Chapter 6: Die Voldie's Mark Die
Harry woke up the next day with sore back and a headache. He opened his eyes, observing the room around him as he tried to recall the events of the previous night.
He recalled calling Dobby, going to the Malfoy Manor, saving Blaise and Bellatrix, returning, and Fawkes healing the girls. He groaned when he realized that he forgot to take the de-aging potion Salazar gave him. He looked to the still sleeping girls and sighed. He did not know what he was going to do with them or how they would react when they wake up.
Unfortunately, he did not have to wait long, as both Blaise and Bellatrix were starting to wake up. He sat calmly as they looked around for a minute in panic, not familiar with the place.
Bellatrix had a look of wonder at the beauty of the room, considering that she was held in a dungeon when she was not under the potion and a look of fear that Voldemort might pop any moment and torture her.
Blaise on the other hand closed her eyes after opening them, curled into a ball, and started crying and muttering things barely audible to Harry. He decided to interfere and hurried to her side, trying calm the girl down before she broke down and.
Bellatrix panicked when a man hurried to where she was laying and took the girl in the bed next to her in his arms. She remembered the events that took place in the dungeons and remembered the feeling of Harry taking her in his embrace, comforting her soothingly, something that she longed for every time she was free from the potion.
The Blacks never bothered with physical or any other form of affection, preferring that their sons and daughters grow up not knowing what love is, only loyalty to the family and the Dark lord, the thing she hated the most with all her being.
She remembered the day that led to the Imperius potion as if it was yesterday. The only one who had ever shown her affection was her cousin Sirius, whom she was forced to kill by Voldemort via the potion. The Dark lord had come to their house just before the start of her sixth year and her mother and aunt pledged their loyalty to him that day.
Voldemort was impressed with her power and asked the Black family for Bellatrix to be his apprentice and be his wife later. The Blacks were proud that she was chosen for such a task and she, not wanting to disappoint her mother and not wanting to be killed, accepted. The real dilemma occurred when she was learning under Voldemort's tutelage.
At first, he taught her many things, expanded her knowledge far beyond anyone other dark wizard alive except him, and taught her the darkest of curses and powerful magic he knew. It was when he asked her to show him what she learned under his tutelage, on real human being, that the problems began.
It was Sirius who taught her to love, cherish the human life and he taught her to never take pleasure of hurting somebody. That was what presented the problem. It was when Voldemort ordered her to torture a 7-year-old muggle girl, as a proof of her loyalty and successful learning under his teachings, did the problem occur in the first place. She refused to torture the little helpless girl and that made Voldemort enraged to the point where he was on the verge of killing her. He hated that Bellatrix was extremely talented and a very powerful witch from a pureblood family, but not loyal to him.
He did not want to kill the heir to an old family like the Blacks after killing their second direct heir, Regulus and being refused by the main one, Sirius. It would have affected the loyalty of the pureblood families if they had the heirs of their old pureblood family killed.
It was then that led him to the Imperius potion. Neither Sirius nor the Black family realized that their daughter was under an Imperius potion, which led Sirius to hate her and her family to honor her and their pride shine at the position their daughter was in.
Her thoughts were interrupted when the sobbing and crying stopped; she looked at Blaise to see that she had fallen asleep again in the man's arms. He looked almost like James Potter, which puzzled Bellatrix since James Potter was long dead, leaving an only an almost 16 years old savior.
Harry laid Blaise gently on the bed and headed towards Bellatrix, whom he saw, was wide-awake and watching the display absent-mindedly.
"Hello Bellatrix," said Harry softly. She looked up to Harry's face startled that he knew her name. She tried to recall ever seeing Harry's face but nothing came up so she settled with the question that anyone in her place would ask.
"Am I dead? Are you James Potter?" Bellatrix asked confused and bewildered. Harry chuckled at the question, which made Bellatrix blush in embarrassment and look away. Harry stopped laughing and sat down on the bed facing Bellatrix.
