Disclaimer: Harry Potter and his world belong to J. K. Rowling

Part 2/ Chapter 4

Bellamy was very well looked after, at home, and at work. By the time December came, and he was to go on his first overseas trip, he seemed happier, and a lot more alert. When Graham checked him on the Monday, he was decidedly pleased. Weight improved, LV better than it had been, and sec and niv measures improved also. Adrian and Thea travelled on the same plane, as their first stop was to California, very close to their home. Archie and Ursula were managing perfectly well, and Lillian's daughter, Josie, had been hired as the cook they needed. Sybil had been doing it, once Bellamy returned, but Sybil was always having accidents in the kitchen, besides having to cope with the housekeeping as well.

A lot of activity went on when Bellamy was at work. The witches and wizards, whatever their jobs, practised defence spells, mostly under the tuition of Caradoc, and the medj employees practised with medj weapons. Even Clare had her rifle, and knew how to use it, though she was not at all sure that she could point it at a human, even in defence of the boss.

Bellamy was surrounded by young aurors, who no longer seemed to bother him. Gareth was in charge of the team of aurors, and Patrick, although seventy-two, was also present, purely to help keep him calm and happy, though he did a lot of the routine coordination, as well. Alexander, Jed and Ryde were all experienced, in their mid to late twenties, all big and athletic, all with that grim look that aurors customarily wore. There were two women, too, identical twins, redheads, Therese and Katrina Abercrombie, descendants of Bellamy. There had been some thought that women, and especially family, might have an advantage if he became more difficult to handle.

Bellamy stared at them the first time they approached. He knew they were family, and a picture came to him of little laughing girls bouncing up and down on ponies. He didn't like it. Family got old, and then they died. And he frowned at them, and started to tremble. He always had trembling attacks, and it was often unclear whether it was because of agitation, or not. This time, Graham was sure, it was because of agitation. It was too late to change them now, but maybe, after all, family should not be used.

The afternoon of their arrival was free. Gareth was horrified when Bellamy stated his intention. "It's winter, for goodness sake!"

A fleeting smile crossed the face of Bellamy. "Look at the waves! I want to surf!" And a short time later, he appeared in swimmers and with a surfboard under his arm, that he must have conjured.

Gareth raised his eyebrows, "I thought crazy men weren't allowed to work magic!" But Bellamy assured him that he wasn't very crazy right now.

"You must be crazy!" said Gareth with conviction. "The water'll be freezing!"

Bellamy really grinned, now. "I won't expect you to come in with me."

Gareth looked at the aurors. Black Alexander shivered, expressively, very much hoping that Gareth wouldn't feel it necessary to order one or more of them to go in swimming as well. Gareth sighed, and gave his orders. Jed and Ryde were off duty, to cover the evenings and nights, Therese, Katrina and Alexander would watch from the shore. "You can go swimming if you want," he added, in an ironic tone.

The area was clear, and no threat apparent. Therese and Katrina forgot to stay alert, and watched Bellamy instead, as he crossed the sand. "They say he has a reputation for seducing female aurors," said one.

The other's eyes lingered on the naked back. "Pity it's Grandfather Harry! I wouldn't mind in the slightest, otherwise."

Ten minutes later, as they watched him balance on his surfboard, there was another comment. "Of course, he's about five generations back. It's not like it's really wrong..." But they never made the invitation, and it wouldn't have been accepted anyway. It may have been about five generations back, but to Bellamy, they had the clear feeling of family and were untouchable. Anyway, they were both married.

Jed guarded outside his room at night. They'd always done that when he travelled, even when no threat seemed apparent. Ryde patrolled the corridors of the small hotel, watching for threats. There were three American aurors, too. There was still that very large reward for the one that managed to kill him, and his absence of the last fourteen years had only made him seem more valuable.

In Britain, it was very quiet. The great wizard was back, and Spectra McFiddan was among the witches and wizards waiting to see what would happen. There were whispers that he was insane, or at least confused. But people were being cured whom no-one else had been able to cure. Surely he could not be insane. What if he turned his attention to law enforcement? He'd helped the aurors before!

