really have a horrible opinion of me. Cissa thinks I would be disgusting enough to marry a minor and you seem to think the only way I would get Hermione was by buying her from her family or giving a blood sacrifice. I am very insulted. Hermione is with me willingly and was actually the one who made the first move and when I went to Hermione’s mother for permission to marry Hermione not only was I given it I was given a large dowry to include enough muggle money that if converted could easily fill up the largest pureblood family vault but an estate that gave me a royal title as well. In the muggle world I am known as Andromeda Black Duchess of Highfield and am very respected by the people of Hermione’s country. So you don’t need to be asking Hermione if I forced her into the bond. I would never force Hermione to do anything. Not like I could anyway. No offenses to you Bella but Hermione is the strongest, most knowledgeable and powerful magic user I have ever come across. I hope this puts your mind at ease that Hermione is perfectly safe and not being forced into anything.
I’m pleased to hear that your mind is clearer. From what we read about the results of our father’s cure was that although he became more aware of his surroundings and questioned certain decisions the Dark Lord claimed he was still easy to manipulate. Hermione has a theory that you will have much better results than him because he lived with the curse for 20 yrs longer than you did. Although the fact that you have lived the past couple decades with it when a cure was available pisses me off. Actually everything I have learned about how you have been living your life pisses me off. Hermione and I are even more determined to find all the horcruxes so that you can kill that bastard for treating you so poorly.
As for talking to you about the curse I would like that. I have seen a squib therapist that has been helping but it would be really nice to have my big sister’s shoulder to cry on. I will of course be happy to be a shoulder for you to cry on if you need it or if you want someone to duel as that is more your style of working through your emotions. Hopefully that meeting can happen soon because I really miss you and Cissa. Now that my mind is my own I find myself going though the day thinking of all the things I wish I could tell you. Some things that would be so much easier said in person than in a letter.
The story of how Hermione and I got together isn’t as exciting as you would think. After she killed Ted I was in a daze coming out of the curse. I didn’t understand anything that was going on and everyone brushed off my behavior as just grief. Hermione showed up the day after it happened late into the night when everyone had left. She explained everything to me and even provided a memory of Ted using the curse on me to prove what she was telling me was the truth. Luckily I kept that pensive you gave me for my birthday Bella because I was able to see the memory right away. Seeing the proof I was outraged and immediately wanted to confront Dumbledore as Hermione had investigated and found out he was behind it. Luckily Hermione talked me down and stayed with me that night where she let me rant and rave about the many injustices committed against me. She so nice and kind to me even when I was screaming at her at the top of my lungs. She even went as far as holding me when I would break down into tears. When I eventually tired myself out she held me while I slept on the couch.
The next morning she cooked me breakfast and we talked about how I should handle everything. We both decided that it would be smart to pretend that even though the curse was broken that I loved Ted and was a dedicated Order member. It was also decided during that breakfast that we would somehow reach out to you. Hermione was adamant that you Bella wouldn’t stay with the Dark Lord if you actually knew how bad you were treated. She also was positive that you wouldn’t turn your back on me once you found out what happened. I admit I wasn’t as confident but my love has a way of inspiring people.
Once it was decided to reach out to you Hermione knew she needed proof because there was no way you would believe her without it and she was the most likely out of the two of us to come in contact with you. It was during our planning meetings and going over the items we both collected that we became closer. Then one evening out the blue Hermione and I were sitting on the couch and she leaned over and kissed me. I was shocked and elated because I had been wanting to kiss her for ages but never thought she would be interested. Once the kiss finished we talked about our feeling for each other and have been an item ever since. I know you want to know how the bond came to be but that is something private that I will not be telling you about. Hermione will not either so don’t bother asking her.
Telling you about my life is hard as a lot of it I don’t remember and what I do is kind of fuzzy. The only good thing that came out of being away from you and Cissa would be my daughter Dora. The girl reminds of you all the time. Always running headfirst into danger with the motto of never back down. I honesty think you both would get along very well. You might even be able to help her with her dueling. She is good but unfortunately she inherited Ted’s clumsiness and she doesn’t adjust for it. She just sticks to the lessons Kingsley gives her.
Let me know when you think we could meet in person. It shouldn’t be to hard now that we all have access to the manor. It would be nice to see you and Cissa. I don’t think I can say enough how much I miss you. On side note Hermione is fine after what you did to her. You were right to think something really bad happened to her but it’s her story to tell. One no one in the wizarding world but me knows. So don’t expect her to tell you right away.
All my love,
Andy
“Andy’s a Duchess?”Narcissa really didn’t understand what was going on.
“It seems she did really well marrying Hermione. I mean the Dark Lord would never think of buying land for the giants or getting vampires live humans to feed from. He sure as hell would never get his hands on muggle gold to sell it to the goblins for cheap. He would jack up the price.”Bellatrix thought Hermione was a genius for dealing with the magical creatures the way she did.
