Murder Most Horrid
Chapter 21: Cover blown
Bellatrix hadn't thought about Guinevere for years. At twenty-two years young, she had had an affair with a married woman.
Guinevere was a pure-blood witch, married to a Ministry official. She was the very paragon of a pure-blood lady. Petite, soft-spoken, yet willful and absolutely merciless towards wizards of a lower blood status, Guinevere was fifteen years her senior. Gentle when need be, harsh when necessary. Guinevere could make every head turn when entering the room, always the center of attention everywhere she went.
On top of all that, Guinevere could make her come like a derailing freight train. The thought made the dark witch snort briefly.
Their first meeting had been innocuous enough; her purse had been stolen while shopping and Bellatrix had been the constable to recover it. Guinevere had insisted on thanking Bellatrix for her efforts by inviting her to dinner; their affair quickly developed from there. The discrete meetings at an expensive international wizarding hotel started soon afterward. Laying entwined with Guinevere underneath the covers, Bellatrix shared her thoughts with her. Simple things, complicated things, private things. They'd lie together in post-coital bliss, Bellatrix would talk and Guinevere would listen.
This continued for months until a strange conversation with Guinevere's husband convinced her that something was terribly wrong. The husband unexpectedly turned up at the police post she had been assigned to at the time and had pleasantly invited her to come over to dinner. He said he looked forward to getting to know his wife's mistress and that he would introduce her to his own.
When she had confronted Guinevere about this, she revealed that their marriage was arranged and loveless, but that she and her husband had formed a friendship of a sort, enough for them to allow each other to have lovers on the side while keeping up appearances for society's sake. She then made Bellatrix an offer; she'd pay for an apartment, living expenses and anything the dark witch would desire. Bellatrix would never have to work again.
The dark witch response had been to slap her in the face.
Guinevere had wanted her to become a her very own private whore. Simple at that.
But she was far too proud to be a kept woman, too proud to just a mere mistress. Bellatrix wanted more than Guinevere had been willing to give; Guinevere wasn't going to leave her husband for her, and Bellatrix found her offer to be an absolute betrayal.
So Bellatrix broke it off. She returned all the gifts Guinevere had given her, and said her goodbyes. At least Guinevere had had the decency to be heartbroken over it.
It'd been the story of her life, really. Bellatrix had been fortunate enough to share her bed with plenty of beautiful women during her life. Most of her encounters had been either with young witches looking for a night of fun with an experienced women, or married women looking for a thrill to stave off the boredom inherent to their marriages.
It had gotten to a point that Bellatrix had just given up hope of finding someone to share her life with. Falling in love was just something which happened to other people; she'd rather have plenty of sex while being lonely than only being lonely. However, she'd always have this longing for closeness, the desire for more than just a night of fun. It was a longing which had never been fulfilled.
Until Hermione.
Hermione had wanted more than just a night of sex, more than just an affair. She'd been clear from the very start that she wanted a relationship. After being alone for so long, this was more than a little daunting, but in the end, Hermione had finally given her the closeness she had sought for. Plenty of times, Bellatrix would come home and Hermione would curl up against her on the sofa and ask her how her day was. Bellatrix'd tell her while she lay her head on her shoulder or led a trail of kissing along her collarbone. Hermione would say that she loved her and then tell her about her own day. So mundane, yes, but still so precious.
Standing outside the Front lodge, there was no way in hell she'd leave Hermione in their clutches for even a second more than was necessary.
The plan was simple enough. The worst was the waiting; her plan relied upon both parties to progress and giving the owls time to deliver the letters. So, she waited an agonizing hour before setting her plan in motion. A visit to madam Malkin's fielded her two large black hooded cloaks and a full set of clothing for Hermione.
What she would do was to walk into the lodge and head towards the secret entrance. By now, she had the way to open the door memorized, so she could enter without the help of someone else. Rather than going to the main hall, she would head right towards the private room and find Hermione. She'd have her don the clothing and the cloak, as she would definitely be noticed wearing the ratty rags she had been given. Then it was just a simple matter of walking out through the front door under the guise of her taking a friend out to 'get some air' after excessive drinking. Most of the partygoers would be too drunk to notice, the inner circle would have never known she'd been there. If, against all odds, she'd be caught, well... that's why she sent the seven letters.
