So, here's the second chapter! Thank you to bittatatat for the push and the great idea!
I hope I'll get more suggestions in the reviews for following chapters. Or you could message me.
Disclaimer: Characters don't belong to me...pity about Bella, really...
Any mistakes in the explanation of American baseball are due to Harry's little contact with the sport ;-)
Harry quietly entered the Gryffindor common room, which was filled with students talking and laughing. He slipped into a corner, unnoticed.
He couldn't quite shake off the uneasy feeling he'd had since his ordeal with Bellatrix. Allowing the Death Eater to leave the school, invisible… who knew if she'd really left? She could still be here. On the other hand, Dumbledore had returned by now. He would surely be able to detect any kind of invisibility spell.
"Harry? What's up, mate?"
Harry was torn from his thoughts by Ron shaking his shoulder.
"Huh? Oh, nothing."
"Hard to believe, considering Ron and I have been calling your name for the past two minutes or so." Hermione stated dryly.
Harry blushed.
"You've been like this since your date with Cho." Ron said. "What happened with her?"
"Well…it hasn't really got anything to do with Cho." Harry answered slowly.
He longed to talk about what had happened that day, but admitting that he'd taken Bellatrix into the castle would not be easy. Hermione would surely flip.
"Then what?" Ron seemed impatient.
"Let's go visit Hedwig." Harry went over to the portrait hole, leading the way up to the owlery. Ron and Hermione followed, rather puzzled.
In the owlery, Harry turned to his friends and heaved a sigh.
"Harry, I'm getting worried." Hermione said.
"Okay, I'll tell you. After Cho left, I went outside, looking for her, but she was gone. So I decided to head to the Three Broomsticks early, to meet Hermione. Before I got there, someone grabbed me and disapparated with me."
"Who?" Ron asked.
"Bellatrix Lestrange."
"Harry, did you tell Dumbledore?"
"No."
"So what happened?"
"I landed in some dingy room, she wanted to torture me, I tried to jinx her and something went wrong, so we ended up stuck to each other."
Ron grinned, Hermione looked shocked as Harry recounted his story, finishing with Bellatrix leaving him in the library.
"How do you know she left?" Ron wanted to know.
"I don't."
Ron's mouth dropped open, Hermione gasped.
"So she could still be here?"
"Ron, be serious, Dumbledore would know." Hermione reasoned.
"Probably…but, still…" Ron's sentence trailed off.
They were silent for a moment, each contemplating Harry's tale.
"Couldn't you look at the Marauder's map? It should show Bellatrix if she were in the castle, even if she was invisible."
"Hermione, you're a genius!"
Hermione smiled, pleased.
Harry pulled the map from his pocket.
"I solemnly swear that I'm up to no good." he said, tapping it with his wand.
He, Ron and Hermione watched as little labelled dots appeared all over the school. Bellatrix Lestrange was not among them.
"Mischief managed!"
Harry tapped the map again and replaced it in his pocket.
The three friends slowly headed back to the common room.
"I still think you should tell Dumbledore." Hermione said.
"And you need to get your wand fixed. At least I know now why you wrapped it with Spellotape and have been having so much trouble with it."
"Yeah, I need to head to Ollivander's as soon as possible."
They had reached the Fat Lady.
"Password?" she demanded.
"Supreme mugwump." Ron offered.
The portrait hole opened and the three entered the now empty and quiet common room.
Hermione yawned. "Well, I'm off to bed. Good night, you two."
"Me, too. Good night. You coming, Harry?"
"You go on, I just remembered I need to read that text for Charms. Good night."
Harry walked over to his belongings while his friends disappeared into their dormitories, He was rummaging through his book bag when a silver glint caught his eye. Harry reached for the object. Just as his fingers touched it, he felt a pulling sensation behind his navel and darkness enveloped him.
Moments later, he landed in a heap on a marble floor.
"Ooooof!" he exclaimed, then heard a splash.
"Potter! What are you doing in my bathroom?"
Harry groaned. Not again. Why did he have to end up in Bellatrix's bathroom? With said witch sitting in the tub.
