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Chapter Two
In the corner of a dark room sat a middle aged woman, her hands to the sides of her head and her knees pulled up so that they almost touched the tip of her nose, while gently rocking herself. Her face oddly passive except for the tears in her eyes. After some time the sad look in her eyes changed, now it looked like she was getting curious. Slowly she raised herself from the ground, she walked across the room and with a wave from her wand she opened a rather old fashioned looking closet. She took off the nighty she had been wearing and put on a magnificent black dress, the borders adorned with a filigrane of silver. It molded itself to her body in a way that belied her age. At a small dresser she let her comb do the normal one hundred strokes making her hair shine brilliantly and soft like silk. Putting on her shoes she started to frown.
The feeling that she had to go somewhere had continually grown from and itch when she was still in the corner to a raging fire, but she still didn't know where she had to go yet.
At that very moment an owl tapped on the window begging to be let in so she could deliver her message. The woman let the owl in and carefully removed the package, after which the owl left immediately. She opened the package and found a letter and a picture of herself and her two sisters. The letter read:
Hey sis,
We need to talk.
I've enclosed a Portkey to take you to me, it's timed for eleven o'clock.
Hope to see you soon
She recognized the handwriting as that of her sisters, but she couldn't imagine why she wanted to speak to her. She looked at the picture once again and the weird feeling increased it's intensity again. Looking at the clock she noted that the Portkey would almost activate. She shrugged, held the picture and soon after felt the familiar tugging at her navel of the Portkey.
Still in bed lay a beautiful blond woman in her mid thirties. She was just waking up after another night of unrestful slumber. Opening her eyes she sighed, thinking about having to spend another day with that excuse of a boy she had the 'honour' of calling her son when she started having some sort or longing to be somewhere else, but she just couldn't figured out where that somewhere would be. She slowly got out of bed and took off her clothes while walking to the adjacent bathroom where she filled up the bath with rose-scented water and searched for some nice and comfortable clothes to wear that day.
As soon as she entered the bath the itching feeling started to intensify until it actually started to become almost painful. After washing herself fast she dried herself with a drying charm and slipped into the clothes she had laid ready.
Soon after she was back in her bedroom. She was about to leave when an owl flew through an open window, a package attached to her leg, and landed in front of her. She untied the package from the owl's leg after which the owl flew off again indicating that no return message was expected.
Being a bit curious she opened the package and found a letter and a gold coin bearing the Black Family Crest. The letter read:
Hey sis,
As you know, Sirius is no more. His will has been read.
We need to talk.
The coin is a Portkey to take you to me, it's timed for eleven o'clock.
Hope to see you soon
Like her sister she recognized the handwriting and that alone made her curious. She hadn't had a talk with her since the dunce married that idiot Ted Tonks all those years ago.
For her to write would mean she had virtually no choice since they hadn't seen eye to eye in a very long time. She took the coin in her hand and watched at the clock hanging on the wall. It read that the Portkey was about to activate. Mere seconds later she felt the familiar pulling sensation of the Portkey and she was transported away.
At number twelve Grimmauld Place Harry was pacing back and forth through the study nervously. He hoped his little plan would work. When reading through the Black Family book and he found a spell that would send a summons to a specified family member. The only problem was that since the house was also the headquarters of the order it was protected by a Fidelius Charm so that he could summon them, but they didn't know where to go. That was hopefully solved with the notes Andromeda had sent. Of course this had been done after annulling the marriage contracts. Now he just had to let them know and the annulment would be permanent.
He looked at the clock on the back wall of the study and saw that it was eleven o'clock.
"Just a couple of seconds and we'll know if it worked." He said to himself when he heard two cries of "accio wand' and he instantly felt a load lift off his shoulders.
In the library Andromeda and Nymphadora Tonks were waiting to do their part and they were quite nervous about it, especially Andromeda.
'I can't understand what attracts my little girl to a job that includes these sort of things on a daily basis.'
Tonks looked unusually serious and it even showed in her choice of hair color. She now had completely black shoulder length hair, perfectl straight. In short her looked exactly like a younger version of her mother.
Mother and daughter briefly looked at the clock and saw that it was almost time. They both entered a dueling stance and stood to do whatever was needed.
Only moments later two women appeared and before they could get their bearings their wands were confiscated by the two Tonks women.
"Cissa, Bella, thank you for coming on such short notice."
The two freshly arrived women glared at Andromeda.
"Now if you would follow me, your presence has been requested in the study."
"What is the meaning of this, Andy. You said that you wanted to talk, well talk."
Andromeda raised an eyebrow.
