Hi sorry this took awhile. Things came up. But the good thing is I'm on a break from school so will have more time to update.
I hope you like this chapter even though it is more plot-focused rather than Bellamort-focused.
It was the sound of the footsteps coming down stairs and voices drawing closer that awoke Bella. Her dark eyes opened and faced the darkness, her body aching from sleeping in such an uncomfortable position in…where was she, again? Oh, right, the cellar.
The cellar?! With the inferi!?
Bella leaped up from the cold stone floor, raising her already pointed wand at the forms of the inferi mass standing in front of her, barely visible in the dark underground room.
Suddenly, there was light.
Bella squinted at it. It came from the doorway to the cellar from the outside of the Black Manor.
The light was glowing from the wand of the Durmstrang professor with the strange name she could never remember. Next to the professor stood her own teacher Lord Voldemort. They stood at the bottom of the stone steps.
"What is she doing down here?" The Durmstrang professor wondered in his accented voice.
"It's part of her training." Voldemort explained.
"I still am unable to understand why you think training a woman is a good idea." The Durmstrang professor muttered.
Voldemort did not reply to this. Instead his pale face and red eyes turned to Bella.
"It's been twenty four hours." He said, "You may eat now, Bella."
Bella blinked in surprise. She had forgotten she was hungry but as soon as she had heard the word 'eat' her stomach began to churn painfully with emptiness.
She realized that hunger, in addition to exhaustion from fleeing the inferi, was the reason she had passed out asleep in the cellar, even with the undead she was so afraid of standing right before her.
Bella nodded, "Thank you, my lord."
But now, because the two men were blocking the stairs up to the outside by standing in the doorway, Bella had to pass through the herd of inferi to get to the other staircase leading up to the inside of the manor.
She was afraid. But she would not show it, not with the Durmstrang professor who underestimated her because she was a woman watching. If she showed fear in front of him, it would not only embarrass her, but embarrass the Dark Lord for choosing her as his student and maybe make him rethink that choice.
And so Bella held her head high and her body unwavering as she pushed through the crowd of ten dead muggle inferi on her way to the other set of stairs. Still, she also held her wand ready.
Once again, at sunrise, the ten students were lined up on the back lawn of the Black Manor. But this time another line of ten figures faced them.
It was strange. The figures looked human…except that their skin was turning gray and the features of their faces seemed to be dissolving into their skulls. Their muggle clothing hung from their skinny bodies, muscle and fat wasting away.
Regulus knew what they were.
He had seen one before when he had met the Dark Lord for the first time two days ago. Bella had told him what an inferi was and that the way to defeat one was with fire.
The zombie-like creatures were standing idly across from the students who eyed them in fear and confusion, glancing at and muttering to each other, but too afraid to move or speak too loudly, in case their motion or volume somehow triggered these weird things.
Regulus, in his black uniform, glanced at the gray-uniformed boys on the team he had been put in charge of; his older brother Sirius, Evan Rosier, Alvin Avery and Mordred Mulciber. They all looked confused.
Then, Regulus looked at the other team. Rodolphus Lestrange's team. Rodolphus' younger brother Rabastan, Lucius Malfoy, Amycus Carrow and Igor Karkaroff (whose uniform was gray now). They all looked confused, too—except for Rodolphus.
Rodolphus, also in a black uniform, was staring at the line of inferi like he knew what they were. Bella must have told him, too.
For an instant, Regulus was annoyed. He wanted to be the one Bella told things to. But then he reminded himself that Rodolphus was Bella's husband. Of course, she would tell him things. She had to as his wife. But Regulus had been her cousin longer than she had been Rodolphus' wife…
The third male in a black uniform marched across the green grass towards the ten students and the ten inferi. Professor Karkaroff.
Regulus wondered if the gray-haired man was the one who had created these inferi.
Professor Karkaroff stopped in front of the students, between them and the inferi. The students were surprised that he would turn his back to the scary-looking creatures.
"Good morning, soldiers." He barked in a heavy accent.
"Good morning, sir!" All the students shouted in unison, as they had been taught to do in the three prior days of their training.
Many of their voices were hoarse. They had also been instructed to be silent unless spoken to by a superior. Only the students in black uniforms, Regulus and Rodolphus, could speak, and only to wake their teams up at dawn and get them outside for training.
"Do you know the one thing that separates a man from a boy?" Professor Karkaroff asked.
If he asked a question, the students were allowed to speak. As long as they raised their hands.
Mordred raised his hand. "Losing your virginity, sir."
He, Alvin and Evan all snickered. Sirius rolled his eyes, though his mouth was fighting a smile.
Regulus forced himself to chuckle even though he would probably get in trouble for it, because if he did not then his two older friends might figure out that he was still a virgin.
Professor Karkaroff narrowed his eyes. "No. Twenty pushups."
The standard punishment for a wrong answer combined with the standard punishment for joking around. And when one student in a team broke a rule, the entire team was punished.
Regulus and his team groaned, but reluctantly lowered themselves to the grass to complete their pushups. They counted aloud each pushup in unison. One, two, three, four, five…and so on.
Professor Karkaroff watched, making sure their form was correct. Rodolphus' team watched, holding back their laughter and smiles so that they would not be forced to do the same exercise.
The line of ten inferi stood mindless and motionless, like trees on a windless day. The sun continued to rise in the pink and orange sky behind the sparse gray clouds above.
When Regulus and his team were upright again, arms sore and taking deep breaths, Professor Karkaroff repeated his question.
"What is the true test of manhood?" He asked.
Regulus saw Mordred and Alvin glance at each other, grinning silently. Still, their silence meant that they had decided whatever inappropriate joke they were thinking of was not worth more pushups.
Karkaroff's son Igor, on the other team, raised his hand. "Killing someone."
"Yes." Professor Karkaroff accepted, "Killing someone, killing someone in battle. That is what turns a boy into a man."
Sirius was rolling his gray eyes again. Regulus agreed with him this time. Why should killing be what was required to become a man?
"Today," Professor Karkaroff continued in his accented voice, "You will be practicing fighting to the death and killing, against these reanimated corpses called 'inferi'," he gestured at the undead muggles behind him, "so that when the time comes for you boys to become men, the transition will be easy."
