AN: Shorter than usual, but this one has quite the cliffie.
Chapter 44: Tosser
Hermione Granger was at his house.
Well, his cosin's house.
Garish place, the penthouse. It wasn't near as stately as the manor had been. Though there was denying it was larger and that Cousin Sirius had more money than Father could ever hope to have. A reminder that it was Mother's Black dowry that made the Malfoy family as rich as it seemed.
He missed his old life so much. He still hadn't been able to contact Father. It appeared Mother and Uncle Sirius had both taken measures to keep him from sending owls to him.
The audacity!
He frowned as he watched Harry and Hermione duel. Of course, she had taken a bloody liking to Harry.
He didn't like it.
Draco admitted it he didn't like his cousin. The fucking goody goody.
He knew he could never say anything though. Uncle Sirius was just as bad or worse of a disciplinarian than mother was. He had put him under the silencing spell for an entire week when he commented how lousy Harry was with magic and then told him to write another bloody essay.
The audacity!
Truth be known, he knew his cousin wasn't lousy. He knew he was learning second year material now and his Transfiguration was way better than his could ever be.
It wasn't fair!
How could an invalid be better at magic than he was? Had Mother wrapped around her finger? He saw the way she had looked at Harry when she was here. The way she doted on him. They way she should've doted on him. Father never would've…
"Are you okay?"
He was surprised Granger was even talking to him. She was usually all about Harry as well.
"I'm fine," he said trying to keep his face neutral. Have some tact as Mother would've said in the past. The Mother that he knew not the creature she had become.
He had nightmares about that arm of hers and what she might've become. He never read that book she gave him because he didn't want to know. Seeing that arm had been enough.
"You don't look fine," she said sitting next to him. "Harry says you never participate in dueling."
"Because I'm far more advance than him," Draco said.
She raised an eyebrow. He was surprised he ever thought she was ugly looking. She really wasn't that bad looking. Wasn't even a mudblood either.
She was different than the last time he saw her. For one thing she had hair. The shorter bob seemed to emphasize her large doe eyes. She also seemed to be developing as well. Her figure reminded him a little of Susan Bones. She wasn't as chesty, but she had a hell of a set of legs on her. Her legs were probably better than Bones's.
Not that he liked her in that way
He had only started looking at girls and he did not fancy mudbloods. Or halfbloods, he guessed.
"Are you more advance than me?"
"Probably," He said, "Considering you had a T in almost everything when you left school."
She turned red.
"It's true."
"I know," She said, "But Quirrell was useless."
"Not as bad as Professor Umbridge."
She gave him a weird look.
"Quirrell disappeared over Christmas. We had a new professor second term. You did not miss anything worthwhile."
"Is anything worthwhile at Hogwarts?" She asked bitterly.
"You don't want to go back do you?"
"About as much as you want to be here."
He frowned, "Is it that obvious?"
"You've been sulking since I've been here," She said. "I thought it was just me but Harry said…"
"Ugh, I can't believe you're talking to that tosser." He said glad that there was no adult in earshot.
She glared at him, "Your cousin is not that bad. He's actually quite talented."
"I could beat him in a duel any day."
"Then challenge him.'
"I don't want to. I have far too many important things to do."
"Like what? Sulk and sip hot chocolate?"
She was right that was all he seemed to do these days when he wasn't writing stupid "Thou Shall Not Bully" essays.
"I need to get this letter mailed to my father." He said and he also needed to write his latest bullying is bad essay.
"What if I mail the letter to your father and you duel Harry?"
That was just what he wanted her to suggest. There was a reason he was put into Slytherin house after all. Still, he winced a few minutes later when the tosser had beaten him within literally thirty seconds of starting their duel. It wasn't fair that he threw a stunner at him almost immediately. That wasn't even a first-year spell!
Bella smiled as her son slaughtered Cissy's brat in a duel.
She frowned thinking that Draco was a brat, but really there was no better description for her nephew. Hateful little boy. She saw how much pain he caused Cissy and seemed to be targeting his rage on her son now.
Even Sirius had noticed and had put him under a silence spell for most of last week. So yes, there was some satisfaction there when Harry had literally humiliated Draco on the dueling floor. Though it probably also helped that Draco had not practiced any over the summer and Harry was very much an interested pupil.
He reminded her of herself at that age. Very eager to learn and take instruction. Sirius had been a bit surprised when he had watched them practicing.
"I thought you said you were bad at dueling?" He asked.
She shrugged. Claire Du Pres had been terrible at dueling. That is if she was still Claire. Which legally she knew she was by all intents and purposes given the agreement she had signed with the ministry, though she wished she could figure out how to tell her husband who she truly was without him thinking she was crazy.
Only one person knew and she…
She wondered if Cissy survived if she'd recognize her when she became human again. If she became human again. She knew there would be side effects transforming back. Lisle said it was possible that Cissy could be altered even more.
