Warning: This fic is novel compliant up until the end of the battle of Hogwarts, but let's just pretend that Harry never liked Ginny, ok? And yes, I know Bellatrix is the oldest of the Black sisters but I like it better this way so... yeah. Also some characters may be a little OOC. And it's not epilogue compliant. And I appreciate constructive criticism but no flamers please - if you don't like my story then just don't read it. And... I can't think of anything else.

Disclaimer: All recognisable characters, places and quotes from her books belong to the nice J.K. Rowling lady along with everything else from the miraculous works that are her 'Harry Potter' series. I am merely borrowing them for my own enjoyment and will return (most of) them in good condition. Also I am not making any money out of this.

Chapter 1 - The battle of Hogwarts

'No!' Mrs Weasley cried as a few students ran forwards, trying to come to her aid. 'Get back! Get back! She is mine!'

Hundreds of people now lined the walls, watching the two fights, Voldemort and his three opponents, Bellatrix and Molly, and Harry stood, invisible, torn between both, wanting to attack and yet to protect, unable to be sure that he would not hit the innocent.

'What will happen to your children when I've killed you?' taunted Bellatrix, as mad as her master, capering as Molly's curses danced around her. 'When Mummy's gone the same way as Freddie?'

'You - will - never - touch - our - children - again!' screamed Mrs Weasley.

Bellatrix laughed, the same exhilarated laugh her cousin Sirius had given as he toppled backwards through the veil, and suddenly Harry knew what was going to happen before it did.

Molly's curse soared beneath Bellatrix's outstretched arm and hit her squarely in the chest, directly over her heart.

Bellatrix's gloating smile froze, her eyes seeming to bulge: for the tiniest space of time she knew what had happened, and then she toppled, and the watching crowd roared, and Voldemort screamed.'

oooOOOooo

Narcissa Malfoy could only watch as her youngest sister stood, fighting for her life. She was afraid to cast any spells to help Bella that might distract her, or miss their target and instead of protecting Bella, would give that pathetic Weasley woman a defence against any spells she might be hit with. How she feared that every breath Bella took may be her last! She could see her sister growing more and more overconfident, until at last the inevitable happened. As Bella laughed, Narcissa saw Molly Weasley raise her wand, her lips forming the words of a spell she just knew was going to hit its mark.

Catching her sister's eye, Narcissa felt a powerful burst of magic build up inside her. She didn't know of any spells that could possibly save her sister - a simple 'Protego' wouldn't be strong enough, and she didn't have time for the longer more complex spells. Not knowing what else to do, she raised her wand and directed that surge of pure, undiluted magic from her very core out through her wand and across the room towards Bella. As she watched it mingle with the spell coming from the wand of Molly Weasley, and race towards her sister's heart, she held her breath. The spell hit Bella in the chest and Narcissa watched as her sister froze, then toppled backwards to cheers from those on the side of the Boy-Who-Lived, and an enraged snarl of fury from Voldemort.

Narcissa was only vaguely aware of the fight between Voldemort and the Potter boy - she wanted nothing more than to rush to her unmoving sister's side, but something was holding her back, some sort of magical barrier that had popped around her. She struggled against it, then realising she would be unable to break through; she glared at those standing around to see if any of them had cast the spell. Her sharp eyes caught the movement of Dumbledore's sleeve (... no, not Dumbledore, his brother, Aberforth. Dumbledore was dead. Like Bella. No, not like Bella! Bella would be okay, she was tough, and she would be just fine...) as he lowered his arm, wand in hand. That great twat had to do the 'honourable thing' and protect those around him didn't he! Stupid, interfering, Gryffindors - always poking their noses in where they weren't wanted! She glared at him but as she caught his eye, he shook his head in a movement so small it almost wasn't there. Narcissa knew that had it not been for the barrier keeping her in place, she would have ended up caught in spell fire between one of the most powerful wizards of all time and his greatest rival. To leave the relative safety of her spot against the wall would have been suicide, but even that knowledge couldn't quell her overpowering need to reach her sister. She stood with an impatient inattentiveness as the man who had used threats, bribes and torture to keeps her and her family under his control was defeated.

