Written for Flying Lessons on Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry (Challenges & Assignments)

Prompt: Hogsmeade (location) and Ridiculous (extra/word)

Hogsmeade was vacant of the usual chattering crowds that came on the weekends, which was music to Bellatrix's ears. Only the wind whistled eerily through the alleyways, setting the town in a state of melancholy. Wandering the streets, she remembers her days at Hogwarts vaguely, she couldn't stand the company of others.

There was no real reason why she was here in Hogsmeade, only that she felt the need to get away. Not from her Dark Lord, of course, but from the Malfoy Manor. She was careful to have a glamour on, in case the Aurors happened to be sniffing around. She wasn't in the mood for a dueling match, her usual remedy for boredom. It wouldn't have been quite as fun as her last one, when that strange boy had confronted her. It was odd, because it was hardly a duel for the ages, it was barely a duel at all, yet the whole experience had entertained and intrigued Bellatrix immensely. The fiery young man was constantly on her mind, even more than the Dark Lord, and she couldn't figure out why. He was just another Weasley pest. She really didn't want to see him again, but at the same time she did.

So when Bellatrix rounds a corner and walks straight into him, it takes her a few seconds to figure out what is going on. Of all the impossible, ridiculous, chance encounters. Why couldn't she run into the Potter brat?

Luckily for her, she still has the element of surprise, Charlie doesn't recognize her. His hand had shot to his wand, but the alertness in his eyes died as he looked over the helpless 20-something girl. Bellatrix toyed with the idea of playing with him, but her thirst to be recognized, to be acknowledged by him, won out immediately.

"Charlie." She said in a seductive purr.

Charlie instantly stumbled back, eyes widening. The voice is unmistakable. He doesn't know if he should be disgusted by the way she says his name, or turned on. Bellatrix raised an eyebrow as, despite his stance, he made no move to attack her.

"I'm beginning to think that you're one of the dumber Weasleys, not that I'm surprised. I don't think even I could dodge at this range." Bellatrix teased.

Charlie gritted his teeth. "What are you doing here? Another Death Eater attack?"

Bellatrix snorted, "If there was another attack do you really think I would be here alone? I'm the Dark Lord's most faithful servant. I don't dirty my hands with such rubbish."

This caused Charlie to hesitate, but he didn't lower his wand, "And why should I trust a word you say?"

"You can't, and that's the beauty of it all." Bellatrix grinned wickedly. "Since you're here, how about round two?"

But before Bellatrix could even take out her wand, there was a familiar swooshing sound that filled the air. Dark cloaks materialized at either end of the alleyway, enclosing the pair inside.

"Scared to face me alone?" Charlie mocked, trying to keep an air of confidence.

"Hardly." Bellatrix deadpanned, "They aren't with me."

A figure stepped forward from the end closest to them, removing his hood. Jagged scars criss-crossed his features, long straggly hair ran down to his shoulders.

"Dolohov?" Bellatrix asked, bemused. "To what do I owe the honor?"

Dolohov didn't answer her at first, his eyes flickering back and forward between the pair.

"Well, well, well. So the intelligence was good, you have turned your back on the Dark Lord. Sleeping with the enemy, Bellatrix?"

Bellatrix narrowed her eyes, fingers caressing her wand. "Maybe I misheard you, Dolohov. I could have sworn you just accused me of betrayal."

"You heard correctly." Dolohov answered simply. "You've been acting different lately, your mind and your body are rarely in the same room. Snape told us that next time you go off on a mysterious trip, we should follow and see what you're up to. And here you are, consorting with the enemy."

"Snape…" Bellatrix muttered. So this was his power play to get her away from the Dark Lord, with her gone, and Lucius' failure at the Ministry, he would be the unquestionable second-in-command. Bellatrix thought over her options furiously. Killing the boy wouldn't do her any good, maybe they could fight out of here together? Unlikely, he was no duelist. Come quietly? The Dark Lord would penetrate her mind and find her innocent, but of course her mind wasn't innocent, she'd been thinking of nothing but the blood traitor since that fateful night, he wouldn't forgive her for that.

"Amazing. No one will believe me when I tell them the famous Bellatrix Lestrange actually was at a loss for words, truly the stuff of legends." Dolohov mocked. "Nott, McNair, take care of the boy, we have to disguise this as a random attack. The Dark Lord wouldn't be pleased if word got out of infighting."

A flash of panic gripped Bellatrix, she spun and deflected the stunners, about to catch Charlie unawares in the back. It took a few moments to register what she had done, and even then she didn't know why.

Dolohov snorted, and gave the silent command. Volleys of killing curses rained down, turning the alleyway into an explosion of noise and dust. Bellatrix grabbed Charlie by the front of his shirt and pulled him down to the ground, simultaneously firing off curses in every direction she could.

Credit to the boy, Bellatrix thought, his instincts had taken over and he too was shooting off into the dust cloud that surrounded them. Wait a minute, were those spells red?

"What are you doing?" Bellatrix hissed. "Kill! We need to kill to get out of here alive! Do I have to teach you the bloody incantation?"

"I'm not like you" Charlie responded quietly.

Another pang of emotion gripped Bellatrix, both similar and different to the ones she'd felt when she'd first seen him, when he called her old, when she left him lying in the Great Hall, when they bumped into each other today, and when she'd protected him from her former allies. This Charlie boy was a roller-coaster of emotions.

"It doesn't matter if you're like me or not." Bellatrix argued, before sighing. "Fine, if you have a better idea to get out of this mess, then I'm all ears."

Charlie was quiet as he looked at their situation.

"Apparate behind them and kill like you suggested." Charlie said. "I'll be fine by myself."

Bellatrix grudgingly admitted that it was a great idea, and did what she was told. The three idiots were still firing spells at the now lone Weasley, and she took the opportunity to Crucio each Death Eater. One by one, they dropped down and screamed in pain. Bellatrix crackled, before doing it again and again. Did they really expect bringing her down? Bellatrix Lestrange? The most feared woman in the Wizarding World? The one that was trained personally by the Dark Lord. She taken back to another time like this, when the Dark Lord was missing and she was looking for answers...

Reality was distorted with the past and Bellatrix had to stop and blink. She had to remind herself that she wasn't at the Longbottoms', but instead out in the empty streets of Hogsmeade. Bellatrix felt somebody watching her, and she looked up to meet blue eyes. That Weasley boy was here and everything was falling back to place. She looked down at former allies, and anger surged in her. She grabbed Dolohov's hair pulled him towards her.

"Really Dolohov next time you should just mind your business," Bellatrix purred, the madness present in her tone. "AVADA KEDAVRA!"

She dropped the now dead Dolohov and turned to face Nott and McNair, who were still undergoing the aftermaths of her Cruciatus Curse, and uttered the words, "Obliviate."

It would have been to suspicious for them all to die. She turned to Charlie and growled in frustrated, when she couldn't make herself kill him. Instead she disapparted and left Charlie confused.