Disclaimer: Harry Potter and everything about it are owned by JKR.
The Best Lies
PROLOG
Her boots clapped the marble tiles of Malfoy Manor, echoing ominously through the hall. A statuesque figure waited in a halo of candlelight at the end of the passage. Shaking the last vestige of sleep away, Andromeda Tonks swallowed back the tang of resentment. The Black family had rejected her for her 'mudblood' marriage, but in her heart, she could never do the same. They were her family even when she was not theirs.
In her pocket, she stroked her thumb along the edge of Narcissa's irritatingly vague midnight summons. Stepping into the candle glow, she flicked a glance at the iron-bolted door awaiting them.
"Cissy." Andromeda nodded primly, unsure how to greet her sister after decades apart. She stiffened as Narcissa Malfoy drew her into a sudden hug.
"I didn't know who else to contact... Draco found her this morning."
"Found who?" Dromeda softened in the embrace but pulled back to study Narcissa's strained features. A skirt of silver fell under her once pure auburn hair. Thin lines across her forehead bespoke years of worry. Andromeda's anger aparated as she searched for animosity but saw only the pleading eyes of her little sister.
"Lucius means to hand her over tomorrow. They'll kill her, Andy. I'm sure of it."
Before her lips could part in question, a keening wail burst from the heavy door beside them. Dromeda's heart stopped at the familiar cry from her childhood. It was the haunted refrain of every 'episode' of the eldest Black sister, the most gifted and most disturbed witch of their time.
Bellatrix Lestrange. Fallen from youthful potential. Slain in the Battle of Hogwarts.
Bellatrix lay curled in heavy blankets. She panted in a cold sweat as awareness returned. Her stomach clenched when she recognized the ragged feeling in her throat and the dull, thumping headache. Not since the Dark Lord's return had she had one of her attacks.
Slowly her mind cleared and brought back the truth of her current prison. A disused room for drying and crushing herbs in her sister's home. At least it smelled nice.
Bella twisted in vain against her magical restraints, more to feel the surety of her bindings than to break them. The uninspired spell was nothing as nice as her incarcerus silicus, but that was for rather different purposes. She smiled perversely, shifting again.
The door to her impromptu cell opened ponderously. Bella relaxed for a moment, seeing Narcissa's guilt-stricken gaze. She knew her sister wouldn't sleep with the Wizarding World's most wanted war criminal tied up in her cellars. Formerly most wanted after her reported death.
The dark witch froze when the family blood traitor entered behind her. "Why is she here?" Bella hissed, thrashing in sudden agitation. "I'll not be tied like a beast in your house while those who roll in mud walk free."
"Are you all right?" Narcissa ignored her outburst. "We brought your tea."
Glaring, Bella drank in spite of herself as Andromeda patiently tipped the steaming cup to her lips. The bitter brew slid down in a few gulps, leaving a refreshing chill in its wake. Bella calmed as the throbbing in her head began to fade.
Andromeda cast a critical eye over her. "Merlin, Bella, you look a fright. I think you are the one who's been rolling in mud."
"Better than sleeping with it."
Dromeda rolled her eyes at the feeble insult. "Don't knock it 'til you try it."
Narcissa gasped quietly, scandalized.
"I'd sooner cut my hands off."
Andromeda frowned and sat down at the worktable. "We don't have time for this. We need to figure out what to do with you before the Ministry finds out you're alive, Bella."
"Before Cissy's darling husband tells them, you mean, to bargain for his own freedoms. Such devoted family we all are." An ironic cackle sprang from the dark witch's belly.
"I know a master déguiseur in Quebec," Narcissa broke in. "For a small fortune, he can make you look like anyone. If you're ready to live in peace like the rest of us, you could have a life again, Bella. A home. You could marry someone you actually love this time and get some treatment."
"That is your most foolish idea since saying yes to that blond imbecile."
"And your idea of lurking on our grounds was not foolish?" Narcissa huffed.
"And you," Bella spun a hateful gaze on Andromeda. "You think I believe you want to help me after what I did to Nymphadora?" The dark witch clucked her tongue. "Does your half-filth daughter's life mean so little? I can see why you betrayed your birth family, too."
