Chapter 36: Changes
Two Months Later
She had resigned herself to the fact that she likely was never going to see her feet again and that she was never going to fit into her old dress robes again nor would she want to. The part about wearing dress robes not the part about her feet she wanted her feet back and she wanted to wear cute shoes again. Though she wasn't so sure about heels anymore.
In fact, after Draco got here she was going to burn the dreadful robes she was wearing. They were so fucking restraining she had barely managed to pull them on this morning. And even then, she had to make some adjustments to make them fit as in addition to being too small they were way too short now. Though to be fair, she hadn't bought any clothes since she and Claire had went shopping the night before she left for the village. It was something to do while she was in Bern she supposed. Though she wasn't especially about shopping these days considering her current state.
It had been almost three months since she left Lucius. Three months since she had ended their marriage and she still didn't know how she felt about it. There were days she wanted to spend most of the time crying, but she couldn't. She had to prepare for the inevitable. And there were days she was just angry. Those oddly enough were the good days. Those were the days she felt somewhat in control of her life.
She frowned as she looked at her reflection barely recognizing herself. She had changed so much since the last time she was here. She actually looked like a veela now. She frowned trying to see if she could find traces of her old self in the mirror, but it was hard to find. Her hair was now a pure silverish blonde and had grown all the way down past her waist. It was longer than she had ever worn it for that matter. She kept trying to cut it short even went as far as to start shaving it off, but it only grew back faster and longer each time. The coven just laughed told her she'd probably be stuck with it like this until the transformation was complete. Still, most days she usually shaved it off. Not caring how she looked since there was really no one to see her. Today though, she at least tried to make it look like the pixie cut she had given herself months ago, even though she knew by bedtime it would be near her ass again. Her once grey eyes had deepened into a violet color like Lucius's half-sister though there was maybe still a tinge of Black grey to them and kept their shape. The only part of her that still remotely felt like her, she thought, as she looked for other traces of herself on her face.
There had to be something else that maybe Draco could recognize. Maybe her nose? Her lips were different though. She had inherited Mother's small thin lips. They had always been the bane of her existence, but they were now gone replaced with a poutty looking mouth that rivaled any heroine's in of the old muggle romance novels she used to "borrow" from her halfblood roommate when she didn't think she was looking. Even her face shape had seemed to change. It may have been fuller due to pregnancy, but she could tell her bone structure was different much like the rest of her body.
She may have become large from her pregnancy, but her body had not taken on a dumpy Molly Weasley look like she had been afraid it would. Rather, it had changed and shifted to accommodate her growing physique where the pregnancy suited her body. The curves softened her. She was taller now and built from the intense physical activity she did at the coven. One could say she was sturdy looking. She hadn't exactly been a shrimp, even though she had been the shortest of her sisters. But now, she was a little over six feet tall. She was probably the tallest female in the coven. For sure the strongest. Even her voice had started to change. It was a bit lower than it was before, sexier some might say though she preferred her original voice. It was alarming to say the least, even though the coven just shrugged off the changes.
"All part of the process," Lisle—the one like her said. "You'll get used to it. Eventually. If for nothing else for the babe."
Lisle like her had been burned by her former partner. She saw the looks of pity the woman shot her every so often.
She knew that was the consensus that she'd likely not make it. A lot of times she didn't think she would. Even though every day she worked at trying to control herself, trying to survive. Trying to prepare what was to come.
She had spent so much time there her cousin hadn't recognized her when she came to the floo earlier. So much he told her maybe it was best that Andi retrieve Draco from the train station.
"Do I really look that different? I thought maybe with the robes he might…"
He looked at her. "Have you seen yourself in the mirror, Cissy? Have you heard yourself talk?"
She had. And he was right she didn't even recognize herself or who she was becoming. She still couldn't get over the fact how much she had relished controlling fire the other day when a burst of anger came over her. A few weeks ago she would've been scared to death. Now she wanted that power. She wanted to protect herself. Protect her children.
Lucius would not touch them. Would not harm them. He would regret threatening them and her. He'd regret hitting her and throwing that curse at her.
She put her hands on her stomach feeling one of the babes kick. She smiled rubbing her belly.
Sirius had taken an opportunity to run some scans. "Your numbers look better. I take it there's no sugar at the village."
