Chapter Text
As they fought their way into the cavernous room, Hermione, Neville, and Harry could see the others backed up against a wall on the far side of the room. Ron appeared to be bleeding from long gashes on his arms while Ginny was leaned back, clutching at her side. Once through the door Harry once again felt the intoxicating magic weaving its way into him but this time he is prepared and strengthened his mental barriers to block the magic out. Still it pulled at him, tugging at his skin with pricks of heat, begging him closer… to reach out and touch the veil.
"Now Potter…." He heard Lucious shout out "just give up the prophecy and we will let you all go."
Harry made a stabbing motion with his wand and the nearest Death Eater's spell rebounded. Though, with this motion he left his right side open to attack and he felt a spell hit him as he flew into the room and down to the next set of steps. With a resulting crash, the force of impact, Harry felt his hand start to release the prophecy.
"Accio proph-" one faceless Death Eater intoned before Sirius rushed into the room, ramming into the Death Eater and sending them sprawling. With this break, Harry regained his grip on his wand and the prophecy. He sat up, clutching at his ribs as Sirius began to duel. Wands swinging and lights flashing as other Order of the Phoenix members poured into the room.
Harry saw Ron crouched over Ginny and Luna who appeared unconscious and Ron was clutching his ankle, with blood dripping down from another cut on his forehead.
The Death Eater Sirius was fighting had left their back open and Harry cast Petrificus Totalus. The Death Eaters arms and legs were now bound together and they fell forward onto the ground.
Sirius glanced up, smiling at Harry before looking around for the next Death Eater. Tonks and Kinsley were similarly battling around the room.
"Go, get out of here." Sirius yelled back at Harry. "Take your friends and run."
A spell hit below Harry's feet, cracking the stone platform he stood on. And he toppled backwards into Neville who was lent over reaching for Hermione’s hand. The prophecy Harry had protected was launched from his hand and a pale form began to drift out. Though with the sounds of battle it was unheard before disappearing into the void.
Without the prophecy Harry didn't have to worry about protecting it. He glanced around the room, tearing his eyes off the door and could see only Bellatrix and Sirius still dueling in the center of the room, exchanging spells, neither gaining an upper hand. Harry saw Sirius duck under a beam of red light and he spun closer to the haunting veil. The second beam of red light hit him square on the chest. The laughter from before stopped on Sirius petrified lips and he tipped backwards through the veil.
Harry's eyes widened and before he realized it he was hurrying down the cracked stone platforms as Sirius began to disappear, not appearing out the other side of the fluttering arched veil.
"Sirius!" Harry yelled, yet Siris could not respond. Using the panic to his advantage, Harry sprinted towards the veil and jumped up upon its platform before anyone could reach him. His breath came in searing gasps and before he could think of a better option he pushed through the tattered black veil as a hand clasped firmly around his waist.
A burst of bright light assaulted Harry’s senses as sight came back to Harry first. A bright white and gray forest shimmering with mist is what first hits him. Then the rotten smell of decay and the baying of dogs echoing through the trees.
"Sirius!" Harry yelled again before he could wrap his brain around what he was seeing. An alternate dimension? Death? What is it that the Department of Mysteries was hiding in that room? And how long had he been standing there regaining his bearings. The trees are ancient glittering things, reaching tall into a midnight sky. He tried trudging further into the realm but found he couldn't move for the frozen hand wrapped tight around his waist. Half of Harry’s body appeared to be outside the veil along with the person keeping him secure.
"Harry?" He hears a shout from beyond the nearest tree, it sounds like Sirius but the voice is overplayed by ripples almost like being underwater. That is when Harry notices the crunched grass and bent branches leading away from him. He tries to move forward towards the voice, yet can't. He looks around and sees a reflection of the veil in the mist, half his body stuck on the other side.
"Damn" he can't go in any further to pull Sirius out.
The baying of dogs is getting louder, closer, and that sound fills Harry with terror. Would the dogs tear them to pieces if they found them?
"Sirius, can you follow my voice?"
Harry heard a gurgle in reply and the sound of trudging footsteps, the crackle of dried twigs and leaves.
The ghostly form of Sirius rounded the nearby tree and reached out for Harry. Harry grasped his hand and pulled him towards him and he leaned back out of the veil.
It was like emerging out of a frozen lake as the sounds and sights of life assaulted Harry. It was overwhelming compared to the peaceful lullaby of the veil. When he emerged from the veil Harry felt a hand gripping his shirt tugging him backwards and heard Bellatrix's triumphant shrieks. Harry turned towards the noise and saw the look of fear in Professor Lupin's face who must have had a tight grip on Harry to stop him from plunging fully through the veil. With one final pull Sirius fully emerged from the veil. Ghostly pale and appearing slightly faded though that was quickly fading as his cheeks become rosy from the warm air and frost snapped from his hair.
