Harry's thoughts were racing as he stared at the tip of Voldemort's wand, which was pointed straight at his chest. A memory of a Defense class from his fourth year at Hogwarts came to his mind unbidden. Barty Crouch, Jr., disguised as Alastor Moody, had trained him to throw off the Imperius curse at will. Once Voldemort allowed Harry to leave, he would be able to throw off the curse and return to Hogwarts with no trouble. Harry suppressed a smile as he raised seemingly fearful eyes toward Voldemort's. "I guess I shall have to choose the Imperius," he said slowly.
"I thought you might be wise enough to choose that," Voldemort said silkily. He raised his wand and intoned the spell, directing it toward Harry.
Instantly, Harry felt his mind cloud. Voldemort's voice echoed inside of Harry's head, giving him instructions. Return to Hogwarts. Protect any students that might be working for me from Dumbledore's scrutiny. Do what you must to prevent Dumbledore from discovering my existence. The commands continued in a long, steady stream. Fuzzily, Harry wondered whether he'd be able to throw of the curse if it included so many commands. Telling Crouch, Jr., that he was not going to jump on a desk was a far cry different than overcoming a complicated set of instructions. Finally, Voldemort ran out of instructions for Harry and finalized the whole curse by instructing Harry to obey his every request.
Unsure about what to do now that Voldemort was finished with the spell, Harry stood woodenly, watching the dark lord's every movement. This seemed to be the correct choice because Voldemort casually walked to the bar and poured himself a glass of firewhiskey, ignoring Harry completely. Taking a sip from his glass, Voldemort sighed and sat down.
The dark lord indulged in a well-satisfied smile and looked at Harry. "Tell me, Mr. Ashworth. What is the secret that you were attempting to hid from me?"
Harry cursed to himself through the fog that was the Imperius curse. He couldn't lie while the curse was in place, but would Voldemort know if he broke the curse before leaving? The answer was probably yes . Even if Voldemort could not actively monitor the curse, the dark lord would probably be acute enough to realize that Harry had thrown the curse and was lying.
"Can you hear me, Harry?" Voldemort said as he leaned forward, staring into Harry's eyes carefully.
Time was running out. Harry realized that he was going to have to overwhelm the Imperius curse and escape from Voldemort as quickly as he could. The element of surprise would help him-a little. If he could get off a spell likely to cause a maximum of damage and distraction, he would stand a chance. As he mulled his options, he realized that he was limited only by how much risk he was willing to take. Feeling awfully desperate, Harry chose his spell.
"Mr. Ashworth!" Voldemort said, a slight note of confusion in his voice betraying his concern for whether his Imperius curse had been successful. "Answer me, now. From now on, you will obey all commands promptly." Voldemort smiled, reckoning that he had discovered the problem and solution to Harry's lack of response.
Harry looked into Voldemort's eyes and snapped the curse from his mind as he had been trained. It seemed that Voldemort detected this action immediately, for his red-tinged eyes widened in shock as Harry abruptly drew his wand and with a broad sweep and loud incantation summoned a wave of fiendfyre, shooting it in the dark lord's direction. Wasting no time, Harry pointed his wand at the wall behind the fireplace and yelled, " Reducto! " as Voldemort hissed in fury while trying to neutralize Harry's magic.
The wall exploded outward into the night and Harry ran through the hole in the wall, scraping his arms and face on the rubble. He spun around and summoned another wave of fiendfyre, directing it with great difficulty toward the hole through which he had escaped. He ran a few yards to escape any anti-apparition wards Voldemort may have erected and then apparated to a random forest. Harry began running through the underbrush until he heard the distinctive pop of Voldemort apparating to where Harry himself had landed.
Harry froze, attempting to not make any noise. He considered apparating instantly, but opted to bide his time to see whether Voldemort might move on in his search. Unfortunately, Voldemort saw through this ploy, simple as it was. Wantonly, the dark lord waved his wand and set fire to the forest. The instant light blinded Harry and exposed him to Voldemort's view. Harry instantly apparated, but not before a nasty cutting jinx from the dark lord sliced the side of his torso. He landed in the middle of a Muggle street in London, dashed a few feet and apparated again to a spot very close by, repeating this step a few times before apparating back to another random forest.
Anticipating that the mixed trail he had left in London would buy him a little bit of time, Harry pointed his wand down at a shallow angle. Immediately, a jet of fire shot from the wand and Harry spun where he stood, lighting everything within a ten-foot radius on fire. He then apparated about a hundred yards away to observe his handiwork. Very soon, Voldemort arrived, apparating directly into the flames. The dark lord screamed, though Harry suspected it was more a result of his fury than any pain the flames might be causing. To distract Voldemort, Harry summoned yet another wave of fiendfyre, wincing at the amount of magical energy it took him to direct it toward Voldemort. This will have to be the last fiendfyre for the night, Harry concluded.
