She darted up the stairs until she was sure she had lost them. As she reached the seventh floor, she ran blindly throughout the corridors, searching for the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy. She reached it to late, for as she was pacing in front of it for the second time, a cold wind crept across her face, swirling down and piercing her heart.
She shuddered inwardly as a spiral of black apparated barely ten feet in front of her, wearing a dull silver mask but clearly scowling. Belle closed her eyes, struggling to concentrate on making the room appear.
"Don't scrunch your features like that," the Death Eater mocked, sarcastically concerned. "It makes your pathetic excuse for a face even more ugly." He laughed maniacally, stepping forward and crushing Belle against the cold stone walls.
"Why?"Belle choked out desperately. "What did I do?"
"Does it even matter?" he snapped. "You're on one side, we're on the other."
"But-"
She was interrupted by a shrill scream near the bottom of the stairs. Taking this opportunity and using it to her advantage, she shoved the revolting man back. As he stumbled to keep his balance she pivoted so she was facing the door and focused. Within seconds, huge brass handles appeared, connected to a mahogany door.
"W-what?" the Death Eater had barely uttered the word when she turned her head back and snarled, "Maybe next time, imbecile."
And with that, the door slammed in his sorry face.
Belle stumbled into the room, tripping over tons of erratic objects cluttered in heaps the grimy marble floors. A rolled up Persian rug, a tiara, some old tarnished jewelry, a teetering pile of old potion books, a half eaten apple….and a pale teenage boy leaning a desk staring at something intently.
There was a gold plated slanting mirror levitated above the desk, allowing light to reflect from the windows to the object being studied, but the mirror also allowed Belle to see what he was doing. He was hunched over a beautiful opal necklace, embedded with rubies. His pale eyebrows set slightly above his narrowed grey indigo eyes retracted ever so slightly and he ran his hands frustratedly through his silver blond hair.
He let out a long sigh, kicking his legs out and leaning back in his chair. "Dammit!" He exploded. "Why does this have to be so bloody complicated?"
He leapt up, carelessly throwing a musty blanket over the locket, and strode towards the door, not caring if he stepped on anything. There was a swishing noise. The boy ignored it, but Belle returned her attention to the desk. On it lay the bare locket, with no blanket covering in.
She quietly stepped closer, leaning over the mysterious gadget, reaching out to pull it closer to her. She had assumed the boy had gone, and sat down only to be startled by a startled voice exclaiming," Wait, don't-"
Belle jumped and her fingers lightly grazed the necklace. Suddenly everything started swirling around her. She saw the boy jump forward and try to stop her. She caught a fleeting look of the room, with it's mismatched items and tall, stain glass windows. And then, everything went black.