Disclaimer: This is a work of fanfiction based on the Harry Potter Universe. All recognizable characters, plots, and settings are the exclusive property of Joanne Kathleen Rowling.

I make no claims to ownership, nor am I making any profit.

Type:6th Year AU Story. It involves bashing and the complete revamp of morality and ethics as compared to the canon universe.

Pairings: Harry Potter/Bellatrix Black

Author's Notes: I'll be taking a lot of liberty with some canon knowledge of events. Specific facts have been liberally changed to facilitate the plot of the story better. This story has elements of darker themes, such as murder and torture. So reader discretion is recommended.

Special thanks to AJAvenger01 and Madness Immortality & Magic for being the betas for the chapter.

Sortes Qui Facit is another story of mine. Feel free to check it out.

I also have a Discord Server where I talk more about the story and updates. It's a new server, but I think we can make the community grow.

The link for the server is in my profile.

Dulce Periculum

by

Ares Alexander Peverell

Chapter 2- Deadly Foes and Demonic Prisons

Azkaban Island

North Sea

15th of July

Circa 1996

Harry Potter turned in his drowsiness, only to find that he was unable to move. His shoulders were aching, and it appeared he was being used as a pillow. He groggily opened his eyes and shifted a little, only to get a mouthful of hair. Moving to have a better look at the person lounging over him, he saw raven locks, which were filthy and matted. The woman had her neck buried in his shoulder with her entire body was lying over his own. Her chest was pressed against his own in a very compromising position. Harry internally flushed.

He cursed his fates. His body was in pain, and he couldn't even muster enough strength to settle in a comfortable position. It was clear no one had thought to give him medical attention. Gently lowering the women aside, he hobbled towards and sat beside the window.

Harry gave a weak sigh as the memories rushed into his mind. The betrayal of his friends had hit him hard. He had waited for days for a trial, but that flicker of hope had been swiftly extinguished when his friends had turned their backs on him. His trial had been all but a sham, and he had been declared guilty and sent here. The dementors had ensured that he had passed out as soon as he stepped onto the island.

[DOM Battle Scene]

A jet of green light rushed towards Harry, but the animated statue leapt to the side and took the curse instead. He watched, stunned, as Dumbledore entered the duel. The air was saturated with magic, and both wizards practically oozed their aura around them. Voldemort's dark, oppressive, and suffocating, and Dumbledore's smooth and flexible. Harry understood why was the old wizard so feared.

The two stared each other down. Voldemort started the duel with a swift Killing Curse, and the floor around Dumbledore came alive to block the spell. Dumbledore then conjured huge spikes out of thin air and sent them towards his opponent.

Voldemort disintegrated the spikes with a Gladius Magnus spell and fired a bolt of blue lightning, only for the old headmaster to counter it with a purplish-red blast. The two collided in a show of pure power and magic, with neither side gaining dominance.

Voldemort overcame the spell and, in three swift strokes of his wand, conjured a bastardized version of Fiendfyre. The flaming basilisk tried to engulf the other man, only for Dumbledore to vanquish the snake, and proceed to send his own flames to Voldemort, who used an overpowered Ventus Vespiqus to create a circular flow of air around him, shielding himself. Dumbledore muttered a strange incantation, producing a silver spell which forced Voldemort to conjure an Imprimis Shield out of thin air. But the hastily erected shield lost a large chunk when the magic struck it with a gong-like sound. Dumbledore sent an Aqua Erecto to surround Voldemort in a sphere of water. He had the victory for a few moments until the Dark Lord split the water sphere and cast it to the floor.

A complicated wand movement from Voldemort compelled all the shadows to rush towards him. In retaliation, Dumbledore cast a complicated runic spell that created a shining golden bubble to surround him. The shadows barely caused any visible damage to the shield. The magic was mostly reflected back off the sphere, leaving widespread destruction in its wake.

Riddle then expertly summoned all the broken glass pieces with a derivation of Accio Charm and banished it towards his adversary, who expertly twisted his wand in a horizontal, semicircular manner. A wave of orangish-blue spell spread across a large area like mist, meeting the glass pieces and pulverizing them into dust. Harry recognized it as an Adflicto Implodus spell.

