Chapter 8 -

"Alright, that's it, wonderful, now try again." Bellatrix told him. The two of them were downstairs in the basement, inside a very large room that had been designed for duelling practise. It had magically reinforced walls along with several training dummies and enchanted floor mats.

"Okay," Hydrus said before he let out a deep breath. "Incendio!" He yelled, shooting out a small fire blast that shot towards Bellatrix who effortlessly got rid of it with the barest flick of her wand.

"Not bad," She smiled at him. "Try and make your wand movements a bit quicker." She told him, beaming with pride.

"Okay, incendio!" Hydrus yelled, this time his fire blast came out much quicker.

"That's good," Bellatrix praised him. "Now, I want you to try again, but this time let the magic flow through your wand, imagine the fire being even bigger."

"Bigger," Hydrus repeated to himself. "Bigger, bigger. Hmm, incendio!" He roared, a hot burst of fire erupted from his wand, coming out much faster and larger than the last one. "Awesome!" He grinned.

"Yes, it was," Bellatrix agreed. "If you keep improving then I can start teaching you even more spells, bigger and better ones."

"Like what?" Hydrus asked eagerly.

"Well, when you're a bit older I can teach you the fire whip," She said, pointing her wand to the side and allowing a whip made of fire to shoot out of it. Hydrus gasped as Bellatrix directed it all around in every direction with the barest of movements and pure, perfect control. A second later he watched as the whip disappeared and Bellatrix grinned at him. "There are other fire related spells, but if you be really, really, really good then when you're an adult I can teach you how to use this spell. Fiendfyre!" She pointed her wand to the side and Hydrus took a step back as the whole room seemed to heat up as flames burst out of Bellatrix's wand, growing larger and larger until they had nearly reached the ceiling. The burning, bright flames started taking the shape of a large snake. Hydrus watched as the large snake hissed and started moving around the room before its eyes locked on to Hydrus. "That's enough out of you." Bellatrix pulled her wand back, a look of concentration on her face, the snake screeched loudly before the flames suddenly started growing smaller and smaller until they were removed from existence.

"That was amazing!" Hydrus blurted out.

"Yep," Bellatrix agreed. "But that spell is technically not one that I'm allowed to teach you so don't tell anyone about it, okay?"

"I won't, promise," Hydrus said immediately. "Can I try it?"

"No," Bellatrix said quickly, sounding far more stern than Hydrus had ever heard her sound. "That's a very dangerous spell that could end up seriously hurting or even killing experienced and trained adults, I don't want you to ever use that without my permission. You got it?" She asked, looking at him with narrowed eyes.

"Yes, Mum, I promise I won't try it." Hydrus told her sincerely.

"Good," She said in a satisfied voice. "Now, I think that's enough training for today, let's go up and have some scrummy cake."

"Okay," Bellatrix said as she and Hydrus stood by the fireplace in the kitchen, both dressed in their best wizarding clothes. "When we go to the Greengrass house, you just be polite and nice like always."

"Okay, Mum," Hydrus nodded as they stepped into the fireplace.

"Good, and let me know if they be mean to you," Bellatrix frowned before she picked up some floo powder. "Greengrass Manor." She said, tossing the powder down and allowing a bright green fire to rise up and envelop the two before transporting them all the way to the Greengrass house.

As Hydrus stepped out of the fireplace he took a moment to look around and take in his new location. The walls and floor were whiter than snow, a large and pretty gold chandelier hung from the ceiling, the windows were all large and as clean as a whistle. The furniture was all a dark blue, and much like everything else, it just screamed 'rich'.

"Ah, Miss Black, glad you could make it," A voice called. Hydrus looked to his left and found a family of four standing there, waiting for them. The first was a man with short dark brown hair, dressed in a grey suit. Next to him was a beautiful blonde woman dressed in light blue robes, her hair done up in an elaborate bun. The woman held a brown haired girl in her arm that looked to be about three years old, and standing in front of them was a blonde haired girl with blue eyes that was dressed exactly like the woman was. "It appears introductions are in order," The man said, looking at Hydrus. "I am Lord Jean Greengrass, this is my wife Cynthia and my youngest daughter, Astoria." He added, gesturing to the woman and the brown haired girl before he placed a hand on the shoulder of the blonde girl. "And this is young Daphne." He added, not noticing the uncomfortable look on Daphne's face.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Lord Greengrass," Hydrus said with a short bow, remembering how both of his aunts had drilled into his head how he was supposed to greet a head of an ancient and noble house. "My name is Hydrus Black,"

"I've heard," Lord Greengrass said, staring down at Hydrus.

