Bellatrix was beaming with delight as her raven mane tumbled over her shoulders and onto the young girl pressed against her. The Golden Trio was here and the Dark Lord would be arriving any moment. Bellatrix pressed the dagger harder against Hermione's throat as the other two watched in fear. Her little hostage would ensure that the three of them would remain until Voldemort's arrival even though only Potter truly mattered.
The dark witch's eyes flicked over to meet those of a very tired looking Lucius Malfoy.
"Call him!" she demanded promptly.
Hermione whimpered slightly as the older woman's claws dug into the back of her skull, a painful reminder of who the hot breath grazing the back of her neck belonged to.
Just as Lucius was about to press the infamous mark burned into his forearm, a slight squeaking noise echoed in the silence, compelling confused faces in the room to slowly look up to locate its source. Directly above Hermione and Bellatrix, Dobby clutched to the top end of a massive chandelier like a koala bear. The squeaking appeared to be coming from something he was doing up there, only the realization came too late as the heavy collection of metal and glass released, rapidly plummeting down towards the predator and her prey.
Hermione felt the strong arm around her release as Bellatrix swiftly moved backwards to get out of the way, Hermione taking the opportunity to run forward into her friends' awaiting arms.
The sound of the chandelier shattering as it collided with the floor echoed off the large walls of the room, deafening its occupants. The sound of Bellatrix's shrieking immediately followed.
"You stupid elf! You could have killed me!" the raven-haired witch tapped her wand against her abdomen, putting emphasis on 'me.'
Dobby shifted nervously in his stance like he was somewhat remorseful. "Dobby never meant to kill. Dobby only meant to maim or seriously injure," he spoke, sounding apologetic.
Narcissa stepped forward, twirling her wand, only to have her previous house elf summon the magical wood from her mid-spell.
Bellatrix was livid. Her hair covered her face, making her look even more like the lunatic she had become after Azkaban. "How DARE you take a witch's wand! How dare you defy your master!"
"Dobby has no master. Dobby is a free elf, and Dobby has come to save Harry Potter and his friends," the little elf spoke bravely as the group linked arms to apparate.
As if acting on reflex, Bellatrix hurled her dagger towards them. Time seemed to slow as the sharp, silver metal propelled towards the escaping prisoners. The dark witch watched intensely, never blinking. The dagger disappeared within the apparition, and Bellatrix breathed out slowly, knowing that she had succeeded in hurting Harry Potter once more, even if not physically.
An intense pain in her lower belly caused Bellatrix to abruptly, but gingerly fall onto her knees. Narcissa took immediate note of her sister's discomfort and rushed to her side.
"Bella, are you hurt?" the younger witch's eyes were full of worry as she began inspecting the Death Eater for signs of injury.
Aware that other eyes were watching them, Bellatrix shot her sister a look and pushed her away. "I'm fine, Cissy."
"But Bella, you're-"
"I said I am fine, Narcissa!" Bellatrix roared, and rose back onto her feet.
The blonde cowered slightly, as did the others in the room who took the sudden outburst as their cue to leave.
Gathering her strength, Bellatrix turned on her heel and left in the opposite direction towards the stairs. Behind her, dots of blood dripped onto the wood floor, marking her every stride.
Later that night, the manor was silent. All of its occupants had gone to bed hours ago, and had long since fallen asleep. All except one, that is.
On the third floor, at the backside of the manor, at the end of the hall stood the room that housed Bellatrix Lestrange. It was further away from the other rooms, the closest one being Narcissa's since her and Lucius no longer shared a bed since their family had become so heavily involved in the war.
Inside, Bellatrix was not in her bed. Instead, the normally stoic witch had been reduced to a heaving mess on all fours in front of the toilet bowl. It was times like this that she was silently thankful for the private bathroom attached to her room, seeing that not all of the bedrooms had one.
Her moment of appreciation was abruptly interrupted as another bout of nausea hit and she emptied what was left in her stomach. The pain she had felt earlier after dodging falling light fixtures had not subsided at all and only seemed to be getting worse, although it came and went periodically. Another wave of pain overcame her as she stood up and ungracefully made her way to the bed where she collapsed with her face in a pillow.
Bellatrix had suffered unspeakable acts of torture and horrific injuries, some of which at the hands of the Dark Lord himself, yet this pain was different and she could not suppress the urge to groan. It felt like her organs were ripping themselves apart and she could do nothing to stop it. Earlier, Narcissa had given her some healing potions for internal injuries in case she had suffered any during the skirmish that evening, however they did not have any effect on this pain, not even dulling the sensation.
This continued for another hour or so until the groans morphed into screams of pure agony. Silencing charms were the last thing on Bellatrix's mind right now, who was not even entirely certain of where her wand was at the moment.
In a room down the hall, Narcissa's eyes snapped open from light sleep as a harrowing scream pierced the night. She sprung out of bed, not even bothering to throw a dressing gown on over her silk nightgown, and rushed to Bellatrix's room.
She knocked on the door and spoke softly, "Bellatrix?"
Silence.
"Bella, are you okay?"
