Chapter 9: Fighting Future Phantoms

Exhaustion weighed Bellatrix down. Whatever she had imagined about being Harry's informant, it certainly did not involve as much work as this. He had demanded that she provide nearly every detail she could think of about every member of the Wizengamot and their family, former occupations, and associates. He had even extracted from her an educated guess at the loyalties of nearly every person mentioned. That had led in to a discussion about the warring factions in the Wizengamot and among the Ministry bureaucracy.

Bella had begun with broad, sweeping statements, but she had quickly learned that those would not suffice. Harry wanted to know everything there was to know, even about people who weren't in politics. It almost led her to think he came from an entirely different world, belied only by the fact that he seemed to know so much about the players in the game.

Harry tried to hide it while he was asking the probing questions, but she was no slouch at reading between the lines. The way he asked pointed questions, asked again, and asked some more about specific people until he was satisfied told her that he knew them, or knew of them, at least. And then there was the intimate knowledge he held about a select few people in this time - including her. In addition to a number of other things, Harry's behavior signaled to Bellatrix that he was playing for keeps.

Thus, Bellatrix had come to realize that if she really was going to be his partner in his venture, she would have to do more than just contribute little pieces of information here and there. Sassing him for fun and tossing him the occasional tidbit of information because it was convenient wasn't going to cut it anymore. He wanted hard information, the kind of knowledge needed to win both a physical and political war. Despite what she might have thought about him, he wasn't dumb. He clearly was crafting his plan as they went along, but he wasn't stupid enough to go into an unknown battlefield with the proverbial wands blazing.

With a huff she realized that he wanted a lot more information than she could give him about her fellow Slytherins. The Lestrange brothers seemed to be high on his list of persons of interest, for some reason, which led her to suspect that he had fought against them in the future he came from.

Spying on her fellow Slytherins wasn't going to be easy. Especially not since Harry wanted explicit details about their daily lives. A thought seemingly occurred to her as he sat back in silence, trying to process all the information she had given him.

"So, Ashworth, you say your future doesn't matter anymore, because you're now in a different timeline." Bellatrix grinned almost ferally. "That means you can tell me all about your future, because it's not going to change anything in it, right?" Gotcha, she thought with no small measure of satisfaction.

Harry glanced up sharply. He seemed to consider her point for a moment, and she could almost see the thoughts flashing across his eyes. "No," he finally said.

"What?" Bellatrix thought she hadn't heard correctly. "You've got to be kidding me! We have an agreement, Ashworth!"

"An agreement which includes only you being my informant."

"You agreed to let me know all vital information!"

Harry glared at her. "And the information about my future is not vital to you. As you so aptly phrased it, my future no longer matters. Therefore, whatever I tell you about it also no longer matters and cannot be vital information."

"That's not fair!" Bellatrix protested, annoyed that Harry had worked around her cleverness.

"Life is never fair. Take it as one of the only things I'll tell you about the future."

"But-"

At this point, Harry turned around in his chair stared at a bookshelf. Bellatrix glared back at his profile for a moment, but he seemed utterly unfazed by her eyes boring into him. She knew a dismissal when she saw one. It stung her pride, and a part of her wanted to scream and throw a hex at him, but she realized that would not get her anywhere. She knew now what he wanted, and if she didn't provide it, he would likely find someone else to play informant for him. While it was yet too early to tell what kind of benefits she would earn by remaining on his side, considering the fact that he seemed on the verge of waging a country-wide battle against a certain group of people, she figured the benefits would not be inconsiderable.

With one last huff, she stood and departed Harry's office to return to her dorm. She wouldn't get anything more out of him now, but she vowed to herself to not let up until she had gotten the full story from him sometime later. Trudging through the door of the Slytherin common room, she carelessly tossed her book bag to the side and slumped down into a chair. Most of her fellow Slytherins were either in bed or sneaking about, pranking unfortunate Hufflepuffs. That was fine with her because she didn't want to interact with any of them right now.

Looking up she found herself staring at the floor-length mirror that adorned part of the west wall of the common room. Violet eyes set into a pale white face, framed by straight, ebony hair, stared back at her. She was beautiful, her face unmarred. She knew she could turn heads and wind men around her fingers with ease if she wanted to. She got the unsettling feeling that if Harry's plans came to fruition, there would be fighting, and lots of it. She didn't know what would happen to her in the future or what had been her fate in Harry's future. Idly, she wondered what had happened to her in Harry's future.

