This story was inspired by an aesthetic designed in the Wordsmiths & Betas Aesthetic Challenge! A special thank you to Tilly90 for creating the aesthetic that helped me created this story!
The Harry Potter universe, as always, belongs to the Queen Jk Rowling, and I make no profits off of my stories! Enjoy!
"Bellatrix Lestrange you are hereby sentenced to life in Azkaban for the torture of Frank and Alice Longbottom." Bartemius Crouch Senior slammed his fist down, and summoned the guards to take the black haired witch away.
"He will rise again!" Bellatrix screamed. "The Dark Lord will rise again, and he will know! He will know you defied him! You will pay!"
The mad witch fought with every fibre of her being against the guards. Spitting, thrashing, and kicking they drug her from the room. Out of the way of prying eyes the auror raised his wand and stunned the witch. "Better to knock her out now than fight with the filth all the way to Azkaban."
Bellatrix opened her eyes slowly. She did not recognize the place she was, and had no idea how she had gotten there. It was cold, freezing in fact. She could hear people all around here screaming; screaming like she had never heard before. She could feel the numbness creeping into her bones. Muddling her mind. You must remember, Bella. You can not forget. They will see. One day. They will all see.
Time. Bellatrix had no way of knowing how much time had passed as she sat laughing in the bottom of her dark cell. She saw the same images flash before her, day in and day out.
"My lord, My lord, she is yours. I swear to it. By the Gods I swear. Look at her. She has your eyes. You're wonderful eyes. My lord. Please. Let her live." Bellatrix begged. She refused to put the small bundle down. She was only hours old, but already Bellatrix could feel the bond between daughter and mother. It felt like nothing she had ever felt before. She never wanted children. Disgusting, slimy, stinky, and loud; that's all they were. Not this one. This one was special. She had the darkest eyes, like the night sky, shining up at Bellatrix. "Delphi, My lord. You always said you would name your heir that. Test her blood, my lord. She is yours. She is pure."
"Silence!" the Dark Lord screamed. "I've heard enough about this bastard child. She is no child of mine. Get rid of her, Bella. Now!"
Bellatrix's eyes snapped open. My sweet daughter. My only love. She had thought she knew love. Tom Riddle. Such a beautiful man. Dark eyes, dark hair, perfect skin, and that smile. The smile she thought he only had for her. His most loyal servant. His right hand woman. Out of all the women in the Wizarding World he had chosen her. She saw now, now that it was too late. He was vile. The worst kind of human. Was he even human anymore?
"Narcissa! Please. Help me. We have to hide her. He will kill her. Think of Draco. What would you do for Draco?" Bellatrix pleaded. "What do I do? Help me."
"What do you want from me, Bella?" Narcissa replied. "I have no where to take her. He lives in my house for Salazars sake!"
It hit Bellatrix like a lightning bolt. Narcissa was right everything around her was drenched in darkness. Everywhere she looked she was reminded of the awful things she had done. The vile, terrible person she was. She did not deserve a child. Especially a child as pure and beautiful as this one. She knew it deep in her soul. She had only one choice. One person that could save her child's life.
Like clockwork, a guard (could you really call them that) glided outside of her cell. The world froze. Her insides turned to ice. She could hear screaming again. Two people screaming- a man and a woman. "Please, Please. Not Neville. Don't hurt him. Kill us. Do as you please. Just not Neville." Repeated. Screamed at the top of a woman's lungs over and over until the guard slipped the bowl of slop through the bottom of the door, and continued to the next prisoner. Bellatrix ate the 'soup' it tasted of death, and despair. She had never felt so crazy. So lost. She had always believed that she was doing the right thing. She was doing what her master commanded because his cause was pure. His intentions for the world made sense. Mudbloods and Muggles were dangerous. They wanted to steal witches and wizards magic. They would be the end of the magical world. Or so she believed.
