It had been an arduous journey and they were only at the base of the vast mountain range. They had been trekking through the forest and had just found a flat area of land shrouded by dense trees. The Accursed Mountains in Albania were dangerous, even for magic folk who understood the real terrors lurking in the depths but the Dark Lord was sure it held the treasure he desired.

"Assemble the tent, it's in your bag." He walked away from his servant as she rifled through her backpack, to the edge of the clearing and began to place wards. It was unlikely that anybody would come across them, muggles tended to stay in their own safer region and wizards were smart enough to stay away entirely. It was the magical creatures that haunted the forests that he was more worried about.

By the time he had finished tracking the perimeter, the small tent had been set up and Bellatrix had disappeared inside. The sun was low in the sky and the last of the light was rapidly fading. He climbed inside, unsurprised that the interior was much larger than it appeared from the outside, larger than a typical muggle tent but nothing compared to what he knew the likes of the Malfoy's would use. Voldemort only needed something basic to serve his purpose, such grandeur made him uncomfortable and had the potential to distract.

Bella was shuffling around the small kitchen area, acquainting herself with the equipment available. Her wand was still grasped in her hand, she had not put it away since it was returned to her.

"There are some food rations in the bag as well. Put something on." He shook off his heavy cloak, the cool air biting at him and hung it up near the entrance. He noticed Bellatrix had placed her sturdy walking boots there and decided to do the same. He headed to the small table behind her and threw his bag down on it carelessly, the contents protected by numerous spells. With a flick of his wand, a fire burst into life in the fireplace before him. It wouldn't take long for the tent to warm up and he started pulling items out of the bag including his maps and old letters.

He had located two possible sites but with no way to determine which it was more like to be, they would have to visit both. Pouring over the ancient maps he reminded himself that the first site was closer and positioned in a lower valley near a large lake, it would not take long to reach as long as they took no detours. If the diadem wasn't there, they would at least be able to stock up on food.

Bellatrix placed an empty plate and cutlery before him and a large bowl of pasta. She turned back to clear up as he started to serve himself. He watched her flick her wand enthusiastically, the utensils flying to the sink to be scrubbed. It was clumsy magic, he wasn't sure if it was the effect of his own magic on her neutered wand or if she was just lousy at housekeeping spells in general.

"Bring me another plate."

Frowning she handed one to him and was surprised to see him dish up a small portion of the pasta. "You need to eat as well."

He slid the plate across the table to the other empty seat and raised his eyebrow at her expectantly. With some obvious trepidation she sat down and nibbled at the food with deliberate caution. He watched her for a moment, it was strange to see her do something so normal. In all the time she had been with him, he had never seen her sit down and eat before him.

They ate in silence, the fire crackling next to them before Bella cleaned up after them. His joints were becoming stiff, he wasn't used to such physical exertion and he was sure he would sleep well tonight. Which raised a few issues in itself.

When Bellatrix had finished clearing up she stood awkwardly by the sink, rubbing her hands wish the dishcloth, her wand now tucked into her messy up-do. It was clear she didn't know what to do with herself now, she had no place to retreat to.

It wasn't late but they had to get up at sunrise to get the most out of the day so he put the fire out, using a candle to move to the sleeping area.

"Come with me."

His command left no room for disagreement and Bella followed obediently as he left the common room and rounded the corner to an open sleeping area. It was literally a low wide area, a mattress set into the ground almost the size of a king-sized bed surrounded by the three walls. It had been sufficient when he had been travelling alone and a glance at his servant made it clear she was very nervous about the situation. He wondered briefly if she still had a vague sense of what had happened, of what the memory charm was supposed to have removed.

"Sleep. We have to get up in a few hours."

He transfigured his outfit into night clothes, too exhausted to bother to actually change. Bellatrix was still frozen to the spot, warily eyeing the bed space.

"I am putting that candle out in two minutes, I suggest you get into bed before that." When she nervously pulled her nightdress out of her bag, he sighed heavily. "Change in the kitchen area if you want. Tick, tock."

