CHAPTER NINETEEN
JKR's playground, I'm afraid.
TW: Attack in the very beginning of this chapter. It's not graphic, but I wanted to warn you all anyway.
For who could harm a prince, but a King?
-o0o0o0o-
The papers were all covering the mess that was the last Wizengamot meeting, but Theo did not have the patience to listen to it at this very moment. For so long, life has been war and politics, even before he started Hogwarts.
Theo wanted a moment of peace from his misanthropic thoughts. He never knew he could feel such hatred for someone, and though it was a stupid move, he couldn't help but be glad that Crouch Jr. got the dementors kiss.
His best friend was now stuck in a tournament, having to fight dragons as the first task, and he had no idea how to help. He had no idea what to do.
So here he was, walking the corridors, Harry by his side, lost in thought. The others decided to congregate in the library, and that's where the boys were headed.
That is, until Harry gripped his arm, shocking him out of his thoughts.
"Did you hear something?" Harry asked, eyes wide and on alert.
"No, I–" he began to say, but he heard an echo of a scream, bouncing through the halls. "I heard that." He said, standing up straight, wand already in his hand.
Harry nodded at him as the boys made their way down the corridor, the scream becoming less and less of an echo and instead getting closer.
"Help!" They heard a feminine voice call out, before sounding muffled, as if someone put something over their mouths.
Harry and Theo began running towards the muffled struggle, and stopping short when they saw a boy they vaguely recognized, towering over a girl, hidden in a corner of the hall.
Harry stormed over to them, seeing the girl was obviously struggling against the bigger boy's hold. The boy seemed to have his wand turned on her, and she seemed to be struggling to breathe.
"Get off her." Harry spoke quietly, his eyes dancing with a dangerous emerald glow.
"Or what?" the boy scoffed.
"Harry!" The voice called desperately. That's when Theo noticed just who the girl was.
Astoria Greengrass.
"Tori!" Harry called out, and he growled. He began firing off every spell he knew would maim the boy but not kill him. The boy–who Theo identified as Cormac McLaggen–erected a hasty shield that was cracking under Harry's onslaught of spells.
Theo kicked his brain into gear, running to Astoria Greengrass who looked dishevelled, clothes rumpled and lifted, eyes filled with tears, and the poor girl was shaking.
"Astoria," Theo whispered, walking over to her, careful not to touch her because of what had just happened.
She slid down the wall and began to sob, hugging her knees. She was having a panic attack, she couldn't breathe. The walls were closing in on her. She clutched her throat, her chest, willing for herself to breathe.
Theo, having experienced panic attacks before, knelt before her. "It's okay," he coaxed softly. "Just focus on me." She was panting, eyes wide with panic as she witnessed the 'fight' between Harry and McLaggen, though Cormac did not put up much of a fight. Harry was just making sure he felt a lot of pain when he woke up from the concussion spell Harry blasted at him.
He then noticed Theo calming her down, and knowing that Theo has more experience with panic attacks then he does, Harry waited only a short distance away, eyes concerned and full of worry as he gazed at the girl that was his best friend's little sister.
"Don't look at him." Theo said, his voice soft but firm. "Look at me. Listen to the sound of my voice." He whispered. Astoria gripped his hand firmly, and he squeezed back. "I'm here, I'm with you, the worst of it is almost over." Theo whispered softly, rubbing soothing circles into the girl's hand. A few minutes later, she calmed down enough to breathe normally. Harry walked over, hair only slightly dishevelled.
"Tori?" He whispered softly, sitting down next to her. "What happened? Are you okay?"
"He…" She whispered, eyes wide with shock. "He attacked me. I don't know why." Her voice was so small, just as she was. "I don't know what I did. He..he told me that I was nothing but a slimy cheat."
Harry's eyes darkened as he looked at the limp crumpled form of McLaggen. He walked over to the boy and leaned over him, whispering something – menacing – that Astoria could not hear. McLaggen could not even hear, as he was already unconscious. Then, Astoria watched with grim satisfaction as Harry cast a bludgeoning curse on the boy's face with all his power. Which was quite a lot. The sickeningly satisfying crack echoed throughout the hall.
Harry now knew why she was attacked. They knew that they couldn't land an attack on him, for 'cheating' his way into the TriWizard tournament. They knew he and his friends were better than them all with a wand.
So instead, they go for the defenceless young ones. One that they knew would strike a chord with Harry.
His best friend's little sister. Despite the public knowing the facts – that Harry did not enter himself – those who hate him will always find a reason to blame him.
"Do you want us to take you to the hospital wing?" Harry asked softly, helping her get up. She shook her head.
