Disclaimer I do not own Harry Potter and everything recognisable belongs to J K Rowling.

Jooy's request - Harry talks with Bella for the first time

Dedicated to Jooy. Hope you like it!

Conversations with Bella

It was raining heavily. The fat raindrops hit against the windows with ferocity, tapping against the glass. Harry watched from his chair, wrapped in a blanket, warm by the flames happily crackling in the fireplace behind him. As far as he could remember, he had never sat before a fire before. His attic was always bitterly cold and on wet miserable days like this, he had longed to sit and get warm before the fireplace. But his parents never allowed him.

Thinking about the parents he had run away from, Harry sank lower into the warm embrace of the blanket, almost as if he was hiding from them. It had been three days since he had left home. Three days since he had ran away from his mum and dad. Were they looking for him? Did they even notice he was gone? Would they care?

Harry knew, deep down, that his parents would be glad he was gone. After all, they hated him. His mum used to tell him to 'get lost' all the time. Once she had grabbed him by the hair, dragged him to the back door and pushed him out, screaming, 'do us a favour and leave! Never come back!'

Harry shuddered, remembering that night. He had been terrified and cried throughout the night, curled up on the doorstep, horribly cold and utterly petrified of the dark. When his mum opened the door in the morning, he was so glad to get back inside, even his freezing attic was a welcome relief.

Harry closed his eyes, reaching up to rub at them with small fists. He was still getting used to the fact that he no longer had clumsy glasses, blocking access to his eyes. His new father had fixed his eyesight, just like he had promised.

Lord Voldemort, that's what he said his name was. Harry thought about him and how strange it was that he was equally terrified of him that he was fascinated. His new father came every morning to see him, shared all three mealtimes sitting with him at the table and came to bid him goodnight. He hardly spoke to him, but Harry found he didn't mind. He would rather sit in silence than be yelled and shouted at.

A knock sounded on the door, making Harry look around at it with surprise. In the last three days, the only one to come to his room was his new father. But he never knocked.

Harry scrambled out of his chair, darting to the humongous bed and slipped under it, hiding completely from view. The knock sounded again, the thuds making his little heart race faster. He watched from under the bed, as the door opened and a pair of legs hesitantly crossed the threshold. All Harry could make out was the high heeled black boots and the end trim of the black robes.

He waited, keeping himself completely silent and still. He had good practise. He had hid from his dad plenty of times, sometimes escaping his punishments for hours. It was futile though, his dad always got him in the end.

The boots walked further into the room, the clicking of the heels made Harry's heart beat that bit faster. His gaze followed the boots, moving only his head, as the person walked further into the room. They walked right up to the bed and stopped. Harry held his breath.

The feet moved away, clicking in the direction of the en suite bathroom. Harry sighed in relief, dropping his head to the floor and closing his eyes. Very suddenly, something grabbed his ankle and he was pulled out from under the bed, making him cry out in surprise and alarm. He found himself staring into the amused looking face of a witch, with heavy lidded eyes and dark black hair framing her face.

"Boo!" she said, so quietly, she could have whispered it.

Harry blinked at her, utterly panicked at being found. His ankle was still trapped under her fingers, but he struggled anyway to move away from her. The woman giggled and let go, allowing Harry to scramble backwards, until his back hit the edge of the bed. Harry blinked at her, breathing heavily. In the haze of his panic, he suddenly remembered, with a stab of relief, that the women before him was one of the two people his father had given him permission to speak to. 'Lucius and Bellatrix' The names rang in his mind although he hadn't seen either of them, since that first day.

The woman, Bellatrix, tilted her head to the side, her dark eyes scrutinising the four year old.

"Was young master playing?" she asked. "Do I win?"

Harry was breathing very fast, his heartbeat still frantic.

"What?" he asked.

"I found you." she pointed at the bed. "What do I win?"

Harry looked back at the bed and then to her.

"I...I wasn't...playing." he replied shakily. "I was...h-hiding."

"Oh," she didn't didn't react, "why?"

Harry stared at her.

"I-I got scared."

She looked taken aback. She stared at him for a moment before getting up to her feet. Harry stayed where he was, watching the dark haired women. She brushed down her robes before turning to look at him. She smiled at him, her pretty face brightening at once.

"Are you going to stay there for the rest of the day?" she asked.

Harry didn't move.

"The sofa is more comfortable." she continued. "I would like to sit there rather than the floor." she met the confused stare. "But I can't sit there unless young master is sitting there first."

Harry's gaze narrowed. 'Master?' why did she keep calling him master?

"Are you coming?" she asked.

Still, Harry neither spoke nor moved, but watched as she walked towards the sofa. His eyes widened when he saw the rectangular box, wrapped up in shiny paper, complete with a green ribbon, lying on the seat. Bellatrix lifted the present and held it in her delicate fingers.

"Master wanted you to have this." she ran a finger across it before holding it out.

Harry eyed the shiny parcel, he had never received a gift before. Curiosity got the better of him and slowly, the four year old got to his feet. He glanced once again at the dark haired woman before his gaze snapped back to the present. He walked over to her, his stomach twisting in both anxiety and excitement. Small hands reached out to take the present, just as his fingers touched the parcel, it was pulled upwards and out of his reach. Harry was startled. He stared at her in confusion and fear. She grinned at him.

