Sisterhood

[Ralinde]

She arrived early to her next lesson, because she wanted to be there before Lord Voldemort arrived with the person he would be bringing. She felt it would give her an advantage over the newcomer.
When they arrived a few minutes after she had arrived, she looked at the person. He was tall, a couple of years older than she was and he had unruly brown hair. He looked like some sort of aristocrat so she figured he must come from old money. She vaguely recognised him but couldn't put a name to him.
"Bella, I've brought Rodolphus Lestrange with me. You two have met at the dinner party at your parents' house this summer."
She remembered him now. He had been there with his parents and younger brother. She curtsied, as she would have done had she encountered him on a social event. He gave her a nod with the head and they looked at each other for a moment.
Then Lord Voldemort broke the silence.
"Rodolphus, as I have told you the first time, I've asked to accompany me because I feel it's important that Bella here learns how to duel properly. I'm sure you can see the inconveniences of me duelling and teaching at the same time, so that's were you come in."
Rodolphus nodded but Bella thought she spotted a hint of annoyance in his eyes.
Well, well, so the pretty boy didn't really want to be here, eh?
When they started duelling, they circled around each other, waiting for the other one to fire the first spell. She could see he thought this was beneath him, that he was wasting his time, but he didn't dare speak his mind. It made her giggle. She would make him see. Without uttering a word, she sent a stinging jinx his way. She noticed the surprise on his face when he stiffened. She smiled mildly.
The spell wore off and his face darkened. "You might have surprised me once, but that will not happen again," he said.
"We shall see," she taunted, just as Lord Voldemort had done during her previous lesson.
A ray of red sprung from Rodolphus wand: he too tried a stinging jinx, which she effortlessly blocked.
This made him angry. She saw that he didn't underestimate her anymore like he had done before. He fired spell after spell at her and Bella had a hard time blocking them all. She could barely fire a spell herself and it was inevitable that she got hit eventually by one of his spells. She fell to the floor and screamed in pain. Her arm had hit the wall in a rather uncomfortable way. Tears filled her eyes but she swallowed them. She wanted to get up but gasped when she used her arm.
"Okay that'll do," Lord Voldemort said harshly but she shook her head. She just had to show them, show him, that she couldn't be bothered by a bit of pain... She focused really hard to ignore the pain and then fired a jinx at him. It hit him in the shoulder and he too yelled in pain. Bella looked triumphant.
"Enough, I said," Lord Voldemort said. "Wands away," he commanded. Both of them reluctantly lowered their wands.
"Bella, perseverance is key," he said. "Rodolphus, never underestimate your opponent."
He paused a moment. "The techniques are there but you still need to work on the details. Both of you," he added as Rodolphus opened his mouth to speak. "We'll continue next time."

Bella thought she might have a problem because her arm was hurting so badly she couldn't even sleep. She hoped against odds that it would pass but it didn't, so eventually she had to acknowledge the fact that she would have to go to the hospital wing to have it treated. She postponed it as long as she could but in the afternoon the pain had gotten so bad she couldn't hold it any longer. She felt a bit nauseous.
Off course, the hospital witch asked her what she had done and why she had waited so long. Bella told her she had fallen out of her bed and that she had been too embarrassed at first. The witch snorted but didn't comment any further. Bella knew she didn't believe a word of what she had said but all that mattered to her now was that the pain went away.
"You'll have to stay overnight, dear," the witch said. Bella grunted.
"No buts, you'll stay here," she said firm and directed her to one of the beds.
"Here, drink this." Bella reluctantly took the potion but as soon as she had drunk it, she felt a warm feeling spreading through her body and she gratefully slid between the cool sheets. Soon she was asleep.
When she woke up, Andy and Cissy were by her side.
"Bella! What has happened?" Andy asked.
Bella tried to get up. She yelped as the pain came back vigorously.
"Are you okay?" Cissy inquired.
"Yeah, I will be," she tried to reassure them, but failed hopelessly.
"Bella?" Andy began. "You haven't done anything you're not supposed to do, are you?"
"What do you mean?"
Andy and Cissy looked at each other and then turned back to her. "We were just wondering... you are not continuing these lessons you had during the summer, are you?" they finally said.
Bella froze a moment. How did they know? But wait, they didn't really know. She relaxed a little. "How could I?" she said.
Again, her sisters exchanged glances. Bella began to feel uncomfortable under their examining looks.
"Well, you haven't, you know, tapped any witch' hat lately have you?" Cissy finally said.
Bella didn't need to ask what they meant. "No," she said firmly. "I haven't used the passageway since last year, when we went through together."
Cissy sighed and Andy said: "I'm really relieved to hear that, you know? We were really worrying about you."
She smiled. A sense of happiness came over her, knowing that her sisters would always be there for her. Just as she would always be there for them. They hugged each other, carefully avoiding Bella's hurt arm and then Andy and Cissy left. She sank back in the pillows and closed her eyes. She would them soon she promised herself. When things were certain, she would tell them. On that note, she slowly sank away in a dreamless sleep.

In the months to come, both Bella and Rodolphus got better in their duelling. They never spoke much, just the casual chitchat. Bella proved by far the better of the two and one day, shortly before her NEWTs were coming up, Lord Voldemort invited her on a 'special visit' he had to make. Rodolphus looked disappointed. They had been duelling for only a short while. Bella however was very pleased to be able to accompany Lord Voldemort.
"When will we be going?"
"I reckon now would be as good a time as any," he replied.
She looked at him, as if examining if he really meant it. He just stood there, firm and tall and she saw no evidence that he might be mocking her.
"Well?"
"I would be delighted, my Lord." Her eyes lit up with an eagerness that was almost indecent. "Where will we be headed?"
"You'll see. Now, take my arm. Rodolphus, we'll continue on our last meeting here before summer."
Bella had walked over to Lord Voldemort, she felt elated that he had picked her and not Rodolphus, who, she had come to learn, was the son of one of Lord Voldemort oldest connaissances. As they both Disapparated, she shot one final look at Rodolphus. His face was clouded by the disappointed but she thought she also saw a hint of a smile. There was no time to think about it, for the next moment they were standing on a farm and she had to concentrate not to trip over. She couldn't wait to learn how to Disapparate herself, maybe then the nauseating feeling would be less. Still, the feeling of having touched him, someone with this big a magical power, reverberated through her veins.
"What is it we're doing here, my Lord?"
"Practising."
The answer took her by surprise. For a moment she didn't know what to say. He looked at her, bemused, and she decided she would prove herself worthy of his trust so she didn't ask for an explanation. After a moment, he nodded, almost approvingly. "Come."
He walked towards a shed and she followed him, almost like a puppy. There were no other houses to be seen for miles and the territory was quite vast.
"Oi, what yer doin' on me land?!" A man in his forties, probably the farmer, came rushing towards them, grabbing a pitchfork on the way.
"If you would be so kind, Bella." Lord Voldemort stepped aside and Bella looked from the farmer to him, startled. But he had said they were here to practise, so she assumed he expected her to jinx the farmer. She drew her wand and inflicted the first jinx that came to mind. It was the 'dispondera'-spell and as the now familiar blue flash left her wand, the farmer looked up in shock before getting blown off his feet. Bella chuckled. "Amusing," she said, more to herself than to Lord Voldemort. He only smiled and taking this as an encouragement, Bella fired consecutively a paralyzing jinx and a 'neurintio' spell. The farmer, already on the ground, stiffened and his eyes darted from left to right in anguish. Bella moved forward, towards him. She was starting to feel more powerful with every spell she threw at him. When the effects of the paralyzing jinx were ebbing away and the man started screaming for help, Bella touched his arm. He kept screaming, only now in pain, since the effects of the neurintio-spell hadn't worn off yet.
Go ahead Bella. He's a only a Muggle. He deserves what you're doing to him, the voice of Lord Voldemort sounded in her mind. His approval was all the urging on she needed and she smiled. He was pleased with her, she thought. She had interpreted the objective right.
"What were you planning to do with that pitchfork?" she asked the man, dangerously calm. "Not pitching in on us I hope? You see, that's not really friendly of you, is it?" Panic flickered across the man's face as she used a 'wingardium leviosa' to lift the pitchfork and let it dangle above his body.
"Please, what've I done yer?" the man started pleading. She looked at him disdainfully and replied: "You exist." Two things happened at the same time. She used a tongue-tie spell on him, which stopped him talking but which also stopped the 'wingardium leviosa' spell. The pitchfork fell from the sky and perched the man's foot. He screamed but no sound left his mouth.
Lord Voldemort's stepped forward. "Interesting choice of spells Bella. However, you've more than proven yourself and I would say that you've passed the test with a well-earned 'Outstanding'. Could you return him to his normal, non-sapient being?"
"Can I do what?" she asked, flushing at the compliment he had given her.
"Amnesia," he murmured and the man got a glazed expression on his face.
"He'll forget all about us visiting and will think that he himself accidentally planted the pitchfork on his foot. Now, grab my arm girl, we'll be going back to Hogsmeade."
She did as bided and the nauseating feeling overwhelmed her once more. Back at the Shrieking Shack, Lord Voldemort again told her well she had done. Still glowing with the compliment, Bella had gone back to Hogwarts.

Her NEWTs were nerve-racking but Bella still felt the frenzy of the 'exam' Lord Voldemort had made her take, so she excelled in almost every one of them, seemingly without much effort. She was looking forward to the end of the exam period and thus the end of her time at Hogwarts. She then no longer would have to have her lessons in the Shrieking Shack but could just practise at will, just as she had done last summer. And she would no longer have to work alongside Rodolphus anymore.

When the owl arrived, early on the morning of her Alchemy exam, Bella didn't think much of it at first. She turned the envelop. It was of a heavy quality and had the Black's family crest in the left hand corner. Post from home? That was weird, especially since Andy and Cissy hadn't gotten any post – she had checked. With a frown on her face, she opened it. As she unfolded the heavy, handmade paper, the frown got deeper.

Bellatrix,

earlier this week, we have received word from Rowan and Ravenna Lestrange. It appears that you've made quite the impression on their eldest son Rodolphus during the dinner party last summer, for he has asked for your hand in marriage. As the Lestranges are a very notable family and are of the purest of bloods, we have accepted his proposal with great delight and would like to congratulate you with your upcoming marriage.
The wedding is scheduled to take place on August 17th.

Father and Mother

After she had finished it, she sank back in her chair, aghast. This could not be true. They were going to marry her, without even consulting her? Well, that should not have come as a surprise, she thought bitterly. That had always been one of the scenarios she had held in mind when thinking about the future. But Rodolphus, of all persons? Rodolphus, who barely spoke to her during their lessons with Lord Voldemort and who was inferior in spell work and duelling to her? It just couldn't be true, she repeated to herself again. Suddenly, she wished graduation was still far away.

[Ralinde]

9. THE WEDDING

"Andy, is your sister getting married?" Amelia asked, carefully lowering something that looked like an invitation.
"What?! No, there must be a mistake!" Andy laughed. "No way she would be getting married without telling me!" She took the invitation from Amelia's hand en began to read. It really was written there: "Cygnus and Druella Black-Rosier and Rowan and Ravenna Lestrange-Nott cordially invite you to the wedding of their children Bellatrix and Rodolphus," she read out loud. "I don't believe this!" she shouted. "Why didn't she tell me?" She looked hurt. Amelia put a hand on Andy's arm but she brushed her off.
"Andy, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you..."
"Well, it's not you who's upsetting me," Andy replied grimly. "I need to talk to her, this very moment," she added. "Can I take this?"
She didn't even wait for Amelia to reply but walked straight towards the Slytherin common room, the invitation clenched in her hand. It can't be true, it just can't be that she hasn't told me, was the thought that raced through her mind.

Bella wasn't in the common room but Cissy was and she was shocked by the look on Andy's face.
"What's going on Andy? Is that a letter you're holding?" she brought her hand to her mouth. "Did something happen to Father or Mother?"
"Where's Bella?"
"I don't know, she should be here any minute now, she was going to help me with my Charms homework but... Is something wrong with Bella?"
"This is what's wrong," Andy said and threw the invitation on the table.
Cissy picked it up and started reading. Then she looked up. Her face was even paler than it usually was.
"She didn't tell you either then," Andy concluded by the look on Cissy's face.
The fact that she wasn't the only one who hadn't been told somehow calmed her down.
"What is this, some kind of joke? If it is, it's not funny Andy, you scared me."
"If only it was a joke," Andy replied. "Amelia received this by owl this morning."
They looked at each other. Cissy fell back on the couch. "I can't believe she hasn't told us," she said.
"Me neither. I mean, we're her sisters! Surely you would tell your sisters if you were getting married?"
"I would say so too."
"What would you say too?" Bella asked curiously when she entered the common room. She had just heard the final line of the conversation.
As one, Andy and Cissy turned towards her.
"That one should tell one's sisters when one is getting married," Andy said coldly.
Bella seemed to shrink a couple of inches. "Oh, that," she muttered and looked at the floor. "How did you find out?"
"Amelia received an invitation by owl this morning. Just lovely to found out she knows about it before we do."
"She received a what?" Bella asked, shocked. "Let me see that."
Cissy handed her the invitation with an icy look. Bella glanced at it. "Well, they certainly don't waste any time," she said bitterly. "Look, I'm sorry you found out this way. I've only learned about it this week myself and I was kind of hoping... that if I ... pretended it wouldn't happen, it just ... wouldn't happen. How foolish of me. I should have known they were already writing the invitations the moment they send me the owl."
Cissy and Andy looked at her, stunned.
"You mean...," Cissy said slowly, "you didn't know you were getting married either?"
"Not until this week, no." She took out a crumpled piece of paper and threw it on the table. "This is what Father and Mother send me earlier this week."
Andy picked it up and unfolded it. Cissy looked over her shoulder as they both started to read the rather short message.
"That's ridiculous," Andy said after she had read it. She and Cissy both looked shocked. "They can't just say you're about to be married! You hardly know the guy!"
"Hey, what else did you expect? It's our parents we're talking about. They care about social standards above anything else and you've read the message; 'The Lestranges are a very notable family'," she repeated the words her mother had written. "Somewhere, I always knew something like this could happen."
"Surely you're not going to accept his proposal, are you?"
"I'll have to. We Blacks have a name to uphold. And he is after all a pure-blood, so I guess it'll turn out okay in the end," she shrugged.
"I could never marry someone I didn't know," Cissy said with determination.
"Me neither," Andy agreed. "Can't you just tell them you don't want to?"
Bella snorted. "Come on, Andy, you and I both know that's not an option with our parents."
"I would protest," Andy said. "I would never agree with a proposal like this."
Cissy nodded approvingly.
"Well, let's just hope you both find, nice, notable guys willing to ask you to marry them before anyone else does then," Bella said. "Or otherwise the same will happen to you in a couple of years."
They remained silent for a moment.
"I'm sure if Slughorn found out, he'd throw you a party," Andy said. "One of his top pupils, marrying into one of the great wizarding families. I'll bet you anything Rodolphus was in his elite club as well."
Bella groaned. She feared Andy was right. All three of them were in Slughorn's elite club, since their parents stood high on the social ladder in the wizarding world. If the Lestranges took an even higher position, then most likely Rodolphus had been a 'Slugger' as well.

