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 THIRTEEN
"Gah!" Sirius shrieked as Harry apparated them both five feet to the side. The ground where they had been standing dried and crackled instantly after the curse hit.
Sirius looked at Harry as the younger man thrust his hand out, a solid shield appearing in place. A loud clang and crack made Sirius flinch as Harry yanked them to the ground. The solid shield held, but just barely. "What do you mean try not to die?"
"Less talk," Harry said gritting his teeth. Another super-charged purple spell slammed into the shield Harry was holding, shattering it to dust. "More cursing."
Harry grabbed Sirius' shoulder again and apparated them out of the way of a searing jet of blue fire.
"Actually," Harry said turning Sirius around to face the Dark Lord. "You need to learn something. Put up a shield."
Sirius saw three cannon shots of a semi-dark bludgeoning curse barreling down on them. He cast a humming magical shield, reinforced it, and hunched down to make a smaller target.
Harry prepared himself and heard Sirius' shield tinkle as it broke like the thinnest sheet of glass. The spiraling bludgeoning curse hit dead center in the solar plexus of the crouching Sirius Black.
The dragon hide armor was put to the test, but absorbed the lion's share of the spell. The force was still enough to send Sirius careening backwards into Harry, and both of them careening backwards sliding to a stop in a small wooded area on the opposite side of the alley.
"Fuck me," Sirius swore as a dark green barely visible hex zipped through the air towards the two of them.
A nearby rotted log jerked diagonally, blocking the curse but spraying the two Lord Blacks with wet wood.
Two metal spears shot through the air at both Harry and Sirius before they could even get to their feet. Two heavy stones blocked the spikes' path, sending one veering off towards the tops of the trees, while the other flipped forward and embedded itself into the ground in front of them.
"I thought you called yourselves Lords," Voldemort taunted. "Can you not-" He stopped suddenly and apparated away as one of his conjured spears zoomed through the place he had been standing. It made a loud echoing THUNK as the spear embedded half a meter into a wooden post.
"Come on, Sirius," Harry said as a half dozen pieces of debris began orbiting protectively around them. "I got the defense, you get the offense. Heavy and fast curses."
Sirius was a bit twitchy beginning to finally comprehend what they'd signed up for but centered himself and put on his game face. "We got this." He began twirling his wand, gathering energy as the tip started to glow. His wand began to whistle quietly in eager anticipation.
The two of them walked calmly from the small copse of trees, while a half dozen rocks and logs circled them dangerously.
Voldemort was standing there, holding his wand lazily at the side, squinting at the two Lord Blacks and the various solid objects moving randomly around them. "What magic is this?"
Sirius said nothing as he whipped his wand underhand and sent the nonverbal spell that had been building up arcing through the air towards Voldemort. It weaved left and right bobbing slowly before accelerating suddenly on a straight path to the Dark Lord.
The solid shield Voldemort pushed into existence was a step too late and barely deflected the curse as it glanced off his shoulder. The Dark Lord stumbled but did not fall, only exhaling loudly when his right shoulder purpled yet never tore.
Harry knew it was coming and made no effort to block the spell fired behind him as a red jet of light flew right past his ear and nowhere near Sirius.
"Dammit," Harry swore softly at the miss.
Sirius was about to cast another spell when Harry jerked him down and the neon green of a Killing Curse sailed right over them both, slamming into the trigger-happy Death Eater behind them.
Sirius grunted as he hit the ground. "I thought you'd block-"
"That one wasn't aimed at us," Harry explained while keeping them covered as they rose.
"Could've fooled me," Sirius muttered.
"No one touches them until I'm done," Voldemort shouted, staring down the Death Eaters assembled behind Harry and Sirius. "If any of you cost me this duel, it will be on your head."
"If he's off aim even a centimeter," Harry said urging Sirius to stay focused. "There's a reason."
Sirius shot off three rapid fire spells that the Dark Lord deflected with ease. "Told you it wouldn't work."
"Meh," Harry grunted knowing that if the servants of one of the Lords interfered, then that House forfeited the duel. "It could've happened if their aim wasn't so horrid."
Another two spells came rocketing from Voldemort's wand and Harry got two planks into their paths. They exploded in fire, showering the Lord Blacks with burning cinders. The dragon hide cloaks just sloughed off the wreckage while the Dark Lord cast a complicated oculamagi spell over his eyes making them glow a bright red.
