章 28: Chapter 28: Holiday Gatherings
A watery echo attracted Harry's attention and washed lightly against his mind before receding. Wrapped in the warm embrace of sleep, Harry dismissed it summarily-until it returned. Harry became increasingly conscious of a muffled voice, speaking indistinguishable words. However, the voice's timbre was dangerously familiar. The speaker was Tom Riddle, the self-styled Lord Voldemort, and from his tone, it seemed he was… annoyed. Perhaps even angry.
An old habit led Harry to focus on Voldemort, straining to hear more, to glean more details. Perhaps he could get inside information and give the Order an advantage in the next battle. Slowly, reflexively, Harry began to raise his mental shields as he prepared to probe Voldemort's mind, but then with a start, he remembered the time travel-first to the past then back to the present. Harry withdrew from the connection as quickly as he could.
He woke up with a gasp, finding himself in a moonlit bedroom, and suddenly aware of pain flaring in his gut, as well as a warm, soft weight lightly nuzzling his left side. Bella, Harry thought to himself while clearing the cobwebs in his head. Merlin have mercy, I married Bellatrix Black . Slowed by the pain throbbing and burning from his stomach wound, Harry sat upright. Squinting in the faint light of streetlamps and moonlight, spilling through the bedroom windows, Harry glanced to his right and found a clock on the bedside table. The clock face read three in the morning.
Pausing in dark silence broken only by the faint sounds of breathing, Harry glanced to his left to gaze at the woman he now called his wife. Bellatrix had tossed the blankets off herself and was lying flat on her back, soft curves scarcely concealed by skimpy pajamas, her long black tresses spilling across the pillow she and Harry had apparently shared. That outfit might have worked that night, he thought to himself with sardonic amusement, recalling Bella's attempt to seduce him on the night Tom Riddle murdered her father. She should have followed her instincts and gone for no outfit, he mused, recalling that conversation from literally decades prior. That would have definitely worked . Pulled from his musing by the bedroom's chill, Harry shivered. Contemplating how cold Bella appeared to be, Harry wondered whether she'd tossed off the blankets accidentally. Or maybe Slytherin women are just icy .
Filled with an urge to visit the restroom, Harry moved to get off the bed, but the pain in his gut again assailed him, augmented by a slight wave of dizziness. He looked around and found his wand on the bedside table next to his glasses. Fumbling to get his glasses on, Harry then grabbed his wand, and conjured a thin cane. He paused long enough to lay one of the blankets over Bellatrix before setting off on a very slow and agonizing trip to the bathroom.
Completing his trip, Harry inched his way to the living room, leaning on the wall and furniture for support, before collapsing at last on the loveseat. Harry noted a brightly lit Christmas tree, standing in one corner and illuminating various holiday decorations hung along the walls. The light from the Christmas tree also revealed a stack of Daily Prophets on the floor next to the couch.
Curious, Harry reached for the stack and picked up an issue. By the date on the masthead, the issue had been printed nearly six months before Harry and Bellatrix arrived in the future. Harry supposed that Bellatrix had been researching the magical world's situation. He reckoned that it was a good idea and that he should probably do the same. After all, he was the one who could determine whether this future was significantly different from his own future. But, as a wave of exhaustion swallowed him, Harry decided to shut his eyes and doze just a little bit before actually reading the newspaper.
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. I had to do it, Harry remembered as a murky memory of signing the marriage contract surfaced. I was 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.
And now, as she leaned into him gently with her shining eyes and blissful smile and soft curves, Harry surrendered to the pleasure of kissing his wife and leaned forward slowly towards Bellatrix. This kiss was briefer, and gentler, than that very first kiss, yet felt far more dizzying to Harry, filled now with longing informed by anticipation, rather than bitterness. Wow, he thought disbelievingly before quickly compartmentalizing, I must have lost a lot of blood to feel this light-headed . After a few more blissful moments, Bellatrix gingerly reclined Harry's back against the armrest. Ever so carefully, clearly conscious of his injuries and working not to hurt him, she adjusted her position and resumed kissing her husband. Thus passed Christmas morning for the newlyweds, until Harry finally grew fatigued, smiling as he drifted off into a restful nap.
Rose and Leo shivered as they stood on the back stoop of the Black house in Godric's Hollow. The Potter and Black families had shared Christmas dinner, a tradition followed by both families for as long as Rose and Leo could remember. Their respective parents were the closest of friends, and always came together to share holiday traditions.
The two families were now working to clean up after dinner-a necessity the children had hoped to avoid now that the Blacks had a house elf. However, Kreacher had disappeared shortly after serving dinner and had not been back since. Rose and Leo had managed to escape to the back porch for a quick break from the cleaning.
"Are you sure it's safe?" Rose asked quietly, hugging herself for warmth.
"As far as I know," Leo replied, wishing he'd worn a jacket or sweater that he could remove and give to Rose. He was hunched over and had his hands stuffed into his pockets in his own effort to stay warm. "If I check, that nasty house elf will see me and report the diary's location to Lady Black. He's been spying on me ever since we met her in Diagon Alley."
"I doubt she'll be able to bust into your house and take the diary for herself," Rose said. "Your father has some really good wards up."
"But she can simply direct the house elf to steal it," Leo reminded Rose.
Rose sighed. "She can do that, and I don't doubt that she would. After all, she did offer us thousands of galleons for the diary."
"I think we need to do something with the diary soon," Leo told Rose in a serious tone of voice. "We're going to be returning to Hogwarts soon. It will be hard to bargain with this witch from inside of the school. There is also the thought that the longer we hold onto the diary, the tougher it will be to keep it safe. I am also worried about how much money she offered and the warning she gave us about Voldemort. Maybe we should just turn over the diary to Professor Dumbledore and explain everything. We may very well be in over our heads."
Rose did not immediately respond to Leo, choosing instead to stare at the night sky and mull over the options. She had known Leo long enough to realize that behind Leo's very soft and suggestive words was his very strong opinion that they should turn over the diary to Professor Dumbledore. Rose had to acknowledge that his concerns were valid, but the opportunity to discover Lord Black's identity and reveal him to the Order was a strong temptation.
