Soul Bound 2

“I’ve been here before.”Bellatrix said as she looked at the muggle home that could rival the size of any of the wealthiest magic user’s manors, that Narcissa claimed belonged to the Grangers. Seeing the home brought with it a memory of when Bellatrix was a child and her grandmother Sofia taking her on a trip to visit it. Her grandmother had made Bellatrix promise to never tell anyone where they had gone. At the time Bellatrix thought it was because they went to the muggle world but now she wasn’t so sure. It did make her wonder how her grandmother was involved with the Grangers.

“What do you mean you have been here before?”Andromeda didn’t think any of them had visited the home.

“When we were children grandmother Sofia brought me here. She made me promise not to tell anyone that we came.”Bellatrix told her.

“The same Sofia who told us about the prophesies.”Narcissa had a feeling that the Grangers were expecting she and her sisters.

“Why would Sofia visit this house?”Andromeda couldn’t think of a reason for her grandmother to visit a muggle home.

“Only one way to find out.”Bellatrix walked up to the door stopping suddenly when she felt very familiar magic.

“Are you alright?”Narcissa asked her sister in concern. That concern turned into shock when she too felt the magic.”What did grandmother do?”

Andromeda opened her mouth to question them but the words got lost as she felt the magic as well.”What the fuck?”

“It seems our grandmother kept a lot of secrets.”Narcissa doubted that anyone in the family knew that their grandmother was protecting a muggle home.

“Let’s knock on the door. I want to see Hermione and get some answers.”Bellatrix raised her hand to knock only for the door to open before she could revealing a tall, fit, dark brown haired man wearing muggle clothing.”Uh.”

“I personally thought you three would have confronted us at the hospital but Jean said you would be kind enough to give us at least a week. I must say I am very upset with the three of you because due to your kindness I just lost a Spiderman comic that featured the first appearance of the Punisher. I have had that since I was a kid.”The man told them.

A female voice was heard laughing from inside the house. The laughter got closer to the door when an equally as tall and fit, light brown haired woman appeared and stood next to the man.”Denis they have no clue what you are talking about. Now then I suppose introductions are in order. I’m Hermione’s mother Jean and this is my husband and Hermione’s father Denis. You three are Narcissa, Andromeda and Bellatrix Black or more importantly you are my daughter’s soulmates.”

“How do you know that?”Andromeda did not understand what was going on.

“Come inside and we will discuss everything. Hermione is in the living room taking a nap so you will be able to see her.”Jean motioned for the sisters to follow her. She led them through a large front entrance, down a hallway into a living room then pointed to the crib in the middle of the room.”She just went down about a half hour ago so I don’t know when she will wake up.”

Narcissa made her way over to the crib smiling upon seeing Hermione all bundled up sleeping peacefully.”Thank you for letting us see her.”

“If your urges are anything like our own it would be cruel to not let you see her.”Denis said.

“What do you mean by that?”Bellatrix looked down at Hermione hating that she couldn’t pick her up. It felt like an eternity since she had last held her.

“Myself and Denis are actually soulmates.”Jean smiled at the looks of surprise the sisters were giving her.

“I thought that soulmates were just for magical people. I’ve never heard of a squib having one.”Andromeda couldn’t think of anytime she had heard of a squib having a soulmate.

“No offense but how much do you really know about squibs?”Denis didn’t think the women knew anything about his people.

“Just that they have at least one magical parent and they aren’t blessed with magic.”Bellatrix didn’t think there was much to know about squibs.

“Some aren’t blessed with magic but most of us are. We just don’t usually have enough that we can do great feats. As a matter of fact I even have my own wand that I use for some basic spells.”Jean was proud of her magical talent. It didn’t matter to her that it wasn’t as great as others.

“Spells that have kept this house and our dental practice very clean all these years and will help a lot while raising a child.”Denis thanked the goddess every day for his wife’s magic.

“If you have magic why are you considered a squib?”Narcissa asked.

“My magic wasn’t strong enough for me to be given an invitation to Hogwarts. Now if I had been part of any other family they would have probably still treated me like a family member and I could have lived in the magical world. However I was born in a pureblood squib community. When my magical talent was brought to their attention my Head of Household didn’t think I was respectable enough to be a part of his house. So I was left in the muggle world.”Jean explained.

“That’s horrible.”Andromeda couldn’t believe that Jean wasn’t allowed to live in the magical world just because she didn’t have strong magic.

Jean waved off her pity.”I honestly can say I’m not upset about it. I know how pureblood culture is. If I was put into that den of snakes I would have been eaten alive.”

“That’s very true.”Bellatrix could easily see someone with weak magic being abused and disregarded.

“What’s your story Denis?”Narcissa was curious about Denis’ history.