"Not like that," she purred, "you have to demand it from me." she dangled the box high above him. "Command me to hand it over."

Harry reached out again and stuttered.

"P-please, c-can I h-have it?"

Bellatrix laughed, throwing back her head, making the dark hair dance around her face.

"Oh, dear!" she stared at Harry with amusement. "You can't say that word." her eyes sparkled at him. "Demand it young master, don't ask me, tell me!"

Harry was almost in tears. He didn't know if this women was doing this on purpose; forcing him be rude to her just so she could go and tell his new father so he would punish him. Harry didn't want to be punished and he certainly didn't want to be rude to anyone, but most of all, he didn't want his new father being angry at him.

Bellatrix waited but Harry refused to fall for any tricks and instead, he just stood where he was, not saying or doing anything. With a sigh, Bellatrix lowered the parcel and held it out for him.

"Alright, have it your way, young master."

Harry tentatively reached out, half expecting the sparkly present to be yanked out of reach again, but this time, his fingers closed around the box and he pulled it out of her hand. He stood with it, just holding the present in his hands, marvelling at the feeling of it.

He looked up to see the women staring at him, smiling.

"Are you going to open it?" she asked.

Harry sat down on the sofa, lowering the parcel onto his lap. Slowly, his fingers reached for the green ribbon, tugging it open to drop away. He pulled at the shiny paper, ripping it off. He was momentarily worried about destroying the paper but the sight of the wooden box made all his worries disappear. Harry pulled a rectangular box free from the wrapper, a deeply rich mahogany box with strange engravings etched in the centre, that made no sense to Harry. His small fingers were running over the wood, feeling every inch of it in complete fascination. His first present, a wooden box but it meant everything to the child.

His fingers ran across the sides and he realised that the box had a removable lid. Gently, he lifted the top away and gaped at the contents. Inside the box, resting on blue silk cloth, was a book. With shaky fingers, Harry pulled the book out, staring at the front cover, which had a cartoon wizard holding up a wand, shooting out multicoloured sparks.

"Master thought you might like it." Harry looked up at Bellatrix, to see her watching him carefully. "My nephew has the same book, he really likes it and he's about the same age as you so, I suggested you may also enjoy it." she beamed, clearly proud of herself.

Harry looked back down at the book. He didn't know how to read, not one single word, but he kept that quiet. He didn't want his present taken away from him. Gently he opened the book and let out a gasp at the sight of the moving picture. It was the animated picture of a rabbit, hopping up and down, in a meadow. The next page had a picture of a young boy, a wizard, who had a wand. He pointed it at the rabbit. Harry turned over to the next page and saw the rabbit hit with a spell and he changed into a pig. Harry stared in amazement. He flicked through the first few pages and realised that it was a book of moving pictures only. There wasn't a single written word, anywhere.

"Is young master pleased?"

Harry looked up at her, his smile fighting it's way onto his face. He nodded.

"Yes, it's...it's great. Thank you!"

Bellatrix hissed, closing her eyes and shaking her head.

"There! Those words again!" she opened her eyes to stare at Harry. "You are the son of Lord Voldemort, the most powerful wizard in the world! You do not thank anyone and you do not ask for anything." she hissed the words with clear revulsion. "You demand it, you command others and you do not show gratitude. We are here to serve you, just as we do your father."

Harry nodded quickly, not wanting to anger her. She may tell his father that he was misbehaving.

"I...okay...I'll...I mean I won't...say that again." he was confused, very confused, but he figured he would make sense of things later.

"Master was concerned that you may be bored. This will keep you occupied for the time being." she gestured to the book.

Harry clutched at it, holding it close to him. He nodded again.

"Your...your name is Bellatrix?" he asked warily.

She nodded, smiling.

"It is, young master. But I am simply referred to as Bella."

"Bella." Harry tried the name, preferring it instantly to the more complicated name of Bellatrix.

"Yes, young master?"

Harry paused, worried about what he wanted to say. He eyed Bella. She seemed alright, maybe she wouldn't mind what he wanted to ask.

"Why...why do you keep calling me...master?"

Bella smiled.

"You are my master's son. Therefore you are my young master."

Harry nodded.

"Would you rather I call you by another name?" she asked, sensing his unease.

Harry paused, over-thinking his response again.

"I don't mind, whatever you want." he quickly answered.

"No, it's not what I want." Bella reminded him again. "Tell me what you want me to call you."

Harry paused, his shoulders drooped and eyes cast on the floor.

"Just...just Harry." he replied quietly.

"Okay, Just-Harry." Bella replied. "What would you like to do, Just-Harry?"

Harry stared at her in surprise, before the corner of his mouth lifted into a smile.

"No, I meant...only Harry."

"Oh, right." Bella playfully slapped her forehead. "How silly of me. What would you like for lunch, Only-Harry?"

Harry giggled.

"No, just Harry! I mean, only call me Harry!"

Bella smiled again, her eyes flashing at him.

"Right you are, Harry." she winked.

Harry was grinning, too distracted to realise he had just given Bella his first command.

xxx