Disclaimer: I own nothing; it all belongs to J.K.Rowling. I'm just borrowing the characters to play with for a while. This is for pleasure only, no profit is being made, and no copyright infringement is intended.

CHAPTER TWELVE

"I don't suppose you're gonna try and convince me we should just let her die?" Sirius half-heartedly asked.

Harry let out a loud sigh while looking down on the shuddering form of Bellatrix. He lifted her sleeve and found what he already knew to be there, the Dark Mark. "No. I'm not."

"Stupid bloody Gryffindors," Sirius said, referring to himself and Harry.

"As ridiculous as the privileges provided to a noble Lord are," Harry reluctantly explained while Bellatrix's shivering slowed down. "I can't help but take the 'responsibility to the family' aspect of it to heart."

"Bugger."

"Blame the Dursleys," Harry said looking up with a weak smile. "I do."

Sirius was curiously watching her shudders finally reach an end as she lapsed into unconsciousness. "I don't suppose you happen to know the counter to the blood freezing curse?"

Harry whipped his head towards Sirius. "Excuse me?"

Sirius frowned. "Yeah… didn't think so." He shrugged helplessly.

"Fuck," Harry said, suddenly grasping the full disaster of their situation. He quickly tried to think of anyone they could call in the next minute who would be able to counter that curse. The only people he could think of that might know the counter and would trust him enough weren't from this dimension.

"I do know the counter has to come from the same wand, so we'd need someone compatible," Sirius added seeing the wheels in Harry's head had begun turning. "And I think it's a different blood based curse rather than just a spell reversal."

"Dammit," Harry decided. "We're taking her to St. Mungo's."

Sirius had surmised as much. "You know they're gonna notice-"

"Yeah, I know," Harry said as he bent down to scoop up her body and felt the absence of heat. "Ah hell, she feels like a reptile." Harry grabbed a handful of floo powder and tossed it into the fireplace. "St. Mungo's!" He called out as he and Bellatrix were whisked away.

Sirius quickly followed after.

Harry emerged in the front lobby of the hospital for magical maladies and injuries. He was carrying Bellatrix's limp body, while making sure her sleeves stayed down. Harry scurried up to the front desk asking, "Emergency?"

The lady just looked up at him and pointed towards the right corridor.

Harry nodded and began to jog that way spotting a generic mediwitches' desk. "I need a…" Harry trailed off and had stopped his running as he recognized one of the last people he was prepared to see.

Lily Potter had been visiting an old friend and was headed towards the public fireplaces. She moved out of the way when she saw a young man barreling toward her carrying a woman in his arms. As he approached, she felt something inside of her calling out to him. She was inexplicably drawn to this man. She just stared at him with her wide identical green eyes as he slowed down to walk past in a moment that felt frozen in time. Her mind was belatedly processing the fact that this was one of the new Lord Blacks her son had been so impressed by.

There was an ache inside Harry that he'd not felt in years and didn't expect to ever feel again. If he had been more alert to his surroundings he would have registered her presence much sooner. But it was magic that informed him this was Lily Potter before his eyes had ever made that connection.

Sirius caught up with Harry and began to push him forward. "Kind of in a hurry, here, Harry."

"Right," Harry said as he snapped out of his momentary daze, unwilling to contemplate the Lily Potter of this world right now.

Sirius flashed Lily a smile and nod as he pushed Harry towards the emergency rooms. It was only after they were gone that Lily realized he had been carrying Bellatrix Black, a woman widely assumed to be a Death Eater.

"Healer Armstrong!" Sirius called out spotting a familiar face while Harry dashed into the first empty room he found. "We got an emergency here."

The man in question recognized Sirius Black and allowed him to direct him towards the room. "What's the problem?"

"She was hit by a blood freezing curse a couple minutes ago," Harry answered, glad to see Sirius closing the door behind him.

Healer Armstrong put his hands around her neck to estimate her temperature and check how strong her pulse was. "Did you cast any warming charms on her?"

"No sir," Sirius quickly answered.

"Good," the healer replied hurrying over towards a cabinet of supplies. He grabbed several vials of potions and hurried back towards the patient. "This is going to get bloody, so wait outside if that makes you queasy."

Harry and Sirius both shook their heads.

Healer Armstrong quickly grabbed a blade and sliced open arteries on both of Bellatrix's wrists. He directed a pair of pans to the floor that were catching the thick dark blood oozing out while he forced potions down her throat.

Harry glanced at Sirius inquisitively.

Sirius caught the unasked question and answered. "Healer Armstrong was the first healer I woke up to a few months back."

The healer had repositioned both of Bellatrix's hands over a single tray with a drain attached to her abdomen. The blood was being funneled back into her body, leaving a nasty black sludge residue in the pan filter.

Healer Armstrong let out the breath he'd been holding as the tension and pressure of the situation had passed. He picked up a pink magically heated blanket and slid it behind Bellatrix's back, wrapping around her neck. "Okay," Armstrong said. "You guys got her here just in time. I expect after several days of feeling weak she should make a full recovery."

Harry and Sirius didn't exactly jump for joy, but nodded their heads in appreciation.

"Now before I call the aurors because of a certain tattoo on her arm," Healer Armstrong forcefully asked, "Is there anything else I need to know?"

"We're not sure," Sirius answered, hoping Harry knew better than to attempt a memory charm. "But we'd appreciate it if you didn't call them."

The healer didn't show any emotion as he asked, "Why not?"

Harry answered, "Because she's a Black who got hit by a blood freezing curse. With her last words before passing out she asked the Lords Black for protection. If she knew to come to us, then she knows that it means abandoning the Death Eaters."

"She's leaving the Dark Lord and his Death Eaters?" Armstrong clarified.