She grimaced thinking just how much her sister had changed within the past three months alone. Even the last few weeks she was here she had changed so much. It unnerved her how tall she had become. Maybe she could shrink a foot or so that would be nice because she was supposed to be the tall one in the family.
But she wasn't now.
She and Cissy technically weren't even sisters anymore or at least in the way they used to be. She knew that she still had Black blood in her veins but you certainly couldn't tell.
By all intents and purposes she was a Malfoy she had accepted the adoption. Sometimes she really wondered what Lucius's motivations were in allowing her become his twin.
Was it because he loved Cissy? She knew he hated veela. Certainly, he had to know that was an option when she was adopted into the family. Though she also knew Lucius didn't give a damn about her.
Bastard.
She hoped he was enjoying his new life as eunuch. It served him right.
"Is it bad that I'm happy he beat that little shit?" She heard Sirius whisper in her ear.
"You saw that?" She said surprised.
He nodded. "Draco deserved to have his ass handed to him. You've done a good job teaching him, Claire."
She shrugged. "I didn't do much."
He gave her a look. "You forgot my late wife was a dueling master. I recognize the stances, the dodges. You're not exactly as bad as dueling as you make yourself to be, are you?"
She bit her lip. She still wasn't used to how full her lips were now even after all these months. Like Cissy she had had mother's thin lips. Always her most hated feature.
"I'm not really that great," she said.
He looked at her, "Why don't you prove it to me. We can have a duel of our own. I'm sure it would be educational for the kids…."
She smirked. It had been so long. Besides, it would be nice to duel someone who was an actual worthy opponent.
"You're on. Normal rules."
Dueling Sirius had always been something they had done in the past. When she had first started out of the circuit, she never really could get anyone to practice with her. It had always been him. She knew each and every one of his moves and he knew hers.
She'd wonder if he'd be able to recognize her from their fight. A part of her hoped so, but at the same time she didn't hold out much for hope. It just felt good being able to duel with him again.
He started lightly on her but was surprised when she became aggressive. She never was gentle with dueling and had even changed her style a bit to accommodate her veela abilities. When the first fireball almost hit him she smirked and she said, "Looks like someone got rusty."
He then threw one of her old family curse at her which she narrowly avoided by casting the counter charm.
His eyes went a little wide with that probably because not many people knew the countercurse, but the battle went on.
She was also probably a bit rusty. It had been years after all since she had dueled and even longer since it had been a proper duel. She didn't consider the time as Riddle's whore as proper dueling. He hadn't turned her into the expert duelist her parents had promised he would, just a mindless drone who spouted out unforgiveables when he actually allowed her do anything other than being his whore.
Not very creative in her opinion.
Now was the time to make him realize it was her. She threw out several nasty combinations that they had worked out through the years when she was training for the European circuit. She hoped he would recognize them for what they were, but he was too busy dodging them.
He had gotten better or maybe she had gotten worse.
He avoided them each time. It was time to put a little bit more power behind her spells. Maybe it was for something a little more obvious. A spell she had came up with that he should know very well since he helped her come up with.
As soon as she threw it his eyes went wide. He barely dodged it and she took that moment to hit him with a stunning curse.
"Show's over," she said with a smirk.
"What was that…" Harry asked
"A witch never reveals her secrets," she said to her son. "Why don't you and Hermione take a break while I wake up your dad."
The boy nodded and left.
She woke up Sirius.
"We need to talk." He said as he looked at her really looked at her before he said. "Bella."
She smirked. He had gotten the message.
It couldn't be.
But no one else knew those spells.
They had came up with them themselves when she had been preparing to go to the continent for the championship.
The stance was uncanny. The combinations. That countercurse. He knew them. He had practiced them with her so many times. There was no way…how did Claire know such things? And then that curse.
They couldn't be one and the same, yet. Yet, she responded when he called him Bella right now.
"I need a drink," he said when they finally reached his office.
"No, alcohol, Siri." She said in a singsong tone that was definitely hers.
She even…he hadn't noticed she had started to sound like her. The French accent was all but gone now. Yes, her voice was still higher pitched than it had been, but the infliction was the same.
"I bought this damn place the least you think they could do is give me fire whiskey."
"Alas, you're still a patient as am I."
"Are you going to tell me what the hell happened?" He said looking at her. "You can't…"
"Be Bellatrix," She said. "If you want you can look through my shields. Might be easy enough."
He grimaced. "I haven't tried since…"
But he looked into those violet eyes and saw everything.
Everything from that horrible night where Lily Potter had taken Harry from her until now.
He looked at her, "Bella?"
She nodded. "It's me, Siri. It's really me."
Chapter 45 Preview: Sirius finally chats with his wife.