Once inside the lodge, the first thing she noticed was that the crowd in the main hall had been enjoying the celebrations a bit too much already; most of them were starting to get more than a little drunk. Drunker that she expected.
Good. That improved her odds. She just hoped that the members of the inner circle would be just as drunk.
It was comical, really; there were wizards and witches, young and old, celebrating 'fifteen years of progress for pure-bloods', whatever that was supposed to mean. None of them had any idea they've been serving the whims of nothing but a crime syndicate with a coat of fresh paint.
Once through the secret entrance, Bellatrix ducked into the hallways before anyone could spot her. So far, there was nobody in sight as she crept through the darkened hoods as silently as she could. The dark witch hurried along the narrow passageways to where the private rooms were located and quickly found the door leading to that of Rodolphus. Bellatrix cursed when she found it locked. The took out her wand and was just about to use one of the many unlocking spells she had learned during her days on the force when one of the doors of the private rooms nearby swung open.
Dolohov.
The Russian wizard let out a yawn, obviously having taken a cat-nap in there, and looked at her before he gave her a greeting. "Ah, Bellatrix," he started. "How nice to see you again. Are you looking for someone?"
Bellatrix froze momentarily and slowly, ever so slowly, turned around. She forced a smile and faced Dolohov who looked at her with a quizzical expression on his face.
"I, uhm, suppose I wanted to visit..." said Bellatrix, fumbling to find the words.
"Ah, your new pet," interrupted Dolohov after running a hand through hair, blinking away the sleep. "I was surprised to learn that you quite eagerly accepted Rodolphus' gift. I was under the impression that you did not approve of Mudblood slavery."
"Well," said Bellatrix. "I'm not one to look a gift horse in the mouth."
Dolohov remained silent for a few moments. "Honestly," he finally spoke. "I find you fascinating, Bellatrix. Sometimes I feel like I'm talking to two completely different persons. Very well, I will leave you be. I hope to speak to you at the party later on, if Rodolphus doesn't claim you for the remainder of the evening."
"I'm sure we will," Bellatrix said, still forcing a smile. Dolohov took his leave and she listened to his footsteps echo through the hallway. After letting out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding, she opened the door with her unlocking spell, only to be met with total darkness.
"Pet?" she hissed a whisper. "Pet? Are you there?"
She stepped inside. "Lumos." A light emanated from her wand, bathing the room in a dim glow. Another step further inside and she suddenly felt the tip of something cold pressing into the side of her neck. Instincts took over, intending to dive to the ground and spin around to face her attacker. She never got the chance.
"Crucio."
Pain exploded through her body, pain like she had never felt before. Though she did not scream, her muscles contracted stiffly as she fell to the floor and writhed in agony. It felt as if her entire body, down to her very soul, had been set on fire. A fire so hot it could sear the flesh off her bones. When the spots of black finally faded from her vision, she found that the room had been lit and that the two sadistic faces of the Carrows were staring down at her.
"Looking for someone?" Alecto cooed Dolohov's earlier words in a mocking tone.
"Take her wand, sister dear," Amycus grinned.
Bellatrix closed her eyes and sighed. Her cover had been blown.
"Aw, I want to have some fun too," Alecto's pout sent shivers down Bellatrix's spine. Her body spawned in sheer, utter agony when a second cruciatus curse set her on fire. Again, she didn't scream; she wanted to, but she couldn't. Her back arched, her legs kicked out and her nails dug into the carpet on the floor. The air in her lungs was fire, her skull felt as if it was going to split open from the pressure. She half expected to find herself lying in a puddle of blood.
Sweet Merlin, if the pain inflicted by Cruciatus curses indeed scaled with the intention of the caster, these two sadistic wretches certainly meant business.
When she started to come to, she noticed that she had been forcefully yanked off the ground by both siblings who were unceremoniously dragging the still shivering dark witch along. Pride demanded she find her footing, but her body was still limp from the torture. It took her a few seconds to realize they were taking her to the inner circle chambers.
