I'm so sorry for the long wait! I thought I put this up already, but i guess not . . . i feel like this always happens to me! So sorry guys! Well, I hope you like it! More to come! Very, very soon! :D
DISCLAIMER: still don't own harry potter, still don't own twilight!
CHAPTER TWO
" . . . sure she's all right?" a voice semi-whispers just outside of the room. A voice I easily recognize as belonging to Mrs. Weasley.
"Yes, mum!" George exclaims, not bothering to keep his voice down. "She was just . . . tired."
"All right, all right, I was just worried. Now, off to kip!" I can practically hear George's eyes rolling.
"'Night, mum," he says, and enters the room, shutting it tightly behind him. I sigh, pulling the sheets over my head.
"Bells?" George whispers. "You awake?"
"Yeah," I say, sitting up. "Because of you," I snap.
George is silent for a moment, looking guilty. I instantly feel terrible. "Oh," he says. "Sorry."
It's okay! I want to yell. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have snapped at you. But I don't. I just sit there, numb, biting my lip so hard that the salty taste of blood soon touches my tongue. I wipe my lip, then pull the sheets up to my shoulders, not wanting him to see how thin I am. Not wanting him to see my ribs. I shiver.
"You should probably get back to sleep," he says, breaking the silence. "It's almost eleven o'clock, and mum's taking you and Ginny to Diagon Alley for supplies in the morning."
I nod, and slip back under the covers.
"Bells, you gotta wake up now," a voice says near my ear, and I open my eyes to see Harry leaning over me, looking worried. I nod, and slip out of bed, my arms crossed tightly over my chest. "Ginny's downstairs eating breakfast," he says, clearly having not looked—or maybe just having not noticed—how thin I am. "George and I brought your stuff up. Skeeter's out—doing whatever." He points next to the door, where my clothes sit.
"Thanks," I say softly, wanting to ask him if he will come with us to Diagon Alley, but too afraid of what he might say. Or, more accurately, what he might ask. He nods, and exits the room, leaving me to find something that won't be too tight, or too large. Oh, no. Does that mean I need to purchase new robes?
After rifling through all of my clothing, both from the small bag I took with me on my travels and from the dresser where I've been keeping my clothes, I settle on a pair of loose denim cut-off shorts—with those adjustable buttons inside, so I can make them tighter—and a soft blue sweatshirt that rolls up to just below my elbows.
When I start heading downstairs, I can hear shouting coming from the kitchen. I tip-toe quietly, trying not to make any loud sounds.
" . . . not healthy!" Harry is yelling. "Did you see how thin she is?"
"Yeah, Harry, I did, bu—"
"George! We're talking about my sister here! The one who has been practically inseparable from you and Fred since she was nine! And, I know how Fred's loss is affecting you too, is affecting everyone, but just think about it for a second. Think about how much she's lost, and how much she has left to hold on to!"
George is silent for a moment, nobody saying anything. I can hear footsteps upstairs. "What are you saying?" he asks finally. "You don't mean that she—I mean, she couldn't. Could she?"
Now it's Harry's turn to be silent. "I don't know," he whispers, almost too quietly for me to hear. "I really don't know. But I'm not going to wait and see." The power of his voice, the obvious determination, sends a spark of hope through me. But it soon fades, and the hair on the back of my neck stands up, a cold finger sliding down my spine.
Gray spots appear in my vision, and the world begins to spin. I feel sweat bead on my brow, although I feel as if I have been doused with ice-water. My stomach churns, and I feel a sharp pain coming from my scar. A blinding pain that I have no way to escape. I scream and tear at my forehead as the pain grows.
"NO! STOP! MAKE IT STOP!" I scream. The pain becomes too much, and I feel myself slipping down the remanding stairs as the air around me seems to grow colder, and my vision fails completely. It returns shortly, the pain in my head miraculously reduced to a mild ache. But, I am no longer on the stairs in the Burrow. No, I am not in the Burrow at all. I am in a graveyard, the sky almost completely black, not a single star in sight. I take a step forward, the dead grass sharp against my bare feet.