Then there was one more question on her mind. "Do I really want to do this?" she whispered at her reflection. Was she willing to do whatever was necessary to make sure her side won? That thought brought her up short. Her side? When had she started thinking of Harry as "her side?"The mirror had learned long ago not to answer her questions. As she expected, there was no reply, no wise words of advice for her. The thing that bothered her the most was that Harry hadn't given her anything but the vaguest of hints as to what he was planning to involve her in.

Thoughtfully, Bellatrix began to compile everything she knew about Harry. He appeared powerful, that much was for certain. His magic potential was greater than the average Slytherin, but he didn't seem to flaunt it. In fact, if she didn't know any better, she would consider him beneath her notice, consider him almost… normal. He didn't seem the heroic type, like Merlin or Dumbledore. Well… his scheming did remind her of the headmaster, but he appeared to be more like a Slytherin in that regard. He was, however, not that sneaky. He was just… Harry, she concluded with a miserable sigh, and she didn't even know his last name. But, apparently, he had a plan - and there was room in it for her.

"Well, it can't hurt," she told the mirror, for some reason feeling like she had to defend her reasoning to herself. "It's not as if there's anything else for me to do right now, and Father and Uncle are interested in him for some reason. Besides, if things don't go my way, I can always call it off, right?" That was the point that had her worried the most. Her family had taught her early to always have an exit strategy - a backdoor out of any situation if things got sticky. Best to avoid fighting when possible, and work from the shadows - that was the Black way. Of course, that didn't always work out, and her family had earned a reputation for being vicious fighters, but fact was, if a fight could be avoided, then it was. It was considered a waste in time and energy to fight when one could back out easily.

But Harry had given her no hint as to what she was about to involve herself in, hadn't given her enough to work out an exit strategy with. She didn't know if it was even possible for her to pull out once his plans were set into motion. For all she knew, she could be stuck with him for better or for worse through it all if she made the wrong call now.

Of course, there was the unspoken promise of power and wealth. Harry hadn't exactly come out and said it, but the way he had so easily accessed the Black vault on the day she met him meant that he had access to practically her family's entire fortune. To Bellatrix, this was significant. He didn't have to even succeed in whatever it was he was planning to become rich or powerful. It was already within grasp.

Her mind paused, and she briefly wondered about what she could really expect to inherit from her parents. Her sister was likely going to marry Malfoy - she was cared for. However, even with her out of the picture, that didn't leave much for her. Orion Black controlled he majority of the Black fortune and assets, as the head of the family. While her father had done well in his business, her mother regularly spent most of what he earned in order to match pace with other pureblood socialites.

With a grimace, she remembered that both her father and her uncle had married rather late in their lives, and younger women, no less. This meant that both their wives were likely to outlive them, inheriting their fortune while Bellatrix went empty-handed. The thought caused her mood to sour. At this rate, she would be an old spinster before she inherited anything-if there was to be anything left. Not wanting to wallow in these depressing thoughts anymore, she forcefully shifted the center of her attention to Harry Ashworth.

Slowly, almost of their own accord, her hands rose to the top of her blouse and began undoing the buttons, finding them almost by instinct. She reached in and retrieved her precious hair pin from its hiding place. Bringing it up to eye-level, she frowned at it. "You're the one that started this," she scowled, unsure of whether she should be angry or grateful, and not quite certain if she meant the pin or herself. Angry that recent events had made her doubt her own place in her family and grateful that there was a way out, however uncertain it may seem.

Like the mirror, the pin, too, remained silent, unable to answer the accusation. After a minute, Bellatrix sighed and rearranged her hair, twisting it into a loose bun and sliding in the hair ornament to keep it in place. With one last look at the mirror, she reached for her bag and retrieved a piece of parchment. If she was going to do it, she might as well do it right. And she knew just where to start.

Harry stood idly in an unused classroom, staring out the window at the overcast sky. It was only an hour or so past noon, but one would have thought it much later, judging by the lack of light passing through the clouds. It was Saturday, and, as Lily had enthusiastically reminded him at breakfast, it was the day she had convinced Snape to come in for his first "tutoring" session. Harry had reluctantly agreed, although he was quite sure that even at this point, Snape was more than capable of taking care of himself.

"Professor Ashworth."

Harry schooled his features into neutrality before turning around casually to look at the speaker, not really needing to see him. That kind of cool, even arrogant, tone could only belong to Severus Snape.

