The Marauder's Heir (Harry Potter FF)

Chapter 58

She had been cleared of all charges when the ministry found out that she had been under the influence of compulsory potions. Harri wanted to know why she posed as a cat for two years before making her move. It didn’t make any sense to the fifth year Gryffindor. The ex-convict had been staying at Hogwarts since she had nowhere else to go.

The door to the office opened with a bang. A tall, slender woman dressed in black billowing robes stepped in, Harri assumed that it was Bellatrix. Though, she was a little bit different from when she saw her a few days ago, instead of having long curly hair, her hair was cut in a short pixie. It was odd seeing Bellatrix. Harri couldn’t quite grasp that the woman was actually on the light side. Snape filed in behind her with a tired look on his face. The potions professor had been tasked to watch her. It looked like she exhausted him.

“Bella,” Sirius greeted hostilely. The younger woman gave him a curt nod before sitting down across from them, Snape was standing behind her with his arms crossed.

“So, why did you disguise yourself as a cat?” Harri asked after a few minutes of awkward staring. 

The Slytherin gave a humorless laugh that sent shivers down Harri’s spine. “I had just escaped Azkaban...I was exhausted and had no where else to go. I figured that if I stayed in my animal form, someone would take me in. I never expected it to be Remus Lupin and really didn’t expect him to live with my cousin and his goddaughter. I figured that I safe with you, something I hadn’t felt in nearly eighteen years,” she explained, a haunted look marring her face, making her look much older than she really was.

“You were only in Azkaban for twelve years, Bellatrix,” Remus interjected. His left eyebrow was raised and his amber eyes and softened slightly after hearing the beginning of her tale.

Bellatrix’s eyes narrowed, making her look fierce and deadly. “Please, my suffering started a long time before I went to Azkaban. My family had been forcing compulsory potions down my throat since I was fourteen! They married me to Lestrange as soon as I left Hogwarts and then started dosing me with fertility potions! Do you have any idea what kind of nightmare that was? I don’t remember the majority of life! Luckily, my loving husband thought that I was actually in love with him and didn’t give me the potions as often as my mother told him to. There were short intervals where I was in control, but they were short lived and brief. Before I knew it, I was pregnant with Alya. I tried to warn them of the damage they would do to her if they kept giving me the potions, but they only wanted an heir,” she continued with a frown, absentmindedly running her hands through her short hair.

“I could never imagine being under the influence of one of those potions...” Harri said with a shiver.

“I doubt it would work on you. You can fight off the Imperius Curse. I heard your friends praising you about that last year,” Bellatrix told her with a pointed look. The Gryffindor rolled her eyes.

“I’m not sure about that...I mean a potion is more condensed and generally more powerful than spells. There’s a reason why that karma potion is permanent, unlike human transfiguration, which I can fix with a wave of my wand. I have a feeling the only thing that could possibly save me would be the fact that I’m a Veela and generally, those kinds of potions don’t work on us,” Harri replied, resting her chin on her hands.

“Being a Veela has nothing to do with resisting that potion. It’s all about realizing that you’re being controlled and then having the will to stop it. I knew that I was being controlled, but only when the potion would wear off. I still had no control over my actions, so I had to accept what was going to happen to me. It almost killed me...,” she told the young Veela in front of her sadly.

Harri ran a hand through her hair and rubbed her eyes. “So, what makes you think that I can resist it? You knew what was happening to you and you didn’t stop it...I don’t get it, why would you just go along with what was happening?” Harri asked.

“The effects are exactly like the imperius curse, just with longer lasting effects. If you can fight off that curse than the potion wouldn’t mean anything, more condensed or not. On top of that, I know that you have multiple runes drawn all over your person to prevent that,” Bellatrix said with an accusing smirk on her face and Harri flushed.

The fifth year rubbed her arm, no doubt where a rune had been drawn. Sirius’ eyes narrowed at his goddaughter’s arm, but brushed it off. “She might, but that still doesn’t explain why you chose to live your life as a cat for two years. You could have run away at any time,” Sirius said, steely gaze never leaving his cousin.

She stood up at that point and slammed her hand down on the table in front of her. “I was trying to figure out what was going on! I also wanted to keep your goddaughter safe from my daughter and the rising Death Eaters as best I could! I mean I helped her get rid of two!” she shouted.

“Two? Who was the second one? I know you helped her get right of Umbridge...” Remus asked, looking at Harri, who shrugged her shoulder’s in confusion.

A predatory smile graced her lips. “Ah, that would be Rita Skeeter. She was a...pest that kept trying to steal Harri’s things from her room. So, I squished her,” she replied.

Harri’s eyes lit up, realizing what she was talking about. “You mean that bug that kept getting into the room was Rita Skeeter? That...that...troll! Ugh, Hermione was right, she was a pest,” Harri said angrily.

“She was actually a beetle and she’s dead. Not like she’d be missed anyway...” Bellatrix yawned, looking at her nails.

Harri rolled her eyes and tried to figure out something that had been bothering her about Bellatrix since she first saw her. “You don’t have the dark mark. I thought you would have had it,” Harri said hesitantly, not wanting to upset the woman in front of her.

“They didn’t put the dark mark on pregnant women. That’s why Cissy didn’t have one either...” she replied, eyes darkening when she mentioned her sister’s name. Harri felt bad for her, she lost her sister right in front of her eyes.

“So, what are you going to with Voldemort gone?” Remus asked, putting a hand on Harri’s shoulder.

“I’m probably find a place to live. Start over, enjoy the rest of my life. I don’t have any concrete plans. I might stop by Grimmauld Place and bother you every now and again,” Bellatrix said with a grin. “The better question is, what’s Harri going to do now that Voldemort is gone.”

Harri blinked a few times...that had never dawned on her. She had destroyed the man that ruined her school life, nearly destroyed her family, possessed people and nearly killed her multiple times. Harri  did the only logical thing and started to laugh uncontrollably. 

After everything that had happened, she only had to deal with mundane things, like classwork. No more stones that grant immortality, no more fifty foot snakes, no more dementors, no more tournaments, no more sacrificing her life for a prophecy that she never got to hear the end of, no more Voldemort! 

The adults in the room looked at her concerned, all but Bellatrix. Out of everyone, she understood what the younger girl was feeling. She felt free. It was a lovely feeling.

It took her a few moments to compose herself, wiping tears from her eyes, she made eye contact with the woman in front of her. “I’m going to make sure my best friend is okay, pass my OWLs and enjoy my summer. I’m going to act like a normal teenager and enjoy not being targeted by a sociopath with daddy issues,” she replied excitedly. Freedom had never felt so great...

School is going to kill me, thank goodness I don't have much of my semester left.

Thanks for the comments on the chapters! They mean so much to me! I do get back fairly fast if you have questions! =) So don't be afraid to ask!

~Animerocker

PS
I don't own Harry Potter