Bellatrix's painful, bruised skin was bleeding profusely. He stood, rugged and dishevelled, over her, eyes glaring hatefully towards the back of her head. She was on her knees, handcuffed to the bed posts. Painful tears dripped down her face and her teeth sunk into her lip and drew blood as the crack of the whip against her back reopened old wounds. Her back arched with the force of the metal, twisted wires slicing into her flesh. She fought a scream. Her wrists were bleeding where she had struggled against the magically reinforced metal. The more she struggled, the more pain she felt.
"You are mine." He hissed in her ear. "Show me obedience and I will show you mercy and love."
The sound of his voice near her, the tickle of his breath on her neck made her skin crawl. How could she once have loved this seemingly vulnerable man?
With the flashback still fresh and painfully vivid in her mind, Bellatrix stumbled away from the mirror. Her hair was falling out of the ponytail she had previously crammed it into. Her skin was still red and painfully blistered. Walking with her head hung low, she perched on the end of her bed and thought back to her husband.
The predicament was strange. Bellatrix was cheating on her husband with Him. He then killed Mr. Lestrange and expected Bellatrix to thank him for it. She was madly in love but that love soon diminished when he started showing his true colours.
It started off slowly, she didn't think that was abuse until it escalated and her secret friends found out… They showed her that it was abuse. That it wasn't right. That she shouldn't have to stand for it.
It started with that first kiss with her husbands corpse lying at her feet… She went to pull away but he pressed her into the wall, not allowing her to go. She took in a big gasp of air and his lips crashed back down upon hers. Once more she tried to pull away to breathe and he pressed his forearm against her thin, delicate, lace adorned throat. He ripped the lace choker off her neck cutting into the white skin. She gasped and he bit down painfully on her lip for gasping. But what else could she do to get away? He was forceful, he was strong, he was ruthless. And stupidly… She loved him.
Bellatrix blinked as daylight streamed through her window. She must have been stood, staring into the broken remains of the mirror, bleeding, for a longer time that she thought.
The flashbacks were coming to her stronger now, and more frequent, and each time, she lost a little bit more of herself. They were painful, to know that she was pretty much responsible for her husbands death and that she had cheated on him even though her wedding vows vowed otherwise.
She was drawn to power. That's why she was drawn to Rodolphus in the first place. That and he was dark and sinister, yet funny and loving towards her. He made her feel so special but she just couldn't escape the irresistible pull of the light side. He was powerful, he was also all of those.
She could still remember Rodolphus's death.
He bit down on her neck and Bellatrix giggled the insane little giggle that both men were drawn to. Rodolphus heard this outside the door. He was supposed to be away doing a job for you-know-who but he finished it and came back early so as to see his wife. When Bellatrix, His Bellatrix got sexual, she would growl. Rodolphus heard it and blasted the door down only to find her in bed with Him.
They both had quick reflexes but His were a lot faster than Rodolphus's and he shot the fatal green jet of light at her husband. She screamed and watched as his limp and lifeless body fell to the floor in an undignified heap.
"What have you done?" Her voice shook as her eyes filled with tears and she tried to push him away…
Bellatrix snapped out of it. She splashed ice cold water on her face and removed the dried black makeup. She felt a little better until she looked down at the state of her skin. She felt betrayed by her own body, as if her body had done this to itself without her mind's intervention, as if her body wanted her mind to know how delicate she really was.
She wasn't as brave as she made out to be, again, that was the insanity mask. The one she clung to desperately when she was fighting at the ministry, or when she tortured her only real friends. The guilt of that washed over her again and she felt dirty. She thought she had accepted it, but obviously, all these flashbacks had made her mind more confused that it was in it's normal state. Her skin was crawling. She felt like she needed to peel off every layer of skin that clung to her delicate frame if she were to ever feel clean again.
She ran her hands down the painful blisters that lines her most delicate area's. Her chest was particularly sore and each touch felt like hell but it made her feel like she was paying for all the mistakes she had made. Her nerves were alight but to Bellatrix, it felt like it was cleansing her from the inside out and that soon, she may turn into the burning picture of hell she felt she deserved.
