Author's note: Sorry it took so long to get this out, the holidays and everything just sort of snuck up on me. Took awhile to write this one. Well anyway, hope you enjoy. Let me know what you think.
　
She had the sword. He had to get it away from her, it was his only hope if he was going to defeat Voldemort. He had to get the sword and get away. She would have summoned her master by now, he didn't have a lot of time. He had too much to figure in. Too many things to do. She had put the others in manacles. Too much to do. Still she walked so quickly, jabbing her wand in his back. She was leading him away from the dungeon and through a long hallway. She seemed panicked, nervous, off balanced in a weird way. Harry knew that something was bothering her, something much more than her poorly mended nose. He just had to find a way to use it. He had to find his wand as well.
While he had preformed wandless magic in the past, it wasn't something that came easily to him and he found it very draining. Not to mention it was as reliable as the weather on the news. Sometimes he could do it, but only sometimes. She threw him against a wall after opening a door along the hall. He adjusted his glasses with his cheeks and his nose and swept his eyes across the room. It was dark, but not dank. This house was cared for. It was likely still in use as a home.
There were shelves with books on them in the corner and a smallish oak table with two chairs in the center of the room. LeStrange sat at one of the chairs and indicated he sit in the other. He spit on the floor and glared at her. She whispered 'crucio' and red hot pain shot through him. He knew this curse. Hermione had said he was immune to it. She said she envied his ability to do it. That however was a lie. He wasn't immune. It was torture in magical form. It hurt him as well it would hurt anyone. He simply resisted it. His head hit the brick wall behind him as he writhed in pain. Her spell was cast with malicious. Maybe more than she thought she had used.
Harry smiled his slow, cruel smile. He knew she hated him. She wasn't used to being pushed around, let alone by a boy. She indicted the chair again. Harry slowly shook his head from side to side and laughed. She hit him again. The red light spread around him, it was a warm kind of pain. Like pulled muscles but increased in intensity a hundred fold. Harry threw his head back and allowed himself to scream so he wouldn't bite his tongue off. The pain made it hard to think. It made it hard to concentrate.
When the pain stopped Harry's smiled was gone. He stared at her with contempt. With the reckless abandon of pain, and hate and the sense that one's lot in life isn't fair. He stared his anger at her. She never smiled. Suddenly shock came over his face. She wasn't smiling. She wasn't laughing. The shear mad delight of torment and misery were not brightening her spirits. Something was definitely wrong.
"Have a seat, boy." She said venomously.
"I don't see why I should give you the pleasure." Harry said with a smile that turned into a beaming grin, "Except you're not amused. Are you?"
Her face flashed white hot anger for a moment before she consciously hid the expression. It wasn't fast enough, Harry had seen it. He was getting to her. She had a strong will and a twisted mind. However something was off with her that day. Something was wrong, maybe something he could use. If he could he but nudge her a little closer… He didn't let the realization dawn on his face, but suddenly, as though the war leader inside him was finally winning out, he had a plan. A real plan.
"But wait. Why would that be?" Harry continued, "I though you liked to be in power. I thought you liked the torture. Anything to please that creature you love." Harry chided her. She grew silent. Distant. She turned her head away and stroked the fabric over her forearm. Her dark mark lay underneath. Harry's face lit up.
"He won't reward you." Harry said, "Because he doesn't know I'm here." Bellatrix snapped her head forward and drew her wand.
"Crucio!" She shouted. Harry fell onto the floor in racking convulsions. It had never been that bad. His whole body hurt and so too, he imagined, did portions of his soul. He shook as though suffering a seizure. A foam of spittle mixed in with blood collected at the corners of his mouth, "Never question me again, you filthy goddamn mud blood!"
"He doesn't know!" Harry's screams had turned to laughter. LeStrange looked puzzled, then shocked, then angry, "You didn't tell him!" Harry grabbed his sides from the laughter.
"The sword!" She screamed, "You've been in my vault! In my family vault!"
"I haven't." Harry said through his laughter, "Oh, Merlin." He wiped a tear from his eyes, "Do you imagine he'll be happy that you didn't tell him?"
"The Dark Lord will understand." She said calmly, her hand once more idling over her Dark Mark, "I do all of this for him." Harry began to laugh again. Louder and stronger than ever.