Indeed, she didn't have to wait long. That afternoon, professor Slughorn approached her with a big smile on his face.
"Bella! I've just received an owl inviting me to your wedding. I am delighted! I've known Rodolphus well; he's a fine man. You've certainly done well girl. How about a little celebration party tomorrow evening, eh?"
He looked at her expectantly and she just didn't have the heart to disappoint him. "Sounds great, professor," she managed.
"Very well, tomorrow evening at eight o'clock it is then. I'll spread the word."
"Great, just what I needed," she murmured as he had walked away.

Both Andy and Cissy were thinking a lot about what Bella had said.
Andy had been with Tao for a while now and had intended to break up with him. Sure, he still was nice and kind but she liked him more as a friend then in a boyfriend kind of way. However, Bella's words had made her doubt the decision. What if, on her graduation, her parents expected her to marry as well? Wouldn't it be better if she were to marry someone she perhaps didn't love but was nonetheless fond off, instead of marrying someone she didn't know? But on the other hand, she was still two years away from graduation, surely she could meet someone in those two years who she did love? She felt uncomfortable with all these doubts piling up in her head. Something happened later on that week that made up her mind for her.
She had told Tao about Bella getting married and he she felt about that. Tao had looked at her and said: "Why aren't you happy for her that she made such an excellent agreement?"
"But she isn't in love with him!" she replied.
"So? Lot of married witches and wizards aren't. She should be happy that someone from such a notable family thinks she's worth it. And so should you, for that record, for her marrying into the Lestrange family also increases your own prospects."
He sounded so much like her parents, that she looked at him disbelievingly. "You mean to say you're more inclined to marry me now that my sister is getting married into a wealthy family?"
"Well, I wouldn't exactly put it that way but..."
She was getting angry now. "You know what Tao? Forget it. I thought you were different but you're just the same. I think it is best we ended this, right now."
He looked at her, stunned. "What? But why?"
"Because apparently the social status of my soon to be brother-in-law is more important to you than the person I am myself. I can't stay with someone who has this little respect for me. It's over Tao."
She walked away, red hot with anger and tears streaming down her face. How could she so terribly have misjudged him?

Cissy was in a totally different position. There were two boys who fancied her and Bella's words had made her reflect on both of them. One was Ricardo Vitel, the Hufflepuff she had met on the Hogwarts Express as a first year. The other one was Mikael Jameson, who was a third year Slytherin. She liked Ricardo better but would her parents approve of him, seeing that he was no Slytherin? And did that really matter, in the end? Cissy thought about what mattered more to her and decided she'd rather be with Ricardo than with Mikael.
So she told Mikael she was sorry but that she already was with some one else. He looked extremely disappointed and for a moment she doubted her decision. But only for a moment, because the thought about how Ricardo would look sheered her up.
She went over to the Hufflepuff tables in the Great Hall and placed her hands over his eyes. "Guess who," she whispered.
"Cissy?" he asked.
"Uhuh," she said with a smile and wrapped her arms around him, her head resting against his. He slowly turned his head and smiled too as he kissed her.
His fellow Hufflepuffs began to hoot and people at the other tables looked up. Cissy and Ricardo both grinned, a little embarrassed with all the attention. With a smile, Cissy returned to the Slytherin tables, where Aurore frantically grinned at her.

[Ralinde]

The next night, all three of them attended Slughorn's party. There were more students there than they had expected. Besides a lot of Slytherins, there were also students from the other houses. Everyone turned when the sisters entered, all focus was on Bella. She didn't like all this attention; after all, what had she done really? They were only looking at her because she was going to get married straight out of Hogwarts. Bella already regretted having agreed to the party. However, she straightened her back. "Might as well just get it over with," she murmured to Andy and Cissy.
It would be a very tiring evening; everyone congratulated her or asked her questions as to where they had met and why she didn't wait until she was older. The latter were by far the more exigent. Bella was glad that at around ten o'clock, Cissy yawned very clearly and professor Slughorn said: "My, my, I have forgotten about the time altogether. Seventh years are free tomorrow but off course the rest of you isn't. And it is still OWLs-time!" he added in shock. He hushed them all off to bed.
Bella walked back to the Slytherin common room with Andy and Cissy, who all of a sudden didn't seem so sleepy anymore.
"Thanks," Bella grinned at Cissy. "I was glad to be able to leave that party. What a waste of time."
Cissy giggled. "No problem. I could see you didn't really feel comfortable."
"I think that to say she didn't feel comfortable is an understatement," Andy said dryly. They laughed.
"Gosh, I'm so going to miss this," Bella sighed.
"What, Slughorn's parties?" Andy raised an eyebrow.
"No, this, just hanging out with you girls. When I'm married, I'll have to go and live somewhere else off course."
The atmosphere changed. They hadn't even thought about the part that Bella would be leaving their parental house.
"We will miss you too," Cissy said, her eyes filling with tears.  "But we'll come visit you as much as we can off course."
"Yeah, we might even come and babysit," Andy teased.
Bella shivered. "Don't say that," she said and drew a face. "I can't even think about it."
August came quickly and all during the holidays, the girls' parents had been preparing for the wedding. The Lestranges had come over to stay for a couple of nights prior to the wedding and the more Andy and Cissy saw of Rodolphus, the more they were certain that Bella was to be pitied to be marrying him. They found him dull and arrogant and avoided him whenever they could. Bella off course had to spent some time with him, not only during 'family dinners' but also just the two of them together. He still didn't talk much but since Bella sorted of accepted him, they got on a bit better than they had done when they still had lessons from Lord Voldemort together.
The day before the wedding, she finally managed to ask him the question that been keeping her awake at night for weeks now. "Why?"
He looked at her, puzzled. "What do you mean, why?"
"Why me? Why now? Why in this way? Just ... why?" she replied.
"Because you're a very talented witch. Even Lord Voldemort speaks highly of you. You're a pure-blood of a well-known family. And you're not bad looking either," he added, barely audible.
"But why didn't you ask me, instead of my parents?"
"Because that's the way these things are done. And besides, would you have consented had I asked you in person?"
She thought about it. "Most likely not," she replied in honesty.
"There you go." He looked a bit hurt but quickly pulled up a smile. "You'll learn to love me," he said confidently. "Things like this are how it's always been in pure-blood families. Both our parents were put together by their parents and they manage alright."
Bella sighed. She couldn't imagine one day actually loving Rodolphus. Growing fond of him? Perhaps. But love? She doubted it.

On the seventeenth of August, everyone was frantically arranging this or that little detail, before the guests would arrive. There would be a lot of them, given the number of chairs outlined in the grounds.
"I've taken a look at the list," Andy had whispered to Bella. "It looks like every member of every pure-bloodfamily is invited, as if everyone who is 'someone' will show up today."
Bella sighed, something she did a lot these days. "Just great, I'll be sold off like a cow, and the entire wizarding world will be there to witness it."
"We'll be by your side Bella," Cissy said reassuringly. "Don't worry, everything will be alright. They're no monsters and I'm sure everyone is just here to celebrate."
"I don't think it will be like the Slughorn party at all," Andy assisted.
"Ah well, let's just get it over with," Bella said, just like she had done at the Slughorn party.
They were standing at the door as music began to play. "This is it then," Bella said nervously. She clenched and unclenched her hands. She wore a beautiful emerald green gown with long sleeves that was embroidered with the Black family crest on the body. At the end of the gown, enchanted butterflies were attached, so that they lifted the tail of the gown in the air. Her raven hair was donned up and she carried a tiara.
"You look stunning," Andy said. They held the door open for her and Bella strode outside. It was even busier than she had imagined. People turned and started to stare at her as she carefully walked down the aisle, accompanied by her sisters. At the end of the aisle, an ardour had been erected with flowers hanging from its trellises, and Rodolphus stood there waiting. Bella swallowed. This actually was it. After today, she would be a married woman and would have to go and live somewhere else. Rodolphus smiled when she arrived at the ardour and when she turned, she noticed her parents were smiling too. It was a sight she had never seen before, so it confused her a moment. She quickly scanned the crowd. Would he be present? She didn't spot him in the blur of faces. Rodolphus took her hand and she turned back.
The wedding minister stood with his wand at the ready. "Let the ceremony begin," he said. He took Rodolphus' and Bellatrix' hands and joined them together and started the complicated ritual of hand binding. It consisted of a complicated spell uttered by the wedding minister. A flash of gold left his wand as he carefully drew circles around them and more specifically around their hands.
"Will thy, Rodolphus Ardurio Lestrange, take Bellatrix Estrella Black as your wife? Are you willing to take care of her and to follow the terms the Wizengamot has stated for marriages?"
"I will," Rodolphus calmly replied and a new shot of gold left the minister's wand. He then turned to Bella.
"Will thy, Bellatrix Estrella Black, take Rodolphus Ardurio Lestrange as your husband? Will you cherish and obey him, and are you willing to follow the terms the Wizengamot has stated for marriages?"
Bella noticed the differences in text between hers and Rodolphus' and knew she would never 'obey' a man. But with a lump in her throat, Bella said "I will."
One final time a shot of gold left the minister's wand, connecting with the ones he had fired just before. The lines of gold flamed as they ensnared themselves around their wrists, drawing in closer with every swirl.
"Then I now pronounce you husband and wife," the minister said and the golden flames disappeared, leaving a thin gold line around their wrists. "Congratulations."

Everybody cheered and applauded and people came rushing towards them to congratulate them. Bella shook more hands than she could count, saw more faces than she could remember. Then, at last, he stood in front of her.
"Ah, Bella," he said in his deep velvety voice. "Who would have guessed." He sounded bemused. "You look absolutely beautiful." When he kissed her hand, Bella shivered by the touch. He was oozing with magic and she knew he must have been using magic not long ago. She smiled.
"I'm glad you could come," she said.
"The pleasure is all mine. I'm afraid I have to go already but I couldn't stay home with my two talented students getting married, now could I?" He inclined his head and kissed her hand again, making way for grey haired witch to congratulate the couple.
His presence had caused a lot of whispers, some excited, others not that much. Bella tried to listen as to what people were saying.
"Was that... was that really Lord Voldemort?" she heard someone ask.
"I would say so," a witch answered. "But what was he doing here?"
"Attending the wedding, I suppose," a second witch joined in. 
"When my Evangeline got married last month he wasn't there," the first witch objected.
"Perhaps his Lordships values some families over others," a third witch said haughtily. Bella's stomach turned. She recognised the voice as that of her mother.
"Then why didn't he stay and greet you, Druella? Or maybe you mean that he thinks most highly of the Lestranges, and so very much of your own family?"
Bella sighed as the argument moved away. He hadn't said with that many words but she knew that the only reason he had come, was because of her and she felt proud of it.

[Ralinde]

10. DEPTS TO PAY

One and a half year had past since Bella's marriage. She had settled in her role as a wife and found that it actually wasn't that hard. She and Rodolphus had moved into an Estate in the Vale of Glamorgan, which had beautiful surroundings. Bella had decided Rodolphus wasn't that bad after all, but she still held no love for him. When after one and a half year Bella still hadn't 'secured the bloodlines', parents on both ends were starting to show their disgruntlement. Most of the time, she tried to ignore their marks of displeasure. It got to her, though, since she was secretly asking herself the same question: why wasn't she with child yet? The only ones to know how she truly felt were Andy and Cissy; to others she masked her feelings. She had had time to practise, whilst becoming more and more skilled in shielding her thoughts.

She and Rodolphus still practised the Dark Arts, though Bella more than Rodolphus. She grabbed every opportunity she could to use them. She no longer thought about her Hogwarts lessons on how to defend oneself from them but instead clung to the use of them, because doing so put her in a delirium-like state and made her feel vibrant with power. Lord Voldemort often asked her to accompany him when he went on 'missions', which weren't very different from the first 'mission' he had taken her on. Sometimes it would just be the two of them, on other occasions more participated. Bella had earned the respect of those who believed in Lord Voldemort's cause, both for her actions as for the fact that he spoke highly of her magical abilities.
At the Estate in the Vale of Glamorgan, the mottos of both the Lestrange and the Black family were omnipresent. Both stated the superiority of pure-bloods, thus creating the atmosphere for it to become a place to gather for a select group of witches and wizards. They were the ones most close to Lord Voldemort, the fiercest Muggle-haters, the truest believers in the pure-blood supremacy. They were, as he called them, the Walpurgis Knights. Many of them had been present at the dinner party at Black Estate but there were others as well. As much as her parents questioned her alleviation of childlessness, they revelled in Bella's role as an outstanding 'sergeant' to Lord Voldemort's knights. Bella's status, both as a trustee of Lord Voldemort and as a wife to a Lestrange, reflected well on their own social position too.