“I’m a little shocked that so many people are deflecting from light side just for some gold.”Narcissa thought that Dumbledore’s followers were more loyal.
“If you were not being treated well wouldn’t you change you allegiance to someone who treated you a lot better. I mean isn’t that what the pair of us are doing?”Bellatrix was happy to join a cause that treated her like a real human being instead of one that treated her like a wild animal.
“That is what we are doing isn’t it.”Narcissa would have joined the light side if it had gotten her away from Lucius and the Dark Lord.”What does Hermione’s letter say?”
“I’ll read it out loud.”Bellatrix said.
“Good.”Narcissa didn’t want to wait to know what she said.
“Here we go.”Bellatrix cleared her throat and began reading out loud.
Lady Black,
First of all I am completely fine. You didn’t hurt me much and the little you did I barely felt. I didn’t pass out from the pain I passed out due to taking a fast acting sleeping pill that Andy and I came up with to help me sleep as I suffer from insomnia at times. So you don’t need to worry about my wellbeing. If I’m honest laying in the hospital wing did more damage to my body than you did. The most important thing though is the plan was a success.
Andy was able to convince Harry that Sirius purposely didn’t adopt him and even if he wanted him to have the title it would involve human sacrifice to transfer it. The woman is a so cunning at times I have to pinch myself to make sure I’m awake and not dreaming that she actually married me. I actually feel bad for any of those who oppose us because if you and Narcissa are like Andy then nothing can stop us from succeeding in taking over the country.
On the topic of Andy. That is another thing you don’t have to worry about. I am with her willingly and for some reason she is with me willingly as well. I really don’t know how I was able to capture her heart because she is so out of my league. Every time I see her enter a room I am in awe of her very being. The way she draws all eyes to her and her very presence commands you to listen to her. I also would like to assure you she did not force me to go though with the bond. I was more than willing. I know you would likely want the details but that is a private matter that Andy and I would prefer to keep to ourselves.
You don’t need to thank me for anything. When I first heard of you being the Brightest Witch of Your Age I began searching for information on what happened to you because no one would tell me anything. During my research I began to notice some disturbing things. Mostly your actions and appearance as the years went by after you joined the Dark Lord. I never believed that someone as intelligent and talented as you would let themself be treated like that. Every story I read of your time at Hogwarts and the few stories I could get out of people who knew you talked about how driven, smart and talented you were. I think it’s because I was constantly compared to you that I felt a kinship with you. It was also how I knew not everything was as it seemed. If we were so much alike then I knew that you would have continued your studies and likely would have been the inventor of many pieces of new magic. Instead of that seeing you spent your time doing the jobs of those lesser than you and that you were covered in scars that obviously didn’t come from your missions made it was easy for me to believe that you were trapped.
When Sirius told me about the curse I knew I was right. That your mind wasn’t your own. It was also during that discussion that Sirius bragged about him taking the title from you. I will admit it look a lot of effort not to attack him for all the horrible things he said about you. Andy said he was aways a bastard though so I know you aren’t surprised. Unfortunately for Sirius him giving me that information led to his death because once I knew that the title was your birthright I began immediately to make plans to kill him and get the title to you somehow.
I know you want to know why I’m doing all this and the answer is simple. I can not in good faith stand aside and let three women be used and abused as badly as you and sisters when there is something I can do about it. You needed a champion and I have the power and resources to be that person. I fully believe that the three of you have been horribly wronged in both these wars and by the very people who were supposed to protect you. I know what it’s like to be victimized because of who your family is and targeted by those who wish to take advantage of you. I was lucky enough to be saved and now that I have the chance it’s only fair to save you.
I hate to confirm your suspicions but yes something bad did happened to me that made it so I have a high tolerance for pain. I would rather not get into the details but it happened when I was a child and my body is covered with reminders of the incident. You can’t see them as I have gotten really good at casting glamor spells. That incident is also the reason no one knows about my wealth. I was placed with the Grangers to live out my school years in hiding because I was no longer safe with my real family. The Grangers are not muggle dentists that’s just their cover. They are actually highly trained high ranking members of my country’s military. None of us are even British. All three of us fake the accent. I don’t know why my real identity was never uncovered but it’s never been questioned. Even when Minerva came to my home she never suspected anything.
Although I really appreciate the offer you don’t need to do anything to the people who hurt me. My mother tracked down everyone involved and punished them by stripping each of them naked, making hundreds of cuts on their bodies and hung them on posts for the public to watch them being eaten by insects and birds while they slowly bled to death. Andy has pictures hanging in her home office of the bodies if you want to see them. That punishment is also why Andy is deathly afraid my mother. I try to reassure her but Andy is convinced my mother doesn’t like her. She loves Andy and is looking forward to meeting you and Narcissa.