"Awww," said Alecto. "Don't worry, little cop. You'll get to enjoy the party before we end your miserable life. Brother dear, do you think we'll get to cut her to pieces like we did the others?"
"Oh, I do hope so, sister dear," said Amycus. "I'm certain hear screams will sound just lovely."
The following discussion about which scalpels, bone-saws and axes to use did not exactly fill the dark witch with confidence.
Once to the inner sanctum, Bellatrix could barely walk under her own power again. There was tension in the air, the room was just a little too quiet for a ball and some people were sitting in such a position that she would be completely surrounded the moment that she would enter the room. Lucius was sitting at his regular spot and shot her a look. Next to him sat Dolohov, looking at the spectacle rather quizzically.
"W-what is going on?" Rodolphus rushed towards her, but was violently shoved aside by Amycus.
Seemed not everybody was informed of her betrayal.
"Ah, miss Black," called Dolores Umbridge with that horrible fake plastic smile from the dais in the center of the room. Bellatrix's stomach turned when she saw Hermione sitting on her knees next to her, her eyes downcast. In between them stood was appeared to be a pensieve. "I was right not to trust you, miss Black. And I assure you, you are quite outnumbered. Amycus, will you please take miss Black's wand?"
Amycus Callow stood next to Bellatrix and held out his hand, showing her the curved duelling wand he had lifted from her.
"Nothing if efficient, dear Amycus. Please also take care of miss Black's hairclip," said Umbridge.
Amycus ripped the butterfly shaped clip from Bellatrix's hair, along with a lock of her dark curls, tossed it on the floor and crushed it underneath his boot.
"Dolores," Rodolphus hissed. "What on Earth is going on here?"
Unbridge's smile never faltered, but her disdain was palpable for everyone to see. "You are too trusting, Dolphus. You see, I found your sudden defensive posture very interesting, miss Black. It made me wonder why you are so protective of this little mudblood girl. Well, as it turns out miss Granger here isn't nearly as good at occlumency as you are."
Bellatrix closed her eyes and sighed. She had to assume that Umbridge knew everything. There was no sign of her back-up yet. Where were they?! Just in case, Bellatrix rubbed her lady's ring, hoping that Dora would be still be listening in. Right now, she needed all the help she could get.
Hemione looked up to offer a silent apology. Her sad eyes conveyed the message quite accurately. 'I'm so sorry. I'm so very sorry.'
It was never your fault, Hermione.
As for Umbridge, it was obvious that she wanted to humiliate Rodolphus in front of the others by exposing her, to show everyone what a fool had had been. This was good, actually. Since Umbridge obviously wanted to gloat, it would buy her some time. She tried too look around carefully to see what she could see; from the way some groups were standing, it indeed seemed that Umbridge had not informed the entire inner circle about her betrayal. That disorganization could work in her favor. Unfortunately, she was still outnumbered, but she was close enough to Hermione to be able to reach her if there was only a moment of confusion. She needed a distraction.
"I lifted some interesting memories from her mind. You might want to pay attention, Rodolphus. Observe," said Umbridge while putting her wand to the pensieve. A think gray mist appeared above the fond, and it didn't take long for shapes to appear in the mist. Memories from Hermione's perspective. Bellatrix appeared in the mist, looking down at Hermione with a gentle soft smile. "I love you, Hermione," spoke the mist-image of Bellatrix, the love apparent in her voice. "I love you too, Belle," sounded Hermione's voice. "I can't imagine living without you."
There were rumblings in the crowd around them, but Rodolphus was obvious still firmly in denial. "Oh, come on," Rodolphus scoffed. "She's just playing with her toy! There's no way Bella would ever associate with a mudblood other than to torment her. Ask her!"
Umbridge shook her head in disgust and pressed her wand against the pensieve. More images appeared in the mist. These were of a more private nature. Hermione apparently straddled a naked and spent Bellatrix; she lay trying to catch her breath while Hermione leant forward to kiss her. "Mine," Hermione husked. A smile crossed mist-Bellatrix's features. "Yours," she whispered as from Hermione's perspective, the dark witch embraced her and gently lay her on her back. "Forever yours."
