Hey, guys :)

It was my first day back at school today and wanted to see if I could write the next chapter before I start to drown in homework!

I have decided to make this a Hermione/Bellatrix endgame fic after a few reviews I received got me thinking! It'll be a slow burn romance, however, and, to be honest, I'm not sure how big of a part the actual romance will play in the story. But I wanted to give this pairing a shot and I think it'll work with what I have in mind so far.

Warnings: This fic is dark. It contains torture, murder, kidnapping, implied/referenced domestic violence, the use of mind-altering influences and mind magic, abuse, and other mature themes. This fic will also contain character bashing, namely Dumbledore-bashing and some Weasley-bashing.

Warnings will be updated as I go along. If I missed something that should be in the warnings, please let me know and I'll add it immediately.

Disclaimer: I do not pretend to own Harry Potter.

"Speech"

"Spells"

Chapter Three: Purple Hues and Padfoot's Dreams

Hermione refused to make a sound as Bellatrix dragged her through the dark, twisting hallways. She didn't even try to remember the way, it was too confusing. Instead, Hermione took the time to study the woman in front of her.

She had heard a lot about the famous Bellatrix Lestrange née Black. A merciless, cold-blooded killer and an extremely talented Dark Witch. Her talent in the Dark Arts rivaling that of the Dark Lord, although no one with self-preservation would say so out loud. The woman had been top of her class at Hogwarts and said to be one of the strongest witches of her generation. She was also rumored to be very beautiful and, well, the rumors weren't wrong.

Bellatrix Lestrange was an extremely beautiful woman, even after the brutality of 12 years spent locked away in Azkaban.

Hermione was supposed to fear her, to hate her. After all, this woman hated her and her 'kind' and had committed atrocious acts against thousands.

And yet, there was something about Bellatrix that made Hermione curious rather than scared.

There was this…aura..around Bellatrix.

While it spoke of great power tightly curled under the surface, ready to use should she be allowed to release it, it also felt like something wasn't quite right.

That feeling had strengthened when Hermione had seen Bellatrix up close for the first time back in Voldemort's throne room. The older woman's eyes seemed to shift rapidly from dark to light purple until it settled on one for the moment. When they were light, the witch was a simpering, loyal servant and in the next moment, her eyes would flash dark purple and she would seem confused and tightly wound, as if ready for a fight. She had also noticed that some of the Death Eaters around them would tense and grow restless whenever Bella's eyes would go dark purple.

Huh. Curious.

Hermione was interrupted from her musings when Bellatrix stopped suddenly, causing Hermione to almost crash into her. Even in the dim lighting, Hermione could see the way the woman's eyes grew dark and her movements became hesitant.

She tilted her head to the side, her wild mane of curls framing her face. She looked as if she was trying to figure something out.

"Uhh," Hermione couldn't help but mutter.

Bellatrix's head snapped to the left as the sound left Hermione and flinched when she saw her. Her eyes, now a vibrant dark purple, were wide with confusion and a hint of fear. It was a surprising look for a woman who, five minutes ago, had looked gleefully enthusastic about the potential blood to be spilt. Hermione was beginning to think that the Bellatrix in front of her wasn't the Bellatrix the rest of the Death Eaters were used to working with.

Before Hermione could say anything to Bellatrix, a tall, dark-haired man rounded the corner and caught sight of the two.

"Bella?" The man asked, looking concerned, even though his eyes conveyed a cold distaste that didn't match the look of concern. Then, he saw the dark colour of her eyes. His eyes narrowed, his lips twisted, and he growled out, "What are you doing?"

Hermione couldn't ignore the pang of dread she felt as Bellatrix flinched again, this time away from the man. The feeling of dread increased when the man subtly mumbled a few words and Bellatrix's eyes turned a light purple, a hazy looking taking over her expression for a few seconds before she shook it off, looking more like the Bellatrix from the throne room. Hermione would admit that that Bellatrix scared her a little. No human being should look that gleeful at the prospect of pain.

"What does it look like I'm doing, Rodolphus?!" Bellatrix snarled, "Our lord asked me to take the mudblood here to the dungeons!"

At her words, Rodolphus seemed to finally notice Hermione standing there, slightly behind Bellatrix.

"Ah, the famous little mudblood from the Golden Trio," Rodolphus mocked, stalking closer to the two women, a disgusting, leering look on his face.

