Before I start. A Merry Christmas to all and a happy new year.
Harry Potter is not mine, this is a story from a fan.
This will be a chapter of Flashbacks.
(BSC 5 C54) C182 Voldemort just had to retaliate.
Minerva had been walking in and out of the infirmary at Hogwarts. The school was back in business for a couple of weeks now. Voldemort had been laying low. None knew why but house Hogwarts had a good idea. Umbridge had taken the degrees to the next level and appointed herself as headmistress of Hogwarts. It had soon been turned back to only the school of Hogwarts and not the castle as she thought that was what she got with that position.
Minerva had put her straight and she did have the balls to almost fire Minerva on the spot. Susan had stepped in and said if she would do that then the School would stop completely. Fudge who still had no clue at how to run the school stopped his toad and told her to work together.
While all this was happening there were four wizards lying in the infirmary. James was next to Lily, while Alice and Frank were on the other side. Another patient was in the house of Hogwarts and was doing well. Bellatrix had really done a number on him and Minerva had a hard time not to hex her for it. Again she walked into the infirmary and sat down next to Lily. As she looked around she could see she was not the only one. James was visited by Sirius, while Neville and Auguste were with Frank and Alice.
"How is Harry doing," Lily asked her mum as she took her hand.
Minerva didn't say a thing and only looked at Neville. "He is doing fine for as fine as he can be," Neville said, a little more harshly than he wanted. "Sorry, he mumbled" As Augusta laid her hand on his shoulder clearly saying he was wrong.
"Son".
"No, dad. I'm sorry if I sounded harsh or snappy but I'm sick of it. Every time adults think they can handle it we have to step in. Harry has to step in and he is always the one who gets hurt. Not only did we fight a clan war. He was there first and the last to walk out. If that was not all we were nearly killed right there and then had to help you all". Right after those words Neville got to his feet and walked out.
Lily looked down and a tear rolled down her cheek. "I never thought it would be like this".
"We know Lily," Minerva said but he is right in a way. "Harry is loved just because of what Neville just said. Harry will always be the one who will lay it down. Not only his life but everything. He had brought them together and they got something they never had before. Just because of that, they will do everything to keep it together".
"Now we know that you have been tricked into following Voldemort. We do not know what happened or why you did it. So you all saw the lines he had written in the hole he created and you followed. What happened next"?
James looked down and knew he and the others had fucked up so to say. But he also knew he had to tell them if he wanted this odd family thing to work. A family the friends had created and in some way, it really worked. As he gazed back up he saw Augusta looking at him just like she did in the old days. He could hear Frank swallow, Lily and Alice gulp but the worse was Minerva who chuckled. "Well, Voldemort gave us that message that he wanted to end it all. We really thought we could handle him. And I still think we could but we had to know better".
"Yes, you all should have known better". Augusta told them, "But go on".
This time James swallowed and after a sharp nod, he did go on. "He called us for that Battle at Bones Manor. He had been there first and there was a large open clearing. We all knew it because we had been there all before. It was away from the muggles and save from everything else. However, it was there we made our first mistake".
"Good, you already know you made more," Minerva said as she looked from him to Augusta. "See they did learn something and you doubted it".
"We will see the story had just started and they are still young so they might not have learned that much" Augusta answered.
James looked between them and didn't really know if he should respond. He chose not to and that was the right thing and he just went on. "The moment we got there we apparated right into spellfire. Not Only did we have Voldemort there but also all the other Death Eaters. Even Bellatrix was there and she was really laying into us". It was at that point James stopped and looked at Minerva. We have to tell Harry she is not to be trusted".
Minerva took out a little bag of gold and handed it to Augusta. "You were right. They learn one thing and then forget the other".
James looked up and saw the bag go from one hand to the other "What".
Augusta shook her head and told Minerva without any words you tell them. Minerva gave a little sigh and just looked across all of them. Rule one, always be prepared for an ambush. Rule two. Always look and make sure you have backup when you go. Rule three even friends have to attack you when in the company of the enemy".
James just had a dumbfounded look as he heard the words Minerva was saying. She saw it and knew he did not understand anything she had said. "Those are the three rules we always go by when we do something. When you agreed to fight Voldemort you had to know he would have a plan. Rule two, you all just went without informing anyone of us. Rule three Spies always have to fight you when they are with the enemy it is to keep their cover. Bellatrix had to fight you and that is what she did. Get it through your head. Bellatrix is on our side and never tell Harry you doubt it because you will not like it. Now go on".
