-AN All rights reserved to JK Rowling.
House: Gryffindor
Category: Short Story
Prompt: Like a fairytale
Word Count: 1127
"YOU FOOLS! You had Potter in your grasp and you let him escape!" Voldemort ranted. He pointed his wand at a random Death Eater skulking near the door and roared, "AVADA KEDAVRA!"
The random man fell in an unceremonious heap, his eyes wide and unseeing. Around the room, most others flinched at the sudden death and averted their eyes. But not Bellatrix Lestrange. She stared at the corpse on the floor with rapt attention. Death was too good for him. For any of them. They had all failed The Dark Lord and should suffer for it.
"What happened here, Lucius?" Voldemort rasped.
Her pathetic excuse for a brother-in-law bowed his head in recognition of being spoken to. "My - my lord," he stuttered. "We could not confirm that it was Potter. We did not wish to mislead you if it had been a falsity."
"How did they escape?" Voldemort hissed. "You assured me that your dungeons were impenetrable."
"It appears," Lucius reluctantly admitted, "that Potter has the allegiance of a house elf who-"
Bellatrix snarled, "Do not lie to your master! That was your elf! He defied his master just has you have defied yours!" Bellatrix reached for her wand to send a hex at the pathetic man but found nothing but air. She felt a panicked frenzy begin to rise within her.
"Did you lose something, Bella?" Lucius spat. "It seems that Potter and his friends liberated more than just the sword."
"What sword?" Voldemort whispered dangerously.
Bellatrix felt a shudder pass through her body as she averted her eyes before addressing her master. "My lord, they possessed a sword. It looked a great deal like the one that you gave me the great honor of storing in my vault at Gringotts."
"You, Bella?" Voldemort questioned as he circled around her. "You have failed me?"
"My lord," she quickly replied, "we do not know if it was the right sword. We could have had the goblin confirm it, but Lucius allowed it to escape with them."
"Don't deflect, Bellatrix." Lucius smirked.
"Now, now, Lucius," Voldemort whispered and placed his hand on her shoulder. She leaned into his cold touch and shivered with pleasure. He curled his fingers around her neck and dug his nails into her skin until she felt a trickle of blood drip onto her collar bone. Bellatrix embraced the pain and felt a thrill ripple through her body. "You have all failed me tonight. Get out of my sight, Bella. I will deal with you later."
"Yes, my lord," she simpered. She hurried out of the room and grinned gleefully at the cries of agony and torture that commenced upon her exit.
As she skipped down the hall, she spotted Severus Snape. The half-blood was spared the Dark Lord's wrath this time.
"Going somewhere, Lestrange?" the greasy bastard drawled.
"What's it to you, Snape?" she sneered.
He turned up his overly large, hooked nose at her. "No matter, Bella. I'm just leaving. The Dark Lord asked me to deliver something. I've placed it in the spare dining room. He says that no one is to go there. Best not touch what isn't ours," he reminded as he spun around. His cloak billowed behind him as he strode away, leaving her on her own once more.
Bellatrix immediately smiled as she hastened to the dining room. Surely, The Dark Lord hadn't meant for her not to go. She was his most loyal servant.
She instantly recognized the ornate mirror that now resided in the dark room. Her master had told his followers all about this mirror and how Potter had gotten lucky. The mirror had shown Potter how to defeat Quirrell and prevent Voldemort from returning six years ago. All someone had to do is stand in front of the mirror and it would show them what they must do to succeed.
Bellatrix giggled as she remembered an old fairy story with a mirror. She sing-songed,
Mirror Mirror on the wall
What will make the traitors fall?
They robbed my vault and stole my sword
It has displeased my Dark Lord
Defied by an elf though I'm a witch
I will kill that mudblood bitch
Mirror Mirror reveal to me
Show the path to victory
She stepped forward so that she could gaze into the depths of the mirror. In her reflection, she saw herself standing side by side with The Dark Lord. Power radiated off the pair as they stood above their loyal followers.
Potter lay prone on the ground. His tainted blood spilling from his unworthy body. A muggle death for a boy who was not fit to wield magic.
The mudblood girl was strapped to a pyre, screaming as she burned. Bella laughed as the chit begged for the mercy of a quick death. The brat had stolen a witch's wand and Bellatrix would see her suffer until she took her last agonizing breath.
She spotted Lucius lying on the ground, his eyes twitching with a vacant look. She smiled as she recognized the symptoms of her cruciatus curse. Oh, yes, she wanted to torture her pathetic excuse for a brother-in-law. Cissy may object to the loss of her husband, but Bella would allow her to keep her son. Draco could survive so that he could mate with a pureblood and lay the foundations of their new world.
In the mirror, Bellatrix saw a small hand reach up to grasp her own. Her little Delphini, the Dark Lord's heir, was currently hidden away under the strongest wards in a secret dungeon under the manor. The only people aware of her existence were herself, the Dark Lord, and her own husband, Rodolphus. Delphini would join them upon their victory and she would be honored.
In the mirror, Bellatrix saw Rodolphus gazing up at his master in awe. Her husband would survive the war because his loyalties never wavered. Bellatrix would raise Delphini with Rodolphus so as not to bother their Lord.
It was like a fairytale. Bellatrix would stand at his side as his most loyal subject. Together, they would rule over a new order of pureblood society. She couldn't wait to see her desires come to fruition. Bellatrix was confused why the mirror did not show her the path to victory, as the Dark Lord had assured her. Nevertheless, Bella was happy to see what the future would hold. Potter would fall, the mudblood would die, and Bella would have her happy ending.
Bellatrix began to giggle to herself like a little girl. As she gazed into the mirror, the giggles rose in crescendo until they morphed into maniacal cackles. Her screeches echoed in the empty room for hours until the Dark Lord came for her. Her smile remained all night.