Reviews:

ReaperOfBalance: Good idea.

ElementalMaster16: No, I just decided on Rocky after looking back at the other chapters.

SDIVAD: That's actually quite smart.

Chapter 11 -

Bellatrix sat in her chair, watching with a pleased smile as she saw Hydrus sitting on the floor, chatting with his new snake, all the while his little bowtruckle was perched on his shoulder and seemed to be playing with Hydrus's hair. Her little prince seemed to have a good connection with animals, she noted. As she watched him enjoy himself she began thinking about the Potter invisibility cloak, Dumbledore had done as she had said and sent it to them. Although she was mostly known for her skills with a wand, she was also pretty intelligent, at least if you asked her. She had Kreacher intercept any owls that would be arriving and had him take the cloak before an owl could reach the house, she knew that Dumbledore knew where her house was so she wasn't overly worried about tracking charms, but that still didn't mean she would let something that old man sent into her house without checking it.

And it was a good thing that she did.

She had found several tracking charms on the cloak, there was a small possibly that there were more as she could reluctantly admit in the privacy of her own mind that Dumbledore likely had far more knowledge about spells than she did. Instead of taking the cloak into the house, she had ordered Kreacher to take it to Gringotts and put it in her vault. As of right now she had stopped considering removing the tracking charms as she had come up with a better idea. She was well aware that the wizarding world thought her to be a crazy witch - She didn't think that they weren't exactly wrong - while considering Albus Dumbledore to be a beacon of light.

'Perhaps it is time to tip the scales slightly,' She thought to herself.

"Hydrus," She called, causing Hydrus to look up from his new pets and give her his undivided attention. 'He truly is adorable,' She thought to herself as she stared into his beautifully green eyes. "Go get ready, we're going to Aunt Andy's house."

"Really?" Hydrus grinned excitedly. "Can Rocky and Bowie come as well?" He asked hopefully.

"Not this time, maybe next time," She replied, causing Hydrus to pout for a second.

"Okay," Hydrus said with a small sigh before hissing something to Rocky who hissed back before nodding his head. "Sorry Bowie," Hydrus apologised to the little bowtruckle in his hand. "We got to go," He added. "Rocky will look after you." He told them, Bowie's small eyes widened significantly at that piece of news. "Don't worry, Rocky won't hurt you," Hydrus told him. "He's actually really nice and I made him promise not to eat you, he said he doesn't even eat bowtruckles anyway." Bowie still looked doubtful but eventually nodded his head.

"Bellatrix," Andromeda said in a surprised voice as she opened her door to find Hydrus and Bellatrix standing at her doorstep. "Hydrus, what are you both doing here?"

"We came to visit you, Aunt Andi." Hydrus said in an excited voice.

"Can we come in?" Bellatrix asked impatiently. "I don't want a muggle to see us."

"Honestly, Bellatrix," Andromeda sighed as she waved the two of them inside and closed the door behind them. "You act like they would bite you if they get too close."

"They can try," Bellatrix snorted. "I'd just hex them."

"Of course you would," Andromeda said patiently. "Now, is this a social visit or do you need something?" She asked.

"I need your mudblood's help," Bellatrix answered bluntly.

"Bella," Andromeda said disapprovingly. "Will you please stop using that word in front of Hydrus?"

"I'll stop calling him 'mudblood' when you stop calling your little pink thing 'Nymphadora'," Bellatrix replied, crossing her arms.

"But that is her name," Andromeda frowned.

"She still doesn't like it," Bellatrix pointed out.

"There's no arguing with you," Andromeda rolled her eyes before walking away.

"And yet you still try," Bellatrix said before she and Hydrus followed after her.

"Wotcher Hydrus," Tonks grinned at him once they entered the kitchen where the found Ted sipping on some tea whilst reading a newspaper as Tonks sat next to him and finished consuming a sandwich that obviously had jam in it judging by the fact that a lot of the jam was all over Tonks's mouth.

"You do realise that if we were ever in a state like that then mother would have hexed us," Bellatrix whispered to Andromeda whilst gesturing to Tonks.

