Slithering stealthily on an open Savanna field with her 500 pound body proved less than a breezy task to complete. The African Sun was setting on the wide horizon, and the predators of the night were already preparing to indulge in their individual hunts.

For Bellatrix, there were only a few creatures that aroused a feeling of being threatened. Those were, ironically, the predators who had neither claws nor fangs nor a bulky body - poachers. Wizard poachers, especially. Illegal trafficking of rare magical species was at an all time high in Africa and poachers were spread like an infection all throughout. Egypt, Nigeria, Morocco, Kenya…the name of the country didn't matter. If it was African territory, you can bet your pocket that there would be wizard poachers running around.

Bellatrix let out a single grumbling hiss, disgusted just by the thought of those vile wizards. That aside, an encounter with them was…less than preferable, for more than one reason. She had to get to the village that stood at the downstream of the river she was currently trailing parallel to herself.

Darkness was approaching the fields now. Gone was the golden luster of the grass, and gone was the safety of the light. She shivered, skin crawling from the cool air. With her cold-blooded body, it was harder to heat up during the night.

Now, Bellatrix thought, she could just curl up and warm herself up, but that'd just slow her down, which is not what she wanted. She needed to meet that certain person urgently. Using a thermal spell was out of the question. Her magic was strong and it would certainly catch the attention of lurking poachers.

So, Bellatrix merely sped her pace despite exhaustion dragging her down. Food and water were sparse, but not a fatal problem for her. The issue was the embryos growing inside her. She still couldn't fathom how and why she allowed herself to fall to her primal animalistic instincts, but chalked it up to the stress shaking her composure.

She noticed the familiar distortion of photons in the distance, a hundred yards away, and her anxiety loosened a little. She was getting close, she knew it. Despite there being no visible trace of any human life, she knew the village was right up ahead.

"Found some tracks!" a rough male voice cut through the crickets of the night and Bellatrix's heart skipped a beat. "They're fresh! Something big's in this area!"

A few distant voices echoed their responses. The voices, the ones that were unnervingly close to her location, let out hums and mumbles as if formulating a quick plan and immediately acting on it.

The thick membrane in her serpentine eyes shook as Bellatrix's gaze jumped from angle to angle, trying to follow the vibrations in the air, but failing as anxiety, shock and confusion threw her nerves into a swirl of discoordination. Faint sounds of rustling, of leather boots stomping on grassy grounds, and subtly clanking equipment began to ensnare her like a pack of otherworldly demons, taunting her helplessness.

The survival instinct within her kicked off when her human side could not make sense of the situation and she dashed forward as fast as her slim body could allow her to move. Her speed was impressive as she could easily match and surpass a sprinting cheetah.

However, this proved to be a big mistake.

"Over there!" shouted one of the poachers the moment they saw the giant snake speeding across ground ahead of them. His fellows already had their guns at the ready, so they wasted no precious time in aiming and firing a volley of shots at the panicking Bellatrix.

To her credit, her reflexes were still sharp enough to dodge several of the bullets, twisting and zipping past them expertly. But a group of poachers were scary to non-legendary magic beasts for a reason, and Bellatrix was inevitably hit.

"HSSS!" she let out a piercing high-pitched hiss in which Bellatrix's cry of pain could vaguely be made out. It made the poachers pause their fire as they quickly closed in on her. They watched the serpent trash around violently until its scales suddenly began transforming into human skin and before them stood a girl instead of a beast.

The poachers paused in their advance to examine her. A pretty thing, they shared the thought. But their bullets had messed her up pretty badly. She was bleeding from several spots. The most skilled of the little group could clearly see that they had hit her in five places: her left thigh, her right calf, the right side of her pelvis, her right shoulder and the upper side of her left lung. Some pretty serious injuries.

"Wow…" one of the poachers uttered after a few seconds of awkward breath-huffing and stares exchanged between them and the fallen girl.

"'Wow' is right. What the hell is a mage doing in these parts? Who are you?!" another one shouted.

"She doesn't look exactly human either, though…" a third one quietly muttered and the one next to them snorted.