"I'd imagine the loyal ones don't get hit with that curse very often," Harry deftly replied.

Armstrong turned to Sirius. "So why aren't you sure what else I need to know?"

Sirius shrugged. "'Lord Blacks, I'm here to pledge loyalty to the family.' That's everything she managed to get out when we met her for the first time a few minutes ago."

Armstrong sighed. "I still have to report this." He held up a hand to stop their objections. "But I think I could hold off on informing the authorities until after she's been discharged into your care. I want her to stay overnight for observation, but in the morning I expect she'll be able to leave."

"Thank you," Sirius said with Harry nodding his assent.

"I've got restraints activated on the bed," Armstrong explained. "She could wake up within the hour or perhaps not until morning. In the meantime though I want at least one of you with her at all times."

"We're not going anywhere," Harry assured him. "We need to get some answers from her ourselves."

Healer Armstrong nodded in understanding and in a more friendly cordial tone asked, "How've you been, Sirius?"

"Great," Sirius answered. "Better than I've felt in years."

Healer Armstrong smiled a little for the first time. "I'll be back in a couple hours to take her off the filter." He shut the private room's door closed behind him leaving Harry and Sirius alone with the pale but temporarily harmless Bellatrix Black.

"Fucking Lestrange," Harry grumbled.

"Not Lestrange," Sirius corrected. "She's never been married here."

"Really?" Harry asked in surprise.

Sirius nodded.

"For some reason I thought everything before Halloween 1981 in this world was going to be the same."

Sirius shook his head. "Considering how strong Voldemort was in our world at that time, this place would have been fucked if that were true. No, it's close to the same but there's a few differences. Of course you were barely a tickle in Prongs' leg around then, so you might not recognize some of the differences."

Harry nodded in agreement. "It's somewhat comforting to know she didn't torture Neville's parents into insanity."

"That's not to say she hasn't done that to others but Moony doesn't think she's ever been arrested," Sirius said. "Frankly, the only thing they may even have on her would be being a Death Eater."

"Is that a crime?"

"Probably," Sirius said as he flicked her toe really hard. "God I hate this bitch."

"I'm with you."

Sirius looked at her closer and saw small flinches of pain and discomfort on her face. "She looks damn good though."

"Sirius," Harry winced. "She's your cousin."

"So?" Sirius shrugged. "It's not like I'm planning to make some three-headed cyclops pureblood heir. She's a cruel bitch and she's hot. Those two characteristics go together an awful lot."

"And what would the two Aunt-Mums have to say about this?"

Sirius shook his head. "You and your silly muggle-raised ideals."

"My only cousin was Dudley."

Sirius banished the mental image and spoke softly, "I don't think I want to forgive her." He took a deep breath. "Even though this one hasn't ever done anything to me. And she's hot."

"Oh for Merlin's sake," Harry groaned.

"I'm sorry," Sirius said. "It's just so much easier to hate ugly chicks. I'm… confused."

"About what?" Harry yelled. "Whether or not she's going to kill you in this world too?"

"Please Harry," Sirius said with a roll of his eyes. "You've got that honor reserved."

"Oh yes," Harry snapped. "Pick on the orphan boy with guilt issues."

"You're not that upset," Sirius lazily waved Harry off. "But speaking of… it sure looked like Lily recognized you back there. That's a pretty damn impressive mother's intuition."

Harry sighed trying not to think about it. "That wasn't mother's intuition."

"Of course not," Sirius agreed. "I'm sure Lily always greets new people carrying Death Eaters by staring with her mouth open."

"Dammit," Harry swore. "You know she might actually guess pretty close for all the wrong reasons."

"The wrong reasons?"

"Never mind," Harry said waving him off. "Anyways… no one will ever believe the truth, as long as we keep denying it."

Sirius wondered briefly what Harry meant but was interrupted by a moan from the bed.

Harry and Sirius were at her side immediately. Sirius had drawn his wand, while Harry revealed Bellatrix's. "Don't move," Harry instructed. "The curse is still being flushed from your blood."

Bellatrix heard the calm voice that had sounded so angry before. She blinked her eyes open and looked to her left and right. "Is this St. Mungo's?"

"Yes," Harry answered without explanation. "Are you prepared to disavow allegiance to any other Lord and swear your loyalty to the family?"

Bellatrix leaned forward and got a little dizzy from the head movement. "My sister seemed to think you might be able to protect me."

"Protect you from what?" Sirius asked, speaking up for the first time.

"The Dark Lord, the Death Eaters," she weakly answered, "the Ministry."

"You still haven't answered my question," Harry said.

"Nor you, mine," Bellatrix snapped.

Harry and Sirius glanced at each other warily.

"Yes," Bellatrix said breaking the uncomfortable silence. "I am prepared to, but I was hoping to meet you before deciding whether I should or not."

"We can't promise or guarantee your safety," Harry explained. "But for as long as you remain a loyal member of the Black family, I will do everything in my power to protect you."

Bellatrix turned to look Harry in the eye. "You will stand against him?"

The him in question was clear as day. Harry held eye contact with her and answered, "When he stands against a Black, yes."

Bellatrix saw a determination in Harry that reminded her of the Dark Lord and turned to look at Sirius. From him she felt a warmth that reminded her of the Dark Lord. She let out a sigh. "I've no doubt a healer has seen the mark I carry. What happens when the aurors come?"

Harry lifted his hand displaying her wand. "I know the cunning of Tom Riddle and sending you to gather information on us is by no means a stretch for him. I think it's time you rejoin the family before we humor any more of your questions."

"I've seen your respect for wizarding tradition," Bellatrix answered knowing she couldn't reach for her wand if she wanted to. "So this is my choice? Joining a couple of muggle-lovers who are all set to hand me over to my reserved seat in Azkaban or going back to the situation that you know I want to leave?"

