Chapter 1

Dark Memories

I ran stealthily from shadow to shadow, slowly making my way along the streets of London. I glanced behind myself, then nervously pulled up the hood of my cloak, tucking my wispy, straw-colored hair behind my ears. Glancing down, I smiled, seeing that my body was entirely shrouded in my night black robes.

"Good," I whispered to myself. Not even my own father would recognize me. I looked around quickly, then continued my journey, making sure I stayed in the same spot for only a few seconds at a time. It was not good to stand where anybody could be watching or listening. After about five minutes of this, I came to a small, rundown pub.

"Alohamora," I whispered, tapping the lock with my wand, then locking the door again, once I was inside. I wove through the maze of bar stools and tables in the empty, darkened pub, taking care not to let even my cloak brush against anything. Once outside, I tapped a single brick of the wall before me and the wall began to slide sideways. As soon as it had moved a good distance, I slipped through. I walked briskly down the streets of Diagon alley, which, though crowded during the day, were silent and empty in the inky blackness of the night. I moved past rows of unlit shops, occasionally pausing and taking a right or left. Eventually, I reached my destination: Knockturn Alley.

Here all was not silent; dark shapes moved about and I tried not to look at them. It was better not to know what was stirring in Knockturn Alley. I sprinted a few blocks and stopped when I was in front of small, old looking store. Though short of breath and clutching a stitch in my side, I was finally here and my nerve-wracking journey was over, for tonight at least. I walked up to the ancient, wooden door hanging under a sign reading 'Borgin and Burkes' and knocked twice, waited a few seconds and knocked three more times. A shutter was slid slowly aside and a pair of deep brown eyes regarded me.

"You're late," a rich, throaty voice hissed. "The meeting starts in a few minutes!"

"Sorry Bella..." I started to respond.

"SHUT UP!" Bella hissed at me. "What have I told you about saying names aloud, Bartimeus Crouch?" I froze for a few seconds, panicking at the sound of my name. I looked around furtively to make sure no one was listening in to our conversation. When I was sure only I had heard Bella's barbed words, I turned back to the closed door.

"Sorry," I muttered mutinously, breathing quickly. "Sorry, I forgot."

"You forget too much, too often," Bella said, narrowing her eyes suspiciously. There was an uncomfortable pause in which I glared at her and she at me. In the end, though, I looked away. Bella laughed coldly; I was always the one who looked away.

"Just let me in!" I said in a loud whisper. Bella gave me a contemptuous glance.

"Password," she said maliciously.

"Just open the door!" I said loudly, I glanced around, then lowered my voice. "It's freezing out here," I whispered pleadingly, rubbing my arms.

"Password," Bella said again. Her voice was calm, but her eyes smiled, relishing the pain she was causing me.

"All right, all right," I growled, defeated. I looked around once again, to make sure no one would hear what I said next, then murmured,

"The Dark Lord shall rise again."

"So sorry," Bella said apologetically. "Didn't hear you, speak up now." I gritted my teeth and took a deep breath. She knew how nervous it made me, to say things of this nature where anybody could be listening. Merlin, how I hated her. She was a parasite, creeping up on you when your guard was down, and sucking out all your deepest feelings, all your deepest fears. Well, I wouldn't let her win, not this time. Throwing caution to the winds, I filled my lungs and yelled,

"THE DARK LORD SHALL RISE AGAIN!" my words echoed into the night, and Bella's eyes flitted from side to side.

"Loud enough?" I asked, grinning vindictively.

"Get in," she spat through gritted teeth, opening the door a crack. I slipped across the threshold and into the store, taking care to bump into Bella on my way in. We had not always been like this, Bellatrix and I.. There had been a time when we were close–well, as close as Bella could be to anyone. I remembered back to the first time I'd seen her...

I took a slow sip of my coffee, relishing the much-needed caffeine. Why did Father always hold meetings in the morning? He may have been able to go days without sleep, but the rest of his staff and I were only human. I chuckled bitterly. That was it of course, the reason I was such a disappointment. The son of Bartimeus Crouch wasn't supposed to be only human. He was supposed to be inexhaustible, indestructible, the perfect image of his perfect father. But I wasn't that prodigal son, and as much as Father wanted me to be him, and as much as I strived to become father's dream son, I couldn't.

I sighed, pushing away the harsh reality of my thoughts and instead began to think of the upcoming meeting. I pulled my note cards out from my robes and began reading through my presentation one last time. Dolohov, I read, was last seen in Essex and is being tracked by our best aurors. He is six foot seven, with long blond hair and dark brown eyes... my mind strayed and I found myself imagining the death eater I had been describing. I could almost see him. His wand raised, mouth twisted in a cruel smile, dark eyes twinkling... wait, I wasn't imaging it! The dark eyes I had seen on Dolohov's face were staring out at me from a woman two tables down.

I shook my head to dissipate my fantasies then turned to look at the woman before me. I stared at her without really seeing her for a moment, then suddenly the full impact of what my eyes were telling my brain hit me. I felt the breath leave my lungs as I stared at her beautiful form. She had curly, shoulder length hair that was so black, it looked almost blue where the light struck it. Her dark, olive skin only accented her night-black, heavily lidded eyes as she stared at me. It was not her beauty that truly captivated me, but the feeling emanating from her. It was a feeling of total confidence, total assurance. I could tell that no matter what this woman did, she would feel no moral qualms about it, because it was she who had done it. She could commit murder and feel totally comfortable, because it was she who had taken someone's life, and she was never wrong.

Her black eyes stared into my own and any thought or idea I had instantly dissolved under her hypnotic gaze. I sat, paralyzed, unable to move my eyes and break the spell she had woven over me. Even when she stood up and approached my table, I still couldn't move. She dragged a chair over from a nearby table and sat down across from me. And still we stared. The thought of speaking didn't even occur to me until she closed her eyes for a few seconds, breathing in deeply. I took a ragged breath and felt the life return to my body.

"H..hello," I stuttered nervously, shattering the silence. Her only reaction to my mumbled greeting was to open her eyes. She regarded me imperiously for a second, then began to speak.

"Do you fear?" she asked in a deep, rich voice.

"Well... Yes, of course I do," I said hesitantly. "Doesn't everyone?" I asked the question lightly, almost rhetorically, but it was not to go unanswered.

"I do not fear," the woman said. "I fear neither death nor life." She said these words emotionlessly, almost factually. She paused for a second, then continued to speak.

"You fear both," she said. "You fear everything and everyone, even me." I opened my mouth to deny this, but then closed it again. She was right; even now I could feel a voice in the back of my mind telling me to run from this beautiful creature.

"I can teach you how to fear nothing and love no one," she whispered. "I can show how to triumph over life and embrace death. I can teach you all this. The only question is, will you learn?"

Her question hung in the air before us, daring me to answer. My brain seemed to be hazy and I could hardly understand my own thoughts. I'm going to be late to the meeting, I thought vaguely. But the meeting didn't matter anymore, father didn't matter anymore. Nothing mattered but this woman and her impossible promises. No, not impossible; nothing was impossible anymore. I opened my mouth, then closed it again. I summoned all the effort left in my fog-filled brain and said the only thing I could think of:

"Who are you?" She laughed, a high, cold laugh that didn't fit her, and sent shivers up my spine. She looked into my eyes for a minute, as if sizing me up, then leaned over so close I could count her eyelashes. Before I could even wonder what she was doing, she had tucked a lock of my hair behind my ear and bent back again.

"You can call me Bella."