A/N: Thanks to all the reviewers for the past few chapters. This will be the last chapter for a couple of weeks

Chapter 17- A Best Friend

Natalie stepped through the portrait, warily noting the empty Common room. It had been an extremely long night. After Harry had left, she had spent an indefinite period of time, walking around the castle, desperately trying not to confront the powerful waves of trepidation and shame that were crashing tumultuously against her stomach. But now, as she lowered herself into her favorite armchair, she conceded that she had made a grave mistake.

Suddenly, Natalie heard footsteps coming down the stairs. She swiveled her head slowly around to see Hermione hurriedly approaching her. Natalie made to stand up, but Hermione rather firmly motioned for her to stay seated. She sat down in the armchair opposite Natalie.

Seeing Natalie's red eyes and drooping head, Hermione asked worriedly, "What happened? I heard from Parvati that Harry had come back in a right fit. I went down to check on you but I couldn't find you. I've been waiting since."

Natalie's spirits lifted as she realized the strength of their very recent friendship. She was immensely grateful for Hermione's concern and her present company. Wiping her eyes, Natalie answered, her voice quivering, "We had a fight. He said some bad things. I said some nasty things. It didn't go very well. I walked around the castle to try to clear my head, but obviously, I'm still in a right mess." Natalie could not help but sob on the last word.

Hermione wrapped her arms around Natalie. Her face had softened into an expression of utter understanding. "Don't worry so much Natalie. You two will get over it. Harry's not the type to keep a grudge for a very long time and neither are you."

Natalie lowered her head, laughing somberly. She realized that Hermione had no idea about the true cause of their fight. "I don't think it will take a short time to overcome this fight. I, er, told him some pretty revealing things about me and, er, I think he's a bit –actually extremely – confused and angry."

She could sense Hermione's eyes narrow slightly as she gave Natalie's shoulders a tiny squeeze.

Natalie sighed. She had just placed herself in another compromising position. But upon looking at the unwavering compassion on Hermione's face, an extremely reckless abandon surged through Natalie. She was humiliated, frustrated and desperate. She found herself overcome by an intense desire to defy that fatal inevitability which now had inveigled her relationship with Harry. Rationality had become vastly irrelevant; all Natalie wanted to do was prove that someone could believe and accept her.

"Hermione?" asked Natalie tentatively.

"Yes," replied Hermione gently.

"Can I tell you about what I told Harry?" posed Natalie, still very softly.

"Of course," stammered Hermione, taken aback by Natalie's hesitation.

Natalie raised her head to meet Hermione's eyes. She carefully removed Hermione's hands from her shoulders. She stopped trembling, pushing down her convulsions and composed her face into the same concentrated, sedulous look that she had employed unsuccessfully with Harry.

With the sense of blindly entering a situation fraught with danger, Natalie opened her mouth. "Hermione, did you hear about the Death Eater attack that on my mother and me during the holidays?"

"No – what happened?" gasped Hermione, looking absolutely flabbergasted.

Natalie smiled. "You know, that my mother is hiding from Voldemort?"

Hermione nodded, still gawking at Natalie.

"Well, there is more to my mother and myself than we've been telling everybody. Oh god, Hermione. Relax. I'm here, am I not? I need you to calm down first."

Natalie was glad to see that Hermione quickly straightened herself, nodding silently at Natalie to continue. Natalie then proceeded to relay her story again, this time to Hermione. She revealed the identity of Bellatrix first before describing the attack on Christmas day, hoping that Hermione would have some time to absorb the information. Natalie was extremely relieved to see that Hermione's reaction to Bellatrix was far less profound. Hermione had merely closed and opened her eyes several times before regaining her focus and telling to Natalie to move along.

After Natalie had finished, Hermione looked at her with a combination of admiration and regret. "I'm so sorry Natalie about everything. I have no idea about how burdensome it must be to carry a secret like that for such a long time."

Natalie raised her eyebrows in bewilderment. "You're not shocked? I hope you know that my mother is a mass murderer who might be looking for me right now."