All then students blinked in surprise. Fighting to the death?! Killing?!
Lucius Malfoy spoke, not bothering to raise his hand first. "This is undignified. Dueling is a refined sport, but battling those creatures—"
"There is nothing more dignified than killing an enemy." Professor Karkaroff interrupted, "But war is not a 'sport', nor should it be. Ten pushups. The entire team."
The standard punishment for speaking out of turn without raising a hand. And when one teammate broke a rule, the whole team was punished.
Rodolphus, Rabastan, Igor and Amycus glared at Lucius as they lowered themselves to the grassy ground to complete their ten pushups. Lucius was the last and the slowest to lower himself, no doubt thinking that pushups were undignified as well.
The team counted their pushups aloud. The other team watched silently grimacing to keep from laughing.
When Rodolphus' team had finished their pushups and were standing again, Professor Karkaroff stepped out from between the ten students and the ten inferi.
"These inferi have been enchanted to kill you." He explained, "You must kill them first."
Sirius' hand shot up towards the pink and orange sunrise. "But they're already dead."
"Then you should have no moral qualms with killing them." Professor Karkaroff reasoned.
Sirius lowered his hand but grumbled, "Someone had no moral qualms killing them while they were alive…"
Regulus and his other teammates tensed, bracing themselves for the order to do more pushups. No such order came.
Instead, Professor Karkaroff just shrugged. "Muggle life has no value."
Regulus and his team sighed in relief. Except for Sirius still tense and glaring at the statement the professor had just made.
It bothered Regulus, too, it was not like muggle life had no value—just less value than wizard and witches' lives. There was a 'food chain' of sorts, a natural order, at least that was what he had been taught.
"The inferi feel no pain and they will be unrelenting." Professor Karkaroff continued. "You must destroy them in order to survive."
Now, it was Regulus who raised his hand. "But you can call them off, sir, right?"
Professor Karkaroff shook his head. His gray hair and his gray goatee shook, too.
"No." he said, "I did not create them and I am not the one controlling them."
"…the Dark Lord…" Regulus muttered in realization.
His dark eyes glanced around the backyard in search of the pale and skinny red-eyed man. There was no one standing by the stone fountain, no one behind the bushes destroyed after being used for target practice, and no one next to the wooden shed (Regulus doubted someone like the Dark Lord would be hiding in a rundown shed).
Then, Regulus looked up towards the Black Manor. There. A figure in the window of the second floor, just like the first day of training.
So that is where the Dark Lord was. He was watching and controlling the inferi from afar.
But then there was another, shorter figure in the window. Who?
Regulus squinted his dark eyes, trying to see who it was.
But before he could figure it out, there was a shout. Startled, Regulus whirled towards its source beside him, a wide-eyed Evan Rosier, and then towards what Evan was gaping and shouting at.
The inferi were rushing towards them.
After eating and then showering, Bella chose a conservative black dress to wear. She would have even put a robe on over it except that it was summertime and so too warm for the extra layer.
Dressing skimpily would not attract Lord Voldemort, Bella knew that by now. The only thing he seemed to appreciate was powerful magic and so to earn his approval, and perhaps even his affection, she would have to somehow get over her inborn fear of death and raise the dead.
How she would actually manage to do that, though, she was not sure. But it was possible. It had to be. After all, the Dark Lord was able to do it.
Bella found him in the guestroom. She had knocked on the door politely, and the door had opened by itself to reveal the Dark Lord Voldemort standing in front of the only source of light in the otherwise dim room, the window.
Slowly and carefully, Bella stepped into the guestroom, closing the door behind her and then crossing the hardwood floor towards him and the window.
She could see his back, black not only because of the black robe he wore but also because of the contrast between the light coming in through the window making him into a silhouette.
"My lord." Bella said.
Lord Voldemort did not reply but he did step slightly to the side so that Bella could stand beside him at the window.
Outside on the back lawn, the ten students were lined up across from the ten inferi. From the distance and the height of the second story window, the ten figures of the students and the ten figures of the inferi looked almost identical, facing each other.
Mirror images.
Bella smiled to herself. If the boys were fighting the inferi today that meant she would not have to run wandless from them through the field again today. Her lord was merciful!
In her peripheral vision, Bella saw the Dark Lord raise his wand. Then, through the window she was facing, she saw the inferi rush across the grass towards the students. The shouts from below were audible on the second floor of the Black Manor.
"Are they being acclimated to the fear of death?" Bella asked.
"No." Voldemort answered, "They're being acclimated to killing. By destroying the undead, they'll prepare themselves for killing the living."
"Killing isn't hard." Bella scoffed, flipping her long dark hair behind her shoulder.
Bella could not even remember the first time she had killed something. It had probably been some small animal, and probably after torturing it first. Killing was so easy it was boring. She felt nothing when she killed. It was the torturing she enjoyed.
The first time she had tortured a muggle was when some muggle teenager from the nearby muggle town had dared to wander into her family's field. She had chased him, and practiced hexes and curses on him until he died. Then she had decided she liked it enough to make a game of it, and so captured another muggle the next night. She was seventeen.
That was seven years ago. Now the game was less exciting but Bella continued playing because there was nothing better do—at least until Lord Voldemort arrived.
Voldemort nodded in agreement. "For the strong, no. But for the weak…" His red eyes remained trained on the students on the other side of the window below.
The ten students and then inferi looked small from where he and Bella stood above. Random spells flew from the wands of the students who then gaped in shock as the inferi remained unaffected.
But then there was fire.
Flames blasted from two wands. Bella could tell, even from far away, that the wands belonged to her husband Rodolphus and her cousin Regulus. They were the only ones she had told that fire was the method of defeating the inferi, other than her mother.
"Those two figured out to use fire much faster than you did." Voldemort commented. He was still not looking at her, watching the students fighting the inferi in the backyard below.
"Only because I told them about it." Bella stated, quickly. She did not want him to think that she was less capable than her cousin, husband or anyone.
Now all the students below were using fire spells to defend themselves against the inferi. The undead creatures began to fall to the flames.
"And as a result their training with the inferi will be shorter than expected," Voldemort replied, "and you'll have time to resume yours this afternoon."