She hurried out of the room as he clambered into the bed, there was more than enough room, four people could sleep comfortably in the space. When she returned, he was still sat up waiting for her. She self-consciously tugged on her nightdress before cautiously climbing under the covers, as far away from him as she could possibly get. He noticed she had brought her wand with her.

Bellatrix was tense and he doubted she would be able to sleep easily in such a state. He was not feeling entirely comfortable himself, he knew she would never dare to do anything to him during the night but he still wasn't going to take that chance. That, coupled with the events of a few days ago made the whole situation very strange.

Too tired to do anything else, he silently summoned the potion he knew was in his bag.

"Drink this, it will help you sleep and you will be more refreshed in the morning." He handed her the sleeping potion.

Bella stared at it for a few seconds, he could practically hear the thoughts, the suspicions buzzing around her head. Exasperated with how long it was taking, he added simply. "If you don't drink it, I will just petrify you, you can stay frozen all night instead."

Her eyes widened at the thought before she quickly unscrewed the lid and gulped it down in one go. He took the empty bottle off her, returning it to the bag and watched as she slowly lowered herself onto the pillow, already struggling to keep her eyes open. He waited a few seconds until her breathing was soft and even, before snuffing the candle and laying down for sleep himself.

He had only managed to sleep for a few hours when he was disturbed by a howling wind and beating rain outside. It was disorientating to wake in a new bed. The Dark Lord only remembered where he was when he rolled onto his side and saw the dark outline of another person. His heart skipped a beat in alarm before he realised who it was.

She was completely out, the potion working its magic even with the noise outside. Just to be sure, he reached out and her gave a rough poke to the shoulder. She remained limp, her head lolling to the opposite side, so he turned to lay on his back and tried to zone out the blustery weather.

Voldemort woke with a start, disorientated as he looked around the tent. The half-light lit up the interior and he glanced over to his sleeping partner who was still completely out. It was strange as he had gotten so used to her being up and having everything already done for him. He clambered out of the bed, making his way across the tent to peek outside to ensure area was undisturbed. Reassured, he headed back to Bellatrix.

He could easily fix a meal for himself but he refused to let his servant off easily, making his way to the bedroom he sent a small jet of water at her. She gasped at the soaking before groaning and trying to roll over back to sleep.

"Up now Bella. We need to be moving soon." He watched as she groaned and slowly pulled herself up into a sitting position. Her hair had mostly fallen out of her undo by now and she had a line down one cheek where her face must have been lying on a seam. She rubbed her eyes groggily and he realised as she climbed clumsily off the bed that the potion had perhaps been a bit strong for her.

"Sorry master." She apologised as she just about stifled a yawn, cautiously wandering past him into the kitchen area. It didn't take long for the irresistible scent of food to waft through and he joined her at the table for breakfast.

After he had his fill and Bellatrix had finished off her smaller portion, he disassembled the tent and they started their trek again. The walk was almost entirely done in silence, he led the way through the dim forest as his servant followed, the sounds of their boots, the crackling of twigs under them and the occasional hoot from an owl were the only sounds for most of the day.

By lunchtime they had made it to another clearing at the entrance to a beautiful, deep valley. Bellatrix had fully woken now and was curiously observing the dense forest behind them. Seeing nothing untoward, he watched her for a few moments as she seemed to deliberate before he finally gave in.

"What are you looking at?"

She whipped around to face him, holding her hand above her eyes to shield them from the bright winter sun behind him. "I'm just looking at the large gaps in certain parts leading into the forest, a few of these trees have been knocked down. I think there is something else living around here."

He saw it now that she had pointed it out, tall trees ripped out by their roots to clear a path. Nature alone could not have done this. His eyes rapidly darted around their current position but he saw nothing untoward.

"Giants. There must be at least one close by."

Bellatrix nodded in agreement, she had obviously already come to the same conclusion. He had never heard of giants living in Albania, certainly never this far south. Unless it was a lone giant, one that had been excommunicated and had fled rather than be killed.