While Voldemort attempted to use a flame freezing charm on the miniature forest fire and negate the fiendfyre simultaneously all while shooting random curses that he hoped might find Harry, Harry cast a charm causing a number of firecrackers to appear above Voldemort. Instantly, the firecrackers began to explode, reassemble, and explode again causing loud explosions and blinding flashes of light. Using the staccato explosions to mask the sound of his movements and magic, Harry quickly began to apparate back and forth and around the forest leaving a very complicated and convoluted trail for Voldemort to follow. He finished up with his last apparition taking him to where he had started. Happily Voldemort was still dealing with the fiendfyre. It had taken hold on some of the surrounding shrubbery and was resisting the dark lord's attempts to extinguish it.
Harry then ran through the forest and scrounged in his pocket for a random object. Finding a knut, Harry drew it from his pocket and transformed it into a portkey with a quick tap of his wand. Instantly, it transported Harry to the street that functioned as the entrance to the Ministry of Magic. Realizing that he could now have both Ministry employees and Voldemort on his tail, Harry instantly apparated to Diagon Alley. Hoping that the alley had enough apparition traffic to mask his own, Harry then apparated to the sea-side and landed near the edge of a rather tall cliff from which he hoped to make his final move.
Harry spotted a rather large boulder that was set into the dirt near the edge of the cliff. He walked over and stood squarely over the center of the large rock. Regretting that he didn't know any flying charms and did not have the ability to transfigure rocks into flying brooms, Harry hoped that Muggle physics might work in his favor. Gripping his wand with both hands and putting his back to the ocean, Harry cast a charm to prevent the rock from moving and then a banishing charm at a slight angle. The banishing charm on the boulder transformed into a repelling charm on Harry, causing him to be catapulted out toward the ocean.
When Harry judged that he had been thrown quite far enough over the water and was too near to hitting the waves, he apparated to the Hogwarts boundary and sprinted onto the grounds. Try and find that apparition point, snake-face, Harry smirked as he tiredly walked toward the castle, vaguely wondering if Voldemort had ever even found the portkey trail.
Bellatrix's heart pounded as she ran through the forest. Hoping that escape could be as simple as apparating away, she drew her wand and made an attempt. Unfortunately, her spell was cancelled by the Hogwarts wards. They were in the Forbidden Forest but not quite far enough from the castle to escape the wards. She supposed that since the meeting had not required Voldemort's presence, the Lestranges and Malfoy had not felt the need to leave the ward boundaries. "Damn!" she whispered, resuming her rapid pace through the forest. Occasionally, she could hear yells signaling that she was being pursued.
Various strategies for coping with the situation immediately presented themselves to Bellatrix, but before choosing one she focused on what her ultimate goal should be. Get back the castle, barricade yourself in Harry's quarters, she instructed herself. Hopefully he didn't get himself killed tonight .
Now with the goal in mind, Bellatrix began choosing her strategy. She would need to move toward the castle, but her Voldemort-supporting classmates would undoubtedly anticipate that move. After all, their futures essentially depended on stopping her from returning to the castle and ratting them out to Dumbledore and the Ministry authorities. Bellatrix began plotting how to get past any sentries left behind, but then realized she should probably find a way to neutralize the classmates pursuing her first. She couldn't keep running forever.
Bellatrix began to examine her surroundings carefully as she ran. Eventually she came to a small stream. Though it did not carry much water, it had through time cut a path into the terrain. Quickly looking behind her to ensure that none of her pursuers had her in sight, Bellatrix jumped down to the stream bank and picked her way to a position beneath a small ledge. Realizing she'd need a decoy to keep them moving, Bellatrix scanned the bank of the river for something with which to work and found several medium sized rocks. She then transfigured them into deer and shooed them away from her position. The pursuers would undoubtedly frighten them into running. It was her hope that the movement made by the startled deer would be mistaken for her running.
She didn't have to wait long. Within less than a minute about half a dozen of her pursuers arrived at the stream. Their loud yells and lumos spells served to startle the deer into leaping across the stream and running through the wood on the other side.
"There she is!" Crabbe yelled, shooting a stunner toward a tree behind which one of the deer had dodged. "She's running scared!"
Bellatrix smirked, the adrenaline-induced action making her feel braver, though she would have preferred to laugh in Crabbe's face. This dark lord apparently had not realized quite how stupid his new followers were-or at least the leaders of his new followers.
