Chapter 6: The First Task and an Attack
Four weeks had passed since the attack on West Milford had taken place. Voldemort had been causing carnage all over England, attacking random cities and towns viciously. The constant death was pissing Harry off, he felt responsible for taking care of the Dark Lord once and for all. However, he knew that he would fail miserably if he tried. Voldemort could not compare to Harry, but if he was forced to take on the Dark Lord and all his minions, he would surely die. For an operation like this, he would need the help of the Warriors. Unfortunately, he could not receive that help for the time being, since the Vampires had their own problem, namely the Drow.
Corvai was pressed to find a way to eliminate the Drow and then wait for the Vampires to recuperate enough to get rid of Voldemort. Also, he had the stupid tournament to worry about. He had accidentally found out what the first task was to be. Completely bored, he had decided to fly around for a while, and had taken to the skies with happiness. Since the Quidditch pitch was not being used, he just flew around the castle and the forest, and accidentally stumbled upon a clearing on the far side of the lake, where four Dragons were being held. It seemed like the Dragon Tamers were having a tough time holding one of them down, and it took all twenty of them to finally stun it. Harry guessed that somehow, the Champions were supposed to get past the Dragon.
Out of the corner of his eye, he had spied two people that made him ridiculously angry. Karkaroff and Maxime were standing at different parts of the forest and taking careful looks at the Dragons. Apparently, despite Maxime's pleasant disposition, she was not averse to cheating, and Harry knew that Fleur and Krum would know by morning what they faced. Sure enough, the two of them looked particularly pale the next day at breakfast.
It was against his nature to be unfair, and Harry knew that Diggory had no chance to know about the Dragons in time. Therefore, between classes, Harry caught up to Diggory and pulled him away from his friends forcibly, with an apologetic look. They sat down in the courtyard to talk.
Harry said "Cedric, the Firs Task is Dragons. I'm not sure what we're supposed to do, but I think we have to get past them somehow. Krum and Fleur already know; I saw Maxime and Karkaroff in the forest yesterday looking at them. Did you notice that the two of them looked especially pale this morning?"
Cedric had paled, and he said "My god! Thanks a lot Harry, but why are you doing this?"
Harry just grinned at him and said "Buddy, I already told you that I have no interest in even participating. I'm just evening out the playing field; it's unfair that the other two know already. I was just lucky to stumble on it while I was flying for a bit. Just relax, mate, Dragon's have pretty terrible eyesight, so you might be able to do it easily." He got up and clapped Cedric on the back and stalked off, leaving a scared yet relieved boy behind. The task was in only two days, so he needed to get down to work.
As Harry was walking out of the courtyard, he was snagged by Morgan, who dragged him into his office and sat Harry down.
Harry turned an inquisitive eyebrow to the man and said "You need me for something, Professor?"
Morgan looked him over for a second and replied "That was a very decent thing you did there, Potter." Harry nodded, and Morgan continued "Now, Potter, do you know how you're gonna get past that Dragon?"
Harry leaned back in his chair and replied "I'm sure I can handle it, Professor. You shouldn't be helping me."
Morgan nodded, but said "Potter, the fact of the matter is that you are a year younger than the others. I've seen you flying, boy, and I think you should play to your strengths. Flying is one of your strengths, so you should use a spell to get what you need." Harry raised an eyebrow and nodded, then got up and left. The hint, to him, was more than obvious, and he was somewhat grateful for it, even if he found the whole conversation suspect. He knew that he needed to find out why the hell Morgan was trying to help him win so hard, but the man was too guarded. He would have to catch him unawares and plunge into his mind using the drill method.
It was Wednesday morning that the first task took place. A stadium of sorts had been set up in the forest on the far side of the lake, and the students had been assembled in the stands, eagerly watching what happened below. The contestants were ushered into a tent, and they were made to wait their chance. They were offered a bag, and were told to withdraw one of the models of Dragons from within it to choose which one they would face. Cedric was first, and he had picked the Ukrainian Ironbelly. Krum for the Chinese Fireball, and Fleur got the Northern Welsh Green. Harry, of course, got the most vicious one, the Hungarian Horntail. It was about forty feet long, and had vicious spikes on its tail to back up the massive jets of flame from its mouth. It also had sharp talons, and could move ridiculously fast for its size.