Sirius let loose a sickly decaying curse at the ground the Dark Lord was standing on.
Voldemort apparated straight backwards, returning fire with a hail of slicing curses, and then pausing to watch them hit.
Harry got rocks in the way of the curses headed towards them, letting the ones that were going to miss, fly harmlessly through the air around him.
With a diagonal slash, Sirius shot off two bone-breakers at the Dark Lord's right shoulder and left knee.
Voldemort slid a half step to the side and paid no attention to the two spells just missing his shoulder and flying between his legs. Another flurry of darker slicing curses designed to cleave through magical shields came this time speckled in white.
The largest remaining pieces of debris again protected Harry and Sirius while the other slicing curses flew past. Two of them connected with Harry's invisible magical arms, severing the magic cleanly at the point of contact.
Harry fell to a knee from the backlash of his own oversaturated magic. "Fuck. He figured that out pretty damn quick." The sudden magical shift was more short intense pain than slow ache and it left Harry winded.
Sirius abandoned the longer incantation he'd started and just began focusing rapid fire pellet shots at the Dark Lord. Each whip of his wand let out a crack of angry magic and zipped off a small, icy projectile.
Voldemort called up another solid shield that they hit with a ping, barely denting the surface. He hissed in annoyance as one of Sirius' shots connected with his lower leg.
"Stay with me, Harry," Sirius called, running out of juice from his relentless pellet spree.
"Enough!" Voldemort boomed loudly, slamming his fist into the ground. A deep rumbling shockwave of force knocked Sirius off his feet and Harry back down as he had begun to rise.
"You are not without your talents," Voldemort admitted in what he felt was a compliment. "Join me. You are powerful wizards. I will make you stronger."
Sirius snapped out a single pellet from his wand in response.
Voldemort held his hand up and let the nuisance spell smash into his palm. It stung and broke the surface of his pale skin, but was not deep.
Harry sensed an opportunity to catch his breath and quickly downed a pepper-up potion, while floating a dose to Sirius.
The three duelers all were watching each other carefully, taking a few moments to observe their opponents and plot out their next actions.
Voldemort was staring at Harry, focusing his red glowing spelled eyes on the younger Lord Black. He noticed a faint echo of magic and asked, "Where did you get that scar?"
Even though Harry highly doubted it would be a problem, he was still greatly relieved to feel no twinge of life or activity in his curse scar, no matter his proximity to this Dark Lord. "Just some old over-confident bastard," Harry answered with a smirk. He immediately sensed the Dark Lord's silent attempt at Legilimency and ejected the probe with excessive force.
"Watch your mind and your eye contact," Harry warned to Sirius.
Voldemort hissed and flinched from the abrupt violent mental push. He hoped dividing his Legilimency probe between the Lord Blacks would make them subtle enough to not be noticed. He encountered no Occlumency shields at all and caught a single snippet from each of them before being thrown out and losing his connection.
He took a closer look around at the crowds gathering and continued to internally stockpile spells. He saw his Death Eaters warily assessing the contingent of aurors that had just arrived at the tavern down the alley. "Go. Take them with you."
The Death Eaters able to move quickly grabbed their unconscious mates, leaving the three dead ones behind. They apparated away before the aurors could stop them.
"So this was your grand plan?" Voldemort said, airily waving his hand at all the destruction they had caused. "Tempt me with a Lords' duel, hope to last long enough for the aurors to arrive, and then what? Concede while they foolishly attempt to trap me? They are not strong enough and the Lords' duel prevents their interference. What could you honestly hope to accomplish with this futile exercise?"
"We don't give a shit about the aurors," Sirius answered as the steam from a pepper-up whistled out his ears. "This is merely a family matter for us."
"If it is death you seek," Voldemort announced, watching the aurors fail in their attempts to erect wards over the Lords and the area between them. "Then death I shall give you."
The Dark Lord voiced no spell and made no motion other than to clench his fist tightly in front of him. A kaleidoscope of magic erupted from his hand, expanding into a giant wave, each color a different spell, a different curse, and a different way to hurt or kill.
Harry grabbed onto Sirius' shoulder and tried to apparate away. He slammed into an anti-apparition jinx he'd yet to notice and was left staggering from the attempt.