Slowly, she picked up her wand and healed her painful, still bleeding feet. She fixed the shattered mirror but that did not fix her dreams. She healed the worst of the most visible blisters and walked over to her walk-in closet that contained many gothic dresses that she had a liking for. She selected a long sleeved, black corseted dress and spent the usual ten minutes lacing it up and making the bottom half lie properly. The sun was high in the sky now so she braved exiting the room only to be met by curious glares and foul language as the Death Eaters continued with their normal, violent disagreements.
A cold voice appeared behind her ear that made her jump and wish she hadn't left the safety of her room.
"Well, well, well, you finally decide to grace us with your presence I see. So why were you shouting at me again?" Snape's drawling voice sent horrible shivers down her spine and made her feel ready to throw up.
"You are a cowardly weasel and you don't deserve to be a Death Eater." Her voice was the same intense low that it had been the other day and he found that quite sexy. "Stop antagonising me Severus and stay well out of my way."
Her eyes flashed dangerously at him when she turned to meet his expressionless, cold gaze. His pasty, unpleasant face broke out into an evil smirk. "Antagonising you?" His voice held a mocking that suggested Bellatrix really was out of her mind and belonged in a white jacket in a padded cell. "You are clearly not right Bellatrix. I am no antagonist. I know the reason you hate me."
Her voice was low. "Oh yes? Do tell me why that is." She looked at him menacingly through narrowed eyes. Her pupils were small and deadly. If only looks could kill… Snape would be six feet under a thousand times over.
Snape took a step back and crossed his arms. Bellatrix allowed herself to breathe gently so she didn't inhale the grease dripping off his lank hair. He clearly hadn't showered for days.
"You're jealous that I'm on the light side and the dark." His voice was serious, low and almost a whisper so no one else would hear him. His eyes held a secret knowing and she made an involuntary gasp.
"I am not jealous of a cowardly twat like you Severus. What you think you may know is wrong. You don't know me. No one does." With that she turned on her heel and walked away, breathing a sigh of relief at being away from him, breathing clean air and trying to stop the dizziness in her head. It was true. She was jealous. She very much wanted to be on the light side but she had obligations here at the dark side. She was tied by the mark. She was tied by blood. Her eyes darkened as she felt her mark burn. She looked around at everyone else was carrying on as normal. Looks like the Dark lord wanted to see her privately. That was never a good thing. This meant it was serious.
She held her hands to her face and allowed the insanity mask to slip slowly back into place as she clamped her hand the warm skin of her forearm, on her mark and apparated away.
With a loud resounding crack, Bellatrix appeared in front of none other than the Dark Lord himself. She felt a wave of fear wash over her, but her mask didn't let it show. She wanted the Dark Lord to approve of her, and she knelt on the floor to bow before him and kiss the ground at his feet. Rising slowly to her feet she heard him hiss at her so she concentrated on what he was saying. "I need you, Bellatrix, to capture someone for me. Can you do that Bellatrix?"
She nodded mutely and her mask grinned. Inside, in the hidden part of her, she felt the terror creep into her bones.
Satisfied with her response, he whispered a name into her ear. "Hermione Granger."
"But why that little mudblood bint, my lord?" Her eyes widened. An involuntary motion that expressed her confusion and shock. Inside, she was cringing at the use of the word bint for such a young, pure, girl. She had met the amazing Hermione Granger. She was an amazingly smart witch.
"She is the brains of the golden trio. Without her, getting to Harry Potter will be easy."
"What, may I ask, do you wish to do to her, my lord?" Her voice shook an imperceptible amount as the fear coursed through her.
"Break her." The glint in his eye was obvious. He planned to have her scarred in more ways than one. The innocent little girl would no longer be innocent and she would hate herself, possibly to the point of suicide.
"Is there a deadline, my lord?" She asked, hoping to quaver in her voice didn't give her away.
"No, as long as I get her away from those two dunderhead idiots before I start war at Hogwarts…" He snickered darkly and looked down his non existent nose at her. "You may go. I suggest you try first… visiting the forest of Dean."
He pointed to the fireplace that was glowing green and she clearly spoke the words "Forest of Dean" And was whipped away before she could break down from the weight of the task she had been given. The dark lord will no doubt be keeping tabs on her so she would have to be clever about this.
Bellatrix wandered for an hour and by luck, saw Hermione Granger getting water to drink from a near by river. Her family were camping a few hundred yards away. She snuck up behind her and tried hard not to make her jump. "Hermione."
