A/N: So, maybe I'm getting a little too "ooooh, new shiny toy, let's play!" by posting a second story so quickly... Eh. So what. I'm doing this for me :)
This is my first attempt at a looksee into Voldemort (rather than Tom) and Bella. I start at this point because this was one of the most powerful moments in the book for me, when it came to trying to understand these two (save Bellatrix's death). No, I'm not suggesting that Bella's love was ever requited - even if I can imagine a bit of meaningless sex happening. But I would like to believe that Voldemort probably had a more powerful reason to go to the Ministry that day than just to kill Harry. I want to believe that he risked it all to collect his most loyal servant... and this short story will detail the aftermath of the Battle of the Department of Mysteries.
Also DISCLAIMER: This will be the only one I will post for the story. I own nothing, no characters, no locations, no nothing. All belongs to JKRowling, Warner Bros. and any other affiliates that I cannot think of right now. All that I own is my original ideas which do not appear in the original series. Also.. none of the dialogue in this chapter is mine, but the actions are original (as much as any fiction can be original these days).
"Come out, come out, little Harry!" The boy had the audacity to chase her, and Bellatrix would seem destroyed, just like she had finally put down her disgraceful mutt of a relation. Another soul struck from the earth, just as her aunt had struck them from the family tree. "What did you come after me for, then? I thought you were here to avenge my dear cousin!"
"I am!" came the returned shout from the boy, which echoed around the large Atrium, and she could hear the emotion eating in his throat. It was pathetic. A maniacal laugh escaped the murderess' lips. "Aaaaaah… did you love him, little baby Potter?"
"Crucio!" The schoolboy clumsily fired the curse at her and Bellatrix screamed, though it was a more out of shock, than actual pain. The force of the spell caused her to fall from her feet- she was already back on her feet, but she was not down for long, forcing herself back up to face the Boy Who Lived. She was no longer laughing.
"Never used an Unforgivable Curse before, have you, boy?" she yelled as Harry ducked behind a statue of a wizard, which took her counter-curse for him. She had abandoned the mocking tone. "You need to mean them, Potter! You need to really want to cause pain - to enjoy it - righteous anger won't hurt me for long - I'll show you how it is done, shall I? I'll give you a lesson-"
Dark orbs spied the movement of the boy from behind the statue, and she stole the chance, "Crucio!" The curse missed, and frustration welled up inside her as she watched only the inanimate statue suffer from her efforts.
"Potter, you cannot win against me!" she cried, desperate to leave her mark upon the boy. He was moving as she did, each orbiting the statue, one prey, the other… predator. "I was and am the Dark Lord's most loyal servant. I learned the Dark Arts from him, and I know spells of such power that you, pathetic little boy, can never hope to compete-"
"Stupefy!" The boy really was delusional, if he thought such a spell would stop, or even slow her. Fury mounted as she was interrupted, and her own counter was lightning fast against him. Save for the lazy flick of her wrist, the witch did not otherwise move against the spell flung at her.
"Protego!" She reacted so fast that the boy barely had any time to duck, and the jet of red light (his own stunning spell) bounced straight back at him. It was the smallest satisfaction that Bellatrix took as she watched the little boy scurry back behind his hiding place, weakling that he was. But she was growing bored now. "Potter, I'm going to give you one chance! Give me the prophecy - roll it out towards me now - and I may spare your life!"
"Well, you're going to have to kill me, because it's gone!" Bella was horrified to hear the reply as the boy's laugh mirrored an insanity close to those she had often heard in the wizarding prison.. "And he knows! Your dear old mate Voldemort knows it's gone! He's not going to be happy with you, is he?"
"What? What do you mean?" Bellatrix cried, unable to stop the fear and uncertainty that crept into her voice. For the briefest of moments, she cursed herself for allowing her brother-in-law the control, for not dealing with the situation and taking the prophecy from the off. But… no. The boy had to be lying.
Yet he continued with his bold claims, further inciting her to rage, alloyed with barely controlled terror. "The prophecy smashed when I was trying to get Neville up the steps! What do you think Voldemort'll say about that, then?"
"LIAR! YOU'VE GOT IT, POTTER, AND YOU WILL GIVE IT TO ME! Accio prophecy! ACCIO PROPHECY!" But the boy only laughed, that same, manic laugh, and she was incensed further. The seed that had been planted had grown, and taken hold in her mind. He was telling the truth. The bright green light that flew at the statue he was hiding behind from her wand was in stark contrast to the red that darkened her vision.
"Nothing there!" Harry shouted as he shied away, once again, from her violent attempts at ending the boy. His voice echoed terribly around the room, sounds that Bella did not want to hear once, let alone repeatedly. "Nothing to summon! It smashed and nobody heard what it said, tell your boss that!"
"No!' she screamed, and she felt in her bones that what he said was the truth. She stepped forward, unconsciously intent on making the boy suffer, even as she continued to shout, "It isn't true, you're lying! MASTER, I TRIED, I TRIED - DO NOT PUNISH ME-"
"Don't waste your breath!" yelled the boy, and he must have seen her movements, for he edged further, forever keeping a protective barrier of gold-coated metal between them. "He can't hear you from here!"
"Can't I, Potter?" Bellatrix's blood ran cold as she heard her Lord's dangerously calm voice echo through the hall. Tall, thin and black-hooded, his terrible snakelike face white and gaunt, his scarlet, slit-pupilled eyes staring . . . Lord Voldemort had appeared in the middle of the hall, his wand pointing at his nemesis. For the moment, his servant was ignored.
"So, you smashed my prophecy?" The Dark Lord spoke softly, staring at Harry with those pitiless red eyes. The breath that the female had been holding was finally released as he master spoke to him. "No, Bella, he is not lying… I see the truth looking at me from within his worthless mind… months of preparation, months of effort… and my Death Eaters have let Harry Potter thwart me again…"
"Master, I am sorry, I knew not, I was fighting the Animagus Black!" There was no shame that Bella could bring herself to acknowledge, much less care about, as she flung herself down at The Dark Lord's feet. Then, amidst the panic that was threatening to tear her apart, she remembered. Dumbledore. She had to warn him. "Master, you should know-"
"Be quiet, Bella," interrupted Voldemort quietly, commanding her instant obedience with the more threat of his presence, rather than any overt action. "I shall deal with you in a moment. Do you think I have entered the Ministry of Magic to hear your snivelling apologies?"