Chapter 2 - Harry’s Magic(That Isn’t Quite Magic)
Bellatrix sat by Harry as he threw up in Grimauld Places garden. This wasn’t unexpected nor unusual for her. She had many occasions were Cissa during her earlier apparitions threw up. The thing that was somewhat unexpected was him throwing up more blood than substance.
Thinking about it, that wasn’t too unexpected, she just didn’t consider it in her fresh out of Azkaban state. He was severely malnourished and lacked magic contact, it was going to end negatively. But there unfortunately wasn’t much she could do besides rub movements in his back that ended up in shapes of different runes.
“I-I’m sorry a-about the m-mess. I’ll c-clean it u-up.” Harry says, trying to stand. She instantly (lightly) pushes him back down and into her lap.
“Harry, this isn’t your fault. This is normally for a first-timer. Even third or fourth timer! Besides, the magic may enjoy things such as fresh blood.” She says, trying to keep Harry calm. And it wasn’t a lie either. The wards haven’t been updated and somewhere along the line he was a Black. The apparition part is people get sickness from feeling their organs being smeared around to teleport.
Harry bursts out into sobs. She can’t tell if it’s because someone is comforting him or from the apparition. Either way she tries to comfort him, the best she can in her one-third sane state she could.
“It’s ok, cry your heart out, little hatchling. You deserve to. No child deserves to be treated like that, ever.” She brushes through his hair, just letting him cry and reminding him she’s there.
He eventually falls asleep, which was understandable. Now the real challenge, what in the name of lady magic was she going to do?
She somehow apparated to Grimauld Place while just thinking of a place that could protect them both. Yes she was aware that was stupid dangerous, but magic seemed to like her.
But out of all places, the place with the most blood pursuit portraits in the world? She supposed she didn’t want to go to Cissas place nor did she want to go to the Lestrange Manor. So Grimauld Place is a necessary evil.
She gently picked up Harry properly and draped her cloak over her arms as she stood up and walked towards the entrance.
When she was about to enter a pop noise was heard, clearly sensing a house elves magic.
“Who dares invade the Noble- Oh, good evening Mistress Bellatrix.” Kreacher says and bows, causing Bella to smile.
“Is anyone occupying this residence, Kreacher?” He shakes his head. “Do you have any qualms of me and Harry residing here?” Kreacher looks confused but shakes his head.
“If you could go clear up two bedrooms for us that would be wonderful. I believe both of us need rest.” Kreacher nods and pops away. Bellatrix sighs of relief.
She sat on a bench in the foyer, gently stroking Harry while waiting for Kreacher. Thankfully the boy stayed asleep in her arms even when she moved. Azkaban had made her jumpy and she couldn’t sit still even before then.
She was definitely going to need help with the boy, but she had no clue who to contact. Cissa would help, sure. But he needed another guardian, perhaps one more sane? Or she could just bust Sirius out. What bad can two mentally unstable people do to a child they both care about?
She knew Sirius cared quite a bit about the boy, and that he certainly didn’t betray the Potters. How he ended up in Azkaban besides the drop of ‘I wasn’t the keeper, Peter was the secret keeper’, she had not a clue.
Kreacher appeared in front of her, breaking her out of her thoughts.
“Second floor, right corridor, third and fourth doors, Mistress Bellatrix.” He says then pops away.
She stood up and quickly moved to where she directed her, entering the third door. This used to be the guest room Andromeda stayed in. She supposed Kreacher was sending a message, but she was far too tired and worried about Harry to care.
She gently laid Harry on the bed and placed her cloak over him when she sensed him stirring. Apparently she didn’t realize how soft her cloak was. She’ll have to make a duplicate one for her hatchling.
‘When had he become little hatchling?’ She thinks to herself as she walks to the room across the hall, hers.
It made sense to her, she always did have a streak of care and protectiveness of her family. First it was Andy, then it was Sirius & Cissa, and then Regulus. She supposed this was just another extension of that, especially after seeing what his ‘relatives’ did to him.
She sat on her bed, but she was not tired enough to go to sleep. Or rather, she thought she had things to do.
‘I need to make sure the wards are stable and keeping out unwanted guests.’ Like the Ministry, or Dumbledore.