"Bella," Narcissa scolded.
"Why did you do it?" Andromeda growled. "Like it or not, she was your niece."
Because she was FILTH! "Because she was against him."
Bellatrix blinked at her unplanned confession and clenched her jaw. Choosing her next words more shrewdly, she spread her lips in a black-toothed grin. "And how is her precious mudcub, mmm? The last living disgrace to our house. Shall I put him in the ground by his mummy with the rest of the dirt?"
Andromeda flared to her feet. She ripped her wand free and aimed it at the Death Eater's head. "Be silent!"
"Yes!" Bellatrix bubbled with sudden mirth. "Yes, that's it. I can't go back there, you see. I can't can't can't can't it should be you who ends me, Andy. Let my blood shed my blood."
"Oh, Bella..." Narcissa blinked back tears and hid her mouth behind her hand.
Bellatix fluttered her mad eyes closed and smirked, murmuring an unintelligible mantra. With his horcruxes destroyed she could not rejoin the Dark Lord in life. She would join him in death instead. Together forever.
Andromeda's knuckles whitened, gripping her wand and her crazed sister's fate in a shaking fist.
"You have done more evil in your hatred of Muggles than any but Voldemort himself."
"Yes! Avenge them. Send me to him!"
Dromeda took a quavering breath. "We know he held an unnatural power over you and your sickness." She glanced to Narcissa who nodded tersely. "We love you, dearest Bella. Try to remember only that... OBLIVIATE!"
Bellatrix's coal eyes shot open as the unexpected charm pierced her thoughts. Shocked at the invasion, her will to resist floundered. She had surrendered to the oblivion of death. What more to surrender to the oblivion of amnesia.
Years of war and prison were butchered from her mind. Spell razors careened through her memory, and her life as a Death Eater bled out one hellish vision at a time, bursting and fading like dreams.
Bella focused on the prickling in her flesh and her staggered breath. There was something...someone she needed to hold on to... Distant voices called her name, their words escaping like water in a sluice.
A hooded skull screeched inches from her face, glacial fingers reaching out from under wraith robes. Reaching to coat her heart, her soul in ice—an Azkaban Dementor ravenous for everything dear.
"NO! I won't go back there! NonononoNOOO!"
CHAPTER 1:
Events At School
Hogwarts Castle reflected majestically in the still waters of Black Lake. Dwarfed by its spires, a small party waited on the shore to welcome a late admittance to the school. Headmistress McGonagall stood straight-backed after explaining the nature of the exception. Her companions silently ignored each other, save Nurse Pomfrey who hummed softly and browsed the wildflowers growing on the bank.
Welcoming a new Slytherin student after nothing but conflict between them and her Gryffindors was a first for Hermione Granger. But, as Hogwart's Head Girl, her responsibilities extended to every student, including this orphaned relative of Draco Malfoy whom his aunt Andromeda had taken in.
Grief for her friend Nymphadora Tonks flickered Hermione's chest. If the new girl took after that side of her family, perhaps they would get along despite aged rivalries. Even Draco, standing a pace away, was tolerable after his arrogance was blunted in the war.
Professor Slughorn sniffed noisily beside her, fishing for something in his coat pocket. "It's highly irregular, admitting a student this late in the year."
"It's only the second week," Draco countered.
"Precisely. Every review quiz and syllabi has been covered." Slughorn rubbed his nose vigorously in a handkerchief. "She won't know where to begin, slowing down every one of her classes. Merlin, these weed pollens get worse every year."
"I have a lovely potion for them, Horace, if you'll come with me when we return," Nurse Pomfrey offered.
"Not that awful licorice concoction! It's far worse than the odd sniffle."
Draco puffed his chest out, cutting back in to defend his relative. "Slytherin will make sure she is up to speed."
"Given her placement scores," McGonagall mused, "I doubt she'll be behind in anything, Professor Slughorn. Your house should be grateful to gain a student like Miss Black, ten weeks in."
"Hmph. Another Black." He stuffed his handkerchief away and clasped his hands behind his back, thrusting an ample tummy forward. "We will see if she's worth the trouble they create."
Draco glowered but wisely kept his mouth shut.
