So I have had this idea stuck in my head ever since I watched the scene in deathly hallows where Bellatrix tortures Hermione.
Both characters are particular favourites of mine and this fic flourished. I won't always have time to update and ill only do so when inspiration strikes:D
Seriously AU
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter if I did a whole lot of things would be different.
Chapter 1
Bellatrix smiled in satisfaction as the muggleborn kneeled before her screeched in agonising pain, sweat pouring and face twisted and disfigured.
She flicked her wrist deciding she had enough of this particular curse and skimmed her brilliant mind in search of something else, grinning happily when a particularly gruesome spell came in mind.
It was created by a dark wizard centuries ago, prejudiced against muggleborns after his wife had been attacked by a gang of muggle men. Defenceless, having dropped her want during the skirmish, she was beaten and raped. It was not until two days later that her mangled corpse was discovered.
The spell was basically a play on derogatory term 'mudblood'. When the spell hit the intended target, if he or she was a muggleborn, their skin would sizzle and burn as their 'dirty' blood bubbled out through their pores until there was nothing left.
Bellatrix, unlike the wizard who had created the spell had nothing against muggleborns. She did however have something against the light side and as Granger was with the light she saw no harm in using the spell.
Glaring at the trembling figure beneath her toes she flicked her wrist harshly hissing the incantation, 'moodvludius tarturas!'
The spell, a severe navy blue hit Granger directly in the chest and Bellatrix waiting for the effects to take place. After a few seconds went by and the girl was still merely trembling Bella angrily repeated the incantation.
'Why is it not working?' she asks in confusion turning questioningly to her brother-in-law Lucius who also looked perplexed, 'Am I doing it wrong?'
'Of course you're not doing it wrong Bella, you never get a spell wrong not since before Hogwarts', Narcissa interjects quickly her delicate brow wrinkled as she too was confused.
'If you're not doing it wrong Aunt Bella, then there's only one reason why the spell would not work', a soft drawling voice carries from across the room.
Bella turns to her young nephew who up till now had been silently watching as she tortured information from out of his school mate albeit not a favoured one as the girl was always besting him in class.
'And what reason would that be?' she asks her eyes catching those of her nephew.
Interestingly enough it was Draco out of all of them that had inherited the Black's signature eye colour, Cousin's Sirius and Regulas had them too but neither she nor her sisters did. Andromeda's and Bella's were brown like their mother's had been and Narcissa's were blue like their maternal grandfather, Draco a Black through his mother had the glaringly stormy grey eyes of her ancestors. It was true that Lucius also had grey eyes but his were a lighter almost silvery colour like sickles. Those eyes were currently lit up with surprise and shock.
'Well she cannot be muggleborn can she? Not if the spell doesn't work.'
Bella stood silently letting the revelation sink in, how could she Bellatrix Le' Strange formally Black the smartest witch to enter Hogwarts in over a century have missed that loop. A stuttering stumbling voice interrupts Bella's self-titration.
'You're wrong', Granger says her voice husky after the intense screaming session, 'I am muggleborn, a witch born from two non-magical parents with a magical relative somewhere in the distant past. I am a textbook muggleborn and I am intensely proud of it!'
Bella watched as the witch ranted her voice steadily raising with every word until exhausted she once again collapses on the sterile-white, cold marble floors of Malfoy Manor. She turns back to her favoured nephew who is sporting an amused smirk, letting her know that the girl was always so passionate.
She is slightly shocked though that Granger knew that muggleborns were descended from a magical source. It is a forgotten fact amongst many halfbloods, muggleborns and a few purebloods that a witch or wizard cannot just appear. Magic must have had a beginning a muggleborn witch or wizard is Magic's way of helping cleanse the wizarding world of genetic diseases and squibs, of bringing new blood into the fold so to speak. However, this blood while fresh carried the remnants of a long deceased relative that had been magical, most likely a squib.
It was why their Lord did not want muggleborns killed or muggles for that matter, one of his proposals was to introduce muggleborns into the magical world as soon as they were born. To take them from their muggle families (who would be mercifully obliviated of memories of their child) and have them fostered by families within the magical community. Many muggleborns, unknown to them, could be heirs or heiresses' of long-dead Families with titles, vaults of gold and properties left to rot.
