Dueling Hearts Ch. 15 (Patreon)

Lily and Bellatrix didn't make it out of Bella's quarters until late afternoon, and the two women received more than a few weird looks as they walked through the halls together. After all, their mutual dislike was an open secret among the entire school population at this point.

"Maybe we should keep up appearances?" Lily mused.

Bellatrix grunted in the negative. "Are you fucking kidding me? That’s not my style, red. I don’t do moving in the shadows.”

“You don’t do subtlety, is what you mean.”

Bella ignored the jab. “For now, we'll just tell everyone I smacked some sense into you and now you're my best friend."

Lily scoffed. "No one in their right mind would believe that, it makes more sense the other way around."

"Like you could ever smack me."

"Keep pushing and I will." Lily warned, earning a sultry look from Bellatrix, who seemed very eager to see Lily attempt to slap her.

"Lily, Bellatrix. It's wonderful to see the two of you getting along!" Dumbledore's jovial voice startled the two women, who had lost sight of their surroundings.

"Headmaster! G-Good afternoon." Lily responded.

"Almost evening." The glint in his eyes as he smiled at the two of them was unnerving, as if he'd figured out exactly what they'd been up to all day.

"Yes, the circus is in an hour or so, right?" Bellatrix asked, acting much more calm and collected than Lily.

Dumbledore chuckled. "Indeed, I'm actually heading down there to greet the ministry representatives."

"Oh, should we be there as well, Albus?" Lily asked.

Dumbledore shook his head. "No need, I know you'd rather not be subjected to such torture."

The two of them laughed forcibly as Albus gave them a final nod and continued on his way.

"By the way, Lily. I believe young Mr. Potter is in the Hospital Wing, though the young man seems to be in quite good spirits, all things considered."

With that, Dumbledore parted from them.

"Wait for it." Bellatrix whispered, a hand on Lily's shoulder as they watched the aged Headmaster disappear around a corner.

"Now!"

The students of Hogwarts were treated to a peculiar sight. The sight of two dignified professors sprinting through the halls on their way to the Hospital Wing.

…

When Lily and Bellatrix rather ungraciously skidded to a halt at the entrance to the Hospital Wing, Lily a bit more out of breath than Bellatrix, both women fixed stern expressions on their faces.

Harry was sitting in a bed with bandages around his shoulder and torso. Daphne was next to him, leaning on his good side as she leafed through a magazine.

"Harry James Potter!"

Both teens jumped, with Daphne fumbling her magazine until it fell off the side of the bed.

"Mum!... Bella." Harry's voice became confused at the sight of his mother and his mentor standing together, and looking rather comfortable in each other's presence.

He shared a pointed look with Daphne at this development, both of them deciding they’d need to discuss it further once alone.

"What did you do now?" Lily asked in exasperation.

"You act like I'm always getting into trouble." Harry whined.

"What happened?" Bella asked, much more calmly than Lily, eying Harry's injuries with a critical eye.

"Harry got into a duel with a Durmstrang student. He won." Daphne said proudly.

"Harry! What did we talk about when you took that apprenticeship!" Lily scolded.

"A Durmstrang student? How did this happen?" Bellatrix continued to inquire.

"It was Fleur Delacour." Harry admitted. "The girl with the tattoos."

"And you beat her?" Bellatrix's voice was tinged with excitement now. "We're going to need to review that memory immediately." This was wonderful. She didn't know what had led to the duel, but facing live fire against an unknown opponent was the best experience one could possibly hope for in this line of work.

"Bellatrix!" Lily chided. "This event is all about international cooperation. You shouldn't go about dueling the foreign students."

"She had it coming, Lily." Daphne said firmly, and the tone of Daphne's voice was enough to temper Lily's indignation.

"You took some damage, she must have been quite the fight." Bella commented.

Harry grinned. "It was incredible."

…

It was time for the ceremony. There were ministry officials present, people whose names Harry didn't care for and wouldn't bother to know. He did recognize Percy among them. Harry waved, but the redhead didn't return it. He'd always been kind of stuffy.

"Tonight, we will officially reveal each school's representatives for each of the three events. Tomorrow, a schedule will be posted with all of the important dates on the calendar. Now, without further ado, I leave the stage for Mr. Ludo Bagman."

Dumbledore stepped off the dais and a short, good natured man with a few extra pounds on him stepped up.