Every piece of debris Harry could reach was frantically thrown at the myriad of violent spells contained in a single rainbow wave of magic. The dirt on the ground was splashed up to try to disrupt curses when rocks couldn't be found. But the efforts were futile. Half a dozen spells ripped through both Sirius and Harry's bodies lifting them off their feet and carrying them ten meters through the air. The most damage was done to the exposed areas of skin while the dragon hide was pushed to its limits before cracking and shredding.
Harry was knocked senseless and he moaned in protest wondering what had happened. He let out a labored breath as the memories came back to him. He saw the green of a Killing Curse headed for him and his magical arms quickly propelled him into the air just avoiding the spell that smacked into the ground below him. He landed on his feet only to see the Dark Lord had already cast another Killing Curse at his other opponent.
Harry heard Sirius begin to moan in pain just before he dove right on top of his godfather. Using his momentum to roll them both away from the deadly spell, Harry earned even louder cries from Sirius as both of their thrashed bodies were jostled.
Harry's magic reacted instinctively grabbing a bunch of debris to protect them. No longer was it circling around them exposing his magical arms to harm. Instead the debris was hovering right in front of them, shielding them from the hail of curses that the Dark Lord sent their way.
Sirius was levitated off the ground and Harry slung the older man's arm over his shoulder, holding the weakened man up. They were both on their feet now, and Harry's shields were diverting or blocking most of the Dark Lord's spells. The ones that couldn't be blocked, Harry was able to run or dodge away from successfully. Focusing only on the defensive, Harry was whispering at Sirius to wake up, knowing that Voldemort could hear him.
The Dark Lord was two thirds of the way into summoning a pool of hellfire, when a sudden pop alerted him to the fact that his anti-apparition jinx had been countered without his notice.
Through the shield of debris, he could see only one Lord Black.
Sirius had been dazed from Voldemort's rekindled onslaught but quickly regained control of his faculties. Harry had been pinching him and Sirius heard the stilted way Harry was whispering. Sirius continued to play possum while gently breaking down the Dark Lord's anti-apparition jinx. When he felt it break he didn't even bother to look up. He simply apparated directly to the Dark Lord's right. Not wanting to waste a moment with wand waving or a voiced spell, Sirius used two open hands to slam Voldemort's bruised and purpled shoulder with wandless concussion charms.
Voldemort hadn't even seen the attack coming before he was blasted sideways through the glass window of a china shop's teacup display. His shoulder that had taken the brunt of the blow had split open and was coating his entire arm in blood.
Harry apparated right behind Sirius and gathered fresh pieces of rock, floating in formation waiting to block the next spell headed their way.
"That," Voldemort hissed dangerously while stepping out from the broken storefront, "was a mistake."
Sirius fired off a pair of dark burning curses that just fizzled out in the air surrounding the furious Dark Lord.
Voldemort huffed in pain as he pressed his hand over his bleeding shoulder. The blood flowing down his arm darkened until it was black and ceased to flow. Voldemort stared down at the two Lord Blacks without an ounce of fear. "It won't happen again."
An orange spell came shooting out Voldemort's open palm while he snapped his wand igniting a long fiery whip. The largest log exploded when the orange spell connected and the whip snaked through the air destroying two more of the rocks and sending the shards raining down on Harry and Sirius.
Harry cast a magical shield just in time, while Sirius sent off a bludgeoning and a spearing curse with another happy whistle from his wand.
Voldemort was inching closer and working his magical whip through every piece of protection Harry could grab. The two spells from Sirius smacked into the Dark Lord with a flash of light, but didn't even slow his forward progress for a moment.
The Dark Lord snapped his wand with a flourish releasing his hold on the magical whip that sliced through the air and wrapped around both Lord Blacks.
It took Harry more effort than he would have liked to dispel the fire binding that had singed both himself and Sirius. All the while the Dark Lord just kept laying on spell after spell, randomly switching his targets from Harry to Sirius and back again.
Voldemort saw this as a challenge in more ways the one. He wasn't putting everything he had into each spell, instead focusing on quantity. But he wanted to prove to all watching how futile opposing him was. He was actively destroying each and every attempt at a physical shield, faster than Harry could thrust them in the way of the spells. For every spell he bothered to verbalize, two more silent ones were cast without wasting a breath. More than two spells a second for fifteen seconds, and Voldemort was connecting cleanly every fourth or fifth spell.
Harry was doing all he could to defend, but the Dark Lord was just too quick for him to keep up.