Bella grimaced. She should not have been so eager to brag about beating one inferi with fire. Now she would have to flee ten of them again, after all. Unless…
"Isn't there any other way?" Bella wondered, "Or maybe it's not my fear of death preventing me from using the spell—"
"The spell itself is not as important as you learning not to fear death." Voldemort interrupted. "I can create all the inferi I need myself. What I need is soldiers who aren't afraid to die."
Bella took a moment to do a mental calculation then speaking. "My lord, I've seen you create fourteen inferi. That's fourteen years off of your life, according to the deal made with Death. How can you not fear death when at least fourteen years of your life have been taken?"
Now it was the Dark Lord who took a moment. He furrowed his pale forehead in thought before saying, "Wizards and witches have very long lifespans. Fourteen years is nothing when one can live for centuries."
Bella was not convinced. Everyone in her family died young—younger than many muggles did, even. Both sets of her grandparents had died in their sixties.
"Fourteen years seems like a long time to me…" Bella said.
"Only because it's more than half your life at your age." Voldemort reasoned, "When you get older your perspective will change."
"But won't yours if you make more inferi, my lord?" Bella inquired, "Fourteen years may not be a lot to you but surely twenty would be."
"As long as I achieve my goals, it won't matter how many years are taken from my life." Voldemort dismissed.
Bella looked away from the window to eye him. His expression was unreadable as he remained focused on the lesson occurring on the other side of the window two stories down.
Was he telling the truth? Would he really trade decades of his life in order to achieve Pureblood Supremacy?
Bella just could not comprehend how anyone would be willing to die for anything; person, possession, or cause. What was the point of success if one did not live long enough to enjoy it?
Selflessness.
It was something Bella never understood nor appreciated. It seemed stupid and it was not the most Slytherin of traits, either.
Still, what else could explain a halfblood fighting for the supremacy of purebloods? So if that was selflessness in this case, Bella would have to respect it.
Yes, her lord was selfless and willing to die for his cause. How admirable! How brave! No wonder he did not fear death, he had something more important to him than his own life.
Bella blinked herself out of her swooning when Lord Voldemort finally turned his head to face her after she had been staring at him too long.
"It seems as if the students have defeated all the inferi." Voldemort noted, gesturing at the window in front of him and Bella.
Outside on the ground below all the inferi had fallen. The uniformed students stood around them as smoke rose up past the second story window, towards the sky.
"Why don't we go congratulate them?" Voldemort continued, "And, of course, collect the inferi for your training."
A small smirk.
Apparently the Dark Lord found it amusing to watch Bella flee in terror from the inferi without even her wand to protect her. Apparently he found the expression of apprehension on her face a musing, as well.
That Bella could understand—enjoying causing the fear of others was something she could understand since it was something that she did herself. That Bella could easily appreciate—even though she was the one afraid in this situation.
She had never thought she would ever meet somebody who killed and caused pain as remorselessly as she did. She had felt special being the only one before, but now it felt both exciting and comforting to finally know someone similar to her.
If Bella could make Lord Voldemort realize that they were the same then he would want her as much as she wanted him. Her only chance of that, Bella reminded herself, would be to demonstrate powerful magical ability; to get over her fear of dying and successfully create inferi.
And so, Bella masked her fear with forced eagerness, readying herself for being wandless and running for her life again.
"Of course." She smiled.
The sun had risen in the gray-blue sky by the time the inferi lay on the ground of the Black Manor's backyard. The grass beneath them was charred and all their hair and muggle clothing had been burned away to reveal burned and grayish bodies that resembled skeletons more than naked humans.
The eight students in gray uniforms and two students in black uniform gathered around the sprawled inferi, daring to come close once the creatures stopped moving. They gaped down at the enemies they defeated had defeated with wide eyes.
There was a mixture of shock, satisfaction, and regret on their faces. Somehow it was possible to be in disbelief of what they had done, proud and also ashamed. The inferi were dead already, the students knew, but it still felt as if they had killed them.
"Look at those burns." Amycus Carrow said, pointing at the red, blackened and blistered skin of an inferi.
"That one's twitching." Alvin Avery nudged Mordred Mulciber. They both chuckled.
"Disgusting." Lucius Malfoy commented, eyeing the fallen inferi with disdainful silver eyes and holding covering his mouth and nose with a handkerchief.
The smoke rising carried the uncomfortable scent of burned flesh.
Regulus bristled. He looked away from the pile of inferi on the grass, over at his older brother Sirius.
Sirius was the only one not approach the burned bodies. He gazed at them, and the other students, from afar in agitation. His gray eyes were narrowed and his mouth was scowling.
"They were people, you know." he reminded, folding his arms, "They had lives, families—"
"They were already dead." Regulus tried.
"Not before the so called 'Dark Lord' killed them." Sirius replied.
"You don't know that for sure." Regulus reasoned, "They might've been from a muggle morgue or a graveyard, maybe."
Sirius snorted. "Yeah sure. And our mother'll invite a muggle family over for dinner, too."
"Sirius—" Regulus attempted.
"This is just beginning and you know it." Sirius continued, "First he has us kill these inferi things, next it'll be live muggles, and then it'll be other wizards and witches. Lord whatever-his-name-is wants a wants a war and he wants us to be his army, not thinking for ourselves, just blindly taking orders and killing whoever we're told to."
Before Regulus could respond, Professor Karkaroff strode up to the students stroking his gray goatee as he admired the pile of burning twice-dead corpses.
"Good work." He congratulated gruffly. "You never would have had the opportunity to learn this at Hogwarts."
"And for good reason, too." Sirius muttered.
His fists were clenched and so were his teeth. Regulus could see his older brother was getting angry and whenever Sirius got angry someone got hurt.
Professor Karkaroff tensed at Sirius' comment. "What did you say, boy?" he snapped, turning towards the gray-uniformed teenager.
The rest of the students turned towards the two. Just as Sirius was opening his mouth to reply, Regulus jumped between him and the professor.
"He didn't say anything, sir." Regulus attempted.
"Oh, he heard me." Sirius said, anyway, "And I have more to say—"
"Sirius, stop." Regulus pleaded, dark eyes wide, facing his brother.