"No." She said firmly. "I want Daphne. Take me to Daphne." Her eyes were begging, and Harry nodded, sharing a glance with Theo.
Theo shrugged. "Someone will find him. Eventually."
-o0o0o0o-
If Harry hadn't gotten to that disgusting male first, Daphne would have killed him. And that was nothing compared to what their parents would do.
Hermione and the others were irate when they found out what happened to Astoria. Despite the girl not spending a lot of time with them, she was the sister of their best friend. That makes her one of their own.
They were all quick to tell Harry that it was not his fault. That McLaggen's behaviour was not his doing. That he didn't ask to be put in the tournament, and it was not his fault that Astoria was hurt.
It was obvious Harry carried the guilt with him, though, as he watched them both return to the common room.
Astoria asked Daphne to walk her to the Slytherin Dormitory, and though Daphne didn't want to leave the library as they were doing research for the tournament, her sister came first.
The raven haired Slytherin girl was livid. Fury came off her in waves as she penned the letter to her father, telling him of the incident.
She, of course, had Astoria's permission to do so. Her beautiful face was marred with anger, that all but melted away when she looked upon her little sister's sleeping form.
She gingerly walked over to Astoria's four-poster bed, and gently brushed her honey blonde hair from her face.
She watched her small form, counting the steady breaths and taking in the serene expression on her face. Astoria was okay. Nothing happened to her. Harry and Theo got there in time. He didn't hurt her.
He didn't manage to do anything other than scare her. But an experience like that changes a person forever.
Even if it was an unsuccessful attempt, it was an attempt, and it will forever be burned into her twelve year old sister's mind.
She was only in second year. How could someone do this to her?
It reminded them all, but Daphne most of all, that Voldemort and the Death Eaters are not the only evil in this world. Not a chance. And that thought scared her beyond comprehension.
-o0o0o0o-
It was cold and dark in Azkaban. But not just the regular cold, nor the regular dark. It was bone chilling, glacial. The cold not from the weather, but from the monsters known as the dementors. Sucking out any happy, positive memory or feeling anyone could ever have. The consumers of souls. The darkness was a blanket of the unknown. Covering hundreds of prisoners like a blanket.
The worst of the worst in the British Wizarding World. The murderers, the psychopaths, the rapists, the death eaters.
And in one particularly frosty, dank cell, sat one of the worst people in Wizarding Britain.
Bellatrix Lestrange. She sat in her dirty and soiled prison linens, nearly catatonic. Even before Azkaban, she had been labelled insane. Psychotic. She wasn't always like that.
As one of the highest security prisoners, Bellatrix was not allowed visitors. She had only herself to keep herself company, to keep herself sane. Try as the dementors might, they could never take the adoration she had for her master away.
But one thing could make her waver. And she had it clutched in her hand, as she always had since the moment she received the letter years ago.
A simple letter. And yet she had read it and reread it millions of times. It had not left her hand. The parchment was creased, and the ink was faded, but every letter, every curve in the penmanship was forever burned into her memory.
Dear Bella,
If you are reading this letter, then it means I'm dead. And if I'm dead, it was most likely your master that was the cause. I'm not writing to you to make you feel guilt, nor to point fingers. I'm writing to you because I don't want the last thing I ever say to you be that if it comes down to a fight, us or the death eaters, that I will kill you. I didn't want my last words to you to be those of hatred.
You picked your side, and I picked mine. You have become a stranger that I don't recognise, and yet I can't help but wonder if you still sing the lullaby you used to sing to me, Sirius, Narcissa, and Regulus. I can't help but wonder if you still hate coffee flavoured ice cream, or if you still draw people when you think they aren't looking. You probably don't.
I do not blame you for my death, even if you maybe had a hand in it. I just wanted to tell you, Bella, that I will never forget you. Harry reminds me of you. The second we take a toy away, he summons it right back to him with a mischievous little smile, all the while staring straight at us. You used to do that. I know that the Bella that I know is gone, and I wanted an opportunity to properly say goodbye to someone that was my big sister. To tell you that I forgive you.
Your brother
Until the end,
James.
Tears fell down her cheeks, as they always do when she reads the letter. James. Little Jamie who vowed to protect her from the monsters under the bed with his imaginary sword and missing front tooth.
The James that she betrayed the moment she fell into service with her Master and never looked back. She never forgot him. James, the one her Master killed.
James. James. James.
I'm sorry. The bout of lucidity lasted only a moment, before insanity took her mind once again and she began cackling, her chilling laugh echoing through the nothingness.
-o0o0o0o-
Cyrus and Rhea Greengrass stormed the halls of Hogwarts all the way up to the Headmaster's office, Sirius and Remus behind them for support.