"Like she was perfect parent material," Andromeda snorted, Bellatrix paused before nodding her head in agreement.

"Hi Aunt Bellatrix," Tonks said after finishing her sandwich and hopping off her chair, she moved towards Bellatrix with her arms spread, clearly intending to hug her. Though she was stopped when Bellatrix suddenly whipped out her wand and pointed it directly at Tonks's face. "But I didn't even do anything!" Tonks said in an annoyed voice. Bellatrix simply sighed before waving her wand, cleaning up Tonks's face.

"These clothes are expensive you pink monstrosity," Bellatrix sighed. "You will be clean when you touch me."

"Whatever," Tonks said dismissively before stepping forward and hugging Bellatrix's waist before letting go and pulling Hydrus into a hug. "Have you come to play?" She asked hopefully. She and Hydrus both looked up at Bellatrix, waiting for her verdict.

"Very well," Bellatrix said to Tonks. "But I am expecting him back in the same condition that he's in." She warned.

"Of course," Tonks snorted before grabbing Hydrus's hand. "Come on," She told him. "We can play in my room." She said before pulling him with her out of the room.

"Miss Black," Ted nodded to Bellatrix as she sat at the table while Andromeda sat next to him.

"Muggleborn," She replied in a formal voice.

"Bellatrix," Andromeda let out a deep sigh.

"What?" Bellatrix said defensively. "It's better than mudblood, isn't it? Anyway, I need your help." She told Ted. "You're a good lawyer, aren't you?"

"Decent," He confirmed with a small nod. "Now, what have you done?" He asked in a business like tone.

"Why are you assuming that it was me who did something?" Bellatrix asked.

"Because that's the reasonable assumption anyone with common sense would make," Ted replied.

"I didn't do anything, I'm here because I want to sue the people that did," Bellatrix replied.

"Oh, and who exactly do you want to sue?" Andromeda asked curiously.

"Dumbledore," Bellatrix answered, causing Ted and Andromeda frowned before they both stared at each other for several seconds. Once their non-verbal conversation had finished they both turned to Bellatrix who had been looking at them both impatiently. "What's the problem?" She asked.

"Why do you want to sue Dumbledore?" Ted eventually asked.

"He had in his possession a Potter family heirloom, an invisibility cloak," Bellatrix began explaining. "I threatened to sue him if he didn't return it to Hydrus."

"He won't give it back?" Andromeda asked with disbelief.

"Oh no, he did," Bellatrix replied with a small shake of her head. "But the problem is that he had casted several spells on it before sending it back, including tracking charms. I want him charged with stealing and tampering with Potter family property." Bellatrix told them.

"Right," Ted said in understanding, taking a deep breath. "I don't know that we can charge him with stealing, Dumbledore will likely claim that the late Lord and Lady Potter permitted him to have it before they died. But we can try and get him with a tampering charge and maybe more, depending on what spells are on the cloak. Though I should give you a fair warning, whatever we do will not likely result in big problems for Dumbledore. The man's too well connected and powerful for that."

"I don't care," Bellatrix stated bluntly. "I want him to be punished in whatever way we can, even if it's just his reputation."

"Okay," Ted sighed before pulling out his wand, with a small flick he summoned a notebook to his hands along with a quill, he tapped the quill with his wand and it quickly sprang to life and hovered in the air for a second before writing in the book. "Anything else?" He asked.

"Yes, I want to sue those idiots that are making the boy-who-lived books," Bellatrix scowled. "They're using my Hydrus to make themselves money and he's not getting a single coin from them."

"Right," Ted nodded as the quill continued to write. "I can see how that would be a problem. That seems like a much simpler case, thank Merlin. Is there anything else?" He asked.

"No," Bellatrix said, shaking her head in the negative. "Not at the moment, anyway."

"Great, now that business is over, how has little Hydrus been?" Andromeda asked with a smile.

"He's been great," Bellatrix said, a genuine smile appearing on her face. "He's really enjoying his birthday presents, he was reluctant to let the snake out of his sights."