Sirius did stop. But not because Regulus had asked him to. He stopped because he was staring at something—someone.
Regulus saw Sirius' gray-eyed gaze looked past Regulus, past Professor Karkaroff, and past the smoking pile of defeated inferi and right at the two figures dressed in black walking down the cobblestone pathway away from the Black Manor and towards the students, their teacher, and the inferi.
Bella and the Dark Lord.
Sirius glared, already stomping towards them. Regulus grabbed his arm to pull him back but Sirius shoved him off, stepping around the sprawled inferi and continuing in the direction of his targets, wand already drawn.
"You murdered those muggles, admit it!" Sirius shouted, pointing at the burned and fallen inferi with his free hand. His wand hand and his wand pointed at the Dark Lord.
The other students gaped. There were several gasps. Even Professor Karkaroff was too stunned to immediately order a punishment for such aggressive disrespect.
The Dark Lord Voldemort eyed Sirius, glanced at Bella standing a few steps behind him, then finally turned to Professor Karkaroff.
"Ingvar, control your student." was all the Dark Lord said.
Karkaroff blinked then nodded at the Dark Lord.
"Fifty pushups." He ordered. "Every single one of you. Now!"
Instantly, Regulus dropped to the ground. He had to show how obedient and respectful he was to make up for his older brother's disobedience and disrespect. He did not want the Dark Lord to judge him negatively based on his brother's actions.
Almost all the other students lowered themselves onto the grass pretty quickly, as well.
"Pushups?" Bella sniffed dismissively down at the students on the ground, "That's so muggle."
"Being reduced to physical exercise like a muggle is an effective punishment." The Dark Lord explained. "Humiliation in addition to exertion."
But the students were not yet doing their pushups and counting aloud. They were not supposed until all the students were on the ground.
Sirius was still standing.
Regulus looked up at his brother. "Sirius, just do it! Come on!" he hissed.
Sirius shook his head of shaggy dark hair.
"No." he refused, glancing down at Regulus.
Regulus slowly stood up from the ground. So did the other students.
Sirius then looked at Professor Karkaroff, "No. I'm done with these stupid pushups and I'm done with this stupid training."
Karkaroff opened his mouth to respond but before he could, Sirius turned towards to the Dark Lord.
"What's wrong with you?!" Sirius demanded, "This is sick! Killing muggles? Raising the dead? Pureblood Supremacy? It's sick. You're sick—"
Bella was screaming. She started towards Sirius, drawing her wand.
"How dare you talk to the Dark Lord that way?!" Bella screeched, "I always knew you were a bloodtraitor, you Gryffindor scum. Just wait until I tell your mummy what you said—"
"Tell her, I don't care!" Sirius exclaimed, turning his wand on Bella, "All of your heads are so far up your arses that there are literally dead people on the ground and none of you see anything wrong with that!" With his free hand he motioned to the burned inferi sprawled on the grass, also glancing over in their direction.
As soon as he did, his wand was blasted out of his hand and he was blasted to the ground. Bella moved to stand over him aiming her own wand, the one that had struck him, at his startled face.
"Silly little boy, you're the one who's wrong." Bella sneered. "You've been given the gift of magic—of pure blood—and you're wasting it worrying over some worthless dead muggles? Crucio!"
Red light shot from Bella's wand at Sirius. As soon as it hit, he yelled in pain, eyes bulging and muscles tensing.
Regulus jolted.
The Cruciatus Curse? Bella was using the Cruciatus Curse? No! There was no way! She was, well, intense but she would never break the law…would she?
Regulus had seen Bella be mean before. She had always been especially mean to Sirius. But she had also always been especially nice to him.
It was like there were two Bellas. The friendly and funny one that had shown him cool spells she had learned at Hogwarts back before he had started, and the cold and cruel one that had bullied Sirius ever since he had been sorted into Gryffindor.
But even the second Bella had never used the Cruciatus Curse. Until now.
Regulus opened his mouth to shout, to tell her to stop, to help his brother, but only air and silence came out. He tried to run towards where Sirius lay and Bella stood over him, but his legs would not move.
Regulus was not the only one motionless. The other students as well as their professor were also unmoving, just watching in shock and disbelief as the red light blasted Sirius again and again.
The Dark Lord was unmoving and watching, too, but not in shock or disbelief. No. He was smiling, only just barely, but definitely smiling. Why?
And Sirius just kept crying out in pain. His hand was desperately patting the grass around his fingers in search of his wand, but it was far out of reach.
It was Rodolphus Lestrange who stepped forward, caution yet determination in his green eyes.
"Bella." He said, "Bellatrix, he's your cousin. You have to stop."
Regulus was relieved that someone had spoken up, but resented that it was Rodolphus.
"He needs to be punished." Bella dismissed, her wand still blasting the red light down at Sirius.
She did not even glance at her husband as she scoffed. She continued to stare down at the expression of agony on Sirius wide-eyed, wide-mouthed face, as Sirius continued to scream.
"Yes he does, but leave it to the professor and his parents." Rodolphus reasoned.
"I'm his older cousin." Bella replied, "It's my job to keep him in line."
Rodolphus sighed, realizing he would not be able to convince his wife to stop. And so, he looked over at the Dark Lord.
"The Pureblood community won't appreciate hearing that their children are being punished with the Cruciatus Curse at your training camp." He stated, "They may hold you responsible, 'my lord'."
The Dark Lord nodded at Rodolphus, a hint of annoyance in his red eyes, then turned to Bella. "Bella, that's enough."
The red light struck Sirius for one more moment until Bella finally lifted her wand and it subsided.
Sirius stopped yelling but remained on ground, not even trying to move. He looked like just another one of the fallen inferi sprawled on the grass.
Now Regulus was able to shout, able to move. "Sirius!" he cried as he rushed towards his older brother. Regulus knelt beside Sirius who glared up at him with fire in his gray eyes, despite the residual pain he must have been in.
"Do you finally see the kind of monster our 'dear cousin' truly is, Reg?" Sirius managed to whisper before he passed out from the pain.
And, for a moment, Regulus agreed. For a moment Regulus hated Bellatrix for using crucio on his older brother.
…but then, Bella's sweet voice was calling to him.