A cloaked figure moves between the headstones, making no noise at all. A Death Eater? A girl who I had not noticed earlier stands a few headstones away from the figure. She ducks down, behind a particularly large stone, the name and dates faded and worn away. A horrible cold seems to drift through the yard.
The girl looks up and another figure appears, standing over her. A hand with long, pale fingers grasps a wand that looks exactly like Harry's. The young girl stands up quickly, moving into a dueling stance. "Voldemort," I hear her hiss, in a voice eerily similar to my own. I slowly move in their direction, curious as to who the girl might be. A branch crunches under my foot, and I tense. The girl and unknown figure don't seem to notice. The cloaked figure draws closer to the girl and starts to lower its hood. But, it is not the snake-like face of Voldemort, as the girl seemed to have thought it would be—no, it's the handsome face of Tom Riddle, the boy who Voldemort once was, a smirk planted across his pale pink lips.
Cloaked figures begin to appear in every direction, all moving to the girl, who I now can easily see has red hair, the exact shade of my own. But before anything is said, before anything can be said, everything around me goes black, and I feel myself slipping into unconsciousness—supposing I haven't already.
" . . . owl to Hogwarts?" someone whispers somewhere on my right. It sounds like Mr. Weasley. "What . . . happens . . ." his voice seems to be drifting in and out, like a radio with bad signal. ". . . starts . . . two days."
I hear a loud bang from somewhere below, and then a loud guffaw. Teddy?
"What . . . you two . . . anyway?" he appears to be asking someone a question.
"George and . . . row about . . ." Harry replies, but I can only catch snippets.
"Mmm," is Mr. Weasley's only reply. There is a moment of silence, before he says something that sounds like ". . . wish Remus . . . only one . . . calm her down."
I shift slightly, but am unable to open my eyes. I feel like they've been glued shut. Plus, I'm not quite ready to be bombarded by questions. I heave a sigh, forcing my lids to peel back from my eyes. Harry immediately launches up from his chair by the bed.
"Bellatrix Lily Potter!" he exclaims in a frustrated tone the same time Ron, who I hadn't noticed earlier, yells, "Bloody hell, Bells!"
"Is she finally awake?" Ginny calls from outside the room. "Teddy's been calling for her for hours!" Ginny, red faced and hair wild, bursts through the door then, Teddy balanced on her hip. "Bella, I'm going to bloody kill you. He threw—"
"Wait," I interrupt, my voice thick with sleep. "Hours? How long have I been out?"
"Since this morning," Mr. Weasley says in a matter-of-fact tone. "About ten hours."
I rub at my forehead, but remove my hands when they come across something sticky. I cast Harry a questioning look.
"You cut your forehead," he says, reluctantly. "With your nails."
I nod, remembering the unbearable pain and how I had clawed at my scar in a futile attempt to stop it. And then something else . . . My scar aches, and I take that as a don't think about it.
"What the hell was that?" Ron asks, and Ginny smacks him across the head. Teddy laughs, and tries to get at him as well. Ginny seems happy to comply, and even moves closer, making it easier for Teddy to reach. "What did I say?" Ron asks after a moment of Ginny's glare.
"No," I whisper, sitting up slightly. "It's all right." I reach out for Teddy, and Ginny hands him over. He wraps his arms around my neck and squeezes tightly. I run my fingers through his hair. "Although I'm not quite sure what it was either." I pause for a moment, my green eyes meeting Harry's identical pair, although his are clearly portraying his emotions—worry, fear, oddly paternal love—while I hope mine are guarded, and don't display just how frightened I truly am. "I was in a graveyard," I whisper, skipping over the part about my scar hurting and looking down at Teddy, who stares up at me with his blue-rimmed hazel eyes, filled with nothing but innocence and trust. I can see Harry's fists tense in the corner of my eye, and I know that he is remembering exactly what I am—the Tri-Wizard tournament. The night that Cedric died.