"We appeared just in front of the gate and had to duck because the first spell just went over our heads. We were under attack and had to do everything to keep from being hit". It was now that James looked at Lily and frowned a little. "You were blocking the spells but it looked like you did not have the power you used the have. It was like you were blocked or something".
James shook his head but Minerva looked doubtful. She had felt it too and she knew something was wrong but not what. At first, she had thought Lily had a block on her core. But that had to be something she herself could feel. Especially if she did not have the power she used to have. As James went on Minerva placed it in her memory for later. Something was wrong but she did not yet know what.
"Now we had to dive for cover but soon started to fire back. Voldemort was standing to the side and we just had to fight the Death Eaters. I have seen Lucius, Snape and some others. We think they were the ones that were broken out of Azkaban". James Saw Augusta giving the bag of gold back to Minerva and gave a sigh as he went back to his story. We were starting to slowly get the upper hand but we were also getting tired as we went on. It was then that Voldemort jumped into the fight. He didn't hold back and we did everything we could to keep him away from us. Lily and Alice were on the defence while Frank and I were trying to attack him.
I say trying but more than that we could not do. He was wiping the floor with us, and we only could stand up against him for about five minutes and more we could not do. That was how we all got hurt badly. Voldemort was throwing his spells so fast we could only block half of it and not all. What we could not block we tried to dodge but even that worked for so long. We had no chance at all". It was now that he looked at the others around him. "We have told it to Albus but after that, we do not know what happened. Suddenly we were all down and out. The next thing we know was waking up here".
Augusta looked at Minerva who just shook her head a little. August knew Harry had rushed over there with the friends. But how they knew or where it was, they didn't know? The look on the face of Minerva told her she knew more but was not about to share it here. The only other who seemed to know was Lily. Her looks looking at her mum told Augusta enough. "I need to go to see Harry," she said leaving no room for any argument. James started to say something but Lily stopped him again. "You stay here. you are worse than I am and we all will just be too much. You also have to handle Albus if he finds another way to get back into the castle. I know Umbridge has thrown him out after he placed us here in the care of Poppy".
James nodded but Augusta and Minerva knew that Lily only said it to keep him in the castle. After Poppy gave them the okay to go for an hour. the four of them left. In the hallway, Alice turned to them both. " Now we were not completely out of it right away. So we might have seen it wrong. But did our boys and their friends come to our rescue".
Minerva nodded slowly but kept her eyes on them. Alice saw the look and Elbowed Lily in the ribs. Lily looked up at her mum and immediately lifted her hands in surrender. "He, we are not judging them, hell we needed them because we were not only outnumbered but also outclassed. If they had not shown up we would not be standing here now". Lily said as she stopped walking. Before Minerva could do anything Lily flung herself at her mum and started to cry. "We were so stupid mum. We not only thought we could fight hard. But we also thought we could end the war today. We wanted to help our kids but we were not even near their level" James and Frank just thought they could show the kids they were just as strong as they were and if they had beaten Voldemort they could get their Lordships back".
It was after those words that Minerva pushed her back and look right into her eyes. "Are those two still hung up on that"? Lily nodded and Minerva asked just one thing as she pushed her into her office. "Explain, now". When Minerva looked back to the door she saw Augusta pushing Alice into the office as well. She did not know if Alice wanted to make a run for it but she would never get the chance with Augusta with them. As Lily started to talk Minerva stopped her with a finger. She walked over to the Floo and called for Grandmere to get there. It would take a while so they had to wait a little bit.
"What is the deal with Grandmere anyway," Alice asked.
Minerva smiled and pointed to Augusta to tell them. "Well, it is a story for later but Grandmere is the grandmother of Gabrielle and Fleur. We all call her Grandmere just like you all call me Grangran or grandma mini. Now they have been away for a while to go to all the Veela nations. They have returned for the holiday and then they are off again. We have not yet had the time to see or hear how it went. But with all that has happened the last couple of day's It is no surprise".
"They really have thought of everything haven't they," Alice said.
Augusta nodded "Yes, they did in a way you can not imagine. They are talking about everything. Not only on how they could do it but also on how Voldemort can fight them. Every weakness they could think of they see as a fault".
