Ok, well this is my first ever fanfiction so please, please be nice! Reviews are always nice if you have time too… I can only get better xx
Toujours Pur – Always Pure
It was a bleak, grey evening. Dark clouds hung over the sky like old rags and the world seemed dull and sunken. A groan of thunder rumbled in the distance as the first bolt of lightning struck the sky overhead. Not a soul was around to witness the shadow, the first of several, appearing out of thin air at the bottom of the tower on Whirlwind Hill.
The first to arrive at the foot of the tower was a young woman. She was of average height, slim, with a head of thick, curly black hair and sharp, but beautiful, features. She wore a long black cloak over a slick black dress that floated down to the grassy floor beneath her. She had, in her right hand, what would appear to anyone as nothing but a stick but was in fact, a magic wand.
This woman, you may have guessed, was no normal person at all. She was, in reality, a witch. She had been educated from the age of eleven at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, sorted into Slytherin house and after graduation, joined the Dark Lord's followers, the Death Eaters, and become, as she likes to think of herself, the Dark Lord's right hand woman.
Wand still in hand, the woman swept into the dark, damp stairwell of the tower which had been lit dully by torches in brackets on the stone wall. The echoes of her hurried footsteps were the only noise now as the narrow stairwell was blocking the sound of the thunder which still crashed away outside.
Reaching the end of the winding staircase she emerged on a large, round balcony, tiled with wet stones and empty apart from an old, cracked mirror which looked oddly out of place in its surroundings.
No sooner had she arrived herself when more echoing footsteps reached the top of the tower and, too, appeared on the balcony. The first to arrive was a tall man with thick dark hair and a big build wearing scruffy clothes under a brown travelling cloak. Secondly was another tall man, though this one was rather skinny with shoulder length brown hair and stubble and wearing impressive black robes, followed closely by another, older, man with dark grey hair and a thin moustache. Each of the new arrivals held a wand tightly in their right hands.
"You have news?" the first man said in a hoarse voice.
"I do indeed," spoke the woman, her lip curling into a sort of smile.
"Well, are you going to share with us Bellatrix, or do we have to guess like usual?" said the older man his expression as serious as his voice.
The woman, named Bellatrix, sniggered at how eager the arrivals were to learn what information she had. The last droplets of rain eased off and before speaking she took a deep intake of breath.
"Rookwood has obtained information from inside the Ministry. Important information," she said proudly.
The first man spoke again, "And which reliable source did old Rookwood get this information? Eh? We all know how untrustworthy Rookwood's can be with telling the truth. Cygnus knows more about that than any of us," he turned to the oldest man.
"Remember the 'information' he got hold of in '56. He told half the country that your mother's great-great grandmother was part giant." he spoke directly to Bellatrix, "Shamed us all for months!"
"No," she answered plainly before starting to unnecessarily defending herself aggressively, "I wouldn't remember, father, as I was an infant. How do you expect me to-?"
"Alright, alright! No need to bite my head off!" Cygnus cut her off, "You should remember who you're speaking to young lady! You may be of age but I am still your father-"
Cygnus continued to yell at Bellatrix but she was too busy staring at the other well dressed man wearing the look of utmost disgust to listen to him.
"And where were youlast night when I attended the meeting with the Averys alone?" she spat at him emphasising the word 'alone'.
"As I tried to tell you several times, my dear, I had to go to dinner with my parents. Itooattended that alone," he answered back.
The pair continued to glare at each other as the first man chuckled, "Ah, Bella and Rodolphus. The most loving couple I've ever met!" he joked.
Bellatrix shot him a look that could kill.
"If it's alright with you Dolohov, I think we should put the marriage subject out of the way for now," said Cygnus addressing the first man suddenly with a look of disappointment unmistakable on his face as he faced the couple, "and continue with the topic of why we are here," he continued reasonably.
Ignoring the irritating smirk Dolohov had plastered onto his face, Bellatrix continued, "You asked where Rookwood got hold of the information?" she paused, making eye contact with each of them, "The answer is Ludo Bagman."
