The Promise

I could not help but look at her and realise how much she had changed through-out all the years. She had changed in so many ways yet at the very core she had stayed the same.

The first time I met her, I had noticed her undeniable beauty and her strong-will. She was stubborn and would not stop at anything to get as she desired. Moral, sin and evil meant not the same to her as it did to others.

She was unique in every single way, different from any other being on this world and yet she too was born as every normal human and would die as every normal human, but I knew, from the very first time I laid my eyes upon her that the world would never forget her, no matter if she was death or alive.

Lucius Malfoy, one of my close followers, told me she was a pure-blooded witch, heir of the Black family, very trustable and loyal. I did not doubt his words for a second because in her eyes I had read an enthusiasm and faith I had not seen in the eyes of my other Death Eaters.

I remember how I felt when she walked up to me for the very first time. She held a pride and a fire within her that only few had, she was born with the promise of changing the world. Leadership raced through her veins, passion and desire controlled her heart.

She was perfect.

I could not have imagined any girl more beautiful than she was or as powerful. Already the plans started developing in my head, all the ways I could use her, the possibilities she gave, but then she looked up at me and looked me straight in the eyes. All thoughts blanked away from my mind and I knew I had found my equal, or as close to equal as someone could ever get to me.

"Stand up," I ordered her and immediately she got up, as if my words were ropes that hit her every time I spoke. The feeling was over-whelming, to know that b she /b would obey me was worth more to me than the loyalty and service of all my other Death Eaters together.

"What is your name?" I asked her.

"Bellatrix Black," she answered. Her voice sounded like the wind on a cold winter's night, fragile and weak yet too determined not to notice. I fell in love with her voice that instant.

"Are you willing to serve me, Bellatrix Black?" I asked her even though I had already read the answer in her eyes.

"Yes I am, my Lord," she answered.

"Are you willing to kill for me, Bellatrix?" I asked her then.

"I am, my Lord," was her reply, without one hesitation, without waiting. She was the one I had been waiting for all my life.

"And will you die for me, Bellatrix?" was my final question to her.

"I will," she answered with a determination that flattered yet surprised me, as if she knew something I did not, as if she could for-see a destiny I could have never imagined. A small shiver went down my spine, not that anyone knew, but the next moment I had stared off in Bellatrix' eyes I knew she knew something I did not nor did I have the desire to ever find out.

The next time I saw Bellatrix after that night, was several days later, at another Death Eater meeting. She looked as stunning as the first time I met her and the mere fact she was still there and had not faded away like some dream-image made me feel relieved because at first I had been thinking it had all been my imagination. But reality was even more blessing.

It was not hard for me to spot Bella amongst the other Death Eaters and not only because she was the only female one, but because she would even stand out in a room full of females. She had this circle of energy and fire surrounding her that made her so fascinating and desirable.

And she was under i my /i control.

The feeling that went through my entire body when I heard Bella laughing at something funny Rodolphus Lestrange, one of my Death Eaters said, could be described as jealousy. The emotion I felt when I spotted Lucius Malfoy putting an arm around her lower back, would be called anger. But what I felt when I saw her smiling at him and enjoying his presence, was pure rage.

From the first moment I met her, I had always known that, because of my status and power, Bellatrix could never be mine in public. If we married, that would endanger her. If the news that we would have a relationship of some kind would come out in the open, that would bring her life in danger too and no matter how much I wanted her, desired her, I could not bring her in that kind of dangerous position.

But even though I had always known love was not a feeling I was allowed to feel, I felt it anyway, and I felt jealousy and anger and rage and even more, all thanks to this one woman who changed my life forever. The worst part was that I knew she was not meant to be mine and one day I would have to give her away to one of my Death Eaters anyway, for her own sake.

I did not come to that Death Eater meeting, for I did not have the energy to enter the circle of Death Eaters that one time. The realisation that not all of my dreams could come true had been too much for me and I went to my mansion, leaving them all to wait for me whole night. Little did I know that one of them would wait even longer.