One by one, the other champions went through, and Harry sat in the tent, trying to find out what the cheers and gasps of the audience meant. Ludo Bagman's commentary was of no help to him, as it consisted solely of exclamations such as "Ooh! That was a close one there!" He had his wands, and was wearing Slytherin's sword on his back. Dumbledore had tried to stop him from carrying it, but Harry had, in no uncertain terms, told him that it was none of his business, and that the rules did not prevent him from carrying a weapon. He also wore his disillusioned dagger, but left his wakizashi behind, not wanting to expose it. Finally, Bagman called out his name, as he was the announcer.
Harry gingerly stepped out of the tent, and cautiously approached the entrance to the amphitheater-like stadium. He entered, and immediately had to dive to the side as a huge paw crashed down where he had been standing just a second ago. He whipped out his wand, and crouched behind a stone as he wondered what he should do. It wasn't exactly the sort of situation that he had trained for before, but he could make do. After all, he was Levicorvus, the Master Assassin. He nearly laughed at the vanity he was displaying, and tried to make eye-contact with the Dragon. This was a sure-fire way of issuing a challenge, and Harry was in the mood to be challenging.
The Dragon reared in indignation, and fired a stream of fire at Harry, who twirled out of the way and flicked his wand, using a cutting spell to hack off two of the spikes on the Dragon's tail. He did not want to penetrate the Dragon's hide and cause it any real pain, so he chose to disarm it instead. The spikes would grow back eventually, he reasoned. Leaping over the tail as it swung at his head, he slashed his wand and froze the inside of the Dragon's mouth, causing it to rear in pain and thrash about.
'Uh-Oh' thought Harry, as the tail zoomed at his head. He didn't have the time to duck, so he did the next best thing. He bent backwards at the waist, and the tail zoomed within an inch of his chest, and he darted his hand out, grabbing one of the spikes. He let loose a shout of joy as he was violently tugged off his feet and into the air. The tail flicked vertically upwards, and at the apex of its curve, Harry let go with a shout of joy. He landed on the Horntail's neck, grabbing on to the ridges to steady himself. He grinned and made himself comfortable; the dragon could not shoot fire at him while he was there, and the tail was not long or flexible enough to get him. He grinned widely as he began transfiguring the spikes on the tail into posies, and began placing cushioning charms all over the rocky terrain below the dragon. There were roars of laughter form the audience, and Harry grinned as he crawled up the Dragon's neck to whisper into its ear.
He spoke in Parseltongue, knowing that at the very least, the Dragon could understand him, even if it could not reply.
"Hello, drakey-poo. You are a really cute Dragon, you know? You're very pretty as well. Did you like the flowers?" The Dragon reared, letting loose an absolutely enormous burst of Fire, and Harry grinned again. Then, he said in a more serious voice "Stop. I will undo all that I have done to you." This made the Dragon shut up. The people around looked on, stupefied, as Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived, had a chat with a Dragon, and it actually listened.
Harry continued "The humans here are watching you and I. My task is to collect the golden egg that lies with your eggs. Do you see it? Good. Now, that egg is made of metal. No matter how long you sit on it, it will not hatchunderstood? It is a fake. I don't know what I'm supposed to do with it, but for some reason, I am supposed to take it. Now, if you will allow me to walk there and take the egg, I will give you a gift. After taking all these charms off you, I will make your spikes sharper, your teeth sharper, and I will also make your vision better. Is that a fair trade?"
The Dragon harrumphed, but gave what was unmistakably a bow. The crowd watched, transfixed, as a grinning Harry jumped off the Dragon's neck, landing comfortably on the cushioned ground below. He daintily levitated the golden egg with a flick of his wand, and was about to turn around, when he heard a rushing sound. Without even turning back to the Dragon, he simultaneously did two things. First, he dived far to the side and rolled, and second, he flicked his wand at the egg that was hovering twenty feet away, sending it a good hundred feet in the air. The Dragon's tail smashed down where he had been standing a second before, and Harry scowled at it from his new perch on a rock. He flicked his wand at the Egg that was now falling fast, and it zoomed towards him, growing smaller until it was the size of a pebble, allowing him to stow it in his pocket with ease. The Dragon flashed its teeth for a second, and sent out a billow of flames at Harry, who nimbly leaped to the side, and sprinted out of the way. Dodging and ducking, he elicited gasps from the crowd, and repeatedly kept banishing pebbles at the Dragon, hitting it all over its face.