"Evening, everyone! I hope you're all excited for all the wonderful, amazing displays of sportsmanship and artistry we're going to witness over this next year!"

Ludo was a very enthusiastic fellow, even when his crowd was a bit lukewarm to his boisterousness.

"First, we will introduce the teams for the artistic competition. For Beauxbaton, please welcome the Beauxbaton Ballet!"

Twelve girls stepped up to the center of the great hall, wearing their perfectly pressed Beauxbaton uniforms, hats and all. The girls bowed to the Ministry officials before they stepped off to the side.

"Representing Hogwarts, we have the… err… Wizard Wrestling Federation."

The sound of scraping benches filled the chamber as what seemed like a third of the school stood and made their way to the center.

"It iz clear 'Ogwarts iz putting more emphasis on quantity than quality." Madame Maxine said derisively as she looked down at the motley assembly of students that filled up the middle of the Hall.

"I find that quantity has a quality all of its own, Olympe." Albus said with a cheerful smile.

Harry hadn't realized just how many people were a part of this wrestling thing until they could all barely fit between the head table and the house tables. Harry found himself squeezed between Daphne and Susan. The redhead's chest was pressed up against his side, and Harry felt himself flushing as he met her eyes. Susan actually managed to maintain eye contact with him before Bagman's voice snapped them out of their reviere.

"Finally, Durmstrang's representatives!"

A pair of students walked up. They looked much like all the other Durmstrang students, solidly built with short cropped black hair and completely humorless faces.

"Those two must be quite talented, Severus." Dumbledore commented.

"More like they drew the short straw." Snape drawled.

All three teams were now side by side. Photographers from each country's major newspaper took pictures and they were finally allowed to return to their seats.

Once the mass of Hogwarts students had settled back onto their seats, Bagman began again.

"Wonderful! Now, for what I am sure is the most highly anticipated event for most if not all of you, let us present the Quidditch teams!"

Bellatrix looked like she wanted to strangle Bagman after he said that, and Harry noticed that his mother actually had a firm grip on the other woman's arm to keep her from doing something impulsive.

Once again, he was shocked by how his mother and mentor had patched things up so suddenly. Still, he wasn't going to look a gift Hippogriff in the mouth. He really needed to talk to Daphne about these developments.

The Quidditch teams were soon center stage. The Gryffindor chaser trio, the flying foxes, had all made it, along with Roger Davies and a Hufflepuff Harry didn't recognize as substitutes.

Harry had been surprised when Bagman had started announcing backups, since the Hogwarts house teams didn't have them. But it was a thing in international Quidditch, and they were playing by those rules.

The Weasley twins were the starting beaters with an older Slytherin as their backup. It seemed that Gryffindor's great synergy had served them well in the tryouts.

The keepers were both Ravenclaws, one a seventh year and his backup a fourth year. Finally, Harry got quite a surprise when the seekers stepped up.

He would have bet all of his Hogsmeade money that Diggory would be the starting seeker.

Diggory hadn't even made the team. Instead, the starting seeker was a redhead and her alternate a brunette. They were a pair of girls that Harry and Daphne had just this morning set up together.

"Wait, Ginny and Tracey are the seekers?" Harry asked, a bit louder than he meant.

Daphne sighed from his right. "No, it's Diggory and Malfoy under glamour charms. Of course it's them, Harry, where do you think Tracey's been developing that crush?"

"I haven't really been following the Quidditch tryouts." Harry said sheepishly.

"Gryffindor really came out winning, whole starting lineup except for the keeper." Ron puffed his chest out proudly.

"Good, that way when we lose to Krum we can all blame you guys." Daphne said cheekily, receiving instant glares from dozens of students clad in crimson and gold.

"Watch it, Greengrass, those table privileges can be revoked." A seventh year warned, more serious than joking.

After another photo op, it was time for the dueling teams to step up.

Harry and Angelina stood side by side, and he was reminded of how tall she was as they were basically shoulder to shoulder. Thankfully she was wearing school robes, so he wasn't going to be distracted by her bombastic ass.

Harry spared the Beauxbatons duo a single glance, a prim and proper girl with short brown hair and a brown skin boy with a pretty thick beard for a seventeen year old.

His eyes settled on their real opponents. Opposite them, also completely ignoring the Beauxaton duo trapped between them, were Fleur and Krum.

Harry wouldn't have been shocked to see visible sparks run between them as the four of them settled into a staredown.

