Harry Potter And Bellatrix Lestrange

"No, Bella… thank you . You've made my life complete. You've given me happiness, and you've guided me. But from now on, you're not leaving the fortress."

She was about to open her mouth and argue with him when a thought occurred to her and she snapped her jaw shut. "I understand," she said. And she did. While she hated standing on the sidelines and waiting in safety while Harry went into danger, she knew that if Voldemort ever got his hands on her again, she was dead. Most likely, many of her former comrades would love nothing better than to kill her and take her head on a pike to give to Voldemort as a gift. As unlikely as that was to happen, considering her skills, she was now responsible not only for her own safety, but also that of her child, and just thinking of what Death Eaters would do to her unborn son or daughter made her shudder.

"I was somehow expecting you to put up more of a fight," Harry chuckled.

"I was about to," she admitted. "But I know the dark lord, and what he's capable of. If he ever manages to get a hold of me, then…"

"It won't happen," Harry promised her, "I'm not going to let him touch you, or our child."

Bella nodded in gratitude. Knowing what Voldemort was capable of, and his considerable resources, laying a trap for her to lure out Harry was a very valid concern, and she wasn't about to risk her husband or her child just because she felt useless. And that wasn't even the case - she would be helping Hermione with her research on the Rod of Dominion, she was actually helping, which made the frustration a little easier to deal with.

She wrapped her arms around Harry, pulling him close. "I just don't want to lose you."

"You won't. Especially not now, not since we have a chance of taking out Voldemort for good." Harry pressed a kiss into her hair. "You were right, you know," he told her after a minute.

"About?"

"Something bothering me. I just realized it. I was afraid. Afraid that I couldn't defeat Voldemort." Harry sighed and began stroking Bella's hair, more to calm himself down. "When I fought him, everything started out fine. I was holding my ground after you teaching and training me in dueling, and we even managed to get in a few small shots here and there. But when he got mad…"

Bella could feel him shudder, and she knew why. While she had never seen Voldemort duel at full strength - mainly because Dumbledore was the only one with the power and experience to force Voldemort to that level - she knew that he had earned his reputation as the most powerful dark wizard in centuries. Simply the fact that Harry had survived so many encounters with him and lived to tell the tale spoke volume of his courage and strength. "It's all right, Harry. It's all right to feel scared."

"He was so… so good . Too good. Too fast, too strong… I couldn't do anything except duck and hide. I couldn't put up shields, I couldn't get in a counter-attack." Harry sighed. "How was I going to defeat that? I've been asking myself that ever since I got back from fighting him. Now, I'm hoping that with this Rod, we actually have a chance of ending this for good. If only I can figure out a way to get in one good shot at him, this'll all be over."

She could see where this was going, and she didn't really like it. Sometimes, Harry had a tendency to be self-sacrificing to the extreme, and she had a feeling that it was rearing its ugly head right now. "Don't even start," she told him quietly. "Don't even start thinking about doing something reckless just to get an opening. I can't lose you… you have to promise me, promise me that you'll always come back home," she pleaded.

Harry's deep chuckle did little to reassure her as he replied. "I will. I promise. I won't try something stupid unless it's a very last resort, and even then, I'll think twice about it." He could hear Bella let out a relieved sigh, and continued. "Do you know why?"

"No." She shook her head.

"Because of you. I've got someone to come back to. I won't ever leave you two, whatever happens. I swear it on my magic."

The two fell asleep soon after, content in the knowledge that the other was going to be there for them, and neither noticed as Harry's sleeping form began to glow, his magic drifting around him in soft tendrils that reached for Bella and intertwined with hers.

Voldemort was furious. He had spent the day consolidating his forces and planning a major attack to calm the Death Eaters that had begun to question his ability. Of course, most of them had ended up writing in pain on the ground before him, but even their screams did nothing to ease his mind. Then, to make matters worse, he had gotten reports that much of the funding from his senior Death Eaters had been cut off, with Gringotts revoking their access and handing over control of a number of vaults to the Ministry.

And as if that wasn't enough, he'd had to deal with the former Minister's ugly face and whining all day long. Voldemort shook his head in disgust. How Fudge had ever been elected was something that eluded him. He had in fact planned to assassinate the Minister as the first step to his takeover, but when he realized how incompetent Fudge really was, he'd left him be. But now that Fudge had joined him, all Voldemort ever heard from the man's mouth was "I". It was as if he thought the world revolved around him, and it was enough to make him want to torture Fudge into insanity, put him under the Imperius curse, and order him to break his own bones one by one. Unfortunately, since a good number of the people Fudge had brought with him had information on government activities, he needed them, so Fudge was to be left alive… for now.

"Milord!" Rookwood's voice came from the door, snapping the dark lord's attention back to the present.

Putting on a glare that would suitably scare whoever had dared to intrude on him, he raised his wand and hissed at his Death Eater. "What do you want? Answer me, before you find out just how much I've been displeased today!"

Rookwood slowed down as he approached Voldemort, dropping to one knee when he was a few yards away. "We have a gift for you. Bring her in," he called over his shoulder, and Voldemort's eyes widened in surprise as two other Death Eaters dragged in a woman that was struggling to kick them off, but they held on firm, knowing that if they let her go, they probably would be dead and in pain faster than they could say "Crucio."

"We found her at one of the properties that was seized by the government. We assume she was looking for something, but she wouldn't reply," Rookwood explained as he stood and backed away. The two other Death Eaters pushed the woman forward, where she landed on her hands and knees in front of Voldemort.

"Well done," he announced as an idea began to form in his mind. Maybe something useful would come out of this day, after all. "You may leave me now."

The three Death Eaters bowed and left the room, leaving Voldemort to stare at the woman at his feet who was glaring back at him hatefully. Finally, a smirk spread over his snake-like visage, and he raised his wand, causing her to back away in fear.

"Don't worry, this isn't going to hurt… Incompertus Decretum !"

...

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