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
Chapter4- Narcissa's Redemption
[2 days later]
"I would not let you take either of them, Narcissa. Keep that in mind," Andromeda Tonks spoke with a note of finality in her tone.
"You don't understand it, Andi. The dark lord would kill my little dragon for the failures of Lucius. This is the only option I have. You married a muggleborn. It would not be long before he comes after you. We can earn his favours. I don't want any more family members to die. We are the last Blacks left. This is our final chance." pleaded a sweating Narcissa Malfoy, her pureblood mask falling from her face and despair apparent on her face.
"Your Dark Lord would not spare my husband and daughter for being of inferior blood. And I would sure as hell not join a madman in his quest for power."
Andromeda paused, for a moment, attempting to reign in her temper.
"You are a mother yourself, Narcissa. And you ask me to leave my daughter and husband to die. How dare you expect that from me?" Tonks hollered, her grey eyes barely concealing her fury and the feeling of betrayal.
"And if I don't, then my child will die. Lucius is in Azkaban, and Draco is so eager to please the dark lord that I can only ever hope to make him see sense." cried Narcissa.
The blonde woman started shaking with despair as tears streamed from her eyes. Why couldn't Draco just see reason and realize that what the Dark Lord was doing was wrong? She had managed to avoid Draco's induction by getting the Dark Mark herself.
Andromeda hugged her sister. She understood her perspective too well. This was the reason she had left her family all those years ago and married Ted.
"Your son has chosen his path, Narcissa. If he's anything like Lucius, he will not be deterred from his path. It is time for you to decide what you want to do. I would support your decision. But I would not allow you to harm the people I love."
The youngest Black sister barked a bitter laugh.
"You don't even know, Potter. What he has done to earn your support. I hardly believe that you, of all people, would agree with Albus Dumbledore. He's just a child, Andy. He has no chance to match the Dark Lord or Albus Dumbledore. Do you honestly think that Potter can win? Look at what happened to Sirius."
"You're wrong," proclaimed a swift Nymphadora Tonks who made her presence known as she entered the room.
"Am I, Nymphadora?" sneered Lady Malfoy, putting a special emphasis on her niece's first name.
"You see Harry Potter as he is portrayed by your son, Aunt Narcissa. I have known him, fought alongside him. I would not underestimate him."
Narcissa snorted in disdain. "He's just a boy with an insane amount of luck and-"
"And yet he has succeeded in doing the impossible time and time again." seeing her aunt's face, Tonks continued. "Don't deny that. We wouldn't be having this conversation if I hadn't seen it with my very own eyes."
Then, a bit misty-eyed, she said, "Sirius would've been proud of him."
The statement sent the trio into the silence that stretched for several minutes before Andromeda embraced her daughter in a fierce hug.
Even the haughty Lady Malfoy had trouble maintaining her facade with the talk about her now-deceased cousin. Sirius Black had been the hope for the Black Sisters. However, she had left everything behind just to live life on her terms. Secretly, Narcissa had always envied both Andromeda and Sirius. They may have forsaken the Black name, but happiness wasn't something that they had particularly lacked.
She also realized that it was partially her own fault too. Looking down on Gryffindor principles throughout her life, she realized that it was Gryffindor bravery, a quality she severely lacked, which provided both of them with the spine to spit on their family's face and defy the Dark Lord himself.
It was at that exact moment that the blond woman decided on her side. She was not going to let the monster destroy everything that had been held dear to her. The war had taken almost everything from her. Her life, her career, her freedom and her family.
Deep down, she knew that her son was far too gone to return. Draco had still managed to take the Dark Mark. It would make no difference even if he turned back. His life was already forfeit. Lucius had managed to indoctrinate his son pretty well in that aspect.
Narcissa had never felt so vulnerable in her entire life.
"You will always have a home here. This is a Black property. It's so heavily warded that it would take a small army to break through the wards. It's your home too, Cissa." Andromeda reassured her sister.
She gently held her hands before softly whispering, "Stay. We'll find a solution. I promise."
