Eventually, daylight woke Harry up-that and the pain in his stomach along with the stiffness in his joints. Harry groaned aloud and tried to shift into some sort of position that would alleviate his discomfort.
"Yeah, you should have stayed in bed," announced Bellatrix's voice.
Harry looked up to discover Bellatrix approaching him from the kitchen, carrying a tray with several potion beakers. "I needed to go to the bathroom," Harry told her.
"Looks like you got lost," Bellatrix smirked, setting down the tray on the coffee table. She selected one of the potions and handed it to Harry. "Drink up."
"I was going to read some of those newspapers," Harry said, motioning down to the floor where he had spotted the newspapers the night before. He glanced around to discover that they were neither any longer on the floor, nor apparently anywhere else in the room. "Where did you put them?"
"I think you should let me worry about that stuff for now, Harry," Bellatrix said, watching Harry drink the potion, accepting the empty beaker before giving another to Harry to drink. "You are not exactly in prime condition to be doing anything, right now."
"I'm fine," Harry protested.
Bellatrix rolled her eyes. "Harry, you have been in a coma for nearly a week. You are not fine."
Knowing he could not trump the coma card, Harry remained silent as he gratefully downed the rest of the potions given him by Bellatrix. It felt strangely nice to know that while he had been unconscious, she had been looking after him. It was as if she was family. In fact, she was, he again remembered. She was now his wife. Ihad to do it, Harry remembered as a murky memory of signing the marriage contract surfaced. Iwas as good as dead . He then realized he would have been dead without her ministrations.
"Normally, I would interrogate you about your knowledge of the future, or rather, the present," Bellatrix said, taking away the tray of empty potion containers. "However," she called from the kitchen, "it is Christmas day." She returned to the living room and walked toward the Christmas tree. "I thought we might exchange presents and other delicacies."
Harry winced. "I haven't been Christmas shopping," he said.
"You didn't need to do any shopping," Bellatrix smiled. "You gave me a million-galleon gift certificate, and I did the shopping for you."
"Please tell me that we still have money in our Gringotts account," Harry groaned.
"I didn't spend a million galleons," Bellatrix reassured him as she grabbed a stack of small, gift-wrapped parcels. "But even if I had, we'd still be very rich."
"And that's what's important," Harry said with a straight face.
"Right," replied Bellatrix, equally straight faced, as she sat next to Harry on the couch.
Hoping she too was joking about the primacy of wealth, Harry accepted one of the small presents from Bellatrix and looked curiously at the rest of the parcels in her lap.
"The rest are mine," Bellatrix said. "We can take you shopping for some clothes or anything else you fancy later."
"Okay," said Harry amicably, "let's see what I got you for Christmas."
The answer was jewelry, and lots of it. She may not have spent a million galleons, but Harry suspected she had only fallen short of that lofty number by a measly couple of knuts. Among the haul was a stunning diamond necklace and several sets of earrings with assorted jewels-emeralds being the most popular. Harry supposed it was the Slytherin inside of her, though she had gotten herself one pair of ruby earrings.
"Your turn," Bellatrix announced, looking expectantly at the small parcel in Harry's lap.
"Let me guess," said Harry. "Jewelry?"
Bellatrix beamed at him, her smile accentuated by the necklace and emerald earrings she had donned.
Harry unwrapped the present and discovered a small ring box. Inside, he found a rather hefty gold ring with some sort of black jewel.
"It's the Black family ring," Bellatrix announced proudly. "I had it refitted and upgraded." She plucked it from the box, took Harry's left hand, and slipped it onto him. "It's both your wedding ring and your family ring."
"It's very nice," Harry said, staring at it. He glanced over at the Malfoy family ring, given him by Romulus Malfoy, on his right hand. The Malfoy ring was far more ostentatious, but the Black family ring was clearly heavier and more impressive. He hoped the Black family ring could hold a feather-light charm, or else he'd feel like he was walking around with a brick all the time.
Harry looked back at Bellatrix. She was grinning broadly, and her violet eyes were sparkling. Harry did not think he had ever seen Bellatrix so happy, either as her younger or older self. Entranced, he stared at her, and she at him, for several moments.
"So, I guess that's it?" Harry said. "We've unwrapped all the presents."
"There are still… delicacies," Bellatrix said somewhat huskily, smiling broader still. "And maybe some dinner later."
Harry stared at her for several moments before realizing what she was implying. He remembered their first kiss, initiated by Bellatrix on the floor of the Room of Requirement. She had been angry with him, knocking him to the floor before kissing him forcefully, lingeringly, almost violently. Her lips had tasted of bitter disappointment, but also of passion and longing. Yet even then, behind the mask of indifference he forged mostly from occlumency, Harry had thought often of the kisses he and Bellatrix shared, wishing at times despite himself that he'd surrendered to her seductions.
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