"Wait you what?"
"I am your Godmother."
"Not possible. Nope. You are a psychotic murderer. My parents wouldn't do that."
"Then explain how Sirius Black is your Godfather."
"He didn't do it. Arthur told me."
"So, you believe that Sirius Black, mass murderer, betrayer of all Potters, is innocent from another person speculating he is. Yet, I am here, sitting with you in Black Manor, telling you both he and I are innocent, and that is too much?"
"Yes. People have watched you cut people into bits."
Bellatrix sighed, stood and walked to the window looking out at the lake on the property. "There is one way I know how to show you that it wasn't me, but neither of us are ready for that. So, you can either trust me for now and let me help you, or you can hate me and leave."
Harry sat in a dimly lit room, only the fireplace in front of him to light it. The overly large chair he sat in was comfortable, soft and easy to relax in. In any other situation, he might. "How is it you can help me?"
She turned, the wild look in her eyes apparent, "I can get you books on how to properly use that giant wooden stick."
Harry raised a brow so she continued.
"I know a guy who knows a guy who collects works from the past. I can help you get in contact with him."
"And what do you want from me?"
"Nothing. I will live here, you, of course, can stay. Oh, there is one thing."
"Yes?" Harry knew there was a catch.
"My name is Bellatrix Black."
Silence reigned in the Weasley house. It was weeks before school started, books had been collected, wardrobes updated, everyone should have been excited. Yet, everyone sat in the living room in silence. Harry had been gone for almost a month. They were starting to believe he was dead.
An owl flew in through the kitchen window, a specialty owl from Gringotts. In its claws was an invitation for every member of the Weasley family (Petunia included) to come to the bank before being requested at a hearing at the Ministry of Magic.
The whole family attended to the bank, they walked through the massive doors and were escorted by a series of fully armored and very scary Goblins. They were led into a massive meeting room, runes glowing all the way around.
"Protection Wards, keeps spells from being cast." The voice came from behind the turned chair at the end of the table.
"Harry?"
The chair turned to show the smiling face of the now 11-year-old boy. "One and only." Everyone ran and hugged the boy. Questions raised from all of the Weasley's, bombarding the boy. "Hold on, hold on." Slowly, everyone backed off. "Now, the reason for the Wards. Bella."
The door behind the chair opened. Wands, one after another raised and pointed at the woman who walked in. "What is she doing here?" Molly spoke venom in her voice.
"She is here at my request." This came from Axeblade, who entered at the same time through the opposite door. "Miss Black, welcome back to our bank. A pleasure as always. Ronald, pleasure, I have yet to thank you for your hard work in the mines. The rest of the Weasley's, welcome. It seems we have much to discuss."
Bella sat on Harry's right, nodding to the others as they chose to sit on the opposite side of the table.
"Harold, perhaps you can start us off. You are, after all, the one who brought this to our attention."
Harry sat back and nodded, gently tapping his Staff on the floor. "I, Harold James Potter, swear on my Magic that what I am about to say is the truth. As heir to the Black family and as Lord Potter I swear on Bellatrix Jane Black's life that should anything I say be falsified by her to me, she should be drained of Magic and her very soul taken from her.
"Bella is my Godmother. It has been a mystery since I was born who my Godmother was, no one outside my family knew. Bellatrix was a double agent for my parents directly. When she was compromised, an imposter committed atrocities under her name. She never killed until the end of the war, after she was supposedly married to Rudolfus Lestrange. Neither of which were her."
Once again, silence swallowed the Weasley family. Both Harry and Bella still sat in perfect health in front of them, showing the truth of it.
"And thus the purpose of our meeting. Arthur, I know you have been investigating Sirius Black." Axeblade brought the attention to him. "I would like you to help us with both Blacks. Free the family from its terrors."
Arthur looked at his wife before she spoke. "Bellatrix Lestrange killed my brothers. Yet, you sit here and tell me she never existed, never killed."
"Someone existed under that name Mum, just not Bella."
