a figure lurked in the shadows by the side of a house. she heard the laboured breathing of the ministry auror walking the perimeter of her front yard. the figure, a woman, clenched her fist to prevent her from hexing the meddlesome ministry official and focused on entering the house.

cassandra iorwen was sipping coffee on her couch, idly flipping through witch weekly but she found much to her dismay that she couldnt concentrate. her eyes would not cease their insistent travelling to an old issue of the daily prophet dated a week before. the partly obscured newspaper had pictures of several death eaters but her eyes would focus on the only one that mattered to her, bellatrix lestrange. she sneered into the camera making horrid faces and as she looked over her friends picture she couldnt help but think of her daughter sleeping upstairs peacefully or the auror patrolling her house perimeter to make sure she and her daughter had the ministries 'protection against potential criminals' she scoffed at the idea of it all, they were looking for bellatrix she knew it, she also knew bellatrix wasn't stupid enough to come to her house. at least she thought she wasnt that stupid

cassandra put down her coffee cup slowly as she heard the slightest of noises from the cellar door. normally it would not have bothered her, it was an old house that she lived in and the house made all sorts of noises but it must have the shock of being broken out of her train of thought. she wouldnt have investigated if she hadnt heard shuffling of unmistakable wary steps of a person so she gathered up her wand and pursued the intruder. her heart thudded as the shadow of a burgler entered her house through her wine cellar and she mentally berated herself for not locking it, how many times did she forget to do that. before cassandra could even open her mouth to stun the intruder her wand clattered to the floor and she was staring down the tip of a wand.

"what the hell are you doing here?" cassandra whispered urgently as she pulled bellatrix into the shadows while peering out the windows for the ministry official, she heard is unmistakable cough near the other side of the house "how did you get in here? they have the whole place surrounded with aurors" her tone was her attempt at scolding the death eater for risking prison a week after she broke out but addmittedly it came out a bit relieved. she had missed her friend.

"one auror but if you feel so strongly about him i will take care of him." the corners of bellatrix's mouth turned upward at the thought. cassandra attempted a glare but failed miserably, she really wasnt mad at her at all. "the auror" bellatrix reminded her

"stay here" she hissed at bellatrix before walking away into the shadows

cassandra iorwen cursed her beloved friends stupidity but she could not, for some sad and twisted reason, stay mad at the poor ghost of a women she used to know. she emerged seconds later with a bottle of a sickly amount of a thick purple substance and a steaming cup of tea. with a warning glance at bellatrix she walked out of her house and straight towards the ailing auror who was resting under the shadows of the front porch.

"your cough has just about woken up the neighborhood, and its simply unbelievable your superiors 

would let you work at this time of night in this utterly miserable weather. naturally i took pity on you and ive taken the liberty to give you some cough syrup and a cup of tea." she offered the young man a kind smile and she knew her eyes were brimming with the false illusion of warmth and caring. hesitently the shivering man grabbed the hot cup of tea and drank it greedily and thankfully.

"thank yeh mum, im much obliged" his accent was thick and his words were uncertain as he took he cough syrup from her hands

"there there now, i know it isnt very tasty but drink it all up if you want to feel better, there you go, all gone" she took the cup back from him and offered him another smile "let me go and fetch you a blanket you poor thing." she cooed to the drowsy man who gave her a gapped grateful smile.

"i wouldnt want to be a problem" he was saying it out of politeness but she knew that he wanted contrary to what he voiced.

"no problem at all young man, ill be back in a jiffy. now you just take a seat here" satisfied that he was comfortable she dashed back into the house where bellatrix was waiting with a blanket in her hand. by the time she returned to the young and foolish auror he was fast asleep on her doorstep, oh yes cassandra was very pleased with herself as she carefully draped the naive auror with the blanket. bellatrix was smirking with great amusement as cassandra scoffed in indignation,

"and you wanted to kill him" she muttered unable to keep the triumph out of her voice.

"my friend" bellatrix gave her an affectionate pat on the shoulder before whispering in her ear "youve gone soft in my absence."

cassandra gave bellatrix a sad smile

"children, rotten little things, made me go soft" she glanced up to where her daughter was fast asleep and bellatrix followed her vision

"how is she" her voice was softer and quieter than before "can i see her?" her eyes were pleading.

"she is asleep bella, she sleeps like the dead, not unlike her mother." cassandra gave bella a woeful sad smile.

"what was her reaction when she heard of my newfound freedom cass? was she excited? can i speak with her? she will of course become one of us, follow our lord" at the very mention of the death eaters the crazed obsession entered bellas eyes only for a moment as she envisioned the childs future.

oh dear, this was the hard part thought cassandra, what was she going to tell bellatrix, that her daughter didnt even know she exsisted, she didnt know the truth?


"im afraid, bella, that well, the time never really arose where i could tell her about, well you." the faraway look bellatrix had adopted was wiped away in a second and was replaced by a cold fury.

"what?" the words were hissed lowly and the air bristled with the womens wrath.

if it had been anyone else that bellatrix was looking at they would have long since fled but no cassandra iorwen was well acustomed to her friends violent mood swings.

"she hasnt a clue about you, i was waiting for the right time to tell her." she stared defiantly into the older womens eyes but deep down she was starting to feel the apprehension that only came with the withering look that bellatrix was giving her

"well you had better tell her soon." it was more of a threat than a command and cassandra could do nothing to sway her anger.

"she will bella, ill tell her as soon as i feel fit." she had only blinked but in that blink there was a wand pointed at her forhead.

"you will tell her tommorow and you will visit my sister this weekend, are we clear?" cassandra could only nod, not even a quarter of a centuries worth of friendship could come inbetween a killer and her daughter. pity.

TBC

Well its been a while since ive written and an even longer while since ive written for fanfiction so yeah I don't know if this is good or anything, and I know I can write better but that's beside the point this story is sort of spur of the moment thing that came out of sleep deprivation and apathy. But yeah if you like it please tell me in a review or else I will probably lose all hope for it.