Life should begin to settle down for Seph, but how will she feel once the initial rush has slowed and she has time to think?

I do not own the rights to Harry Potter. Rights go to J K Rowling and her publishers. This is just my take on how it could have been.

-----This story is set after Chamber of Secrets-----

Harry Potter and the Deceptions of Life

Chapter 4: Settling In

The group made their way out of the courts and to the Floo network. Moments later they arrived at the Malfoy manor. Lucius quickly took Sirius to some rooms that had been set up for him so he could bathe and change into clean clothes. Lucius had Twinkle bring some food up to him.

‘I still can’t get around the fact that Weasley’s rat Scabbers is really an Animagus who betrayed the Potters,’ said Draco still in shock as the group drank tea in the main common room.

Seph nodded with tears in her eyes before Narcissa pulled her into a tight hug and allowed her to release her pain.

‘It’s okay honey. I am sure they will catch him and when we return to court you can see justice fulfilled as it should have been all those years ago,’ said Narcissa in soothing tones.

After about an hour or so, Sirius entered the main common room looking much better. His hair was still long but it was clean and tangle free. He had had a shave and was wearing clean robes. He knelt before Seph and took her hand.

‘I cannot convey my thanks enough. It is good to see how well you have grown up, even though back then, you were a little different. Lily and James told me you were a girl and who your real father was. I am glad you found him. He is a good man even if we never really got on well,’ said Sirius as he gently kissed Seph’s hand causing her to blush.

‘Narcissa I hope you are well,’ said Sirius as he took her hand and kissed it also.

‘I am better since we found out about Seph. Come, let me sort your hair, cousin,’ said Narcissa with a smile.

The three of them went to one of the bathrooms on the ground floor where Narcissa set to work trimming Sirius’s long locks.

‘So you’re my godfather,’ said Seph.

‘Yes I am but you can call me Sirius or Padfoot,’ said Sirius.

‘Why Padfoot?’ asked Seph in confusion.

‘I will show you when your aunt has finished my hair,’ said Sirius with a smile.

A few minutes later Narcissa had managed to tame Sirius’s hair.

‘Thank you 'Cissa. That feels much better. Now little one, you asked 'why Padfoot?',’ said Sirius as he transformed into a massive black dog and began licking Seph’s hand causing her to giggle.

A few seconds later he transformed back.

‘You will have to get registered now,’ said Seph.

‘Yes I guess I will,’ Sirius said.

‘Can you teach me?’ asked Seph.

‘Only if your father says I can,’ said Sirius.

‘I am sure he won’t mind. Has Lucius mentioned that we would like you to stay here while your home gets fixed up,’ said Narcissa.

‘I don’t want to impose,’ said Sirius.

‘Nonsense Sirius, plus it will give you chance to know Seph and Draco after all you are their cousin and Seph’s godfather. Seph is still getting used to being female. We only found her a day ago and I am sure she has lots to ask you about Lily and James. After all you knew them better than us,’ said Narcissa.

‘Well, if it okay with all of you, then I would like that,’ said Sirius.

Just then Lucius walked in.

‘Ah much better, I assume you are feeling a little better now Sirius,’ said Lucius.

‘I am, thank you Lucius,’ said Sirius.

‘Then we best be off, court should resume shortly,’ said Lucius.

With that, the group went back to the fireplace in the study before heading to the Ministry.

They made their way to the court room and were ushered in straight away. There, in the middle of the room on the chair, was a grey rat which looked to be petrified. To the right, the Weasley’s sat and appeared to be in a slight degree of shock.

The twins seemed to be finding the whole thing funny and had smiles on their faces. At seeing Seph they gave her an approving wolf whistle much to Snape’s annoyance.

‘Ah glad you could rejoin us. Miss Black, could you step up to the bench please,’ asked Amelia. Seph nervously walked to the bench, everyone of the Weasleys' eyes were on her.

‘Miss Black, can you confirm this is the rat you mentioned at Sirius’s trial?’

The Weasley’s all looked at Sirius standing next to the Malfoy’s, shock written all over their faces.

