Chapter 7: King of Bones
AN: No soulbond. (Though if enough people want that...Who knows.) Also, you'll get an insight into both Azor's powers and history in this chapter. And as always, thanks to all those who reviewed.
Harry's magic flowed from his hands into the wards etched onto his friends body and ignited them. They glowed a sickly red and lit up the room in their unhealthy light. Dark strands of magic rose from them like tentacles tasting the air. After a moment they tilted towards Harry like hungry beasts and wrapped around his head, sliding through his mouth nose and ears. He groaned in pain as they began their terrible work.
His knees began trembling and blood dripped out of the corner of his mouth. He could feel the tentacles wrapping around a part of his soul and firmly latching it to themselves. This would hurt.
Without a sound they jerked back and tore a piece of Harry's soul away from him. He let out a bloodcurdling scream and fell to his knees, vomiting all over the floor. His whole body felt violated and weak, he cursed himself for his foolish act tried to rise. His last thought was to make sure Bella was all right before he blacked out and fell into a pool of his own vomit.
A few hours later, the person on the bed stirred. Where once the skin was burned and torn, it was now smooth as silk. All wounds had been healed, all except the deepest of burns on her stomach and neck, ugly marks on her beautiful body.
Violet eyes snapped open. Except they now held a ring of light green around them, surrounding her natural color and slowly melting into it. Bellatrix lifted her hands up from her sides and looked at them dazedly. Her whole body felt like it was on fire and it took her mind a second to register the high levels of pain she was in. When she did, she moaned and tensed, willing it all away with an ease gained through years and years of practice.
After all, one did not just brush off a cruciatus curse from the Dark Lord and she prided herself in her high endurance to pain.
Finally, she was able to gather enough strength to lift her head from the sullied pillow and look around. What she saw made her gasp in surprise and sit up suddenly, sending spikes of pain down her back.
Lying on the floor before her was Harry, covered in his own vomit. He was deathly pale and trembled slightly, the tremors making his limbs jerk erratically.
Getting up slowly she padded over to him and poked him with the tip of her foot, looking quite worried.
"Harry?"
He moaned in response and turned over, his eyes fluttering open. Once he woke, he focused on her and smiled. It was a smile of pure relief such as she had never seen on his face before, and despite his current condition it warmed the heart she didn't even know she had anymore.
He jumped up and hugged her tightly against his chest, patting her down to check for wounds.
"Are you okay? You shouldn't be up! Do you have any wounds left?"
She let him manhandle her for a few more moments before losing patience and shoving him away from her. She cocked an eyebrow and put her hands on her hips, striking an imposing pose.
"I don't need you smothering me Potter, I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself, despite what you may think."
"Look Bella..About the fight..I'm sorry, okay? I don't want to fight..not after.." He bit his lip and looked away, the images of her burned and battered body flashing in front of his eyes in a horrible sequence.
Her stern expression softened somewhat and she nodded, sitting back down on the edge of the bed and wrinkling her nose.
"Next time you feel the urge to become sentimental, at least have the decency of washing. You're covered in your own vomit."
He smiled and nodded, heading for the bathroom, pushing away his worries about her condition, now that she was awake she could care for herself.
All was normal once again.
She groped around on the bed covers until she found her wand and swished it around in a complex pattern, returning her robes and body to their usual pristine state. She summoned a mirror and smiled cheekily at him as he entered the lavatory, glaring at her resentfully. He had long ago learned that asking for magical help by means of household spells was useless, she took to much pleasure in annoying him.
All was normal once again.
Honestly, she couldn't deny that having someone care so obviously for her was somewhat pleasing, if disturbing. It was strange to have a being of such evil as him, filled with hate and vindictiveness, worry about her. She wasn't sure what had brought such a turnabout though. She would have to ask him how long she had been out when he returned.
She looked up into the mirror and froze, losing her focus and letting it crash to the floor. Her fingers shot up to feel the pale and horrid scars covering her neck. She was scarred. She was ugly. With a shriek of frustration she blew up Harry's desk, sending paper flying everywhere.