"We never did that" Lily said.
"I know Minerva answered her. We all just went on what Albus said and did it. you and Alice were the only ones who went against them. But we never did something like this. They have learned and they are adapting. We never stood a chance and they do. We had nothing to really fight for but they have. You and James were by all thoughts dead. Neville's Parents were by all means dead. The parents of Susan are dead. Amelia did everything she could to make Susan her daughter and Susan sees her like that. She may call her aunty but she is her mum. Neville and Harry never had that. But we are drifting off. You were about to tell us something about them wanting their Lordships back".
Lily swallowed and looked down. Flashback two.
The hole had just appeared in front of the feet of James. As they all watched down they saw words appear in the sand. As Lily and Alice looked down James started to talk to Frank. "If we do this and win. The boys have to give us our Lordships back because we have stopped the war. Frank looked over at James and before Lily or Alice could do something he started to nod.
Before they knew it James and Frank had agreed and Lily and Alice had to follow. Just like James had told before they didn't think and only went head-on. We had to duck right away and we know we had done something wrong. Voldemort had tricked us into a trap and we just fell for it. James might have told you we were on the high at first but we have been paddling back all the way. The only thing we could do was defend ourselves. The death eaters that were with him through one Avada after the other. We had to throw up walls and as fast as we created them they tore them down. We could do absolutely nothing and were slowly getting tired. It was at that point Voldemort stepped in and we were as good as dead Again.
I do not know when or how our sons knew but we were as good as gone when they stepped in. It was when we looked around we saw Harry and Neville. They looked just like the war they had been in but Harry threw a spell I have never seen. Next to us James and Frank were hit with a couple of stunners when Harry threw another spell. After it, Neville threw one and we were out".
End Flashback two.
Minerva and Augusta knew what the boys had done and had seen the memory from Bellatrix. But after hearing this story they were not yet ready to tell them. When they learned James and Frank were still trying to get the Lordships back they were a little put-off, to say it nicely.
#*
It was right when Poppy had found Harry all bloody, and it was before the talk with Lily and Alice.
Bellatrix looked down at the bed her little Harry was in. His body had all kinds of spasms from the healing spell's Poppy had placed on him. His chest was bare and she could see the cuts she had placed on him. Her cuts had not been deep enough to leave any scaring but it was not because of her. This little shit had jumped in front of a lot of her spells. It didn't matter how wide she threw them he kept on jumping in front of them.
"Bellatrix what are you thinking," Minerva asked as she sat down next to her.
Bellatrix looked up and was a little surprised. As she looked to the other side she saw Augusta sitting next to her son and she was also giving her a little smile. "You are not here to bite off my head".
Minerva started to laugh "Why would I do something like that".
"Well, I'm the one who got them here like this".
Again Minerva had to laugh and just looked at her grandson. "I doubt that to be honest. If you would have told me that he kept on jumping into the line of fire. Then I might believe you. But for him to do something like that he had to have a good reason".
Bellatrix was stunned when she heard the words. Then she frowned and looked at Bella and Daphne. " You two have already spoken to them haven't you," she asked accusingly. Both Daphne and Bella didn't say a thing but Bellatrix knew that they had done it.
Minerva placed her hand on the hand of Bellatrix and squeezed it a little. "We have heard the story from when they arrived" and Minerva pointed at the friends. "We have heard a little of how our boys were too stupid to not smell a trap. We have also heard some other things but not much. We will go see them in a little bit until then let us talk to you first.
Bellatrix looked up and sat up straight. Slowly she took the hand from Harry into hers.
"As you all know I came here when Voldemort left us alone after he saw those heads of the Goblins on those spikes. Now before Voldemort had told us that he had sent those Goblins to take over the bank. I knew Harry had gone there because I have heard about the one Goblin spying on him. Before Harry could react Bellatrix shushed him and went on.
Flashback three.
Bellatrix was standing in Potter castle when her Mark started to hurt. "Shit, I do not know why but he is calling us back. I bet he is going to do something now that he has asked his other death eaters to attack all those places. No one knew what was happening but they knew it could not be right. The order had been away for almost two hours now and him asking for his inner circle was unsettling to all of them.