"You think it's a hybrid?" they snorted again when their fellow nodded. "Ridiculous…"

The situation was, suffice to say, a mesh of confusion, shock and uncertainty. Neither party knew what exactly to make of the situation at that moment. One or two of the poachers would yell a frenzied question at Bellatrix, but she wouldn't even acknowledge them.

Even so, the poachers were the ones with the advantage. Bellatrix knew…she knew they'd take her with them anyways. As soon as the initial confusion washed off, they'd make that heartless decision without a second thought.

But even, so…what terrified her more was the prospect of dying slowly from blood-loss or losing…losing her babes. She was hunched over, her knees and arms wrapping around her belly as if to shield the embryos inside. She didn't know why, but at that moment she felt the immense need to do everything to protect what was growing inside her.

"Alright, what the hell is going on here?" a voice asked with a thick african accent. Bellatrix looked up meekly to see a tall but slender african man joining the poacher group. Judging by his slightly more sophisticated attire, Bellatrix assumed he was the group's leader.

His eyes briefly met hers and Bellatrix grimaced when she saw not an inkling of sympathy in them. Just the same mixture of shock and confusion. Poachers were truly unfeeling monsters.

"Boss, we were following tracks around here when this giant cobra snake popped out of the grass and sped up ahead. We managed to shoot it down and it turns out it was some girl all along!" explained a poacher with sunglasses.

"Carter here thinks she's a hybrid…" another said, a mocking smirk on his face as he pointed at his fellow.

"She IS a hybrid! Look at the details on her skin." Carter, apparently, argued.

"Yeah, not trusting the words of a guy who spent a whole day puking and hallucinating from wild mushrooms."

"That was three fucking days ago, you greasy-"

"Enough, you maga!"

The leader began scolding them for acting like children. Then, he proceeded to soak up all the information from his subordinates and analysed the situation. Meanwhile, Bellatrix was still struggling to catch her breath and shuddered as she helplessly tried to stop the bleeding.

She tried applying healing spells several times when they weren't looking, but nothing worked. Damned rune bullets. They probably had anti-regenerative properties. Which wasn't much of a shock. In a world where hydras existed, for wizard poachers, there's no such thing as going overboard in your preparation.

She moaned helplessly, the pain proving intolerable. Bellatrix considered herself a strong female. But she couldn't just grit her teeth and act tough now. Being shot five times, while pregnant, was something entirely different from a strike from Lady Alcina.

"Alright, the Egyptian Black Market can pay us a hefty sum for a living hybrid wizard." she heard the leader say. A growing sense of dread washed over her once more. It seemed the poachers had come to a consensus. "Let's just pack this thing into one of our trucks and go. I don't want us to shuffle around here too long. I'm not sure if you know this, but this territory is guarded over by-"

"Me." a female voice echoed through the area. Bellatrix could see the exact moment the leader's heart skipped a beat and he froze up.

"Oh no…" he muttered, fear clear in his voice.

Strong wind currents suddenly appeared, blowing some of the poachers' hats off their heads. The river parallel to them suddenly rose up in a 3 meter tall wave and crashed down on the poachers. They all screamed as the water smashed them on the ground with brutal force, rendering them briefly immobile.

Bellatrix found herself surprisingly unaffected, her form only soaked by her blood and nothing else. She heard rumbling above and looked up to see a swirl of black clouds gathering right above them.

A flash of lightning briefly blinded her and the poachers. When they could see again, they were all shocked to see a woman standing on the field. She was positioned between the poachers and Bellatrix, her back facing the girl. She turned her head back slightly to only give her a wink before facing the poachers again.

Bellatrix's eyes widened and she nearly teared up from the relief that replaced her earlier dread. This was the person she was looking for. Thank the heavens that she appeared right on time.

The poachers, especially their leader, had a contrasting reaction to the new presence. They were terrified of her.