"One more meeting," Rose said. "We can send Kreacher with a message to Lady Black, saying that we want to meet with her and discuss the diary. She knows what our minimum requirements are. If she agrees to a meeting, that means she is at least willing to talk. If she refuses a meeting or we are unable to reach a bargain with her, I promise that we'll hand over the diary to the headmaster."
Reluctantly, Leo nodded. "That's acceptable, I guess. There are just two things. Are you sure that this person is really Lady Black?"
"She must be," Rose replied. "She is Kreacher's mistress. There's also the fact that she apparently has easy access to fifty thousand galleons. What was your other concern?"
"Are we actually going to hand over the diary?"
"I don't know…" Rose said. Before she could finish, the backdoor opened and they were interrupted.
"Your mother wants you back in the kitchen," Sidra announced to Leo.
"Uh, okay," Leo said, avoiding eye contact with the eldest Potter child. He slipped past Sidra into the house.
Rose made to follow Leo in, but Sidra blocked her path by stepping out onto the back porch and shutting the door. The two sisters then engaged in a staring contest, trying their level best to intimidate each other. Though slightly shorter, Rose stared defiantly into Sidra's green eyes, wondering how someone that looked so much like her mother could possess such a different personality.
"Romancing the young Black heir?" Sidra bit out.
"He's not the Black heir," Rose retorted.
"Says you," Sidra hissed. "Since the moment you were born you've been trying to hog everybody's attention. But then Voldemort returned to Britain, raided Azkaban, and rounded up a new batch of followers. Everybody's attention was on Leo and me. You couldn't handle it, could you? That's why you suddenly had a vision and declared that Leo wasn't the prophesied one. What you really were saying was that I'm not the prophesied Daughter of the Stars."
"And what is so special about being the Daughter of the Stars?" Rose said, forcing herself to maintain eye contact with her older sister. "You just want the Black family money and prestige."
"No, you do!" Sidra screeched. "You've been all over Leo since the day you could walk. Anything he wanted, you got it for him, including a supposed vision that said he had nothing to worry about, that he would not have to face Voldemort as some sort of prophesied hero. I have news for you, Rose. When he turns seventeen, he will inherit the Black estate, and he will know that you were just kissing up to him. Then he will turn to me as he should have, and I will help him end this war-the same war his family started."
"So that's what you want?" Rose asked, her hazel eyes blazing with disdain. "You see Leo becoming the great hero-perhaps becoming the Minister of Magic like Cygnus Black? Leading Britain to victory against Voldemort? Of course, he'll need a loyal wife to help him-a Lady Black." Rose laughed. "You'll never be Lady Black. If you want to be the wife of some Minister of Magic, I suggest you go ahead and marry Ron Weasley. Or better yet, marry his brown-nosing brother, Percy. I'd like to see that-you brown nosing the king brown noser." The thought caused Rose to stop her tirade and stand there laughing. She laughed until a slap across her face left her ears ringing.
Startled by the slap and the resulting pain, Rose stared at her older sister before returning the favor. However, the younger Potter sister did not satisfy herself with a mere slap. She leaned forward and put her weight behind the blow, causing Sidra to fall off the porch from the force. Without a backwards glance at her sister, now lying in the snow, Rose then opened the door, stepped inside, and locked the door shut before proceeding upstairs to her room.
A number of days later, Sidra was still fuming, though she was somewhat cheered by the presence of members of the Weasley clan at a small holiday gathering at the Potter home. Ron was splitting his attention between her and the kitchen counter, which had been lain with sweets and snacks of all kinds. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were sitting in the living room with Mr. and Mrs. Potter. Ginny Weasley had gone upstairs to hang out with Rose.
"Ron is interested in joining the auror corps," Mrs. Weasley was telling James and Lily as Mr. Weasley looked on quietly. "My father can of course put in a good word with Director Crouch, but Ron will have to pass his potion NEWT, among others."
James nodded encouragingly, smiling at Ron. "You've got a good mind for strategy, Ron. I think you'd do well as an auror, though I can't imagine potions is very pleasant."
"You can say that again," Ron said, holding a half-eaten cookie. "Professor Snape is a real git."
James looked like he wanted to say something in agreement, but Lily's hand on his arm stopped him. Observing that, Sidra smirked, knowing just how much her father detested Severus Snape and just how much her mother supported the man. Personally, Sidra was of the opinion that Snape was merely silly. He prowls around sneering, fluttering his cape like a bat, Sidra thought. How can anybody take that man seriously ?
The conversation about Mrs. Weasley's ambitions for Ron continued with scant participation by Ron despite Mr. Potter's attempts to include the teenager. However, Sidra paid even less attention. Something else had caught her eye-Leo Black had just sneaked down from upstairs and had slipped through the kitchen and down into the basement, avoiding the attention of nearly everyone in the house. His presence in the Potter home alone was not suspicious, but his sneaky behavior was. Sidra stood, mumbled a generic excuse, and left the living room.
"Are you coming or not?" Rose asked Ginny Weasley. Waiting for the youngest Weasley to answer, she rummaged through her chest of drawers, searching for the wand holster her father had given her for Christmas during the year she had participated in the Hogwarts dueling club.
"Hasn't it occurred to you that meeting with some mysterious person in an empty house in the middle of the night is dangerous?" Ginny asked.
"She's not all that mysterious," Rose defended. "We've met her once."
"Obviously she was in disguise-perhaps even using Polyjuice," Ginny pointed out.
Rose finally found the wand holster, withdrew it from the drawer, and strapped it to her arm. "No point in using Polyjuice to impersonate a complete stranger," Rose said.
Leo entered the room, carrying a box.
"Did you find them?" Rose asked.
"I think so," Leo said, setting the box down on Rose's bed and opening it. He pulled out a number of old robes. "These should do," he said. He picked out two robes and laid them across the bed. "Have you decided to come?" Leo asked, looking at Ginny inquiringly.
"I'm not sure." Ginny said. "What you two are doing could be really dangerous."
Leo shrugged. "We have considered the danger. However, if you think about it, if this witch wanted to do any of us harm, she would have done it by now. Kreacher could have done serious damage without anyone identifying him as the culprit. Rose and I have thought this out extensively."
