Harry Potter And Bellatrix Lestrange

"Dumbledore."

"I suppose now I know what their mysterious source of information is," the headmaster noted. "And I am glad now that I trusted them. I may be an old man, but even I can see what this means, and the implications of this," he admitted.

Harry snorted. "Took something pretty obvious to believe my word over rumours, didn't it. Now, what else will it take? Let's see, you could've tested me with Veritaserum to see if I'd really killed those muggles in Privet Drive, but you didn't. Priori Incantatem was enough - does it ever occur to you that a wand can be stolen ? Or maybe taken from an unconscious body ?"

"Harry-"

"No, of course not! Of course it didn't! But you know what?" Harry calmed himself down forcibly, "you know what? Azkaban was the best thing that ever happened to be, as unbelievable as that sounds, because it showed me what a traitorous, backstabbing lot you all are!"

Dumbledore stood in silence as his former student ranted, and as the dust from the battle settled around them, and the shame for his actions and mistrust settled inside him, there was only one thing that would come out of his mouth. "Could we talk?"

Harry stared at him for a long moment, and Dumbledore elaborated. "Just talk, no Aurors, no trying to take you into custody, no forcing you to help us out with the war. Just you and me, and whoever else you want to be present." The old man sighed, suddenly feeling even older, as if it were possible. "I believe I owe you an apology for something I can never make up for."

...

"You can't seriously be thinking of going!" Bellatrix had been furious when she heard that Harry had fought Voldemort himself, but she had calmed down after Harry had told he he was fine - her fear had turned to pride when she realized he had managed to hold his own and get in a few good shots on Voldemort, but it came back with a vengeance when he told her of Dumbledore's offer to meet.

"I have to," Harry told her quietly. They were alone, for now. Everyone had retired for the night, Hiscophney had taken his injured and dead people back to his island to take care of them, and Neville had led the members of Potter's Legion back to London with a promise to be in touch. "By now, even Fudge can't deny that it was all one big setup by Voldemort, and that'll do quite a bit to clear my name, I hope."

Bella glared at him. "It may, but have you forgotten you're still under a life sentence in Azkaban for the murder of muggles? This may have cleared you of the attacks on muggle villages, but it doesn't have any bearing on what got you into this mess in the first place!"

Harry glared back stubbornly. "But now Voldemort realizes that we're on to him, and he'll switch tactics. He knows that everyone else knows that he's been trying to set me up, and he'll go for more direct attacks now. Also, we dealt him a pretty heavy blow, and from what I heard we captured at least a few members of his inner circle - not to mention what this is going to do to their morale. He'll attack, soon, and he'll make it big. He must, if he wants to prove to them he's still strong."

"And you'll be there to fight him." Bella sighed. "Harry, you can't fight him if the Ministry sticks you back into Azkaban - and believe me, I have no doubts that Fudge would do that without a moment's hesitation. Going to this meeting is a bad idea."

"No, it's not," Harry disagreed. "In fact, I think now's the perfect time. Voldemort's forced back on the offensive, and we know something big is coming. We need all the help we can get, and at the very least I can get them to stay out of my business. If we're distracted by the Ministry or the Order showing up and get caught in the crossfire, there's no telling how many people are going to die."

"I don't like it, but I see your point." Bella frowned. "But if you're going, I'm coming along!"

"No." Harry shook his head decisively.

"But-"

"Bella, even if Dumbledore's telling the truth - and at this point, I'm not so sure it isn't an ambush - then he's going to be talking to me. I'm not going to take the chance that he'll suddenly turn on you, especially not since we haven't cleared your name. You're as much a wanted criminal as I am, if not more so, and Dumbledore has no reason to hold back on your account. Besides," Harry added with a small grin, "if it is a trap, I'll need someone to bust me out of jail. I kind of doubt they'd stick me back into Azkaban, seeing that it belongs to me."

"Fine, but you're taking guards. And Hiscophney, if he wants to come."

"I'll take the guards. Hiscophney needs to see that his people are properly buried and honored. Besides, I need you, Hiscophney, Xerina, Neville, Snape and Remus here, trying to figure out what target Voldemort is most likely to hit next. We need to be ready for that."

"What about the Ministry?" Bella asked.

"Let me worry about the Ministry. If they're not prepared to help, we can fight this war on our own. We just need to make sure they stay out of our way." Harry shrugged. "We also need a long-term plan for dealing with Voldemort. I know the prophecy says I'll kill him or he'll kill me, but at this point I don't know just how I'm going to accomplish that."

"I have a few ideas," Bella muttered quietly enough that Harry didn't hear. "I'll bring it up at the meeting. When did you set the meeting with Dumbledore?"

"Tomorrow afternoon. We're meeting in the Minister of Magic's office. Bert knows I'm coming - I sent him a message earlier. Hopefully it's enough of a neutral ground."

...

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