Sirius hadn't been able to cast anything significant in response as he was forced to defend from the numerous spells that Harry couldn't. Harry had warned Sirius that even in this world, he expected the Dark Lord to be faster and stronger than either of them. But they had numbers and a few other advantages in their favor, so Harry figured they had a good chance to win. Another stinging hex hit deep enough to draw blood on Sirius' wand arm, and he began to understand why Harry hadn't been as confident as he was.
Harry was summoning shards of the broken storefront, the trees, the rocks, everything within reach and furiously tried to keep up with the Dark Lord's pace. He knew he was missing a third of the spells now but he was focused on blocking the most dangerous ones. A metal blade was spinning through the air towards Sirius that Harry just barely deflected away in time. He hadn't even seen the dark slicing curses coming before two magical arms were severed and he fell to the ground, screaming unprepared for the painful backlash.
Sirius saw Harry fall and quickly changed tactics. He went on the offensive and fired a cutter followed immediately with a dark crucifixion curse aimed at Voldemort's heart.
Voldemort had been timing his spells, planning on Harry's reaction. He hefted a solid shield in his open hand and batted away both of Sirius' curses with barely a thought. He lunged towards Sirius and put his all into the next curse, snarling, "Crucio!"
Sirius wanted to dodge. He wanted to get something in the path of the curse. But the sheer velocity and hatred emanating off the spell didn't even give him time to blink before it slammed him, driving him into the ground. His entire body burned in pain on a level he'd not even imagined, completely unaware that he was screaming his throat raw.
Harry hadn't even caught his breath when he heard Voldemort cast a spell with more intensity than anything in the previous five minutes. He looked on in horror as his godfather's body began smoldering the moment the Unforgivable connected. The scream nearly tore at Harry's heart and he knew Sirius wouldn't last long under that curse. Harry's magical arms were moving as fast as he could think as a chunk of rock slammed into Voldemort's wand hand and two other arms pulled Sirius away and safely behind Harry.
The screaming had stopped and pitiful moans replaced it, but Harry knew Sirius was just about down for the count. Harry needed to give Voldemort something else to think about or he would have to sincerely consider cutting their losses and running. He wanted to protect Bellatrix, but he wasn't about to choose her over Sirius' life.
No longer seeking out debris for shields, Harry's arms were now looking for weapons. Every decent sized rock was picked up and thrown at the Dark Lord at high velocity. Half a dozen solid projectiles coming from different angles connected with Voldemort before he could get up a large enough physical shield.
Pressing the advantage, Harry began to cast spells designed to destroy and eat the shields Voldemort kept invoking. He'd heard a crack and suspected he'd broken the Dark Lord's leg, but wasn't about to let up.
Voldemort stepped back from the sudden attack, frustrated as he alternated between shielding himself from rocks, spears, and broken glass, while fending off the spells headed towards him. His anger and frustration reached its boiling point and he began cursing Harry right back, trading off the occasional rock or weaker spell, in exchange for sending a curse in return.
Harry was doing his best to stay on the offensive, but it wasn't long before Voldemort's superior skill made up the difference. A dark slicing curse aimed for one of Harry's magical arms was avoided, but it clipped him on the cheek, splitting the side of his face open. He saw Sirius was still down and just hoped the Dark Lord was tired enough to make a mistake.
In one smooth motion Harry slipped his ash wand back into its arm holster while drawing his old holly wand from the holster on the other arm.
Voldemort was done taking chances and saw Harry had lined up with Sirius. He flicked his wand sideways then straight shouting out, "Avada Kedavra!"
Feeling a bit mischievous Harry made no move from the path of the curse and shouted his own spell, "Densaugeo!"
Just as Harry had planned the two spells collided in midair and linked together, feeding back into their casters' wands.
The surprise showed on Voldemort's face as the near brother wands combined to create the Priori Incantatem effect.
A steady stream of magic was pouring from both duelists' wands connected in the middle of them and blossoming outward. A crackling iridescent dome of magic surrounded both men, cutting them off from the outside world, and pitting the pair against each other in a magical battle of wills.
Harry knew exactly what was happening and pressed his advantage, focusing all of his energy onto forcing the growing central ball of magic in the linked stream to flow back towards Voldemort's wand. Harry's magical arms folded themselves back inside so as to allow Harry to dedicate his complete focus to the task at hand.