It was two days later, in the evening, when I entered the forest we held our meetings in sometimes again, for a reason unknown, I just felt the need to walk in a forest. It was a good place to think about future plans.

Then I spotted her. She was still there, had not left the spot she had been standing on two days ago, even though she was lying down, obviously sound asleep. I raised my eyebrows and looked at her, then I started realising while she was still here.

Even though the others had left more than a day ago, she had waited here for me to show up, loyal to the bone, the most faithful and loyal Death Eater I would ever have.

Two days before, she had been laughing and chatting with Lestrange and Malfoy and I had been jealous, but at that moment when I saw her there, lying on the grass in that forest, I knew the only one she was loyal to was me.

I walked over to her. "Bellatrix, wake up," I ordered her.

She slowly opened her eyes, but as soon as she spotted me, she immediately sat up. "My Lord, you have come…" she said. "I knew you would come sooner or later."

A weird sensation went through my heart when she said those words that carried such great loyalty and love within them, a feeling I had never felt before.

"Bellatrix, why did you decide to stay here while the others left?" I asked her.

"Because you promised you would come, my Lord," she answered smiling. She was even more beautiful when she was happy and her faith in me was stunning.

"Bellatrix, get up," I ordered her. "Have you not eaten today? I shall bring you to my mansion and let the House-Elves prepare you some food. It is not good for a Death Eater not to eat every day, under any circumstances. You must be strong," I told her.

She nodded and got up. Her joy, her happiness, it all reminded me of how young she really was, but even though her energy made her appear young, her eyes proved great wisdom.

She was special.

She was mine.

That night, I brought her to the Riddle Mansion and made the House-Elves prepare her some food. After dinner, we moved to the big living room of the Mansion and I told her about some of my plans. The enthusiasm she had while listening to my ramblings was fascinating. Never did she interfere, unless she was asked to do so and when she spoke then, it was always with great knowledge and I could sense she listened to every word I said.

Bellatrix only left the Riddle Mansion the next morning after we had talked whole night about the future, about the war that would soon come, about life and many more things. I could only imagine what great sacrifices she had made by staying away from her home for nearly three days, because at the next Death Eater meeting, just about two days later, there was a giant bruise on her left cheek.

The temper of Mr. Black, Bella's father, was pretty well known by me as I had heard many stories about it, but it had never really interested me until now. Now I felt like killing him.

I took Bella apart someway half-through the meeting and ordered the others to leave us alone, as I escorted her from the outside the Riddle Mansion, where the meeting was held, to the inside.

"Did your father hit you, Bellatrix?" I asked her questioningly.

She nodded slowly, as if she did not want to admit it.

"Why?"

"Because I stayed away for three days."

"Do not let him do this to you again," I ordered Bellatrix. "Defend yourself if you must or prevent this from happening. You should not stay here just to please me if you know it will get you into trouble."

"I do not care what trouble I have to go through, my Lord, I will do everything in my power to please you," she said.

Not ever before had words touched my heart that much as those words did and I knew from that point on, my number two goal in life, after dominating the wizarding world of course, would be to make Bella happy or as happy as possible.

Little did I know that would be a hard task.

Many Death Eater meetings followed that summer and every time, Bella ended up staying at my mansion whole night. I told her everything, my worries, my successes, my prides and my failures, my history and my possible future. She was the one person I trusted enough to talk to this open and she was a good listener, but often I returned the favour and listened to her, but she only talked when asked to.

She informed me about her two sisters, Narcissa and Andromeda Black, at first about how she hated Andromeda for getting along so well with her cousin, Sirius, who was an outcast in the family and who was her number one enemy and about how she envied Narcissa for being able to sit still in front of a mirror for hours to do her hair, then the stories changed. Andromeda had become a traitor to the Black family and Bella's hate for her sister grew even more. But a person who always returned whenever she told me about her family, friends and life was her cousin Sirius, even though she hided it carefully enough, always saying his name in one line with Andromeda's, just to show they are both traitors. If it was not for my Leglimens powers, I doubt I would have ever figured out how much Bella actually cared about her cousin and how much he had betrayed her and her trust.

