Chapter 3
"Get to know each other?" Harry asked. "How?"
"Perhaps we should start with a general introduction," Bellatrix suggested, while simultaneously conjuring a chair and sitting down. "For example, my name is Bellatrix Lestrange, I am thirty-three years old, pure-blooded, five feet six inches tall, weigh 118 pounds, I work as a dark witch in the Death Eater movement, something like that?"
"Well…" Harry paused for a moment, "uh, 'My name is Harry Potter, I haven't really had time to measure myself recently, what with the war and everything, so I don't know my height or weight…'"
Bellatrix smiled slightly when she heard that. "I guess that's understandable. You are a bit taller than I am, though. What else? We have to plan a wedding in the next thirteen days. Maybe we should work on that."
"The local wizard's chapel would be fine," Harry said.
"Next Saturday, perhaps?"
"Make it as late as possible. I would prefer the week after."
"That's fine. Now, the more obvious problem…We're on opposite sides of the war," Bellatrix said casually, "and that could present some inconveniences, especially since we're required to…since I will have to carry your child. You will be obligated to protect me, which may make it difficult to continue your work for the Order of the Phoenix. The Dark Lord did express some interest in hiring you as a Death Eater…"
"No," Harry said firmly, "I will never join Voldemort."
"Actually," Hermione suddenly interrupted, "Bellatrix, why do you work for Voldemort?"
"To eliminate all contact between the wizard and Muggle worlds," Bellatrix replied instinctively.
"Have you considered joining our side?" Hermione asked.
"No, I haven't."
"Well, consider it. We may be able to protect you if you help us to kill Voldemort."
"You're one of the most powerful Death Eaters," Harry continued, "I don't think any other Death Eater would be able to kill you. So you have a good chance of escaping, unlike Regulus Black."
Bellatrix shook her head sadly. "You're mistaken, Harry. Voldemort might just come after me himself. Even if he doesn't, he could send Snape after me. Either of them could defeat me, probably could defeat all four of you as well. There is no hope for your side, Harry. Once Dumbledore let himself be killed, his cause was doomed to follow him to the grave. If you want to live—and I'm saying this to all four of you—leave the Order of the Phoenix."
"So you help Voldemort kill other people, in order to save your own life?" Harry demanded.
"That's a blunt way of saying it," Bellatrix replied.
There was a slight silence, before Harry, out of the blue, said: "Sirius was pure-blooded, you know."
"Perhaps he was," Bellatrix said, "What about it?"
"Why did you kill him?"
"He was a blood traitor and he paid the price for it…It's what inevitably happens to anyone, pureblood or not, who opposes Voldemort."
Meanwhile…
Voldemort didn't realize that there was a small keyhole in the door. Mark Lovegood looked through it and recognized the visitor immediately.
Soon, as no one answered the door, Voldemort grew impatient. He grabbed his wand, pointed it at the door, and shouted "Reducto!" The door shattered inward, blasting splinters all over the dinner table. Voldemort stormed in, pointing his wand around. No one was home.
After searching the whole house, Voldemort found no one. He returned the way he had come, petrifying and then Avada-Kedavra-ing the first unfortunate Muggle he came across. On his way back he pondered what to use as his new Horcrux.
A few minutes later, he suddenly had a flash of inspiration. That's it! he thought. I'll make Harry my next Horcrux! Then, if he kills me and destroys the other Horcruxes, I'll just possess him and go on as if nothing happened!
His mind made up, Voldemort quickly returned to the deserted Lovegood house and called his Death Eaters through the Dark Mark. He would set up a trap for Harry with his Death Eaters and seize Harry, then place a piece of his soul in his nemesis. He would be invincible then, as Harry was the only threat to him—and with Harry unable to kill him, no one would be able to.
