Sorry it took me so long to post this chapter! I had a couple busy days and some trouble finishing it. Um, yeah, so I wrote chapter 4 and 5 as one chapter, but they were so long together that I decided to split them into two chapters and make a two- parter! Uh, yeah, guess that's it...

Chapter 4

Now and Then: Part I

I sighed and sat down on a nearby bench, rubbing my sore eyes. I had been walking in circles for hours, to furious to sit still. But now my mindless anger was ebbing away, leaving me exhausted. I laid down against the hard wood, my mind still buzzing with tired energy. My thoughts drifted to the earlier fight with Father, and I smiled proudly. Suddenly I sat up, wide awake, realizing a consequence that I hadn't foreseen. Idiot! I thought, furiously. You were perfectly positioned! For Merlin's sake, you lived in the room next to his! My anger was returning fast and I kicked myself, finally realizing what a big mistake getting kicked out had been. Adrenaline pumping through my blood, I jumped up and began to walk again. I thought of what Bella would say if I told her what I had done. I could see her as clearly as if she was standing in front of me, her eyes smoldering with anger.

Stupid, stupid, stupid! My dream-Bella said. How could you do something so unbelievably stupid! All you had to do was sneak into his room while he was asleep. It would have been so easy! But now that you got yourself kicked out, you're going to have to neutralize any security spells, get into the house, and get out again, all without being caught! And to top it all off, you're going to have to establish an alibi, because now you have a motive!

I sighed and pushed all thoughts of Bella from my mind. Thinking about her made me madder, and I needed to calm down if I was going to get any sleep at all. I paused and glanced around, trying to figure out where my feet had taken me. I was standing on a long, rustic path that led up a steep hill. I frowned. The path, the hill, the woods surrounding me, they seemed strangely familiar... I walked to the top of the hill, and, breathing heavily, looked forward to see a small cottage. My blood froze as I realized where I was. I had stood in almost the same place a few weeks ago, but everything had been different then. If now was then, I wouldn't be planning a murder. I would've walked up this hill happily, knowing I had a home and a life to go back to. And her. She would've have been here to, standing right beside me...

"Bella..." I moaned, looking at her pleadingly. She glared at me for a few seconds, but I could tell by the way her mouth twitched that she was fighting back laughter. I widened my eyes and stuck out my lower lip in the most pathetic puppy-dog look I could muster. Bella maintained her stern look for a few seconds more, then broke down laughing. I smiled. You could always tell Bella's mood from her laughter. When she was angry, her laughter turned cold and mocking. But right now, her voice was light and warm; she was in a good mood.

Still chuckling, she laid down next to me and closed her eyes. I turned on my side to say something to her, but the breath caught in my throat as I looked at her. The green, summer grass contrasted sharply with her dark skin, making her slim, graceful figure appear even more beautiful. Dew gathered around her many ringlets, making her hair glow in the sunlight. Even in the simple, everyday robes she was wearing, she looked as regal as a queen. I breathed in deeply, trying to capture the absolute perfectness of the moment. I stopped breathing abruptly as I inhaled a large clump of grass. I rolled over, coughing and spitting out dirt and grass. flipping over, I saw Bella standing over me, holding a fistful of weeds and laughing hysterically. I grinned, then quickly covered up my expression of happiness with a grimace.

"So Crouch," Bella said, when her laughter had died down. "Are you going to do what I say now, or do I have to throw more grass at you?" I faked an expression of great concentration, then heaved a huge sigh.

"I reluctantly surrender," I said. "But I shall have my revenge!" she winked, then darted forward, tucking a lock of my hair behind my ear. I stared into her deep-brown eyes, so close to mine. My body seemed out of my control as I slowly leaned forward, lips parted...

"I'd like to see you try," she said, dumping the rest of the grass she was holding on my head. "Now seriously, Barty, we have work to do." she turned around, then began to make her way toward a small, stone building. I stood still for a second, mind still frozen, then shook my head, coming back to myself.

"Wait up," I yelled at Bella's already disappearing form. I sprinted up the hill towards her, but couldn't seem to catch up. I kept running until I was at the building, then stopped, trying to see where she'd gone.

"Slowpoke," Bella voice came from behind me. I pivoted, and saw her leaning against the stone house, arms crossed.

"How did you get here so fast? That's impossible!" I exclaimed, gasping for air. She laughed and tapped the brick next to her with her wand, whispering something. Suddenly, a door appeared, and Bella held it open for me. The doorknob sizzled threateningly as I went past, and I glared at it. The first time I had come to Bella's house, I had tried to open the door myself, which had given me a nasty shock; it seemed that neither of us had forgotten yet. Bella rolled her eyes at me.

"Maybe," she said, in her reasoning-with-a-three-year-old voice. "If you'd just apologize, the door would let you touch it..."

"It should be apologizing to me!" I said indignantly, stepping inside. She shook her head in disbelief and closed the door behind us. As with most Wizard dwellings, Bella's house was much larger on the inside then you'd think it would be. I started to walk up a long, spiral staircase, but Bella grabbed my arm.

"No," she said. "Today we're doing something new." I looked at her questioningly, but she just smiled mysteriously, and beckoned for me to follow her. We walked through rooms and rooms filled with nothing but cobwebs, until we reached a door. Bella pushed it open, and I followed her down a long, narrow staircase. I gasped as we reached the bottom. This room was nothing like the numerous, empty rooms upstairs. Tables and bookshelves covered most of the huge dungeon we were in. As I continued to follow Bella, I caught glimpses of strange devices sitting on the tables. Eventually, we reached a table with two chairs. Bella sat down and signaled for me to do the same.

"This house was willed to me by a great Aunt a few years ago," she explained. "It used to be the castle of some king no one's ever heard of, who's only goal in life seemed to be to curse as many of those rooms upstairs as he could."

"Why don't you just...," I began to ask, but Bella interrupted me.

"I've tried to remove all the curses," she said. "But after the second troll appeared out of mid-air, I decided they weren't worth renovating." I winced in sympathy.

"Now to business," she said. "Today I'm going to teach you a handy little curse..." she stopped speaking abruptly and I followed her gaze to see the cause of her distress. A small, brown owl had just flown through the door, and swooped over to Bella, dropping a note in front of her. Bella reached for the envelope with a frown, hesitated for a split second, then opened it.

"How could the owl have gotten past your security spells?" I asked, offering my hand to the owl, which was perched on the table.

"Bella?" I asked again, when she didn't answer my question. I looked up quickly and saw her staring at the letter, a mixture of disbelief, anger and even- yes, even fear crossing her face. She dropped the letter on the table and stood up.

"Bella, what's wrong?" I asked, looking at her with concern. She looked at me as though she didn't know who I was.

"Sorry," she said. "Sorry, we... we'll have to finish this some other time..." and with those few words, she strode toward the staircase. I sat for a moment in bewilderment. I heard her footsteps receding and glanced at the table, where the letter still rested. I hesitated for a moment, then succumbed to my temptation, picking up the letter. Scanning one side, I realized it was blank, and flipped it over. The other side was also blank, except for a small sentence in the upper left corner, composed of only two words. It read simply, 'Rodolphus failed'. I blinked in puzzlement. Rodolphus? Who was Rodolphous? What had he failed at? I put the letter back on the table and picked up the envelope, hoping to solve this strange puzzle. It was unmarked, though, and gave me no more information. I tried to out what the message had been about for a moment longer, then dropped it. It didn't matter. Bella would tell me next time we saw each other.

So, I'll have part 2 on in a couple of days! Hahaha! I love doing flashbacks! Thanks for the nice reviews by the way!