"Reggie," she said "Just leave him there, Reggie. You know he deserved it. He insulted all of us here and disrespected the Dark Lord. He's an embarrassment to our family. You know that right? I know you do, Reggie."
Bella did have a point. Sirius did say that everyone there had their heads up their rear ends and he did call the Dark Lord 'sick'.
If Regulus seemed to be sympathizing with Sirius now then everyone would think he agreed with Sirius, think that he cared more about dead muggles than Pureblood Supremacy. The Dark Lord would not trust him, his friends would turn on him, and Bella would treat him like she treated Sirius.
No. Regulus would not let that happen. He rose from his fallen brother's side and turned away from him, towards Bella.
"…you're right, Bella." Regulus nodded, solemnly.
Bella smiled. Smiled at him. A smile like that and Regulus knew that Bella had only used the Cruciatus Curse because the Dark Lord was watching, only used it as a last resort to protect her family's reputation, only used it because she—like Regulus—did not want to seem as if she agreed with what Sirius had said.
Regulus wanted to hug his older cousin, but his friends were watching so he did not.
The Dark Lord, who had said very little during this situation, turned to Professor Karkaroff again. "Ingvar, you need to keep better control of your students. You never had a discipline problem at Durmstrang."
"Hogwarts students are not like Durmstrang students." Professor Karkaroff attempted, "It is easier to train dogs when they are pups instead of when they are almost fully grown."
"No excuses." The Dark Lord dismissed.
Professor Karkaroff nodded at him, then turned to the patch of grass on the Black Manor back lawn where most of the uniformed students stood next to the pile of burned inferi—except for Regulus, Sirius, and Rodolphus, who were closer to Bella and the Dark Lord.
"Line up!" Professor Karkaroff ordered.
Immediately, the gray-uniformed students formed a shoulder-to-shoulder line. Regulus and Rodolphus, black-uniformed, hurried to stand at the two ends of the line, beside their respective teams.
Sirius remained outstretched on the ground.
The nine students stood at attention, awaiting further orders from their professor who stood directly in front of them.
From his place at the end of the line, next to Alvin Avery, Regulus glanced away from the Professor Karkaroff. First, he looked down at where his older brother lay on the ground, then up at where his older cousin stood over Sirius, and finally over at the Dark Lord standing a few feet behind her.
The Dark Lord was examining the line of students. Bella prodded Sirius with the toe of her boot a couple times before trotting over to the Dark Lord's side.
She looked over at the students, then up at the Dark Lord. "Shouldn't they bow to you, my lord? You are the Dark Lord, after all. They should bow."
The Dark Lord's brow furrowed in consideration.
Professor Karkaroff turned towards the Dark Lord, rolling his eyes. "You should not listen to a woman's suggestions—"
"No, Bellatrix is right." The Dark Lord decided, "They should bow to me."
Karkaroff grimaced. But then he quickly turned back towards the line of students, opening his mouth to give the order.
Before he could, Regulus had already dropped to his knees to bow. He had to be the first one to do it, he had to show the Dark Lord that he was nothing like his older brother Sirius.
Bella admired the Dark Lord so much, and that was why Regulus was sure he should admire the Dark Lord, too. Bella had never admired anyone before and therefore anyone she deemed worth bowing too was worth bowing to.
The other boys on Regulus' team—except Sirius, of course—followed Regulus' example. Evan Rosier, Mordred Mulciber, and Alvin Avery dropped to their knees in a bow.
Rodolphus Lestrange and his teammates soon did the same. But probably only because they did not want to be punished and seem less respectful than the other group, Regulus thought. The expression on Lucius Malfoy's face was one of indignation and affront.
Professor Karkaroff gestured towards the line of bowing students.
"And what about you?" The Dark Lord inquired.
Professor Karkaroff tensed in surprise. Then, he lowered himself down to the grass in a bow, as well.
From their bows on the ground, higher only than the inferi and Sirius sprawled on the lawn, the students and their teacher looked up at the Dark Lord who seemed even taller now.
Bella was still standing beside him. It was as if they were bowing to her too…but then, without even being told to, she bowed as well, right at the feet of the Dark Lord.
Regulus's dark eyes glanced over at Sirius again. He was glad his brother was unconscious and so could not see this.
Finally, after a few moments, the Dark Lord spoke.
"Rise." He said.
And so, the students, their professor, and Bella rose from the ground. As they did, they noticed the burned inferi rising from the ground at the same time.
The Dark Lord was holding up his wand, directing the inferi, though it looked like his wand was directing the humans, as well, and both the humans and the inferi were his puppets.
The Dark Lord examined the gray bodies of the inferi, charred black and red with burns. The undead muggles struggled to stand on their weakened legs.
"The inferi are too damaged." The Dark Lord decided.
He flicked his wand. The ten inferi disintegrated to ash that landed on the burned grass.
The students gasped.
The Dark Lord turned to Bella and said, "We'll have to go gather more muggles to replace these before we can continue your lesson."
"Yes, my lord." Bella nodded. For some reason she looked extremely relieved.
The skirt of her black dress—longer than usual, Regulus noticed—was had some stray blades of grass and some dirt on it, which she brushed off with both hands. The other students and Professor Karkaroff were also wiping off their uniforms after kneeling on the ground to bow.
Regulus glanced over at Sirius, still laying on the ground. His older brother was still motionless, though Regulus did watch his chest for a few moments to make sure he was still breathing.
Then Regulus looked at Bella again, and of course, at the Dark Lord they had just bowed to. The two were already walking up the cobblestone path back towards the manor, the shorter Bella hurrying to follow the taller Dark Lord's longer strides.
Regulus wondered where they were going to get more muggles to create inferi. Were they really going to kill people like Sirius suspected? Probably not. Taking bodies from a graveyard would be easier, right? Sirius was just being paranoid and had overreacted.
Once the Dark Lord and Bella had gone, Professor Karkaroff turned to Regulus and the gray-uniformed members of his team.
"Pick him up and take him inside." Karkaroff ordered, pointing at Sirius unconscious on the grass.
"Yes, sir." Regulus nodded.
He, Evan, Alvin and Mordred jogged over to where Sirius lay. Regulus and Evan grabbed Sirius' arms while Alvin and Mordred grabbed Sirius' legs.