Rolling out of the way of the tail, he leapt onto the Dragon's back, hastily jumping onto its neck when the Dragon tried to snap at him with a turned head. He perched on the Dragon's neck in the same spot as last time, and tapped his throat with his wand, casting the Sonorous Charm. He grinned at the judges, and interrupted Ludo Bagman by asking "Hey…uh, how bad am I allowed to hurt this thing?"
Some of the students laughed, until they realized he was not joking. There was a hushed conversation between the judges, and Bagman nervously announced "Uh…well, we never decided anything about that…"
Harry interrupted him with "Great!" Reaching his hand out, he withdrew his sword, and held the unbreakable blade against the Dragon's neck, and having removed the voice-amplifying charm, hissed "Dear me, drakey-poo, you violated our deal. Do you know what I am holding? This sword is the Sword of Slytherin, and it is so heavily enchanted that it can cut through Dragon skin as if it were water."
The Dragon jerked nervously, and accidentally shattered the chains that held it to the floor. It swept up into the sky, Harry clinging onto its neck for dear life. He hastily grabbed onto one of the ridges, and held on tight, waiting for it to level out. It had reached the height of fifteen hundred feet, and was soaring in the air above the lake. Harry sheathed his sword and flicked his wand, summoning his broom just as the Dragon reared mid-flight, flipping Harry off its neck. There was an almighty gasp and a few screams from the crowd that was still watching from the stadium as Harry fell of the Dragon's neck from a huge height. He held his body spread eagled as he fell down face-forwards towards the lake, nervously hoping that his broom would come to him About fifty feet from the lake it suddenly came to him, and he snatched it out of mid-air, hurriedly straddling it. He pulled out of his freefall and barreled away, toes skimming the water as the Dragon followed him with a hungry glint in its eyes. Harry screamed with joy as he felt amazingly fresh and free, and ripped away from the dragon, rotating his figure in circles as he barreled away. He swerved out of the way of an explosion of fire, and darted high up into the air, nearing a thousand feet in altitude.
The Dragon followed hungrily, and Harry darted around, gradually lowering their height until they were a hundred and fifty feet in the sky, directly above the cushioned rocks of the stadium. He grinned, and held his wand in his hand, dodging another burst of fire as he dived vertically. He made a circle with his wand, muttering "Conflagra" and huge amounts of smoke billowed from its tip, obscuring the Dragon's vision, but not Harry's. He pulled out of the dive with only a few feet to spare and jerked back up again, deactivating his wand, just in time to see the massive shape of the Dragon plummet past him and sail headfirst into the ground with an almighty crash. Since the ground was cushioned, the Dragon only suffered a concussion and a twisted wing-joint, but those could be repaired easily. None of the other eggs were harmed, as the Dragon landed far from them, and Harry had successfully retrieved the Golden Egg without even a scratch. All that was left in the arena was a knocked-out Dragon covered in posies, a few unharmed eggs, and a lot of cushioned ground.
He grinned amicably as he landed again, surveying his work with a pleased glint in his eye. He took off again, and flew towards the tent in front of a shocked crowd and a spluttering Bagman who was going crazy about the skills that Harry had just shown. He blubbered "That…Harry…boy…uh…nice…dragon…faint…Wronski…egg…WOW!"
Harry grinned and landed by the tent, digging into his pocket to enlarge his Golden Egg. He smirked as Bagman immediately fired up a glittering number 10, soon followed by Crouch, who replicated that, Dumbledore who gave a 9, and a gobsmacked Maxime who had simply fainted. When she was enervated by a scowling Karkaroff, she hurriedly fired off a 10. Karkaroff sneered at Harry and fired off a 4, making Harry narrow his eyes at him. He said nothing, pleased with the fact that he had forty three points out of fifty, and slung his broom over his shoulder and walked into the tent.