She was scarred? It took her a few moments to let that information sink, but when it did she felt a flash of fury and her blood boiled. She had never been the most considerate of women when it came to her appearance, but scars? And all over her neck too. She cringed and sat down on the edge of the bed, rubbing the tender skin softly.
After a few moments of brooding, she decided to conceal it with a simple glamour charm, no one would be the wiser. When Harry came back out he saw her sitting there and walked over, his waist wrapped in a towel.
She gave him an appraising look and cocked an eyebrow. They hadn't done anything for a week, perhaps…
"What happened to your scar?" He said suddenly.
Well that was a mood breaker.
"I glamoured it." She snapped, irritated and loosing any arousal she had.
"You shouldn't you know."
She turned on him and blasted him with her most vicious glare. "I don't need a reminder of my failure everyday when I look in the mirror, Potter. And I certainly don't want to see an ugly scar." He really knew how to turn her off, and on she said to herself as an afterthought, though he certainly wasn't doing a good job of it right now.
She flinched when she felt his surprisingly tender hand on her neck and looked up in confusion. Whenever they had sex -for making love would be an inadequate term for her- it was full of lust filled touches and needy groping, but this was different. It was tender and caring..Almost pleasant. It was a touch she hadn't felt since she was a small child and it brought shivers down her spine and a warm feeling in her chest.
"I knew this woman, a long time ago who resembled you a lot. She was fierce in battle and stubborn as a mule. She was a great warrior and fought in many battles."
He took a deep breath and let his hand drop from her throat. She grumbled in dismay as the pleasant sensation slipped away.
"She received many wounds in her life, and most left marks. However she bore them all with pride, every single one. Regardless of the way she got them she felt that they showed her ability to persevere and never give up. She did not hide them and sometimes went as far as to show much more skin than was appropriate to expose them. You should know that scars are not something to be ashamed of, Bella."
He gave her an embarrassed smile and started to get up, feeling ridiculous for being so soft with her. He knew she looked down on it and was probably thinking up an especially vicious insult right now.
So one could imagine his surprise when her small hand wrapped around his wrist and pulled him back onto the bed. He felt her warm lips pressed softly against his cheek and froze. He was quick to relax though for tenderness was a rare treasure when it came to Bellatrix and he did not want to squander it.
"I never thought I would thank you, of all people, for telling me idiotic stories..but..Thank you. I don't believe the tale, but as they say, it's the effort that counts."
He was becoming aware of her warm flesh moulded firmly against his arm and shivered. She gave him a sultry smile and crawled even closer, like a lioness and her prey. Within moments she had him beneath her and held him in place firmly. She was in control always.
That night, both were immensely grateful for the privacy wards around their room or they might have been answering many an awkward question in the morning.
The rising sun found them in a tangled heap of blankets pillows and flesh, sharing their mutual warmth as they basked in the comfortable afterglow of a good nights sleep. Bella broke the peace first.
"How did you heal me?"
The arms around her pale waist tightened slightly and she felt him breath in sharply. It wasn't much but it was enough, something wasn't right.
It probably hadn't been a very pleasant for him. Of course it hadn't, if the state he was in when she awoke the day before was anything to go by.
"I gave you a bit of my vitality."
Her eyes widened while she quickly turned towards him, her lips slightly parted. He smiled when he saw the scar on her neck. She hadn't hidden it.
"Y-You did that for me?" She had stuttered. He was mildly surprised, Bellatrix Black never stuttered.
"Well, yes. Your wounds were...grievous. I couldn't let you die."
A strange look crossed her face, a look he couldn't decipher. It was a mix of sadness and happiness, of annoyance and affection. It was quite cute. The silence stretched on long enough for it to become awkward. Just as Harry opened his mouth, Bella kissed him. It was on the lips this time, a kiss that was once again uncharacteristically soft. Nobody had ever cared for her in such a way before...