More rumblings from the increasingly agitated crowd.
"Mudlover!"
"Blood-traitor!"
"She knows too much!"
There were more considerably less flattering slurs. Bellatrix remained absolutely still. Meanwhile, Hermione was obviously horrified and angered that these private moments were being so crudely intruded upon. Next to her, Rodolphus kept shaking his head. "It's not true, Dolores. Tell them, Bella! Tell them that it isn't true!" The was desperation in his voice. Yes, he was in love with her and he didn't want to believe that she had betrayed him, that much Bellatrix gathered.
Umbridge was less than impressed with Rodolphus' puppy love. "She used you, Rodolphus! Must we spell it out for you?!" she said and tapped her wand to the pensieve once more.
The mist was suddenly shaped like their home. "What do they want you to do?" sounded Hermione's voice. Mist-Bellatrix rubbed her chin and seemed hesitant for a moment. Then, spoke. "Sure, but keep this to your self, hm, or you might put the mission at risk. They want me to infiltrate the Purity Front and gather evidence of them trying to destabilize the wizarding world. According to an inside source, they've been trying to corrupt the government."
"Traitor!"
"Kill them!"
"Rodolphus," Umbridge spoke coldly. "This is all your fault; you let miss Black walk right in and you've risked our entire operation! I'll tell you want we're going to do now, Dolphus. We are going to find out exactly how much evidence she gathered and move to do damage control. We're going to need every connection we have to solve this problem. Thanks to you, Dolphus, the Front is more compromised than it has ever been before. I do not blame miss Black for doing her job, and excellently so, I might add, but I do blame you for your arrogance and stupidity."
From the corner of her eye, she could see Lucius face-palming. Next to Lucius, Dolohov was... laughing. It was an honest laugh, the laugh of someone who found this entire development to be genuinely hilarious.
The depth of her betrayal finally dawned onto Rodolphus. He looked at her as if she had kicked his dog, shaking his head with disappointment. "You're a plant from the Department?"
"You were right about one thing: I am a very loyal individual," Bellatrix spoke. "I'm just not loyal to you and your lot."
Just as Rodolphus was about to give a retort, it was Hermione who sprang to action. While Umbridge was distracted, the girl had taken out the back-up wand and pointed it at Umbridge. "STUPIFY!" sounded just before Umbridge was launched into the air, flew across the room and crashed on top of the bar. A bottle of fire-whiskey fell down from the top shelf and landed on top of her head, finishing the job.
The entire room was confused as to what was going on; some were fumbling for their wands, others were crawling over each other to take cover. In the middle of it all, Bellatrix heart swelled with pride for her young girlfriend.
Good girl; she'd seen Bellatrix looking around and guessed that she needed a distraction at the right moment.
And, just like Hermione during the duel a few days earlier, the two wizards by her side were unprepared for someone trained in hand-to-hand combat. Bellatrix jabbed her elbow in Rodolphus' side, sending the startled wizard to his knees. Having taken care of Rodolphus, the dark witch immediately kicked Amycus to the side of his knee as hard as she could and was satisfied to feel the bone give way and snap before he howled out in pain. Quick as a flash, Bellatrix retrieved both her wand and that of Amycus before he'd even drop to the ground. Dual-wielding a wand in either hand, Bellatrix rushed towards the dais while firing off spells in random directions.
Bombarda's exploded the wood paneling on the walls, sending sharp shards of shredded wood splinters flying through the air. All around her, the members of the inner circle took cover behind couches, chairs and the bar. Seconds later, she reached the dais, where she and Hermione stood back to back, their wands at the ready. Certainly, standing here in the middle of the room without cover wasn't the best position to be in, as there was virtually no cover other than that which a quick Protego spell offered. Still, they'd have to made do.
"You alright, pet?" Bellatrix whispered softly.
"I've been better," Hermione replied.
Making use of the distraction, Lucius Malfoy had approached them. For a moment, Bellatrix worried that he might have a face-heel turn, but was relieved to see him standing back to back with them. Good; it made their chances of surviving a lot better.
