Reviews:
.5: Tonks will be like an older sister for Harry.
Radgyson: The pairing for Harry is Daphne Greengrass and an OC character.
SevenSpirits: Glad you're back, I had updated Silver King a few months before. As for those stories, I haven't read any of those stories.
Chapter 3:
"Aw look at him, he's looking so handsome." Bellatrix cooed as she adjusted Harry's clothes.
Harry blushed at her praise and mumbled out a 'thank you' as he looked down at the floor, feeling embarrassed as he still was not used to such praise. He had only been in Bellatrix's house for a day, and it had already been the best day of his life.
Not only did she feed him and treat him better than Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon ever did, but he had gotten an entire bedroom to himself! The room was even bigger than Dudley's room! It had a cupboard for him to keep him clothes, though he didn't have many of those, and a desk for him, even though he didn't really have any homework either. He also had a large bed that might have been even bigger than Uncle Vernon's. The colours of the walls and floor were black, but everything else was decorated in green and silver. Apparently, the room used to belong to Bellatrix's favourite cousin.
After staying the night Harry had been woken up by Kreacher who had informed him that it was time to eat breakfast, Harry had been reluctant to get out of the comfy bed but forced himself to do so as he didn't want to upset Bellatrix. He had climbed out of the bed and headed down to the kitchen where Bellatrix had greeted him with another one of those lovely hugs of hers.
"What do you want me to make you for breakfast?" Harry asked her, she looked at him like he had said something incredibly funny.
"Silly boy, you don't make breakfast," She said in an amused voice. "That's Kreacher's job, you just come and eat."
Then to Harry's amazement, he ended up eating breakfast while somebody else had made it, the best part was that the food was delicious, and he had told Kreacher as much. The elf had smiled at Harry and complimented him several times before he walked off, leaving Harry to enjoy his breakfast until it was time for him to get ready. Bellatrix had sent him upstairs to get changed into the clothes that Kreacher had left on his bed.
When Harry had come down whilst wearing his white-shirted, black suit, he had looked quite ridiculous in his opinion since he didn't really know how to put a suit on. His tie was most definitely not tied the same way he had seen Uncle Vernon do it and he hadn't tucked his shirt in and somehow ended up with his leg sleeves being tucked into his socks, not to mention that he had no idea how to tie his shoes. But Bellatrix had barely given a single thought about his inability to put on a suit and had simply flicked her wand at him, causing his clothes to quickly put themselves right. Harry was barely able to blink before his tie was now properly around his neck, his shirt was tucked in, and his trousers were freed from his socks. A second later Bellatrix was kneeling in front of him and hitting him with compliment after compliment.
"Now," Bellatrix spoke. "When we get there, you stick to me at all times or Aunty Andi, okay?"
"Yes..." Harry spoke before pausing. "...um...yes, Mum." He added hesitantly and was rewarded with a beaming smile and another hug.
"Oh, you called me Mum!" Bellatrix said happily before pulling back and kissing his forehead. "Such a good boy," She managed to get out before the fire in the fireplace turned green and rose up, allowing Andromeda to enter.
"Ah, hello Harry," She smiled. "Do I have to rescue you from my mad sister?" She asked, causing Bellatrix to give her an annoyed look.
"No, thank you," Harry gave her a small laugh.
"Now, Harry," Bellatrix spoke up. "When we get there, we're going to have a little meeting to decide who gets to become your mommy,"
"Can...can I have you?" Harry asked hopefully, his one day with Bellatrix was already the best day of his life.
"Tell the other people there that then maybe," Andromeda answered on behalf of a smiling Bellatrix. "Now, we should warn you Harry that not a lot of people will like the idea of Bellatrix looking after you."
"Why?" Harry frowned.
"Well, a long time ago a group of bad wizards would make Bellatrix do bad things," Andromeda said slowly, choosing her words carefully. "Now, because of that, people think that Bellatrix is bad."
"But she's not, she's really nice," Harry argued.
"Yes, we know that, but they don't," Andromeda explained patiently.
"Oh," Harry's brow furrowed as he thought about what she said, after several seconds he turned back to Bellatrix. "I think you're nice." He told her, hoping it would make her feel better.
"And I think you're adorable and precious," Bellatrix ruffled his hair. "Now, let's go my little Prince."
