A/N: Hello again! People have really been asking for this chapter, so I hope that it's good and that you guys like it! Thank you again for all of the reviews! They really keep me motivated to write and update faster!
Chapter 4
A Life worth Living
Bella was deep in thought until she heard the footsteps outside her cell. She slowly lifted her head and stared into the eyes of the four severe Aurors that had come to escort her to her death.
"Ms. Lestrange?" one of them asked, inserting a key into the rusty lock of her cell and pulling it open with a heave.
Bellatrix looked at him, but said nothing. She stood shakily, and steadied herself with the bars on her cell door.
"Please follow us," the Auror said, not seeming to care if she answered or not. All of the men (And one woman) were grim – looking and had their wands out and at the ready.
Bellatrix, once again said zilch, and followed the man out of her cell and into the drab hallway. She shuddered as she passed two Dementers standing guard outside the entrance to another row of cells. Soon one of those will kill me… She mused, the reality of what was about to happen not quite sinking in yet.
The small group walked through the maze of passages and hallways that was Azkaban. Bella tried to block out the screaming of the other prisoners as she passed them, but couldn't help but to listen every once in a while. What she heard made her sick to her stomach.
"No! Please don't kill them!"
"I'm innocent! Please no!"
"Go away! I never joined you!"
"You failed me for the last time! Avada Kedavra!"
Bellatrix shuddered as they finally passed the bulk of the cells and made their way towards a spiral staircase carved out of black marble. She was made to trudge up it, and at that point is when it really hit her. I'm going to die! She hoped that her mother would be strong. Her mum, Vivian Lestrange, was not dead as so many foolishly thought. She was hidden away in a safe house somewhere where Voldemort would never find her. Bellatrix had made sure of that.
Of course, having these thoughts of her mum made her think about the rest of her family.
"…Was nothing we could do." Voldemort had told her when her father had died. Marcus Lestrange was a Death Eater, but in an attempted assassination attempt, he and the other members of his team were killed by Aurors. Voldemort had told her this without any remorse. More like disappointment that had had lost a few of his Death Eaters, but nothing more.
Her husband was a different matter all together. Bellatrix shuddered, and her eyes teared up at the very memory.
Voldemort approached her husband after he had failed at getting the Prophecy from Potter. "Why is it that you always come back here sniveling about your failures?" He had asked in a silky voice.
"My lord, I can only apologize, and promise I won't fail you again!"
"Oh, I know that." Voldemort had said. "Wormtail…show Mr. Lestrange here how we treat those who are utterly useless to us."
Wormtail determinedly stepped forward and raised his wand. Bellatrix tried to cry out, but Voldemort silenced her with a wave of his dreadful wand.
Wormtail was sweating, but he also looked determined. "Avada Kedavra!"
Her husband fell to the floor, dead.
She was interrupted by a sharp pain in her back. "Will you move already?" cried an indignant voice.
Bellatrix jumped and realized that she must have been standing still for quite a long time. One of the Aurors was prodding her in the back, telling her to move.
She began walking again, while the Auror was muttering something about needing a vacation badly.
They finally reached a trap door above them, and pulled it open. The roar of the waves immediately pounded on her ears. Bellatrix breathed in the salty air as she stepped out onto the roof. Quickly, an Auror grabbed her arm and attached a chain to it. The chain was attached to a steel plate on the floor.
"Let's go!" breathed the female Auror, heading back down the trapdoor. "I just had lunch and don't need to see someone getting their soul sucked out!"
Bellatrix gulped at this. The three other Aurors left, leaving one left with Bella. He had dark brown hair, and was somewhat short. "Okay, let's get this over with!" he said, putting a leg – locker curse on Bella so that she could not run around on the roof.
Bellatrix breathed in as much air as she could, savoring her last time outside. What will I miss the most? She wondered.
She was quickly stopped of these thoughts, however, when the Auror asked the next question. "Are you ready?"
Bellatrix swallowed the lump in her throat and tried to reply in what was a confident voice. "Ready? How can I be ready?"
The Auror reddened and muttered something. "Sorry, I just meant -"
But Bellatrix understood. The man, in spite of all that she had done, was trying to be kind. Maybe there was hope for the wizarding world after all.
She nodded at the man, and he nodded back, some kind of an understanding coming between them. "Sorry you have to go through this. It'll be over quickly."
Bellatrix felt her mouth go dry. Well, this is it! She thought. The Auror once again opened his mouth.