"And talk we will, but I'm afraid he has first rights so you'll just have to be patient. Now hurry up I don't want to keep him waiting."
As they entered the room and saw who Andromeda had been talking about Narcissa was furious.
"Potter, what is a rotten Half-Blood like you doing here and what do you want with us!" Narcissa exclaimed with an angry tone.
Bellatrix's reaction was completely different. Her eyes widened and she started to giggle like the maniac that she was.
"Oh it's Ickle Potterkins, how delightfully Slytherin of you. I didn't think that you had it in you."
Harry grinned.
"Why thank you, Bellatrix, I am rather pleased it worked out so well."
"You didn't answer my question, Potter. I demand to know what you're doing here." Narcissa hissed.
"Now now, Narcissa, I was just getting to that. Have a seat ladies this may take a while." Harry said looking at the two new arrivals.
When he took a closer look at Bellatrix he noticed that she looked rather ill.
'Bellatrix doesn't look so good. I promised I wouldn't hurt them and I think damage from not treating an illness could be accounted as such. I'd better do something about it.' Harry thought with his eyebrows knotting together and a frown on his lips.
"Tonks, please have Professor Dumbledore get Madam Pomfrey over here. Tell him that it's for an urgent matter."
Tonks nodded and virtually raced out of the room.
"Now for the reason why I'm here. It's actually quite simple really, I'm here because I own this place." Narcissa's and Bellatrix's eyes widen in disbelief at Harry's statement. "Sirius left me almost everything, including titles and the position of Head of House of the Black Family. Oh and before you say that it isn't possible, both the tapestry and the Black Family book confirms it." Harry said waiving a little black book with the Black Family crest on it in front of their eyes.
The two sister's eyes widen even more and close their mouths that were open to contradict his statement.
"Now, let's get down to business, shall we. Bellatrix Black, I have declared your marriage with Rodolphus Lestrange to be null and void. Your contract has been retracted since you former husband has failed to comply with the conditions stated in the contract. He has lead you in harms way and he has neglected to give you offspring. Narcissa Black, I have declared your marriage with Lucius Malfoy to be null and void. Your contract has been retracted since your former husband has failed to comply with the conditions stated in the contract. He has failed to provide adequate protection for you since he is currently in prison within Azkaban, furthermore he has failed to provide acceptable offspring, please note that I said the word acceptable. I also deny that there are any bonds that tie Draco Malfoy and the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black. I do like that fact that the two of you married using the old ways." Harry said grinning slightly.
At that exact moment there was a knock on the door.
"Come in please." Harry said.
Madam Pomfrey entered the room and closed the door. She looked around and saw a furious Narcissa and a wide-eyes Bellatrix sitting in front of a grinning Harry. Her eyes widened from fear.
"Ah, Madam Pomfrey, thank you for coming on such short notice. Would you be so kind as to do a thorough examination of Miss Bellatrix Black. She doesn't look very well at all and I just can't believe that it's just a little cold." Harry said.
"Oh, Mr. Potter, yet I wouldn't mind at all, though I am surprised to find her here. Would you mind waiting outside then, Harry?" asked Madam Pomfrey.
At this Harry blushed.
"Oh, of course, please let me know when you are finished. I still have some business with these ladies that has to be resolved today." With that said he left the room and went to get himself a cup of tea.
About half an hour later Andromeda came into the kitchen and found Harry making a new pot of tea.
"Harry, they are done, if you want you can come back in now."
Harry turned his head and nodded to her.
"I'll be there in a moment. You go ahead I won't be but a minute."
Just minutes later Harry entered the study carrying a tea tray with everything from a teapot to sweets on it.
"I thought that a cup of tea would be nice right about now." He said as he sat the tray down and Andromeda offered everyone a cup.
"Now, Madam Pomfrey, did you find anything out of the ordinary with Bellatrix?" Harry asked and he saw the kind Medi-Witch's color drain from her face.
"Actually, yes and that poses the problem at hand. Bellatrix has a very rare sort of magical psychosis. The only known cure is a rather obscure that though preserved cannot be cast by any Healer alive."
"Why is that? Is the spell that difficult?" Harry asked rather concerned.
"No, it's not that, it's the fact that there is no Healer physically capable of casting that spell." In a softer voice she continued. "It's a spell made by Salazar Slytherin to cure his sister of the same problem."
Recognition dawned on Harry's face and he even managed a small smile.
"I take it that that specific spell is in Parseltongue?" After Madam Pomfrey nodded he continued. "Could you get me a copy of that spell? You do remember the dueling accident in my second year, don't you."
Madam Pomfrey's face began to brighten as she remembered.
