⨳⨳⨳⨳SUMMER OF 1995 ⨳⨳⨳⨳
⫘⫘⫘LAUGH OF NIGHTINGALE⫘⫘⫘
As once again the week passed Harry and Rose's relationship started taking baby steps as both started spending more time together without getting awkward. The couple was mostly found in the manor library reading books in companionable silence.
But at the end of the week, Harry's nervousness was back in full force but it was manageable with his newfound confidence from his date with Rose. The cause of his nervousness was that all of his fiancees were different in what they liked and especially the 4 oldest ones who were all very powerful witches in the wizarding world which was dominated by wizards.
He knew what their life has been and so he wanted to promise all the happiness in the world they deserve after the difficult lives they led but at the same time he was not confident that he could achieve that goal. Like everything else the only thing, he hoped that his best was enough for all of them.
Shaking his head out of all these thoughts he looked at his reflection in the mirror looking at his outfit for his date which was a simple Purple shirt with a black jacket and trousers.
Today was a very special and important day for Bellatrix. It was her first date ever for her cause during her Hogwarts year she found no one good enough to date and her last name carried so much weight that no decent boy gave her a chase.
She never got a chance to go on a real date before she was sold by her parents to a monster named Lestrange. Now she was free and he was going to make sure that she has a happy memory of her first date. It was not just Bella he wanted to give happy memories but all his ladies or at least try his hardest to accomplish that goal.
As confident as he was in himself he was still a teenager and so the nervousness was there inside him.
"You look breathtaking, Arthur" Rose smiled coming into the room and walking towards him.
"You think?" he asked smiling nervously.
Rose smiled reaching him and kissing him gently on the lips saying "Yes, you look dashing Arthur, don't worry!" as she straightened his jacket.
"Hands off my date, Rose" a voice declared from the top of the staircase.
Both turned to locate the source of the voice only to gasp "Woah" seeing Bella standing on top of the staircase. She was wearing a one-shoulder dark purple sheath dress. She was wearing a bracelet he gifted her as a gift last Christmas or Yule. The dress hugged her body as her curly black locks reached her waist on the back. To Harry, she looked simply beautiful.
His eyes followed her down till she was standing in front of him he wanted to say something but couldn't cause his mouth was suddenly dried and his mind went mush.
"I think you broke him," Rose said moving her hand in front of his face and chuckling as she didn't get any reaction and added "Yep Broken"
"Well, it's an art to break a man by your presence Rose and dear are looking at the master of it" Bella sassed back before turning back to Harry and cupping his face saying "Harry Bear?"
Her touch broke his trance with him blurting out "You are breathtaking Bella" absentmindedly. The women blushed at his compliment and realizing what he said made him blush as well.
"Thank you, you are looking great too!" Bella said in a single breath shyly, thinking 'Darn it get it together woman you are not a school girl so don't act like one
"I glad you like it, so ready?" he asked offering her a hand thinking 'I am the luckiest bloke alive'
Bella took it with a shy smile adorning her face saying "Yes I am" with that both made their way to the front door and out of the manor. Once they were out of the ward boundaries of the property, they disapparated to Diagon Alley.
"So where to now?" Bella asked as they were standing in the dingy pub
"To the muggle London!" Harry answered with a smile on his face, intertwining his hand with hers. He was under a glamour which made him look different to everyone other than those keyed to see him as he is and so did Bella.
Both of them made their way to the muggle side of London through the Leaky cauldron. Out on the street both hand in hand, they started walking north for a few minutes before they stopped at a Pizza parlor.
"So have you ever had a pizza before?" He asked to which Bella shook her head making him grin as he said "Well me too so let's go and have our first pizza together" pulling her into the parlor and making her chuckle.
They took a table near the window near the entrance. Both took a menu booklet that was there on the table to browse through it and while Harry was deciding on his order Bella was confused about what was what.
When the waiter came to take the order Harry started "Can I have a pepperoni pizza and…" uh he turned to his date asking "Bella what about you?"
She put the booklet down saying flushed with embarrassment "Um….. I don't know what to order" shuffling in her seat.
Seeing this harry snorted taking her hands in his and saying "It's Okay" with a smile before turning to the waiter and saying "same for the lady"
The waiter nodded noting in his pad before asking "Sure sir anything to drink sir?"
"Um….. 2 cokes please" he answered as the waiter left.
"Whats Coke?" she asked
He shrugged saying "I don't know my cousin always drinks it so I always wondered what it tastes like just like pizza, I am excited to taste it" with enthusiasm his voice was clear.
