Chapter 10 - Revelations

"I hope that where ever he is there's someone helping him." Tonks said and surprised them all. They knew how angry she had been about the way he had treated her.

"I don't know." Remus said clearly concerned.

"You know something, don't you?" Hermione asked.

"Maybe, but it isn't my place to tell you." he replied apologetically.

"We know he has someone who cares about him or even loves him." Ron stated.

"But why wouldn't she be able to help him with this," Hermione asked, she looked deep in thought and her eyes widened, "Oh shit!"

Remus glanced at her with a raised eyebrow.

"She has a few issues about it herself?" she whispered to him so that the others didn't grab it.

"Maybe." Remus replied.

Harry was sitting on his bed in Gryffindor Manor with tears rolling down his cheeks. It's been over a year but he still felt the pain of his godfather's death. It didn't hurt him too often but in moments like this, the reminders were too much.

Bella silently opened the door and stepped over to him.

Concerned, and disturbed, herself she sat down next to him while resting an arm around him.

"I'm sorry." she whispered.

"For what?" he asked quietly.

"For killing him." She answered, her usually cold eyes becoming moist.

He hugged her back, "I know that you're sorry about it, Bella. I meant it when I told you that I don't hold it against you. It was a serious fight and his death was an accident. It was just too much to hear that idiot accusing you. It wasn't anything you did. I love you and nothing will change that."

"Thank you, Drake." she said sincerely. She showed off a bit of her feelings by calling him by his special name, in honour of the marauders.

"Do you think that anyone else knows about us?" she asked after a while.

"I think Hermione suspects something now but that doesn't matter. She won't tell anyone." he said.

"Did you mean it when you said nothing matters to you anymore?" she asked concerned.

He looked at her and sighed "I don't know, Bella. You're my anchor, my friend, lover, the only one I really care for anymore. With the exception of you nothing else does matter. I know now that I love you. I'm afraid that it's not strong enough to keep me alive or sane for that matter. The burden is too much."

She snuggled against him, "I love you too, Harry. If there's anyone who's strong enough to deal with the bastard, then it's you and I will stand by your side, whatever you do."

"I know." he said and kissed her.

They didn't do anything passionate that evening. They simply went to bed early and snuggled against each other; trying to help each other over the pain they felt. But they both knew, despite their momentarily weakness, somebody was going to pay for it soon.

The following weeks nobody saw anything from Harry, at least no one from the Order. Instead there was an increase in the amount of ambushes on suspected Death Eaters. The attacks were bolder and more daring. They were no longer counter-attacks. Whoever was attacking was going after them in broad daylight while they were on their way to work or shopping. Every time a Death Eater was killed a Black owl was reported to be in the area.

Naturally, the order was looking for Harry again but they couldn't find him. Even if they had guessed that he was probably in his manor, nobody knew where it was.

So they concentrated on discerning the identity of the man who was out attacking the Death Eaters.

Bellatrix popped randomly in if only to taunt and tease the inhabitants of Grimmauld Place. Molly was more and more agitated about the woman but with Harry's threats she was forced to do nothing about it.

Remus was the only one to act civil towards Bella and that was just to see what Harry saw in her. Bella noticed his interest in her and toyed with him because of it. One day, the day before Harry's birthday, he cornered her in the drawing room. They were alone in the room but unbeknownst to them, Hermione spied at the door.

Nobody else was in the house at that point since most of the Order members were either at work or on mission. Ron and Ginny being the only other occupants of Grimmauld Place were in Diagon Alley working for the twins.

"Bellatrix, could we talk seriously for once?" he asked her.

"No." she answered and snickered. Even Hermione rolled her eyes outside the room.

"Fine. Could you answer me at least one question? I know, Harry has something against calling you insane. I want to know if you are in fact insane or if it is just an act."

She grinned, but to his surprise, she became serious shortly afterwards.

"I may not be sane, but who is?" she said and winked at him, "But I'm relatively sane and not as crazy as you think I am. I know that you worry about Harry but you don't need to. He's fine and can take care of himself."