He walked in and smiled widely as he saw Remus and Sirius standing there laughing. They pounced on him, hugging him tightly as they crowed "Harry…that was AMAZING! Bloody hell, I think you're the first one to pull off a Wronski Feint on a bloody Dragon!" Harry grinned at them, and handed them the egg, tossing the Firebolt 2 onto one of the nearby beds. Apparently the other champions had all been slightly harmed in one way or another, and they were sitting in the tent, being sorted out by Madam Pomfrey.
Cedric grinned at Harry like an idiot as he said "Cor, mate! That was bloody amazing!" Harry grinned, and he was similarly congratulated by an incredulous Krum and a deeply blushing Fleur. The other males in the tent were looking woozy due to overexposure to the Veela charm, but Harry was just grinning as he looked at his 'uncles'.
His grin suddenly faded when he heard the words "HARRY JAMES POTTER!" His head snapped towards the opening of the tent, and he was confronted by one angry Bellatrix Black, currently using her glamour charm. She had tears in her eyes, and she slapped him soundly before leaping onto him, hugging him so tight that he thought his ribs would break.
Harry gently stroked Bella's hair as he comforted her, whispering "My Bella. You came to watch me?"
She turned a teary face to him and whispered "Of course, Harry. God, you scared me so badly doing all of that, I nearly died five times just watching you." She sniffled slightly, and his grip on her grew tighter. The others edged out of the tent, and Pomfrey had a rather satisfied look on her face when she realized that Harry wasn't even injured.
Harry sat down on one of the beds in the makeshift hospital wing, and drew Bella into his lap. He pulled the curtains close to give them privacy, and reached up to cup her cheek. He stroked her cheek gently, brushing the tears away, and murmured against her lips "So beautiful, my Bella. I love you." She whimpered and kissed him gently, reveling in the sensation of their lips meeting.
Harry was in heaven as the velvet softness of her lips met his. He felt an explosion of passion inside him, and he gently deepened the kiss, slowly opening her lips with his mouth, to slide his tongue in. He shuddered as his tongue met hers, and she moaned into his mouth, roughly crushing her body against his. He gasped as he felt her breasts push into his chest, and he dropped his left hand to gently squeeze one of the large globes of flesh, stroking her hardened nipple through the fabric of her top. She moaned, and moved her mouth from his, inclining her head to suck on his neck. Gently nudging his head back, she lowered her warm mouth onto his Adam's apple and took it in her mouth, breathing warm air across it even as her tongue swirled circles around it. He let out a choked gasp of pleasure, involuntarily jerking in her arms. She lifted her head and leaned it against Harry's so that their lips were brushing against each other. His hand stroked her cheek again as he looked deep into the violet pools of her eyes.
She let out a tear as she saw the love in his brilliantly colored emerald eyes, and her breath hitched. He whispered, each word making his lips brush against hers "Bellatrix, I love you." She let out a sob and kissed him as she mumbled "I love you too, Harry."
He smiled at her lightly as he stroked her dark tresses, and whispered "Should I come over for the rest of the day? I want to spend some time with you."
She smiled and replied "Please do."
He nodded and gave her a gentle kiss as he whispered "Good. I'd better get out there, but I'll meet you in a few hours or so, okay? I love you."
She gave him a goodbye kiss and he walked out to see the other champions. Bagman addressed them and said "Very well. The scores are as follows: Mr. Potter is currently in first place with 43 points. Mr. Diggory has 41, and is in second place. Mr. Krum is third with 40, and Ms. Delacour is fourth with 38 points. Now, your eggs hold clues in them, and you need to decipher what they mean. The second task will be on the first weekend after the Christmas break, alright? You have until then to find out what you need to."
They nodded and dispersed, and Harry met up with Daphne on his way back to Hogwarts. She grinned at him and said "Not bad at all, Harry. Quite the crowd pleaser, aren't you?"
He grinned in reply and bowed extravagantly as he said "Ah, of course, Ms. Greengrass!" She giggled and walked back to the tower with him. They grabbed lunch together, and headed back to the tower, where Harry stashed the egg on his dresser, deciding to take a look at it the next day. He quickly blazed through his homework, finishing it in an even hour, and got ready to leave. He wore only his staff, apart from his wands and throwing knives, leaving his daggers and wakizashi in his room. He stepped in to the shadows of his room and shifted away, emerging in Bellatrix's room at Grimmauld Place.