Never would I allow anyone to let her go through those sufferings again.

Then September came and it was time for Bella to go to school, her last year. I would certainly miss her and I caught myself longing for the next Death Eater meeting more than once during her absence.

When, around November, I spotted her talking to Rabastan, Malfoy and Crouch Jr. while Rodolphus had his arm around her shoulders casually, as if they were used to being that close every day I really knew what it felt like to be heartbroken, because that would be the only thing that could describe my feelings right then, even though I knew it was all my fault.

She would love me if I ordered her to do so, but simply out of love for her I could not order her to do that. It was too dangerous.

So I stopped seeing her after the meetings and pushed her away slowly. At least now she could be happy, or so I assumed.

But then something happened.

After the Christmas holidays, the first meeting of the new year, Bella came, but she looked terrible. She had been hit several times in her face and the area around her left eye was deep purple, also there were magical sparks hanging in the air around her, showing she had been hit by more than one Cruciatus Curse not too long before.

I got her away from the other Death Eaters as soon as I could. She did not even have to tell me who had done this. Her father. My question was why.

"He found out…or partly...Sirius and his friends were over at our house…We were all in the library, talking a little, but Sirius and I started arguing again, then Lupin changed the topic without any luck then that small brat had to start about it…He asked me if Rodolphus, Lucius and I still went to those secret meetings once in a while…I have no idea how he found out, I just…"

She shook her head in annoyance and sighed out loud.

"What was his name?" I asked her. I felt like at least torturing one person to please her, to give her the revenge she deserved for what they had done to her.

"Peter, I think…I don't…Oh yes, I remember. Peter Pettigrew."

Immediately I sent out five of my Death Eaters to get Pettigrew. Normally I would not have mind a small, unimportant person as Pettigrew, even though he was an Animagus, but thanks to him Bella got hurt and I could not let him get away with that.

When Malfoy, Crouch and the two Lestrange brothers handed Pettigrew over to me, I let Malfoy get Bella.

I tortured Pettigrew in front of her, throwing hexes and jinxes at him for many hours, making him stand on the edge between being death or alive and yet I never pushed him over far enough to kill him. Bella enjoyed it, as I knew she would and when I asked her if she wanted to join me, she did not hesitate, but jumped up and threw a perfect Cruciatus Curse at Pettigrew.

I had always known she was a killer, but the efficiency and the lust for torturing she had surprised even me, but in a good way. She liked the feeling of power the torturing gave her, as did I.

Then, after about six hours, I asked Bella if she wanted to end it and gave her the freedom to kill Pettigrew if she pleased. She shook her head then and smirked evilly. "That pile of mud is not even worth wasting an Avada Kedavra curse on," she said and I could not agree with her more, even though I would have enjoyed the sight of Bella killing someone.

"Get out," I ordered Pettigrew then and the small man made his way out of the living room of my mansion as fast as his legs could carry him after hours of torturing. The second he left, I pointed my wand at the door and locked it.

I turned to face Bella and every control I had ever felt in my body, vanished. On her face, I could still see the handprint of her father's punch, but in her eyes I saw the sparkle of pure insanity that made her seem even more beautiful than she already was.

"Are you happy, Bella?" I asked her, while I approached her.

She smiled at me. "Yes I am, my Lord," she answered, as I expected.

"Did you enjoy torturing that rat?"

Her smile grew even wider. "It was the best thing I ever experienced before in my life, my Lord," she replied honestly.

"Don't worry," I told her. "You will experience it more than once. This is what I give all my Death Eaters, you see…I find a way to please them, make their desires come true, and your desire was to torture, to get your revenge, my dear Bellatrix…"

She shook her head. "No, my Lord. My number one desire is to serve you. To make your desires come true, my Lord…"

"Are you really willing to that?" I asked her, while my hand slowly went to her cheek, as if my mere touch could make the bruise disappear.

