"It would be worse than you think" Harry returned. "You know as well as I do who the Lestrange's are supporting and yes, Rudolphus is a complete moron but Riddle isn't, it would be him you are obeying and not the man you would be married to" he explained knowingly.
Bellatrix's eyes widened in realisation.
"You see my point then" Harry sighed. "If you want to support him then that should be your choice, it doesn't matter to me either way but you are a beautiful and intelligent witch, you are better than that". Bellatrix blushed at the praise but hid it well.
"But if you or your sisters were married to them then that choice would be taken from you and you would be torturing and murdering people in your spare time" he added seriously. "The blood that flows through peoples veins mean nothing to me, we are all witches and wizards and that's all that matters but none of that matters to Riddle, he just wants power and he will get it if we allow it".
Bellatrix nodded her understanding and sighed.
"Thank you" she whispered. "I don't even know how I can make it up to you".
"You really want to make it up to me?" Harry asked.
"I have to" Bellatrix answered flatly.
Harry shook his head. "You don't, but there is something you can do for me" he informed her, taking a towards her to close the gap between them.
Bellatrix swallowed nervously.
"What is it?" she asked, her mouth feeling very dry all of a sudden.
Harry took a second to give a conspiring glance around before speaking once more.
"Well treacle tart is kind of my favourite, but your cousin is a greedy git, if you could bring me some once in a while then call it even" he offered with a smirk.
Bellatrix shook her head in disbelief but smiled nonetheless.
"You really are a prat" she spoke with an uncharacteristic giggle. "But if that's what you want then fine".
Harry grinned triumphantly. "You'll have to keep Sirius away too, he is really persistent" he warned. "And you should definitely smile more, it suits you, it makes you less terrifying".
Bellatrix shook her head.
"What would people think if they saw me smiling?" she questioned in mock horror.
"I dunno, maybe that you are approachable" Harry shrugged.
"We can't have that now can we" Bellatrix sighed.
"Yeah, I suppose you're right" Harry conceded with a chuckle.
"Harry?" a worried voice interrupted the duo.
Harry turned to see a very emotional Lily staring at him worriedly but before he could speak, she threw herself in his arms and began to sob. "Why?" she questioned simply.
Harry swallowed back a little emotion at seeing his mother way and shook his head.
"He's doing it for me and my sisters" Bellatrix answered.
Lily turned and glared at the girl in complete disbelief.
"I don't understand" she stated flatly. "Your brother said it was family stuff".
"My mother is a Black and I had to do something" Harry sighed. "Her and her sisters were being forced into a marriage contract with really bad people and I was the only that could help".
"But you could die" Lily retorted bluntly.
"I'll be fine" Harry assured her.
"You don't know that" Lily replied heatedly. "I don't want you to die". "Lily, I will be fine just trust me, please" he pleaded.
"I don't like it" the redhead choked as she buried her head in his chest.
"I should go" Bellatrix cut in, clearly feeling awkward. "Good Luck" she added before turning away feeling dejected and a little upset.
'Why did I even bother' she sighed inwardly, feeling another stab of sadness.
After managing to calm Lily down and repeatedly having to ensure the girl he would be fine, Harry managed to make his way to the dormitory and begin making his arrangements, just in case things did not go his way, though he was very confident that he would decimate Dolohov.
It was around 3pm that he made his way to the charms classroom to meet with Professor Flitwick as requested. He knocked on the door and was bid to enter immediately upon doing so.
"Mr. Potter" Flitwick greeted him with a nod. "I just wanted to have a short discussion with you about your duel and maybe test you a little if I may? I was a duelist myself and have crossed wands with Dolohov on a couple of occasions".
"Of course Professor" Harry agreed.
He was confident in his abilities but an extra insight into the man he would be facing would be foolish to decline.
"Dolohov is a very gifted duelist as you can imagine, he is a world champion after all' the diminutive man began. "His strength lies mostly in his curses but he relies on power too much, I just wanted to see the kind of duelist you yourself are and offer you some pointers if need be" he finished.
Harry nodded his agreement. "OK, so how about a little practice duel, nothing too dangerous of course" Flitwick offered, drawing his wand.
Harry smirked and nodded before closing his eyes, finishing with a deep breath.
Flitwick's own widened as the teen opened his and he could see them glowing a bright green, his hair dancing slightly as his magic coursed through him.
(BREAK)
It was around an hour later that Professor Flitwick left the classroom, completely dumbfounded by what he had seen, he had even had to have a shot of firewhisky to calm himself.
He made his way to Dumbledore's office lost in thought, too many thoughts for a single one to be coherent and knocked on the door after the gargoyle had allowed him entrance. "Enter" the voice of the headmaster sounded simply.
Flitwick pushed the door open to find every member of staff waiting for him to arrive before beginning.
"Are you alright Filius?" McGonagall asked worriedly, seeing the usually bouncy professor appearing rather pale and subdued.
Flitwick shook himself from his thoughts and shrugged, not knowing what else to do.
"How was your meeting with Mr. Potter?" Dumbledore inquired. "I assume you wanted to give him some tips".
"There's very little I can do for the boy" Flitwick stated, shaking his head.
"Oh dear" McGonagall sighed.
"The boy is phenomenal" the charms master added in a whisper. "What do you mean Filius?" Slughorn asked.
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