Harry Potter and his world belong to J.K. Rowling. I just borrowed it and took it for a spin.
A bit of a twist on the ending of book 5. I've been reading too much fanfiction, had to get this out.
Rain
Rain was falling. It had been falling for days, weeks actually and no end in sight. Dark rainclouds hung low over the valley blocking out the sun and casting a grey veil over everything. Even the brilliant white peacocks that lived on the property seemed to have lost their colour. Some had died; she had heard tell, from the rain but mostly the wet cold. Why did she remember that? She had no interest in peacocks. No, not the birds themselves but the death of them festered and she hadn't even killed one. A growl low in her throat escaped her as she snapped her wand in and elegant move and blew up the mirror…again. Drawing in a deep breath and slowly letting it out Bellatrix surveyed the damage she had done to her suite. This was the, what, 10th time the room was in shambles? The first few times her little sister had rushed in, panic clearly visible in her blue eyes. Unbelievable but true she had apologised and had cleaned up the mess. She hated seeing Cissy like this, her little sister was a weeping crumbling mess and her temper wasn't helping. Well she wasn't weeping, but she was a mess too. And for what? I ask you… She had no reason to, none what so ever and come to think of it neither had Cissy. OK, so Lucius was in Azkaban, big deal, it was his own fault getting captured. Draco was getting the Dark Mark, good for him, she had one too and proud of it… to serve the Dark Lord was a privilege. Something to be proud of. Yes, she served at his pleasure, she even spend 14 years in Azkaban for him. She was his most loyal servant, she would kill for him, torture and maim, she would walk through rivers of blood to please him, she would… Yeah, Cissy should stop snivelling and see the good in it all. Her son was chosen for this special assignment, and he would be introduced in the services of a great man. And Lucius would survive Azkaban, no worries; the Dark Lord was just punishing him for that fiasco of the Ministry. What on earth was Cissy so panicked about? Yes, all was just peachy, right? Right?
"Argh!" she yelled and a vase on the mantelpiece exploded.
Rapidly breathing in and out trying to get her heart under control Bellatrix watched the door. Minutes passed but her sister didn't appear. She sighed; oh this really had to stop. Why was she so despered for her sister to come? She had absolutely no need for those tears. Moving back to the window Bellatrix stared out over the gardens, trying to spot one of those blasted peacocks. Oh, for crying out loud I don't care about those bloody birds. Didn't she just decide everything was fine?
It wasn't and she knew it, it hadn't been fine for weeks. Ever since… she killed Sirius. Bellatrix stared around her destroyed room. How many times had she lashed out? How many times had she repaired it all? She hadn't understood why it hurt her to see Cissy in such pain. Why having Draco take the Dark Mark made her heart clench. Why kissing the Dark Lord's feet made her stomach rebel. Why blood was so red and why she wanted to save those bloody peacocks. Her eyes travelled to the small desk next to the window. The only thing in the room she had never destroyed. She now knew an answer to all those questions but the frustration it brought with it refused to leave her in peace. Slowly she pointed her wand at the desk and murdered a spell, a hidden drawer revealed itself. She moved her fingers along the beautiful engraved mosaic and heard a clicking noise as the drawer sprung open. A think envelope revealed itself. Gingerly she picked it up and moved back to the windowsill and sat down. The parchment was thick and heavy, the seal black and broken. It had been blood red when it had arrived but as soon as she broke it, it turned as black as her name. She had recognised the engraving immediately, although she hadn't seen it in years. The Black Family Crest had glared at her. That seal was only used by one person, the last one had died in 1979. No, the last person who could have used it she killed. It was something only the head of the house of Black could use and that had been Sirius. Sirius Black had sent her an official family crested letter. Suffice it to say, if not for Cissy's panic stricken face and her well-aimed stupify the house would have collapsed.