Voldemort understood well enough that their wands had linked and they were now engaged in a challenge of willpower. The sheer volume of magic going into the wands and into the massive webbed cage surrounding them was blinding to the oculamagi spell on his eyes. He could feel the magic in the link slipping towards him, but all he could see was white where the spells had collided.
Voldemort didn't know why or how this phenomenon happened, but he could tell Harry knew it was coming. Voldemort concluded this because Harry had been cocky enough to cast a teeth growing curse, indicating that the spells may be revisited upon the caster. He knew he couldn't afford to lose this test of will, and tried to force the spell back towards Harry.
The Dark Lord knew it wasn't working but he couldn't see what was even happening. When he caught a glimpse of Harry, he saw no magical arms visible anywhere. Quickly deciding he shouldn't be wasting magic either, he focused his own hatred at breaking the oculamagi spell on his eyes. He wasn't going to waste a drop of his magic and he desperately needed to see clearer.
Harry was pushing the oversized magical glob back, almost far enough to reach the Dark Lord's wand, inciting the spell regurgitation when suddenly Voldemort shouted in triumph and his eyes stopped glowing red. Harry realized the Dark Lord had managed to cancel that spell while still holding off Harry's will. The pressure on Harry nearly doubled and the magical balls reversed direction heading closer towards Harry's wand tip.
Harry dug deep inside looking for that extra something and stopped the progress of the magical marker on the linked spells. They'd reached a tentative stalemate, as the bulging magical balls would drift forward a half meter, and then right back.
A haunting and eerie phoenix song began to echo around the golden dome. Some braver members of the crowd watching including aurors and members of the Order were standing right up next to the edge of the dome staring at it in wonder and unable to cross it.
Harry chanced a glance over his shoulder and saw through the dome that Sirius was no longer on his back, but had gotten up to his knees. The brief lapse in concentration cost Harry and the largest central glob moved even closer to Harry's side.
He gritted his teeth and halted its progress, pushing it back towards the Dark Lord as much as he could.
The wands in their hands were spewing excess sparks in all directions scalding both duelists. The sheer volume of magic being channeled was heating the wands up as they burned against the hands clenching them. Smoke rose from their sizzling hands but neither Harry nor Voldemort would ever contemplate conceding. They stared each other down, not allowing their concentration on the linked spells to drift.
Harry took the first step forward, shortening the stream of magic and pushing the beachball-sized glob back towards Voldemort a small amount.
Voldemort saw the ball grow bigger and get a little closer. He responded by taking a step towards Harry, gaining even more ground than he had lost.
It was by unspoken agreement that they both started to slowly step closer, shortening the linked stream and increasing the pressure on themselves.
The sizzling dome of magic protected them completely, flashing solid as the intensity of the battle increased. Harry could feel his strength leaving him, but refused to lose this battle of wills. Voldemort may be faster and more powerful, Harry thought, but his will was stronger. He would not lose this, no matter what Voldemort was on the other side.
Voldemort was focused exclusively on pushing the growing ball of magic back towards Harry.
"Oooh tingly!" Ginny Weasley exclaimed as she suddenly found herself floating in the middle of a massive magical glob. She heard a hiss of surprise and turned to see a frightened and sweaty Dark Lord in the midst of a very tense duel. She slowly turned her head to the other side and easily recognized Harry, despite the bloody mess covering his cheek and neck.
She looked back at Voldemort and Harry once more before announcing the decision she had made. "I'll come back later." Her ghostly form disappeared leaving only the bright glowing magic of their linked wands in her wake.
Voldemort was disturbed and shaken by the ghost's sudden appearance and his focus began to stray.
Harry saw his opportunity and sprinted five steps until he was barely three meters from the Dark Lord. The jiggling mass of magic ballooned and was now reaching its breaking point. The haunting sound of the phoenix cry was cresting at a fevered pitch.
Voldemort braced for the sudden jolt on his magic but held firm.
The strain of forcing himself to halve the distance between them was crushing Harry. He fell to one knee but kept his wand arm steady as his hands continued to burn.
Harry was trembling from the effort, sweat pouring off his forehead. He looked up at the Dark Lord as the magical glob began to teeter right up against Harry's wand tip. Harry saw the look of a victorious man standing proudly over a defeated foe on his knees.
