Azkaban's Wrath

Finally, the jerky landing arrived in a much more violent form. Hermione felt most of her strength drain from her as she was tossed onto a surface made of coarse stone. As she landed, the Portkey was projected from her hands and it slid away from her. A faint splash was then heard. Weakly, Hermione stood up and looked to where the Portkey had gone. It had fallen off the edge of the stone surface and into some water below.

It appeared that she had landed on some sort of antique stone dock. The stone appeared to be quite ancient as evidenced by carvings and symbols that were now all but eroded away by the waves of the sea that constantly seemed to be crashing against the pillars that held the dock up.

A bird flew overhead and Hermione looked up and turned around to follow its progress. It soon flew from sight and her eyes fell downward. What she saw next disturbed her greatly. It was a great big fortress and as Hermione studied it, she felt a dreadful sensation. There were Dementors in that building. With that, the identity of her location assailed her. The wards around where Harry was hiding had repelled her to Azkaban.

Hermione gulped and looked around for any sign of human life. There was none whatsoever. That was to be expected of course. Hadn't the Ministry been evicted from the island by Harry? Maybe some of Harry's followers were here. Deciding that it was worth a go, Hermione started walking up the dock toward the land.

Within a few feet of walking, Hermione came to a small part of the dock that had not been eroded away. It was a circular seal with a one foot diameter. It depicted… something. Though the relief was as sharp as the day it had been carved, Hermione could not make it out.

Shrugging, Hermione decided to continue walking. However, the instant she crossed over the seal, some sort of power seized Hermione. She was instantly reminded of the body bind curse and expected to fall flat on her face. This was not to be the case however as whatever power that had assailed her chose to keep her frozen upright. Any further thought was cut off when the power pressed in upon her mind and froze everything.

After what seemed like hours, the force let Hermione go and she sighed with relief at her escape from whatever power had held her. The relief was a bit premature however. The 'power' assailed her again and instead of freezing her, it chucked her off the dock and into the ocean.

Hermione let out a bloodcurdling scream before smacking the water and performing a perfect belly-flop. This immediately knocked the already exhausted Hermione unconscious as an abnormally large wave blanketed her.

"You're just in time for a spot of lunch!" Harry declared heartily to Neville who had just arrived at Nair'icaix via one of Harry's special Portkey's. "Sit down and we'll arrange to have a plate made up for you."

Neville looked around the simple but elegant dining room and spotted Bellatrix, Narcissa, and Harry's two assistants sitting at the table. Harry had stood up and traversed the room to greet him. "I would hate to intrude." Neville responded politely. "Gran made me eat before I departed for here anyway."

Bellatrix shot him a knowing and slightly apprehensive smile. She was still uncomfortable around him due to his parent's condition. "I know about teenage boys." she said, glancing at Harry with a broader smile, "There's always room for some more food. Besides, you need something to keep the prune juice down with."

Everyone at the table snickered and/or smiled as Neville blushed faintly. "Thank you, milady." he said, seating himself at the table as Harry did likewise next to Bellatrix. He turned his attention directly to Harry as a plate loaded with food appeared before him. "I have some good news for you from Professor Snape. He would have come himself, but there were some engagements that he could not escape today."

"We have some good news too!" Harry said brightly, sharing a look with Bellatrix.

Neville decided to shove his own news aside for a moment. "What is it?"

"I'm pregnant." Bellatrix announced to Neville in a very demure voice. Apparently she was unsure as to what those who had known Harry before she had would think.

To say that Neville was shocked would be a bit of an understatement. He had not graduated from Hogwarts yet and one of his former classmates was already starting a family! "T-that's wonderful!" Neville exclaimed as he thought about what everyone else that Harry knew would say to that sort of news. "Do you know whether or not it's going to be a boy or a girl?"

"Not yet." Harry responded.

Before Neville could ask when they could find out, Bellatrix spoke up. "There are spells that can reveal that once I get further into the nine-months, but Harry and I have decided to just wait until the baby comes to find out. It'll be a surprise that way."

"Have you thought of any names?" Neville asked with a smile.

"Not really." Harry said as he finished off his lunch. "Narcissa has come up with plenty though."

...

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