So with a sad look at the friends who were recovering from the clan war, she apparated away and straight to Malfoy manor. She was glad to be the first one there. Lucius was the last as he walked in still buttering his robe. "Crusio" sounded the voice of Voldemort as she looked at how Lucius dropped to the floor. It wasn't for long this time but long enough for Bellatrix to smile.
Bellatrix stood back and just watched on as Lucius struggled to get back to his feet. "I have called you all here" Voldemort started as he ignored the Wimpers Lucius was still hissing as she kept on struggling to get back to his feet. "Because I have just challenged James Potter and Frank Longbottom to the final duel. I'm the dark Lord So you will fight before me. I first want to see what they have been up to to see if I even will grace them with my presence". While Voldemort was speaking Bellatrix was thinking the worse. She now had to fight James and Frank, because if she didn't Voldemort would know she was not true to his side anymore. "We will meet at Bones manor in one hour. You will all be going there already because they might be early. So you all will be lying there, waiting for them to come and then open fire the moment they arrive. If I'm there first I will stand aside and wait until it is time for me to step in".
Bellatrix didn't wait for Voldemort to say something else and immediately apparated away. She was the first to appear at Bones manor but when she was there she didn't know what to do. She could not warn them because they were with the order. What if someone there heard her voice and told Albus. The other thing she thought about was calling the friends. She could not do that, they had just been in a fight. She sniffed to herself. A clan war was no fight it was a war, What they would be having with Lily and James, that will be just a fight. It was then her eyes became big and she knew it. She had to warn Grandma mini and she could stop those four. Her thoughts of finding a way out was just stopped as others started to appear around her. Shit was the last thought she had because she knew there was no way she could warn them now.
The next hour she was walking all over the place just to find a spot she could send of a Patronus. But every time she tried to slip away one of the other Death Eaters was looking at her. The only thing she had to do was lift up her wand and they would run. But there was always another one looking at her. As time went on her chance of warning Grandma Mini was getting more less with any minute that passed. It was when Voldemort Appeard she knew she had none at all. So, slowly she went to the back just to stay out of the fight as long as she could.
James was the first to pop in and Lucius immediately threw his Avada at him. Bellatrix saw Voldemort smile and immediately saw the difference between him and Harry. His way of ruling was through fear. It worked she had to give him that, but it would only work for so long. One day someone had to go against him. It was now that she smiled to herself. Narcissa was the first one who was going against him. She was following. Or maybe it was she who went first. Her little me was already fighting him before Narcissa ever send a letter to him.
The fight was on and they were fighting for about thirty seconds now. So she knew she had to join or Voldemort would get suspicious. As she looked on she could see that Lucius was really trying to kill James just like some of the other inner circle were trying to do the same with the others. It was now or never or one of them would die and Harry would never forgive her. She jumped in and threw the first pricing hex she could think of. She knew Voldemort wanted to kill them so for her not to try to kill them right away. only made him look at her in a good way. For the others who were throwing Avada's it would not have a nice outcome. If one of them would hit they would be the next to fall.
To her surprise the first piercing hex she did hit and hit Lily right in her shoulder. She had not been aiming at her but at James. Somehow she was avoiding to do something to Lily because Harry really loved her. She had seen it even if he didn't show it to Lily. He had his mother back and he avoided everything just to not get hurt for losing her for real this time. As she looked at how Lily stumbled away she was stunned to throw another hex. She saw Voldemort looking at her so she had to find an answer for when he would ask why. As a spell went past her head she snapped out of it and she went back into the fight.
For a moment she thought they were starting to really fight back. Lucius had gone down after a stunning spell to his head. He did not avoid the spell, but that could be because he was still twitching from the curse Voldemort had him under. The moment Lucius went down Voldemort stepped around her. There was only one thing left to do and she hated it. The only thing she could do now was to contact her little self and hope she was awake to help.
It only took a moment for the friends to show up. Bella and Daphne were the first to appear. She did not know what happened but Voldemort had just sent a couple of spells to Frank and James. The next thing she saw, were two stunners hitting James and Frank right before the spells of Voldemort hit. It was like Bellatrix was watching it all in slow motion as she saw both of them fall. The two spells that were going straight at them were sliding over their heads as the spells of Daphne and Bella brought them down just in time.