"I know that. I just wish that incident with Ron had never happened."

"Wouldn't we all?" she asked quietly.

"How's he dealing with it? And how're you dealing with it? I could see that you were nearly as affected as he was."

Bella looked surprised at the werewolf and allowed herself a little smile which in turn surprised Remus.

"I can see what he sees in you, Bellatrix." Remus said sincerely, "If you would, umm, maybe wear a nice dress, some decent makeup, and wear that sincere smile, nobody would recognize you."

Bellatrix laughed, not in her usual wicked way for once but a true laugh, "Harry said the same. It was shortly before I hurt him because of it!" she said grinning, "He did make me wear a dress!"

"No, he didn't!" Remus said incredulously.

"Yes he did." she said with a scowl but then smiled, "He took me out for a dinner in a fancy restaurant. At the time we weren't even friends, but he didn't care about that. He saved me, he took me in and he ... I don't know, he simply bought me some clothes and took me for a dinner. He said he was too tired from his shopping to cook. Nobody has done anything like that for me." she added quietly.

Remus smiled, "That's just Harry. But I still don't understand how you two could end up with each other."

"Oh well. It started as teasing between the two of us. I was unconscious when he brought me to his house and he had to remove my robe because it was full of blood. When I woke up the next day, I couldn't clearly remember the night before. He teased me; he said that he was hurt that I couldn't remember our first night together. I was shocked and let me tell you that that doesn't happen very often. I looked underneath the sheets and saw that I was indeed in my underwear.

"I decided revenge is sweet and began to tease him back. We slept in the same room, his excuse of a bedroom, of course; so I naturally got a look at least on his developing upper body. I teased him about it but at the same time I found him very cute. I was aware, that he was only a boy at this time, gut nonetheless, he cared for me. You know what I liked the most?" she asked dreamingly.

He shook his head still intrigued by the story.

"He brushed my hair. Even though at the time it had little to do with affection. He said he simply liked it to care for somebody. I liked it, because nobody has ever done anything like it; not since Cissa got married. I think that was the point, when I started feeling something for him. The next day I agreed to teach him and I also took a witches oath to never betray his trust.

"He was hurt because he could not trust anyone. Even Sirius' death paled in comparison to the hurt that caused. His own friends, and people he once considered family, betrayed him. Dumbledore was still manipulating him and pulling the strings on everyone else but the betrayal struck him the hardest.

"I saw that he was in a nearly similar situation to me. Did you know that he was the one that freed me from my husband? It happened during the fight in Surrey. He still didn't know if he should hurt me or kill me. I told him that I had done most of my crimes because I was forced too and explained that I hated Rudolphus. I mean, he even stood thereby laughing, as his Death Eater friends raped me." she added ashamed, "But what did Harry do? He simply asked which one of them my husband was and killed him without hesitation."

"He did what?" Remus asked shocked.

"He didn't use the killing curse, he didn't even use a dark curse, but he did it and he did it for me, the woman who killed his godfather." She sighed.

"Anyway, I knew, I liked him but I wasn't sure how much. I never learned to love or even to like anybody. My whole life, until then, consisted of pain, mistrust, and hate. I was afraid because I realised, after nearly a month, that if I would ever give in to my feelings, he would be the only one who could truly hurt me. I didn't even know how he felt. I simply could never imagine that he would feel anything for me. We had some rows about why he even was helping me, a former Death Eater and a dark witch to the bone. He said it didn't matter to him, he said, he did it, because he could trust me and it was the right thing to do."

"It's a difficult situation." Remus agreed.

"It's more than that. Then his birthday came, but he intended to make it not his special day, but mine. Unbeknownst to me, he had arranged for the trial and freed me. He told the attorneys he would arrange their payment and then simply disapparated. Until then I hadn't thought about the money. Those two nearly famous wizards would charge a fortune. So I was stunned. When I apparated back to him, I was so happy and nearly in bliss... I simply kissed him. At first, he was shocked, I admit, I was too. Then he kissed back but after that I made a serious mistake.