How the hell was she going to keep this from Dumbledore and Voldemort?
She could obviously place charms and wards on the house, she wasn’t called the brightest witch of her age for nothing. But how to keep them from tracking them as she and her hatchling went about? Because he needed hands on experience to be prepared. Also teaching him Unforgivables would be good. She wasn’t locking him in the house, no matter what.
She also had to deal with Gringotts and his guardianship. She had to imagine Dumbledore was his magical guardian, no matter if the Potters wanted that or not. He had his ways, and he would have it.
Once she did get pass the Dumbledore problem, she was legally or magically(she didn’t care either way) adopting him. He needed stable guardian ship, even if she was the first to admit she probably shouldn’t be the one.
Also she really needed to find Regulus’ portrait. He had been snogging James Potter, so he’d know more about how to handle Harry. He would be a gold mine of info on Voldemort. He had somehow developed from a promising Tom Marvolo Riddle, into a snake man with no sense of sanity. What had he done?
Something she realized, Dumbledore probably had compulsions or potions on his ‘puppet’ as he probably called her hatchling. The thought made her wish she could just run up and hex the man into the next century, but she couldn’t be so brash with Harry in her care.
‘One step at a time, Bella.’ She thinks to herself, and goes downstairs to check the wards.
She puts her hand to the wall and feels for the magic of the wards. She had to hold back a gasp.
They were utterly decimated.
The wards were practically eating on her, trying to remake any semblance of what they used to be. They were brown and muddy, hardly even wards, barely keeping the house standing.
‘How had Kreacher been living here this whole time?’ She thinks.
She instantly supplied them with pulses of her magic. They eagerly sucked in it, and thankfully but surprisingly it didn’t take much too much to reform them. Not to their full glory of course, it was only her magic. These wards were built on generations of Blacks, but they were enough to protect from intruders.
She definitely needed Sirius back, her magic couldn’t sustain these on its own. She felt like she was going to pass out just from restoring the wards alone. If she did magically adopt Harry, she had to make sure the house didn’t suck all the magic out of him.
For now, it was time to sleep. While she didn’t have consistent sleep schedule, and skipped night of sleep constantly in Azkaban, she knew when she needed it. And tonight was one of those nights.
- - - -
She woke up the morning surprisingly well rested, no nightmares.
‘You are out of Azkaban.’ She reminds to herself. She forgets that this isn’t a dream, she’s out. And she has a child to take care of.
‘Harry comes first, worry about everything else later.’ She thinks to herself as she goes to wake him up. She realized she feel asleep in her clothes from the night before, but could hardly care.
She found Harry already awake, sitting up on the bed inspecting her cloak. At a closer glance, he was tracing the seams along her cloak with her picture. She smiled fondly at the action, perhaps he recognized the magic in them? It wouldn’t surprise her.
She had only met his mother a few times, but she could tell by her aura she was very in sync with her magic despite not knowing she had it for years. His father was in sync, but not quite as much as his mother was.
Harry noticed her presents and excitedly waved. She sat next to him, watching him as her traced the runes.
“Do you know what these patterns are, Miss Raven?” He asks curiously.
“Those are runes, this specific one blocks out fire and some of the smoke and fumes. That’s why last night we weren’t being burned.” She explained, watching Harry absorb the information.
They sat in silence for a moment more, Harry still processing in wonder.
“Who are you, Miss Raven?” He asks.
“I knew you’d ask that. Your not going to like what I’ve done, Harry, but hear me out until I’m finished. If you’d like to leave once I’m finished I cannot and will not stop you.” She could very easily stop him, but she wasn’t going to force him. He nodded, turning completely towards her.
“I’m Bellatrix Black-Lestrange. A witch, and a murderess.” She let Harry process that, he looked scared but also confused.
“I was in Azkaban, or wizard prison, for killing many muggles and torturing the Longbottoms.” Harry slowly nodded, waiting for her to continue.
“I am technically a Death eater, despite that not being of my will. A Death eater is a follower of the man who killed your parents, Voldemort.” Her mark clearly burned while saying that, but she ignored it and focused on Harry. He looked surprised, but not mad.
‘Why is he not mad?’ She thought to herself. He has all the right to be why was he not-
“Miss Trixie, why are you a Death eater if you don’t want to be?” Trixie, huh. That’s one name she hadn’t heard herself be called.