Earlier, when she had realised that The-Boy-Who-Lived had survived yet another killing curse from that slimy, evil, psychopath who had made the lives of her and her family almost unbearable for the last few years, there were only two thoughts running through her mind. Her first thought was for the safety of her son, and the second was a tremulous hope that perhaps this time the Dark Lord (and oh how she hated having to call him that) would finally be defeated, but now she could think of nothing other than her desperate hope that somehow Bella would have survived. As the stunned silence around her gave way to cheers as those gathered in the great hall took in the knowledge that the greatest oppressor of the wizarding world was finally dead, Narcissa glared at Aberforth until he took down the barrier surrounding her, then battled her way through the celebrating throngs to her baby sister. Pushing past a group of nosily cheering Hufflepuffs she finally caught a glimpse of the young woman lying face down before her. Narcissa gently rolled her sister over, cradling her in her arms, and gasped.

oooOOOooo

Bellatrix LeStrange felt how she imagined it must feel to have been hit by a truck. She struggled to remember how to blink and slowly opened her eyes, only to quickly squeeze them shut again at the blindingly bright light from some unknown source around her. She groggily sat up and risked peeking through her eyelashes as she let her mind run through what had happened. She remembered taunting Molly Weasley, remembered laughing as she danced around the curses being flung at her... remembered catching her sisters eye and seeing the look of horror there as in that split second, Narcissa realised what was going to happen and raised her wand. She remembered Cissy sending a glittering silver spell from her wand, one which mingled with that of Molly Weasley's as it rushed towards her, hitting her just over her heart. Remembering the pain on her sister's face as the combination of spells hit her and she fell backwards, she wondered just what sort of spell Narcissa had cast on her. Blinking warily, Bella let her eyes adjust to the unnaturally white light and peered around trying to work out just where she was. Glancing around, she saw that she was in a large room devoid of any furniture except for the hospital style bed she was currently sitting on, the floor, ceiling, and walls all a gleaming shade of white. That strange light that had accosted her eyes when she had first opened them seemed to be coming from small silvery spheres hovering up near the ceiling. ...Was she dead? This certainly wasn't St. Mungo's or anywhere else she recognised. She had no idea what spell Molly Weasley had hit her with, but by the feral light she had seen in the other woman's eyes, she guessed she had been fighting to kill.

'Well,' she murmured, 'staying here isn't going to do me much good - I may as well find out where I am.' Getting up from the bed she crossed the room to the door. Still wary of her surroundings she searched through her pockets, hoping to find her wand but not really expecting it to be there. After all, if she was dead then it was doubtful she would still have it. 'Then again...' she thought as she pulled it from the inside pocket of her robes. Maybe she wasn't dead after all - who knew what Narcissa's spell might have done! As she pondered this glimmer of hope she became aware of her wand growing heavy in her hand. Something didn't feel right about it - usually when she lifted her wand it felt like coming home, like she'd finally regained a part of herself she hadn't even realised was missing, but this time... it felt wrong. Her wand was giving off a feeling of darkness and evil that she'd never felt before. This wand had done terrible things. Bella blinked. 'Oh my...' she breathed. 'What have I done?' A wave of emotion poured through her, bringing back memories so powerful they drove her to her knees. Curled up on the floor, Bella attempted to piece together what she was remembering. A marriage contract, Bella crying on the floor the night before her wedding, her husband Rodolphus LeStrange dragging her bound and gagged to Voldemort, Rodolphus forcing potions down her throat and spells being cast upon her - compulsion spells, imperio, obliviate... Her life had been a lie, controlled by her husband and his master. Opening her eyes after the onslaught of memories - memories which had been stolen from her - Bella saw her wand. She lifted it then snapped it in two. She was going to start a new life - finally free from the spells she had been under she could attempt to make up for all the terrible things she had been forced to do. ...Too bad she was probably dead.

Bella stared for a long time at the broken halves of her wand. She rather regretted having broken it now, after all, who knew what was outside that door? Even though she knew what it had done, it had always been a powerful wand, and without it she felt vulnerable. She threw the pieces across the room - they wouldn't do her any good now, and got to her feet. She would just have to trust in her ability to duck and dive away from any spells being cast at her, an ability which had proved itself useful many times in the past. She knew better than to try to inch open the door - that would only give anyone who might be standing outside a chance to stop her before she could escape, so gathering her courage she threw open the door and glanced around outside. Spotting a lone figure standing some distance away from her, she darted back into the room, ducking behind the wall which would offer her some form of protection. When she didn't hear any shouts or running footsteps or spells being shot towards her she risked peering round the edge of the doorframe again. There, standing in front of her was her cousin Sirius Black.

Taking a step back in alarm, Bella stared into the face of her cousin. That settled it then. She was obviously dead. Reaching into her pocket as if about to pull out her wand, Bella stared at the man standing opposite her with narrowed eyes, but he just smiled back with apparent indifference.

'Ah, Bella dear,' he said with a grin. 'Glad to see you're finally awake! And I can see your wand lying in that corner - did you know it's broken by the way? - so you can stop pretending you're about to whip it out and hex me or something.'

