After this chapter, I have one more to finish up the Department of Mysteries Chapter and then I'll get back to original stuff. Hopefully, y'all will still enjoy readin gmy original work, haha. Enjoy. And constructive feedback is, as always, welcome. Italics J.K. Rowling.

Department of Mysteries Chapter PART C (Chapter 20)

Thinking as quickly as I could in the chaos that seemed to be reigning as Lucius scrambled to find the Potter boy, I grabbed the three death eaters closest to me and moved to cut them off back the way they had come in. Unfortunately, having not been a part of their group upon entering, I had to guess as to the way they would go to escape and lost time taking wrong paths and searching incorrect rooms.

Unfortunately, I had not moved anywhere near quickly enough, and as we burst through one of the doors to the exit, we found ourselves face to face with Potter and his gang of brats.

"There they are!" I shouted, as they ducked back into the room they had just come out of.

Moving quickly, we surrounded the room and entered without any cohesive plan. As the other Death Eaters moved after any child they set eyes upon, I shouted, "Get Potter!" It was a sad attempt to get everyone back on track.

But the boy was slippery as a snake and managed to slip away. I gathered everyone in the room and met Lucius with all of the others that he had brought up. We found ourselves in the strange room with a stone archway from which emanated a feeling of unease that permeated the entire room. I heard a commotion and, as everyone else did, looked toward the top of the stairs to see that Potter was falling down the stairs. If my nerves had not been strung so tightly, the scenario would have been almost comical. The way the boy practically fell down the stairs and thenbacked away from us and up onto the platform that housed the damned archway.

"Potter, your race is run," Lucius said slowly, carefully. "Now hand me the prophecy like a good boy..."

Something in Potter's eyes had my nerves drawing tight yet again. What was the crazy child going to do now?

"Let – let the others go, and I'll give it to you!" He said, desperation coloring the edges of his voice.

Lucius was trying to reason with the boy whena voice called from the stairs.

"He's dot alone!...He's still god be!"

My brow furrowed slightly. It was difficult to understand what that brat had been saying.

"Neville – no – go back to Ron --"

"Stubefy!" The boy shouted. He tried again and again, with no success.

Lucius turned his attention to the boy, and lifted a brow.

"It's Longbottom, isn't it?" He asked, flashing me a quick look. I felt a sudden and overwhelming disgust with him and myself. "Well, your grandmother is used to losing family members to our cause..." another glance to me, "your death will not come as a great shock..."

I knew what was expected of me. I'd become so numb to this aspect of being a Death Eater. And yet...some sick and twisted part of me was terribly excited by the thought of using the Cruciatus curse again. It had been such a very long time...too long to be away from an old friend like that...

"Longbottom?" I repeated, smiling slightly, unable to hide my self-loathing and knowing that it gave me a truly hideous and frightening appearance. "Why, I have had the pleasure of meeting your parents, boy..." I said.

"I DOE YOU HAB!" He roared, struggling to get free.

I waved away someone's order to stun the boy. I knew what he wanted and deserved, and I was more than willing to let him try. A boy like that posed no threat to me. In fact, a boy like that would give me the perfect opportunity vent my feelings for both Lucius and the Dark Lord...

"No, no, no," I murmured in a soft, velvety tone. "No let's see how long Longbottom lasts before he cracks like his parents...Unless Potter wants to give us the prophecy --" I flashed a sick grin at Potter.

"DON'D GIB ID DO DEM!" The boy shouted. I turned, with a sick grin. This boy was going to give me the perfect opportunity to recharge my system and get rid of these sick feelings of hurt and uselessness.

"DON'D GIB ID DO DEM, HARRY!"

"Crucio!" I screamed.

A rush of Euphoria swept through my body. It was better than I had remembered. I poured all of the anger, pain, and frustration I felt into that curse.

"That was just a taster!" I murmured lovingly to the boy lying at my feet. "Now Potter," I called, turning my gaze to him. "Either give us the prophecy, or watch your little friend die the hard way!" I shouted, feeling a sick joy at the possibility of using the curicatus again so soon.

Potter had just begun to raise up the Prophecy when his eyes shot to the top of the staircase. I whipped around to face the top of the stairs, only to see that Sirius was rushing into the room.

