It's an odd feeling, knowing in the back of your mind you're dreaming but not being able to wake up. A young Bellatrix was sitting at the top of the owlery with an elderly woman making paper lanterns and watching as the old witch charmed them so they floated up into the night sky. She was enjoying it immensely, clapping as they burned up high in the air into shapes of animals before they fizzled out.

They burned so brightly that at first she mistook the brilliant bobbing light in the distance for another one. Only this one was moving on the ground and moving closer to the chilling forest she could see in the distance. It was a lumos spell, conjured at the hands of, from what she could make out, a very old long bearded wizard.

She could faintly hear a commotion going on down below them, a lot of fearful shouts before more brightly lit wands were quickly moving in the direction of the first one before they too disappeared into the pitch black trees.

"Let's go see." She held out her hand to the witch who smiled as she took it and helped the little girl off the alcove and down the flight of steps. The further down they got though the less room there seemed to be, until the steps were so narrow only Bellatrix could pass through. She was frightened for the witch, instead of a wall there was a large gaping chasm beside them, how was the old lady going to get down.

She looked up into beautiful blue eyes, eyes that seemed to accept her bad luck. She smiled kindly down at the child. 'You go on ahead dear, I'll be fine here.' She heard the kindly voice in her mind but she never saw the woman move her lips, it sent chills down her spine and gave her the prompt she needed to struggle across the narrow ledge.

It wasn't long before she was running parallel to the forest searching for the blue lights she knew she'd find in the distance. She was an adult now and her pace quickened with the lengthening of her legs, slowing only when she saw another smaller figure in the mist. "Hello."

The figure turned, it was a little girl with curly black hair and blue eyes so bright they mirrored the beauty of a clear cloudless day. "I want to go see, but don't want to go alone." The little girl held out her hand and Bella immediately took it. It felt so small in hers but it was warm and it felt right. "Will you go with me?" She found herself nodding and pulling the girl along behind her but at a slightly slower pace so her little legs could manage.

Suddenly they were at the spot she'd seen the first wizard; only the forest was gone, replaced by white marbled walls and black marbled floors. It reminded her of the ministry but she'd never seen this area before. Witches and wizards were shuffling away from an elevator all wearing the same matching look of anxiety and dread. Whatever they had seen had given them a fright, but not enough of one that they needed to run away in terror.

Bellatrix had a feeling the real horror had yet to be released and they knew it, which was why they weren't in a haste to get away just yet, they'd have time to prepare.

They passed a witch dressed in black robes with silver linings, she looked rich and familiar. Her hair was jet black and straight down to her waist where it curled in natural ringlets and her eyes were the same haunting blue of the little girls. "Wait," she called out to them before looking at another wizard, "Are you really going to let her go alone? She shouldn't be going at all she's just a child." She demanded harshly of him. The man in question was hooded making his features hard to make out but Bella could see him visibly shrug and turn away. The hauntingly beautiful woman let out a sigh and smiled down at the two. "I could go with you." She was ignoring Bella completely, she had a feeling the woman couldn't actually see her.

"I'm okay. I know what to expect." The raven was shocked speechless by the words but her stunned silence gave the little girl time to drag Bella onto a waiting elevator.

The man outside closed the grate and the man inside looked down at the child. "Are you sure about this? It's awfully frightful." She nodded. "It could be dangerous if you're the right one, can you go through with it?"

"I'm not afraid." The girl said it with such conviction the man stopped trying to dissuade her and instead pushed a button. Bella tried to see what floor they were going to but it looked as if the button had been pressed so many times the writing had rubbed off.

It didn't take long before the descent came to a halt and the man looked down encouragingly at her as he moved to open the door. Bella was too busy watching the look of concentration that came over her companion to look into the room, the girl didn't scream or jump in fright at what she saw, but her beautiful blue eyes began swirling with a strange black fluid. She couldn't seem to look away as she watched in silent horror as those once beautiful eyes took on such an unnatural quality.

Suddenly the child looked up at her and away from whatever was held within that room. Her eyes were completely black, as dark as night it was unsettling. "You have to close your eyes. You can't see it. You're not ready yet." She grew frustrated and impatient when Bella didn't do as she was told. She grabbed both her hands in her tiny ones. "Please. If you don't, if you see it you might never wake up. This isn't just a dream, I think you know that." Bella did know that, she felt something evil with her and she quickly made her choice to trust the girl. With her eyes closed the feeling of being pursued by some nameless entity blanketed her. She had to use all of her willpower to keep her eyes tightly shut, grounding herself with the tiny hands clasping tightly at hers.

"It's going to try and get you to open your eyes. It wants more than you now. If you look at it, you feed it everything that makes you who you are. You'll feed it her. Keep them shut."