Hermione looked sadly at Natalie. "It is quite an intricate connection you share with her. I mean she has done all of these disgusting things and well, you can't deny that she's your mother. "

"Please do not judge me, Hermione," stated Natalie coolly.

Hermione's face flushed. "Oh no, I'm sorry Natalie. I wasn't judging you at all. It's just well difficult to grapple that she's, er, so close to you. Even for me, a secret like this is not that ordinary. "

Natalie's face turned somber. "Don't think I haven't gone over that many times before. She is invariably the woman who I sprung from. And I know that I do not at all follow the typical standard in the wizarding world, but there's nothing I can do to change that. It's my burden and not for anybody else to offer their interpretation. So you either accept me or you don't." Despite the firm, challenging statement, Natalie feared that Hermione had only now fully grasped the shocking significance of Natalie's background.

Hermione's face hardened. "Listen, Natalie, I am not judging you. I can inform with you with full certainty that you are the complete opposite of Bellatrix Lestrange. I know that you are her daughter in only one way which does not at all alter my view of you. You are still one of my best friends."

Natalie surveyed Hermione closely before accepting her explanation. Her face softened into one of relieved gratitude. "Thanks, Hermione. You're not that shocked then, are you?"

Hermione laughed shakily. "If you want to know the truth, I am quite stunned. It's like I'm seeing a completely new perspective – but one in which you do not change. But your secret does not deviate as far you think from what I thought of you."

"What?" mouthed Natalie, feeling another sharp rise of trepidation.

"Oh no, Natalie, I never thought of you in a bad way. Well, it's just that you always acted like you were carrying some sort of burden. You see, I can decipher that type of behavior, being around Harry for so long. So, though the identity of your mother is undoubtedly boggling, the fact that you had a pretty dark secret is not wholly unexpected."

Natalie scrunched her eyebrows. She did not enjoy the idea that Hermione had been holding some type of mysterious reservation about her. "So you basically thought there was something funny about me?" asked Natalie, a bit too defensively.

Hermione shook her head frantically. "Oh no, Natalie. It's just that you came out of almost nowhere and you seemed so worried initially. I sensed something was wrong – I never fully believed in the idea after I saw how great a person you are. It's just an instinct. I do trust you a lot – why would I confide in you about Ron?" Hermione's face had become very flushed.

Natalie realized that Hermione had not been suspicious, but just merely curious. The girl had used careful, logical reasoning to assess her while at the same time, treating and trusting Natalie like a very close friend. With this knowledge, she gave Hermione her warmest, most genuine smile. For some reason, she felt oddly ebullient, knowing that at least someone had construed her in the proper way. "You know, Hermione, for someone who can't tell that her best friend for six years is completely in love with her, you're a pretty good mind reader," said Natalie jokingly.

Hermione sighed in relief. "Well, let's not get into my troubles," she added in a slightly stern tone.

Hermione looked at Natalie in pure understanding and compassion. "So how has it been, holding something like that for so long? When, did you first know?"

Strangely, Natalie did not feel uncomfortable, talking to Hermione about Bellatrix when Hermione had subconsciously shown her true loyalty to Natalie. "I learned about Bellatrix when I was about six years old. Then, it wasn't as bad since I didn't know about her. But as I've come to learn about all her crimes, it's become far worse."

"But, remember, you are absolutely nothing like her. There is not one single speck of malevolence or cruelty in you." Natalie could almost taste the full bodied, consuming protectiveness that suffused Hermione's voice.

Natalie clicked her tongue. "Kalissa always tells me that, but thanks for the compliment. It still doesn't erase all her image has done to me and then to see her…" Natalie convulsed rather violently, causing Hermione to pull Natalie into another tight hug.

Natalie continued to try to talk. She wanted to relieve herself of this burden. "To see her in reality and not in dreams or in my mind was sort of numbing, but somehow, disappointing. I guess that I had let myself partly believe that she nurtured at least a tiny portion of motherly love for me. But I know, now, that she is just a horrible monster who won't think twice about killing me even if she knows who I am."

Hermione nodded knowingly. "Those are perfectly normal feelings. Well the situation is not normal, but your emotions are just human nature."

Tears streamed down Natalie's face. "Thanks so much Hermione. You're taking it far better than Harry did. A true friend."