The Dark Lord wanted muggleborns to be educated in everything they needed to know about the magical world, he wanted them to learn and respect wizarding holidays that had been banned so as to accommodate muggleborns and their respective parents who were uncomfortable with 'pagan' practices that went against their own. He wanted to raise the standard of education in Hgwarts which had fallen drastically due to the limited classes available as other options were deemed to upsetting for muggleborns or too expensive. Of course Hogwarts would have no money seeing as they paid tuition for all the muggleborns and a majority of other students.
Their Lord knew first-hand how disastrous lack of knowledge was to a person, as part of his inner circle Bella was privy to knowledge others were not. Their Lord was the product of a Squib and a Muggle. His mother had lured his father to her not with natural charm but with a love potion (for whilst Squibs did not have enough magic to practice it through spells and incantations they had enough to be successful at Potions e.g. Marcus Billings *created Wolfsbane Potion).
Believing that her husband truly loved her Lord Slytherin's mother stopped giving him the potion when she was into her sixth month of pregnancy. However, instead of staying and accepting his responsibilities as their Lord's father, he left his mother pregnant and alone. Merope Gaunt was unable to keep herself housed or fed properly after her husband had left her and by the time she felt herself go into labour the only fat on her body was her bulging stomach.
Left with no other choice, Merope had to beg her way into a local hovel/orphanage where within hours Lord Slytherin was born. Merope, as a Squib had magic though not an awful lot of it, however she could sense the magic in her child and chose to die during labour so as to give her son a better life as a Wizard then the Muggle one he would have had, had she chosen to fight for her life by tugging at his magical essence.
Whilst her intentions were noble, life at the muggle orphanage was hell on a wizarding child who showed differences especially during such superstitious times. The Dark Lord grew up mistreated and unloved, filled with hatred towards muggles, towards everyone. Upon arriving at Hogwarts, he was unsurprisingly sorted into Slytherin. However, lacking the proper manners and etiquette he alienated his housemates and so was once again an outcast. Had he been educated in their ways he would have made steadfast and loyal friends very quickly as it happened he was not and as so continued to suffer. He turned to the Dark Arts to ease his suffering and whilst this was a noble feat he was drawn in to quickly and soon began to show the first symptoms of overuse unfortunately they were to minimal to be noticed by disinterested housemates.
It was not until his sixth year when feeling of hate and bloodthirstiness drove him to open the Chamber of Secrets and summon the Basilisk that someone within his house began to notice his detoriation. When the Basilisk killed a muggleborn in the school, this housemate decided it was time to intervene.
Abraxas Malfoy was at the time Heir Malfoy and though he had been initially shocked by Tom Riddle's manners he had begun to notice him when he rose to fame within the school as a genius with Magic, the most intellectual boy to ever grace the hallways. He knew Tom was dabbling in the Dark Arts but did not notice how seriously until the incident with the dead muggleborn Myrtle it was then he decided to sponsor Riddle and took the boy under his wing.
He invited him to Malfoy Manor for the summer- unknowingly halting Tom's plans to kill his muggle relatives- where he proceeded to teach Tom everything he needed to know about wizarding culture and how to properly handle to Dark Arts because even though their Lord was a Dark wizard, Dark magic was still chaotic and hard to control quickly even if you were a genius.
Towards the end of the summer after Tom Riddle had again unsurprisingly received his Head Boy badge Abraxas Malfoy took Riddle to Gringotts for an inheritance test whereby he learnt that Tom was the last Heir of Slytherin and therefore entitled to a Lordship, properties and money beyond his wildest imagination. The Dark Lord never forgot the kindness his first and best friend showed him and they remained friends until Abraxas' poisoning at the Lights hands nearly twenty years ago. In fact unknown to most Lucius was the Dark Lord's Godson.
The Light had caused many of them pain. They claimed those who had an affinity towards Grey or Dark Magic were evil and that their aims were for the extermination of muggles and muggleborns prejudicing them against us. All of them had something against the Light, the Dark Lord against their leader Dumbledore who let his treatment at the muggle orphanage continue despite knowing what transpired there, Lucius for poisoning his father only because it was known how close he was to Lord Slytherin and how deeply he supported his views and political ideals, Death-Eaters and other Grey & Dark Witches and Wizards for turning the wizarding world against them.
