Harry Potter And Bellatrix Lestrange

"Well, blame it on the mood." Fred shrugged. "Now, on a more important note, we need to get you to meet some people, and we need to set up a meeting with his majesty Lord Polairix."

"You - you've really been in touch with Harry?" Ginny asked in awe.

"Yep. You should've seen us-"

"Real cloak and dagger stuff-"

"Like that muggle Dad's so obsessed with, what's his name?"

"James Blond?"

"Something like that."

"Anyway-"

"We're certified Harry Potter flunkies," George whispered conspiratorially, winking at her briefly. At her disbelieving stare, both twins theatrically placed their hands over their hearts.

"We tell the truth-"

"And nothing but the truth-"

"Cross your heart-"

"And hope to die."

"And now, dear sister, I think it's time you met some friends of Harry's," Fred noted as he stood, pulling her to her feet.

"Where are we going?"

"Why, dear sister, we're going to meet-"

"Potter's Legion," George finished with a grin.

Ginny's eyes widened in surprise when she heard the name. She stood between her brothers, a new determination spreading through her. Hermione seemed to have found her place at Harry's side once more, helping him in his quest to destroy Voldemort.

Ginny didn't know if it was Hermione's conscience making her help, or whether she considered it some sort of penance, but the youngest Weasley suddenly realized what she had to do. She straightened, furiously wiping away at the tear-tracks on her face. There was nothing she could do to change the past - what she had done to Harry was already done, and nothing she did would change it.

She couldn't change it, but she could make up for it. Until now, all she had done was spend her energy on condemning Harry and feeling sorry for herself, it was time she turned it on something useful. She remembered telling Hermione that if she found out Harry was innocent, she had vowed to crawl to him and beg him to kill her.

She amended that vow silently. She knew that she felt bad enough that she wanted to die, she wanted Harry to be able to punish her as she deserved, but that would be taking the easy way out. It would be too easy on her; she wouldn't have to live with the consequences of her actions, wouldn't have to live with having to make up for them.

And she knew that Harry would never willingly hurt her. No, she would face him, head held high, and offer him her life as penance. No, she would tell him, in no uncertain terms, that she was helping, and that there wasn't anything he could do about it.

She would do whatever she could to help him bring an end to this war, and she would do everything in her power to fix the wrongs she'd done to him. It wouldn't be easy, and it'd be a long and painful time before she would have managed to complete her task, but she would do it. She owed him this much, at least.

No longer would she be taking the easy way out.

....

When Harry arrived back at the fortress, he was surprised to see Hermione chatting with Bella as if the two were the best of friends. Both of them were smiling, though his wife seemed to be positively beaming as they welcomed him home.

"What's going on?" Harry asked in confusion as the two women led him to the reception room.

"We have guests," Bella told him cryptically.

"Queen Xerina?"

"No, no, this doesn't have anything to do with the war council we're holding later today. This is something more personal." Bella grinned as she pushed open the large double doors with a flourish.

Harry's jaw dropped as he caught sight of Hermione's parents, flanked on one side by a full complement of Ice soldiers and by a number of Hogwarts students from Potter's Legion on the other. "W-what're they doing here?" he stammered in confusion, even as Hermione rushed forward to meet her parents. Bella dragged Harry along at a more leisurely pace as she explained.

"Well, I kind of figured it'd be best if she owled them and let them know she was fine. She was kidnapped by Voldemort, you know. They were pretty worried, you know." Bella's eyes glittered dangerously.

"It appears that our dear Professor Dumbledore failed to inform them that Hermione had gone missing. Naturally, when they heard the full story from the letter she sent them, they were very insistent on coming to see her."

"Oh." Harry blinked as he digested his wife's explanation. It made sense, he thought, when something she'd said caught his attention. "Wait. You said Dumbledore hasn't told them she was kidnapped? Or that Voldemort placed a memory charm on her?"

Bella shook her head. "He didn't, that's what makes me mad. These are children's lives he's playing with, and then he doesn't even have the regard for them to let their parents know when they're in danger."

"If I'd known before, I wouldn't have let Bert have all the fun," Harry growled.

"Oh?" Bella arched an elegant eyebrow. "I take it that things went pretty well, then?"

Harry nodded. "The highlight was probably when Bert started tearing pieces out of the old man when he found out Dumbledore had stuck me in prison on virtually no evidence. That reminds me, I need to bring something up at the meeting. Turns out there's something else Dumbledore hasn't told me."

"What else is new?" Bella snorted in disdain.

"Only that it involves me, a prophecy, some kind of magic weapon against Voldemort, and the reason Dumbledore was so quick to leave me to rot in a cell in Azkaban."

"Oh." It was Bella's turn to frown. "Well, Queen Xerina should be arriving in a few minutes. Count Trazkaban and Neville are already here. Snape, Lupin, and Moody aren't."

"They're most likely at the Order meeting Dumbledore no doubt called for the instant he figured out he'd screwed up big time," Harry finished with a chuckle. "We'll fill them in later.

"Harry! Oh Harry, thank you so much for letting them come!" Hermione had dragged her parents over to where the two had been standing on the sidelines, causing the young Lord to raise an eyebrow.

"But - I didn't do anything?"

Bella elbowed him in the ribs, causing him to wince, and hissed into his ear. "You're letting them into the castle, that's something."

"But I didn't even know about this until-"

"Just go with it already, Potter!" Bella refrained from stepping on her husband's foot when understanding dawned in his eyes, and he shook his head with a grin.

"You're devious, Bella. Absolutely devious."

....

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