Harry's mind felt clearer than ever. He could recall the entire battle in perfect details, and he instinctively knew that he could cast all those spells with perfection. But the 'how' part of the equation simply escaped his grasp. He tried to focus on what was wrong with him, and after several minutes, the answer came to his mind — Horcruxes.

He saw several flashes of memories that were not his own. A black diary, a ring with a stone, a locket of some sort, and a golden cup. As the memories trickled into his consciousness, the life of someone else flashed before his eyes. It was hardly a few minutes for Harry, but in truth, it was twenty-five years, twenty-five years from the eyes of one Tom Marvolo Riddle.

When Tom Riddle had created his Horcruxes, his main dilemma was that if anything happened to his soul, or it became unable to revive or resurrect or if someone managed to trap him, he could do nothing. Horcruxes only anchored a soul to the living realm. They could not be used to resurrect the original soul. Only the original soul piece had that ability.

No one said that they were the ideal method of immortality.

To bypass this weakness, Tom Riddle started feeding his memories to his Diary soul-piece to create a Horcrux that could be used to resurrect a part of him. And the best part was that it would be free of Voldemort's taint since he had only added the memories of his twenty-five years old self.

However, the piece would still achieve the intended purpose of helping the main soul and being loyal to it. And even it defected to him, its ability and knowledge would pale in comparison to the main piece.

However, when Harry had destroyed the Diary with the basilisk, two things had happened. Firstly, his blood mixed with the venom had entered the diary. It acted as a sacrificial ritual and with a horcrux already in Harry's head, the essence (memories and knowledge) all got imprinted onto the secondary soul-shard.

This raises the question of why didn't it immediately activate and get absorbed. The answer was that Lily's sacrificial magic helped combat the soul shard's possession attempts. However, the magic was not enough, so Harry's magic had to act as a Legilimency permanently to negate the Horcrux's possession. The diary essence had joined the horcrux since its magic was similar to that of the diary. And thus the blood protection and Harry's magic considered the essence to be a part of the soul instead of just harmless components.

(A firearm detector would detect even an empty and harmless gun.)

However, when Voldemort possessed Harry in DOM, he inadvertently took the part of his soul. However, the essence was left behind, being useless as compared to a soul. Harry's soul benefitted it. Giving him the knowledge, skill and memories of a twenty-five-year-old Tom Riddle.

This is what gave him all the knowledge, both light and dark along with Voldemort's prodigious skill in the mind arts. They filled the blanks and amplified the already existing ones to a new level. Including his particular affinity for the Killing Curse.

(A/N-Consider Harry as being able to match most wizards in power and skill. This doesn't mean that he can defeat Voldemort or Dumbledore. Even the inner circle of both the wizards would give him trouble. But he would be able to match them and even manage to hold the respective lords in a battle. However, he would eventually fall. )

"Oh Tom!" came a weak murmur. "What have you done? What did this world ever do for you? You were right. We are similar in more than one way," Harry said, tears falling from his eyes. Living someone's life from your very own eyes really put perspective on some things.

It was always that Dumbledore and Gryffindors were good, and Voldemort and Slytherins were terrible. The understanding was good; it was easy. He never expected to sympathize with the man that had made him an orphan, that took everything he had, the one responsible for what he had become.

"There are strange likenesses between us, Harry Potter. Even you must have noticed. Both half-bloods, orphans, raised by Muggles. Probably the only two Parselmouths to come to Hogwarts since the great Slytherin himself. We even look something alike." Riddle's words inside the Chamber of Secrets rang in his ears.

He had had enough. Why couldn't life just leave him alone? First his parents, then being a freak for the first ten years of his life. Hogwarts had been a hope, a new start for him. It was not what he expected it to be. Fighting for his life against elements that could destroy him a thousand times over, and now even Sirius was dead. And now, he was just as similar to his killer of his parents.