“My great-great-grandfather was magically adopted by Lycoris Black after his parents Gerold Lestrange and Frances Yaxley died. He wed Frances Slywen and together they had one son. That son was a squib. The pair put him in a pureblood squib community were all the rest of his line stayed each marrying within the community. I have no magic at all.”Denis explained.

“I am very interested in seeing the family tapestry that is created when Hermione does the blood test to claim her titles.”Bellatrix wanted to see the convoluted way Hermione became the Head of Household for five pureblood houses. As it was no squibs showed up on them unless a magical child came from a squib. That was the reason that no one would be able to find out about Hermione before she went to Hogwarts.

“It will be interesting to learn how all those marriages and offsprings converged to give Hermione her titles.”Narcissa agreed.

“What’s a pureblood squib community like?”Andromeda asked.

“A lot like a regular pureblood community. They put a lot of stock in how wealthy you are, if you have magic, who your bloodlines are. Things like that. They are also very strict on who you are allowed to marry. Denis and I have known we were soulmates since we were kids so we didn’t have the pressures the others did.”Jean was happy she didn’t.

“The one thing they all strive for the most is to have a magical child. They see it as their ticket to being respected by the magical world. Children are brought up knowing that if they get into Hogwarts that they are expected to do great things to bring fame and fortune to their squib families. Hermione will be the first one in the history of our community to go to Hogwarts. Something I personally believe has to do with all the inbreeding.”Denis thought it was stupid for pureblood families to only have children with other pureblood families. 

“You don’t see Hermione as your ticket do you?”Narcissa wouldn’t put up with someone trying to use Hermione.

Jean laughed.”Goddess no. We don’t want to be part of the magical world. We have a nice muggle dental practice we own and with the money Sofia gave us we can live comfortably for the rest of our lives. The only thing we want from Hermione is for her to live a happy life.”

“What is your relationship with our grandmother?”Bellatrix didn’t know why her grandmother would give a squib couple gold.

“We I was 9 years old Sofia visited me. She gave me some books to read but made me promise not to tell anyone about her or the books. I being 9 didn’t question why a random woman was approaching me and giving me things. So I took the books and read them. A few were stories about soulmates while one was about prophesies. My favorite however was the one about a woman who could see the future and used her gift to save the world.”Jean still had those books and planned to pass them down to Hermione when she was older.

“Did you see Sofia again?”Andromeda asked.

Jean nodded.”I saw her about two weeks later. She asked me what I thought of the books. I told I loved all of them but my favorite was about the seer. We spoke about that story and the others for a little while then she inquired about how much I knew about magic. I went into great detail of all I knew and showed her some of the simple spells I taught myself. She was quite impressed with me. After showing her my magic she explained to me that she was seer and that she had foreseen a prophesy that included me and my soulmate.”

“Sofia was a seer?”Narcissa didn’t think that was true. If it was it would have been well known.

“She was and a very good one at that.”Jean confirmed.

“Why didn’t she tell anyone? If it had been known she would have been celebrated.”Andromeda knew that her grandmother would have been paraded around in front of all society if it was known she was a seer. Especially if she was good at it.

“Your grandmother didn’t want the attention. She also didn’t think it would be safe for any of us if she let it be known that she could see the future. She told me later on that she had seen the prophesies about us, Hermione and the three of you when she was teenager. She knew that if she was going to help save the world she needed to work from the shadows.”Jean explained.

“I now know why grandmother was so nice to us when she usually couldn’t stand being in the room with another person.”Andromeda had always thought it was weird that their surly grandmother had soft spot for them.

“Sofia hated pureblood culture. She had actually planned on running away from her family when she was at Hogwarts but stayed to help us.”Denis was still humbled that the woman gave up her whole life to ensure his family’s safety.

“Oh grandmother.”Narcissa wished she had known all this so she could have properly thanked Sofia for what she did. Hermione crying caught her and the rest of the room’s attention. Narcissa immediately picked her up and began rocking her.”What’s wrong sweetheart?”

“I think she needs a diaper change because she ate right before her nap.”Jean made her way over to Hermione.”Do one of you want to take care of it?”

“I will.”Andromeda volunteered before her sisters could. She held out her arms taking Hermione from Narcissa.

“I get to change the next one.”Bellatrix wanted to be the one taking care of Hermione. Even if it meant dealing with a gross diaper.

“I’ll show you where her changing room is.”Jean led her out of the room.

Seeing them watch the trio leave Denis offered.”We can give you a tour once we finish talking if you want.”

“I would like that.”Narcissa wanted to see where Hermione was living. She also hoped for a chance to have some input on how Hermione’s room was decorated.

“How long have you lived in this house?”Bellatrix asked.

“We moved in about five years ago. Just after we finished dental school.”Seeing their confused expressions Denis explained.”A dentist is a muggle healer who works just on teeth.”