"Mr. Snape," Harry replied formally.

Said teenager was standing in the open door of the classroom, looking every bit the annoying potions professor that Harry knew he would one day become. He wore black robes and a faint sneer. His expression was one of annoyance, probably at having to spend the day with Harry, when he could be out doing other things. Harry didn't even want to think about what Snape did in his spare time. For some reason, it annoyed Harry. If Snape was going to be here, couldn't he at least pretend to be civil? Harry didn't really expect him to be grateful, or anything, but… Harry shook his head at the thought that he may just be annoyed at the fact that he was agreeing with Snape in his annoyance to be here.

"Come in," Harry finally instructed. "Do you know where Miss Evans is?"

"I am sure she'll show up sooner or later," Snape replied evenly, taking a single step into the room.

"I see. I guess we should wait for her before getting started," Harry said crisply, and Snape inclined his head in a silent agreement that this was more for Lily's sake than either of theirs. Harry turned back to resume staring out the window in silence. The least Lily could have done was to not leave Harry alone with Snape. How was he supposed to make small talk with one of his least favorite people in the world? As it was, he couldn't, and an uncomfortable silence filled the room. Harry merely took comfort in the fact that Snape didn't seem any happier at being shanghaied into this impromptu tutoring session.

Finally, after what seemed like a small eternity, Snape broke the silence. "Professor," he began, "I would like to state for the record that I am perfectly capable of defending myself. You could even say that Defense Against the Dark is my strongest subject."

Apparently, Snape had already begun his affair with the dark arts. It was annoying, but relieving at the same time. Harry doubted that his mother would escalate her friendship with Snape into a relationship if she became aware of his dabbling. Harry's outward reaction to Snape's statement consisted of a shrug and glance over his shoulder. "I have no doubt that you're quite able in Defense. However, Miss Evans seems to disagree with both of our assessments." He noticed that Snape wasn't meeting his eyes. It was a pleasant change, for once. "Let's humor her, then, shall we?"

"Very well," Snape said, finally met Harry's eyes, as if daring him to disagree, causing Harry to heave an internal sigh.

Harry maintained eye contact for a little bit longer, wondering if Snape was already adept at Legilimency. He felt no mental probes, though, so he shrugged and turned his head away. For some reason, Harry was unable to resist jibing Snape about the dark arts. "Mastering dark spells doesn't protect you from them," he commented idly.

Snape seemed to bristle at that. "With all due respect, I don't see you teaching Defense."

Harry didn't see it, but he could tell from the change in tone that Snape seemed surprised and perhaps a little shaken over the fact that Harry had been able to read the correct meaning into his previous cryptic statement.

With some difficulty, Harry managed to suppress a bout of laughter. The situation was pure irony - after all, Snape had always considered himself an expert in Defense, although he was stuck teaching Potions, and he had made no secret of the fact that he wanted the Defense job. Admittedly, Snape had never actually been given a chance to teach Defense, as far as Harry knew, but Harry still found Snape's comments amusing. Or maybe Snape had taught Defense once, and been promptly relegated to Potions, because his students had either summarily quit the course, failed it, or came away with horrible psychological scars. Much like everyone in NEWT Potions, Harry mused. He allowed the irony to pass, but couldn't resist having the last word. "In my travels, I've met the darkness face to face, Mr. Snape. I think I know a few things about it."

He could feel Snape's eyes boring into the back of his head, and could almost see the mental cogwheels turning as Snape began to reevaluate him in light of this new information. Was Snape now wondering if he was more than a mere Potions instructor? If Snape had been about to say anything in reply, it never amounted to anything because Lily chose that moment to burst into the room, already making apologies for being late.

"I'm sorry! Madam Pince was talking to Professor Sprout, and I had to wait for her to check out my book."

"Don't worry about it," Harry said, relieved that he was no longer alone with Snape. Merlin's beard! I'm the adult here, and he still manages to make me uncomfortable. "Let's get started. I'm sure you don't want to spend your entire Saturday with me."

"We're ready!" Lily exclaimed, with a little too much enthusiasm in her voice. Harry suppressed a small sigh. He had a feeling this was going to be a long day.

