Chapter 11: The Face of Fear

July 28, 2007

Over the next two days Bella had achieved moderate success with spells that involved illusions and mental barriers. It was amazing that she'd come such a long way from the clumsy human Laurent had once called the Cullens' pet.

She wondered what she would do if she ran into the Cullens now. Of course she'd be surprised, but would she want to return to that life? Edward always insisting she protect her soul and remain pathetic and vulnerable until her dying day – Alice poking and prodding at every trivial detail of her life (especially when it came to her wardrobe) – Rosalie's complete and unaffected loathing that permeated every room like a perceptible fog?

She'd eventually recovered from their abrupt flight, though she never would have without Jacob's help. She'd felt comfortable with Jake – almost to the point of loving him, but the wolf never quite touched her heart the same way Edward had. He was like a drug...like a brand of heroin...

Bella suddenly laughed out loud at the irony. Had she really just compared her attachment to the vampire the same way Edward had described the scent of her own blood? Clearly she was better off without the addiction that was Edward Cullen.

"Ready to give shield charms a go?" Neville walked through the door, joining her in an unused classroom and levitating a rattling, oddly shaped chest to the far side of the room.

"Yeah, I read up a little on it last night. Um...what's in the chest?"

"It's a boggart." The creature rattled within the chest once more, as if to emphasize its presence. "They're creatures that take the shape of your greatest fear, but since you're mind is pretty much impenetrable, I'm curious to see what'll happen."

"Huh..." Bella bit her lip. "Are we going to try shield charms on it?"

"Now that's an idea," Neville raised an eyebrow, considering the possibility. "I think for now we're just going to see if it affects you at all. Now if the boggart does happen to see into your mind, you can confuse it by imagining it turning into something funny, pointing your wand straight ahead, and saying, Ridikulus."

"Ridikulus," Bella echoed with a nod. She wasn't convinced she'd be able to think of anything funny on the spot like that, but she knew Neville wouldn't let things get too out of hand.

She and Neville stepped back several paces from the chest, but Neville stood to the side, giving Bella the favored path of the boggart.

"Alohomora."

The chest burst open, and a murky mist flew toward Bella.

"Don't be scared," Neville reassured her from behind. "It's just trying to get a read on you, but I don't think it can."

The mist began to vibrate and hiss, and Bella stepped back until she bumped into Neville. "What happens if it can't materialize?" she swallowed nervously. It was drawing closer, and Bella's eyes widened with trepidation.

Neville exhaled heavily, and he placed a hand firmly on her shoulder. "We don't have to find that out today..."

Shoving Bella to the side, he stepped in front of the quaking vapor, wand at the ready, and the change was instantaneous. The mist began to condense and congeal, distinct hues of black and sickly peach, until finally the clear shape of a woman materialized.

"Poor, poor Neville," the boggart crooned maniacally.

Her hair was wild with ashy curls that gave the distinct impression of having been struck by lightning, and dark, wide eyes, gleaming with the unsettling shimmer of irrational excitement.

"Neville," Bella hesitated, "who is that?"

He clenched his jaw, staring coldly at the crazed apparition. "Bellatrix Lestrange."

She felt her insides turn to ice as the echo of the woman who had tortured Neville and his parents faced them.

"You think I'm gone, Longbottom?" her crazed laugh filtered through the room. "I'll never be gone. Others will take my place...finish what I started."

The boggart swung around to face Bella sharply. "I feel your fear. So much, So much!" she shrieked in delirious fervor. "But I can't see it. No, no, no. Bella will just have to guess..."

At first Bella was confused, thinking the boggart was referring to herself, but then to her dismay she realized 'Bella' was also short for Bellatrix.

The low rumbling cackle filled the air again.

Neville stepped closer to Bella's side. "Don't worry. I won't let anything happen."

The boggart clapped her hands together in giddy hysterics. "Oh, this is too fun! What if I..." Bellatrix slipped a wand from her robes and grinned evilly. "Ah? How about I give sweet, wittle Neville a little reminder for old times' sake...Crucio!"

"PROTEGO!" Bella stepped in front of Neville, who had been watching the exchange carefully. The boggart's spell wasn't real of course, deflecting off of Bella's shield easily, but as the creature tried to break through the translucent barrier the shield grew until it became a solid, glassy wall between the boggart's half of the room and theirs.

"I don't believe it," Neville breathed. "I've never seen anything like this." He walked up to the barrier and tapped it audibly several times. "How long do you think you could hold it?"

"I don't know." Bella's wand arm was starting to shake. "I just...I didn't want anything to happen to you."

He turned, his eyes bearing down on hers. "Bella." He stepped beside her and reached out to her trembling hand, steadying it with his own strong grasp.

As soon as he touched her hand she felt the familiar tingle beneath her skin, like an electric pulse of energy was passing between them. With a gasp she lifted her hands, and the barrier dissipated like a cloud of steam.

"Oh shoot, sorry!" Bella lifted her wand to cast another shield, but Neville was faster this time.

With a sharp flourish of his own wand Neville banished the boggart back to the chest and locked it.

"That was amazing, Bella. You don't have to apologize."

"But it didn't look like a usual shield charm."

"No, it did...at first, but that thing where it kept growing and turned into a solid wall, I've never seen anything like it. It's like it was magnified somehow."

"It's better than nothing, I guess." She looked at the ground. None of her spells worked the way they were supposed to. Even as a witch she was the wrong kind...magic on AM when everyone else's was on FM.

Neville peered over at her curiously. "You're really hard on yourself, you know. You shouldn't be."

She bit her bottom lip and stared at the ground. "I don't fit in anywhere. I was just hoping...that if I tried hard enough, this would be where I really belonged."

Neville lifted her chin until she could see nothing but the serious gaze of his eyes. "The wizarding world is full of all sorts of creatures and people, Bella. There's wizards and witches, goblins, werewolves, merpeople, and about of hundred other creatures I'm forgetting off the top of my head." He took her hand, brushing his thumb gently across the top. "I think you could belong here, if that was what you wanted."

Bella could feel her heart beating erratically. "I do want that." She really did, but it wasn't that simple.

Neville was quiet for a few seconds. "I know your parents are muggles, and I know you had a life before any of this happened. Just take your time. Even fathoming a life like this...I'm sure it's a lot to take in."

He let go of her hand, but she could still feel the pulse of his touch like a phantom current. A few days ago Bella had only considered staying a month, maybe two, but Neville was suggesting she stay forever. And the longer she remained, the more tempting the prospect became.

There was a lot of back and forth in my mind whether Bellatrix would be a conceivable boggart for Neville. Now that he understands Snape he doesn't fear him; I don't even think he would fear Bellatrix herself. I think Neville would fear the idea of others "finishing what [she] started" and he feared other people (especially Bella) enduring that kind of pain. The boggart couldn't read Bella's mind, but I took a shot in the dark that it could rationalize that Bella felt the same way as Neville.