Bella gave a confused asking "I thought you were living with Lily's sister….. What's her name I can't remember"
His smile flattered a little saying "Petunia… Aunt Petunia"
Bella exclaimed before asking "Ah! Yes, Petunia! Lily called her Tunisia whenever she was talking about her. But any way you lived with her so how come you didn't have pizza?"
"So what is your favorite dish?" he asked ignoring her question and trying to change the topic, hoping to avoid talking about it.
Bella took a hint to drop the subject but it did make alarms in her head go off. She smiled at his attempt to deflect the question but she accepted it seeing it was something she didn't want to make him uncomfortable.
She thought about his question before answering "Um…. till now its a tie between an Andy's Shepherd's Pie and Fortescue Ice cream"
He nodded smiling and saying "Yep I know her pie is delicious but to be fair Dora's Treacle tarts are winners for me hands down" but before she could answer their food came.
"Ready?" he asked as he looked at his pizza in front of him.
She nodded and with that, they both took a slice taking a bite both moaned simultaneously "By Merlins!" "It's delicious"
Both looked at each other for a second before laughing at their reactions while at the same time trying to keep their decorum in public.
Bella finished her slice before saying "Well pizza is my favorite dish ever, sorry Andy" as took the second slice.
Harry nodded saying "I know right, I mean I love Dora and her Trecale tarts but this is something else entirely!" he took the second slice of his pizza continuing "I don't know who invented this dish but whoever it was, was a genius!"
Bella nodded "Agreed Harry Bear!" before she took the glass in her asking "Ready?"
Harry nodded picking up his glass of the fizzy drink saying "Ready on 3?"
"1…." Bella counted
"2….." Harry continued
"3…" Bella ended and both of them took the first-ever sips of their fizzy drinks.
As they kept their glasses down none of the two said anything saying before Bella said "That was…"
"Awesome!" both completed at the same time once again before bursting out in a fit of laughter.
Bella looked at her glass in amusement asking "Who did the muggles made this! I mean it's refreshing like tea but also lighter and sweeter than tea! And, and it's Fizzy!" in child-like awe before suddenly shutting up and burping out loud. It made her red in embarrassment as she covered her mouth with her hand yelping in surprise "Oh My!"
This made Harry laugh at her expense but it was only a second later that he burped louder than her and it was now his turn red while Bella laughed back at him.
Harry chuckled saying "It's the Burping drink!"
Bella nodded taking another bite of pizza saying "okay you think it is the best but just wait until you drink fire whiskey, Harry Bear! You will burp and shoot fire from your mouth!"
Harry gave an amused expression saying "Oh! Well, I am underage but when I do get of age I will try it but until then, Burping drink is my favorite drink!"
Bella chuckled taking her bite before looking at him mischievously saying "Oh but Harry Bear you can drink now if you want! I won't tell anyone and no one will know! What do you say Harry Bear?" last part huskily
Her tone sent a shiver down Harry's spine as he felt her foot out of her black heels and rubbing on his calves, gathering his thoughts he answered "I… I am not sure about that B… B… Bella I mean….." he stopped as he heard her laugh and realized he was played which made him huff.
Seeing him pout Bella cooed saying "Aww I am sorry Harry Bear but I just couldn't resist! Dora told me you are too easy to tease, so I had to see it for myself" as she stood up and walked over to the other side of their booth, sitting beside him and kissing him gently on his lips.
Harry hummed happily saying "it's okay! But we have to finish our food quickly or we will be late for the Movie" Bella once again gave him a confused to which he chuckled asking "You have not seen a movie have you?"
Bella snorted saying "No I have not! you know that you cheeky prat!" swatting him playfully on the chest before pausing and asking "By the way what is this 'Movie' thing a circus or something"
"No it's much better than that but I don't know how to explain it to you," he said musing
"Then don't let's just finish our food and go too… See?" she paused only for him to nod " see what this 'Movie' thing is" air quoting which made him chuckle as they both went back to eating their food.
After they were done Harry Paid the bill and they exited to make their way out of the pizza parlor.
As they did Harry took her hand saying animatedly saying "Okay then it's an adventure!" Bella joined with her announcement "To, the unknown we go!"
They both made their way to the nearest theater and sat in a for an evening show of Jumanji. At first, Bella was a little jumpy but as the movie progressed she was fully immersed in the story and so was Harry. They were so engrossed that by the end of the movie when the older man returned to his age Bella cheered loudly.
After the movie both silently walked out of the establishment and walked some distance until they reached a small park. They took to swings before bursting into screams of joy and laughter. Both recounted the favorite scenes of their first movie ever. At one point Harry stopped and it was only Bella going on with a face-splitting grin on her face.