"You're the one looking to upgrade Lords," Harry countered. "It's not like our life is going to be any simpler with you under our protection."

Bellatrix still hesitated.

Sirius looked at Harry and said, "She had her chance. Let's go."

"Wait!" Bellatrix called out. "I'll swear."

Harry nodded at Sirius and slipped her wand into her right hand. Her wrists were still draining chunky blood at a rate equal to the blood flowing back into her body.

Bellatrix took a breath and said, "I hereby pledge my life, my loyalty, and my magic to the House of Black. In doing so, I disavow and sever any previous allegiances others may claim to my life, my loyalty, or my magic. So mote it be."

Harry and Sirius both felt the invasive pulse in their Black family rings and replied in unison. "So mote it be."

"So mote it be?" Harry repeated in a higher voice after the magic in the air finished. "People don't talk like that."

Sirius snickered.

"Stupid old magic using archaic language," Harry grumbled.

Bellatrix collapsed back and Sirius took the wand from her before it fell into the tray of blood. "What have I done?" she wondered for the first of many times.

Sirius grinned deviously. "That's exactly what we want to know, Bella. What have you done?"

Bellatrix hissed and tensed at the sting in her arm. "He's calling me. You gotta get me out of here."

"No," Harry calmly answered. "You're not answering this one. Tonight you're staying here, healing, and then tomorrow morning we're checking you out. Your healer has agreed to put off contacting the aurors until we're gone. After that we can hide you or move you."

She was gritting her teeth as she added, "Maybe we should have them amputate the damn thing while we're here."

"Wouldn't help any," Harry said. "The mark is based off a bastardized serpent tattoo, but one of his modifications was including soul magic. It's visible on the skin, but attached to the soul. Lose the arm and you'll still feel the magic."

"You sure, Harry?" Sirius clarified with a knowing look. He was reminded that Harry had been incorrectly assuming everything before their deaths here was the same. "Why not take a look?"

Harry pulled up her sleeve to look at the Dark Mark and was shocked by what he saw. At first glance it looked exactly the same. Only this one was not burning red, but was in fact animated with the tattoo snake weaving in and out of the tattoo skull. Harry leaned down as he heard soft hissing coming from the serpent.

"The bitch won't like it," the snake rhythmically hissed. "Master's calling, Master's calling. The bitch won't like it." It paused again, before repeating its short song. "Master's calling, Master's calling."

Harry blinked having recognized the tune. "This little bugger is singing."

"What?" Sirius asked.

"What am I doing?" the snake tattoo stopped in surprise to ask.

"It stopped," Bellatrix announced happily as her face softened.

"Whoops," the snake said as it began moving wildly again.

Bellatrix winced. "Spoke too soon."

"Hey," Harry hissed in parseltongue at the Dark Mark. "Do me a favor and stop that for a second."

Bellatrix flinched at the sound, while Sirius looked happily disturbed by it. The snake tattoo froze in surprise, but it was the voice from the hospital room door saying, "Wow," that startled Harry.

"Don't mind me," Healer Armstrong said while closing the door behind him. "I just need to check on my patient."

Sirius backed away from her bed and Armstrong took his place by her side. He began to cast diagnostic charms while Harry continued his conversation.

"Thank you for stopping," Harry said.

"Who are you to command me?" the snake asked curiously.

"I do not command you," Harry said. "I can only ask as a courtesy for… the bitch."

"Then I must continue," the snake explained beginning to slither around the tattooed skull. "Master ordered me to continue until she answers the call."

"She has felt the summons and now stands at her Lords' side," Harry explained to the serpent. "Your work is done."

The snake began to slow and came to a stop after thinking it over. "I will extend you this courtesy until Master commands me again."

"Thank you," Harry said as the tattoo went back to the static image normally associated with the Dark Mark. Harry looked up and saw Bellatrix, Healer Armstrong, and Sirius were all watching him closely. "Sorry about that but your Dark Mark doesn't speak English."

"I didn't know it spoke at all," Bellatrix murmured.

"It's quiet, but yeah," Harry explained. "I told him you felt the summons and are at your Lords' side. He agreed to stop until 'Master' commands him again."

"Fascinating," Healer Armstrong said with a grin.

"Don't you start," Harry interrupted the man. "We're not going be fetal flobberworms for your experimentation. How's she doing?"

"Improving rapidly," Armstrong answered. "Might be well enough to leave soon, but I'd still prefer to keep her overnight." He turned towards Bellatrix, "I expect you'll get intermittent chills for the next few days and you'll feel quite weak. If after two weeks, you still get a chill, inform a healer. You may have to filter your blood again. Don't assume it's nothing."

Sirius assured Armstrong that one of the Lord Blacks would stick around all night, if not both. Armstrong was leaving for the night, but would be back in the morning and left instructions for no others to check on her.

Once the healer was gone, Bellatrix sagged back into her bed. "May I ask you something, my Lords?"

"Don't call us that when the situation doesn't dictate it," Harry said. "My name is Harry."

"You can call me your Lord," Sirius countered.

"Right," Bellatrix said looking between the two before looking down. "I just wondered… who was it? Who did I hurt or kill? Or who do you blame me for?"

Harry and Sirius looked at each other, partly wanting to keep her in the dark despite knowing the oath to the family should protect them. Harry asked, "What do you mean?"

Bellatrix kept her head down staring at her freshly healed wrists, not wanting to look up at them. "I know a look of hatred, a thirst for revenge. Both of you had that look in your eyes. So I wondered who it was that caused you to look at me that way."

Harry sighed and waved at Sirius to answer her.