Andy didn't like coming around whenever there was a gathering. With a lot of her friends being half-bloods and, Bella was sure, some of them even Muggle-born, she despised the long conversations on pure-blood supremacy. She and Bella had one day ferociously clashed over their principles and since then, they didn't see as much of each other as they used to. Bella never told her parents this though. Andy pretended being busy preparing her NEWTs but Bella knew better. She felt as though she and Andy were slowly drifting apart and there was nothing she could do about it.
As a result, both sisters spend more time with Cissy, always the intermediary, the go-to-person for both of them whenever they wanted to complain about the other. Cissy loved both of them deeply but this sometimes drove her crazy.
"Look, fight your own battles, will you?" she told them on one of the occasions they had been crossed with each other. "You both have your beliefs but you're also sisters. My sisters. And I hate being in the middle of it. So keep me out of it, okay?"
"If only she would just see..." Bella began.
"No! Enough of it," Cissy interrupted angrily. "Just... leave it be, will you? Both of you. If not for each other, then do it for me." She had a stern look on her face, but her eyes were nonetheless pleading. Grudgingly, they gave in. From that moment on, there seemed to be somewhat of a truce between them.

Cissy was glad that the bickering had stopped. She had enough on her mind already. For one, fourth year was hell. She now understood why Bella and Andy had merely laughed at her when she said she had a lot of homework and told her to 'wait until fourth year and onwards'. She had never been busier. And then there was also a certain blond-haired Slytherin prefect haunting her dreams, keeping her awake at night so she could barely sleep ...

Meanwhile, things seemed to brighten up for Andy as well. She and Ted had started dating again, carefully circling around each other and examining one another. Andy had an internal conflict going on; she really liked Ted, but as he was a Muggle-born, there was no way her parents were ever going to let her marry him. Ted had an internal conflict going on as well. He hadn't forgotten their row in fourth year and rumours of Bella's activities had spread rapidly. He liked Andy but wasn't to keen on the perspective of being tortured by her sister. A lot of students had parents or older siblings engaged in the cause of Lord Voldemort, so word of their relationship would most definitely reach Bella if they acted in the open. As a result, Andy and Ted kept their relationship a secret. They sneaked out to meet in alcoves and empty classrooms and Andy even took Ted to the secret passageway Bella had showed her and Cissy when she was still a fourth year. She was jealous of Cissy. At least she was in love with an respectable, pure-blood Slytherin. They were not an item yet but Andy felt it wouldn't take long. And when they eventually should get together, no one would be bothered by it.
She did very well on her NEWTs and she even got a note from Bella, congratulating her. Well done sis! Time to start Healing now. the message said and Andy smiled. She showed the message to Ted, who snorted. But Andy was happy. It was very nice of Bella, considering they still only talked chitchat. Nonetheless, Bella had remembered that Andy had voiced the ambition of becoming a Healer and her message referred directly to Andy's preferred career.

She was, however, much less pleased with the message of her parents she received a couple of days later. She had opened the envelop and needed only to read the first lines to know what it was. It was a letter similar to the one Bella had received now nearly two years ago. She let the letter drop on the table. Her face had taken an ashen undertone and her hands were shaking. It took her only a second to decide what to do. She rushed to her dormitory. Luckily, she had already packed, so it didn't take her long to take her suitcase, which she shrunk.  She then rushed over to the Ravenclaw common room. Ted was just about to enter it when he saw her.
"Andy? What's wrong?" he asked when he saw her face.
"Ted, if you care about me, pack your belongings and leave with me this very instant," she said.
"But what..."
"Please," she begged, her voice trembling. He raised an eyebrow but the look on her face was one of utter desperation.
"Just a minute," he finally said and disappeared in the Ravenclaw common room.
Andy waited with her hands clenched and finally, after what had seemed to her like an eternity; he reappeared, lifting his heavy trunk. 
"So, where to?" he simply asked and Andy could just hug him for being so understanding.
"I don't know," she replied honestly. "We just need to be going now."
"Well, if you don't mind spending time with a Muggle family," he grinned, "my parents are very nice people."
Andy hesitated for a split second. If she went this way, there would be no turning back. His face dropped. "Or isn't that good enough for you?"
"Off course it is." She managed to smile. "I would love to meet your parents."
She shrunk his trunk too and they went to the statue of the witch guarding the entrance to the secret passageway, since it was impossible to Disapparate out of Hogwarts. They waited until they saw professor McGonagall leave the hall before they darted into the alcove where the witch stood. They tapped her hat murmuring 'dissendium' and then quickly sneaked into the passageway. When they had made it out of Honeydukes, Andy grabbed Ted's arm.
"Are you ready?" he asked.
She nodded, not trusting her voice. The nauseating feeling overwhelmed her and she had to cough the moment they stopped moving. When she finally looked up, she saw that they were standing near a cosy cottage on the countryside.
"This is where you live?" she asked, astonished. She absolutely loved the rose gardens surrounding he cottage.
"Yeah, we couldn't just Apparate in the living room now could we? We would scare the living daylight out of my Mum," he shrugged.
"I love it." Andy turned to him and kissed him on the cheek. "Thank you," she whispered.
"Come," he said and started to steer her gently towards the little cottage. The door squeaked as he pushed it open.
"Mum? Don't be scared, it's just me," Ted, who first went in, yelled.
A witch appeared in the doorway of the kitchen, looking shocked at him. "Ted!" she exclaimed. "What are you doing here? I thought school didn't end until next week!"
"Well, things changed a bit," he said and stepped aside. "I brought someone. Mum, this is Andy." Andy lowered her head and blinked as she too passed through the doorway.
Ted's mother looked at her, aghast at the sudden guest. When she saw Andy's trembling figure, she walked over to her and hugged her tight.
"I don't know what's got you so upset dear, but you can stay here as long as you like."
Her kind voice was enough for Andy to start crying. Tears run down her face and Ted's mother gently stroked her hair. "Now now, it can't be that bad," she shushed. "Ted, don't just stand there. Get her some tea, will you?" Ted hastily scurried towards a stove where a kettle was placed.

Cissy found a letter on one of the tables in the Slytherin common room. Curiously, she picked it up to see who had left it there. Her eyes darted over the sentences and she felt a knot tying up in her stomach. The letter was addressed to Andy and after reading the contents, Cissy sank into one of the chairs. She instantly knew what this meant. If Andy had read this letter, and there was no reason why she shouldn't have since it was opened and left carelessly behind, she most likely had fled. She remembered Andy's words when they had read Bella's letter. I would never agree to a proposal like this, Andy had stated.
Cissy didn't know how long she had been sitting there, but she jumped as someone touched her shoulder.
"Is everything okay?"
She looked up to the person who had spoken. Her heart skipped a beat when she looked into the dazzling grey eyes of Lucius Malfoy, the boy she had had a crush on for months now.
"I'm fine," she said. "I think," she added in so soft a voice he had to lean in closer to hear her. 
"Are you sure? You don't look fine," he sounded worried. Cissy shook her head and behind her back, she clenched the letter tight into her fist. As much as she fancied him, she didn't want him to read the letter. It was private. She was vaguely aware of the fact that he still had his hand on her shoulder.
"Well, come on then," he said. "Sadness doesn't go well with your pretty face."
She gave him a watery smile and he smiled back. "There you go, that's much better."

"I have some news for you you might find interesting," Rodolphus announced to Bella when she returned from a 'visit' to a Muggle community. "I've just heard it from Rabastan."
When she didn't reply directly, he continued: "He has asked your parents for Andromeda's hand and they have consented. So you can help her prepare her wedding this summer."
Bella just looked at him, stunned. Rabastan wanted to marry Andy? She just couldn't get her mind around it. Whichever way she put it, it just sounded ... weird. 
She remembered the conversation they had had when her own marriage was announced, and how fiercely Andy had said that she 'would never agree to such a proposal'. How would she take it when she found out her parents had arranged a marriage without her knowing of it? She doubted Andy would consent herself to the wishes of their parents.
"Andy wants to be a Healer," without thinking she had said it out loud.
"I don't think she'll have time to study besides her duties as a wife."
Bella clenched her fists. "So, you think she should just give up the things she's dreamed off only because that brother of yours came up with the idea that he wanted to marry her?"
"Well, it worked out fine for you, didn't it?" The moment he had said it, he realised it was a huge mistake. Bella slapped him hard in the face. He grunted in pain as he felt his jaw move in a way it shouldn't.
"How dare you," she hissed. "You wouldn't be so high in Lord Voldemort's ranks if it weren't for me. How dare you talk to me like you're my better?" She turned and stalked away, furious. It took her all her self-control not to curse him to pieces.
She withdrew in her quarters and frantically paced up and down. How could it have come this far? How could she not have seen this coming?
She needed to do something, let Andy know it hadn't been her idea, so Andy wouldn't spend the rest of her life hating her for something she had no part in. She said down to write her a letter but she couldn't get the words right. Everything she wrote just didn't sound sincere. Eventually, she wrote down a short note, congratulating her on passing her NEWTs. Well done sis! she wrote. Time to start Healing now. She looked it over twice but she couldn't get anything else in writing. It was like she was empty.
With a sigh, she went to tie the little note to one of the owls and watched as it took to the sky. She hoped Andy would understand that she wanted her to go along with her dreams, that she hoped Andy would become a Healer. She just hoped Andy would get the message behind her words.
However, it wasn't Andy she received a note from a couple of days later, but Cissy.

[Ralinde]

Andy didn't show up that evening, nor the next morning. Cissy began to get really worried. Where could Andy have gone? Just after breakfast, Amelia came rushing to her, asking her if she knew where Andy was. "I haven't seen her since yesterday and that's nothing for Andy," she said. "Is she ill?"
"I don't know," Cissy shook her head sadly. "I doubt that she's ill, but I don't know where she is." She bit her lip.
Amelia looked at her, quizzically. "How can you not know where she is? Surely you must've seen her in the Slytherin common room?"
"Not since yesterday. I fear... I fear she might have disappeared." Saying it out loud made it ten times worse.
"Disappeared?" Amelia echoed. "What do you mean? Cissy, what's going on?" She was alarmed by the look on Cissy's face and by her words.
Cissy hesitated for a moment. Could she tell Amelia? But Amelia was Andy's best friend and she cared for her too. She breathed in deeply.
"Do you remember Bella's wedding, two years ago?"
Amelia nodded. "Who wouldn't? It must have been like the most excessive wedding party in ages. But what has that got to do with Andy?"
"Do you also remember what happened before that, when Bella was still at Hogwarts and just finished her NEWTs, just like you and Andy have now?"
Amelia frowned and then her face cleared. "You mean the invitation?"
"A little before that, but yes, that's about what I mean. Days before you received your invitation, Bella was informed by my parents that was she going to get married."
"Yes, I remember Andy telling something like that. Andy was furious, said that if they ever tried to force her into a marriage, she would... oh my god!" Amelia clasped a hand to her mouth. "They haven't, now have they?"
Cissy nodded sadly. "I found the letter yesterday on a table in the Slytherin common room. When I went to her dormitory, I saw that all her belongings had been gone. I have no idea where she is," she said desperately. "I just hope she's not doing something stupid."
Amelia stood frozen. "This is terrible," she managed to say in the end. "And she hasn't left you a note as to where you could find her?"
"No. I was hoping she might have told you but she obviously left in a rush."
The two girls, younger sister and best friend, looked at each other, to worried to say anything for a while.
"She can't be with family?" Amelia asked hopeful.
Cissy laughed bitterly. "Like that's going to happen. You know what our parents are like. No, if she has fled to someone she knows, it should be one of her friends. But since the holidays haven't started yet and everyone is still at Hogwarts, that's not very likely either. Maybe she's staying at The Three Broomsticks. I'll go and check right away."
Amelia frowned. "How are you going to do that? It's not a Hogsmeade day and besides, you're a fourth year, so you still have classes."
"I don't care about them classes, my sister is missing! And I'll be going through the secret passageway."
"Wait, what? There's a secret passageway to Hogsmeade?"
"Andy never told you about it?" Cissy was sincerely surprised. "It leads into the cellar of Honeydukes."
"If you're going, I'm going with you," Amelia decided firmly. Cissy wanted to say something but changed her mind. She nodded instead. "Let's not waste any time then."
She went ahead, closely followed by Amelia. She couldn't care about people noticing them but just went ahead, tapped the witches' hat and whispered 'dissendium'.
"Weird!" Amelia said when the passageway became visible. Cissy knew exactly how she felt, she had felt the same the first time she had seen it. "Lumos," she said, thus illuminating the passageway. Amelia followed her example. They were lucky, cause it was rather busy in Honeydukes, so no one noticed them.
"You know, if it wasn't for Andy being missing, I might have actually enjoyed this," Amelia said as they stepped into the sun.
The first thing they did, was to go to The Three Broomsticks.
"What are you girls doing here at this hour of the day? Don't you have school?" The owner looked at them suspiciously when they walked in.
"We are looking for my sister," Cissy replied. "She's disappeared and we figured she might be staying her. Is she?" She knew it sounded bold but she didn't care. She just wanted to find Andy.
"I have only one guest at the moment and that's a fifty-something wizard."
"Oh." Cissy tried to keep the disappointment out of her voice but failed miserably.
"Look, I can keep an eye out, okay? What's her name?"
"Andy."
"Very well. If an Andy shows up, I'll tell her to contact you, okay?"
"Thanks," Cissy murmured. They greeted the owner and walked out. Cissy was desperate. If not in The Three Broomsticks, where could Andy be?
"There's another inn," Amelia said. "The Hog's Head. She might be there," she sounded like she didn't believe it herself, but they went to check nonetheless. It was the same story; no Andy. Miserable and worried, they went back through the passageway.
"I must tell Bella," Cissy said. "Maybe she can help, since she's not bound to stay at Hogwarts. I'll write to her immediately."
"Let me know if you find out anything, will you?" Amelia pleaded.
"Off course. You too."
They both went their way; Amelia to Ravenclaw tower, Cissy to the Slytherin common room to write to Bella. When she finally tied her letter to one of the owls in the Owlery, it wasn't quite the letter she had intended to write, but besides help, she also needed something of a clarification from Bella.

Dear Bella,

I'm sure you have knowledge of the letter Father and Mother wrote to Andy and I'm also sure you remember how she reacted when you received one likewise. 
Why did Rabastan ask for her hand in marriage? Andy hates the guy; she thinks he's a pompous twit. But you already knew that. Did you have anything to do with it? Cause if you did ... then it's all your fault. You knew she would react strongly to a marriage like your own – no offense.
But now, Andy's gone and I haven't got the faintest idea as to where she might be, neither does Amelia. She isn't anywhere at Hogwarts and me and Amelia have already checked if she was staying somewhere in Hogsmeade. I'm worried sick.
Is there anything you can do? Anything that might help me track her down? Please, Bella, I don't know who else to turn to.

