Author's Note: I would like to give a huge thank you to my beta, Bex, for being a love and beta-ing this at the last minute. You really helped me work out all the kinks when it came to getting back into writing and I can't thank you enough for it.
Please read and review if you have anything to say!
Written for Tass (you and me forevermore)! I used AliceBella and angst (maybe—probably, most definitely—bordering on tragedy). The only thing I wasn't sure of was the second person perspective. Enjoy, hon!
Burning Bronze and Delighted Blue by ValkyrieAce
It was possibly the worst possible way to meet up with the person you once loved.
The person you know, deep in your heart, that you still love.
You were in the middle of enjoying a calm night's view when the sound of multiple Apparitions reach your ears. The wards alert you to an unfriendly presence soon after, so you grab your wand and press a kiss to each of Frank's hands. You hope he sees the seriousness in your features as you kiss Neville on the forehead. With a nod from Frank, you descend the stairs and walk outside the house.
You haven't taken two steps out when you notice a figure standing just outside your wards. Walking towards the barrier, you steel yourself for an inevitable encounter. You try not to let it show when the figure walks into the moonlight, but the shock makes you feel like you've been hit by a truck.
Bellatrix staggers toward you, her right foot dragging along the dirt and fallen leaves. "I'm back, my sweet," she croons, "aren't you going to welcome me to our home, Mrs. Longbottom?"
The words echo in your head and it feels convoluted coming out of her mouth, sounding like a curse that never meant to exist. A bug to be squashed. You have been waiting to hear those words for many years, but it's too late, and it's too wrong.
So, you stand behind your wards and cover your weaknesses like you've been taught to do.
"I have nothing to say to you, and you are not welcome here," you say slowly, your eyes glinting like bronze against the night. "Leave."
You can see the surprise color her face, and the grey-blues of her eyes shimmer with delight — the way they used to when they were together in Hogwarts — as you stand your ground. She cackles maniacally and peers at you under her dark lashes.
"Or what?" she asks incredulously. "Are you going to call your Auror friends on me?"
"Yes! Of course, Belle," you reply. You cross your arms and look away, your lips lifting into a smirk when you catch her flinching minutely as you use the rusty nickname. It's paradoxical how wrong it feels, yet so right at the same time. "I'll call my husband too while I'm at it!"
Bellatrix is silent for a beat before the cackles resurface, growing louder with each passing moment. The sound vibrates and evokes the emotions in you that you'd long since lost — the love, the pain, the joy and laughter, and the sadness of losing her — but it leaves you wary.
Bellatrix is a reminder of a life that you've only ever dreamt of. She is a reminder of the dream that was ripped away from you over a prejudice that you had thought her long since overgrown. She is a reminder of lost scarves and curly hair, of full grins and maniacal laughter, of weddings planned and adoption papers processed, of needing space and break-ups.
But things were vastly different now.
You have a son to protect; you would do anything to protect your precious baby's innocence. Your Neville, who is just as much a part of you as you are of him, is being persecuted simply for being born. You're tired of it. You're tired of having to protect him when all you've wanted was to raise him with Bella. As theirs.
You raise your wand and cast the Patronus, turning back only when the glowing blue figure of the bear starts to move to its intended recipient. You watch as Bellatrix stares, the bright Patronus bringing out the hints of sky blue in her eyes, and your heart clenches as you're faced with what you've lost.
You still love her —goddamnit, you think, as you realize how much you do— and it's still wrong.
"Time's ticking, and you're still not welcome here, Belle." Another flinch and a glare later, you see her motion to something. A few Death Eaters step into the moonlight, some Apparating back to… wherever they came from. Two of them stay behind.
"Do you think you're safe behind your pretty walls, Alice?" Bellatrix snarls. You are on the verge of retorting when Frank runs out of the house and in your direction, his eyes filled with fear and desperation.
"The wards are compromised, Alice!" he yells. You pale and turn back swiftly, only to find that Bellatrix has moved toward you; so close, in fact, that you can feel her breath on your cheek.
Both of you have your wands drawn and ready to cast spells, but neither of you do. The situation is only a stalemate until one of Bellatrix's lackeys aim for Frank.
The battle has begun.
Out of everything you had imagined accomplishing in your life, becoming a warrior isn't one of them.
Which is why it completely surprises you to realize that you've been mentally prepared to die on this day. You've said your goodbyes. You've no time for praying.
All that was left was a good plan and an even greater execution of it.
Bellatrix's lackeys had been using the Cruciatus on you and Frank for the last three minutes. It surprises you to see them use it so effectively; they use it enough to keep you sane yet unable to move. The idea of their getting practice fills her with both fury and dread.
"What did you do, you crafty swine of a woman? Where is the boy?"
You smirk triumphantly, but it comes off sounding like a snarl. The plan worked, afterall.
"Tell me, Alice." Bellatrix bends to your eye-level and pokes the wand into your chin dangerously.
You look up at her and smile sadly. "He could have been ours, Belle."
She blinks once, then twice, looking as though she too was realizing what she had lost by letting you go. Against your logic —or what was left of it after the torture anyway— your hopes rise at the thought.
And not a second later, it burns out of existence.
"Crucio."
Fin
Word Count: 1,016
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry Prompts:
Term #10: Assignment #8 – Advanced Warding: Ancient Protection, Task #4 – Light: Write a story set at night.
365 Prompts – 8. Moment
The Insane Prompt Challenge – 85. Character – Bellatrix Lestrange
Yearly Scavenger Hunt – 98. Write a slash/femslash fic.
April Auction – Day Eighteen – Auction #1, Pairing – AliceBellatrix
Writing Club:
Assorted Appreciation, Palm Sunday – Write about someone important arriving somewhere.
Disney Challenge, Cinderella – Songs, 4. Kidnap The Sandy Claws - Write about someone who wants to take over something.
Showtime, Oliver! - 17. Oliver! (reprise) – (emotion) Delighted
Liza's Lodes, Kunzite – 6. Write a femslash pairing.
Spring Seasonal:
Days of the Year – March 30th 2019 - I am in Control Day: Write about someone taking control of a situation.
Seasonal Challenge – Autumn Challenge – (word) Bright
Seasonal Challenge – Colour Prompts – Moss Green
Seasonal Challenge – Flowers – Peony – (theme) Reunion
Seasonal Challenge – Earth Element – (word) Dirt
Ravenclaw Challenge – Amanda's Challenge – Characters – Rick Grimes: Write about a parent protecting their child.
Star Chart – Spring Astronomy Prompts – (word) innocence