Magical Miracle
by Teddylonglong

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


During the summer holidays, Bella intensely practised the Animagus transformation and also – unbeknownst to their parents and their younger sister – taught Andromeda, who wanted to become the same species of small dragon as her adored big sister. It was just a fortnight before the end of the holidays that the older girl finally managed the complete transformation, and in a letter that was laced with pure excitement, Antonia informed her that she had also managed the transformation into a winged horse. She also told her that her sister Laurentia had become the head girl.

"Laurentia is really nice and in spite of being in Slytherin not one of these pure blood fanatics," Bella said in appreciation.

Andromeda chuckled. "Like Father and Mother, you mean."

Bella nodded, grimly. "She'll make a good head girl in any case. I wonder who is going to be head boy."

"As you're going to be a third-year, you'll be allowed to go to Hogsmeade," Andromeda changed the topic.

"Yes, I can't wait to be able to go to the village with my friends," Bella replied in anticipation.

'The only problem is that while I'd love to go with Arthur alone for a while, Molly will always be with us,' she thought.

"What?" she asked, noticing from the sudden silence that Drommie had to have asked her something.

"I asked if you'll bring me something from Honeydukes?" Andromeda repeated her earlier question.

"Of course," Bella promised, absentmindedly, her mind already returning to the Hogsmeade visits. 'I could make the twins play a prank, so that Molly will have to supervise them. The problem is that if I make them prank others, they will simply be grounded and not allowed to go to Hogsmeade,' Bella mused. 'I could either make them prank Molly directly, so that she'll be incapacitated, or have them do something that will cause their parents to make Molly accompany them. The question is how to achieve that? After all, they're at Hogwarts.'

Later on, when she was alone in bed, she slowly began to make a plan. 'Fabian and Gideon always complain about having to de-gnome the garden during the summer holidays,' she recalled. 'Perhaps, I could go and cast a spell at the gnomes. I'll have to spend some time in the library to look for an appropriate spell or charm.' With that happy thought, she drifted off to sleep.

To her relief, after an hour of searching the Black library, she found what she assumed was just the spell she needed. 'All right, I know where they're living,' she thought, recalling that the twins had often talked about their home. 'I'll just have to continue practising puffing myself,' she resolved.

During the rest of the day, she practised flying and puffing, feeling only slightly annoyed at the bit of black smoke it caused, and in the evening, she felt confident enough to pull through with her plan.

Shortly before heading to bed, she informed Andromeda about her intention, just in case someone noticed her absence from her room during the night. "I'll only be away for about twenty minutes or so," she assured her sister.

"Oh Merlin, you have nerves," Andromeda replied in apparent amazement. "If they catch you, you're going to be grounded for a year."

"Not when I'm at Hogwarts," Bella contradicted, grinning broadly.

"You know that you're not allowed to do magic outside of the Black House though?" Andromeda warned her, giving her a questioning look.

"Yes, I know, I've taken one of our great grandparents' wands that Father keeps in his office," Bella reassured her.

"Does it work for you?" Her sister stared at her, wide-eyed in apparent surprise.

"Of course. It works just fine," Bella replied, smirking. "I've tried all of them ages ago, but this is the one that works best for me. All right now, good night, Drommie."

"Night Bella, and please be careful," the eleven-year-old replied, giving her a look of utmost concern.

However, everything went well. Bella puffed herself right in front of Prewett Manor and, remaining in her Animagus form, turned herself invisible and walked around the house to a spot that allowed her a clear sight into the garden. Standing in the darkness of a few trees, she transformed back into her human form and successively cast the three spells that she had researched. Contentedly pocketing her great grandmother's wand, she transformed back into her dragon form and puffed herself back right into her own room.

'That went well,' she thought, as she scrambled back into bed. 'I just hope that it'll work and that it'll have the desired effect. Too bad that I can't witness anything.'

HP

Molly Prewett inwardly groaned in annoyance. 'Why do they always have to invite important people such as the Minister of Magic? Why can't they simply invite the parents of our friends, such as, for example, the Weasleys?' she wondered, when she got ready for dinner. On this evening, the Minister of Magic, Nobby Leach, who was the first muggleborn Minister of Magic in Britain, was going to visit together with his wife and his daughter Melissa. Minister Leach and his wife Lorena had attended Hogwarts together with her parents and were said to have been friends since the time of their Sorting. 'Melissa is going to be a first-year, just like Bellatrix' sister Andromeda,' she thought, as she pulled up her hair to a pony-tail. 'It would be nice if we could meet with Bellatrix some time during the holidays, although from what she told us about her family, her parents must be awfully bigoted and not really nice.'

Somehow, she could not help looking forward to the beginning of the new school year. 'In a year's time, we're going to be fifth-years,' she thought. 'I wonder who is going to be the prefects.'

"Molly, Fabian, Gideon, are you coming?" she heard her mother shout for her and her brothers and quickly making her way downstairs, giving her brothers' door a sharp knock as she went.