"Go, go!" Crabbe commanded those with him.
Mindlessly, some of the students jumped across the stream and began tearing through the forest, hot on the trail of the transfigured deer. Bellatrix frowned when she realized that only a few had crossed the stream. There were still some on her side of the bank.
"Aren't you going to go?" came a voice-Bellatrix recognized it as belonging to Rabastan Lestrange.
"I was waiting for you to go," Crabbe retorted angrily.
"I'm not going," Rabastan said. "I'm going to wait for Lucius and Rodolphus to catch me up. We need to coordinate."
"Then I'd better stay and coordinate, too," Crabbe said stubbornly.
Bellatrix ground her teeth silently. Moron!
There was silence for a brief moment. "No, I think you'd better go," Rabastan said. "Those wieners won't know what to do if they do find her. Might lose their nerve, you know."
"Lose their nerve?" Crabbe questioned.
"We can't just let her get away with our secrets, idiot!"
"You mean, we're going to kill her?" Crabbe wondered.
Rabastan let out a frustrated sigh. "Only if we have to. A memory charm or Imperius will suffice. Just keep in mind that Rodolphus will be very… annoyed if you kill her without cause. Now, GO!"
Deciding not to continue being stubborn, Crabbe jumped across the trickling stream and huffed away through the forest, following the trail of his comrades.
At this juncture, Bellatrix began to silently consider whether taking Rabastan out of commission before Lucius and Rodolphus caught up with him might be the wisest course. He was what was keeping her pinned to her location. If she could take him down before anyone was the wiser, she could get off and back to the castle. Bellatrix strained her ears to catch a hint of where Rabastan might be standing. The occasional rustle of cloth and crackle of dead branches told her that he was pacing or walking around trying to get a better view.
Bellatrix smiled. He was nervous and jumpy. It would be easy to startle him from one direction and come at him from another. Carefully, she picked her way along the stream's bank until she could see Rabastan's dark figure by the faint moonlight. He was indeed pacing, stopping occasionally to crane his neck and try to catch a glimpse in the direction from which he seemed to expect Lucius and Rodolphus. Suddenly, Bellatrix felt the urge to giggle. Crabbe may be a coward, but so are you, Bellatrix thought.
A quick wave of Bellatrix's wand and a very dark and barely noticeable streak of light shot toward a tree opposite of her position. The streak of light hit the tree and made a loud pop. Rabastan immediately spun toward the sound, wand drawn. Bellatrix wasted no time. A reducto zoomed toward Rabastan's back. Suddenly though, a voice screamed. "Rabastan! Behind you! Duck!"
Rabastan spun, but it was too late. The spell caught him in the shoulder with a sickening crunch and bit of splat before knocking him to the ground. If Bellatrix was any judge of injuries, Rabastan wouldn't be getting up soon-not without medical help.
Bellatrix had just enough time to register that the one who had shouted the warning was Rodolphus Lestrange before she dodged a pair of stunners from him and Lucius who was not far behind his comrade. The stunners had been shot slightly apart, so her only chance was to throw herself to the ground.
"Blood traitor!" Rodolphus screamed, shooting several spells and kicking up dirt while Bellatrix rapidly cast jinxes on several points of the stream's bank. Anyone who tried to jump over would find themselves flat on their face in the muddy water.
"You may as well give yourself up, Bella," called Lucius Malfoy. "You can't escape the servants of the dark lord."
The pressure of the situation and the absurdity of Lucius's statement threw Bellatrix over the edge. She shot up and began rapidly firing spells at Lucius and Rodolphus, giggling wildly as they took shelter behind a nearby tree. She finished with several reducto s toward the branches over their heads, crossed the stream, and ran downstream toward Hogwarts. Unless she missed her guess, the stream would take her to the lake. She giggled quietly as she ran along the stream, waiting to hear the distinctive splat of the two morons falling victim to her jinxes and being thrown into the river.
Bellatrix was soon rewarded, but with only one splat and grunt of disgust that she recognized as belonging to Lucius. What had happened to Rodolphus? She looked over her shoulder just in time to catch a cutting curse across her face. Gasping, she realized that Rodolphus had opted to chase her from the other side of the stream. Before she could raise her wand, her shoulder was hit with a bludgeoning curse.
"That's for my brother, whore!" Rodolphus yelled.
The blood and pain sobered Bellatrix up. No longer was this funny-not that it had been funny to begin with. She was confused, but shoved the thoughts aside in favor of firing off a wide variety of curses in Rodolphus's direction. He ducked for cover. While continuing her barrage of curses, Bellatrix checked to see that Lucius was still bogged down in the stream before trying to get up. Upon making the effort, she felt a stabbing pain in her shoulder as she tried to use it to get up. Dislocated, she moaned to herself. Bloody hell!
