A/N: This is very late...and I was planning on working on it for a few more weeks to give you all a large update, but I think in light of everything going on, we could all use an escape.
I hope this gives you a small one, if any at all. I may go back and do some surface edits later, but for now please excuse any spelling or grammar errors.
Also, I have a question for you all: I am in need of a creative outlet but that won't take up too much time in one go. So, would anyone be interested in sending me HP prompts and I will write you a 500-2,000 word one-shot?
If so, please comment (and message me your prompts)!
I'll put more details in the end notes, so please make sure to read those first!
Bellatrix was a ghost of herself. Pale and quiet, drifting along aimlessly and unsure. She said very little, and sometimes Sirius wondered if Dementors would have been kinder to her than her ex-husband had. She seemed to only come alive at night, and even then, it was only with keening wails and sobs that echoed throughout the house. She did not realize her silencing charms were failing. The Family Magic prevented them, and pushed and pulled at each adult member of the house until someone attended to her.
She was slowly coming back though. Sirius, his grandfather, and his parents were all in agreement that they should give her enough time to grieve and process all she had been through. In time, they would press for more and more from her. But until then, they would just support her as quietly as she needed.
Sirius was, in his own right, not mentally healthy. Sometimes his cousin's haunting screams mingled with the screams of James and Lily in his head and nothing could drown them out. On more than one occasion he would move from his bedroom down to the family parlor and just sit by the fire in quiet contemplation. All of his mistakes and regrets and guilt would rear up. Even the soothing calm of the Family Magic, which was strongest in the family room, was not enough to overcome the wave of awful.
A few weeks after Bella's return to the family, she started to join Sirius in the family room at night. More often than not, neither would speak. Side by side, the cousins would sit and stare into the flames until the sun rose. The room would feel heavier under the weight of both shadow-filled minds, but the warmth from sitting so close would take the chill out of their bones.
—
"Regulus is dead."
"Yes."
"Andromeda all but to this family."
"Yes."
"And some days I don't know if I'm a ghost or not."
"...Yes."
"Sirius, what's happened to us all?"
"I couldn't tell you, Bella."
"Even our cousins James and Frank, and Lily and Alice and Lily. Dead or all but." Her voice cracked as as asked again, "What's happening?"
"I couldn't tell you." He could only repeat in a whisper.
—
Narcissa had not been happy about the decision for Bella to remain at Grimmauld Place. But, she understood that Malfoy Manor would offer her sister no comfort or healing, outside of her own presence, when compared to the family house.
It would have been better still for them all to relocate to Black Manor, and while that was still in consideration, for now fewer changes to Bella's environment were better.
Harry was quite taken with his new aunt. His usual childish exuberance was curiously tamed when near her. Children were often said to be quite receptive to the emotions of the adults around them, and Sirius's darling son was no exception. Where he used to sit by Walburga and read or play or draw, he now sat by Bella. Without complaint, he would let her gently run her hands through his curly mane of hair, over and over and over again. He never minded that she didn't speak, and that sometimes she would not even respond when he would try and show her a picture or toy. Occasionally, he would clamber up onto the sofa and try and brush through her equally messy and curly mane of hair. He would sing a nonsensical tune and clumsily try and put a blanket around her shoulders.
He was such a sweet boy.
At the two-month mark, the floo flared bright green before admitting Ladies Callidora and Augusta Longbottom. In Callidora's arms was a shy Neville, perfectly unharmed and quite generally content with his position. The women had, unbeknownst to Sirius, schemed with Walburga to have a playdate with Harry and a formal introduction with Bella.
Bellatrix was in the solarium. Aside from the family room, it was her favorite place to sit. The room was always bright with sunlight, even on rainy London days, and it also afforded her a great sense of protection and safety as it was fully enclosed. Another benefit to her was that one door opened into the magically expanded greenhouses, which she had taken to perusing every day.
As a child and continuing into her Hogwarts education, Bellatrix had fostered a great love of herbology and botany. Her knowledge of plants and flowers was unparalleled in their family, and it greatly amused many as it had always been assumed that Narcissa would possess the green thumb. In sharp contrast to her older sister, Narcissa had a reputation of killing nearly every plant in her immediate vicinity. Lucius had learned quite early into their courtship that real flowers were not a good gift to give her.
—
Bellatrix seemed to come alive only to vehemently protest meeting Neville. Her eyes wild and voice frantic, she tried to convince all in the room that the child would not be safe near her. She could still sometimes hear her ex-husband's voice whispering harshly in her ear to kill the child, although there was no pull on her magic to follow the order.
"Quiet child there is nothing about this that was your fault." Lady Longbottom was already thoroughly fed up with the mere suggestion that Bellatrix was somehow guilty for condition of her son and daughter in law. Neville was placed on the floor of the solarium where he took a moment to look around in wonder, before he spotted Bellatrix and bee lined to her. Lady Callidora explained how Neville had been asking for Bellatrix since the day of the incident.
—
Neville was now Bella's number one fan. He tottered after her and clutched at her skirts everywhere she went, but especially in the greenhouse. He chose her every time, despite Harry's long-suffering sighs and Draco's flat out refusal to go near dirt. The adults could only watch in amusement as Harry would huff and follow Neville, and Draco too acting as a sulky caboose. Bella would walk around more days than not with a train of children. Lady Callidora and Lady Augusta had asked House Black if they would let Neville stay with them during most days. They formidable women were dealing with the legal issues resulting from the attack on Frank and Alice, as well as visiting the St. Mungos and specialist healers all around the world. He spent enough time at Longbottom Manor to bask in the family magics, but he was much better off staying over at Grimmauld Place during the day.
Bellatrix's reluctance to be near Neville melted in no time. She spent hours upon hours softly explaining each and every plant in the greenhouse to an eager Neville. He didn't understand everything she said, but he was nonetheless utterly enraptured.
Harry could tolerate an hour or two in the greenhouse before he grew too bored. He liked helping, and he liked hearing about some of the especially cool looking plants, but otherwise he was much more interested in sitting with Orion and drawing or painting. Draco would walk around on tiptoes in the greenhouse, he refused to touch any plant that wasn't pretty and floral, and even then, it was for a lightning fast brush of a finger on a petal before he darted back out of the greenhouse. Draco preferred to play strategy games like Chess with Walburga, who also imparted a concerning amount of wisdom about how to gather information from unsuspecting people; or he liked to sit with Arcturus and Lucius as they worked and narrated what they were doing to him.
Between the tender care of her family—Narcissa especially hard pressed to leave her sister's side—and the adoration of the three small children, Bella's vivacity and liveliness renewed. She had always been willful and strong, overcoming any challenge or obstacle readily. No matter the torture she went through, and still refused to speak about, she was determined to be happy and healthy again.
I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Thank you to everyone who left such comforting and supportive comments. And thank you to everyone who reads this!
Love you all! Even though I don't know you... I hope everyone is staying safe, sane, and healthy, and remembers that we will get through this eventually.
For the one-shot prompts:
1. No smut. I've never written it and don't think I really want to.
2. No reader insert
3. Limited OCs-by this I mean I would be willing to do a "Harry has a sister" type of OC, but not one that requires their own family and complete backstory, if that makes sense. In other words, OC can be related to a preexisting HP character only.
4. The prompts can be any level of detailed or broad. If you want something more specific, I'll try my best. But keep in mind my own style might be limiting. I also don't mind very general prompts if you just want to see what you might get.
5. No limit on number of prompts, but I can't promise I'll get to every single one if there are lots at a time.
6. Timing: I also can't promise any particular deadline for them at this point because I am a graduate student and my work fluctuates a lot.