"Maduka, Maduka…This is certainly a pleasant and unpleasant reunion for me. You are the unpleasant part, for the record." the woman chuckled, her voice carrying a melodic reverb that almost made her sound like a divine being. "Did I not warn you that if I find you hunting on my territory again, your life would be mine for the taking? You've seemed to grow arrogant once more…"

The dark undertone of the last part made it clear that the woman was barely containing her anger. The leader - Maduka, shuddered, shifting in place out of sheer terror.

"N-no, don't! W-we weren't intentionally hunting on your grounds! I-I swear, we g-got here by accident…we were following her! Yeah, she led us here!" the man threw an accusatory finger at Bellatrix. The woman snorted at his pathetic excuses. It was obvious he was trying to come up with anything that would make him look less guilty in her eyes. Bellatrix glared at Maduka. She knew the woman wouldn't believe him for a second, but still…to use her like this after nearly abducting her made her blood boil.

"I am a woman of my word, Maduka. You had your chance once." the woman said, her tone indicating that she was leaving no room for arguments or excuses. She snapped her fingers and the poachers' eyes could only widen before an abnormally powerful lightning bolt struck them.

The force of the attack actually knocked Bellatrix back, sending her laying on the ground. The woman however, stood unaffected by it, her confident posture unwavering. After the bolt dissipated, there was a loud thundering noise, followed by ten seconds of ominous silence. The black clouds quickly vanished, the wind stopped and the raging river calmed down.

"Hmph…poachers. Maybe I should start killing them on sight instead of giving them second chances." the powerful woman wondered out loud, inspecting the ashes of her victims.

Bellatrix managed to raise her head slightly to take a quick glance at where the poachers used to stand earlier. She cringed and shook her head. Just as they had spared no sympathy for her, she spared none for them. She hoped they rot in hell.

The woman broke out of her thoughts and turned towards the sprawled girl.

"I am so sorry you had to witness this, Bellatrix dear!" she spoke to her with a mother-like tenderness.

"Heh…" Bellatrix barely managed to croak out a faint laugh. She wasn't feeling that well. "It's alright, Auntie Layla-ugh!"

Bellatrix's vision suddenly got blurry and her head spun. She lost all her strength and collapsed, passing out from the injuries, the stress and the blood-loss.

(Note: Maduka means "People are worth more than riches" in Nigerian. It's meant to be ironic. Layla means 'Night' in ancient egyptian.)

Krillius "Krillin" Invernizzi was looking over his latest report before he heard knocking on his door. For a short man, Krillius wasn't one that let that hold him back. The man may not look Italian but his rich blood heritage from both his parents showed how Italian he was, but that didn't matter either. He looked up and smiled thinly as he saw the security camera show his ledger boy at the door, pressing a button on his operating box.

"Enter, Ivsi."

The boy, no more than sixteen, came in. Blonde hair, grey eyes, thin body. He was a boy still, not ready for the harsh realities that awaited outside in the real world that Krillius knew all too well.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, Sir," Ivsi said, voice quivering slightly as his hands shook a bit, "but a report from Caro just came in. Lady Layla just had someone from her past show up."

Krillius frowned, of course, Lady Layla was one of his contacts within the Caro area. Given that his criminal Empire ran from Italy, itself, all the way down to Caro, Egypt. He motioned with a hand to have Ivsi continue.

"Lady Layla," Ivsi continued, "apparently knows the Most Ancient and Most Noble House of Black in Britain. The person that was seen speaking to her was the escapee, Bellatrix Lestrange nee Black."

Krillius steepled his fingers as he thought about this, given his long history with Lady Layla. He and Layla had been a rather devastating team in their youth until she moved away to London to continue her research, while he started his criminal empire. He kept messaging Layla until she had returned to Italy, told him that she had a proposal for him and then his empire had grown larger than ever. Now, he kept up the business while Layla handled anything to do with Egypt itself, as she was of royal magician blood.

It also helped that no one wanted to cross her, poachers were learning that the hard way. He despised poachers, himself, the unsavory lot had cost him much of his wealth a few years back when he was trying to get a monopoly on a rare species of Wyrm from Ukraine. The poachers had nearly slaughtered his entire stock before he got his hands on them. The results were messy, but he got his money back in good condition, from the poachers' goods.