It was a stand-off, pure and simple. Though the inner circle had them outnumbered, slinging spells meant people could die. So far, nobody dared to fire off the first spell. It was a truce which would never last for long. The tension was palpable.
"Well," Lucius sighed. "This escalated quickly."
He wasn't kidding. Between the three of them, they had four wands. The inner circle had them outnumbered six to one.
"Miss Granger," Lucius nodded while keeping an eye out for any potential casting going on. "A pleasure to finally make your acquaintance."
"Mister Malfoy," Hermione returned. "Likewise, though I wish it had been under better circumstances."
"Please, call me Lucius. No need for formalities when we're about to die," Lucius added.
Bellatrix pressed her back against both of them, waiting for any of the Front's inner circle to make the first move. "Glad you could join us, Lucius."
"I always pick the winning side," Lucius hissed, pointing his wand at one of the Carrow siblings, cowing her into submission.
"I'm not sure you picked the right side this time," Bellatrix spoke with a smirk.
"Oh, come now," said Lucius as the trio kept circling. "I'm counting on your plan to get us out of this mess. You do have a plan, right?"
"Actually, I'm making this one up as I go along," admitted Bellatrix. "But I do have reinforcements incoming."
At that moment, a loud crash could be heard coming from the windows above. An empty broom slammed against the wall and clattered to the floor, while its driver made a less-than-impressive landing on one of the tables. Nymphadora Tonks was not someone to be out for the count for long, however. Before anyone could react, she jumped to her feet and rushed to her family, lending her wand to their aid.
"That would be your reinforcements, then?" Lucius asked. "Greetings, Nymphadora. This is shaping up to be quite a family reunion."
"Lucius," Dora nodded. "And it's Tonks, thank you very much! As for you, aunt Bella, I just knew you were going to do something incredibly stupid! That's why I stuck around. I just hoped you'd listen to reason."
"Can we please just focus on getting out of here alive?" Hermione asked.
"Didn't expect you to help us out, Lucius," Dora smirked. "A pleasant surprise."
The elder Malfoy seemed rather annoyed. "Why does everybody always assume that I will throw my own family to the wolves? If Bella'd be killed while I could have helped her, Cissa would divorce me on the spot!"
"Belle," Hermione spoke softly. "I love you. I just wanted to say that, in case we don't make it."
"I love you too, pet," replied Bellatrix. "And we are absolutely going to make it!"
Lucius groaned. "Will you two idiots just get a room after we've survived this?!"
Before any more bickering could ensue, a loud explosion sounded as the two double doors leading into the waiting hall were blasted off their hinges. When the dust settled, Bellatrix could see the silhouettes of seven people. To her delight, all of the seven people she had contacted had answered her call for help.
Jensen stood in front of the group, his coat billowing around him. He was flanked by Petunia and Bombur, while Jimmy and Barty guarded the sides. In the back stood Harry potter and Ronald Weasley. All wands were out. All were ready for a fight.
"Police!" shouted Jensen. "Lower your wands and surrender! Everybody in this room is now under arrest!"
As expected, a cacophony of spells were immediately fired upon him as the stand-off was rather effectively broken. Being in the middle of the room, Bellatrix tossed Amycus' wand away and dragged Hermione to an overturned couch while Lucius and Dora dove to take cover behind a pool table. Magic flew all around them as Bellatrix hissed to Hermione to keep her head down while they made their way to the bar where the rest of their group had taken cover.
"Hermione!" shouted Harry as the two shared a brief embrace. Ron was quick to follow.
"Potter, Weasley!" Jensen shouted over the battle while holding his wand over the bar and blindly slinging spells in the general direction of a few inner sanctum members. "Focus on the fight now and on the girl later!"
Potter nodded and got back to the fight. "Yes, sir!"
Bellatrix knelt down next to Jensen. "Thanks for showing up, mum," she said.
"Not a problem, Trix," Jensen smirked. "I can't wait to make a report about this to Pius. He'll probably piss his pants."
"Couldn't have botched this up more poorly than I have," replied Bellatrix when a spell shattered a bottle near her.