"All right," he replied, reaching for his wand. "First, a basic shield spell, with a slight modification…"

Bellatrix was annoyed. Harry was neither in his office nor in his private quarters. She had finally finished compiling the list of students with influential parents and wanted to see his reaction to her initiative; her eagerness was spurred on by the feeling that she needed to be productive and no small amount of interest in what might happen. It was a strange feeling, really, something she had never really before encountered in her life. Everything else had been handed to her on a silver platter, and she had never had any motivation to work for anything, except her own fleeting interest in the subject. At the very least, it might be taken by him as a sign of good faith and that she was willing to cooperate with him. He might even let slip some more information about what he was up to.

Eventually, she ended up stalking down the right corridor and heard his voice coming from a classroom that was supposed to be empty. She came to an abrupt halt when she heard a female voice shouting an incantation she vaguely remembered as a low-level shield spell. Anger briefly rose in her as she realized that he was dueling or coaching someone - someone female, no less - and that he had not told her about it. The rational part of her argued that it might be something completely innocent, but she quickly overrode it and marched up to the door, ready to barge in and announce her presence with a slam of the door.

By the time she reached the door knob, however, she had collected herself again and cautiously cracked the door open to take a look - better to err on the side of caution, after all. With something between a scowl and a smirk she realized that Harry was in the middle of trying to teach a shield charm to an obviously bored Snape and an overly enthusiastic Lily Evans.

Bellatrix suppressed a sigh of relief at the scene, though she wasn't really sure why. She continued to smirk as Evans obviously failed to grasp even this simple charm. With some amusement, she watched as Harry groaned in frustration as the shield bubble came out as a bubbling surface.

"All right, all right, stop." Harry rubbed his temples. "Relax, don't force the spell. You're too tense. Let the motion come to you, instead of trying to force it."

"Okay," Lily said, beaming at him.

"Now try again."

Lily did, and Bellatrix had the odd feeling that the Gryffindor girl was enjoying the lesson far more than she should be. It took her a few more tries until she finally managed to succeed, the beam on her face disgustingly bright to Bellatrix's eyes.

"Now," Harry continued, "I'll fire a hex at Mr. Snape here, and I want you to protect him."

Bellatrix grinned evilly, hoping that Lily was going to fail and she was going to see Snape hit with whatever Harry planned on sending at him. Unfortunately for her, Lily actually did perform the spell well enough to save Snape from whatever hex Harry had cast. It didn't escape Bellatrix's notice that he had cast it silently, with barely a flick of his wand. She took it as her cue to interrupt the session and fully opened the door, clearing her throat.

Harry glanced over at her sudden appeareance, and checked the time with a muttered " Tempus ." Dispelling the displayed time with a wave of his wand, he shrugged and accepted Bellatrix's presence with a nod. "All right," he said, "looks like we're done for today. Good work, Mr. Snape, Ms. Evans."

A derisive snort from Snape caused Bellatrix to suppress a chuckle. Harry ignored it. "As you can see, I've got other matters to attend to. I recommend you practice. There's really not much more I can teach you outside of what you're learning in Defense. It's all a matter of practice."

Bellatrix wasn't surprised to find Harry looking at Lily when he said that, but what did surprise her was that Snape seemed to give a curt, almost barely visible nod in agreement.

"I really enjoyed this, Professor Ashworth," Lily said as she put her overrobe back on. "I hope we can do this again." Harry didn't miss the glare she sent in Bellatrix's direction. A glare, he noted with amusement, which was returned in force.

"We'll see," Harry replied, wondering how Snape felt about that. A quick glance revealed that he wasn't exactly thrilled and was glaring at Lily's back.

"Great! I look forward to it!" With a brilliant smile and a triumphant grin in the other girl's direction, Lily excused herself while Snape made a more dramatic exit, his robes swirling behind him. It wasn't nearly as refined as it would be in the future, Harry mused, but he was getting there.

Bellatrix couldn't help but feel slightly flattered that he was ending the session on her behalf. When they finally were alone, she closed the door behind her.

"Anything you want to tell me?" Bellatrix asked with a smirk.

"Nothing that would be any of your business. Any progress with Lestrange?"

The Black girl knew she should be offended at the way he had so casually brushed her question aside, but she was in too good a mood to call him out on it. "Not yet," she replied. "I know that knucklehead Rodolphus is obsessed with me, but it'll be hard to play along and find out what they're up to if all he wants is a good lay." And Bellatrix wasn't about to lower herself to the point of sleeping with that disgusting fool for any reason. No, there were other ways to gain information; they would just take more time and subtlety. But that was what she was good at.