Meanwhile…
"Actually, I didn't kill him on purpose," Bellatrix was saying, "The curse I was using on Sirius wasn't a lethal one. It only just happened that the veil to the afterlife was behind him at the moment. I wasn't trying to kill him…"
The Dark Mark started to burn on her arm, and she touched it, allowing Harry to see her motion clearly. "I'm sorry, but I'll have to be going now," Bellatrix said sweetly. "Perhaps we can continue some other time. The Lord is calling me." She took her wand and disappeared with a pop.
Harry turned to his friends. "Well, what do you think?"
"I think there's a small chance we could convince her," Hermione observed.
Bellatrix popped into the house where Voldemort was waiting. Other Death Eaters apparated into the room, each making various popping or cracking sounds. The Death Eaters and Voldemort didn't see the wardrobe in the corner, because it was under a Fidelius Charm.
"I have a new plan," Voldemort said. "Lucius, find a way to let the Order know—without letting them know who the informant is—that a cup belonging to Helga Hufflepuff is located at Malfoy Manor. The rest of you, hide on the property and prepare to ambush the Order when they arrive to destroy the artifact…"
Hiding inside the invisible wardrobe with her father, Luna listened eagerly to the Death Eater plan.
"But my lord," Lucius said, "I have no cup belonging to Helga Hufflepuff…"
"I know," Voldemort hissed. "But make sure the Order thinks you do! As I was saying, when the Order arrives we'll ambush them. Take Potter ALIVE, do you understand? The others can be killed, but I require Potter to be alive!"
"Yes, my lord!" the Death Eaters chorused. A series of cracks and pops signaled the departure of the Death Eaters.
A few minutes later, the Weasleys and Harry were just sitting down to dinner, when they received a floo call from Luna.
"Harry, the Death Eaters are planning to lure us into a trap!"
All the Weasleys, plus Harry, turned to the fireplace.
"Luna, you might want to come over here. The floo network isn't secure."
At Number 12 Grimmauld Place, Harry and his friends were gathered with the Order of the Phoenix. "I haven't been able to find a loophole in the new law," Hermione announced, "it's either marry the Death Eaters or go underground."
"What about killing the Death Eaters?" Ron asked. "We can't be forced to marry people who are already dead, can we?"
"We can't kill," Hermione reminded him, "The Ministry would come after us for using the killing curse. The Ministry might join forces with the Death Eaters to get us."
"They already have," Ginny pointed out.
"I think," Harry said, "between marrying the Death Eater or becoming a fugitive, I'd rather be a fugitive."
"I agree," Ron declared. "We can hide here for as long as we have to, until we kill Voldemort."
"I'll hide with you," Neville said.
"Tonks, Kingsley, are you in?" Harry asked, only half-joking.
"I'm afraid not," Kingsley replied. "I'm an Auror. The Order needs me to keep track of the Ministry's movements."
"We'll have to leave the house sometimes," Tonks pointed out, "what if we locate a Horcrux? Then we'd have to go and destroy it—and we can't do it with Aurors and Death Eaters working together to stop us."
"I know!" Hermione suddenly said excitedly. "We could use the Fidelius Charm! That's what makes this house invisible. We could make ourselves invisible and go anywhere without them seeing us!"
"Who would be the secret-keeper?" Harry asked.
"Wait, I just thought of something! What if we each act as someone's secret keeper? I'll be your secret-keeper, you'll be Ron's secret-keeper, Ron could be Neville's secret-keeper, for example. So each of us is a secret-keeper and each of us is also protected by another of us."
"Stop and think about that for a moment," Tonks interrupted. "Under the Fidelius Charm, you are invisible until your secret-keeper reveals you. Now, if you're invisible, and your secret-keeper is also invisible, and your secret-keeper's secret-keeper is also invisible, then it's impossible for your secret-keeper to reveal you, since no one would hear him say the secret. You would be cut off from the rest of the world forever."
"Could we still use spells when we're under the Fidelius?" Ginny asked. "If using the charm means we won't be able to battle the Death Eaters, then it's basically protecting them from us too, and there wouldn't be any point."
