Heritage of the North: The Power of Ice and Betrayal

Bellatrix Potter, as she was now known, was woken up by a bright light. It occurred to her that she was very likely dead now and was about to meet her Maker and have the pleasure of explaining some of the things she had done in life.

Upon opening her eyes, she discovered that this was not indeed the case. The bright light was actually the noonday sun which was shining in her eyes from its position directly above her. Further examination revealed that she was lying on a extremely rocky beach. This was evidenced by several rocks poking her back.

A shadow suddenly loomed over her. "You slept for quite a while."came Harry's amused, yet relieved, voice.

"What happened?" she croaked. Her mouth was extremely dry and saliva wasn't doing much towards fixing the situation.

"I believe that we've been washed up on some sort of island." Harry stated in a matter-of-fact way. He reached out his hand to help her up and she took it gratefully. He motioned toward a large puddle a few feet away. "That's left over from the rain; you can drink it."

Bellatrix nodded gratefully and stumbled over to take a long drink from the surprisingly fresh water. Once finished, she crossed her legs and sat down facing the ocean. "I think that we may have been better off in Azkaban. I have no idea as to how we get back to England." She looked up at Harry who instead of looking worried, was grinning.

"Not to be contrary," he replied, "but I think that we'll be fine on this island."

"What gives you that idea?"

"Look behind you."

She stood up, complied, and was met with a shocking sight. Further inland loomed the largest castle that she had ever seen in her life. It reminded her of Hogwarts excepting for two things. First, its layout was very uniform, elegant, and symmetrical. Secondly and most obvious, was the fact that it appeared to have been carved from one gigantic piece of shiny obsidian. "What is that?"

Harry shrugged. "No idea. I reckoned that we could make our way over and see if we can find anything of use in it."

"Does anybody live there?" Bellatrix wondered out loud.

"I don't think so." Harry stated confidently. "I've attempted to do some Scrying and Legillimency, and have found nothing. It would probably be safe to say that it is abandoned. Not only that, I get the creepy feeling that we're the only living creatures on this island as well."

"I don't know if that's a good or bad thing." Bellatrix said softly. "Lead on. There's nothing better to do."

The two started walking and soon found themselves at the foot of a long, single piece, obsidian bridge. Apparently the island was actually two islands. The castle was on a separate island that was connected to the island they were on with said bridge.

After crossing the bridge, Harry and Bellatrix found themselves standing before a set of large double doors. They observed what appeared to be a coat of arms set above the doorway. It bore a single star. Polaris for the House of Polairix.

Harry merely shrugged, but Bellatrix exhaled abruptly. "I can't believe that I didn't remember this when I told you about being the Lord of Polairix. This place was only a legend even when the last Lord of Polairix was alive."

"What is it?" Harry asked curiously.

Bellatrix answered in an awed tone. "This is the Fortress of Nair'icaix, Seat of the House of Polairix." At Harry's perplexed look, she began to babble. "Some of the most powerful Dark Lords to ever live broke themselves on the walls of this castle. Not because they hated Polairix, but because of the old saying. 'He who holds Nair'icaix, holds the Heart of Magic.'"

"Sounds like a hefty piece of real estate." Harry drawled lightly.

While the majority of Hogwarts students were enjoying themselves in Hogsmeade, the Order of the Phoenix was having an emergency meeting in the Headmaster's office. Everyone was whispering nervously as they waited for the last stragglers to make their way to their seats.

Soon, everyone was present and Dumbledore stood up. "We have a situation that could be potentially serious he announced gravely." He then gestured to Shacklebolt. "Would you brief everyone please?"

Kingsley Shacklebolt stood up as Dumbledore sat down and stepped over to where everyone present could see him clearly. "Last night, at approximately eleven o'clock, Harry Potter and Bellatrix Black escaped from Azkaban."

Several of the Order members gasped. "How?" exclaimed Professor McGonagall. "Those two aren't Animagi are they?"

"No, they're not." Hermione stated smugly. It was nice to know more than they did.

Shacklebolt gulped nervously. "That's the disturbing part. The Aurors on site and others who investigated have concluded that the two prisoners, who were sharing a cell, may have used wandless magic. Once free from their cell, they made their way to the main doors of the prison and Mr. Potter commanded the Dementors on guard to open the doors and let them go. The Dementors were intimidated and they did so."

"You only call this situation 'potentially serious!'" exclaimed Mrs. Weasley. "Someone who can do wandless magic and scare Dementors is at large!" She pointed to Ron and Hermione. "There's no doubt in my mind that he will want revenge if he finds out about Ron and Hermione."