She glared at him, but she hadn't been nearly prone to stress eat since she left Lucius since she no longer had to hide what she had become. She also had gotten a lot of exercise in the past few weeks as well. She did still have her sugar, though not as much. She was starting to crave meat if anything. "I have been busy."
She then demonstrated by easily conjuring a fireball in her hands.
"Impressive," he said. "I wish Claire would show me that."
She raised an eyebrow. "So, you and Claire…."
He shook his head. "No. I'm not discussing that, Cissy."
"You do seem to be spending a lot of time together though. And she talks about you a lot when she comes visits the coven."
He shrugged. "She like me is a semi-permanent resident here. We can't help but spend a lot of time together and Harry has really taken to her. Which reminds me while you're here I told him we'd get him his wand. Thought it may be special for you and maybe Andi to be here. He's missed you a lot."
"And I missed him," she said thinking of Bella's beautiful little boy. She wondered if he would recognize her.
"He already knows."
She gave him a weird look.
"When you came here that day your hair had already turned."
She grimaced. She hadn't noticed her hair for the longest time or really anything. The first few days in Switzerland she was a mess and everything seemed like a blur.
"And he already figured out you were pregnant," Sirius said.
"Really?" She said she thought she had hid her pregnancy well. Draco and Lucius hadn't noticed. Well, Lucius hadn't noticed until one of the babies kicked and then he wanted to kill them.
I will kill him if he touches them. Or me. He will regret what he did.
That little voice of anger had been building in her head for the past couple of months or so, she tried to ignore it. Ignore the beast. Even though she knew she slowly becoming it.
Sirius looked at her, "You okay?"
"I'm fine," She said as she put her fingers through her hair. It was had already grown so much since she had cut it this morning. She hated it. "I just… was thinking of how Lucius didn't notice but Harry did."
"Well, Harry takes after me." Sirius said. "Clearly. Seriously though, he noticed you were getting sick and put two and two together. I just told him about the veela bit. He already knew about your kind because of Claire."
Your kind.
She guessed she was a veela at this point.
"Aunt Cissy?"
She turned to see her nephew staring at her. He had gotten a little taller since she had last seen him—no surprise since he was on a high-power nutrition potion.
He looked relaxed.
"Harry! Look at you. You've grown."
"Three inches," Sirius said with a smirk. "All that skiing helps."
"It helps that Claire is a great teacher."
"Claire's teaching him to ski?" Narcissa asked.
"When I'm otherwise occupied yes," Sirius said. "She's actually almost as good as…"
Narcissa grimaced knowing who he was going to say. Bella. It always came back to Bella. She decided to change the subject, "Three inches that's quite a jump in height."
"It's probably the nutrition potions, though it looks like you grew more than three inches."
"I grew more than half a foot actually," Cissy said. Going from 5'6 to 6'1 literally within a few weeks was quite the jump. Lord, she was almost the same height as Lucius now. How odd was that, though still shorter than Sirius and Remus.
She smiled thinking of Remus. He had wrote her while she was at the village. She was kind of surprised by that but was genuinely amused by his letters. The man was still the UK for now as Hermione continued to go through the transfusion process. So far she had not turned back into a rat but had not turned into a wolf yet either. They were hoping that maybe somehow she was lucky enough where the gene had returned dormant but still were waiting another couple of moon cycles just to make sure.
"You look great, Aunt Cissy."
She smiled, "I'm huge."
The boy smiled, "Yes, you are, but you still look great. Dad said you're having triplets?"
She nodded and she resumed talking to the boy. She really had missed him. And she missed her son. She was still dreading telling Draco the news. As easy as Harry seemed to take it, she knew her son's reaction would likely be different.
He had only contacted her a couple of times since he had found out about the annulment. She knew he was upset with being a bastard. For her not allowing Lucius to acknowledge him. She felt bad about it, but Draco's safety was paramount to her. She didn't trust Lucius after what had happened and she was worried he'd use their—no, her son against her.
So far the man hadn't even attempted contact with her which she knew she couldn't due to the terms of the agreement, but she worried. She sighed as she put her hands on back. Even though part of the change had transformed her body to accommodate the pregnancy better, her back and feet still hurt.
"Let's get you on the chaise lounge," Sirius said. "You do not need to be standing up."