Harry openly sobbed. He cried for everything he'd lost. And they were never coming back. He was left betrayed and broken, just another puppet with its string broken, the only difference being that he was alive. He had no family, no friends. All alone in a cold, cruel world that wanted him as a puppet. One way or the other.

"Sirius, SIRIUS- Come back," he screamed, trying to claw out the walls and-

He was enveloped in a fierce hug by the raven-haired woman. The soft hands gently circled his back as sweet nothings were murmured into his ears.

Harry held her tightly. He didn't care whoever it was. He needed her, the comfort and the feeling of not being alone.

"Thank you, I needed that."

Both of them separated. Harry observed those violet globes with recognition. She quickly averted her eyes and sighed before looking at the ground when she realized that he had identified her.

"Bellatrix Lestrange," the words were spoken with utmost calm. There was no malice or accusation in them. He then looked at the ground and sighed, it was his luck to end up here.

Bellatrix raised her head; violet eyes met killing curse green ones.

"Black. Bellatrix Black. I'm no longer a Lestrange after you killed my husband."

"Why are you here, Bellatrix Black? I recall that you were Voldemort's right-hand women. I doubt he would let you rot here."

"Because I never willingly followed V-V-Voldemort. My father sold me to the Lestranges as loyal cattle to be bred and follow her master," Bellatrix snarled with pain and grief in her eyes. "The marriage contract didn't allow me to go against him." She shivered in remembrance.

"And so they tortured you and left you here, didn't they?" came the sympathetic reply. Harry now knew how vindictive Tom could be towards those who betrayed him.

Bellatrix snorted. "They did a lot more than that," She said, showing off the various bruises and burns on her body.

Harry sympathized with her. They were both manipulated and thrown away when they were of no use.

"I didn't want to kill Sirius. Trust me," she pleaded. The demeanour was so weak and vulnerable that Harry had a sudden urge to comfort her. But he had to make sure that it was not some elaborate plot to kill him. His trust was at an all-time low.

Putting his newly acquired skill in the mind arts to test, he entered her mind. Encountering no resistance and sensing that she was truthful, he nodded to her.

"I know. Stunners don't kill. It was not your fault. Besides, you weren't in control. And you already have suffered enough I believe. Both from my hands and those of Voldemort's. Believe me, If you had used any other spell, the Crucio would've been the least of your worries."

Bellatrix flinched in remembrance. Nodding her head slowly, she hugged her knees and shivered slightly.

They sat in silence for some time, pondering their thoughts.

"Why are you here, Potter? Dumbledore would've never let that happen. And minors cannot be sentenced to Azkaban, let alone an Heir to an Ancient and Noble House such as Potter."

"Never had a trial. I was imprisoned in the ministry cells, and they chucked me without a trial. Even my friends betrayed me. Just like Sirius." came a bitter chuckle.

"You know, Voldemort told me that we were pretty similar. Dumbledore said that they were just coincidences. Now though, they don't look like mere , half-bloods, parselmouths, hated by muggles. It almost seems… fated.

"But the prophecy was destroyed in the battle. He never got his hands on them." Bella spoke, fearing what was to come.

"Dumbledore knew all of this. There's no way a wizard of his calibre didn't know what Tom could've done."

"Was he raising me like a pig for slaughter, to sacrifice, whenever it was appropriate. Was this the purpose of keeping me alive? One that could be sacrificed at the opportune moment to ensure victory against the Death Eaters and their master." came the answer that Bellatrix had been dreading.

He shakily stood up and faced the window. The stormy waters were the only thing visible for miles. A hand on his shoulder interrupted his deliberations. Clenching his fists, and with a fire burning in his eyes, he turned and met the visage of the most feared women in Britain.

"You're not alone in this, Potter. Azkaban won't be able to hold you for long. Please, take me with you. I will do whatever you want me to do. I swear that I would never betray you."

Various scenarios raced through Harry's mind. He needed allies, people he could rely upon without question. Those that could fight in this war, or help him in other ways.

