Disclaimer: I own virtually nothing here. Except Clairmont; she is all mine.

Author's note: Whew…I came up with this fic in the shower today. I think of most things around water. So, it was either a shower or while I was doing dishes. Haha. Anywho…This fic will begin with a series of flashbacks from different characters. All flashbacks will be labeled and dated, so no worries. Also, I really like not only showing major events but also everyday life, especially the interaction of Bellatrix and Clairmont.

Warnings: I don't like restrictions so I'm rating it M. With Bellatrix around you know there is going to be violence…and other things. In this particular chapter you might want to watch out for a certain woman to go into labor!

Prologue: The Pensieve.

((Bellatrix Black, Roughly one month into her seventh year in Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry…))

Bellatrix sat in one of the comfy black couches in the Slytherin common room. Her mind was reeling and her eyes were that of a terrified woman. This was an honor, wasn't it? It was an honor to bear the Dark Lord's child, right? Who was she kidding; Voldemort would rip her in half if he knew what had become of her. Bellatrix stretched herself out on the couch and began to sob. As she did a voice penetrated the ragged sound.

"Bella?"

Bellatrix sat up immediately and silenced her tears. Though she was expecting a visitor she had no desire to appear as weak and helpless as she felt.

"Bella, are you alright?"

Narcissa walked carefully into the room, her voice trembling in her throat. When Bellatrix wanted to talk privately it was usually something less than pleasant.

"Cissy…Come here."

Bellatrix moved over so that there was room enough for the younger of the Black sisters. In a rare moment of Bellatrix's surfacing weakness she hugged Narcissa.

"Bellatrix, what's wrong?"

"The Dark Lord and I…We…He…I…Cissy I'm pregnant."

Narcissa was unable to speak words for a few seconds. Her elder sister was pregnant!? What was worse…With the child of Lord Voldemort. She hugged Bellatrix tighter. It all made sense now. Over the past few months Bellatrix had been gaining weight, which was quite unlike her. She had been skipping her morning classes and retiring to her bed…

"Cissy? What am I going to do?"

Bellatrix's voice was barely a whisper. Her tears came back to her and spilled down her cheeks. In a rare moment of bravery Narcissa spoke.

"Come with me. You can no longer stay here."

Narcissa stood and grabbed her sister's trembling hand. She held it tightly and tugged on it. It was a very rare occurrence when Narcissa was the one to help Bellatrix but it was occurring never the less. The two sisters walked down the hall slowly and silently, after all it was deep into the night and well after hours. They trekked up the stairs out of the dungeon. Bellatrix drew her wand and cast a quick Lumos. Before allowing herself to be dragged any further.

"Cissy, where are we going?"

"A place I heard about from an old friend…"

Though Bellatrix was incredibly confused she allowed her fifth year sister to lead her up the stairs. Eventually they arrived on the seventh floor.

"Narcissa, where are we? What are you doing?"

Narcissa was pacing in front of a black stretch of wall across from some tapestry of a two men trying to teach trolls the art of dance. Narcissa held her hand up to silence her sister as she finished pacing. Suddenly a door appeared. Bellatrix gasped.

"Come on, before someone catches us!"

The raven haired woman obeyed and the two of them walked into the Room of Requirement. The room's walls were rather bare but the floor held a bed and a couch. There was a bookshelf full of old books as well as a cozy fireplace. Narcissa sighed a sigh of utter and complete relief.

"You'll be safe here."

To suggest that Bellatrix Black was confused would be an understatement; her sister said she was safe though. This was indeed good news.

"Cissy where are we?"

"A safe haven…It's called the Room of Requirement. As long as you stay here no one can find you. Then we can get rid of the child and-"

"Get rid of it!? Cissy we can't just get rid of it…It's my child."

Bellatrix held her slightly swollen belly with tender hands. One wouldn't think it was possible coming from a future mass murderer but there she was. Narcissa looked as if she wanted to spit fire.

"No, it's the Dark Lord's child. He won't be pleased…You mustn't tell him Bella!"

She was now pacing around in a circle in front of the couch. Her platinum blonde hair hung around her shoulders and swayed with each step. Bellatrix stood motionlessly beside the door, she had barely moved since she had entered the room.

"I won't…But what am I going to do? I can't keep it…"

Narcissa's eyes flashed wildly.

"I don't know Bella! I'm only sixteen! You're not even out of school yet! What am I going to tell everyone when they ask me where you've gone?"

"Tell them nothing. Leave them guessing, I assure you that they'll never guess what really happened…"

Narcissa felt a bit calmer now that her elder sister's commanding ways were coming around. That meant things were going to get done, and such a fact was quite comforting.