"Of course I am, my Lord…"

There was a small silence, then she spoke up. "I was wondering, my Lord, why you never asked me to listen to your plans anymore. I thought I had done something wrong…have I, my Lord?"

"No," I said quickly. "You have done nothing wrong, Bellatrix, you could never do something wrong. You are my most faithful and loyal Death Eater…Mine, completely mine…"

Desire took over me and I could not help myself. I leaned in and kissed her, kissed her with all the passion I had inside of me and she kissed me back with all the passion she had inside her.

"Yours," she said then, when we finally broke the kiss, just to kiss me again and push me down on the couch.

I knew now that my desire had not been mine alone. Bella desired this too and I could curse myself for thinking she could have never desired it. But, more than once, the thought struck my mind if it was the power she wanted or me, if she loved the man I was or the creature I had become.

It was useless to wonder about such things, because I knew I would never know the answer anyway. Bella had her secrets, even for me.

The next morning, I watched Bella sleeping next to me. She moved gracefully, even when at rest. My hand slowly caressed her hair and the realisation of what had happened and what we had done slowly came to me.

She was controlling me in a way I could have never imagined. I loved her. A feeling that was so unknown to me that I had not realised it before. No harm could be done to Bella or I would take my revenge for both of ours sakes, no one could touch her or I would be jealous…Oh yes, the love I felt for her was the purest feeling I had ever felt yet I knew it was wrong.

If I kept her, if I let her be mine, she would control me and I would let her willingly. No longer would I be the master, I would be the slave. And she would stop loving me.

I had no choice and weather I did it for my own sake or for hers, did not matter because it had to happen anyway.

Three months later I let her quit school and got her to marry Rodolphus Lestrange. She protested, but only once, and then agreed to my decision even though I will never forget the look in her eyes when I ordered her to marry Lestrange. She was wondering if everything we had ever shared did not mean anything to me.

It meant the world to me but that fact alone was enough to destroy both of us.

She married Lestrange, much against her liking and went to live with him at the Lestrange mansion. Her family did not kick her out, she left willingly. They gave her to me willingly, they handed over their daughter without a fight, they thought she was lost already. And she was. She was doomed to hell, the hell of Azkaban.

Perhaps if I had not married her off to Lestrange then she would have never been in Azkaban. Perhaps if I locked her up safe and sound in the Riddle Mansion until the war was over and I had won, she would not have to go through that hell.

But I did not do that because I respected her freedom. I had taken so much away from her already I could not bare the thought of taking away the thing she loved the most: her freedom.

I spoke to Bella shortly after the wedding. "Your husband is very happy," I told her. "So should you."

She looked up at me with a harsh look in her eyes and fear was nowhere to be seen. "I am, I am just not to keen on showing my happiness as he is."

Then she gasped at her own words and sighed. "I am sorry for talking to you like that, my Lord, I am just very tired. The past few days have been really busy…Would you excuse me, my Lord?"

She walked past me and I turned to watch her. She was not mine anymore and now I desired her more than ever.

Faith was cruel, but at least the thought that she would never totally be Lestranges was comforting in a way. I knew Bella was only faithful to me and herself.

From that point on, when she spoke to me, it was nearly emotionless, hollow. Oh yes, she was still full energy and passion, and supported me completely, but the love I could once hear in her voice was gone.

Once I had promised I would let no one hurt her the way her cousin had hurt her all those years ago by betraying her. Now I had done the same.

Bella didn't stay faithful to Lestrange long. She was like a butterfly, always seducing one of my Death Eaters, even her brother-in-law, Malfoy, who had recently married Narcissa Black Malfoy, even a new-found Death Eater of mine, Severus Snape and she didn't hesitate to add Rabastan Lestrange to the list either. Bella could not care less and they all loved her and adored her, desired her, wanted her. She was the price they all wanted to have and only one got her and that person was not Rodolphus. It was me, because she was still my faithful servant, after all.

