The Assassin's Comeuppance #11 (Patreon)

A soft pop of apparition sounded once again in the living room of #12 Grimmauld Place. His mind in turmoil, Harry wasted no time and quickly dashed up the stairs toward his bedroom. As he reached the required floor, Harry quickly walked over to the room at the end of the hallway and pulled the door open.

“Master be early?”

“Not yet, Tinsel,” Harry remarked, walking up to the bed and sitting down.

“Will master be wanting tea now?”

Harry chuckled.

“Don’t worry about me, Tinsel, listen, I’ve got an important work right now, and I don’t know how long it would take, so I want you to take care of Teddy until I get back, can you do that?”

“Tinsel can do, Master Harry,” the elf nodded enthusiastically, and Harry smiled.

“Brilliant. I’ll try to come back as soon as I can, alright?”

“Master be working. Tinsel be taking care of young master,”

Harry patted Tinsel on the head affectionately, who beamed up at him. Dropping a soft kiss on his godson’s head, Harry stood up and fixed his clothes. With a nod, he walked out and shut the door behind him.

Instantly, the contented look on his face vanished and was replaced with a serious one. Something was seriously wrong with Elena, and he was sure Luna could help. But what kind of magic was that? Some intricate mind magic? Seemed that way. His mind swirling with thoughts, Harry reached his bedroom and tapped his wand on the doorknob. The wards came crashing down and he pulled the door open.

His eyes widened when he saw a purple spell careening toward him and he dodged it by the skin of his teeth. Another barrage of spells came flying at him in rapid succession, and he struggled to evade them all. A few cutters nicked him in the arm and shoulder, while the rest were either dodged or shielded.

The room was pitch dark, and he had no idea just who was flinging the spells at him. The only person in this room was Elena, but she was a squib. This person, whoever it was, was clearly well-versed in combat magic. Harry’s eyes widened when he saw a raven made of hellish black fire rushing at him. This was Black Family Magic!

It was only thanks to his familiarity with the Black Family Magic that he was able to dispel the curse that would’ve torn him apart in an instant, obliterating him.

“Lumos Maxima!”

A massive orb of white light shot out of his wand, and a loud female cry greeted him. Wasting no time, he cast an overpowered stunner in the direction which the cry came from. However, it seemed his attacker had anticipated such a move since he did not hear any thud of a body falling.

Now that the room was alight in a silvery glow, Harry could see clearly, and what he saw made him stagger.

There stood Elena, in her provocative attire from last night. But the look on her face was entirely in contrast to the sweet woman he knew her to be. Her face was twisted into a malicious snarl, her eyes squinted shut as a by-product of his sudden Lumos and he saw a glowing ring on her finger. He had noticed that ring before, one she always wore. Only now did he realize it was a magical conduit of some sort.

‘Obviously wands are not the only magical foci, does that mean she is not a squib? She lied? Why!? What’s going on!?’

His thoughts were interrupted and he had to hastily conjure another shield as she flung a blueish curse which he identified as frostbite. If connected, it would’ve frozen the point of impact with such severity that it would’ve torn that chunk of solid flesh right out of his body. A very nasty curse.

Her eyes finally opened, and Harry jolted. Gone were those beautiful grey orbs which enthralled him. Angry purple eyes glared at him with such hatred that he flinched in shock.

“E-elena!?”

She snarled and started flinging back to back curses at him. Bone breakers, laceration curses, piercing hexes, and odd frostbite mixed in between. Harry was barely shielding against the barrage of the onslaught, and he knew he couldn’t let this continue. The room was already destroyed, and it was a good thing that Teddy’s room was equipped with silencing charms.

Still shielding, he looked at Elena, and what he saw alarmed him. Her entire torso was glowing purple, the light visible through her thin nightdress, and the same purple glow was being emitted from that ring on her finger.

Her eyes were still filled with malice, and she was intent on killing him as painfully as possible. What else could be the reason behind her not using any unforgivable so far?

His eyes widened and he threw himself to the side.

‘Looks like I spoke too soon,’

The killing curse flew harmlessly through the door and impacted the wall right opposite it in the corridor.

She was intent on killing him, but he couldn’t retaliate. It was clear that Elena was not in control, and whatever magic it was that had taken hold of her was the one making her do it. But it didn’t mean he would sit there on his ass, shielding to save his life. Something had to be done.

It seemed his luck was on his side though, as he observed the frequency of spells dwindling slightly. It seemed casting so many powerful curses in such rapid succession had taken its toll on her. This was the opening he was looking for.