The four carried the unconscious teenager up the hill towards the Black Manor. Their footsteps on the grass disturbed the ash that had once been inferi and before that alive.
The abandoned house was unlit, just as it had been the day before when Bella and Lord Voldemort had visited. But unlike yesterday, today it was empty.
"Where are all the muggles?" Bella wondered aloud. Her dark eyes squinted as they scanned the dark room, used needles and overturned furniture on its floor.
"We took all the ones from this room yesterday," Voldemort recalled, "but places like these restock themselves."
"Should we check the next room, my lord?" Bella suggested. She stepped forward and felt something crunch under her boot.
A crumpled piece of paper.
Bella bent down to pick it up. Once she had, she rose and unrumpled it, finding it to be a flyer for a muggle event. Although the messy room was dark, she managed to read the largest letters on the page.
STONEHENGE FREE FESTIVAL
Bella raised a thin eyebrow in confusion and then furrowed her brow in offense.
In addition to the capital letter title, there was an image of the large rocks that comprised Stonehenge as well as a list of very odd names that must have been the names of muggle bands.
The muggles were having a music festival at Stonehenge?! That was like muggle Satanists holding a ritual in a muggle Christian church. Inappropriate and disrespectful.
It only solidified Bella's belief that muggles had to be put in their place as well as mudbloods. They had been allowed too much leeway for too long, their ignorance of the Wizarding World used as an excuse by the muggle-lovers to let them go unpunished.
Bella gripped the paper flyer tightly in anger, shaking her head and her long black hair.
"What is that?" Voldemort questioned.
Bella handed him the flyer and watched his red eyes narrow as he read it. Once he had, he crumpled it and threw it down to the already trash-covered floor.
"How dare they defile a sacred wizarding historical site?!" He growled in shock and fury.
"We have to go remove them, my lord." Bella agreed. Because it was the necessary and right thing to do to protect the sacred monument. Because it would be fun, as always, to attack muggles.
…and also because it did not involve fleeing wandless from inferi in the cornfield.
"Yes, we must…but not you, Bella." Lord Voldemort decided.
Bella blinked. "What? Why?"
"You're still learning the value of deprivation." Voldemort explained, "Your assault on your cousin today, while warranted, demonstrated a lack of self-control. If you're going to be my soldier, you need to attack only when I give the order. Until then, I expect you to control yourself and not to use your magic to harm anyone, unless I tell you to."
Bella grimaced, folding her arms into a pout. The Dark Lord Voldemort was really asking too much of her now.
Sleeping in the uncomfortable cellar with the inferi standing over her was one thing, but not hurt anyone unless he told her to? She could skip meals, she could even go without sex for a while…but hurting others was her most basic need, and had been for as long as she could remember.
"If not me, then who will you bring with you?" Bella asked, "Or will you go alone?"
"I'll take the students with me." Voldemort said, "The best way to learn is through experience."
Bella nodded.
She had never liked how in Hogwarts students were made to read about spells as much as practice them. Still, she was annoyed that she would not be allowed to participate this time—especially since the other students were going to.
"Unless you're me." Bella grumbled under her breath, arms still crossed in the dim messy room of the abandoned muggle house.
"Part of self-control is keeping sarcastic comments to yourself." Voldemort scolded. "And you are learning through experience; the experience of deprivation."
Bella sighed. "Yes, my lord, you're right."
She would have to do this. She would have to demonstrate self-control. If she did it well enough, for long enough, she might be able to gain the Dark Lord's approval without having to create inferi.
She had already gotten the students to bow to him. She knew how much he liked being respected. He had seemed to appreciate that.
So, it should only take just a little more to earn his approval.
Probably.
After lunch, the uniformed students returned to the back lawn. They lined up in front of Professor Karkaroff, the looming presence of the Black Manor behind him.
Missing from the line was Sirius. He was still unconscious inside the house where he had been placed on the bottom bunk of his bed.
It was just after midday. The gray clouds above parted to reveal the sun directly above them in the center of the sky.
On the ground, the grass was still burned and the ashes of the inferi still remained. The students stood atop it in the formation they had learned, but not yet perfected.
"Tonight, you boys will have the chance to put into practice everything you have learned so far." Professor Karkaroff began, "Tonight you boys will have the chance to become men."
The students furrowed their foreheads in confusion, glancing at each other before facing their professor again, hoping he would explain what he meant.
Regulus raised his hand. "'Become men', sir? Does that mean we'll have to kill someone tonight?"
He could already feel his raised hand getting sweaty as his heart pounded with nervousness. He wanted to fight for Pureblood Supremacy but he knew for sure that he would be unable to kill another living person—even a muggle.
"Yes." Professor Karkaroff affirmed, "The Dark Lord recently discovered that muggles are having some sort of gathering at a monument sacred to the British Wizarding Community, I believe it is called Stonehenge.
Regulus blinked in surprise as he lowered his hand. A few of the students in line gasped.
Stonehenge? The great wizard Merlin himself had constructed Stonehenge. Most British wizards and witches were not religious, but the few that were still worshipped there.
Muggles certainly should not have been congregating there—but that did not mean that those that did deserved to be killed for it. Or did they? Wizards did not go into muggle places of worship, after all…
"As I am not from this country, I do not know its significance of the place," Karkaroff continued, "but the Dark Lord is very offended at what the muggles are doing there. He knows that your British Ministry of Magic will do nothing to stop and so we must take matters into our own hands—"
Regulus raised his sweating hand again. "But we're not ready, sir. We've only been training for four days!"
"I expressed that sentiment to the Dark Lord myself." Professor Karkaroff recounted, tone of voice annoyed, "But he insisted that the muggles must be brought to justice immediately. And so, I have until sundown to prepare you all for the attack."
Regulus gulped as he lowered his hand again.
An attack? Attacking muggles was against the law. What if the Ministry of Magic found out? They would all be sent to Azkaban!
Sirius was right. The Dark Lord was going too far. Regulus had to find a way to get out of this…
He raised his hand a third time. "Excuse me, sir. I have to use the toilet."
Professor Karkaroff scowled. "Make it quick. We have limited time."
Regulus nodded. He lowered his hand and stepped out of line, then jogging up the cobblestone path towards the Black Manor.
