Thank you every one of you who have read this story so far and to everyone who reviewed. Thank you, tash and Raine
Harry Potter and the Trip to the Past
--
Chapter – 26
--
Narcissa's heart pounded with fear as she looked at the insanely smiling face of her sister. She and Lucius had almost, concluded that Bellatrix had died; how could she survive 13 years of dementors, three weeks of hiding from the aurors and dementors and still be sane and alive; they had thought she would have died once she escaped prison.
But here she was and looking terrifyingly insane and horribly real. Her croaked voice echoed in the deathly silence of the Manor's front door, where Lucius and his wife stood, and Narcissa shuddered inside her even as she stepped forward and smiled, going close to her sister and hugging her. She pulled her inside a bit hurriedly, looking fearfully at the darkness outside, as if expecting a couple of aurors to come and capture all of them. Her thoughts went almost at once to Draco, and she visibly shivered and pulled her robes around her tightly, leading her sister inside. Lucius had not said a word and he quietly followed his wife inside, his mind full of the implications of Bellatrix's visit and her obvious stay at his home.
'Cissy?' Bellatrix croaked, once again, when they were inside and Narcissa had slowly seated Bellatrix comfortably in the luxurious living room of the Malfoys. 'I have much to discuss with you.'
'Bella,' Narcissa said softly, her eyes shining with an emotion that was not easy to discern. 'I think you must wash and have something nutritious to eat and a lot of rest. Only then I think we should talk, and my dear sister,' Narcissa said slipping into her role as the Lady of the Manor and getting to her feet, she gently pulled her sister to her feet, 'you are in no shape to talk right now.'
'But Cissy,' Bella, said in protest as she got to her feet and tried to glare at her sister. 'There is so much work to be done here; I have escaped with such great difficulty…' her voice feebly croaked and Narcissa shook her head, smiling all the time, though her eyes did not show the happiness her face did.
'I know, Bella.' Narcissa smiled. 'But you are so exhausted, Bella, and I will not allow you to do anything until you have got back your strength. We will talk all you want then. Now, you listen to me and come with me. You will sleep and we will talk later.'
Narcissa refused to listen to Bellatrix's hoarse protests and she almost dragged her sister off to what used to be her suite of rooms, in the days before, when Bellatrix, Rudolphus and Rabastan used to visit the Malfoys. Calling for an elf, Narcissa fed her and helped her to wash her horribly emaciated body and watched her sleep the moment she lay down on the comfortable bed, the first time in almost thirteen years. The moment Bella slept, the smile she had plastered on her face all the while Bellatrix was awake, stopping abruptly.
Narcissa waited for a good few minutes, watching her sister sleep, her shallow and raspy breath coming in jerks and then she stood up, a frown on her beautiful face, and silently walked out of the room. Snapping her fingers for an elf, she said as it came and bowed low, 'Inform me, the moment my sister wakes up.' The elf nodded violently before it popped off, and Narcissa, a last look at the door of her sister's room, walked to her own suite of rooms.
Lucius was already there, looking very worried and his face furrowed in anxiety when he saw Narcissa walking into their rooms, and carefully closing the door and warding it.
'Well, my dear!' he asked her standing up and allowing her to sink into the comfortable sofa and sitting down beside her and concernedly putting his arm around her.
'What a headache Lucius.' She said leaning on him and placing her head on his shoulder.
'What is she saying?' Lucius asked her, worried.
'She says she has much work to do and I'm afraid,' her voice sank to a whisper, 'it will have everything to do with the Dark Lord.'
Lucius was silent. Narcissa looked at him and frowned. 'Don't you think so, Lucius?' she asked him softly.
Lucius Malfoy was still silent. He was thinking deeply about the consequences of Bella's escape and her stay at Malfoy Manor. 'Lucius?' Narcissa asked sitting up and looking worried at his continuing silence and with a deep sigh, Lucius turned to her.
'Narcissa, my love, Bella is going to cause a lot of complications for us. I only hope she will not become dangerous.' He said, even then knowing that she was already a danger to him and his family.
'We can hide her Lucius. We will take her away from here and hide her…'
'Narcissa, she will want to resurrect the Dark Lord. That is the work she wants to do. And that will only bring us trouble.' His voice sank to a whisper and he fell silent. Narcissa, who had suspected something like this, was also silent and they sat there a long time trying to get comfort from each other and failed for the first time.
Bellatrix slept for the next few days, taking in potions and a little food, but otherwise doing nothing; she was recouping and gathering her strength and it was after almost two weeks later that she found the strength to come downstairs for lunch one day. Her matted hair was now neatly tied up and her body that was gaunt was now looking better and the tiredness and the exhaustion had all but vanished from her eyes. She was very thin still, and her eyes were wild showing her mental recovery to be incomplete and also showing the extent of her suffering at Azkaban.