[1 week later]
He was so tired that he could hardly keep his eyes open any longer. Sleep sounded so blissful. But when he saw the wand slip out of her fingers, his brain was assaulted with memories 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!"
A huge Thestral glowing with pure positive energy rushed through the air to meet the Dementors head-on. It incinerated every single one of the foul creatures that tried to harm its master. With sickening screeches of nothing but pure terror, the remaining dementors fled from the guardian.
When Harry woke up, the first thing he realized was that he was no longer sleeping on the hard, cold and dirty floor of his cell in Azkaban prison. He was lying on a very soft bed, with a duvet wrapped around his body. He had been changed into light-green pyjamas along with a white silk shirt.
The room was beautifully decorated with ancient murals and the green coloured walls had some expensive-looking paintings along with silk curtains covering the windows.
The boy who lived was not fooled by the room's appearance. He knew that appearances could be deceiving, a fact he was intimately familiar with during his stay with Dursleys.
He silently removed the covers and stood up from beside his bed. Not only that, but he felt healthier than he had in decades. His body was no longer in constant pain and his injuries were completely absent.
He silently checked all the drawers and beds for Sirius' wand. But it was nowhere in sight.
However, what caught Harry's eyes was the Black family logo that was proudly displayed on the wall.
So I am on Black family property. He mused.
Harry propped himself on the bed again. He spent some time clearing his bed and also analyzing the situation. He may despise Voldemort, but he had to admit that Tom Riddle was nothing like that monster. He carried 25 years of the man's memories, and they were the only reason he had survived that hellish prison.
There was no use in charging in blindly. He had learnt his lesson. The place might have held wards that would alert someone if he tried to move out.
He tried to recall all he knew about the Blacks. Bellatrix was one, but she had been in a worse condition than him. Her oath would've ensured her loyalty to him.
The other one was Narcissa Malfoy, Draco's mother and Lucius' wife. Sirius had told him that she had chosen to marry him.
The third was Andromeda Tonks who had been struck off for marrying a muggleborn. She had also been the favourite cousin of his godfather and the mother of Nymphadora. He had a sneaking suspicion that she was the reason that he was here.
Sirius had told him that Black properties had wards that ensured that no one could hurt anyone inside the wards. Padfoot had also drilled some of the basics of being an heir to an ancient and noble house inside him since he was the Potter heir and the Black heir due to his grandmother Dorea Black. Sirius may have hated his family, but he was always proud of its legacy.
He looked at the chain that kept the Black heir ring. Sirius had given it to him and told him to keep it hidden and only wear it if necessary.
Harry had accepted that since he didn't want even more people out for his blood. he recalled the fuss Hermione had created when she had not been allowed into the Black Library. Padfoot had not moved an inch even after all the ramblings of Mrs Weasley and his former friend.
"Traitors," he snarled to no one in particular.
Seeing that no one had arrived yet, Harry took a nice long shower and changed into a clean black robe that was neatly kept inside the drawer. The hot water had managed to relax his sore muscles.
Carefully placing the onyx ring on his left middle finger, he felt a sharp stab of pain before a cold wave of magic washed over him. Harry wanted with bated breaths before the ring accepted him. He knew that he was Lord Black. Since the ring had accepted his claim. The lord ring was most likely at Gringotts. He would have to ensure that he managed to get it before it mysteriously disappeared. Dumbledore had lost all his trust and respect, and it would not be above him to use such methods to control his golden boy.
The door immediately opened with a silent click as Harry arrived in a modest hallway. He silently climbed down the stairs, keeping his senses at high alert as he tiptoed down the stairs.
Harry had reached the dining room and considering that its decorations were similar to that of Grimmauld Palace, any doubts he had regarding his safety in this place vanished in thin air. It was common knowledge that the heir and lord had greater control over the wards and the home's occupants.
"Wotcher Harry?" spoke Tonks, startling Harry out of his musings. He turned back to see an amused Tonks, her hair colours rapidly cycling from pink to red.
She was not alone, however, as a second woman entered the room. At first appearance, the woman looked similar to Bellatrix. On a closer look, the woman had light brown hair and her grey eyes were very kind. Overall, she had the regal look that was possessed by the Black's but with a much kinder disposition.