"Hmmm, if this Bellatrix needs something…" He mused before Ivsi spoke up.

"We haven't heard yet," Ivsi said, "but most likely she'll need transportation out of the country."

Krillius nodded before smiling, showing no teeth as he did so, "Contact the Head of the Potter Business, see if she'll be willing to take in the wayward Black sheep."

Ivsi nodded before quickly leaving Krillius alone with his thoughts, thinking of how he could create an alliance between his empire and the Potter's much more vast one. He was thinking so deeply that he didn't hear his lovely wife enter his office until she sat upon his desk and lifted his head, using a finger under his chin.

"Dear~," Evillia "Eighteen" Invernizzi purred, her seductive voice making Krillius smile widely, "I just heard you may be able to increase our empire even further?"

Evillia wasn't a normal woman, her beauty was inhumane. Blonde hair, dazzlingly sharp ice blue eyes, a figure that actually made veela weep. She was in a skin-tight acromantula silk gown, which hugged her impressive bust, hips, thighs and flat belly. The material also made her skin seem to glow a whiteness that was like purity of freshly fallen snow.

All this was a front, as Evillia had once been called 'Subject Eighteen', a human weapon created years ago near the end of the second World War. Eighteen had been born in an artificial womb, carrying multiple DNA from nearly a hundred different beings. She had been molded into an unstoppable killing machine in the body of some fallen goddess, until she was put into stasis due to Italy falling. She then had been taken to the Soviet Union, using her to train young girls in a super human research facility known as the 'Red Room'.

That was until the Soviet Union collapsed and Krillius discovered Eighteen in her stasis chamber, bringing her back to Italy and eventually the two fell in love and got married. Of course, children were still being hoped for but that was for another day.

Krillius nodded, "Bellatrix Lestrange has been spotted in Layla's area and I'm hoping to increase our empire's alliance by bringing her home."

Narcissa Malfoy prided herself on being a lady of composure and some level of regality, fit for the wife of Lucius Malfoy. Prim and proper, strong-looking, but not arrogant. She had leisurely strolled into the large gloomy living room of the Malfoy Manor, thinking today would just be another mundane day: calm, slow and steady.

Instead, the moment she stepped into the living room, she was greeted by the sight of Lucius and two servants at one of the tables. Lucius raised his head to look up at her only briefly. Narcissa saw traces of discomfort and discontent. His gaze then fell down once more, toward a pitch black letter. Narcissa already felt a ball of anxiety forming at the pit of her stomach.

"What's going on, dear?" she asked as she walked over to him. Lucius said nothing at first. Then he pursed his lips and extended the hand holding the letter over to Narcissa. She stared at the letter confusedly. "What is this?"

"Read it." Lucius ordered through grit teeth. Narcissa slightly flinched. She knew he was angry. Not at her, no. Narcissa gulped. Whatever the letter contained, it was apparently enough to arouse such a strong emotion from her usually unfeeling husband.

Taking a breath, she delicately took the mystical letter from his hand and began reading.

"Unkind Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy,

Addressing the less than tolerable actions of your son, Draco Malfoy, his lack of reasonable motivation and his refusal to de-escalate his conflict with Harry Potter; as the boy's current caretaker, I am thoroughly appalled to learn what a member of such a grand family is doing, in and out of Hogwarts grounds.

With this considered, if nothing is done to prevent further altercations between Draco Malfoy and Harry Potter, I will personally make sure there will be none, in my own way. I suggest you act soon…I'd rather avoid the trouble of cleaning THAT kind of mess.

With zero respect,

AZ"

Her face had gone noticeably pale. Sweat buds were forming on her forehead already. Her eyes were bulging to an almost scary degree. Narcissa herself could feel her knees and hands shaking as she struggled to process the letter.

She read it over and over in a few seconds, making sure nothing was misunderstood, soaking up every subtle meaning in it. Narcissa bit her lip. The more she looked at the letter, the bigger the pit of anxiety in her stomach became, but now it was also mixed with rage, horror, worry and disdain.