Krum looked uninterested, but Fleur's gaze was intense. The girl was looking at Harry with something he couldn't decipher. It wasn't a hateful glare like before, but her eyes were locked on his with a burning intensity that made him slightly uncomfortable but also excited. He could work with this, he could figure out a way to convince her into the coven and get Daphne to accept.

"What you do to blondie, Harry? Seems like she has it out for you." Angelina whispered.

Harry shrugged. They posed for the photo op, not a single person smiling except for Angelina.

…

Later on that night, Harry was in Bellatrix's quarters. He was waiting anxiously as Bella stood over her pensieve. She wanted to take her time observing every angle of his duel, so she'd gone with the traditional method of viewing memories.

She'd been in there for over thirty minutes, and the memory itself had only been ten, so his duel was definitely being picked through with a fine toothed comb.

Finally, Bella emerged from the pensieve. Harry was unable to decipher her expression as she walked up to him.

He got a pretty good idea that she was pleased when she shoved him against the wall and captured him in a desperate, commanding kiss.

Harry turned them around, used to playing these games with her. When it came to dueling, Bellatrix had him on a string. She controlled and dictated, deciding when and how their duels, her playtime, would end.

Here though, Harry could impose his will. Even as Bella tried to fight back (she hadn't been this eager to wrestle back control in months) he stayed firm. He Squeezed the back of her neck as he wrangled her tongue into submission.

Bellatrix used one of her favorite weapons, digging her nails painfully into his shoulder blade. Harry hissed into the kiss but did not budge.

One of them, he wasn't sure who, waved their hand and vanished their clothes. They'd become so practiced at it that they could cast it both silently and wandlessly.

The barriers were removed and now their heat was mingling. They knew each other so well, Bellatrix was already raising her leg when Harry went to hold it up. He didn't have to look or aim, his cock was homing in on the heat radiating from her dripping cunt as he plunged into her depths.

They broke the kiss as they both reared back in pleasure, but not before Bellatrix's teeth scraped his bottom lip. Harry's hand went from the back to the front of her neck, squeezing Bellatrix's airway while his other hand held her leg up to allow him access to her treasure.

Harry stroked his thick shaft into her slick cunt, her heavenly pussy squeezing him for all he was worth. Bellatrix's nails were now digging into the arm that was choking her, and Harry felt a burning sensation as she drew blood on his forearm, but he simply squeezed harder. He saw her violet eyes roll to the back of her head as he squeezed up top and stroked down below.

His eyes dragged down to her breasts, those large milky globes that he adored so much. He needed to change position.

He relinquished his grip on her neck. Bellatrix let out ragged gasps as Harry could already see red handprints forming on her delicate skin. Surging forward until he was flush against her, Harry's balls contracted as he sealed himself into her cunt. Bellatrix trembled, but Harry focused on the task at hand, hooking an arm under her other leg.

It took Bella a moment to catch up, but she wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned forward, allowing Harry to carry her.

Bella was not small nor light, so it was an awkward march, but thankfully it was only a few steps to the bed. Her pussy bounced on his cock with each step, and Bella bit down hard on his neck before Harry finally dumped her onto the mattress.

Once on the bed, Harry became a man possessed. His previous slow, deliberate strokes turned immediately into manic, powerful thrusts that left Bella screeching. Harry buried his face in her tits, sucking desperately at a soft mound while his hand groped and squeezed the other.

Bella hugged him to her chest, her voice going hoarse as Harry fucked her into the bed. She was seeing stars in her vision, and she was caught by surprise when after one particularly powerful thrust, she exploded in an orgasm.

After spending the night and half the day with Lily, she thought she'd be better prepared to take on Harry's cock.

Instead, she was creaming around him like a little bitch as her vision blurred. Her fluttering pussy was in overdrive, and her only consolation was that her violent orgasm took Harry down with her.

The raven haired teen grunted with a mouth full of titty flesh, pushing hard and letting his balls empty into his lover.

It was a full minute before Harry's cock stopped twitching and he finally deposited every drop of his seed into her. Bellatrix felt her lower half begin to go numb, a pleasurable numbness as Harry's injected sedative spread through her insides.

Harry collapsed on top of her, though he still kept a breast in his mouth. He continued to suckle on it, keeping the wave of Bellatrix's pleasure cresting. She couldn't form coherent thought, she could only focus on the pleasure of his mouth gently suckling at her chest and the aftershocks as his slowly softening cock still plugged up her pussy.