With a little extra effort, she managed to make it to her feet, still firing the occasional curse at Rodolphus who was hard-pressed to return fire while he was hiding. Lack of commitment, Bellatrix assessed. Still afraid to take a hit for the team . She fired a few cutting curses in Lucius's direction, and from the curse that followed, she reckoned she must have at least nicked him good.
Bellatrix resumed her flight, but moved away from the stream, taking shelter among the trees that lined its bank. Abruptly, one of the trees she had just passed exploded in purple flame. Bellatrix arched her eyebrows and she continued on, trying to avoid bumping her shoulder against tree branches. If you're going to try to do dark magic, you might as well make it worthwhile, she smirked. Her mother was a dark art fanatic, but her father and her uncle had taught her to be somewhat strategic with her magic. Consequently, Bellatrix was very familiar with the dark arts, but smart enough to realize that if a normal spell or curse could do the same thing, she shouldn't waste her energy… or blood. Although, the ones that required blood usually were the special ones.
Turning her head for only long enough to get a quick glance, Bellatrix saw that Lucius and Rodolphus were now pursuing her through the forest, their focus on keeping up preventing them from casting any good spells at her. Apparently, Rodolphus had crossed downstream and avoided her jinxes. Bellatrix kept running. I'll show you some real dark magic, she thought. As she ran, she reached up, still holding her wand, and snapped a twig from a tree. She transferred it to her other hand, which was limited in motion because of the dislocated shoulder. A quick wave of her wand and a whispered incantation transfigured it into a small knife.
A handful of spells on the knife rendered it into a rather crude dark object, ready for use save for the lack of blood. Bellatrix glanced behind again to confirm that they were following her before taking the next step. She slashed a shallow cut into her arm that had been rendered almost useless because of the dislocated shoulder. The knife absorbed the blood instantly.
Bellatrix grinned as she turned her full attention to the trees ahead. She would have to pick a good one if she wanted her handiwork to be as effective as possible. She spotted a rather large tree with many long branches. Perfect! Bellatrix thought smugly. She ran toward it and as she passed by its trunk, Bellatrix stabbed the dagger into the bark. The blade sunk into the trunk of tree in an unnatural manner. The tree began to creak, screaming as it were. By the time Bellatrix had cleared it by ten feet, the tree had begun to thrash its branches angrily.
Try to get past the tree and the destruction it'll cause before the magic wears off! Bellatrix thought gleefully when she heard Lucius and Rodolphus's exclamations of anger and disgust at being waylaid so. She continued running, but suddenly, her back erupted in waves of pain. It felt as if she had been stabbed several dozen times. As she fell, to the ground, Bellatrix watched several dozen icicles shoot past her and fall into the foliage ahead. Apparently one of her pursuers had tried to get in a good spell before she got too far away. Bellatrix felt liquid running down the sides from her back and reckoned that it must be both the blood and melting icicles.
Gasping, Bellatrix got to her feet, doing her best to ignore the dislocated shoulder. The tree she had stabbed with the blood dagger was still thrashing, but as she watched, it was consumed by a bout of purple fire, which blinded Bellatrix. Unable to see, but desperate to get away, Bellatrix ran, trying to listen for the sound of the stream. It didn't take her long to find the sound, though it seemed louder than she had recalled.
Her vision still re-adjusting to the dark, Bellatrix failed to notice that she was running toward a steep embankment. Abruptly, she found herself tumbling down the hill. Dispassionately, she found herself comparing the experience to the fun she and her sisters had once had rolling down the steep hill located at the park near her house. This time, however, the hill was covered with all sorts of plants that were making her downward descent rather unpleasant. She came to an abrupt stop when her lower chest and abdomen collided with a rather blunt boulder. Pain exploded in her chest as the air was knocked out of her, and Bellatrix found herself lying on the ground, too stunned to move.
As she regained her faculties, Bellatrix observed that Lucius and Rodolphus had found their way to the top of the hill. " Incendio," Bellatrix croaked, pointing her wand up the hill. The foliage on the embankment, most of which was still dead from the recent winter, caught on fire with a whoosh. Bellatrix watched with satisfaction as the entire hillside was consumed. Lucius and Malfoy would not be able to follow her for some time.
However, Bellatrix realized that the fire might capture the attention of Crabbe's group or some of the others they might have left behind. Fighting to suppress tears, Bellatrix stood painfully, cast a disillusionment charm on herself, and began to slowly make her way toward the castle. With any luck, the fire would distract the majority of her classmates and they would not be alert enough to realize that she was probably walking away from the fire toward Hogwarts.
