Upon awaking, Bellatrix discovered her uncle Orion standing next to the bed looking down at her. Disorientated, Bellatrix quickly took in her surroundings. Seeing that she was in Professor Ashworth's bed abruptly reminded her of the past night's events-that and dull pain in her abdomen. She gulped, suddenly very embarrassed to have Orion Black present. "Good morning," she said brightly.
"It's good afternoon," Orion said shortly. He sighed and sat down on a chair that had been placed next to the bed. "Mr. Ashworth contacted me about your escapade last night." The elder Black shifted his head and gestured toward Harry, who was also sitting in a chair, but across the room.
Bellatrix shot Harry a dirty look. "What does he know about my escapade?"
"He knows enough," Orion retorted. "Don't you realize that you could have gotten yourself killed?"
"Oh please," Bellatrix said, folding her arms. She knew that the situation had been serious, but she wasn't about to admit it to anyone else but Harry. "I'm fine."
"Fine, is it?" Orion growled. He turned toward Harry who was looking distinctly uncomfortable. "How many ribs did you think might be cracked, or worse? How much tape did you have to put on? What about her back?"
"It was pretty bad," Harry said, blushing.
Bellatrix scowled at Harry. The traitor!How dare he run to her family and tell them about her medical problems! This thought caused Bellatrix to blush as the events of Harry having to patch her up and put her to bed surfaced in her memory. She glanced down at her torso and discovered that she was wearing an unfamiliar pajama top. It probably belonged to Harry. Deciding that the embarrassment should belong to Harry, Bellatrix glanced up at him, made eye contact, and winked.
Harry's blush deepened while Orion let out a very put upon sigh. "From now on, Bellatrix, you shall not participate in such activities. If Mr. Ashworth tells you not to do something, you will obey him as if he was me."
"You're not my father!" Bellatrix declared.
"Don't even get me started on that," Orion thundered. "If your father so much as suspected how close you came to being killed, he would withdraw you from Hogwarts. As it is, he only knows that you had a minor problem with some aspiring followers of the dark lord. Do you want me to bring him into this?"
"No, please," Bellatrix said, feeling suddenly grateful to her uncle. She had no desire to leave Hogwarts, at least as long as Harry Ashworth was puttering around the place pursuing his crusade against Voldemort.
"Good," Orion said. "As I said, Mr. Ashworth is the boss when you're beyond my and your father's reach. I have also made other arrangements with regard to your protection."
"Arrangements?" Bellatrix asked.
"In case you failed to notice, the aspiring dark wizards and witches were students at this school. They will probably wish to harm you." Orion said.
"I happen to know which ones are after me," Bellatrix said. "Can't we just have them locked up?"
"Let me guess," Orion said, pretending to be thoughtful. "Lucius Malfoy, the Lestrange brothers, and assorted Crabbes and Goyles-among others."
"How did you know?" Bellatrix asked, surprised.
Orion smiled shrewdly. "They realized that you had escaped back to the castle and have fled Hogwarts. Old Dumbledore was pretty surprised. Their disappearance was not detected until I showed up."
"Dumbledore knows?" Bellatrix asked.
Orion sighed. "How could he not? Even if I had been able to borrow your father's soon-to-be authority to move against those fools, I would have had to explain to Dumbledore. As it is, Dumbledore doesn't know everything that went on. Malfoy, the Lestranges, et al., have made it easier on us by fleeing. Since they're not here to explain themselves, Ashworth and I were free to emphasize or play down the occurrences we chose. The bottom line is that Dumbledore now knows that you came dangerously close to getting mixed up in some sort dark organization and nearly got killed. He will cooperate with us in protecting you from retribution."
"Retribution from who, exactly?" Bellatrix asked. "It sounds like the wizards who tried to kill me have departed."
"Unless you're capable of naming every student that was present last night, we're going to assume that you're in minor danger. Tom won't appreciate the fact that someone set against him is cognizant of his activities." Orion explained.
Bellatrix sighed. "I guess you're right. What is the old man going to do to help protect me?"
"You're going to take up residence in Gryffindor Tower," Orion informed Bellatrix.
She gasped. "Gryffindor Tower! That's awfully extreme."
"The Gryffindors are somewhat idiotic at times," Orion said, "but they don't often have dark tendencies. Furthermore, your cousin Sirius is a Gryffindor. I'm going to assign him to keep an eye on you when Mr. Ashworth can't."
"He's a fourth year!"
"So?"
"I'm a sixth year. I don't need protection from some little snot."
"The little snot happens to be my son."
Bellatrix ignored that she had potentially insulted Orion and pushed her argument. "You say that the whole purpose of getting Sirius involved is to protect me when Ashworth can't. Why not arrange for Ashworth to be able to take care of me? Dumbledore could set up another bedroom in here."
Orion glared at her, but his glare was soon replaced with a mask of indifference. He turned to Harry. "Say, Mr. Ashworth, why don't you run up to the hospital wing and inform the good nurse that Bellatrix will shortly be up for some minor treatment? After that, why don't you head over to that pub we discussed? Tell Cygnus and Romulus that I'll follow shortly."
Harry nodded, looking vaguely relieved to escape. "Of course," he said. Within a few seconds, he had departed from his living quarters.
As soon as he was gone, Orion rounded on Bellatrix. "Relationships between students and teachers are frowned upon, Bellatrix."
"I wasn't suggesting a romantic relationship," Bellatrix said.
"I'm not stupid, Bellatrix."
"Mr. Ashworth is entirely honorable. He would never prey upon an impressionable female student."
Orion shook his head. "You would prey on him, though."
"Are you suggesting that I molest professors?"
"Bellatrix," Orion ground out, "your behavior has already been inappropriate. Professor Dumbledore brought the issue up with me this morning. He and Professor McGonagall have observed that you spend every minute of your free time in Ashworth's office or living quarters. The entire school is talking about it."
"Busybodies!" Bellatrix spat out.
"That doesn't change the fact that you're apparently becoming very close to Harry Ashworth," Orion said. "Perhaps too close."
"I'm seventeen, Bellatrix said. "I'll do what I want."
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