"Perhaps the kids should go and play," Bellatrix 'suggested' as she took a step forward so she was right behind Hydrus.

"Perhaps you're right," Cynthia agreed. "Daphne, go and take Hydrus with you up to your room and keep him entertained while we talk." She ordered. "Remember to behave."

"Yes, Mother," Daphne nodded before she looked at Hydrus and gestured him to follow her.

"Go on," Bellatrix whispered to Hydrus, gently tapping him on the shoulder. Hydrus gave her a small smile before he followed after Daphne, following her out of the room and all the way up to her room.

"This is my room," Daphne said as they entered into a room that while large, looked remarkably simple. There was a cupboard for clothes, a desk, a window and a bed and that was it. The walls were all pink while the floors were all a light-grey.

"Do you have any toys?" Hydrus asked once she closed the door.

"Only two," Daphne admitted. She looked hesitant for a moment but started walking over to her cupboard, she opened it and pulled out two princess dolls. "These are the only two that Mother said I could have."

"Lucky," Hydrus said, "I used to stay with my Aunt and Uncle, they didn't let me have any toys."

"Really?" Daphne asked, staring right at him.

"Yeah, they were mean," Hydrus frowned. "But now I'm staying with Bellatrix, and she said I can have as many toys as I want now."

"That sounds nice," Daphne said with a small smile that only lasted about a few seconds. "My mum and dad don't want to give me more,"

"Why?" Hydrus asked, Daphne looked at him for a moment before she shrugged her shoulders. "Well...Mum says that you and me are going to be best friends now so...when I have a toy then we can share it."

"Really? We can?" Daphne asked, staring at him like he couldn't possibly exist.

"Yeah," Hydrus smiled, positive that Bellatrix would let him play with Daphne.

"Thank you," Daphne smiled brightly at him before she looked down, a shy look appeared on her face. "Do you want to play?" She asked hopefully, holding out her princess dolls. Hydrus's nose wrinkled as he looked at the girly looking dolls.

"Fine," He said eventually. "But I'm going to pretend that mine is an alien." He declared, taking one from Daphne.

"What's an alien?" She asked curiously.

"I really do think that you should consider," Lord Greengrass said, letting out a deep sigh. "This relationship would be highly beneficial for both of our houses, and the best option is to encourage my daughter and young Hydrus to follow along with it."

"We've going around in circles for the last hour," Bellatrix muttered, scratching at her left eyebrow for a moment before she lowered her hand and stared at Lord Greengrass. "I will make myself perfectly clear, I will not be forcing or even encouraging my Hydrus to pursue any relationship. He will have whatever relationship he wants, whenever he wants. I am perfectly willing for your daughter to spend as much time with Hydrus as he wants, but I will not interfere in his relationship. Do not for a moment think that I don't know that you simply want to have the glorious name of the Black family attached to house."

"Now, Miss Black, please," Cynthia spoke up, holding a sleeping Astoria in her arms. "We only want what is best for both houses, I..."

"Of course," Bellatrix snorted. "Either way, my decision is final, Hydrus will have whatever relationship with your daughter that he wants. End of story. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll go and fetch my son, it's time for us to get going." She told them, standing up and walking off without waiting for a response. She walked upstairs and after a few moments was able to find Daphne's room thanks to hearing their voices.

As she got closer to the door she was able to hear more, hearing what sounded like a great deal of laughter. She opened the door and found the two children playing on the floor. Daphne was giggling and hiding a toy doll behind her hands while Hydrus was widely waving the other like it was a wand.

"And then I blast your princess!" Hydrus declared pointing the toy at Daphne's toy.

"No, you won't!" Daphne laughed, taking the toy and hiding it behind her back.