She started with how good the movie was before going on a rant about the most what kind of runes would it take to make a game like that in real life before going into detail about why it won't be possible with the rules of time and space magic. While also theorizing that it would be possible and could already exist it's just that knowledge was lost just as Rose said Multiple times a day.
All this time Harry silently admired her serene beauty of her as she described what animals she liked. Her eyes were all lit up, a single treas of her lush curly hair falling on her face cause of the air, as she theorized how a whole jungle came to life from a board game or more precisely how and what spells and/ or wards were used make it happen.
His mind wandered to the realization that the woman in front of him was not, Bellatrix the most feared witch on the Isle of Britain! No, the woman in front of him was a survivor and his fiancee. This was one of the women he will marry and one he was falling for just like he fell for Fleur.
With a smile on his face, he said "You look much better beautiful when you smile, Bella" as he tucked that treas of her hair behind her ear.
Bella stopped her rambling as she turned to the side only to see her fiance smiling at her. The look in his eyes was one of pure admiration and love. It was so pure, without any hidden agenda or lust in them, just warmth and care for her.
She thought that she couldn't love the young man sitting in front of her any more than she already did but by magic, she was wrong cause the way he looked at her made her fall for him head over heels several times in a second.
A second during which a blush crept up from her neck to her face. She simply wasn't used to people calling her beautiful. She was used to people calling her names like slut, bitch, whore, psycho, murderer, etc, cause of her deeds from when she was lieutenant of the dark lord but it was the first time someone called her 'Beautiful' in 14 years. She had compliments from Harry before but this one for some reason unknown to her struck a chord in her heart.
"Thank you!" she replied but she was rubbing her arms as the night wind grew colder by the minute.
Noticing this Harry took off his jacket and covered her with it. Bella smiled at the sweet gesture. She knew it was and was something straight out of those crappy romantic she used to read in her teenage years yet loved it. She stood up offering him her hand asking "Up for a stroll Mr. Potter?"
He smiled saying "Yes Milady" and taking her hand got off the swing. But he overestimated his newly gained weight and strength and at the same time underestimated his dates strength.
As the result, she yanked him hard making him yelp as he started falling forward and his body weight forced Bella to fall backward with an "EEP!"
The height difference between the couple was very evident at that moment as Harry fell face-first into Bella's bust with a muffled scream.
His face in her cleavage causes a little moan to escape from her mouth and heat to rise from her neck to her cheeks. She gulped asking "H… H… Harry B… bear… you okay?" she felt his breath on between her breasts which made her breath go shallow.
Harry nodded unconsciously before lifting his red flushed moment saying "Yeah I am okay you cushioned my fall" without thinking.
Bella smirked saying "I know Harry Bear! By the way, were the cushions comfy?"
"Huh?" he asked before he looked down to where his face was just a second ago and suddenly his face went atomic. He jumped on his feet saying "I am Bella! It's just you pulled me hard and I lost my balance… and… and… I…."
Bella stood up after him and silenced him with a kiss before saying "It's okay Harry Bear, it was just an accident! So you don't have to apologize for it" before she kissed him again and took his hand saying "Now let's walk!"
Harry nodded with a nervous smile. He knew it was nothing but still he felt that the fall made things awkward between them. As they were walking Side by side for a minute before he heard Bella asking "So Harry Bear what do you want to do after Hogwarts?"
"Oh! Hmm! Oh! Well I love Defense right now but I have something in my mind but I don't want to say it cause I want it to be a surprise for everyone!" he answered.
Bella raised her eyebrow in amusement commenting "Oh you have secrets huh? Okay let's play the game, I will try to guess what you like If I win you will make me Pissa every weekend for summer. And if you win…." She looped her arms around his neck continuing "… I will…." She leaned to his ear whispering " …. Do anything you want!" biting his ear lobe lightly
At this moment Harry cursed his moral compass and wished he could let his Hormones take control! Shivering in delight from her breath and bite before he answered "O… Oka…y I am I…n! But you get 3 tries!"
With a smile of Triumph Bella leaned back saying "Okay let's start! Hmm, you said you are good at Defense and from what I have seen in the last 2 weeks I know you are more of a practical learner so just to eliminate the obvious, Auror?"
Harry shook his head saying "Nope I like defense but it's an interest out of necessity. I mean I will fight when I feel that I need to and it's the right thing to do but not for a living! That's one, only four left"
She huffed saying "Hmm, okay how about this you are a pretty awesome quidditch player and the youngest seeker in the century. If what Susan and Daphne say is true then you can be the best quidditch player in the pro league! So a Professional Quidditch Player?" she asked last part in a hope she was right.
