Bellatrix closed her eyes as she felt the life leaving her body. That red-headed harridan had somehow gotten the better of her and, apparently, managed to kill her.

But then why was she still conscious.

With a bit of a struggle, Bellatrix stood and looked at her surroundings. She noted her own condition. At the end of her life, Bellatrix's looks had fallen far. Once she had been considered one of the more beautiful women amongst all of Hogwarts and the wizarding world. Years of fighting and time in Azkaban had killed that. Her lovely ebony locks had lost their sheen and silkiness. They had begun to grey far too early for a witch. Her violet eyes had faded and carried a permanent sunken look. She had gone from trim and voluptuous to emaciated and bony.

But instead of her sickly frame, her bony hands looked soft once more. She seemed to be wearing robes as opposed to her typical corset, but she felt cleaner than she had in ages.

As she took everything in, she began to laugh. She was standing in what appeared to be a long tunnel and at the end there was indeed a bright light.

As Bellatrix took it all in, she saw a shadow growing from that patch of light. As the shadow grew, it began to take shape. She watched with a mix of amazement and fear as the shadow filled out and finally became human. Her breath hitched when she recognized it.

"Regulus?"

"Yes dear cousin Bellatrix Nymphadora Lestrange, in the flesh."

"But you….you died….betraying our Lord!" Bella began softly but her anger grew to where she roared the end of her statement. To his credit, Regulus did not even flinch.

"I betrayed that fool only as much as he betrayed us, cousin." Bella froze at the conviction and power of his words. It was something she had not expected to feel coming from her soft spoken cousin.

She had loved him in their youth. She was more than a decade his senior, but the small timid boy had connected to her as few others ever had. Bella had simply shut everyone else out. If they could not help her in becoming stronger, they did not matter. Her marriage had been a sham, mostly because she was stronger magically and far more intelligent than her husband. There hadn't even been a political benefit because she was coming from the ancient Black line, even if she could never rule the line herself.

The only other time she had ever heard him speak with such strength was when the family had turned on cousin Sirius. She had to admit herself proud, if disappointed, when the younger Black finally seemed to grow a back bone and stood up to her aunt and uncle for attempting to remove Sirius from the family tree. The fight and injures which had ensued took time to heal. The emotional damage never did.

Bellatrix decided to take a chance. She was dead, after all. What did she have besides time.

"Just what do you mean?"

"Well, I must admit myself disappointed in you Bella." Bella tensed at this. Regulus had turned on their Dark Lord and though he did not turn traitor to the family, never turned his back fully on Sirius and Andromeda like he should have. He was also several years younger than her. What right did he have to make such claims?

"Oh?"

"Indeed. You had such potential, such enthusiasm. You could have changed the world. Instead you gave in to fall into such a…pathetic marriage. And that was not even the worst thing you allowed to happen to yourself, though it was up there."

"And just what was wrong with my marriage!"

"Besides the fact that he was beneath you in intelligence, drive, purpose, and values? He could never have stood up to your future, and you could never respect him enough to love him. Beyond that, he drew you away from your potential soul mate and drove you to serve another without even considering it. The Bella I knew would never have simply given her loyalty to someone."

"I gave my loyalty to the Dark Lord, just as you did!" Bella was becoming truly annoyed with Regulus' demeaning of the Dark Lord. Surely they both had better things to do.

"Indeed, and we were both fools. Did you ever look into the background of this glorious leader of the pureblood agenda? Or did you simply take everything at face value? The Bella I respected was better than that."

His finals words were stated quietly, but Bella felt them cut straight through her. She was considered insane by much of the wizarding world, but she was brilliant beyond measure. She had been a Ravenclaw, contrary to what many knew or assumed about her. She had earned the title of insane for her commitment to the Dark Lord and her unconventional fighting methods. But as she was about to reply, she realized that Regulus did have a point. Not once, for all of her ideology and what not, had she ever learned more than what her master bid his minions do. Why was that?

"See, Bella, I learned some terrible things about our late master." He saw her shocked look. "Oh yes, he is dead. Harry Potter killed him shortly after you. Wasn't much of a fight really. Tom stood no chance and was too scared of death. Beyond that, Harry Potter is the greater of the two as far as will and magical power goes. The only reasons Riddle ever stood a chance was experience, knowledge, and certain…devices."

"Who is this Tom Riddle person?" Bella was losing her trains of thought trying to follow everything Regulus was throwing at her.

"Oh yes. Forgive me Bella." Here the name 'Tom Marvolo Riddle' appeared. After Bella noted it, the letters rearranged themselves.

"I am Lord Voldemort?"

"Indeed, our great master was nothing more than a half-blood son of a muggle father and squib mother."

Bella fell to her knees at that. It couldn't be. Surely not. And according to Regulus, the pathetic little boy who couldn't even cast a cruciatus, was stronger willed and more magically powerful than theiry hypocritical leader? Her world was crumbling as she knew it.

"And as for the devices…did you know that our illustrious master created horocruxes?" Bella gasped at this. The Black family was known for its allegiance to the dark side of magic, but even they knew better than to create such awful devices.

"How could he…" Bella was on her knees now, unsure of what to say or do at this point. It was becoming too much for her to take in.

"He did. And not just one, but 6. And more than that, you handled one of them."

Bella stared at her own hands. Fear set in and she began to furiously rub them together, trying to get the taint off. It was after several minutes of frantic rubbing where her skin began to turn raw when Regulus' hand on her shoulder stopped the motion.