With love, Cissy

Bella slowly lowered the letter she had received from Cissy. Her heart was racing and she was thinking rapidly. So Andy had indeed run away to chase her dreams. It made her proud and anxious at the same time. Proud that Andy chose her own path, anxious that something might've happened to her. Anxious also, as to how Rabastan and her parents would react to Andy's disappearance.

She quickly scribbled an answer to Cissy's letter. Yes, she had known about it and no, she had had nothing to do with it. She didn't know where Andy was and she was as worried about her as Cissy was. She tied her response to the owl that had brought her Cissy's letter and sent it on its way.
"Oh Andy, what've you done?" she sighed as she watched the owl disappear on the horizon. "I hope you know what you're doing and that the path you've chosen makes you happy."
She spent the next few days trying to find information about Andy's whereabouts but it proved very difficult to do so without letting people know she was missing. There was one thing she was postponing for as long as she could but she soon realised she had to act to avoid greater trouble. She had to tell Rabastan and Rodolphus before her parents would go and sent out invitations to a wedding Bella knew would never take place.

She went to the room Rabastan was staying in and knocked. "Yes?" Rodolphus' voice sounded from the other end of the door. Just great, they were both there.
She took a deep breath, drew herself to her full height and entered.
"What is it?" they said, frowning when they saw her.
"I have received word that Andy will not be marrying you Rabastan," she said after a little silence. "It appears she has vanished."
"How can she have vanished? That's just ridiculous." Rabastan objected.
"Well, apparently, she has. So there will be no wedding." Her words reverberated in the air and both brothers looked at her.
"But we're already preparing," Rodolphus said slowly.
"I know," she sighed. "You'll just have to cancel it."
Rabastan jumped up, furious. "This just can't happen. She has an obligation. Your parents consented to the marriage. If she will not show up to marry me, I shall call upon the blood dept!" he shouted.
Bella stared at him, in shock. Her throat felt like squeezed and all colour left her face. "The blood dept?" she could barely manage to say.  "Surely you don't mean that."
"As if I mean it! She mustn't think she can just play this on me. I'll hunt her down and I will kill her. You know it's my right."
"No. I will not let you hurt her," she said. She had found her voice again and was locking his eyes in hers, daring him to defy her.
"Fine. I will not hurt her, I will just let her be and have your other sister instead."
"Cissy? You can't. She's so young." And in love with another pureblood, if I'm not mistaken the looks she has been sending young Lucius Malfoy last time around, she added to herself.
Rabastan started to laugh. "You seem to think you have quite a lot to say in this. I'll tell you something: you haven't. Kill the betrayer or receive a close female relative as an indemnification. You know that's how the blood debt works Bellatrix." His voice had gotten an icy tone.
Bella was familiar with the principle of blood dept, but it was ancient. It was barbaric and with the equalisation of witches it had gone in oblivion. It was however, never officially discarded.
"It's either one way or the other. Andromeda or Narcissa, who's it gonna be?"
Bella's mind was racing. She could not possible make a decision. Andy killed or Cissy given away like she was some kind of slave. She couldn't do that, to either of them. If only there was something she could do to protect them ...
"There is another way," she heard herself say. She inhaled. "Andy has another sister," she said, barely audible.
"I'm not sure I quite get it ..." Rabastan slowly said.
She turned to him. "Andy has another sister," she repeated, a little louder this time.  On the outside she looked calm but inside she was shaking. It really was the only possibility to save her sisters from harm. "I'll take Cissy's place, if you promise to leave both of them alone."
In the silence that followed, one might have heard a needle dropping. Rodolphus inhaled sharply but she stood her ground, looking both of them straight in the eye to show them she had meant it.
"You are in no position to make that bargain," Rodolphus grunted. "You're married."
"The principle of blood dept states that the one who is wronged will get a close female relative of the one who did the wronging as an indemnification. The principle doesn't speak of the marital status of said female." Her voice trembled a bit.
"You're my wife and I forbid you to ..." Rodolphus began.
"I'm afraid you haven't got much to say in this matter dear brother," Rabastan said. "The blood dept is between me and the Black family. Being a Black, Bellatrix can make this proposal, whether you like it or not." He looked at his brother derogatory and then looked back at Bella. "I'll accept your offer," he said. He grinned devilishly at Rodolphus. "Looks like you're going to have to share her from now on, dear brother." 
Rodolphus looked at her, infuriated. "Fine, you can have her whenever you like. I don't care."
"I'm so glad you consent," Rabastan smirked. "Now would be as good a time as any."
"You ... " Rodolphus stuttered, his face crimson.
"You said whenever I liked, right? So could you please leave the room now? Send the Blacks a message that the wedding will be off."
"How dare you order me around in my own house?" Rodolphus spat. He turned around, knocked over a chair and slammed the door on the way out.
"So, it's you and me now," Rabastan said slowly.
Bella swallowed away the lump in her throat. Her sisters would be safe, but she knew that from now on, she would be at the mercy of Rabastan. And judging by the look on his face, it sure wasn't going to be pleasant.

[Ralinde]

11. THE END OF A BLOOD LINE

Bella took her precautions though. Even if she had offered herself to Rabastan to do with as he pleased in order to save her sisters, that didn't mean she wanted to ever carry his offspring. She drew out her wand, carefully. His eyes narrowed.
"What are you doing?" he asked suspiciously.
Bella knew she would have only one chance. She focused really hard on the spell and sent it towards Rabastan, without voicing the incantation. A red flash left her wand and hit Rabastan. He fell to the floor, yelping in pain. Bellatrix just stood there, her wand in her hand, and watched him. She had the same smirking expression on her face Rabastan had expressed towards Rodolphus earlier on. "You didn't think I would give in that easily, would you?" she said and snorted. "Surely even you must know I'm not that stupid."
It took Rabastan a minute or two to recover somewhat from the spell Bella had casted. "What have you done bitch?" he screamed in anger.
"Just taking my precautions," she replied coldly, "You'll never reproduce."
Rabastan let out a laugh close to insanity. "You needn't have bothered. Or perhaps you failed to notice that in two years you still haven't giving my brother a child?" He said sarcastically. "Or have you done the same to him? That might explain some things." He slowly got up.
Bella looked at him, her eyes narrowing. "We may not be the perfect couple, but he's still my husband," she said.
"You're like an Ukrainian Ironbelly, nothing can grow inside your womb!" he shouted. "And you will pay for what you've done to me!"
Bella recoiled at his words; she felt like she had been stabbed with a knife. All blood drew from her face and tears welled up in her eyes but she fought them back. She would not show him he had hurt her. "How dare you?" she managed. She drew her wand again.
"You'd better not be using it again," he said dangerously. "Or I might change my mind about our little agreement."
Bella froze. It obviously was a treat to hurt her sisters instead.
"Ah, not so certain of ourselves anymore now, are we?" he smirked and fired a spell at the door. Bella heard a bang and knew he had magically locked it and that she was trapped. And he knew that she knew. "I think it's about time we had some fun, Bella," he whispered with a devilish smile as he came closer. He mockingly ran a finger across her face and she shivered.
"So pretty," he said. "Such a shame my brother got to you first. But your sister resembles you. Too bad for you she fled, eh? And you just couldn't consent to an agreement you yourself proposed, no, you had to go and humiliate me. When I'm through with you, you'll be sorry about that. You shouldn't have pissed me off Bellatrix, you really shouldn't have." He shook his head and suddenly he grabbed her by the hair and pulled. She gasped. Her heart was pounding in her chest.
"Screaming won't help you," he said, reducing his voice to a whisper once more, "As you may remember, my brother was rather ... annoyed with you when he left. He won't be coming back anytime soon. And no house elf would dare enter this room unless summoned."

That night, Bella lay awake and stared up at the ceiling. Rodolphus was sleeping and tears slowly travelled across her cheeks. Her entire body was aching. She knew Rabastan might not have treated her this bad had she not cursed him, but at this moment she hated him with all her might. AIt least Cissy will not have to endure this," she whispered into the night. It was her only consolation, knowing that her sisters couldn't be harmed by Rabastan.   

The only way to cope with how Rabastan was treating her was to shield her thoughts, harden her soul, so he couldn't get to her. Rodolphus ignored her most of the time, and when he did speak to her, he called her 'whore', not 'Bellatrix' like before. She frantically pounced herself onto the Dark Arts, currying favours with Lord Voldemort whilst showing a ferocity unlike any of the other of his followers. Her eyes had gotten a dangerous glint and they all rather not cross her, for they knew they would regret it sooner or later.
It was during those days that Lord Voldemort voiced an idea. When the Walpurgis Knights were gathered in the dining room at the Estate, he spoke in his soft, velvety voice: "I think we need something to contact each other. Something so we could ask for assistance, without having to use owls."
"What did you have in mind my Lord?" Mulciber asked and leaned in a little closer.
"I'll show you, Melchior," he replied. "If you would be so kind as to give me your arm. No, not your wand arm, the other one. Could you roll up the sleeve of your robe?"
Mulciber did as requested, revealing his bare forearm. Lord Voldemort took his arm, drew his wand and placed the tip on Mulciber skin. As he started chanting a very long and very complicated incantation, he began to draw lines with his wand. Mulciber screamed but Lord Voldemort didn't release his arm. A smell of burnt flesh filled the room as he continued drawing lines, along with the screams of Mulciber. When he was finished, he held out Mulciber's arm. It showed a drawing of a snake in black ink.
"Now, if Melchior here wants to contact me, he needs only press this mark on his forearm and I will know. The snake is of course a direct link to my ancestor Salazar Slytherin," he said arrogantly. He looked around the table. "So, who will be next?" he asked matter-of-factly.
Several of the Knights shrunk back in their chairs, but Bella leapt up. "I will be next, my Lord," she said.
"Ah Bella," he said contented. "I might have guessed." He didn't need to ask her to roll up her sleeve, since she had already done so. She eagerly held out her forearm to him. When he grabbed it, she felt a familiar powerful sensation of dark magic overwhelming her. He placed the tip of his wand on her skin and began repeating the ritual he had performed on Mulciber, tracing lines and chanting the incantation. It hurt more than Bella had expected, but she bit her tongue to prevent herself from screaming. Not a single sound left her lips and when he was finished, Bella touched the snake affectionately. Having a bit of his power, a direct connection with him... She felt the dark magic pouring in her veins now. She couldn't understand why the others didn't jump to the occasion as well.
Lord Voldemort gave her a nod with his head and again looked around the table.
"Well, you can take an example to Bella here," he said and Bella smiled.
One by one, the other Knights followed her example until everyone was marked. The smell of burnt flesh hung over everything in the room. Bella was one of the very few women on the table and she was proud of the fact that out of all of the Knights, she was the only one who hadn't screamed.
When everyone had received the mark, Lord Voldemort spoke again. "My dear Knights, from now on, if anyone of you is in need of assistance he, or she," he added with a glance at Bella, "needs only press the mark and everyone will feel it.  I will come, as I expect all of you to come as soon as you feel the burning of your marks. There isn't a lot we can't do and together we shall rid the wizarding world of those filthy mudbloods."
They all roared with applause and he bowed.

A couple of weeks later, Bella felt subtle changes in her body. She had been craving for them to happen for over a year, but now that they did, she panicked. Had the spell bounced off? Had she not concentrated enough? Had she flicked her wand the wrong way? She had to find out how far along she was. She knew that if she had made a mistake, she would sourly regret it, as she was sure Rodolphus would never accept it. So she started counting backwards. She repeated the counting three times and every time she got the same result: she would be almost three months now.
She sighed, relieved. Three months, that was long before Rabastan. So it was definitely Rodolphus'. She didn't know why it had taken them so long, but it had eventually happened. She hoped Rabastan would cut her some slack now that she was expecting.