"Sorry Bella," Sirius decided. "We'll protect you, because you are family. But that doesn't mean we trust you." He paused at the look of sadness on her face when she closed her eyes. He felt like giving her a glimmer of hope adding, "Nor is that to say we never will."

"We just don't want to," Harry admitted pulling out the recliners for himself and Sirius.

Albus Dumbledore watched the faces of people as they entered the room. This was one of the better barometers for measuring the volatility of their current struggle against the Dark Lord Voldemort. When there were numerous smiling and laughing faces they were at their most relaxed. But when they looked somber and stayed quiet, it was because they could sense the oncoming danger, fearing the calm before a storm. The most violent atrocities and horrible actions of Voldemort had always come suddenly and then he would go silent to revel in the moments of fear he inspired.

Albus hoped this wasn't going to be one of those times. Based on the laughter coming from Remus, Tonks, and James Potter Jr., he felt he may not need to worry. But it did not escape Albus' notice that these three were the most likely to be singing the praises of the enigmatic Lord Blacks.

"Please everyone," Albus announced. "Be seated. We have a number of new items to discuss, as I'm sure anyone who has read today's paper will know."

There was muttering and curious conversations springing up all around the Order meeting.

"For those of you who may not have heard," Albus explained. "Bellatrix Black was admitted to St. Mungo's to be treated for some rather serious curse damage. She stayed overnight and was released into the custody of the two Lord Blacks, as the parties responsible for her well being. After her healer discharged her, he then called the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and informed them that Miss Black bore the Dark Mark on her arm."

Albus could easily tell the few who hadn't heard this news from the looks he was receiving. "I have spoken to Healer Armstrong wondering why he didn't contact the aurors immediately, and he determined there were no outstanding warrants for her arrest, saw her commit no crime, and felt the allegiance issue was an internal family matter. He wasn't going to violate any patient confidentiality, but I believe he may have treated Lord Sirius Black in the past."

Albus held up a hand to forestall objections and said, "We may not have any proof of her crimes, but she could be an extremely valuable resource for the knowledge and experiences to which she could testify."

"What's the Ministry doing?" Bill Weasley asked.

Albus glanced at James Potter and then Tonks who both shrugged inconclusively. "They have no substantial evidence or implications of illegal activity, but they are seeking reasons to justifiably bring her in for questioning. The protection offered by her family complicates the issue both legally… and because they could simply hide her away at any time."

"What do you mean by the protection?" Arthur Weasley inquired.

"According to Healer Armstrong, the Lord Blacks were only willing to assist her after she disavowed her allegiance to the Dark Lord and pledged herself to the Black family. As a sworn member of an ancient and noble bloodline, her Lords assume some legal responsibility and culpability for her. The laws are a bit muddy, particularly among the noble families that predate the Ministry."

Albus pursed his lips and sat back for a moment. "I met Lord Harry Black for the first time before our Wizengamot session. He basically informed me that he was going to cause problems including 'a little friendly stabbing among dignitaries.' I assumed he was speaking metaphorically at the time." Albus frowned though his face twitched a little. "I was wrong."

Hestia Jones summarized, "So we've got the Lord of a dark family publicly stabbing others, associating with known Death Eaters, and now secreting away a valuable source of information?"

Albus nodded and continued. "There is also another thing I discovered from Healer Armstrong. He said that Lord Harry Black was capable of communicating with the Dark Mark."

More wary muttering sprung up. Tonks spoke up to try and prevent them from jumping to too many inaccurate conclusions, "Well, that's not all that surprising. I mean it is a magical snake tattoo and he is a parselmouth."

"He's a what?" James Potter clarified.

"A parselmouth," James Jr. answered with a nod from next to his father. "Harry told me and Uncle PJ he was always surprised animagi don't get grouped in with the same misconceptions. And that if people weren't so prejudiced about a language, maybe the nicer folks with the talent wouldn't have to keep it like some dirty secret."

"Maybe," Sturgis Podmore uncertainly agreed. "But even if it doesn't automatically turn him into a dark wizard, it is a warning sign. And there's an awful lot of warning signs popping up around these Lord Blacks."

"I saw him," Lily interjected. "Running down the hall in St. Mungo's with Bellatrix in his arms. She was really pale and looked dead, but he… he's not evil. He felt familiar."

"You saw him? Wait, you saw her?" James said in surprise. "And you never mentioned it before now?"

Lily had the grace to blush at her husband. "I barely even processed that it was her. I've been trying to figure out why he felt so familiar. When he was staring at me, it was like we were drawn to each other. To be honest, at first I thought I had a monster in my chest, rolling around and kicking to get out."

James leaned back warily asking, "Are you pregnant again?"

"No, heavens no. But I just can't figure out what it is about Ha-Harry," she stumbled over the name for a moment. "The only thing I could think of is that he reminds me of the son we lost, because our Harry would probably be just a little younger than him. And even now, when I hear these accusations, my inclination is to jump to his defense and protect him." Lily scratched her head. "I was hoping it was just some bad shrimp I ate, but… I don't know."

Remus had been squeezing his daughter's leg under the table to keep her from saying anything she shouldn't.

"That's it," James decided turning to his wife. "We're going to get you completely checked out for compulsion curses, memory charms, the whole works."

"I'm fine," Lily said, scowling at her husband.

"You said you felt like you had a monster in your chest," James argued. "Let's just make sure you in fact don't."

Albus smiled and interrupted. "Nevertheless, it is imperative that we contact the Lord Blacks as soon as possible. I was thinking perhaps the Lupins and Potters could talk to them, or ideally arrange a meeting with myself."

Tonks shrugged indifferently, looking to her adoptive father for an answer. Remus explained, "Tonks was brought back into the Black family as soon as Sirius was able to, and I, by extension, have been granted the same courtesy. But even we've been blocked access."