Bellatrix just didn't know what she could do as Voldemort started to scream about it all went very fast but still too fast to see it all. The next thing was Susan and Hermione appearing behind them bringing Lily and Alice down. Their spells almost hit when Harry and Neville appeared. Harry did something. She did not know what but a tree just appeared between them and Voldemort. The next thing was a blasting hex. At least she thought it was a blasting hex. But the only thing she saw were over a million splinters as the tree blasted into it. Her eyes went big as Neville threw a banishing charm at the tree, banishing all the splinters straight at Voldemort hitting him all over his body.
Bellatrix saw it and was just as stunned as the other Death Eaters around her as they all looked at how Voldemort was screaming out in pain. None of them knew what to do and only looked on. Voldemort kept on screaming and screaming out in pain. Slowly he opened his eyes. They were mostly red from the pupil alone. But now they were also red from blood. As he opened his mouth there was nothing but a scream of pain coming out.
Bellatrix just looked on with big eyes before she realized she could prevent Lord Voldemort from seeing her as a spy. The only thing she could do was to attack Harry but he had to know she did not mean it.
End flashback three.
Bellatrix stopped talking and looked at her little Harry. She still had his hand in hers. Her eyes went to his arms and upper body. There was no lust or anything. The only look she had was one of shame. All the cuts were done by her and they were deep enough to leave scars. Now, whenever she looked at him she could see the hurt she had given him.
Minerva walked behind her and placed both her hands on her shoulders. "Don't beat yourself up about it. If he thought he had to do it like this then you should let him. Most of the time he is right if we like it or not".
Bellatrix gave a small nod and looked at the other beds. All of the friends were asleep. At least she thought they were. But then again if she knew herself. Then her little self would be pretending, just like she would have done. Bellatrix turned back to Minerva and Augusta as she gave them a sad smile.
Flashback three part two.
While Voldemort was still screaming on. Bellatrix knew she had to take the lead. Only in that way would Voldemort trust her more and could she get more done for the friends. "Avada Kadavra" she screamed as she threw a spell at Bella that was standing way in the back. She was counting on her because it would take the spell the longest time to get there. In her mind, she screamed for Bella to be on the defence as she would throw the spell. As the spell went on her fear started to grow. She could only hope Bella had heard her or her spell would hit. Closer and closer the spell came. The fear became more and more for Bellatrix that the spell would hit.
Voldemort had dropped to his knees and still screamed in pain while he looked on as Bellatrix threw the Avada at one of them. Just before the spell would hit that girl held something up and it reflected the spell. The spell sailed to the left and hit one of the inner circle, that had been looking at him and not at the fight or the enemy. As his minion dropped to the floor Bellatrix started to throw spells at Potter. His vision was red from the blood but also blurry from the pain. The one thing he did see was that when Potter stepped left the cutting spell of Bellatrix hit. When he saw another one hit Potter he called for one of his Death Eaters to take him away.
Bellatrix saw Voldemort disappear with Lucius and knew she had to fight on. She could not stop now because the other Death Eaters were still with her. They to started to fight and the friends fought back. Bellatrix took on Harry because she had started it and had to finish it just to hold her face within the circle. As the Death Eaters around her started to fall, she had to go on. The more she threw at Harry the more she got frustrated with him. Every time she threw more and more of her spells wide. That damn boy stepped right into them. She just could not understand him he had to fight back. He had to show he was better than the Dark Lord. He just had to win but why didn't he. Why the hell did he let her win.
As more and more of her cutting curses were hitting him, more blood started to flow off his body and the blood increased. His arms and body turned red and that boy just kept ongoing. He kept one avoiding some of her spells and stepping into others. She wanted to scream at him to get out. She wanted to scream at him to apparate away.
As she looked around between one of her spells. She saw that a lot of the Inner circle had dropped. She was able to look around because Harry was getting slower and slower because of the blood he was losing. Suddenly as two more of the Death Eaters dropped Bella and Daphne began to attack her. She could dodge the spells but she just didn't know why they were attacking her now. Then again their attacks were almost laughable. She was getting tired so they could stop her from attacking Harry. As she looked straight into the eyes of Bella she could hear her screaming to get out now. She wanted to react but again she hearts later. But that last one was not in the voice of Bella but of Daphne.