He grinned and pulled her into his arms, giving her a chaste kiss, and sat her down on his lap by the fire. They sat there and chatted for a long time, Bella leaning on Harry's chest. They sat together for a long time, and Harry finally lifted them up and said with a chivalrous bow "Madam! Would you do this humble man the honor of accompanying him to dinner?"
She grinned and replied "Oh, dear sir, I would be glad to!" They got ready quickly, and left for a night in London. A fantastic dinner later, they returned to Grimmauld Place to spend the night, but they were interrupted by some terrible news.
As Harry was putting his coat on the back of an armchair, Luciana blood-jumped in with Nikki in her arms, and hurriedly said "Corvai! The Drow are attacking Hogsmeade! They have joined with Voldemort!" Harry gaped for a second, and cursed silently.
He turned to Bella and asked "Bella, can you take care of Nikki for a while? I'll be back as soon as possible." She nodded silently, and turned to Luci.
As Harry left to get his weapons, the two women sized each other up. Then, Luci grinned and said "I can see why he likes you so much."
She grinned back in reply, and said "Same here. I'm not completely sure about how we're sharing Harry, but that can wait a bit. We should talk sometime, but I think you have things to do now." Luci nodded, and kissed Nikki on the cheek, telling her to stay with Bella, which she agreed to instantly. She waddled over to Bella and stared at her as if she was evaluating her, and then nodded, apparently satisfied. Bella giggled and pulled Nikki into her arms, cheekily whispering "No feeding from me, cutie."
Harry returned a few seconds later, wearing his best weapons. His wakizashi were strapped across his back, with Slytherin's sword resting in between comfortably. He had his staff strapped to his calf, the two Elven daggers in his boots, and his two long daggers in their sheaths on his thighs. He wore one pistol holstered on his right thigh. He also brought his pouch of potions for the fight. He drew his wakizashi in his hands, and nodded to Luciana, and they blood-jumped away.
Appearing in Hogsmeade, Harry was stunned for a second. There were at least a hundred Drow present, and the same number of Death Eaters. He saw a regal-looking yet dangerous Drow standing next to Voldemort with a maniacal grin on his face, as the two of them observed their forces besiege the town. Harry snarled, and leaned his head back, letting loose a blood-curdling war-cry of "WARRIORS! FIGHT!"
He leapt into battle, indiscriminately slashing left and right, the sight of his swords making more than one Drow stumble back in fear. This made Harry think, for if this was a new batch of Drow, they should not have known anything about him at all. Still, he fought on, cleaving hands, legs and heads off, slashing chests and throats wide open in his rage. The Order of the Phoenix had assembled, but their stunning spells were of little use against the Drow, since they were impervious to minor magic. Eventually, they began using bludgeoning spells, creating a better result.
The Vampire Warriors were like the forces of legend, the unbelievably skilled fighters that cleaved through the opposition like a hot knife through butter. Their attack was swift and precise, each movement graceful to the point of the whole fight being an elaborate dance of weapons. Blood flew through the air and soaked the ground as Warriors with bared fangs stabbed and slashed their way through the Drow and the Death Eaters, taking out their rage and frustration over the deaths of their Commanders on them. They looked fanatical in their bloodlust, but this was far from true. The glowing, electric-blue eyes that most of them sported were because of suppressed rage rather than the desire to feast like cannibals. At their head was Harry, or as they knew him, Levicorvus, Commander of the Warriors. He was their inspiration, as hardened and novice Vampires admired his ferocity and skill as the trademark silvery blades sliced through the bodies, the slight gold streaks in the blades leaving minor slivers of gold floating in the air for a split second. At the corner of the battlefield stood four Vampires wearing ceremonial robes.