Harry snorted saying "Nah! I love flying on my broom cause I feel closer to dad when I am up in the sky! And quidditch is the only way I can do it while at school. So no not a pro player! Last chance!"
She groaned in disappointment, she wanted to have pizza made by Harry but on the flip, she was excited thinking about what he was going to ask her to do which made her mind go to naughty thoughts but she shook her head clearing it as she resumed the game "Okay so clearly it's not everyone thinks you to become that means it's something no excepts you to become! As I know you are lord of multiple houses, I am going to say that a Politician so you can better our society?"
She knew she was pulling on the last straw still she hoped she was right and was biting her lips anxiously.
'So cute' Harry thought before saying "Okay you got it right!"
Bella's eyes lit up saying "Woohoo! I won now I will get my pizza!" as she threw her hands in the air in the victory which made Harry chuckle he knew lying was bad but if the lie made someone this happy then it was won in his books and an even bigger win if that person was his to be wife.
After coming down from her victory high she kissed him on the lips passionately before ending it saying "You see I know everything Harry Bear!"
He smirked saying "Of course, you are the all-knowing Bella!"
She smiled smugly saying "You bet I am!"
Harry smiled taking her hand in his saying "So that's me but what about you? What did you want to do after Hogwarts? I mean you must have had a dream that you wanted to achieve? Like I don't know becoming a world-famous duelist, becoming an author, a teacher, or traveling the world?"
Once again she was stumped by the question! It was a norm in the wizarding society of Britain for the lords of the house to order their wives to be a stay at home wives. The magical society like most of the world was a patriarchal society making it harder for the women with ambition to rise to the top.
Amelia was respected cause she was the only woman who succeeded in getting the most prominent position. While others either compromised by accepting the jobs lower than their qualifications or married a dumb lord and took control of the family.
It changed for the better when Millicent Bagnold became the Minister Of Magic which eased Amelia's struggle as she made it a little easier for women to have high-paying jobs. For Bella was an even bigger cause of her past But then she again thought that her Harry was not like others and that's the reason she or for that matter all ladies loved him.
After a minute she answered saying "Hmm….. At first, I wanted to become a duelist and I worked hard for it. It was part of the reason why I….." She trailed off her cheery demeanor flattering and seeing this he gave her hand a reassuring squeeze after which she continued "… now I don't know I mean I still like dueling but it's not something I want to all the time. I kind of like teaching you and Susan all in the past two maybe I will complete my Dark Arts NEWTS and become a professor at the school"
He smirked at her saying "Well magic bless your students"
She asked quirking her brow "And why is that Mr. Potter? You think I am a bad teacher Mr. Potter?" she asked once again teasing him
He went eyes wide saying " WHAT! No, I was…." But stopped rambling as he saw the expression of mirth on Bella's face to which he huffed saying "Haha! Bella so funny!"
She chuckled saying "I am sorry, I couldn't resist!"
He huffed again saying "Okay but I thought so Cause they were so enamored by your beauty they won't be able to concentrate on the lesson and fill be afraid to fail cause you are scary when you are angry or disappointed" he whispered, "I know cause I have a hard time concentrating!"
She preened hearing him before asking "So what like Minerva?" in a playful tone.
He scrunched his face in confusion saying "No, Yes, I….. Okay, she is stern and that has its charm. I mean I don't know I never thought about her in that way"
Bella raised her eyebrow at the uncertain answer before saying "Oh! Harry Bear! In my days at Hogwarts, every bloke in the school wanted to have a piece of that Scottish ass, and the rumor going around the schools was she was a closet dominatrix. I mean they may be right, after all, she is all bout discipline and decorum. I bet that she wants that in the bed as well!" winking at Harry.
He stood in place with an amused look on his face as he looks on his face that came by the mere thought of his transfiguration teacher a leathery outfit which made him blush atomic while beside him Bella smirked 'Oh Harry Bear fancies Mcgonagall well that is something!' before bursting into the laughter.
Realizing he had been played Harry groaned before joining the witch in the laughter of self embarrassment. As both calmed down and resumed their walk before he asked "So what do you want to do now?"
She shrugged saying "I am not sure but I am not doing anything else this summer cause I want to spend as much time as I can with you before you go back to school after that I think I will find something to do but I think that it will not be to easy to find a job with my reputation"
Harry Suggested "Well maybe you can ask Amelia for help to get you a job in her Department. I mean you could become her assistant"
Bella gave a thoughtful look before saying "Yeah I can I mean she is swamped in the paperwork of the tournament which I hate but it would be nice to have something to do while you are at Hogwarts" shrugging her shoulders
He nodded before asking "Hey, Bella what was Narcissa Like when both of you were younger?"
