Disclaimer: I don't own these characters; I am merely borrowing them for my own amusement.

A/N: Well, I've got some more written. And during exam time too! It's a wonder what procrastination can do for anything besides study.

Thanks everyone who reviews this story, it's nice to know people are reading it! And if you are reading it and not reviewing, I hope you are enjoying it.


Fulfilling Prophecies

Chapter fourteen

Flashback cont.

Harry appeared in a small room that he recognised as being a part of the Leaky Cauldron. Looking around, he noticed it was bare of anything other than a bed and an open, empty wardrobe. He assumed it was because of security; this way no small object could have been left to disturb the wards. On the wooden floor a circular diagram was carved, this was the focus for the wards that were keeping him hidden. Taking a step towards the bed, Harry spent a minute carefully taking inventory of what he had with him.

It didn't seem much, not when he thought about what he would be facing. He had the two escape portkeys, both around his neck; Gryffindor's sword was at his side and another, smaller, dagger was strapped to his right forearm. Moody had, as part of his training, made him get used to moving with weapons on him. This had involved Harry doing everything, bar sleeping, with them hidden under glamour charms. The two blades weren't his only weapons; he had his wand out and several vials of potions in a belt around his waist. Two of the six potions would explode when the glass broke, another two would create a thick smoke screen, and the last two were healing potions. The last thing Harry had with him was his invisibility cloak. He took this out now, enlarging it from its magically reduced size, and slipping it over his shoulders.

Standing, Harry moved to the middle of the room and settled into the relaxed, but ready, stance Moody had taught him to apparate from. This way he would be ready to move as soon as he arrived at his destination. Turning his mind inwards, Harry sought the connection between Voldemort and himself. This had been part of the training he had received over the past week. Snape had been showing Harry how to focus on his magical connection in the same way as he did for his mark. Once he had found it and was confident he could follow it, Harry focused on arriving as silently as possible to give himself the greatest chance of going unnoticed.

Harry felt himself arrive slowly, it always seemed to take him longer to apparate when he did it silently – it was rather uncomfortable as well – but the benefits of silence outweighed the discomfort, so he shrugged off the ill feeling and took stock of his surroundings.

He was in a small room furnished in dark green and rich wooden panelling. Currently, Harry was crouching in between a bookcase and a wall. Close enough to read the titles on the books, he saw that most of them wouldn't even belong in the restricted section of Hogwarts' library. The wall next to Harry was bare apart from a small glowing fireplace set in the middle. It was too small for Floo travel, but would be large enough to hold a conversation in. Opposite the bookcase Harry had already examined was a second, similar bookcase, though this one held more instruments than books, they reminded him of the instruments in Dumbledore's office. Against the wall farthest from him was a long desk covered in paper, with a large deep red armchair pulled up to it. Harry could tell he wasn't alone, and, although he couldn't see anybody from his position, he guessed there was someone sitting at the desk, hidden by the large back of the armchair. Shifting slowly and as quietly as he could, Harry felt a sudden, sharp pain in his scar and saw movement over by the desk. Feeling a sense of anticipation that was not his own, the nervous teen hurried to strengthen his occlumency shields before shrinking back against the wall.

As Harry made himself as small as possible, he saw Lord Voldemort standing up from the armchair. The Dark Lord had a faint smile on his face as he glanced around the room. Harry could see him muttering something quietly, but wasn't close enough to hear the words. Walking with a disturbing grace, Voldemort went to the door and opened it smoothly before stepping out into the hallway. Harry saw his chance to get out of the room unnoticed, and moved quickly through the gap of the closing door. Satisfied that his exit had not drawn any attention, he decided to go the follow Voldemort down the hallway, certain he was going to visit Dudley.

Harry was fairly certain that Voldemort knew he was here somewhere, he just hoped the Dark Lord didn't know exactly where he was, although if he did, Harry would probably be dead already.

Walking softly a safe distance behind his greatest enemy, Harry found it hard to resist the urge to just take out his wand and throw a spell at Voldemort. He knew it would be pointless, Tom Riddle had been an excellent student at Hogwarts, and had far too much experience to fall to such a trick. Anyone with any Auror or Dark Arts training would be able to feel the spell coming, particularly if they were already on edge. Harry had had some practice in sensing spells, and was competent enough that he wouldn't have fallen for what he was thinking of doing to Voldemort.

The hallways they were walking down were all similar, wooden panelling covered the lower half of the walls, and the top half was stone that looked newer than Hogwarts, but still old. The Dark Lord had stopped once to speak to a portrait on the wall, but other than that he had walked with great purpose through the building. Harry found it slightly disconcerting that nothing happened – nobody walked past, nor were any doors open along the way; there was nothing at all besides the two of them in the halls.

Harry followed Voldemort down two flights of steps before it looked like they were close to the dungeons. The décor changed dramatically into a cold and uninviting environment much more fitting of the places purpose. Once they were down in the dungeons, Harry noticed heavy wooden doors lining the halls, the locks and small windows indicating they were cell doors.

Slowing down, Harry started checking each cell as he passed. Most of them were empty, but a few had a witch or wizard in them. He tried to remember as much as he could about these unfortunate people in the hope of helping them when he got back to Hogwarts. He wasn't foolish enough to think he could rescue all of them, it would be hard enough just trying to get Dudley and himself out.

Noticing that Voldemort had stopped next to an open cell further along and was talking to someone inside, Harry became briefer in checking the cells. He didn't want to assume straight off that that was Dudley's cell, but as he drew closer he knew it was.

"I-I-I don't know a-anyth-thing! I swear!" That was Dudley all right, at least he still sounded okay. "Please, just let me go."