"Not now Bella. We still have much to discuss."

"What is there to discuss. I died following a hypocritical half-blood and failing myself, as you have so graciously pointed out. I'm not sure I can take much more."

"Well good. We need to talk about what happens now."

"WHAT HAPPENS NOW? I'm DEAD!"

"True."

"I'm…dead…" Bella was still on her knees and dropped her head into her hands as tears poured forth. Regulus let her go on for a few minutes before he called her attention back to himself once more.

"Bella…Bella!"

"WHAT!" Bella snapped. She was already on edge with her entire world being turned on its head.

"Enough. You are stronger than this and there are things which you need to do. Now listen to me. Fate has decided you have failed in meeting your destiny. Death agrees and as such, the Three have come together to offer…some assistance. Death, Fate, and History all agree you must fulfil your destiny or the world itself shall fall. You are part of the equation. One which should not yet have left the world."

"So I can't even die at the right time. How terrible I must be."

"Self-recrimination does not become you, dear Bella." Bella nodded her acceptance of his words. "You were supposed to meet your soul mate. As a member of the family Black, you would have been well placed to serve as his right hand. Together the two of you would have turned the world, two sides of the same coin. He would have driven the wizarding world into the present, preparing it for the future. You would have balanced that with the traditions which have been perverted by the pure-blood faction.

"With you as the mistress of the dark and he as the leader of the light." He paused to note the grimace which appeared on her face. "Yes, there is indeed an age difference between the two of you, but not the direction you are currently imagining. He is about thirty years younger than you, but with the age wizards and witches live to, it would have made little difference. And his magic would have allowed you to live to similar ages, or at least to leave the plane of the living together.

"He would have been the true leader of the light. Unfortunately, as you both failed, the world shall once more fall into this rhythm it has found. Such a level of imbalance has only been found once before and it took strength far greater than we to correct it.

"So here we stand. Fate has determined you have failed. While the future needs you to correct it, you must pay for your punishments. As such, you shall not be the only soul mate for your beloved. Nor will he be your only. There shall be a third. A triad is a much greater force to contend with. And each shall represent a different faction. You shall represent the 'dark' side of magic, just as Morgan le Fey did. Opposed to you shall be the representative of the light, reminiscent of Nimue. Your soul mate shall step forth as the great power, the middle. He shall serve to have his power increased as he must balance you two. He shall be the Grey, just as Myrddin Emrys, the balance of the dark and light.

"The Three have decreed that you three shall relive your experience, but with a few changes. Each shall know they are reliving it, but none shall know the others are until they share fates kiss. This is not just a kiss, nor one of passion or caring. This is a kiss of genuine love and caring."

Bella sat there slack jawed as she stared at Regulus. Everything he had just claimed seemed not only farfetched, but impossible. But then here she was, dead, and talking with her dead cousin.

Besides, what did she have to lose?

"Ok, I have to admit this all seems a bit insane to me, but what have I really got to lose. What do I need to do?"

"Well, since you have agreed, you are already being sent back. There are a few more things to consider. You will be returning to your fourteen-year-old body, but it will be in a very different time. Through some abilities of Fate, Death, and History which I have not been given the liberty to say, you shall be in your fourth year during the Triwizard Tournament at Hogwarts in '94. I cannot explain how this will happen or why it works because the changes are beyond human comprehension. This will allow you to grow closer to your soul mates, should you allow yourself.

"Bella, I know love and caring has not been shown much in your life in recent years." He smiled at her scoff. He knew Bella had never truly been shown any of that. Growing up she had been loved by her sisters, but she was the eldest and therefore had to care for them. The same was true with both Sirius and himself. She was expected to be the pureblood princess and even in marriage had been treated cruelly. She had grown to expect that from life and shown it herself.

"Bella, that will change. If you accept this mission Fate has entrusted to you, you will find love and caring. While you will fight to change the world for the better, you will find two others who will come to love and care for you. They will stand beside you regardless of what comes. But in order for that to happen, you will have to let them in."

Bella stood at this. Love was not something she knew. As she considered what she had been told, she wondered if it was truly what she wanted. Bella had spent her entire life pushing some sort of pureblood dogma and changing that at the say-so of her traitor cousin seemed strange.

And yet it felt right. His words seemed honest and deep down she knew she needed to do this. She drew back her shoulders, decision made, and looked into her cousin's eyes.

"Ok, I'm in. But how do I find my soul mates?"

Regulus seemed to consider her words for a moment. He seemed to be talking to himself.

"Yes, but surely…well then how…please? Ok then, thank you." He turned his attention back to face her.

"You will return to the school on the night the champions are chosen. The very first name you hear when you return shall be the Grey. Trust and follow him. It will take time. He will have his memories as well, so his reaction to you may be…violent. Have patience. It will take time. But become his friend. And together, you will find the third part of your triad. She will one you never expected for yourself."

Bella seemed to take all of this in. It was quite a bit. After a few moments to compose herself, she looked into Regulus' eyes once more.

"I'm ready." She was surprised when her cousin drew her into a hug. She was more surprised when she felt tears running down her cheeks.

"I'm sorry you had to die to find love, Bella, but it will all be worth it. Be careful. I love you dear cousin." The tunnel faded with his final words. With a gasp, Bella opened her eyes to the Great Hall of Hogwarts. She was once more surrounded by fellow Ravenclaws, although she had to admit they seemed young to her. She shook her head in the silence that surrounded her before she heard Dumbledore's voice ring out.

"Harry Potter!"