"Well, I guess I'll come," Ginny decided, giving in to her curiosity and her friends' friendly peer pressure.
"Good," Leo smiled, picking out another robe and setting it on the bed.
"I'm beginning to lose my faith in you two," Ginny grumbled as she, Leo, and Rose crept across the dimly lit street to Number 12 Grimmauld Place. "If you had planned this excursion out so well, you would have realized that Leo is the only one old enough to apparate and that it takes him two trips to get everyone anywhere."
"That's only a very minor flaw," Rose whispered. "Everything else will work out great."
"Except for if we have to flee and Leo can only take you," Ginny retorted.
"We thought of that," Rose replied, handing Ginny a sock. "It's a portkey. The activation word is Gryffindor's first name."
Ginny looked at the sock and then stuffed it in her pocket. "How did you get permission to make a portkey?"
"Dad keeps a supply ready for whenever we go on outings," Rose said. "They don't solve everything because Death Eaters can put up anti-portkey wards, but they are better than nothing. That brings us to the plan. We do not want Lady Black to know that we brought anybody else if possible. Once we slip into the house, we want you to duck into another room or find some way to separate yourself from us. Try to observe the meeting, but stay out of sight. If all goes well, meet us out front, and we will go home together. If something goes bad, get out of there as soon as you can and bring help."
"It sure would be nice if I had some way to disguise myself," Ginny said.
"I know," Leo whispered as the trio stared up at the front of the brownstone that was 12 Grimmauld Place, "but this is the best we can do."
They walked up the steps and put their handle to the doorknob. The door proved to be unlocked, and they walked into the Black family's ancient house, shutting the door behind them. Inside, it was dark save for light afforded from the moon and street lamps. Though the house was well maintained, it still felt as if it had been abandoned for a long time.
Quietly, Ginny slipped into the drawing room as Leo used his wand to cast a lumos spell. Warily, Rose scanned their surroundings, looking into the rooms that opened to the hallway and up the staircase. A feeling of dread overtook her as she surveyed the darkness. The alleged Lady Black they were meeting had possibly killed Leo's grandmother in this house. Perhaps meeting her here had been a bad idea.
"Do you think she's here?" Leo asked.
"Maybe," Rose breathed, "but maybe we should go home. I don't like this idea anymore."
Leo shrugged. "We already thought it through. There is no use getting cold feet now."
"You are right, I suppose," Rose said, summoning her Gryffindor courage. "Lady Black!" Rose yelled. "Are you here?"
"There no need to shout," came a wry voice from the top of the stairs.
Leo lifted his wand and revealed a cloaked and hooded figure atop the stairs. Despite the robes, hood, and charms to prevent one from looking into the hood to see the face, it was patently clear that the cloaked figure was a woman. "Lady Black?" Leo asked.
"Indeed," she said. "Come up and let us speak. You can also bring your friend who is hiding in the drawing room."
Though she knew that Rose, Leo, and Ginny had departed, Sidra knocked on the door to Rose's bedroom. When there was no reply, she entered to find it empty. Quickly, she scanned all the other bedrooms in the house before darting downstairs to the basement. They were not there either. That meant they were gone for sure-they had not doubled back. Smiling grimly, Sidra darted upstairs to find her parents and the Weasleys. Rose, Ginny, and Leo were going to be in so much trouble when their parents found out they had gone to Grimmauld Place late at night on a lark.
Bellatrix watched the three abashed teenagers as they climbed the stairs toward her. That they had tried to conceal the third of their party for safety spoke of their cleverness. Their embarrassment at doing so spoke of their immaturity and sense of honor. The specially modified robes they wore spoke of their preparation, but their complete lack of proper stance and formation in a hostile environment signified that they were nevertheless inexperienced. Bellatrix smirked as the three teenagers arrived at the top of the flight of stairs.
"Did you bring the diary?" she asked, noting with satisfaction that the voice alteration charm she had cast on herself was working well.
"Yes," Rose said as Leo withdrew it from his pocket and held it up. "However, if we do not reach a satisfactory agreement, you will not get it."
Bellatrix turned her attention to the diary, still keeping an eye on each teenager and noting with amusement that the third one had faded to the back of the group and looked ready to dash down the stairs at the first sign of trouble. The diary was plain and black, just as Harry had described, but Bellatrix could not see anything else in the poor light.
"Is there a name inscribed on it anywhere?" Bellatrix asked.
"Tom Marvolo Riddle," Rose said in her most neutral voice.
"Excellent," Bellatrix said. "What is your price?"
"Before we even discuss price, we need to know who Tom Marvolo Riddle is," Rose told Bellatrix.
"You do not know?" Bellatrix asked, faintly surprised, though on second thought, she realized that not even Harry had realized what he was holding the first time he had happened across the diary.
"Er, no," Leo said. "Who is he?"
"You are holding the dark lord's personal diary," Bellatrix told them reluctantly, reflecting that she should have approached this transaction with a different strategy.
"Are you planning on becoming the next dark lord?" Leo asked, suddenly feeling like he did not want anybody but Dumbledore to touch the diary.
"The term is dark lady," Bellatrix informed the teenagers drily. "And no, my intent is not to follow the dark lord's footsteps. The diary is essential to his downfall."
"Then we should really give the diary to Professor Dumbledore," Rose said beginning to realize that she had perhaps been a little less than wise. She should have tried to find out more about the diary before attempting to pawn it off like this.
"I would rather that I possess the diary," Bellatrix said, beginning to see that there would not be any civil negotiations for the diary after all.
"If you want the dark lord's downfall, then you surely cannot object to turning the diary over to Professor Dumbledore," Leo said, his voice betraying that he had become somewhat nervous.
"If Dumbledore could bring down the dark lord, he would have done so by now," Bellatrix told them. "I am in a better position than Dumbledore to bring down the dark lord. My offer of fifty thousand galleons stands."
"I'm sorry," said Rose in a voice Bellatrix took to be very condescending, "but the diary is no longer on the market. If you want to help bring down the dark lord, you will have to contact Professor Dumbledore and offer your services." She turned to head back down the stairs.