The moment he saw her stumble slightly, he sent another overpowered stunner at her and rejoiced when it connected.

Only to gasp in shock when the stunner had no effect whatsoever. His surprise cost him though, as she caught him with a painful Incarcerous, only the Black Family variant. Barbed metal wires wrapped around his body, holding him upright, as they cut lacerations into his skin. He winced in pain.

Elena slowly raised her head at looked him in the eye. The malice was still present, but he saw a small flicker of something else. A sense of regret? Struggle?

He didn’t have the time to ponder though, as a harsh voice sounded out.

“Know your place bitch! You’ve done enough damage already!”

Harry was feeling weirded out. Was she talking to herself? He shielded himself against another purple spell, still not firing any spell to subdue her. What use was it? His strongest stunner didn’t do anything. He doubted any other non-lethal spell would do anything. And anything lethal was completely out of question.

She looked up at him, and snarled, “I had hoped to take my time with you, Potter, but it seems you are more trouble than I expected. No matter. I can forgo some carnal pleasure if it means I can stay in control. She would be much easier to keep in line once you’re dealt with,”

“What are you talking about?” He asked hesitatingly, his wand still held aloft.

She laughed harshly, and Harry felt the hairs at the back of his neck stand up.

“I don’t have to explain anymore, Potter. You’d be dead soon, so it’s no use anyway,”

Harry somehow fired another overpowered stunner through his binds, and Elena shrugged it off yet again.

“This is magic at its pinnacle, Potter, your silly stunners won’t do anything. Although, if you tried for something more, maybe... but no. You won’t do anything to harm your precious Elena, would you?”

Harry grit his teeth, knowing she was right, whoever she was. One thing was for sure. This was not Elena.

She looked at him critically and smirked.

“I see you’ve made the connection. That’s right. I’m not your precious Elena. She’s crying, you know? Oh now that’s music to my ears. How I’ve longed to hear that sound for the past week!”

Harry stood there in silence. It seemed this thing, whatever it was, loved to monologue as much as Voldemort did. Well, no matter. He would let her talk. Maybe he’d get some information regarding Elena.

“It was not supposed to be this way, you know Potter? I was simply going to sample a taste of your masculinity and be on my merry way, obviously after killing you. But alas! You complicated things. It’s never happened in the past, you know? What happened was something that took me by surprise. I’ve let her out sometimes, but I always stayed in control, monitoring her, but that night, she somehow managed to rise up and bury me instead,” she snarled.

It was getting hard to stay focused when he was in so much pain, but he managed. Harry had started to get an idea of what she was. Her words had made it clear to a huge extent.

‘Elena is possessed by her? Is she a horcrux?’

His alarmed thoughts were cut off as she laughed harshly.

“Oh what a foolish thing love is... but so powerful as well. I never thought it would be so though,”

Harry looked at her with wide eyes.

“Oh yes Potter... little Elena is in love with you... has been for years. She’s heard all about you after all. All these years, your heroics have made waves all over the Wizarding World. And she’s heard about it all. Oh you should’ve listened to this little bitch whining from that cell of hers... always prattling about how you were innocent of whatever you were accused of, telling me you’d come to rescue her someday, blah blah blah,”

Harry’s eyes filled with unshed tears as he listened to this creature. He liked Elena too, a lot in fact, and he seriously believed that they could become something more down the line. Beneath the sorrow, his rage grew with every passing moment.

“Well, I guess you did come to rescue her... after all it was when she met you and shared those sappy moments with you that she managed to do what she hasn’t been able to do for so many years. That night after you left her was when she took control and overpowered me! ME!”

Harry flinched at her venomous shout and looked on as she heaved there in the middle of the room, her face etched in that vicious snarl.

“I know she’s the new one but I never expected to be chained down like that. But somehow she managed to do it. Since then I’ve been trying to overcome this bitch, and finally, after struggling for so long, I’ve managed. If only I knew the power of this love... well no matter, it’s not as if you’re going to live long enough for her to overcome me yet again, and I will be sure to exercise caution in the future. Can’t have them overpowering me yet again, you see,”

Blood kept pooling at his feet, and he could feel himself getting lightheaded due to blood loss. He had to do something though. If not for him, then for Elena. Elena! Yes, he had to take her to Luna. She had felt like she had an idea. She could cure her, couldn’t she? Yes. He had to stay strong, for Elena.

“You know Potter, I was going to take my sweet time with you. But not now. You are dangerous to me. I hope you understand I can’t take any chances. Goodbye, Harry Potter. I’ll be sure to send your lovely Elena to you in the afterlife. Just wait for a few years, will you?”