The letter sent by Daphne was clutched in Rhea's hand, a furious glare upon her face.
When they stormed in, they found Dumbledore in a meeting with Lord McLaggen, the boy's father.
"Lord Greengrass, Lady Greengrass." Dumbledore acknowledged, his eyes weary. "Take a seat."
Sirius and Remus entered only a moment behind them, glares on their faces.
"Lord Black," Dumbledore sighed. "Mr. Lupin."
"Surely, Dumbledore," McLaggen began his arse kissing. "You cannot expel a boy because of a mere mistake."
"A mere mistake?" Cyrus echoed in disbelief. "He attacked my daughter!"
"Well, what did your daughter do to warrant his behaviour? What did she do to provoke him?" McLaggen asked back haughtily. He crossed his arms and looked at the man next to him.
"She is twelve! She did nothing except get sorted into Slytherin and associate herself with her sister's friend." Cyrus boomed, drawing his wand. "I will end you where you stand, and then end that little whelp of a boy for even thinking of laying a hand on my daughter, and then I will kill him a second time for actually doing it. Harry did a good job of handling your whelp of a child, but I will do so much worse." Cyrus hissed dangerously, his eyes flashing with hot fury, wand pressed between the eyes of the arrogant Lord, burning his skin.
McLaggen swallowed thickly, eyes wide with fear, and face contorted in pain. Dumbledore then intervened.
"I'm afraid there is nothing that can be done, Lord McLaggen. Cormac attempted to commit the act, and there are eyewitness accounts. If he were not a minor, I would have let the DMLE deal with him." Dumbledore spoke seriously, no twinkle in his eye whatsoever.
He may be a power hungry, manipulative old bastard, but even he had a code of morals. "Albus, surely–" McLaggen began to beg, only to be cut off by an unusually firm Dumbledore.
"This is not up for discussion. Cormac is expelled, and his wand will be snapped until he turns of age. He then will have restrictions placed upon him monitoring his use of magic. You may leave now." Dumbledore said, indicating this was the end of the discussion.
McLaggen stormed from the room, foaming at the mouth in fury. Dumbledore then turned to Cyrus and Rhea.
"I assume you want to see young Astoria." He said, waiting for their nod of affirmation. "I will take you to her, and have arranged for you to take her home for the weekend in order to recuperate in her home."
Sirius and Remus were slightly shocked at the way Dumbledore handled this. The correct way. And quite thoughtfully.
Noticing the looks he was receiving from the group of adults, the man smiled sadly. "Despite your opinion of me, I truly thought what I was doing was for the greater good. Since the public has begun its smear campaign of me, I have lost the Chief Warlock and Supreme Mugwump positions. I am now simply the Headmaster of Hogwarts."
They all watched the man intently, as the normally jovial old man sighed, his shoulders slumping, but the smile on his face genuine. "I can finally do the only thing I have ever wanted to do. Teach. I am only truly, sincerely sorry that it took all of this for me to realise how far I had fallen."
They did not trust the man. Not at all. Not even an iota. But they simply nodded, and Sirius and Remus went with Cyrus and Rhea to the Slytherin Dormitory.
Sirius and Remus to see Harry, and Cyrus and Rhea to take their youngest daughter home, and let her know that she was safe, and she will forever have a support system.
-o0o0o0o-
Lucius sat in the armchair of Malfoy Manor by the fire, a cup of good muggle whiskey in his hand as he sighed. He stared at his left arm, marred forever by the mark that was only growing darker and darker. He knew that once it was back to its old original colour, the Dark Lord would have officially risen.
The mark would burn when a meeting would be called, and he would feel the Dark Lord's emotions through the tattoo that ruined his alabaster skin forever.
He knew he would be able to be tracked. He would have to go into hiding, to keep his family safe. The thought caused his heart to twinge. He didn't want to leave his family, he didn't want to hide behind wards like a coward.
He was torn away from his thoughts when Sirius poked his head into the fire.
"Can I come in?" Sirius asked. Lucius nodded his answer, and Sirius Black, the Lord of the House of Black walked into the manor in all his grandeur.
He sat in front of Lucius, and stared at the man silently. His gaze soft and appraising.
"What's bothering you?" He asked the blonde man.
"Nothing." Lucius said simply. Sirius snorted, raising an eyebrow.
"I've known you long enough to know when you're lying." The Black Lord said simply, waiting for an honest answer out of the Malfoy patriarch.
"The mark." He sighed. "It's growing darker and darker every day."
Sirius was quiet for a moment. "Do you want to get rid of it?"
"It's impossible." Lucius snorted, taking a long drink of his whiskey.
"We don't know that." Sirius said optimistically.