"I made it sound as it was some kind of payment and he was hurt by that. He told me, that he didn't want to be kissed in that way; if there weren't any feelings behind it. That's when I realised, that he truly felt something for me. Again, I couldn't find any reason for that. We talked about it and about our feelings. We were both very insecure about it. In the end it was up to him. He decided to give it a try. I tell you, he had some serious convincing to do, to make it clear that he didn't care about my age, on the contrary..."

"... He wanted a mature woman who could deal with his problems." Remus finished the sentence quietly. "And a woman who could defend herself if worse would come to worse."

"Right."

"Let me tell you, you both are the most unlikely couple I would ever have imagined to come together. But well, it is how it is. I only have one question... Do you love him?"

She nodded without hesitation, "I do."

Remus smiled, "Well. I don't like the path that Harry has chosen. I don't like that he is learning the dark arts. But I can see that he isn't becoming evil or insane because of it. I think, after this talk, the same goes for you. I don't like his new cold attitude but maybe we have truly earned that behaviour."

She nodded, "You hurt him a lot and he decided that he is better off on his own. As a result, he's pushing you away. Maybe if he would only have to deal with you, he would open up a bit. It's his friends that he has problems with. They're too immature to understand why he's doing what he has to."

"I know. I may have problems with him learning the dark arts but it may help him against Voldemort, so I can accept that. It's necessary to be able to deal with the dark lord. Do you think that he has a better chance now?" Remus asked silently.

"Oh, you've only witnessed the tip of the iceberg, Remus. He's more powerful than you can imagine. I truly believe that he is more powerful than even the dark lord, but he still can't match his experience and his ruthlessness. He has learned a lot more then you think he has. Trust me on this."

Remus eyes widened and he nodded, "That could very well be possible... hmm..." he suddenly whispered, "You don't know by any chance an unregistered animagus with the form of a black eagle owl, do you?"

Her eyes widened ever so slightly. He knew and nodded, "That would explain many things."

She scrutinized him, "I trust you because Sirius trusted you, Remus. If you betray this trust, I will show you how dark I truly am. Why were you whispering?"

"Because Hermione's listening at the door."

Bellatrix groaned, "Come in Know-it-All," she said, and indeed, the bushy haired girl was coming in but she was sobbing.

"What's wrong with you?" Bellatrix snarled.

"I'm so sorry about what happened. I'm sorry that I wasn't there for Harry, and I'm sorry for what happened to you."

Bella raised an eyebrow, "Interesting. Well, I'll tell him that."

Hermione gathered her courage and looked the witch in the eyes, "I'm happy that he has found somebody to love and someone that loves him in return. May I ask you a question?"

Bella nodded.

"Why did he trust you after he was betrayed by... us?"

"Oh, there is a reason for that. I plead a witch's oath to him that I would never betray him, hurt him, or kill him." she said curtly.

Hermione's eyes widened, "A witch's oath? I've read about them. They require a light blood ritual and they're forbidden."

"You truly are as intelligent and studious as he claims you are." Bella grinned, "But don't you think that the word 'forbidden' means anything to me other than making it more interesting."

"No, not really."

"Same goes for Harry, now anyways." Bella said smirking.

"I can imagine. Please do me a favour, even if you think I am a worthless mudblood."

"Oh, but I don't think you are. Harry's positively influenced me. I don't mean it anymore, even if I use it to annoy you." she said grinning.

Hermione groaned, "Now I know that you both belong together. Please, look after him. Even if we won't be best friends anymore that doesn't mean I want him killed or hurt. I do care for him."

"Hmm, I can see that. Maybe I'll talk to him about you. But don't even think about telling anyone about all this, and that includes your red headed boyfriend. I meant when I said that I love Harry. Of course I'll look after him... and for him." she added with a wink to Remus.