When Harry returned to his quarters, he rummaged around and found a bottle of firewhiskey. With a sigh, he dropped himself in an armchair and poured himself a tall glass. I guess I've screwed it up, he decided morosely. Voldemort is going to be after me specifically now .
Not wanting to feel sorry for himself, Harry jumped, or lurched, from the chair and walked over to his bathroom and studied his reflection in the mirror. Apparently he'd cut up his face pretty good when escaping through the hole he had blasted in the side of Voldemort's house. He set down his glass of firewhiskey on the sink counter and washed up as best he could without taking a full shower.
He was just trying to decide whether he wanted to look at where he'd gotten cut on his torso when the door to his quarters opened and Bellatrix limped in. Harry glanced at her briefly and turned back to the mirror, but he spun around almost immediately after that and took a second-glance. "What happened?" he asked, quite shocked at the condition she was in. He saw that her face was covered with blood, her left shoulder sat at an odd angle, and that she seemed to have a very difficult time standing.
"They figured I was spying," Bellatrix slurred. "Barely got away."
Harry sighed. Apparently they'd both been stupid and had paid the consequence to varying degrees. "We'd better get you up to the hospital wing," Harry mused.
Bellatrix seemed to consider this proposition for a moment. "Not yet," she said slowly, still slightly slurring her words. "It's complicated. Find some medical supplies. I'll clean up."
Harry winced, feeling uncomfortable with the idea of not taking Bellatrix to the hospital wing. On the other hand, he too had encountered situations where he had not wanted to go to the hospital wing. Bellatrix's judgment could probably be trusted-she wasn't a fool.
"Okay," he said, making for the door. "I'll be back as soon as possible."
"Harry," Bellatrix called weakly.
"Yes," Harry asked.
"My ribs really hurt. Better make sure to get some tape."
Harry winced and swiftly left the room, closing and locking the door behind him. He had encountered rib injuries in his time, and they weren't fun. Remarkably, he was able to find most of the things he needed without having to visit the hospital wing. He had planned on the potions she'd need to be most difficult, but as school potions master, it turned out that Harry had access to a wide variety of brewed potions.
He returned to his quarters and found Bellatrix standing in front of the bathroom mirror, aimlessly trying to wipe her face with a wet rag. Harry set down the things he had gathered on a table and swiftly walked over to help her. "Here, let me," he said, taking the rag from her. In short order, her face was clean, save for the cut inflicted by a spell. He was able to take care of that with little difficulty. She seemed inordinately pleased with her clean face and beamed at Harry's reflection in the mirror. "You're wonderful!" she slurred.
Harry frowned. "You're acting drunk," he muttered. Harry remembered his tall glass of firewhiskey, and his eyes flitted to where he had left it. The glass was now completely empty. "You didn't waste any time," Harry commented. "I guess you're going to need it. We've got your shoulder to deal with."
Bellatrix stared at herself in the mirror while Harry gingerly took hold of Bellatrix's shoulder. "All right, we'll try to make this quick," Harry announced loudly. She didn't seem to notice, so Harry took that as a good sign. When he yanked and popped the shoulder back into its socket, Bellatrix gasped loudly and nearly fell over, though was caught by Harry.
She managed to recover her balance and leaned back toward the mirror, staring at Harry's reflection. Apparently she had confused his reflection for the real thing. "My ribs," she slurred. "Tape them up good."
She lifted her hands and began fumbling with the buttons of her tattered blouse. Harry sighed and returned to the table where he had left the medical tape. He'd had his ribs taped up before, but he had never tried to help someone else with it. By the time he returned with the tape, Bellatrix had managed to undo only two buttons. Feeling rather like a cad, Harry set the tape down on the counter, reached around her, and unbuttoned the other buttons. He then helped her remove the shirt. Normally, he reckoned he would have ended up staring at her bra-clad chest, but apparently, she had been injured on her back. It was a bloody mess-literally.
"Looks like they nailed you from behind," Harry commented, feeling a little faint.
"My back too," Bellatrix said.
"Right," Harry said. He grabbed the rag and began mopping at it, wincing all the while. In short order, it was free of blood. Harry grabbed some ointment from the table and applied it to her back liberally after performing the best healing charms he could think of.
"Now your ribs," Harry said.
"Yep." Bellatrix said.
Harry could tell that she was losing her last strength and so tried to make the ribs quick. It appeared that she had only been hit lower-down, so not very many ribs were in bad shape. With a little bit of coaxing on his part and her gracious acquiescence to his requests, Harry was soon done. "Well," Harry said, "you're right as rain, now."
