Author's Notes: Sorry for the [very] long wait! More is coming soon. Also, I'm not pleased with my characterization of Bellatrix in the previous chapters - and I feel that this story would do a bit better with some explanation at the beginning as to my view of the situation. So, expect some changes in the first four chapters, and check back often!
So to those actually still reading this... I've got a question for you. I know I need to cover a few specific incidents in the years between the current time and school-age Harry. What would you prefer - just skipping over the dead space, or spending more time on it?
If I spend more time on it, I'll probably end up making the years before Hogwarts a story in their own, and then make Harry's school years a second story.
Opinions?
And as for the nicknames... I'm going with Pup, from Sirius, and Petit from Bellatrix (I've always thought she had French heritage, and this means 'little' in French).
EDITED TO FIX: my 3 a.m. bad memory of the Black family, and the wrong age difference between Bellatrix and Sirius.
*********************************
When the morning light began to break over the buildings of Muggle London, reaching the almost-silent hotel room, Bellatrix roused herself, blinking blearily. She was curled up uncomfortably on the single bed, leaving the other side to the sleeping baby... who was no longer sleeping, and whose face was contorted into a decidedly uncomfortable-looking position as he squirmed around on the bed. It took a moment for her to realize that the sound-dampening charm was still over Harry, and that the odd face was due to his full-strength protest about not being fed or changed within the last - she glanced at the clock while taking off the charm - five hours -
Merlin, the child had a pair of lungs in him to rival any full-grown adult. She winced, muttering placating nothings, more than once including curse words that would have caused most well-bred witches to blush, and began the task of changing him, rocking him as she prepared a bottle, finding a burping cloth - all the while thanking her stars that she'd had ample opportunity to learn how to care for a baby. She had been older than both her sisters, as well as her two cousins - Sirius by nine years, as she had often reminded him in those long-ago days of family rivalry. And she and Andromeda had therefore by default often been the ones to watch the children when any important social event had occured which required the Black Family in attendance.
Finally, the dark-haired baby stopped crying and simply laid against her, hiccuping a little, as she took smooth, gliding steps around the room, holding him in one arm and twirling her wand with her free hand - a nervous habit that she had never quite been able to break.
Sirius had not yet returned, and she was beginning to get worried. He had never been known for his caution and careful planning, she thought wryly.
As the sun continued its slow rise up the blinds, she rocked Harry back to sleep, noticing that the cut on his forehead was healing well. She laid him gently on the bed before touching it gently, drawing back as he flinched away in his sleep.
She pulled the room's single chair over to the window and disordered the blinds a bit so she could see out into the courtyard below, to watch for Sirius' return. Her elbows on her knees and chin resting on her palms, she almost fell asleep again before seeing a familiar black-haired man stride across the courtyard.
When he came in the door, she looked up from her perch on the chair but didn't say anything; a finger across her lips and a nod to Harry was enough to get the point across. Sirius collapsed on the floor, leaning against the end of the bed and closing his eyes.
"We have to leave soon," she whispered after a while, and Sirius nodded without opening his eyes. His face was haggard and he really needed to shave, she observed - she could feel the greasiness in her own hair and on her skin, and she was fairly sure neither of them was particularly lovely-smelling at the moment.
"That's what I was doing," he whispered back, the words coming out in more of a croak. "Grimmauld Place is safe. Not exactly someplace I wanted to return to, but it's safe. I made sure. Safe even for Harry."
Bellatrix would have been surprised, if she hadn't been too tired. Grimmauld Place had been a horrible place for Sirius and his brother, Regulus, growing up - even in a Pureblood family, the rules, regulations, and expectations placed upon them were harsh and demanding. Regulus, taking the easier choice, had followed the path of Pureblood superiority his parents had set out - albeit with even more enthusiasm than they expected, joining The Dark Lord before he'd even graduated. But then, he had defected - less than three months ago now - and the Dark Lord had killed him with his own hands, according to the rumors.
Sirius had been the rebellious one, the one who painted his room Gryffindor colors after getting sorted into the house, the one who made a point of avoiding his family at Hogwarts and instead chose the company of the light, solidly embracing the alternative. And he had now been cast away.
They sat there for a while, Sirius half-sleeping, Bellatrix staring out the window.
"So what are we doing?" Sirius rasped finally, opening one eye in such a characteristic gesture that she was instantly transported to being eight years old, telling him sternly naptime was over and he needed to come eat or else his mummy would be mad.
"What do you mean?" she whispered back, shifting her gaze back to the window, watching a plump muggle family leave.
"Harry. You," he didn't open the other eye, but she could see the wariness in his posture, "Can I trust you not to hurt him."
She paused for a second, before she realized the silence was making him nervous.
"Completely. Last night - my mission, my initation, was to - remove the Longbottoms." She swallowed, hating herself for her failure even as she knew it was no failure, but rather the best decision she had made in years. "I couldn't do it," she muttered harshly, staring out the window, jaw set.
After a few moments of silence, she glanced quickly at Sirius, just in time to see a calculating expression on his face disappear, replaced by cold determination.
"I want you to swear to me now, right here, that you will never hurt Harry, and that if you do, you do so with the full knowledge that I will hunt you down and make you wish you'd killed yourself."
"I do swear so, and furthermore I swear that I will defend Harry," she remarked calmly, making the requisite motions with her wand to make her words a binding spell, "Til my last breath."
Well, she'd managed to make him open the other eye - in fact, he was now sitting up straight, mouth a little agape. "Close that, Siri, you'll attract flies," she commented, and he growled annoyedly at her.
Harry stirred a bit in his sleep, and they lowered their voices again.
"So... Grimmauld Place?" she whispered, a bit more comforted now that they had a plan.
"Yes. It's not the most ideal place, but it's safe... and I don't know what else to do - I don't know how much of the - of Dumbledore's crowd is trustworthy or alive, and I don't know where most of the Deatheaters are - sparing you, of course," and here he nodded civilly.