Some light was filtering under a door at the end of the corridor. The Goblins opened it and stepped aside.
His hand clenching his wand inside his pocket, Sirius entered a dimly lit room.
"I knew you would come, you were always so predictable, cousin Sirius".
The gravelly voice was almost unrecognisable, but not the strident, shrill laugh that followed the words.
And yet it was impossible. The sick bitch was dead.
"Bellatrix ?" he said dumfounded, looking at the dark, hooded form in front of him.
Again, that unforgettable banshee laugh.
"Who else ?"
An sudden light flashed from the woman's wand and Sirius almost gasped in horror.
It was Bellatrix all right. And at the same time, it was not her. The eyes of the creature in front of him were a feral yellow, its wrinkled skin a dark grey. Her manic grin revealed teeth as sharp as wolf fangs.
"Werewolf blood", whispered Sirius.
"Always so clever, my little cousin… what a pity that you threw in the gutter all the assets that were yours at birth ! You were the heir of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black, the firstborn son of the eldest branch ! And you abandoned all that to associate with traitors and mudbloods".
"I know, I know, same old song. I'm well aware that the real reason why you've always hated me so much, even when we were kids, is your obsessive wish to be the damn heir yourself. Be assured that if it had been up to me, I would have gladly given you my place".
"And that's what shows the most what a complete fool you are, in spite of that so-called intelligence of yours that grand-father Pollux praised so much ! It's not as if it did you much good to choose the Muggle-lovers' side. They made you keep us company in Azkaban all the same. And yet, not only did you keep fighting at their side, but you gave them our ancestral home to be their headquarters, you degenerated blood-traitor !"
Her clawed hands clenching her wand, Bellatrix seemed about to strike. Sirius wondered briefly if he could defeat her in a spell fight, but he thought of Hermione, of their child, and decided against it. He had no idea of how powerful this new Bellatrix was. The cautious way was to buy time until Hermione, Harry and the others found a way to overcome the Anti-Apparition charm.
And the best way to do that was to get Bellatrix to talk about how she had cheated death, since she had to be very proud of it
"Well, if my esteemed ancestor really thought I was so smart", he said mockingly, "let's see if I can guess the trick that allowed you such a remarkable return from the realm of the dead. Considering that you're clearly not a ghost, and the slight changes in your lovely appearance, I would say that you followed the path of your late Dark Lord, and hid some parts of your soul, or whatever it is that stands in its place, in some horcruxes. But how you combined that with the use of werewolf blood, that I can't imagine".
Sirius's taunting words made Bellatrix's claws twitch on her wand again, but on hearing his last sentence, her yellow eyes gleamed even more fiercely than before.
"No one thought of it before me, no one. And yet it makes perfect sense. Why do we always kill werewolves with silver bullets, instead of using the Killing Curse ? It's because it doesn't always work on them".
"And how grateful I am for that", muttered Sirius, thinking of Remus 's near death experience at the battle of Hogwarts.
"They are much easier to find than unicorns. And the occasional disappearance of one of them often goes unnoticed, nobody cares for the filthy creatures. I had the idea to use their blood for the horcruxes ritual. And so, when that cow Molly hit me at Hogwarts, I didn't die, not completely. Werewolf blood is strong, and now my life is linked to it. Its only drawback is that the process of returning to life is slower than with unicorn blood and snake venom. But all I had to do was to let mother claim my body, and place it in the familial crypt. And then, she came to feed me regularly. Until your friend Potter and its bloody Aurors became a little bit too interested in her, so I had to move in my stupid sister's cellar".
"And then, she became the one who brought you the blood, isn't she ? You forced her to attack those werewolves".
Bellatrix smirked. "That was not difficult to guess, was it ? She was so sloppy that she couldn't even prevent the bodies from being discovered. She didn't want to do it, poor baby, but she was so terrified of me ! And so, she did as she was told, she always does. She brought me the blood I still needed, and as no one could find it surprising that mother would visit her, she and I could draw up our plan. When Narcissa told us about Andromeda's visit, we suspected that you would use Lavinia to locate this place. All what I had to do, now that I'm fully recovered, was settle down here and enjoy Gormuck's hospitality you showed up. It didn't take you long. We'll have to empty Lavinia's silly head before she can tell more of our secrets".
"As you did with your own sister ?" asked Sirius. He knew he had to make Bellatrix talk as long as possible. And to taunt her about her betrayal of one of the few principles she claimed to respect, the defence of her prestigious family, was a good way to achieve this.
Bellatrix's eyes flashed again. "I had to do it, or else in the end she would have betrayed me out of sheer cowardice, as she did with Voldemort".
"Voldemort ? He's not the Dark Lord anymore ?"
"He's dead, isn't he ? I've been cleverer than him, I'm still alive… And so are you, isn't that incredible ? My dear sister told me your resurrection story. It seems that I've a job to finish".
And suddenly, Bellatrix pointed her wand at Sirius. But he was just as fast, and he'd known what was to expect at the end of the monster's self-congratulating speech.
"Avada Kedavra !"