"So," she waved her hand at the classroom. "How'd it go? Severus didn't seem overly pleased to be here." And that Evans girl sure made sure to make up for his lack in enthusiasm, Bellatrix thought sourly. "Although, Evans certainly seemed happy enough with things."

"It went well enough," he responded noncommittally. "I've always been pretty good at that sort of thing. It's a shame I didn't get the Defense post. It'd probably have been quite a bit easier than all this potions stuff."

"Evans seemed to like your teaching. And that's not exactly a standard shield charm picked from any old Defense book you taught her there." The idea of duelling him made a reappeareance in her mind. "How about it, you and me go a round? We could both use the practice."

Bellatrix wasn't sure why, but it seemed like a good idea to her, and she was curious enough to want to see how well he could duel. He had the power to back it up - that much was apparent, but part of her wanted to know if he had the finesse. Maybe part of her was hoping he didn't, so that she could one-up him in one area, at least. Then there was also the fact that she genuinely enjoyed dueling. Unfortunately, Hogwarts had no duelling club of any sort and frowned on student brawls. Thus, she rarely had a chance to spread her proverbial wings-not that she would ever think of labelling her refined fighting technique as a mere brawl.

Harry stiffened and turned away from her. "I don't think that… is a good idea."

Her temper flared. He was willing to play games with Snape and Evans, but he wasn't willing to do it with her? Her mind flashed back to the way Evans had been looking at him-the way that the Gryffindor brat had grinned at her. Then her mind moved on to feeling resentment that Harry was practically deciding her future without consulting her - he was just one in a long line of many men who were trying to do the same. Her anger over the situation consumed her.

Bellatrix reached for her wand. Before she fully realized what she was doing, she had already shouted the hex. " Claudeo !" It wasn't the basic leg-locking jinx they were taught in defense, no, this was one she had learned by herself. Far faster and more powerful, it was nonetheless one she considered to be child's play. If she was lucky, he wouldn't be fully incapacitated by the time she was through with him. If he was any good, he'd at least try to put up a fight.

Harry's senses, honed by years of battle, kicked into overdrive at the feeling of magic gathering behind him. Quicker than his opponent thought possible, he dropped, rolled to the side, and came up on one knee, his wand drawn. The leg-locking curse splashed against the wall next to him harmlessly. Before the light from the impact had faded, his wand was already moving, flashing through the motions of a banishing charm.

The spell hit Bellatrix full force; the surprised witch had barely been able to follow his dodge. The wall was hard and painful, she thought absently as she crumpled to the ground. Her fall saved her life as a half-dozen bolts of light speared into the wall, blasting chunks out of the solid stone the castle was built from.

At least he's taking me seriously now, she thought, laughing gleefully. At last, I'll see what he's really capable of . She rose, shaking off the cobwebs, and slid into an advanced duelling stance. Left foot forward, weight on her back foot. Wand held at eye-level, next to her right ear, the other arm extended and pointing at Harry, making a come-hither gesture.

Harry rose from his kneeling position, his wand never stopping its motion as he wordlessly conjured up three mobile shields - advanced versions of the shield charm he had just taught Snape and Lily. He advanced slowly, his eyes glinting dangerously as his combat reflexes took over. The sound of her near-maniacal laughter brought back memories, memories he would rather forget. A high-pitched squeal signalled the destruction of one of his shields, and he realized he had been standing there, frozen in place. Eyes hardening, he glared at the witch who would destroy so many lives in the future. Anger consumed him, and he suddenly found himself back in one of their many duels during the war.

Bellatrix was still giggling as she watched her second hex, a powerful stunner, stream from the tip of her wand towards its target, only to be intercepted and extinguish itself by his shields in a flare of violet light. " Discedo !" she shouted, sending a blundgeoning spell at him, only to watch it expend itself on the same shield that had intercepted her previous attacks.

" Reducto !" Harry roared, causing the young witch to spin to the side to let the blasting curse pass by her side, her wand and eyes never leaving her opponent - just the way she had been taught. And then two things happened simultaneously that caused her to freeze in terror. Meeting Harry's eyes was like staring into an oncoming killing curse. The were flaring green orbs cold and devoid of emotion. Then the blasting curse hit the wall behind her, rocking her off her feet with the force of the explosion as it blasted a six-foot crater into the solid stone wall.

He's trying to kill me ! she realized with a start, adrenaline flooding her body. She scrambled to the side as another spell impacted the ground where she had been not too long ago. Reacting on instinct and muscle memory, she slid into a defensive stance, conjuring up the most powerful shields she could muster.