"I still can't believe that you brought him a snake," Andromeda replied.

"Narcissa brought her spawn a snake and nobody complained," Bellatrix pouted.

"Because we know that Narcissa wouldn't let the snake out of the cage to play with her child," Andromeda pointed out.

"That's because her child is boring, mine can speak to snakes," Bellatrix said proudly. "Oh, and I've decided that I'm going to start teaching him how to use knives soon."

"What?!" Ted blurted out, looking worried. "Why?!"

"It's a Black family tradition," Bellatrix shrugged. "We're trained to use various different types of knives from birth." She told him before turning to her sister. "What sort of knife do you reckon Hydrus might like?" She asked thoughtfully.

"I feel like he might end up liking a karambit knife," Andromeda guessed. "It's not really my favourite but I think it would look very cool to a boy his age."

"Are...are you planning to teach our daughter how to use a knife?" Ted asked Andromeda, hoping for a resounding 'no'.

"No," Andromeda said immediately. "Are you mad?"

"Neither one of us is stupid enough to put a blade in the hands of that walking disaster," Bellatrix scoffed just before a knock was heard, the trio looked to the door where Hydrus had peaked his head in.

"Mum, are you finished?" He asked quietly.

"Yes, we're just talking now," Bellatrix told him. "Is something wrong?"

"No, but can you come and watch Rocky with me?" Hydrus asked hopefully.

"I beg your pardon?" Bellatrix blinked.

"Can you watch Rocky with me? The film." Hydrus repeated. "Please, I haven't watched it with you. Tonks is setting it up on the TV."

"Of course, Hydrus," Andromeda said before Bellatrix could reply. "Give her a few minutes,"

"Great!" Hydrus grinned before rushing out of the room.

"I do not want to waste time watching those silly muggle things," Bellatrix told Andromeda, sending her a small glare.

"Please," Andromeda rolled her eyes. "Just try it, it would mean a lot to Hydrus and he clearly wants to watch it with you."

"Hydrus is taking quite an interest in boxing," Ted added. "I've been teaching him a bit of it."

"Isn't that that muggle sport where they stand around and punch each other?" Bellatrix asked as she wrinkled her nose.

"Not quite that simple but yeah, that is the general gist of it," Andromeda confirmed.

"I think it would be quite good for him," Ted said. "Especially if you put everything he learns from it into his duelling skills."

"What do you mean?" Bellatrix frowned, staring at him with narrowed eyes.

"Well, boxing involves a lot of footwork and generally speed." Ted shrugged. "Something that I think would be good for any aspiring young duellist."

"Hmm," Bellatrix hummed before standing up. "Fine," She sniffed. "I'll see what's so great about it." She said, sounding like it was the last thing she wanted to do.

A minute or so later Bellatrix would end up watching Rocky with Hydrus and Tonks, never saying a word until the end, at which point she complained about Rocky not being able to win which lead to Tonks informing her that he would win in the rematch in the next movie, leading Bellatrix to demand that Tonks put it on while also telling her to skip straight to the fight scene. By the end of it Bellatrix had somehow been convinced to watch a real video of Mohammad Ali who according to Hydrus was the best boxer in the world, by the end of it she turned to Ted and fixed him with a blank stare before finally letting out a lengthy sigh.

"Fine, you can continue to teach him boxing," She told him.

"Hi Rocky," Hydrus said when he and Bellatrix got back home and found the snake curled up by the fireplace, it raised its head and gave them both a small nod just as Kreacher appeared in the room, holding a small rat.

"Master, Mistress," Kreacher nodded respectfully to both of them before looking to Rocky. "Dinner." He told the snake before placing the rat near Rocky who immediately lunged for the rat when it tried to escape.

"Poor rat," Hydrus said in a quiet voice as he watched Rocky kill the rat. "Where's Bowie?" Hydrus asked Kreacher who simply pointed up at the chandelier above them where Bowie was perched all the way on top. "How'd you get up there?!" Hydrus blinked.