Heritage of the North: The Power of Ice and Betrayal

"Did Snape explain why he wanted to meet with us?" Lavender asked as she, Neville, and Parvati casually made their way down to Snape's office in the dungeons. Most of the students had retired to their common rooms or bed. If anyone asked where they were going after curfew, they could always claim some sort of detention.

Neville shook his head. "No. He just told me to meet him and to bring a couple of others. I hate being in the dark about things, but sometimes it is the best way to go."

They arrived at his door, looked up and down the hall to see if anyone had noticed them, and then knocked quietly. The door opened to reveal Professor Snape who motioned them quickly. He too made sure that no one had seen and then closed the door and began to pace.

"I finally received word from Potter." Snape announced quietly. "During the battle he was indeed injured, but has made a full recovery. I replied and told about our side of the battle. He wrote back and would like you all to visit as soon as possible."

"When do we visit?" Neville asked calmly.

Snape stopped pacing and looked him in the eye. "Tonight. It's nothing serious, but the sooner the better. I would come with you, but You-Know-Who has called a surprise meeting. Before you go, there's some things you should know, and discuss with Potter."

"Which are?" Parvati said.

"The Order has put Weasley and Granger in charge of investigating this secret Defense club that seems to have sprouted up. I'm supposed to supervise and help them." Snape said, finally sitting down at his desk. "You'll have to ask Potter how that should be handled."

"We'll do that." Neville said. "How do we get there?"

A foot-long stick was produced from a desk drawer. "This should do the trick. The activation word is 'Polairix.'"

The three students grasped it at the same time and Neville spoke the word. "Polairix." The customary pulling sensation was felt by all, and they were soon standing in a comfortable office. They turned around and found Harry sitting at a slightly cluttered desk looking at them.

"Welcome to my humble home." Harry said with a smile on his face. He stood up and gave all their hands a shake as they approached the desk and took a chair in turn. "I expected Snape to come with you. Is anything wrong?"

"No," Neville replied, "he just had an unexpected engagement pop up."

Harry noted with amusement that Lavender and Parvati were ogling the elegant decor of the room. Personally, he thought the built in shelves loaded with books were a good effect. They were concentrating on the woodwork though. "I take it you like my new house."

The two girls gave him an abashed look. "It's wonderful. How did you find your way here?" Lavender said.

A full explanation of the events after the incident on Privet Drive soon followed. He tried to go through it as quickly as possible, not wanting to be the victim of the two girls' sympathy when he told about Azkaban and being mistreated. "So, here I am." he concluded. "I hear that you had your own battle. Why don't you tell me about that?"

Parvati then launched into a long narrative about Hogsmeade and how Neville managed to fight off the thirty Death Eaters. She also emphasized how the Order and Ron Weasley had mistreated them all after the battle. "Those who did the work should get the credit!" she said violently when she finished.

"If you worry about who gets the credit, the job won't get done." Harry sighed. "Unfortunately, who gets the credit for taking down Voldemort and other important things will affect the wizarding world's political system for the future."

"So what do we do?" Neville asked.

"Try to avoid notice for now." Harry said carefully. "Lend a hand when possible, but if the Order can handle these things, save yourself for another battle."

Suddenly, Neville remembered what Snape had told them before they departed. "The Order knows that a Defense group exists separate from DA. Ron and Hermione are supposed to track us down with the help of Professor Snape. He wants to know what he should do, and I'd like to know what PL should do."

"I suppose they've noticed that large groups of students disappear all at the same time." Harry mused. "It won't be long before Hermione puts two and two together and realizes who was taking the lead at Hogsmeade."

"I had not thought of that." Lavender observed.

Harry nodded slowly. "Avoid notice for now, but don't tell lies or do massive cover-ups. If you're discovered, try to keep them from realizing your connection to me. Tell Snape to not aid, but not hinder the investigation. At this point in time, his position in the Order and Voldemort's forces is more valuable than the secrecy of PL."

"What if the worse happens and PL and its connection to you is discovered? We could get into a lot of trouble, even expelled or put on trial, for being connected to a convict like you- nothing personal of course." Parvati inquired somewhat anxiously.

A grim smile spread across Harry's face. "I have a certain influence over the school. Whatever you do, don't leave the Hogwarts grounds. Flee into the Forbidden Forest if necessary. If there's any sign of serious trouble, send me an owl. Don't approach Snape. I'll come and deal with the situation personally."

"I'll remember that." Neville said carefully, not quite understanding what Harry was getting at. He trusted him to know what he was doing though.

A short silence followed as the teens all sat and pondered. Parvati's curiosity about the marriage of Harry and Bellatrix as explained by Harry earlier, overcame her. "So, how's married life treating you?"

Harry smiled at her. "It's wonderful. Bellatrix would be here to greet you, but she seems to have shut herself in the library of late. Some sort of research project." He then darted a glance to Neville. "Look, Neville… I realize the whole thing is awkward- what with your parents and all."

"Don't worry about it." Neville said reassuringly. "I know that she helped to… hurt my parents a lot, but from what you've told me, she seems to have tried to make up for her past actions. I'll admit that any interaction with her would be uncomfortable for me, but I'm sure that we can resolve it. I hold nothing against you for loving her."

"If you need to talk about anything, come to me anytime. By the way, how are your parents doing?" Harry said.

Neville shrugged. "The same."

"I hope that's a good thing." Harry said solemnly, not knowing that elsewhere, the Longbottom's health was being discussed.

"I think that it would be safe to assume that Harry Potter is dead, my lord." Wormtail said, desperately trying to cheer up Lord Voldemort, who tended to torture people when he was in unhappy moods.