‘I can confirm it is the same rat your honour,’ said Seph.

‘Just call me Amelia. When did you first see this rat, Miss Black?’

‘It was on the train to Hogwarts 2 years ago during my first year there,’ said Seph.

‘And you stated that Ron had said the rat was in his family for over 10 years,’ asked Amelia.

‘Hey I have never met her in my life,’ spat Ron angrily.

‘Mr Weasley, please be silent in my court or I will hold you in contempt. Please continue Miss Black.’

‘Yes he did,’ confirmed Seph.

‘Very well Miss Black. Mr. Shacklebolt, please check the rat to see if it is indeed an Animagus,’ said Amelia.

Kingsley cast a spell and suddenly the rat began to morph in front of everyone present. Suddenly, in the rat's place, was Peter Pettigrew. To say the room was shocked would be an understatement.

‘Please secure the prisoner,’ said Amelia.

Kingsley and another Auror, quickly strapped Pettigrew to the chair. Kingsley cast another spell to prevent Pettigrew from changing, also making sure to remove his wand before casting an Enervate spell to wake him. Pettigrew looked in shock, his eyes widening at seeing Sirius. Before he could speak, Amelia began.

‘Mr Pettigrew, you are charged with betraying Lily and James Potter as their secret keeper, which in turn caused their deaths. You are also charged with killing 12 muggles and faking your own death, causing an innocent man to be jailed for over 10 years. How do you plead?’ said Amelia.

‘It wasn’t me. It was Sirius. He betrayed the Potters,’ said Peter in panic.

‘Mr Black has already been found innocent of all charges. Mr. Pettigrew, how do you plead?’ said Amelia losing patience.

Peter looked around the room and spotted Ron. ‘Ron, it wasn’t me, I was a good rat wasn’t I, tell them it wasn’t me,’ he said in a pleading tone.

‘Enough, as you are so unwilling to answer the plea, I have no choice but to question you under Veritaserum. Mr. Shacklebolt if you please.’

Kingsley stepped forward and forced Peter to take the potion, his eyes glazed over the same as Sirius’s did.

‘Are you Peter Pettigrew?’ asked Amelia.

‘Yes.’

‘Were you the Potter’s secret keeper?’ asked Amelia.

‘Yes.’
‘Did you betray them to the Dark Lord?’ asked Amelia.
‘Only Lily.’

‘Why did you betray Lily?’ asked Amelia.

‘James married Lily and we became distant. It was all Lily’s fault. James, Sirius, Remus and I were close at school till that woman got her hands on James. The Dark Lord said that James didn’t really love Lily but was bewitched. If I helped him he could free James, and I would have friends again, but Lily killed James,’ said Pettigrew.

‘What makes you think Lily killed James?’

‘Because the Dark Lord tried to save him from her evil.’

‘Did you kill 12 muggles and fake your death to cover for your betrayal?’

‘Yes. Sirius knew, he knew I was the secret keeper. When he came for me, I screamed that he was the murderer. I then cast a spell and made my escape. Soon the Dark Lord will rise again and I will be there to help him to avenge James. I have been watching that whore’s son and the Dark Lord will reward me for my loyalty,’ said Pettigrew.

‘I have heard enough. Kingsley, use the antidote on Mr Pettigrew,’ said Amelia.

As soon as Peter’s eyes came back into focus, Amelia addressed him.

‘Mr Pettigrew, you have been found guilty of all charges. You are hereby sentenced to life imprisonment in Azkaban with no options for appeal. Mr. Shacklebolt take him from my sight,’ said Amelia in disgust.
Seph was in tears as Snape hugged her to him. After they had carted Pettigrew out of the courtroom, Amelia turned towards the Weasley’s.

‘Usually harbouring criminals warrants punishment under the law; however, I have no doubt you were unaware of the rat being an Animagus, and a wanted criminal; so therefore you are free to leave,’ said Amelia.

As they left Ron gave Seph a strange look and Seph wondered what it was but figured it was because she just lost him a pet.

‘Mr. Black, once again please accept my humble apologies,’ said Amelia.