Narrowing her eyes even further, but slowly removing her hand from her pocket, Bella glared moodily at him. 'Bella dear!' she thought. Who did he think he was! Though they had been close friends throughout their early childhood, they had drifted apart after she had been sorted into Slytherin and he into Gryffindor, to the point where she honestly couldn't remember the last time she had seen him if you discounted the time of his death in the Department of Mysteries. Rather than snapping at him she chose to ignore his comment, instead settling for asking a question which had been burning in her mind since she'd opened her eyes.

'Where are we? And am I dead?' she queried, using as polite and indifferent a tone as she could muster. Annoying him now would mean he could be inclined to withhold the information she so desperately needed to know.

oooOOOooo

Narcissa collapsed onto the sofa in the drawing room of Malfoy Manor, feeling her exhaustion finally catching up with her. So many things had happened the previous day. Not only had her abusive husband been taken immediately to Azkaban, but she herself was under house arrest until such times as a trial could be arranged for her. She'd worked through the night, researching Bella's condition, but she was no closer to an answer than she had been yesterday evening when she had pleaded with McGonagall (the acting Headmistress of Hogwarts now that Snape was gone) to allow her to take her sister home. She had left those in the castle with their assumptions that Bella was dead, but in fact, when Narcissa had performed a diagnostic spell on her she had discovered that Bella was actually in some sort of magical stasis. The combination of her burst of magic and Molly's spell - which after a screaming match with the other woman (a wry smile appeared on Narcissa's face as she remembered that) she had finally discovered had been the killing curse - had begun to change Bella in a way Narcissa hadn't known was possible. When Narcissa had first arrived at her sister's side, she had been shocked by the changes that had taken place in her sister in the few minutes between the spells hitting her and Aberforth dropping his shield to allow Narcissa to race to her side. Bella's face which had been lined, with sunken cheekbones and dark circles under her eyes, was now full and healthy with not a trace of the premature wrinkles and lines that had shown up soon after her marriage to Rodolphus LeStrange. Her hair had regained the lustre it had once had during her Hogwarts years and cascaded down her back in ebony waves rather than the frizzy mess Narcissa had grown used to. Her sister looked younger, happier and more peaceful than Narcissa had seen her since before she finished her last year at Hogwarts and was forced by their parents to marry that abusive man Rodolphus LeStrange. In fact, Narcissa realised with a shiver of apprehension, Bella looked exactly like Narcissa remembered her at that time.

oooOOOooo

Sirius gave a dry chuckle. 'Well Bella dear, you were hit by the killing curse.' Bella couldn't help it, she let out a small sigh of frustration - now she was finally free from all the evil enchantments which had convinced her she wanted to be an evil monster, she was dead. Just typical, now she had no chance to try and redeem herself in the eyes of the world. She glared at her cousin as he let out a small chuckle at the mutinous look on her face, amazed he had the audacity to laugh just seconds after informing her she was dead. She turned to stalk away, but he grabbed her arm in a surprisingly quick movement and pulled her back around. 'Hey! I said you'd been hit by the killing curse - I didn't say you were dead!' he laughed. Whipping her head back around, Bella gave him her fiercest glare.

'Could you please, for once, ignore that sadistic part of your tiny brain that is telling you to completely confuse me and EXPLAIN what is going on!'

'Okay, okay, calm down Bella! You should have seen the look on your face though, it was absolutely priceless!' he grinned.

'Sirius...' Bella warned. 'I'm waiting.'

'Fine! You, Bellatrix Black, are in a state of magical stasis. You are not dead; rather, you are on the verge between two worlds. Your sister...'

'Wait,' Bella interrupted. 'You called me 'Black' not LeStrange. Why?' she asked.

'I'll get to that if you would let me continue!' Sirius grumbled, 'May I?'

oooOOOooo

Professor McGonagall stood by the edge of the Black Lake and stared up at the once beautiful castle she considered a home. Of course, she had a small cottage in Hogsmeade where she stayed during the summer, but as the saying goes, 'Home is where your heart is,' and Minerva's heart was most definitely here at Hogwarts. She had always loved Hogwarts as a girl, and loved it still more as a professor. To her, the castle seemed almost sentient at times, especially on those occasions when the students returned after a break, seeming to brighten itself up without any help from Filch - as though happy to have so many people there again. Now however, Minerva could swear that the castle seemed to be in pain, not only from the damage caused by the fighting, but as though it too felt a terrible grief over the deaths of those who had died within its walls. It would be some time before the school could be opened to students again - many corridors ended with a beautiful view of the school grounds, the walls which were supposed to be there having been blasted away during the battle. Rubble lay round every corner, windows were missing panes of glass and the Ravenclaw common room had been completely destroyed. Looking at the once majestic castle from the outside, it was a wonder that it was still standing. Powerful witches and wizards from all over the country were arriving to help restore the school to its former glory, but even with their help Hogwarts was going to be closed for a while. Only time would tell if it would ever be returned to it's former glory.