Imperceptibly, Bellatrix's wand had appeared in her hand. She brought up her arm, and with a jab, a blinding flash of light bounded from her wand and struck the person that had tried to hide in the drawing room earlier causing her to fall to the ground, paralyzed, and blocking Rose and Leo from accessing the stairs. Rose had not had her wand drawn and Leo's wand had been providing light. Before Rose and Leo could even scream, Bellatrix struck them with curses that left them silenced and temporarily paralyzed from the neck down.
"Really, I did not want it to be this way," Bellatrix told them, noting with amusement the surprise, outrage, and shame in their eyes. This was a lesson they would not soon forget. "I was willing to pay you the fifty thousand galleons." She giggled a little at the irony. "Do not worry, though. I really do mean to use the diary against the dark lord. She stepped forward, bent down, and retrieved the diary from Leo's paralyzed form.
Quickly, Bellatrix examined it. It was as Harry described. She tossed it on the floor a ways away from herself and the downed teenagers. She then cast a strong incineration charm on it. When the fire from the spell subsided, Bellatrix retrieved the diary and found it to be in perfect condition. Bellatrix looked down and saw that all three teenagers were staring at her and the diary with confusion. "Just checking to see that it is the genuine article," she said, pocketing the diary.
Bellatrix then grabbed Leo Black, dragged his inert body across the landing, and sat him up against the wall. "The curse will wear off in a little bit," Bellatrix told the teenagers. "I will even send Kreacher to make sure that you get home all right." She moved Rose, and then came to Ginny. As she was dragging Ginny off the stairs, noise from the ground floor announced the arrival of some interlopers.
"Rose! Leo!" came Lily Potter's voice.
"Ginny, are you here?" Mrs. Weasley's penetrating voice echoed through the house.
Arching her eyebrows in surprise, Bellatrix looked down at the teenagers. Perhaps they had been smarter than she had realized. Triumph gleamed in the two girls' eyes and relief in Leo's. They fully expected that their mothers would overpower and apprehend Bellatrix.
Bellatrix stepped to the edge of the stair railing, keeping out of sight, and peered down to the ground floor, recognizing Molly Weasley and the former Lily Evans, now Potter. She turned back to the teenagers and in a voice just loud enough for them to hear she said, "If you think those two cream puffs can take me in a duel, you have got a surprise coming. As it is, their presence is rather convenient. I will be on my way, and you will be home sooner than you would have been otherwise. Thanks for the diary."
Smiling, Bellatrix raised her wand and made to apparate, but discovered that there was a ward blocking apparition. Her smile turned into a frown as she stared down from the upper floor to the two mothers below looking for their children. Was it possible that they had taken such extreme precautions?
Several small explosions sounding from the front of the house ended Bellatrix's speculation. She looked down to the ground floor and watched as half a dozen dark-robed and masked figures burst into the house, stunning Mrs. Potter and Mrs. Weasley. A chill passed through Bellatrix as she heard a familiar voice.
"It should be in the basement," Rodolphus Lestrange said, motioning some of the Death Eaters toward the back of the house.
Bellatrix watched as Rodolphus and all but three of the Death Eaters moved swiftly toward the basement entrance. The remaining three Death Eaters stood guard over the unconscious forms of Mrs. Potter and Weasley. Letting out an inaudible sigh, Bellatrix looked back at the teenagers who seemed to be confused and scared. She looked back down to the ground floor where the Death Eaters were standing guard over their prisoners. Her mind racing, Bellatrix tried to think of something she could do that would save the two mothers without putting the diary at risk. Before she could even form a plan, the other Death Eaters returned from the basement, one of them carrying a small chest.
"What are we going to do with those two?" one of them asked Lestrange.
"We'll take them to Malfoy Manor," Lestrange announced deliberately, preparing to leave. In another moment, the Death Eaters had departed with their prisoners in tow.
As soon as they were gone, Bellatrix let out a very frustrated sigh. She was reasonably sure that Mrs. Potter was Harry's mother. He would be rather cross when he found out about this fiasco-especially seeing as it would not have happened without Bellatrix initiating the meeting with the three teenagers. Bellatrix imagined that Harry would want to make some sort of rescue effort. It would be very difficult, although not impossible. The Death Eaters were taking their prisoners to Malfoy Manor, and Harry did have the Malfoy family ring.
Wincing, Bellatrix turned and waved her wand to release the silencing spells on the teenagers. If she and Harry were to do anything, they would probably need some help. She reckoned it would not be difficult to convince them into helping.
Harry was slowly thumbing through a spell book when Bellatrix returned to the flat. He heard her enter through the front door and walk toward the bedroom where he was sitting on their bed, propped up against headboard. He looked up as she entered the room, noting that she seemed on edge. "Did you get the diary?" he asked, wondering if something had gone wrong.
"I got it," Bellatrix began, "but there's been a problem." Quickly, she explained about the Death Eaters capturing Lily Potter and Molly Weasley and about why they had been at 12 Grimmauld Place at all. "I assumed that you would want to do something," Bellatrix concluded.
Harry suppressed a sigh, put the book down, and nodded. "Yes, if there's anything at all we can do, we should do it."'
"It is because Lily Potter is your mother, is it not?" Bellatrix said.
Surprised at Bellatrix's guess and ignorant of how she might have found out, Harry nodded. "Yes, James and Lily Potter are my parents."
"I am really sorry, Harry," Bellatrix said somewhat quietly. "I did not mean for this to happen."
"Things happen," Harry said, already working to determine how he and Bellatrix could rescue Lily Potter and Molly Weasley. He could feel deep emotions stirring below the surface, but knew that if he drew on them and gave them expression, he would not be able to think rationally enough to launch a rescue. Drawing upon occulmency instead, Harry queried Bellatrix, "I don't suppose you have any ideas already thought up."
"No," admitted Bellatrix, "but I have brought some help with me."
"Really?" Harry replied, his astonishment apparent.
"Yes. A Potter, a Black, and a Weasley. I left them outside. The Black and Weasley are going to need your permission to cross our blood wards." Bellatrix said.
"Uh… permission given?" Harry said.
