Piece By Piece

Chapter Twenty-Eight: Cause and Effect

      "You're just in time to help us ressurect the Dark Lord!"

      Alarm bells rang in Harry's head as he noticed the dagger out and hanging at Bellatrix's side. He'd have to avoid that when she inevitably lunged at him. Nonetheless, he kept his composure. 

      "Because you're oh-so certain that I'm going to help you," Harrry said sarcastically. 

      The sneer on Bellatrix's face became even wider. "Well, you were such a big help last time, why not do it again? Aren't you overdue for a little healthy competition? For old time's sake?"

      Last time. Harry thought of himself trapped against that tombstone in the graveyard during the third task. He thought of his blood being collected in a small vial as Cedric Diggory lay dead on the ground near him. He wasn't going to let anything like that happen again. 

      Harry scoffed. "Fat chance, Bellatrix." He glanced around the room. The cauldron he'd seen in the mini-vision was now bubbling with a thick blue liquid. "Besides," he continued, wanting to prod any of the three Death Eaters present into revealing something helpful, "We've destroyed your Potions Lab. Blown the whole thing up."

      Harry could see Lucius and Dolohov shift uncomfortably in their spots. Good, he thought, I've struck a nerve. But Bellatrix's sneer hadn't waivered. She remained upright and just as devilish as she had been seconds ago. 

      "That won't matter for now," She said. "We have everything we need for this potion right here in this room; it's only two ingredients."

      Harry aptly noticed that no one in the room was missing an arm. There were now two ways he could stop this potion from reaching its final brew; and he was bent on doing that without letting anyone leave this room. He didn't want to bring this fight outside where more people could get hurt. 

      "You're never getting those ingredients, Bellatrix," Harry heard Hermione butt in. "You'll never bring him back. It's over."

      Bellatrix sneered. "Hardly, darling." She lunged forward and began to sprint towards Harry; calling back to Lucius to guard the cauldron. 

      The fight was on. Harry sent Ron to take Dolohov as Hermione sped towards Lucius and the cauldron. Harry himself stood his ground as Bellatrix got closer and closer. When they collided he used her momentum to throw them apart, barely avoiding her knife and letting her careen into a nearby wall while he only fell back onto his arse. He took the extra few seconds to stand back up and make a mental note to not get close enough to her again in case he got a cut. 

      Bellatrix took a rather long moment to recover, during which time Harry noticed that she'd dropped her knife. He scrambled to pick it up and put it in an empty sheath on his belt that he secured with a spell. Hopefully that meant it would be much harder for Bellatrix, or anyone else, to get her hands on anything that could maim him or chop someone's arm off. Harry moved a bit closer to Bellatrix, who was pushing herself off of the floor at a snail's pace.

      "Aw," Harry said with mock concern, "Are you alright, Bellatrix? If you want to surrender that's okay."

      Bellatrix whipped her head up to face Harry. Her expression was that of pure rage. She let out a guttural scream and threw herself at Harry, managing to get back on her two feet in the process. 

      Harry jumped backwards to avoid getting hit and flung a hex in her direction. She blocked it and sent a different one back; which Harry blocked with ease. They dueled, each with an equal level of fervor, but it was Harry who found himself being pushed backwards by Bellatrix's constant spellwork. Despite his own self-confidence, he had to admit that she was a skilled duelist. That combined with her passion for the Death Eaters made her the perfect candidate for Voldemort's right hand man- or woman. Harry just hoped they wouldn't reach that point. So he channeled that hope into stamina and coupled it with the revenge he knew others wouldn't get to take against Bellatrix. He fought like hell for Sirius, for Alice and Frank, and for the countless others he knew that had their lives ruined by the woman trying to kill him now. He was going to win this for them or die trying- and he wasn't going to die.