"Then I blast you first!" Hydrus said without missing a beat, pointing the toy at Daphne now.

"Can we keep the blasting to a minimum?" Bellatrix said, catching the attention of both kids. "Hydrus, darling, it's time to go now."

"Mum, can't we play for a bit more?" Hydrus asked, sounding almost as hopeful as Daphne looked. "Please?"

"Not today," Bellatrix told him, before staring between the two kids. "But I will let Daphne come over soon so you can play more then, okay?"

"Thanks, Mum," Hydrus grinned as he and Daphne got up. "I'll see you later, Daphne." He told her.

"Okay," Daphne mumbled, taking a step back. "Bye-bye, Hydrus," She said, hugging the doll to her chest.

"Bye," Hydrus gave her a small wave before he walked out of the room.

"We shall see you another time, Miss Greengrass," Bellatrix said, looking at the girl who looked noticeably sadder than before. "Goodbye." She said before she closed the door, she sighed and grabbed Hydrus's hand before she walked him down the stairs where the rest of the Greengrass family were waiting. "Daphne shall be allowed to come to my house once a week," She told them before any of them could start to speak. "Hydrus appears quite fond of her." She added before she and Hydrus stepped into the fireplace. "I shall be most displeased if Daphne should find herself unable to come." She sent them a meaningful look before they flooed away.

"You're flourishing your wand too much," Bellatrix told him, dodging a light red beam. "Try the spell again." She held her wand out and gave him a meaningful look.

Hydrus took a deep breath as he aimed his wand at the wand in Bellatrix's hand, he mentally ran through the wand movements for the spell. The spell was a lot harder than the other ones that Bellatrix had been teaching him, but he had been making progress in it. He took a deep breath before he performed the movement while also saying the incantation.

"Expelliarmus!" A red beam shot out from his wand and collided with Bellatrix's hand, causing her to wand to fly out of her hand and land in-between them on the floor. "I did it!" Hydrus cheered.

"Yes, you did," Bellatrix smirked as she walked forwards and picked up her wand. "It's not perfect, that'll come with practise, but yeah, you did it. Well done, I think it's time to call it a day. Come on, let's go up."

"Can I practise more? Please?" Hydrus asked.

"Hydrus, I have things to do," Bellatrix told him.

"I'll practise on the dummies, please can I practise a bit more?" He begged.

"Fine," Bellatrix said after a few moments. "Kreacher," She called, causing the house elf to pop into the room. "Hydrus is going to practise his disarming curse, you shall watch him and make sure that he doesn't attempt any other spell besides that. And after half an hour I want you to tell him to stop and come upstairs."

"As Mistress commands," Kreacher bowed his head as Bellatrix turned and left the room.

"Thank you," Hydrus whispered to Kreacher before turning to the dummies, missing the surprised look on Kreacher's face.

The next ten minutes were spent with Hydrus practising the disarming spell on the dummies, with Kreacher even being nice enough to pick up the fake wands and put them back for Hydrus. After that, Hydrus frowned and stared at the closed door before he looked at Kreacher who was looking back at him curiously.

"Kreacher," Hydrus whispered. "There's something under my bed, can you please get it for me?" He asked.

"At once, Master Hydrus," Kreacher nodded, he popped away and popped back a few seconds later, holding something that looked to be a small ladder made of thin ropes and tiny yellow rungs. "What is this?" Kreacher asked, handing it to Hydrus.

"It's an agility ladder," Hydrus told Kreacher. "It helps me practise my footwork." Hydrus told him, having gotten it yesterday when Tonks had visited. She had handed it to him, telling him that it was a gift from her dad before she explained what it was and how to use it. Apparently boxers used it to improve their footwork, something which could end up being handy in duels according to Tonks.

"Interesting," Kreacher murmured but didn't say anything else as he stepped back and watched Hydrus start to practise. As Hydrus continued to practise, Kreacher continued to watch, remembering the other master that Hydrus reminded him of. He just hoped that Hydrus didn't end up suffering the same fate.

A.N: Hi guys, hope you liked the chapter. Just a quick question, on my last laptop I was able to have a button that allowed me to single out reviews when I went on a story, but it's not on my new laptop. Anyone know anything that I can do about that?

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