AN: And here is the next one. This one came surprisingly fast to write. It has a little bit better ending than the last chapter. Ugh, ending with Severus's POV put me in a bad mood as it would with most rationale people. This chapter though ends on a happier note.

Chapter 24: New Beginnings

Her recovery had been a bit of a haze so far. There would be times when she wouldn't feel like herself at all. Like the other day. She found out she was a veela. How could she forget such a thing? Something that was such an integral part of her.

She remembered waking up. And everyone looked at her differently and something had happened—she had turned.

Maman had warned her and it had happened overnight she went from cute little girl….to this.

Not that Maman had taught her much about herself before she died. It was so hard trying to control herself in school. She had no one…no one to help with the change. Luckily, she never was that powerful. She had never transformed into the beast and until the incident she had never really thrown much in terms of sparks. It was just mostly her allure and the fact that the other girls hated her for having instant boobs overnight and being able to attract the boys in ways they weren't able to.

She never really full control over herself even after all these years, maybe that was why he attacked her that night.

This time it happened so sudden she felt her emotions come up when discussing her condition with her healers. And then her talons for only a second emerged. She had panicked not expecting to see them, only for the mediwitches to calm her down with another calming drought.

No one at the hospital hated her though she thought with a laugh or were staring at her chest like she suspected they would. Probably because she was such a horrific mess. Instead, they had gotten someone to help her.

A mind healer that just happened to be veela.

She wasn't sure what she thought of Apolline Delacour when she first met with her.

The woman seemed to be everything she was not. Composed, beautiful, and most importantly in control of herself. She vaguely remembered that she had married a French politician a few years back not that she kept up on things like that. If it wasn't fashion, beauty charms, or potions, she usually didn't care. She was actually surprised one of her kind was able to become a mind healer of all things. Most of her kind didn't work or did what Maman had done. What she would've done had she not come into her inheritance on her father's side.

Healer Delacour raised an eyebrow when Claire mentioned that this was all new to her and that she didn't even remember what she was.

"So essentially you have no control

"Does it really matter?" She asked. "It's not like people are going to be swept up with my allure when I'm looking like this…."

Meaning, covered in bandage and thin as rail. She was even surprised with how much weight she had lost. Apparently, she was considered malnourished her once glorious curves were all but gone.

Rafael had done what he wanted to her. He took away everything that she was worth.

That's not what happened.

The voice again, she thought. It never sounded like her own. The accent wasn't hers. It sounded like a posh English woman. She could only wish she spoke English like that. Hers was heavily accented at best. Thank Merlin for translation spells because she had always been terrible with languages. Much like she was with magic.

No, we weren't.

It was odd that lately it had started referring to them as we rather than I.

She had never told Apolline about that voice and wouldn't. A part of her screamed that she couldn't. And she didn't want to think she was crazier than she was. A veela who forgot what she was.

"Your powers you should know are just not tied to the allure," The woman said. "Surely, your mother told you that."

"Maman died before I experienced the change," She said. "I was mostly on my own."

"That must've been hard," Apolline said. "But you had no one to mentor you to guide you through it."

She nodded grimacing at how hard it been to one day been a normal witch and then the next become what she was or had been.

"I never really even mastered my powers," She said with a shrug. "Obviously, the allure worked. A little too well with what happened to me. They think….they think I wasn't able to control my powers which is why the fire started in the first place after he had almost killed me."

Apolline frowned. "You must not blame yourself."

But she did.

"You need to learn control," The woman said. "I will help you. And there are others that can help you as well."

Others being a coven that lived on their own in the middle of nowhere. She did not want to go to the place as she told Apolline, but she was told to keep an open mind. It wasn't like she was going to be allowed to go there anytime soon anyway. And for that matter, she would need a special portkey just to travel there since it was located in a remote part of the Alps.

She was finally going to get to see her face today. It had been weeks since the process started. First her eyes. Then her teeth. Then her nose. Her scalp. The list went on and on, but finally the grand reveal. She knew she'd still have months of recovery and her hair had only started to grow back, but she was still excited but at the same to see her new face. Excited and scared.

Would she be able recognize herself?

She still didn't know why she freaked out when the mediwitch had commented on her eyes all those weeks back. Of course they were violet.

Grey.

No, never grey. Violet. Violet like Maman's.

Maman.

How she missed her.

