COST OF POWER

[Godric's Hollow]

Ryan and Bellatrix apparated within the snow-covered streets. They were both exhausted after the big fight. Yet both refused to show any weakness. The cool night breeze caressed their cheeks while the dim streetlamps illuminated their path.

It was peaceful and quiet in this village, away from all the blood and chaos. But the tension of the ongoing war could be felt in the air. There were barely any people on the street and the shops were all closed, except for the pubs.

Bellatrix was limping as they began to walk. During the chaotic fight, she received multiple injuries that caught up to her after hours of apparating. The deep wound in her stomach and those deep gashes on her back caused excruciating pain every time she took a step. However, Bellatrix was Bellatrix and she never showed pain, or her weakness and weakness were unacceptable. Her bloodthirst and pain tolerance level was extreme, but at the end of the day, she's also a human. The excessive bleeding caused her to stumble forward.

Ryan caught her before she could hit the ground. He placed her hand on his shoulders, supporting her and keeping her on her feet.

Bellatrix tried to hide her injuries to avoid appearing weak and dependent, "Sorry, Master. I... I am alright." She removed her arm from Ryan and continued walking only to stumble again. Ryan caught her again.

"You don't need to act tough before me. Your injuries are deep," He helped her stand properly, "Get on my back." He placed her hands on his shoulders to help her stand upright while he moved down on one knee, showing her his back.

"What...? I could never impose such thing on master..." She couldn't believe her ears, the great Dark Lord was asking his subordinate to get on his back and he was taking her piggy-back. To others, this seemed unreal, something that could never happen, but there he was, on one knee, waiting for her to climb his back.

"Come, hurry up," Ryan didn't want to argue, he was tired too. He wanted to use potions to heal her but the potions he was carrying at the moment were all stamina replenishing and mental replenishing types. Since he could just hop from one body to another in case of critical injuries, he didn't bother to carry any healing-related potion, and the ones he took from the Department of Mysteries weren't labeled and there were too many to search on the street, right now.

"But..."

"Shut up and get on my back already!"

Bellatrix couldn't argue anymore and just got on his back awkwardly. Ryan stood up with her on his back, supporting her legs while she rested her head on his shoulders and her hands were wrapping around his chest tightly, a faint pinkish color appeared on her pale white cheeks as her long, black hair spilled over her face and shoulder. She was so close to his back, he could smell the scent of her feminine charm and so could she of his musk.

'Ahhh~ That feels better,' thought Ryan as he felt her body against his back, 'I could have used magic, but it'd be such a waste to let this nice chance slide. Hehe... To think Bellatrix, the insane cold-blooded killer is riding on my back and is submissive to me, really awesome.'

Ryan walked toward the nearest pub, hoping to get a room for tonight as he was too tired. He didn't want to set camp in the middle of nowhere because it might draw unwanted attention and there's still an impending danger following him. Voldemort won't let his interruption slide and considering his nature, he'll try to eliminate them both as soon as possible.

So, the pub would have to do.

A little rest and potion sorting would help.

He entered the dimly lit pub, its interior an odd mix of rustic charm and magical ambiance. The few patrons scattered around barely glanced up at the newcomers, too engrossed in their own affairs to notice the man carrying a severely injured woman on his back. He walked to the bar where a stout, balding man stood polishing a glass.

"Room for the night," Ryan said curtly, placing a few gold coins on the counter. The bartender glanced at the money and then at Bellatrix, raising an eyebrow but saying nothing, he pocketed the coins and handed Ryan a key.

"Up the stairs, third door on the right," the bartender grunted.

Ryan nodded and made his way up, careful not to jostle Bellatrix too much. Her grip on his shoulders tightened slightly with each step, but she made no sound.

The room was small and somewhat cleaner than what he imagined, but it was better than nothing. Ryan gently laid Bellatrix on the bed, her face pale and drawn from the pain. He rummaged through his Mokeskin pouch, pulling out a few unlabeled potions and examining them closely. He smelled a couple of them closely, but none of them looked like healing potions.

"Huh?!" Ryan noticed a blue color liquid in a transparent bottle which gave off a familiar aroma. He opened the bottle and took a sniff, "Essence of Murtlap... not very effective, but good enough..." He searched and found six more bottles of Murtlap Essence and a bottle of Blood-Replenishing Potion.

He glanced at Bellatrix who was sweating buckets and the blood loss had weakened her considerably.

Her hair was a mess, her clothes were soaked in blood and grime.

"Hey," Ryan softly touched her cheek, "Just hold on a bit longer."

He began to take off her clothes, his fingers nimbly undoing the clasps and hooks as she just lay there limply. He peeled off the bloodstained fabric and let it fall to the ground in a crumpled heap. Underneath was a battered and broken body.

"Fuck..."

Bellatrix's skin was riddled with countless scars of varying shapes and sizes, each one telling a story of violence, but the largest by far was the ghastly wound in her abdomen. It was as if she was struck by Sectumsempra Spell. But the other wounds look a little older. The Ministry interrogators must have tortured her, given their tendency for brutality.

"To think you were running around with these wounds. Haha... You really are insane, girl."

'I doubt this much essence would be enough to heal you. Well, you are lucky, I'm with you, girl,' Ryan thought as he took out his wand after concluding that the essence wasn't enough to heal her. Right now, there's only one spell that could help her, but it requires massive focus and stamina to pull it off.

Ryan opened two bottles of stamina potions and downed them. Immediately his muscles felt energized and ready for action.

His breathing became heavy as he pointed his wand at her naked, wounded body, and then, he said.

"Vulnera Sanentur!"

As soon as he used the spell, he could feel the massive drain in his stamina. The flow of blood slowed down soon enough. The bleeding has somewhat stopped.

"Vulnera Sanentur!"

This time, dirty blood began to ooze out of her wounds and then the wound began to slowly close. He held on to his focus and waited for all the wounds to close.

"Vulnera Sanentur!"

The final incantation of the spell sealed up the wounds, leaving behind ugly scars on her body.

"Argh! That was tough," Ryan slumped down on the bed beside Bellatrix. His head was spinning from the exertion and he felt as if he had run a marathon. "Damn! Can't believe it worked. Now I'm certain. I can use all types of spells, curses, or anything at that as long as I know the incantation and what it does. But this massive drain in my stamina... Fuck!" He felt a splitting headache coming on.

"Master? Are you alright?" Bellatrix was sitting beside him. She had regained consciousness and was looking at him with concern.

"Good to see you are alright. Never thought you would wake up within seconds," Ryan tried to smile, but it came out more as a grimace. His right eye began to throb which brought back the old memories. He had been trying to access that temporal space where he trained back when his body was at Azkaban, but he couldn't access that place or the power of the crystal, then he realized his new power to use all types of magic at the cost of his stamina. But that's it.

"But, that's good... I'm gonna take a nap. Guard this place."

Right now, that throbbing pain in his right eye felt like a curse, and before he knew everything turned dark.

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[17 advance chapters] 

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Next, Ch: 31: Trials, choices & consequences

Ch: 32: Villains aren't born, but made

Ch: 33: Moth flying toward fire

Ch: 34: A nice morning to die