"Are you ready?" he asked again.
This time, Bellatrix, not being able to talk, shook her head. She was as ready as she would ever be.
The Auror nodded, looking pained, and walked over to a second trapdoor on the floor. He waved his wand, and a silver shield appeared around him, shielding from the Dementer that was about to come out of that hatch.
"I'll count down, ok?" the Auror said.
Bellatrix nodded again, mouth too dry to speak.
"Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one…" He pulled the door open, and the Dementer flew out.
O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O
Albus Dumbledore sat in his office at Hogwarts. There were other benefits to sending Harry to prison! He realized, brushing his beard out of the way so he could reach the huge jar of Lemon Drops on his desk.
As soon as The Boy Who Lived was shut away in Azkaban, Dumbledore had taken his money (claiming to be Harry's legal guardian) and refurnished his office, and also a good portion of Hogwarts. Additionally, he had bought a lifetime supply of lemon drops, and gave some money to the very poor Weasleys.
Dumbledore sighed in happiness. He was finally relaxing for the first time in years, or so it seemed. From now until Harry died, he could just sit here and wait. Of course, he felt a little guilty of what he was doing, but he kept reminding himself. It's for the greater good!
There was a knock on the door. Dumbledore frowned before he remembered that he had sent Colin Creevy for Mr. Weasley and Mrs. Granger.
"Come in!" He called, leaning back in his throne – like chair. His new office was much grander than the old one. He was even able to replace the instruments Harry had smashed in his fit of rage. Everything was perfect!
Ron and Hermione walked in, holding hands. Dumbledore noticed this, and beamed. He was thrilled that Hermione might become a Weasley. They were a delightful family that would be perfect for this young witch.
"Hello children!" smiled Dumbledore, holding out his jar. "Care for a Lemon Drop?"
"Thank you, sir!" grinned Ron, taking one and popping it into his mouth.
Hermione politely refused and sat in one of the two chairs that had appeared in front of the Headmaster's desk.
Dumbledore carefully thought about how to proceed. He wanted to make sure that no one knew his true motives for getting Harry arrested. He just had to make sure, and there was only one way to do that.
"Ron, Hermione…I know you are still distraught about Harry, but I must know why you didn't believe him. I think it would help if we talked about it, and I could give you some tips on how to deal with your grief."
Ron almost choked on his Lemon Drop. "Grief? What are you talking about? He was a traitorous backstabber!" he shouted. "I sided against him because I knew what he was like all along! He always wanted attention and was jealous of me. I could definitely see why he went dark! He even heard voices in his head in the second year! He's dangerously unbalanced!"
Hermione took a little more time to answer, and looked uncomfortable when Ron had finished his rant. "Well sir…I sided against Harry because you and the government told me that he was guilty. Plus, all of the evidence was against him. If we don't listen to, and believe our government, we would be lost!"
Dumbledore didn't quite agree with this, and neither did Ron based on that smirk he had. Before Dumbledore could respond, however, Ron started up again.
"That attention – seeking brat never knew when enough was enough! He was bound to go dark sooner or later. It was only a matter of time, really."
Dumbledore breathed a sigh of relief. These children didn't know anything. "I'm sorry about this, but it is absolutely necessary!" Dumbledore said, pulling out his wand and standing up with a sigh.
"Wh – what are you doing?" Hermione stammered, standing up too, and reaching for her wand. She was too late.
"Obliviate!"
O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O
The Dementer flew out of the trapdoor with a terrible rattling breath. Bellatrix felt everything go cold. She almost cried out as the thing drifted nearer, sucking all of the happiness out of her as it came up to her.
Just get it over with! She thought, struggling to keep standing.
The Dementer stood in front of her for a short moment. Then it reached out a scabbed hand from under its cloak and grasped her chin, pulling it upwards towards its hideous mouth.
For Bella, everything went numb. She was aware of something grabbing her chin, and something latching onto her mouth. Then everything went dark.
O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O
Bellatrix could not feel her body. There was nothing there. Come to think of it, she could not feel herself thinking anymore. It was all slipping away. Everything was leaving her. She couldn't see and was slowly losing her identity. The first shock came when she couldn't remember her name anymore. Everything else started to follow soon after.
Bellatrix slowly saw a tiny light flare in the distance. She rushed towards it, but how? Not on her own two legs. She still had no body from what she could tell.