"I just touched this…" He looked at the shiny object in his hand. It was a silver bracelet with a snake etched on it. "…this bracelet and ended up here."
"Oooooh, you finally found my portkey." Bellatrix squealed. "Took you long enough. You weren't supposed to land in my bathroom, but you're here, that's all that matters." She stood up.
Harry stared. And gulped. His mouth was suddenly dry. Despite of still being painfully thin, Bellatrix was beautiful. And she was female. And naked. And he was a teenage boy. Who had, so far, not seen a naked female in front of him. Not like this, anyway. Suddenly, he was very glad his school robes hung so loosely on his frame.
Deftly. Bellatrix snatched a towel from a rack and wrapped it around her thin body.
"Hasn't anyone taught you that it's impolite to stare?" she asked Harry while stepping out of the tub. "When I was four, my mother…oh, but I forgot- you don't have a mother." She giggled.
Harry fumed. Before he could pull out his wand, Bellatrix had walked over to him and held out her hand.
"My bracelet."
He handed it to her. Well, he tried to.
"You can let go now, Potter."
"No, actually, I can't."
"Yes, you can. It's easy, just open your hand."
Harry opened his hand, spreading his fingers, and shook it. The bracelet remained firmly attached. Bellatrix tried to let go. The bracelet was stuck to her as well.
"Aw, Potter, seriously? Not again!" she wailed.
"I'm better off than you, at least I'm dressed." Harry couldn't suppress a grin.
"Cheeky little bastard. Bella likes that." She ran a finger across his cheek. Strangely enough, her touch didn't make him flinch.
Then, she cocked her head.
"Do you hear that?"
Harry listened. There was a very faint ticking.
"What's that ticking noise?"
"I have no clue."
"Happens to you quite often." She looked up at him through her lashes.
"Well, I need to put on some clothes and then, we, once again, need to get unstuck. But this time, I'm taking you to the Dark Lord. After all, he bewitched my bracelet, so this is technically his…hm…let's call it responsibility."
Bellatrix pulled Harry into her adjoining bedroom. He looked around, quite surprised, not sure what he had expected. Probably nothing, since he'd never thought about Bellatrix's bedroom. Still, the lush, thick carpets on the stone floor, the fireplace, the heavy velvet drapes on the windows, the darkwood armoire, and the huge bed surprised him. Especially the bed. A bed that looked inviting and comfortable, a canopy bed with the same heavy velvet drapes as the windows, a vast amount of soft-looking pillows, and a huge down blanket.
Oblivious to his staring, Bellatrix had dropped her towel, opened the armoire, and was rummaging through it, one-handed. She tossed out several items of clothing, then proceeded to pull on her panties. Hopping around on one foot, she lost her balance and toppled against Harry, who was still looking around the room.
"Potter, would you give me a hand here?" The witch sounded annoyed.
"What?"
At the sound of his name, Harry turned, once again confronted with a naked Bellatrix, now standing so close that he could easily smell the faint scent of her vanilla bath oil.
"I love vanilla", he murmured, stepping closer.
"Huh? What in the name of Merlin are you talking about?"
"Me? Nothing, I just…" He blushed furiously.
"Whatever. Help me get dressed. "
Harry gaped at her. Not only did it go completely against his instincts to dress a grown, beautiful female, he would also have to do it one-handed and he'd have to touch her.
Bellatrix sighed, her annoyance growing.
"Get on with it, I haven't got all day. Or do I have to use the Imperius curse on you?"
That threat got Harry moving. He quickly realized he would have to lower himself in order to get Bellatrix into her panties, so he knelt down, finding himself eye to lips with the Death Eater. He swallowed, once again staring.
"I don't want to know what's going through your mind now, Potter, but if you do anything other than pull my panties up, I'll crucio you into the next century."
Harry shuddered involuntarily and hastily pulled up the witch's underwear. Next came a pair of stockings and a strapless dress. Then, her corset.
"I can't tie it one-handed." Bellatrix complained.
"Wait, I just need to get a hold on this." Harry said as he fumbled with the string.
"Pull, you idiot."
He pulled.
"Oh, come on, Potter, can't you even tie a corset?"
"No, I've never worn one. Doubt it would suit me."