Because nobody could apparate into the Black Manor, Bella and Lord Voldemort had to walk back to the property from the nearby road. After they had, he had gone to speak with the Durmstrang professor in private while the students ate lunch.
Instead of being able to eat as well, Bella had been ambushed in the sittingroom by her mother and younger sister, who had cooked for the students. They had wanted to know where Bella had been the night before and did not believe her when she told them that she had slept in the cellar.
Bella really did not care what they thought so she did not bother trying to convince them. She escaped the sittingroom a little after she heard the students leaving the diningroom down the hallway to resume their training outside.
She was on her way up the spiraling stairs in the foyer, hoping to find the Dark Lord on the second floor, when she heard footsteps from the hall. Familiar footsteps. It sounded like Regulus running…
Bella turned, creeping down the stairs and across the hardwood floor of the dimly-lit foyer. She waited until the footsteps were right there and then jumped through the doorway into the unlit hallway.
Regulus' uniform shoes screeched to a stop as he almost smacked into his older cousin, Bella.
Bella grinned. "Hey, Reggie."
Regulus flailed his arms to regain his balanced, then sputtered "Hi, Bella."
"Aren't you excited?" Bella asked him, "You and the other boys get to raid a muggle festival. You're so lucky…" She did not bother to mask the jealously in her tone and facial expression.
Still, she was happy for Regulus. She had always wanted him to be more like her, to enjoy hurting lessers. He would get his first taste of it tonight and after he became addicted, Bella would be able to show him everything he had been missing without worrying about him no longer looking up to her.
Regulus did not look excited. His dark eyes were wide with nervousness and his normally pale face was pink and sweating.
"Yeah, yeah, I am excited." Regulus said, unconvincingly.
Bella narrowed her eyes, looking into Regulus' so that she could use Legilimency.
I can't do this. I can't kill muggles, I can't hurt them. I don't want to let my family down, I don't want to let Bella down but I don't want to get in trouble with the Ministry, either. I have to get out of here!
Oh. Bella realized. So it was fear. Regulus was scared. Scared of getting in trouble. Scared of causing pain. Scared of killing.
Why did he have to be such a coward? Why did he have to be so weak? He was her cousin, for Merlin's sake, a son of the Black Family! He had to be strong and ruthless.
His muggle-loving, bloodtraitor brother had more bravery than him! (Of course, Gryffindor bravery was just a polite phrasing of stupidity.)
Bella forced a smile before her face contorted with disgust.
"You're nervous, aren't you, Reggie?" She pretended to guess.
Regulus blinked. "How—how did you know?"
"I'm your big cousin, I can tell." Bella replied, "It's okay that you're nervous. Everyone's nervous their first time before a fight. Even I was. All you have to do is remember that you're a Black. You won't get in trouble and you won't lose."
Regulus narrowed his dark eyes. "How can you know that for sure?"
"Because you're a Black." Bella repeated, "We're pureblooded, rich, and powerful. We can do whatever we want because our blood is strong and so our magic strong, and we can get away with whatever we do because we have money and influence."
Regulus' brow furrowed in consideration. Bella looked into his eyes again.
Bella's right. I'll never get in trouble. No member of the Sacred Twenty-Eight has gone to prison for centuries, right? So what am I afraid of? …oh, right. Killing. I could never bring myself to kill someone, not even if they deserved it.
"Remember the first time you rode a broomstick?" Bella reminded Regulus. "Before you went to Hogwarts. The Gryffindor brought it home from school during Christmas Break to show it off at the Malfoy Christmas party. We took it because he wouldn't let you try it out and went up to the roof. I showed you how to ride the broom, but you were scared. Do you remember that, Reggie?"
"Yes, I do." Regulus confirmed, "I was afraid of heights so you pushed me off the roof with the broomstick. I had to ride it so I wouldn't die."
"Yes I did." Bella smirked, "And you were pissed at me, at the time. But now you're not afraid of heights anymore, are you? Now you're on the Slytherin Quidditch team."
"I faced my fear and I got over it." Regulus recognized the moral of Bella's story. But then added, "But hurting people isn't like flying a broomstick, Bella, even if I'm not scared before I'll still feel bad afterwards."
"You'll get over that, too." Bella assured. Though, truthfully, she did not know if that was true or not because she had never once felt bad about hurting someone.
"I don't know if I want to." Regulus replied, "I don't want to be a bad person."
Bella's dark eyes widened in feigned offense, "Do you think I'm bad person?"
"No, no I don't, I don't!" Regulus denied quickly.
"Then you won't be, either." Bella reasoned, "It's not 'bad' to take back what rightfully belongs to the wizards and punish the muggles for stealing it. It's the right thing to do. And you're getting the honor of being one of the people to do it. One of the people to stand up and act while the Ministry does nothing to stop the encroachment onto our sacred sites. You won't be a bad person for doing that, you'll be a hero, Reggie."
Regulus nodded. "You're right."
One final time Bella looked into his eyes.
The muggles deserve to be punished. They do. And I have to be the one to punish them. If I do, I'll be a hero. Bella will see me as a hero.
Bella smiled and it was not forced this time. Regulus still admired her like he always had.
"Shouldn't you be getting ready with the others outside?" Bella asked him.
"Oh." Regulus remembered, with a blink and a nod, "Yeah, I'd better get back out there. See you later, Bella."
Bella watched as Regulus turned and rushed back down the down the dim hallway he had come from. Once he was gone, Bella left the hallway, returning to the foyer and the spiraling stairs.
On the second floor, she found that the guestroom usually occupied by the Dark Lord Voldemort was empty. Where was he?
Bella could search the Black Manor for him…or she could go up to the third floor where Sirius probably was.
Maybe Sirius had woken up after passing out from the Cruciatus Curse she had hit him with. Maybe she could crucio him again. The Dark Lord had told her not to use her magic to harm anyone without being told to, but he did not seem to be around and so he would never know…
Bella climbed the steps to the third floor and entered the room that had once belonged to her bloodtraitor middle sister.
The room was unlit, but some afternoon light pushed in past the shut curtains. The rows of bunkbeds were visible as figures in the dark. All were empty.
Except for one.
