"You're a mess."
Harry glared at the young woman who was sitting in his armchair as he stepped out of the fireplace in his quarters at Hogwarts. It was late at night, probably just before ten. Curfew would be in a few minutes, which made him wonder what Bellatrix was doing in his private quarters. That thought was quickly followed by the question of how exactly she had gotten into his private quarters without him letting her in.
"For your information," he told her, "your uncle is a mean duelist."
"I know. He used to be one of the best in his youth." Bellatrix smirked. "He trained me."
"That explains a few things," Harry muttered to himself.
"So, how badly did he wipe the floor with you?" she asked gleefully. Harry wondered if maybe this had been a ploy of hers all along, in order to get revenge for losing to him all the time.
"It was a draw," he said."
"What?" Bellatrix jumped out of her chair. "No way!"
"Believe it. We stopped because we didn't want to blow up half the building while we were at it." Harry wisely decided not to mention the fact that, had the battle gone on any longer, he would almost certainly have lost. While he was younger, Orion had the skill and experience-and, most importantly, the variety-to keep him on the run the entire time.
"So, what do we do now? What's my uncle's plan?"
Harry idly noted that Bellatrix seemed to have inherited her uncle's ability to change topics without batting an eye. He took off his robe and carelessly tossed it over the back of his desk chair. "Your uncle is going to bring a vote of no confidence before the Wizengamot. He's planning to replace Thornton with someone more capable."
When Bellatrix remained silent, he turned to look at her. "What?"
"And what exactly is your plan?"
"Aside from lying down and getting some sleep?" Harry narrowly dodged the kick at his shin. "What was that for?"
"I told you to stop monkeying around, Ashworth!" Bellatrix spat angrily. "Need I remind you that you were the one who told me that this was serious, and dangerous? I really hope you have a plan to deal with this dark lord, because now my head's on the line, too!"
"Relax, I've got a plan," Harry assured her. "And yes, it's still a work in progress. And you should be glad that it is, because if I didn't adapt it to whatever Tom is doing, it wouldn't be a very good plan, now, would it?"
"Well, then, care to clue me in, Ashworth?" Harry had to chuckle at the pose Bellatrix was striking. Back straight, fists stemmed into her hips with a defiant glare, she was the complete antithesis of her future self.
"It depends on how much support your uncle can rally. If the vote passes, then I can operate much more freely, under a government that will actually sanction any actions against Tom. If he doesn't, well…" Harry shrugged. "It wouldn't be the first time I've had to operate under the radar."
"Under the what?"
"Radar." Harry shrugged. "Sorry, muggle expression. It means-"
"I got the gist of it, Ashworth. No need to go all muggle studies on me." Bellatrix frowned at him. "Back to my question. What now?"
"For now, we'll keep our ears to the ground. Undermining Tom's support with the pureblood families is top priority. He may be able to attract all the young folk to him, but I'm willing to bet that their parents aren't going to be so quick to jump on the bandwagon. If we can deprive him of access to their fortunes, half the battle's won."
Bellatrix shook her head. "Not likely. Hate to break it to you, but if he throws them the same pitch as he did the kids last week, then there'll be quite a few families who'd be willing to join them. A lot of them resent the current government for stripping them of their titles, and they blame the loss of their wealth and influence on anyone but themselves."
Harry shrugged as if it didn't concern him, knowing that it would annoy her. "Plan B, then."
When he turned around and Bellatrix was still there, staring at him expectantly, he carefully hid a grin. "What?" he repeated.
"Well, what is it?" she almost sounded whiny. Impatient. Harry enjoyed it for a brief moment.
"Obviously, Tom is working in secret because he's not ready for a large-scale attempt, yet. He's not ready to show himself to the world. Maybe it's because he doesn't have the resources, or enough support. Maybe he's not quite done with whatever dark magic he's studying. Whatever the case, he's got a reason for staying hidden. All we need to do is give him a better reason to come out." Harry smirked at the incredulous look on Bellatrix's face.
"You want to lure a dark lord out on purpose ?" she just about shrieked. "Are you bloody nuts ?"
"I'm perfectly sane, thank you," Harry replied with a hint of amusement. "Think about it. If we draw him out before he's ready, we can engage him while he's off-balance. He won't have all the support he's expecting. He won't be strong enough to carry through with whatever plans he's made originally."
"And how do you propose we do this?" Bellatrix asked, her voice heavy with sarcasm. "Just walk up to him and ask him nicely to come show his face?"
"I have a few ideas," Harry replied vaguely.
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