"Floo's closed and apparition's warded," Tonks answered. "And we used to be able to apparate right in. So I'm guessing they intentionally blocked us as a favor."

"Cutting you off and refusing you permission is doing you a favor?" Sturgis asked.

Tonks nodded. "I'm already balancing my responsibilities and loyalties between the Order and the Ministry. Both of which have asked me to exploit my family connection. I can tell you the same thing I told Madame Bones: the connection does me no good in this instance."

"Have you tried simply knocking on the front door?" James asked, not wanting this small mission to fall in his lap.

Tonks shrugged. "Back door is the one I use because of that stupid umbrella stand. And right now the door's got a sign that says 'Do Not Disturb (except in emergencies).' I'm inclined to trust my Lords on this one."

James saw people looking his way and said, "I only went by their family manor once because I was hoping to question Lord Black unofficially. They were… busier than I expected."

"Yes, yes," Albus grinned. "We all saw the pictures of Madame Bones. But if we cannot open a line of communication, then we may have to ask you to 'disturb' them, Miss Lupin."

"Why don't you just send an owl?" James Jr. suggested.

"I'm sure they've warded owl post if they've blocked even keyed in apparition," James condescendingly explained to his son.

James. Jr. shrugged. "Firefly delivered my letter this morning."

"You're writing to them?" James asked his son in disbelief.

James. Jr. nodded. "This was before I heard about the Death Eater, so Harry's probably busy."

"You shouldn't be writing to strangers," James scolded.

"Uncle PJ said he doubted they'd mind," James Jr. explained. "We talked with them and Tonks for half a day. That's not exactly a stranger."

Albus inquired, "Do you mind sharing your Uncle Peter's opinion of them?"

James Jr. shook his head. "He said the Lord Blacks are the type of allies who will likely drive you to horrible ruin or great fortune. But either way, you'll probably have a bit too much fun getting there."

"Just about hit the nail on the head with that assessment," Tonks mumbled.

Albus found himself concurring as well. "I shall send them a missive with Fawkes. But if they are not responsive, I wonder if you might wish to invite them to dinner at Godric's Hollow with your Uncle and the Lupins?"

James was going to dismiss the idea outright but Lily answered before he had a chance. "I think I'd like that whether they reply to you or not."

James groaned and planned to assign himself some overtime.

Sturgis looked at her like she was mad. "Death Eater? Parselmouth? Stabbing? Do these things mean nothing to you?"

Albus jumped in and explained, "I may not know the Lord Blacks well enough to judge the strength of their convictions, but I trust Remus and I trust Tonks. And their willingness to be protective of the Lord Blacks speaks highly of the trust they have in them."

Remus smiled at Albus and nodded at everyone looking his way.

"Now," Albus continued. "I think perhaps we've spent enough time talking about the Lord Blacks. Let's move on to other people of interest. James, why don't you tell us about these Death Eater Bandits?"

Remus had to pat his daughter on the back as she had started choking.

Sirius double-checked and saw Bellatrix was still napping in the sealed and warded guest bedroom. Kreacher had been instructed to relay all communication through Harry and him and to keep them apprised of her state.

He walked down to the muggle room and saw Harry was reading the letter that had arrived while they were turning a spare bedroom into a temporary gilded cage.

"Who's it from?" Sirius asked, plopping down next to Harry.

"Jimmy," Harry answered. He repeated it proudly, "My little brother Jimmy. Writing the older brother he doesn't even know he has for advice."

Sirius groaned. "Please tell me you're not turning into one of them."

"I can't help it," Harry admitted gleefully. "I like the idea of having my very own little brother."

"This is how it always starts," Sirius grumbled to himself.

"And I feel like it's my duty as his big brother to… you know…"

"Love and protect him," Sirius spat out the words distastefully.

"What?" Harry looked at his godfather in confusion. "No. Fuck that. He's got family for that. I'm his big brother. I'm supposed to corrupt him."

Sirius looked at Harry hopefully.

"Send him some booze and porn, like a good big brother does." Harry grinned deviously. "Besides, how do you think James would feel about that?"

Sirius was so proud of Harry at that moment he almost considered admitting it out loud. Luckily he was saved from the ethical dilemma of whether to show emotion or not by an ear-splitting scream from the guest bedroom.

They both leapt to their feet and ran down the hall. They burst into the room and saw Kreacher fretting over Bellatrix Black who was gritting her teeth and convulsing in obvious pain.

"It's… him," Bellatrix whispered when she saw Harry walk into view.

"Crap," Harry said casting a stunner on her immediately.

Bellatrix's violent shudders ceased instantly as she succumbed to unconsciousness.

"This could be a problem," Harry said looking up at Sirius.

"Harry," Sirius said pointing towards Bellatrix again.

Harry looked down and saw her body was still wracked with random spasms, despite her stunned state. "Bugger. Kreacher, go get several pain-relieving potions."

"Voldemort's torturing her through the mark?" Sirius clarified.

Harry nodded. "I was afraid of this. And because it's tied into her soul, even stunning won't help her that much."

Kreacher returned with a half dozen sealed cups of potion. Harry woke Bellatrix and handed her one. "Drink this."

Bellatrix started to reach for the potion but her arm was clearly not stable enough to hold the cup, so she helplessly opened her mouth.

Harry briefly wondered where this situation fell on the weird-o-meter in his life, as he slowly poured the potion into Bellatrix's mouth. It took only ten seconds before her body had stopped shivering and she relaxed back into the bed.

"Thanks," she said quietly.

"No problem," Harry said incanting another stunning charm and sending her right back into unconsciousness.

Harry saw Sirius was watching Bellatrix with an unreadable expression on his face. "We're going to have to do something about this."