"Very well, Black, But in exchange, you'll have to teach me all you know about magic, and keep the part of your deal." Bellatrix nodded vigorously. "And also call me Harry."

"I agree with your demands. As I say it, so mote it be." A flash of light flared in front of Bellatrix.

Harry looked at her with wide eyes. "Do you know what you have just done? I could just leave you here, and you would have no choice."

"I don't regret it. We'll start tomorrow. Besides, I have no option anyways. "

Azkaban Island

North Sea

31st of July

Circa 1996

It had been fifteen days since Harry had made his alliance with the now Bellatrix Black. True to her word, she had been a treasure trove of knowledge for him regarding the customs and traditions of the Wizarding world. Being raised as a pureblood and a Black, she had been taught a lot of things that muggle-borns or half-bloods could never hope to learn themselves.

He paid particular emphasis on his Occlumency, something which the Blacks were masters of. He later learned that the Black family magic may be powerful, but it required strict discipline in the defensive side of the mind arts to master. Bellatrix had all but declared him a prodigy in Legilimency when he had managed to break her defences on the ninth day of their practice. He assumed it as the result of holding the horcrux at bay for fifteen years.

Still, personal tutoring from such a skilled witch was invaluable to him. And with the occlumency practises, he also had to dedicate almost five hours every day to separate the memories of Riddle from his consciousness and store them in a separate folder. The first two days of dementor exposure had been so terrible that Bellatrix had to comfort him all night long.

The dementors took extra joy in roaming the outside of the cells. Bellatrix had told him that it was because they had more bad memories than most. He had to agree. One lifetime was enough, he carried the memories of two lifetimes. Eventually, he had managed to reduce the presence they had by meditating whenever they arrived. After Bellatrix had told him more about his grandparents, he had been extremely determined to do everything to make them proud. He may be down, but he was certainly not beaten,

Some days it had been extremely awful, but they had persevered. He was Harry James Potter, defeater of basilisks and dragons, vanquisher of Voldemort and the lone survivor of the Killing Curse. These dementors were merely an annoyance. He had bested a hundred of them with a single Patronus in his third year. He was used to his life turning upside down.

Harry sighed. It was his sixteenth birthday. While he never had many expectations for his birthday, today was the day they had decided to escape from Azkaban. He prayed to whatever deity there was for the success of his plan.

"Wake up Bella." he shook the sleeping women. The witch snuggled even closer to him and mumbled something incoherently in her sleep.

This had been a recent development. The nightmares plaguing their dreams didn't help either. They both slept better in each other's embrace. It may sound as awkward, but they both were used to it. Sharing a cell in prison ensured that there was no privacy between them and secretly Harry didn't mind sleeping with her.

(A/N- Get your mind out of the gutters. We're not talking about sexual stuff here.)

Time Skip- 1 hour.

Both Harry and Bella were reviewing their plan for freedom. While it had been reviewed several times, even a simple mistake could prove fatal.

"Bella, are you sure that you can hold your animagus form for that long. Even Sirius had not been completely immune to their effects in his dog form. If you're caught, we won't have a second chance." Harry looked at her questioningly.

"Honestly Harry, I have spent the entire week practising the form. I am sure I'd be able to hold the dementors for some time," she assured him.

Their plan was quite simple. Since Bellatrix was a cat animagus, she could easily slip through the bars of the cell. Since the prison had a warden, they were hopeful that it would have at least something of use. Besides, all the wands of the prisoners were stored there, so all they needed was a wand.

While all this could've been achieved anytime, the security patrols were done by a mixture of rookie Aurors and the seasoned ones. Most dementors would be kept at bay by the senior aurors to "help" the rookies.

Harry snorted. The arrogance and stupidity of the politicians never ceased to amaze him. He wouldn't be surprised that Sirius had the same escape plan as this, albeit in a more Gryffindorish way. Even the Aurors were in the pocket of Death Eaters, even if they didn't know it themselves.

"Go then. The dementor rounds would start in an hour. Try to return before the dementors arrive here." he instructed her.