Bella could see the silhouette of person lying on the bottom bunk of one of the five bunkbeds. Sirius. She did not need to see his face in order to recognize the cousin she had always despised.
When he was born, her own parents as well as her aunt and uncle lauded him as the heir of the next generation of the Black Family. An as the oldest son, Sirius was the sole heir. In addition to his pure blood, he got to inherit all the money and all the property, and he got to keep the Black name instead of being married off and losing it.
Bella had already envied and disliked him for just that, but then Sirius had to choose Gryffindor, mudbloods and muggles, which strengthened Bella's envy and dislike into hatred.
…Sirius Black…
He did not even deserve that name. Bella should have been Sirius Black. She would have been the perfect Black Family son.
Sirius' chest rose and fell slowly under his gray uniform. Was he sleeping? Or was he just pretending to sleep to avoid participating in the Dark Arts training?
"Wake up, Gryffindor." Bella barked.
Sirius did not stir.
"Blood traitor!" Bella tried again, even louder.
Again, Sirius did not move.
Bella stepped closer to the bottom bunk until she was standing over the sprawled Sirius just like she had a few hours earlier on the back lawn. She drew her wand, aiming it at him.
"Last chance." She warned, "Get up now, or I'll crucio you again."
Sirius remained motionless. His chest rose and fell, rose and fell. He was truly still unconscious.
Bella frowned. But then, she smiled.
"We're going to attack some of your beloved muggles tonight, Gryffindor." Bella sang, "We're going to hurt them, we're going to kill them, and there's nothing you can do about." She cackled.
Creak.
Instantly, Bella whirled around, pointing her wand at whoever had snuck up behind her.
A short and chubby girl stood in the doorway wearing a gray uniform that looked far too clean to have seen any training. She scratched her short red hair with her free hand in confusion.
"Who are you?" Bella demanded. The scruffy girl looked familiar, maybe, but Bella could not remember her name.
"Alecto Carrow." The girl reminded, "We've met several times. I arrived four days ago with my brother to participate in the Dark Arts training but that professor with the weird accent and the even weirder beard wouldn't let me cause I'm a girl. He wouldn't let you, either. Remember?"
"Oh…right…" Bella recalled, lowering her wand, "What do you want?"
"You were just talking about attacking muggles, right?" Alecto said.
"So?" Bella shrugged.
Alecto smirked. "So I want in."
Bella smirked back. Maybe she liked this tomboyish girl after all.
The sun was starting to set in the gray sky above the Black Manor and the nine students training on its burned back lawn were exhausted. How were they going conduct a successful attack tonight after practicing for it all afternoon?
Still, they lined up in front of their professor, shoulder-to-shoulder, as they had been trained.
Regulus felt his chest heave painfully. He could hear Mordred complaining to Alvin on the other side of Evan. He glanced further down the line. Igor Karkaroff was the only one who did not look tired. Regulus was not surprised since Igor was the professor's son and a Durmstrang student.
Professor Karkaroff opened his mouth to speak, but before he could the back door to the manor opened and out strode the Dark Lord. Karkaroff closed his mouth and like his students, waited silently until the Dark Lord had finished walking down the cobblestone path towards them.
The Dark Lord halted when he reached the group, but said nothing.
Why was he saying nothing? What was he waiting for? Regulus quickly figured it out. Bow! They were supposed to bow.
Regulus was the first to do it, kneeling slowly and also turning his head to see if the other uniformed students in line would do the same. They did. And so did Professor Karkaroff.
The Dark Lord smiled.
And that was all he did for a short while. Finally, he spoke.
"Stand." He commanded, "And those who are under the age of seventeen, step forward."
The line of uniformed students rose in unison as ordered to.
Then, tentatively, Regulus, Evan, Alvin, Mordred, and Amycus each took one step forward, holding out their wands in front of them—though not in a pointing gesture as that would be aggressive and disrespectful towards their leader.
Regulus wondered why they had to hold out their wands. His dark eyes glanced down at his, held loosely in his hand, like an extra but essential finger.
"Do you all know how the Trace on underage wizards works?" The Dark Lord asked.
Regulus and the other younger students shook their heads. They did not know and why would they? If underage wizards and witches knew how it worked, then they might be able to circumvent it. No, all they knew is that it alerted authorities if they used magic outside of Hogwarts.
"The Ministry puts the traces on wands before they're purchased." The Dark Lord explained, "They automatically expire after six years but I will remove them from your wands now."
He waved his own wand towards the extended wands to the students.
Regulus felt his wand rustle in his hand. The wood of his wand changed—but only barely—as if it had aged just a few years.
Oh, so the Dark Lord was fooling the Traces on the wands into believing that more time had passed than the amount that actually had. Brilliant.
The Dark Lord must have been really smart to figure it out how the Trace worked and really powerful to be able to disable it, Regulus thought, no wonder Bella respected him.
Regulus gripped his wand tightly. He could not yet test if the Trace was actually gone—the adults had put some kind of charm on the Black Estate so that the underage students' wands could not send a signal to the Ministry of Magic about their underage magic use—but he was sure it was. The wand just felt different in his hand.
The Dark Lord turned to Professor Karkaroff.
"It's almost dark." He noted, red eyes glancing up at the violet sky behind the gray clouds, "It's time to go."
"Yes." Karkaroff nodded at the Dark Lord, though his accented voice sounded bitter. He then turned towards the uniformed students, "All of you join hands so we can apparate to the location."
The students tensed. They were teenage boys and young men in their early twenties. They were not about to hold hands like school children.
"How romantic." Mordred snorted.
He, Alvin and Evan all snickered.
Regulus turned to glare at the three of them, "Just do it."
The fellow teenagers groaned but joined hands as they had been ordered to. So did Rodolphus and his group, who looked equally unthrilled about it. Finally, Professor Karkaroff took the hand of his son and all ten immediately felt the uncomfortable tug of apparating.
The last thing Regulus saw of the backyard was the Dark Lord watching them disappear.
So the Stonehenge Free Festival was actually a real thing during the 1970s and 1980s, so I thought I'd add it in.
And Voldemort is lying about not caring if he dies as long as his goals are achieved. Bella's just naive enough to believe him.
Reviews would be awesome!