"Ludo Bagman, the Beater for the Wasps?" Rodolphus sounded surprised.
"None other," answered Bellatrix smugly. Considering the look of puzzled faces, this had been a shock to all three men.
"Bagman was not passing information on knowingly," she spoke, "He and Rookwood were both in the Ministry itself and Rookwood is a friend of Bagman's father's. A trustworthy Ministry employee. Bagman had no idea what was doing."
The silence that followed was broken by Rodolphus, "But what exactly is this mysterious information?"
"Ah, but of course you don't know," said Bellatrix over another, nearer grumble of thunder, "Rookwood still works at the Department of Mysteries under the Dark Lord's orders. He continues to bring us inside information about the goings on in that particular department. The Dark Lord seems to think there is something in there that might do us good in winning this war."
"Oh for God's sake! Can you stop the whole 'I'm-the-best-and-nobody-else-has-a-clue' thing and get on with it woman!" yelled Dolohov. His voice echoed in the distance, "God knows who could be on our tails!"
"Keep it down will you!" Bellatrix snapped back in a harsh whisper as if she were suddenly afraid someone could hear them.
"I am sorry Bella, now will you please get on with it?"
Rodolphus and Cygnus gave each other a significant look of wariness before returning their attention back to Bellatrix.
"Bagman told Rookwood that there is a secret organisation plotting against us, called the Order of the Phoenix."
"What?" the three men said together.
"You heard me right," Bellatrix answered, "The Order of the Phoenix, concocted by the 'great' Albus Dumbledore. They've been scheming against Death Eaters for years and we've never known it!"
"But that is not possible!" exclaimed Cygnus, "Surely we would have known before now!"
"Well, that was my first reaction too, father. But think about it. The Fidelius Charm will have been used to hide the Order's headquarters and not just anyone belonging to the association would be able to let slip. That would be the job of the Secret Keeper."
"And who exactly is the Secret Keeper?" asked Rodolphus.
"Not sure," answered Bellatrix truthfully, "I doubt that even the Dark Lord knows that."
Cygnus broke the short silence that followed.
"But the Dark Lord must know something!"
Bellatrix knew Cygnus wouldn't drop this. He was one of the Dark Lord's oldest followers and this was big news for him.
Bellatrix shook her head and turned her back on the three men, looking at the bleak landscape before her.
"Then it really is war?" Rodolphus asked the slightest tone of fear in his voice.
Bellatrix nodded, "Yes, it is war."
"And a Great War it shall be," Cygnus said joining Bellatrix at the edge of the balcony, "It will be known as the Great Wizarding War. We will not loose."
Bellatrix left her father's presence, walking slowly toward the abandoned, cracked mirror in the corner and staring absent-mindedly into it.
Something in the way she was acting implied uncertainty and anxiety.
"What's the matter with you Bella?" asked Dolohov, "I thought war was right up your street."
"It is," Bellatrix answered without her gaze leaving the mirror, "It's just-"
"It's just what?" Cygnus cut her off, "Scared of loosing your place at the top if your duelling performance isn't up to scratch?" Cygnus paused. Bellatrix showed no sign that she was listening, "Or is it the bigger picture we're looking at?" he continued, "Scared of death itself, Bellatrix, are you?"
Bellatrix shook her head and turned away from the mirror looking straight to her father, "No," she shook herself, all sense of being unsettled and agitated vanishing, "Just the journey it will take to get there," she whispered so only her father could hear her admit this. She chuckled to herself.
She returned to gaze over the balcony and all three men joined her this time.
"Why are we here of all places anyway, Bellatrix?"
Bellatrix smirked as if remembering something rather funny, "First place I thought of. I only had time to let you three know before I had to leave. I was being followed, you see."
"That's my girl!" said Cygnus, "Not even pushing thirty and already you're the country's most wanted woman!"
Rodolphus and Dolohov laughed.
"Who was following you anyway?"
"That Auror from the Ministry, what's his name," Bellatrix struggled to remember, "Shacklebolt. Kingsley Shacklebolt."
