Disclaimer: I don't make money off of this story. I don't own Harry Potter and Co. I just like to play with them.
Chapter Warnings: Language, Gore/Disturbing Imagery, Torture, Rape, Character Death, two small DH spoilers (Extremely small, but please no flames regarding it when you see it, or against this warning. I don't want to get in trouble with FFN or other readers. You have been warned.)
Letters From A Father
Chapter Seven: The Olde Founders
Halloween was fast approaching and no matter the time of the year, Bellatrix LeStrange was an evil bitch. Plain and simple. She took great joy in pain in others and was one of the darkest Death Eaters. Despite her once good looks, her high-pitched laugh could make a person's hair stand on end; it was like a death noise: one hears it and they know that they will be dead or in pain soon.
She almost jumped for joy to be called into her Lord's presence again. Oh, how she missed him. She walked into the "throne room" of Riddle Manor and prostrated herself in front of him. She kissed the hem of his velvet outer robe and backed up on her knees slowly, hoping to entice him into another mission. She didn't have to look around to notice that she was alone in his company. Inwardly, she leapt for joy; outwardly, she had her stoic mask on, even though her eyes showed her joy.
"Ah, my dearest Bella, surely you noticed you are all alone, have you not?"
"Yes, my Lord." Bellatrix looked down to the ground.
"Do you know why?" Lord Voldemort asked as he stood up slowly.
"No, my Lord."
He walked to her as if he was being glorified in a parade. His heavy boots landed with a thud every step he took. The sound was deafening as it reverberated against the wall. He kicked her in her face harshly. Her head whipped to the side and she tasted her own blood that was filling her mouth.
"You lost the cup." Her eyes widened. She had avoided the old house since her capture; knowing from the inside information Lucius Malfoy heard, the Ministry had it under wards and patrolled. She hadn't forgotten the cup, but was unable to get in and retrieve it so she could put it in her Gringotts vault.
"I told you that cup was important to me. I'm most displeased in you, Bella. Do you want your Lord to die? Do you want Mud-bloods and blood traitors to walk the Earth?"
"No, my Lord."
"Cruico!" His yew wand shot the curse at one of his most deadly Death Eaters and watched her with a sadistic smile. LeStrange writhed and screamed until the curse was lifted.
"Incendio!" Bellatrix screamed again as her robes on her left leg caught fire. Her clothes were reduced to ashes and burnt into the melting flesh. Her whole leg was in flames and started to spread up her body until he cancelled the spell.
"Incarcerous!" And he bound her to the floor.
"Please be merciful, my Lord. Had I truly known how important that artifact was, I -"
"Crucio! You doubt my word? How dare you doubt your Lord!" He held her under for a few seconds more, then he called his Inner Circle. After the usual kneeling and kissing of robes, he sent Severus Snape, his faithful potions master, to finish a potion and told him to be back in the throne room
"My most trusted and loyal followers, what a gift I shall bestow on you tonight. Bellatrix LeStrange has failed me, in one of the most horrible ways." he said with a false saddened voice. "I know many of you have been slighted by her and have felt disgusted with this bitch. So, free reign for you, my subjects." Many men cheered. Snape, however, looked quite disgusted as he walked back in and heard the end of the speech. However, he looked upon her bleeding cuts and burnt leg with a glorious amusement.
Snape had always loathed the LeStrange woman, both with his time as an actual loyal Death Eater and after he gave himself up as one to Dumbledore. Even though he hated Sirius Black as much as he hated her, seeing his son's face after the mutt's death cut through him more than any Cruico ever did. Maybe part of it was losing someone that tied him to his childhood, albeit that was a extremely tiny part of it. Despite his icy façade, he did have feelings.
"You can use anything at your disposal, including these knives, and whips, all magically enhanced, of course." The men cheered again. "Each of you shall have a turn so whoever kills her while it's their turn will be punished. Severus, as the man who killed Dumbledore, you get to kill this…thing."
Lord Voldemort sat down and watched the proceedings. Each man took turns raping her, cutting her ,whipping her, until it was Snape's turn. Every man started cheering as he walked up to her. Even if he was the only one who appreciated the irony of what he did, he planned to use purely Muggle means on her. Looking at the other men, he assumed he was the only one to know the irony.
He whipped the nude, bloody woman hard. Each strip of leather had a tainted spike on the end. He carved his initials into her side, like every Death Eater did. Snape, then straddled Bellatrix and looked deep in her eyes. She looked up into his eyes in return. She could've sworn they flashed another color real quick before they turned to the hard black. He smiled evilly and leaned down to whisper into her ear.
"This is for Sirius…" and he sliced her jugular, killing her.
