Chapter 13
Narcissa Malfoy sat, drinking her tea as her sister, or at least what was psychologically left of her, rambled on and on about... something. She wasn't entirely certain at this point.
Lucius had shown her what Draco had collected about the de Malebolge girl, and she decided she'd attempt a source directly.
She'd never been told by Bellatrix about a child, but then again, Bellatrix considered the Dark Lord to be a Living God to be Worshiped. If he said she would keep the child a secret, she would. There was also the added problem of Bellatrix's incarceration in Azkhaban. The Dementors were used on lifers for a reason: It destroyed their minds. They were used on lifers only for one reason: a person without any happy memories makes for a formidable dark wizard.
Combined with the insanity the of the Black Blood, Bellatrix LeStrange barely remembered her mother's name, but every dark curse she cast was filled with even more pain, sorrow, and hatred than before her time in Azkhaban.
"Do you recall ever thinking about having children?" asked Narcissa.
Bellatrix seemed to become a statue for a moment, confusion passing across her brows. The poise and grace she once maintained was stripped from her, the very human being she once was crumpled up like parchment, burnt, and the ashes spat upon. Her eyes lost focus for a moment, her shoulders relaxing and her entire body swaying and rocking back and forth. Then she came to a halt, her entire body freezing, her face contorting into rage.
"No. No children. Never got to have any. Rudy and Raby didn't want them. Thought they were foul, foul things. More interested in each other. Or little muggle boys." Bellatrix made a noise of disgust. "Should just kill the pair of them."
Narcissa felt it was best not to think about any of that statement.
"Did you consider it with anyone else?"
"No. No one else," said Bellatrix.
"Not even the Dark Lord?"
"Cissy, Cissy, Cissy. Dark Lord wouldn't sully himself with me, Cissy. You know that. Wouldn't supply himself with much of anyone. Don't think he has anything to sully anyone with. Lots of rituals take those away."
Bellatrix turned away from her, and stared at the wall. Her eyes seemed to follow something on it, that only she could see.
"Bella?" asked Narcissa.
"Yes, Cissy?"
"Is there anything I can get you?"
"No. I don't think there's any help for me. I'm to far gone, for that. Far far gone. Far away."
"Alright, Bella," replied Narcissa, standing. "Thank you. Have a good night."
"Good night, Cissy," replied Bellatrix, still following the invisible object on the wall.
Narcissa walked stiffly to what could, possibly, be called the walk-in closet off the master bedroom. It had multiple rooms, and was larger than most apartments. She sat down in front of the vanity mirror in it, and stared at herself in the mirror.
Twenty-two years of misery, twenty-two years of heartbreak, and twenty-two years of wishing for a united family surfaced. Narcissa cried for her lost sisters, one exiled from her family, one exiled from her sanity. She cried for her lost cousins, one murdered by the Dark Lord himself, and one that would only look upon her with disgust and disdain. She cried for the war that was once more rearing it's ugly head, and the madman that was forcing it to happen.
And she cried for her son, who was slowly, inexorably being dragged into it.
And then she was done. She spelled away her tears, spelled away her puffy eyes and red cheeks. She touched up her hair, and re-applied her make-up.
She was Lady Malfoy. She had to keep up appearances. Even in front of her husband.
0x0x0x0
Ginny was annoyed. Again.
Because Harry Potter, her boyfriend, was avoiding her. Again.
She still didn't know why he avoided her the first time. She'd been rebuffed several times by both Hermione and Ron, saying they didn't know what was going on. Luna was either in the Ravenclaw dorms, or on Hermione (Ginny shrugged it off as Luna being weird), and not helpful at all.
So she tried Etna.
"What's going on with Harry?"
"He'll tell you when he feels like it," commented Etna.
"Why do I get the feeling this is your fault?"
"Because nothing I say will convince you otherwise," replied Etna. "Now run along, little girl. I have better things to do."
Ginny glared as Etna continued onwards to her class, before turning to head to her own class.
"And maybe you should ask him!" shouted Etna after her.
"I have to find him to ask him," muttered Ginny.
0x0x0x0
"She WHAT?" shouted Ginny.