Earlier, she had helped her mother prepare everything for dinner in the parlour, where large windows allowed the view into the garden. After greeting their guests, she instructed her twin brothers to sit on Melissa's other side, while she took the spot on the girl's left side.

The Minister of Magic was a pleasant man, although Molly's attention was mostly drawn to his daughter Melissa, who bombarded the twins and her with questions about Hogwarts.

She only looked up, when her mother suddenly let out a huge gasp, diverting everyone's attention to the garden. At least a dozen garden gnomes were loudly singing and dancing on the table to their own song's rhythm.

"Fabian! Gideon!" her mother suddenly roared. "What have you done now?"

"We?!" the twins replied, looking absolutely innocent.

Molly shook her head in annoyance. "My brothers are the worst pranksters you can imagine," she informed Melissa. "For the last two years, they've been holding the record of the most detentions at Hogwarts."

"That's not true…"

"… and this time,…"

"… we didn't do anything," the twins replied, sounding too sincere for Molly to believe them.

"Fabian and Gideon," their mother decided in a very upset tone, while their father was repeatedly apologizing to the minister and his wife, "you won't be allowed to go to Hogsmeade during your third-year."

"Oh well…"

"… that'll give us plenty of opportunity…"

"… to run amok at Hogwarts," the twins had the gall to reply, causing the minister and his wife to laugh.

"Ah, don't be so strict," Leach spoke up, smiling at the thirteen-year-olds. "Our Hogsmeade visits belong my best memories of Hogwarts. They should be allowed to go. They're nice boys, and the display of the garden gnomes is highly amusing."

"A well-done prank I'd say," his wife added, smiling.

"Please let them go, or I won't hear the end of it," Molly moaned.

"Only if you supervise them," her mother decided, causing the twins to let out a double snort and Molly to inwardly groan. 'Why did I ever speak up for them?' she thought, reproachfully.

HP

Bella could not wait for school to begin. First of all, she was looking forward to having Andromeda at Hogwarts with her, secondly, she was eager to attend Care of Magical Creatures and Ancient Runes classes, and thirdly, she wanted to go to Hogsmeade together with her friends. 'Hopefully, my prank worked,' she thought, as she advised her sister what to pack and what to better leave at home.

As the Blacks arrived at the station extremely early due to Bella's and Andromeda's impatience, they could choose a compartment for themselves. Soon, however, they were joined by Rita, Antonia, Arthur, Edgar as well as Amelia and Julia.

Shortly after the train left the platform, Molly struck her head into the door. "Sorry dears, I must supervise my most annoying brothers again," she told them, sounding extremely annoyed.

"We'll see you later then," Bella was the first to respond in a soft voice.

"I won't be able to stay long either," Amelia spoke up, "as I'll need to go to the prefects' carriage."

"You're a prefect?" Bella blurted out in delight. "That's amazing. Congratulations."

Everyone else added their congratulations, causing Amelia to smile. "Thank you, dears. Tell me though, did you make any progress in the Animagus transformation?"

"Bella and Antonia managed the transformation," Andromeda blurted out, causing Bella to glare at her.

'My name is Bellatrix to everyone else,' she muttered to herself, ignoring the others fawn about her. Only when Arthur directly addressed her and asked, "Will you show us, please?" she nodded, smiling, and swiftly transformed.

"You're beautiful," Rita blurted out in apparent amazement.

=Thank you,= Bella replied, not caring that no one was able to comprehend her words.

"Where do you think you're going to be sorted?" Arthur asked Andromeda, who let out a deep sigh.

"I don't know where the Hat is going to sort me, plus I don't even know where I'd like to be sorted," she replied, smiling at the older boy.

"Oh well, I can recommend Gryffindor, Bellatrix would surely be happy if you were sorted into Slytherin, and Hufflepuff has a brilliant new fifth-year prefect," Arthur informed her. "Ravenclaw won't be too bad either though."

Everyone laughed.

"Are your parents not expecting you to be sorted into Slytherin?" Rita enquired, giving Andromeda a sharp look.

The new first-year let out a deep sigh. "Yes, well, they expect it, but they're not as obsessed with me as with Bellatrix," she admitted. "They haven't even made a betrothal contract for me with one of the darkest families there are," she added, smiling, causing Bella to roll her eyes in annoyance.

"I might decide on Slytherin to keep Bella company though," she quipped, although Bella had the impression as if she meant it.

"You don't have to, you know," she said in a soft voice, smiling at her favourite sister.

She should realise soon that Andromeda meant what she said, when the Hat shouted into the Great Hall, "Slytherin."

Glad that she had chosen the seat right next to the spots that were kept empty for the first-years, Bella smiled broadly, when Andromeda lowered herself into the seat next to her.

"I'm very happy to have you here," she whispered, giving her sister a quick hug.

"Me too," Andromeda whispered back, smiling.

HP

If Bella had wondered if she would have to spend every evening in the Slytherin common room to keep Andromeda company, she was completely mistaken. After dinner on the first day of classes, her sister followed her to the library and even brought her roommate Lisa as well as Edward and Brian, two Gryffindor classmates, with her.