The problem was, they had little choice but to continue their same path. Giants could cover a massive area, there was no guarantee that it was anywhere close and it would likely add at least a couple of days to their journey to walk around.

"Stay alert. Come on."

Bellatrix's eyes widened in alarm when she realised they were sticking to their path, she didn't argue though and followed behind him through the rocky ravine.

His feet were starting to ache as they continued on, the sun sitting lower in the sky by now. They had been trekking for hours, he could hear Bella struggling to keep up behind him. He was surprise how well she had been doing considering up until a few days ago she had barely been allowed out of the house and had been half starved. He didn't fail to notice the amount of times she had been yawning, considering he knew she had been sound asleep all night, he knew it must have been long lasting effects of the sleeping potion he used.

"Lets stop for a little while, have some food."

With relief she dumped her bag on the wet ground before crouching down to rifle through it. He sat down on a large rock, dropping his own bag down and smoothing his hair back off his face. Her hair practically shimmered in the low winter sun as he watched her summon food for them out of the backpack, she usually never left it down and he had never realised how thick and long it was.

The serene quiet was broken by a large flock of birds flying overhead, squawking loudly as they passed. Both of them watched the birds, as if mesmerised before an even louder thunderous roar drew their attention. Bellatrix snatched up her bag immediately, stumbling back as an enormous rock broke away from the steep edge of the valley beside them. Voldemort stepped back cautiously, joining her as they watched the rock come towards them, their wands at the ready. Except, it wasn't a rock, it was a great leathery giant.

It stumbled around sluggishly for a second before it spotted them. It's small beady eyes narrowed on them and he heard Bella gasp beside him.

"Who are you?"

His voice was a deep baritone and gruff as if it wasn't used very often. He used the small bramble tree in his hand to reach around and scratch his back as he watched them with stupid curiosity.

With a subtle sonorous spell he responded. "I am the Dark Lord."

Grunting back the giant concluded. "From Britain. Why you here?"

Voldemort had been hoping to avoid this line of questioning, giants were easy to bore and notoriously stupid. If they felt confused, violence was usually their simplest response.

"Looking for treasure. What's your name?"

The giant scratched his temple with a filthy finger as he seemed to concentrate. "Treasure? Hmm. I am Golab, son of Gibborim." He said the last part with pride.

"Are you alone, Golab?"

Golab frowned, his big bushy eyebrows half covered his eyes. It was not a good thing to upset a giant.

"I am alone now. Gibborim died and I was sent away."

He understood now, his father had likely been the Gurg. When he died, a rival had taken over and staying would have meant a certain death for the giant.

"Who is that?"

Golab pointed a thick finger at Bellatrix who took a further step behind her master.

"This is Bella. She is a witch."

The giant's face completely changed as large, ugly, chipped and browning teeth were suddenly on display as he smiled.

"You both do magic."

Voldemort really didn't have the patience for these types of conversations. With a sigh, he agreed. "Yes, we do magic. Now we need to pass through the valley."

Golab seemed to be in a world of his own as he concentrated. "I can get you through. If I have your magic I can go back. Let's go."

With no more warning than that, he lunged forward and grabbed the pair of them in a hand each. The dimwitted giant had been smart enough to grab them around the middle, trapping their arms and with that their wands. He vaguely heard Bellatrix shrieking on the other side of the mammoth creature holding them but was much too concerned with his own fury and indignation to much to care.

"Put me down now."

Golab ignored him as he bumbled through the valley at an uneven pace. "I will take you home. Magic will help and then you can go through the valley."

The Dark Lord wriggled awkwardly to try and dislodge him wand arm out of the giant's tight grip. The last thing he wanted to do was get carried for hundreds of miles to more giants, he was on a tight schedule already. His efforts were to no use.

