Written for xBeautifulTragedy's Make an Album into a Story Competition from the Harry Potter Fanfiction Challenges forum
1023 words

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter the album A Day of Nights by Battle of Mice. If you recognize it, it probably isn't mine.

The Lamb and the Labrador

Bellatrix sat in the sliver of light cast into her cell by the moon, looked at the sky, and wondered what it could have been like, if their situation had been different.

He looked beautiful as always, bidding her goodbye. She was expressly forbidden to go with him tonight. She was angry that he had abandoned their plans again—where was he always going these days—and slapped him as he went out the door. He turned to stare at her, perfect face marred by a livid red scratch, as she belatedly realized that she was wearing a ring. She refused to be cowed by his gaze, instead saying, spitefully, "Stay with your whore tonight. I hope your shadow never crosses my path again," and slammed the door in his face.

He never had. He had disappeared that night, killed, some said, by the Potter boy. She closed her eyes, waiting for the memories to take her again...

Him looking down at her, sneering, as she spat up blood. Him telling her to marry Rodolphus, a smirk on his face. Him casting the curse again and again. His spiteful face looking down at her, laughing, hissing, spittingonherlikeshewasfilth...

She came to the present, gasping, and expelled the memories from her mind. The ever-present chill pressed closer, closer, trying to pull her back into the realm of her memories, but she shoved it away. She wold not succumb to the cold like so many of her fellows. She could hear them scream, talk to people long gone, could hear their sanity slipping away, day by day. She would not let that happen to her. She needed to be strong—for him. He would come for her someday.

It had rained that night, mirroring her tears. She waited for him to come back all night, had sat in a vigil by the window, willing him to return to her. He had every other night, even when they fought. As the dawn broke, clouds turning red, she felt a weight settle in her stomach. She knew, somehow. Knew that he would not be returning. She headed to Cissy's home to wait for the news. She couldn't be alone.

She stared up at the moon, hoping for it to tell her something, anything. Its light bathed over her, lifting her from her cell, away from the chill, and immersed her in warmth. The shadows of doubts fled her mind as she focused solely on the warmth and sense of freedom. She could sense that he was coming. It would only be a matter of time, now...

She looked up at the stone pillars of the Malfoy Manor, considering. How many spells would it take for the house to come down?

"Bella!" her concentration was broken by her master's call. He was finished meeting with Lucius and wanted to leave. She turned on the spot and watched the stone pillars melt into the wooden walls of their current base of operations. He crushed her to his chest and captured her mouth in a kiss. She stepped away, aware of eyes upon them.

Rodolphus—her husband, she reminded herself—glared at the two in disgust before stomping off.

She raised her head in laughter. She had paid for her actions that night. Rodolphus had always had a rather nasty temper. Her Master hadn't cared one way or another, as long as Rodolphus didn't try to take what was his. So, although he looked, Rodolphus had never touched her inappropriately. But, as she knew, there were many, many ways to cause pain without touching. She looked at the next cell over as laughter bubbled up in her throat again. He would certainly love to get his hands on her, she knew. He was one of the ones who had gone crazy. Occasionally he would scream at her. Those moments filled her with glee, a vicious happiness that even the dementors couldn't tear away immediately.

As her laughter trailed away, she looked at the sky, waiting and wondering. How long would she be stuck like this, alone, in this place? Already, she could feel herself slipping away. She was frozen in a neverending day, repeating itself over and over. Would she be able to stand much more of this?

The vase shattered next to her ear as she entered the house. Rodolphus had been drinking again, she knew. He always forgot he wasn't supposed to leave marks on her when he had been drinking. He grabbed her arm in an iron grip and hit her across the face, sending her tumbling into the wall, and from there into the broken glass from the vase. Her head reeled from smacking the wall. He plucked her wand away while she was still stunned and twirled it around his fingers.

"Now, now, Bella. It's time for some fun. How does it feel to be powerless, useless, disgusting?" Rodolphus grinned.

She got to her feet slowly, doing her best to ignore the shard of glass sticking out of her arm. He hit her again, harder this time, and her head glanced off the corner of the table on her way down. The last thing she saw before she succumbed to the darkness was Rodolphus pointing his wand at her...

She shoved against the cold bars to her back, using them to get herself to her feet. She could not stand for very long on her own, anymore. Her body was suffering from being locked away, but for how long she could not guess. She stumbled over to the window, reached out her hand, and attempted to catch the moon's light in her hand. The light illuminated her arm, but it slipped away between her fingers.

She stood there for several breaths, before her weakened legs gave way, and she fell, arm grasping at the rough wall. As she lay on the floor, she looked at the dark blood coating her hand and laughed. It had been so long since the pain—oh, the pain. She smeared the evidence across her face as she slipped into an uneasy sleep. She would wait for him, wait until she was alone no longer.

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