Sirius flashed Amelia a grin that immediately had her blushing.

‘Don’t worry about it. You were not to blame,’ said Sirius.

‘Thank you Mr. Black. You are free to leave. You can collect your wand at the main lobby. I have already informed them that you will be along to collect it, along with any other personal items you had at the time of your arrest,’ said Amelia as she got up and left for the chambers behind her seat.

Sirius gave Seph another huge hug.

‘I still can’t thank you all enough for what you have done for me,’ said Sirius.

‘You are welcome. Now let’s collect your belongings, get your Animagus registry sorted and then we can head for something to eat,’ said Lucius.

An hour later after everything had been sorted at the Ministry, the five were sitting in a restaurant in muggle London enjoying a good meal. Lucius and Snape were updating Sirius on everything that had been happening since his arrest, and Seph was busy talking to Narcissa. After all there were many things she still didn’t know about the Wizarding World.

After they were full they made their way to Diagon Alley so Sirius could get some new clothes and a few other essentials. On the way Seph was asked by Sirius about her life. He was not happy to hear of the treatment from the Dursley’s, and said that had he not been thrown in prison that he would have taken Seph to Snape sooner, and had that failed, he would have taken her as his own.

It didn’t matter to Seph as time could not be reversed. She was just happy trying to get used to her new life. The reaction to Sirius in Diagon Alley was funny. Some seemed afraid, others were welcoming. The goblins in Gringotts seemed to already know Sirius had been cleared and allowed him access to his vaults without question.

When Sirius entered one of his vaults he came back with a bag. Seph didn’t ask what was in it as they made their way to another vault where Sirius picked up some money. Not that he needed it as he had his family ring returned to him. Sirius had a quick, private meeting with Gragnok before they went on to buy him some clothes and other things.

‘Cissa, will you take Seph and Draco and get them some ice cream. There is another place I need to go before we return,’ said Sirius.

‘We will meet you there,’ said Narcissa as she escorted Seph and Draco to Florean Fortescue's where she bought Seph a hot fudge sundae.

They were soon joined by Lucius, Snape and Sirius who looked rather pleased with himself. As soon as Seph had finished, the group made their way back to the manor. After Seph had helped Sirius unpack his new clothes, they met everyone in the main common room for tea.

‘Weasley is so in for it when we get back to school,’ said Draco. When Seph said how he had glared at her.

‘I told you before it was nothing. It was probably because I lost him his pet,’ said Seph.

‘Anyway I am sure if it was anything bad the twins will sort him out,’ she continued.

‘Why the twins,’ asked Draco.

Before Seph could answer Sirius cut in.

‘Well it seems the twins decided that Seph was a hot babe, after all, very few others would wolf whistle like that in a courtroom,’ he said causing Seph to blush.

‘Sirius,’ she exclaimed.

‘What?’ he said with innocent puppy dog looks causing all present to laugh.

‘So the Weasley twins have the hots for my cousin do they. I better go practice hexing,’ said Draco with a smirk.

‘I can help you there Draco, the Marauders and I created some great hexes for such occasions,’ said Sirius.

‘Draco, Sirius, I can take care of myself,’ said Seph with her hands on her hips as she glared at them.
The pair just laughed.

They talked for another hour, Sirius asking Seph and Draco more questions about their likes and dislikes. When Sirius found out Seph had been Seeker for Gryffindor during her first year he was astounded. He said he wasn’t that into playing Quidditch, but that James had been and that he was one of the best. Before anyone realised the time, Twinkle called them for dinner.

Lucius and Snape had been away during all the talk and as they sat having their meal they updated them on what they had been doing. Apparently, although Seph was registered at Hogwarts as Harry Potter, they needed to fill out forms to re-register her as a new student otherwise it might cause serious problems.

As they were eating desert, Twinkle popped in and handed Lucius several copies of the Daily Prophet evening edition, which he handed around the table.

SIRIUS BLACK CLEARED OF ALL CHARGES, PETTIGREW FRAMED HIM

Sources at the Ministry of Magic Law Enforcement confirmed late this afternoon that Sirius Black had been given trial under Veritaserum and found to be innocent. The trial came about when Minister Fudge was given new evidence that showed Black wasn’t the Potter’s secret keeper.

