HP: The Arcane Thief

Axel turned around to see Bellatrix standing in the entrance, glaring at Daphne.

"You... you have some nerve coming to seek death on your own..." he said, standing up. Axel had too much anger for Bellatrix.

But Daphne pulled on his hand, knowing he would be angry. "Please… don't. Not because of me. Let's just leave, alright?"

Axel shook his head. "No, she deserves it."

He hadn't failed to notice the fact that if the curse had returned, Daphne might have really killed herself by now.

Axel never forgets to pay back what he's owed. And the revenge with this woman… it's been in order long before she even hurt Daphne.

"She will pay," he repeated, stepping forward.

But Daphne wouldn't let him do it. She hugged him, not letting him move. "Please… Can you not?"

As far as she knew, Axel was taking revenge because Bellatrix caused her to go through the curse again. Of course Daphne wanted revenge for that too. But...

Daphne knew that the woman ultimately wanted the good for Axel. Plus, she is the extremely powerful minister of magic! Daphne didn't want Axel to get into any more trouble because of her! Especially against a minister who is on his side.

With that crazy organisation coming after him, she wants him to have all the support he can get, especially since she herself is so utterly useless to him.

"Revenge is not the way. Don't do it. Please…?" she asked pitifully.

Axel sighed. "I hate it when you use that tone," he said, separating from her. But he held off on going savage… for now.

Bellatrix was surprised to see Axel and Daphne being so intimate. "Axel! You really need to rest right now! Why are you here?! And you," she said, glowering at Daphne. "Stay away from him!

Axel frowned. "Oi! You delusional spinster! What gave you the outrageous assumption that you have any say in my life? You are dead the next time you insult my friend! Apologize to Daphne right now and I'll consider letting you go for now," said Axel.

If Bellatrix was surprised previously, she was positively suspicious now. Axel sticking up for a girl? Especially one that he had already stopped interacting with a while ago?

She glared at Daphne, understanding that the bitch had once again trapped Axel somehow. "Axel, Why are you defending her? You do know that her father tortured you, right? Your Friend? You guys were no longer friends, but she has returned now that you are famous. Please understand, Axel. She is not someone you should be associating yourself with."

"What the fuck? You've been stalking who I interact with?" Axel was truly creeped out.

But Daphne ignored the things Bellatrix said. Her mind was only stuck in her previous sentence.

"Wait, you are recommended rest? You haven't recovered?! Why did you get out then?!" She asked in panic. Just now when they were messing around, she had felt that Axel was rather weak, but she had just thought that he was going easy on her. She had no idea he still hadn't recovered.

Axel was exasperated. "Well, I'd rather rest too. But I had to come and see if you had killed yourself," he said, pushing the tip of her nose with his finger.

Daphne blinked, looking sad again. "That... It's all my fault… I always end up being a burden!"

"Are you blaming yourself again? Did I show you all those memories for nothing?"

"No! Sigh.... I get it, I get it. But you are going to HAVE to rest from now on. I'm going to take responsibility for disturbing your rest."

"Here we go again..."

Axel and Daphne began arguing like a couple, as if there was no one here with them. Meanwhile, a certain minister who was completely ignored: "....."

She couldn't believe it. She refused to believe it! She has been keeping tabs on Axel for a while now. And the Axel she knows… he can never be this… gentle with any girl! And neither is he so talkative, or so... happy! Just like his father wasn't. It is simply not possible! It's too out of character for him!

There was only one explanation to this. Magical influence. That blond bimbo had used some kind of witchcraft on Axel to influence him. And the realization made her extremely angry.

Looking at the little bitch looking all doe-eyed at Axel whom she had trapped, Bellatrix decided she needed to know the consequences doing something so despicable.

"You!" she said, pointing her wand at Daphne, causing her to scream in pain. "You've done something to him, haven't you?! I bet it was one of those love potions! How DARE you?!" She asked, using her magic on Daphne. There were many types of Love Potions invented by now. Bellatrix suspected this girl had dozed Axel with one of the forbidden ones!

!!!

It all happened too suddenly.

Axel had tried to move in front of Daphne. But with the condition of his body, he was too late. By the time he came in front of her, she had already taken the damage from Bellatrix's spell.

Daphne began falling to the ground. She hadn't had anything to eat or drink for the days Axel was asleep. She was in an extremely weak state to begin with, and Bellatrix's spell, whatever it was, put her right into unconsciousness.

Even as he caught her and gently laid on the ground, Axel's ears were ringing, seeing Daphne getting hurt, yet again. How could this happen?! He wasn't expecting Bellatrix to be mad enough to do this.

"Daphne!" Axel tried shaking her, but she wouldn't wake up. No! This can't be happening! He was feeling so relaxed just a few moments ago, thinking that everything would be alright. But now, everything changed in an instant.

"Why...?" He murmured, his gaze turning to Bellatrix.

"Why would you do this?... Even after she just protected you?" He asked, even as a tidal wave of anger rose up in his mind. If not for Daphne's urging, Bellatrix would have already been suffering right now. Of course, kindness is never rewarded, is it?