"He cast it in parseltongue, Sirius. We have no idea what it could be." Lucius said, his face grim.
"And who do we know that's a parselmouth and has been studying parselmagic since he was six years old?" Sirius asked wryly, with a sly smile.
"We can't possibly ask him to do this." Lucius said, frowning. "He's just a boy."
"A boy who loves his Uncle Lucius." Sirius said, with a slight grimace. "If you told me years ago that I would trust you with Harry and consider you family, I would have thought you escaped the Janus Thickey Ward in St. Mungos."
Lucius snorted wryly. He was sensing a 'but.'
"But," Ha, I knew it. "I do consider you family. We all do. We've all made mistakes, some bigger than others," he admitted. "But you've more than atoned for them in my eyes. Let's ask him, if he can't, then we'll figure something out."
"Okay." Lucius agreed after a moment of silence. Sirius grinned triumphantly, and took out his mirror.
"Harry." He called softly. Harry picked up immediately, looking frazzled, his hair messier than normal, and eyes wide.
"What happened? Is someone dead?" He asked frantically.
Sirius chuckled. "No, do you think you can do me a favour?" Sirius asked softly.
"Anything for you, Sirius." Harry responded back immediately.
"Can you floo over to Malfoy Manor?" Forgetting that the common room fireplace only works for communication.
"I'll be there in five minutes." Harry answered swiftly, hanging up.
True to his word, five minutes later, he arrived.
"Is everything okay?" Harry asked with a light frown, eyes surveying two of the men who raised him. Lucius simply showed him the dark mark, and how it was steadily getting darker against his skin.
Harry frowned. He knew what was being asked of him, and though he considered himself nearly an expert in parselmagic, especially after the training to Salazar's portrait and Nathaira, he was hesitant.
He didn't want to hurt Lucius. He took a tentative step forward, and gently put his hands over the mark, feeling the magic within it.
It was a twisted web, black magic tendrils making themselves known in his mind's eye as he watched the magic connect with each other in a messy tangle and bundle of evil.
Protean Charm, Location Charm, Portkey Charm, Compulsion Charms, and some sort of parasitic magic. It was not the spells cast that made the magic dark and evil, it was the person who cast it.
Harry's eyes began to glow, though he was not aware of it. Sirius and Lucius watched in awe as the tendrils of black coloured magic that previously only Harry could see made themselves known. They watched as Harry's eyes glowed emerald, steadily getting brighter and brighter, and his hands began to glow with gold.
They watched as the gold magic combatted the dark, watched as the pure light engulfed the evil tendrils completely, and watched as it diminished.
It completely escaped their notice that Harry was hissing a spell. A trickle of blood flowing down his and Lucius' noses.
Then, as abruptly as it began, it was over. Harry and Lucius slumped, pulling away from one another and breathing heavily. Harry wiped the blood away from his nose as Lucius did the same.
The Malfoy Lord looked down on his arm, and for the first time in 16 years, it was unmarred.
He looked at Harry, who smiled at his handy work, with tears in his eyes.
"Thank you." He whispered, his voice choked by the lump in his throat. He grabbed Harry by the back of the neck (gently), and pulled him in for a fierce hug which Harry returned.
"Thank you." He whispered again.
"Of course, Uncle Lucius. I'm glad it was important." Harry huffed as he pulled away.
"What do you mean?" Sirius asked, brows furrowed.
"Well if it wasn't and I came here for no reason I would have been quite cross with you both." Harry said, pursing his lips.
"Why?" Lucius asked, eyes wide.
"I had to sneak into Snape's office and use his floo." Harry grunted.
Sirius and Lucius burst into laughter, and Harry could not help the upward twitch of his lips.
a/n: Dumbledore? Actually doing something right? For once? Possibly the start of a Dumbledore redemption arc, but ehh. That depends on you guys, as the readers. Authors are nothing without their audience, and I love and respect each and every one of you. I wouldn't be here without you all. Kind of sappy but I just want you all to know you are appreciated. We all hate Dumbledore, so I will leave that idea up to you. After this, he has lost his most influential political positions, and that has now negated a lot of the influence he used to have. He will get his complete just desserts. I am trying to add a little depth to his character as I realize I have made him pretty one dimensional up until this point. Anyways, how do we feel about this chapter? Harry has taken away Lucius' dark mark, and I have a plan for that, which includes some Frank-Sirius-Remus-Lucius bonding since we haven't seen much of that. The pranks will be making a comeback (as I began to focus more on the war and politics of the story and took away some of the joy). And what do we feel about the introduction of Bellatrix? I'm so excited you guys have no idea. Review and tell me your thoughts on the chapter and if we like the way the story is headed thus far. Until next time, xoxo.