She looked at him lying down in the beach chair so peacefully. How would he take it? Surprise? Shock? There was only one way to find out. "Children. I would like us to become parents."
Harry stared at her with a certain amount of surprise. He had not ever really considered having children at the age of sixteen. Come to think of it, he had never really planned on marrying someone twice his age. "Have children? As in . . ."
Bellatrix read his mind. "Getting me pregnant." she finished.
"Is it safe? What if Voldemort finds out about any children we have. They could be in danger." Harry thought out loud.
"If we put our lives on hold for his benefit, then he's won." Bellatrix said. "Besides, I highly doubt that Voldemort will ever be able to force his way into our fortress back there." She then gave him an extremely pleading look. "You would be the perfect father. Narcissa is proof of that."
"In what way?"
Bellatrix thought carefully before answering. "Your actions have appropriately punished her and she will learn her lesson. That's a good parenting skill."
"It will be a long time before any children we have are that old." Harry observed.
"What about that baby you gave a blessing to? You looked like a natural when holding it."
Harry shook his head. "Dumb luck. I have no idea on how to take care of a baby."
"We can learn together then." Bellatrix pleaded.
Not being really opposed to having a child, and not wanting to hear his wife reduced to begging, Harry made his decision. "All right. Let's have a baby."
...
"Would anyone care to make an attempt at the Rebeamio Shield?" asked Professor Tura, the teacher who had taken up the Defense Against the Dark Arts post. Too put it simply: she was young, beautiful, and extremely friendly. Nearly every boy in the class was smitten.
Ron promptly raised his hand. Since Harry was gone, he often prided himself as the top in the Defense class. Well, in the practical section anyway. Hermione always took the lead when theory was concerned.
"Mr. Weasley, come on up." Tura said with a calculating smile. "I'll cast a simple hex at you and then you can perform the spell to defend against it."
"All right." Ron said, as he stood up and made his way to the front. He drew his wand and held it out in front as him as he turned to face Professor Tura who had done the same. "Ready when you are." he said, mustering quite a bit of confidence.
Without any advance notice, Tura drew her wand and shot a Slasher hex at Ron. With milliseconds to spare, he yelled "Rebeamiox!" The hex crashed into the shield and was rebounded toward the professor who used a simple but powerful shield to absorb it.
"Very good Mr. Weasley. Now, Mr. Longbottom. Let's see you take a try at it." Tura said with a smile.
Neville nodded and approached the front of the class as Ron returned to his seat. This time Tura had her wand already in her hand and was slower to attack Neville. When she thought his attention might have wandered, she shot of a quick Leg-Locking hex. It was 'Rebeamioxed' with ease.
"That's nothing!" Ron called out in disgust. "You deliberately went easy on him!" Over the past several weeks the Defense professor had been showing unusual favoritism toward Neville just like Snape favored Malfoy. She wasn't even a former Gryffindor. Tura had hailed from Slytherin.
Tura was grinning madly. "Did I?" she cooed.
"Yes!"
"All right then. Why don't you demonstrate a proper spell and see if his shield will hold." she said softly.
Despite Hermione's protests, Ron angrily stood up and made his way to the front of the classroom, glaring at Neville all the time. Professor Tura stepped back and took a seat behind her desk at the head of the classroom. "Mr. Weasley will be allowed to use one spell of his choosing to attempt to overcome Mr. Longbottom's shield. Nothing lethal or illegal is to be used." She then turned her head to Neville and winked at him, her gesture hidden from Ron by her long blonde hair. "Rebeamiox acceleratus." she mouthed to him.
Neville nodded confidently to acknowledge the new spell and then looked over to Ron who had decided not to waste any time. Neville held up his wand and muttered "Rebeamiox acceleratus." as Ron shouted a very powerful hex.
The hex flew across the room, propelled by Ron's smirk. However, it hit Neville's shield and rebounded much faster than it would have using the normal shield. Ron was hit by his own hex before he even knew that it had rebounded. Froth began to stream from his mouth as he hacked uncontrollably.
Professor Tura stood up and motioned for Neville to take a seat. "Thank you Mr. Longbottom." She then pulled her wand and performed the counter-curse which promptly solved Ron's most immediate problem.
"Today, our lesson was not necessarily about shield charms." she said as she gestured for Ron to resume his seat. Ron did so, shooting Neville a lethal glare. "Not only do you need to approach a fight with speed, skill, and accuracy, but you must be in the appropriate mind-set. Would anyone care to venture a guess as to what mind-set that should or should not be?"
"Obviously anger and arrogance are bad attitudes to start off a duel with." Parvati quickly said in response to the query.
Tura nodded in agreement. "Precisely. Take ten for Gryffindor. Anger and arrogance may advance someone to a certain level. Voldemort is a prime example of this. He is a very arrogant man and most everything he does is out of anger, whether it be hot or cold."
"He's invincible isn't he?" asked a fearful Hufflepuff.
There was an abrupt stillness in the room as everyone looked at each other. No one had ever come right out and said that, but it had always been a present thought. Harry Potter might have had a chance, but it seemed that he was gone.
The Professor placed her hands on the desk and leaned forward, giving the whole class an intense stare. "Make no mistake. Voldemort. Will. Fall." She then looked directly at Ron. "See to it that you don't allow your own arrogance to lead to your fall."
Silence reigned as Tura stood silent for effect. No one dared to day anything as she continued to look at them. Finally, relief came with the bell that signified the end of class. "There will be an essay on arrogance and the fall of a Dark lord of your choice due next time." Tura called out. "Longbottom, would you please remain behind for a moment?"
Neville kindly did so, telling Parvati and Lavender that he would catch them up as soon as he was finished. He then approached Tura who was sitting at her desk still. "Was there anything you needed, Professor?"
The Defense professor locked her impassive blue eyes on his own for a short time, seemingly staring deep into his soul and reading his thoughts and feelings. Finally she answered. "Call me Crystal."
...
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