Heritage of the North: The Power of Ice and Betrayal

Bellatrix watched with growing horror as the deadly green light so commonly associated with the Killing Curse exploded from the end of Voldemort's wand. She instinctively looked toward her husband and found that he was distracted and then screamed desperately. "HARRY!"

Time slowed as he turned and drew his other wand. Her ears didn't seem to be working anymore as she watched Harry mouth some sort of spell in self defense. The green light pulsed and then exploded violently and her heart seemed to stop beating as she watched Harry being lifted from the ground by the shockwave.

The next thing she heard was herself crying out his name through tears which had began to flow as he flew. Another second, and he landed on the other side of the roof with a sickening crunch. Everyone stared at Lord Polairix with shock covering their faces.

Pandemonium then broke out among the Death Eaters when three bolts of lightning simultaneously struck the three runes. Another explosion followed and Bellatrix and the Ice soldiers watched as Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters were hurled in the water. After that, they disappeared. Bellatrix vaguely assumed that Voldemort and his followers had been carrying Portkeys.

After several more lightning flashes and thunderclaps which were followed by intensified rain, everyone shook off their confusion. Nailoff checked all his men while Bellatrix ran to Harry and fell on her knees next to him.

Not willing to believe that she could be a widow, Bellatrix spoke in a quavering voice. "Harry?"

Both to her amazement and extreme concern, Harry began to cough up small amounts of blood. After the coughs died, he opened his eyes and looked at her with a slightly blank look. "Are you okay?" she asked.

Harry looked at her a moment before responding in a slurred voice. "Just tired."

"Sleep then." Bellatrix instructed quietly. "But promise not to leave me."

"I won't." Harry whispered before falling unconscious.

Nailoff soon joined Bellatrix after attending to some of his men which had been injured during the fight. "Is he okay?"

Bellatrix did her best to gather her wits and then stood up. "I'm not sure. We must get him immediate medical care."

The captain looked at Harry and nodded. "I'll have some of my men move him back to Nair'icaix. I'll go to Savvire and get a doctor. I believe that I know of the perfect person to help. Is there anything else?"

"See to it that Azkaban is safe when you have the time."

"Of course." Nailoff said agreeably.

Bellatrix stepped away to find Harry's wands as he motioned one of his men over and began to give instructions. She quickly found them lying on the roof near the runes and then pocketed them after studying the ivory one with wonder. It was a miracle that it had not been destroyed.

She joined four Ice soldiers who had conjured a stretcher and placed Harry on it. One of them held out his hand and she took it. One of them activated a Portkey and a jerk later, she found herself in the master suite where they gingerly transferred Harry to the bed. They all saluted and then Apparated away.

Less than fifteen minutes later, the door opened to admit Bess, Tess, and an old man who introduced himself as Dr. Burgix. "Came as soon as I heard, milady! There's not a thing to worry about, I'll set him right."

He quickly made his way over to Harry while Bess and Tess stared with horror at their fallen lord. "What happened?" Tess asked, sounding near the verge of tears herself.

Bellatrix quickly explained everything that had transpired. Burgix listened to the whole account and even asked some questions of his own as he examined Harry carefully. After the account ended, they all watched silently as Burgix worked.

He finally finished the cursory examination and announced his findings which relieved the three women greatly. "He's not as bad off as he looks. Basically, his landing after being thrown bruised him up a bit, thus the blood. His slurred voice comes from a minor concussion that he received, and his weakness comes from magical exhaustion."

"So he'll be okay? No lasting damage?" Bellatrix asked anxiously.

"Absolutely!" Burgix replied as he pulled a small vial of potion from the folds of his cloak. "This will speed up the healing process. After plenty of sleep, a hot bath or two to loosen him up, and plenty of food, he'll be right as rainwater." He then administered the potion to Harry, which took some skill.

"Thank you, doctor." Bellatrix said, relief plain in her voice.

Doctor Burgix nodded graciously and exited the room. At Bellatrix's request, Bess and Tess assisted her in removing Harry's armor, robes, and then helped tuck him into bed. They then helped remove her armor.

"That will be all." Bellatrix said tiredly.

"Let us know when he wakes up." Tess said, as she and her sister left the room.

Bellatrix nodded and after a very short shower in the bathroom, joined Harry in bed after the lights automatically dimmed. Instead of falling asleep immediately, she turned on her side and studied her unconscious husband.

Tired, and not necessarily thinking rationally, she spoke. "I always dreamed of marrying a prince." He didn't answer, but that was okay. She didn't expect him to. "My mum thought it was a grand idea. So long as he was pureblood."

She sighed bitterly. "My mum wasn't a very nice woman. I guess I followed in her footsteps. I hope that I've improved though. After tonight, I now sympathize with those who have suffered because of Avada Kedavra. Especially the ones that came from my wand. I'll never use that curse again, so long as I live. Unless it would save your life."