She went to the salon where she knew she would find Rodolphus at this time of day. She knocked before entering. Rodolphus was indeed in the salon, as was Rabastan. They looked at each other angrily and Bella had the idea she was interrupting something. "Rodolphus, can I speak with you for a moment? In private?"
"I'm in the middle of something. I'm sure it can wait," he grunted and turned back to Rabastan, eyes spitting fire. "Like I just said ..." he said angrily to his brother.
"Wait a minute," she interrupted him. "You can't just shove me off like that, I'm your wife!"
"Oh so you remember now?" he sneered. "Last time around, you couldn't be bothered too much with that 'little' detail, could you?"
"Look, I didn't ca
ome here to argue nor to fight," she said.
"Yeah? Then what did you come here for?"
She hesitated. He sure wasn't in a good mood, so maybe now wasn't the right time to tell. "I'll come back later," she decided. "I really need to talk to you privately."
He snorted. "Since apparently my brother and I seem to be sharing everything these days, included my house and my wife" he said darkly, "just tell us."
Bella felt anger building up inside at the way he treated her but she tried to withhold it. Spurting it now could only harm her cause.
"Very well then, if you insist," she replied. She took a deep breath and said as calmly as she could: "I'm expecting your child."   
The reaction she received wasn't the one she had been hoping for. For a second, she thought she saw his eyes lighten up but then his face fell.
"And to which one of us are you referring?"
"Well, you of course. Why else would I want to talk to you in private?"
Rabastan burst out in laughter, it sounded wrong. "Ha, quite the wife you've got yourself Rodolphus! Not only does she humiliate you by offering herself to your brother, she now comes to rub your face in it!"
Bella looked at him angrily and was already reaching for her wand. Rodolphus' face had also taken on an even deeper shade of crimson.
"Oh, she plays the sweet innocent wife now, but you should hear how she screams in the bedroom. I'm thinking she missed out on a lot the past two years. Haven't you been giving her what she needed?" he mocked.
Rodolphus now stood up. He also drew his wand.
"Come on, Rodolphus, even to you it should obvious! Two years with you: nothing. Two months with me and all of a sudden she would be carrying your child? Face it, it's not yours."
"Shut up!" Bella yelled. "You're a liar. This child can't be yours and you know it!" She turned to Rodolphus. "I'm almost three months now," she said. "Three months, Rodolphus, you know what that means?"
"That you can't count," Rabastan sneered.
"It isn't yours!" she screamed. "Keep out of it!"
"I don't believe you," Rodolphus said coldly. "Did you really think I would buy it?"
"I'm not expecting you to 'buy' anything," she said, "I'm telling the truth. I'm three months now, so it's your child I'm carrying."
"I'm not that stupid."
"You'd rather believe that brother of yours than your own wife?"
"You mean the wife that couldn't wait to go and offer herself to my brother when the occasion arose? Just like Rabastan said, it's a little too coincidental."
"Fine, don't believe me then!" she shouted.
They stood opposite of one another, wands drawn, furious to a point one of them might kill the other. Rabastan just laughed, mocking her, mocking Rodolphus.
"I will not allow my wife to carry my brother's offspring," Rodolphus said, his voice drenched in anger. He flicked his wand and yelled: "Abortio!"
Bella fired a protective spell, but she wasn't quick enough. A flash of red light hit her at the place where her unborn child was growing. "NO!!!" she screamed as a terrible pain spread through her. She grabbed the doorpost but could barely hold it together as a new flash of pain spread through her body. She sank to the floor in agony. Her instincts told her she would not only be loosing this child but would also never again be able to conceive. Something snapped inside her and she screamed again. Clenching one hand to her stomach, she raised her wand with the other hand and pointed it at Rodolphus.
"You are just as terrible a person as your brother. So you'll just have to share his fate." Her voice pitched when she shouted: "The Lestrange bloodline ends here! Castrato!"
Just like Rabastan had done weeks prior, he fell to the ground, screaming in pain.
Bella staggered onto one of the chairs, still clenching her stomach. Tears of anger and of sorrow were streaming down her face, she didn't even try to hold them back. She felt so much hatred towards the Lestrange brothers that the only thing she wanted to do was to hurt them.
"See, I told you you would regret the day you pissed me off," Rabastan sneered. "Looks like I'm no longer the only one never to be able to reproduce again."
His remark was the final push over the edge. She got up and shouted "Crucio!" The spell bounced of the wall as a flash of red found its way towards Rabastan. He screamed in agony but Bella showed no mercy. She fired another 'crucio'spell at him, her only goal being to inflict pain. However, she noticed hers wasn't the only one. She looked aside and saw that Rodolphus had raised his wand too, his face thwarted in anger. Hit by two 'crucio'spells at the same time, Rabastan squealed and screeched like a pig. Bella laughed maniacally: "Like I told Lord Voldemort on the day I first met him: If you mean to harm me, you're meddling with the wrong witch!"  She rolled her wand between her fingers, enjoying the sight of him suffering, chuckling as he screamed. 
"Well, well, what have we here?" the cold voice surprised her. She looked up. "My Lord?" she asked. Rodolphus had looked up as well. Rabastan was no longer being hit by spells and slowly the screaming died away. He lay on the floor, panting. Lord Voldemort, for it was indeed he who had entered, raised an eyebrow. "What is going on here?" he asked with a hint of amusement in his voice. Neither of them answered. He turned to Bella and made eye contact. She knew what he was trying to do, and she just let him. She didn't have the strenght to keep her guards up. And besides, it was easier if she didn't have to tell.
"I see," he said slowly.
Rodolphus looked a bit confused from Bella to Lord Voldemort. Not a word had been spoken, yet Lord Voldemort seemed to know exactly just what had happened.
"I came here to talk to you about leading one of my new missions," he said to Rodolphus, but still keeping his eyes on Bella, in something that looked like admiration. "But it appears I was considering the wrong family member."
"My Lord?" Rodolphus asked quizzically.
With a minor hand gesture, Lord Voldemort silenced him. "I think you'll make an excellent second-in-command, Bella," he said.
For a moment, Bella was too shocked to say anything, then she sort of bowed. "It would be my pleasure, my Lord," she said, gleaming with pride. She didn't even shot Rodolphus one look when she and Lord Voldemort walked out of the salon.

[Ralinde]

12. LOVES AND LOSSES

"We have to tell someone," Ted insisted. They had been sitting in living room, drinking tea. They had to drag the story out of Andy, because she refused to talk about it on her own account.
"But your sister, she must be worried," Ted's mum said. "I knew I would be if my sister just disappeared."
"I can't tell Cissy," Andy answered.
She felt a pang of guilt as she thought about Cissy. Cissy would be worried. But she just couldn't tell her. She was too afraid her little sister would tell Bella or her parents. She still couldn't believe she had really abandoned it all, left her family behind. But here she was, in a Muggle house, and actually enjoying herself. She almost had to laugh thinking about the look on her parents' faces could they see her now. She thought back at Cissy recounting her holidays in France and smiled. That seemed ages ago now. Maybe Cissy would understand. But then again, she maybe she wouldn't.
Ted coughed and she looked embarrassed. Apparently, they had wanted an answer to some question she hadn't heard.
"I'm sorry, I didn't quite get that," she said, flushing.
"Never mind," Ted's mother said. "I just think that even if you don't want to tell where you are, you need to at least let your sister know you're okay."
Reluctantly, Andy admitted she had a point. If the situation had been reversed, she would have wanted to know Cissy was safe. She gave in. "Fine. We can send an owl to Dumbledore. He's not Cissy's favourite, but she'll just have to do with it."
Ted gently squeezed her hand and she smiled.
"How can she not like professor Dumbledore?" Ted's mother asked in surprise. "I mean, I've only met him a couple of times, but he sure seems friendly."
"It's just that he's a ... bit peculiar," she said. She had almost said 'muggle-friend', but given the company she was in, she had swallowed those words.
Ted looked at her. She suspected he knew.

By the end of the day, Cissy was beside herself with worry. She had skipped all lessons, something that didn't go unnoticed, since she was usually very serious about studying.
"What's wrong? Are you ill?" Aurore inquired. 
Before Cissy could answer, Amelia entered. "Professor Dumbledore wants to see us," she said.  They looked at each other. If he wanted to speak to both Cissy and Amelia, then it would probably be about Andy. Whether for the better or for the worse, they did not know. They went to his office.
"Good evening girls," he said. "I'm sure you're wondering why I wanted to speak to the both of you?"
"Is it Andy?" Cissy said in a tight voice. "Is she .... Is everything ... okay with her?"
He nodded. "Andy is doing fine, I've received a letter asking me to tell you she's okay. You will understand that I cannot tell you where she is right now."
"But professor," Cissy objected. "Why can't you tell me? I'm her sister! I have a right to know where she is!"
"I reckon she will tell you both when she thinks the time is ready."
Amelia didn't look too pleased, but Cissy was angry. And hurt. Why did Andy shut her out? She understood completely that her older sister didn't want to marry that Rabastan-guy, she thought he was a freak. She shivered.
"I'm sorry I can't help you girls," he said apologetically. "But at least you know she's okay. I'm sure she just needs to cool down a notch and that she will contact you as soon as possible."

But Andy didn't contact Cissy, nor Amelia, and on the Hogwarts Express Cissy wondered what on earth she could tell her parents when they saw that Andy wasn't with her. What would they saw if they learnt that Andy wasn't going to get married? She feared their reaction and hoped they wouldn't be too harsh on her.
She needn't have worried. When she arrived at the Estate, no one mentioned Andy or the upcoming wedding. Her parents seemed to avoid all subject related, which puzzled her. Apparently, they had already known Andy wouldn't be coming home this summer, but it was a mystery to her how they knew.
It was the worst summer of her life. With neither Bella nor Andy around, she was pretty much left to herself. Andy had finally send her a note, but it didn't say much; just that she was happy were she was now, that she had no intention of going back to their parents and that she was sorry she had made her worry so much. Just that, nothing else. No mention about the scheduled wedding – though she might not have known Cissy knew about that – and no mention of either their parents or Bella, which made Cissy think Bella had had something to do with it as well.
She stayed with her for over a week near the end of summer, but at the Lestrange Estate, things were even worse. Rabastan was staying over as well and she avoided him as much as she could. The atmosphere at the Estate was very cold: she noticed that neither Rodolphus nor Bella spoke much to Rabastan, and that Rodolphus and Bella also seemed to ignore each other most of the time. Bella looked gauntly, all the colour seemed to have drawn from her face and her hair, which she usually took great pride in, was a mess. Cissy also noticed she barely touched her food during dinner.
"Bella, what's wrong?" she asked her. "You look terrible. You haven't started your ... lessons again, have you?" But she actually already knew the answer to that question. She had seen Lord Voldemort around and that had been the only occasion on which Bella's eyes had regained some of their vividness.
Slowly, Bella closed her eyes. "How's Andy?" she whispered.
Cissy could just hit herself. Assuming Bella had had something to do with the arranged marriage, she hadn't even bothered to tell her how Andy was doing. But of course Bella must be worried too.
"She doing fine. At least, I suppose. I haven't seen her since she disappeared but she has written one or two times. I haven't got a clue as to where she could be, but she writes that she's happy."
Bella sighed. "Thank goodness for that. It means it's not for nothing," she murmured.
"What do you mean?" Cissy asked. "What is not for nothing?"
Bella didn't reply.
"Fine, don't tell me then," Cissy said. "Apparently I'm just the little sister everybody thinks doesn't need to be told things." She got up, angry.
"Cissy," Bella pleaded. "I really can't tell you what's going on, I'm sorry."
"I seed I'm fine. Don't bother. After all, why should you tell me anything?" She was crying now and angrily wiped her tears away before leaving the room.
Bella called after her, but Cissy didn't turn. Sort it out for yourself then, she thought.

The only good thing about staying at the Lestrange Estate, was that the Malfoy family was amongst the frequent visitors of the Estate, which meant she got to spend time with Lucius. Somehow it seemed easier talking to him at the Estate than it was at Hogwarts.
"It appears you're not very happy. I seem to run into you being sad a lot lately," he had said when she had run into him after the conversation with Bella. She had blushed and had wanted to turn. He grabbed her arm. "Wait," he said. "That sounded wrong, I didn't mean it like that. Is everything okay?"
She shook her head. "It's just ... sisters, you know." She tried to shrug it off.
"Actually I don't, being an only child and all, but still... anything I can do to cheer you up?"
She shrugged.
"Ah, you're not getting away that easily," he said, waving a finger quasi-sternly.
She had to smile, she couldn't help herself. "You're an idiot, you know that?" she said.
"Perhaps," he replied. "But I know just what you need. Come, let's take a walk." He invitingly held out his hand to her and she took it, a little hesitating. She stood up and for a moment their eyes locked. She withdrew her hand and looked away, embarrassed. He was only being kind, right?
"I'm sorry," he said. "I didn't mean to embarrass you."
I am such an idiot, she thought. "It's nothing," she said.
There was an awkward silence, then he cleared his throat and said: "Alright, let's get going then."
She nodded. "Where are we heading?"
"I had no particular goal in mind, so just pick a direction."
She looked around. The Estate was quite vast, so whichever direction she chose, they would still be walking on its grounds for quite some time. She randomly pointed her hand in the direction of some far away forest.
"Northwards it is then," he smiled.
They walked together silently for almost a mile. At first, it was a rather awkward silence, but it transformed to a more comforting one as they continued walking. Cissy indeed started to feel better from the walk and said so.
"I kind of figured already it would do you good."
She smiled at him. "Thank you," she said. "It's nice just to be out for a change. The atmosphere in there is just killing me."
He nodded apprehensively. "Don't know what's going on but I sensed something too."
They had entered the forest by now and giant trees blocked away the sunlight. Cissy needed to adjust her eyes to the sudden darkened surroundings. Below the rooftops, the forest was full of live. Birds where whistling and they spotted several small mammals. They continued to walk deeper into the forest, not talking anymore now, as not to disrupt any creatures.
"Look," Cissy whispered quietly and touched Lucius' arm. He stopped and she pointed to a spot between the green. He scanned the spot and then he saw it to. Not far from them a glimpse of gold was visible. It was a unicorn foal. Cissy withheld her breath, it was beautiful. Then a full-grown unicorn appeared and stood by her foal, carelessly swishing her tail. They leaned in a little closer. Unfortunately, a little loot snapped as they did this. The unicorn looked up, sniffed the air and then quickly whisked her foal away. Within a couple of seconds, both were gone.
Cissy's face was glowing. "Bella never told me there were unicorns on the Estate," she said excited.
"Perhaps she doesn't know?" Lucius brought up. "But they're gorgeous, aren't they?"
She nodded enthusiastically. "I've never before seen them in real life. I mean, we've treated them during Care of Magical Creatures last year but the descriptions in the book don't do them justice."
"Just the simple fact that we can see unicorn places us above Muggles," he added.
"My wand core's a unicorn hair," they said simultaneously. They looked at each other. "Yours too?" they asked at the same time. They started to laugh. It wasn't that unicorn hair was a rare core, it was just a combination of the moment, the surroundings and the fact that they had spoken simultaneously. It was a bright, unconcerned kind of laughter.
"Come, let's get back," Lucius said and took her by the hand. "It must be getting late already."
Cissy felt blood rush to her cheeks at his touch. Lucius didn't notice or at pretended not to notice, she didn't know which one it was. As he led the way, she didn't contemplate drawing his attention to the fact that he was still holding her hand. It wasn't until they had almost left the forest, that he became aware of this little detail. He stopped all of a sudden and she nearly bumped into him. This time, it was he who blushed.
"Oh Merlin, you must think I'm an arse," he groaned and quickly let go of her hand. "I'm sorry Cissy."
"Like I told you before, I don't mind," she said softly and took his hand again. "Really." She took a step closer towards him and smiled. They looked at each other. Slowly, their heads moved together until their lips met. It was only a brief kiss but Cissy was glowing. To find out, after all these months of having a secret crush, that Lucius liked her too, was beyond what she expected. She gave him a coy smile.
They slowly walked back towards the Lestrange Estate, hands interlocked. They didn't speak much, but then again, there was no real need to.

That was how Bella saw them approaching, holding hands and walking close together. Seeing Cissy with Lucius reminded her too sharply of how unlike her own situation it was, so she turned away from the window. "Well, at least one of us has found love in her live," she murmured wryly. She hoped for Cissy's sake it would last. She didn't particularly like Lucius, she thought he was too spoiled and a bit arrogant, but at least he was a pureblood and his father was one of the Knights who had taken the mark.