"This…ah, no…NO!" she exploded, throwing the letter. She was about to cast a spell to destroy it, but stopped just short of pulling her wand when Lucius casted a Levitation Charm on it. She shot her husband a confused glare.

"Don't destroy it. Doing so just tells the sender we refuse their terms. And to be honest…" he commanded the letter to float over to him. He traced his fingers over it as he took it in his hand once more. His movements were almost gentle, but with a noticeably tense edge, like someone rubbing a semi-deactivated nuclear warhead. A sly smile could be seen on his face. "I think that's exactly what she was hoping for, when making this…preposterous threat."

He shouted a quick incantation and a dagger manifested in his hand. He stabbed the letter into the table with such roughness it nearly split the poor object in two. Thankfully, Malfoy furniture wasn't cheap trash so all he did was leave a hole and a few cracks here and there.

"Wait…she? Are you talking about…Amoura Zibini?" Narcissa asked after getting over her shock. There was a clear change of her tone when she uttered the name of the Head of the Potters Family Business.

"The one and only. It is pretty obvious even on the first read. 'Guardian of Harry Potter', 'AZ' and they're bold enough to send us...this." he spat the last word with venom, waving a hand towards the stabbed piece of magic paper. "That is why I stopped you from destroying it. If it was anyone else, you wouldn't even know about any letters in this house."

"B-But this…no, no, she wouldn't-" Narcissa's stutters of disbelief were cut by her husband's piercing gaze. Those eyes of his that usually told the world so little about himself now spoke to her with more clarity than any record or archive.

'She would do it in a heart-beat', his eyes told her. He knew it, and she knew it too…her motherly instinct just wanted to deny that possibility.

Narcissa held back a whimper of fear as she bit her lip and clutched the coach so hard her hand grew pale.

"M'lady, you don't look well. Perhaps you should sit down with Lord Malfoy." suggested one of the servants. Narcissa's response was to glare at them heatedly.

"I am fine. You watch your tongue and don't speak without permission." Narcissa rudely chided him.

"Sit down, Narcissa. You look paler than my father right before he died." Lucius said humorlessly. When Narcissa shot him a look of defiance, a rigid scowl appeared on Lucius' face and Narcissa faltered.

With lack of steadiness and ease, she sat down on the coach. She intentionally put some distance between herself and her husband. The tension at the moment didn't allow for any closeness between the two.

Lucius sighed. He looked at the letter, then at the room around him and finally at the guards. Narcissa would've tried to decipher what was going on through his head, if her own brain wasn't overworking its nerves from the fright Amoura's threats have given her.

"You two are dismissed. Go back to your usual posts." Lucius put his hand up, commanding a pause before his servants were permitted to move on. "Also, I want all available staff, in and out of the manor, notified of the following: 'The Potters have become hostile. Be on the alert at all times. Anyone spotted in the vicinity of the manor whom you don't recognize should be driven off or shot dead. Increase Draco Malfoy's security'. Did you get that?"

The servant who had whipped out a paper-note shoved the pen and paper in his pocket when he was done and awkwardly bowed.

"Y-Yes, sir."

"Good…Now go, you simpletons." Lucius waved them off crudely. He pinched the bridge of his nose. "Sometimes, I feel like I'm surrounded by mindless apes. You can't force other Purebloods to serve you though…Everyone wants to be a fucking Lord or Mistress."

"'Increase security'?" Narcissa mouthed, her tone suggesting a disagreement in his decision. "Is that really the best you can come up with?"

"Are you questioning my ability to resolve this situation?"

"He's our son, Lucius! You can't just suffocate him with meat-shields and expect everything to turn out well!"

"Don't you raise your voice at me, woman! I know what's best for the boy!"

Narcissa flinched and her composure almost broke, but the fear for her son's safety was stronger than any patriarchal belief hammered into her head. Though her tone became a bit more nervous, as talking back to Lucius was something she very, very rarely dared to do, but this time…this time she knew for sure she was right to do so.