"Yes, Molly. This situation is only potentially serious." Dumbledore said very firmly. "When Harry and Bellatrix escaped, there was an extremely serious rainstorm in progress. There was no mode of transportation off the island, and a search has revealed that they are no longer on the island. It is possible that they drowned."

Remus was about to step in and voice his opinion that there was no possible way that Harry could have drowned after facing the Dark Lord so many times and surviving, but a sharp glance from Snape silenced him. It was probably best if they believed Harry to be dead even if he was alive.

"Nevertheless," Dumbledore continued after a momentary pause, "we will start discreetly searching for the escapees."

"Why not notify everyone via the Daily Prophet?" Ron inquired. "If there's a mass search, there is no way that they'll be able to hide for very long. He's not an Animagus and he can't be independent for very long."

Snape snorted. "That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard."

"Why is it dumb and what would you suggest?" Tonks asked, deliberately giving Snape an opening to manipulate the Order a little.

"In case you have all forgotten, Potter's arrest was not reported in the Daily Prophet. If you suddenly state that he's escaped from Azkaban, you will make people wonder what is really going on. It's quite obvious that Potter will seek aid from his 'friends.'" He sneered at Ron and Hermione. "Simply wait for him to appear."

Moody nodded in what appeared to be reluctance. "I think that would probably work. He has an uncanny ability to sneak around this castle as his father and his friends did."

"It's settled then." Dumbledore announced. "I'll convince Minister Fudge to remain silent about the situation." He then addressed Ron and Hermione. "Make sure that you are approachable, but not defenseless. Now, onto other business."

As soon as the Order meeting ended, Snape nodded discreetly to Tonks, Moody, and Remus, to let them know that they should meet in their pre-arranged meeting place. An hour later, they were all having drinks at the Three Broomsticks.

"I don't see what your strategy is." Tonks said to Snape. Alastor and Remus nodded in concurrence.

Snape took a long swig of butterbeer before answering. "It's probably best if they aren't actively searching for Potter. All we have to do is warn him about Granger and Weasley's treason. They aren't searching for him, so we have less chance of getting caught communicating with him"

"How do we warn him then?" Lupin asked. "If you know where he might be, I'll gladly go and talk to him."

"No, I don't know where he is." Snape stated. "But I had a sudden inspiration during the Order meeting as to how we can contact him. We'll just write out a letter to him, and then I know how I can get it to him." He pulled out a sheet of parchment, a quill, and some ink. "We'll make sure he knows we're on his side and tell him what has been happening during his absence."

That evening, during dinner, Snape crept into the dark owlery and found what he had hoped would be there. Potter's pet owl, Hedwig. Dumbledore had mentioned to him in passing, when the students went home for Christmas, that Potter had elected to leave his owl at Hogwarts to avoid confrontations with the Dursleys.

He held out the sealed letter to her. "I need you to take this to your master. He's in trouble and this letter contains important information."

The owl looked at him suspiciously, but hooted and came down from her lofty perch. Snape quickly attached the letter and gave her some instructions. "Find him and deliver this as soon as you can. However, it will be no good if anyone spots you."

She hooted and immediately flew off into the night. Snape watched until she faded in the distance and let out a sigh of relief. If Potter was alive, he would get the letter.

"Yes, it is a hefty piece of real estate." Bellatrix replied, rolling her eyes. "If I'm correct, you're the new owner of this fortress and that makes you richer than all of the wizards and witches in the world combined with just the value of the castle."

Harry studied the castle. It was a pretty cool looking place, although the grounds on the outside did look a little sparse. "Let's go in shall we?" He stepped towards the imposing door and lightly touched it. It promptly swung open without a sound.

They then stepped into the main entrance hall and looked around. There was absolutely nothing. It was simply an abandoned room. "It's hard to believe that an army would try to conquer this place. There isn't anything here." Harry said.

Bellatrix was looking around thoughtfully. "I think that the castle is under some sort of spell. It's probably designed to look like an abandoned ruin to anybody who finds it. Since you're the heir of Polairix, you can probably undo it somehow."

Harry was about to speak when he heard a faint whisper. "Something is whispering." he said to Bellatrix quietly.

"It's coming from that direction." she said, pointing down towards the broad corridor that stretched straight in front of them from the entrance hall.

The whisper made itself heard a third time and they didn't need any urging to try and find where it was coming from. They made their way down the hall and soon found themselves in what appeared to be a gigantic throne room.

Massive black columns marched up to the front of the room where an imposing black throne sat upon a raised dais. The whisper grew louder as they approached it. They soon discovered that the whisper was coming from the star that was engraved in the floor in front of the dais.