She only had her half-brother left in this world and did not spend much time with him, even though he was listed on her documents. That they had put his name on her admittance papers even though she had never used that name even after all these years. Even though it had allowed her to live a life not in squalor.

He had even visited when she was unconscious and had donated blood to her so that a family strengthening ritual could be done to save her life. She still couldn't believe he had willingly accepted her into the family when she knew he referred to her as a bastard.

She supposed she should send him an owl, but she didn't know what to say or if she could even lift a quill. Her dexterity was terrible after the accident. She was barely able to even walk, her balance felt so off. She knew she'd be transferred to a rehabilitation center soon since most of the most grueling physical reconstructive procedures have now been completed.

"Mademoiselle Malfoy, ready for the big reveal?" Healer Corbin asked.

She nodded though winced as he called her Malfoy. Healer Corbin was nice, but he never seemed to listen to her when she told him that she preferred the name Du Pres. Maman's name.

Inwardly she held her breath as the bandages were undone and the cap was removed from her head. They had only given her the hair tonic solution a couple of days ago after the scalp reconstruction procedure was finished. Now was the moment of truth whether or not the procedure worked , she was relieved to see a faint trace of light silverish blonde hair on her head. Mercifully, she was not going to be bald.

Although, there went her dreams of being a brunette.

She inwardly chuckled never knowing why she didn't identify blonde it was silly. Much like she had an aversion to being so short.

Petite. She had always been petite. And she really wasn't that short. Her height really was borderline average. She was a little over 5'3 and with heels she was usually a good three or four inches taller. Which to her seemed a bit more respectable, though admittedly still on the short side.

Tall. We have always been tall and flat chested. A beanpole. He loved our small tits though—We don't know why.

She couldn't help but gasp as she looked at her reflection, it was hard to recognize herself. Maybe it was the lack of hair. That would be fixed in the coming days though once the tonic fully worked.

She noticed she bit her lip and couldn't help but wrinkle her eyes. They didn't look the same, even though she knew they were the same eyes she always had. Her mother's eyes. Her face had a bit of a haughty look to it, a Malfoy trait undoubtedly. For some reason she could clearly see her big brother. Odd, since they had barely had any contact.

However, most of her Malfoy features were overtaken by her veela heritage. There was no denying what she was even though she in no way looked her best. Her face seemed so distorted and puffy.

"The swelling will go down," The healer said noticing her expression. "It looks very good for this stage of the healing process. You will be a stunner again in no time, mademoiselle."

She nodded her head wishing she could play with her hair. It was one of the only good things about having curls—no, curls. She never had curls. Her hair was silky straight. Jean Luc had loved playing with it….

"Is it weird I don't recognize myself?" She said still not believing the voice that she was using was hers or that this was her.

Healer Corbin smiled sadly, "You've been through a lot of trauma, Mademoiselle Malfoy. I believe your time in Bern will help with that."

Bern, Switzerland

Sirius Black couldn't believe that soon Harry would be here. Or for that matter, that his son was going to be staying with him for the duration of what would have been his Easter break at Hogwarts.

He felt like he hadn't seen his son in forever, when in fact he had seen him a few days ago. Ever since their first meeting Harry had been flooed over here once or twice a week.

It helped Sirius's mental health immensely seeing his and Bella's son. He still had his moments, but at least with his son he had something to live for.

He saw so much of Bella and himself in the child. The boy seemed to have a real interest in reading things about healing oddly enough, though he knew that was probably partially due to what happened him last fall and the fact he was worried about Sirius.

That was one thing he had noticed about his son he was very protective over him, probably because of what happened to Bella.

He sighed heavily.

He'd never get over losing her. They had finally set a date for a private memorial service later this spring. It would be at the Black family crypt in France. A private affair. No one except family would be invited. Narcissa was even debating about whether or not to bring Draco since removing him from school they'd have to notify the headmaster. Which no one really wanted to do.

Draco apparently was giving Cissy a rough time though he now was in the supposedly silent stage of pouting.

He was grateful Harry was not like his cousin, though he was very aware his son dealt with his own issues.

It had taken him a month to just convince the boy to go skiing with him. Harry was convinced that neither of them were ready.

Apparently, he had become ridiculously cautious after the accident.

"I think he still hasn't forgiven himself for the troll incident." Andromeda said. " And then with Bella dying he's been extra protective. Especially over you, surely, you've noticed."