Bella had a wistful smile saying "She was a Bookworm! Either she was in the library reading books on politics or Potions. Other than that she loved dressing up and planning balls with our grandmother. While Andi was mostly reading up on the healing and law books but she also liked hearing quidditch matches on the radio with our Grandfather!"
Harry raised his eyebrow in amusement "Huh! I knew about Narcissa but I didn't know Andi is a quidditch fan!"
Bella nodded saying "Oh big time, she loves it! I mean she made it a big deal to have a party on the day of the final match, no matter what the result was! Turned our Mothers Knickers so much!" she said chuckling before continuing "it is also the reason she and Ted started dating each other, he was captain of Hufflepuff House team at the end of his year"
Harry nodded before asking "What about you, Bella what did you like when you were young?"
She blushed at the question before saying "I was a quiet kid but like I said I loved dueling with my grandfather also …" she mumbled the last part.
"Huh! What did you say, Bella?" Harry asked as he didn't hear the last part
She once again whispered saying "I liked reading the Romantic novels" with a heavy blush on her cheeks.
Harry asked, "Um sorry again what Bella?"
She huffed saying "Okay I liked reading Magical romantic novels! There I said it Happy?" a little heatedly which made him flinch.
He gulped asking "Um… why are you so embarrassed about it?"
She cursed herself internally for causing Harry to flinch before blushing saying "Cause it is embarrassing!"
He snorted saying "I don't think so I think it's cute!" which made her blush even more while he continued "So did you ever think about writing one?"
She nodded with a small shy smile saying "I did think about it but I didn't have the imagination to write back then maybe I will try again in the future!"
"Oh I would love to read that if do write a novel in the future!" he said reassuringly
She eyed him critically before asking "So what is your Dream Harry aside from trying to change our society?"
He gave her a smile that could have lit the London before smirking and saying "No I am not jinxing it by telling you, also I don't have one dream I have multiple dreams"
She pouted whining "but I told you mine!" before fluttering her eyes and saying "Please"
He rolled his eyes saying "Okay, I will tell you one of my dream but not the dream in return I will tell you one of mine cause I have so many!" making her chuckle which stopped as he saw the look on his face.
He took both her hands in his and looked in her pools of purple before saying "And one of them is to replace every bad memory of yours with a happy one. One's so happy that you can't forget about it. I want to love you so much and so deep in every way possible cause that's what you deserve. I know you don't need to be protected from anything especially by a scrawny teen like me so instead I want to be there for you when you come from a fight. Cause you are a Warrior Bella and I will be by your side in every battle until the last of my days."
Bellatrix near thought she would have tears of joy in her eyes ever. She lost all hope 14 years ago but now she had someone who prioritized her happiness more than anything and didn't want anything but her love and her whole self. Not just her mind, not just her body, not just her power, no, he wanted her whole self. A small treacherous part of her mind didn't want to believe that it was all real after all to her it was all too good to be real. But it was real and she still couldn't believe it.
She felt tears of pure joy escape her eyes as she jumped taking Harry in her embrace and muttering "Thank you, Harry, Thank you for coming into my life when I needed you the most. Thank you for being you and loving someone so broken like me! I don't know what I want with this life of mine harry but I know that in every life of mine I want to be with you! "
She wanted to confess her feelings then and there but she knew it was too early in their relationship and she had yet to earn his trust. He was opening himself to all of them little by little and so it was wiser to take things slow.
Harry smiled in the nook of her neck saying " Me too Bella"
Bella broke the hug and kissed him on the lips. It was a kiss filled with emotions which were love, adoration, passion, and longing. Harry started kissing back reciprocating her feeling. It was not too before they ended the kiss cause of the need for the breath.
Both looked flushed and were gasping for air before Bella smiled saying "I had the best time Harry"
He nodded saying "I had a great time with Bella" before pecking her on the lips and saying "But I think we should go home now or else Sirius will kill me with extra laps tomorrow"
Which made Bella chuckled as she nodded saying "I think so too!" before asking him "Ready?" getting both of them apparated back home ending their beautiful night.
Hello, People so that was Harry's Date with Bellatrix!
A date filled with new experiences for both and promises of everlasting love for each other! Pure Fluff!
If you like it, Review It. Constructive criticism is most welcomed. I am working on the sequel and I have 3 chapters down.
So, ladies and gentlemen, that's the chapter, this is Griffin's Prophecy and I am Drakpacer, See you In the Next Chapter!