She quickly turned into a black-furred cat. After receiving a good scratch from Harry, she easily slipped beyond the barriers into the murky darkness of Azkaban.

[Bellatrix's POV]

In her cat form, Bellatrix almost blended with the shadows of Azkaban. The prison was always shrouded in darkness, no matter the time of the day. She expertly sprinted across several corridors before reaching the main compound of the prison. It was the central area of the fortress and connected the entire sections of the prison. Bella had learned as much during her last 'rescue' from the prison.

Avoiding three dementors guarding the way, she silently passed underneath the fourth and prowled across the corridor. After taking a left to avoid two Aurors that were patrolling the place, she eventually arrived at a clean looking area. The cat's olfactory senses indicated the smell of several humans.

The first two rooms in that wing were empty. The third was some sort of kitchen filled with various food items. She quickly changed into her original form, nicked some frozen and shrunk packets of food. After taking enough for two people, she turned back and exited the room.

Her sensitive hearing picked the voice of three people nearby. Cautiously, she snooped into what appeared to be a dorm for the Aurors.

Avoiding them had been a challenge, but she had been able to blend into the shadows and pass without attracting attention. Quickly arriving at a door labelled 'Warden's Office' she looked around ways to open the damn door. After noticing what appeared to be a small window, she quickly passed through the window and entered the office of the Azkaban warden.

The office was empty. However, it looked to be in perfect condition and had various artefacts and cluttered items on its shelves. Even after several minutes of looking around, she was unable to view any of the prisoner's belongings.

Finally. Bellatrix sighed in relief after finding a box labelled 'WANDS'. She picked the trunk and after several tries, managed to find two wands suitable for her. They merely produced some green sparks but they were usable. She hastily added some different wands to her robe after adding an expansion charm to her pocket. It took her four attempts before she finally succeeded.

The sound of footsteps made Bellatrix jump in surprise. She returned the room to its previous state with a flick of her wand and transformed back into a cat.

Exiting the office, she made her way towards the prison cell. The wand with her made her feel even more sure of their success.

While returning, she saw a young woman, holding a map and looking lost.

She stopped and contemplated her choices. While she could easily get past the Aurors, she wasn't knowledgeable of the prison beyond the path she had just travelled.

Making her decision, she stealthily transformed back, cast a silencing and invisibility charm. Using the oldest trick in the book, she banished a stone in the direction of the Auror.

When the auror arrived and saw nothing, she complained about creepy places and scary demons. However, she made the mistake of lowering her guard.

Bellatrix struck. A stunning spell knocked out the Auror. Taking the map and the wand, she made her invisible, silenced her and left her tied. The spells would wear out after around twelve hours, giving them plenty of time.

She added the items to her pocket, and a black cat continued towards her destination.

She arrived without any dodging or hiding this time. The path was entirely devoid of any guards and even the dementors were absent.

She reached her destination before the time limit was up. The first part of their plan was complete.

[Harry's POV]

It had been thirty minutes since Bellatrix's departure. For Harry, it had been hours. Hours of worry and the various possibilities of things getting fucked up.

He almost clapped in happiness when he saw the cat animagus return.

"Seeing your happiness, I assume you have been successful," he questioned.

"Of course. I'm a Black. We never fail." Bellatrix retorted, chin high and with an arrogant air while trying to look down at him.

After sharing a look, they couldn't help themselves and broke down laughing.

After a quick moment of amusement, the pair almost inhaled the food that they had. Months of surviving on tasteless gruel made the frozen food equivalent to a banquet.

After some time, Harry tried to test the wands in his hands. However, much to his dismay and frustration, most of hardly produced a spark at all. After what felt like an eternity, he finally found a wand that fit him well.

Size- 14 inches

Wood- Blackthorn

Core- Dragon Heartstring

Owner- Sirius Orion Black

Harry clenched the wand tightly in his hands and gently caressed it. It was the wand that belonged to his godfather. It reminded him that he was still watching him even from beyond the veil. He suddenly felt a lot more powerful, as if molten lava was running through his veins. Had he looked in the mirror, he would've been met by glowing green eyes of his own. He tied the mask to his face. It was time to face the music.