Her eyes were shining a little brighter than usual when he looked into them. They broke apart and she instantly rushed into the bathroom, slamming the door shut.
He didn't move his mouth slightly agape and his usual self assuredness gone, replaced by a dazed, star struck look.
Women were confusing.
The Great Hall was already full of students by the time the unusual couple made it out of their room. The instant they stepped in, most of the older students turned towards them with knowing looks and small smirks. Despite their brutal classes and aloof behavior most of the students thought they were good at what they did. They had learned the worth of hard work last year, and some had paid the ultimate price for their laziness.
Harry quickly made his way to the staff table, ignoring the students and Bellatrix, who was winking and smirking at the envious looking boys. Oh how she loved to play with their simple minds.
Paying no heed to the irritated looks from the Staff table they sat down and piled eggs and bacon on their plates. Their late night exercise was demanding, especially for Harry. Bellatrix was an...energetic partner. He smirked at the thought and resolved to never argue with her again -As if- if it got him that every night.
Next to him, Bella was watching the Astronomy teacher carefully. Ever since they had walked in a few minutes earlier, the woman had been staring at them both intently with a knowing look in her eyes. It was worrying Bellatrix. She was just about to come to a decision and think up a plan to take out the unfortunate professor when Dumbledore turned towards her.
"My dear Venus." Bellatrix held back a growl, betraying her irritation by nothing but a small twitch of the eye. "May I ask as to where you and your Husband have been?"
"That's-"
"They were with me, Headmaster." Interjected Professor Sinistra smoothly. "And we were going to return to my office after lunch, weren't we?" She gave both Defense Against the Dark Arts teachers pointed looks and they slowly nodded, wondering what the quiet and mysterious woman was planning.
With a curious look Dumbledore nodded and turned back to McGonagall, with whom he was having a quiet conversation. Their relationship seemed to be fixed, he would not pry into it further, for now. Two sets of eyes stayed fixed on the three teachers. One was purest black and was full of suspicion while the other was brown intelligent and curious. Hermione had heard every word and was trying to figure out why Professor Sinistra had lied. She had seen her alone that morning as she left her office.
Hermione Granger never let a mystery stay unsolved, and she would find out what those three teachers were hiding. Yes she would.
Not long after, Harry Bella and Sinistra got up and left the Great Hall, threading their way through the crowds towards the north tower, were the Astronomy teachers quarters were. They did not speak one word along the way though every one of them was building up escape and attack plans.
Finally they reached a statue of Erebus, the Primordial god of darkness. With a muttered word the stone giant stepped aside, revealing a dark room illuminated by the occasional white torch. The walls were covered in moving planets and every piece of furniture was painted black. It reeked of magic and power, instantly both Harry and Bella tensed.
They both turned on Sinistra in unison, hand and wand raised threateningly. They were more than surprised when they saw her kneeling on the ground, black dress pooled around her like a stormy sea, her head bowed towards Harry.
"The King of bones...It is you."
Exmouth, England
The seagulls were screaming hungrily and the tide was high when the hooded man stepped off the small fishing boat onto the docks of Exmouth. With a strange one handed salute which the sailor returned, he was off, lugging a large trunk behind him.
A sneer appeared on his lips when he thought of the heathen scum who shirked hard work with their ungodly magic. How it riled him to think of those weak beings.
He pushed and shoved his way through the crowd of sailors, prostitutes and sinister men in suits. He was used to such environments, to him it felt like home. Remembering his orders he took out a brand new phone and flipped it open, revealing strange wards inscribed along the screen.
He tapped a few numbers into the keypad and lifted it to his ear. He heard a voice from the other end utter two words and nodded to himself, tossing the phone into the water. It was unwise to leave traces, was it not?