"Nymphadora, stop harassing the poor boy," said Mrs Tonks. Unsurprisingly, he could hear a silent mutter of 'Don't call me Nymphadora'' in the background.
"Mrs Tonks I presume?" Harry questioned politely.
"Yes, dear. But call me Andi. Now come on and eat. You look famished." she fussed, almost dragging Harry to the Dining table and before adding numerous vegetables along with a large bowl of soup on his plate.
"But I-we " Harry tried to maintain a semblance of not looking lost. But, much to his dismay, he ultimately failed.
Tonks laughed even harder at his befuddled expression.
Harry had never eaten faster his whole life. He could see the pitiful expression of both the women in the room as he gobbled down the portions in front of him
"What" he almost snapped at them.
The duo looked at him worriedly as they exchanged looks with each other.
The older women continued carefully. "You know it's not going to run away, dear. Perhaps you should eat slowly. There is plenty of it here." she gestured to the stove.
"Sorry," he apologized, not really meaning it. Nonetheless, he ate the rest of the dinner at a more sedate pace.
Around an hour later, Harry was sitting with the two Tonks along with Narcissa Malfoy and Bellatrix Black, who was looking much alive as compared to her previous state.
After the duo had added the memory of their escapes into a Pensieve, Harry had been busy gulping down the Earl Grey while Bellatrix was busy relaxing on the couch, occasionally stealing glances at Harry, who was busy thinking about what to do.
"What are you thinking?" she finally asked, observing that he was not going to snap out of his musings very soon.
"About what to do with her," he gestured towards the blonde sister.
Bellatrix's eyes widened at that statement.
"What do you mean by what to do with her?" she questioned Harry.
"I do not trust her. She's Lucius Malfoy's wife, and I'd trust a Malfoy as far as I could throw one. And that's not too much." he stated his opinion. He had realized that he could share everything he felt with Bella without fear of being judged. It was quite refreshing in his opinion.
"You will not harm her. She is a Black first and she's my sister." Bellatrix snarled at him, her eyes glistening with fury.
"And that would do nothing to stop her from running back to her master, would it?" Harry questioned sarcastically, raising his eyebrows.
"But Ciss-"
"He's right, Bella." interrupted Narcissa, she said, turning towards her son's nemesis lounging on the sofa.
"There is no way to prove that I won't go running back to report everything here," she spoke, a frown marring her face. It was soon replaced as she looked at him with a shine in her eyes,
"How Slytherin of you, Mr Potter."
"Well, the hat did consider me for Slytherin. But I had met your son on the train and during my Diagon trip. So I decided to not consider it and ended up in Gryffindor." he spoke before murmuring to himself, "A fat load of good it did to me."
This definitely shut all parties up. After several moments of silence, Tonks snorted.
"You almost became a Slytherin. Oh! I bet that Remus will die laughing when I tell him that." the younger Tonks giggled.
"Nymphadora," chastised Andromeda, taking a seat before pulling her daughter down beside her.
"We can do nothing. Sooner or later, he would find us. Bella has the Dark Mark, and so do I? Narcissa spoke, dread crossing her face.
"Wait! When did you get marked? Are you okay? What happened?" Bella rapid fired nervously, before pulling her sister's sleeve to see the Dark Mar emblazoned on her forearm.
The blonde witch remained silent. Even Andromeda looked concerned at that.
"He did this to punish you for Lucius' mistakes, didn't he?" Andromeda asked her, only receiving a nod in return.
"Someone could help? Dumbledore wou-" Andromeda tried to reason.
"NO," the voices of Bellatrix, Narcissa and Harry snapped, stopping the brunette witch in her tracks.
"Dumbledore would not be involved in our matters," Narcissa replied coldly. "I'd rather prefer to die."
"Thankfully, you don't have to." Harry declared.
"The Ministry has been trying to study the Dark Mark for several decades. No counter has been found." Tonks spoke, chewing her lips in nervousness.
"Where is the wand which I had?" he questioned Tonks.
"Look, Harry, you may not be fit to perform magic. So you should-" Andromeda tried to placate Harry.