But she was a witch of formidable proportions and she was also half mad because of her stay at Azkaban and that made her even more deadly.
'Bella!' Narcissa smiled getting up from her place at the table and walked over to her, and helped her to sit down. Lucius was silent as he had been all these days, waiting and watching Bella's recovery and also planning as much as he could to keep his family safe. But in his deepest heart, he knew that he was already involved and there was no going back. The Dark Lord would never allow that. Now that Bella was here, the Dark Lord would soon come back. And Lucius Malfoy was right in the middle of it.
Bellatrix did not speak much at lunch that day. She ate sparingly, her mind apparently concentrated on her meal and Narcissa and Lucius shared many looks at each other, but did not disturb the silence.
Once they finished Bella said, 'Cissy, take me to your study. I wish to speak to you and Lucius privately.'
Narcissa led the way and Lucius followed, Bellatrix walking in the middle. They reached the study and closed the door and seated themselves. Bellatrix heaved a sigh of relief as she looked around the room that had not changed much since she had seen it before and smiled at her sister who was seated along with her. Lucius was in his chair behind the desk.
'How did you manage Bella?' asked Narcissa after a small pause, deciding to start the conversation by finding out how on earth had Bella escaped the most formidable prison in the Wizarding World.
Bellatrix spoke softly, telling an amazed and astonished Narcissa and Lucius about her escape. There was more silence when she finished and Lucius Malfoy was bereft of words and Narcissa could not speak at all. It was a while before Narcissa spoke and her voice trembled in fear and amazement equally. 'I have no words Bella. What you have done is beyond anything I imagined.' She said turning to Lucius, who carefully echoed the same sentiments of amazement and awe, rather than shock.
Bellatrix was pleased at the expressions on the face of her sister and brother in law. 'I was lucky, Cissy.' She said hoarsely, her voice and body already tired by this small account of her escapes. Narcissa saw this and was about to suggest that Bella take it easy for the rest of the day, when Bella spoke.
'We have to search for the Dark Lord, Lucius.' She said her heavy eyes staring intensely at him. 'We must.'
'But of course Bellatrix. We must indeed.' Lucius started, but Bella did not let him speak, a sudden fury in her eyes.
'Indeed.' She sneered weakly. 'But Lucius, if you agree, why have you not taken any steps to do this?' she demanded.
Lucius Malfoy was silent for a second, before he responded. 'But how can I, Bellatrix? How can I?'
'By searching for the Lord.' She answered sharply.
'How?' Lucius demanded not to let Bellatrix tell him he made a grave mistake.
'Lucius,' Bella croaked, her eyes flashing with anger that her Master was bodiless and alone all these years and Lucius and others had done nothing about it. 'Let us use the mark and try and call him.' She commanded.
Lucius snarled and roughly pushed up the sleeve of his robe. 'How,' he asked her sarcasm dripping in his voice, 'do you think I can call the Dark Lord through this?' and showed her the dark mark, which was only a scar and was faintly visible. 'If I could do you think I would have not made the effort?' he demanded loudly, throwing his words at her and glaring at her.
Bellatrix glared back. Then, she pushed her robes of her left sleeve and exposed her own dark mark, which was only a scar, faint upon her pale skin. Then she pressed a long, bony finger to it. She kept her finger for almost a minute and then released it.
Lucius was sweating. 'Bellatrix, are you trying to tell me that only pressing the mark will do. The Lord will come?' Bellatrix looked doubtful, her fury at not resurrecting her Lord subsiding. 'I know the Lord has taken precautions to make sure that he will not be killed so easily. We can try this and also ask Rookwood at the Ministry. With the Department of Mysteries's help, I'm sure he'll be able to do more. In the meantime, I think we should keep pressing our marks now and then, so that the Lord wherever and however he is may hear us through it and come.'
Lucius calmed down. Bellatrix was not sure. She too, was doubtful and was only trying various means known to her to help in the resurrection of the dark lord.
'I will go to the Ministry and try and meet Rookwood and ask him to come to the Manor and get him to start searching for the Dark Lord and also get news about your escape. Nobody need know that you are here for the moment.' Lucius said, and jumped a bit when Bellatrix spoke, her voice harsh and shaking with fury.
'The bloody boy, who did this to our Lord. Is..is he alive still, Lucius?' she asked. 'Is Harry Potter alive?' she shouted hoarsely.
Lucius nodded. "Yes, he is and he is now currently studying in the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.' He said rather calmly and went on to give her news of various people she had known and about their children who were studying at the School now. Bellatrix had a hearty croaky laugh when Neville and his parents were mentioned, her eyes glittering with happiness. That soon wore away when Harry's name was mentioned. She frowned at Harry's brilliance and at his popularity and his everything.
'That boy must die, Lucius.' She said venomously. 'He should not live, for what he did to our Lord.'