His eyes widened, as he thought why there was an eagle owl seen before every attack. She was his scout. But how did she tell him about her observations?

Just then Dumbledore appeared with a pop, and he did not look very pleased. In fact he looked annoyed and determined.

Without even so much as a warning he drew his wand, pointed it towards Bellatrix, and muttered, "Incarcerous!"

Before she even had a chance to react she was bound by magical ropes and glaring at the headmaster.

"Now, you will tell me what you know about Harry's hiding place! I don't know how you two are involved but you seem to be here, whenever he is and he's the head of the Black family. Nobody knows anything but its obvious that you do. Tell me where he is!"

She snorted and, to Remus and Hermione's surprise, she closed her eyes and seemed to concentrate. After a few seconds she opened her eyes and snorted. "I won't say anything. But I will charge you with assault and kidnapping."

"You think that bothers me, do you? When I am through with you, I'll simply obliviate you!"

"I don't believe that the head of the Black's will be very pleased about that, even if he doesn't like me." Bella said coldly.

"I don't care." the old man responded amusedly.

"But I do! Flippendo!" Harry's chilling voice said from the doorway.

The old man was fast and erected a shield, but was surprised, as the curse shattered his shield and hit him in the stomach. Like Snape he was thrown roughly against a wall but he kept his consciousness. The shield had protected him, at least somewhat, from the impact.

With only a flick of his wand, Harry had freed Bellatrix of her ropes.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

She nodded and he nodded back while he put his wand away.

"Do what you want with him, Bellatrix. It was you that he attacked. If you think, he should be tortured or killed... well... I won't hold it against you, for this time. He got a warning and ignored it. Deal with him as you like."

"You have turned dark!" Dumbledore accused him.

Harry raised only an eyebrow and wanted to say something, but Bella was faster, and muttered "Sterepto!"

Dumbledore winced in pain. It was only a mild pain curse.

"Don't you dare accuse the head of the Black's of anything, you fool!" She hissed.

Dumbledore looked at her with wide eyes that changed to a determined look before raising his wand.

But this time she was ready and only muttered, "Expelliarmus forte!"

Dumbledore was, again, thrown into the wall as the overpowered disarming spell hit him.

His wand flew over to Bellatrix who caught it with a smirk. The hard and fast training sessions with Harry had definitely improved even her performance.

Harry grinned, "You have the nerve to accuse me of turning dark? Weren't you the one who just attacked an innocent? I've never done such a thing and you're calling me dark."

Dumbledore growled. "Where have you been?" he asked after he calmed himself down and got up.

"That's not your concern."

"Harry!"

"It's Mr. Potter to you."

Dumbledore's eyes narrowed, "As you wish. But I still have to know."

"Why? You aren't my guardian or even a relative. So sod off!" Harry calmly stated.

"It's too dangerous!" Dumbledore insisted.

"Even if I were in danger it still is not your concern!" Harry stated.

"I only want to protect you!"

"I'm going to say this for the last time, KEEP YOUR NOSE OUT OF MY BUSINESS, DUMBLEDORE!" Harry roared before turning to Bellatrix, "Well? What are you waiting for?"

Bellatrix smirked and flicked her wand. She bound him the same way she had been bound by him. After that she calmly walked over to the fireplace and called the aurors.

It was a visibly irritated Kingsley Shacklebolt, accompanied by an unknown auror of about the same age, which answered the call.

"What's...? ALBUS!"

But before he even could free the old mage, Harry stopped him.

"Hold it!" Harry said coldly, "He attacked an innocent witch. I wish to charge him with assault, attempted kidnapping, blackmail, and threatened obliviate her in front of witnesses to. Ah yes, and be sure to add trespassing! He was not invited into this home and simply apparated in!"

"What? Surely you're joking!" Shacklebolt said.

"Oh, I assure you, I do mean it!" Harry said with a cold glare, "Take him into custody or the press will print tomorrow that you are not taking your job seriously and are, in fact, not even working for the ministry."