[Ralinde]

Andy had never been more comfortable than she was now. Douglas and Kathrin, Ted's parents, treated her more like a daughter than her own parents ever had and his little brother Dave, who had not magical talent, was really cute. There were days when she imagined living with them permanently and those thoughts cheered her up and depressed her at the same time. It was depressing because however much she would enjoy it, it would mean that she had to cut off all family ties definitely. Her parents and Bella would never ever accept her living with a Muggle family and would most likely burn her from the family tapestry at uncle Orion's house. Not that she cared much about the tapestry though, but it was just weird to leave seventeen years of her life behind her.
And there was Cissy. She wasn't at all sure how Cissy would take it. After Bella had left their parental house, she and Cissy had grown closer. However, Cissy could also be really skeptical about Muggles. She feared that perhaps her little sister would choose their parent's side in this, which was the reason she couldn't tell her about her whereabouts. She had written to Amelia off course, since Amelia was also a good friend of Ted, but had made her promise not to tell anything to Cissy.
She hadn't told Douglas and Kathrin, nor Ted, about her parent's attitude towards Muggles, because she didn't want to hurt their feelings. Perhaps Ted would guess, having undergone Bella's jinx in fourth year. She had just told them about the marriage her parents had arranged for her. They had been shocked and had called it medieval, which had made her smile wryly. Nonetheless, they kept insisting she needed to keep her sister close, so in the end they made a compromise; she would tell Cissy when Hogwarts had started again, so that she had a choice to either tell their parents or not, to give her a chance to make up her own mind about thinks.
Meanwhile, she wondered how on earth she was going to study to become a Healer if she didn't want to be found by her parents. That would be incredibly difficult and she found herself asking whether she should even try.
"Are you mad?" Ted had objected. "You've wanted to become a Healer since like forever."
"I know," she sighed. "But I don't see how. I mean, perhaps I'm just lucky they haven't found me yet, but I'm afraid that if they would, they would force me to marry that Rabastan-git after all. I haven't fled to just walk in two months later practically stating: 'here I am, come get me'."
Ted laughed. "You're ever so melodramatic."
She bumped him on the shoulder. "I'm serious. They know how much I longed to be a Healer, so it would probably be the first place they'll start looking. Maybe that's why they haven't really tried to find me so far, because they knew I would show up at St Mungo's after the holidays, so why bother searching?"
This time, it was Ted's time to sigh. Of course there was some truth to Andy's words, but he would really hate to see her dreams destroyed because of her parents. "We'll figure something out, okay?" he finally said and kissed her. "Just promise me not to give up on your dreams yet."
She looked at him. "I'll try," she said with a weary smile.
"Na-ah," he shook his head. "You have to promise."
"Okay, I promise I won't give up on my dreams yet," Andy repeated dutiful.
He grinned at her. "See? We'll fix it Andy, we'll fix it. And then you will be the best Healer St Mungo's has ever had!"
She smiled back, only this time her smile was genuine.
"Thanks Ted. But don't forget your own dreams either."
"I solemnly swear not to forget them," he said theatrical.
"Moron," she said and pushed him. He pushed her back, she tickled him and soon they were lying side by side, their stomachs aching with laughter.
Ted suddenly got serious again. "Hey Andy, I've been thinking," he said and lifted himself to an elbow. She looked up at him, smiling. "Yes?"
"What if we got married? I mean, they can't force you to marry someone when you're already married, even they have to accept the laws of the Wizengamot and then you could follow your dreams and we'd be together and you wouldn't have to worry about your parents anymore and..."
"Wow Ted, take a breath," Andy said shocked. "I love you, but I'm not gonna marry you just so I can study! That's ridiculous."
"How about you marry me because you love me?"
"Ted Tonks, if this is a proposal, you're doing it all wrong."
"Very well then," he said and took her hand. "Dear Andy, will you marry me?"
"Ted...." she laughed nervously. "You're freaking me out."
"I'm serious Andy," he said and she knew by the sound of his voice that he was. She looked him in the eye and saw the love he held for her, the love she felt for him as well. It wasn't exactly how she had hoped this would happen, but if she was honest to herself, she had never stopped loving him since fourth year.
"Yes Ted, I will," she said finally.
"Really?"
"Really."
His eyes were glowing and he hugged her tight. "We'll do super together Andy, I just know it."

Their marriage was simple, nothing like the wedding of Bella and Rodolphus had been. Douglas and Kathrin had not been to keen on the idea of them getting married so quickly and without Andy's family knowing about it.
"We just want a simple ceremony," Ted had said. "You, Dave and perhaps some good friends from Hogwarts. We can inform her family afterwards."
"No, we will not consent without you two at least informing Andy's parents and sisters about your plans. You can't just do this! It would destroy every spark of perhaps becoming closer again to them."
Andy didn't dare to tell them that her marrying a Muggle would surely destroy whatever chance she had left to reconnect with her parents, but in the end she gave in.
"I will send them an invitation," she grudgingly said.
But as she had expected, none of them showed up. Bella and her parents hadn't even replied, only Cissy had written a short note saying that she was shocked to have heard so little from Andy over the past two months and then suddenly finding an invitation to her wedding. Needless to say she wouldn't be attending, nor would she stay in touch as long as Andy was with her 'Muggle'. However, she had scribbled a p.s. that gave Andy hope that maybe someday, Cissy would change her mind: I really hope you're happy and you don't live to regret it,  it said.
So in the end, it was just Douglas, Kathrin, Dave, Amelia and her parents and Ted's best friend Jaime, who were present. Amelia's parents had hugged her tight when they saw her. "It shouldn't have been this way, Andy," Amelia's mum had whispered. "But if they can't see what a wonderful daughter they have, then that's there loss. Just know the two of you are welcome at our home any time."
Tears welled up in Andy's eyes. "Thank you," she said and returned the hug.

Bella put down the invitation, her face pale. Across the room, Cissy was doing the same. They looked at each other, shocked. For a moment, neither of them spoke. Then Bella yelled out in rage. "How dare she! How dare she do this to me! After all I've been through... she's going to marry a mudblood!" She tore the invitation in pieces, throwing them on the floor. Hatred filled her eyes and the sight of her frightened Cissy. She was angry too, though not as much as Bella. "Grab my arm, Cissy," she ordered.
"You're not going to do anything stupid, are you?"
"I'm not the one doing anything stupid here," Bella replied with a voice as sharp as a knife. "Now grab my arm!"
Cissy didn't dare object with her and grabbed her sister's arm. As she had expected, they began to toll around as soon as she did. When the moving had stopped, she looked around. They were in a gloomy place and with a shock Cissy recognized where they were. They were at 12 Grimmauld Place.
She tugged Bella's sleeve, but Bella ignored her and bounced on the door. "Open up!" she yelled.
It was aunt Walburga who opened. "Have you never learned to wait for a person to get to the door!" she began flustered.
"Let me in, aunt," Bella said darkly. The look in her eyes was maddening and aunt Walburga stepped aside. Bella walked in and went straight to the room where the tapestry hung. Cissy followed her steps, knowing what would follow. She had feared this would happen, but still...
Bella threw open the door, draw her wand and pointed it at Andy's face on the family tree. "Aduro!" she screamed. A flame left her wand and covered Andy's face. Soon, nothing was left of it than a tiny black hole. Bella looked at it, panting. She had thought burning Andy of the tapestry would make her feel better, but she felt absolutely nothing.
Her face hardened. "Go home Cissy. Go home and never think of Andy again," she murmured before she Disapparated.

[Ralinde]

13. A MATTER OF MONEY

Four years had passed since Andy's marriage to Ted. They had a little girl, which Andy had insisted on calling Nymphadora. Although Ted hated the name, he had consented with Andy's wishes. The girl was three years old now and she could change her appearance at will. She was born a Tranformagus, a witch or wizard with the ability to transform their entire appearance if they so desired. She was a lively toddler, crawling around exploring and they had quite a lot of work to keep up with her. Andy had finished her traineeship at St Mungo's and was now working as a Healer. The three of them were living in a tiny house close to Ted's parents since that was all they could afford. Douglas and Kathrin looked after Nymphadora often, cuddling and spoiling her like grandparents always tend to do. Andy was as happy as could be, even though there still were days when she missed her sisters.
Andy often wondered how Cissy would be doing. She knew Bella had taken on a high position as right hand to Lord Voldemort, whose power was expanding monthly now. This was something that worried her. Lord Voldemort and his followers profiled themselves as pure-blood supremacists, eager to eliminate all Muggle influences in the wizarding world. She had heard rumours that Bella was a known user of the unforgivable 'cruciatus'-curse and that a lot of terrible things seemed to happen to people whenever she was around. She shivered at the thought that her older sister had become somewhat of a monster and asked herself not for the first time how on earth Bella, who may have always had something of a temper, but who had been kind and light-hearted, had gotten involved in this. 
Cissy would have finished Hogwarts two years ago and she wondered what career she had chosen, if any. After all, their parents had arranged marriages for both Bella and herself, straight out of Hogwarts, so it was probable that the same fate had been bestowed on Cissy as well. She could only hope Cissy actually cared for the husband their parents had picked for her. She had no evidence that Cissy had joined Lord Voldemorts army of Death Eaters, as his followers called themselves nowadays, but she feared that she might have, under the pressure of Bella.

Cissy often smirked at the irony of life. Bella and Andy had both been married off straight from Hogwarts, when they had had neither intention nor inclination to do so. Bella had accepted their parents' arrangements and Andy had chosen her own path. But when Cissy left Hogwarts and actually wanted to get married, there was no money left. Figure, her parents, the influential Blacks, tight with money! As it was tradition that the parents of the groom bought a house for a couple and the parents of the bride paid for the entire wedding, the Manor Lucius' parents had bought them stood empty for almost two years now. It was maddening, really. Lucius parents could easy have afforded paying for both the Manor and the wedding but they didn't want to embarrass the Blacks.
She had once asked her father how it was possible that there wasn't even enough money left for her wedding, but he had only grunted and murmured something about debts that had to be paid.  From her mother she had learnt that they had had to pay a large amount of money to Rabastan because of the cancelled wedding with Andy. Cissy was mad with Andy. Not only had she ripped their family apart and embarrassed them, her actions were also the cause of Cissy not being able to marry when she wanted to. Instead of going down the aisle, she and Lucius had to get saving. Luckily, Lucius worked at the ministry and apparently he did a good job but it would take some time before they would have enough money to pay for the wedding.
"Cissy, why aren't you married?" Bella asked one day. "I mean, out of all of us, you're the only one to actually be dating someone they approve of and yet you're also the only one not married straight out of Hogwarts. What kept Father and Mother? I've asked them but they wouldn't answer."
"Money," Cissy said wryly.
Bella looked at her. "That's ridiculous! They have a gigantic vault at Gringotts!"
"It's empty."
"That's just not possible." She started to laugh. "Do you have any idea how much money is in there?"
"Zero to nothing."
"Cissy, cut it, it's not funny," Bella said annoyed.
"I'm serious!" Cissy replied. "When Andy backed out of the wedding, they had to pay large sums of money to Rabastan. He said that because of you being a relative and everything, he wouldn't pursue the blood debt but instead be contented with money. I mean, I'm more than glad I didn't have to marry the bloke, but..."
"He what?" Bella interrupted. She looked as pale as a ghost. "The bastard," she murmured.
"What do you mean, Bella? You rather had had me as a sister-in-law as well?" She spoke slowly and Bella could see she was holding herself back.
"Never mind," she replied angrily, though Cissy had no idea why she would be angry with her. "Go tell Lucius you'll be married before Christmas if I have anything to say in it."
"But..."
"No objections, family of the bride pays, right? Not necessarily the parents. If only you had told me earlier. Just leave it to me," she said. "Now go, I have things to do."
Cissy left her, puzzled at the sudden mood change. When Bella was in one of her tempers again, there was no use objecting. She loved her sister but sometimes she found her scary as well, the way she could go from pleasant to absolutely horrid in just a second; the way she seemed to enjoy inflicting pain on others; the gauntly look of arrogance on her face.
She didn't – yet – tell Lucius about what Bella had said but she kept the thought in a little drawer in het memory. Imagine they would be getting married come Christmas! That would just be wonderful.

Bella kept her word in sorting things out for Cissy. She was furious and her blood was boiling. "The scumback," she spoke to herself. "Can you even believe that? That after all he has done to me, he still has the audacity to claim money from Father and Mother?"
She had never liked the idea of him staying at the Estate every time but for once she was actually glad he did. It meant she wouldn't have to go over to his house but could just confront him immediately. She stalked to his quarters, already looking forward to make him pay for everything he had done. She smiled a vicious smile. Oh yes, Rabastan would suffer. And she would enjoy being the cause of it.
Rodolphus wasn't too happy with him staying at the Estate either, both since both he and Rabastan were Death Eaters – a name Lord Voldemort felt was more appropriate than Walpurgis Knights – they had to live with it.
Bella threw open the door without bothering to knock. Rabastan jumped to his feet.
"What are you doing here? Can't you knock?!"
"This is still my house. I can come and go as I please, wherever I please to go. Don't you try to prescribe any rules to me in my own house Rabastan," she said menacingly.
"I could have been changing!"
"In the middle of the day?" she raised an eyebrow.
"Okay, maybe not a good example. What is it you want?"
"What I want," she said slowly, "is for you to return the money you took from my parents."
"What money?" he replied.
"Don't pretend you don't know what I'm talking about. The money you claimed from my parents when Andy..." saying her name out loud proved difficult. "When Andy ran away. You thought I wouldn't find out, didn't you? Well, here's a surprise: I did. And you're going to reimburse every last Knut of it to me."
She carelessly drew her wand and much to her delight, she noticed that he flinched at the sight of it.
"I see you remember what happened last time you encountered this wand." She smiled. "You know, I've had a lot of practice since then. Care to find out just how experienced I've become at torture spells?" She cocked her head to the left, looking at him quasi innocently. "It'll only hurt a little. If you're lucky." She chuckled as he backed away.
"What's the matter Rabastan? Lost your speech? Maybe I just need to loosen your tongue a bit... Cruc..."
"No wait," he said hastily.
"Why? You can't even stand a simple crucio?" As she said the last word, she flicked her wand and he screamed in pain. "My my, aren't we a baby. I actually begin doubting why the Dark Lord even wants you as one of his followers. Or maybe, it just so me and the others can have something for target practice."