"Do you.. Do you think he LOVES you?" Harry laughed, "Do, do you think he even cares?"
"You know nothing of the Dark Lord!" She shouted, "Now tell me where you got the sword!"
"He doesn't even care if you die." Harry's smile had faded, "He doesn't care about you at all. Because, see, Bella" His eyebrow shot up, "Can I call you Bella? Bella, I do know him. I've known him for years. He only cares about himself."
Harry rose suddenly and crossed the room in three very quick steps. He slammed his hands against the table and looked into her eyes. He stared her down like one might a disobedient dog. When he spoke he was angry. Spit flew from his mouth and landed on her face.
"He'll never care, Bella. Never." His eyes were cold, piercing, "Not about you. Privileged little you. Daddy was always so hard on you. Pushed you to believe in the old ways. Forced you to marry a man you didn't love. Forced so much on poor little you. Sad dark little princess in her lonely castle."
Bellatrix LeStrange did an odd thing then. She went pale. The boy, he had no wand. No power source and yet he knew too much. Far too much. She tried to feel him in her mind. Tried to see if he was there, poking around inside her. Raping her mind. She felt nothing.
"How?" She asked.
Harry moved quickly. She hadn't even seen it coming. He had grabbed her wand from her while he was talking. She was disarmed. He threw his arm forward and shouted three spells. One to stun her, one to bind her, and one to unlock the door. He looked at her as she lay dazed on the floor. He smiled his slow cruel smile.
"I guessed." He answered her.
He left the room and rushed down the hall. He had very little time to get everyone out before someone found out he had escaped. He threw open the dungeon door and noticed first that no one was chained up anymore. Standing in the middle of the room was a tall boy he recognized. A boy that once had blazing red hair. Harry's face burst into a smile and he ran forward and pulled Ron into a bear hug.
"You're alive!" Harry thundered happily.
"In the flesh." Ron responded as he pulled away from the hug.
"Thank Merlin" Harry laughed.
"The bands back together."
"What?" Harry asked. He hadn't looked around. He just assumed that Ron was alone. He had thought Ron was taken prisoner.
Ron smiled back at him and indicated that Harry look behind him. Standing there was Hermione. At her feet was an unconscious Draco Malfoy. Harry beamed at her and she stared back at him. Love mingling with her adrenaline she ran forward and planted kiss on him.
From behind them they eventually noticed that Neville was making a slight coughing noise. They jumped apart and looked down to hide the blush rising in their cheeks. Ron smiled as Neville and Ginny exchanged significant glances. The rest of the DA looked excited about the event. Luna smiled at Hermione and winked at Harry.
"Secrets out." Ron mused. Harry raised his head and shocked everyone.
"We need to leave." The room got very serious all of a sudden. Harry had made something brilliant into something deadly serious. He was the leader again.
* * *
Ginny was reeling. Hermione and Ron had found them. Harry was gone. Kidnapped. Taken to Malfoy Manor most likely. Ron had drawn up a battle plan and Hermione had insisted that they execute it immediately. The plan was so good for being done off the top of his head. The DA were so willing to follow. She had walked from the hotel room and sat down on one of the chairs in the hall.
Is this was happened with Harry Potter? Somehow the gentle boy she once loved, the boy who would risk everything to save anyone. The boy who could never willingly hurt another human being had turned everyone he knew into soldiers and his two best mates into generals. He had made them warriors and no one had noticed. She hadn't noticed. Neville flashed into her mind. The sweet, if not slightly klutzy young man with an innocent face and a lopsided smile.
He had told her to fire in a strafing pattern. He had made a call that one a battle. He made ruthless decisions every day now. He was once so sweet, so pure. Now he was the same kind of monster they all were. She too had changed. The silly little red haired girl infatuated by her older brother's friend. She had become a woman of war. A leader with few peers and a force to be reckoned with. She felt the hot wet tear drop hit her hand.
She touched her fingers to her face and felt that she was crying. She didn't know when it had started. She sunk her head into her chest and began to shake. Crying for the loss of innocence, for the things left behind, for the people they once were and would never be again. She felt his warmth before she noticed his arm around her. She looked through her tear distorted vision at Neville. He pulled her close to him.