He had. "Healer Stubnik said as much."

Stubnik was the mind healer at the facility who was seeing Harry. At least someone on the continent wouldn't be aware of the whole sordid tale of Harry Potter and wouldn't connect that Harry Black was one and the same. Besides, having Harry's mind healing sessions here allowed him to see the boy more.

"I'm glad you took the initiative to set up those appointments," She said. "Narcissa and I…"

"Both of you have been overwhelmed and you both have already done so much for him," Sirius said. "I'm his father."

"Yes," she said. "You are."

He still wasn't quite used to it, being someone's father. He never knew if he would be used to it. But he loved his son.

And he wanted to do what was best for him.

"Dad?"

"I didn't even notice you come through the floo," He said noticing Harry and Narcissa. "Hello, Cissy."

"Sirius," She said with a sigh she looked exhausted. He noticed that she seemed paler than usual and had dark circles under her eyes. Even her robes didn't look as pristine as usual. Usually, she wore flamboyant travel robes when she visited, today she was just in her l healer robes. They usually loose robes seemed to be fitting a tighter on her than usual. Sirius grimaced knowing that she was likely stress eating. Not that she'd ever admit as much. Or he'd be crazy enough to mention it to her.

"Everything okay?"

"Draco's train will be here at three," she said. "Lucius is out of town. I literally just got done seeing a patient before we flooed over her."

He raised an eyebrow and turned to Harry, "Your room's been set up. I got the house elves to set you up a special treat if you want to give us a minute."

The boy being his son was not oblivious to the fact that he wanted a quick word with his aunt and left.

Bless him.

How did he not get the little shit in the family?

He cast privacy charms as soon as his son was out of the room—ah, to hold a wand again. It wasn't his Olivander's original, but the thirteen inch ebony wood with dragon's heart string was a nice replacement. Powerful for Transfiguration apparently. Not that he was surprised it was one of his specialties. He and James had always been neck and neck for the top spot in that class.

"New wand," Narcissa said as she grabbed one of the biscuits that was sitting out on the coffee table.

They were pretty good and addicting if he did so himself. He had a couple himself this morning. He suspected they put something in them to stimulated the appetite.

"Well, I had to get one."

"You seem better since the last time I saw you."

"Seeing Harry helps," he said. "As well as seeing you, Andi, and Remus."

"I'm shocked seeing me helps." She said grabbing another biscuit. Yep, addicting if even his sweets hating cousin was having a second one.

He rolled his eyes before he asked, "Are things worse with Draco?"

She shook her head, "No, it's about the same. Lucius is just not going to be home and usually he's a bit of a buffer. Draco and I…well, you know."
He did.

"Where's Lucius?"

"France," she said. "His sister's being released from the hospital. I think he wanted a word before she goes off and does whatever it is she does."

Ah, the illusive half-sister.

Her name hadn't even slipped Lucius's lips. He was surprised he was even acknowledging her at all.

Taking care of a bastard sister in her time of need seemed very un-Lucius. Don't get him wrong, he knew Lucius wasn't as big of a cold-hearted snake as he appeared to be, but he was still a cold-hearted snake.

"And you're still not meeting her,"

Narcissa rolled her eyes, "Luc is still insistent on not having a relationship with her. You'd think having a family member almost died would make your mind change especially after…Well, he is checking on her before she's released. I suppose. Make sure she doesn't go back to that guy."

Sirius raised an eyebrow. "I'm surprised you're not insisting on meeting her."

Narcissa shrugged grabbing another cookie, "I have a lot of other things to worry about."

Harry couldn't believe he was getting to spend an entire week with his dad. It seemed like a dream come true—he hoped it didn't end.

Unlike the nightmare he had last night.

He had lots of nightmares, especially since his mother died.

He dreamed of losing her again and often losing his dad. And Aunt Cissy and Aunt Andi. And anyone he loved. It wasn't a lot of people really but still he screamed almost every night.

It was one of the reasons he was seeing Healer Stubnik or Gunther as he said Harry could call him.

He liked Gunther for the most part. Although, he really didn't understand why he kept pressing him to go skiing with his dad.

"You said you were in the house of the brave," Gunther said. "This should be easy for you."

"I'm not brave though," Harry said. "I haven't been since that night and I still don't understand why I would do such a thing. That was so stupid. I could've ended up like that boy. My friend."

"But you didn't."