" Perditio ." The word was uttered quietly, but her acute hearing picked it up, and her heart stopped beating. The disintegration spell impacted her shield, bathing her in blue light. Her shield failed, and she found herself contemplating that it might have been a huge mistake to goad Harry Ashworth into a duel as the remainder of the spell hit her. The bolt tossed her backwards, sending her crashing into a desk, and a searing pain spread across her chest.

Bellatrix allowed herself a second to lie in the rubble, playing possum. All right, if he wants to play that way, fine. She rose, her face a mask of barely restrained fury. " Telum Aquilus ." She slid forward, her wand twirling in her right hand as spell after spell passed from its tip. The bolts of dark magic flew towards him, a dozen strong.

Let's see him dodge this, she thought grimly.

It turned out he didn't have to. With a grand wave of his wand and a roared " Incommendatus !" motes of white light sprang from the tip of his wand, intercepting each and every one of her spells.

"What the… " Bellatrix muttered in surprise and shock. She caught herself after a split second and resumed her offensive, barraging him with spell after spell, the curses and hexes flowing freely as her wand fluidly streaked through the air, tracing patterns with its glowing tip. She kept moving, changing positions to make it harder for him to retaliate. With a victorious sneer, she finally found herself with a clear shot at his back. Raising her wand to deliver the finishing blow, she failed to notice the desk sailing at her from her left.

The wooden desk careened into her flank, shattering her concentration and downing her yet again. She coughed, and frowned when her hand came away bloody. She could taste the faint coppery metallic taste of blood on her lips and in her mouth, and grew angry again. Shoving off the debris off of herself, she searched the room for her opponent. She didn't find him, as she was forced to duck as textbooks and pieces of rock came flying at her from all angles, forcing her to duck and cover. The hail of fragments didn't pass, though, as they curved around and aimed for her again.

I've got to get moving. I can't stay here, I'm a sitting duck - and he knows exactly where I am . Leaping to her feet, Bellatrix suppressed a groan as half a table leg struck her lower back, causing her to stumble before she got her shields up.

" Expulso !" she screamed with a grand wave of her wand, sending all the debris that had been aiming for her clattering away into the trashed classroom.

I can't breach his shields, so I'll have to out-maneuver him, she thought to herself as she realized that Harry hadn't moved much during the entire fight. He had taken a few steps forward after their initial exchange, but for the most part he appeared content to just stay where he was and let his shields take the punishment. That arrogant little jerk .

Digging deeper into her own private duelling training, she rose to her feet. There was no way she could block his attacks - they were much too powerful. There was no way she could run around him to take his back, either - all he had to do was pivot to keep her in his field of vision. He had the proverbial high ground. Her heart pounded as she contemplated what she was going to do next - Harry had his head cocked to the side, a sneer on his face as he watched her with a level stare, waiting for her to make her next move.

" Attonbitus !" she shouted, exaggerating her wand motions deliberately. Harry didn't flinch and raised yet another shield with a mere wave of his wand. Bellatrix grinned. She finally had him.

" Perditio !"

When Harry returned fire, Bellatrix was waiting. Instead of dodging or shielding herself, she slid a half-step backwards and turned her body sideways. Her wand flicked through the air as she muttered the incantation. " Intertio !"

Her spell flew true, intercepting his in mid-flight, causing a cascade of light that she would have thought pretty under other circumstances. With a smug grin, she realized that Harry hadn't been expecting her to counter his attacks.

" Reducto !"

" Intertio! "

Once again, her spell intercepted his, but this time she didn't wait for him to cast again. Using the flashing of the two spells impacting each other as a distraction, she sprang forward, stunners and blasting hexes flowing freely from her wand. She didn't expect any of them to actually get through, but that was not what she had been aiming for. The barrage of spellfire blasted Harry's shields, turning it opaque as light washed over it in waves.

And behind his shield, he never saw her coming. With a triumphant yell, she thrust her wand arm forward, knocking his wand to the side as she brought her arm around in a wide circle that ended with her wand pointing right at his nose. It was one of the basics of advanced duelling, one she barely remembered because she had nearly discarded it as useless. After all, the times when wizards fought close encounters and had need of ways to block an enemy's wand movements were long gone.