The following day, Bellamy cured three pumpkin-heads, though pronouncing six others dead, cured forty or so others with a glance, and then raised the strong magic to cure a wizard with a most unpleasant skin condition. Alexander hadn't seen this obvious power before, and, like others before him, was struck with awe. Sybil may have begun to think of Bellamy as rather pathetic, but no-one who saw what he could do, ever thought of him as pathetic.

Every day, if there was time, he surfed, or, at least, swam. He was smiling more, listening more, as his companions talked, though seldom contributing a comment. Thursday, his eyes followed a walker on the beach. Thursday night, aurors tried to be as discreet as possible, as they guarded a holiday apartment without being spotted by the woman. He was with her Friday and Saturday nights as well, although Sunday, they were to travel to New York. Sunday night, in the luxury New York hotel, Bellamy struck up a casual conversation with a woman at the bar, and then spent that night, and another night with her, until she had to leave. The aurors were beginning to think that Bellamy was his normal self, except that he still declined to apparate.

But Tuesday night, he slept alone. And Tuesday night, for the first time in very many years, he had a true nightmare, and emerged from his room, trembling, and needing to go for a long walk to soothe his nerves. Jed and Ryde didn't want to allow him, and he paced unhappily up and down the corridor. He shouldn't disapparate, and he shouldn't fight, but he needed to walk.

He had begun to look at Jed and Ryde with a shadowed gaze as if they might be enemies after all. Gareth was called, then Patrick. Patrick had known Bellamy in more normal times, and knew that he'd always had nightmares, and always walked off his quivering agitation afterward. Jed and Ryde were instructed just to let him go, and stay with him. As they watched a hurried departure, Patrick suggested to Gareth that maybe it was another indication that he really was getting back to normal.

Two hours later, Jed, getting tired in spite of his aurors' standard of physical fitness, firmly told Bellamy that it was time to turn back. Bellamy ignored him. He'd stopped trembling now, but was enjoying the walk in the night. Jed cast a glance at Ryde, for support, and used an even more firm voice. And when Bellamy continued to ignore him, they each grabbed an arm, and tried to forcibly turn him. Furiously, he tore his arms free, and backed away from them. For a moment, he stared at the angry aurors, and again his regard was shadowed. The aurors called for support with the device each of them carried. Gareth, waiting anxiously in his room, apparated to their side. Bellamy was trembling, facing the two aurors. "He refuses to come back!" explained Jed.

Gareth glanced at him, and said calmly, "Bellamy isn't a prisoner. He'll come back when he's ready, and not at all if that's what he chooses." He turned to Jed and Ryde. "You two had best return to the hotel. I'll talk to you later."

Jed and Ryde looked at each other, and then disapparated, each making a loud crack in the air as they did so. Still with that calming voice, Gareth asked, "Will you accept my escort, Bellamy?"

Bellamy was looking blank, with that vague stare that was apt to baffle and confuse. But he turned and walked, more slowly than he'd done before, as Gareth was no longer young.

It was nearly dawn when Bellamy turned back of his own volition. Gareth hadn't suggested it, thinking it unwise to try and exercise any control over him now. The auror was limping, and Bellamy walked more and more slowly beside him, finally even apologising. Gareth just grinned at him, "Bloody Jed and Ryde are going to be hauled over the coals. I don't think they'll try telling you what to do again."

Graham was very pleased when he heard that Bellamy was no longer unquestioningly obeying orders. He thought it an excellent sign. He was even more pleased at the end of the week, when he checked both the weight and the Niscos, and found improvement in each.

Bellamy had been away a week, there was still a big waiting list for him in any case, and Sidney Bourne decided that he wouldn't wait. He was inflicted with thorns, the healer hadn't been able to help, and he wanted to be cured before Christmas. There was a big party, and Christina was adorable. She wouldn't come close to him with thorns, though. Sidney could trace his ancestry back to Bellamy through three different lines of descent, though the closest marriage was between two cousins. He was seventeen, deemed adult in the wizarding world. He had the colouring of Bellamy, black hair, green eyes, but had shown no unusual magical talent, and had no discernible telepathy.