Albus Dumbledore, arguably the most influential and powerful wizard of all time, was not having a good day, not at all.
It had all started when he had returned from a meeting with the school board, one that involved a lot of unnecessary arguing, as soon as he had gotten into his office, he had heard one of his various monitoring devices start to go crazy. The device, which seemingly only had the purpose of shining a small and barely noticeably green light inside of a large fishbowl, started acting a lot different from normal as it started making squeaking noises whilst the light had turned a near blood shade of red. Quickly realising that the blood wards were failing, he rushed over to Number Four Privet Drive as fast as he could to see what the problem was.
He quickly realised that the problem was a lot bigger than he had expected it to be since the aurors had already gotten there before he had, after asking a few questions he learnt that a relative of young Harry had come and taken him away and was pressing abuse charges on the Dursley's. Dumbledore had been so shaken up by the revelation that young Harry Potter had been abused that he had not even thought to check up on the state of the Dursley's, if he had then he would have learnt that several healers were currently looking over them. Instead, once he had recovered from his shock, he had begun fishing for more information about young Harry. The aurors seemed reluctant to tell him anything, most likely because their superiors had probably ordered the information to be kept confidential, still, despite that he was able to coax bits and pieces out of them. He had learnt that the woman who had taken Harry was none other than Narcissa Malfoy, wife of Lucius Malfoy.
He had headed back to his office as soon as possible to start thinking up plans to try and get little, innocent Harry away from Lucius's evil clutches when a letter had arrived by owl. A most interesting letter that revealed that tomorrow an emergency meeting would be held, it didn't take him long to put two and two together and to work out that the meeting was related to Harry Potter. He had spent several minutes wondering what Lucius was up to and his best guess was that Lucius was planning to take custody of the boy-who-lived so he could use Harry's name, fame and family fortune for his own benefit. He guessed that the meeting would be a custody meeting, most likely Lucius was hoping to gain official custody of Harry.
Dumbledore was not willing to let that happen, not at all.
All of which lead to today, he was sitting in a Wizengamot meeting in his position as Chief Warlock. He saw Lucius sitting in his usual seat, though the man looked bored, Dumbledore didn't relax at all. He was sure that Lucius had planned something. He continued looking around, spotting well known faces like Minister Fudge, Amelia Bones, Cyrus Greengrass and Augusta Longbottom. Dumbledore knew that despite the 'top secrecy' of the meeting, the majority of the people here probably knew what it was about.
"Order, order," Dumbledore said loudly as he banged his gavel down to call for the room's attention. "I know call this meeting in session; this emergency meeting has been called for by Lady Amelia Bones of the Bones house, acting in her official position as head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. The floor is yours, Miss Bones."
"Thank you, Chief Warlock," Amelia Bones, a strong jawed woman with copper red hair and a monocle, stood up, "It is my unfortunate duty to bring to this court a victim of child abuse, quite recently a child was found to be abused by his relatives and had been removed from their custody, those people are currently in my cells, awaiting their own trial, but it seems to me that our priority should be to first house the child."
"Hem hem," A high pitched voice cut through the air, everyone turned their attention to the Minister's undersecretary, Dolores Umbridge, a small, squat woman with short, curly brown hair who had the unfortunate luck of looking like a toad. "That is very heart-breaking," She said, doing her best to sound convincing, though few were convinced. "But I don't quite understand what that has to do with us, surely this is a matter that could easily be dealt with by the relevant ministry departments and does not require the attention of the whole Wizengamot."
"If it was any ordinary child then you would be right," Amelia Bones replied. "But this is no ordinary child, the child is not only related to two well-known houses that have seats in this very room, but he is also of significant importance to the wizarding world."
"Just who is this child?" Cyrus Greengrass asked despite already having a good enough idea, as did the rest of the people in the room judging by the way they started whispering to each other.
"That would be Harry James Potter," Amelia Bones stated, immediately the whole room erupted with noise as people began reacting to the news that Harry Potter, the boy-who-lived, was abused.
"Order, order!" Dumbledore said loudly, banging his gavel down several times until the noise had quietened down.