Jensen laughed before a jet of energy emerged from his wand and hit a Alecto Carrow full-on in the chest, knocking her out completely. "It's fun. Haven't see this much action since my old days with the Hit Wizards."
"On a scale of one to ten, mum, how badly did I bugger this one up?" Bellatrix chuckled.
Another spell flew overhead, red energy charring the wall. "Right now? About five out of ten. But that score will increase signification depending on the number of arrests made."
"I thought I told you to get in through the windows," Bellatrix scolded over the sounds of battle.
It was Petunia who answered. "Jimmy thought it would look better if we'd made a dramatic entrance, Bells."
"Remind me to kick his arse later."
Proving himself to be a battle-commander, Jensen barked orders for his subordinates to better position themselves. "Potter, Barty!" he shouted. "Move behind that couch to the side there! Keep the pressure off Malfoy and Tonks! Petunia, give Hermione a proper wand! Cover the exits, we have them boxed in!"
"Let's make some corpses!" Barty laughed. "My morgue is very lonely at night!"
"Curb your enthusiasm, Barty!" Jensen said. Bellatrix, in the meantime, took aim for one of the front members making a break for the door. Her Incarcerous spell caused four magical shackles to shoot up from the floor and effectively froze him in place. One less Front member to worry about.
"Sorry we were late, miss officer Bellatrix," spoke the Weasel-boy. "We had some problems with the door-man. None of us passed the purity test except me and mister Whiskersnap."
Bellatrix frowned before stupifying one of the inner circle. "I never knew you were a pure-blood, Bombur."
"I didn't know either until today! Who could have guessed?" Bombur grinned. "But whatever the reason, he let us in just fine after I head-butted him. Ron here set him up, I knocked him down!"
"You should have seen it!" Ronald Weasley laughed. "Blood sprayed from his nose and everything. And then mister Whiskerspan apologized to him after he was knocked out."
"Well, it was quite rude of me to do!" Bombur huffed.
"Sorry I missed it," replied Bellatrix while a blast of magical energy smashed into the wall above her.
"Wow, you look hot in that dress, Bella," said Jimmy, causing Bellatrix to roll her eyes; Of course, the yank had to weigh in with his opinion.
"Shut it, Richards!" Bellatrix yelled back over the battle. "And I'm still not shagging you!"
The battle was going excellently. A lot of these people were pampered rich folks who weren't very good at dueling; the well-trained Department law enforcers were making short work of them. The career criminals, however, were considerably more dangerous.
Interestingly enough, Bellatrix had expected the inner circle members to try to escape through secret passageways. She'd tried to keep her eyes open during the infiltration effort to try to find out where those could be, only to now realize that there apparently weren't any. It also explained why so many inner circle members were so frantically trying to get to the double doors; from their position, the Department officers had a perfect line of sight with the door and blocked access to the windows behind them.
Over half of inner circle had already been downed, adding 'resisting arrest' to their long list of crimes. It was then that Bellatrix spotted Rodolphus skulking around behind tipped over furniture. He was obviously trying to make his way to the entrance. The dark witch growled; he was not getting away! Not this time!
Lucius made quite an impressive stance as he stood up, raised his chin arrogantly while pointing his wand firmly in front of him. A blast from his wand collided against Lestrange's back, sending him flying.
Unfortunately, he landed right in front of the door.
Typical. She'd wish Lucius would just stop 'helping'.
Eyes growing wide, Bellatrix tried to lean over the bar to try to incarcerate him, only to be grabbed by the back of the dress and being yanked back behind the bar by Bombur just before two nasty curses could hit.
"Bombur!" Bellatrix hissed in anger.
"Are you insane, you nutter?!" Bombur shouted back.
Angry, frustrated and, above all else, unwilling to let Lestrange get away, Bellatrix decided to throw all caution in the wind. After finding Hermione in perfect safety between Jensen and Petunia, Bellatrix yelled for Jimmy and Bombur to cover her before she threw herself over the counter to chase after Lestrange.
She'd stepped right into a warzone. Completely focused, Bellatrix blocked spells from three different directions as she rushed towards the double doors. Lestrange saw her coming, and redoubled his efforts to get away.