[Ralinde]

She had been holding the spell the whole time and he continued to scream. She let him catch his breath again. "You're insane," he muttered.
"Perhaps I am. So, what about a little trip to Gringotts, ey?"
"What? You can't seriously mean now?"
"Why not? It'll be fun to see your vault emptied and its contents put into mine."
He shot her a fowl look. "Fine," he managed at last.
"Great!" she clapped her hands. "Let's get going then."
She grasped him by his robe and Disapparated. With a minor 'plop' they Apparated in front of the Leaky Cauldron. Rabastan coughed.
She made him walk over to Gringotts and they entered the giant bank. Goblins were looking at them. She snorted. "Get back to work," she hissed.
When they arrived at the counter, Rabastan hesitated a little, so she gave him a mild poke with her wand.
"I would like to make a withdrawal," he said at last.
"And I'm here for a deposit. I just ran in to my brother-in-law. Coincidental, don't you think?" Bella grinned.
The goblin looked at them suspiciously but said nothing when Rabastan produced the key to his vault. She also showed her key and the goblin nodded. "Follow me."
"After you," she grinned at Rabastan. He grumbled, but she wanted him to stay in front of her, so she could monitor his every move. They both got in the little chariot, along with the goblin. They went deep within the earth. The deeper they went, the darker it got. Bella was aware of the situation and watched Rabastan extra carefully. He had however, settled into his role, or so it seemed, which made things easier for her. The chariot was still going deeper into Gringotts until finally it stopped.
"Vault number one hundred and six," the goblin announced.
Rabastan got out, as did Bella. She was curious about what would be in Rabastan's kluis. The goblin opened it with the key Rabastan had given him. Bella took a sneak peek. The vault was loaded with gold, jewellery and valuable tapestries and carpets.
"Half," she said.
Rabastan pulled a face and narrowed his eyes. He did, however, not object. Instead, he turned to the goblin besides him and said: "Could you transfer half of this to her vault?" He inclined his head towards Bella and this time it was she who was narrowing her eyes now. He must know that he won't be getting away with that... she thought.
The goblin frowned but blew a whistle and after a couple of minutes, three other goblins appeared. He gave them some orders and they began carrying gold and exclusivities out of the vault.
"Madame, what is the number of your vault?"
"One hundred and thirty-nine."
The goblin spoke again to the employees of Gringotts and they nodded. "The contents of this vault will have to be transferred partially to vault one hundred and thirty-nine," he told them and they started loading the valuables into the chariots.
When things had been arranged, they left Gringotts. They had to blink against the sudden bright light outside. Bella didn't give Rabastan time to get adjusted. Instead, she took his robe again and Disapparated back to the Estate.
"You've got some nerve," she said the moment they had returned. "You should know by now that I don't like being made a fool off."
She turned, pretending to walk out of the room and heard him sigh of relief. That was the moment she turned back and fired a 'depondera' at him, which blew him off his feet. "You didn't think you'd get away that easily, did you?" she snorted. "I see you still have a lot to learn, Rabastan." She fired a non-verbal 'neurintio' at him followed by a 'crucio' and chuckled as he screeched. "You know, I could make things worse for you, but right now, I have better things to do. You'd best be on your watch though from now on."
Her words had a menacing undertone and she waited for them to sink in on him. When she saw that he was fully aware of the implications, she left the room. She was content. Not only did she now have enough money to provide for Cissy's wedding, she had also shown Rabastan that she was above him, that if he were to displease her, she would strike back.

Cissy didn't know where Bella had gotten the money from but she was ever so happy that she and Lucius finally could get married. Lucius had some house elves clean their Manor and the wedding was scheduled on the 22th of December. She would have liked Bella's butterfly-carrying-dress, but since it would be to cold for butterflies and emerald green didn't really suit her, she opted for a cobalt blue dress instead. She wore Druella's tiara, just like Bella had done. Lucius looked really smart in his suit and on seeing him, she fell even more in love with him. He smiled at her as she walked down the aisle, flanked by Bella and Aurore. She felt a pang when she realised that had things gone differently, Andy would have been by her side instead of Aurore, but she pushed away the thought. Andy had made her choice and she shouldn't think about her at a day like this. This was meant to be her day, not Andy's, and she would enjoy every last minute of it.
She took Lucius' hand with a smile and the wedding minister performed the ritual she had also seen on Bella's wedding. Being a part of it instead of just watching was a lot different though.
There were a lot of people. Like had been the case with Bella and Rodolphus, both Cissy and Lucius came from wizarding families that took a high position in society, so every pureblood family had been invited. Cissy did not know everyone but she liked social gatherings and saw it as an opportunity to maintain a close connection to those families. She had however not been prepared for the presence of Amelia Bones. They both seemed lost for words when they saw each other.
"Lucius told me you work at the Ministry," Cissy said. It was a much safer subject than the one neither of them dared talk about, for different reasons.
"It's really a most interesting place to work," Amelia said and they were both silent. When the silence became awkward, Amelia complemented Cissy on her dress. "Where are you going to live?" she asked next.
"Lucius' parents bought us a Manor two years ago, near Wiltshire," Cissy replied and her face darkened a bit. "We will move in there right after our marriage."
They continued with a little small talk, just like Cissy had had with other guests. When the kissed goodbye, Cissy impulsively whispered in Amelia's ear: "Is she okay?" Amelia didn't need to ask whom she was talking about; they had been avoiding the subject carefully for the last minutes. "She has moments that she misses you, but on the whole she's quite happy. They have a little girl, she turns four in April," she whispered back.
"Thank you so much for coming," Cissy said out loud. She smiled at Amelia and Amelia smiled back, understanding that Cissy didn't want Bella to know she hadn't completely banned Andy from her thought.
"I wish you all the best in the years to come," Amelia replied just as formally.
Cissy continued talking to the other guests after she left. She hadn't known why she had asked Amelia, but was glad to hear Andy was doing fine. She masked any mention of Andy to Bella of course.
She and Lucius moved into the Manor straight after the wedding. It looked different from what Cissy remembered it to be, perhaps because they hadn't been there in quite a while. The house elves had done their jobs well; the Manor was spotlessly clean. It didn't feel like a home yet though, because it lacked a personal touch. She needed to start decorating first thing in the morning, she decided. But for now, other things were more important. She turned around, smiled coyly to Lucius and wrapped her arms his neck. "I love you," she whispered and kissed him passionately.

"I've been to Cissy's wedding last week," Amelia told Andy a week later. They were having tea and Andy dropped her cup to the floor, where it smashed into pieces.
"What?" she said aghast. "You never told me you got an invitation!"
"I'm sorry I haven't told you before. I was afraid it might upset you."
"Pff, why would it? It's not like I care about what my sisters do," she said unaffectedly, but the slight tremble in her voice told Amelia that this wasn't really the truth. "Who's she married to anyway?"
"Lucius Malfoy."
"Of course! My perfect little sister, my parents' favorite, there's no way she would have married anything less than an even so perfect wealthy Slytherin pure-blood," Andy sneered.
"That's not fair Andy. They seemed to be really in love with each other. And didn't you say she already had a crush on him when she was still in fourth year?"
"She did," Andy admitted reluctantly. "But that doesn't change a thing."
"Doesn't it? Not even if she married out of love, just like you have?"
Andy remained silent. It did change some things somehow, even though she wasn't exactly sure why that was.
"I thought she would have gotten married ages ago. Apparently the 'get-your-daughter-married-as-soon-as-she-finishes-Hogwarts-approach' didn't apply to Cissy," she reproachfully said.
"Don't blame Cissy for what your parents did, Andy," Amelia said softly, "I believe she feels as bad about it as you do."
"Yeah? Well, she hasn't written me nor contacted me in any other way, so she's just as uncaring as the rest of them!"
"I don't believe that's true."
"What do you know about it?!" Andy got into a rage and Amelia cut in.
"She asked how you were doing," she stated.
"She's just like them, she cares only about herself, she... wait, what did you say?" Andy interrupted herself, frowning.
"She asked how you were doing," Amelia repeated.
"Did she now?"
"She cares about you Andy. She may not show it overtly, but she cares. I could see it in her eyes and hear it in her voice as well.
"Humph," Andy snorted. Her face had softened a bit though. After a moment of silence, she carefully asked: "How is she doing?"
"Well, she looked happy from what I could tell, but hey, it was her wedding day, so why shouldn't she? She looked healthy, something I can't say about Bella."
"What about her?"
"I don't know, she just looked... gauntly, ghostlike. Nothing like the Bella I knew when she was still at Hogwarts."
"Yeah but what did we actually know her?"
"I just think life hasn't been easy on her, that's all."
"Oh I think she has just spend too much time with this Lord Voldemort," Andy replied malignantly. "Her life can't have been that hard, not compared to the mess I got put up with."
Amelia didn't reply. Andy's feelings towards Bella wouldn't change and she had every right to be angry with her older sister. She just had a sense that things may not be as black and white as Andy painted them.

[Ralinde]

14. DOWNFALL OF THE DARK LORD

Things were getting grimmer and grimmer. Lord Voldemort and his troop of Death Eaters were causing mayhem and panic, not only in the Muggle world any more. They had expanded their activities to the wizarding world and everywhere people were threatened. The situation had a different effect on the three sisters.
Bella, who let herself be called Bellatrix again nowadays, revelled at the opportunities to prove herself a worthy lieutenant to Lord Voldemort. She had perfected torturing to a level it was almost an art form had it not been so vicious.
Cissy, or Narcissa nowadays, was sometimes horrified by Bella's actions. Lucius had become a Death Eater too, so she knew he probably wasn't the nicest person in the world either to those who stood in their way, but at least he wasn't as cruel as Bella. That was what she told herself anyway.
For Andy, things were even worse. She had married a Muggle and had a daughter who was therefore a half-blood. They called her a blood traitor. She heard all the horrible stories and at a certain point she snapped. Amelia had told her Dumbledore had created a group of people who stood up to Lord Voldemort and she had instantly volunteered, as had Ted. They had after all a daughter to protect and if they didn't protect her, then who would?
So Bella and Andy stood on opposite sides of the battle, with Cissy somewhat in the middle. It was like their sisterly conflict had become a problem of a worldwide scale.

Cissy spent her time either in Malfoy Manor or at the Lestrange Estate. With Lucius often away on duties, the Manor was a cold place most of the time. It was big and impressing and even with the decorating she had done, she felt alone. There were no children to look after or to fret about. She had had three miscarriages and those had broken her. She desperately wanted a child but every time she got pregnant, they lost it somewhere along the way. She knew Lucius had already given up, and lately she had begun wondering if she didn't do the same and just accept the fact they might never have children. She had a hard time coping with it. Amelia's words at the wedding resonated in her mind: She has a little girl, she'll turn four in April. Not for the first time, she was jealous of Andy.
In the last couple of weeks, she had experience the changes in her body that indicated that she once again was pregnant. She hadn't told Lucius yet and she didn't dare hope, too scared that like the other times, this child would never make it to the world. However, it appeared that fate had finally decided to be merciful, for the agonizing pain she had come to recognize during her other pregnancies, never came. Secretly, she started dreaming that maybe this time around, the child would actually make it. Lucius noticed she seemed a little absent lately and asked her what was wrong. She took his hand, smiling. "I think maybe this time will be different," she whispered, her eyes gleaming.
"You mean..." Lucius said.
She nodded. "Over three months now Lucius. That's a good sign, isn't it? The other times I didn't even make it past two months..."
"A good sign?" Lucius echoed. "It's incredible!" He took her in his arms and drew her close to him. "I just can't believe it," he said.
"I know, me neither. We might actually have the child we've wanted for so long now. I'm so happy!"
Lucius smiled back at her. "This is one of the best days of my life," he murmured.
Half a year later, the baby was born. It was a beautiful boy, screaming his lungs off when entering the world. Cissy had had a very hard and difficult labour, but to hear her baby cry, her and Lucius' baby, made her forget about that pretty quickly. The mediwitch at St Mungo's placed the boy in her arms and Lucius came in. She smiled at him, exhausted but thrilled. "Here's your son," she said and looked down in amazement at the little wonder in her arms. Lucius smiled too. "He's gorgeous. I guess he takes after his mum." He kissed her. "Have you thought about a name yet?" he asked.
"I want to continue the tradition of Blacks and name our child after a star or constellations if you're okay with that," she replied. "But it has to be a strong name, don't you agree?" He nodded.
"How about Draco?" she asked after a moment of thought.
"I like that as a name," he said. He bent forward to the bundle in Cissy's arms. "Welcome to the world, Draco Malfoy," he whispered.