Soon after he found himself in front of a dilapidated and worn hotel. A small sigh escaped his lips. He had enjoyed the luxury provided by the Order in his last mission. Of course, he couldn't always be trying to infiltrate the inner circle of scandalously rich Dark Lords. Stepping up to the reception he showed his ring to the woman, who nodded sharply and led him up the stairs. He admired the way her tight leather dress hugged her curves as he followed behind her up the stairs and to his room.
She gave him a defeated look when they reached it, and he nodded, taking her arm and pulling her inside.
Ah, how he enjoyed the little bonuses of his job.
Hours later the same woman left the room, her shirt ruffled and her mascara stained with tear tracks. Why had she ever let the Order tempt her into joining…
"Get me a train to Scotland."
"Yes, Scourge, where exactly?"
"As near to the Magic school as possible."
"Meeting with Wizards?" Said a disdainful voice on the other end.
"You know the Rules of Balance."
Van Helsing smiled. The hunt was on.
Bella looked at Harry out of the corner of her eyes and saw him stiffen and pale, well, lose the little color he usually had. Which wasn't much now that she thought of it. His hands clenched into fists and his jaw clenched as he stepped forward, treading on the prostrated teachers dress hem uncaringly.
"Where did you find that name?" He hissed.
"There are still those loyal to the old blood." She whispered in a voice full of awe and reverence.
"The Worshippers died out a century ago." He lifted his hand up and conjured a ball of sickly yellow gas, low powered plague magic.
A bead of sweat slid down Sinistra's face and caught on the tip of her nose, but she dared not move in the presence of the legend.
"They reformed, little after you disappeared my King. We name ourselves the Pestilence."
Bella stepped forward and crossed her arms, nudging Harry with the tip of her foot.
"What is all this about?" She said in a tone that brooked no discussion.
Harry passed a hand through his hair and sighed tiredly, stepping away from the cowering woman and signaling for her to rise. He walked over to the ornate couch and sat down, patting the place next to him. Bella ignored him and draped herself across his lap, her elbow jabbing painfully into his guy. He ignored it and made sure his face didn't betray his discomfort. He knew her games by then, and rarely fell for them.
"The King of Bones is...a moniker I was given a long time ago for a deed I did. I...hoped to speak to you about it later, but the decision has been taken out of my hands." Sinistra flinched at the sharp look Harry gave her and looked away quickly, practically whimpering. She did not even consider her own dignity at that moment. She had heard the legends of the King of Bones and did never, ever want to get in his way.
"I think showing you will explain it better than anything else." He said slowly, as if weighing every word.
With a huge grin, Bellatrix nodded and hopped up, gripping the hem of the opposite sleeve excitedly. "Well? Well? Hurry up! Are we going?"
He took a few careful steps away from her and shook his head. He quickly jumped to the side and narrowly missed a harmless but very uncomfortable shrinking hex to the crotch.
"We'll go! We'll go! I just need to prepare a Portkey and some other...things." He said quickly, to avoid her expected tantrum.
She pouted but nodded, crossing her arms in a cute way. Or as cute as she could be.
"My King!" Sinistra stepped forward and bowed deeply. "The leader of the Pestilence would like to invite you to meet with him when it would be possible." a flash of distaste crossed her face as she said in a low voice. "He wishes to speak with you. In the meantime, I am to be put at your service."
Harry nodded and smirked evilly. He had not even needed to convince anyone to join him and Bella. They had done it of their own free will. How marvelous. His fixed his burning eyes on her and watched her tremble, laughing silently in his head.
"I will remember that. Tell him I shall come when I have the time."
With that, the couple left the rooms and disappeared down the hall, an animated Bella chattering away at Harry, who was smiling indulgently. Her childlike outbursts were getting rarer, but they were always amusing. Sinistra collapsed into her sofa and heaved a huge sigh of relief, wiping her forehead clean of sweat. She had never been so scared in her life.
"And that is why Dark Wizards use the Plaga Monstruosum curse for torture. Well, aren't you taking notes?"
As Harry walked into the chilly room, every face turned towards him and he noticed with amusement that most of them were pale-faced and looked sick. If the ferret corpse on the table was anything to go by, Bellatrix had had another dark magic demonstration.