"Alright…For now just get some rest. I suppose I'm going to be an auntie soon."

At this they both giggled girlishly. There were cheerful aspects to this frightful situation after all.

"And I a mother…How odd it seems."

Narcissa smiled wearily and tucked a loose hair behind her ear.

"I'll be around soon to bring you some food. Rest now Bella, everything is going to be alright."

With that said the blonde woman walked over to her older sister. She planted a swift kiss on her cheek and left the room. In her mind she knew that this child was going to have to go eventually…But the time to dwell on that pain was not now.

Bellatrix lay in her new bed. She was going to be a mother…That was a scary thought. Hopefully she was going to get to spend a few months with the baby before they…"got rid" of it. She drummed her fingers on the bulge of her stomach. There was a baby in there…Wow.

(( Narcissa Black, Later that week…))

Andromeda followed her sister through the doors of the Great Hall. Her heels clicked wildly and her voice was harsh.

"Narcissa! I know you know something!" She yelled.

Narcissa walked nonchalantly to her usual spot at the Slytherin table. She sat down and threw her legs over the bench.

"Cissy…Where is Bellatrix!?"

"Quiet down…For Heaven's sake Andromeda. Sit." The blonde Slytherin said nonchalantly.

She began nibbling on a piece of toast, it was quite good.

" Well?" Andromeda's voice cracked with impatience and irritation.

"She's safe. That's all you need to know, not that you actually care."

Andromeda looked as if she were going to kill someone. She was so furious with her sister's cryptic words, but she remained quiet.

"I just wanted to know Cissy."

"Well you're not going to. Get over it Andy, she's fine and that is that."

Narcissa was told not to tell anyone Bellatrix's whereabouts, not even their other sister. Bellatrix wanted to remain hidden for her own safety as well as the child's. If the child was discovered there was no telling what would happen to it…

"If you speak to her again…Tell her that I'm glad she's safe…"

((Bellatrix Black, the child's birth-night, June 15th…))

Bellatrix lay on the comfy bed. A few nights ago the magical room where she stayed had produced a closet full of towels, a little baby blanket and nursing supplies. What a brilliant room. The raven haired witch was huge, the baby was going to come any day…though it seemed it was coming that night. As Bellatrix mulled over names and other motherly duties Narcissa burst through the door.

"Oh gods…I thought I was too late."

Bellatrix smiled weakly and shook her dark locks.

"Not at all…Though the contractions have started."

Narcissa turned a shade paler. Contractions? Oh gods…What was she going to do? She had never in her life delivered a baby before. It took every ounce of strength not to faint.

"Cissy, calm down. I need you to be strong for me, for the child. Come on…Just sit next to my bed."

Narcissa nodded slowly and traversed the room to sit next to her elder sister, who was obviously in immense pain. Bellatrix did not cry out, nor did she cry. Not yet, at least. At the beginning she was almost at ease with the pain. She chuckled softly as Narcissa dabbed her forehead with a little cloth.

"You know how much I hate being taken care of…Thank you Cissy."

Bellatrix had never been a very dependant person, actually quite the opposite. It was Narcissa who was always bedridden with a fever being told stories or being fed soup.

"See it as payment for all of those times you took care of me." She whispered.

Bellatrix didn't get a chance to respond, for she was seized with another cruel contraction. Narcissa flinched, she hated to see her "Bella" like that…

"It's coming Cissy…"

The little blonde needed no more warning than that. She jumped from her seat and began removing Bellatrix's night dress; the time for modesty was long gone.

((Twelve hours later…))

"Push! Come on Bella, Push!"

Narcissa was nearly hyperventilating at the end of Bellatrix's bed. She was excited, terrified, and nearly sick all at once. Tears were in her eyes as her sister continued her screaming and writhing.

"DAMN IT! BLOODY GOD DAMN IT! I HATE MEN!"

Bellatrix's entire body was coated in sweat as she pushed the child out into the world.

"I see a head!"

The rest of the body soon followed and the worst part was over…or perhaps it had just begun. Narcissa cut the child's umbilical cord with a wave of her wand.

"It's a girl Bella! A little baby girl!" The blonde girl held the messy child in the crook of her arm; such beauty.

Both of them burst into tears of joy. Bellatrix, who was still a bit delirious both from the pain numbing spells and the fact that she had just brought life to the world wept harder. Narcissa quickly wiped off the little girl with a towel and wrapped it up in the baby blanket. She then placed the child in her mother's arms.

"My little angel…"

Then something happened, something neither sister ever thought would happen. Bellatrix Black tenderly kissed her daughter's forehead. It was not a lustful kiss, nor was it a dutiful one. It came from the love she felt for the little runt.