She was about to utter the incantation for the spell that would end this fight when his reflexes saved him. The left hook caught her utterly by surprise, and she could hear her nose break with a sickening crack. Stumbling backward from the blow, her vision swam from the viciousness of the attack. She scrambled backwards as Harry raised his wand, its tip glowing with barely-restrained energy. She tried to look defiant, glaring at him, but realized that the only thing she resembled was a very frightened young girl as she hugged herself, having lost hold of her wand when he'd struck her.

"Die." It was the first word he'd said during the entire battle, and it sent a cold shiver down her spine.

I don't want to die, not like this, not yet…

" Evito ."

It was an odd choice, to use a variant of an ancient predecessor to the killing curse to finish her, Bellatrix realized in what probably was the last instant of her life. She closed her eyes, waiting for the yellow light to wash over her. Does death hurt?

The crack of thunder echoed around the trashed classroom, and Bellatrix carefully cracked her eyes open, staring in disbelief at the scene before her. The wand had apparently misfired, because it was now a charred lump lying in the corner. The front of Harry's robes were singed, and he was lying ten feet away, knocked out cold.

Bellatrix let out a relieved sigh, refusing to admit to herself how terrified she had been. She kicked him in the ribs to confirm he really was unconscious and slumped against the door to the classroom tiredly, her thoughts racing. D on't ever attack him, ever. Not if you want to stay alive.

Consciousness slowly returned to Harry, though his memory was sluggish. He couldn't quite remember why he was unconscious - had he been knocked off his broom again by Malfoy during a Quidditch match? Slowly, he groaned and opened his eyes to look around, expecting to find himself in the hospital wing. The grey walls that were identical everywhere in the castle didn't tell him much, but the fact that he wasn't lying on a comfortable bed did. Craning his head to the side, he realized that he was in the empty classroom he had been using to teach Snape and Lily, but, for some reason, it now looked like a war zone.

"Finally awake?"

Blinking his eyes, Harry craned his head back to look straight up, and found himself staring into Bellatrix's face point-blank. "What happened?" he croaked, his throat uncharacteristically dry. Her face was smeared with dried blood and there was a nasty burn mark on her chest, just below her collarbone.

"I took a shot at your back just for fun and you reacted as if I'd tried to kill you."

"Oh." Harry coughed, closing his eyes again as the memory of the duel returned. How could he have let himself loose control like that? Confusing Bellatrix with her older counterpart was stupid. She wasn't the same person - hell, she didn't even look the same! The older Bellatrix was a gaunt, tired, sickly looking woman whose eyes glinted with insanity and madness. The girl was young, her hair shimmering with the same life that seemed to have abandoned her older counterpart. More importantly, her eyes were alive, lacking the crazed, depraved, and cruel look that would enter them sometime in the future, brought on by years of violence and torture.

"How're you holding up?" he finally asked.

"Been better," Bellatrix tried to snort, but clutched her nose in pain.

"I'm sorry about your nose and everything. I guess my reflexes got the better of me."

Bellatrix arched a skeptical eyebrow, but he sounded so miserable and sincere that she was almost tempted to reassure him that it was all right. Almost. "You're going to have to make it up to me, Ashworth," she said instead, trying to milk the situation for what it was worth, even more intrigued now about the young man whose mystery was growing by the minute.

"Am I?"

"You'll let me practice with you whenever I want," she replied evenly, having already rehearsed her list of demands while he was unconscious. "I don't know if you were paying attention, but neither of us performed anywhere close to professionally." She smartly kept her mouth shut about the fact that if his wand hadn't backfired, he would easily have been able to kill her, never mind his unrefined dueling skills.

"No way," Harry said. "You saw what just happened."

Bellatrix glared at him. "Maybe I'll just tell Dumbledore that you assaulted me." She hated resorting to blackmail - it was so… primitive. She much preferred the more elegant approaches of tempting or seducing people in order to get what she wanted, or simply outsmarting them, but if it worked, then she was going to use it.

"Fine," he said after a moment. "We'll practice. It might come in useful." Harry wasn't pleased at all, though Bellatrix's demand wasn't all that unreasonable. He supposed he could bring up the point that she had used dark magic, but he also knew that it wouldn't hold up against the basic fact that he could have killed her.

"Excellent." Bellatrix was surprised at his suddent change in attitude, but she wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth. Instead, she let out a contended sigh and leaned back against the door of the room.

Harry decided that he wouldn't mind leaning against the stone wall, himself, and dragged himself over to join her. Sitting up was better than lying prone on the ground, after all. They sat quietly, mostly tring to come to grips with what had just happened. Harry couldn't help but wince when he saw her dabbing at her nose to stem the bleeding.