One night, a couple of years later, there was a knock on the door of the Riddle Mansion. Bella, of course.

I will never forget the sight of her standing at my door in the middle of the night, her coat drenched in water, but her eyes shining like stars. She came to ask me for a favour.

"My Lord, will you give me permission for me to kill my father?" she asked me.

"Why? Why now?" I asked her. The question was useless because I would grant her wish anyway, as always.

"He found out that I took Regulus to our last meeting and he got furious. He hit me, as if I was still a little child who he could punish whenever he wished. He hit me as if I was less powerful than he is. I am not. I want to proof that I am not."

There was more pride in her eyes than ever before and a certain determination that seemed to burn in her soul. She was ready.

I shook my head at her. "You will not kill your father, Bella. We will do it. Together." I looked into her eyes and the fire that burned in them was fascinating, her anger over-whelming, her whole appearance enchanting.

"If you wish, my Lord," she said.

That night we tortured her father, and the day after, and the following night and three days in a row until she finally granted him the pleasure of Avada Kedavra. The insanity in her eyes took possession of me and it seemed as if we were back in time, torturing Pettigrew, who had now become a faithful servant of mine, all those years ago.

Instead now, she looked away from me and the magic was gone. She did not want to get hurt again.

Three months after the murder on Mr. Black, I sent Bella, Rodolphus and Barty Crouch Jr. to the Longbottoms to torture them. It was a relatively easy task and not too dangerous.

Little did I know it would be her last task.

b "Throw us in Azkaban, we will wait! The Dark Lord shall rise again." /b

Those were her last words before she got thrown into the Wizard's prison. Even at times like those, she did not even think of betraying me. She was still my loyal servant.

More than ten years she spent in Azkaban before I could save her. That was my second task, after regaining enough strength I would set her free. Nothing was more important. Everything was irrelevant, the only thing that mattered was Bella.

And I was able to set her free after all. My loyal Bella. She was still mine.

"My Lord, what are you thinking about?" she asked me. I realised I had been staring at her for over ten minutes.

"The past and the future, Bella," I told her, as I grabbed her hand and walked with her to the cliff, from where we had a great view on the sea and the island Azkaban was standing on. I did not care what any of my Death Eaters or Rodolphus would think, I was glad to finally be reunited with my extraordinary Bella.

She had lost some weight and looked older than before, but still much younger than her age and her vitality, energy and insanity were still clearly there. She was stronger now than before she got sentenced to a lifetime in Azkaban.

"We have come a long way, have we not?" I asked her then, breaking the silence between us.

Bella nodded. "Yes, my Lord, we sure have." She then turned to me, her eyes filled with questions and hopes. "Be honest with me, my Lord," she ordered me. "Will we ever be happy again?"

I stared off in the distance, looking at the prison the woman I loved more than anything else in the world spent more than ten years in and felt anger boiling inside of me. Angers towards them, towards those Muggles and Mud-Bloods who had done this to her.

Then I turned my head to face her. I could not lie to her, but the path she had chosen all those years ago, was not the path of happiness, it was the path of pain and disaster. I had the wish to change the world to my own benefit and she had supported my wish. The only difference between the two of us now was that power and war had become important to her and she could not live without them, even if she would have tried, while, I on the other hand, would have been able to give all of it up to spend the rest of my life with her.

The difference was that she loved power the most and I loved her the most. All those years ago, when I decided to marry her off to Lestrange for her own sake, I had been a terrible fool. Danger did not find Bella, she found it herself. Always. She loved it, enjoyed it, enjoyed the power, the adrenaline, the kill, the torture…She enjoyed everything that others called evil or insane, special as she was.

I could not lie to her, but I had no choice, because I did not want to hurt her. Not now.

"Yes, we will, Bella," I said to her, still looking at the sea and the sky, as if they knew the answer to questions I did not. "We shall be happy one day. I promise."