-----
Harry woke up and immediately retched. Shuddering, he cleared up the mess on the floor and headed downstairs to the common room, his wand still in his hand. His head pounded from the vision and sat down when he arrived to his favorite chair. Looking into the flames, he thought about Sirius and how his killer died a justified death. He was not entirely sad she died like that. She did kill Sirius after all, the only father figure, and basically the only family he had. He did feel guilty that he took pleasure in watching her death, no matter how sickening it was. Harry wondered if it was solely his joy in it, or if some of it was Voldemort.
Even if Bellatrix was one of Voldemort's favorites, Harry knew that her screams, her pain, and her blood spilt at his feet gave the Dark Lord a rush.
Harry looked at the floor and rubbed his face with his hands. He needed to talk to Hermione. She was good with feelings and…stuff. Groaning, he stood up and started to make his way up to his bed for a few more hours of nightmarish sleep, until a soft blue shimmer caught his eye.
He walked toward the north wall where the shimmer was surrounding a massive tapestry of a golden lion on a scarlet background. He looked at it in confusion and the lion winked at him. Harry pushed the extremely old tapestry away from the wall and slid in behind it. The glow seemed to pulse.
He was expecting something to jump out at him or something exciting, instead, he found himself staring at a brick wall. Harry raised his calloused hand and pressed it against the wall. To his horror, his hand fell inside the wall. He immediately pulled his hand back and looked at it. He touched his hand and made sure it was really still there before looking back at the wall again. He didn't recall another room attached to the common room but to be sure, he ran up and got both the Marauder's Map and Raven's Map. Checking the maps as he walked back down, he saw that on Raven's Map that there wasn't a room there, but the line on the map that represented a wall on the map moved, as if hiding something.
Summing up his Gryffindor courage, he stuck his head in and then entered a room that even the Marauder's never found.
"Oi! Who goes there?" Harry whipped around to find where the male voice came from as he walked into the room.
"Oh, hush your mouth, Godric. Can't you see the poor lad is scared?" Came a sweet female voice.
"Hey! I'm not scared," Harry said feebly. Even he didn't believe himself.
"Of course, you're not," the same female voice said, oddly reminding Harry of Mrs. Weasley.
"Gryffindor, turn up the lights, you incompetent git," sneered another male voice, reminding him of Snape. Harry looked around as the lights went up.
On the western wall was a large portrait of Godric Gryffindor mounted on a red wall. He seemed tall, but Harry couldn't tell exactly because it was a portrait. Godric had pale green eyes, similar to a light olive color, and reddish brown hair tied at the base of his neck. He was dressed dark red robes, and his sword tied to his belt. He looked extremely tan due to fighting, with a scar on his left cheek marring his soft, yet masculine facial features. His hands looked coarse and calloused, had very broad shoulders, and looked thick and muscular. A goofy grin was on his face while Harry looked at him, sort of reminding him of his dad in the memories he had seen.
On the northern wall, Rowena Ravenclaw was situated on a blue wall. She had long, waist length, dark brown hair, plump lips, and sharp facial features, similar to Professor McGonagall. She was thin and tall with a long dark blue and bronze robe. The bronze matched her tan and brought out her deep blue eyes. She had thin hands and fingers, but still delicate. A small diamond tiara was on top of her head, making her look like a very stern queen.
On the eastern wall was a portrait of Salazar Slytherin, just as big as Gryffindor's, except it was placed on a forest green wall. He looked taller than Godric, skinny and not as muscular. His eyes were pools of black with a hint of grey starbursts in them. His black-blue hair was also tied at the base of his neck. Slytherin's pale face had sharp features, a bigger nose than normal but not to the extent of Snape's, and a small black goatee. Like Snape, he had long, spidery fingers. He was wearing dark green and black robes with snakes embroidered throughout.
Turning around to the south wall, which was the wall that he entered through, he saw a yellow wall and Hufflepuff's portrait. To Harry, she looked like a mix between Professor Sprout and Mrs. Weasley. She had wavy blonde hair, plumper and the shortest one of the four. Her dark and light brown robes matched her warm brown eyes, and she had soft pink lips and chubby cheeks. Helga wore no shoes, reminding Harry of Luna Lovegood. A bright smile with dimples graced her features when she waved to Harry, exposing her short fingers.
There was an ornate fireplace and three slightly dusty leather couches and two plush chairs.
"Wow," Harry said, dumbly.
"This one seems to be dripping intelligence," came the sneer again.