"That is good enough," Bellatrix said, leaving the room.
Five minutes passed before she returned with three teenagers in tow. Regretfully realizing he had been too distracted to disguise himself with glamour, Harry immediately recognized Ginny Weasley among Bellatrix's charges, but found the other two unfamiliar. Harry stared curiously at their faces as they looked at him with naked suspicion painted on their faces.
"They have been sworn to an oath of secrecy concerning your existence," Bellatrix told Harry. She gestured to the boy. "This is Leo Black, the son of Sirius Black." Then, motioning toward the girl with brown hair, "This is Rose Potter." Finally, she motioned toward Ginny. "This is Ginny Weasley."
Harry was vaguely surprised at the existence of Rose and Leo, but pleased to see that his parents had lived to have more children and that Sirius had apparently not gone to Azkaban. He also was happy to see Ginny alive and well.
"So, you're Lord Black," Rose Potter said, staring into Harry's green eyes with a maddeningly vague sense of recognition.
"I hardly think being Lord Black is the most significant thing about me," Harry scoffed, slightly put off by his quasi-sibling.
"Then what's your real name?" Rose demanded.
"Call me Harry," Harry instructed.
"Harry who?"
"Harry Black," Bellatrix snapped.
Rose turned on Bellatrix. "You still haven't told me what your name is."
"It's Lady Black, dimwit," Bellatrix growled. "Do you want to rescue your mother, or do you want to be a snot?"
"Has anyone notified the Order of the Phoenix about Mrs. Weasley and Mrs. Potter?" Harry asked.
"No," Bellatrix said. "They were afraid that if they went home to sound the alarm, they wouldn't be able to return and help. I told them we'd figure something out."
"Well, let's notify the Order and give your mothers an extra chance," Harry said. "Can any of you cast a patronus?"
"I'm sorry, but no," Leo said, remembering that the Order often communicated with patroni and cursing himself for never learning the trick.
"You can," Bellatrix said to Harry.
"Yes," said Harry, "but I don't really have a lot of magical strength to spare. Didn't you ever practice it after I taught the spell to you?"
"A little bit," Bellatrix said, annoyed at losing face in front of the three teenagers, unmindful of her own teenage status.
"How much progress did you make?" Harry asked.
"Mostly white mist. One time, it looked like it might form into a bird," Bellatrix admitted.
"Try it again," Harry said. "Remember everything I told you and focus on a really happy memory. When the patronus appears, instruct it to tell Albus Dumbledore that Lily Potter and Molly Weasley have been captured by the Death Eaters."
Bellatrix waved her wand and uttered the incantation. A white mist shot from the wand, hung in the air, but eventually dissipated. Everyone in the room let out a disappointed sigh. Bellatrix looked back to Harry. "Any other bright ideas?"
"Try again?" Harry urged.
"If it didn't work now, it isn't going to work again," Bellatrix said with disappointment.
Harry locked his gaze onto Bellatrix's violet eyes and was again reminded of how breathlessly beautiful she was. Tightly channeling his admiration into his voice, he spoke directly to her. "Bellatrix, you're singularly the most powerful, most talented, and most stunning witch I have ever seen on the field of battle, and coming to truly know you has been both a blessing and a pleasure. I know that you can do it, Bellatrix, because I know you can cast pretty much any spell there is."
Bellatrix stared back at Harry silently for several moments, her eyes widening and shining so fleetingly that Harry could not be sure he had really elicited the reaction. With a small, unconscious smile she cast the spell again. This time, a blindingly bright raven flashed into existence and circled the room before landing on Harry's shoulder. Everyone-Rose, Leo, and Ginny included-stared at it in awe. Harry nodded at Bellatrix to remind her of the message, and soon the raven patronus was on its way to inform Professor Dumbledore of Lily and Molly's plight.
"It just occurred to me," Leo said slowly. "How can we be completely sure that Mrs. Potter and Mrs. Weasley were taken to Malfoy Manor and are still there?"
"The Death Eaters said that they were taking them there," Bellatrix replied, surprisingly placidly, considering that Leo was questioning her assumptions.
Harry frowned. "Maybe Lily still has that ring I gave her," he said.
"Ashworth!" Rose shouted. "You're Harry Ashworth!" She whirled on Bellatrix. "That makes you Bellatrix Black."
"I'm guessing that Lily still has the ring," Bellatrix said drily.
"Why did you two disappear and why are you here now?" Rose demanded. "What happened?"
"Rose, we need to focus on the rescue," Harry said, briefly exasperated as an image of Hermione's raised arm waving in the front of a classroom flashed through his mind. Again warding off his emotions, Harry looked down at his Malfoy ring and tried to remember how it worked with the other two rings that were subordinate to it. He closed his eyes, focused on the ring, and tentatively reached out with it toward Lily's ring. He could soon hear voices, even though he could see nothing. He listened as faceless Death Eaters viciously threatened Mrs. Potter and Weasley, trying to find out why they had been in 12 Grimmauld Place. A few more seconds of eavesdropping and Harry was able to establish through the ring's magic that the two women were without doubt at Malfoy Manor.
"They're definitely at the Manor," Harry said. "They seem to be as good as can be expected for the moment."
"Good," Bellatrix nodded. "We will need a plan."
"Okay," mused Harry. "We can't do a full on frontal assault. We'll need to find a way to sneak in and rescue them."
"It shouldn't be that hard," Bellatrix said. "You've got the Malfoy ring which can get us all past most wards-at least to the extent they're based on the property and not on other things. Really, we could probably blast in there, take them by surprise, and be gone before any of the Death Eaters know what is happening."
"That would have worked," Harry said. "But while I was listening in, the Death Eaters were telling Lily and Molly that the dark lord was on his way to question them."
"Not good," Leo Black swallowed.
"I would rather not confront Tom at the present moment," Harry said. "I'm still recovering from injuries and have a limited supply of magic in my reserves. I had also hoped to avoid notifying him that I'm around-at least until I've built up more stamina."
Not understanding why Harry wanted to conceal himself from Voldemort for the moment, but game enough to try to work in the boundaries, Ginny piped up. "You can probably do a lot of your stuff without him realizing that you're around. Maybe your wife could be a red herring and distract You-Know-Who while you do your job."