Sirius looked at Harry. "What can we do?"

Harry stopped to try and think of any possible solutions. With a burst of inspiration, he rolled up her sleeve to examine the Dark Mark. The tail of the snake was visible but the head was nowhere to be seen.

"Hey," Harry hissed out in parseltongue as he leant down to her arm. "Wake up. You there?"

Harry looked up and saw Sirius was watching him before turning back towards the Dark Mark. "I can see your tail. I know you're there."

"Is he playing hide the snake head?" Sirius helpfully asked. "There was this girl I used to-OWW!" Sirius grabbed his eye. "Dammit Harry."

"I know you can hear me," Harry hissed. "I just wanted to ask you a question."

A few inches below the Dark Mark in a patch of unblemished skin, the image of the snake's head came bursting to the surface. "You are not Master. Master commands." It slithered right back up into the skull and once again only the tail was visible as its head disappeared hidden under the surface.

Harry stood back up. "Crap. He's going to be no help."

"I don't know that much about soul magic," Sirius said with a shrug. "But I know enough that breaking the spell would probably kill her."

"Not necessarily," Harry retorted as he settled into a chair near Bellatrix's bed. He deflated admitting, "But it'd probably destroy her soul… so yeah." Harry sighed as Sirius took the other chair. "Any ideas?"

Sirius shrugged. "You think we could manipulate the spell without breaking it?"

"It might be possible," Harry considered. "But we're probably working on a deadline of the pain driving her crazy. Not to mention I don't think anyone has ever been able to do anything with the mark."

"Healers probably won't be any help, will they?"

Harry shook his head. "Not unless they know more about the Dark Mark than I do, which I'm kinda doubting."

Sirius sat back in thought just observing Bellatrix as he and Harry descended into silence. "Well, historically a rabid stray bitch gets put down, but I don't really want to do that."

"I know," Harry grumbled. "She's hot."

"It's not that," Sirius explained. "It's just this Bellatrix is so different. She's meek. Even as a crazy psychotic murdering bitch she had a zest for life, or evil I suppose. Putting this one down wouldn't be the same as my real bitch of a cousin."

Harry found himself agreeing with Sirius. He couldn't see much of the Bellatrix he knew in this woman either.

Sirius waited a beat before adding, "And she's not exactly hard on the eyes either."

Harry shook his head as they lapsed into another thoughtful silence. After several minutes of quiet contemplation, Harry began to summarize, "Voldemort can torture her indefinitely. Trying to prevent the pain still damages her soul and will eventually drive her crazy. Separating the spell from her would kill her or leave her soulless. But that hardly matters because breaking the spell or manipulating it may very well be impossible."

"Impossible," Sirius repeated. "That sounds like your forte."

Harry rolled his eyes. "You can't honestly expect a solution to magically appear."

Kismet as always heeded the call and in a burst of flame, Fawkes appeared floating gently in front of Sirius. The phoenix warbled a greeting and landed on the edge of the dresser.

Harry glanced at the magical bird before looking up and saying, "You can't honestly expect a Philosopher's Stone to magically appear." He took a couple seconds thinking positive thoughts while Fawkes was tilting his head inspecting him. "Damn."

"It was a good try," Sirius admitted. He walked over towards the phoenix and showed his empty hand. "Hey Fawkes."

Fawkes nodded in greeting, having met Sirius before. He curled his head under his wing and produced a sealed envelope.

"Eurgh," Harry commented. "As hot as phoenixes run at, you know that's a moist armpit."

Sirius took the envelope from Fawkes' beak and held it up to his nose to smell. He quickly whipped the letter away and jerked his head back. "Good god. It smells like moldy old parchment." Sirius took another look at the envelope. "Oh right." Sirius opened the letter and began to read.

Harry walked over to Fawkes and let the bird smell his hand, before he began to scratch Fawkes on the back of his head. "How you doing, Fawkes," Harry said. "Still like being rubbed back here?"

Fawkes let loose a rumbling purr of approval.

"You think you could do us a favor?" Harry asked hopefully. He stopped scratching when Fawkes turned to look at him.

Harry pointed. "Bellatrix is being tortured by Voldemort. You think maybe shedding a tear or two might help? Or some other ancient phoenix pain-relieving secret?"

Fawkes' eyes widened and he just tilted his head at Harry in disbelief.

"I know. I'm surprised I'm asking too," Harry said. "But phoenixes are some of the best healers in the magical world and I don't really want her agony. Well, not right now at least."

Fawkes hopped up into the air and beat his wings as he began to circle the small bedroom. He burst into a brilliant phoenix song that left Harry and Sirius both tingling happily.

Harry glanced over and saw Bellatrix's body was shivering in discomfort from the effects of the phoenix song. Fawkes stopped his magical tune and landed right back on the edge of Harry's chair as Bellatrix's body relaxed.

"Oh yeah," Harry said slowly in a moment of dawning realization. "Death Eater."

Fawkes let out a laughing murmur of agreement.

"So what's Albus got to say?" Harry asked noticing Sirius was done with the letter.

"Here," Sirius said handing him the letter. "You read it."

Harry took the letter and saw it was short but as carefully worded as everything from Albus. Harry asked aloud, "He's not exactly subtle here, is he?"

"I think he's trying to win us over with honesty." Sirius scoffed with a shake of his head, "Like that'll work."

Harry looked over at Fawkes. "You know we can't do this. Does he honestly expect us to sell out a Black who just swore allegiance to the family?"

Fawkes looked almost embarrassed under Harry's scrutiny.

"You didn't expect us to, did you Fawkes?"

Fawkes shook his head in clear response.

"A letter has arrived, Masters," Kreacher announced as he walked in the room carrying a Ministry owl.