When they stepped onto it, the star suddenly produced a glowing white light and a miniature column sprouted from the center of the engraved star. On the top of the little column was a mini-star which was glowing red. It stopped growing when it was as tall as Harry's waist.

"Take thy wife's hand and then place your other hand on the red star." The whisper, which was no longer intelligible, commanded.

Shrugging, Bellatrix offered Harry her hand. He gingerly held onto it as he placed his other hand squarely onto the red star. The instant he made contact with it, their world exploded into bright white light.

The whispering voice could be heard again. "All hail Harry James Potter, Lord of Polairix and Nair'icaix and Earl of the North." It paused for a moment before continuing. "Hail to the Lady Bellatrix who hath redeemed herself from her past crimes by aiding the House of Polairix. Long may she be faithful to her Lord. You shall both have strength, youthfulness, and power to restore Polairix to it's glory and be triumphant over those who would oppose you."

Harry blinked as the white light faded. The first thing he noticed as he looked around was that the decor of the castle had drastically changed. The room was no longer empty. It looked as if someone actually lived there. The interesting thing was the countless banners that hung from the ceiling. On a field of emerald green flew a black shackled phoenix with a lightning bolt clutched in his talons.

He glanced toward Bellatrix to see what she thought of the new developments. Instead of observing the changes, she was on her knees, silently crying tears of joy as she squeezed the life out of his hand. "Are you okay?" Harry asked, his voice rich with concern.

"Never better, my lord," she whispered. Her violet eyes were glowing and the tears had stopped.

Confusion clouded Harry's mind for a moment until he mentally repeated what the whispering voice had said. He quickly took action before anything got out of hand. "I'm your husband, not some overlord. I would think that would put us on an even footing." He tugged on her hand and she stood up.

"I'll accept that." she said quietly. "But I don't think I deserve you."

Harry knelt before her, still holding her hand. "Bellatrix, would you be my wife?"

She looked at him with a bemused expression on her face. "I am your wife."

"Yes," Harry replied, "you are my wife, but would you BE my wife." He glanced at her hand and noticed a silver ring with a star shaped emerald set into in on her ring finger before speaking again. "I would try to get you a ring, but it appears you already have one."

Bellatrix looked at the ring, nodded and began crying for joy again. She pulled Harry to his feet, wrapped her arms around him firmly and kissed him on the lips. She stopped for a moment and said three simple words before initiating another kiss. "I love you."

Although Harry was somewhat nervous about kissing a crying woman, especially after his experience with Cho, he was pleasantly surprised and felt a warm glow as he and Bellatrix kissed. When they ran out of air, the kiss ended and they merely leaned against each other for several minutes, and after that, they moved toward the throne and sat down together on the dais.

"So where did the ring come from?" Harry asked, breaking the romantic silence.

"I don't know." Bellatrix answered. She looked at Harry's hand and found that he too had a ring. It was obsidian and a star was outlined in the face of it with silver. "You have one too. It must have happened with the white light."

Harry studied his new ring and attempted to remove it to study it more. It wouldn't come off. "I think that it just comes with the title." he said.

Bellatrix nodded and looked at Harry studiously. "You look… older than you were before."

"What do you mean?"

She shrugged. "You're taller and more filled out. I think that the last thing the voice said was about strength and youthfulness. Maybe that has something to do with it."

Harry laughed. "I'm barely sixteen! The strength may apply to me, but not the youthfulness." He then looked at her closely. "You don't look a day over twenty-three."

"What!" Bellatrix exclaimed. "Where's a mirror!" Suddenly an elegant handheld mirror appeared in her hand. She looked at it with surprise before studying her face in the mirror. "Wow! There are witches who would kill to lose some years this fast!"

Harry was looking at the mirror with surprise written all over his face. "How does a mirror just appear out of nowhere? I wonder… is this like the Room of Requirement?" he muttered. After thinking some more, he said in a loud voice, "Any chance of getting some plates of food for two?"

Two plates filled with delicious food promptly appeared next to where Harry and Bellatrix were sitting. Without a word, they both dug in and ate until there wasn't a crumb left. "I could get used to this." Harry said with a broad smile.

Bellatrix stood up and looked around. "Everything is perfect… except for…"

"For what?"

"We'll need the master suite of course. Any ideas?"

Harry's obsidian ring pulsed and an image appeared in his head. "This way," he said, pointing to a door that led to a side corridor. They started walking towards it. "What's the master suite for?"

Bellatrix smiled and then said something that made Harry blush bright red. "It's time for you to perform your husbandly duties. I hope that you already know about the birds and the bees."