“Ah.”Narcissa didn’t know what a healer could do for teeth but muggles were weird sometimes.”Did Sofia give you the house?”

“Yes she officially made it ours when we were in our early teens.”Denis was beyond grateful for it because he and his wife hadn’t wanted to live in the squib community anymore.

“I came here with her when I was a child.”Bellatrix still didn’t know why she was brought to the house.

“She told us that she brought you here to attune you and your sisters to the wards she cast.”Denis said.

“That makes perfect sense.”Narcissa could easily understand why her grandmother brought Bellatrix with her if she was setting wards.

“Here she is fresh and clean.”Jean announced as she entered the room with Andromeda trailing behind her holding Hermione.

Bellatrix went right to Andromeda.”Andy let me hold her.”

“Not yet.”Andromeda wasn’t done holding Hermione. Taking a seat on the couch she huffed when Narcissa sat down so close to her she was almost on her lap.”Can you move over?”

“No.”Narcissa wanted to be close to Hermione. Trailing a finger over Hermione’s cheek Narcissa smiled when a pair of brown eyes opened and looked back at her.”She is so precious.”

“That child is to good to be true. Since we brought her home she has slept through the night and barely cries at all.”Jean was extremely thankful for all that.

“Of course she is exceptional she is our soulmate.”Bellatrix didn’t expect anything less than greatness from Hermione.

“Can you get back to the story about our grandmother. You left off at the part that she told you she was a seer.”Narcissa said not taking her eyes off Hermione.

“She told me she was a seer and then explained that there was a prophesy about me and my soulmate. It basically said that the pair of us would have a daughter that would one day save both the magical and the muggle world. I of course was shocked. I mean how often is a child told that the fate of the world rests on their shoulders. Sofia was extremely nice to me and told me that I didn’t have to worry about a thing because she would be by my side helping me every step of the way. A few months after that she introduced me to Denis and even though it wasn’t romantic at first we instantly had feelings for each other.”Jean remembered the first time meeting her husband fondly.

“What about you Denis? How did you get involved?”Andromeda asked.

“The same way as Jean. Sofia brought me books and explained everything. After Jean and I met her Sofia became a large presence in our lives. She was like our fairy godmother. She made sure we always had the best of everything and went all out for our birthdays and holidays. She even bought us this house and paid for our schooling. Plus she gave us a large sum of money that we have been using to support ourselves and funded our business with. It broke both our hearts that we didn’t get see her when she was on her death bed nor did we get to go to her funeral.”Denis had loved Sofia just like she was his own grandmother.

“I’m sorry you couldn’t be there. It likely would have brought her some comfort.”Narcissa had been in her grandmother’s house when the healer called the family in to say their goodbyes. There had been tons of people some strangers overfilling the manor. Narcissa had known at the time that her grandmother was completely miserable in her last moments on earth.

Jean pointed to the wall where there were pictures hanging up.”We are still keeping her memory alive and will make sure Hermione knows what a wonderful woman she was.”

“I can’t believe she wore muggle clothing.”Bellatrix said as she looked at a picture on the wall of her grandmother and Jean standing in some type of garden. Both were wearing muggle clothes and even more surprising to Bellatrix was the bright smile on Sofia’s face.

“So now you know our story. What’s yours? All we know about is your prophesy with our daughter and the stories Sofia told us about you. We don’t know you as people.”Denis wanted to know who his daughter’s soulmates were.

“I am Bellatrix the oldest child of Cygnus Black who was the former Head of Household for the House of Black. Since my father believed that women are to delicate and not smart enough be the Head of Household I didn’t get title when he died. It went my idiot cousin Sirius. Since the only use I had to him was to make an alliance with another pureblood family I was married off to Rodolphus Lestrange who is the Head of Household for the Lestrange family. The man is a coward who is extremely afraid of me so I am mostly left alone by him. Other than that right now I am working on the Dark Lord’s side trying to figure out a way to end the first war and collect enough evidence to put his followers in prison for a long time once it’s over.”Bellatrix told him.

“Sofia was not a fan of Sirius or any of his family.”Jean remembered the nasty words the old woman said about them.

“That’s because like Bella said he is an idiot and the rest of his family is crazy. His mother liked to chop the heads off of her house elves and mount them on the wall in the front hallway for visitors to see.”Andromeda always hated going to that house.

“Andy let me hold Hermione.”Narcissa had waited long enough. It was her turn.

“In a minute.”Andromeda wasn’t done yet.

“No you have had long enough. Let me hold her.”Narcissa wasn’t going to back down.

Andromeda tried to stare her sister down but quickly lost the contest when Narcissa raised an eyebrow at her. She carefully handed Hermione over.”Fine but I want her back soon.”