Bella hated the Light the most. As a young witch she had been deeply passionate about Lord Slytherin's political campaign, after she finished school she was quick to join his forces lending a hand where ever she could, due to her eagerness and intelligence she quickly rose up the ranks. It was amongst the Dark Lord's campaign for wizarding freedom that Bellatrix met her future husband Lord Rodulphus Le'Strange. Whilst she had been well acquainted with his brother Rabastion as they had been in the same year at Hogwarts, Roddey was six years her senior and so apart from seeing each other formally at parties they had never properly met or spoken for that matter.
They hit it off right away to the surprise of many since with their similar personalities Roddy's brother Rabastion seemed more like her type. Bella was bright, vivatous and bold, with a mass of ebony curls and eyes the colour of the midnight sky, the type of person who draws people to her like honey and bees. Roddy was the complete opposite with cool blue eyes and a head full of golden brown hair, he was calm where Bella was bold, quiet where she was loud. However, they do say that opposites attract.
Within a year they were married and within two they were officially ingrained as part of the Dark Lord's inner circle having earned his friendship and his trust. Less than six months after that Bellatrix was delighted to learn she was pregnant and as was her younger sister Narcissa who by that time had married Lucius and they had been happy newlyweds for over a year. Lucius and Roddy were delighted as were extended family and the Dark Lord at the arrival of more beloved magical children. A few months into their pregnancies Bellatrix learned that she was having a little girl and Narcissa a boy their due dates days within each other in December.
It was in her seventh month of pregnancy that it happened, it was not a secret to the Light that Bella was in the Dark Lords Inner Circle. Whilst at home alone resting, Roddy at the offices and her sister resting in her own home, Dumbledore's forces were somehow able to bypass the house's protective wards where a slumbering Bellatrix was caught off-guard by a silent stunner.
Bella never expected to wake up ever again, she expected them to kill her but apparently they would rather teach her a lesson instead because when she woke up she was at home in her bed with her hand clenched tightly by a sleeping and exhausting looking Roddy. The first thing she noticed was that she could no longer feel her daughters magical signature, the lack of baby bump came second and then Bella began to sob. As a mother she knew the fact that she could no longer feel her child's signature meant that the baby was dead. She wrapped her arms tightly around her middle hugging the empty space as she sobbed the bed shaking with the intensity of her sorrow.
By wrapping her arms around herself she had let go of Roddy's arm and it was for that reason that he was immediately alert and comforting her. Between her sobs he explained softy that the Dark Lord had sensed the collapsed wards that they had come as fast as they could. That when they got there they found her in a pool of her own blood her stomach a torn mess and their daughter nowhere to be seen. Due to the fact that Rodulphus had magical blood he like Bella could form a magical bond with their child even whilst she was in the womb and it was due to that connection that Roddey knew that she was dead.
And so followed the darkest months of Bellatrix Le'Strange's life, the time in which she earned her sadistic manic reputation. Furious and mad with grief she was determined to discover who had killed her child, the first action she had taken was a little visit to the Longbottom's a Grey family that had unfortunately aligned themselves with Dumbledore's forces because Lady Alicia's best friend was the muggleborn Lady Potter and the Dark Lord wanted to exterminate all muggleborns. It wasn't like Lord Franklin hadn't been brought up right he should have been aware of the truth.
The Longbottom's had recently announced the birth of their son Neville and a deranged Bellatrix could think of no better punishment then the death of the boy- an eye for an eye, a child for a child- and a grief-stricken Rodulphus had joined her against their Lord's orders. Their magic sizzling with their turmoil of emotions they stormed Longbottom's Manor and tortured the Longbottom's until their minds had retracted to protect themselves and they were nothing but vegetables.
Satisfied they roamed the Manor until the cries of an infant could be heard alerting them to the position of the boy's nursery. Bella's steps faltered as she entered the room, whilst she had been in the early stages of her pregnancies she had lovingly designed a nursery for her daughter, now it stood empty and forlorn at their Manor as she couldn't bear to change it.
