AN-Feeling a bit ill so shorter then I wanted but longer then the last one, I'm shooting for affably insane for Bella, later chapters will explain why she is not an out and out sadist like in canon, don't worry I'm not glossing over facts for my own ease of writing. Anyway enjoy, I need to get some sleep, take care all and as always PLEASE REVIEW!
Edit-I'm getting a bit of flak for this chapter and I understand, its mostly plot building and a little light on the jokes but sometimes that can't be helped especially since I'm a bloody idiot and left the Longbottom segment out of the last chapter so I had to shoehorn it in here. Please don't give up on me folks you're aware of the personal issues I'm going through so please bear with me on the occasional rough work, and I must say most heartfully thanks for reading.
Oddly enough Lillith's tentative partnership with her cousin started the same as her drinking binge had, by knocking over a muggle store in the dead of night. After openly mocking Bellatrix's goth wedding dress ensemble Lilly dragged her to a high end shopping centre and began ransacking the clothes shops, she then spent an hour helping Bella choose new outfits all of which were in black, she voiced her opinion on this to the older witch who simply smiled and said,
"Its a Black thing love, its what we do," Rolling her eyes she eventually approved of a rather flattering blouse and skirt comb with lacy stockings and knee high heeled boots, it fit the insane but hot witch quite well. Tossing Bella an ankle length leather jacket Lilly threw a few hundred quid on the counter and followed her cousin out of the shop, eventually Bellatrix's magpie attention span spotted a jewlery store costing Lilly a few thousand quid there as well. After a final stop at a toy store both witches began sobering up, eventually Bella twirled on a tip toe send her large jacket spinning about her as she sing songed,
"I know what'll take the piss outta ole' Tom-my!" Smirking at the lilac eyed nutter Lilly encouraged her to continue, "Well the entire reason The Dark Lord went after your mum and dad is because Snape told him about the prophecy involving you two, he's obsessed with finding out the rest so why not go smash the bloody thing?" Her smile doing the Cheshire cat justice Lilly nodded slowly,
"You know what Henchwoman? I think you're on to something there."
The Department of Mysteries wing of the Ministry of Magic was like many things in the wizarding community large, old, and needlessly complicated; where a government building in the muggle world would have a standardized layout to ease the daily lives of the cubicle slaves magicals would have nothing to do with such things. As the spinning room Lilly and Bellatrix had entered shortly after their trip down the lifts slowed down she sighed outwardly at the obvious security flaw,
"Door to Hall of Prophecy," with that a door to her right unlocked, rolling her eyes she hooked her arm through the distracted Bella's as she was playing with a brightly colored muggle slinky.
"I have to admit I have no idea what the intent of this weapon is but its quite enthralling!" Glancing at her crazy cousin in bemusement she simply shook her head and led her into the massive room, it was lined with hundreds of shelves all holding faintly glowing dusty orbs that added a soft ambient light to the shadows. Craning her head back Lilly could just see the barest edges of the vaulted ceiling as the towering shelves were lost in the distance, moving through the pale light Lilly finally spoke,
"This is bloody ridiculous Bella! Seriously we entered through the visitors section, set our reasons for being here as 'Shenanigans' and 'Henching' and made it all the way down to the most secure level of the bloody Ministry without casting a single spell! The only "resistance" we've experienced is a drunk guard! I mean what the hell!" Bella for her part just began giggling as she flicked the slinky out at random prophecies causing them to spark,
"Why do you think the Dark Lord isn't in all that much of a hurry to take over love, the ministries defense is a bit of a cracker, this'll actually be the second infiltration for me, last time the guard hadn't even punched in." Cursing to herself Lilly followed her psychotic partner in crime as she stopped before a specific orb, tapping it with the now somewhat melty slinky Bella intoned, "That's you, that's the one the Dark Lord wanted so bad."
Glaring at the glass sphere as if it's existence offended her (which it did) she read the tag 'S.P.T to A.P.W.B.D; Dark Lord and (?) Harry Potter', she continued to glare at it for well over a minute, Bella and in turn Tom's memories hadn't been lying. Her incompetent divination professor had spoken a prophecy to Dumbledore and he had hidden it from her, more lies and machinations for the greater good no doubt. Openly sneering at this point she grabbed the sphere and held it between herself and Bella while angrily spitting out,
"Well lets see why the old bastard justified locking me in a closet for ten years being the starved slave of fucking child molesters," tapping the prophecy with her wand a whispy voice spoke out,
"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches... Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies... and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not... and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives...The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies" Lillith and by extension Bellatrix both stared at the orb incredulously.