Andy was pacing up and down the house, driving Ted crazy. "Would you sit down alright?" he said.
"I can't Ted, they should have been here ages ago. Oh god, I hope nothing has happened to them."
"They'll be fine Andy." Ted tried to be reassuring, but he felt the same anguish Andy felt. 'They' were his parents and their daughter Nymphadora, who was now eight years old. The three of them had been to the London Zoo and they were supposed to be back before dinner but it was already getting dark and they still hadn't returned to the house. At last, the doorbell rang and Andy rushed to the door. "Finally, there you are!" she exclaimed. "We've been so worried!"
But it weren't Douglas and Kathrin who stood at the door. It was a policeman. Andy turned grey. She had lived long enough amongst Muggles to know that that really was the last thing you wanted to see when relatives were late. It usually meant they had had an accident and were either dead or mortally wounded.
"Are you madame Tonks?" the policeman asked. She didn't trust her voice, so she just nodded instead. "Then I believe this little lady is your daughter?" He stepped aside and she now saw another policeman, carrying a bundle of clothes and blankets in his arms.
"Dora! What has happened to her? Is she okay?" her heart pounded in her chest. She has to be, she has to be, she kept repeating to herself.
"She's alright. One of the animal keepers at the London Zoo found her. She was standing with the chameleons. They must have missed her earlier on, for they said she just seemed to be blending in.
Andy nodded. That was Dora allright, always keen on an occasion to demonstrate her talent, and what better way to show off than to a chameleon, to prove you're even better at blending in as he does?
"What about her... what about my parents-in-law?"
A cloud passed over the policeman's face and she knew what he about to say before he said it. "I'm sorry ma'am but it appears they are... no longer with us. We're still investigating how this could have happened since no one saw nor heard anything."
Because they are killed by magic! she wanted to shout. Because some freak wants to take over the world by killing Muggles and blood traitors! She bit her tongue. She couldn't say that without having to explain a lot of things and that was against the covenant. But Douglas and Kathrin... She started screaming. Ted came rushing towards her, a worried look on his face.
"What has happened?" he asked.
The policeman told him what he had told Andy's just seconds ago and Ted had to hold on to the door to remain standing. He too had gone grey.
"No, I just can't believe it," he said in a hoarse voice. "It just can't be true. Not my parents."
"I'm really sorry sir. I sympathise with your loss. It's just lucky your daughter is safe." Only now was he paying attention to the little bundle the other policeman was carrying. It moved and he spotted a tuff of hair in an indescribable colour. Dora. He walked over to her. She stirred and he took her from the policeman's arms. Tears were streaming down his face, but he didn't care.
"We have to be off," the first policeman apologised. "Will you two be alright sir? Is there anyone who can stay with you tonight? Should we send someone over?"
Ted shook his head without realising it. No one would understand how they felt at this very moment. He carried Dora inside, past Andy, who had stopped screaming but who was crying too now. "Come Andy," he said broken. "It doesn't become undone if we just keep standing here. Come inside. Dora needs you right now. I need you right now. We need each other, to get through this."
Like on autopilot, Andy followed him into their house. They let Nymphadora sleep and fell in each other's arms. They both wept with sorrow at the loss of Douglas and Kathrin.

Bella was delighted that things were going this well with the rise of Lord Voldemort. With a little help from Lucius, they had managed to penetrate even the Ministry, which meant they could get valuable information on, for example, places where mudbloods and blood-traitors could be found. Rumours had been going around about this counter-army Dumbledore had initiated, but Bella had just laughed at the idea. It was just ridiculous that the people bought it. They should know it served no cause, did it? In the end, Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters would prevail and they too would beg for their sorry little lives. And their message of love being the strongest power? She had laughed at that idea. Really, they didn't get it. Love was so very much overrated.
Since the beginning of the war, more people had joined the ranks of the Death Eaters, some of them out of fear, others out of admiration. Her cousin Regulus had been one of the new recruits from an early age and she was proud that at least one member of the House of Black had fought for their cause. She regretted the death of Regulus at the age of eighteen, she was sure he would have had a great prospect if he hadn't died, for he had been almost as dedicated as she was. Her other cousin Sirius, on the other hand, had followed Andy's example and had left the house at the age of sixteen.
He probably was in the Order of the Phoenix, for that was the name Dumbledore had given his organisation. They had confronted the Order on several occasions already, thinning out their ranks, but not quite managing to annihilate them. It was such a shame to see a talented young wizard like Sirius choosing the wrong side. Well, she couldn't be bothered. If he wanted to go and get himself killed, that was his choice. She would be ever so pleased to do the honours should she meet with him.

One day, Severus Snape, one of the newer members of the Death Eaters, frantically entered the room they were in, interrupting their conversation. Everybody fell silent and turned his head towards him.
"You'd better have a good reason interrupting my business," the Dark Lord said coldly.
"My Lord, I've overheard a prophecy," he panted. "It was about you."
Lord Voldemort raised an eyebrow. "Pray tell," he said and Bella chuckled. Like he gives a damn about prophecies. Divination is like the most idiotic subject ever. She sat by Lord Voldemort's side, as usual.
"The prophecy spoke of you, and of a boy, born at the end of July to two members of the Order of the Phoenix, who have defied you twice. The boy will destroy you when he grows up."
For a moment, it was completely silent. Then Lord Voldemort said without emotion: "Thank you for this information Severus. I've never cared much for Divination but it's best to be cautious. No child can harm me if I kill it now. I'll find out whose child is born at the end of July."
Severus was still standing there and Lord Voldemort shooed him away. "What are you still standing here Severus? We've heard your message and now you can go."
"Yes my Lord, of course." Like a beaten up puppy, Severus left the room.
"What do you think Bella? Worth our time to find out about this kid?" There was a glint in his eyes she had not seen before but she didn't think any further of it.
"If you think it is, then it is," she replied. "I would be delighted to be of assistance, should that be as you desire."
"I'll keep that in mind Bella. I'll keep that in mind."

[Ralinde]

In the weeks to come, they learned that there were actually two children matching the profile. One was the son of Lily and James Potter, the other one the son of Frank and Alice Longbottom. Both couples were fervent members of the Order of the Phoenix.
"Thanks to their Secret-Keeper Wormtail here," Lord Voldemort pointed at the shivering man with the face of a rat and mousy brown hair that stood beside him, "we know where the Potters live, so I'll go to the Potters first before they find out that the Fidelius Charm has been broken. And after all, their boy is only half-blood, his mother being a filthy mudblood. It shouldn't be that hard to kill him." He turned to Bella. "You shall have full command while I'm away Bella."
"Thank you my Lord." she gleamed with pride at the trust he showed her. "I will not let you down."
"I have no doubts about that," he replied dryly. With that remark, he Disapparated from the spot. Bella knew he wouldn't be gone long, but still felt extremely powerful now that she was in charge.
"Nott, clear up your mess! This place is not a pig's stall!" she bellowed. "Gray, Dolochov, what's the status of the Project Pursuasion?!"
"Working on it!" Dolochov replied grinding his teeth. She knew he, like most of the other inner circle Death Eaters envied her her position and were – not so – secretly wondering why a woman was placed at a higher rank than they were. She had overheard a conversation between Mulciber and some others and had silenced them by using every torture curse she knew on Mulciber, making them watch until he begged for mercy. However, since she was not only a very skilled Occlumens but a rather good Legilimens as well, she knew that these feelings and suspicions still hadn't gone away completely. She had decided a long time ago that as long as Lord Voldemort called her his 'most loyal lieutenant' she didn't care what the others said. Let them think she could favour him in ways they couldn't. All that mattered to her was his approval. She leaned back in her chair and caressed the skeleton and snake shaped mark on her forearm. She would fight alongside him, as she had always done. Soon, there would not be an obstacle left to thwart them and they would win the war, control the wizarding world and rid it of mudbloods. The thought elated her.

Sadly enough, things didn't exactly turn out like that. The man Wormtail came back alone, shivering even more than he had done before he left wit Lord Voldemort. "He's gone, he's gone!" he constantly screamed, obviously in a shock.
"Is the boy finished with?" Bella asked.
He shook his head like a maniac. "...Backfired..." was all he could manage.
"Speak up rat!" she ordered. "You're not making any sense. And why are you here without our Lord?"
He still couldn't form a normal sentence, so Bella a more efficient way of communication. Or non-communication, since no words were spoken. She used her Legilimency skills to read his mind. If wasn't difficult, his panicky thoughts were running around in his head and the eminent one was a message Bella did not want to hear.
"You're lying!" she screamed. Her voice was shrill with panic.
He shook his head and she spat at him. "You're lying. He'll make you pay for telling such lies. He can't be dead, it's the Dark Lord we're talking about for crying out loud!"
Her remark was met by a series of groans and other sounds of disbelief.
"They must have captured him somehow, however unbelievable that sounds."
"Do you really think the chances of Him being captured rather than killed are bigger?" Gray asked. "Shouldn't we hurry to get the hell out of here?"
"Never!" she yelled. Her eyes shot fire. "Is this what loyalty means to you? You run at the first mention of defeat? Ha, I'll make sure the Dark Lord hears about this!"
Gray looked down at his feet, as did a lot of the other Death Eaters. She loathed them at that moment. Someone coughed. "Actually..."
She interrupted the person who had wanted to say something. "We have to go and look for him. He'll reward our loyalty!" her voice was still shrill. "Crouch, Rodolphus, Rabastan, you're coming with me. We're going to pay a little visit to the Longbottoms, which is most likely where he is. Dolohov, Rookwood, Snape, I want you to question Dumbledore. Take this heap of crap with you." She pointed at the still quivering Wormtail. "Lucius, Karkarov, Gray, Avery, Rosier, Mulciber, you'll be in charge of trying to find out as much as you can from the other members of the Order. Each of you, take two or three man with you." She ignored the grumbles of the Death Eaters. He had left her in charge, so it was up to her to make the decisions. "Now go!" she screamed furious. One by one they Disapparated, on their way to question the various members of the Order of the Phoenix, until only the three men she had ordered to accompany her were left.
"Let's be off," Barty said eagerly. Rodolphus and Rabastan looked like they had just bitten into a lemon, but she couldn't care whether they liked the way things were going or not. She just wanted to make sure they were within her eyesight, for she feared they might run. She told them the hiding place of Frank and Alice Longbottom and the four of them Disapparated. They Apparated in front of a row of similar looking houses in Wimbourne. The Longbottoms lived at number twenty-eight.
Bella stalked over there with big steps, making it hard for the others to keep up with her. She blast the door open. "Come out, come out, wherever you are!" she laughed hysterically. A woman was running for the door to get to the staircase but Bella made her smack into the ground with an effectively placed 'depondera'. "Tut tut tut," she said, waving her index finger from left to right. "Don't try to run away when you have guests, that's not very nice."
"I will not let you touch her!" the man screamed as he came running out of the living room as well.
She made him smack on the ground as well and then lifted him in the air with 'levicorpus'. "I don't think you have much to say in this matter," she chuckled. "Barty, bring her in the living room, I'll take care of this one." She hovered him back to the living room, not unintentionally bumping his head into the wall several times. He looked frightened and she laughed. "Not so sure of yourself now are you? But if you tell us where He is, we might let you get off with a mild warning."
"What do you mean? I don't know what you're talking about."
She squinted her eyes. "You're in the Order right? So where is the Dark Lord?"
"We haven't got the faintest idea!"
"I don't believe you." Bella let him drop to the floor and turned to the other Death Eaters. "I reckon some well-placed crucio's would loosen their tongues, don't you think?" She grinned as they took out there wands and Frank and Alice gasped. As one, they aimed their 'crucio' at Frank and Alice, who where thus hit by two spells each. They screamed in pain. She let the Death Eaters hold their spells a little longer before giving the couple some relief. This was repeated several times and Frank and Alice had a really bad time. The tried to fight them, but Bella only laughed at their attempts. Rodolphus, Rabastan and Barty were starting to look a little uncomfortable.
"I really think they know nothing..." Rodolphus nervously said. Bella shot him a look that could kill. "They know something. You're just not putting all effort in, are you? No, don't answer that, it wasn't a question. I'll just have to deal with them myself. Watch and learn," she smirked. Without warning, she hit the Longbottoms with a torturing spell even worse than crucio. Their cries were chilling. Upstairs, the baby started crying, which enraged Bella even more. What right did they have to play happy family when she had everything taken away from her? She increased the power behind her torturing spells and laughed like a maniac the whole time.
When Rabastan got hit by a curse, she looked up, breaking the curse she was holding.
"Let them go, Bellatrix! It is over, the Dark Lord is dead and they have nothing to do with it!" someone yelled. She vaguely remembered him.
"Well, well, if it isn't Moody," she spat. "Come to claim your share?"
"You're under arrest, all of you. We have you surrounded so don't try anything."
There were indeed several other Aurors, some of which she had fought on previous occasions. "He's not dead, he will be back! And you suppose I'll just go with you? Forget it! I'm His most loyal servant and I will make you pay you ever stepped in our way!" She pointed her wand at him and fired a curse. It hit him in the face and he whimpered in pain, clutching his hands to his eye. Bella laughed but only for a short moment, because the other Aurors had all fired spells at her, petrifying her. They snatched her wand and tied her, as they did with the other three Death Eaters. When Bella revived from the curse they had placed her under, Frank and Alice were just mumbling blantantly, not being able to utter a whole phrase.
"You came too late Moody!" she shrieked and chuckled. It was a terrifying combination. Rodolphus had come to his senses as well and said: "You'd better leave my wife alone or else..."
The Aurors laughed and Rodolphus could praise his luck that Bella no longer had her wand upon her and that her looks alone could not kill, or else he'd have died on the spot. The Aurors knocked them unconscious before they were dragged away.

To Cissy, it was horrible. Things had happened at such at speedy pace that she could barely keep up. Bella was captured, put to trial and then sentenced to Azkaban. To watch her had been awful and Cissy had backed away at the look of madness in Bella's eyes when she declared that she was proud to be one of Lord Voldemorts most loyal servants. Cissy had held her breath and Lucius had squeezed her hand to comfort her. He had been trough trial too, but unlike Bella, he had declined ever haven willingly been in the service of the Dark Lord. She suspected he must have bribed people to have himself freed of charges and she wasn't particularly proud of him if that indeed was the case. She was however grateful that he had found a way to stay out of Azkaban so they could raise their son together. "Better times are ahead of us," he had whispered. She had placed her head on his shoulder and she had sighed.

To Andy, it was a mixture of feelings. She still felt grief, over the death of Douglas and Katrin. She was relieved that the Dark Lord was gone. She hated Bella for what she had become but at the same time felt sorry for the Bella that had been. "It's still my sister," she had tried to explain to Ted when he gasped at her voicing this emotion. "She wasn't always like this."
"She has made a choice Andy. A choice to do terrible things. Hell, she may even be responsible for killing my parents!"
"I know." She sighed. "I'm not saying I forgive her for what she has done but part of me pities her. He changed her."
Ted snorted.
"What if it was Dave?" she asked, heatedly.
"Dave is not a blood craving lunatic like your sister!"
She knew he had a point somewhere, but snapped back a reply nonetheless. It was the first time they had a fight and for two days they hardly spoke to one another. Dora picked up the feelings and changed her appearances constantly in order to try to make her parents laugh. After two days, Andy gave in. It was just ridiculous that they were fighting over Bella, of all people. "It's just not worth it," she whispered to Ted, who hugged her as a response.