*Crack*... *Crack*.... *Shatter*

His Occlumency shield broke down by the violent mental energy that had surged in his mind.

[Axel, your condition...]

A red alert came from the system, which wasn't even registered in Axel's eyes. He didn't know what came over him. But he was on Bellatrix in an instant, pinning her down by her throat with all his might.

Water appeared around them, surrounding them a whirlpool that would stop anyone from interfering.

"Axel! Cough!" You have... to stop! I'm on your side!" Choked Bellatrix. But Axel didn't listen at all. His mind was filled with too much anger to care.

This woman! She has crossed the line too many times. First Daphne almost got the curse again because this woman couldn't keep her mouth shut. And now she had, for some reason gotten in her head that Daphne had used love potions on him.

Axel didn't care whether her intentions were good or bad. If she's going to hurt Daphne due to them... she needs to pay. He had tried holding back. Well, lots of good it did to him, didn't it?

Axel was done holding back.

He looked down at Bellatrix with absolute loathing. He wanted her to pay. He wanted her to understand the price of hurting Daphne, not once, but twice. He wanted her to feel the worst pain he could imagine possible!

!!!

Suddenly, Bellatrix began screaming, pure terror filling her eyes.

She was no longer in the Greenhouse. She was surrounded in a blur of memories, living through all of them intermittently. Somewhere, she was getting her bones broken, somewhere she was getting slashed, somewhere she was going through the Crutiatus, somewhere something even more intense than that.

Bellatrix was feeling the worst torture she had experienced in her life, but even still, Axel didn't feel satisfied. He wanted her to realize exactly how far out of her line she was, at coming over and trying to dictate his life. And then hurting the people he cares about!

"You think you can have any say in my life?!" His voice reverberated in Bellatrix's mind, who was hoping beyond hope for the pain to stop.

The unbearable pain continued, but this time, memories that flashed in her mind were of the time she first met him two years ago.

…."You think she did this for our of kindness?"....

…."You are a nobody! She's just using you!"...

…."She just wants to know how you resisted the curse in order to cure her husband!"....

…."Let me read your mind and we both go separate ways!"....

She saw herself uttering those cruel words from Axel's eyes, and his feelings were also vividly felt by her.

He was still naive back then. He was just this homeless kid with nothing to his name, and had just found out that he might have been permanently disabled, and may have to live the rest of his life feeling jolts of pain running throughout his body.

But then this kind woman named Andromeda comes along and treats him so kindly for no reason. Axel knew better, but he couldn't help himself. He had trusted her. And he had allowed himself to hope, that perhaps, he could trust them.

He was actually very happy that day. Until SHE barged in and destroyed his happiness with such cruel words that it made him feel there was no one he could ever trust again. And what's worse… she enjoyed every second of it.

That is until she found out that he was not a stranger. But, does that change anything for him? No. He might be someone she needs to protect now, but for him, she was still the same bitch who took pleasure in thoroughly crushing him.

Bellatrix was still feeling the pain, but now, her conscience was hurting even more. She was crying.

"I'm sorry!"

"I'm so sorry!!!"

That's all she could repeat in her mind, over again and over again.

She heard Axel's furious voice again. "You think that's all you did? Wrong!"

The pain didn't stop, but this time, the memories were of Axel's life afterwards. How distrustful Axel was about the whole world after what she did to him. How he would push away anyone who tried getting close to him. How much hatred he had for her.

"It took a lot of time for me to recover from that!"

The memories showed his first meeting with Daphne and their gradual friendship. How Axel wouldn't trust her, no matter what she tried. How Daphne still smiled every time, despite his cruel and ruthless words of rejection.

"You think she used magic on me? Look clearly. It's called being kind, something can't understand. She is the one person I can trust fully. You then barge in, AGAIN, and almost destroy everything!"

The memories showed just how much Axel meant to Daphne: That the curse manifests as her losing all her recollection of him. And how close to death Daphne was after Bellatrix, in all her brilliance, had decided to revealed that her father was actually one who tortured the person she loved.

"I ALMOST LOST HER!" With the increased fury, the pain magnified, if that was possible.

But now, something had changed.

Bellatrix no longer resisted. All the torture she recieved, she willing accepted it. She knew deserved every bit of it! What she had done was really unforgivable.

"Kill… me…. Please….."

That's all she desired. She didn't deserve to live. All this time, for the sake of her family, she had done terrible things to many people. And she never felt an ounce of guilt for it. But hurting Axel made her feel guilt that was far more unbearable than any torture. She was truly a flawed person. Dying by Axel's hands… it was her salvation.

At this moment, a soft hand gently came to rest on Axel's eyes, closing them and thus ending Bellatrix's suffering.

"It's enough… Please don't be like my father."

Axel had already made up his mind. He was going to keep torturing Bellatrix until he was satisfied. But his rage dissipated as soon as he heard that scared voice, slowly making him come to his senses.

When the hand was removed. Axel opened his eyes and blinked, snapping out of whatever state that had come over him.

He looked down at Bellatrix and was surprised to see her state.

"Kill… me…." Was all Bellatrix could muster saying.

….

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