When Bella woke she could feel a chest doing some heavy breathing against her head. She raised said head slowly. It felt heavy. By turning it just slightly to the right and flicking her eyes upward she found she could avoid most of the pain and see that the chest she was leaning on belonged to the cousin who'd spent most of the either today or yesterday, she wasn't sure how much time had passed, torturing her with great gusto.

Sirius appeared to be asleep. Moving about, Bella attempted to guage the extent of her injuries. Had they been any fewer, she would have gritted her teeth and gotten the hell out but, as it was, the smart thing seemed to be to stay put.

After a little while she pushed her face against Sirius to block out the light filtering through the large window by which they sat and went back to sleep. Before she drifted off, Bella noticed that she was clothed in only her knickers and a large dress shirt. She wondered vaugely for a moment where her things had gone.

He was gone a when she woke again. Thrist drove her out of bed and to the kitchen where she was none too thrilled to find the missing Sirius. He looked up as she entered and gave her an ingratiating smile.

"Glad you're up and about. There's coffee in the pot and eggs and hash in the pan." he said. Bella reached into her pocket for her wand only to remember it wouldn't be there even if she was wearing her own clothes. Instead she stalked stiffly over to the hot coffee pot and threw the contents at her cousin's back. He howled and danced about the kitchen for a few seconds while she leaned on the counter and laughed as much as she could with a bruised and quite possibly broken set of ribs.

After Sirius had changed his shirt and they'd served up breakfast in silence, they ended up seated at the breakfast table munching away. Bella kept shooting him dirty looks over her plate. The house elf, that had been freed but simply refused to leave, walked in with the daily prophet and handed it to her master. He glanced at the headline. A disoncerted frown spread slowly over his face.

"Hogwarts potion master, Severus Snape, steals last ministry time turner, then disappears." He read aloud. "It was discovered this morning that the only remaining time turner in ministry possesion had been stolen from its resting place in the department of mysteries. Severus Snape was seen by a witness entering the minitry through the employee entrance at around four in the morning." He stopped and looked up at Bella.

"Seems poor Sevvy won't be getting his job back come fall. Not that he needs it, anyway." Bellatrix laughed at her private joke. Laying the paper aside, Sirius folded his hands and sent her a pointed "explain" look. She rolled her eyes and ostentatiously took a sip of coffee.

"Bella, what does slimeball want with a time turner?" said Siri. Bella snorted and nearly choked. After recovering, she peered over the rim of her beaker and asked.

"How badly do you want to know?" Siri sighed and countered.

"What do you want?"

"For starters, though it's unspoken, I am a prisoner here. Wandless. Without proper clothes. I'd probably be very happy to have those things restored to me and it might even make me grateful enough to let you in on which one of your friends is in imminant danger." She smiled and started talking to herself. "Oops, shouldn't have said that. Now he'll be painfully curious." Sirius reached into his pocket after staring at Bella for a long moment. He pulled forth her wand and set it on the table.

"Your clothes are hanging up in the bathroom. They're freshly washed. The front door is open. You're free to leave at any time." He finished speaking and looked at her expectantly. Bella picked her wand up off the table and rose slowly. She disappeared into the loo and came out a while later, fully clothed. Siri was still sitting at the table. She took her time getting back over to it and taking her seat.

"Nearly a week ago now, I had a conversation with a very jumpy little Snape. He had just heard offhand from Lucius that the ministry had kept one time turner for their personal use when they destroyed all the others after Harry's escapades following your escape. He was quite proud of his plans to steal it. Figured the whole thing out himsef, bless his heart. You know he's never really gotten over Lily. It might even be understandable if she hadn't been a mudblood." Sirius' face twitched at this. "James was always the problem. Baby Sevvy never really stood a chance while he was around. He plans, therefore, to take him out of the equation." She took another sip and looked up, smiling with affected innocence.

The table shook as Sirius pounded his fist into it. Bella didn't even flinch. The floor went the same way as the table as Sirius began to pace up and down the kitchen. Bella got up, went over to the hook where his coat was hanging, and searched through the pockets until she laid hold of the pack of cigarettes that had a permanant residence there. She shook one out and started it with its neighbor, the lighter. A smile of contentment washed over her face as she closed her eyes and took a drag.

As Bella pulled herself out of her momentary reverie she mused. "I wonder what someone in your position would do for a timeturner." In a second, Sirius was upon her and pulling the smoking paper from her hand. He uttered only one word.

"Where?" She smiled peacefully up a him and slwly plucked the cigarette back out of his hand.

"The family vault. We've had one for centuries. Unfortunatly, dear cuz," she poked his nose "you don't have access." She went on smiling and smoking while Sirius walked, quite calmly, over to a counter full of dirty dishes and swept them off in one movement of his long arm. Bella closed her eyes, looking slightly pained. He returned to her side.

"Bella, how much is it worth to you not to be killed by your master upon your return?"

"Why would he do that, dear? I am, after all, his favourite."

"He might be just a tad upset if he found out that his whor-sorry 'favourite' helps bloods traitors on the side." He smiled down at a silent Bellatrix. Making sure he was close enough for her to feel his hot breath. "Andromeda has much to thank you for regarding her successful escape and freedom from financial troubles over the years. You hang about my house a great deal too. In fact, I would say you're a great deal friendlier with me than anyone who disapproves of blood traitors ever ought to be." Bella slid out from under him and went back to the table.

"Aright. You can have the damn time turner. But that's it! We don't see eachother at all. Whoever kills the other first gets the money, satisfaction, and bragging rights." She said in a flat sort of tone.

"You" He crossed the room to the table and and sat down. "Will hand over the time turner and help me secure the safety of one James Potter. True, you'll never catch back up and we'll have to go into hiding but you won't be brutally tortured and killed by a wrathful Dark Lord. With the added onus of him never discovering what a little blood traitor loving weakling you are." She looked at him long and spoke slowly.

"I get to say goodbye to Cissa."

"Fine. Deal?"

"Deal."