The other auror didn't hesitate and took a hold on Dumbledore. Kingsley shot an accusing glare at Harry which only caused him to smirk, "Don't look at me like that. It is not my fault that he attacked a member of my family. As the head of my family I have to protect her even if I don't particularly enjoy her company."

Shacklebolt sighed and nodded. They left and took Dumbledore, and his wand with, them.

Once they were alone Harry turned back to Bella and he did not appear very pleased.

The two others were shocked. Now that they both knew of the relationship, they were somewhat surprised to see the anger in Harry's eyes. Lovers didn't look at each other like that.

"What now," Bella asked in a manner that showed her annoyance. She knew that look. With his new confidence came a new form of criticism along with it. Nobody had ever dared to correct her before, but it was something that Harry had no qualms about.

If he thought she had done something wrong, he told her so in a really disappointed and accusing manor. She knew he only did it because he wanted to know that she could look after herself, but it still enraged her. The most annoying thing was that he did, in fact, find some quite serious mistakes when she was duelling or dealing with problems. It was only with that criticism that she had truly learned to improve her capabilities.

Harry looked around and probed Hermione and Remus with his legilimency.

Then he looked at Bella accusingly, "You slipped! I have no problem with you telling Moony, but it was foolish to forget to put up privacy charms."

She growled, but nodded. He was right, again.

"And how could you let such an old fool bind you? He may be more powerful but you're faster than him. You weren't alert! You should know, that he could have apparated in at any time!"

She narrowed her eyes at him. She didn't have enough time to react but he was right nonetheless. She had let her defences down.

"Are you finished?" she asked annoyed. He may have been right but she still hated to get reprimanded, especially in front of witnesses.

"Not quite!" Harry said and turned to Remus, "I trust you to protect my secret! You're too trusting! Keep up your Occlumency shields! Dumbledore may be an ass but he's no fool. He'll test you next time he meets you."

Then he turned around to Hermione, "Your next research project will be Occlumency. If you even show a hint that you know something about me and Bellatrix then you'll wish you never had the ears to eavesdrop with!"

Hermione blanched but nodded.

Then Harry smiled, went over to Bellatrix, sat down and pulled her into his lap where he kissed her passionately.

Hermione gasped and Remus groaned.

Without even looking up or saying something, Harry flicked his wand and locked the door and put up privacy charms.

"He's worse than Moody. Constant vigilance!" Remus grinned.

Hermione snickered but then said, "Well, in his case it's necessary."

"STOP IT ALREADY!" Remus shouted at the two lovebirds.

Harry and Bellatrix separated and grinned towards Hermione, "May I introduce you to the love of my live? Bella, Hermione, Hermione Bella."

"I never thought I'd say this to a dark witch, especially you, but it's nice to meet you." Hermione said with a grin.

"Touché." Bellatrix snickered, "Well, I think the more I get to know you, the more my respect of you grows. But you still betrayed my Harry!" she added more seriously.

Hermione nodded understandingly.

"Well, now she has the opportunity to prove herself to me again." Harry stated with an honest smile.

Hermione was happy; it was the first time this year that he had smiled to her, and nodded eagerly.

"Well, can you help me learn to shield my mind?"

"No, I think Bella is better suited. I don't have enough time." Harry said, "And when she isn't available, Remus can help you."

Hermione looked uncertainly at the dark witch while Bella just clapped her hands and grinned, "Wicked. Now I can find out for myself if you're as brilliant as Harry keeps telling me. He claims you're as studious as I am."

Hermione's eyes widened as she recalled what she knew about Bellatrix Black. She was said to be highly intelligent and allegedly had a vast knowledge about nearly everything but mostly about the darkest arts.

"Oh shit!" she groaned.

Remus grinned, "A study session between the two of you would be fun to watch, Hermione against Bellatrix. You know, in the old days as we were going to school, young Bella was a know-it-all worse than you ever were. She could keep up with us in most classes even if she was years younger than us."