Harry watched Voldemort lean forward and heard him say in an almost conversational whisper, "you are pathetic, even for a disgusting muggle." With that parting statement, the Dark Lord indicated to a pair of Death Eater guards that must have been inside the cell before and left back the way he had come. Flattening himself against the wall, Harry quickly avoided the red-eyed mans sweeping robes as he strode past.

Once he was sure there was only the two guards around, Harry moved closer to the cell and stood behind one of the guards. Pointing his wand at the man's back, he whispered a stunning spell, quickly followed by a freezing charm. He did them quickly enough that the man didn't move from his position, and still appeared to be guarding the cell. The second guard was taken care of in the same way, and Harry stood in front of the cell door unopposed.

"Alohomora," the softly spoken spell unlocked the door and Harry pushed it slowly aside. Unfortunately the person on the other side of the door was not his cousin, and he was instead faced with a white mask underneath a black hooded cloak.

Reacting on instinct, Harry threw himself back out of the doorway, sending a tripping jinx at the Death Eater as they followed him out of the cell. He watched as they tripped into the wall in a jarring enough motion to dislodge the white mask. When Harry saw who it was hatred coursed through him and gave him with enough power to make his stunning spell throw them down three cells. With quick, sharp movements, Harry checked the cell. Finding no more surprises awaiting him, he helped his cousin up from where he was huddled in the corner. Leaving the large boy standing in the doorway between the two unconscious guards, Harry stalked over to the Death Eater lying motionless on the ground.

Ripping the mask right off, Harry stared into the half open eyes of Bellatrix Lestrange. The insane Death Eater. His Godfather's cousin. His Godfather's killer.

Crouching down over her, the raven-haired teenager ignored his cousin's pitiful moans and pointed his wand into the woman's face. Petrifying and silencing her first, Harry enervated her, still keeping his wand directly in her vision.

Leaning down closer, Harry whispered into her ear, "you're dead, bitch." Leaning back and standing up, he held out his wand and said with tightly controlled anger "Avada Kedavra."

The green light filled his vision as it struck Bellatrix straight on. Harry hadn't been thinking as he shot the spell, but when he saw the light he realised what he had done. And he felt no regret. This hadn't been the righteous anger of last years attempt at the cruciatus curse, this time he knew it was pure, unadulterated hatred that flowed through him. He meant it this time.

A strange calm came over Harry as he walked away from the lifeless body of Lestrange, and he knelt next to Dudley and efficiently pulled out one of the healing potions, forcibly poring it down the other boy's throat.

This seemed to knock Dudley out of his stupor, and Harry's cousin spluttered through the taste. "Wh-what was that!"

"That, Dudley, was a healing potion. It's not the best, but it'll keep you going until I can get you out." Taking stock of the situation, Harry knew he had to get moving soon. If Bellatrix had been hiding out in Dudley's cell, that meant Voldemort knew Harry was there and had set the trap to catch him. "Okay, Dudley. You need to listen to me. I'm going to get you out of here. But we need to go quickly before Voldemort springs his trap."

Harry hauled his cousin up as he spoke, shifting Gryffindor's sword out of the way as he tried to drag Dudley down the hallway. Dudley, however, was not being very helpful. It seemed his large cousin was too busy staring at him to move properly. "What is it, Dudley?" Harry sighed.

"You! You have a sword, and a knife! A-and what did you do to her?" Here he pointed back towards Lestrange, his eyes wide in astonishment and fear.

"I killed her Dudley." Harry said flatly. "And, yes, I have a sword, and a knife, and a few other weapons. We're going to need them if we want to get out of here."

"How are we getting out of here? She said you would never get out."

Pulling the gold chain out from under his top, Harry put it around Dudley's neck. "Do not lose this. It's how you're getting out. When I tell you to, say the words 'phoenix rising' and you will be taken somewhere safe. If you say them before I tell you to, nothing will happen; and if you don't say them, then things will get very difficult." Harry peered intently at his cousin, "do you understand?" Dudley nodded and willingly followed him down the hallway.

The two of them walked quietly (or as quietly as he could in Dudley's case) for about ten minutes before Harry noticed that something was wrong. When he had followed Voldemort down to the dungeons, they had only spent about five minutes on this floor before they had reached Dudley's cell. Upon realising this, Harry stopped next to a cell door and swore. Colourfully.

Unfortunately this only succeeded in causing his cousin to look at him as if he was insane. Thinking quickly, Harry recalled a spell he had learned which created a loop in a certain area. It was often used for broomstick or dragon racing to create a track in a small space, but there was no reason why it couldn't be used here. It didn't take him long to remember that the spell could be ended by a modified finite, and he soon felt the magic disentangle itself from the solid structure of the hall. This time it didn't take long for Harry and Dudley to find the stairs that would take them up to the main floors.

Harry was gritting his teeth at the loud sound of his cousin stomping up the stairs behind him. He knew Dudley didn't have the lightest step in the best of conditions, but the noise he was making now was going to get them caught. He stopped on a landing, and turned to face the large boy behind him.

"Silencio," Harry said, aiming the spell at Dudley's feet and directing the magic to act only on that area; it wouldn't be a good idea to have him completely quiet and unable to indicate trouble.

Dudley looked startled and confused at Harry's use of the spell, but one look at Harry's serious face convinced him to not ask any questions.

The pair continued up the long stairs for a while longer before Harry heard some sounds coming quickly down from above them. Pushing at a door behind him, Harry glanced into the room before pulling his cousin in with him.

Wrong move.

Harry turned and looked at his surroundings, seeing nothing there for only a moment before five disillusionment charms were removed. There, surrounding them, were five Death Eaters hidden behind their white masks.

End Flashback