"Hello, young lad. I am Godric Gryffindor, but you can call me God," Godric proudly said, ignoring the laughs of the female Hogwarts Founders, and Harry. Harry knew who all of them were just by looking at the portraits but didn't interrupt. How often does one get to talk to the Founder's, even if they were portraits? Hermione would freak if she knew.
"Just ignore that idiot. I am Helga Hufflepuff. I am so pleased to meet you, Mr. Potter. Godric, you have said that same line for over a thousand years; it is getting a tad old."
"How-how do you know my name? And please, call me Harry," he replied, cutting off any retort that 'God' would've said.
"How do we not know your name? We have overheard the Daily Prophet articles that everyone has read out loud in the hallways. Alas, you were destined for this. I do wish to meet this Hermione Granger that we have heard so much about three years previous," Rowena spoke up. Harry didn't know what to say. He noticed that she said 'destined for this' but it didn't quite sink in just yet.
"I still can't fathom how he, of all people, is 'The Chosen One'." Slytherin made quote gestures with his hands, "He's obviously too afraid."
"Silencio!" Harry yelled at Salazar, effectively shutting the damn portrait up. Harry smirked at the thought of getting his pensieve and showing that little memory to Snape. He could imagine the reaction already.
"Sweet relief!" Hufflepuff sighed.
"What is this room?" Harry asked.
"After the fight between Godric and Salazar about who to let into the school, Salazar built his little Chamber below the school. Then Godric decided to make one of his own, mainly to aggravate Salazar."
"I thought Slytherin's Chamber was a secret from you."
"Hardly; Rowena made the changing floor plan and the moving stairs. Nothing could be kept from her." Salazar said. Harry looked up at him, confused. "Oh, honestly. I helped make the castle. Did you really think your little spell would keep me silent?"
"We added some of our magic in there, as well. When you presently there, do you remember that massive statue of his face?" Helga asked.
"Yes, it looked like Medusa." Harry chuckled, remembering the huge, ugly statue.
"Helga and I made it for him, to his specifications," Rowena said as she rolled her eyes.
"Medusa? How dare you! First, you kill my beloved pet, and then you say my face looks like that of Medusa. You, Gryffindor's, are so rude!" A pause. "He does take after you, Gryffindor!"
"Like a good lad, then!" Godric yelled back.
"Anyway," Harry started, fully aware he was blushing. "Why did you show the room to me now and not earlier?" Godric, Helga, and Rowena laughed, while Salazar just rolled his eyes.
"Why now? It is actually your fault that you never noticed before hand. We have been trying to get you hither for years now, but you had the Philosopher's Stone first year, that damn Chamber second, and so on and so forth. You never noticed us before now," Godric answered. He pointedly ignored the, "it's not a 'damn' Chamber," from Slytherin.
"That panel takes you to the backmost row in the Restricted Section of the Library, and through that swinging door is an old kitchen. I know how often you and the red-head go down there. I thought I'd mention it to you so you wouldn't get caught anymore. You may want to ask Dobby the House Elf to help renovate the kitchen; it hasn't been used in quite a while," Rowena said as she pointed to the door and the darkened panel that Harry hadn't noticed before.
"Oh, thanks."
"I thought I should tell you before you become too interested in here… your peers are headed down to breakfast as we speak." Harry looked at his watched and slapped his forehead.
"Oh, Merlin. Thanks so much, Rowena!" Harry ran back to the dorms, changed, and headed to class.
-----
Ron and Hermione were sitting in Transfiguration when Harry came in late. As soon as he entered the door, Harry turned into a pocket watch. Hermione gasped and Ron snickered quietly, remembering the warning that McGonagall told him and Harry six years ago.
Harry spent half of class as a pocket watch. Hermione rolled her eyes at him when he said that it was the weirdest feeling to change. When the class was over, and Harry had extra assignments because he came in late, he caught Hermione's sleeve.
"Can you meet me in the common room at about eleven tonight? It's very important," he asked.
"The common room isn't the place to be discussing things like that. It's not private," she replied.
"I said meet; I never said we're staying there. Trust me, we won't get caught." He winked. Hermione rolled her eyes and walked away quickly. Harry smiled, knowing that she'd come down that night.
After lunch, Harry headed into the Founder's Room and asked Dobby if he would like to help him fix up a suitable kitchen after dinner.
Ron played Wizard's Chess alone, waiting for Harry to enter through the portrait hole. He arrived back a little later after lunch because he took a walk around the lake, thinking about the past few months. He wanted to talk now that he had calmed down and thought about his dad's death logically. Ron never spent a whole lot of time with his father, seeing as how the Weasley's had seven kids. Any time spent with either one of the parents was a grace of Merlin, himself.