'I agree.' Lucius said pacifically. 'But that boy is very well protected and difficult to touch. But we will resurrect the Dark Lord first and then kill him in front of our Lord.' he added hastily, when he saw her rage mount. At his words, though, she calmed down and nodded reluctantly.
After a brief silence, Lucius stood up to leave for the Ministry, rolling his left sleeve and pressing the dark mark on his left arm for good measure. He wanted the credit of resurrecting the Dark Lord as well.
--
Harry, Snape and Dumbledore waited patiently for some word, any word to come of Bellatrix. But it seemed she had gone into a hole and pulled the hole after her.
Harry was receiving a detention a week. Plus he had his Quidditch practice and his secret meetings with Draco (they had decided not to meet and be friends openly) who also was as anxious as Harry, but for a different reason. He did not want his parents o be involved with his Aunt. He was still recovering from his father's role in the Diary and he wanted his parents to have no part in Bellatrix's escape.
Harry's days were full; he caught glimpses of Ginny, chattering away to others in the Gryffindor common room in the evenings. She was friends with Hermione and a few other girls and boys in her year. She smiled tentatively at Harry initially, blushing a lot whenever she saw him, but Harry's nonchalance soon soothed her and she smiled or ginned at him, talking naturally when she needed to. Those times were very few, it was usually when she came over to say something to Hermione and spoke first to Neville initially, simply smiling at Harry and going away. Slowly, she started speaking with Harry, starting with a simply Hi, usually.
Harry encouraged this, by speaking a few words to her and slowly her shyness around him, vanished. For Harry, those times were bittersweet, because he desperately wanted friendship and more from her and yet his age and hers would not let him move the way he would have otherwise. But, he realized ruefully, last time in third year, he had been totally unaware that Ron's younger sister would capture his heart completely in the future.
He pestered Snape for details and Snape was quite short him, bestowing Harry with pearls of sarcasm.
'It is almost two months into the School year and we are just a week away from Halloween, Snape. And still no news.' Harry told him for what was the hundredth time. He usually started his detentions with this statement.
Snape glared as he usually did. 'Potter, you try my patience.' He said acidly. Harry smiled at him and watched him scowl. Snape began abruptly, as if to stop Harry from saying anything else, which would anger him more. 'I wrote to Lucius about Bellatrix last week. You know that. I received his reply today. He is as bland as usual in it. He even met with Rookwood, he writes, asking him to see if he could use the Ministry to search for the Dark Lord, because he is confident that she would have gone to him.'
Harry frowned. There was something so wrong with this information. He contemplated for a few minutes and then said, 'But since when did Lucius start thinking that Voldemort was alive?' Then as realization came to him he sighed. 'Oh, because of the horcrux, we destroyed.' He answered his own question.
Snape nodded once and turned to his work. A few minutes later Harry spoke again. 'What does Dumbledore say about all this?'
'He is also on the lookout, Potter.' Snape told him. 'But unless we have any leads to go on, we cannot do anything. Now kindly stop blathering and let me do my work in silence.' He snapped and the rest of the 'detention' was spent in silence.
Halloween came and went. That day Harry was very tense and spent the whole day pouring over his map. But there was nothing. Not knowing what to do about this whole escape, Harry slowly started getting involved into ordinary School matters. Quidditch season was starting and Harry was soon engrossed in practice and his studies, which were going on as smoothly as possible.
The weather started changing from being merely chilly to becoming really cold, and Harry hoped rather morosely that Bellatrix would die in the cold weather somewhere before she could come into the Wizarding World and make trouble. He dressed and in warm clothes and walked out to meet Hermione to go down with her and Neville as usual.
'Brr… It is cold today isn't it?' Neville told him and Harry nodded trying to summon up a smile. He was getting more and more worried as the days went by, because he simply did not know what to do. He knew Dumbledore was searching and also knew that Snape was trying as well, but Harry felt very helpless, as he attended Transfiguration and sat through Animagus lessons, and went to potions and withstood the glare Snape bestowed upon him, with a certain detention at least once a week, in addition to the glares. Harry found everything dull in short and became very restless. To stop thinking about that mad woman, Harry flew a lot and was the first for practice and was the last to leave.
Gryffindor was playing Hufflepuff in its first match and Oliver was straining everyone to the maximum. The day dawned cold and clear and the whole School came to watch the match. Harry soared up into the skies swaying in the breeze and enjoying the cold air. He decided to push Bellatrix to the back of his mind and enjoy the game. Lee Jordan was commenting and McGonagall was reprimanding him whenever he stepped out of line and Harry suddenly happy, swooped up and down racing with and against the wind, reveling in the cold morning air. Cedric was the Hufflepuff seeker, and Harry felt a surge of happiness as he usually did, whenever he saw someone who had died in his own timeline.