Holding back a smile he walked up to her desk, ignoring her sharp glare or the whispers behind his back.
"Class is over!" He hollered. Not believing their luck, the group scrambled out of the room, desperate to rid themselves of the horrible smell and sight of rot and disease. The door had hardly closed that Harry got a mighty slap to the cheek and reeled back, wincing.
He had forgotten about that little detail. Bellatrix didn't like it when others took control of her class. Just as she was about to slap him again, a diminutive sixth year Hufflepuff rushed back in and grabbed his quill, blushing deeply and doing his best to ignore what he had seen.
They seemed like such a loving couple on the outside!
Her second slap died an early death when Harry grabbed her wrist and rolled his eyes, his other hand sliding around her waist and pulling her close. She brought her hands up to his chest and pushed, more for appearances than anything else. He had gained some more weight in the past weeks and his chest was starting to feel comfortably firm..
"There's not need to beat me, Bella. I just wanted to invite you on a date!"
"Why would we go on a date?" She said in honest confusion, staring at him.
"Because you're my fiancée?"
"An illusion for the poor fools who call themselves light." She waved her hand dismissively at him and turned to her papers, carefully stacking them up. Why would he want to go on a date with her anyway? She didn't understand these romantic minded people sometimes.
"Well, I also thought it would be nice to spend some time together again, just you and me."
She paused and the strange look he had seen three days earlier flashed across her face once more. Did he really just want to talk to her? What was his plan? What did he want?
"I..guess I could agree to that."
She felt his hands wrap around her waist, a dirty sock gripped in one of them. Her last thought was about how absurd it was for him to be carrying such a thing, before the specially charmed portkey pulled them through the wards and into a vortex of black and green flame.
When they landed, they stood on the top of a hill, surrounded by mist-wrapped rugged mountains and a jungle like flora far below. The wind blew incessantly, throwing Bella's thick curls into their more familiar disorder.
"Where are we?"
"Well, you seemed so eager to learn more about my past, I thought I might make it a special occasion. Our first date!" he grinned widely and leaned back against a boulder, masking his apprehension with years of practice. It wasn't enough to escape her.
"Why are you worried?"
He shifted and rose, looking off into the mist to the crest of a far off hill that stood above the weathers white cloak.
"You might not..ah...appreciate this."
His eyes stayed fixed on the other mount and after a few moments she followed his gaze towards it, raising an eyebrow in surprise as a white building appeared out of nowhere to occupy the previously flat land.
"Where are we?"
"China. Illegally, so you might not want to use magic. You never know if they can find you or not."
She stopped midway through the movement of a heating charm and pouted, pulling her robes tighter around her. She faked a shiver to allow Harry to gallantly offer her his cloak, but he ignored her play acting and grabbed her hand, spirit walking to the strange construction.
He turned to her and edged away warily, eyes flicking between here and their surroundings.
The whole place around the building, that was more grey and dirty yellow once you got closer, was covered in gravestones and old skeletons, lying half covered in dirt and leaves. It gave off an eery feeling. A feeling that she couldn't simply link to appearances. She had seen darker places, no, the building gave off an aura of death and horror. She was certain that had a light wizard ventured near this house of horrors, he or she would have been unable to stay long.
Then it hit her, the graves, the aura of death..
"This is your hideout!"
He nodded and smiled tightly.
"Why didn't we come here?"
"Look closer." He was brusque, and looked worried. What was wrong with him? Thought Bellatrix as she stepped closer to his secret base. Those walls were strange...They looked ridged and-
Bones.
The whole building was built entirely out of bones. Her jaw fell open as she quickly tried to calculate the number of humans bones that would be required for such a feat. Thousands, thousands of thousands. Harry, her Harry had done this?
She turned to see him cringing away from her, as if he worried some sort of violent reaction.