He wanted to apologize to Harry for being a horrible friend. After fourth year, he swore to himself that he would always stand by Harry's side, no matter what happened, and get some control over his short fuse. He didn't think his dad would die in that span, though, especially under said circumstances. When he reflected upon his actions over the past few months, he realized that all of his complaining had driven his friends and family away. He knew that he was skating on thin ice with Seamus and Dean, and he missed Hermione's nagging and Harry's laughter.
He knew that his reaction to his dad's death was a bit over the top, but it was his father. Ron knew deep down that it wasn't Harry's fault, but it was so much easier to continue on like it was. Harry became his scapegoat and he only realized it last night as he sat awake in bed. He didn't want his dad's memory to be in vain. His dad was so much braver than he was, and he felt horrible knowing that even when he was dying, his dad didn't blame Harry. Ron just wasn't that strong or brave. Hell, spiders freaked him out still.
Ron sighed and resigned to talk to Harry while he had the courage.
However, Harry never showed up.
-----
During dinner, Ron noticed a few looks that Harry was throwing at him, almost pleading looks to talk to him, but Ron knew Harry wasn't going to force him to talk. It was bad enough that he waited for Harry earlier, only to get left out yet again when he finally decided to apologize. It was almost like that the friendship didn't mean anything to Harry. He felt stood up. The logical part of his brain kept screaming, 'He didn't know you were waiting for him,' but it still hurt that his best friend and his girlfriend still were leaving him out of stuff. Didn't he matter...even a little bit?
Harry looked over at Ron, who was stabbing his food a little more harshly than normal and looked to be in deep thought.
"Ron?" Harry said gently.
"What?" Ron snarled. The Gryffindors surrounding them stopped eating and looked at the impending fight; a few looked excited at the thought of a duel. Hermione looked between the two of them and decided to break it up before Ron started yelling at Harry in the middle of the Great Hall. Harry watched Hermione lead Ron out by the arm before turning back to his dinner alone.
He missed the camaraderie they used to have, but he understood Ron's anger towards him. He shouldn't have yelled about the cup. Even though Arthur said not to feel guilty, and that he needed to do it for the Order, Harry still felt horrible. He tore a family apart, and it wasn't just any family; it was the Weasley's: the family that accepted him when he was little and always offered him a place to stay over the summer, though he put them in constant danger.
Harry left dinner early and went up to the common room. As soon as he stepped through the portrait, he heard Ron's and Hermione's voices.
"You know damn well what this is about, Hermione. You're spending too much time with Harry! I don't even feel like I have a girlfriend anymore!" Ron yelled.
"You cannot regulate my time with my friends, Ronald Weasley. All you do is complain about school, eat, or kiss on me. I don't think you know HOW to be a boyfriend!" Hermione yelled back.
"How come you keep leaving with him during the weekends? I thought we were supposed to find those things together, but instead you're leaving me out!"
Harry choose that time to step out of the shadows. Ron paled and Hermione was extremely close to tears. Harry constructed a notice-me-not charm around them and turned to Ron.
"Ron, if you had been paying attention, we have been asking you to come with us. You were always around Dean and Seamus and we are not going to come out and say, 'Want to go to Godric's Hollow and work on the Horcruxes?' with possible Death Eaters in training around here! The walls have ears and you should know that by now." Harry knew that Ron hadn't thought about it like that as soon as Ron's ear tips turned red. "Look, you were-ARE my best friend and I wouldn't leave you out, but at the time, you haven't given us much choice. You can be mad at me all you want about your dad. Believe me, I feel horrible about it, too, but do NOT yell at Hermione, or say that we are purposing leaving you out."
Ron looked at the pair and turned around and immediately went up to his bed in the dorm.
"I think he feels like we ganged up on him," Harry said.
"I think so. Best let him cool off. What did you want to show me now or do we have to wait till eleven?"
Harry grabbed her hand and walked to the tapestry. He pulled it back and pushed her through the wall. Harry stepped through and laughed at her screams and her frozen posture.
"Harry James Potter! I cannot believe you did that to me! I could've broken my nose!" She screeched.
"But you didn't. Welcome!" Rowena greeted.
"Wha-what?" Hermione said dumbfounded. "Harry, where are we?"
"This is the Founder's Room. That's Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw, and over there, that's Salazar Slytherin."
He could hear the conversation between the Founders and Hermione so he slunk back in a chair and opened his box and searched for the twelfth letter.
To My Son Harry,
I'm glad you had a good year. I think I was a bit harsh on you when you came into my class. I just…
Seeing how skinny you were and the mission that Dumbledore has me on and a big mess of things. I can't believe I may have ruined our relationship before it even started.