Hermione pulled herself from Natalie, scrutinizing Natalie carefully. "How did Harry specifically react?"

Natalie breathed. A grim disappointment obscured her face. "Very badly. He was first – well not a bit – extremely disgusted about her being my mother. He didn't know how I could, er, be indifferent to all her crimes –"

"But, you're obviously not! From the way you talk about her, it's clear that you more than despise her!" cried Hermione, bringing another smile to Natalie's face.

"Yes well – thank you Hermione. I said some bad things about how he was so noble and always wanted to save everybody. Then, when I wanted to leave, he held me back and asked me why I 'lied' to him. I've never seen him so angry. He then guessed that I saw her on Christmas day, suggesting that somehow I was telling him to protect myself and Kalissa. He ended his big speech by informing me rather viciously that I would place so many people – including you – in danger if she knew I was her daughter."

Hermione frowned. "That was actually quite irrational and selfish of him. He never gets so inconsiderate and well – cruel. I'm sorry Natalie. It must hurt quite a bit."

Natalie struggled to keep herself from crying again. He had been quite malevolent. "Yeah, well, you can see why I said that it's pretty unlikely that we'll come out of this fight unscathed."

Hermione pursed her lips. "It probably will take time, but can I offer my interpretation of Harry's behavior?"

"You said that this does not follow his normal pattern," stated Natalie quietly.

"It doesn't, but well listen to me on this one. He, and well you can include Ron and Ginny in this, have a pretty naïve and what I would call, childish, perception of the world. They only see good and evil – to them, there is a pretty clear boundary. So I'm guessing that when Harry heard about Bellatrix, naturally, his conscience was stunned. Your background does not abide by everything that he has seen – people coming from evil families usually tend to follow the same path in the wizarding world. He also strongly associates your mother, because she killed Sirius, with Voldemort so I think that some of his anger towards her became directed towards you. But most importantly, Natalie, I think he's just completely befuddled – he's seeing the world in a conflicted way and he's frustrated."

Natalie raised her eyebrows at Hermione. "That was quite an impressive analysis, Miss Granger, though I'd advise you next time not to talk at the speed of light."

"Yeah, ok, but do you agree with me?" said Hermione, looking at Natalie expectantly.

Natalie considered her. Hermione's perspective had a rational basis and it somewhat blended into her view of Harry. More crucially to Natalie, Hermione's suggestion implied that Harry did not harbor any hatred for her, but rather indicated that he was simply confused and perhaps traumatized. However, she could not let herself lean too heavily on hope; that same emotion had instilled a blind trust in Harry's objectivity. "Well, it makes sense. But we'll see how he reacts in the next few days to see whether you're right."

Hermione smiled at Natalie, taking in her depressed state. "Natalie, you and Harry do have a inexorable relationship. Both of you are pretty amenable so I don't see this dispute lasting for very long. For heaven's sake, do you honestly think that Harry is as thick headed as Ron?"

Natalie smirked. "No, I think Ron has that label to himself. Well, I'll try to talk to Harry eventually and hopefully, things can come around."

"Not eventually, soon."

Natalie shrugged. "We'll see."

Hermione sighed. "Ok, let's go to sleep, shall we?"

"Definitely." Natalie realized that it had to be extremely late. And she wanted to sleep so as to finally end this day. She desperately wanted for this evening to become another small fragment of her vast array of memory that had been allocated for Bellatrix, another dirty color on that palette.

As they walked up the stairs, Natalie turned to Hermione, "Thanks, Hermione. I really do appreciate your friendship."

Hermione shrugged. "You helped me when Ron was, er, well you know."

A surreptitious grin played its way onto Natalie's features. "So about Ron –"

Hermione raised her hand to stop Natalie. "No, we are not talking about that, tonight," ordered Hermione in a very stern, reproachful tone.

"Oh, don't worry, eventually, we will," said Natalie mockingly.

Hermione shoved Natalie gently. Together, they quietly stepped into their dormitory, retreated to their respective beds and curled under their bedsheets. Natalie noticed with a pang of surprise that she felt pleasantly refreshed.