-1IClunk. Clunk Clunk./I
The monotonous sound seeped through the stone walls, wandering throughout the caverns of Azkaban like a fog of slumber; the inmates groaned and murmured curses as the sound met them, shaking their thin fists at the invisible resonance. The footsteps were an unusual sound here, where the Dementors ruled… it caused the prisoners to come to the bars of their cells out of curiosity. As the man in the cloak passed, they spat and shouted filthy names at him… for it was one who hadn't paid the price for their past actions- a reformed Death Eater.
Bellatrix herself hadn't gone to see what the commotion was about; she languished in the back of her cell, drumming her fingers against the stone floor. Her once beautiful black hair was ratted and greasy; her skin was pallid and sickly from the darkness that surrounded her at a near constant. She wore the standard Azkaban uniform, and the striped suit chafed at her sides, giving her awful calluses along her torso- though she'd never admit that they hurt her. Bellatrix was Lord Voldemort's servant, to the very end… to Iher/I very end.
She sat in the dark at the end of her cell, wanting nothing more than to sit there and rot until eternity ended… but then a frigid presence made itself known at the front of her cell. She turned her head slowly toward the Dementor and the person walking with it, only paying attention to the dark creature. She clawed at the walls, trying to get farther and farther away from the horrid monster- to no avail. The walls did not let her by, and the thing came closer; followed closely by the mysterious man.
The Dementor held up 10 spindly fingers, signifying 10 minutes, whilst Bella shook in a cold sweat; the man nodded curtly under his black hood, and the creature, seemingly reluctantly, edged out of the cell. The moment the coldness was gone, Bella gasped for breath. The man threw off his hood, and bent down, clutching her arms. "Bella-" he murmured as he tried to hold her still; the Dementor's effects on her hadn't dulled over the years, no… they had heightened. "Bella," he repeated, his voice a little stronger, trying to call her from this trance. Slowly, she stopped shaking, and looked up into his eyes; as their souls connected through their pupils, she gave a shaky grin. "I didn't think you'd come," she choked out, her vocal chords ragged from her long screams that nearly always rang out each day. The man gave her a smile as well, and cradled her skeletal form in his arms, there on the floor of her cell. His warmth was such a blessing, so blissful… Bella's head nuzzled itself against his chest, and she let out a long sigh of relief.
"So I'm free?" she breathed, looking up into his eyes. The man didn't look at her; instead, looking at the ordinary cell wall that stood before them. Bella repeated herself, but he didn't respond. Puzzlement, and then realization flooded her features. "You didn't petition it…" she murmured, a haggard tone to her voice. Still the man looked away. Bella pushed him away in disgust, loathing coursing through her like a dagger through the back.
"You worthless, pathetic man," she growled, crawling to her bed, tears running down her face for the first time in years. "You spineless oaf-"
"I couldn't, Bella… Dumbledore would know. And I can't let myself get found out-"
"You have Isome nerve/I, leading me on all these months, saying that I would be Ifree/I" she howled, pushing him away when he attempted to come close to her again. "You're a traitor! A traitor to the Dark Lord… get out! Out!" The man looked like he was about to say something, but Bella cut him off again. "Get out of here, Severus!" Silence… then, he nodded gruffly. Giving her one last piercing look, he walked out of the cell and slammed the door shut with a resounding Ibang/I. Pulling the generic thin sheet they gave all the inmates around her, she buried herself in loss as she listened to him walk away.
IClunk. Clunk. Clunk./I