Bellatrix then rambled on, touching various subjects until she was too tired to keep talking. Harry had not heard a single word, but she felt closer to him than she had ever been. "Don't leave me." she whispered, as she rolled back onto her back and drifted asleep.

The first thing Harry did when he regained consciousness was to groan. He now knew how the Tin Man felt. It was a shame that there was no such thing as oil for stiff joints. Without opening his eyes, he contemplated going back to sleep and facing the discomfort later.

Just as he was about to sink into the dark abyss, he heard Bellatrix began to moan something under her breath. It sounded as if she was trying to say 'No.' Curiosity aroused, Harry opened his eyes and turned his head. She was laying on her stomach, hugging her pillow for dear life.

He raised his eyebrows. Normally, she slept a bit more passively. Not wanting to disturb her, he turned his attention to the ceiling as she began to suck air into her lungs with great gasps. Maybe she was having a nightmare. Should he wake her up?

I would want someone to wake me up, Harry thought to himself. His waking her up was prevented however when she abruptly let out a heart wrenching howl and woke up herself. She pushed herself up and looked at Harry with wild violet eyes.

"Nightmare?" Harry asked.

The violet eyes came slightly more into focus and she nodded as she studied him as if reassuring herself that he was indeed there. "Do you feel all right?" she asked slowly.

"Just a little stiff."

"Better than dead." she countered.

Taking Harry by surprise, the wild look returned to her eyes and she threw herself onto him and began to cry her eyes out. Not sure what to do, he brought up one of his hands and stroked her back through the oversize Muggle t-shirt she customarily wore to bed.

After about ten minutes, she regained her composure, and after an additional half hour of enjoying each other's closeness, she was ready to speak. "The doctor advised a hot bath to help loosen yourself up."

"No objections to that." Harry said.

"I think that I'll even join you." Bellatrix said as she climbed out of bed and then helped Harry to his feet, making sure that his stiff joints didn't impede his ability to walk.

They then made their way to the bathroom where they found the overlarge tub, which Harry had previously compared to a Muggle hot-tub, filled with variously colored bubbles and water. Harry removed his undergarments and lowered himself in. Bellatrix flirtatiously removed her t-shirt and slowly lowered herself in opposite Harry.

"So, how long has it been since I got knocked cold?" he asked as he luxuriated in the hot and soothing water.

"Less than a night." Bellatrix answered as she made use of a bar of soap and then some shampoo and scented oils.

"Wow. I'm usually out for days." Harry joked. "First time I faced down Voldemort, I was out for so long that I missed a Quidditch match."

Bellatrix laughed. "You didn't miss anything that important."

They idly sat for a few moments until Bellatrix asked a random question. "Are you ever disturbed by the fact that I'm more than twice your age?"

Harry shrugged. "No. Not really." He didn't relish the thought of explaining that to his friends though. "Why?"

She shrugged. "I don't know."

"Oh."

The Order had convened again, due to the attack that had occurred at Hogsmeade. Ron was reporting to everyone his great heroics in the situation and was making many proposals as to what should be done with the prisoners. If he had been paying attention, he would have noticed that they had been handed over to the Ministry.

However, Hermione was remaining silent as she thought about the actions she had seen Neville and his friends take. She was willing to bet anything that another Defense group existed and that Neville was the leader.

This led Hermione to wonder how it was that they had all turned to him and to what purpose. It was not likely that his group was a clone of the DA, else it would not have taken off without the DA having a chance to show some sort of competition for student attendance.

The attention of the whole group was arrested when Snape arrived and contributed some of his own information. "Shortly after the Ministry Aurors left Azkaban last night, Voldemort attacked the island in force."

"Meaning that the Hogsmeade attack was a diversion." Dumbledore concluded.

Snape nodded. "Yes, that was the plan. The Dark Lord did not expect Lord Polairix to take possession of the island so soon however. They got in a fight with Polairix's forces for the island."

"Who won?" Hermione asked.

"Polairix did."Snape said cautiously. He had not received a letter from Harry since the event, so he treaded carefully. He would only tell what Voldemort knew. "Shortly after the attack began, Lord and Lady Polairix arrived at the island in time to see the ferry with Ministry Aurors abandon them to the attack. Some sort of battle ensued and Lord Polairix and the Dark Lord faced off. It ended in a draw in which ancient wards were activated and You-Know-Who was forced to leave the island."

"That's disturbing." Dumbledore surmised. "The Ministry didn't necessarily have an obligation to assist Lord Polairix, but he doesn't have an obligation to help us fight Voldemort either. He's probably angry about that."

"I wouldn't know." Snape said, truthfully.

"There's a Lady Polairix?" Mrs. Weasley asked sharply.