These were the elders, four of the oldest Vampires in existence. They had come for two reasons: to watch their Warriors fight the enemy, and to hold the wards. With an average age of 1,700 years, their blood was ridiculously strong, and they were easily the most powerful users of Blood-Magic in existence. Smiling grimly at the sight of their fighters doing what they did best, they simultaneously slit both their wrists using a golden dagger, and dipping their index fingers in the blood of the opposite hand, began tracing runes in the air and chanting. Quickly, Wizards, Drow and Vampires alike felt the wards going up around them, bolstered by such power that Hogwarts itself had lesser defenses. As the harsh tones of the Vampire tongue filtered through the air, the Vampires gave a resounding war cry as they redoubled their efforts, never pausing for a second as they fought skillfully. The wards were unbreakable by any other than the Elders, and they restricted the use of Apparation, Portkeys and all Drow Magic. The Drow were now unable to use their magic to harm the Vampires, and had to settle for pure brute force, wielding the clunky weapons that characterized their race. The Vampires, on the other hand, wielded sleek, light weapons that were magically powerful and capable of cutting through almost anything.
Harry was fighting hard, gradually moving towards Voldemort and the leader of the Drow, who were staring at him, gobsmacked. He pushed his magic into the swords, making them shine with an ethereal golden light, and resumed his fight. He slashed one man's neck, causing an explosion of blood, and twirled sideways to avoid a thrust. He batted the offending sword out of the way, and plunged his knife through the attacker's forehead, the magic in the blade causing the man's head to explode in a gory fashion. Rolling forward, he dropped the blade in his left hand, and extended the one in his right hand, plunging it into the chest of a Death Eater with Platinum Blonde hair. 'Probably Malfoy's father' Harry thought.
He used his blade to divert an oncoming sword, and whipped around in a circle, extending the claws from between the knuckles on his left fist, cleaving them through the neck of his attacker, and then plunged them hard into the chest of another, the Vampiric force behind the assault making the man's body fly a good twenty feet. It took another fifteen minutes, but he was finally getting close to where Voldemort and the Drow leader stood.
Cutting down the last of the ones in his way, he stalked towards them with a glint in his eye and snarled "Who are you, elf?"
The man flashed sharp teeth and replied "I am Carnisus, King of the Drow!"
Harry laughed harshly and said "Do you know what I did to the last King? I see you do. This will not be any different, elf!"
Voldemort, ever one for hasty actions despite his Slytherin heritage, fired off the Killing Curse, making Harry twirl out of the way. He flicked his wrists, drawing his wands, and began dueling with both of them simultaneously. A cutting curse hit his upper arm, and he snarled in pain, firing off a blood-boiling hex that did not hit Voldemort, but blew his pinky finger off in a shower of heated blood. The Dark Lord roared in rage and fired off another Killing curse, and Harry saw an opportunity. He rolled under the curse, and flicked his wand at Carnisus, summoning him through the air at a high speed to crash into Voldemort. As the two tried to scramble to their feet, Harry flung a throwing knife, and managed to hit Carnisus on the thigh, making him shout out in pain and extract the knife right before it exploded.
Their duel had been going on for about twenty minutes now, and Harry was not doing so well. Carnisus was using weapons rather than magic, and Voldemort was flinging Killing Curses and other vicious spells about with abandon. Already, Harry had taken a bone-breaking hex to the lower leg, which had luckily been circumvented by the metal plating on his bone, a cutting curse right below his left shoulder, a bludgeoning curse to the thigh and another cutting curse to the chest, which had been mostly absorbed by his vest. Carnisus had also scored a few hits, nothing deep, but Harry still had minor slashes on his cheek, arms and legs, as well as a deep gash on his back that was stinging like hell, squeezing some pain even through his Occlumency shields.
Voldemort was slightly battered, after losing his finger, taking a bludgeoning curse to the kneecap and another to the ribcage, and was nearing magical exhaustion from all the Killing Curses he had been flinging about. Harry had already erected strong Parseltongue anti-portkey and anti-apparation wards, which meant that he would have to flee on foot before apparating away, being unable to break through the wards that Harry had erected around the area that was not encompassed by the Vampire wards. Carnisus was getting slightly physically tired, but as a Drow, he had huge stamina reserves, and could keep fighting for at least another half-hour.
Harry was having a bad day. First, he had been tossed about by that infernal Dragon, and even though he had come off it without a scratch, it had still been trying. Now, when he was having a good time, his day was ruined by the bastard Drow and Voldemort, and he was getting angry enough to kill them. He had no qualms about using lethal force on Voldemort, but he needed Carnisus alive to find out more about the Drow.
