*heheeee cliffy. Evil me. Chapter seven *

Truth

Raid was already up when Hermione awoke. She was sitting on her bed, her hair a dark black, making her look distinctly eerie with her deep black eyes. She gave Hermione a small smile.

"Morning." She said quietly.

"Hey." Replied Hermione. "Sleep well?"

"I suppose." Raid said dully.

Hermione got dressed and the two girls went down to the Common Room to meet Harry and Ron to go to breakfast. The boys were already there waiting for them, leaning casually on two of the armchairs chatting. The four of them made their way to the Great Hall, Raids subdued mood affecting them all.

They sat quietly and Hermione began to talk to Harry and Ron about the days lessons as sleepy students came in to the hall and ate their breakfast. Harry, Ron and Hermione ate a hearty breakfast, but Raid only picked at her food, not eating more than a few mouthfuls.

Harry and Ron looked up and smiled in greeting to Neville who had, as planned, come over to sit with them. Raid, lost in deep thought did not notice him as he sat down next to her. Harry and Ron looked at each other, clearly confused.

"Good Morning." Neville said cheerfully.

At this Raid looked up at Neville. She looked in to eyes and said.

"I'm sorry."

Tears filled her eyes and she got up and walked swiftly out of the Great Hall. Harry. Ron, Hermione and Neville looked at each other, astounded, even more confused about Raid's behaviour than before.

"What was that about?" Ron asked. "She can't have heard us talking last night."

"I have no idea, but she doesn't seem the type of person to nearly burst in to tears over something like that. What is going on?" Harry asked. "Come on, we'll go after her and ask her."

"I don't know whether we should Harry. She looked pretty upset." Hermione said.

"We have to find out why she's being like this with Neville." Harry said forcefully.

He and Ron stood up and both looked at Hermione.

"Fine." She said, conceding defeat and getting up.

"You stay here Neville, we don't want her running off again." Harry said.

With that the three of them left the Great Hall hurriedly.

Raid was sitting, watching the huge cold lake that stretched out in front of the castle. She raised her face to the warm glow of the sun as it found a gap in the rolling clouds  to shine down on Hogwarts. She closed her eyes and wished she could be someone else, just for a moment, to be away from everything, all her problems and the truth, the awful truth.

Raid opened her eyes and looked up at the three shadows that had covered the sun. She quickly looked at the floor again.

"What is going on?" Harry demanded.

"Nothing." Raid lied quickly.

"Nothing? Why will won't you speak to Neville, its unfair on him." Ron countered.

"You don't know… what its like." Raid said, still looking at the floor.

"What, what is like? You can't just treat people like that." Harry snapped.

Raid jumped to her feet. She was taller than Harry by a few inches and her dark eyes and dark hair made her look menacing. Harry took a step back.

"You have no idea, I'm sorry its patronising, but you have no idea how much it hurts me to look at Neville Longbottom. Knowing what I know about him." Raid said, her face full of truth and anger.

"I know that his parents were tortured in to insanity by the Lestranges and other Deatheaters, you don't need to treat me like a 10 year old." Harry shouted.

Hermione and Ron looked at Harry, shocked.

"Harry, how…?" Hermione began, but Harry cut her off.

"It doesn't matter. What matters is that Eriador can not treat Neville like this just because she knows of what happened to his parents." Harry said, his voice full of venom directed at Raid.

Raid gave a short laugh, but she didn't sound amused at all. Turning she walked away from the three questioners and then a few paces later she turned back to them.

"You want to know the truth then? You want to know who I really am?" She shouted, her voice full of emotion.

Harry, Ron and Hermione were completely disarmed by this. What was she talking about?

"What do you mean, who you really are?" Harry said cautiously.

Raid smiled a sarcastic smile, it had come to this so soon. She knew it would have come about at some point, but this was her second day at Hogwarts. She looked up at the sky once more, then in a few steps she had crossed the gap between her and Harry, their faces were inches from each other. Her dark eyes looked deep in to Harry's green ones, she saw his pupils shrink rapidly making them a brighter green.

"My name," She said silkily, her voice barely above a whisper. "Is Eriador Lestrange. My mother," She continued, seeing a flash of recognition in Harry's eyes. "is Bellatrix Lestrange."

Hermione gasped, Ron just looked confused and Harry backed away from Raid slowly.

"You know Harry, I know you know, I can see it in your face." Raid said.

Harry could see it clearly, the moment in one of Sirius' rooms.

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Harry was now looking at the name to the left of Andromeda's burn: Bellatrix Black, which was connected by a double line to Rodolphus Lestrange.

"Lestrange…" Harry said aloud. The name had stirred something in his memory; he knew it from somewhere, but for a moment he couldn't think where, though it gave him an odd, creeping sensation in the pit of his stomach.

"They're in Azkaban," said Sirius shortly.

Harry looked at him curiously.

"Bellatrix and her husband Rodlphus came in with Barty Crouch junior," Said Sirius in the same brusque voice. "Rodolphus's brother Rabastan was with them, too." 

Then Harry remember. He had seen Bellatrix Lestrange inside Dumbledore's Pensieve, the strange device in which thoughts and memories could be stored: a tall dark woman with heavy lidded eyes, who had stood and proclaimed her continuing allegiance to Lord Voldemort, her pride that she had tried to find him after his downfall and her conviction that she would one day be rewarded for her loyalty.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix J.K Rowling

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Another memory flashed through Harry's mind, of the year before, whilst sitting in Dumbledore's Pensieve.

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The Dementors placed each of the four people in the four chairs with the chained arms which now stood on the dungeon floor. There was a thickset man who stared blankly up at Crouch, a thinner more nervous looking man, whose eyes were darting around the crowd, a woman, with thick shining dark hair, and heavily hooded eyes, who was sitting the chair as if it was a throne…

Crouch stood up. He looked down at the four in front of him, and there was pure hatred in his face.

"You have been brought here before the Council of Magical Law." He said clearly, "So that we may pass judgement on you, for a crime so heinous-"

"Father." Said the boy with straw coloured hair. "Father… please…"

"- that we have rarely heard the like of it within this court." Said Crouch, speaking more loudly, drowning out his son's voice. "We have hard evidence against you. The four of you stand accused of capturing an Auror- Frank Longbottom- and subjecting him to the Cruciatus curse, believing him to have knowledge of the whereabouts if your exiled master, He Who Must Not Be Named-"

"Father, I didn't!" shrieked the boy in chains below. "I didn't I swear it, Father, don't send me back to the Dementors-"

"You are further accused," bellowed Mr Crouch, "Of using the Cruciatus curse on Frank Longbottom's wife, when he would not give you information. You planned to restore He Who Must Not Be Named to power, and to resume the lives of violence you presumably led while he was strong. I now ask the jury-"

 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire J.K Rowling

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*They you have it, what will happen now? You will have to wait and see!!!, Sorry about the long extracts from J.K but they are necessary for people who haven't read the books or have read them, but cannot remember things :P PLEASE R&R for me*