Chapter 2: Getting to know the sisters
Harry had slept restlessly that night, he was still at odds with how to deal with the two sister witches down in the dungeon. Once he was fully awake he got dressed and went down to the main hall and had breakfast with the ever present Ron and Hermione. They were also interested in his decision; Harry gathered himself as he proceeded towards his two best friends. He sat down opposite Ron while sitting next to another of his friends, Ginny. In the wake of danger Harry and Ginny had decided to separate, since then they hadn't spoken much. Harry then looked on to Dumbledore and remembered that horrid night in the astronomy tower; he remembered Bellatrix and Draco closing in before luckily, Dumbledore found the strength to apparate to the Burrow. And while he was still cursed from Voldemort's Mother's ring, he had found a way to live a little longer. It was a potion taken daily that more or less slowed the process, but it made Dumbledore very weak as a result. The positive side though, Dumbledore got to oversee Harry's last year at Hogwarts, even if most of it was a war. Finally the semi-awkward silence and Harry's train of thought broke when Ron asked hesitantly.
"So?" with an expectant look on his face.
"So… What?" Harry replied now mildly nervous in case Ginny wanted to hear the news.
"What about Bellatrix and Narcissa?" Ron stubbornly continued, luckily Ginny didn't notice. She was busy chatting with Dean.
"What about them?" Harry replied, still not wanting to talk about it due to his lack of a strong decision.
"What are you going to do with them? They can't stay here indefinitely, ya know." Ron stated with a firm undertone of resentment for the two witches.
"I know, I know. I'm just thinking it over. The end of school is only in four more days, so until then I was thinking I'd keep them here, only until then. After that well I guess we'll move back to Potter Manner." Harry explained, still not one hundred percent sure of his 'plan'. Then the conversation abruptly ended without another word. Harry finished his breakfast and went down to the dungeon to greet his new witches; Mr. Filch opened the cell door and locked it behind him.
"Just call me once you're done!" Filch grumbled as he left Harry alone with the witches.
The cell they were in was one of the bigger ones; around ten by ten foot and two benches either side. Bellatrix was lying down on the left bench while Narcissa was sitting regally on the right bench. It was as if neither of them wanted to be anywhere near each other, they hadn't got wands or any magic capabilities, all they had was each other's company. Harry held contempt for both of them but more so for Bellatrix, she had killed his Godfather Sirius; the closest thing he had to a father, a man who guided him and a man who truly loved him. And Bellatrix took that away. But now there really wasn't much point in holding onto his vengeful attitude, as all it served as was a possible pathway to the dark of anger and revenge. Harry cleared that thought from his mind but no matter how hard he tried, he would always have a measure of hatred for both of these women. Instead Harry tried to approach them with all the kindness he could. He sat next to Bellatrix, just a bit past her black heeled boots and tried to open a reasonable conversation, if there was such a thing to them.
"Hello ladies, enjoying your stay?" Harry's voice was dripping with sarcasm but he thought it would be the best way to approach them. Narcissa was the first to respond while Bellatrix was waking up. Narcissa looked at Harry not with distain but instead distrust was the clear emotion radiating from her, she was intrigued about what he was going to do and why he was here.
"No, it's cold and the food isn't great. Also there aren't any toilet facilities aside from that bucket over there. But I guess it doesn't matter, you own us now so if you want to treat us like crap, go ahead. There isn't anything we can do about it anyway." Narcissa's voice sounded slightly raspy and her voice had nervous juts from time to time. Harry looked to the back left corner of the cell to see a mouldy wooden bucket, the condition of the cell itself was also quite horrid; with rusted window bars, a smell of damp in the air and creaky benches the place was extremely unpleasant. "In a way it's just like being in Azkaban already, only without Dementors." She continued. Harry felt kind of bad for the women but he remembered there prior actions and so that mildly relieved his sorrow for the two sisters; however he still felt bad for them.
"Yeah well, you won't be here for long. Soon you'll be coming with me to Potter Manner. There at least, I hope you'll find a better standard of living." As he finished his statement Bellatrix fully awoke, she spontaneously wrapped her arms around Harry in a loving manner now knowing she wouldn't have to stay here. The sensation to Harry was almost motherly, but then he remembered who was hugging him; a murderer and a Death Eater. Harry removed her arms from him, but not aggressively. He was gentle and kind hoping that one day Bellatrix would become something different, become something more than a broken woman. Bellatrix went and sat with her sister, the two of them now facing Harry.