"Aren't we just the popular kids today," Sirius commented taking the letter as the owl flew away having delivered its note. "It's from Amy." Sirius read the contents of the letter and added, "Correction. It's from the Director of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement."

Harry glanced at Fawkes. "We may have a response for you after all."

"The Wizengamot is going to have an unofficial but required bit of questioning for Bellatrix Black Friday afternoon at 1 PM. If she hasn't shown up by 2 PM, they have a warrant to search for her in Grimmauld Place, including the destruction of any wards in the way."

Harry raised a curious eyebrow at Fawkes and turned towards Sirius. "We get two days notice to properly hide her away out of the country?"

"Is that what we're going to do?" Sirius asked.

"I doubt it," Harry said while summoning a piece of parchment and a pen. He began to write a response for Albus.

Sirius walked over and saw the letter addressed to the Headmaster. "What are you telling him?"

"I am thanking him for his concern," Harry explained while writing. "But informing him that there is an immediate health risk we must address first. After all, it's not like the Dark Lord will quietly accept one leaving his service. And I'm telling him we look forward to resolving the issue at the Wizengamot on Friday."

"You think he might be able to help us?"

Harry was just finishing the letter and looked up at Sirius and Fawkes. "I think we'd be betraying a Black no matter how well-intentioned his help might be."

"Even if we don't come up with anything," Sirius asked doubtfully. "You think she'd rather constant agony than the annoyance of guilt trips, twinkling eyes, and offers of sweets?"

Fawkes was clearly amused to be sitting in on this.

Harry handed the note to Sirius to look over. "I'm still not sure why she came to us, but you know she had to have considered going to Albus for help. She chose us for whatever reason. And I'm guessing it was partially because we wouldn't immediately run to the high and mighty Albus Dumbledore."

Sirius handed the note back having nothing to add. "I know you've had some problems with him in the past-"

"Hang on," Harry stopped him and handed the note to Fawkes. "There's a spy for Dumbledore in our midst."

Fawkes took the note from Harry, and flicked his wing under his chin in a gesture that was clearly a phoenix insult. He warbled a goodbye that sounded less than friendly and flashed away. After the flames disappeared, the Lord Blacks were alone once more to watch Bellatrix suffer silently.

Harry hadn't ever seen Fawkes do that before. "I think he just gave me the equivalent of flipping the bird."

"As a bird, he might take offense to that," Sirius said. "But what I was saying is that when it comes to answers, Dumbledore is one of the people usually worth asking."

"Yeah, I know," Harry said. "But you're basing that off of your impressions of a different man. And he sees Bella as an asset to be utilized. We see her as family."

"I don't usually like my family," Sirius pointed out.

"Me neither," Harry agreed recalling his own experiences. "But she's still family. And for what it's worth, I'm doubtful he could do anything for her that we haven't."

The two of them went back to their chairs and resumed watching over the woman causing them so much trouble.

Harry was re-reading the letter Amy had sent in an official capacity. He was still surprised at the differences in the way the rules applied to the so-called noble pureblood leaders. Harry's musings were interrupted as Sirius smacked himself in the forehead.

"Of course," Sirius exclaimed. "I know why she came to us. It's because of who we are, the Lords Black."

"Yeah," Harry said. "I got that much."

"No, no," Sirius argued. "I mean she's a pureblood following tradition. My mum used to be Head of the Family, but she was never the Lord. That's why Bellatrix could freely associate herself with another Lord, including pledge herself into his service."

"Voldemort's not even a real Lord though," Harry said.

"Tell him that," Sirius chuckled. "But the point is, now that the Black family has a Lord, or two in this case, we're the only ones who could rightfully reclaim her from her previous pledge. She's never been expelled from the family so she's had to answer to both him and us, until we forced her to deny him."

"So even though she has abandoned him," Harry continued. "When she was loyal, he cast the mark binding her soul to an extent."

"Not a very trusting guy, is he?"

"Nope," Harry agreed. "Not really."

"She's ours," Sirius said fully comprehending the situation. "She was born into the family and raised by it. Our claim and her free will supersede any tenuous claim he could make."

"You're acting like she's a hunk of property," Harry said thinking they were doing the exact thing he was criticizing Dumbledore for.

"Vassal, servant, slave, whatever you want to call it," Sirius said. "We're Lords of a family. And that which is part of the family, belongs to the family, and therefore us, as keepers."

"So the root of the problem is that neither she nor us has ever owned the piece of magic on her arm," Harry exclaimed in frustration. "I think we're back to the point where asking nicely isn't going to help us any."

"In matters of dispute," Sirius recounted. "Lords of equal stature depend on the magic to decide who is right."

Harry grimaced. "Any chance there's a simple spell that does that?"

Sirius shook his head. "The magic cedes to the victor of a duel."

Harry had seen the answer coming but hoped that it wasn't the case. "Peachy. So we just need to defeat Voldemort in a duel." He sighed tiredly not even looking towards Sirius.

"It'd be a Lords' duel," Sirius cheered way too happily. "House of Black versus House of Voldemort. But two against one because of our status."

"This isn't a solution," Harry said shaking his head. "Besides getting killed or getting our asses kicked, it won't change the fact that he's not a real Lord."

"We can take him," Sirius said with more confidence than he felt. "From the sound of it this one's not even as strong as our old one."

Harry groaned as an idea hit him. "Ahh crud."

"There it is," Sirius grinned victoriously. "What do you got?"

"I just realized it doesn't matter that he's not a recognized Lord. And in fact it actually gives him more reason to duel us," Harry ruefully said.

"Perfect," Sirius agreed. "How's that?"

"The Council of Lords," Harry explained. "When I was reading up on the history of the Wizengamot, the Council of Lords was the ruling body before the establishment of the Ministry. With the Ministry's inception, they became the legislative and judicial branch and were then officially called the Wizengamot."