Remus was hit with a tickling curse combined with a hair colouring curse from Bellatrix who had a stern look, "Don't call me that!"

Harry laughed and Hermione joined him after a few seconds.

Dumbledore's imprisonment caused an uproar in the press, especially since it was, the Hero of the Wizarding World, Harry Potter who had him imprisoned. Naturally, Dumbledore had been set free after a trial before the whole Wizengamot. They weighed the charges, which weren't really evil crimes, against his many achievements. He had to pay a fine to Bellatrix Black after making a public apology to her. Rita Skeeter had a field day with that, especially since Harry, for once, gave her an exclusive interview.

Dumbledore was, furthermore, stripped of his title as Supreme Mugwump of the Wizengamot since, with this crime in his file; he wasn't suited for the position anymore. Fudge was happy on one hand because Dumbledore was publicly punished, on the other hand, it was Harry who was responsible for it, and that didn't suit the minister very much. He had been on the receiving end of Harry's comments in his interview just as much as Dumbledore had been. Harry's interview sparked a massive public outcry since he had claimed that both Dumbledore and Fudge were indirectly helping Lord Voldemort through their inaction.

It was a shame, that Harry was the head of the Blacks but Remus the owner of Grimmauld Place. Remus was still too much under Dumbledore's influence, and as such, the meetings continued in the house.

Naturally Harry wasn't allowed into the meetings and didn't get any information from anyone, but that didn't disturb him. He had Bella. She was out scouting the known meeting places in her owl form. As the meetings happened usually during the night, her black feathers were the perfect disguise.

If she caught some Death Eaters on her flights, she would send an emotional impulse to Harry. He would find her in a matter of seconds using his dark teleportation. This special form of wizard-transportation could only be achieved by the most powerful dark wizards and it enabled him, to avoid all anti-apparition or anti-portkey wards.

The reason for the need of a powerful dark wizard was simple; the transport took a shortcut through the underworld. If the wizard wasn't strong enough, he would get stuck in the underworld and join the tormented souls in Hell. He would physically die, but in his studies he had found out, that every wizard who mastered necromancy was able to perform the teleportation, so he had learned it too. It had one disadvantage though; it was detectable with simple dark magic detectors. However, this wasn't a major problem as the wizards he hunted wouldn't use such devices since they used dark magic themselves. One of the main advantages, besides the avoidance of any wards was that he could take up to two people with him, even if it wasn't a nice experience for any light wizard.

But he didn't care anymore about that. If they didn't disturb any meetings, they hunted the known Death Eater's in their homes or at their work and killed them mercilessly and always avoided leaving any traces.

They had thought about creating their own mark, but decided against it. They didn't want to form an organization or get famous. They only wanted to get this bloody war over with and furthermore didn't want to be hunted by the ministry. Their methods weren't exactly 'approved' by the ministry.

AN: Thank you very much for your reviews. Sorry for the delay, but I did forget that I had already chapter ten from my helpful beta. I know, I'm crazy but shit hapens. Anyways... that was the tenth chapter. The next comes as soon as I get the next chapter from my beta.

Le diablo blanc2: No, he won't get any new friends. He is now trusting Bella and nobody else. He will get better with his old friends but it will not be the same as earlier. He shields himself from new friends because he doesn't want anyone close.

Servant of the almighty Kyubi: Well, I never read anything about Voldy a Necro in any of the original books. And even if he would be... in my story he is not. Here is only one Necro and that is Harry! You know... the author is always right ;-)

Dragon Sword Master: Why should I make Bella younger? Witches don't age as fast as normal humans. Besides Harry sees the whole person not only the looks. And finally, in my story Bella is nice enough.

latin schola: Well, thank you for your help. I'm no pro with latin. For now I will let it be. That are only spells. It isn't really important. But thank you anyway.

Lu Ling Qi: Well, there is the Story 'The redemption of the Black sisters' but it wasn't finished. I don't know when it is last updates but it was really promising.

DJ Rodriguez: Well... I know (grin)