She nodded and let him lead her to the sitting area he couldn't lift her like he could a couple of months ago. Probably could never lift her again with the behemoth she had become. He had just put the blanket over her belly when she heard the floo chime ring.
"Mother?"
She turned to see Andi coming out of the floo with her son. Andi's eyes went wide when she saw her. She knew she was taking in just how different she looked. Seeing Andi's face wanted to cry since it was a bit like seeing her old face. Even though she was getting used to herself, she still missed her old face and body. A part of her always probably would.
"What….what happened to you?" Draco said looking at her in shock.
"Draco," She said motioning him to come over.
He looked at her oddly then turned to Andi who said, "Remember what I told you at the train station."
He nodded and stared. "Aunt Andi said your…."
She nodded as she adjusted the blankets showing him her stomach.
"What….what…happened?" The boy asked.
Narcissa sighed knowing it was now time to tell her son the truth about his heritage. She only hoped he wouldn't explode in the process.
"Are you okay?"
He turned to see his cousin looking at him. He had almost forgotten about Cousin Harry during all of this. Not that they had really talked before at Aunt Bella's funeral.
"How can I be, okay?" He said as he looked at his cousin. He looked a lot like his Uncle Sirius, but he had Mother's eyes which were apparently the same as his mother's eyes. Or should he say his eyes looked how Mother's used to look.
He was still having a hard time rationalizing that the tall intimidating looking veela was his tiny helpless mother.
They looked nothing alike. The silver haired woman didn't have the same sort of daintiness or elegance that mother had, she slurped her tea for Merlin's sake. Her face wasn't the same either and she was so tall now. She was almost Father's height! Imagine being the same height as your husband. The scandal!
Only Father was never her husband. And he wasn't father's son. He still wasn't sure how he felt about that.
She sounded different too. He thought of how mother's high soprano voice had lowered into a husky alto. He still didn't fully understand what had happened to her. Even though he understood in theory that it was because of the pregnancy.
He still didn't understand what was happening to her even though she had given him a book about it. He grimaced looking at it the last thing he wanted to do was read or talk to his cousin who he was apparently staying with this summer. He wanted to lash out, but he knew better than that. He had been warned. Besides, from the look Mother had shot him he knew she'd kill him if he was remotely mean to the boy. She had more or less told him that when she had told him about his Uncle Sirius's son. And quite honestly, Draco was a little tired of lashing out.
Where had it gotten him last year?
He still felt bad about Granger. He wondered how she was doing. He knew there was some sort of hearing coming up regarding her, but he couldn't really ask anyone about her.
"I'm sorry," He finally said to his cousin. "I'm probably not in a good place right now . I don't…this is not what I expected my mother turning into a veela and having bloody triplets."
Triplets.
It explained why she was eating like a pig at Easter and was as big as a house. He still remembered how she had thrown that stinging hex at him when he mentioned she was eating all the syrup, he wondered if she would throw a fireball at him now or turn into a freaking harpy.
"I guess I have had time to get used to the idea."
"You didn't know Mother before either." He said, "She's completely different than she was."
"She's really not. She just looks like a pregnant blonde Wonder Woman now with a little lower voice and short hair."
"A blonde Wonder Woman?"
"It's a muggle comic," Harry said. "She's an Amazon princess. She's really cool. Fights with the lasso of truth…"
"And that's not completely different than she was before? I swear she's like a different person. She's scary looking."
"You're being dramatic, Draco." His mother said waddling in the room. "I'm not that scary."
He still wasn't used to how huge she had gotten or how relaxed she had gotten with her appearance. She wore no glamor charms or makeup and was wearing an oversized muggle sweater of all things. It really wasn't oversized on her though he thought noting that the fabric was riding up against her rather large stomach that was marked with stretch marks of all things. It was weird that it was summertime, and this place was still ridiculously cold.
Ski season all year apparently. Which Harry apparently loved and asked Draco if he wanted to join him.
He didn't want to ski. All he wanted to do was sulk, drink hot chocolate, and wonder how in the matter of months he became a bastard and the laughing stalk of Slytherin house.
Andromeda looked at her sister later that evening after the boys had gone to bed. "It could've gone worse."