A sharp crack of air spun their heads in unison to see Narcissa Malfoy, Andromeda Tonks, and their young ward appear in an untwisting Apparation. If the aristocrats felt unwell from their body-lurching magical travel, the only signs were more stern that usual expressions on the older witches and a brief straightening of their dresses.
Hermione gasped quietly at her first sight of Bianca Black. The Headmistress had warned them of a 'strong family resemblance,' but the pale beauty before her could have been the villainous Bellatrix Lestrange's own daughter. Short ebony locks rose like flames atop her head. Wine red lips pressed still as the pureblood held herself with flawless poise.
The young witches's eyes locked, and Hermione felt the world tilt and drop away. Instead of the hateful mania her subconscious expected, the young Black considered her with a magnetic curiosity. Seconds passed before Hermione inhaled sharply, a need for oxygen breaking the trance.
The Griffindor swallowed against a sudden fluttering in her belly and realized she had missed most of the formalities.
"Of course, you know Narcissa's son Draco, a Prefect of Slytherin House," McGonagall continued.
The two exchanged nods in greeting.
"And this is Hermione Granger." The fluttering returned tenfold as all eyes fell on the young witch. "Head Girl and our most distinguished student, she is here to advise you regarding Hogwarts at large. She and Draco will accompany you through your first day. Do avail yourself of her whenever needed thereafter."
An amused smirk tugged at Bianca's lips. She took Hermione's hand and held it gently between them rather than shaking it. "Charmed."
"Likewise." Hermione withdrew her hand quickly.
"Why don't you three take a moment to get acquainted while the rest of us discuss the official arrangments," McGonagall told her students, pulling a frowning Slughorn away into a conference with Pomfrey and the Black sisters.
"Bianca." Draco gave her a winning smile. "Aren't you stunning this morning! I have your uniforms and belongings waiting in your dormroom. All of Slytherin is proud to have you join us for your seventh year."
"All of Hogwarts is proud," Hermione amended.
Bianca laughed in bell-like tones. "Draco, if your tongue were any more silver, you could melt it into a crown." She turned to Hermione with a conspiratorial grin. "Did I arrive in time to save you from his advances, sweet girl? Or will you swoon into his arms when the wind stirs?"
"I— I would never swoon."
"Oh, I think you might." The dark-haired witch bit her lip in a teasing smirk, and for one terrifying, thrilling heartbeat Hermione wondered how soft those lips would feel against her own.
"Draco, darling," Narcissa called. "Come here a moment, won't you?"
"Yes, mother!"
Bianca spared a glance at his hastened retreat and tensed at the sight beyond him. While Narcissa turned McGonagall and Slughorn into a circle with Draco, her sister Andromeda stole Nurse Pomfrey aside for a hushed exchange. Mrs. Tonks surreptitiously handed over small canister and was met with nodding so emphatic it shook the nurse's white bonnet loose.
"What's that about?"
"Nothing," Bianca snipped, beginning to fume. "Just post-accident fussing. I'm fine really."
Hermione's gaze lingered as emotions leaked through the aristocratic mask. She wondered what tragedy had brought this young woman so far from the life she'd known.
"Don't look at me like that," Bianca husked.
"Like what?"
"Like, 'Oh, that poor girl! Lost her parents. Such the pity.'" The stiff arms at Bianca's sides bent to fold tightly across her chest.
"It is a pity. But, however I'm looking, its because I've lost my parents, too, in a different way. I erased their memories of me to protect them. I made them think they were different people."
"Did it work?"
"Yes." Hermione looked out across the wide lake. "A little too well."
The dark-haired witch calmed, hearing what she hadn't said. "You can't undo it."
"I'm still working on it." Hermione tried to ignore the sudden stab of longing in her heart. She would figure out how to restore Obliviated memories. She had to. "If you ever need anyone to talk to, about anything, I may understand more than you'd think."
"Then I'll make you a promise." Bianca lifted Hermione's arm and placed it against her own, each gripping the other just past the wrist. Faced with the Head Girl's questioning eyebrow, Bianca deadpanned, "Hermione Granger...I promise to avail myself of you sometime."
Despite herself, Hermione chuckled. And then began to laugh.