Bellatrix turned and gave him a dimpled smile.
"Ah, there's that cheek again. Go on, pull harder."
He pulled as hard as he could.
"Oooooooof." The last bit of air was expelled from the witch's lungs.
"Not…that…hard," she managed to gasp. Harry loosened his hold and they tied the strings.
"Are you trying to kill me?"
"Doesn't sound bad from where I'm standing." He grinned.
"Yes, being attached to a dead body by a snake bracelet has a certain charm to it. Maybe I should just kill you," she mused.
Harry paled as Bellatrix picked up her wand.
Any further action was delayed by a pulling sensation behind their navels. Moments later, witch and wizard crashed into some contraption of concrete and plastic. They got to their feet and realized they were in some arena and had landed on the middle seats of Block B, row 17.
Several people, obviously muggles, had turned their heads, annoyed at the commotion.
"Sorry," Harry quickly apologized, pushing Bellatrix into a seat and sitting down next to her.
"And in the second inning of the game Texas Rangers against Chicago Cubs, Frasor is up to bat!" an excited voice told them through the arena speakers.
"Odd couple, those two," a man in the row in front of Bellatrix and Harry whispered to his companion. "Strangely dressed."
"Yeah. Probably some of those emos. My daughter has a friend like that. Awful, I tell you."
With flashing eyes, Bellatrix pulled out her wand.
"How dare they! Cru…!"
"Put that away!" Harry hissed, fumbling with his free hand to take the wand from the witch. He succeeded in making her drop it.
"You idiot!" she, in turn, hissed as the wand rolled several rows down.
"Where are we, anyway?"
"Seems to be an American baseball game." Harry answered.
"A what?"
"See those men standing around that diamond-shaped pitch? They try to catch the ball that a player from the other team hits with a bat. The player who batted then runs around the bases until he is stopped. That's the case when a field player has caught the ball and thrown it to a base guard. You get it so far?"
Bellatrix gave him an unconvincing half-smile.
"Totally."
"If the runner isn't stopped, he scores points. And the teams trade places after three players from the team at bat are out."
Harry thought for a moment.
"Or something like that."
Bellatrix muttered something under her breath that sounded like 'crazy muggles that do weird stuff because they can't do magic and play proper sports like Quidditch'.
"Look, now the teams are switching places." Harry pointed to the field.
Again, the voice sounded through the speakers:" And while we're waiting for the game to continue, we've got our…KISS CAM!"
Suddenly, Harry and Bellatrix were seen on a huge screen above the field.
"What is that?" the witch asked suspiciously, as the crowd began chanting "Kiss, kiss, kiss".
"I think they want us to kiss." Harry said through clenched teeth.
"No way."
"If you kiss me, I'll get your wand back." He grinned.
Bellatrix gaped at him. "Sick-minded boy," she said, admiration lacing her voice.
She leaned closer and crashed her lips against his. Harry's eyes closed on their own account, and time seemed to stand still. He moved closer to the woman, his tongue begging her to open her lips.
Bellatrix stepped back, smiling.
"You're rather greedy," she stated.
Harry blushed crimson. He wanted to hate Bellatrix, hat her with all his heart, but something made it impossible for him. Something about her made his heart race and his stomach tingle.
"Get my wand," Bellatrix ordered.
"Accio wand," Harry muttered, waving his own.
The witch deftly caught her wand as it flew toward Harry.
"Okay, now let's get out of here."
With some difficulty and accompanied by the complaining of several muggles whose view was obstructed, they managed to leave the arena.
"How do we get back to Britain?" Harry asked when they were standing on the street.
Bellatrix looked at him as if thinking him to be demented.
"Ever heard of apparition? It's this cool thing that witches and wizards can do to get to places."
"Yeah, fine, get on with it."
The witch's sarcasm was getting on his nerves. Bellatrix mumbled something and waved her wand. Nothing happened. She repeated the process several times, to no avail.
"Well?" Harry asked, impatiently.
"It's not working, something is blocking me."
"Couldn't be this, could it?" Harry held up the still-ticking bracelet joining their hands.
Please review with ideas how Harry's and Bella's journey could continue!