Far From Home

Harry had rarely flown so fast in his life. When he finally slew down and glanced behind him, he coud only see the green Hills of Scotland. As the sun was setting, he decided to land in a wood that was far enough from any village so he wouldn't be seen. The forest was dense, but he ended up finding an area big enough to set up camp. He still wasn't fully realising he had fled the castle while attacking Umbridge. But maybe that was better. With an assault on a Professor, he had made sure there was no coming back possible.

He motioned his wand to Transfigure a small tent and put his bag in it. He went around the tent and started to deploy every protective charm and enchantment he could think of.

'Protego Maxima, Fianto Duri, Repello Inimicum,' a flint of panic started to kick in. What was he doing?! 'Repello Muggletum, Salvio Hexia.'

He lowered his wand and contemplated the dark woods around him. Muggles were afraid of darkness, and even though they had magic, magical people couldn't pretend they were totally comfortable with it. But Harry found that staring at it had a strange appeasing effect on him. He put his wand in his pocket and headed back to the tent. Hissing noises were coming out of it and they sounded… happy?

He entered it to find Tom sitting on a chair laughing with the basilisk. He looked at them a bit bewildered not understanding what they were finding so funny.

'Ah Harry!' Greeted Tom, 'your basilisk and I were just commenting on the true success of your plan.'

Harry rolled his eyes and sat on his bed.

'Yeah it didn't go exactly as expected,' he replied a bit annoyed. 'But I didn't have the choice, she would have found him.'

'Oh we're not judging you!' Said Tom still smiling. 'I think it was amazing!'

'You did?'

'I heard a Slytherin stand up to defend a Gryffindor,' said Tom. 'That's all I need to know that this woman deserved everything that happened to her.'

'She is an awful woman,' agreed Harry who was now starting to relax. 'Maybe the worst thing that happened to Hogwarts,' he finished with a smile.

'Worse than I?'

'Close,' replied Harry mischievously.

Tom chuckled a bit and Harry started to explain everything about Umbridge. Why she had come to Hogwarts, her methods and how she had endeavoured to destroy everything that made Hogwarts home.

When he was done, Tom quickly glanced at his scarred hand.

'In my time we had the dungeon and corporal punishment,' he sighed. 'But I reckon I'd have those than this Umbridge.' He narrowed his eyes. 'Must have been a true surprise for her when she saw all those stupid books assault her?'

'Yeah,' said Harry, remembering the scene. 'To be honest I don't know who was the most surprised between her and I.'

Tom laughed and suddenly the ambience bacame lighter. Harry joined Tom in his laugh and the small tent became a warmer place. The basilisk, curled-up near the entrance, looking at them curiously. That was a sound he had never heard.

When they calmed down, Harry felt better. Laughing had greatly helped to lighten the weight that had formed in his chest since he had left Hogwarts. He took his Firebolt and put it on the table while contemplating it. He was as happy as he had been reunited with a long lost friend.

'So, what's the plan?' Asked Tom in a voice that Harry found way too motivated for what they were about to do.

'Well we only have two Horcruxes that will be hard to access,' said Harry, focused. 'There is the snake that stays mostly near Voldemort, so I guess we might get to this one once we're done with the Cup.' His throat tightened a bit.

Once he'll go against Voldemort, only the snake and himself would remain. Because, should he fail, that would mean that only one Horcrux would be left. And to ensure this, he had to destroy the Cup… and the Ring. And he was starting to become uneasy at this idea. Tom was maybe not the nicest fellow there was, but Harry couldn't deny he was relieved to have him at his side. He had never found someone he could understand so much. He had never shared his past abuse with anyone in his life. Being able to talk about them, freely and shamelessly, to someone who had gone through the same thing had a true healing effect. With everyone else, he would hide the belt beatings and the starvation he had endured in his childhood. With Tom he could almost laugh about them. They were sharing all the strange events they didn't even know they were provoking when they were small, as they still didn't know magic existed, to escape from their bullies.