I'm sorry, son.
I hope you had a good year. It seemed like you did. You were smiling and it just melted my heart each time you did. I wish I could've run to you before the sorting and hug you and tell you how much I've missed you and love you. I hate Dumbledore so much for keeping us apart, and I know I should've tried harder.
I'm not sure if I should be mad, or happy with you about you and your friends going after the stone. The father in me wants to yell at you for making me so scared, but hug you because you're ok. The Marauder in me wants to slap you on the back and say 'job well done'.
I'm so proud of you for making the Quidditch team. Minerva told me how your flying lessons went and I was so proud. I went to all of your games, even if you didn't know I was there. I about died when you swallowed the Snitch. Thank Merlin you coughed it up.
Harry, I know your mom is looking down on you with a huge smile on her face. No matter the staring or the rumors that surround you, just remember that you are a Potter and my son, and no one can take that away. I'm so proud of you, even if your adventures scare the life out of me.
Please be careful next year, and no more adventures!
Signed,
Your Father
Hermione looked over at Harry and noticed he was reading another letter.
"Hey," she walked over and sat next to him. "I can't believe you haven't figured out who it is yet."
"You know who my dad is?"
"Of course I do. I'm Hermione: The All-Knowing Muggle-born." She grinned.
"Tell me! It's my dad! I have a right to know!" Harry demanded.
"No. It's not my place to tell his secrets. Besides, I want to see the look on your face when, or if, he does." She growled the last part, more like a demand towards Snape.
"But 'Mione!" Harry pressed on. He had tried to read the last one yesterday and see if that held any explanations, but the paper was charmed so that he had to read the previous letter. What he didn't understand about the letters were the things like 'Please be careful next year, and no more adventures!' if his dad knew that he wouldn't get the letters till he was seventeen anyway. He shrugged and decided when he did find out who his father was, he'd ask then.
He heard Dobby fixing the kitchen up in the background and cringed at the possibility of Hermione hearing it. He had to think of something to distract her.
"Fine." He huffed and crossed his arms over his chest, silently loathing himself for lowering himself to acting like Malfoy.
"Aw, you look so cute like that!" She squealed and ruffled his hair. Harry growled and attempted to fix his hair back.
"Can I have one hint? Is it Remus?" His last attempt. Hermione was trying to think of a good hint that would confuse and annoy Harry, and said boy could see the wheels in her head turning. He had a huge Cheshire grin on his face when Hermione opened her mouth. She caught this out of the corner of her eye and decided on,
"Remus is not your father. That is your hint." Salazar smirked upon hearing Hermione's statement. "Well, I'm going to bed." She got up and was halfway across the room till she noticed that Harry wasn't following. "Aren't you coming?"
"No. I want to give Ron time to cool off. I was living up there while he was grieving for his dad. With him still blaming me for that and this row, I don't think I should be the first person he should see in the morning. I'll be fine."
"Good idea. Goodnight."
"Night." Harry said, thinking 'that was close.' He stood up and went to help Dobby finish the kitchen before going to sleep on one of the couches.
-----
Severus Snape went back to Godric's Hollow and sat down with an actual smile on his face. He poured a glass of firewhiskey and relaxed.
For once, he actually enjoyed a Death Eater meeting.
"What's got you so happy?" Lupin asked, coming around the corner into the lounge where Snape was sitting. He sat down in the chair next to Severus' and poured his own glass of alcohol.
"Death Eater meeting went pretty well." Snape looked at the wolf and noticed his panicked look. "No, I'm not joining. We killed Bellatrix, and it was quite liberating." Severus didn't explain anymore, but the odd smile and the glassy eyes look told Remus that he was basking in the memory.
Silence claimed the room for a few minutes until Remus broke it.
"Does he know?"
"To which he are you referring?" Snape answered.
"Your son."
"Not a clue." Snape snorted. "Miss Granger does though. Smart chit that one."
-----
A/N: My apologies for the late update. My beta and I had issues. I'm trying to set a update pattern because school is starting soon, so hopefully every Sunday or Monday, I'll try to update. No promises. I missed last week because my internet was messing up on me.
Not the most entertaining of chapters, I admit. Sorry if it's boring. :-D
The Blind Apprentice: There is nothing going on between Remus and Draco. I didn't think that I implied that there was anything going on. Remus is with Tonks. Draco is with his right hand. Sorry for the confusion.
I do not mean to offend anyone with the Godric/God thing. Based on how James was and the long running 'Sirius/Serious' joke, I just thought it was funny. Please don't flame me saying that I'm making fun of Christianity or waging war on Religion.
Thanks for the reviews! It really does help.