"I think I'm in love." She said dazedly. The power necessary to kill so many, to create the building and have it give off such an aura. It was beyond powerful...It made her light-headed to even think of the potential of such might. And here was the vessel, standing in front of her. Harry got more interesting every day. She shivered with delight. If the fact he actually cared hadn't been enough, now she could not hide from it. She was starting to like him.
Her jaw snapped shut when she realized what she said, but it was already too late. The words had slipped off her tongue in a moment of distraction. However Harry hardly seemed to realize the significance of what she had just said, and simply sighed in relief.
"So you aren't disgusted?"
She swooped down on him and pulled him into a searing kiss, her eyes burning with excitement. Her long nails dug into the skin of his neck, passing through the thing collar of his cloak with ease. He winced, but ignored the sudden sting, it wouldn't do to rain on her parade by showing any discomfort.
"Silly Potty, do you take me for one of Dumbles little followers?" She paused and ran a finger down his face, around his lips and down his chest, licking her lips slowly. "All this power…" She purred, edging even closer.
"Erm..Bella? Perhaps once we're done here?"
She shook her head sharply, clearing it and nodded, a faint tinge of color appearing on her cheeks. "Of course." She smiled at him and skipped over to the door, made of hundreds of skulls linked together by some arcane magic.
Harry stepped up to the massive gate and touched on golden-colored skull. It glowed briefly, then twin fires light in its eyes. The jaw moved slowly, opening inch by inch until it was almost dislocated, a grotesque parody of a screaming man.
"Who...enters the Castle of Corpses..."
"Castle of Corpses?" Murmured Bellatrix in disdain.
"Look..I didn't invent these names, all right?" Then turning back to the door, he stood up straight and forced his power into the following words.
"It's master and lord, the King of Bones."
The jaw slowly shut and with many a clicking sound, the door swung open, releasing a flurry of bats and a smell of rot. Bella gagged on it and lifted up the collar of her cloak over her nose, her eyes watering. The stench was overpowering and when Harry conjured a ball of fire, she quickly realized why.
Human skins covered every inch of the walls and ceilings they were even pinned to the ground with care. Said skins were slowly rotting, turning green and grey as mould gathered along the edges. Yet the center of each one kept its original cleanliness. Even the unfortunate victims body hair remained.
Perhaps the most gruesome of all were the dark symbols carved into the skins. They thrummed with power and while Bella could not name them, she could practically feel the repulsing effect they had.
She herself was almost overcome by it. Never in her life, even as a follower of the Dark Lord, had she felt such horror. She was starting to hesitate, her steps faltering the farther they went. Panic was overcoming her. Every empty eye socket stared at her accusingly, blaming her for their terrible fate. Every whisper of wind was a ghost approaching her, it's ethereal hands aching to wrap around her neck. She had stopped, and was trembling when she felt a warm arm around her shoulders.
She looked up with wide eyes and saw Harry, smiling easily at her, completely unaffected by the macabre wallpaper.
"Don't worry, it's meant to do that. I think.." He scratched his head and frowned deeply. "I think I designed wards of the sort to unnerve other Necromancers and envoys from Dark Families when they came here."
A nervous giggle escaped her lips. She shrugged his arm off, forcing herself to ignore the sudden cold that enveloped her.
"What are you getting here?"
"You will see, my lovely lady."
A smack echoed throughout the building.
"Sorry." He grumbled.
A few seconds later, they had reached the end of the room and stood before a huge throne. Screaming fanged skulls adorned the armrests, while a huge troll skull served as a footstool. Every eyehole had a ruby jammed into it and the whole throne gave off a powerful aura.
However, Harry paid no attention to it and walked over to the pedestal before it. On it were three rings. One with a grim depicted on it, another a rat and the last a skull. He reverently picked them up, moaning in pleasure as he slipped them on his fingers.
His whole body flared a maelström of black, green and yellow energy, shoving Bellatrix away, against the throne. She watched in shock as the tendrils of wild magic slowly faded away, slipping into him one by one.