Bellatrix swayed for a moment before her eyes flashed dark purple and she growled, subtlety maneuvering her body in front of Hermione.

"Dammit, woman!" Rodolphus snarled. He mumbled the words from before, this time with his wand pointed at Bellatrix, and looked satisfied when her eyes turned an even lighter purple than before.

"Now, get the girl to the dungeons and stop causing me trouble!" Rodolphus said, glaring at Bellatrix as if he could force her to comply with his stare alone.

"Yes, husband," Bellatrix mumbled and bowed her head, eyes glossy. Hermione looked at Bellatrix in shock and confusion. That man was her husband?

Rodolphus looked at his wife with smug satisfaction, a cruel glint in his eyes.

"Good," He purred, reaching over to Bella's face, ignoring her violent flinch, and caressed her face lightly. Pleasure bloomed on his face as he watched Bellatrix flinch away from his touch, making Hermione feel sick and full of the need to protect this woman from this horrible man. He smirked before stalking off in another direction, not sparing them a second glance.

"Let's go," Bellatrix said roughly, once again grabbing Hermione's arm and dragging her in the direction they had been headed in originally.

Hermione let herself be dragged, busy contemplating everything that had just happened. A few things were starting to fall into place but Hermione knew she was still missing key elements to the puzzle that was Bellatrix Lestrange.

All she knew was that if, no, when, she escaped, she was going to spend a little extra time taking care of Rodolphus Lestrange.

No one, no matter what they had done in their life, ever deserved to be treated like that.

A blood-thirsty smile appeared on Hermione's face, not that anyone saw, and she distracted herself from what was to come with thoughts of her revenge.

oOoOoOoOo

12 Grimmauld Place - Order Headquarters:

Sirius Black sat in his family's ancestral home, staring mindlessly out the window.

He couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong.

Ever since he had been a child, Sirius had always been able to feel things. Particularly when something bad was going to happen. It felt like a faint, dull throb underneath his skin that got more painful the more severe the event-to-come was. He had felt it the night Snape had almost gotten eaten by Moony, the night his parent's had announced his cousin Bellatrix was to be married to that sick bastard Rodolphus, the night Lily and James had switched their secret keeper, and the night they died. Those were only a few of the times he had had that feeling but they were among the times the feeling was at its most extreme.

Sirius shifted restlessly in his seat causing Remus to look up from where he had been sitting next to the man, reading.

"Everything okay, Padfoot?" Remus asked, trying not to look as concerned as he felt. Sirius had been acting strangely for the past few days and as much as he wanted to ask the man why he didn't want to bombard him with questions. Sirius had never liked being asked questions when he got like this; Remus and the rest of the marauders had quickly learned to leave him alone and let him work it out on his own.

Sirius merely grunted in reply, sparing Remus a quick glance before going back to staring out the window.

Remus rolled his eyes and returned his attention to his book.

Sirius sighed and shifted again, this time curling up with his head on Remus' lap and closing his eyes. He let out a content purr as Moony absentmindedly stroked his fingers through his curls.

Even as comforting as being next to Moony was, Sirius soon fell into an anxiety-filled nightmare.

He couldn't make out what was happening, everything was too dark, but all of a sudden terrified, pain-filled screams filled his ears. The sound of a young girl screaming out as a cruel voice laughed came next, followed by flashes of dark purple.

The last thing Sirius saw before he woke up were a pair of piercing purple eyes, much like the ones his older cousin Bella used to have, before they returned a sickly red hue, not unlike the Dark Lord himself.

Sirius woke with a gasp, yanking himself into a sitting position and holding his stomach as a wave of nausea crashed over him. He sat there, panting, and quickly realized that he was alone. He could hear the low murmur of Remus' voice coming from downstairs and saw the discarded book the werewolf had been reading before he'd fallen asleep.

As Sirius caught his breath, he thought about the dream he had just had.

He knew it meant something, something very important.

The only question was…what?

Chapters will be at least this length but as the story progresses I'm hoping I'll be able to make them longer!

Thank you to everyone who has viewed, favourited, and followed this fic!

Feedback is very much appreciated and is incredibly helpful! Especially since so much about this fic is up in the air. So if you have time, I would love it if you could leave me a review! :)