Despite Voldemort's objections, they stopped only when the sun had started to set. Golab dumped them unceremoniously onto the ground. Bellatrix scampered across the ground, collecting her dropped bag. He had only just realised that he had left behind his own bag when he had been grabbed. Before he had a chance to say anything to her, the giant shoved him hard to force him to sit on his other side.

It was smart of the giant to separate them, their magic was ineffective against the large creature, especially when used alone. Golab had settled himself heavily on the ground before grabbing a hold of Bellatrix again. "Witch, you need to make fire."

He pointed to the ground before them and Bella obliged immediately, a warm fire bursting into life. It offered the pair of them little in the way of warmth. In the settling darkness, the temperatures had started to plummet.

With no acknowledgement, the dark haired woman was dumped back down. She settled herself down to sit on a log to watch as the giant pulled out a dead goat that had apparently been in his back pocket all day. He held it by the horn above the fire, the sizzling of hair and dead flesh producing an acrid smoke.

Before it could possibly have had a chance to cook, the giant lifted it up again and in one simple movement, ripped it in half. Bella looked as if she was trying to suppress a gag as they watched Golab chew into the bloody, rotten carcass. Blood was dripping down before them as Voldemort frowned in distaste. He had his wand now but it was little use against giants. They were impervious to magic, it would require a small army of wizards to bring one down.

Instead he would have to try and out smart the stupid creature, this could be tricky though. If Golab felt he was being mocked, or even became confused, he was sure to act out with extreme violence.

As he deliberated his next move, he caught movement out of the corner of his eye, glancing over just in time to see Bellatrix had stood and aimed her wand at Golab. He almost shouted out at the woman, believing she was stupid enough to send a spell at the enormous creature, she would be slaughtered in a second.

He just had enough time to react as he realised her intent, an explosive spell aimed at the cliff wall just behind the giant. The ugly thing paused from eating the messy carcass, a gormless expression on his face as the rock behind him cracked and splintered. Heavy boulders and shards rained down on them, Voldemort just had time to attempt to protect himself from the onslaught. The noise was near-deafening, a constant roar as rock and dust surrounded him. Only a powerful protective charm prevented him from being crushed.

It seemed to take an age before the thunderous noise settled. He couldn't see anything beyond his magic, the rocks had sealed him in entirely. Using a similar but less powered spell than Bella had used to cause the tremendous landslide, the rocks entombing him were blasted away. Relieved to be able to breathe fresh air again, he clambered up and out to see the extent of the damage.

Bellatrix was close by, levitating rocks away stopping only when she saw him. She was relatively clean, it appeared she had managed to escape the worst of the collapse. Golab was nowhere to be seen. Presumably he was buried under the massive mound of huge boulders and sheets of hard rock.

"Master." Bellatrix was breathless as she called out to him, he nodded reassuringly toward her. It was unnerving that she seemed practically relieved to see him.

"I didn't mean for you to be crushed. I just knew we had to get away or we would have been after the goat."

He waved her suggestion of his vulnerability away. "It was a good idea, I am of course unhurt."

They half climbed, half slid down the huge mound of loose rock.

"It is nearly dark, we have to move quickly now, it would be unwise to stay here."

She gave a sharp nod in agreement as they made their way further through the valley, a simple lumos lighting the way. He was reluctant to use the spell, it felt more like a beacon for other creatures to spot them. Luckily, it wasn't long before they happened upon a dark cave.

"In here, set up, I'll secure it. You still have the tent?"

Bella nodded, opening up her bag. With lumos maximus he lit up the cave, ensuring there was nothing else sharing the cavern with them. Reaching the end of it, he started casting protective spells, enclosing them in. When he walked back, the tent was set up again. He climbed in, pleased to smell food being prepared.

"Master…" Bellatrix seemed reluctant to continue. "The food… most of it was in your bag."

He only just suppressed a growl as he realised she was right. Not only was most of their food missing, but all of his belongings were gone too.

"Ration it for now."

She gave a simple nod, he knew she had already started that. "And the giant?"