"I'm sorry," he repeated.

Bellatrix waved him off. "At least I can see how you survived all the fighting, even if your dueling is lousy. Your reflexes are pretty sharp, and that one caught me by surprise."

They sat silently, Harry not really feeling up to responding. However, he eventually found a need to speak. "Err… did you see my wand, by any chance?"

Bellatrix produced a charred lump of wood from her robes. "You'll need a new one," she deadpanned.

No kidding, Harry thought as he turned it over in his hands, parts of it instantly crumbling under his touch. "Think it can be fixed?" He briefly thought back to Ron's tape-and bubblegum fixed wand.

Bellatrix gave him an are-you-kidding look. "Why, yes, I think a little water will wash that soot right off, and there's nothing a little wood glue wouldn't fix."

Harry stared at her unusual display of humor. When he remained silent, she shook her head with a sigh. "What? Don't tell me they didn't teach you sarcasm? Anyway," she waved the conversation on, "it's a piece of crap regardless."

"How so?"

"For starters, just look at it! I mean, who wants a wand that has been carved with stupid designs like this one has? Then, of course, there's the source of your wand - Wanda and Wandel's."

"What about them?"

"They - or rather, their daughter and son-in-law - are the worst wandmakers in Britain! In fact, they don't even make their own wands. They import them from some cheap operation in China. It's probably bamboo and you couldn't identify the core inside the damn thing if you tried." Bellatrix smirked. "Ollivander's is the only place to buy a wand in this country if you don't want it blowing up in your face like this. I'd reckon you'd know that." There was a triumphant glint in her eyes. He's hiding something. He has to know about Ollivanders, and there's got to be a reason he didn't just get a wand from there.

"Right," Harry said as the rest of his wand crumbled in his hands. He supposed he would have to stop by Ollivander's at some time to pick up a new wand. He just fervently hoped it wouldn't be overly suspicious. Ollivander seemed to know everyone - heck, Ollivander had even known him before he had ever set foot in his shop the first time! In the meantime, though, he reckoned that his cheap wand had served him well enough.

"So, did you come to see me about anything specific, or did you just want to initiate a brawl?"

"Yes," Bellatrix replied. "I just finished a list of students at Hogwarts who have influential parents that you might want to get to know. Depending on what you have planned, their support might help or hurt your position." She reached into her robes and handed him a piece of folded-up parchment.

Harry briefly glanced through the list, impressed that her idea actually had some merit. He didn't know enough about the current situation yet to be comfortable in advancing his plans, so feeling out any potential support or opposition would help. He also noticed the names of a few rather prominent future Death Eaters on the list. Getting to know those might provide some valuable intelligence on Voldemort's current activities.

With a triumphant smirk, Bellatrix watched as Harry pondered over the list of names she had produced. "Slughorn used to invite several of his students to private dinners in his quarters," she added. "I was thinking you might start doing the same. Maybe reel in some invitations by their parents if you're liked by the students."

Harry nodded absently as he continued down the list. Aside from future opposition, he also recognized several others that would be instrumental in the Order of the Phoenix in the coming years, such as Bones, Prewitt, and Abbot. "All right," he said after a moment. "But I'll need some time to review this list and see if there's anyone else I'd like to add."

"Also, you aren't going to be able to invite everyone at once. Especially since some of them don't get along with each other," Bellatrix cautioned. "You might want to divide our list into groups that we can take care of one at a time."

Harry arched an eyebrow at her choice of words, but decided to say nothing. Her idea was sound - he could invite groups of potential Death Eaters one time and pretend to be a first-rate dark wizard, or at least someone who was sympathetic to the pureblood cause, and then invite the other half and put on an entirely different act. It would let him feel out both groups at the same time.

"I'll get the house elves to organize the food and drink. You just let me know when and where, and I'll have it arranged," Bellatrix offered.

"All right." Harry wasn't sure whether to be grateful or suspicious that she was offering to do work. It would help free up his time to plan, but he wasn't really sure what she was playing at. "I've got lesson plans to review, and you should go get your injuries looked at. That burn looks nasty, and your nose is still bleeding. Do you want me to take you to the hospital wing?"

Bellatrix shook her head. "Don't be stupid. If you show up with me, there'll be a lot more questions."

"Right."

"Though a cleaning spell would be nice. I don't need everyone in the castle seeing me walking around dripping blood everywhere. I've got an image to maintain."