Harry's stern look of concentration slipped for just a moment, allowing a ghost of a smile to cross his face. He saw the Dark Lord's pupils widen in fear as the dormant magic in Harry sprung to violent life. A mere two invisible magical arms exploded from Harry's body grabbing opposite sides of the Dark Lord's head and wrenching it with every ounce of magic Harry had.
The division of Harry's focus from the battle of wills was not without its costs. The Priori Incantatem effect flooded rapidly into Harry's wand. His bloody burnt hand was still clenched around the holly wand when the channel filled beyond its limit and exploded into splinters. A ghostly haze of spells erupted and began to dissipate almost immediately.
The muffled bloody pop of the wand's combustion was barely noticeable as the dome of magic surrounding the duelers softly fluttered off and the ear-splitting crack of the Dark Lord's neck snapping like a twig echoed throughout the entire alley.
Everyone watching the duel in rapt awe had gone silent as death when they could suddenly see the two other combatants clearly. Lord Harry Black was on his knees looking like he might collapse at any moment. And the Dark Lord Voldemort was floating a meter off the ground. His entire body hanging limply, his wand seared directly into the flesh of his palm. The Dark Lord's red eyes were swirling in restrained fury despite the unnatural way his chin was pointed up and over his shoulder. The people behind the Dark Lord could see shards of bloody bone sticking out at the base of his neck.
Harry took a deep breath and shuddered as his magical arms jerked again. Another series of snaps and crackles announced more torn muscles and broken bones as the Dark Lord Voldemort's head now faced completely in the wrong direction.
Sirius was the first person to react, jumping to his feet and charging into the fray to help his godson. He tried casting a Killing Curse but was unable to in his current state. He then aimed a decapitation curse at the unmoving body of the Dark Lord. It missed completely. Growling in frustration, he finally fired a blasting curse that connected with the Dark Lord's thigh, exploding with blood and sending the man flying from Harry's grip. Voldemort's body landed in a crumpled heap and Sirius aimed another blasting curse at him.
The aurors again failed to erect any apparition or portkey wards surrounding the duelists as the magic of the Lords' duel hadn't reached completion.
Harry had fallen to his hands and knees in sheer exhaustion, but he still wasn't surprised to hear the Dark Lord whisper a trigger word in parseltongue, "Return."
The portkey activated whisking away the paralyzed and broken body of the Dark Lord just before Sirius' second blasting curse could connect.
The ancient magic in the air called forth by the duel came to fruition and had identified a victor.
Harry and Sirius felt a rush of foreign magic, giving them a slight burst of energy.
Sirius limped over to Harry who was in the process of wrapping his bloody burnt wand hand with gauze. He pulled Harry up to his feet as they both felt the adrenaline leaving their systems.
Sirius saw a number of people headed towards them and knew they weren't ready to deal with questions right now. He wrapped an arm around Harry with a tired smile and said, "I don't know about you, but I could use a nap."
Harry chuckled a bit deliriously but held on, letting Sirius apparate them both back to Grimmauld Place.
The pair arrived in the foyer and crashed to the ground, unwilling to expend any energy on balance.
"Oww," Harry winced landing on his right hand, aggravating the holly splinters that were all that remained of his first wand.
"Sorry," Sirius said, panting from exhaustion. "Kreacher!"
With a pop, the house elf appeared and looked at both hurting Masters in worry. "What happened? Was it those filthy mudbloods?"
"Nope," Sirius answered rolling to his feet.
"I bet it was muggles," Kreacher said paying little attention as he rubbed his chin in thought. "I'll fetch the baby traps and the hammers."
"It wasn't muggles," Sirius said louder, noticing Harry was picking splinters out of his blistered and bloody palm. "This would be the handiwork of the Dark Lord."
"The Dark Lord?" Kreacher said, shaking his head in dismay. "But why would he…"
"He was torturing a Black," Sirius explained.
"Well the Black probably deserved it," Kreacher retorted. "The Dark Lord is the greatest, most powerfulest, wonderfulest wizard ever."
Harry blinked reliving a few scary Dobby flashbacks.
Sirius frowned, "When I have to choose between family and the Dark Lord-"
"You choose the Dark Lord," Kreacher answered for him.
"I wouldn't be a very good Lord Black if I did. Family comes first," Sirius corrected, "Dark Lord second."
"But he's the Dark Lord!"
"I think I might bump the Dark Lord a little lower than second," Harry commented wincing as he tried clenching a fist with his right hand. He ordered Kreacher, "Go get us a couple of pain relieving potions."