The last thing I want to touch on is how happy I am that your mind is clearer and you are taking pride in your appearance. It will help the cause if the face of the Black family is just as put together as the other decision makers. It makes me want to kill the Dark Lord with my bare hands thinking of the ways he abused you. You are a magnificent witch and an over all incredible woman and you deserve to be given the world laid at your feet and once the opportunity arises I will happily be the one to do so.
Thank you for writing,
Hermione
“Just more questions.”Narcissa didn’t know why she thought Hermione’s letter would explain anything.
“I like what her mother picked for the people who hurt Hermione’s punishment.”Bellatrix was going to ask Andromeda for copies of the pictures.
“I want to know who she really is. She has to be someone important if she was living in hiding with high ranking military people posing as her parents. That and her mother made Andy a Duchess it leads me to believe she is some kind of royalty.”Narcissa said.
“If she was a royal it would explain her wealth and her influence in the muggle world.”It was easy for Bellatrix to imagine Hermione being a royal.
“It seems she is very passionate about you.”Narcissa said.
“If I had to guess why I think she saw some similarities to what happened to her and what happened to me. She even said that she was saved and it was only fair that she save us.”Bellatrix really wanted to know what happened to Hermione.”I’m curious to know what she looks like without glamor.”
“I think she is probably covered in scars.”Narcissa saw Bellatrix’s scars and thought it Hermione went through something bad enough that she saw herself in Bellatrix that Hermione’s skin was likely heavily marked.
“Did you like the part of Hermione gushing over how wonderful Andy was?”Bellatrix had been a little bit jealous of Hermione’s love for Andromeda.
“I still think that Hermione is a little young for Andy. Even with the time turner adding to her age.”Narcissa was still going to have words with her sister about her relationship with Hermione.
“I really want to meet Hermione’s mother to find out why Andy is afraid of her.”Bellatrix thought that any muggle that could scare someone with Black blood was someone worth meeting.
“If we are meeting a muggle royal we need to learn how to act around them because there is no way I’m going to let either of us embarrass Hermione.”Narcissa wasn’t going to come off as rude or uncultured to a muggle.
“I usually would fight you on this but in this case I will go along with it.”Bellatrix didn’t want to embarrass Hermione either.
“Good that will make it easier. We just need to speak to Andy and find out what we need to do.”Narcissa said.
“Speaking of Andy when do you think we should meet?”Bellatrix wanted to meet soon.
“Why don’t you bring it up when you send her a letter about your mission.”Narcissa would hold off on writing her own letter as she would rather talk to Andromeda about the things she wanted answered in person.
“I’ll go do that now.”Bellatrix wanted to get a meeting set up for the next day.
“I’m going to go search out Lucius to see if the bond breaking effected him.”Narcissa really hoped it did.
“I am excited to see it in person.”Bellatrix couldn’t wait to taunt Lucius over getting sick in front of everyone as the man was obsessed with his image.
“I’m going to make sure he’s around other people before I show myself.”Narcissa told her.
“Spoken like a true Black.”Bellatrix was proud of Narcissa’s devious plan.
“I’ll see you later.”Narcissa gave her sister a hug and made her way to the fireplace.
“Bye.”Bellatrix said. After watching her sister disappear into the fire Bellatrix made her way to her father’s study. As she thought Sirius didn’t touch the manor at all. Even Bellatrix’s old hygiene products were still laid out on her bathroom counter. One of the first things she did after finishing the ritual to get rid of the curse and the one to break the bond was to have the elves put the manor back in living condition. After her father died everything was covered and stored and the windows were shuttered up. Even the gardens were neglected. Luckily ordering the elves to clean and take care of the grounds was something she had the power to do as she wasn’t the Head of Household yet and only the Head of Household had full authority over the elves. It had been less than a week and the house was once again looking like it had when Bellatrix had lived there. There were a few changes she made. The first was she went though her father’s study and removed all his personal belongings. She boxed them up and had them put in the attic. Then she moved on to the Head of Household wing of the manor and cleared everything out of it to include the furniture. The elves wouldn’t help her with that but Bellatrix didn’t mind the manual labor. With her body back to full health it wasn’t hard to do and it gave her a way to work through some of her anger by throwing things around and breaking things. She had plans to get all new furniture and decorations for the rooms included in the wing and was just waiting for Hermione to give her access to the vault to buy things. That access coming very soon and would be just another step in claiming her title. Taking a seat in her father’s old desk chair Bellatrix smiled. Everything was going good in her life and the future looked bright. All because of a mud blood who saw Bellatrix’s true self. That mud blood Bellatrix was going to do all she could to get to know. The girl was to interesting to ignore.