"I'm sorry, but did you say that the boy was abused?" Lucius spoke up, a concerned tone in his voice, though Dumbledore believed it to be as real as the man's claim that he had been forced to serve Voldemort during the last war. "Who would do such a thing?" He asked, Dumbledore twitched but did not do more than that while Amelia sighed, knowing that the wizarding world's view on muggles would likely plummet down after this."
"The people responsible were his relatives, his aunt Petunia and Uncle - through marriage - Vernon Dursley," She answered.
"I don't recognise those names," Lord Nott spoke up.
"I would have been shocked if you had," Amelia admitted. "They are both muggles." She once again stopped as several members of the court began commenting on what she had just said, half of the room appeared to be shocked while the other half was muttering about the muggles. This continued until Dumbledore once again brough the room to silence, Amelia took that as her signal to continue. "We were notified of this abuse by a concerned civtizen and have since then detained and arrested the Dursley's who will be tried before being handed over to the muggles courts, however this does leave us with the unfortunate problem of trying to find a place for Harry Potter to live."
"And just where is Mr Potter?" Dumbledore asked, unable to help himself.
"He will be brought in soon," Amelia answered. "The boy was rescued from his aunt and uncle by a couple of relatives of his, one of which wishes to apply for custody of him. Before we bring him in, I would like to request for Dumbledore to step down as Chief Warlock for this meeting." She announced and quickly continued before people could start asking questions. "It is my understanding that Mr Dumbledore was responsible for his previous placement, and I fear that it is possible for him to find it difficult to remain unbiased." She said, causing a lot of muttering to rise up.
"I will, of course, stand down for this meeting if that is what the esteemed lord and ladies desire," Dumbledore said before calling for a vote, unfortunately for him, he had ended up barely losing and had to nod his head before bowing out and allowing a temporary takeover of his position. Fortunately for him, his replacement ended up being Madam Marchbanks who everyone could trust to be neutral and not be persuaded by either side, light or dark.
"Bring in the boy." She ordered.
Mere moments later, the doors to the chamber opened and in walked young Harry, looking incredibly nervous, followed by the woman he now knew as Aunt Andromeda and with her was her husband, Ted Tonks, a brown-haired man wearing a grey suit. Though for most people, the biggest shock of all was the fact that he was holding the hand of the woman known to the wizarding world as Bellatrix Lestrange.
"What are you doing here?!" Augusta Longbottom yelled furiously as she rose to her feet, glaring down at Bellatrix. Augusta was an old woman with wrinkles on her face and hair that was now grey, she didn't dress in what one would consider normal clothes, as she often favoured a green dress along with a hat that appeared to have a vulture fixed on top of it, despite that, she was most definitely an intimidating woman and her mere presence combined with her loud voice had easily startled Harry who would have likely frozen in place if not for Bellatrix walking him forward to the middle of the room.
"I am here to apply for custody of Harry," Bellatrix stated to the whole room.
"Are you mad, Lestrange?!" Augusta screeched at her.
"My name is not 'Lestrange'," Bellatrix glared at her. "I am Bellatrix Black."
"A rose by any other name," Augusta spat out.
"Excuse me, ladies and gentlemen," Ted quickly spoke up. "I am Ted Tonks, lawyer for Miss Black," He said, gesturing to Bellatrix.
"Good, she'll need one," Augusta growled. "She kidnapped Harry Potter!" She accused, directing a finger at Bellatrix.
"Stop being so loud," Bellatrix said with narrowed eyes.
"You don't tell me what to do!"
"I will when you're frightening him!" Bellatrix growled, gesturing to Harry who was now tightly gripping Bellatrix's hand and was trying to hide behind her.
"She's right," Madam Marchbanks agreed. "Keep your voice civil, Augusta," She said, when she saw that Augusta Looked ready to argue, she quickly cut her off. "This is apparently Mr Potter's re-introduction into the magical world and the last thing we need is for him to get the wrong impression of us."
"Indeed," Ted agreed. "Besides, Lady Longbottom is mistaken as my client did not kidnap Mr Potter, instead she had rescued him from an abusive situation and had her sister, Narcissa, contact the DMLE as soon as possible."