"Maybe," Harry temporized, somewhat surprising himself with his deep hesitation to place Bellatrix in danger. But the only apparent alternative, placing the three teenagers in danger, seemed to be an equally terrible idea.
Suddenly, Bellatrix's eyes lit up and she took the floor. "I've got an idea. What if Harry was the red herring?"
"Are you saying that Harry would be the red herring to distract You-Know-Who from discovering that Harry exists?" Ginny asked haltingly.
"Yes," said Bellatrix.
"That doesn't make any sense!" Rose exclaimed.
Rolling her eyes, Bellatrix began to lay out her plan. Although imperfect, with input and then agreement from everyone, Harry and Bellatrix were able to put her plan into working shape.
Its members in a state of general distress, the Order convened at an abandoned home in Hogsmeade. Professor Dumbledore had purchased the house for the sole purpose of hosting Order meetings. The urgent nature of some meetings made it impractical to require Order members to apparate outside the Hogwarts boundaries and walk to his office. The homes of individual Order members were also out of the question because no one Order member trusted every single member of the Order with access to their homes. The existence of the suspicion was sad-but it had saved lives.
"I don't understand why Rose, Leo, and Ginny would sneak out like that," Frank Longbottom said, still aghast at the news of Lily and Molly's capture and trying to come to terms with what must have happened.
"I'm suspicious about this raven patronus that allegedly raised the alarm," Mad-Eye said gruffly, raising his voice enough to be heard over the general chatter.
"If it's a patronus the person probably isn't a Death Eater," Sirius Black said, rolling his eyes.
"Ravens are dark creatures!" Moody retorted. "I think this could be a trap."
"We went to Grimmauld Place and nobody was there," James Potter interrupted impatiently. "Lily and Molly are nowhere to be found! The Death Eaters must have captured them. We would have heard from them by now otherwise."
"The children aren't around either!" Moody retorted. "Where are they, and why didn't this mysterious patronus sender tell us about their status?"
Nobody knew, but plenty of people were willing to debate it. Eventually, Dumbledore personally arrived and the meeting began in earnest.
Neville Longbottom followed Rose and Leo down a garden path. "Wait, so you're really launching a rescue mission?" he asked his two friends.
"Yes," said Rose as the trio walked briskly toward the perimeter of the Longbottom residence. "There's virtually no risk to us. We just need an extra wand."
"If there's no risk, why do you need a wand?" Neville asked suspiciously. He knew that Rose and Leo had a tendency to underestimate the risks-he also knew from what his parents had told him before leaving for the emergency Order meeting that Mrs. Weasley and Mrs. Potter were allegedly being held at Malfoy Manor. Everyone knew that the dark lord considered that his headquarters.
"Look, you and Ginny are going to stand around with some guy. If any Death Eaters get close, all you have got to do is activate a portkey and send him away. It's that simple," Rose said. "There's practically zero chance of anything bad happening. You parents probably won't even know you left the house."
The trio reached the perimeter and apparated away after Leo told Neville the location to which he should apparate. The trio arrived in a small clearing in the woods a small distance away from Malfoy Manor. They could see the silhouette of the Manor in the moonlight. Rose, Leo, and Neville looked around and found Ginny perched on a stack of wooden crates.
"Did you find any dynamite?" Leo asked Ginny.
"No," Ginny said quietly, "but Bellatrix and I were able to ah… borrow something called C4."
"What's C4 and who is Bellatrix?" Neville asked curtly.
"Bellatrix is this lady, who, ah…" Leo tried to explain.
Rose snorted. "She's not a lady-she's a teenage girl. I bet she's no older than me."
"If she was your mom's schoolmate, and if this Ashworth guy gave your mom a ring, then she's definitely not a teenage girl," Ginny pointed out before explaining to Neville briefly what had happened and how Harry and Bellatrix were involved.
"So where are this Harry and Bellatrix?" Neville asked.
"Behind you," came a female voice.
Startled, Neville spun around and found a gorgeous, raven-haired young woman pointing a wand at his face. Quickly, Neville surmised that Rose was correct. Bellatrix was definitely a teenage girl. "Aren't we on the same side?" he asked.
"Yes," said Bellatrix, "but I'm going to have to ask you to swear an oath not to reveal any information about Harry to anybody."
"I don't know if I like that," Neville said staunchly.
"Just do it," Ginny pleaded. "We need to rescue my mother, and we're wasting time."
After Neville grudgingly swore the magical oath, Bellatrix faded back into the forest, satisfied, and returned with Harry on a floating cot. Harry looked rather irate. "I can walk, you know," he grumbled for what the teenagers guessed was the umpteenth time.
"I've seen you do it, in fact," Bellatrix replied drily as she set the cot down with a gesture of her wand.
"Look at the bright side," Leo snickered. "After this is over, you can brag that you fought a battle while lying on a cot."
"I don't think that's something to brag about," Harry complained, sitting up.
"Let's get down to business," Bellatrix said impatiently. "First item on the agenda is to confirm that Harry can project his image past the wards without the Malfoy ring-or rather, with me wearing the ring and giving permission for people to project images past any wards tied to the land."
After removing the Malfoy ring from his finger and handing the ring to Bellatrix, Harry then produced his wand. Bellatrix then gave her subservient ring to Harry, who donned it as Bellatrix donned the Malfoy master ring. Harry then cast the image projection spell. The teenagers were impressed as they watched Harry's image seemingly disappear from the cot even though they could see the outline of his legs from the sheets lying on top of them. In a moment, Harry's "image" reappeared in the cot. "The coast is clear," he said. "I even appeared in an abandoned room in the basement."
"Excellent," Bellatrix nodded.
She dug through a satchel she was carrying and produced a number of small potion vials, which she handed to Harry. "Drink these and try to rest." She then pointed to Neville and Ginny. "You're on guard as of now. When we are ready to start, I will send a signal to Harry through the rings. If anything happens, you get Harry out of here." She paused and made eye contact with both teens. "If anything happens to him, I'll skin you two alive."