In his exhilaration, Harry almost missed the snitch, a while later, that was floating by the Slytherin stands. Gryffindor and Hufflepuff were almost neck-to-neck in scores and the snitch would decide the winner. It was Lee's comment, or rather yells that got Harry's attention. 'Potter!' Lee bellowed, 'Has not noticed the snitch, while Diggory the Hufflepuff seeker is racing away towards it.' He finished, looking anxiously at Harry. Harry pulled his broom and turned right around and flew madly towards the Slytherin stands, where a smirking Snape was sitting with his Slytherins and laughing, really laughing, his black eyes in anticipation and amusement as a desperate Harry rushed to get level with Cedric.
Harry sped racing against the wind, his mind now closed to everything except catching the snitch. Cedric was just a few feet away racing in front of Harry, determined to clasp the little golden snitch in his hands. The crowd was silent, watching with a thrill as the two seekers, one the easily handsomest boy in all of Hogwarts as Cedric was called and the other the most famous in all of the Wizarding World, the Boy Who Lived, tried to be the first to close their hand on the snitch.
The snitch was hovering just level with the Slytherin seats. Cedric was just a little ahead of Harry and he would have surely got it, in just a few seconds, when, the snitch suddenly fluttered downwards and was a bright gold against the dark Slytherin green of the stands.
Harry saw that and swooped from behind and Cedric, who was going way too fast, trying to slow his broom before trying to swoop down and catch the snitch at the same time. But in the precious seconds it took for Cedric, to slow his speed and go lower, Harry had from behind, already closed his hand over the snitch and had crashed into the stands, because he had forgotten to swerve his broom from the stands.
He clutched the snitch as a concerned Cedric hauled him out mere seconds later. Snape had also come to the edge of the stands, but retreated when he saw Harry quite all right, his face schooled into a scowl.
Meanwhile the Gryffindor players had gathered around Harry, and after checking to see he was okay, they burst into loud yells of happiness, already planning for a party that night. Ron came rushing to shake his hand, his eyes shining with joy. 'That was just great mate!' he screamed, and Harry felt a pang go through him. He realized how much he had missed Ron's friendship at times like these. He grinned back, however and shook Ron's hand and walked to the infirmary to be checked by Madam Pomfrey on McGonagall's orders before going to join his friends.
Hermione and Neville, who had been sitting with Ron and the other Gryffindors, too, came running along with Ron and walked along with him, chatting about the game to the infirmary.
After the high of winning a thrilling game, where Gryffindor beat Hufflepuff in a close match, 430 to 260, and where everyone spoke of with awe about the thrilling chase between seekers, Harry felt flat again. Bellatrix had clouded his mind again. But there was nothing he could do, except wait, and that was getting on Harry's nerves. He could not speak about it to anyone, apart from Snape, who he met only once a week in detention.
Thankfully there were only a few days for the Yule and Mid Winter holidays and Harry trooped off dejectedly to Hogsmeade with the rest, listening to their happy chatter about the holidays. He had invited the Twins, Ron, Ginny, Neville and Hermione to Grimmauld Place that year, after Christmas Day, to spend the rest of the holidays with him. All of them had agreed and were very thrilled, planning many things, which Harry on the outside was always happily agreeing to, but could not excite him the same way. He said his goodbyes to Snape on the day of the last detention; Snape still had no news for him.
He did not invite Draco to Grimmauld Place. Draco was jealous that the Weasleys were spending time with Harry, but he could not dispute Harry's reasons, and nor could he find a way around them.
'So all of them are coming?' he had asked raising his eyebrows.
Harry rolled his eyes. 'You know I would have invited you too, Draco. But this is not the time. You will get into trouble with your parents for even asking them, and if Bellatrix had contacted your parents, that would be doubly dangerous. We will meet like this, for now. This is what will keep you safe.'
'I don't need to owl you?' Draco had asked.
'No, unless it is very important, and even then, use a mail owl, not yours. Be careful Draco. And get back safely after the holidays.' Harry had told him seriously.
Draco had been inclined to scoff initially at Harry's insistence of asking him to be safe, but after Harry had directed him to the Library, where he had read a few accomplishments of Bellatrix Lestange and understood how dangerous she was. He understood Harry's reasoning and he had not protested.
'I will tell you, if there is any news, about her.' He said, a thrill and a fear going through him, at the thought of Bellatrix coming to his home.
Harry nodded again. "Please.' He said. ' But don't disobey your parents and don't look at Bellatrix or your dad in the eye. Remember what I told you about Occlumency and Legilimency.' Harry warned him and sent him off.
Sirius and Remus met Harry at the station and he went home with them, talking to them about his term. He waved goodbye to Neville and Hermione, nodded discreetly at Draco, who was received only by his mother; Lucius was not there, which Harry noted and walked out of Platform 9 and 3 quarters to Grimmauld Place for the Yule Holidays.
Chapter – 26
--