"You're not dead Bellatrix, and I'm Harry Potter," said Harry softly. Her eyes widened and she looked everywhere then looked back at Harry.
"How?" Bellatrix asked, "You look like you are my age."
"It is a very long story for another time. I am also twenty five years old," answered Harry truthfully, wincing at the thought that his friends were only sixteen.
"How?" she asked again, raising her eyebrows. Harry decided it is safe to satisfy her curiosity, so he replied mysteriously, "Time travel."
Her eyes widened and her jaw dropped when she had her reply. Messing with time was a dangerous thing and even getting a time-turner is a complicated and difficult thing. Harry stood up and extended a hand to Bellatrix, smiling softly at her.
"Why don't you accompany me to breakfast, I'm sure that you are hungry."
Bellatrix looked at Harry's extended hand and her stomach growled, much to her embarrassment and Harry's amusement. She blushed and took Harry's hand, as he walked with her to eat breakfast.
"Blinky," Harry called and the house-elf appeared.
"How can I serve Master Harry?" asked the house-elf excitedly.
"Please let me know when Blaise is awake," replied Harry and the elf bowed and disappeared. They reached the beautiful garden of the castle where a table was set for two and an enormous breakfast filled the table. They sat down and Bellatrix looked at the food in wonder but did not make a move to eat. Harry noticed her action and took her hand in his.
"Bella, you're far away from Voldemort and his death eaters. It is okay to eat, drink, or even run around for the sake of having fun. I'm not going to torture you or lock you up," Harry said softly, making her burst into tears.
Harry stood up and was at her side in a second, enveloping her in a hug. He did not understand if Voldemort's name was what made her upset or something else. She became rigid and flinched for a second as she felt Harry's arms around her but relaxed when no harm came to her. She sobbed and cried hard on his shoulder for everything that happened in her life until that moment.
"Shh..." said Harry softly. "It's going to be okay. You're safe now, let it all out."
Living with two girls for five years, one of which was his girlfriend, had helped him somewhat understands about women and their attitudes. He rubbed her back and sighed softly to himself, missing his life with Rowena and Salazar, the brother that had helped him with everything and shared his life with for a decade.
Harry knew that if it was not for his friends and the war with Voldemort, he would have stayed with Rowena in the past, taught at Hogwarts, and lived his life happily but nothing was easy, especially for Harry.
"What is the matter, Bellatrix? Why are you crying again?" Harry asked softly. She calmed herself down enough to produce a full sentence.
"Siriuss…wwass thee... only… one wwwho cccaalled mmeee Bella," Bellatrix stuttered before crying again. "I…killed…him," she said between sobs, making Harry understand what the problem was. He gathered a calming charm in his hand, another charm he was able to do wandlessly, which calmed her down as it touched her shoulder.
"You were under an Imperius potion, Bella. Do not be hard on yourself; even the most powerful wizards would not have managed to overcome the effects of the potion. Voldemort was the one responsible for Sirius' death and he will pay dearly," Harry assured her as he took her in his arms again until she cried herself to sleep.
'What is it with women and crying themselves to sleep,' thought Harry as Blinky appeared in front of him.
"Master Harry! Come quick! Miss Blaise is awake and panicking," said the elf quickly, making Harry groan. He took the elf's hand and they appeared in the hospital wing of the castle.
He saw Blaise curled into a ball crying, so he decided to change his appearance. He put an illusion on him so that he appeared the age of sixteen and not twenty-five. He did not want to take the potion yet, not while Voldemort still thought he was dead.
"Blaise," said Harry softly, sitting next to her. "You are perfectly safe here. I won't hurt you." Blaise looked at the familiar face of Harry Potter and launched herself at him, hugging him tightly and crying on his shoulder again. Harry rubbed her back until she calmed down enough to talk.
"Sorry Potter," Blaise apologized softly. Harry shook his head and replied, "Call me Harry." He gave her a smile that she weakly returned.