"You two," Bellatrix said pointing to Rose and Leo, "are with me for now."
Bellatrix and her two helpers shrunk the crates of explosives and then departed with them in the darkness. Neville and Ginny drew their wands and took position flanking the sides of the cot, peering out into the darkness as if some creature were out there waiting to pounce. Harry considered telling them that Bellatrix would not skin them alive if anything happened to him, but he didn't because he knew it would be a lie. In some small way, that made him rather happy.
The picture of calm, icy arrogance, Narcissa Malfoy brushed her hair, focusing on her face in the mirror. Even when not in the presence of her husband or his Death Eater friends, she maintained this mask of indifference. In the beginning, it has been so that she could somehow convince herself that everything was fine. Now she did it to prevent herself from falling to pieces when contemplating her miserable life.
She was thinking about her son and his plight as he travelled with his father on a mission for the dark lord. The poor boy probably did not realize how precarious his situation was. He was not yet a major player in the dark lord's forces-he was only a pawn. However, Severus was helping her change that. If the dark lord approved, Draco would become an apprentice to Snape. The dark lord always needed potions.
Narcissa continued to brush her hair, already having surpassed the self-imposed count of one hundred strokes. She was just about to put the brush down when she saw in the mirror the air behind her ripple as a disillusionment charm faded. Standing behind her was her sister Bellatrix.
Narcissa's wand was on the dressing table directly in front of her, but Bellatrix's wand was in her hand already. A short jab of Bellatrix's wand and Narcissa was under a body bind curse, frozen on the stool and staring in the mirror, her hand having only moved an inch toward her wand.
Bellatrix stepped closer and put her head next to Narcissa's. The sisters stared at each other in the mirror. "Aunt Walburga was surprised to see me, too," Bellatrix said quietly. She saw the fear in Narcissa's eyes and moved to alleviate those fears-somewhat. "I did not kill her, though she would have deserved it. I would like to think she saw justice coming for helping the dark lord, but I think she just could not bear to continue living with me taking her place at the helm of the Black family. Narcissa stared with fascination as Bellatrix raised one of her hands and displayed the Black family ring that was reserved for the wife of the head of house.
Bellatrix stared at Narcissa's face, and for the first time felt the weight of how much time had really passed because of her and Harry's travel through time. She stared at the small wrinkles that were beginning to show around Narcissa's eyes. "Time has been far kinder to me," Bellatrix said softly, smirking as she said it and noting the confusion in Narcissa's eyes. The nominally younger sister, Narcissa, had just realized how remarkably young her older sister appeared.
"I'll be seeing you," Bellatrix said brightly, standing up straight and plucking a hair from Narcissa's head. She withdrew a flask from within her cloak, opened it, and dropped the hair into a dose of Polyjuice potion. She drank it, and a minute later, an alternate version of Narcissa Malfoy exited the room, heading toward the lower floors of Malfoy Manor.
Lily Potter trembled as the Death Eaters turned away from her and Molly Weasley. That they had stopped questioning them was wonderful, but it could only mean that Lord Voldemort had personally arrived to question them. So far, the Death Eaters had put Lily and Molly under the Cruciatus curse a number of times. It had been horrible, but she knew it was about to get worse. As members of the Order, Lily and Molly could and would be forced to provide valuable information to the dark lord.
In another time, Molly might have been set aside and kept safe as a hostage to ply leverage on her father, Minister Prewitt. However, the dark lord had previously tried that tactic with the Minister's twin sons. The Dark Lord's threats against Gideon and Fabian Prewitt failed to sway the hard-hearted Minister of Magic, and so the twins had been killed. Voldemort would not suffer through another such fiasco.
"We've got to do something," Molly muttered through her quiet tears to Lily. "They'll kill us, and we'll never see our families again. We've got nothing to lose from trying."
"I know," Lily gasped through her pain. "I know. I'm just trying to think."
The two witches listened as the Death Eaters talked amongst themselves on the other side of the room. They could hear the familiar tones of the dark lord's voice, though they could not make out what anyone was saying.
"If only we had a portkey or something," Molly said.
"I know," Lily said, "but they took ours away from us." She racked her brain, trying to think of some way to break free of the ropes that had been tied around her wrists and ankles. Was there anything she had brought with her that the Death Eaters had not taken away?
Abruptly, she remembered that while being questioned by the Death Eaters, she had felt a small twinge on her hand. She looked down and saw the ring that Harry Ashworth had given her long ago, promising that if she was in trouble she need only turn the jewel in its setting and he would come. But Harry Ashworth was dead. Dumbledore had reported that he and Bellatrix Black apparently died in an inferno in the home of Lord Voldemort's father.
"Molly," Lily said very quietly as she scooted toward her fellow prisoner.
"Have you figured something out?" Molly asked.
"Not really," Lily said, "but it is worth a shot. The ring on my right hand can send a distress signal."
"To who?" Molly asked, scooting toward Lily instinctively.
"Probably nobody," Lily sighed, "but you never know who might be listening. See if you can twist the jewel on it."
It took some effort, but eventually Molly was able to get her fingers in the right position with enough grip to twist the ring. The jewel clicked, turned, and clicked into place. Silence abruptly descended over the room. Lily and Molly were horrified to see that the group of Death Eaters were moving toward them.
The Death Eaters formed a ring around the two prisoners with Voldemort standing in the ring and looking down at them. Lily's eyes slid away from Voldemort as she scanned the group of Death Eaters. They all wore hoods, to disguise their identities as much from each other as from their prisoners. Snape had reported this to the Order's inner circle.
The only exception to this, of course, was Narcissa Malfoy. Everybody, the Ministry included, knew that she was involved with the Death Eaters. The Ministry would have arrested and imprisoned the Malfoy family long ago, but Lucius and Draco were too good at staying hidden, and Narcissa was safely behind the walls of Malfoy Manor.
The Ministry was not foolhardy enough to suffer the number of casualties that would result from an attack on the Manor's defenses, simply to take into custody a pathetic pureblood woman whom Ministry officials could not tie directly to any specific Death Eater atrocities. That said, Ministry officials, and indeed most citizens of Magical Britain, agreed that she was ignobly guilty of numberless sins of omission. However, rather than risk the lives of aurors raiding the hiding places of Death Eater wives and children, the Ministry instead prioritized defending the innocent from Death Eater attacks.
