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 .
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