"I'll research it…" Hermione said.
Things went according to Voldemort's plan the next day. That day, a long second-page article on the Daily Prophet announced that Lucius Malfoy had acquired a private collection of ancient artifacts for 20,000 Galleons, and the Hufflepuff cup was pictured along with several other antiques in the photograph. Many copies of the newspaper were produced at the Order meeting that afternoon.
"Look at this picture," Kingsley showed Harry the article, "That's one of the horcruxes we're looking for."
"It's a fake picture," Harry confirmed. "Part of Voldemort's plan to lure us into an ambush at Malfoy's place."
"Why do you think that, Harry?"
"Luna overheard the Death Eaters planning the trap."
Most of the Order had arrived by now.
"May I have your attention please!" McGonagall's voice boomed, amplified by a Sonorus spell. After Dumbledore's apparent death, Professor McGonagall had become the new leader of the Order as well as the Hogwarts Headmistress.
The chatting in the house cut off instantly as everyone looked up. Luna lowered her copy of The Quibbler to listen.
"We have received news that Lucius Malfoy has acquired a cup belonging to Helga Hufflepuff, potentially one of Voldemort's horcruxes. The cup, of course, is located at Malfoy Manor."
"Professor McGonagall, the horcrux isn't there!" Harry called. "It's supposed to be a decoy to trap us!"
"Thank you, Harry. I was aware of that as well; I received a patronus from Snape this morning, warning us to expect an ambush. However, if we did not act on such an obvious tip, Voldemort may begin to suspect that we were fully aware of his plans; he would suspect a spy in his inner circle. We cannot allow Voldemort to have such suspicions. We must pretend to fall into the trap. Therefore, we will go to Malfoy Manor at seven o'clock tomorrow morning and defeat the Death Eaters lying in ambush. Harry, the Dark Lord expects you to be the first to pursue any Horcrux we locate; therefore, you will have to come with us on this mission. We will meet here tomorrow morning at six o'clock—so sleep early tonight—and ride broomsticks together to Malfoy Manor."
Meanwhile…
Voldemort was, at that very moment, in the living room of Malfoy Manor, surrounded by a circle of Death Eaters.
"Sometime tonight or tomorrow, the Order is bound to attack. We will be sleeping here tonight, if they choose to come tomorrow. This is our plan: Lucius and Bellatrix, you will stand on either side of the main door and prepare to ambush Potter's group as they enter. Wormtail, ensure that other entrances are sealed and Alohomora-resistant and guard the entrance from the kitchen over there. Draco, you will stand in the center and taunt them for a moment. Talk to them, inform them that they have walked into a trap and that there are anti-Apparation wards up. Rodolphus, you are responsible for keeping the anti-Apparation ward in place; you may hide anywhere you choose. Severus, Rabastan, Antonin, hide in the shrubbery outside and attack Potter's friends from behind through the door once we've started dueling inside. Vincent, patrol outside and watch for any Order reinforcements.Remember, Potter and Weasley must be captured alive. The others, you may kill or not as you wish. I trust that you will not permit any of them to escape; I shall have other business to attend to."
"Which Weasley, my lord?" Rodolphus asked.
"The youngest one. If you see her red-haired relatives, kill them."
Voldemort left, and no one dared to question him; but they all wondered what would happen to the Marriage Law they had worked so hard on if their designated partners were to die in the battle. The Death Eaters took up positions, and waited out the rest of the afternoon amicably and, at dinnertime, their host (Lucius) offered a fine meal.
They never knew that the Order members ate an even better dinner; Narcissa's cooking, while excellent by any standard, could not hold a candle to Molly Weasley's.
Next Chapter: The Aurors arrive to take Luna away, but lunatics seldom come quietly. The Order's new leader and the veteran Death Eaters match wits (and wands); Voldemort attends to his business…