"Yep," she repeated, staring intently at Harry's reflection with an odd expression on her face.
Harry decided that he'd better put her to bed in his quarters. If she had had a falling out with Slytherin students, sending her to her dorm would probably be a bad idea. It would cause a school scandal if anyone found out, but Harry reckoned he might be able to head it off by contacting Orion early in the morning and explaining the situation.
Leaving Bellatrix to stare at herself in the mirror, Harry went to his clothes closet and found a spare set of pajama tops. He returned to Bellatrix and put them on her. He then managed to get her to down doses of several different potions before leading her to his bed. "Time for you to sleep," Harry said.
Bellatrix crawled into Harry's bed and Harry draped the covers over her, smiling awkwardly as she stared up into his eyes.
"Good night," Harry said.
Bellatrix smiled and continued staring up at him, her violet eyes shining.
"Right," Harry said, breaking contact with her eyes, leaving her, and returning to his chair. He felt guilty for not changing her completely into pajamas, but he reckoned he's already gone pretty far. She can complain later, Harry reckoned. Maybe even take care of the situation herself by that time .
He considered pouring himself another glass of the firewhiskey, but decided against it. One of them was going to need to retain control of their senses. Harry glanced toward the sink counter and the empty firewhiskey glass. Could that much make her that drunk so quickly? He sighed. Apparently. Maybe she was in shock, too.
Harry sat back and returned to contemplating the situation. What are we to do now?
Upon awaking, Bellatrix discovered her uncle Orion standing next to the bed looking down at her. Disorientated, Bellatrix quickly took in her surroundings. Seeing that she was in Professor Ashworth's bed abruptly reminded her of the past night's events-that and dull pain in her abdomen. She gulped, suddenly very embarrassed to have Orion Black present. "Good morning," she said brightly.
"It's good afternoon," Orion said shortly. He sighed and sat down on a chair that had been placed next to the bed. "Mr. Ashworth contacted me about your escapade last night." The elder Black shifted his head and gestured toward Harry, who was also sitting in a chair, but across the room.
Bellatrix shot Harry a dirty look. "What does he know about my escapade?"
"He knows enough," Orion retorted. "Don't you realize that you could have gotten yourself killed?"
"Oh please," Bellatrix said, folding her arms. She knew that the situation had been serious, but she wasn't about to admit it to anyone else but Harry. "I'm fine."
"Fine, is it?" Orion growled. He turned toward Harry who was looking distinctly uncomfortable. "How many ribs did you think might be cracked, or worse? How much tape did you have to put on? What about her back?"
"It was pretty bad," Harry said, blushing.
Bellatrix scowled at Harry. The traitor! How dare he run to her family and tell them about her medical problems! This thought caused Bellatrix to blush as the events of Harry having to patch her up and put her to bed surfaced in her memory. She glanced down at her torso and discovered that she was wearing an unfamiliar pajama top. It probably belonged to Harry. Deciding that the embarrassment should belong to Harry, Bellatrix glanced up at him, made eye contact, and winked.
Harry's blush deepened while Orion let out a very put upon sigh. "From now on, Bellatrix, you shall not participate in such activities. If Mr. Ashworth tells you not to do something, you will obey him as if he was me."
"You're not my father!" Bellatrix declared.
"Don't even get me started on that," Orion thundered. "If your father so much as suspected how close you came to being killed, he would withdraw you from Hogwarts. As it is, he only knows that you had a minor problem with some aspiring followers of the dark lord. Do you want me to bring him into this?"
"No, please," Bellatrix said, feeling suddenly grateful to her uncle. She had no desire to leave Hogwarts, at least as long as Harry Ashworth was puttering around the place pursuing his crusade against Voldemort.
"Good," Orion said. "As I said, Mr. Ashworth is the boss when you're beyond my and your father's reach. I have also made other arrangements with regard to your protection."
"Arrangements?" Bellatrix asked.
"In case you failed to notice, the aspiring dark wizards and witches were students at this school. They will probably wish to harm you." Orion said.
"I happen to know which ones are after me," Bellatrix said. "Can't we just have them locked up?"
"Let me guess," Orion said, pretending to be thoughtful. "Lucius Malfoy, the Lestrange brothers, and assorted Crabbes and Goyles-among others."
"How did you know?" Bellatrix asked, surprised.
Orion smiled shrewdly. "They realized that you had escaped back to the castle and have fled Hogwarts. Old Dumbledore was pretty surprised. Their disappearance was not detected until I showed up."