Cissy rolled her eyes. They were the only thing about her that sort of looked the same and even they were different. She was surprised how much Cissy had changed in the matter of months. She wasn't used to her sister's new powerful build. Her little sister had always been the short one in the family, the dainty one, and now she was about as tall as Lucius and could easily deck him in a fight. She wondered if that part of the transformation was a reaction to what had happened a few months ago. She wouldn't be surprised. "He's mad at me, I can tell."
"I think he's mad at the world," Andi said. "It probably was very hard for him the past few weeks in classes given the fact he's been dubbed a bastard."
She saw Cissy grimace. She knew her sister did not want her son to be declared illegitimate, but it was the only way she could protect him without Lucius interfering.
"I know he hasn't been happy," She said. "This entire school year was not what I wanted for him. He had made such a turn around too after the Longbottom incident."
Andi rolled her eyes, "I still don't know what that boy was thinking."
"He thought his parents were avenged and was celebrating." Cissy said, "Never mind that Bella probably had no idea what she was doing."
"Speaking of that has Sirius…"
She shook her head. "I know he was working with Lucius on that. I don't talk about anything involving Lucius."
She noticed her sister's eyes got a weird look about them when her ex's name was mentioned.
"You want to kill him, don't you?" Andi asked. "I see the look on your face. You might be a veela now, but I recognize the look of Black madness when I see it."
"Of course I want to kill him," Narcissa hissed. "He ordered me to kill my children. He hit me. He threw a termination curse towards me. Why do you think I've been pushing myself into becoming this…so I can defend them. So, we won't get hurt anymore."
"Calm down," she said. "We do not need you turning to a harpy already."
Narcissa frowned and placed her hands over her large stomach. It was hard to believe she was just in her second trimester. "I'm in perfect control of my emotions."
"Cissy?"
"The anger helps," She said. "Lisle said it helped her as well it was what got her through the transformation."
"When are you going back there?"
"Soon, I surprisingly like it there. The simplicity grows on you." Cissy said, "I honestly am probably risking it by being here now. I'm almost done transforming physically. Well, at least in this form. I can't think of a part that hasn't changed completely except maybe my nose and maybe my eyes. I can control fire. I haven't felt my allure yet, but it's only a matter of days. Once it happens and I feed my urges it's only a matter of time. I'm just hoping I have enough time to maybe celebrate the boys' birthdays and go with Harry to get his wand"
Andi grimaced. She knew Cissy was right. Physically her sister no longer looked like herself at all save for the aforementioned things, and even those had slightly altered.
"I'll be fine, Andi." She said before placing her hands on her belly again something she had been doing a lot lately. It oddly brought her comfort. "I have them to bring me back. They need me just as much as I need them. Besides, oddly enough I'm looking forward to my time as a harpy."
She gave her a weird look she wasn't sure if she was being serious or not.
Claire couldn't keep her hands off him. Even though she wanted to. She always had dreams, memories, or whatever they were after she was with him.
She still hadn't figured out what the hell that was. Or who she was.
But the dreams they felt so real.
Because they are. They're our memories.
They couldn't be. She couldn't be her.
Sometimes the memories didn't even make sense. Sometimes she'd be in Siri's arms and then sometimes. She'd be screaming. He was hurting her again. She never saw her face. She always ended up screaming.
Tonight was one of those nights only Sirius was still there.
She had reluctantly started letting him stay over. She tried to tell herself they were only friends with benefits, but she knew better. He knew better. She found herself gravitating towards him more and more. Especially his son.
She didn't know what it was about Harry but she felt innately protective over the little boy almost as if…
Baby.
She remembered a woman holding a wand to her stomach. Not her stomach, Bella's.
"Claire?" He asked.
"Nightmare," She said. She never went into any details. He knew her past with Rafael. She just let him think that was what she was thinking of not memories of someone else's life. Someone who died.
To be fair, he had nightmares as well, she often woke up seeing him move around screaming in his sleep. She had finally heard about what happened to him. Imprisoned without a trial for ten years for something he had not done. Ten years without his son.
It was Narcissa, her not sister in-law, that had told her about it.
She had developed an odd bond with the woman ever since she had moved to the coven. Unlike Claire, Narcissa preferred to stay there given her condition. She knew the woman was scared to death of her impending transformation and she didn't blame her. She still had yet to fully grasp her harpy form though hearing what had happened to Sirius and to Harry had almost unearthed it.
