a bleeding heart can conquer every grudge

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"Look, Bella! I'm a nelipot!"

Eleven year old Bellatrix Black grunted and pried open a single reluctant eye. She didn't bother telling the pesky girl to stop calling her 'Bella' anymore. "The hell is a nelipot?"

Alice Fortescue's entire pudgy face lit up whenever she smiled. Like now for instance. She plopped herself down in front of Bellatrix and wiggled her bare toes. "Someone who walks without shoes. I'll never put on shoes. Ever!"

"That's stupid," Bellatrix closed her eye again and tried to resume her nap. The sun was warm; she could hear the lake gently lapping the grassy shore, and Alice's soft humming tenderly lulled her off to sleep.

House after house, Bellatrix Lestrange set them aflame. The fire roared, maliciously in sync with her shrieking cackles. Her howls could be heard from miles away, insanity dancing in the very chords of her vocals. Was there any stopping her? Could the mad ever be punished? The fire ever tamed by human hands? No! NO!

"Bella, have you ever made a pinky promise?"

"Go away."

Before she could protest, fourteen year old Alice Fortescue linked their pinky fingers together. Her voice low and solemn, she said,

"I promise to forever be Bellatrix Black's best friend and never leave her side no matter what may happen to either of us."

She grinned. "Okay! Now it's your turn!"

Bellatrix tore their pinkies apart, shattering the promise as she did. Her hooded eyes glowered, poisonous. "Don't make me say such pointless things. I don't need friends."

Alice's sable lips tugged down. "Everyone needs friends, Bella. Especially someone like you."

"Someone like me?" Bellatrix hissed. The threat lay heady in her words, ready to pounce.

But Alice refused to be intimidated. She smiled calmly and said. "Yes. It's easy for people like you to get lonely, Bella. You're so constantly pushing everyone away."

Alice Longbottom sang her baby boy, her precious Neville, to sleep in her arms. His rosebud lips pouted softly in his dreams. She leaned down and kissed the tousle of dark hair. Frank rested his hands on her hips, and she pressed into him. They were a family. She smiled. Forever?

"Bella, I need your help."

"Go ask someone else," Bellatrix sighed. Trying to get rid of the Fortescue girl was like trying to get rid of fleas. ...But at least she was a pureblood.

Alice was urgent. "No, I really really need your help, Bella!"

"Alright," Bellatrix snapped, "if I help you will you finally leave me alone?"

"No way!" Alice gasped, affronted.

Bellatrix spun on her heel and marched away. "Fine. Then you will not have my assistance."

"Bella…"

"Just leave me ALONE!" Bellatrix roared – right ready to tear out her hair and stomp on the shredded locks.

Alice remained undaunted. Instead she gazed Bellatrix steadily in the eye, but asked in a surprisingly small voice,

"Have you ever kissed anyone?"

"We're almost there~" Bellatrix sang. Skipping and twirling. Ringlets flying. Wide mouth laughing. Yellow teeth snarling. "~Almost there~"

Behind her, Rabastan, Rodolphus and Bartemius struggled to keep up with her almost frantic pace. They admired her insanity. They feared her unstable atmosphere. They were all drawn to the deranged smile and torn body.

But she had no interest in the brutes. Oh no.

Bellatrix Black chewed, almost hungrily, on the younger girls bottom lip. The dark corridor pressed in on them from all sides – it's shadowy fingers holding them tight in its fist, shielding them from sight. The air was heavy. Their breathing ragged. They pressed against each other. Pinkies linked.

"How come you're…" Alice gasped when she felt the other girl's teeth graze her neck. "…Only nice to me…when we're doing this?"

Bellatrix chuckled deep in her throat and murmured over Alice's mouth, "I'm never nice to you."

But she certainly knew how to kiss.

Alice peered out the window, eyes narrowed. "Hey, Frank, what do you think's going on out there?"

Her husband shrugged, a small smile. "Some young Muggle punks throwing a bonfire, perhaps?"

"Hm…" Alice hummed. "Maybe."

Bellatrix traced the girl cuddled next to her with her eyes. Alice was smooth and milky under the light of the moon that poured through the window. Lustrous black hair spilled out on Bella's pillow. Her thick lashes were laden on her cheekbones. Their legs tangled together. The rise and fall of Alice's bare, ample, chest.

Bellatrix snorted and pulled the blankets up to her chin. She turned and shifted away from Alice Fortescue.

But not to far away. Never to far.

Bellatrix stood triumphantly before the Longbottom residence.

Wait. Just a few seconds. Wait for them. Wait for her.

The door swung open. And there Alice Longbottom stood, shocked and amazed, as she took in the sight of her old best friend, her old lover, and her present enemy. Her eyes widened impossibly, the whites ringing her irises. Her jaw gaped open, as if to say something, as if to heal the past wounds. But for now – it wasn't about His orders and it wasn't about her feelings.

Bellatrix Lestrange did not wait for final good byes. She never did. She never would.

She brandished her wand. A weapon of the finest. And spoke those cursed words. Tainted but true.

Screams of agony – screams of passion - clawed the night sky. Begging for release – begging for more.

And Bellatrix Lestrange danced about the Longbottom's twitching bodies and sightless gazes. Chin tilted high to the sky.

She threw her arms above her head.

And let the tears rush freely down her ashen cheeks.

"Bellatrix?" Alice whispered. Her fingers tangled in the mess of black hair. Her body melding into her lover's.

"Hm?" Bellatrix replied. For once she was not snappish, nor shrieking, nor feral. For once she was just Bellatrix. Not even Bellatrix Black. Just…Bella.

Just for Alice.

"I think I'm in love with Frank Longbottom."

Bellatrix refused to leave the mangled bodies – not quite dead, not quite alive – until she was one hundred percent certain that Alice Fortescue (because in Bellatrix's mind, she would never be a Longbottom) remained shoeless.

nelipot ~ one who goes without shoes.

I was uncertain on Alice's maiden name, but Harry Potter Wiki said Fortescue, so I went with that:)

Thanks for reading! :)

disclaimer; i do not own the characters, nor the song lyric.