"And i saw this man. He was wearing a cloak," I continue, seeing the images perfectly in my mind. "I thought he was a Death Eater," I pause again, and look back up at Harry. "And then there was a girl. I didn't get close enough to see—but I'm pretty sure she had red hair . . . and looked very much like me." I take a deep breath. "She was hiding behind a large headstone," I frown, and my eyebrows crease, "but the cloaked man found her. He pulled out his wand . . ." I chance a glance at Harry's pocket—and there it is, the twin of Voldemort's wand. ". . . and it looked exactly like Harry's. And then he took off his hood." I look around the room, starting from Mr. Weasley, then traveling to Harry, Ginny, and Ron. Then I slowly return to Harry, unflinchingly meeting his eyes. "It was Tom," I whisper.
"Tom?" Ginny asks, looking terrified. "Tom, as in—"
"Tom Riddle," I whisper, even quieter than before. Ginny gasps, and slaps a hand over her mouth, but that doesn't stop the sound of her hysterical sobs. Harry pulls her onto his lap, and she buries her head into his shoulder.
"Could we have a moment?" Harry asks, looking at Ron and Mr. Weasley. They both nod, and hurry to exit the room. My grasp around Teddy tightens. The one-year-old stays silent, as if he is aware of how serious this situation is.
Harry then looks straight at me, while at the same time he seems to be somewhere else entirely. "Bellatrix, I need you to be completely honest with me when I ask you this." I nod, and bite my bottom lip just as it begins to quiver. "Has your scar been hurting?" he asks me, and I can't bring myself to answer. I can't answer, because the moment I do—the moment I do, it will ruin every ounce of happiness Harry—this entire family—has managed to achieve over the last few months. The last few months I wasn't here to witness.
"Bellatrix!" Harry yells, startling me. "Has. Your. Scar. Been. Hurting?"
There is a moment of quiet, the only sound our breathing and the odd noises that Teddy makes on occasion. "Yes," I whisper finally, so quietly that I hope he can't hear.
But, of course, he does hear, and his reaction is one that shakes me to my very core.
Harry's sobs are filled with such agony—such misery—that I cannot help but flinch back into my pillows. Never, not ever, have I seen Harry cry so hard. No—no, there was that one time right after Sirius died, then when he showed up at the stadium after the graveyard (and last tournament for the Tri-Wizard Tournament) after Cedric's death. But I say this is worse. So much worse, because I know that I'm the one who caused it.
Ginny's trying to calm Harry down, but it's pretty obvious that nothing she does will work. I hastily kick her out of the room (with Teddy in her arms) before grasping my brother's hands and pulling him down onto the bed with me. I burry my head in his chest, and he sobs into my hair, holding me so tightly that I fear my ribs with break.
Harry's sobs quiet after about ten minutes, but he doesn't let go. I can feel his tears in my hair, but don't make any move to get up, or pull away.
"Why didn't you tell me?" he whispers, his voice laced with sadness.
"I—"I break off, turning from Harry and facing the other way. "You were happy," I say. "You were happy, and I didn't want to be the one who ruined everything."
Harry's quiet for a moment. "That's why you left," he says finally, but I shake my head. In all honesty, that wasn't really why I left.
"It hurt too much," I tell Harry, rolling off of him so I lay on my back. "Being here. Even being with Teddy. And I couldn't stand it anymore. I had to get away." I wipe at my eyes.
"Do you think you'll be able to attend Hogwarts this year?" Harry asks, abruptly changing the subject.
I shake my head. "No." I laugh, without much humor. "No, I really don't. But Mrs. Weasley and Ginny both want me to go back, so I will. I promised Luna as well."
"Bellatrix, Luna will understand. Ginny too. And I don't want you to go if you feel unsafe."
I shake my head, squeezing his hand. "I'll write you," I tell him. He sighs, knowing there's no use in arguing.
"You have to promise me, that at the first sign something is going wrong, you will come home. You and Ginny both."
I cuddle into his side. "I promise."
That night at the Weasley's is indefinitely one of the most uncomfortable. We all lounge around, with the exception of Mrs. Weasley, who bustles around the entire time, getting mine and Ginny's trunks together. Apparently, she'd run to Diagon Alley while I'd been out, knowing I was in good hands, and had gotten our supplies.
