The Veil

I do not intend to plagiarize either works by Rowling or Tolkien; I am merely using my imagination and applying it to their fantastic worlds. I've just tweaked some things to make the story relevant.

Chapters:10 of many

A/N: Oh goodness me. Time sure does fly when your preoccupied doesn't it?

My deepest apologies to all my readers for my lack of update within the last… I dunno, month(s)? I'm making the transition from high school to college, out of state I may add, and in the process, my family is also moving to a different house. I do not mean to make this an excuse.

All of your reviews were absolutely inspiring, and I hope this chapter comes to your liking.

(BTW, I happen to be on Spring Break at the moment, so I might be able to squeeze a few more chapters in if the reviews I get inspire me some more…)

oOo

It was dark, as most nights are prone to be, when a most peculiar woman woke from a most restless sleep. The room and bed that she lay in were cold, something the woman would have preferred under different circumstances, but tonight she found the wisps of visible breath leaving her lips unnerving.

Her eyes were wide, fear gripping the back of her throat, leaving her saliva stuck on her tongue. Her earlobes were freezing, and the tip of her nose could have nearly fallen off.

She could feel it, something was calling her. A deep whisper, low and rumbling, shaking her kneecaps and chattering her teeth, it shook her very core.

Evil. An evil so dark and terrifying she could compare it to no other. Not even Voldemort himself.

No, Bellatrix knew this had to be something much, much worse.

She lifted her torso from the chilly bed-coverings, and unwrapped herself from the blankets to place her calloused feet on the icy stone floor. Her hair was everywhere, and it made her feel… lethal.

Like a marionette she was raised from the bed, her footsteps jerking towards the door. Deep in her mind she knew something was wrong, but it was quickly over-shadowed by the rumbling tones.

"-agh burzum-ishi krimpatul."

She stepped into the corridor, leaving her wand on the bedside table, along with her better judgment.

It was like walking through thick smoke. Bellatrix vision became tunneled, narrowing indefinitely. She couldn't see an arm's length in front of her, but it didn't matter, she didn't need to see where she was going.

…Wait what?

Bellatrix stopped in her tracks. What was going on? She could… hardly think… straight!

Her legs began walking again. She tried to stop walking, but her legs wouldn't obey her! Was she under the influence of the Imperious Curse? What type of dark magic was th—

Bellatrix continued walking, the halls void of anyone but herself and the awkward-timings the patters of her feet made.

She was getting closer, she could feel it.

ooo

Legolas could hear the footsteps coming his way far longer than the owner of the footsteps knew he was even there. He had come outside after he brought Lady Bellatrix to her chambers, hoping to ease his mind of his racing thoughts, but found that something else was concerning him.

"The stars are veiled." He told the visitor.

Aragorn held his pipe in his mouth, taking a drag of the pipe-weed inside and blowing it out toward the stars. Legolas was cloaked, a dark figure against an equally dark sky.

Legolas' face became urgent, and he turned to Aragorn with his eyes wide and white, contrasting the darkness surrounding them.

"The eye of the enemy is moving."

He was silent for a few moments, before turning swiftly on his heel and grabbing Aragorn's arm.

"He is here!"

ooo

She couldn't see a thing now. The smoke was blinding, to the point where it felt as though her eyes were crusted shut, and no matter how much she rubbed, it wouldn't clear.

The coldness was starting to dissipate, starting with the floor; she could feel a warmth beneath the soles of her feet. Her legs were moving completely on their own now.

Bellatrix had to admit, she was scared shitless.

She could hear voices, but they were weird and dulled, as if behind closed doors. It sounded like whimpering, and a concerned chastising.

"Bellatrix?"

She heard her name! Spoken on a tongue of someone familiar, but who?

The floor suddenly spiked in temperature, burning her feet. She felt so dry, it was hot all around her. The view behind her eyelids turned bright red, like fire. It was so hot, so… hot. She needed water, desperately. Her mouth, just moments ago almost dripping with wetness turned to sandpaper, her tongue like parchment.

"Bellatrix no! Don't touch it!"

She could feel herself bending forward, her arms reaching…

It hurt! It hurts!

An eye! An eye of fire! Lidless and unblinking, drawing her in!

"I see you Bellatrix Lestrange… Faithful servant of the Dark Lord, your Dark Lord."

The smoke was gone now, only dry air, and fire, and the eye. She began to choke; her breaths came out hard and labored.

"Not my Lord! He is dead! He is—"

"Foolish girl! You will never be free! And now, I have you…"

She started to panic, the eye began to advance on her, coming closer in waves of heat and death.

"I am your new Lord. Forever faithful, you will be my servant!"

Visions of dementors on the backs of dragons invaded her mind. Flying, high above a city of stone, burning, destroying as they flew. One of them pulled back their hood, and Bellatrix found her own face staring back at her. Her skin looked as if it were melting, and her eyes were set so back in their socket, she thought they might have disappeared. The other her was smirking, showing teeth so rotten and yellowed it outstripped the state she knew her own teeth to be in currently, covered in soot and ash, she was brandishing a black metal staff. Flashes of green were shooting from the staff at the city, but the targets of the other her were too far away to see. The whole city was engulfed in flames, a giant torch. Suddenly, she could see Legolas with Aragorn not far behind him, both naked and tied, being pulled along in a long chain of survivors, now captives. Legolas' ears were mutilated, his pain showing with the tears that poured from his eyes. Aragorn was covered in bruises, two black eyes, and what Bellatrix recognized as a broken arm, his sword arm.

