Ch39. Bellatrix? What about her?

Harry was sitting in his comfortable chair near the hearth in the Black Library. Opposite him was Rowena, tightly perched on the table. They were intently staring into each other's eyes without blinking, nor moving a muscle.

Harry suddenly gripped his head in pain and let out a muffled gasp as he broke the eye-contact.

Rowena cawed in disapproval.

"Yes, I know I should have held it through the pain, Row." He plainly told her, massaging his temples, trying to relieve his headache.

His uncaring reply earned him another five minutes of fervent cawing courtesy of Rowena, leaving him no other opinion than to sigh and admit defeat.

"Yes. Of course, you are right." He agreed and Rowena puffed out. "But it is not as easy as you make it out to be."

That earned him a harsh glare and another disapproving caw.

"No, Row. I can't detect you without the utmost focus. Your Legilimency probe is just too subtle. And..."

An angry caw interrupted him.

"Suuuure, of course, my incompetency is due to my human brain's inability to keep up with your bird brain..." Harry rolled his eyes exaggeratedly, getting yet another cawing ceremony.

"I know you are trying to make your probes seem obvious. I just have a hard time picking them up!"

"Caw Caw Ca..." Rowena started but was interrupted by a loud knock on the door.

Harry looked at his familiar and sighed while inwardly thanking whoever decided to disturb them.

"Look, we will continue this later, okay?" He smiled at Rowena and lovingly nudged her head.

"Come in!" He shouted towards the door and a second later, Narcissa stepped through the door.

"Hello." She smiled at him and sat down on a nearby chair.

Three days passed since their first coupling and since then they became closer by the day. Both Harry and Narcissa gave their all to understand each other and it brought visible results in their relationship. The more Harry spent with his Cissa, the less reluctant he became due to the age-gap. While not yet love, the budding sparks of affections began to show.

"Hi." He greeted back. "Surprise seeing you here at this hour. Something bothering you?"

Narcissa's lips thinned and her eyes showed uncertainty on how to start.

'Oh, boy. Something does bother her then! More work for me. Uh, the headache.' Harry thought dryly and waited for her to breach the subject.

"It is about Bella." Narcissa eventually managed to utter, making Harry tilt his head.

"Bellatrix?" His face morphed into confusion. "What about her?"

"She is... my sister." She pursed her lips and carefully started telling him the reason for her visit. "I would like to know what your plans are for her, Hadrian."

He looked at her nervous expression and gave her an affirmative nod.

"Preferably?" He dragged his hand through his hair. "I would love to have her in the exact same position you are in right now. But I doubt me getting the ownership of her contract and canceling all previous orders would make her into, ahem, capable of coexistence with us, the peaceful folks. Plus she definitely doesn't smell like daisies nor does she shit rainbow. Just getting her out of Azkaban will be a chore. And even if we got her out, we would have to persuade her to be as obedient as a type of Magical Sheep called Wizards which with her personality is kinda hard to achieve."

Harry told her and grimaced slightly at her disheartened expression.

"No. She certainly is not one of us, the peaceful folks." Narcissa gave him a wry smile.

"I would know..." She trailed off. "Deep down, I always knew she was evil."

"Yes?" Harry's curiosity peaked at her peculiar wording. "Was she like that even when young?"

"On top of my skill in mind arts, I am an empath, Hadrian. When I was younger, I never put much stock into my 'instincts'. I did not know what they meant." She shook her head in sadness. "Bellatrix was raised for combat. Born a second child just a few years after Grindelwald's fall. Blacks wanted a witch capable of destruction in their name. Her training started as soon as five years old. I can't count how many times I felt her hurt or sadness coming from her when we played together. Funnily enough, she always had a mile-wide smile plastered on her face that fooled everyone. As time went on, her feelings dulled, her sadness morphed to rage, and then Voldemort came."

!I only realized this after I was married to Lucius. By then, it was far too late to do anything." She sighed, her head lowered as she fought tears from spilling.

"Anyway, my sister was enamored with the Dark Lord. Hanging on his every word... Still is, I guess. But she wasn't quite as bad as she is now. She was a supporter, pureblood supremacist of the highest order. But every Black was raised to be one. Then her marriage with Lestrange happened and she disappeared for some time, only to reemerge as Bellatrix Lestrange, the Death Eater. More insane than ever. I... lost my sister that day."

Narcissa quieted down only to reveal a slight smile a moment later.

"But when I was suffering under my former husband, it was Bella who attempted to help me. She was the last person I expected to lift a finger for me. Bella knew she will be punished for it and her request won't even faze her Master but she nevertheless begged him for my sake." Narcissa said. "I owe her. That's why I want to know."

Harry leaned back into his chair and pondered what could be done, shooting blanks.

"Cissa, the only thing we could probably do is to break her out of Azkaban. No legal way exists for a murderer of her caliber. And even then... it would be imperative to somehow make her actually stop adoring her Lord Voldemort and listen to us."

"Yes..." Narcissa looked defeated at being told the truth she already knew. She closed her eyes and when she opened them again, a very scary but unshakable resolve appeared in them. Harry started to get a really bad premonition due to her gaze though. "I want to break my sister out of Azkaban, my Lord. Will you allow it?"

Harry almost groaned but then shrugged.

"Make sure you won't get caught and don't forget about her fanatical faith in Voldemort if you want to deal with her. Other than that, do whatever."

Narcissa's face lit up like a sun.

"Do not worry, it might just take me years to get her out of the prison and see the 'light' but I have a plan for that." Her face split in a menacing grin and Harry started to feel a little pity for Bellatrix. May she rest in peace.

"So... empath?" He lamely changed the topic, getting spooked by the conviction in Narcissa's eyes. Apparently the question was a good one because her expression softened and her tone became happier.

"Yes. You are now the only person who knows that about me. Even Dark Lord wasn't able to gleam it from my mind, no matter how many times he used Legilimecy on me, and I never boasted. Poor idiot never got it into his thick skull to just give me the order to outright tell him all my abilities." She showed a ridiculing sneer. "He instead thought his Legilimency would reveal everything about his followers to him."

"Is your Occlumecy really so good?" Harry asked and a spark of hope ignited in his eyes.

Narcissa questioningly arched her eyebrow at him.

"Well, I AM gifted in Mind Arts but even I could not block the Dark Lord's Legilimency at that time. Was not allowed to practice, you see." She stated and as she saw Harry's expression sinking, her lips curled into a mischievous smirk. "But I could redirect it and lead it through unimportant memories without him knowing I am doing it."

Harry beamed at her. Almost as if he teleported he got in front of her, took her hand in his, and stared at her hopefully.

"Will you teach me?" He asked. "Rowena is such a bad tea..."

"CAW!" Rowena gave her protests painfully obvious when her beak ended poking the side of Harry's head.

"What! You know it! Your method is way too painful!" Harry protested and glared at Rowena.

Narcissa amused at their antics, shrugged in exasperation.

"Sure. Why though?"

"Two reasons. Dumbledore and Snape." Harry told her as he tried to appease his familiar with head rubs.

"Oh... Makes sense." She raised her wand in front of his head and a smile that promised a lot of pain bloomed on her face and Harry suddenly wished he didn't ask.

"Now, show me your shields, my Lord." Narcissa goaded. "Legilimens."

Before he could protest, Harry's head exploded in pain far worse than what he felt with Rowena.