Potter and his little friend had begun shouting and racing about as others in the room fell into combat.

Sirius met my gaze arrogantly, lookingnot unlike whatI knew I looked like.

A truly evil grin twisted my features. He threw back a cocky smile belying his egotism and arrogance. I lifted a brow and waited, unengaged in battle as Sirius battled with Dolohov and some of the others, easily dispatching them while calling encouragement to Potter. I rested my weight on my left hip as he moved slowly and sinuously toward me.

For a moment we stood facing each other. I thought briefly ofthe friendly relationship that wecould have had.

Of what we never had.

What we never could have.

"Hello, Sirius," I sneered, tingles of anticipation racing up my spine.

"Bellatrix," he shot back.

Everyone else was involved in combat and took little notice of us.

"Impedimentia!" Sirius shouted.

With a laugh, I deflected his spell.

"You never were much use, Sirius," I snarled, a manic desire wiggling into my mind.

"Oh, and you have always been so terribly useful to those who needed you, Bellatrix. What is your job in your order anyway? Whore?" he shot back.

That touched a nerve far too deep. My vision hazed over in red. My grip tightened dangerously on my wand. I had never truly wanted anyone dead in my entire life. Until now.

"Crucio!" I screamed, sloppily flinging the spell in my rage. He laughed as he easily dodged it, the jet of red light shooting harmlessly into the wall.

"Come on, you can do better than that!" He shouted, arrogance etched into every line of his face.

His biggest mistake was thinking that I wouldn't be willing to flat-out murder him because he was my cousin. If asked, he probably would have denied that he felt that way. But he did. I knew him better than he could ever have known. We were far more similar than either of us would ever have cared to admit.

"Avada Kedavra!" I screamed into the echoing silence of the room.

The spell hit him dead-on in the center of his chest.

I felt a deep pain explode in my stomach as Sirius' eyes widened in disbelief and he lifted his gaze to my face. A scream tore out of my throat. Tears burned the back of my eyes.

What had I done?

I did not notice the chaos that the Potter boy was causing, and fled from the room and out of the Department of Mysteries.

I had murdered my own cousin.

I moved toward the telephone lift to exit the ministry when Potter burst out of the lifts. I randomly chose and flung a spell at the boy.

He ducked out of the way, and it occurred to me in that instant that I could use Potter to relieve some of this sick pressure on my heart.

"Come out, come out, little Harry!" I shrieked. "What did you come after me for then?" I demanded, on the verge of tears. "I thought you were here to avenge my dear cousin!"

"I am!" He screamed. The harsh echoes pounded my ears. I looked around carefully.

"Aaaaaah...did you love him, little baby Potter?"

Potter erupted from behind the fountain, and screamed a single curse "Crucio!"

I screamed at the one blinding flash of pain, but shook my head clear to aim a counter spell. My heart wasn't in my curse. I was almost...disappointed that he hadn't been able to sustain the spell. As far as I was concerned, I deserved the torture of the cruciatus curse.

"Never used an Unforgivable Curse before, have you, boy?" I shouted. "You need to mean them, Potter! You need to really want to cause pain – to enjoy it – righteous anger won't hurt me for long – I'll show you how it is done, shall I? I'll give you a lesson–"

He was barely visible, but I tried for it anyway. "Crucio!"

He ducked out of the way.

Frustration was dulling my very limited and weak sense of morality.

"Potter, you cannot win against me!" I screamed in fury, my fist clenching on my wand. Why wouldn't the boy give me the opportunity I needed? He was only a boy, hardly more than a baby!

"I was and am the Dark Lord's most loyal servant, I learned the Dark Arts from him, and I know spells of such power that you, pathetic little boy, can never hope to compete– "

"Stupefy!" he screamed, and instinctively I blocked the spell.

"Potter, I am going to give you one chance!" I called, trying to reign in my temper and frustration. "Give me the prophecy – roll it out toward me no – and I may spare your life!"

"Well, you're going to have to kill me, because it's gone!" Potter shouted. "And he knows! Your dear old mate Voldemort knows it's gone! He's not going to be happy with you, is he?"

My mind went completely blank.

The prophecy was gone.