Molly nodded to her husband, albeit reluctantly, who in turn nodded to the Goblin, agreeing to do what he could.
"Miss Black, would you be willing to testify under Vertiserum in front of the Wizgamont?"
Bella nodded, knowing that she just might be able to be free again if she was successful in this venture.
Soon, the adults in the room began talking amongst themselves and Axeblade let the children leave. Harry promised Bella he would come visit, though he needed to go home now.
Harry left with the rest of the family who were bombarding him with questions about where he was and what he had been doing. He simply told them that he wanted to stop at Ollivander's before they left and that he would explain when they got home. The group found themselves shocked at the conversation had at Ollivander's.
"Mr. Ollivander?"
"Harry? You are finally back? About time too. Ginny hasn't been in in weeks. I have been dreadfully bored of course without all the excitement you produce here."
"Well, what can I say? Being kidnapped gave me an escape from the dust in this place. Mr. Ollivander, I need a favor."
"What is it?"
"I need you to identify this Wand." Harry handed him the Wand Bella brought with her.
"12 and ¾ inches, Walnut with Dragon heartstring. This belonged to someone known to the world as Bellatrix Lestrange, though I know him better as Peter Pettigrew."
"Peter Pettigrew?"
"Yes, old friend of your fathers, came in under guise of Bellatrix, and purchased that Wand. I thought, when I sold it, that it was to help blend into the Death Eater ranks as one of them. Told me he had caught her but broken her wand in the process. After he left, I saw all the destruction that the person supposedly named Bellatrix Lestrange was causing. I tried to tell them, after her arrest, that I didn't think the young girl I met all those years ago could do something like this in a fight against her best friend, Lily Potter."
Harry nodded in silence at the news. He thanked Ollivander and left the store, heading to the Cauldron to take the Floo back to the Burrow.
Harry had gathered everyone in the family in the Barn and gave them their promised rundown of what happened.
Flashback
A week after Harry was kidnapped, he and Bella had talked a bit about why she was in the ranks of the Death Eaters.
"Your parents recruited me, fresh from school. We were classmates, we knew of each other but they were Gryffindor, I was Slytherin. They figured out which of us didn't truly believe the Dark Lord's plans, no matter what our parents said. Helped, I guess, that they had Sirius helping them. He knew how I felt and got me set up with the Potters.
"I was in the ranks for nearly a year when I was discovered to be a spy. I was turned over to Voldemort and sentenced to a long term of imprisonment, not as bad as Azkaban, but bad. No one other than your parents knew I was on the side of the light. It was my interference that saved them so many times before, along with the Longbottoms, though of course they had no idea. I was tortured, framed and, had he won the war, would have turned into a martyr. Then, I escaped, picked a bad time to do it to, the Dark Lord fell, by your hand, and every Death Eater was standing trail. I was among the first to get picked up, sentenced to a life term in Azkaban. I pled my part but failed to get anywhere in the courts."
"So, instead of being a murderer, you are just unlucky?"
"Indeed. Though I guess that is changing."
Harry developed a thoughtful look. "How did you escape Azkaban? I have heard it isn't possible."
"With enough Will, anything is possible. That is the glory of magic. As for how I escaped, I am not sure. One night I was sharing a cell with dear old cousin Sirius, next I was in some boat in the middle of the ocean, some muggle freight thing. They told me I was a drift on some wood and they had picked me up."
"Is that supposed to make me believe you?"
"It is simply the truth, nothing more, nothing less."
The two walked into the kitchens of the old manor, a being called a House Elf had shown up with food the first night they were there, something called Kreacher. Harry pulled many things he had requested from the shelves. Slowly, in silence he mixed dough in a bowl and set it over the preheated oven to rise.
"So, this book you are getting, how do you know of it?"
"Ancient things are seldom lost, just temporarily misplaced. My friend finds these things. It stands to reason that since once upon a time all mages used Staves they would have written how to use them as we have with Wands. It sounds as though he has one, I am going to get it today after we eat. Speaking of, what is it you are making?"