"Of course I really must be getting old, I had completely forgot that you are a Parselmouth. Yes I'll get you a copy right away." With that she left the study.
Harry looked at Bellatrix and saw the shocked expression on her face.
"Narcissa, haven't you filled your sister in about what happened while she was… uhm… being detained? I know that you knew of my ability to speak the serpent tongue since Draco was standing right in front of me at the time of the incident I was speaking of. Oh well, it must have slipped you mind. Anyway, since you both are now unmarried you are my responsibility. I'm going to be teaching you two 'girls' how to properly behave in a way that I see fit for a member of this family." Harry said.
The two sister's faces were an astonishing sight as they both managed to look furious as well as confused at the same time.
Narcissa was positively steaming with rage.
"I will most certainly not be controlled by the like of you, Potter. You can't force us."
"Oh, you are right about that, I can't force you to do this. However, I can force you to choose between my proposition and an alternative. For you, Narcissa, the alternative would be a marriage to a man of my choice by the oldest contract that I can find which would in effect make you his personal slave. And for you Bellatrix the alternative would be well… death. However, Bellatrix, there is a little bonus for you. If you consent to my retraining you, I will do everything in my power to have your sentences declared void and I think that there is a very good chance for that to happen. Now, I don't want you answer right now, especially yours', Bellatrix, since you aren't legally in your right mind at the moment."
One hour later, Madam Pomfrey returned with a large leather-bound book in her arms. She opened the book to the correct page and showed Harry the spell.
"This is it, Harry. Can you see what it says?"
Harry blinked and pointed at a line in the book with his finger.
"This line? Are you sure this isn't a joke?"
"No it isn't a joke, Harry. Can you read what it says?"
"Oh yes, it says 'Your mind is your own'. Why can't you read what it says?"
"Like I told you earlier, it's a Parseltongue spell thus it's written in Parseltongue. Do you think that you can perform the spell?"
"Yes I think so. Narcissa, move aside a bit please. I don't know the effective range of the spell or what effects it would have on a sane mind and I'd rather not find out."
Narcissa moved out of the way while Harry moved closer to Bellatrix. He drew his wand and with as much concentration as he could manage he preformed the spell.
Everybody except Harry was surprised when the heard Harry's inhuman voice hiss for some time. At the end of the hissed sentence a white and green light erupted from the tip of his wand. When it hit Bellatrix the light entered her and for a minute or two illuminated her from the inside.
As soon as the spell was finished Harry dropped to his knees in exhaustion, while Bellatrix slumped into unconsciousness. Andromeda and Narcissa hurried to their sisters' side while Tonks and Madam Pomfrey helped Harry into a chair. Madam Pomfrey cast a quick Diagnostic Charm on Harry and found out that he just needed a little rest to recover the energy the spell had consumed. She then turned her attention to Bellatrix. She also cast a quick Diagnostic Charm on her and found out that she was in good health except for being unconscious due to the large amount of stress on her mind caused by the spell.
"Madam Pomfrey, could you please check her for any signs of the disease? Oh, and tell me if I should leave the room while you're doing that."
"Oh, yes of course I will dear, and no you don't need to leave the room. It's not a Physical Examination so you won't see anything that you shouldn't."
Madam Pomfrey then cast another spell and after a couple of minutes she started grinning.
Harry was the smile appear on her face and couldn't help but give a small smile himself.
"Judging by the smile I see on you face, I take it that the spell worked."
"It worked alright. I can't even find any residue. It worked even better then even I was expecting."
"Ok, now I have a question. Was Bellatrix in your opinion capable of clear and rational thought and was she able to make decisions in such a way that she should be held accountable for her actions?"
"No, of course she wasn't. Her condition made that quite impossible."
"Would you be willing to testify this under Veritaserum or a Truth Charm? I'm asking this because if she can't be help accountable, I might be able to get all of her charges dropped enabling her to have some sort of normal life instead of constantly having to hide from the Ministry."
"Yes, I would if it comes to that, though I suspect that you hope to arrange the amnesty without involving the Wizengamot. Am I right?"
"Yes you are, and hope is definitely the right word. I'm not getting my hopes up that I can arrange this without a formal hearing. Is there any indication when she'll wake up?"
"Oh, she'll be up and about in a couple of hours. If there's nothing else I'll take my leave now."
"Thank you so much, Madam Pomfrey. Since it seems that we have some spare time on our hands let's get you settled in. Tonks, can you please stay with Bellatrix while I take your mother and you aunt with me for a while."
The young Metamorphmagus nodded and Harry motioned for Narcissa and Andromeda to follow him.