The four first-years made themselves comfortable at the table next to the group of third and fourth-year friends, as if it was the natural thing for Slytherins and Gryffindors to study together.

No one noticed the headmaster quietly enter the library only to leave again after a few minutes. However, at breakfast the following morning, Professor Dumbledore rose from his chair and announced, "One hundred points each to Gryffindor and Slytherin for overcoming the house rivalry."

HP

Stuart Craggy, one of Bella's classmates, was Slytherin's new captain. However, instead of doing tryouts, he simply took the Keeper position that Jody had vacated and otherwise left the team as it was.

"You won every match for Slytherin. That does not leave anything to desire," he informed the members. "Therefore, I'd rather not make any changes, provided that you're all still willing to play on the team."

Naturally, everyone agreed, and Bella inwardly sighed in relief, when the new captain instructed the members to not play overly foul.

'Well said,' she thought, 'even if I don't believe that the morons will listen to him.'

HP

One Friday evening at the end of September, the headmaster announced that on Saturday, the first Hogsmeade day of the school year was going to take place – much to the students' excitement.

"I won't be able to go to Hogsmeade with you," Molly informed them, when they were sitting in the library under a silencing spell. "My mother instructed me to supervise the twins during their Hogsmeade visits." The redhead was wearing an expression of absolute annoyance.

"What?" Bella asked, feigning innocence.

Rita and Antonia, however, managed to top her surprise.

"What?" Antonia blurted out. "Why in the world did Fabian ask me out then?"

"He did what?" Molly all but growled, shaking her head in apparent annoyance.

"And why might that be?" Edgar added with apparent curiosity.

Molly let out a deep sigh. "These twins do nothing but nonsense; they even had the gall to make the garden gnomes dance naked on the table, when the Minister of Magic was visiting," she explained in obvious annoyance. "Anyway, I'll have to supervise them. My mother even made sure to inform Professor McGonagall about her instruction."

'That went well,' Bella thought in amusement.

"We could still meet all together at the Three Broomsticks for lunch," Edgar suggested. Seeing that everyone agreed, he cleared his throat before turning to his sister's friend Julia.

"Julia, will you accompany me to Hogsmeade tomorrow morning?" he enquired, smiling at the older girl.

"I'd love to," Julia replied, glancing at Amelia, who merely shrugged, smiling at her younger brother and her best friend.

While Arthur did not voice his question, he gave Bella a questioning look, and the girl nodded in silent response, feeling extremely happy.

HP

In the morning, the whole group of friends including the Prewett twins, however, minus Amelia, who accompanied a group of fifth-year girls, walked to Hogsmeade together. When they arrived in the village and Edgar and Julia separated from the group, Arthur and Bella did the same. From the corners of her eyes, Bella observed how Antonia paired up with Fabian and Rita with Gideon, while Molly trailed behind her brothers and their company. She could not help inwardly chuckling.

As it was Bella's first Hogsmeade visit apart from a couple of family excursions together with her mother and her two sisters, Bella asked Arthur to show her all the interesting spots. The redhead complied, seeming as happy as Bella was.

They spent some time in the bookshop, and Bella was delighted that Arthur seemed to share her interest in magical creatures.

"Bella," Arthur spoke up, seemingly hesitant, when they left the bookshop with a pocket full of shrunken books. "Can we perhaps spend some time in our Animagi forms? I'd really like to try out my form for a bit, but I don't really have the opportunity at Hogwarts."

"Of course," Bella replied, grinning broadly. "I'd love that."

They quickly left the main street, and out of the sight of people, they swiftly transformed into the miniature dragon forms.

=I really like your colour,= Bella said, honestly admiring Arthur's purple form.

=You could change yours into the same if you wanted,= he replied, apparently recalling that she was able to choose her colour while he could not.

Bella stared at him for a moment, before she adjusted her colour to reflect Arthur's.

=Still, it might be better if we turned invisible, before anyone calls the Aurors to get rid of two dragons roaming the village,= Arthur then said, unconsciously puffing a bit of black smoke, before he vanished from the sight.

=I wonder if there's a way for us to at least see each other,= Bella commented, before she, too, turned invisible – only to realise that Arthur came back into view.

They turned visible and invisible again a couple of times, only to realise that if they were both invisible, they could see each other. Happy with that realisation, they began to roam the side streets of the village, far from the crowded main street. Nevertheless, they discovered one or the other interesting looking shop and transformed back into their human forms to explore something a couple of times.

Bella thoroughly enjoyed herself and, from Arthur's attitude, she knew that he was very happy, too. Only at lunchtime, they returned to the main street in their human forms to meet with their friends at The Three Broomsticks.

HP

The pub had already come into view, when Bella suddenly felt being kept back by an invisible force, before the world in front of her eyes turned black.

tbc...?

Thanks to the few kind readers for reviewing the previous chapter. Please share your thoughts about this story with me.