"Am I getting an explanation or a history lesson?"

"The point is the old rules of the Council still apply. And if a Lord chooses to meet a lesser family head in a Lords' duel, a victory by the lesser would grant him the official title of Lord."

"So he'd really be a Lord if he defeats us?" Sirius clarified.

"If we make it a Lords' duel, yeah," Harry nodded. "And technically it'd put a Voldemort seat on the Wizengamot too as a noble line."

"Oh that's priceless!" Sirius laughed. "We have got to do this. Even if we lose, we're fucking over the Wizengamot."

"If we lose, we're probably going to be dead, you realize."

Sirius shrugged. "I wanna go out with a bang."

Harry sighed. "I can't believe I'm actually considering this, but let's look at it logically…"

Sirius felt his adrenaline racing in ways that good old-fashioned robbery had never incited. He was cataloging every aspect of their environment worth noting.

They were in the middle of Badgin Alley, a small magical district in Wales.

Four Death Eaters were unconscious with bruises, lying in a pile off to their right. The fifth Death Eater they'd sent off with instructions to fetch his Master as the Lord Blacks had some urgent business with him.

The sixth and final Death Eater of the failed raid was writhing under the boot of Harry, who was chatting excitedly with the man's Dark Mark.

Just last night, Sirius had managed to talk Harry into this hodge-podge of a plan. In between painkilling potions, they'd uncovered this attack Bellatrix wasn't supposed to know about but did.

Harry had been exercising his magic all day. He drilled into Sirius' head the fact that they needed to work together to have any chance to win this. Even Sirius had agreed that dueling Dark Lords without a plan was a bad idea.

The unconscious Death Eaters were warded off from the growing crowd beginning to gather in Badgin Alley. Sirius just hoped Voldemort would show up before the aurors did.

Half a dozen pops sounded and six more masked Death Eaters appeared. "Showtime," Sirius whispered towards Harry as they got up to approach them.

"Crucio!" the man in front called out aiming straight for Sirius.

A rock off to the side flew up and blocked the curse, while Harry and Sirius didn't even blink continuing to walk towards the new arrivals.

"We don't have time to deal with servants," Sirius bellowed. "Where is your Lord?"

A Killing Curse was cast and yet another rock flew up to intercept the spell. Harry's invisible magical arms leapt into action, yanking the caster forward. The man's legs both snapped at impossible angles breaking them loudly. "That spell was intended to kill me. You know by law, I can torture you for days. And in ways that would make you long for your Lord's tender mercies."

Harry ripped the man's sleeve off with only a thought and immediately began talking to his Dark Mark. "Seeing as how your Master isn't here, do you think you could get the marks on these other people to jolt?"

The Dark Marks responded and the other Death Eaters all jumped, disturbing their initial shock at discovering a parselmouth.

"The Lords Black," a whisper carried down the Alley from the other direction.

"Lord Voldemort," Sirius called out loudly as he and Harry turned their backs to the remaining Death Eaters.

Another Killing Curse was sent at Harry's back and the downed Death Eater with broken legs jerked up into the path of the deadly spell. Harry let him fall to the ground dead, turning his attention back towards the darkness of the Alley in front of him.

"Or rather Voldemort, since calling oneself Lord does not make it so," Harry corrected Sirius. He peered through the darkness and saw the glowing form of an extremely powerful wizard. "I wonder Tom, if there had been a G in your name, would you have called yourself a God?"

"You are even more foolish than I'd been led to believe," Voldemort hissed out making his presence known as he emerged from the shadows.

Another curse was sent towards Harry's back and another downed Death Eater was thrust into the path of it.

"Your servants are costing you servants," Harry commented. "You might want to tighten their leashes."

"Why is it you two traitors are so eager to die tonight?" Voldemort asked looking around for signs of a trap.

"Bellatrix Black was a Black long before she made the mistake of pledging herself to a false Lord. You knew the magic would never see you as a proper Lord, so you ensured your slaves' loyalty with a rather ingenious piece of soul magic hidden behind a serpent tattoo."

"I don't have time for this," Voldemort said calmly. "I had hoped to see you by my side-"

Sirius interrupted him and firmly intoned, "As her Lords, we demand control of the Mark on her soul."

"You come to me with demands," Voldemort snapped. He clenched a fist as his magic came bubbling to the surface. "I am the Dark Lord Voldemort! And I will teach you to fear me before I squeeze the last breath from your frail broken bodies."

Harry shook his head at Voldemort's predictability. "You know your wizarding history, Tom." Harry held out his wand in front of him and forced his voice to carry to all ends of the Alley. "The House of Black is challenging the House of Voldemort to a Lords' duel for control of the mark on Bellatrix Black's soul."

Thick ancient magic began swirling in the air awaiting the response from the Dark Lord. The crowds were watching in silence and even the Death Eaters still alert were transfixed by the scene before them.

"Draw your wand," Sirius ordered, shifting into a dueling position directly in front of Harry. "Or leave like a coward."

"Are we going to have to chase you?" Harry lackadaisically mocked, while ignoring the nausea in the back of his throat. "Or would you like to earn your self-proclaimed title of Lord?"

The answer was given without any sign or warning. A sickly pale yellow curse exploded from the wand of the Dark Lord Voldemort. The magic surrounding them all began to hum in eager anticipation of a victor.

Sirius' eyes widened at the sheer power of the spell heading towards him. He swallowed rather loudly wondering just how this had seemed like a good idea.

Harry felt the moment the challenge was accepted and gulped almost as loudly as Sirius. He placed his hand on his godfather's shoulder, preparing to move them both. "Here we go. Try not to die."