A maniacal giggle sounded out as Harry lifted his head to look at her through hooded eyes. He saw her raise her hand and point the palm at him. However, before she could cast the killing curse at him, a series of events happened.

“Avada Keda-eh!?”

A long rope of WWW’s finest sticky solution flew from the shelf behind her and wrapped her entire body, sticking her arms and legs together and rendering her completely immobile.

“What the fuck is this!?”

Harry wasted no time. “Tinsel, bring a vial of the Draught of Living Death here, quick!”

“What!?”

Tinsel popped in with the vial before his eyes widened in shock at the scene.

“Ma-master..?”

“No time to waste, Tinsel, pour the entire vial in her mouth, quick!”

The woman couldn’t move. The sticking rope had her stuck to the floor, her entire body bound. No number of cutters could get it off. Tinsel rushed forward and emptied the entire content of the vial inside her mouth. It took no time at all, and within a few seconds, the woman fell as silent as a corpse, her limbs limp and her eyes closed.

Tinsel quickly freed Harry from his bindings. Harry winced as he felt the wires embedded in his skin slide out, and more blood rushed out.

“Master Harry, here!”

Harry took the goblet full of Blood Replenishing potion from the elf with shaking hands and downed the content in its entirety. Tinsel meanwhile worked his healing magic and treated his wounds the best he could. He managed to patch the skin up until not even the scars remained. Harry could feel his strength slowly returning as he dropped down to the floor and rested his back against the wall, looking up at the ceiling.

“Tinsel be sorry, Master Harry. Tinsel not be hearing anything,” the elf whispered with droopy ears and tears in his eyes.

“Shh... don’t blame yourself, Tinsel. You couldn’t hear a thing. The runes on Teddy’s room prevented you from listening, and I doubt you could’ve done much,”

“Bad lady hurt Master Harry,” Tinsel muttered, looking at Elena. Harry stared at her downed form and sighed.

“She was not in control, Tinsel. Don’t blame her,”

“Tinsel does not like bad lady who hurt Master Harry,”

Harry chuckled.

“Careful Tinsel, who knows, maybe she would become your mistress someday,”

Tinsel’s eyes widened.

“Mis-mistress?”

Harry nodded, still gazing at Elena’s downed form.

“Maybe...”

*****

Fifteen minutes passed and Harry felt he had regained enough strength to take Elena to the Department of Mysteries. He pushed himself up to his feet and stretched, relaxing his sore muscles and popping those joints.

Earlier, he had thought to bring her under his cloak, but now he had a better idea. Grabbing his seven compartment trunk, he popped it open to the bedroom and levitated Elena’s prone form inside until she was laying down on the bed. With a flick of his wand, the trunk locked itself up. He quickly shrunk the trunk down to the size of a matchbox and pocketed it.

“Alright Tinsel, I’ll be heading out now. Take care of the house and Teddy, alright?”

“Tinsel be doing his job, Master Harry,”

Harry smiled, and with another affectionate pat on his head, he made his way out of the destroyed bedroom. Clicking his tongue, he tapped his wand to his clothes and fixed them so that they were pristine once again. Making sure he was ready, he twisted on the spot and apparated away.

The ministry was in full swing now, the employees and various personnel now arriving in spades. A few nodded at him with a smile and Harry reciprocated the best he could. His adrenaline might have cooled down, but he was still feeling anxious.

As he made his way to the elevator, he saw a couple of wizards staring at him intently. Blaise Zabini and Draco Malfoy – two people who had every intention to get rid of him, were standing to the side and staring at him. Once they saw he had noticed them, they turned to each other and started talking about whatever bullshit caught their fancy. He was not interested. They could wait another day. Right now, he had something that demanded his absolute priority.

Entering the elevator, he pressed the rune to Level Nine and stood back. The people inside the elevator greeted him, and Harry tried his best to listen to what one of them was saying to him. The elevator chimed, signaling its arrival at Level Nine. Harry apologetically bid the enthusiastic man his farewell, wishing him luck for the Arrows’ next game, and walked swiftly through the corridor.

His steps echoed throughout the familiar corridor, and in no time, Harry stood outside the door to the Department of Mysteries. Pulling the door open, he entered until he reached the trick room.

With a deep breath, he pulled out the key Luna had given him and entered it inside the keyhole. The door simmered slightly before taking a solid form in front of his eyes. Wasting no time, he grabbed the doorknob, pulled the door open, and walked inside into the darkness, his mind filled with thoughts and his feelings connected to Elena.

*****

To be continued...