A burly wizard blocked her way, but before Bellatrix could raise her wand to fight back, a spell coming from the side of the room blasted him cleanly out of the way. The dark witch whipped her head around to see where it had come from.
Dolohov nodded at her, wand in hand. "You didn't think you were the only cop here, right? Go get him!"
After nodded her thanks, she bolted into the hallway after her target.
"LESTRANGE!" she shrieked, causing the wretch of a man to turn around.
"You," he growled at her. "You've ruined everything! You and that fillthy mudblood whore of yours! You, of all people, a blood traitor! What would your father say?!"
"You're the blood traitor here, Rodolphus!" Bellatrix shouted back in his face. "This was never about pure-blood rights or saving the wizarding world. This was all about money and power. You betrayed your own cause long before I ever came along!"
This started a duel in the hallway. Bellatrix had to admit that he chained his spells well, and tried every dirty trick in the book to get through her barriers. Yet Bellatrix managed to block all his attempts through sheer determination. Magic crackled through the air, and the tendrils of magical energy slamming against her barriers singed her hair. The smell of ozone in the air was unmistakable.
She was winning. The dark witch was pushing him back towards the secret entrance leading back into the main hallway. However, Lestrange was eager to escape. Rather than at her, he shot a Bombardo at the ceiling, causing plaster and wood to crash on top of her. Bellatrix yelped while Rodolphus rushed off, headed towards the front door.
Bellatrix realized that he was trying to get outside of the lodge so he could apparate way. Once he was gone, he'd be gone forever. She had to act fast. The dark witch willed her body to transform into a billow of arid black smoke, shooting forward through the hallway at tremendous speed. She shot through the main hall, towards the front door, and rematerialized in her human form just as Rodolphus started to apparate. She managed to grab hold of his robe and was yanked along into the aether.
Together, they were pushed through the aether as if through a rubber tube. It didn't matter where Rodolphus was going, Bellatrix focused purely on him. It was a battle of wills; Rodolphus to shed his unwelcome stowaway, while Bellatrix was trying to force him back into reality. Images of the city, of roads, of hills, of towns blended around them as the apparation continued.
If I have to tear you apart, Lestrange! I will!
She had no idea if Lestrange could hear her or not. She did not care. All her focus, all her hatred was aimed at forcing both of them out of the spell. It was a battle of wills which Bellatrix ultimately won.
They were no longer in London when they phased back into reality. With break-neck speed, they appeared above a meadow in the countryside, a sheep pen to be precise, where the both of them made a not-so-gentle landing on solid ground. Bellatrix felt herself bounce and roll across the grassy ground, finally coming to a stop lying on her back, staring at the orange evening sky above them.
She lay there for a moment, panting while her entire body ached. Thinking how beautiful the evening sun was. Enjoying the smells of the forest near the meadow. Odd, really. Now that the adrenalin rush was subsiding, she felt completely at peace.
It took her a moment to command her body into action. From the violent way of cancelling out the apparation, she knew there would be splincing. A cursory glance revealed that all her limbs were still attached, and that the splincing had been limited to mostly superficial cuts and slashes in her skin. Nothing that couldn't be taken care of with a good dose of dittany. Her dress, however, had been completely ruined.
Good. She was tired of the thing anyway.
She tried to raise herself, but cried out as horrible pain shot out through her upper left arm the moment she put pressure on it.
Definitely broken.
Thankfully, Bellatrix was right-handed. With her wand in hand, the dark witch looked around for Lestrange. She found him not far away. To her delight, she also found that he had landed right in a pipe of sheep dung. When Bellatrix had forced them into reality, Lestrange had caught the brunt of the splincing. He was covered in blood, patches of skin and part of his hand were missing. His wand was nowhere to be seen. Moaning on the ground, he wasn't going anywhere. Especially since a rather large piece of bone was sticking out of the side of his leg.
"Look at me," she hissed. "LOOK AT ME!"
Rodolphus looked up, completely and utterly defeated. "Well," he coughed. "You got me. I hope you're proud of yourself, traitor. All of this... for a mudblood whore."
"I wonder," Bellatrix grinned wickedly. "Should I bring you in?"