"So... since Severus told The Dark Lord about half the prophecy he went off half cocked and accidentally marked you as his equal?" Shoving her wand into her belt Lilly forced her glasses up as she rubbed the bridge of her nose,
"And apparently I have a power that he doesn't understand or is incapable of handling..." on the last bit both women looked supremely irritated,
"So one of you has to die so the other can live I mean...really? That is just so..." She grew silent and both witches intoned at once,
"Well no shit!" Now furious that her entire life was controlled by a doddering old man dictating a childs upbringing he had NO legal control over because of a bloody vague prophecy Lilly threw the orb over her shoulder and heard it shatter,
"My entire life has been manipulated to do something I'd do otherwise, the bastard murdered my parents of COURSE I'm going to try and kill the son of a bitch, the hell was Dumbles trying to do keeping me from my heritage? I could have spent years training if I'm destined to off the sodding wanker not spend it getting the shite beaten out of me by the Dursley's! What's the point, was he hoping I'd be humbled from it all for more of his for the light bullshit? All it did was desensitize me to violence, I offed a possessed professor in my first year and my only reaction was being annoyed I got Volde'funk all over my hands for crying out loud! " Bella largely ignored the rant as she looked at her ruined slinky mournfully, jamming it into her pocket she pointed her wand at the broken sphere and flicked it with a flourish,
"Reparo!" The prophecy sphere came back together and Bellatrix muttered a few more charms causing it to glow again, placing it back on the shelf she turned to the rather confused Lilly smiling, "Now The Dark Lord won't know its gone, he's already imperioused five muggles trying to get it and they all caught fire so he won't bother with that tactic again. Most likely he'll try to bait you here so let him waste his time while I train you and your friends!" Lilly looked at her cockeyed a moment before grinning,
"For a completely daft bird you have your moments, you are no longer my Henchwoman, you're promoted to...Wicked Witch, shall we?" Bellatrix clapped happily then hooked her arm through Lilly's,
"We should take a gander at the other departments, see if there's anything worth stealing, then we can get Chinese!" Lilly nodded enthusiastically at that,
"Sounds good I've got a five alarm hangover and I think some sweet and sour chicken will help that," as the two woman left the room an incredibly befuddled Arthur Weasley removed his invisibility cloak and wondered what in the bloody hell he was going to tell the Order about this one.
As Sirius escorted Hermione to Lilly's room he kept glancing at the young woman with some worry, lesbianism wasn't exactly a foreign concept to the wizarding world but her muggle-born blood status on top of "corrupting" a high noble was going to make her life a living hell once the media got word. Hell he wasn't sure the girls relationship should even be labeled homosexual, she'd fallen for Lilly when she'd been Harry, but the hardliner Purebloods would never see it that way and they'd do everything in their power to ruin the poor girl. His thoughts were interrupted as Hermione reached the door cracking it slightly, as it opened he heard a voice he thought he'd never hear again,
"And I'm telling you the Dark Lady has gravitas, it gets the point across immediately that you shouldn't be messed with and it sounds good to boot!" There was a sigh as Lilly responded with,
"And I agree with you cousin I really do, but lets be honest here the negative connotations involved would make the title a liability, pity muggle copyright laws are so stringent or I'd go with 'Darth Lillith,' or the like." A concerned Hermione pushed the door fully open and stepped into the room suddenly stopping in mid motion, Sirius followed and took in the scene before him, both Lilly and his insane Death Eater cousin Bellatrix were sitting cross-legged on the hospital bed eating takeout Chinese. Bella looked at him happily and quickly waved sending sauce flying from her chopsticks while Lilly cried out in indignation, eventually the crazy witch swallowed her noodles and offered up another container,
"I remember you liked pork fried rice Sirius so I got this for you, I'm assuming you're Hermione Lilly grabbed Won-Ton soup for you, by the way I'm Bella Black, nice to meet you! You're a mud-" she cut off as Lilly jabbed her with her own chopsticks, looking a bit abashed she continued,"a muggle-born, would you happen to know any repair spells for slinky's?" Sirius was fairly certain he heard a few of his brain cells scream as they died trying to process what was before him, Hermione though had been a member of the 'Potter Club of Weird Shit' going on five years now so she simply huffed, took the offered container of stuffed noodles while tapping the melted pink slinky with her wand.
