Disclaimer: This is a work of fanfiction based on the Harry Potter Universe. All recognisable 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.

Dulce Periculum

by

Ares Alexander Peverell

Chapter 3- Sweet Freedom

Before they could move any further, a wall of flames blocked their path to freedom. Turning left, they saw two figures preventing 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, wands ready and a spell charged on the tips of their wands.

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 at the Department of Mysteries. 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.

Bellatrix gestured to Harry. Pretending to at, he slowly lowered his wand-

Secare, Ossus Fragmenti, Confringo.

Harry dived into a front roll and sent a dark cutting curse, followed by a bone splintering spell and a blasting curse. Tonks showed her skill by sidestepping the first, deflecting the second and shielding the third. Beside him, Bella was going toe-to-toe against Kingsley, both of them a blur of spells and movement.

A quick Imprimis shielded him against the sudden barrage of stunners and petrification spells sent by the female auror. Harry continued to dodge and weave past spells and debris sent through his way. He followed with stunners and incapacitating spells, but Tonks only dodged and responded in kind.

Beside him, Bellatrix managed to get a lucky curse against her opponent, only to get blasted against the barrage sent by Tonks who tried to stall for her partner to recover.

Harry covered the distance between him and the duo and fired several quick Aquamenti followed by a Glacius Nulla charm, managing to get past the aurors and trapping them in an ice cocoon. While it wouldn't hold them for long, it would give them a chance to escape. Unlike the Aurors, they did not have any reinforcements coming to support them.

The air suddenly turned cold, bringing a strange feeling of dread to Harry's heart. Yes, the dementors had arrived. And there were a lot of them.

"Harry, RUN!" screeched Bellatrix. He tried to suppress the effects and focused on the current task.

A shaking Bellatrix started firing various blasting curses at the castle walls, creating massive cracks and craters in the dark stone. Behind them, he heard cracking ice and knew that Kingsley and Tonks had recovered from their temporary defeat.

"Do you have any ideas, Harry? We can't fight all of them." Bellatrix asked, looking at him worriedly. She was not in the best condition to fight either. They had bruises and cuts all over their body. Harry sported a large wound on his chest where the debris had cut his clothing.

"Use Fiendfyre and push them back." She looked at him with wide eyes. Fiendfyre was especially dangerous to use. The spell was so rare that very few people even knew how to conjure it, let alone control it effectively. It could easily turn on a weak caster and cause the entire island to burn if left unchecked.

Harry gave her a reassuring smile: "I can break the castle walls, but the spell is complicated and time-consuming."

He stared into her eyes: "Just give me fifteen seconds."

Bellatrix shakily raised her wand and started the incantation for the cursed fire.

Meanwhile, the spell Harry was going to perform was something Tom Riddle had found in an old tome of war spells. While Tom had never performed the spell, he certainly knew the wand movement and the incantation. And that meant Harry did too.

With shaky hands, he started the complicated movements. He slowly started tracing the runic sigils in the air with utmost care and precision and incanted,

"ARDESCO!"

A blazing reddish-blue fireball the size of a small muggle car left Harry's wand. It collided with the cracked walls in a clash of metal and fire, reducing them to rubble. The hole was large enough to fit a small home.

"Quickly!" spoke Harry. The spell had taken a lot out of him.

The duo ran through the stormy air of Azkaban island. Reaching the shore, they entered the boat and it set off at full speed, dementors hot on their trail. Harry was swimming on the edge of consciousness and was in no coherent state to speak.

Even with the full speed of the boat, the dementors hot on their trail, not very far behind.

Bella was sure that the dementors were going to kill them. She had tried everything from fire spells to even several killing curses, but they only lessened the effect of the foul creatures.

"Expecto Patronu-mm"

"Expecto Patr-ronm"

The dementors all swept at once. Under their combined aura, she tried one last desperate effort.

"Expect-"

But, it was simply too much for her to take. The wand slipped from her hands as she slowly lost consciousness, but not before a sudden surge of protective power and magic encompassed the witch, driving the demons away. She let herself go into the great abyss of darkness and nightmares.

[Harry's POV]

Harry had been struggling to stay conscious the moment they had reached the boats and had almost passed out soon after, but he forced himself up when he saw a desperate and determined Bellatrix trying to protect him from the dementors. Harry knew she couldn't win against them.

He was so tired. Sleep sounded so wonderful. But when he saw the wand slip out of her fingers, it reminded him of Sirius. With a surge of power he didn't know he had, he raised his wand high in the air and brought forth all his happiest memories.

"EXPECTO PATRONUM!"

An immense Thestral glowing with pure power rushed to meet the Dementors head-on. It incinerated each one of the foul creatures that tried to harm its master. With sickening screeches of nothing but pure terror, the remaining dementors fled the guardian.

There, on that small boat, the two were abandoned into the middle of the ocean. It was left to the mercy of the winds and the waves with no one to guide it.

Shetland Islands
United Kingdom

The dark figure almost blended in with the inky backdrop of the night sky. It strode across the pale sand towards the ocean, passing pieces of a demolished boat that were scattered out along the beach. A hulking shape was silhouetted against the moon, and two bodies could be seen lying in the wreckage. The figure crouched down to check their breathing, and straightening up, he cast several silent spells from a Hawthorn wand.

Casting a quick spell to remove all the dirt and debris from the nearby areas, the figure then proceeded to take out several vials of liquids before opening the mouths of the two unconscious bodies and pouring them in gently. Satisfied with its work, the figure fetched two silver objects and placed them on the duo.

"Toujours Pur."

The two bodies disappeared.

The individual then fired a jet of flames at the broken remains of the boat. Taking a step back, it observed the work done and satisfied, spun on the spot and disapparated, leaving only charred ashes and the smell of burning wood and smoke in its wake.

Nero Villetta
Sicily Islands
Italy

The rain beat down onto the roof of the small cottage. The small silhouette of a woman stood on the porch, watching the waves crash against the rocks, silent among the thunderous noise of the storm. The door behind her creaked open, and a second, slightly taller woman stepped out beside her sister. The first spoke in a delicate, twinkling voice.

"Any news?"

"They are both still asleep." The smaller figure turned towards her sister.

"What happens now?"

"Now? We wait."

My apologies for the short chapter, but I've been focused on Sortes Qui Facit more than DulPe this week. Still, I considered it prudent to break the suspense and not leave you guys waiting. I assure you, the next chapter will be bigger than this one.

As for the update schedule, Dulce Periculum will be posted every Tuesday, and SQF will be updated at the same time but on Thursdays.

My discord server is always open for you all. I will also be posting story details there which would be difficult for me to add into the chapters due to certain limitations. I thus extend my invitation to Thestral Manor below (What else did you u expect? I'm a Peverell after all).

My Discord Server link:- /6ngeKHXktN

My sincere compliments to Madness, Immortality and Magic for co-authoring the parts of the story. The ones to guess which part she wrote will get a shout-out in the next chapter.

And please review and comment on your thoughts about the story. They help me improve a lot.