"Thank you for saving me from that hellhole… Harry," said Blaise with a grateful smile. Harry sighed inwardly in relief that she did not cry herself to sleep again and grinned back at her. 'For God's sake, I hope to eat breakfast anytime soon.'
"You're most welcome, Blaise. How about having some breakfast? I do not think you've ate anything for the past few days," suggested Harry. They ate breakfast at the table in the garden and Bellatrix joined them after a while, as she calmed down after her talk with Harry.
They sat in the sun after eating their breakfast, breathing clean air for the first time in weeks, a tremendous change from the dungeons they were held in. Harry removed the illusion and decided to trust Bellatrix and Blaise with the knowledge of how he came to be a 25 years old.
"It was four months ago that I had a vision about Voldemort talking about the Imperius potion and giving it to Bellatrix. I was angry with Dumbledore for keeping me at the house of my aunt and uncle, who hated magic and me in particular more than a house-elf hating freedom. He always manipulated me in the past, leaving me with abusing muggles although he knew of their hatred towards magic, preventing me from being in Slytherin house which the hat would have decided on.
Hagrid took me on my eleventh birthday, telling me I was a wizard and that my parents did not die in car crash like my relatives used to tell me, all the while telling me that Slytherin is bad and Gryffindor is the best. He left me to face danger every year at Hogwarts and then forcing me to return to my relatives every summer. I decided that I had had enough with Dumbledore controlling my life and making my decisions so I packed my things and decided to run away." Harry paused, then continued after a few moments, having both witches' attention.
"At the same time, a Muggle scientist moved a few houses away because they kicked him out of his work. He wanted to create a time machine and his researches and theories were almost complete with only a link missing.
He invited me inside and showed me his almost completed machine. Voldemort had decided to check in on me with a bit of pain through our connection, which made my magic react violently. It happens that the missing link for the time machine was apparently, Magic. I was thrown in the past, where I stayed for 10 years, thus my older looks."
Both girls had their jaws hit the floor from what Harry told them. It was almost surreal, yet it explained everything that happened and his looks. Bellatrix was the first one to break the silence and ask questions.
"Where are we? What time did you land in? What did you do those ten years?" Bellatrix asked excitedly, then blushed when Harry raised an eyebrow and chuckled.
"We are in my home, which is the Gryffindor ancestral home. I will not tell you the time I landed in until I decide on what to do next. I learned, enjoyed my life, traveled around the world, and had a beautiful relationship with a beautiful witch," replied Harry, saying no more about the subject. He needed to decide on what to do next before telling anyone what happened to him.
Both girls' eyes widened as they heard about his relationship but said nothing. They talked for a while, Blaise telling Harry about her past until Voldemort kidnapped her. Bellatrix told Harry about her almost non-existent life, starting from when she was a kid until her 16th birthday and Voldemort's offer. Harry's eyes widened when he heard that Voldemort taught Bellatrix but he said nothing until she finished her story with tears spilling down her face. 'No wonder she was the most feared dark witch after Voldie himself" Harry thought as he observed the woman in front of him.
"What are you going to do now, Bella?" Harry asked curiously.
"I don't know, I…I don't want to go back near him again," replied Bella, shaking her head. She was about to continue when pain erupted in her left arm, which carried the dark mark. She began screaming which made Harry jump with his wand in his hand. He waved his wand and the sleeve flew away, exposing her arm and the Dark Mark, which was black. He heard the snake hissing something that made his blood boil.
"Sssservant will die," it hissed. Harry decided to perform a powerful art of magic that he only read about, but never practiced. It was called aura magic, an art that was lost to the wizard kind, with the exception of two people. Salazar and Harry received a book about the magic from the tribe leader whose daughter Thanatos Slytherin kidnapped. He deemed them worthy of such knowledge and made them swear an oath on to never use in any evil way.
Harry closed his eyes and extended his aura, connecting it to Bellatrix. He searched and found the dark part of her soul, which contained the Dark mark. He attacked the mark viciously with his magic, containing it and keeping it from killing Bellatrix. He summoned a large part of his magic, battling with Voldemort's magic and trying to remove it.