“It’s my turn next.”Bellatrix told her as she took a seat next to Narcissa and looked at Hermione. When Hermione started making bubbles with her saliva Bellatrix laughed.

“So what about you two?”Denis asked the remaining sisters.

“My prophesy said that I needed to work on the Light side and that I was supposed to have a child. I wasn’t keen on leaving my sisters or having a child with someone who isn’t my soulmate but I found a weak willed feeble man to marry. He is scared of his own shadow so he doesn’t bother me much or ask how I spend my time.”Andromeda wouldn’t have had it any other way.

“And did you have a child?”Jean wasn’t sure how she felt about Andromeda having a child that wasn’t Hermione’s.

”I did but I used the muggle method of artificial insemination. I’ve manipulated my husband’s mind to make him think my daughter is his as well when in fact he has never touched me or even seen me naked.”Andromeda like her sisters were saving themselves for Hermione.

“That was a good way to work around it.”Denis was impressed with Andromeda’s actions.”And you Narcissa?”

“I’m the youngest out of us and was sold off to Lucius Malfoy. He treats me like an object that he likes to show off to everyone. Right now he is obsessed with having an heir but I like my sister manipulate his mind to think that we are intimate when in fact we are not. Other than that I am skilled in mind magic and can easily hear the thoughts of everyone I’m in a room with.”Narcissa was quick to add.”I have not searched your minds.”

“We would appreciate it if you wouldn’t.”Jean didn’t want anyone in her head.

“I have too much respect for you to do that. However my skill has been instrumental in learning all the of the Dark Lord’s secrets. Those secrets we have been using to try to end this war. I’ve also been using his followers’ thoughts to collect evidence to convict them when the war ends.”Narcissa did all she could to get as much evidence as possible because once everything was over it meant that Narcissa and her sisters could spend more time with Hermione.

“What is it you do for the war Andromeda?”Denis asked.

“I work on the side of the light. They deem themselves the good guys but from what I’ve seen most of them are not. I initially thought my role was going to be to sabotage their missions but they are screwing things up all on their own. I honestly don’t know how they haven’t lost the war already.”Andromeda usually said very little during Order meetings. She didn’t want to get blamed for their failures.

“How soon do you think this one is going to end?”Jean wanted to know how many years of peace they would have before the next war started.

“With any luck within a month.”Bellatrix was hoping sooner.

“We think the Dark Lord found out about a prophesy concerning himself. One that claims he will be defeated by a child.”Noticing the looks Jean and Denis were giving her Narcissa assured them.”It’s not about Hermione. It’s about a boy.”

“Thank the goddess.”Denis didn’t need his daughter involved in any other prophesies.

“Bellatrix is going to try and figure out what the prophesy is about so we can maybe help it come to pass.”Narcissa told him.

“We all know it won’t completely kill him but it will at least give us time to regroup while everyone is away licking their wounds.”Andromeda said. She reached her finger out to Hermione who grasped it in her tiny hand.”Merlin she’s cute.”

“That she is.”Narcissa agreed.

“It’s my turn to hold her.”Bellatrix had waited long enough. Now she wanted to hold her soulmate.

Narcissa thought about fighting her sister but wanted to make a good impression on Hermione’s parents. Gently she transferred Hermione into Bellatrix’s arms.”Be careful.”

“Of course I’ll be careful.”Bellatrix was insulted Narcissa would suggest otherwise.

“How about we give the three of you a tour now?”Denis suggested.

“That would be fun.”Andromeda wanted to see what Hermione’s room looked like. She enjoyed the changing room so she figured that she would like Hermione’s personal room.

“Bellatrix can you carry Hermione or do you want one of us to do it?”Jean asked.

“I can carry her.”Bellatrix held back from snapping at the woman for her question because she was Hermione’s mother. Of course Jean would be concerned. Bellatrix and her sisters were still strangers.

“Then follow me and we will take you right to Hermione’s bedroom. That being the place you all are likely most interested in.”Denis said.

“You are right we are most interested in her room.”Narcissa agreed as she followed the group out of the room. Looking around while she walked through the house Narcissa saw more pictures hanging including ones of her grandmother. There were also paintings. A few magical ones that Narcissa thought she remembered seeing in her grandmother’s home. She also thought some of the objects used to decorate areas came from her grandmother’s home as well because there was a vase sitting on an end table Narcissa was positive she heard her grandfather accuse her aunt Walburga of stealing. It made Narcissa question everything she knew about Sofia. Instead of the cold, bitter woman who was angry at the world Narcissa now realized that Sofia was actually a caring, kind woman who took on the responsibility of making sure the world got saved. It humbled Narcissa to know that her grandmother had been looking out for her, her sisters and their soulmate this whole time.