As she looked to the side because the spells of Bella and Daphne were going wide. She could see that there was one more Death Eaters standing with her. He was battling Hermione and Susan hard while Neville was protecting them. "Get out now all of you" Bellatrix screamed as she realized they were giving them a way out. Everyone popped away and Bellatrix just looked at Bella and Daphne as she remained standing. Bella and Daphne rushed to Harry as Bellatrix didn't know what to do.
"You, get to Voldemort now, and when you can, you can come to us," Susan told her as she too walked to Harry. Bellatrix just stood there for a moment and then apparated away.
End Flashback three part two.
As Bellatrix lifted her eyes from the floor and looked straight into the eyes of Harry. She wanted to say something but Harry grabbed her and kissed her before she could say something. After a moment Harry let go while Bellatrix just looked dreamily ahead with a soft smile on her face.
"Okay, that one is gone for a couple of minutes," Augusta said with a little giggle.
Minerva smiled at it and started to walk around the bed and to the other side of Harry. She stepped behind Bella and softly hugged her a little. "Let me guess, you all had a good reason for it".
Bella looked up and gave a little sigh. "We do not know. We have sent her back in the hope Voldemort would see her as his best fighter. But it only took her one minute to show up here again. She was even here before we were. We also knew it had hurt her but we somehow had to. At first, we didn't know what Harry was thinking but he told us when she was away.
This time Minerva looked at her grandson but he shook his head. His eyes looked at Bellatrix who slowly came back to herself. As she gazed at Harry her smile became just that little bit bigger. "Tell us why you were here so fast".
For a moment her smile disappeared and a moment later it returned. "When I got there I kneeled and took his hand. Before I could kiss it he screamed out in pain. His whole body looks like a giant pincushion. I do not know what you did but he has been screaming nonstop. In his pain, he did thank me and ordered me to have some fun. So here I'm". Bellatrix stopped and Susan asked what they were doing with Voldemort at this point. Again Bellatrix smiled. "Well, they had to place him in a magically enhanced sleep. Every splinter he has in his body needs to be removed by hand. Somehow it was placed in his body by a Dark Curse". This time she looked at Neville but saw Augusta smile.
Before Bellatrix could say something Augusta just gave her a wicked smile. "I always said we were grey. That means we were light and Dark. It also means the Longbottoms have spells that are looked upon as light or dark. But it is always".
"The intend of the spell" the friends called out as one
Augusta and Minerva laughed at it and Augusta went on. "Yes, it is the intend, but some of our dark spells. Just like the banishing charm Neville used on the splinters from Harry. Turned the objects, in this case, the splinters into dark objects. So just like a ritual knife, it can't be removed or healed by magic".
Bellatrix turned back to Harry and in a whisper, she asked if they were okay. Harry gave her a weak smile and a small nod. After it, he pulled her to him and kissed her softly. "You have to go now, don't you," he asked. Bellatrix nodded sadly and pulled him in a soft hug. Harry gave a sigh of content and waited until she let him go. After a round of hugs ending with Minerva, she apparated away and back to Malfoy Manor.
The moment Bellatrix popped away the eyes of Minerva became hard as she looked at Harry. "You better have a good explanation for looking like that. Or I ask Bellatrix to come back and really hurt you this time".
Harry winched some of it because of the pain but most of it because of fear. "Well, the plan was sound. Bellatrix fought me and when her spells came close I stepped into them. I knew she would not do anything to kill me, except the Avada at Bella". Before Minerva and Auguste intervene Bella and Daphne stopped them. "We knew that that was coming so we were prepared for it" In truth, they weren't, and if Bellatrix hadn't worn Bella it might have all gone wrong. But looking at how Minerva and Augusta reacted they left that bit of truth out of the story. "The fight" Harry went on. "was one to show Voldemort she was on his side. She was the first to attack us so she stood up for him and against us. When he was gone we hoped his Death Eaters would follow but they didn't. So I had to keep on fighting and lose just so they would tell Voldemort she was winning. The others were winning and in the end, they all went away. So that is when we could stop but as you can see she did a number on me".
Minerva didn't say a thing at first and just hugged him closely. "I still think it was a stupid reason"
"Yes and painful," Harry said making all of them laugh softly.
This was it for this week. The next is in three weeks and then we will go all the way to the end of the story. I'm not sure how many chapters there are still to come but next year it will end somewhere along the line.
Gr Winmau.
A Merry Christmas to all and a happy new year.