Although she was a powerful witch, being in Azkaban for 14 years made her body extremely weak. Harry's frustration reached its limit and remembered something which he thought might work.
He searched for a happy memory, which he found quiet easily and transferred the happy feeling through his magic. As soon as his magic touched Voldemort's, it seemed to burn away the evil magic in Bellatrix's soul, making the evil magic shrink back.
With a new vigor, Harry's magic battled with Voldemort's in a matter of power and will, until another foreign magic entered Bella's body. Harry was about to attack it when he recognized the aura, which helped him win the battle of magic. Soon, all Voldemort's dark energy left Bella's body completely, making Harry and Bella pass out from exhaustion.
Harry woke up to a hand holding his, and recognized the aura, the same aura that helped him earlier with overcoming Voldemort's possession of Bellatrix through the mark. He opened his eyes to see Blaise holding his hand and reading a book, trails of tears on her face. On the next bed was Bellatrix, sleeping peacefully, free from Voldemort's mark for the first time since she was a teenager.
"How did you enter Bella's aura?" asked Harry, sitting in his bed. Blaise hugged him as he announced himself being awake and removed her hand from his, blushing deeply.
"You were sweating and Bellatrix was screaming, so I laid my hand on your shoulder to support you and found myself inside her body. I felt my magic and saw yours fighting the dark energy, so I helped you" she said and looked at Bellatrix, then back at Harry.
"Can I ask you something, Harry?" said Blaise softly, looking at the ground.
"Of course," he replied smiling weakly.
"I have no where to go after Voldemort killed my parents. The Slytherins who support Voldemort will kill me if I go back to Hogwarts. Can I stay with you?" Her question was almost inaudible but Harry heard her.
"You are welcome to stay as long as you want Blaise. You can live here until you decide on what you want to do next, but do not leave the castle without telling me where you are going. Voldemort will not rest until he captures you again; he needs you to do his ritual." Harry said, all the while thinking that he almost sounded like Dumbledore, with all his 'stay safe and I will have guard for you thing' but Blaise nodded her head and kissed Harry on the cheek, blushing.
"Thank you, Harry," she replied with a grin.
Bellatrix woke up several hours later, to find Harry in a chair next to her reading a book and several vials of potions next to him. He looked up from the book when he heard her wake up, and grinned at her.
"How do you feel?" said Harry, opening a vial of potion and giving it to her. She felt the pain leave her body and was grateful for it, since the pain of the mark left her very sore.
"Complete and peaceful," she replied, sighing in content. She wondered why Voldemort was not hurting her again through the mark, which made her check her left arm. Tears of joy filled her eyes when she saw the absence of the mark and saw Harry grinning widely at her.
She threw her arms around his neck and kissed him on the lips. Harry felt like he was on fire, much like when he was kissing Rowena. The name flashed in his mind like lightning, which made him pull back from the kiss.
Bella was in heaven when Harry responded to her kiss, but the heavenly feeling was short lived as Harry pulled back as if in shock. She was beaming in happiness when she saw self-loathing appear on his face. Her happy face vanished almost immediately, fearing the worst. It almost made her cry to see his self-loathing expression, wondering why it appeared on the handsome face of the powerful wizard in front of her.
'Oh God, I am betraying Rowena. I can't do this' Harry thought to himself. He hated himself for liking the kiss. He hated himself for enjoying another woman's kiss when his girlfriend was in the past, missing his presence and his love.
"What's wrong, Harry?" Bella asked softly. She feared that he would leave her or return her back to the Voldemort's dungeons, rejecting her for making a move.
"I can't do that, Bella. I have a girlfriend, who I am in love with. I can't have feelings for another, I can't betray her like that," Harry exclaimed to Bella, whose hopeful face left her as Harry finished talking.
"But she is in the past, Harry," said Bella. "You have to move on." He shook his head and replied, looking at her.
"She's coming, Bella. I can't do this, I can't."
