Plan B
She was lying on a cold stone floor. It was quiet. Too quiet. Did the battle end already? That was impossible. Just before she fell she had seen the Dark Lord and Potter duelling. For a second she thought she had died. But if she did, she wouldn't be able to feel anything. Would she?
She opened her eyes. Darkness. She cautiously got up, wand at the ready. Her whole body ached. It didn't really bother her. She liked pain. She seemed to be in a dark hallway. There was a door ajar at the very end. This was not Hogwarts. She wondered what had happened. Maybe she did die. And this was Hell. She let out a cackle. It was awfully quiet for Hell. Not to mention cold. She held her hand up to her chest. Her heart didn't seem to be beating. Funny. She pushed up her left sleeve. The Dark Mark seemed to glow.
She walked towards the door. Not much else she could do. The closer she got, the firmer she clutched her wand. Would her wand even work here? When she was standing right next to the door, she thought she heard voices. Whispering. She couldn't stand the suspense anymore. She kicked the door completely open and barged in. The whispering stopped. Then…
"Bella?"
She blinked. Her husband was really there. Along with several other Death Eaters. They were carelessly sitting around a long dining table. The room they were in was not unlike the drawing room in Malfoy manor. She noticed none of the Malfoys were there.
"What is this place?" she demanded, glaring around the room.
"No one knows," Rodolphus replied, "But we all seem to have died. Who killed you?"
"The blood traitor, Molly Weasley," Bellatrix spat on the floor. The nerve of that woman. How dare she even attempt to kill Bellatrix? How dare she succeed? "And you?"
Rodolphus laughed humourlessly. "The Longbottom boy. With a Mandrake."
Bellatrix mirrored his laugh. "Well, well, well. There's hope for him after all."
The sudden cry of fury made her blood run cold. Well, it would, were she alive. Damn that Weasley. It came from the hallway. Loud agitated footsteps. Someone was coming. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw her husband draw his wand. Some others followed his example, but most seemed frozen.
A seething Dark Lord stormed through the door. A collective gasp followed. Bellatrix was delighted to see him. He must have come for them! Even to her the thought seemed naïve. Something was terribly wrong. He was cursing under his breath and collapsed onto a chair. He didn't take notice of any of them. He seemed to be furious, but trying to control himself. None of them had ever seen him like this. Usually he just killed or tortured anyone in his range of vision when he was displeased. The others carefully edged away from him. Except Bellatrix.
She kneeled beside him. "Master?" He ignored her. There could only be one explanation. But that one was too ridiculous to even consider. Surely he didn't die? He was the Dark Lord. He simply couldn't have died. Could he? She decided to risk it. He couldn't kill her if she was dead already. "My Lord, did you… die?"
He let out a terrible screech and slammed his head on the table. He started muttering furiously to himself. She made out the P-word. Oh no.
No one else dared get closer. But she stayed at his side. She had no idea how much time passed. If time even existed here. She didn't get tired, hungry or thirsty at all. She watched him for what felt like an eternity. Finally, he moved.
He dragged his head up and looked to see who else was there. "I see Severus hasn't joined you. Seems that wretched Potter was right." He closed his eyes for a few seconds as if to stay calm and opened them again. "He may have won the battle, but he will never win the war." He stood up and looked out of a window. Bellatrix followed. Her master was acting very odd. She looked out over his shoulder. They seemed to be on top of a mountain. Far below there was fire. Fire and darkness. Nothing else. Voldemort turned back to his remaining followers.
"I say we go back after a decade. When they're convinced that they're completely safe. Then I will have my revenge. And you," the look he sent them, made some of the others recoil, "will help me achieve it." He sat back down. Bellatrix sat down next to him. The rest sat down at the other end of the table. She was making them look bad. Silence.
At last, Yaxley was the one to pose The Question. "My Lord, where are we exactly?"
The Dark Lord narrowed his eyes, but answered. "In a dimension I created myself. I created it in case Potter actually killed me. The idea was of course laughable at the time, but this would stop him from ever truly winning. It's a dimension that goes against all laws of nature and preserves us, exactly as we are. It stops me and you loyal Death Eaters to ever move on." They all looked at him in awe. Their reaction seemed to cheer him up a bit. Creating a whole new dimension was really extraordinary magic. Not even Bellatrix would have dreamed about something like this. He continued, "After a decade we are all free to go. By that time we'll be able to exist in their mortal world as we exist here. We'll be dead, but preserved and basically unstoppable."
"My Lord, that's genius," Bellatrix stared at him with her mouth slightly open. She didn't care that she would never move on. In fact, the thought that she would always exist to serve Lord Voldemort seemed like a dream come true.
"I know." Always so proud. Bellatrix wanted to kiss him. But she never would. He didn't care for such displays of affection.
"Could we really go back? Just like that?" Wormtail squeaked in excitement.
Voldemort observed him for a moment. Wormtail sank deeper in his chair. "Yes. But don't even think about leaving here before I do. Any of you."
"Of course not, My Lord!"
They continued to sit in the silence. Everyone was lost in their own thoughts. Dreams of revenge. Snippets of possible plans. Shared glory. Bellatrix was still awed about this whole thing. She can't believe she almost thought it was over. She should have trusted the Dark Lord more. He was the Dark Lord after all. It will never be over.
Author's Notes: Just another random idea I had. Evil prevails! It's vaguely inspired by "Death, she cried." There's a link in my favourite stories list. You should go read it. It's awesome.
Disclaimer: As always, the characters & shizzle belong to J.K.R.