Bellatrix stepped towards the wards. She could feel the unfamiliar magic, almost taste it. She moved slowly, deliberately. Hopefully they would feel her aura. Realize she was no harm. It was a long shot, but she had to try. She would die trying to protect this child. Her child. Suddenly, a small cottage appeared. The wards were still up, but they were weakened. It would be so easy to break it. To kill everyone there, but that was not what she was here for. A frail witch stood on the broken down porch. She looked more like Narcissa than she did Bellatrix. Striking blonde hair, blue eyes, but older. Only by a few years, but those years had not been kind. Beside her stood a handsome man, a muggleborn wizard. Bellatrix recognized him as the man Andromeda had ran away with. Left their family to never be seen again, until now. Behind her stood a small girl with bubble gum pink hair. She was peeking around her father's legs staring at the curly haired witch.
"Leave." Andromeda called. If it were not for the small bundle in her arms Andromeda would have killed her on the spot. "Leave now. Take your bastard child with you."
She turned to shut the door, but Bellatrix was already on the steps. She grabbed the bottom of her sister's robes. "Dromeda. Please. You are the only family I have that is not dark. That is pure and good. I beg of you hear me out. Let me explain."
Andromeda kicked at the woman's hands. "You are no family of mine. Retched woman. You reek of dark magic. I can see it pouring out of your soul. Any child born from that body will be dark. Dark and doomed."
"Not if you raise her! You can make her pure. We were born from the same darkness! Look at you! You are living proof. Any witch, even a Black, can be raised to be different. I am too far gone. Dromeda there is no backing out for me. I wish I could. It's-it's him or death. I would choose death if I could… but if I die Cissa dies. You remember what Mother did, don't you? Were you too young? The curse. She knew Cissa was going to run away with Malfoy. She was going to leave the family just as you did. She cursed her, Dromeda. She bound us together. If one dies the other dies. She knew we would never hurt each other that way. We would never kill a sister. Dromeda please. Help me. Help her." Bellatrix pulled the blanket away from the sleeping baby. She was a Black, no question. She may have his eyes, but she had the raven hair, the porcelain skin, and the sharp features.
Andromeda looked down at the baby. She had always wanted more children. She had almost died in childbirth. Nymphadora was her only child, her pride and joy. She looked at Bellatrix, truly looked at her, and did not see the witch she had always seen as crazed; she saw a mother. A terrified mother. She stepped aside, and let the woman enter her home. Enter her sanctuary.
The screaming started again. She did not know how long she could hold onto the rest of her sanity. She spent most of her days in and out of consciousness. She concentrated on her childhood. Laughing at the times she had before everything went wrong. Before she was old enough to know what blood purity, and traitors were. The laughing turned to cackling, and pretty soon she was cackling nonstop. Even when the dementors came. The Longbottom's screams had no effect on her anymore. She was lost. Lost in a world of darkness, again.
"Ted, we have to help her. She's family. She is lost and awful, but she is family." Andromeda pleaded with her husband.
"Andromeda, my love. You forgive too easily. You forget what she has done to this family. The things she will continue to do." Ted stroked his wife's arm. Soothing her, hoping she would see reason. He could not have that thing, that abomination, under his roof.
"Ted. I have not forgiven. I have not forgotten. The child- she is innocent. She has done nothing wrong. She was born into the wrong family. To the wrong mother. How can I deny her?" Andromeda said. Ted knew he was fighting a losing battle. He would never deny his wife. Never deny her a child she had wanted for so long. He could see the color returning to her skin. The hope filling her eyes. He bent, and kissed her on the cheek. "Whatever you think is best"
She smiled at her sister. A weak smile, but a smile none the less. Bellatrix's shoulders slumped, and she knew her daughter would be safe. She would be taken care of. She would survive.
"Bella, what you have done in this life is atrocious. You have spent your life serving a man who wants me, and my family, dead." Andromeda said. "I want you to realize I am not, in any way, taking in your child because I feel you deserve it. I am taking in your child because she deserves more. She deserves to have a happy life. She will be loved, and cherished. But you must understand, she will not know you are her mother. She will not know that HE is her father. One day, if you find a way back here a different person, a better person- we can tell her the truth. Together. Until then you will never step foot near her. If I see you near her, or the rest of my family… I will kill you. No questions asked. Do you understand?"