"Now, first things first. I want to establish a trust between us. Cause it's no use forming a relationship or even a friendship if basic connections can't be made." Harry was merely attempting some basic psychology he'd learned from Hermione, and it worked too. However only on Bellatrix, not on Narcissa.
"Don't presume this basic rubbish is going to sway me boy. I was being taught this stuff before you were born, filthy half-blood swine…" she muttered that last part under her breath so as trying not to let Harry hear her but he did. That was it as far as Harry was concerned, he tried that now let's see if they respond to a more dominant side.
"What?! 'Filthy half-blood swine' eh? What about Voldemort?!" he shouted angrily at Narcissa. She looked confused.
"What about the Dark Lord?" she asked in total confusion and terror.
"He was a half-blood! His father was a muggle! You hypocrite! You join Voldemort's side because of pureblood BULLSHIT! Then you finance him with the Malfoy fortune so he can terrorise as many people as possible! So you shut your shit spewing mouth before I seal it for you!" he barked at her, Narcissa was now visibly shaking and Bellatrix merely hung her head in shame. "Now." He said more quietly and sounding much less angry. "We're going to sort a few things out. Firstly who is the reason you're not in Azkaban?" he asked violently.
"You are…" simultaneously Narcissa and Bella answered.
"Right. Second, who do you belong to?" Harry asked this with malice in his voice, for a moment he sounded like Tom.
"We belong to you…" Narcissa spoke for both of them; Bellatrix was just in awe of Harry's attitude, he sounded almost like her previous master. Then all three of them fell silent, the air was thick with atmosphere. Nobody wanted to speak until Narcissa finally regained the nerve to ask the now pensive Harry a question.
"Why are you keeping us? Why not just kill us?" she asked with honest curiosity. Harry hadn't been prepared for a question like that, but he tried to assert himself with his response.
"Because you're the prize of, victory… Oh, I don't know. I don't know, okay! Are you happy now?! In fact, I don't know why I shouldn't just kill you right now!" Harry pulled out his wand and pointed it at the two sisters. They wondered if this was it but, eventually after what felt like an eternity of waiting he lowered his wand and slammed it now beside him on the bench. He then clasped his hands over his face as he sat down again and waited for one of them to say something, but no word came. Instead he removed his hands and turned his gaze towards Bellatrix whose head was still hung in shame. His emerald eyes just stared at her, his piercing gaze made them both uneasy, this time both Bellatrix and Narcissa knew what emotion he was displaying. Hatred! Pure and untainted by remorse or empathy. Harry couldn't take his gaze off of her, but the more he looked the more he wanted to simply lift his wand and shout the killing curse at the top of his lungs, however he held back. If only because he knew killing her would gain him nothing, another life would be lost and even if it was hers, it simply wasn't worth it.
Harry then asked Bellatrix a very important question to him, one that plagued his mind since the death of her cousin Sirius.
"Why? Just why? Why did you kill him? Why do you delight in the torment and torture of others?" Harry asked this question hoping for some mild reason to care about her, just something anything that could make him feel true empathy for her situation and her circumstance. The dark witch gathered herself as best she could and attempted to explain herself to Harry.
"It all started on the day that I met Tom, he was so dashing and confident. He promised me a world where purebloods would reign and be admired. I could only dream of such a world… But Tom wanted to make it a reality and so lured me in with that promise. It was then that I was… Be-be-betrayed… One night after we rounded up some more followers. To gain their long lasting allegiance, Tom let them one by one have their way, with, me… I cried out for help… But none ever came." A small tear made its way down Bellatrix's face. "Then later he had me systematically tortured twice a day, every day. But it wasn't just that I was tortured, it was how Tom acted during the torture. He always had this cheeky, malicious grin across his face. And when I screamed he let out long bursts of laughter, he'd do this till my voice became dry and broken… Then as weeks past I lost myself, I began laughing, my broken voice let out long drawn out chuckles which eventually became my, cackle… Tom knew how to break people, but to get someone truly loyal he had to break them over and over and over again until whoever they were, was just a memory, nothing more…" Bellatrix finished and Harry couldn't believe the treatment. Furthermore, he assumed it had been an abusive family that drove her to Tom, not that Tom himself had ordered her rape, torture and finally broken her enough to make her loyal.