'We'll take care of the Cup first, then,' said Tom in a light tone.

'We have to get to Bellatrix Lestrange,' said Harry frowning. 'I have no idea how we will manage to get into her vault though.'

'We?' Smiled Tom. 'No, she'll go get it for us.'

'Yeah… I'm not sure she will comply so easily when I show up on her doorstep. "Hello Mrs. Lestrange, fine day isn't it? I was wondering if perhaps you could go fetch your master's Horcrux in your vault. No hurry though. Oh and say hello to Voldemort for me in the meantime!"'

Tom chuckled. The idea was appealing though Harry was right. They couldn't go through with a frontal approach.

'This isn't quite what I had in mind,' said Tom. He leaned his elbows on the table and buried his gaze into Harry's eyes. 'Tell me, Harry, how far are you willing to go?'

Tom's eyes were intense and Harry hesitated a bit. What was the true meaning of the question?

'You are thinking about the Unforgivable Curses, aren't you,' replied Harry in a low voice. He withstood Tom's sparkling look. 'You want me to use the Imperio Curse against her.'

He took a few minutes to think about the idea. Gringotts was impenetrable and Lestrange was known to be the most faithful Death Eater. Faithful and mad from what Harry understood. He raised his gaze on Tom. He was still fixating Harry, not blinking.

'You might be right on this,' said Harry while rubbing his eyes. He really disliked the idea but it's not as they had any other viable option. 'But what if I fail? She was trained by Voldemort. If I was able to resist it last year, there is no doubt she will resist it too.'

'Normally I would agree with you,' replied Tom. 'But she just got out of Azkaban. Her mental barriers are not rebuilt yet.' His smile was cold. 'They'll never be as weak as now. And this is why we need to strike immediately.'

Of course he was right.

'We need to find her fast, then,' concluded Harry.

Tom straightened up and breathed deeply.

'I have a favour to ask you, Harry,' he said almost timidly. It was a tone Harry had never heard before from him. 'When we will be done. When the Cup will be yours. I want you to obliviate her.'

'What?'

'Bellatrix always had a taste for Dark Arts but if she got so far, it's only because of me.'

'Was she in love with you or something?'

'In a way,' said Tom with a sad smile. 'At some point I had even considered abandoning everything and fleeing with her.' He sighed and suddenly he seemed to be very far away. His mind was exploring a Fate that could have been completely different for him.

Harry had no sympathy for Bellatrix. He didn't know her but had heard enough to truly despise her character. Once she would lose her memory, she would be untouchable by any side. She would be of no use for Voldemort and the Ministry wouldn't lock her again. She would be sent to St Mungo where she would stay until her death. An end too soft for the atrocities she had committed.

But he had to stay focused. She wasn't important.

'All right,' he finally sighed. 'I promise you I'll do it. So, where do you think we'll find her?'

'Well at her manor of course!'

'You sure she is not hiding somewhere?'

'Bellatrix Lestrange hiding somewhere?' Repeated Tom in a laugh. 'No, I can assure you that right now she is at her manor getting ready for the best party of her life.' His smile was almost tender. 'I know my Bella.'

Tom became quiet and Harry stood up to approach his basilisk.

'Let's find you something to eat,' he said while applying the Disillusionment Charm on his basilisk.

The snake hissed in approval and waited for Harry to wrap himself in his Invisibility Cloak before sliding through the tent entrance.

They didn't have to walk too far before finding traces of wild game. Harry waited near a tree while the basilisk followed them. The forest was calm and chilly around him. Sometimes an owl was hooting in the distance and Harry's heart clenched a bit as he thought about Hedwig. He trusted Ron and Hermione to take care of her but he knew she wouldn't understand why he was gone.

He sighed and closed his eyes. He really needed to sleep. It had been a long day and the ones coming would be worse. When the basilisk was back, they headed to the tent as silently as possible.

Harry fell asleep as soon as his cheek touched his pillow. The snake hissed softly and crawled into a corner, his pale-yellow eyes riveted on the entrance.