"Security can't follow Draco everywhere, Lucius! We have next to no power in Dumbledore's institution! What if Amoura has people there in advance, for situations like these? What if that Harry Potter decides to attack him at an opportune moment?!"

"Are you even listening to yourself, Narcissa? You're being delirious. A puny muggle-blood like Harry Potter is like an ant to our son. Draco is completely safe on Hogwarts grounds, and outside of it, we will have our own men constantly watching over him and reporting to us if anything occurs. Are you honestly going to tell me to my face that this plan wouldn't work?"

"You know I didn't…" Narcissa sighed and shook her head. "Whatever. Your plan will only work if luck's on our side or if the Potters are somehow incompetent this time around."

"Your word is subpar, Narcissa. What do you know of such affairs that I don't already know?"

Narcissa was at a loss for words. She looked away as she felt a stabbing pain in her chest and let out a barely audible sob. She was well-aware her husband took her opinion mostly for granted and viewed her intelligence as inferior to his. She didn't blame him for it…after all, as her husband, as THE Head of the Malfoy Family Business, he was 'supposed to be superior' to his lover in every aspect.

But, it still hurt her to be disregarded so thoroughly.

"You know just keeping Potter agents away won't solve the problem, right?" Narcissa asked, almost faintly and without strength. Lucius snorted and sneered haughtily in her direction.

"Of course, my dear. Being on the defensive constantly will just make it worse for us. That is why we must act first."

Narcissa's eyes widened and she gasped.

"What? What do you mean? What are you planning to do? Why would you-"

"Oh for god's sake, will you settle down?!" he shouted and raised his hand, making Narcissa shudder and shrink inwards. "I am not going to order my men to go in guns blazing. The families who loved to do that are now all lying six feet under, mostly thanks to the Potters."

"So, what are you planning?"

"Nothing big. Sabotage, undermining their business trades as much as possible without initiating skirmishes, a little defamation here and there…If we weaken them from inside, Amoura's threats will become shallow very quickly and we can force her to back off."

Narcissa didn't fail to notice the somewhat bitter and arrogant intonation of Lucius' voice at the end. It was like he cared more about getting Amoura Zibini to back off then he did preventing her from killing Draco.

Narcissa understood that she shouldn't detest Lucius for this. She was taught that it was an organization's Head's responsibility to put the power of the group above the individual members, their needs, lives or dispositions...Power-play was more essential in such affairs and Lucius understood that better than her.

A part of Narcissa began to question whether or not her upbringing was as infallible as she used to think. A part of her questioned if she should've been a more assertive wife.

Shaking those conflicting thoughts away, Narcissa was now certain of one thing: she had to rely on herself to make sure Draco didn't get himself killed.

Amoura Zibini was sitting behind her desk when her hired assassin came out of the shadows, causing her to look up. The figure was dressed in the ripped cloak or cloaks of former living Dementors, the inhumanly pale skin that was shown looked like a porcelain doll. A pair of hands lifted the hood up and the female face kept her eyes closed, red tattoos covering her cheeks in intricate designs not of this modern era.

"Assiris," Amoura greeted, waving her hand and summoning a simple stool, "I hope your mission was a success?"

Assiris sat and hissed, her lips parting as frosty steam left her mouth, "Yes, the Malfoy's were able to receive the letter...Lucius is increasing the security around the manor and his spawn. Narcissa is not impressed but her upbringing is keeping her quiet."

Amoura leaned back in her chair, studying the pale woman before her. Assiris wasn't a vampire, but a relic from the ancient past. A Shadow Chiss, a creature that lived in the realms of shadow but was a near vanished species. Assiris was found by Amoura years ago and was her personal assassin and messenger, the female being able to bypass any magical barrier and or protection.

"I see," Amoura nodded before smiling, "I believe it's time we deal with the Malfoy's before they get too much further. I prefer to make sure that the "honorable Malfoy Family" learns they aren't immune because of their name, wealth or power. They served Voldemort, they pay the price."