"She's beautiful Bella…"

Narcissa ran her perfectly manicured nails over the baby's cheek. Bellatrix sighed happily.

"She is…I think I'll call her Clairmont. Clairmont Narcissa Black."

Bellatrix then looked into the ceiling of the room, as if asking for answers. Narcissa began to cry again.

"She's named after me? Oh Bella! That's so sweet. Thank you."

The mother of the child then gestured to the closet of the Room of Requirement.

"There's a basinet in there…This room thinks of everything."

Narcissa nodded and dashed to the closet where she found the basinet as well as a little baby outfit. It was a deep purple.

"How odd…For the child of the heir of Slytherin…"

((Two days later…))

Bellatrix was sitting on the little comfy couch in the room she had lived in for her pregnancy. It was nearly two in the morning. Clairmont was crying as though the devil himself were pinching her little ears.

"Please hush…Gods…I said shut up!"

Calm and maternal had never really been Bellatrix's suit, but as soon as she had yelled she felt remorse.

"I'm sorry, my lovely. Shhhh, there you go."

The tiny babe was calming down, but only slightly. It wasn't as if Clairmont was really all that loud, but Bellatrix just wanted to sleep…She had already breast fed the little whelp so now it was just a matter of getting her to sleep.

"You know, you have my eyes, my hair too."

Bellatrix ran her fingers over her daughter's little head. There was a thin layer of ebony hair there. Clairmont giggled.

"This is hardly the time for laughter, young lady…Better than crying though."

As Bellatrix rocked Clairmont to sleep she couldn't help but let her mind wander…How long was this going to last?

(( Bellatrix Black, July 2nd…))

Narcissa's cold voice drifted over the room like a frozen vapor. Being cold was how she masked her true emotions…Emotions were weak and when dealing with the threat of Voldemort's wrath there was little room for "a woman's weakness".

"It's now or never Bellatrix. We have to send her to the orphanage now."

Bellatrix held her daughter close to her, unwilling to let go. She had no idea that it would be this hard…It was just a child. But somehow the thought of never seeing it again made her tear up. Despite herself she had become attached to the little witch. Those little black eyes…that wise-cracking smile.

"But I love her…"

Narcissa stopped short. This was by far the most unexpected thing her elder sister had done. Defy the Dark Lord over a child? No. Narcissa wasn't going to let her do that to herself.

"Are you willing to invoke the Dark Lord's wrath upon your head? You silly little girl! I thought we had already decided what was going to happen? Don't be a fool Bella. Give her to me."

Bellatrix's eyes became angered and hard.

"No." She breathed.

"Bellatrix don't be a fool! The Hogwarts express is coming to take me home soon! It's not like we can stay here forever! Don't act like the Dark Lord has just forgotten about you either! He's looking for you, and so is Roldolphus!"

The raven haired witch stopped. That was correct…She had been summoned by the Dark Lord…Her mark burned with irritation. The large red marking hissed and spat with Voldemort's annoyance. She would pay when she returned no matter what happened…But Clairmont…She could escape the Dark Lord and his wrath. A single tear rolled down her cheek. For it was at that moment that she realized keeping Clairmont was impossible.

"Fine Cissy…We leave tonight."

((That night…))

Bellatrix and Narcissa had already snuck out into the grounds of Hogwarts. Their traveling cloaks were thrown over their shoulders like shields from the outside world. Clairmont had remained oddly silent, but neither Black sister complained. She was fast asleep in her mother's arms, such an obedient child.

"This is where we part, dear sister."

Narcissa was teary-eyed as she spoke. She smiled despite herself and kissed her sister's child on the head.

"Goodbye my little niece."

Bellatrix then held little Clairmont up to the sky. She was so tiny…Narcissa then helped her sister place Clairmont into the pouch on her back. It resembled a muggle invention that was commonly seen in India. Bellatrix then walked solemnly to the broom Narcissa had gotten her.

"Thanks Cissy…for everything."

The raven haired mother then mounted her broom and flew into the night.

Author's note: Alright kiddies it has been fun. Part two of the prologue will be coming soon. Ooooh Suspense! If you have any questions, comments, or disgruntled responses please feel free to review it! I wish you could see the timeline I drew to make sure this all made sense. In any case, I received a comment about Bellatrix's "OOC"ness concerning her tears and weaknesses. Readers please remember; this is before Bellatrix becomes a full Death Eater and before she is sent to Azkaban. She hasn't lost her mind yet. Not only that, but I firmly believe that in being the eldest sister Bella has her maternal moments. Just wait and see. Happy Trails!