When they woke up, neither had a clue what time it was. A quick tempus showed Bellatrix it was two in the morning.

'Fuck it' she thought as she wiggled deeper into Harry's embrace. She'd break the duel down with him tomorrow.

…

"So, I did good then?" Harry asked her with a grin as they sat on her bed.

Bellatrix had one of his t-shirts on, trying to ensure he wouldn't be distracted and they would actually be able to discuss the duel.

It wasn't working perfectly. Harry had already nuzzled and kissed into her neck.

'Be strong Bella.'

"You did well, but there was also much room for improvement." Bella said soberly.

Harry had done incredibly well, especially considering his opponent’s advantages, but one could never be complacent, and he hadn't been perfect.

"You did a good job of not letting her abilities surprise you or overcome you, but I definitely saw moments where you were standing and watching when you should have been casting and moving."

Harry nodded, having come to that same conclusion upon his own reflections on the duel.

"You were also very lucky. If you had faced a truly skilled opponent with those advantages, you would have had no chance. But that girl…conjuring a wooden shield? There are only select instances where a wooden shield would be advantageous over stone. And she lacked any type of imagination or creativity." Bella shot him a grin. "Which bodes very well for us, she won't be allowed to use those tattoos in a duel. It should be no problem for you to beat her without them."

Harry wasn't so sure about that. While he had beaten Fleur, he had a feeling the girl would train extra hard for their next encounter, driven to avenge her defeat.

'That just means I have to train harder too.'

"What were those tattoos anyways? I've never seen anything like it." Harry asked. It had been nagging at him for a while now, he needed to know the nature of the girl's abilities.

"They're very rare magic, especially on this side of the world. I've never seen someone with so many outside of the Polynesians, and even then never on someone so young."

"They drain your magic fast, don't they?" Harry asked.

Bellatrix nodded. "That's one of the drawbacks, and the reason she only activated three at a time. If I had to guess I'd say she might be able to use five at a time for a few moments before the backlash would overwhelm her. Though that also depends on the power of the tattoo."

"So they don't all drain at the same rate?" Harry asked in wonder, having not thought of that specific wrinkle.

"Of course not. The tattoo that enhanced her speed and reflexes was little to no drain in comparison to the dragon's might or that sowilo. If she had activated another rune instead of that one, she might have been able to go on for much longer."

"I understand that the dragon's might one increased her strength, but did it also-"

"Boost the power of her fire magic?" Bella grinned proudly. "Yes indeed. With her being a veela on top of that, her fire magic could be unstoppable if she were properly trained."

"You don't think she is?"

Bella shook her head. "She took a lot of shortcuts to gain power quickly, but she missed quite a few building blocks." She sighed. "What a waste. I'm sure that bastard Snivellus is the culprit there, as always."

For now, Harry ignored the jab at the Durmstrang headmaster, who he felt both Bella and his mother had some sort of issue with, to continue on the topic of Fleur.

"Even with all the drawbacks, why aren't there more people using those? They seem like they'd come in handy for an auror or a hitwizard."

Bellatrix's face hardened. "There is a reason, Harry. First, when active, the tattoos cause pain, the same pain you felt when they were being inked on you. The boosts they provide are considerable, but as you saw, it's nothing otherworldly. A witch that has been building her magic up properly over decades will still be superior."

"But if she builds herself up for decades, on top of her tattoos, she'd be something else, wouldn't she?"

Bella blinked, shooting Harry an indecipherable look as she shifted slightly in the bed. "You're right. But that's the problem, the type of people desperate enough to get those tattoos, they don't tend to last decades. The final, and greatest, drawback to those tattoos of hers, Harry, is that it needs a very special kind of ink. A rare magical ink. An ink that has been mixed in with the ashes of those that person loves most."

Harry blanched, his face paling at the implication. "But… but she has so many."

Bellatrix kept an impassive face. "Exactly. I doubt that she's had a very stable upbringing."

"Does…does that mean she killed them?"

Bella shook her head. "The tattoo wouldn't work if that were the case."

Silence hung in the air as the implication sunk in.

Harry's mind was going haywire. Fleur had lost her family, likely all of them. His curiosity grew with each passing moment. What had happened to her? What had led her to leave France to attend Durmstrang, to become covered in tattoos that left her in pain with every use?

Now more than ever, Harry was determined to find out all he could about the silvery haired witch, no matter how hostile she treated him.