During the trial, Black stated that Pettigrew was the secret keeper, and to cover his tracks, Pettigrew killed the 12 muggles before cutting off his finger and fleeing the scene in his illegal Animagus form. Miss Persephone Black, Sapphira Black’s daughter, recognised the description of Pettigrew’s Animagus form.

In a startling twist, it turns out that Pettigrew was hiding as a rat owned by Ronald Weasley. The Weasley’s were shown in a picture in this morning’s paper with Pettigrew on Ronald Weasley’s shoulder. Judge Amelia Bones immediately sent Aurors to apprehend Pettigrew and a few hours later it was proved to be true.

It seems the wizarding world owes Mr. Black an apology, and our thanks to Miss Black who helped uncover the truth. Sirius Black has received a full pardon and is set to receive a substantial sum in compensation from the Ministry for all the years of wrongful imprisonment.

The article went on to describe the charges that Sirius had been imprisoned for, as well as a summary of the night the Potters were killed. It was then, that Seph spotted another article and went pale.

HARRY POTTER HAS GONE MISSING

Harry Potter, the boy who lived, has apparently gone missing. A reporter for the Daily Prophet has heard from sources close to Albus Dumbledore that the boy who lived has disappeared from his family’s home. When questioned, Dumbledore denied that the boy who lived is missing and refused to comment further.

Ministry sources are also tight lipped about the disappearance and refused to provide any information as to where the boy who lived could be. There is speculation that Mr. Potter has been removed from his family due to abuse, but without further information from the Ministry it is unclear.

The article discussed the fateful night of the Potters death again, and some information of Harry’s first and second years at Hogwarts. Snape was first to notice the expression on Seph’s face and the tears in her eyes. He quickly got up and pulled his daughter into a tight hug allowing her to cry freely.

‘Ssshh Seph, you’ll be alright,’ said Snape in a soft voice. ‘Try not to let it bother you. We will figure out a way to sort everything out.’

Seph nodded ‘Thanks. I think I’m going to head to bed. It’s been a busy few days,’ she said as she left the table.

When Seph had left the room Snape addressed the others.

‘I worry about how she is dealing with all this. She seems okay, but I have a feeling she is hiding her true feelings on everything that has happened,’ he said with a worried expression.

‘No doubt it is hard on her. She hasn’t really had time to even come to grips with suddenly being a girl let alone all the information she has taken in over the last few days. I’m sure she will be okay in the end though,’ said Lucius.

‘I hope you’re right old friend. I fear it will all hit her sooner or later and I just hope she can cope,’ said Snape.

‘She will Sev, she is stronger than she looks,’ said Narcissa.

Back in her room Seph lay on the bed staring into space, her mind a whirl. She felt lost completely, and utterly alone. On the one hand she now had more family than ever and they seemed to care for her but deep in her heart she was torn. Part of her still wanted to scream about the injustice of her life and the revelations thrust upon her.

How in the world was she going to cope with being a girl? She was still very aware of how different things seemed at the moment, not only physically but mentally as well. She had tried to ignore the situation and just deal with the information she had been given, but it was getting harder and harder to ignore.

Little things were beginning to bother her like giggling. For Merlin’s sake she was giggling like a school girl at silly things, then there was all the crying she had been doing. She didn’t understand why she was doing either, or what it would mean in the long run; that this life from now on was to live as a giggling, blushing cry baby.

Why was she even blushing when Sirius or other men would kiss her hand. Little did she know her hormones were still messed up, and were due to go crazy in the coming days or weeks. Then there were the physical changes which were even more apparent. While looking in the mirror it felt like she was looking at someone else.

She just could not get used to seeing the girl in the mirror and thinking of it being her. She still had the mental image of being Harry Potter and she was still unsure whether or not to ask Snape if he could make her male again. She was sure he would have a potion or something, but there was the message her mother left asking Seph to be her daughter again.