"Dumbledore knows?" Bellatrix asked.
Orion sighed. "How could he not? Even if I had been able to borrow your father's soon-to-be authority to move against those fools, I would have had to explain to Dumbledore. As it is, Dumbledore doesn't know everything that went on. Malfoy, the Lestranges, et al., have made it easier on us by fleeing. Since they're not here to explain themselves, Ashworth and I were free to emphasize or play down the occurrences we chose. The bottom line is that Dumbledore now knows that you came dangerously close to getting mixed up in some sort dark organization and nearly got killed. He will cooperate with us in protecting you from retribution."
"Retribution from who, exactly?" Bellatrix asked. "It sounds like the wizards who tried to kill me have departed."
"Unless you're capable of naming every student that was present last night, we're going to assume that you're in minor danger. Tom won't appreciate the fact that someone set against him is cognizant of his activities." Orion explained.
Bellatrix sighed. "I guess you're right. What is the old man going to do to help protect me?"
"You're going to take up residence in Gryffindor Tower," Orion informed Bellatrix.
She gasped. "Gryffindor Tower! That's awfully extreme."
"The Gryffindors are somewhat idiotic at times," Orion said, "but they don't often have dark tendencies. Furthermore, your cousin Sirius is a Gryffindor. I'm going to assign him to keep an eye on you when Mr. Ashworth can't."
"He's a fourth year!"
"So?"
"I'm a sixth year. I don't need protection from some little snot."
"The little snot happens to be my son."
Bellatrix ignored that she had potentially insulted Orion and pushed her argument. "You say that the whole purpose of getting Sirius involved is to protect me when Ashworth can't. Why not arrange for Ashworth to be able to take care of me? Dumbledore could set up another bedroom in here."
Orion glared at her, but his glare was soon replaced with a mask of indifference. He turned to Harry. "Say, Mr. Ashworth, why don't you run up to the hospital wing and inform the good nurse that Bellatrix will shortly be up for some minor treatment? After that, why don't you head over to that pub we discussed? Tell Cygnus and Romulus that I'll follow shortly."
Harry nodded, looking vaguely relieved to escape. "Of course," he said. Within a few seconds, he had departed from his living quarters.
As soon as he was gone, Orion rounded on Bellatrix. "Relationships between students and teachers are frowned upon, Bellatrix."
"I wasn't suggesting a romantic relationship," Bellatrix said.
"I'm not stupid, Bellatrix."
"Mr. Ashworth is entirely honorable. He would never prey upon an impressionable female student."
Orion shook his head. "You would prey on him, though."
"Are you suggesting that I molest professors?"
"Bellatrix," Orion ground out, "your behavior has already been inappropriate. Professor Dumbledore brought the issue up with me this morning. He and Professor McGonagall have observed that you spend every minute of your free time in Ashworth's office or living quarters. The entire school is talking about it."
"Busybodies!" Bellatrix spat out.
"That doesn't change the fact that you're apparently becoming very close to Harry Ashworth," Orion said. "Perhaps too close."
"I'm seventeen, Bellatrix said. "I'll do what I want."
Orion was silent for a long while. Bellatrix did her best to ignore him. Finally, Orion found something to say. "What do you know about Harry Ashworth, Bellatrix? Why do you trust him implicitly? Why are you so insistent at throwing yourself on him?"
Bellatrix looked away from Orion and refused to answer.
"You've already given him your loyalty, haven't you?" Orion said tiredly. "Whatever he's told you has you sold."
"I have every confidence that Harry Ashworth will one day be a wizard of astounding power and influence," Bellatrix said quietly.
"Is that the only reason you've set your loyalty for him?" Orion asked gently.
"I guess he's pretty nice," Bellatrix admitted. "Kind of handsome, too. Very companionable, anyway. I could have chosen worse."
"I suppose you could have," Orion admitted. "Look, Bellatrix. I can't say that I approve of your methods of choosing a husband, but I can't deny that you seem to have chosen moderately well. Perhaps we can come to a compromise. We can talk to Ashworth about a marriage contract. You can marry him straight after your seventh year-assuming you still feel the same."
Bellatrix arched an eyebrow, but didn't reply.
"If we did follow that path, there is an issue about which I am curious," Orion said slowly.
"Who said we're following that path?" Bellatrix asked.
"Just hypothetically," Orion said. "Ashworth has admitted that he isn't an Ashworth-that you picked the name."
"So?"
"I was wondering if you planned on becoming Bellatrix Ashworth." Orion said.
"You want to know his real surname," Bellatrix snickered. "Nice try."
"Do you know his real surname?" Orion asked.