She sobbed in his embrace. Welcoming the comfort of love that enveloped her. He patted her back and kissed her head and she loved him. She needed him. He was her rock, as she knew she was his. As she sobbed she became aware that he was singing to her. Soft words in a slow voice. She couldn't really understand but she loved it. She let it out, all the pain and frustration, all the concern and fear. She let it pour from her. She was finally safe. Finally free. He was hers and he always would be.
"Promise me." She sobbed.
"I promise." He capitulated.
"Promise you'll never leave me."
"I promise." He squeezed her gently before kissing her forehead, "Now come on. We're going to Malfoy Manor."
"Okay." She nodded as she wiped her eyes. When the tears had been brushed away her face was hard again. She was in command again. She had soldiers to lead and friends and savior to free. Neville stood up and followed. He had not asked why she had been crying, he never would. He only cared that she was.
* * *
It was raining outside Malfoy Manor. It was always raining. Ron knew it meant that Voldemort was close. He reached into his pocket and squeezed the locket he had there. It was his bargaining chip. He would exchange Harry for the Horcrux. He closed his eyes for only a second before he set his jaw and lowered his eyebrows. He turned his head to his troops and issued the order to storm.
They moved in quietly and quickly. It wasn't difficult to incapacitate the guards. No one thought that anyone would be suicidal enough to try to infiltrate the prison. Surprise, Ron had learned that surprise was the one element that he could use to win. Ron planned to use it to the fullest. It took a couple of minutes to get inside. It took a few more to find the right dungeons. Hermione rushed to the front of the group and magically undid the lock on the door.
There was an uneasy silence when the door swung open. Standing near enough to Luna to be a threat was a tall thin Blond boy. He looked gaunt now. A pale shade of the boy they had once known. Draco Malfoy stood sickly and wan. His wand was in his hand and she looked terrified. He opened his mouth to say something, Hermione wasn't going to let him fire off a spell at anyone. She was not going to lose anyone. Not now, not ever. She fired off three spells before Malfoy even had time to speak a single word.
The others all stared at her with admiration. Ron clapped his hand on her back. She looked back at him with vengeance in her eyes. He stared back with a look of total understanding. She had been so worried about Harry. She had been a nervous wreck. He had looked around the room. Harry was not there. She was clearly torn up inside. Racked with pain. He put his hand on hers and forced her wand to point to the ground.
"It's okay." He said comfortingly. She narrowed her eyes.
"Where is he?" She said in a soft, broken whisper, "He's not here Ron. He's not here."
"I know." Ron said back, "I know. We'll find him. We will. But for right now, right this second, kid. We have to get these people out of here."
Hermione paused for several long seconds before a single tear dropped down her face. She wiped her cheek and nodded her head before she silently walked away from Ron and began undoing the cuffs on the prisoners. The rest of the DA stared in awkward silence. Unsure of what had transpired in front of them. Hey knew Ron and Hermione were close to Harry, but they also knew that Hermione was Ron's girl. She seemed so upset about Harry not being there. Ginny looked on puzzled for several seconds before a slight nudge from Neville brought her back to her senses.
Ginny made a noise and the other DA members suddenly went to work. She gave Ron a look which almost said how badly she felt for him. He made a dismissive nod. She looked away and made a mental note to talk to him about it later. Her heart went out to him. She understood how hard it was to be Harry Potter's friend. He was the boy-who-lived. The savior of all wizard kind. Plus he was attractive and charming. Girls fell for him. It couldn't be helped. She had found Neville, and she knew that he felt inferior on occasions. She bit her lip and hoped Ron was doing okay.
Suddenly the sound of the door swinging open again could be heard. There he stood. Weeks and months of fighting and searching had lead to this moment. Harry Potter was standing at the doors. She had found Harry Potter. It was at that moment that the war began for her. That moment of triumph was something she had been waiting for. Now though, she was looking around at the room. Once students, now soldiers. Once children, now warriors. It was then, in the throes of her concern that Hermione rushed across the room and something beautiful happened.
In front of everyone, in the middle of battle, two people who loved each other embraced. Kissed. Love was still present in the world. Still part of their lives. She could stomach it all, if only for love. She squeezed Neville's hand and envied Hermione. She had yet to tell the world what Neville meant to her. She caught Ron's eyes on her. He smiled and nodded and she blushed and returned the nod.