Sensing Magic
by Teddylonglong

Please refer to chapter 1 for my disclaimer and warnings. Thank you.

Later the same evening, when Harry was in bed with Lucy cuddled against his stomach, he suddenly heard that Minerva seemed to be visiting his parents. 'I'll ask her,' he resolved, his earlier conversation with Teddy still at the front of his mind. He carefully pushed Lucy aside and crept out of bed. Hovering in the doorframe, he asked in a soft voice.

"Minerva, do you think it will be possible to become an elf Animagus?"

The adults stared at him in apparent disbelief, before Minerva shook her head, seeming amused. "Harry, I have never heard of anyone becoming an elf Animagus, but I am certain that if anyone manages that transformation, it will be you."

"Harry, please do me one favour." Severus cast him a sharp look.

"What might that be?" Harry stared at his father in expectation.

"Please do not become a basilisk Animagus."

"I won't." Harry chuckled at the idea.

"I am looking forward to whatever Animagi forms you come up with." Minerva smiled in apparent amusement.

"Thank you. Good night." Contentedly, Harry returned to his bed, happily noticing that Lucy instantly cuddled close to him.

HP

One day, Narcissa Black kept Harry back after dinner in the Great Hall. "Harry, do you have a moment?"

"Sure." He cast her a questioning look.

Somehow, she seemed to be hesitating. "You know about my sister Bella."

Harry smiled. "Yes, I haven't met her, but Marvolo and my father have told me all about her."

"I'd like to meet her, but I don't know if it would be possible to invite her here to Hogwarts? I mean…" Harry cast her an encouraging look, and she continued, "… what if she meets the Longbottoms, for example, or Regina?"

"If she is as remorseful as Marvolo and Dad described her, she will want to meet the Longbottoms to apologize to them, even if it wasn't her fault at all." He remained pensive for a moment, seeing Narcissa's questioning look. "Do you want me to speak with them about it? Ask if they're ready to talk to her?"

Narcissa nodded in apparent gratefulness.

"If they aren't, your sister could simply use the fireplace."

"No." Narcissa shook her head. "The fireplace in my room is only connected to the internal Floo network."

Harry sighed. "Dumbledore," he groaned, causing Narcissa to smirk in apparent amusement. "I could either change your fireplace to accept calls from external destinations, which perhaps might not advisable considering who your husband is, or your sister could come to our quarters and from there use the internal Floo… Oh no," he interrupted himself. "She won't be able to use the internal Floo network. Why don't you go and meet her at Sirius' place or somewhere at Hogsmeade?"

"Maybe that would be for the best, although I wouldn't want to accidentally meet Lucius at Hogsmeade and I'd like Draco to meet her, too. She's his aunt after all. I know that Lucius is supposed to be at St. Mungo's and from there to go straight to Azkaban, but he is so slippery that you can never be sure with him."

Harry nodded in understanding. "Let me speak with my parents and perhaps even with the Longbottoms about it. You could all meet at our rooms, but before I can let her near my family, I must be one hundred percent sure that she won't harm my adoptive mother and my brother. Please give me some time to arrange something."

HP

Late the same evening, after his Potions studies with the twins and Animagus practice with Regina, Hermione, Teddy and the twins, he spoke with his parents about Bellatrix.

"Harry, I don't have any problems with her. When I met her the other day, she seemed more lucid that I've ever known her since our days at Hogwarts. However, I believe that the decision if we're ready to meet her lies with your mother. Even if she has never met her, in a way, she has the closest family connections to her, and if Bella wanted to harm any of us, it might be your mother."

Regina shook her head. "Perhaps, she can swear us a witch's oath to not harm us and our family. I don't hold any grudges towards her. I had long been kicked out of the family, before she even married into it. If she doesn't hold any towards me, I am fully all right meeting her."

"May I go to Sirius' place and talk with her right away?"

"No." Apparently noticing Harry's frown, Severus explained. "It is long beyond curfew, and you need your sleep. Apart from that, it's not your duty to mend other people's family connections."

"I know, but I think Narcissa asked me as the owner of Hogwarts, so I really want to help her. She's Draco's mother after all, and Draco is my friend…" He slowly trailed off.

"Harry, you're a very kind, young man, and I am really proud of you being my son." Regina smiled. "Still, you should go to bed now. The day after tomorrow is Saturday, and then it'll be soon enough to talk to Bellatrix."

Harry grudgingly agreed and roused a very sleepy Lucy, before they both went to bed.

HP

On Saturday morning right after breakfast, Harry stepped through the fireplace to Sirius' house, hoping that his godfather would be at home. To his relief, he realised that Sirius, Amelia, Bellatrix and little Lily were just having breakfast in the kitchen, when he arrived.

"Hello Amelia, hello Sirius, hello…"

"Bellatrix," the other witch replied on his questioning look.

"Hello Beatrix." Harry smiled. "I am Harry Prince. Nice to meet you. And hello to you, too, my dear Lily."

The little girl cheered, banging a spoon against the table in apparent delight.

"Harry!" Sirius cast him a broad grin. "Have they kicked you out of Hogwarts?"

Rolling his eyes at his godfather, Harry shook his head. "No. In fact, I didn't even ask for permission to leave Hogwarts, as I don't have a head of house. I simply asked my parents, and they said it was all right to visit you."

"Ah, where's the fun with asking permission?" Sirius grinned.

Harry once again rolled his eyes. "In fact, dear Godfather, I didn't even come to speak with you, but with Bellatrix…" He looked at Bellatrix, who seemed to listen to their slight banter in apparent amusement. "… and with Lily of course," he added, as he stepped around the table to give the baby a peck on the forehead.

The little girl immediately reached out for him, and seeing Amelia nod her agreement, he gently took her out of her high chair and sat next to Bellatrix with the little girl on his lap.

"Harry, would you like something to eat or drink?" Amelia offered.

"No, thank you. I attended breakfast in the Great Hall, before I came here." Turning to Bellatrix, he told her about Regina as well as his conversation with her sister and his parents, barely noticing that Amelia and Sirius left the room to give them some space, only leaving Lily with him.

A sad smile crossed Bellatrix' face. "My life is very much ruined, but I don't hold any grudges against your adoptive mother. I am happy for her that she was able to find back into the magical world. In fact, I never knew that Rabastan and Rodolphus even had a sister. I can understand that Regina kicked us all out of the family after what we did. She couldn't know that I was under the Imperius curse. I was lucky anyway, because Sirius as the head of House Black was so kind to dissolve my marriage with Rabastan, who is really evil, and added me back into the Black family."

"Would you be willing to swear a witch's oath to not harm my adoptive family?"

"I will." She pulled her wand, and Harry was not surprised that she already was in possession of a new wand. In fact, he had not expected anything else. "I swear on my magic to not harm Harry Prince and his adoptive family." Putting her wand away, she added, "I am ready. Can we go right away?"

Harry chuckled at her obvious excitement. "Yes. Let me just return this young lady to her parents, and then we can be on our way."

tbc...

Thank you so very much for the kind reviews for the previous chapter.