Bellatrix wiped tears away from her eyes without thinking. She looked down at the liquid on her fingertips. She could not remember the last time she had cried. Perhaps when she fell as a child and scraped her knee? She was taught to be strong, and crying was weak. "Andromeda, you have saved her. You have saved the only piece of me I cherish. I will forever owe you."
Ted had not spoken directly to Bellatrix since she showed up at their house. Until now. "You will make an unbreakable vow. My wife might trust that you will leave us in peace, but I do not. If you are not willing to do this I will throw you, and your child, out of my house. After I modify your memory. It is your choice." Bellatrix thought for a moment, but only a moment. She held her arm out towards the wizard, and waited for him to take her hand in his.
"I Bellatrix Lestrange nee Black, entrust you to take care of my daughter, Delphi Lestrange. I will not come looking for her unless I have truly changed my ways."
"I, Edward Tonks, will raise your daughter, Delphi Lestrange, as if she were my own child. I will protect her from dark forces to the best of my ability." A gold string spiraled out of Ted's wand, and wrapped its way around their interlocked arms like a hot wire. Bellatrix stared at the marks left on her skin. She knew it had to be done, but the finality of giving her daughter away was sinking in.
Bellatrix snuggled her daughter against her cheek for the last time. Tears were pouring out of her eyes, and she did not even both wiping them away. "Amor semper esse victuros." she whispered. She handed the bundle to Andromeda, and awkwardly stood staring at the two. She straightened her shoulders, wiped her face, and walked away from the family. Leaving a piece of her soul behind.
Bellatrix stared at a wall. The same wall she had spent the last, well she did not know how long staring at. Months? Years? She wished the flashbacks would stop. She wished she could just get a little sleep. Just an hour. She hated this place. Hated it more than anything she had ever known.
Longbottom Residence
November 1981
"Not Neville. Not Neville. Please I beg of you."
"Shut her up, Rodolphus!" Bellatrix screamed. "Shut her the fuck up!"
"Crucio!" Rodolphus pointed his wand at the little witch. She crumpled to the floor. Screaming. Screaming. Always screaming. Her husband ran at Rodolphus, and tried to fight him off.
"Crucio!" Rabastan yelled. Frank hit the floor; writhing in pain. The men continued hexing the couple, until all that was left was a heap of flesh and bones. Their sanity was gone. Gone like Bellatrix's. There was no life left in their eyes. She never raised a finger to them. After the ordeal was over she pulled the brothers aside.
"Stupefy." She mumbled, as she pointed her wand at Rabastan.
"What are you doing? You crazy bitch!" Rodolphus spat. She had always hated him. Hated when he climbed on top of her, as if she would ever want such a vile creature. His crooked teeth, and crossed eyes disgusted Bellatrix. The Dark Lord insisted she marry him. "We must keep the pureblood families strong." he had hissed.
She made quick work of a memory modification charm. She made it seem as if she had been the one to torture the witch, the mother. She was the one to drive the couple to insanity. She was the guilty party. She repeated the process with Rabastan before disapparating to Malfoy Manor, leaving a small boy crying as he stared at his parents. Parents that would never recognize him again.
Once safely inside her room, she cast a silencing charm. She destroyed every piece of furniture. She punched the walls until her fists were bleeding. She ripped the sheets and comforter off the bed. She did not stop until she was so exhausted, and she could hardly stand. All she could hear was that little boy, screaming. Screaming for his parents. Why had she let Rabastan and Rodolphus do that? Why did she not stop them? Why was she always such a failure?
Azkaban
January 1996
Bellatrix had finally fallen asleep. The dementors had ceased their constant prowling; had she not been so exhausted she might have realised something was wrong. Or right? Her eyes snapped open just as her left arm began to sear. The tattoo had almost faded to grey, and then suddenly it was pitch black. The snake twisted in and out of the skull. All around her Bellatrix heard the other prisoners laughing, and cheering. He was back. She knew it. The day had come. Her escape was so close she could taste it. He would come for her, and she would kill him. She would find a way. She would get back to her daughter. To redeem herself. To give back to the universe what she had spent so long taking away.
A/N: Amor semper esse victuros translates to Love always conquers.
I know the date Delphi was born in my fic is different than Cursed Child. I think you can all forgive me!