She couldn't bear to see them both like this, two people, whom she deeply cared for…

"NO!" she yelled, her voice cracking.

The vision began to retreat from her mind, growing smaller as she pushed the Eye's influence from her.

"You cannot hide, girl. I will always see you. You cannot escape!"

Bellatrix pushed at him, her arms outstretched in her mind, burning in the fires he created. She would not give up. She pushed, giving it all her strength, and finally she felt some give.

"Try me."

The eye screeched, a horrifying yell, bursting her eardrums. She could feel blood in her own ears, running down her neck. And then, a great shield burst from her, banishing the eye so fast from her that she was thrown back into reality.

An oversized crystal ball fell from her hands, landing with a crash against the stone floor, and cracking clean in half. Said hands were burnt, red and raw as if she stuck them in a raging fire.

She moaned, falling to her knees. She could see the feet of those in front of her, and recognized them all instantly.

A few ran to her, and she could feel hands on her back, helping her into a crossed-legged position on the floor. There was a pitcher next to her, and from the prompting of her queasy stomach, she grabbed it and emptied its contents straight into the bowl. She spluttered, and then laid back on the floor.

"That's it." She coughed, "Spill it. What the bloody hell is going on here?"

ooo

She was stunned.

What she had concocted in her mind as the history of this place, as she had known no inkling of what it was before, came nothing in comparison to what she was just told.

She knew there was a war, between good and evil, obviously, as she had fought in one mere days ago, but she did not know that it went to this extent. The members of what she had learned was the 'broken Fellowship' were sitting at one of the previous night's party tables in the Meduseld, all reminiscing over what they had just revealed to her.

Another Dark Lord.

Another 'Chosen One.'

Another war between good and evil.

Gandalf was discussing matters, trivial ones she supposed, with Théoden ahead of them all.

It was all too strange for her. To have left from a place where a great battle had literally just ended between opposite forces, only to get thrown into another one, on the other side no less!

"I suppose Gandalf put you all up to this? Keeping information from me, I mean."

Aragorn looked at her, "You must understand. Gandalf never does anything unless it is with good purpose."

Sure.

The table grew silent, and all turned their attention to the King's and Gandalf's conversation.

"—ride to Minas Tirith." He locked eyes with Pippin, "And I won't be going alone."

She was left at the table with Legolas and Gimli, the others running after Gandalf and Pippin.

"So, Lass." Gimli grunted, "If we've learned one thing, it's that you really can't hold your liquor."

ooo

It was a few mornings later that found Bellatrix Black in an odd mood. She was in the courtyard with a bored Aragorn who was packing his pipe. She had her wand out, and was going back and forth between changing a twig into a dagger and back again.

Aragorn was watching her in obvious interest, and she couldn't help but smile at how she could make him marvel at something she considered so simple.

"If I may ask Bellatrix," he shyly asked her and continued when she nodded her head, "When did you learn that you had this, well, these—"

"Magic?" She replied.

"If that is what you call it, then yes."

She sighed, wondering how she would explain this to him without making them both confused.

"Well, I was born into a—a pureblood family. So I've known about magic since I was born."

"Pureblood?" he asked.

"That's what the more prudent call those of which every family member have been a wizard or witch. There is also half-blood and… muggle born." She almost stuttered over her words.

"Ah!" he smiled, "Half-blood is not too unlike what we have here, Half-elven. But what is a moogle?"

"Muggle."

"Yes, what does that term describe?"

"It's what wizards call those who aren't wizards. A muggle born is a wizard child born to muggles."

She thought back to the female in Potter's little trio. Hermione Granger. Excluding the battle at Hogwarts, the last time she was close to the girl was when she was carving 'mudblood' into her arm.

I'm sorry Hermione…

"Ah, I see." He noticed a strange sad look in her eyes. He looked at her wand resting in her lap within her bandaged and salved hands, "And what is this? Your staff?"

"I guess you could say that." She said, "It's called a wand."

It had been hard to hold her wand after her hand had been bandaged for a while, there was just something restricting about holding a wand when you were essentially wearing bandages-for-gloves.

"And this magic comes out from the end of it?" He asked, as curious as a child would be.

"You could say that."

"Fascinating."

"You can say that again."

"Fascinating."

"No, Aragorn. It's a saying where I come from. It doesn't literally mean to say something again."

ooo

A few hours had passed with the same sort of conversation consuming it all. It wasn't until Aragorn had finally run out of questions about Peeves the Poltergeist that they took a break from conversation and Aragorn had noticed it.

In the distance, a tiny speck could be seen, shining brightly.

On fire. Bellatrix thought.

Aragorn suddenly jumped up, startling her, and running quickly to the Meduseld. Bellatrix hopped up and chased after him, catching up just before he burst through the doors.

"The beacons are lit! The beacons of Minas Tirith are lit!"

Everyone in the hall turned to look at them. Théoden had a strange expression on his face.

"Gondor calls for aid!"

There was silence in the hall, as all listened for Théoden's reply.

"…And Rohan will answer! Muster the Rohirrim!"

oOo

So, this one was pretty short. But I feel like I'm hitting a little bit of writers block right now. I'll write another soon, I promise, but I'd really appreciate if you guys could give me your two cents to either inspire me or give me some ideas. In fact, I write these for you all of course.

Thanks to my loyal readers, reviewers, and watchers of this story.

And thanks to all who favorited!