They had already discussed his past and the circumstances around his current predicament. "A muggle food you will probably like, pizza."
"Ah, pizza, I have had that before in a meeting with your parents. It was delicious."
Harry shook his head and checked the dough.
"What were they like?
"Your parents? Lily was the kindest person I have ever met. Your father… Well in school he was a bully, picked on a man named Severus Snape, that was his favorite target because he was in love with Lily. My cousin and the rest of his friends were all pranksters, though this was often a step to far for Remus and Peter, Sirius and James were nearly brothers, and as such, if James had a target, so did Sirius. After school, your father became an Auror alongside Sirius, both were well accomplished. James had calmed down in the end, made right with most people. But never with Severus."
Harry gave a downcast look. His father was like his cousin, picked on the weak. It left a bad taste in his mouth. Silently he vowed to never be like that, he hated his childhood because of his cousin, why would he treat others like that?
Harry moved over in thought and started spreading the dough, exactly how he had learned under his Uncle's 'tutelage' (read belt) and tossed it in the oven, letting it rise more before he dressed it. He turned to Bellatrix and looked her over. While she looked better than she did that first day, she was still pale, still fragile. Though he wasn't sure why he felt bad for her. He didn't quite buy her story but, how could he refute the fact she wasn't all bad if she had taken him in and was offering to help him learn?
They talked a little more over different things, letting each get to know the other. The next couple of days passed with Harry studying the large book Bella got for him. Friday morning Harry was sitting in the Black Manor library at the center of the large house. He usually at outside, though it was raining. Suddenly, Harry heard Bella speak.
"Petrificus Totalus."
His body snapped together like he was a wooden board. The woman stood over him now that he was on the floor and summoned her House Elf. Harry was lifted from the floor and floated through the house. He found himself in a round room he had never been in before.
"Enervate."
Breath seemed into him like a waterfall off a cliff. He sat straight up and summoned his Staff, the first thing he learned from the book was that he could call it from anywhere, even through most Wards.
"And to think, I was just starting to trust you Bella."
"Bah, Constant Vigilance. Never let your guard down silly little boy."
And with that spells began to fly from Bella's Wand. Like colors of a rainbow they lit up the room. Harry dodged each as they raced towards him.
"Fight Potter. Or have you learned nothing from that book of yours?"
Mores spells flew. Harry was trying to remember just how to perform a shield when he saw a particularly nasty looking silver curse whizz by his head. He realized then that the Duelist of her time was missing him on purpose. This wasn't a threat, it was a test, to see if he had learned anything from his reading. A grin formed on his face as he spoke the shield spell.
"Protego." He tapped his wand on the ground, a shimmer appearing at the tip, magic pouring from it forming a solid barrier as he dragged it across in front of him. Two red spells and a blue one smashed against the shield all at once and a small crack formed. Harry began to sweat. He twirled his Staff's end in a small circle.
"Stupify."
A beam of red came from the crystal and knocked Bella off her feet, flinging her across the room.
And with that the duel was over.
"Ow…" Bella sat up holding her lower ribs where the spell hit her, a bruise visible through her torn chest plate. "Now we have to teach you not to kill with a stunner. Thankfully, this room is Warded to stop even the Killing Curse from doing such. Sparks flew from a few of the symbols on the walls. Bella stood and walked over to them as Harry approached her. "Nevermind about the Warding, seems you overpowered even those. Gonna have to get this fixed."
"Why exactly did you do that?"
Bella conjured two chairs and sat down. "Harry, you are going to be a huge target at school. You need to be prepared for anything."
"Why would I be a target?"
"Because you are the Boy-Who-Lived, defeater of the Dark Lord Voldemort. Not all his followers are in Azkaban. And many of them have children your age. On top of that, you over power nearly every Wizard on the planet. That alone will make you a target, people crave power, naturally, and they will do many things to get it."