Her daughters' room had been painted a soft golden orange, the furniture and crib made of white pine the complete opposite of the room before them. Painted a dark forest room the room was accentuated with a dark mahogany changing table, chest of drawers, picture frames and large crib. The crying was coming from the crib and as Bella inched forward she caught sight of the chubby little baby waving his hands and legs for attention.
Silent tears ran down her face as she took in the thatch of dark brown hair and bright blue eyes glistening with unshed tears, trembling she cautiously leaned in to pick up the flailing baby. As she settled him comfortably in her arms he began to settle and with wide blue eyes baby Neville curiously appraised the new person before him.
'Let's keep him', she whispered hoarsely glancing at her husband who was standing behind her his own eyes glistening at the scene before him, a scene he would never witness between his wife and daughter.
'What? Why? Bella he won't replace her.' Roddy said mournfully.
'He won't but they will come looking for him and then we will get our revenge', she answered chuckling weakly her desire to kill the boy diminished.
Determined to leave a message that they would never forget Bella went back to the room where the Longbottom's lay baby Neville still cradled in her arms. She carefully juggled Neville with one arm and grabbed her wand. Muttering the incantation she aimed the spell at the wall and apparated out of the Manor Roddy by her side. The words 'You took from me, I take from you' glimmering in their wake.
Just as she had predicted, they came from him. She'd been kneeling before the recliner playing with the boy when she felt the wards shift, she ignored the shouting coming from the corridor, the bangs and clashes as the Manor's precious artefacts were smashed in rage. Bella was numb to it as she watched the gurgling baby with a smile on her face.
'Bella', a low voice called, a voice she recognised as her traitor of a cousin Sirius who despite having an affinity to Dark Magic had joined Dumbledore's side.
She looked up from the baby and found herself staring at the end of three wands. They belonged to her cousin his friend Lord James Potter and Potter's wife Lillian, all of them were glaring at her murderously.
'Oh Hello Cousin dear'
'Hello what the hell were you thinking Bella! You tortured the Longbottom's into insanity and kidnapped their baby! Why? Because you couldn't handle the fact you'd lost your own baby!'
'Lost!' Bella's shrill voice screeched as her head snapped forward and her dark eyes glared manically into her baby cousin's.
'You took her from me! You cowards! You stunned me when I was unaware and ripped her from my stomach! You Monsters!'
Sirius looked down stricken at his cousin, what was she talking about? Dumbledore said that Bellatrix had been driven by grief and jealousy to torture the Longbottom's and steal their baby after her own baby had been born stillborn.
'What do you mean?' Lily's gentle yet horrified voice asked.
'You need to leave', a clam voice by the doorway interrupted.
The three former Gryffindor's turned in surprise to the figure of Bellatrix's husband Rodulphus, being the smart wizard he was he took advantage of their distraction and disarmed them.
'Not until Bella explains what she meant', Sirius growls annoyed at the loss of his wand.
'You mean your darling Dumbledore didn't tell you how he killed our baby because we didn't agree with his views. How he traumatised my wife by ripping apart her bond with our child. Now get out!'
But they didn't and that day Lord Slytherin gained a few more supporters until Dumbledore interfered that is.
Bella had never gotten over the incident and instead of scaring her away from the Dark Lord the incident merely made her more loyal as she realised the light were just as ruthless and even crueller in their methods to get what they wanted. When Draco was born in December, Bellatrix couldn't bear to visit it wasn't until the spring in April when he was five months old that she did. She fell in love with his angel face, his platinum hair and Black eyes and vowed to protect him in the ways she did not protect his cousin.
Staring down at the Dumbledore's little muggleborn lackey Bellatrix was filled with hatred, she was intelligent to be sure but not intelligent to follow the right side despite her lack of education on wizarding culture growing up.
'Well we can always check can't we?' she murmurs.
'Do that!' Granger exclaims her eyes glittering with hatred and pride, 'I'm telling you the truth, and you probably just can't do the spell'.
Fuelled by the anger that overcame her when the muggleborn had the nerve to say that she could not perform a spell correctly Bellatrix urgently uttered the spell that unknown to her would change her life.
'statuse reveelus'
The light pink spell hit Granger and slowly but surely an electric blue glow surrounded the girl.