The girl span round, wand in hand, shaking and eyes fearful. Bellatrix raised both hands to show that they were empty and she meant no harm. Hermione slowly lowered her wand but her grip did not relax.
Whispering, Bellatrix kept the mask down so she could see the sincerity in her eyes. "Hermione, I'm here to help you, Voldemort wants you captured and unspeakable things done to you, but I can prevent that, I'm on your side Hermione."
Her voice shook. "Prove it. I have no reason to trust you." Her eyes were still full of fear and her defence stance never changed. The forest of Dean was just starting to get dark and the light filtered through the summer forest with difficulty.
"Hermione. I can't prove it but being looked after by me, who can explain so much to you has to be better than being raped by disgusting Death Eaters and forced to do things you wish you never had done. Just come with me, I can hide you, I can provide for you.." She took a hesitant step forwards and held on to Hermione's shaking, tense arm. "Relax and come with me."
Hermione nodded as a few tears escaped her leaking, wide, chocolate brown eyes.
Bellatrix took her by the hand and apparated away.
When the young girl opened her eyes, she was surprised to see a cottage, well kept, small and out in the countryside. Bellatrix asked if she liked it. "It's pretty yes, but is it safe?" The fear was evident in her voice as it shook uncontrollably, so close to cracking.
"Safe enough. No one but myself and now you have ever seen it." Bellatrix felt a strange surge of compassion towards the curly haired girl.
They stepped inside and the immaculately clean cottage and Hermione smile and then slumped to the floor in tears. Alarmed, Bellatrix asked what was wrong.
"Why does Voldemort want me raped? Why can't I be with Ron and Harry? When am I going to see my parents again? What are they going to say?" Tears rolled down her face as she whispered the last one. "Why am I trusting you?"
Bellatrix opened her mouth and sat down beside the girl. The soft light bounced off them both from the small windows in the ceiling and each tear that rolled down the sweet girls face was lit up and shone like a crystal ball.
"Voldemort is an evil, twisted man. He wants to break you, he wants to make it so you can't help Harry defeat him. You may not see them for a while but you will see them again. What are they going to say? Well I quickly modified their memories so they think that you are at the Burrow with Ron. You're trusting me because I can help and I believe you can help me too." He voice was silky and low as she tugged on the sleeves of her dress.
Hermione eyed Bellatrix's arms and noticed many scars, many blisters… "Healing?" She whispered.
Bellatrix nodded.
"Self inflicted wounds cannot be healed." She whispered.
Bellatrix simply nodded again.
"But I can teach you new things and if I get hurt… you can help me. Think of me as a big sister." She smiled warmly.
"But I thought you were crazy?" Hermione laughed nervously, tears still creeping down her pale, freckled face.
"Don't worry. I'm not really, now you look like you could need sleep.." She led the girl upstairs and conjured a black silk nightdress. "Slip into this, if you need me just call my name." She walked out the door and cast a charm on Hermione. Just so she could apparate back to the cottage when she was needed. The room was warm, well lit, with a four poster bed with black silk sheets covering it. She did as she was told and found that despite being scared out of her wits and in an unfamiliar house with a woman she trusted without a real reason… She fell into a dreamless sleep.
Crack. She apparated back to her room in Malfoy Manor. The usual screams and shouts could be heard for the hallway just outside her door. When she heard the shouting, she drifted into yet another flashback.
"You stupid Bint!" He would shout when she didn't want to do something. "Get here right now and get on your knees!"
His face was murderous, his eyes were dark and hidden. He grabbed her already badly bruised arms and pushed her to the floor. Her head cracked off the cold stone.
Blood. Blood was clotting her hair and running down her face.
"DO AS I SAID!" He shouted, grabbing hold of her wild hair and ramming himself into her mouth. She gagged and tried not to throw up as he relentlessly shoved himself into her throat. He tasted foul and she tried to bite down but when she did, he pushed in further making her feel worse. She felt most used when his liquid poured down her throat and she felt it. She wanted nothing better than to swallow bleach.
A/N: I kind of got a little side tracked in the middle there but I hope you liked it and are willing to review? This chapter is longer than the first for which I am incredibly proud. I think this story may have about … 5 chapters overall. But at this length that isn't so bad. Review please!