Voldemort looked at Wormtail until he looked away, unable to bear the gaze of the red eyes. "He's survived me too many times to make such a broad assumption." Voldemort hissed. "Until I see his dead body decompose, I will consider him a threat."

"Why if they buried him?"

"Then we'll reopen the grave and burn the body!" Voldemort declared. "However, that is not my main concern as of yet. Rumors of a disturbing nature have reached my ears. They must take first priority."

Wormtail shuddered. New projects were never good. "What about Lord Polairix?"

"He seems to be minding his own business." Voldemort replied, almost civilly.

"What are these rumors that you've heard?" Pettigrew said, resigned to the fact that there was no getting around it.

Voldemort's eyes seemed to glaze over as he thought out loud for the benefit of his closest, though not most competent, servant. "The Longbottoms were spectacular Aurors, especially considering their young age. Unfortunately, they also had a side hobby. Spell-crafting."

"I see." Wormtail said, not really seeing, but reckoning that he might as well say it.

"Combining those two things can produce disastrous results." Voldemort stated as a matter-of-fact. "It is said that before their hospitalization, they were crafting a spell designed to utterly destroy me. They were in the last stages of making calculations when I went to the Potters. They only needed one powerful enough to perform the spell."

Wormtail sighed. This was likely to be a dead end sort of project, with lots of pain for those who encountered the dead end first, unless Voldemort hit the dead end himself. Everyone would suffer then. "The Longbottoms will likely never recover! There's not point in worrying about it."

"The things that I have not bothered to worry about are the things that have caused me the most trouble." Voldemort growled. "Lord Polairix is powerful and an unknown factor to boot. He could heal them. I'm going to take care of this one before it comes back to hurt me."

"Your plan?"

Voldemort's red eyes flared. "We'll put the Longbottoms out of their misery."

Bellatrix carefully replaced the lid to a bottle of ink and finished cleaning up for the day. She now had two tables filled with notes and various books from the library of Nair'icaix. There were plenty of sources that led her to a great deal of useful information, however- none of the knowledge she had dug up had provided the answer that she was searching for.

I'll get it eventually, Bellatrix resolved to herself quietly as she unconsciously dimmed the lights and made her way out into the hall. She then quickly made her way up to her bedroom and found dinner laid out. Harry was nowhere in sight however.

She quickly ate all the food and then went in search of Harry. Within a few minutes, she came across Tess. "Do you know where my husband is?" Bellatrix asked.

"I believe he went down to the beach." Tess replied. "Is there anything else?"

"No, but thank you." Bellatrix said absently as she wondered what Harry would find so attractive about the beach.

A few moments later, she had a cloak and was walking toward the double doors in the main entrance hall. They opened for her automatically and she strode through and onto the long bridge that led to the other island. She found Harry laying in a beach chair and watching the sunset on the same beach that they had been washed up on.

"Isn't it a little cold for a trip to the beach?" Bellatrix asked, drawing her cloak around her tightly as she observed Harry in his sunglasses, shorts, and tropical shirt. He even had some sort of drink.

Harry grinned. "Warming charm."

"Oh."

"Join me, and we can both enjoy the simple pleasures of owning one's own beach." Harry said as he conjured another beach chair for his wife.

Bellatrix looked skeptically around at the hard and rocky beach. It was not very ideal for sunbathing, beach volleyball, or sand castles. "It's not much of a beach." she observed as she sat down in the chair Harry had conjured.

"Only one I've ever seen." Harry said as he finished his punch with a big swig. The glass he had been drinking it out of disappeared.

"I didn't know that." Bellatrix said meekly.

Harry shrugged absently as he settled down. "It's okay. I take it that you've been to a few beaches in your lifetime."

"My father would often take us to various places over the summer vacations." Bellatrix said. "We visited the French Riviera a few times. It was a prime meeting place for wizards of the shadier sort. What sorts of vacations did you go on?"

"The Dursley's didn't take me on vacations. If they went somewhere, I had the pleasure of visiting an elderly neighbor of mine. When I turned eleven, Hogwarts seemed to be the perfect vacation for me."

"That's horrible!" Bellatrix exclaimed.

"That's just life." Harry said in a mellow voice.

Bellatrix was now fuming. How dare anybody treat Harry Potter in such a manner! Or any other child for that matter. With these thoughts an idea arose. However, Bellatrix shoved it aside temporarily because their conversation had reminded her of another issue that she had wanted to bring up.

"Harry? I've been thinking." Bellatrix began.

"About what?"

She looked at him lying down in the beach chair so peacefully. How would he take it? Surprise? Shock? There was only one way to find out. "Children. I would like us to become parents."

Harry stared at her with a certain amount of surprise. He had not ever really considered having children at the age of sixteen. Come to think of it, he had never really planned on marrying someone twice his age. "Have children? As in…"

Bellatrix read his mind. "Getting me pregnant." she finished.

"Is it safe? What if Voldemort finds out about any children we have. They could be in danger." Harry thought out loud.

"If we put our lives on hold for his benefit, then he's won." Bellatrix said. "Besides, I highly doubt that Voldemort will ever be able to force his way into our fortress back there." She then gave him an extremely pleading look. "You would be the perfect father. Narcissa is proof of that."

"In what way?"

Bellatrix thought carefully before answering. "Your actions have appropriately punished her and she will learn her lesson. That's a good parenting skill."

"It will be a long time before any children we have are that old." Harry observed.

"What about that baby you gave a blessing to? You looked like a natural when holding it."

Harry shook his head. "Dumb luck. I have no idea on how to take care of a baby."

"We can learn together then." Bellatrix pleaded.

Not being really opposed to having a child, and not wanting to hear his wife reduced to begging, Harry made his decision. "All right. Let's have a baby."