Rodolphus groaned and muttered curses under his breath.
"But we're going off track," Bellatrix said, "We're here about the war."
"What more is there to discuss?" said Cygnus lazily, he'd been fighting wars for years and it was as if he no longer cared about them, "It's war. What will happen, will happen and we can't do anything about it."
"And that's exactly the attitude that has caused loss and despair for us in the past!" Bellatrix answered passionately.
"And you'd rather plan everything out to perfect precision, would you?"
"No, of course not! That's not me at all! What I mean to say is that if we expand our knowledge and try new things to throw off the enemy then there is more of a chance of overcoming them. What's the point in showing off all the old tricks that everyone knows about?"
"I suppose she's right," said Rodolphus, "Uncertainty and unknowing causes fear. The enemy won't stand a chance that way!"
"But the Order of the Phoenix and the Ministry have knowledge, knowledge that we need to gain if there is any chance of us being victorious!" Bellatrix had raised her voice. Lightning zapped the sky and a crash of thunder came again. The rain, which had stopped, began to fall heavily once again.
Bellatrix, Rodolphus, Dolohov and Cygnus simultaneously looked up to the sky.
"Maybe we should leave now," Dolohov offered.
The other three agreed but before they had a chance to move, an uncomfortable burning sensation occurred on each of their left forearms.
They each rolled back their sleeve and saw the tattoo of the Dark Mark, the skull and snake, proof of their loyalty to the Dark Lord, squirming around as if being tortured. It was a sign that the Dark Lord wished to meet with all of his followers.
Not a moment had passed when their attention to their Marks was broken by a man shouting from the foot of the tower, "I thought I heard someone up there! It's Death Eaters! Come on, hurry up!"
Bellatrix leaned over the edge of the balcony and saw to her horror the man that had been shouting. With him were Aurors; too many to count.
Dolohov cursed loudly signalling for them all to run for the stairs, Bellatrix shoving Rodolphus out of the way so she could get down first.
By the sound of it, some of them had already started up the stairs to the top of the tower. Bellatrix in front, wand drawn, they skipped two, three steps at a time trying to get as near to the bottom of the narrow stairwell as possible. They met the first lot of Aurors just over half way down.
"Impedimenta!" Bellatrix screamed, flicking her wand towards one of them. He fell back, knocking a few over as he went. The Death Eaters scrambled over their bodies still moving downwards.
Rodolphus grabbed a lit torch from a bracket on the wall and threw it at the next Auror that came into his sight. It clonked on his head, knocking him unconscious then the flame caught onto his cloak, setting him alight. Bellatrix squinted round him, leaving him to burn to his death.
She next came face to face with a female Auror, whom she swiped her wand at vigorously, grunting with the effort, and with white hot sparks, sent her tumbling back downwards.
Although she couldn't see them, Bellatrix new there was a large group of the enemy coming close towards them.
"Out of my way!" Cygnus shouted at her, pushing past, "I may be old, but I'm not missing out on the action!"
With force Bellatrix didn't know he had in him, Cygnus produced one of the most powerful looking jinxes she'd ever seen! They rounded the corner to see about twenty Aurors all lying lifeless on the stairs. They thought it was over. Cygnus rounded the next corner first and was caught by surprise by the last remaining Auror.
Cygnus tumbled down the remaining stairs like a rag doll. When he stopped blood was trickling from a wound on his forehead and his eyes were closed.
"No!" Bellatrix yelled.
Dolohov jinxed the last Auror and tried make Bellatrix move. She had frozen on the spot with disbelief.
"Come on, Bella!" Rodolphus shouted, nudging her forwards.
Reluctantly, she did as asked. She ran passed her father's body and out of the tower.
Before she knew what was happening, Rodolphus had grabbed her arm and taken her from Whirlwind Hill by sidelong Apparation.
When they arrived at their destination, Rodolphus pulled Bellatrix into a tight squeeze, practically holding her up. She hugged him back hard, fighting back hot tears. With a sickening jolt to her stomach, she realised…
Her father was dead.