"No. However, circumstances are such that if I married him, I could probably twist him into taking my surname. We could be Harry and Bellatrix Black." Bellatrix was thinking back onto the day when Harry had appeared in the Black vault. He may not be a Black, but he certainly was already tied closely enough to the family that it would be reasonable to have him become a Black officially.
"I'm afraid you've confused me," Orion said.
"Good."
"Put on your clothes," Orion directed, deciding to give up the point of his discussion. "We've got an appointment with the nurse, and after that, we'll be seeing Professor McGonagall."
The Marauders were all sitting in Gryffindor Tower when the portrait hole opened to reveal Professor McGonagall. She entered, followed closely by Bellatrix and Orion Black.
"Sirius!" James whispered. "Isn't that your father?"
Sirius looked over and gaped at the sight. "What's going on?" he muttered as they watched McGonagall lead Bellatrix up the staircase to the girl dorms.
"I think she might be moving in," Remus observed.
"Don't be ridiculous," James scoffed. "They'd never let a Slytherin in here!"
Further speculation ended when Orion Black approached the group. "Sirius," he said, "I want a word with you."
"Here I am, then," Sirius said, a mischievous grin on his face.
"Alone," Orion amended. "Come."
Sirius traded significant glances with his friends. They all knew that Sirius and his family didn't get along well. Not only did they disagree about blood purity, but Sirius was simply an obnoxious child. For Orion to seek him out, the situation must be grave. Sirius stood and led his father over to a quiet corner of the common room.
"All right, what the matter?" he asked.
Orion drew his wand and cast silencing charms. "Sirius, your cousin Bellatrix was nearly killed last night."
Sirius raised his eyebrows in surprise. "What'd she do? Sneak out to the Forbidden Forest and pick a fight with the centaurs?"
"No, she snuck out to the Forbidden Forest and was assaulted by dark wizards," Orion explained.
"The centaurs was more believable," Sirius said.
"Look, Sirius, this is a very… grim situation," Orion said.
Sirius grinned evilly. "What, the situation isn't serious?"
"This isn't the time for your stupid name games," Orion hissed. "What I'm about to tell you is to be kept secret, do you understand?"
"I guess," Sirius said.
Orion grumbled to himself before beginning. "Sirius, there is a new dark lord on the rise."
Sirius's eyes widened with shock. "A real dark lord?"
"So it would seem," Orion replied. "Professor Ashworth and Bellatrix have been attempting to sabotage his rise to power. Last night, Bellatrix attempted to infiltrate a group of students that have pledged themselves to the dark lord. Her ulterior motives were discovered and she was brutally chased through the Forbidden Forest."
"So what are we going to do now?" Sirius asked, shocked enough that he had forgotten his contempt for his father.
"The ringleaders have left Hogwarts. However, I'm concerned that certain Slytherins might have it in for her. Professor Dumbledore has agreed to move Bellatrix into Gryffindor Tower. Obviously, Professor Ashworth will do his best to look out for her, but I want you to keep an eye out, too."
"What do you expect me to do?" Sirius asked. "It's not like I can face down dark wizards."
"I think you underestimate your abilities greatly," Orion said. "The amount of trouble you get into on a weekly basis suggests that you have plenty of ingenuity. Stick to her when you can. I expect you to watch her in this tower and I expect you to sit with her at meals."
"She'll sit with us," Sirius said. "I refuse to go to the Slytherin table!"
"That's what I meant," Orion said smoothly. "If she decides to do something risky, find Professor Ashworth and tell him. Will you do that?"
"I guess," Sirius answered, feeling slightly stunned.
Lily was perusing her potions text when the door to her dorm opened to admit Professor McGonagall. Instantly, Lily sat up. "Professor, an extra bed appeared in our dorm this morning," Lily began, but was cut short when she saw Bellatrix Black enter the room behind McGonagall.
"Yes," McGonagall said stiffly. "It has become necessary to find Miss Black alternate accommodations in the castle. It has been decided that this will be her dorm for the time being."
Lily's mouth sagged, but she quickly recovered herself. "But professor, Bellatrix is in sixth year!"
"I'm well aware of that, Ms. Evans. Your dorm is the only one that has space for an extra, however. Do try to make her feel at home," Professor McGonagall said. She turned to Bellatrix. "That's your bed. The house elves will arrange for everything to be transported shortly."
"Thank you, Professor," Bellatrix said as McGonagall turned and left.
Lily stared at Bellatrix, her facial expression showing a mixture of confusion and suspiciousness. Bellatrix did nothing but coolly arch her eyebrows at Lily and depart from the dorm room.