"You're not..." he eyes suddenly grew wide as he found himself staring at the business-end of Bellatrix's curved wand.
"I could claim all manner of things," Bellatrix shrugged. "You could have resisted arrest. You could have splinced yourself to death. Broken your neck during the landing."
"Y-you said you didn't do corruption," Rodolphus gulped. "You said you were an honest cop."
Bellatrix chortled briefly. "For Katie's sake, I might make an exception. I've had enough of you, Lestrange..."
A telltale pop of someone emerging in reality from apparation sounded behind her. She didn't even look, being purely focused on Lestrange.
"Belle!" sounded.
Of course.
Hermione.
Why did it have to be Hermione?
Her girlfriend was by her side, "I'm so glad you're alright, Belle. Jensen told me to find you. They've arrested the entire inner circle. Lestrange is the last one. Belle? What's wrong? Why are you so quiet?"
"Hermione..." Bellatrix hissed. This was something she had to do, but she didn't want Hermione around to see it. "Walk away."
Hermione seemed confused for a moment. "But why? I..." Hermione's gaze went from Bellatrix, to her wand, to Lestrange, and back to her beloved dark witch. Bellatrix cursed under her breath when she saw the realization in her beautiful eyes.
The young witch shook her head, causing her brown tresses to fall down the sides of her face. "Belle, you do realize that I'm not going to let you do this, right?" she spoke. Her tone was soft and gentle, yet belied strength and determination. She stood in between her and Rodolphus, blocking her spell.
Bellatrix narrowed her eyes. How could Hermione be so naive? So forgiving?
"Pet, he kidnapped you! Mutilated you. He murdered Katie all those years ago. He conspired to destabilize the wizarding world, sold magic to Muggles, and you saw what they did to those Muggle-borns. That was his idea. Lestrange deserves to die!"
"That's not up to you to decide!" Hermione, stubborn and opinionated as ever, shouted back at her. "This isn't who you are, Belle. You dedicated your life to law and justice!"
Bellatrix narrowed her eyes. "This is justice!" she snarled.
"Do you really want to honor your friend's memory with bloodshed?!" Hermione spoke softly. "What would she say if she could see you like this?"
That got the dark witch's attention. The man who lay moaning in the dirt in front of her was beyond pathetic and the beautiful eyes of Hermione, her face still marred by an ugly bruise, were an encouragement to her. Always Bellatrix had to be strong; a Black showed no weakness, after all. But with Hermione, same as Katie, she could be free to be herself.
A few seconds ago, Hermione had asked her what Katie would think if she could see Bellatrix like this. And she quite well knew the answer to that. "She'd be horrified," Bellatrix whispered, to which Hermione gently lay her hand on hers, slowly forcing her to lower her wand.
"You're better than him, Belle. Take him in. Let the courts decide his fate," Hermione smiled softly, and gently took Bellatrix's wand.
The serenity was rudely disturbed by Rodolphus' croaking laughter. "Look at you," he laughed. "That little mudblood really has you leashed, hasn't she?"
Bellatrix let out a snarl and grabbed him by the lapels with her unbroken arm. "You owe your life to Hermione. Remember, from now until the end of your miserably existence, that you owe your life to a mudblood!"
She dropped him back onto the pile of sheep dung. "Rodolphus Lestrange. You are under arrest for conspiring to destabilize the wizarding world, multiple counts of kidnapping, trafficking illegal magical goods, gross violations of the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy, fraud, the murder of Katie McKenzie and I'm sure there's plenty of other charges I'll think of while we're hauling your arse over to the precinct!"
A few minutes later, constables from the Department arrived to take him in. Hermione and Bellatrix watched him getting clapped in irons and being led off. It was over. It was finally over.
Bellatrix snorted to herself; she was actually hoping for a murder to solve so her life could once again have a semblance of normality.
"Belle, you're hurt," Hermione said while she stood next to her.
"I'll be fine, pet," Bellatrix said. "Let's get the both of us fixed up. And after that we're… we're going home, Hermione. We're going home."
One more chapter to go until the third story begins. Hope you've been enjoying so far.