The three of them leave the study and walk past Sirius' mothers' painting and up the stairs. When they arrived at the second floor they continued on until Harry suddenly stopped in front of an ornately carved door. He opened the door and ushered them in.
The room was like all others in the house dark, dark blue walls with dark green carpet. There were two beds near the end of the room, both of the beds were of a rather simple design except for the headboards that sported a gilded Black Family Crest. At the foot of either bed there was a large trunk with some clothes on top. Nearer the door was an ornately carved wooden dresser complete with brushes mirrors and a variety of make-up. On both sides of the room there was a door.
"Narcissa, this is were you and you sister will be staying for the time being. You'll have to see who sleeps where. There are two doors the one on the right leads to your bathroom. It's been updated a little so you have a bath, a shower stall and a toilet in there. The door on the left leads to my room. The door you just came through is going to be locked at night and the one in my room has a charm on it that will only let me open it. Are you with me so far?"
Narcissa snorted at this.
"Well, I suppose it's better than a dungeon." Narcissa said like the dungeon sounded like a better idea to her, before checking out the bathroom.
It was fairly simple for what she was used to, granite floor tiles, a bath just big enough for two people. The sink was plain white and then there was a shower. The blond Pure-Blood had never seen one in real life. Or she had heard about them, but she never saw one. As a good little Pure-Blood that she was she didn't take Muggle Studies when she was in school at Hogwarts.
Harry saw Narcissa looking at the shower and said, "The shower isn't exactly Muggle anymore. It's been charmed in the same manner as the bath to produce scented water. Now that you know where you'll be staying shall we go and see how your sister is doing.
That last comment shook Narcissa out of her self-induced trance. You can say a lot of things about Narcissa, but not caring about her family is not one of them. So she nodded and walked swiftly out of the room. When they passed the painting of her aunt she saw her screaming, but she didn't hear a thing. She looked at Harry and frowned.
"Why is it that I can see my aunt screaming, but I don't hear a single thing that she's saying."
Harry looked at Narcissa and smiled deviously.
"That would be because I cast a Silencing Charm on it. She was driving everybody in this house crazy and we still haven't found a way of removing it from the wall. A couple of days ago she had started screeching at two o'clock in the morning so I ran down here with my wand in my hand ready for trouble and there was nothing here except for the damn painting. Naturally I was pissed so I cast the first thing that came to my mind. I really wish that I had thought of that last year."
Narcissa looked quite studded at Harry while Andromeda started laughing.
"You mean to tell me that you have all sorts of brilliant wizards over here and not one of them thought about casting a simple charm to end the horror. That's just bloody hilarious." Andromesa said which caused Narcissa to start chuckling despite herself.
All three of them then entered the study and found that Bellatrix still unconscious with a pillow under her head and Tonks sitting in a chair with her legs thrown over the side.
Harry looked at Bellatrix and sighed.
"I'll get some tea and we'll wait for her to wake up."
It was around ten that evening that Bellatrix finally decided to wake up. She blinked a couple of times before trying to sit up. When she did the first thing she saw was Harry.
"James? What are you doing here? Oh never mind, I had such a nasty dream. I dreamed that I was some sort of psychopath."
Harry blinked at this. Had she just said James, as in his father?
"Not James, Bellatrix. It's Harry remember?"
Bellatrix's eyes widened and tears started forming.
"You mean that it wasn't a dream? I really did all of those things?"
"Well it wasn't exactly a dream, but it wasn't exactly you either. Please tell me what is the last thing that you remember from before the 'dream'."
Bellatrix frowned thinking hard.
"Uhm… Oh yes! It was my sixteenth birthday. Cissa and Andy gave me such a nice dress then. It was really pretty even if it was cut a bit low." Bellatrix said.
At the mention of her sixteenth birthday recognition showed on both Andromeda's and Narcissa's faces.
"Harry, she got ill that night. She had a very high fever and if I'm not mistaken that's when she started to change." Andromeda said and Narcissa nodded.
"Bellatrix, can you remember Madam Pomfrey examining you earlier? Do you remember what she said that she diagnosed you with?" Bellatrix nodded. "Well we managed to cure you and that's probably why it seems like it was a dream. It wasn't really you."
Harry looked at the clock and stretched as he got up.
"Well it's been a busy day and I'm tired. I'm going to bed and so are you two. Andromeda, are you and Tonks staying here or are you going home?"
Andromeda and Tonks looked at each other and nodded.
"We'll be staying here for the night." Andromeda and Tonks said together.
"Ok, well Tonks knows which rooms are safe for human occupation so let her show you to a room. Good night." Harry said.
He walked out of the study followed by a still wet-eyed Bellatrix and a sullen looking Narcissa.