"Etna kissed me," repeated Harry. They were in one of the many and various abandoned classrooms of the school, on the fourth floor. She'd managed to corner him, grab him by the arm, and drag him into one of them. He promptly blurted that out, before Ginny could say anything.
"That back-stabbing, conniving bitch! Why is she doing this?" screeched Ginny.
At this, Harry shrugged.
"I don't want you seeing her. I don't want you even talking to her! Try to steal my boyfriend..."
Harry raised an eyebrow.
"Did she say anything?" asked Ginny.
"Not really, no," replied Harry, rather easily, Etna's warnings echoing in his mind.
"This isn't your fault," said Ginny beginning to pace. "She's a demon. We should have expected her to betray us. They do nothing but stab people in the back."
Harry was silent at this. Ginny stopped, and turned to face Harry, wrapping her arms around him.
"You know I love you, right?" asked Ginny. "You're my prince, my knight in shining armor."
Harry went stoney faced.
"Harry?"
"Ginny, who do you think I am?"
"You're Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived, of course."
At that, Harry really did understand. And with that, he removed Ginny's arms and left, slamming the door behind him.
Ginny was confused. And when Ginny was confused, she was pissed.
0x0x0x0
"Where is he?" asked Ginny.
"Where is who?" asked Hermione, looking up from her book. She was in the Common Room, mostly because if she was in the library, Luna would sit on her lap. Which wasn't a bad thing, it's just she couldn't get very much work done with Luna on her lap. Luna was very... distracting. Especially on her lap.
"Harry! Lightning bolt scar, black hair, green eyes, this tall?"
"I haven't seen him," replied Hermione. "Why?"
"Etna's stealing him from me!"
"What makes you think that?"
"She kissed him. She's clearly cast a spell on him, and now he's off rutting with her somewhere!"
"Ginny, Harry can throw off the Imperious from Voldemort. What did you say to him?"
"What do you mean, what did I say? She's stealing him!"
Hermione took a deep breath.
"Ginny. You must have had a conversation with him. What did the conversation entail?"
"He told me she kissed him! And then he left!"
"Ginny, Harry wouldn't hurt you unless you hurt him first. What did you say to him?"
"I didn't say anything!"
"Fine," said Hermione, looking around the common room, only to see the portrait open. When it closed without anyone going through it, she realized just what happened.
"Go see if Ron's seen him anywhere, while I check a few places, alright?"
"Alright," said Ginny, heading up the stairs to the boy's dorm room to talk with Ron.
"Alright, Harry, where are you going to be?" asked Hermione of herself, as she stepped out of the Common Room. She walked down the hall, and down a floor, and entered a disused classroom.
"Alright, you're not in the common room, because that's where Ginny is. You're going to avoid Etna, because she's just made you uncomfortable, and your life complicated, so the Room of Requirement's out. Ron, Fred, and George are Ginny's brothers, so that knocks out the Great Hall and the Quidditch Pitch. Which leaves... oh, please, Harry, be in the Library."
0x0x0x0
"I'm going to punch him," growled Ron, as he stomped out of the Gryffindor Common Room. A litany of similar phrases and punishments poured from his mouth as he searched the Quidditch Pitch, the shore by the lake, and finally the Great Hall.
"Eviscerate who?" came a voice that made Ron pause. He stopped and turned around, to come face-to-breast with Elizabeth.
"Uh... Harry," replied Ron, looking up at her face.
"Why?" asked Elizabeth, taking Ron by the arm and dragging him into the Great Hall.
"He cheated on Ginny."
"Who'd he fuck?" asked Elizabeth, pushing Ron into a seat at the Gryffindor table.
"He didn't fuck anyone, he kissed Etna."
"That's hardly cheating then," said Elizabeth, sitting down next to him. "Did Harry kiss Etna, or did Etna kiss Harry?"
At this, Ron stopped to think. It was becoming a survival trait around Elizabeth.
"Ginny said Harry kissed Etna."
"He's not the type."
"Yeah... well... He's Harry Potter. He constantly does this."
"Does what?"
"This!"
"Kisses girls?"
"Well, no."
"Then what?"
Ron was frustrated, but knew better than to let go of his temper around Elizabeth. He could either talk, or he could get punched. Punching would hurt more, he learned, after he made the mistake of calling her "Liz."