Bella didn't have to understand the meaning behind the cryptic words to know the girl was desperate. She already felt hands tugging at her clothes and foul breath blowing in her ears and at her nose. She wrinkled it trying not to inhale the stench of rot and decay. "Focus on waking up. Can you feel her, she's coming for you. You need to wake up."

Bella was suddenly jerked away from the girl, her eyes opened on their own and all she could see was a swirling mass of black smoke but she could feel sharp talon tipped hands and evil eyes on her. She felt a pulling sensation in her stomach akin to apparating, she wasn't sure she wanted to go where it was going to take her. "WAKE UP!"

~H~ ~H~ ~H~

Her eyes opened just in time to see Hermione and Nymphadora enter the hospital wing. She could make out the hazy presence of a lingering nightmare but she couldn't seem to remember what it had been about. That was becoming an infuriating common feeling lately, not remembering things.

She watched quietly as the two younger witches made their way to her bedside. Nymph smiled down at her and Hermione stared at her in shock. She could imagine what she looked like, battered at torn up as she was. Pomfrey hadn't yet healed the minor cuts and bruises. Her focus had been on other, more important areas, like the gaping wound she'd had in her side. It irritated her to be seen by a student in such a vulnerable state, especially this student.

"What are you doing out of class?" She demanded, pulling herself into a sitting position and nearly slapping her niece for trying to help.

"Moody called her in. Wanted to ask her about your attack." It was Tonks who answered.

Bella seethed, "Did the crazy old loon actually think a student could do this to me. Did he forget exactly just how powerful I am, or was it my own imagination the time I wiped the floor with his ass for daring to call cissy in on a trumped up charge he used to get after Malfoy?"

"It wasn't like that, she was at the lake edge the night you were attacked, we thought she might have noticed something." If Bella had been mad before she was furious now. Her obsidian eyes shot flames at the sixth year.

"Just what the hell were you doing out at the lake on your own that late at night?" Hermione blanched at her tone. "God, I know you're supposed to be brilliant but have you no common sense. There are dangerous things not just in the forest but in the lake as well, and you go off traipsing around the grounds like you haven't a care in the world." Bella was practically spitting fire in her rage. "Did those muggle parents of yours not teach you self-preservation or were you just born stupid?" Hermione moved away from the bed, anger and hurt apparent on her face. She didn't know whether to lash out at Bella or turn tail and run for it. In the end anger seemed to win.

"I came to see if you were alright, I thought we might have actually been getting somewhere with each other. That we could at least be civil from now on. I apologize for my mistake; you're still just as much of a bitch as you ever was!" Pomfrey had come back out at the sound of raised voices but both she and Tonks seemed to realize this was one argument they didn't want to interrupt.

Hermione turned to leave but even wounded Bellatrix was faster. She grabbed the young girl's wrist and tugged so hard Hermione fell sprawled on top of her in the bed. It was the hot tears she felt against her neck that calmed Bella's ire. She looked up at the two voyeurs. "Get out." Pomfrey wanted to protest, proving Tonks to be the smarter of the two as she ushered the woman quickly from her own ward.

Bella pulled the girl more comfortably on the bed and stroked her hair soothingly. She hadn't wanted to make the girl cry, how could she tell her she was fearful for her safety without giving away too much? "I'm sorry." Hermione looked up slightly, tears still streaming from her chocolate eyes. She'd never heard Bellatrix apologize, she'd never been so close to Bellatrix either and she tried to pull away embarrassed at the position she was in. Bella's one arm tightened around her waist, keeping her pressed chest to chest against the girl in an iron grip. "Just stay here for a little bit." The soft sleepy request made Hermione hesitate before she ultimately gave in, settling back against her teacher so that her head lay on the woman's chest and her hands fisted in the dirty dark robes.

Hermione felt herself get sleepy, the shock of finding out Bella had been attacked and being questioned for it catching up to her sleepless night all at once. "Hermione?" She hummed sleepily in response. "Stay out of the forest. Don't go out on the grounds alone at night." The brunette was already half asleep when she nodded, it had been a long time since she felt safe and so comfortable. "Not even with a teacher, Hermione. Don't go into that forest with anyone, not even me, do you understand?"

Bella looked down when she didn't get a reply and was surprised to find her Gryffindor peacefully asleep. She didn't have the heart to wake her, or perhaps she was just too selfish. She moved slowly so that they were tucked into each other side by side. She wrapped one arm around Hermione's waist and vaguely cringed for when she would awake with pins and needles in the one cushioned under the sleeping girls head. She brushed a stray lock from her face before returning it to its place at her waist. It was going to be worth it. She closed her eyes and inhaled the comforting sent of her bonded.