It was all very confusing and there lay the problem. Seph knew the message from her mother was the truth. There was no way to fake the message and even Seph’s own blood showed she was Sapphira Black and Snape’s daughter, but should she accept all these changes, or for that matter, could she accept them.

It was so confusing and this was only part of her dilemma. Another part of her dilemma was to do with her new family. She had plenty of fun with Narcissa and every one of them seemed genuine in wanting to know her, but could she trust them. The Dursley’s were supposed to have been family and look how they treated her.

They were supposed to care, but they never did. Had she not made efforts to steal food over the years, she would easily have been thinner if not dead. The Malfoy’s and Snape had treated her differently, they were welcoming and seemed friendly and kind, but that didn’t mean they would always be that way.

Yet she felt she could trust them, although in her first two years of Hogwarts, Seph hadn’t got on with Snape, Lucius or Draco. They were making an effort to show her they cared without requiring anything from her in return or expecting her to act a specific way. The only other people she knew like that, were her friends from school.

This brought to mind Ron, her first friend, and whether she could trust him. Part of her was unsure. The rest of her was screaming that even if he hadn’t been asked by Dumbledore to be her friend he would have been anyway. They had had their disagreements but deep down Seph felt his friendship was real. On thinking this, she had to ask herself what he would do if he was told.

Then there was Hermione. At times the girl acted as a complete know it all and Seph wondered if she told her, would she say she already knew. Seph had to laugh thinking that but she doubted it. Hermione seemed even more genuine than Ron and his family. Hermione, like Ron, was always there when she needed them the most, and right now she really needed them.

But how could she tell them and would the world end up knowing? Would she be safe from whoever manipulated her life till now? To a degree she felt it could be Dumbledore, but Seph wasn’t sure how. Even with his manipulations during the last two years, he seemed too nice to cause the amount of pain that Seph felt right now.

Could it be that someone else was behind it. If so, who? Seph had no idea and she could not be sure the manipulator of her mother’s life was even the same as her own. Could it be coincidence? Did Dumbledore know about Sapphira’s heritage, or Seph’s for that matter? Could he have been manipulated himself?

Seph hadn’t said anything in front of the others about her doubts and fears but they were there. Seph remembered being told by the sorting hat in the first year she should have been in Slytherin and for the first time, she was seeing why. It wasn’t because of being a Parcelmouth, or being linked to Voldermort; it was because even with her bravery she was cunning.

There had always been times in her life when she used her cunning. Whether to get a little food without the Dursley’s knowledge, or escaping Dudley and his gang. She thought nothing of it back then, but now that she thought about it she could see just how cunning she had been in the past and why the hat wanted her in that house.

At the time she had begged to not be sent to Slytherin due to what she had been told of the witches and wizards that frequented that house. The problem was as Snape had said, it isn’t the house that makes them bad, it’s the people themselves. Seph supposed it was due to the ambition Slytherins tend to have.

The thing is, there is nothing wrong with ambition itself. In fact, without ambition, how can anyone get anywhere? Slytherins are also known for wanting power which Seph herself had to admit she wanted as well. After all, she had fought Voldermort twice already, and she feared he would try again and she needed power to defeat him.

She hoped she would not have to deal with him now, but sooner or later she had a feeling she would and Seph wanted to be ready. How the world expected a 12 year old boy, now a 12 year old girl to deal with a wizard who was years ahead of her with regard to magic was beyond her, but that was what people expected.

As she lay there trying to figure out her life and what in the world she was to do to cope, she slowly drifted off to sleep. She was so deep in sleep an hour later she never noticed Narcissa change her clothes or tuck her into bed.

PSBPSBPSBPSBPSBPSB

The morning light bathed the room in summer sunlight. The hangings around the bed kept the brightest of the light from blinding the occupant as she began to stir. Slowly Seph’s eyes began to flutter open and her vision began to clear with each blink. Her face quickly took a confused expression as she took in her surroundings.

[Where the hell am I] where her first thoughts before her mind began to clear.

Seph began to remember things about the last few days, but shrugged them off as being just a weird dream. There was no way anything that weird could happen even in the magical world. As she pushed herself up, she noticed how different her body felt before looking down and seeing the difference for herself.

