Chapter 9: The Foundation

A/N: So massive apologies for missing last week. No excuse. Honest answer is I just forgot to post. I had it written, it was done. I was just dumb. Sorry. Anyway double post cause that is what you all deserve. Check note at end of Ch 10 for standard update.

Harry spent a few more days within the stronghold. His actions with the Queen seemed to have spread amongst the compound and there was a small respect that seemed to follow Harry. It was nothing overt and mostly the women tended to ignore Harry's presence. Admittedly it was a step up from overt hostility that was prevalent in the first couple days of him being there. The last few days had been pleasant. Well mostly pleasant. The trainer he had an altercation with previously attempted prod Harry into a fight a few times. There always seemed to be a guard just nearby, even though the encounters always seemed be frosty. The one place Harry always went to everyday was one of the healing huts. Healing magic was never his forte, yet now it seemed to be more imperative to learn about. Thankfully the healers themselves seemed to indulge Harry's curiosity for the few days that Harry remained in the stronghold.

The travel back to France was much easier, and he enjoyed his time in Place Cachée. Harry was only stayed in the city for a few days, obtaining the signed contracts and business that was set up via Gringotts. He would need to these contracts to explain his absence to the inquisitive minds of the Gamot about his absence. He knew the Lords would ask and these contracts would serve as the proof once they were registered with the Gamot. Harry did take some time to go check on his wands but was seriously chastised by the wandmaker for arriving before being called. Harry left with the promise that his wands would be done when she was done with them. After getting chastised there was not much more that he needed to accomplish here. Harry acquired a portkey back to England and found himself back on familiar territory.

The first thing Harry did was return to his flat. Athena had seemed to make her home in the little owl nook he created. She wasn't currently present, yet Harry wasn't worried. He knew that owls loved to go out exploring, and Athena seemed no different in that regard. Harry began going over everything that he had discussed with the Queen. The first thing he focused on was the issue of the Horcrux. Grabbing those files and boards Harry cleared some space to make some room. Previous notes had all focused on trying to remember what Horcrux's were. However, information from the Queen and the Amazon's removed the largest question in how to remove the Horcrux themselves. Writing down that there was a solution solved much of the speculation that he had written about previously. Seeing the board clear itself was satisfying, but now the question marks all over the board became all the more pressing.

Harry sent the boards and files back to their needed place. The conversations with the Amazonian healers drove his current actions. Settling in to start meditating Harry attempted to put their advice into practice. Instead of trying to drive the meditation forward as he would normally do, he let magic naturally drive the route that the meditation would take. The words of the healers coming back to him: The mind naturally seeks to form pathways and connections. Magic alters that desire almost none. What magic does do is give you a way to reconnect which is lost, but the mind is a presence all its own. Shaped. Honed. Yet it will never truly yield to force.

Remembering those words, repeated by so many of the healers, Harry set about letting his mind try and rebuild. Falling into his mindscape Harry explored some of the pathways that seemed to have some semblance of reality. As he was traveling down he could feel the pull on his magic. Something wanting to rebuild. To reconnect. He paused for a moment; choosing to study some of the area around him. As he was studying he saw a small bird come near. An old memory. Holding out his hand he sent out a pulse of magic and the bird swerved to meet him. The bird circled him before landing in his outstretched hand.

His mind flooded with a memory. A conversation that he had with Hermione perhaps a year before her death. She was reminiscing. She tended to do that once she got a little buzzed. Alcohol seemed to loosen her lips about certain subjects. And that conversation was about some of the decision they had made in the years after Hogwarts. Harry smiled as Hermione went through her drunken crisis of heart. Knowing that the next morning would bring both headache and clarity for the woman. The bird flying away; yet Harry felt more memories start to filter through his consciousness. Tenuous and nothing more than wisps, yet they were there.

Harry smiled as he began to pull away from his on mind, before an Owl's hoot drew his attention. Looking around he saw Hedwig. He held back the tears as he watched Hedwig fly around for a moment before coming close. She never dropped close but flew around Harry, seemingly to urge him on. Without pausing Harry began to follow Hedwig as she led him through the ruins of his own mind. Hedwig paid no heed to the destruction as she flew. Harry barely keeping up, wondering if he could even get a broom in his own mind. No such broom appeared so Harry continued to push forward on foot.

Eventually he caught up to Hedwid who stood perched on a small stone fountain. Harry looked around and saw that even though the wooded area was overgrown and taking over the seating area that was once here the fountain remained untouched. It was the fountain where he and Hermione would oft meet for lunch. A small place in muggle London that she had found. Many of their conversations had happened there throughout the years, he couldn't begin to imagine what he was supposed to see here. Looking around there wasn't a bench that could be sat on. Instead he approached the edge of the fountain to sit down on it.

Instantly his mind was sent back to a time where both he and Hermione were sat on the edge. It was one of the rare times where it wasn't lunch; she had asked him to come and meet with her. He knew immediately that there was something bothering her. Her jacket was slightly misaligned and her eyes weren't really taking in their surroundings. When asked she dove right into the topic, heedless of who might be around. Harry had quickly set up some privacy wards and notice-me-not charms hoping that no one had heard her mention anything about Bellatrix Black.

The memory faded quick, and Harry found himself back in his own mind. Hedwig was gone. Harry gulped down some breaths of air as the memory of that argument flooded back into him. Hermione had questioned the life of Bellatrix before becoming a Lestrange. There were records within the ministry that had hinted at something beyond just being the Dark Lord's favored witch. Whatever she had seen had shaken her, and even now Harry was unsure exactly what it was: Hermione never shared it. Yet, ever since that day the question had always been, would could Bellatrix Black have been?

Pain. That was the first thought upon returning to consciousness. There was massive pain jolting throughout his head. He was on the floor in his study. Athena was perched on his desk looking at him. She let go a small bark before flying down near his head. She studied Harry for a minute after he sat up. Athena gave another hoot and flew away, seemingly finding whatever it was that she was looking for. Harry let out a dry chuckle, but winced as soon as he did. Using what little healing ability he had lessened the pain somewhat. Enough to where he felt comfortable getting up and moving around.

After a few minutes nursing the pain in his head, he allowed himself to begin to work again. Summoning the board on the Black family saw him look over the notes. He had already assumed that Bellatrix was a potential point for change, this memory just reinforced that belief. More than that however, was that he now fully believe that Bellatrix was the path forward. There was something there that made Hermione think. Remember that tidbit just further solidified his belief in his current course of action.