The light got bigger and brighter until it filled her vision. She was shocked to see a scene appearing. It was moving. There was a little girl in it. That girl was strangely familiar…
O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O
The little girl was small. She looked to be about two or three, maybe four, but it was hard to tell. The girl was cute, with dark black hair that fell in waves to her waist. She wore a blue dress, and carried a basket.
Behind her, two others, a man and a woman walked. They both looked like the girl, so one could assume that the couple was the little girl's parents.
They stopped at the top of a hill. It was bright and sunny out, with a breeze ruffling the grass. Dew glittered on some leaves that had fallen from under a large oak tree. The family sat and spread out a blanket. They were having a picnic.
The girl was laughing as her father chased her around. All was quiet and happy.
O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O
The scene changed. This time, the girl looked older. Maybe eleven or twelve. She was sitting on a stool, something brown and tattered obscuring her vision.
She heard a snide voice in her head. "Yes, yes! There's talent here. Definitely talent, but what's this? A tragic future. It will end well, I think. Cunning and fearless too, eh? Well this is tricky! Tricky indeed! Now where to put you? Hmm…I think Ravenclaw would be a nice match, eh?"
The girl shuddered. She was filled with a burning desire to be in the Ravenclaw house, but her father had specifically told her. "I expect you to be in Slytherin and none of those other worthless houses!"
The girl inwardly shuddered at what her father would say if she was in Ravenclaw.
"Is there any way that I could be in Slytherin?" she asked.
"Well, that would be my second choice, so I guess I could oblige. SLYTHERIN!"
O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O
The scene changed again.
There was a group of men and women in a dark room. They were all dressed in identical black cloaks, and had on white, skull shaped masks. One of the men had a terrible white face with snake – like eyes, and a flat, slit nose.
"Bellatrix Lestrange, come forward!"
The same girl from the other scenes stepped out from the others. This time, she was a young woman. She was quite beautiful, with deep brown eyes and black hair. She was scared to death, though. See never wanted this. Her father had forced her to come.
Voldemort pulled out his wand and traced something on her arm that she had thrust forward. The next thing she felt was a terrible, searing pain on her arm. When the pain ended, there was a black mark there. I was shaped like as skull and had a black snake coming out of the jaw.
"Welcome to the Death Eaters, my dear!" cackled Voldemort, patting her on the back and ushering her back into the crowd.
O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O
It looked to be many years later when the scene changed.
The woman was a little older. She was still pretty, but had an insane look in her eyes. She had her wand trained on two young Aurors who screamed and screamed in pain.
Voldemort had to use the Imperious curse to force her to do this. She didn't like it at all! She didn't want to hurt these people! But wait? What was that sound?
The door to the room she was in burst open and some operatives from the Order of the Phoenix charged in, wands drawn and ready.
O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O
The young woman dueled with her favorite cousin in the Department of Mysteries. The man shot deadly blasting curses and cutters at her.
She didn't want to hurt her cousin Sirius. They had grown up together being best friends. She made up her mind and shot a stunner at him. The woman watched in horror as the spell hit Sirius and pushed him through the veil…
O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O
The images sped up, going faster and faster. Bellatrix remembered her name. She remembered who she was. She saw a wooden coffin being lowered into a grave with her name on it…
A voice suddenly pierced her head. It was sharp like a needle, and hurt her head to hear it. "That day will come, but it is not today."
Bellatrix's eyes snapped open, and she promptly threw up all over the young Auror bending over her.
"What the!" he cried, tripping over his robes and falling.
Bellatrix shakily stood up. The chains binding her were gone and so was the Dementer. The leg – locker must have worn off, too. She was back in the world. She was not dead!
The Auror got over being puked and, and stared at Bella in complete shock. "H – how? You died – I saw…"
"I'm really sorry about this!" she said, and grabbed the man's wand.
The Auror yelled in terror and tried to dodge, but was caught by Bella's stunner before he could go a foot. Bella stood over him. "Obliviate!"
Bellatrix then pulled open the trapdoor and rushed down the stairs. It is time to escape! She thought. If only it would be that easy.
A/N: I thought that was a nice twist, adding the memory thing. Hoped you all liked it! Those memories were meant to give you an idea of how Bella is innocent. I tried to make it so that Bella felt like you do when you have a surgery and they knock you out. You don't even know you exist and are a little sick when you wake up.
Cheers!
PotionmasterSnape