"Harry?" Sirius croaked out as he folded over onto the floor.
Everybody seemed to freeze staring at the ancient veil and where Harry stood. Time seemed to freeze and Harry felt the lull of the magic again. He felt stronger, faster, and absolutely ready for a fight, and that's what Bellatrix wanted. Before Lupin could recover from the shock of Sirius's reappearance, Harry took off again. Following Bellatrix's shrieks, the calls of "I killed Sirius Black."
All Harry could think was 'no you didn't, I brought him back, but I'll kill you' as he raced up the steps and into an elevator.
He forced his way out of the lift as the grills were opening, seeing Bellatrix nearing the telephone box on the opposite side of the forum he yelled out to her. She looked back at his running form and took out her wand and aimed a spell at him. Harry lunged to the side, the spell hitting a fireplace behind him. He spun to take cover behind the golden fountain. There were no more footsteps, Bellatrix had stopped running.
"Come out Harry!" She called out again in a mock baby voice. "Did you come to avenge my dear cousin?"
"I would!" Harry called back to her "but he's not gone." And the word seemed to echo around the empty forum. Hatred rose in Harry tying into the intoxicating death magic he felt from the veil, the strength he had felt from passing through the veil filled him again.
"Crucio!" He fired filled with a burning hatred and a dark power. His hand shook but the spell flew true and struck Bellatrix. She screamed as the curse knocked her off her feet and onto the black marble floor. However she did not writhe in pain nor scream but he instead heard laughter and movement to regain her standing.
"Crucio!" Harry yelled again and hit her. This time breath was knocked out of her and she let out a moan before shaking out her body and sitting up.
"Never used an unforgivable before, have you boy?" She abandoned her baby voice “You need to mean them, Potter! You need to really want to cause pain - to enjoy it - righteous anger won’t hurt me for long - I’ll show you how it is done, shall I? I’ll give you a lesson -”
That filled Harry with more rage because he did mean it. He wanted to hurt her, to make sure she couldn't hurt anyone else, especially his friends. A darkness seemed to fall over Harry's vision as shadows started to curl together in the edges of his vision. Without conscious thought he moved his wand, pointing it towards Bellatrix and slashed forwards without an incarnation. Merely pouring all his hate, his rage, his fear into the spell as the shadows overcame his vision turning the room to blackness outside of the prone form of Bellatrix on the floor. This time she screamed and Harry relished the noise. She twisted and her back arched off the floor as the shadows Harry saw seemed to invade her body, filling through her mouth and nose. She turned onto her front and vomited. A mass of dark liquid erupted from her throat before turning into a light mist.
"That's better, Potter!" She cackled "that's how it's done."
"Crucio!" She screamed and Harry ducked back behind the fountain. He could hear her moving with a slight limp trying to get a clear shot. Harry mirrored her movements, moving around the fountain to keep hidden.
“I was and am the Dark Lord’s most loyal servant. I learned the Dark Arts from him, and I know spells of such power that you, pathetic little boy, can never hope to compete”
Remembering a spell he saw in the restricted section on one of nightly adventures Harry rises over the fountain edge and yells out. The spell spins across the room in a wide arch, taking Bellatrix off her feet again. This time her head makes a solid thud as she hits the floor and she lets out a shuddering cry. Harry scrambled towards her to see the effect of the spell as flaming black lines appeared across her skin and the smell of burning flesh filled the air. He held his wand still as more lines cracked across her skin, the spell still active.
"That's good Harry." He heard a soft voice say from behind and whipped around spell still active to see Voldemort standing a few paces away wand twirling in his fingers down by his side. Tall, thin and black-hooded, his terrible snakelike face white and gaunt, his scarlet, slit-pupilled eyes staring… Lord Voldemort had appeared in the middle of the hall. Harry stood frozen, quite unable to move.
"Impressive, such hate, such power." He muttered. Now in a louder voice he ended the spell upon Bellatrix though she never moved afterwards. "Now Harry give me the prophecy and I may let you escape."
"We'll you're going to have to kill me, I don't have it, it was destroyed in the Department of Mysteries." Harry roared as his scar began to burn across his forehead. He felt a surge of fury quite separate from his own. The pain began to make his eyes water until he felt a invisible wave of magic curl around his face cooling it down. He recognised the feel of the cool magic from the veil. Harry laughed, the magic was still following him. It made him feel stronger and without fear. It felt right, like the magic was his to command. It felt dark and that he decided was what he needed to match Voldemort.
"AVADA KEDAVRA!”
Harry dodged.