Lily stared up at this cold-hearted, pathetic woman and wondered how Narcissa Malfoy could stand by and watch the horrible things the Death Eaters did to other people. The woman had a son. Did she not understand how horrible it was to torture and kill people?
Narcissa apparently felt Lily's gaze, and she tilted her head to stare at Lily, seemingly reading Lily's thoughts. In reply to them, she smirked. This surprised Lily greatly-it was out of character for Narcissa Malfoy, at least the Narcissa Lily remembered. At that, Narcissa broke eye contact, and stepped back into the group of Death Eaters, absently toying with a ring on her finger.
Lily had no more time to wonder about Narcissa's behavior because Voldemort was now speaking to them.
"What did you just do?"
"What do you mean?" Lily bit back.
Voldemort cast the Cruciatus curse on her, watching as Lily screamed in pain. He stopped and watched her convulse on the floor. "I suggest you tell me what you did. I know you did something that involved a certain amount of magic. I could feel it. Are you capable of wandless magic, perhaps?
Lily did not reply, and Voldemort raised his wand, but Molly spoke up to prevent her friend from being tortured. "The ring-it can send a distress signal."
"To whom does this distress signal go?" Voldemort inquired.
Lily refused to answer and got another dose of the torture curse. Eventually, she realized that it was pointless to hold out on that particular secret. It had been a stupid thing to do. She might as well just say and avoid suffering over it. "Harry Ashworth," she sobbed. "Professor Ashworth gave me the ring when he was the potions professor at Hogwarts. He said he would come if I was in distress."
Lord Voldemort laughed. "Harry Ashworth? Did you actually believe Harry Ashworth would come and save you?"
The Death Eaters also laughed, though they did not quite understand what was so especially funny about the poor Potter woman hoping that some former potions professor would come rescue her.
Voldemort did not bother waiting for a response from Lily. "Harry Ashworth is dead. I killed him and Minister Black's arrogant daughter over twenty years ago. They burned to death in fiendfyre."
A voice from the head of the staircase that led into the room from below interrupted the exchange. "I don't remember… dying."
The silence in the room was deafening as everyone turned to stare at Harry Ashworth. He stood at the edge of the room as if he had just ascended the staircase. He looked the same as he had over two decades previous, save for the fact that he seemed rather gray and almost translucent. What appeared to be smoke curled from his clothing as if his robes were slowly smoldering.
Voldemort stared at Harry in shock. "It can't be," he whispered.
"Tom Riddle," Harry said evenly, "we meet again. Do you mind if I just call you Tom? That's how I introduce you to my acquaintances."
Shock and hope rippled through Lily. She knew the voice. Desperately, she tried to shift and move so that she could see her former professor despite being bound in ropes, but the sheer number of Death Eaters, arranged into a circle around her and Molly, made it difficult to see the confrontation.
"No," said Voldemort, his voice slowly rising and almost imperceptibly tinged with doubt. "No. You are dead. I killed you!"
"No, Tom," Harry shook his head, clearly in denial. "You didn't kill me. I'm still here, aren't I? I felt Lily's distress signal. I'm here to rescue her!"
"You are dead!" Voldemort shrieked. "Dead, dead, dead!" He lashed out with his wand and sent a blasting curse at Harry, which sped harmlessly through Harry's ghostly form. Voldemort smiled, and then laughed as he spoke. "See?" he said with disdain and a hint of relief. "If you were alive, that would have hurt you! Be gone, ghost!"
The Death Eaters had sensed that standing too close to an agitated dark lord would be bad, so they had backed away, breaking the circle around Lily and Molly. Lily could now see what seemed to be the ghost of her dead former potions professor. In one way, she was gratified that he had come, but in another, she was disappointed that he clearly would not be able to do anything to rescue her as a ghost, save perhaps for tracking down the Order and giving them information. By that time, it would probably be too late, however.
Harry, meanwhile, stared down at his ghostly form as if he was just now discovering it. "But I don't remember dying," he said slowly, as if thinking through a problem. Then he smiled brightly. "I didn't die, Tom. I'm sure of it." He stepped toward Voldemort, who took a step back.
"Harry Ashworth, you're dead!" Voldemort shrilly shouted. "Leave me, or I'll send for a necromancer."
"I'm not dead," Harry argued calmly. "I can still feel things. I can feel you."
"What do you mean?" Voldemort asked, his fear now noticeably apparent.
"I can feel your mind," Harry said, walking slowly toward Voldemort who was now retreating to the side of the room, away from Lily and Molly. As Lily watched, Harry reached out his hand toward Voldemort whose eyes widened as if his mind was at that moment being touched. With lethal speed, the dark lord sent a volley of curses toward Harry, who smiled almost beatifically as the curses passed harmlessly through his grey and smoky form.
Harry drew his wand casually and grinned as he pointed it at Voldemort. "Prepare to die." Harry then lashed out with his wand in a dramatic gesture, swinging his free hand up behind him as if to balance himself against the backlash his spell would cause. However, as he did so, Harry's form began to fade, and just as he would have let the spell fly, he disappeared completely.
Before Voldemort or anyone else in the room could react, an explosion shook Malfoy Manor, and then another, and another. Voldemort began shouting for his followers to man the manor's perimeter and defend against the attackers as the explosions methodically continued. He cautioned them not to neglect the sides of the manor where there were no explosions, lest the enemy sneak in while they were distracted.
Bemused, Lily watched the chaos as the Death Eaters scurried about while Voldemort tried to retrace the steps of Harry Ashworth's ghost. Abruptly, she felt someone grab her from behind, push her against Molly and place something in her hand. A second later, she felt the familiar sensation of portkey travel.
クリエイターの想い 
AlexanderBlackfyre
AlexanderBlackfyre You can read advanced chapters of "Echoes of Destiny" on my Patreon at [patreon.com/AlexanderBlackfyre]. Join us there to explore more of Harry and Bellatrix's thrilling journey in this alternate universe!
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