My darling cousin Bella,
Well it finally happened, you won. As you are reading this I'm dead. Did I die by your hand? You must be so proud… I hope I did give you a hell of a fight. You know like the once we thought up when we were young. As I remember, and as you know that is not the easiest thing in the world for us, remembering happier times. But being here, stuck in this house they are coming back, ghosts and all. Do you know mother glued herself to the wall in the hall! Her portrait anyway, she still hates me. The feeling is mutual, she has asked for you and Cissy. Maybe I shouldn't be telling you this, Dumbledore and especially Moody will have my head for telling you this. Stupid really I told them the moment the Fidelius went up you would know something was up at Grimmauld Place, since you spend enough time here hiding from your parents as Reg and I hid from ours. But this stirring up bad memories is not the reason for my writing to you. I visited Gringotts. Shht don't tell I'm not supposed to leave the house. Ha, it was such fun sneaking out, I felt 16 again. That said, it was not that fun a visit, I almost got caught by some of the Ministry's helps, I did make it tough…sorry to disappoint my dear. So Sirius needed to be serious and went to make his will. You have NO idea what I found. The things our family were up to. Enfin… as fun as this is Bella-trix, I lost you so long ago, and blood is not always thicker than water. We made choices neither one of us agreed with. We are family through our blood, but we are no longer in our hearts. Something tells me I will die by your hand. I believe that in a small way we always knew that one of us would kill the other. I hope that it will be me that has the honour of killing you, however as you are reading my idiotic musings I will have gone first. Was it spectacular? But I digress, as I stated before I have made a will, don't worry you are not in it. Maybe I can still change that, don't thinks so. Before I could even put anything in writing I had a long a boring tour through the Black family vault. At least I thought it would be boring. Do you know my darling cousin about the Lestrange clause in your marriage contract? You do know your parents signed it… You didn't! Oh how wonderful, this will make all the difference. Too bad I won't be able to see what will happen. You see my darling cousin; upon my death the contract your parents and my father (as being the head of the family) signed will be destroyed. I ordered the goblins to destroy it, I already declared it null and void but for good measure the second I'm no longer amongst the living, poef… This is actually a lot of fun, too bad I won't see the effect it has on you. I enclosed a copy for your reading pleasure; it was made clear to me that you never saw this document. See I'm not heartless. I loved Bella, I hated Bellatrix and although I now realise that it was hardly Bella's fault that she turned into Bellatrix… love and hate walk a tight rope line… On the other hand maybe, just maybe I did you a favour. One more thing, why didn't they make one for Cissy?
Goodbye cousin mine, I hope we never meet again…
Sirius Black
The letter slipped from her fingers as she looked at the other pages. She didn't read them like the letter. She already knew it by heart. The betrayal of her parents, and she hadn't even realised. It explained a lot, her emotions for one. She was calmer now, the first few times she tried to read it all, well the furniture would hate her for life.
Sirius had meant it all as punishment for her. Giving her back her conscious, compassion, her mind that felt like her own again. She hadn't even noticed it was missing. Everything was much clearer now, easier but also much much more difficult. The nightmares left over from Azkaban had her waking up screaming. The guilt was so overwhelming it left her gasping for air, unable to breathe as she screamed her lungs out. And yet she still hated muggles and all they stood for. The Dark Lord had ordered her to torture a few only a few hours ago and she had managed a perfect crucio. Afterwards the inside of the toilet had kept her company for over an hour. She really wanted to talk to Cissy, but the poor girl had her own problems. Their parents really had no faith in their daughters, well who could blame them. After the stunts Andromeda and Sirius pulled they made sure at least one of them would make the family proud. But why? Hadn't she gone willingly? Hadn't she stopped her studies as an Unspeakable? Hadn't she married Rodolphus like they asked? She wasn't so sure anymore now. She had always thought the lack of memories especially after she had taken the dark mark was due to her stay in Azkaban, and for the most part it probably was, still…Cissy was going to Diagon Ally tomorrow and she had an appointment at Gringotts. Picking up Sirius's letter and the copy of the contract she walked back to her desk. The drawer was still open; another envelope lay glaring at her. Exchanging one for the other she sat down and in one swift movement opened the small letter written in a need and orderly handwriting.
Mrs. Bellatrix Lestrange,
Madame, you don't know me and I doubt once you realise who I am you will be royally pissed having even touched this missive. My name is Hermione Jane Granger; we met briefly at the Department of Mysteries. Harry told me what you did for me. I owe you my life Madame and with it a life debt. I have no idea how this will play out, I do not know if you will even accept my thanks but I thank you Madame Lestrange for saving my life.
Yours sincerely,
Hermione Granger
The Mudblood had sent her a letter. And she still had it. The little girl even accepted the life debt. She didn't how she felt about that.
Slowly she put the letter back in the drawer and closed it. Tomorrow she would see the goblins and hopefully get some answers. The Mudblood could wait as well; maybe she would even send her a letter of her own. A smile touched her lips briefly, yeah why not, might even be fun. Now she needed to get out of this room, she'd fix it later, and clear her mind. One thing she had already decided, she would help Cissy in helping Draco, and do her best in preventing her nephew getting the Dark Mark. No more Black's would bare that mark of slavery.
The rain was still coming down and the wind had picked up, she didn't care as she walked out and was soon soaked, she had peacocks to save.