Snarling, he rolled off the ground after being hit by a banishing curse, and flung a throwing knife into Voldemort's shoulder, watching in satisfaction as his arm was nearly blown apart for the second time in the past six months. Voldemort screamed in shock and pain, and collapsed, firing a nasty bone-breaking hex that Harry had to dodge. Slashing his wand even as he dodged out of a swipe from Carnisus' sword, he successfully disarmed Voldemort, making his wand fly out of reach. With Voldemort taken care of, Harry stowed his wands, and pulled out Slytherin's sword. The widening of Voldemort's eyes was hilarious, as the Dark Lord saw the sword of his ancestor being wielded by Levicorvus, the only person to make him bleed in years.
Harry moved quickly, moving to attack instantly. Carnisus was a good swordsman, excellent, in fact, and it took all of Harry's skill to stay alive in the duel due to his tiredness and the limited mobility afforded to him by the gash on his back. He realized, with a start, that he had been extremely lucky before; he had been able to move out of the way of the Drow's attacks only by luck, since the man was good enough to destroy a few Warriors all by himself. After a further five minutes of trying combat, Harry finally saw his chance when Carnisus overextended himself during a lunge, and he batted the man's sword sideways as he spun, and swept his sword down, cutting both of the Drow leader's hands off at the elbows in one swift strike. The man let out a blood-curdling shriek of pain, and slumped to the ground, whimpering and crying. Harry was slightly sympathetic; it looked like it must have hurt terribly. Not taking a chance, he fluidly rolled sideways and turned, to see Voldemort stumble away in the distance, heading into the beginnings of the Forbidden Forest to apparate away.
Harry leaned on his sword, exhausted, and looked around. The battle was still on, but it was dwindling away quickly, and the Vampires, Aurors and the Order were winning. Harry saw Luciana fighting smoothly, cutting through the attacking Death Eaters and Drow alike, and smiled slightly at the sight. Looking around her, he saw a Drow creeping up about twenty feet behind her, with a sword in his hands. He was horrified, and quickly dropped to one knee, and drew his Pistol. Kneeling while he held the pistol in the weaver stance, he aimed carefully, for the shot had to be perfect. Luci's attacker was a good forty yards away, and his pistol was not meant to be that accurate. He focused properly, and lined the Drow up in his sights and squeezed the trigger three times, adjusting for recoil. The first shot struck the Drow in the shoulder, the second in his lung, and the third in the nose, killing him instantly.
Harry breathed a sigh of relief and swept the gaze of his pistol around, occasionally taking accurate shots at a few of the remaining fighters. Twenty minutes later, the last of the attackers was down, and Harry regrouped the Vampire Warriors, instructing them to take the bodies of the Drow and their comrades, and to retrieve all prisoners. Collectively, they ignored the treatises of Dumbledore and the Aurors, and focused on doing their job. Efficiently, they distributed healing potions amongst the downed vampires, cauterized the wounds of the Drow, piled up the dead bodies in separate piles, retrieved all the weapons that could be found, and regrouped. Almost reluctantly, they flung healing potions at the downed Aurors and Order forces, sneering at the pathetic aid that the Wizards had given them.
As they regrouped once more, Dumbledore was about to speak when all assembled heard a howl of rage and pain. It was immediately identifiable as a lupine howl, and sure enough, a few seconds later a massive werewolf bounded out of a burnt house and raced towards the group. Harry saw an Auror raise his wand in panic to fire a silver dart at the oncoming werewolf, and he snarled, slashing his wand and disarming the frightened Auror.
In a heated voice, he commanded "Do not harm the Werewolf! He comes in peace." As one, the Aurors looked to Dumbledore, who nodded distractedly, forgetting that he had just taken an order from Levicorvus. The wolf finally reached them, and collapsed on the ground in front of Harry, turning into the shape of a man clothed in burnt garments. Tears were streaming down his face, and Harry blanched, hurriedly pulling out healing potions to help the man.