Bellatrix's voice piped up from the other side, "Cissy, I told you I am f-INE!" she yelped, betraying the fact that she was not at all fine.
Narcissa turned the knob of the door, more than half-expecting it to be locked, but to her surprise it opened easily. "Bella, I'm coming in," she announced as she stepped inside, shutting the door again behind her.
On the bed before her, a sweat-drenched Bellatrix lay on her back, raven curls plastered to her face and whole upper half. A longstanding charm had worn off in the witch's weakened state, revealing her swollen abdomen. Narcissa's eyes were then drawn to the blood that was pooling on the bed sheets between her sister's legs.
Bellatrix opened her mouth to object to the blonde's presence, but quickly bit her lip instead to keep from crying out in pain again as more blood appeared between her thighs.
Narcissa paled, immediately realising what was happening. She knew that Bellatrix must have figured it out by now as well, but was unsure of whether or not she chose to believe it. Cautiously, the younger witch crawled onto the bed by her sister's feet and the two of them shared a look of understanding.
Once the pain briefly subsided, Bellatrix opened her legs, much more blood flowing out of her now, soaking the lower end of Narcissa's nightgown.
"You need to push on the next one, Bella," Narcissa said calmly as she conjured some towels, laying them down to catch the blood.
"It's too early, I'm fine," whispered Bellatrix half-heartedly as she stared at the ceiling enchanted to look like the night sky.
Narcissa bit her lip and looked at her sister with sadness reflecting in her ice blue eyes. "Bella, there is so much blood. I am afraid that it's already too la-"
"Get out."
"Bellatrix, please, I-"
"I said get OUT!" Bellatrix screeched, sitting up suddenly, ignoring the shooting pain that struck her insides.
Narcissa quickly scurried out of the room and went to find some blood replenishing potions for her return.
Bellatrix's denial lasted another half hour or so until pressure paired with pain convinced her that there was no waiting this out. She let her hand slip between her legs, slick with blood. Knowing that her sister would come running back in here if she heard any more noise, Bellatrix's eyes scanned the room for her wand which she spotted sitting near the edge of the bed. She swiftly reached for it and cast a silencing charm over the room and magically locked the door then flopped back down onto her back.
Once the intense pain overcame her again, she pushed hard, pulling a pillow over her face to muffle her scream. Even though no one could hear her now, Bellatrix still despised showing weakness.
After over an hour of pushing like this, Bellatrix was panting, completely soaked with sweat and had shed her restrictive clothing. She reached down to feel between her legs, but still felt nothing other than hot blood. However, the pressure inside had moved considerably lower and she knew it would not be much longer until this was over, whether or not that meant dying from loss of blood first.
Again, Bellatrix pushed strenuously and felt a slight bulge between her legs. Finding new strength within herself, the Death Eater sat up on her knees, leaning against the the tall bed post and kept pushing with everything she had. Her screaming became very blatant cursing as she used one of her hands to assist in guiding the creature out of her. After several minutes the head broke through, followed by a gush of more blood and Bellatrix howling in pain as she swore to herself that the cruciatus curse had nothing on childbirth.
Several pushes later, the child fell from between her legs and onto the blood-soaked towels below.
It did not cry.
It did not move.
Bellatrix did not touch it.
By now, the wards Bellatrix had put up earlier were weakened and Narcissa burst in, carrying several potions with her. She gasped when she saw how much more blood had accumulated since her departure and hurried over to Bellatrix who was lying on her back again, covered in blood and hardly breathing.
"Drink," Narcissa whispered softly as she held a potion phial to the dark witch's lips, who complied.
Once Bellatrix had taken all the blood replenishing potions, Narcissa magically cut the umbilical cord and placed the child in a small crib that had been sitting vacant in Bellatrix's room for the past five months.
She did not bother covering it with a blanket, for it would not feel the cold.
Bellatrix stayed silent the entire time, allowing her sister to magically change the bloodied bedding and cover her with a fresh duvet.
As she turned around to exit the room once more, Narcissa glanced into the crib to look at the body of her sister's only child, her only pureblood niece. It was not fully formed, however several of Bellatrix's prominent features were delicately displayed already. When Bellatrix had found out that her and Rodolphus had finally conceived, no matter how much they despised each other, Bellatrix had been joyous. It was the one time in her life since girlhood where she had been truly and purely happy. Narcissa had been with her the day Bellatrix found out that she would be having a daughter, and had never seen her eldest sister so overjoyed. She had not obviously displayed her pleasure with the news the same way most women would, but nevertheless, Narcissa knew. Most pure-blooded women wanted sons, but Bellatrix had always dreamed of a daughter so she could raise her exactly opposite to the way she had been raised.
Not that it mattered now. Bellatrix's dream and her daughter were dead.
Narcissa sighed softly and kept walking, but stopped in the doorway as a low voice behind her spoke.
"Have an elf take her to the family plot in the morning."
Narcissa turned to meet Bellatrix's piercing empty gaze, and gave a short nod then left.
Bellatrix turned her head to look at the stars once more. This was their fault- those Golden Trio brats. They were the reason her dream was shattered, and Bellatrix was going to make them pay for it. She would stop at nothing for revenge.