“I was bound while under a curse that made me do whatever my mother wished. I had to take it, and if I didn’t listen to what he said by that point, I’d be dead.” Harry nodded, a grim look on his face.
“If you want to leave, I’ll prepare you a bag of-“ Harry enveloped her into a hug before she could finish her sentence.
“Miss Trixie, you helped me get away from the Dursleys! You haven’t asked a thing of me besides to listen to you. No cleaning, no gardening, nothing! I’m not leaving you to fend for yourself!” He proclaims loudly, and she laughs.
“Of course, you don’t have to leave if you don’t want to. I don’t want you injured, so if you do wish to stay, you have every right to.” He moves back over, and eagerly nods to her.
How did he do it? He made her feel sane and happy. With him, she felt there was hope. This shouldn’t surprise her, he did many mysterious, impossible things.
“Let’s get downstairs, I’m sure Kreacher will come knocking any minute.” She said, and ushered him to follow her.
They sat down on the dinning table, and Kreacher popped in startling Harry.
“Good morning Mistress Bellatrix. Who is the guest?” Kreacher asks, keeping his tone neutral.
“This is Harry Potter, he will be staying with us for the foreseeable future as he is under my protection.” She states, matter of factly.
“Of course, Mistress Bellatrix. I’ll be off in the kitchens.”
“Can I join you, Kreacher?” Harry says, stuttering a bit.
Kreacher looks shocked, but doesn’t deny him as they teleport off. She was starting to think the Potter magic Regulus said they had was true. Harry managed to tame everyone he met, even Kreacher. And Harry was a half-blood, Kreacher hated basically everyone who wasn’t a pure-blood.
She summoned a few books to herself, refreshers on how the magic world works and things. Some for herself, some for her hatchling. Her brain had been messed up and forgetting things sense Azkaban, and she imagined Harry had no clue how the Wixen world worked.
Ten minutes later Kreacher popped in with Harry and food in toe. She was somewhat surprised to see Harry and Kreacher smiling. It was a rather traumatizing smile(she assumed) but Harry seem to have no problem with it.
“Harry, make sure you eat. You probably can eat much, but you need to eat something.” Her hatchling nods, and eats about a fourth of his plate before he stops.
‘At least his stomach hasn’t been completely wrecked. But he will still probably need nutrients potions, and certainly a healer.’ She thinks. Perhaps she will still need to bring Severus into the situation…
“Kreacher, do you know if there are any clothes that still fit Harry here? I’m planning on us taking a trip to Gringotts.” He thinks for a moment before leaving then shortly coming back.
“There are some of Master Regulus’ old clothes in the young lords bedroom. Would you like me to start cleaning the house while your gone?”
“If you would Kreacher.” She stands up.
“What’s Gringotts?” Harry asks as he goes to follow her.
“Gringotts is the Wixen worlds form of a bank. It’s run by goblins who watch over your vaults and ensure nothing fraudulent is going on with them.”
“So the goblins are like… managers?” She nods at Harry.
“Kreacher has left some clothes in your room for you, in case you didn’t hear. I’ll be in my room changing, you go change as well, alright?” She says and Harry nods.
They both quickly change, and she notes how he looks ready to hide.
‘No child should have to look like that to any adults.’ She thinks, but also remembers Cissa had done the same on multiple occasions to their Aunt. Gaea was a cruel mistress.
“Little hatchling, I’m going to preform some magic on us. People don’t like me and they will recognize you. This spell is called a ‘Glamor’, an appearance changer. It may tickle a bit, and we both will look different.” She says, as she first demonstrates on herself. She makes her hair more brown than black and more wavy than curly, and eyes a light hazel color.
She changes Harry to have dark red hair(she unfortunately couldn’t adjust the the texture, Potter hair she assumed), covered his scar, and now had hazel eyes that matched hers.
“The goblins will be able to see through our disguise, do not worry. They are also not bound by the Ministry’s or the governments rules, I have enough money to keep them silent. We will be using floo travel as our transport to get to Diagon Alley. Can I pick you up?” Harry practically jumps into her arms, and she laughs.
She grabs a handful of floo powder and shouts, “Diagon Alley!”