"But I could've," Harry said. "And it would've been because I was reckless."

"You don't know what led you follow the troll," The healer said. "Besides, you saved a girl's life. Have you thought about that?"

He really had focused on the fact he ended his friend's life, which was what he told Gunther.

"I don't even remember anything about him," Harry said, "And he's dead because of me. That girl who I saved it didn't seem like it did her any favors from what I understand either. What if I do that to someone else? What if I do that to my dad, or Aunt Cissy, or Aunt Andi."

"Harry," Gunther said. "First, going to skiing will not kill your dad. Second, we don't know what happened with the troll incident. You may never know. You should not beat yourself over it. You saved someone's life that night. Someone your friend was also trying to save."

But he didn't feel like Ronald wanted to save that girl even though he didn't even know Ronald.

Gunther did have a point though going skiing wasn't like fighting a troll and his dad had looked forward to going. Apparently, he and his mum had skied a lot and he would do anything to hear more about his mum.

He didn't bring her up often because he could tell it hurt his dad a lot when he talked about her, though he often smiled when he told Harry something about her.

"Now, it's really not that hard to ski," Dad was telling them as they walked through the lodge's lobby. The place was fantastic. He still couldn't get over the fact that had a real life yeti living in an enclosure in the lobby. He loved looking at it so much he asked if he could get a book about them. A decent book. He had bought that stupid Lockhart fellow's book about them at the bookstore but as he told his dad's friend, Remus, it was total garbage.

Remus just laughed and recommended a Newt Scamander book which was much better.

He liked Remus. He knew a lot about magical creatures and did some really cool things with Charms. He was the one who charmed the mirrors he and his dad used.

Apparently, he knew his mum too.

"You look like her," He said. "Which you should be relieved about considering the fact your father is a dog…"

"Moony, I'm not that bad looking."

"You are a dog though," Moony said.

"Guilty," His father said.

Harry gave him a weird look.

"I'm an animagus," His father said. "I can turn into a dog. Haven't done it in a while because it closes off my emotions and the healers say it's not good for me to be doing until I sort them out. They're probably right."

He still wanted to see if though, his dog form. Remus said it sort of looked like a grim.

Maybe one day he'd be able to turn into an animal too if his magic ever settled that is.

He was annoyed he still had to wait another couple of months for his core to be rechecked. It was one of the reasons he was cooperating with his stupid healing plan. That and he knew his aunts and his dad would kill him if he missed a meal or a dose of his potions.

"Harry, did you hear the bit I said about skiing?" Dad asked, pulling him out of his thoughts.

"I…"

"It's okay," His father said. "You were probably looking for the yeti, weren't you? Guess it wouldn't hurt to give old Bumble a visit?"

"Bumble, is that its name?" A voice with a French accent asked.

Harry turned around to see that blonde woman was looking at him oddly.

She didn't look familiar. She was very pretty. Alarmingly pretty. She was petite, very thin unhealthily so, and had light blonde hair that sort of reminded him of the color of Uncle Lucius's hair but different it seemed to shine somehow more. She wore a light pink cap over it with a pom on it and had on an oversized cable neck sweater the same color with leggings with some ridiculously tall boots. Her best feature though were her violet eyes. Harry had never seen eyes like that before.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I was just curious about the creature. It's weird they have a yeti in here, is it not?"

"You get used to it," His father said. "It's part of their immersion feel this place is going too. They want you to feel relaxed in nature. There's some other wildlife in here as well, though Bumble is the star of the show."

"So, it's name then is Bumble?"

"No, just me making a lame joke to my son. He probably doesn't get my muggle reference."

"I do," Harry said. "I did see Rudolph once or kind of since I was…never mind."

His father raised an eyebrow. Undoubtedly, they would be talking about the time Dudley had blasted the Christmas special in the living room and laughed at the fact Harry couldn't see it since he had been locked in the cupboard that week with no food for the mere audacity of coughing.

He never knew Bumble was a yeti.

Fucking Dursleys.

"Ah, a muggle show." The woman said. "No wonder I didn't understand. Thank you for explaining…"

"Sirius," he said holding out his hand to the woman.

"Claire," She said before turning to Harry. "And you?"

"I'm just Harry."

Chapter 25: A trio of Black sister POVs. Bella as Claire has a strong reaction to a father and son pair, Narcissa discovers something, and Andromeda meets her other nephew.