With a start, the Order and the Aurors realized that the moon was not due to be full for another eight days, and that the Werewolf had been able to transform at will. Harry sneered at them and said "Lycan. The only Werewolf left is Greyback, and he will die at the hand of the Council." Tending to the werewolf, he learnt that the man's family had been killed and his house burnt down to the ground.
Sympathetically, Harry whispered "We will help you to the Werewolf Council, friend. I am sorry for your loss." The man nodded in gratitude, despite the tears that were streaming down his face. The cuts and burns all over his body were healing slowly, and the blood restorative was helping, as the pallor returned to his face. Harry nodded to one of the Warriors nearby, and the Vampire came forward to help the Werewolf to his feet.
All together, the entire group exploded in a shower of blood, which shrank down to nothingness as the whole group of people disappeared. They left behind a shocked Order and Aurors, who didn't know whether they should feel grateful that the Vampires helped in a fight that they certainly would have lost, or scared that the Vampires were present in the first place.
Dumbledore had a slight calculating look on his face, as he saw Slytherin's sword being wielded by Levicorvus. Despite that, he did not think to match up Harry and Levicorvus as the same being, and instead thought that Harry must have given the sword to the famous Assassin. Harry had played his part convincingly, and he had made Dumbledore believe that he was a slightly dangerous, but normal, independent character, but left no doubt as to the fact that he was no more than that. This disabused any thoughts of the powerful assassin and the Boy-Who-Lived being the same person. Twirling his beard in his fingers, he walked away in thought, finally giving Harry some credit, even if it was in a twisted way:
'Well, it appears the boy has some powerful friends. Maybe he can get them to join us…'
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It was an hour later that Harry returned to Grimmauld Place, having left his weapons back at Luci's place. She had already collected Nikki from a distraught Bellatrix, and had assured her that Harry was all right. Tiredly, he apparated in through the wards, and was immediately engulfed in Bella's arms as she hugged him tightly. He let loose a moan of pain, and she screamed as she felt the blood trickling down his back from the re-opened wound.
With tears in her eyes, she began apologizing profusely, and Harry shushed her, smiling through his pain. He sat on the edge of the bed, Bella looking at him anxiously, and pulled out his Potions Pouch. He carefully selected a few potions, and took off his shirt and vest, making Bella gasp at the cuts and gashes on his body. He began downing the potions, knowing that they would not mix together in his system and produce an adverse result. Slowly, the wounds began knitting together, the bruises healed, and the blood restorative brought the color back to his pale face. He yawned slightly, and cast a cleaning spell, getting rid of the blood that caked his body. He looked at the ruined vest ruefully, muttering obscenities under his breath as he remembered that it had cost him a fortune.
Shaking his head, he tossed it to the side along with his shirt, and turned to Bella, pulling her into his arms as he lay back on the bed. She snuggled into his chest, and began tracing patterns on the tanned skin there as Harry told her what had happened at the battle. Then, he said "When we got back, we had to do a debriefing of the fight, and that took about forty minutes. I went to check on that Carnisus chap, but he had passed out form the pain, so he's being healed overnight. I guess they'll interrogate him tomorrow."
She nodded slightly, and he stroked the small of her back. With an apologetic tone, he whispered "Bella, I'm so sorry this happened today. I really wanted to have a great time with you. I'm completely tired, Bella, and I doubt you would appreciate my performance f we tried anything tonight. I'm sorry."
She giggled, snuggling further into his neck, and whispered "Don't worry. Just go to sleep, I'll be here with you." He smiled at her gratefully, and slid out from under her to take off the rest of their clothes. Her sexy moan when she stretched made him halfway hard, and he groaned into her ear, hands clutching at her waist. She laughed, and pulled him into the bed, turning off the lights.
In the dark, she could still make out a slight glow from his eyes, and she looked into the emerald depths as he stroked her cheek. They were lying on their sides facing each other, and Harry cupped her cheek with his palm and leaned in to kiss her languorously, tugging on her lower lip slightly as he pulled away. She sighed, and he kissed her forehead, whispering "I love you" before sleep claimed him. Bellatrix gently turned around and snuggled backwards into his embrace, spooning herself against him and pulling his arm around her. She slipped into sleep soon, enjoying the sensation of his breath on the back of her neck.