Holmes had few clients now, and he was able to be seen almost straightaway. Bourne was taken aback when he was expected to allow himself to be manacled, but Holmes put authority into his voice, not wanting to lose his patient. His income had suffered an enormous drop since the return of the great wizard. Bourne was very young, and conceded. If that was the way it had to be done... In a matter of fact way, one of Holmes bodyguards accepted the youth's wand, and then instructed him where to put his hands.

Bourne felt terrible. He was manacled to the wall, unarmed, and he was already wishing fervently that he'd waited for the great wizard. When Bellamy used the telepathic cure, he took care to explain to the patient that they might feel invaded - that for many, it was a terrible feeling to feel someone else's mind in their mind, and that some people could simply not tolerate it at all. But Holmes was paid in advance, his patient couldn't hurt him, and he had two bodyguards with him in any case.

Holmes dropped his head and started to concentrate. Bourne felt the horrible feeling in his head, and fought to stay calm, and allow the healer to do his work. Holmes found that area in the mind that knew that a man's body should not have thorns, and nudged it with his magic. The thorns vanished, but Bourne gave a shriek of rage. Not only did this man invade his mind, he had interfered. He suddenly had at his command a magic that he hadn't known was there. The manacles vanished, the bodyguards were stunned before they could react, and Bourne attacked Holmes, starting to manually strangle him before exerting his will instead, and killing him in the same way that Bellamy had sometimes killed. Holmes was dead, and Bourne lost his rage, and collapsed, sobbing. What had he done? He was a murderer. They'd put him in prison.

In a prison call, days later, he suddenly realised that he'd used strong and deliberate magic, without a wand, in a way that only the great wizard could do. His wand had been confiscated, of course, but he made the experiment, and tried to perform a minor magical action. He tried harder and harder, but was the same as every other witch or wizard. He needed his wand.

Two days after Bellamy returned, he was galloping a tall chestnut mare on the moors. Dobes loped at his heels. Bellamy was happy. He seemed to others quite clear-minded, though he shrank away from thinking about things too much, and still would not apparate. Within himself, he knew that he was a long way from truly well, and that his current content was a shallow thing, without foundation.

At the house, a conference was going on. All the Barnes were consulted, and then they spoke to old Caradoc, who had such a wisdom. They didn't know whether the boss was stable enough for a trial, but Caradoc pointed out that they didn't have the right to make decisions for him. Bellamy's expert testimony could be vital to the defence of his young relative.

Bellamy looked at the letter they gave him when he returned, Archie and Ursula waiting as he read it. But he didn't even tremble. He just said in a matter-of-fact tone that it was a long time since he'd been in a courtroom, and then asked Archie to arrange it for him, as he thought he'd been supposed to be spell-breaking that day. Archie was still doing all those arrangements, although he consulted Bellamy these days, no longer simply telling him what he was to do.

The week before Christmas, Bellamy combed his hair out loose, instead of using the casual pony tail, remembered his glasses, and donned more formal wear than his usual jeans and casual shirt. He wanted to look as fully as possible the great wizard, so that Bourne would be freed. To his way of thinking, a person who had just undergone the telepathic cure was not responsible for his actions any more than was an ex-pumpkin-head.

And in the big and impressive courtroom later that day, in front of the great wizards and witches of the Wizemgamot, the greatest wizard of them all, told them that. And he told them that he himself had been attacked numerous times after performing the telepathic cure, even though he suspected he was probably better at it than Holmes had ever been. One who had nearly killed him had even been later elected to the Wizemgamot himself, an honour only given to those most respected. Sidney Bourne, sitting as proudly impassive as he could manage throughout the trial, was freed, and afterwards collapsed, crying, in the arms of his mother.