"But what about Sirius? Your own cousin, my Godfather!" Harry asked still confused at why she killed him.
"Potter, I promise you. I only meant to stun him, I never meant for him to fall through the veil. I'm, s-s-sorry, Potter…" Bellatrix stuttered. Harry could see how genuine she was and despite his anger, he knew it's not what Sirius would want. Looking around their cell Harry grew ashamed he'd let them rot in here for so long, he decided to move them into the Room of Requirement. Just until his final year at Hogwarts was over, he yelled to Mr. Filch to let them go. They travelled as fast as they could trying not to be seen going to the room, inside the two women were much more comfortable. Harry then noticed Bellatrix's left thigh was covered in dried blood, his concern grew, an emotion he'd never thought possible to experience towards Bellatrix.
"Bella, what happened to your thigh? It's all bloody." Harry asked with concern; wait a minute, where the hell did 'Bella' come from? He thought. Bella looked to herself and then back up to Harry.
"It's nothing really. It was during the battle, I got caught there with a stray curse." She tried to make excuses so as not to annoy Harry but he took immediate action simply for her. He wasn't annoyed, only disappointed she hadn't told him earlier. Living in agony is no way to live at all, Harry thought to himself. Harry sat her down on a couch in the room and inspected her wound; he lifted up her black dress and saw a deep gash on the outer side of her thigh. Harry then got up and told Bella and Narcissa sternly.
"Stay here, I'll be back soon." With that Harry left the two women in the room while he went to get a healing potion from Madam Pomfrey. He made his way to the sick bay with speed and spoke to Pomfrey.
"Oh, hello there Harry. How can I help you today?" she asked warmly and in her usual always ready for anything tone.
"Have you got a healing potion for gashes caused by curses?" he asked with heavy undertones of worry in his voice.
"Yes sure, over there on the counter. Make sure when you administer it, only use a teaspoon's worth." She replied. She was too busy with people recovering from the battle at Hogwarts to ask questions, she just assumed it was necessary. Harry took the flask back to the Room of Requirement and proceeded to sit beside Bella. He conjured a teaspoon to his hand and carefully filled it with the potion, it was a strange yellowy colour, it was also bubbling furiously. He brought it up from the flask and set the rest of the potion down on a table just beside where he was sitting. Harry then did something rather odd, at least from where the two women saw it. He put his right arm around Bella and told her caringly.
"Drink this, it's a healing remedy. It won't taste nice but you need it Bella." As he finished his statement he brought the spoon close to Bella's mouth and she opened her mouth, took it and swallowed it. She coughed slightly at the taste but then decided to return Harry's show of kindness. Once again she wrapped her arms around him lovingly and placed her head on his right shoulder, Harry didn't know exactly how to respond but he just went with it. He leaned into her slightly and placed his head on hers, after a while sitting hugging each other they broke the embrace and Harry noticed something about the women. Obvious to anyone but he only just noticed, they hadn't had a chance to bathe since the battle and they were now starting to smell slightly from everything that happened. "Do you two want somewhere to bathe?" Harry asked pleasantly. He barely even finished the question before they both answered.
"Yes!"
"Okay, well follow me." Harry led them to the girl's Year 6 prefect bathroom, this place held fond memories for both Narcissa and Bellatrix. Harry then turned on the water and stood around awkwardly, not knowing if he should stay for security or leave to give them privacy.
"We don't need a supervisor." Narcissa snapped at him, and while he owned the two women he was still an awkward teenager. He hastily left and as he began to shut the door Bellatrix grateful to him yelled.