‘AAAAAGGGGGGHHHHHHH,’

Narcissa came rushing in the room moments later to see Seph curled up sobbing and practically hyperventilating on the bed. Snape soon followed with a worried expression on his face. Narcissa quickly gathered Seph into a hug and gently rocked and cooed trying to calm the sobbing girl down. They both were, to a degree, expecting this.

After Seph had left for bed and Draco had left too, the adults had all had a long talk about the situation with Seph and how she was dealing with the changes. None of them believed Seph had accepted everything so easily. They knew, sooner or later, that when Seph had time to process things there would be a chance of her breaking down.

Now Seph had finally let down her mental defences and they hoped she could begin to heal and come to terms with things now. There was little they could do to change things anyway. Seph had described to Snape about the potion, especially it's colour, taste and texture. Snape had not heard of it before, but looked it up last night trying to see what it's actual effects were.

He had discovered it was a rare and complex removal potion. The idea of it, is to remove a specific potion's results from a person. Snape had also looked into the original potion noting a number of key things about the potion he needed to let Seph know about. He had wondered why the potion to return Seph to her original form wasn’t used earlier.

At first he thought it was because Sapphira was worried about Voldermort. But then he considered what Seph had told him about the Dursley’s, and he shuddered to think how a girl would have been treated by them. There was more to it than that though, and after checking out the information on both potions he had a better idea of more reasons.

‘Why don’t you go and get dressed Sev, I will stay with Seph until she calms down,’ said Narcissa.

‘I need to stay; I have found some things that might help Seph deal with her changes.’

After about half an hour Seph’s breathing began to calm and her tears slowly subsided as Narcissa continued to rock her while whispering encouraging words. She had also had the young girl drink a calming potion that Snape had offered.

‘Sorry,’ Seph mumbled.

‘What for honey, you haven’t done anything wrong,’ said Narcissa softly.

‘For crying, you must think I’m pathetic,’ sniffed Seph.

‘There is nothing wrong with crying Seph, in fact we have been expecting it sooner or later,’ said Narcissa.

‘What do you mean?’ asked Seph, confused.

‘Honey, you have been through so much lately and you haven’t had time to work everything out. We knew, sooner or later, the situation would hit you and it would affect your emotional hold. We had a feeling you were bottling your feelings,’ said Narcissa.

Seph’s face took on a look of being ashamed.

‘Honey don’t worry about it, it’s natural for you to be upset, and it’s also expected that you would try to hide your feelings, anybody facing all of this would feel the same.’

‘I just don’t understand why now. I have lived as a boy for 12 years. Why did my mother wait so long?’ asked Seph.

‘I might be able to answer there Seph,’ said Snape. ‘I have been reading up on the potion you told me about and what it is there to do. The potion itself strips all magical transformation from a person who has used a specific potion. The original potion was designed to change baby girls into male heirs but it never worked,’

‘Well at least not fully. You see, centuries ago a potion was created to change girls born in a pureblood family into male heirs. This was due to an increase in female pureblood children. The problem is that the potion didn’t work fully, the potion only worked until the onset of puberty at around 13 years old.’

‘At puberty, the original dormant female hormones would override the potion causing severe pain, mutilating transformations and occasionally death, unless the counter potion was used before the 13th birthday. The original potion was banned because it was considered too dangerous and no further attempts were made to fix the problem with the potion.’

‘I also discovered that using the counter potion too early can also cause problems. Due to how severe the original transformation is on the child, changing a child back too soon can cause death from over exertion on the body. It was found the best time to use the counter was around the age of 10-13 years of age.’

‘By that age, the child should be well over the original transformation and strong enough to cope with the reversing effects,' said Snape.

‘Does that mean I am stuck like this?’ asked Seph.

‘I am afraid so. However, do you really want to return to being a boy?’ asked Snape.

‘I... I don’t know. It’s all so confusing,’ sniffed Seph.

‘Give it time honey. You’ll find as time goes on everything will work out,’ said Narcissa softly.