She and Narcissa were working on controlling the woman's fireballs. It took a bit of skill. Claire had finally mastered it after years and now loved playing around with the balls. She could only imagine how handy they would be in a duel.
She frowned.
"What?" Cissy said noticing her expression.
"I'm just thinking I never really thought about how useful this skill could be until recently."
Cissy looked at her.
"I'm not a fighter." Claire said. "I never was in a fight in my life which is why I think he."
"Hurt you."
She nodded.
"I didn't have control then. I have to have control now."
"You sound like my sister."
"Andromeda?" She asked she had met Cissy's sister the time or two she had visited Sirius and Harry at the lodge. She seemed like a nice woman not a control freak.
"Bella," Narcissa said. "We didn't have a great childhood. It's one of the reasons I think she got so interested in dueling. To protect herself….Sirius hated it."
"What happened to her? He mentioned a fire."
Narcissa bit her lip. They were still thin back then. How she had changed so much since then. "How much of his past has he told you, Claire?"
"Not much," She said. "I didn't ask. He hasn't asked about mine. I'm not the prying type. He mentioned he was infamous."
Narcissa laughed. "That's one way of putting it. Sometimes I forget that you aren't British."
"You'd think with my accent…"
Narcissa shook her head. "It's not that thick. Or it's not as thick as it once was."
Claire frowned, "I must be hanging around your lot too much."
"Maybe," Cissy said. "However, if you were British you'd know about what happened to my cousin it was all over the news his incarceration."
"Incarceration?"
An image or feeling of cold, dread, and fear came over her. Of laughing endlessly.
"Azkaban," Narcissa said. "Surely, you've even heard of it."
"He was there?"
"He was illegally detained there. Never had a trial. Accused of something he didn't do for almost a decade."
No, not Siri.
There was that voice again. Her voice. No not her voice. She felt rage spew through her as she thought about the injustice that Sirius experience and heard Narcissa gasp.
She looked at her hands noticing her talons noticing how sharp her vision was. It faded almost as soon as it started.
"I'm sorry," She said looking at Cissy. "I just…"
"I know," She said.
"Ten years," She said. "What about Harry…did Bella."
"No," Narcissa said. "Bella was in jail too. Harry was, well, lost."
"Lost?"
"It's a very complicated story," Narcissa said. "Let's just say he was raised by people who shouldn't have access to children. We didn't know about him until not that long ago."
She kept having dreams after that night. Dreams of being in a cell. Now dreams of a redheaded woman pointing a wand at her pregnant stomach. Pregnant. She had never been pregnant. Every time she had one of those dreams though….it felt so real.
Why was she dreaming of someone else's life. A dead woman's life at that. A woman's life that felt like her own.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Sirius asked bringing her out of her thoughts.
"Not really," she said before adding. "You don't seem to want to talk about what you were dreaming either."
He sighed heavily. "Sort of ruins the mood, you know."
She looked at him, "I think you know we're past the fuck buddy stage. You owe me that pendant."
"I'm surprised you're actually admitting it." He said.
She sighed heavily. "It's sort of hard not to admit in when people are noticing."
"Just Cissy," He said. "She showed me one of the fireballs she conjured. She said yours are bigger."
She shrugged, "I may practice a lot. I don't want another incident happening like earlier this year."
"When you were hurt?"
She nodded. "I…I tried to defend myself and hurt myself. I told myself if I got well I'd learn how to control all my powers."
"Including the harpy?"
She rolled her eyes. "I haven't really met the harpy yet or at least not fully. Believe it or not there are some veelas that never change into one. It would've come in handy that night when my eyes were gouged out though."
"Gouged out?"
Fingernails trying to cut into her face. Laughing, a woman's laugh calling her a freak. Not Rafael.
She nodded. "I pretty much have my entire face regrown. It wasn't a pleasant experience."
He winced looking at her. "Well, you can't tell."
"Well, not now." She said, "I was in head-to-toe bandages for weeks after everything that happened. They thought I was going to die."
"As far as everyone knows Bellatrix Lestrange is dead." She remembered her brother telling her.
"Good then they can move on then. I can move on."
What was that suppose to mean? Perhaps, it was time to have a conversation with her bastard of a brother.
Chapter 37 Preview: A possible new ship and someone may commit a Bobbit.
