Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to J.K. Rowling.
I own nothing but the original characters I create.
Chapter 37: A Cruel Family
The next two weeks passed quietly.
October arrived, and the students fell into their routines of classes, homework, and socialization.
James continued working at his two labs as planned.
One of the two alchemy projects he had running inside his briefcase lab was nearing completion, while the other still lacked some crucial components.
His potion business in his secondary laboratory was doing great, and he was starting to make some serious money.
This was a double-edged sword, however, because as his name gained fame, it was only a matter of time before someone realized he was just a Hogwarts student.
Some sellers wouldn't care, as long as he could produce high-quality potions, while others would certainly cut contact with him if they discovered the truth.
After all, buying potions from an unlicensed potioneer would come with serious risks if the Ministry were to find out.
The artificial draconic chimera he called Primum had finished its development and could be considered a success.
And Bella had not visited the lab again…
Three Broomsticks, Hogsmeade
"What can you tell me about Bellatrix's parents?" James asked.
Sirius turned to look at him as if he had grown a second head.
"What's with that question all of a sudden?"
"I was merely curious." James noted the stares of all his friends on him.
"You're curious about… Bellatrix Black?" Remus looked around to make sure no one had heard them. Luckily, their table was in a corner, and there weren't many people at the pub today.
"That girl is so scary…" Peter said. "But the people she's always with are even worse."
"Are you getting tired of chasing after Lily? I thought she was finally starting to like you back," Sirius said.
"This has nothing to do with Lily. We get along just fine," James responded.
It was true that he was getting along with her. They both shared a fervent passion for academic matters and had even gone to the library together a few times.
"Did you lose interest in her?" Sirius leaned closer. "Because I can introduce you to a few nice girls if you want."
"You seem to be misinterpreting my intentions quite badly… forget my question, then."
"Don't get mad, I was just joking," Sirius said, finishing his butterbeer and placing the jar down. "But fine… if you want to know so badly about my cousin...I'll tell you about her."
"Let's see… Cygnus Black and Druella Black, née Rosier, are my 'beloved' uncle and aunt. If I had to describe them with one word, that word would be… nasty. Double that for Aunt Druella."
"I thought your parents were already bad enough," Remus commented.
They didn't know much about Sirius's family because he never wanted to talk about them, except for the occasional comment about his little brother, Regulus.
But they had heard a few tales about his mother, Walburga Black, and some of the punishments she had inflicted on him.
"Hmm… my parents are extremely strict and always want me and my brother to be the perfect examples of what they deem a proper wizard from an ancient family. Before I got sorted into Gryffindor and decided I wanted nothing to do with their stupid pureblood legacy… they weren't that bad as parents. Mother is usually nice to Regulus, and Father is, at the very least, somewhat polite to me even now. But..."
"So your aunt and uncle are even worse?" Peter asked. He found it hard to believe. He had once heard that Sirius's mother locked him inside a tiny closet with no food or water for three days just because he refused to use a curse on the house-elf after it made a mistake.
"You could say it's mostly my aunt Druella… my uncle has a weak personality and just goes along with whatever she says, most of the time at least," Sirius explained.
"What makes them so bad?" Remus asked.
"Well… at the very least, as long as I follow their rules, my parents leave me alone. And although their punishments were bad… they never crossed certain lines. I can't say the same about my aunt," Sirius's voice grew grave.
"What do you mean exactly?" James wanted to know more. He wished to understand what kind of household Bellatrix had grown up in.
"Let me just say that the Cruciatus Curse was used many times inside the walls of the Black mansion, and most of those times, it was done by my aunt Druella's wand."
"She used one of the Unforgivables at home? and on her own daughters?" Remus looked shocked.
A single use of one of those curses was enough to land someone a lifetime in Azkaban. To think that someone would use it to punish their own children was hard to imagine.
"Yeah… I still remember hearing the screams of my cousins from my room. But of the three sisters, my aunt seemed to have a special grudge against the middle one. I don't know why, but she was always the harshest with Bella."
"That would explain a lot… like her terrible personality," Remus said.
"Yes. I'd also be angry all the time if I had parents like that…" Peter added.
Sirius turned to look at James. "Well… you wanted to know what type of people my aunt and uncle were. Now you know. They're the worst you can imagine."
James nodded. "Thank you for sharing this. I know you don't like to talk about your family."
Sirius shrugged. "It's fine. I only have to see them during the summers now. But if you want to repay me, you can take care of the next round of butterbeers."
"I can do that much at least," James said, raising his hand to make the order while his mind processed the information Sirius had given him.
He had always considered his original childhood with the Dursleys to have been terrible… and it was. But he had never stopped to think that it could have been even worse.
And it appeared that Bella had experienced one of those.
That might not excuse her actions, but at the very least, it offered some explanation for why she was so eager to join someone like Voldemort.
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