"Thank you, Harry!" Harry felt pleased with himself and waited for them outside, about fifteen minutes later they both came out smelling wonderful and looking beautiful. It was then an awkward walk back to the room, once inside the women acquired some towels for their hair and were drying themselves properly in front of Harry. He looked on with lustful eyes as they finished themselves off, they then sat down opposite Harry on a black leather couch. Earlier when they'd been drying themselves Narcissa had noticed something about Harry. It was the first time she'd saw him looking at her and Bella with what she'd expected since he'd taken them, the eyes of lust and greed. Narcissa wasn't entirely pleased with her situation but she had to admit Harry was a very attractive young man, despite her attitude towards half-bloods she did think he would make a very interesting love maker. Eventually once he was sure Bella was alright Harry left for the common room to discuss with his fellow Gryffindor students about what the plan for today was. When he arrived they were in the middle of talking about rebuilding the school courtyard which had been utterly destroyed in the battle.
"Ah, Harry. Good you could join us." Professor McGonagall said warmly. Harry took a seat next to Hermione and Ron waiting for the plan to be laid out. "Today, we're going to fix the main courtyard of the school. Any Objections?" The house was silent. "Good, let's go." McGonagall then led the way as most of the Gryffindor house followed her out to the courtyard. Once there they were split into three groups; those who would work on the arches, those who would repair the windows and finally everyone else would work on rebuilding the walls. As the groups split up Hermione, Ron and Harry started work on the rooftops that were knocked off during the battle. It was late evening by the time the place was looking almost as good as new, everyone felt quite pleased with themselves to have rebuilt an entire portion of the school. The house then went to the great hall for dinner and to replenish their energy after a hard day's work.
Just like this morning Harry sat with Ron and Hermione, Ron as per usual had stacked his plate sky high with food. Whereas Harry and Hermione were much more reserved when it came to food intake. After a few minutes of eating Hermione questioned Harry regarding something she'd heard earlier from a fellow student.
"So Harry, why were you standing outside the girl's bathroom this morning?"
"Umm…" he responded nervously. Ron was speechless; he finished his mouthful and asked Harry with genuine concern.
"Harry, you weren't perving on the girls were you?"
"No, no. I was just…" Harry tried to think fast to come up with a response.
"Just what?" Hermione asked sharply.
"Oh alright, I'll tell you. I took Bella and Narcissa to the bathroom cause they needed to bathe." Harry replied slightly embarrassed having to tell Hermione this.
"Oh it's 'Bella' now is it?" Hermione replied with anger in her voice.
"What was I supposed to do Hermione? Let them rot in their own filth!" he asked trying to justify his position. Hermione narrowed her eyes at Harry.
"Maybe…" she replied. Harry was amazed at how dark Hermione was acting, maybe it was because of what Bellatrix did to her, but even so she was acting very aggressively. Later after Harry had finished his own dinner, he put the best of what was left on his plate and took it down to Bella and Narcissa. He entered the room to see them resting on the leather sofas, he sat the plate on a table and brought it round to them. Harry cleared his throat and warmed the food with a charm, as the two of them began to eat Harry left. Before he left however he heard a now much more kind Narcissa say.
"I'm sorry for what I said earlier. Thank you Harry."
"It's okay, I'll see you tomorrow." Harry replied calmly, with that he shut the door to the room and left. Once he was back in the common room he didn't stay long before heading straight for bed. It had been a long day and Harry was certainly tired, almost instantly as his head hit the pillow he was out like a light.
Back in the Room of Requirement the two Black sisters were also getting off to sleep but Bella was curious about where Harry was going to take them. She asked Cissy with all the intrigue and curiosity in her voice that she could acquire.
"What do you think Potter Manner will be like Cissy?"
"I'm not sure; I just hope Harry acts there like he did here. Did you see the way he looked at us earlier?" she asked with a great deal of pride in herself.
"He is just a boy, so I'm sure two sexy sisters in front of him would make any guy hot and bothered." Bella replied sounding very mischievous. "Do you think he will 'take us'?" she asked almost wishing Harry would.
"I don't know, but there are some things we could try."
"Like what?" Bella asked now enjoying the conversation all the more.
They spent all night talking about various plans, ploys and schemes they could try to get Harry interested in them. Tomorrow would be the time to try them but for now they simply enjoyed talking about them.
Author's Note: Hope you enjoyed that, if you're waiting for some mature scenes to go down I'm saving a lot of that for chapters 4 and 5. I'd also like to thank all my reviewers thus far and thanks for their support. Hopefully to those of you that wanted a slower paced story this was what you were after, I will try to keep a pace my audience like but I won't know without a review.