He knew that his intervention had certainly changed things to a degree, an uncertain one at that and he strongly believed that everyone had the right to defend themselves and those they cared about and Harry had no doubt that the girl loved her sisters more than anything else.
"Alright" he agreed. "What can I help you with?" he asked.
Bellatrix smiled victoriously before speaking once more.
"Whatever spells you think will be useful that I don't know I guess" she answered uncertainly. "And just practice fighting and dueling" she added with a shrug. "OK, we will start during the week" he agreed somewhat reluctantly.
"Thank you" Bellatrix squealed uncharacteristically before throwing her arms around him.
She quickly realised what she had done and stepped back immediately.
"Sorry" she mumbled as she flushed a light pink.
Harry nodded and turned away, more than a little surprised by the unexpected hug from the girl.
"Wednesday, after dinner, same classroom as we used to use" he instructed before heading up the stairs towards the Gryffindor common room.
Bellatrix nodded and composed herself before heading in the opposite direction towards the dungeons, chastising herself for hugging the boy, though she knew she hadn't consciously done it.
"Stupid" she whispered irritably. "Why did you hug him?" she questioned herself, feeling very annoyed by her actions.
"Who did you hug?" the mocking voice of Narcissa asked as she and Andromeda exited one of the potion rooms both looking amused.
"No one" Bellatrix denied immediately, but couldn't fight the blush that once again found its way to her cheeks. "Why are you here anyway?".
"We were waiting for you" Narcissa answered. "Who did you hug?" she asked again.
"I bet it was Harry" Andromeda interjected.
"Shut up Andi, I didn't mean to" Bellatrix sighed.
Narcissa giggled at her sister. "Do you think he'll ask you to the ball?" she questioned excitedly.
Bellatrix growled irritably and stormed away, clearly not wanting this conversation with her sisters.
"She wants him to" Andromeda whispered knowingly.
"I do not" Bellatrix huffed as she rounded the corner away from the duo. "Not that he would" she whispered to herself.
(BREAK)
Harry made his way up to the tower questioning his decision on agreeing to train Bellatrix. He decided that all that he could do would be to see how it went with the girl.
His thoughts moved to the hug that she had given him, something he had never expected from her at all.
He shook his head and sighed in confusion. It had been hard from the start to maintain his hatred towards her and he had even begun to warm to her during the time they had spent completing the Defense Against the Dark Arts wok they had been assigned together. But since the night she had cursed him he had found it difficult to see her as anything other than the Death Eater she had become.
Even when it had been revealed that she had not done so under her own volition, it had done little to change his thoughts towards her but seeing her actually ask and even plead for his help had given him some kind of hope that she could actually be helped and not become what she had. His intervention at Christmas had clearly been much more major than he had anticipated and he shook his head at the thought that the change could be a very significant one in the greater scheme of things. "What are you doing Potter?" he sighed to himself as he reached the portrait of the fat lady and gave her the password before entering.
He spotted the other Marauders, minus Peter, sat in their usual space and he joined them. "What's wrong with him?" he asked Sirius after noticing James was in some sort of stupor. Sirius chuckled and shook his head.
"Lily thanked him for what he did yesterday" Remus answered with a grin. "She even gave him a kiss on the cheek".
Harry shook his head in amusement before prodding the boy out of his reverie.
"Oi" James grumbled. "I was savouring the moment".
"Rub it in Prongs" Sirius sighed.
"Aww, didn't Marlene thank you?" Harry mocked. "Oh shut up" Sirius mumbled in reply.
"She actually did but padfoot bottled it" Remus remarked gleefully.
"How?" Harry asked with a confused frown. "She actually asked him out on a date and he babbled like a moron" Remus explained through bouts of laughter.
"It was unexpected" Sirius whined petulantly. "What happened?" Harry questioned further. "Nothing, it looked like the idiot was going to make an excuse so she left" Remus replied with a shrug.
"For Merlin sake Padfoot just find the girl, apologise and admit you like her" James commanded irritably.
Sirius looked as though he would protest but was cut off by Remus. "No more jokes Padfoot" he promised. "If you like her then tell her before someone else snatches her up".
"Like me" Harry interjected.
"Yeah right" Sirius muttered. "You're not interested in girls, I swear the only wand you have is the one in your holster or you're queer" he added.
Harry shook his head but did not dignify the boy with a response.
"Just find her will you and apologise" he sighed.
Sirius looked between his three friends before conceding the situation with a shake of his head and exiting the common room to find the girl in question.
He quickly removed the map from his back pocket and activated it, quickly finding the girl alone in the library. "Here goes nothing" he muttered as he made his way towards her.
He entered the library and immediately spotted the girl staring at an open book she had placed on the table in front of her though he could see she was not actually reading it.
"What do you want Sirius?" she asked as he took a seat opposite her.
Sirius swallowed and steeled his nerves before responding.
"To apologise" he sighed quietly.
"For what exactly?" Marlene questioned, her gaze still fixed on the book.
"Being an idiot" Sirius answered simply. "And?" Marlene replied, finally looking up at the boy with a raised eyebrow.
"For not answering you" he tried uncertainly.
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