"Is unlikely to be dead. It takes an awful lot to kill a giant, it won't take him that long to get out. We will have to be more careful."

He watched her as she served up, her wand tucked into her tied up hair, yet again. The magic she had displayed concerned him, it had worked to their advantage but he hadn't expected her to be able to perform such devastating spells with the restrictions on her wand. It made him doubt that his magic had bound the wand enough but he didn't want to draw her attention to this, if she believed she couldn't perform advanced magic, she was unlikely to attempt it. Wandlore had never been his strength.

She cautiously sat down at the table opposite him, watching for any sign of disproval. He split the food between their plates, hers only half the size of his own.

"That was good thinking, what you did back there." He was reluctant to compliment her, "It was fortunate you didn't freeze with fear."

"I have more to fear than giants." Her response was quick, given without much thought.

"Indeed." He paused to watch her for a moment, she only glanced up from her food when she sensed his gaze.

"Is there anything you fear?" It was half whispered and Bella appeared to regret the question as soon as she said it.

The question gave him enough pause to stop him from punishing her instantly. He had never considered that he might fear something, the idea seemed completely alien to him. He pictured his servants, his victims, as he punished them and the sight of them as they feared pain. Not only pain though. The thought made chills run down his back: they feared death.

The permanence of it, the decay of life, the way the world just forgets an entire existence. He had always felt he was too important to be forgotten, it was impossible for him to imagine a world where he did not exist. The idea of mortality made his skin crawl and his heart beat faster, a pit of dread blooming low in his stomach… was this what fear felt like?

"No, there is nothing I fear."

The rest of the meal was finished in silence, she was obviously aware she had reached his limits for civil conversation. "Clean up and go to sleep. Give me your bag before you go."

She made sure to remove her nightclothes before giving him the bag and retiring to bed. There were no more potions to force her to go to sleep and he rather she was already out when he went to bed. There was very little in her bag, she kept the tent and a portion of their food. The rest of her supplies were limited to some clothes and a few simple potions. He no longer had a map. Voldemort was confident enough to negotiate his way through the forest and mountains, he had spent far too much time memorising the map but he remained concerned. The artefact had been missing for centuries, many had already sought it to no avail, a map would have offered some small assurance.

Ensuring everything was securely returned to the bag, he brought it with him to leave at the end of the bed so they could always grab it in the event of a rapid escape. Bellatrix was completely out, her gentle snoring indicating deep sleep. Using wand light, he settled into bed, the movement and light disturbing his bedmate. She turned in his direction before curling in on herself slightly, returning to her deep sleep.

The light faded and he lay there on his back uneasily. For the second night in a row he struggled to get to sleep. He drifted in and out of disturbed sleep, strange twisted dreams haunting the little rest he got.

After what could have been only mere minutes or several hours later, he jolted to consciousness. He felt as if he hadn't been asleep at all but he must have been as he hadn't noticed the distressed whimpering very close beside him.

He could just make out the outline of Bellatrix beside him and automatically reached out to her. His hand landed on her neck, stroking around to her hair, to rub soothingly. The sorrowful noises ceased and he knew she had woken when he heard a small gasp.

She tried to pull back against his hand before realising the attempt was futile.

"Stop. Relax."

Doing as commanded, he felt the tense muscles in her neck ease. It was obvious she was trying to see him in the dim light, the noise of her slight shuffling under the thin duvet was exaggerated.

"Come here." Not giving her a choice, he pulled her head towards him and let her rest it in the crook of his arm. "You need to sleep, we have to be up early."

When she opened her mouth to speak, he shushed her softly with finality. He placed his hand over her eyes, ensuring she would have to sleep, her eyelashes fluttering against his palm Her body was still angled away from him, he was almost sorry he hadn't brought her closer but he knew that would be a mistake.

She may have very little understanding of what had happened but he knew. He couldn't forget how he utterly lost control, it wasn't a situation he wanted to be in again.

It couldn't have been long that they were lying like that but he wasn't sure, he drifted off to sleep almost instantly.