'Well isn't that interesting Granger', Draco drawled a smirk set firmly on his mouth as he grinned down at the irritated Gryffindor at his aunt's feet.
'What?'
'You're a pureblood Granger.'
It was true. The spell literally was it sounded like it revealed your status depending on what colour you got. You could only be a pureblood if both sets of your grandparents were magical but if you were you glowed a bright electric blue. Other statuses such as muggleborns glowed yellow, half-bloods glowed green, other combinations such as one parent who's a muggleborn and one parent who's a half-blood glowed purple etc.
'Were you lying Granger?' spat Bellatrix, 'what with your loyalty I would be surprised if you were related to Dumbledore himself!'
However, when glancing at the girl she looked genuinely shell-shocked.
'I don't understand', she whispered brokenly, 'my parents are dentists.'
'Dentists?' Bellatrix mused, though she was undoubtedly an intelligent witch Bella had not taken Muggle Studies.
'They heal Teeth', answered Draco
When everyone looked at him in surprise a blush rose to his porcelain coloured face.
'What? Why are you staring at me? I heard her explaining it once.'
'Interesting', says Lucius staring pitifully at Hermione, 'It seems even the poor girl does not know where she truly comes from'
Looking at the people in the room it seemed that even Cissy, Draco, Roddey and Rabastion felt sorry for the girl. Wanting them to stop and remember that the girl did not deserve their pity that pureblood or not she was the enemy working for Dumbledore she made a quick decision.
'Accio Family Tree Potion'
The Family Tree Potion was similar to Gringotts Inheritance Tests in that they told you who you were related to but unlike the inheritance test they did not go beyond great grandparents and did not go into the details Gringotts did with family, money, vaults etc.
The little green potion bottle quickly whizzed into Bella's hands. After she placed it carefully in the pocket of dress robes she quickly summoned a peace of parchment and a dagger. She did not bother to note the curious expressions on the faces of her family as she worked. Once she had all that she needed gathered she knelt down by the girl and forcibly grabbed her hand. The girl struggled for a moment before realising due to exhaustion and pain that escape was futile.
A bored expression on her face, Bella grabbed the dagger she summed and pricked the muggleborns finger. Setting down the dagger she reached for the bottle in her pocket not letting go of the girls bleeding palm and uncorked it with her mouth. Once opened she poured one drop onto the girl's blood and set it on the ground beside the dagger streaked with blood. Grabbing the piece of parchment she placed Granger's bloody-potiony hand against it. Withdrawing the hand she watched as the page shimmered and the blood disappeared.
Knowing that it would take a minute or two she healed the girls hand so it would stop dripping blood on the floor before turning back to the parchment. She noted that it was finished and without further examining it handed it to Lucius.
'There you go now you know where she belongs so can we please get back to getting information!'
But Lucius was not listening he was staring dumbfounded at the parchment, wordlessly he handing it to Roddy who was also mesmerised by the paper.
'What is it?' Bella asked impatiently 'Don't tell me I was right and she is Dumbledore's spawn after all.'
Roddey was no longer staring at the parchment but at the girl. At her long riotous curls that she inherited from her mother, the tawny-golden brown colour from her father. Her pale skin and freckled nose, her high cheekbones and her eyes shining with a familiar fire.
It was only the eyes that didn't make sense he thought as his brother grabbed the parchment impatiently. His eyes were a pale blue and Bella's almost black yet the girls were the same colour as her hair he mused as his brother gasped in surprise. The girl seemed to sense him looking at her as she watched back in confusion unknowing. So entranced was he that he didn't notice his wife getting angrier with every second or the parchment being passed to his nephew and sister-in-law who were also shocked into silence.
'What is going in Roddy? Why are you staring?' Bella squawked in frustration, having had enough of the silence she angrily stomped to her nephew and ripped the wretched parchment from his frozen hands.
Scowling fiercely she glanced down desperate to see what the big deal was? Why everyone was acting like a zombie. And then suddenly and without prompt Bellatrix Le'Strange fell unconscious for above the neat scrip that read Hermione were the names Bellatrix Delphina Black & Rodulphus Maximus Le'Strange.
R&R