"Harry, we have to go. The dementors would be arriving any minute." Bella's voice snapped him out of his stupor. Picking a second wand, which had produced some green sparks, he approached the cell door.

"Bella, memorize the layout carefully," he gestured to the map, "I will break the enchantments on the cell. The alarm spell can only be disabled for seven minutes. We have to act fast."

Murphy's law states that if something can go wrong, it will go wrong. It was here that everything went wrong for the duo. A huge alarm blared to life.

"Shit, shit, Morgana's bloody tits." cursed Bellatrix.

"We don't have much time, Bella. I'd have to brute force the enchantments and wards. Stand back."

Not looking to check whether his instructions were followed, he mustered all the hatred and rage and intoned.

"Avada Kedavra"

(A/N- The theory behind this will be posted on my discord server. This is to ensure that everything is provided in a single place, and it's not to promote my server. Hehe:) )

The killing curse struck the lock of the prison door. With a backlash of magic, the magic protecting it came crashing down.

"Appere Cincinno"

The cell door burst open.

Not a moment later, the duo was running through the passageways of Azkaban. Since it used to be a castle before it became a prison, it had a lot of passageways and shortcuts for them to take. They were extremely reliant on the map.

They skid to a halt when they observed a group of Aurors marching towards them. His partner had stunned two of them before they could even fire a spell. She quickly engaged three of them and her superiority was apparent over them.

Casting a silencing ward, Harry immediately rolled to his left, avoiding three stunners coming his way. Ignoring his protesting muscles, he immediately threw a shockwave spell, forcing his opponents to dive to avoid the spell. One auror was forced to hit the wall, effectively knocked himself out.

Pressing his advantages, Harry shielded against two Confringo sent his way. The guards were not expecting him to shield the spells. He immediately went to offence.

"Pierre Scutus, Stupificus Regio." roared Harry.

A purplish-black wave of magic shot out of the blackthorn wand and destroyed the shields. It was followed by a jet of red light that burst in front of the two guards, stunning them in one hit.

He looked for Bellatrix, only to find her battling a single auror. He was somehow competent(a first, Harry noted). Harry shot a stunner at his back. The auror tried to dodge only to be hit by a dark stunner from Bellatrix.

They momentarily captured their breaths and started running together. Thankfully, they encountered no tough resistance. A couple of Aurors had tried, but they had been instantly beaten by the unstoppable duo.

After beating a duo of Aurors, the pair finally arrived at the main entrance.

Before they could move any further, a wall of flames blocked the path to their freedom. Turning left they saw two figures stopping their escape. Harry snarled in frustration, a similar expression mirrored on Bella's face.

Standing against the duo was none other than Nymphadora Tonks and Kingsley Shacklebolt, wand ready and a spell charged on the tips of their wand.

Borrowing a trick from Riddle's memories, Harry slowed his perception of time and went through all the scenarios in his mind. They were at a disadvantage. He had seen both of them fight. Kingsley could go toe to toe with any member of Voldemort's inner circle and Tonks was no slouch either. She had been personally taught by Moody after all.

"Drop your wands, and you won't be harmed." thundered Kingsley.

Pretending to slowly lower his wand, he-

Ending on a cliffhanger. How evil of me. (Chilling Demonic laughter in the background) xD

So this was the second chapter guys. I know that my writing style lacks the finesse and expertise of seasoned writers, but even your limited comments and constructive comments have been a huge inspiration for me.

As for the update schedule, Dulce Periculum will be posted every Tuesday at noon GMT. My other story SQF would be updated at the same time but on Thursdays.

This delay was the result of my friend almost dying, and I had been an emotional mess. I did a lot of stupid things these past days, but have finally found the passion to write again. All thanks for your love and support.

My discord server is always open for you all. I will also be posting story details there which cannot be plausible for me to add in the chapters due to certain limitations.

Comment Replies

Aegwyne-Thanks a lot. I'll strive my best not to disappoint you.