He sat down with a gasp and she was by him in an instant, resting a hand on his shoulder to steady him.
"Bella, starting to care about me?" He said in mock surprise. Much to his surprise, she didn't deny it.
"What just happened?" She said in a voice laced with worry.
He smiled lightly, but patted her shoulder reassuringly nonetheless.
"Don't worry, it was my magic assimilating. These rings allow me to channel the power of three of my magics."
He lifted his hand and showed the ring sporting a white skull.
"This one allows me to raise the dead."
"But what about Moody in Azkaban?"
"His body was possessed by a spirit, and he wasn't a skeleton or too degraded to walk. To control those bodies, I need this ring."
She nodded slowly, listening as intently as Hermione would while in class. Harry smirked, enjoying the sight of Bellatrix Black, arrogant and haughty, hanging off his every word.
"The second." He showed the one with the grim. "Is a bit more complicated..It allows me to control the Erebus, in a way."
"The Erebus?" She said with a scoff. "But it's just a legend."
"To wizards. To a skilled Necromancer, it is another plane of existence. It is the chaos before Hell, the place where souls are lost and thrown back as ghosts. The place Dementors come from. Without the ring I had little control over them. Now…Anyway, it allows me to use its power, mainly those of corruption and darkness. I'll show you one day."
She nodded again, her grin reaching from ear to ear as she practically jumped up and down with excitement. "Yes! Yes! Yes!"
He laughed and poked her in the ribs, earning himself a slap on the shoulder and a scandalized exclamation. But she did calm down.
"The last one." He showed her the one bearing a rat. "Is the Plague Ring." He blushed slightly and looked down, mumbling something indistinct.
"What did you say?"
"I said, my..erm..Ancestors might have caused a few epidemics in 1453 with it."
"Your family caused the Black Plague?" She yelled, her eyes widening in shock.
He nodded and had the decency to look embarrassed. Though the mask quickly fell away under the pressure of his amusement. He smiled. "I was told it was great fun to be there at the time."
"I'm sure." Huffed Bella. Many a good Pureblood family had died during that plague, yet she had always heard it was a natural disease. How many more secret did her frien- Partner have?
"Well...We best get going or we'll be missed at school." Harry stood up and walked over to her, taking out a second old sock from his breast pocket.
She nodded dumbly and looked around her one last time, wondering if she would ever see the Castle of Corpses again.
"We're getting to a pensieve as soon as we return." She demanded.
A/N: I know the fluff scene might have been a bit cliché, but Azor honestly doesn't find the burn scar ugly, he's seen enough horrible things in his life that he is desensitized and it is just a mark of her resilience to him.
Also, before anyone says this was OOC, I don't really think it is for my Bella. One who isn't irretrievably insane. Just a little. She's been shown affection and sacrifice, all that for her and it touches something deep down in her, it makes her feel loved and wanted. She's probably never had that in her life. Don't worry though, she won't turn into a softy, it was just a rare emotional breakdown.
Next chapter, Memories!
In the meantime, you should go read Deprived from TheCrimsonLord. It's unfinished, but it's a lovely dark!Harry story.
or you could go check out Bitter Laughter, another pretty darned awesome dark!Harry fanfic.
Here's the answer I wrote to a reviewer (Shadowdude333) who was a bit confused about Harry's mental state and his reaction at the end of the chapter.
'Well, The best explanation I can come up with is that when he saw Bella so badly wounded, his more tender, kind, Harry-ish side took over and he started to panic because he couldn't think of a way to help her.
Then the more calm and calculating part of his mind took over, you could probably compare this to a soldier in a firefight who panics, then calms down when training takes over.
Azor isn't exactly gone, he's just part of Harry now, they're not Harry nor Azor, they're a new person.
Hope that helped!'
Oh, and to the guest who said this was a crossover with Van Helsing, it isn't! I don't know much about the guy anyway, I just liked the idea of having my version of him included in here since it seemed fitting. :)
Review please!