"If the Dark Lord wanted you hurt," Kreacher helplessly supplied. "Kreacher doesn't think you should be-"
"Oh for pete's sake, forget it," Harry said unwilling to deal with an immorally conflicted house elf when he was so close to passing out. "We need to check on Bellatrix anyway. We'll get them ourselves."
The quirky house elf was frowning and grumbling to himself, "Kreacher doesn't think Masters should be cheating out of punishments. Kreacher takes his punishments and Kreacher likes them."
Sirius helped Harry up and they slowly gimped their way up the stairs. "Do you need St. Mungo's?"
"Not this second," Harry said before noticing Sirius was moving as slowly as he was. "Do you?"
Sirius rubbed at his side. "I might have cracked a rib, but it's probably just bruised. I figure let's sleep on it and see how we feel in the morning."
Harry smiled blissfully at his godfather. "I was worried you were going to force me to a healer this instant like every other overbearing self-appointed parental influence in my life."
"You're a big boy, and I'm not that mature," Sirius admitted, clearly quite happy with both of those facts. They reached the top of the steps and stopped to take a breath. "Any guesses on what a baby trap is?"
"I'm quite sure we don't want to know," Harry said picturing a combination of a cage and bear trap.
The two Lord Blacks walked into the warded guest room and saw Bellatrix was still trembling in pain.
Harry and Sirius shared a worried look. Sirius grabbed a pair of pain relieving potions while Harry was staring at her Dark Mark. The skull was no longer present on her lower forearm. In its place was a shield with a sword and two stars flanked by a pair of greyhounds. Below the shield was a banner reading Toujours Pur. It was the Black family crest.
"Huh," Sirius said in slight surprise after drinking his potion and handing a dose to Harry.
Harry knocked the vial back and swallowed. "We might want to look into changing that motto."
Sirius nodded. "I say ditch the French and use pig Latin at the very least."
A sliver of movement behind the tattoo banner caught Harry's eye and he realized it was the tail of the snake.
"Hey," Harry hissed out in parseltongue.
The snake's head popped up from the unblemished skin just below the crest. "You are… you are Master?"
"Yeah," Harry replied. "Now I am. And so is he."
The snake head turned towards Sirius and looked back at Harry. "So he is."
"Stop hurting her," Harry hissed in command. "I may talk to you later, but for now, do nothing to her. Okay?"
"That doesn't sound like fun," the snake replied doubtfully. "But as you command."
Harry saw the snake disappear back under the surface of her skin only to reappear above the top of the crest. It coiled up and tucked its head in to take a nap, locking into place atop the shield.
Bellatrix's body relaxed and was resting peacefully for the first time in days.
Harry looked at his watch and saw it was after two in the morning. "Alright. We can get ten hours of sleep but we've got to take her to the Wizengamot at one."
"Let's put off St. Mungo's until after the hearing," Sirius suggested. "It'll make us look better and give us a good reason to keep things brief."
"Good plan," Harry said after a loud yawn. "I guess you do have your uses."
"Please," Sirius chided. "If you weren't holding me back, that whole mess with Voldemort would have been over so much quicker."
"You're right," Harry agreed. "It would have been over much quicker."
"That's not what I meant," Sirius protested.
"Oh before I forget," Harry grinned stopping in front of his bedroom door. "Did you notice the cute and dainty way your wand whistles?"
"That's not-"
"Good night, Sirius," Harry said walking into his bedroom and closing the door.
"It's not a whistle!" Sirius insisted, yelling through Harry's door. "You hear me, Harry? It's a manly sound of success. Not a whistle!"
Harry stripped off all his clothes and couldn't even bother to clean off the dried blood. He fell into his bed and pulled the sheets up.
He heard Sirius' bedroom door close and a final muffled yell. "It's not a whistle!"
Harry allowed his worries to fade and happily wriggled into his pillow. His last conscious thought before sleep claimed him was 'I'm really gonna feel this one in the morning.'
Author's Note: See? I didn't end with a cliffie this time. It happens on occasion. And I'll just allay any worries right now and say we've got a lot of fic to go still. We're maybe a little over half-way or so through this fic. I love hearing what you all think. Reviews make me want to write faster. It may be a cheap ploy but it's still true. Thanks for all the kind comments and constructive feedback.