To me, it seems so odd that I'll be back in school, taking N.E.W.T.'s, hanging out with friends. I don't think it'll be the same at all. I can't even begin to imagine how difficult this will be.
"Are you excited to see everyone?" Ginny asks.
I force a smile, leaning back into the cushions of the couch. "Everyone but—"
"Collin Creevey!" we both exclaim in unison, and Ginny starts laughing. I force myself to follow along, giggling.
Mrs. Weasley walks into the living room from the kitchen, Teddy's hand in hers. His blonde hair is sticking up every which way, and he's got his blue blanket in his other hand. He yawns. His eyes land on me, and he pulls his hand from Mrs. Weasley, stretching it out in front of him and opening and closing it, gazing at me longingly. "Mummy," he says, stomping his feet, which are clothed in his blue footie pyjamas. "Mummy!" he exclaims again, pointing at me, and opening and closing his hand again. Mrs. Weasley picks him up and sets him down on the couch next to me, where he crawls into my lap. I wrap my arms around him. God, I'm going to miss him.
"Mrs. Weasley?" I say, as she's about to leave the room. She turns to me.
"Yes?"
"If it's all right, I'd like for Teddy to sleep with me tonight."
"Oh, that's fine, Bella, dear. But don't forget, we're leaving for the station at seven."
I nod, and she goes back into the kitchen. I look down at Teddy, who looks as if he's about to fall asleep. I pick up his pacifier from the side table and he grabs it, sticking it into his mouth. I put my hands under his bottom, and he wraps his little arms around my neck.
I stand up start for the stairs, throwing Ginny a small apologetic smile.
When I get up to mine and George's room, I find Harry leaning against the side of my bed, his head in his hands. He looks up when I walk in. I put a finger to my lips, and gently lay the already-sleeping Teddy down on my bed. I brush his hair away from his forehead, and kiss his head softly, inhaling his smell. I then take Harry out into the hall, shutting the door almost all the way.
Harry pulls me into a hug. "I'm going to miss you," he says, into my hair. "You've just come home."
"I'll be home on Holiday soon, Harry," I say into his chest.
Teddy's soft whimpers cut through the air like a knife, and I quickly pull away from Harry and run into the room. I gently shush him, and lift him into my arms. "Mummy," he whispers. "Mummy, mummy, mummy."
"Oh, honey. I'm right here," I coo. "Mummy's right here." Teddy's cheeks are flushed. He buries his head into the crook of my neck.
I look up to see Harry watching me from the doorway, his eyes brimming with sadness.
"You're so good with him," he tells me.
"I need to be," I whisper back. "He thinks I'm his mum."
"You might as well be."
I shake my head, and set Teddy down on the bed. His eyes snap open immediately, and his face reddens, as if he's about to cry. I shush him, brushing back his hair. His eyelids flutter shut again. I back away, and go grab some pyjamas.
"Can you watch him?" I ask Harry. "Just for a moment, so I can go get my pyjamas on?"
Harry nods, stepping into the room as I step out. I brush past him, and slip into the restroom. I slip off my shirt and shorts, then slide on my short green nightgown. I gently comb my hair before stepping out of the room and walking back into the room. Teddy is asleep, Harry looking down on him with silent tears running down his cheeks. He looks up at me. I give him a tight hug.
"I love you," I tell him.
He squeezes me tightly. "Love you too, Bells." He pulls back, and kisses my forehead. "See you in the morning." He leaves the room, shutting the door behind him. I crawl under my covers, wrapping my arms around Teddy, and quickly fall asleep.
SOOOO? What did you think? I know it wasn't my best, but I still hope you liked it. It was mostly a filler, so we could move on to the good stuff. The next few chapters should be a lot better; HOGWARTS, HERE WE COME! And Edward and the whole lot come in soon (AS WITCHES AND WIZARDS) and i know you'll love that!
REVIEW, PLEASE! If I get more than ten by tomorrow when I get home from school, I'll try and hurry it up with the next few chapters!