Snape grimaced. Lord Voldemort had not necessarily drawn that conclusion about the woman at Potter's side, but from prior knowledge, he knew it to be truth. "That's what the Dark Lord would assume." Snape said. Fortunately there weren't any other spies among the Death Eater ranks to prove him wrong.

"That is very interesting." murmured Dumbledore.

The meeting soon concluded and Snape made his way to his own office to a private meeting with the Longbottom boy. He had hoped to have received some sort of instruction from Harry as to what actions should be taken on his end, but none had come.

When he arrived in his dungeon office, he found not only Neville, but two girls from Gryffindor at his side. The girls looked particularly displeased. Neville only looked passively ruffled.

"Why is it that the Order and Ronald are getting all the credit for fighting off those Death Eaters?" Parvati demanded. "It's like we weren't even there!"

Snape held up his hands placatingly. "There's nothing that I could do. Right now you'll just have to take it and be quiet unless you want to leave Potter's Legion open to public knowledge. I haven't heard from Harry yet."

"Why not? Doesn't he know?" Lavender asked.

"Potter had his own battle to fight at the same time." Snape then related everything he knew about the battle. It was a lot more than he had told to the Order. "I assume that Potter is probably unconscious or worse."

"I hope he's okay." Neville said, concern etched on his face.

Snape shrugged. "For now, just act like nothing happened. I'll tell you the instant I hear any news."

"We can do that." Parvati said.

For the rest of the morning and most of the afternoon, Harry elected to remain in bed and read an advanced text from his library. This appeased both Bellatrix and his personal assistants who continually looked at him as if he was a delicate ornament on the verge of shattering.

He looked up when the door to the bedroom opened to admit Bess and Bellatrix who quickly shut it behind them. His wife immediately began to cast various cleaning charms to make the room look even more spotless than before.

Bess approached him somewhat nervously. "My lord?"

Harry looked at her curiously. "Yes?"

"It's hard to explain, my lord." Bess began slowly as Bellatrix finished cleaning the room and then commenced to attend to Harry, fluffing his pillow, straightening the bed covers, and combing his hair.

"Give it a shot."

"There's a young widow of the Ice People here to see you." Bess explained. "She has brought her infant son for you to bless."

"I'm not sure that I understand." Harry said in a confused tone as he slid a bookmark between the pages of his tome and set it down.

Bess sighed. "The father took ill and died before the child was born. Although she and her child will be well cared for, children without fathers are rather disadvantaged among the Ice people. In ancient times, it was considered extreme good luck to have a baby blessed by a powerful or noble wizard. She hopes that if you bless him, he'll have good luck in his life."

"Am I really regarded as a powerful or noble wizard?" Harry asked dryly.

"Both, actually."

Harry sighed heavily. If he had been able to stay at Hogwarts, he was pretty sure that no one would have asked him to bless their baby. He also feared unwanted attention. "What happens when word gets out that I 'bless' babies?"

"My people hold you in the deepest respect." Bess said reassuringly. "They would only impose on you in extreme situations like this one."

"All right. I'll do it, but I don't know that it will do any good."

Bellatrix smiled mysteriously. "I've heard about this custom. You will likely be very surprised. This woman had obviously done a great deal of research if she came across this custom."

Bess quickly made her way back to the door, opened it, and motioned for someone to come in. A young Ice woman with silver-brown hair scurried in carrying a small bundle. Harry assumed that it was her son.

The woman quickly made her way to the bed, bowing every third step before coming to a stop on her knees next to the bed. She held out the baby which was wrapped in a blanket to Harry, surprising him by looking into his eyes with a desperate countenance.

"I would be forever indebted to you if you would give my son your blessing." she said in a nervous voice.

"It's no problem." Harry said, trying to put her at ease. He then gingerly took the proffered babe and awkwardly held it.

As Harry studied the baby's serene face, he felt a strange feeling wash over him. Feeling compelled to do so, he took his one hand and touched it to the child's left temple and spoke. "Denix son of Lenea, I give unto you my blessing."

As soon as he finished speaking those words, his eyesight blanked out and was replaced with a vision that he did not understand. His normal vision returned, and although he was still confused, he spoke again. "The day will come when you shall lead my armies and see the rise and fall of those who aspire to Darkness. Though you will often be in peril, you will live to old age."

Once he was finished speaking, the strange feeling left Harry and he smiled and made a face at the baby, causing him to laugh.

"Thank you, my lord!" Lenea the mother said, over and over. "You have given me more than I could ever hope for. I am eternally in your debt."

Harry shrugged, gave the baby a quick smile, and handed it back. He looked up at Bellatrix, who seemed to be contemplating something deeply as she looked at the child. "Did you know that would happen?"

"Something like that." Bellatrix responded vaguely.

Lenea stood and bowed to Harry, before leaving the room with Bess. Harry gave a satisfied smile. "That wasn't too hard."