While he was speaking, Dumbledore's gaze had drifted at Malfoy's direction and he had caught the brief look of surprise on the man's face, something which surprised him. When Bellatrix appeared, he had thought for a second that she was working with Malfoy, but he had his doubts when Andromeda Tonks, the woman had run away to marry a muggleborn, had appeared alongside her along with that very muggleborn. When Narcissa, Lucius's wife, was mentioned he thought it was a all a Malfoy plan until he saw Lucius's face, apparently Lucius had no idea what was going on either.
"Your client," Augusta said in a voice dripping with venom, "is a criminal."
"Incorrect," Ted said simply. "My client was forced into the servitude of the dark wizard known as 'he-who-must-not-be-named' through the bindings of a magical contract, she was no more responsible for her actions than someone under the imperius curse. Besides, she is not on trial today. As far as the law is concerned, she is a law-abiding citizen who does not even have a single minor felony on her record that was committed of her own free will. Ladies and gentlemen, my client is a wealthy pureblood from the most ancient and noble house of Black, money would not be an issue when it comes to raising Mr Potter, especially given the fact that the family still has many active businesses constantly bringing in large amounts of money each year. Not only that, but she has a large family support network in the form of not only my wife, her sister, but also her youngest sister, Lord Malfoy's wife." Ted resisted the urge to smirk at the constipated look on Lucius's face, he wasn't sure why Narcissa wanted her involvement revealed, but at least it provided him with some entertainment.
"I must protest," Dumbledore said, speaking up. "While Miss Black is not a convicted criminal, that does not mean she is an ideal guardian for Mr Potter. Perhaps we can find a better family, such as the Weasley's, Molly and Arthur are good friends of mine, and I am sure that they are willing to take him in and..."
"Oh, and your last suggestion on where he should go ended up working out so well, didn't it?" Bellatrix said with high levels of sarcasm.
"The Weasley family is dirt poor and from what I understand, struggling to stay floating as it is," Lucius couldn't help but speak up. "Do you truly want to burden them with another child? The boy-who-lived, no less?"
"Besides, Harry's chosen me," Bellatrix said proudly.
"Most likely you forced him to choose you!" Augusta snapped.
"Lady Longbotom, you are throwing out baseless accusations," Ted replied. "Miss Black is related to my client through his grandmother, Dorea Potter, born from the Black family. Meaning they are already family, my client wouldn't dare dream of hurting family."
"Your client is a murderous maniac!" Augusta shouted. "I should be given custody of Harry, my son was..."
"Hold on, I believe that I am the better choice, " Lucius interrupted. "I think that ..."
"That is hardly an accurate statement," Dumbledore cut in.
"I will not allow him to go into the hands of a mass murderer!" Augusta yelled furiously.
"Lady Longbottom, control yourself!" Madam Marchbanks ordered.
"Perhaps the boy should go into the custody of the Ministry," Umbridge suggested, causing a whole new bunch of arguments to start, sending the room into a chaotic mess of yelling and screaming as various people all started arguing and shouting over who should be given custody of Harry, this continued for several long moments until one voice decided to cut in after Augusta had sent one too many threats towards Bellatrix.
"STOP IT!" A young voice yelled, accompanied by a magical wave that shoved all the members against their seats while pushing Augusta back, so she landed on hers. Everyone in the room turned their attention to Harry who was trembling as tears dripped down his eyes and his face was red as sobs started to escape from him.
"Oh, my sweet boy," Bellatrix quickly wrapped him in a hug that he returned, she allowed him to sob onto her clothes for several moments before she turned gaze onto the members of the Wizengamot with a look of fury on her face. "Look at what you've all done!" She hissed. "You've frightened the poor boy! Hasn't he been through enough?!"
"I...I want Bellatrix..." Harry sobbed.
"The boy attacked us!" Umbridge was the first member to speak up. "He should be taken into custody and..."
"Are you daft?!" Andromeda burst out. "It was accidental magic! Not to mention self-defence,"
"Let's also not forget the fact that he's a five-year-old boy," Ted coughed.
"If anyone so much as lays a finger on this boy then they will have me to answer to," Bellatrix said in a dangerous voice, reminding more than a few people why she was feared by Wizarding Britain. At that moment, Harry finally let go of Bellatrix and turned his gaze to the Wizengamot. He sniffed several times before gathering up his courage and speaking as clearly as he could.
"I want Bellatrix,"