Bellatrix let out a cheerful "Yay!" as she began playing with her repaired toy while Hermione cuddled up next to Lilly then tore into her food, no questions asked; now more bemused then anything Sirius took the offered rice from the still grinning psychopath and conjured a plush chair to collapse into. Looking at the three witches before him he shoveled some of the takeout into his mouth and after chewing a few moments he asked,
"Lemme guess, she called my bluff and took me up on my offer didn't she?" Lilly smiled brightly her eyes briefly flashing,
"Right in one dad, she followed me home can I keep her?" Returning the grin he quipped back with,
"Having a pet is a huge responsibility dear plus she's a raging murderous Death Eater so there's that to consider," Bella looked a bit indignant at that as she stirred her lo mein,
"Hey! I'm no longer a Death Eater, I'm reformed, see Lilly removed my Dark Mark!" Looking at the proffered arm Sirius and Hermione were startled to see the bare unblemished skin, still not convinced and trying not to chock on his rice he warily sputtered,
"Ye-yes but you're still a dangerous killer with psychotic tendencies," once again nodding cheerfully Bella agreed,
"Oh yes, but now I only kill people Lilly tells me to, see we plan on eliminating everyone who gets in her way while we slowly take over the government from the inside, she's going to use me for those who won't play nice. Its kind of like working for the Dark Lord accept I'm not allowed to torture anyone in exchange for not getting tortured myself, fair trade honestly." Looking sharply at his daughter she let out a dejected sigh then rolled her eyes,
"Way to go Bella not like I'm going to obliviate my girlfriend and dad...yes my plans are to get the right people in the right places so we can pull our fucking world out of the Victorian era and replace our farce of a democracy with something that doesn't model itself after ancient Rome that goes for the blood purity BS as well," Looking very tired all the sudden she dropped her empty container and chop sticks to the ground while rubbing her temples, giving Hermione an appreciative smile as the smaller witch held her with one arm she remained silent basking in the affection.
Eventually she met Sirius' eyes and continued, "Look dad, our world is led by a bunch of jumped up inbred pricks who are so terrified of change that they don't grasp the fact that muggles have progressed past muskets and have the capacity to quite literally wipe our entire civilization out with one bloody nuclear bomb. We've stagnated and are so corrupt that nothing of value gets accomplished without copious amounts of bribery and my recent change has shown me first hand the misogynistic and bigoted nature of our culture.
"I was born a boy, I got turned into a woman, and I'm in love with muggle-born witch, without my hereditary titles or the ability and willingness to kill people on a whim there is next to nothing stopping a pure-blood ponce from dragging me or Hermione behind a shed and having his way with us. That's not acceptable, I've come to a simple conclusion, I am not dark, I am not light, I am a very vengeful shade of gray and I will do everything in my power to make sure those I love survive and thrive." She glanced down at Bella as she was playing with her slinky and growled out, "I'll make a deal with the devil if it means the enemies of my house burn, after all, its for the greater good is it not?"
The sarcastic tone wasn't lost on anyone, speaking for the first time Hermione softly stated,
"I don't want you to go on the warpath for me dear, but I know you, and you won't rest until you think I'm safe, its rather annoying that you think I can't take care of myself though." The playful laughter was unexpected, Lilly reached out and gently stroked Hermione's cheek,
"Brown eyes I know you don't need my protection, I saw what you did to Draco when you were proper angry yeah? But you're one witch amongst thousands, and in a society where the upper crust looks at our sex as second class citizens at best and playthings for the boys at worst I will do everything in my power to change the way the world turns." Kissing the brunette passionately Lilly pulled back after a moment then grinned, "I'm Welsh love I don't go for passive girls, I fully intend for you to be at my side when we make these bastards pay in blood and coin."
"I'll hold you to your promise Lilly, I'm not going to let you out of my sight unless it's completely unavoidable, I may be yours but you are also mine and lets be honest here you're the one who attracts trouble anyhow." laughing she scooped the smaller witch up and pulled her into her lap,
"Yes ma'am I promise to follow your instructions to the letter," Hermione nodded solemnly while stating "Good" before her facade cracked and she began giggling lightly, a short snog later they both seemed to forget about the two bemused Black's watching them. Turning to her head of house Bella raised her brows,
"This normal for these two cousin?" Snorting as he shoveled the last of his rice into his mouth he shook his head while chewing, swallowing the lot he laughed gently,
"Oh hell no normally they're sappier then this, Lilly must be off her game," Both adults chuckled as Lilly raised a rude finger at them from behind Hermione's back not breaking the kiss in the process. Sirius cleared his throat then asked what had really been on his mind this entire time, "Bellatrix, its not like its not nice to see you and all but why are you helping for equality when you were a rabid Voldemort follower? Plus not to bring up a sore point to you Lilly she did torture the Longbottom's into insanity, I'm not sure Neville will take this alliance well." Bella sighed as she hopped off the bed and began pacing the room, tossing the slinky over her shoulder she began wringing her hands as her face screwed up in concentration,
"Its like this, the evening Lilly defeated the Horcrux (yes she explained them to me)in her mind all the Death Eaters felt their connection to the Dark Lord diminish, at the time none of us knew what had happened but for the first time in nearly twenty years I could think clearly." Pausing she sat on the floor in front of Sirius leaning her head against the bed, "Not a day later it happened again, she tells me that's when she purged the locket, so as the near constant presence of my master weakened coupled with the Dementors well..."