‘But what about my friends? No-one knows who I am now. Hell I don’t even know who I am anymore,’ said Seph angrily.

‘I’m sure in time you will work it all out and come to terms with everything that has happened. As for your friends we will have to see what we can work out. I am sure we can do something though,’ said Narcissa. ‘Sev would you go have breakfast with the others. Tell them Seph and I will be having breakfast here, but not to worry.’

‘I will,’ said Snape as he kissed Seph on the head before leaving her chambers.

‘Come let’s get you washed and dressed and we will have breakfast together and maybe try to work out what we can do about your friends,’ said Narcissa.

Seph nodded and hesitantly followed Narcissa to the bathroom. After a bit of coaxing, Seph bathed before putting on a thick cotton bath robe and heading into her bedchambers. Narcissa had already laid out a set of clothes for Seph, but Seph hesitated.

‘What’s wrong honey?’ asked Narcissa with a worried expression.

‘I... erm... isn’t there anything else I can wear?’ said Seph as she eyed the underwear and skirt on the bed.

‘What’s wrong with these?’ asked Narcissa.

‘Well they are... kinda... girly,’ blushed Seph.

‘You are a girl and you seemed okay wearing things like this the other day. What’s wrong with them now?’
Seph sighed, how could she explain how she felt.

‘I... I’m just not sure I’m ready for all this. As for the last few days I haven’t had much time to worry about what I was wearing. I just sort of went with the flow,’ said Seph hoping her words were clear enough.

Narcissa sat on the bed and patted it to get Seph to sit by her, the boy turned girl looked a little sheepish but complied.

‘I understand this has all been a lot to take in. I had no idea I had another sister until that meeting in Gringotts, let alone a niece. I still haven’t figured out how I feel about all this, so Merlin knows what you’re going through. Sooner or later you will have to wear things like this, especially when you go back to Hogwarts.’

‘Can’t the Professor just make a potion to turn me back?’ asked Seph hopeful.

‘I am afraid not. As your father told you before, your hormones would have affected you sooner or later and it could have been disastrous,’ said Narcissa as she pulled Seph into a hug as the girl began to sob.

After a few minutes Seph pulled herself together and wiped her tears with the sleeve of the bath robe.
‘You know you’re nothing like I expected,’ said Seph sniffed softly.

‘You mean I’m not the stuffy, snobbish, pureblood everyone thinks I am?’

‘Well yeah. Lucius and Draco too. I mean, when I met Draco we didn’t get on. I thought he was stuck up like my cousin Dudley.’

‘That’s understandable. In public we have to project an image. Our family is a proud one and one with much influence in the wizarding world. At home though, there is no reason to project that image.’

Seph nodded partially understanding what Narcissa meant. She herself had never been one to portray an image. Seph understood though that in certain roles in life, image meant everything. Still to Seph the difference between the Malfoy’s outside image and who they were seemed so very different.

‘Come on let’s get you dressed. I promise you, in time you won’t even feel it as strange. If you do this now, at least when you get to school you won’t feel awkward.’

Seph sat for a minute or so contemplating Narcissa’s argument. Even though Seph wanted to argue, she had to admit Narcissa was right. If she left it too long to get used to these clothes it would be worse. She thought of Hogwarts and remembered that she would now have to go in the girls' dorm. She would have to learn to be comfortable with her body and the way she would have to dress.

Much as she hated to feel beaten, there was no denying that she had no choice. It was either wear these clothes, or nothing. If Narcissa and Snape were right there would be no way to become a guy again. She wasn’t sure whether she wanted to, but she hated the idea that the choice had been taken from her. It was the story of her life. There was always someone, somewhere, making decisions for her.

*****Thanks to Robyn B for editing :) *****

Sorry for the delay in posting I have had a lot going on, this chapter had been done a while but I have been busy with hospital appointments and tests. The next chapter will probably be delayed aswell as I have just has surgery to free a trapped nerve in my left arm so writing is difficult due to pain.

The good news is I bought a graphics tablet some time ago and I am able to write rather than type although I do get tired easily, even so I will try to get the next chapter done as soon as I am able.

Megumi :)