"NO. Every moment that mark remains, it's a danger." Harry almost snapped at her.
"But-"
"Give it to him, Mom. He won't rest anyway." Tonks urged her mother, who complied. She knew Harry well. He was as stubborn as a raging Hippogriff.
Taking the Blackthorn wand back in his hand, Harry could feel his Magic being silently caressed by the wand. Reigning in his tears, he softly spoke to Narcissa. " Give me your hand, Mrs Malfoy."
"Shouldn't you remove hers first," Tonks asked, gesturing towards Bellatrix, who nodded in return.
"Her mark is younger, therefore far easier to remove," he informed, before tightly clenching the outstretched hand.
"You can remove it without any harm, Right?" asked Andromeda, worry clear in her eyes.
"No matter what, don't interrupt me at any cost unless you want her to die. And leave this room, preferably for seven hours. I don't want it attaching to someone else," Harry told them. He didn't clarify further that it would lead her to a fate similar to the Dementor's kiss. It wouldn't have been received well in his opinion.
The protests continued.
"It's my decision. I will continue with it and my mind is not going to change."
After a bit of melodrama(in Harry's opinion), they left. Harry cast several containment wards inside the room before casting a sound-proofing ward. He didn't want them to enter out of worry.
"Are you ready, Mrs Malfoy," he questioned the blonde witch, who was nervously trying to reign in her emotions. However, Harry could read her disbelief and uncertainty.
"Good! Cause it's gonna hurt like a bitch." he told her.
Harry clenched the Blackthorn wand tightly, before gently roaming it on the mark. He could recognize the feel of Riddle's magic from a mile away. Gently put the tip between the eyes of the mark's skull, he chanted.
"Novis Prohibere Novo Vitae," Harry repeated the spell, gently rotating his wand to pull out the sticky layers of Voldemort's magic. The magic tried to resist, but ultimately give up in a snap, causing Narcissa to scream in agony.
Harry relented. Focusing on the magic, he repeated the incantation, pouring even more of his magic into the mark, trying to snap its bindings, to uproot it from its core.
Harry kept doing it. By the fourth binding, the screams had stopped and Narcissa's hand had gone limp. Harry didn't stop.
Soon both the fifth and sixth binding met the same fate as the rest.
Taking a deep breath, he repeated the parselmagic for the final time, tracing the almost non-existent mark.
"Novis Prohibere Novo Vitae."
With a devilish screech, the mark disappeared into a burst of green smoke. It coalesced into a black tar-like substance before bursting apart.
The magical backlash knocked both of them unconscious. Harry fell on the floor, with an exhausted Narcissa falling on top of him.
A green cloud could be seen roaming around the room, looking for a way to escape its inevitable demise.
Some huge canonical changes may seem completely off or like plotholes but they are there to stretch it in the right direction.
My apologies for such a long delay. To be very honest, I had lost a bit of motivation for the story and had considered putting it on Hiatus, But then I remembered all the support from all the Hellatrix readers, and well as a Hellatrix fan myself, how could I do this to you all? But I'm back on track and have written the DulPe plot for the next three chapters.
The rest was due to me shifting to my new apartment. Took me two very tiring weeks but now, I'm back to business. Expect regular updates and the next chapter would be a MEGA chapter to ensure that I can somehow compensate for all the missing chapters.
Expect an SQF chapter the day after tomorrow(Thursday) at around noon GMT.
I have a request for my readers. I have a Discord server where I post contents that are relevant to the SQFverse, and I'd appreciate you there. The community also has several fellow writers and if you're interested in writing, that's the place you can get all the guidance and the start you need. You can also ask all the questions regarding my fics.
I'm also doing a Q/A session for SQF, All your questions would be answered in the next update as a chapter. I plan to do the same for DulPe after Ch5.
Discord Link- /6ngeKHXktN
You're all welcome to Thestral Manor. Our server is a lot more open-minded than most others, along with having several other writers. I also post a lot of spell and story aspects that are not feasible here. I'd love to see you there. :)
Thanking you,
Yours sincerely,
Ares Alexander Peverell.