The reporters very much wanted to interview Bellamy, but Bellamy never gave interviews, and was grateful to Ryde, Jed and Alexander who surrounded him, not allowing any near. Photographs were taken, and his bearing and competent testimony temporarily silenced the whispers of dementia.

Christmas passed very quietly for Bellamy. Even though some around him thought him almost recovered, he chose not to apparate, did no socialising at all, and talked more to the animals around than he ever did to humans. Young Peter had taken a great fancy to him, and was often at his heels as he wandered about the estate. He spent a lot of time at the Old Horses' Paddock, talking to his friends from years back, and telling Peter their history.

He took little interest in the young horses, and Beau found no interference in his breeding plans. He'd been home almost two months, but hardly any of his family had yet seen him. There was no chance for them to display new babies, but also he didn't see the ones he knew ageing. No-one told him about the deaths that occurred. He was being protected.

After the courtroom incident, the witch, Spectra McFiddan, made a decision that Bellamy most definitely had to die as soon as possible. She had an inside source of information, Nathan Bagster, now forty-five, still an auror. The great wizard had actually been in a mental institution when discovered. It was apparent he was getting better, but right now, he might still be vulnerable. Spectra had defeated the best aurors, and she thought she could defeat Bellamy. It was either kill the great wizard, or choose exile, as some others had already done.

Two weeks later, in Germany, where Bellamy's services always seemed to be needed, Spectra and her supporters waited in ambush. Bellamy had no feeling of danger, and was not alerted by the feeling of tension from those who lurked.

Three Death Curses were sent from behind, to account for Jed, Alexander, and Bellamy. Bellamy heard the beginning syllables of the Death Curse, as he'd heard many times before in his life, and whirled to face his attackers. Three spells vanished into thin air, and two wizards dropped, stunned. Spectra was frozen to the spot, unable to move, unable to disapparate.

Jed and Alexander had their wands out, ready to arrest her. Bellamy turned to them, and said, very politely, "Excuse me, I'd like to deal with this one myself. You can arrest the wizards, though."

They looked at each other, confused. Jed started to tie the fallen wizards, but Alexander kept his wand raised, holding Spectra covered.

Bellamy walked to Spectra, and stopped right in front of her. She stared at him, defiant, courageous. "You're Family," he stated, "I can feel it."

"Not that I know of," she snarled at him.

Alexander started to move, behind him. Bellamy was their responsibility to defend, not their commander. Bellamy raised a hand, and just in case the aurors took no notice of this gesture of restraint, a red line was traced around them. Now Bellamy and Spectra could not be interfered with.

"Who's your mother?" he asked quietly.

When Spectra raised her chin, and said nothing, he repeated the question with a touch of magic. "Who's your mother?"

She answered this time, and Bellamy shook his head. "I know no-one of that name, and yet you feel like family."

Spectra snarled at him, "No way I'd be related to you, muggle lover. You're not even pure-blood yourself, are you?"

Bellamy grinned. She had courage, this woman, and instead of killing her, or handing her over to the aurors, he spoke to her for a few minutes, quietly, commandingly, and with magic. Then he stepped back, and suggested she disapparate. Disbelievingly, she raised her wand, wanting to attack again, but discovered she could not. She raised her head instead, shook out long, black hair in a proud and defiant gesture, and was gone. And she went in silence. Not many could apparate silently.

After the effortless defeat of Spectra McFiddan, the crime wave the Auror Department had been battling for years, diminished drastically. The great wizard was useful to have around. They asked him, of course, what he'd done to McFiddan, and he explained that it was just a magical command, easily enough broken normally, provided it was known that it was there, but of course, this was his own magic. One said severely that she should have been handed over to the aurors for trial, but Bellamy only shrugged. She was a woman, and family. She would never hurt anyone again, and she had to make restitution, as much as possible, using her own fortune to spread among her victims. And each time she found a need to do that, he suspected it would make her very angry. He smiled to himself. The witch was punished.

***chapter end***