But he couldn't think right now. All he could think about was Harry hurting his sister.
"I know what's going on," added Elizabeth.
"Alright, what?"
"How does your sister see Harry?"
"Well, that's easy. The Boy-Who-Lived, and the one who saved her life from the Basilisk in second year."
Elizabeth raised an eyebrow at the "Basilisk" comment, but now wasn't the time.
"How does Harry see himself?"
Ron opened his mouth, and then stopped. He closed it, and thought a moment. How would Harry see himself? The celebrity? Except then Ron remembered the look of annoyence that crossed Harry's face back in that first potions class, when Snape mentioned it. He tried to remember any time Harry ever bragged about doing something, any time at all. He didn't even brag about catching the snitch! And yet he'd fought Voldemort, slayed a Basilisk, and won the Tri-wizard thought about how Harry shied away from people, avoided them, made no comments on what he did, how he saved people's lives. Nothing.
So how did Harry Potter see himself?
"Harry Potter," replied Ron, after a long moment's thought.
"Correct. Harry wants to be Harry Potter. Everybody else wants him to be The Boy-Who-Lived. Your sister included. He doesn't like it."
"So why did Etna kiss him?" asked Ron.
"Because Harry cares," replied Elizabeth. "Girls with bad home lives fall for that kind of guy."
At this, Ron fell silent, and thought back to the metal bars they pulled off a bedroom window.
"I suppose it helps he's got the same sort of life, huh?"
Elizabeth raised her eyebrow again, but nodded eitherway.
"I need to talk with the twins, see if we can calm Ginny down."
Elizabeth just nodded again.
"Thanks for straightening me out, by the way," said Ron.
Elizabeth smirked, and waved him off.
0x0x0x0
Hermione found Harry at her favorite table, hidden in the back of the library.
"Hello, Harry."
"Hello, Hermione," said Harry, head tilted back, staring up at the ceiling.
"That's probably not good for your neck."
He shrugged.
"You heard Ginny yelling?"
Harry nodded.
"So what did she say to you?"
"She claimed she loved me. Told me that I was her prince, the Boy-Who-Lived."
"Oh, Harry," said Hermione, taking a seat next to him. She wanted to wrap an arm around him, and hug him, but knew better. "Did Etna really kiss you?"
"Yeah."
"Do you know why?"
Harry was silent for a time. Hermione wanted to pry, but this was Harry. Prying about important things would only backfire on her.
"That spell she has me using? It's making me part demon."
Hermione held back an exclamation of fear, and instead reached out and took Harry's hand.
"Harry? No matter what happens, I'll always be your friend."
Harry looked at Hermione holding his hand, and nodded slowly.
"Did she say why?"
"It's because of this," said Harry tapping his scar. "It's a spoke."
Hermione gripped his hand tighter, refusing to let go, to let Harry try and push her away.
"She says the only ways to get rid of it, are to die, or fight it off. And she doesn't want me to fight fair."
"Then teach me the spell, and we'll do this together."
"You don't need to do that, Hermione. There's no reason for you to do it. It's bad enough I'm doing it."
"And I don't want you doing this on your own," replied Hermione, squeezing Harry's hand. "I won't let you."
Harry stared at Hermione's hand, realizing she had a white-knuckle grip on him.
"Thanks," he said.
"So you and Etna, huh?"
"Yep," came Etna's voice. "So, how did Ginny react?"
"You've betrayed us all, and are now rutting with Harry in a broom-closet somewhere."
"Really? I didn't think she'd have a full-on emotional break. Huh. Shows I don't know everything. So, Harry, realized what I said is true?"
"Yeah. Doesn't mean we're dating, though."
"Dating?" asked Etna. "Nah. It's going to be pretty long distance once we off Voldemort. This is going to be a fling. Entirely different. Also? A lot more fun."
At this, Harry swallowed, and wondered just what he was about to be dragged into.
Author's Notes: I have this unfortunate problem of humanizing characters. It appears to be at random. This little chain of events, however, will prove more than a little important.
I really need to finish up the dating sub-plots
Review Response:
Grell... WTF? Lahal's reincarnation? Where the hell did that come from? That's not from left field, that's from the next state over.