She flashed a grin at her cousin as she shook her head, "When he broke me out lets just say I was less then impressed, he looks a wreck, badly mutated, emotionally unstable, and the breakout had no finesse whatsoever. So already a bit disillusioned I spent the next week in a dilapidated mansion where I get hit with the cruciatus no less then four times and over a dozen recruits were tortured to death because The Dark Lord was having a bad day. I'm not sure who he is now but the charismatic man I followed into hell is long gone, as for the blood purity thing..." she grimaced as Lilly began chuckling finally ending her public display of affection with Hermione,
"I clued her in on something the ministry has been keeping quiet for a very very long time, I looked into it and all genealogy records involving muggle-born's are kept under lock and key ostensibly for the families protection from persecution, ironically they forgot to check the restricted section of the Hogwarts library for a copy." Hermione picked up the conversation here,
"Lilly went through it a couple days ago and found out myself and a few other muggle-born friends were actually descended from squibs from families long thought dead, I was curious so I had her stea...borrow the book and let me peruse it," the rooms occupants snickered at the normally rule abiding witches slip of the tongue, rolling her eyes she continued. "Anyway while Lilly was preparing for the trial I went through it and discovered something concerning, there is no such thing as muggle-borns." This caused Bella to mutter about so much wasted effort but Sirius simply looked confused,
"What do you mean by that little one?" Sighing Hermione met Sirius' gaze her eyes hardening,
"There is no such thing as spontaneous muggle-born magicals...they are all descended from squibs who left the magical world behind, in essence everything the Ministry has ever told us about blood purity is an outright lie." Sirius simply sat there looking gobsmacked, the implications were terrifying, this could unravel the very fabric of their society and they knew it, looking at his daughters 'cat got the canary' smile it hit him, that was exactly what she was going to do. Collapsing societies aside curiosity finally got the better of him so he looked back at the brunette bookworm,
"What house are you descended from?" Grinning impishly she stood and performed a curtsy,
"You oh Pad Footed one are addressing the last descendant of Rowena Ravenclaw," as a grin crawled its way up his face Sirius burst out into laughter, it would seem his earlier worries for his daughters lady friend had been premature, once she claimed that ancient seat no one would be able to touch her. Lilly cleared her throat to get his attention as she stood up and began cleaning up the empty containers,
"I need to get the item necessary for her to make the claim when we get back to Hogwarts, ole' Tommy turned it into a Horcrux so I have to purge it first, after that well...lets just say things are going to get interesting." She snorted as she glanced towards Bellatrix who suddenly found the floor very interesting, "As for the Longbottoms, Bella?" Sighing the lilac eyed witch reached over her shoulder and grabbed her slinky off the bed and began shaking it back and forth before she begrudgingly spoke,
"The night we went after Alice and Frank Longbottom we formed a strike team of twelve of The Dark Lords most powerful Death Eaters, at the end of the night eight were dead, two were injured to the point they could not move on their own and the remaining two, Barty Crouch Junior and my ex-husband Rodolophus Lestrange tortured the aurors into insanity. At the time I was trying to pull shrapnel out of my bum and stanch the bleeding from my left thigh, the Longbottom's coated all their ordnance in muggle rat poison to make sure the bleeding wouldn't stop on its own, I'd forgotten about that. Eventually the screaming from the other room ended, Barty and Rudy came up to me and tried to help me up but at that point I just passed out due to blood lose, I honestly have no idea how I survived that night.
"Anyway I woke up chained to the floor at my trial after that and the rest is history, I make no defense for myself, I'd have tortured them if given the chance at the time but as it stands this one sin was not mine." Sirius was both horrified at the candid explanation and proud that his friends took so many down with them, sighing he clasped his hands before him as he mulled over his choices, eventually Lilly wrapped him in a hug that paused further thought.
"It's going to be fine dad, I've already got a rather yummy flat picked out for Bella and I made it unplottable, she gives me and the other girls tips on how to fight dirty and I begin my machinations to outwit Professor Whiskers and the Dark Tosser, just trust me on this one ok?" Looking up into the mischievous emerald gaze he gave his daughter a wisp of a smile,
"Do you solemnly swear you're up to no good?" Grinning widely she quickly nodded,
"Always Padfoot," Sighing he stood and held her dainty hands into his calloused mits, looking down at the earnest young woman he eventually kissed her forehead and let her go,
"Make a world Lily and James would be proud of, and don't forget about us old men willing to help you out ok?" As she guided her dark and light halves to her she cast a glance over her shoulder towards her new father,
"I'll always need you and Moony old man, don't ever think otherwise, stay out of trouble and go out and try to get laid, leave changing the world up to me," and with that the trio apparated away.