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The Purple Black
Bellatrix waited for her niece to appear in the entrance hall of Lestrange Manor, unable to help the smirk now seemingly permanently stuck to her features. She nodded at the girl as she arrived and turned to find her husband. She hadn't been sure how the man was going to react to seeing his younger brother again after so many years, she supposed she shouldn't have been surprised that the mere state of Rabastan's condition had put Rodolphus in a state of shock. She made her way to the back of the top floor of the manor, stopping at a portrait of a long forgotten grey haired Lestrange wizard and hissing the password "Nightmare". The floor length portrait swung open unquestionably and let her through to the hidden wing of Lestrange Manor.
It looked just like any other part of the home, though she knew better than anyone the secrets it held. For example, amongst the dark artefacts Bellatrix and Rodolphus needed stored away should prying eyes come looking, the wing now housed not one, but two escaped Azkaban convicts. As she reached the end of the corridor she noted Barty stood outside his own bedroom, leaning against the door frame with his arms crossed as he stared at the door opposite.
"They're in there . . ." Barty murmured, "he's not in a good way."
"I saw," Bellatrix commented, pausing for a moment to meet the man's gaze, "everybody else got out without fail?"
"Yes," Barty said.
"Good. Go report to The Dark Lord," Bellatrix said dismissively.
"No need, Malfoy already volunteered to go and steal our glory all for himself."
"The Dark Lord knows better than to think Malfoy achieved this single-handedly," Bellatrix wrinkled her nose at the mention of her brother-in-law, the man did infuriate her at times, "still, go."
"But—"
Bellatrix narrowed her eyes and hissed at the man, "I don't care where you go, Crouch, just get out of here."
Barty put his hands up defensively as with a huff of annoyance he backed away from the witch. She waited until she had seen the man leave the wing before she took a deep breath and knocked on the door she knew Rabastan and Rodolphus to be in.
"Go away," the hiss of Rodolphus came from the room. Though Bellatrix merely rolled her eyes, taking hold of the handle and pushing the door open regardless. "I said—" Bellatrix turned to raise an eyebrow at the man as she closed the door. He was sat in an armchair in the corner of the room, gripping onto the arms of the chair for a moment before he sighed and slumped back into the seat, he barely looked at his wife for a moment before he returned to stare intently at his brother. "I thought—"
"I sent Barty out of the wing," Bellatrix said. She looked over to her brother-in-law, though he already looked to be in a better state than he had been when they left (though that may have purely been due to the fact Rodolphus had changed him out of his tattered prison garb), he still looked so weak and small nestled in the bed. "How is he?" Bellatrix asked, walking over to her husband and slipping onto his lap.
Rodolphus moved his arm to loosely embrace his wife, letting his hand rest on her hip as she leant into him. "Weak," Rodolphus swallowed, "I made him drink a nourishing potion and then put him under a sleeping charm to rest . . . he was barely concious anyway."
"Well," Bellatrix mused, reaching her hand up to play with the loose thread of the Death Eater's robes that Rodolphus was still wearing, "I'm sure he will make a full recovery."
"It shouldn't have gotten to this point," Rodolphus spoke quietly after a short while, "I should have been the one to go to Azkaban, not him. He was so young—"
"None of us should have had to go to Azkaban," Bellatrix corrected, she reached up and put her hand to her husband's cheek, moving him to reluctantly look at her, "this isn't your fault. We've had this conversation before, Rod. It wasn't your fault—It wasn't either of our fault—and if you try and tell me otherwise you can explain why you've been lying to me for the past fourteen years because that's what you've always told me." Bella smiled slightly as Rodolphus let out a huff, though he wrapped his arms further around his wife as she melted into her and wrapped her arms around his neck, "He's going to be okay, isn't he?"
"Yes," Rodolphus said after a moment, "he'll be fine in a few days."
"Well then there you are," Bellatrix said, "now I believe we should leave him to get his rest and go and revel in the fact that we just successfully aided a mass breakout of Azkaban. Just think of the poor ministry right now, they're probably running around like frantic little mice."
Rodolphus couldn't help but chuckle slightly before he nodded in agreement, he lifted his wife from his lap and with one last look at his brother he left the room.
It was nearly a week since the Azkaban breakout and Nymphadora was sat in the day room, her feet pulled up onto her seat and her elbows on the small table as she furrowed her brow in concentration.
"Come on, Nymphie," Barty sighed, sitting back in his own seat, "you've been staring at the board for at least five minutes, admit defeat."
"Never," Dora said, smirking after a moment and instructing her knight forward, "check."
Barty rolled his eyes, not even looking at the board as he made an instruction to his pieces, "Checkmate."
"Cheat!" Dora cried in annoyance.
"How am I a cheat?" Barty laughed.
"You mean how are you a cheat, this time?" Dora rolled her eyes.
"I did not—"
"What are you two doing?" a voice interrupted them, causing Nymphadora to bite her lip and Barty to turn around with a grin.
Rabastan Lestrange looked far better than he had when he first arrived, almost handsome in fact. He was dressed just as smartly as Rodolphus always had, prim and proper with his hair now cut to an appropriate, though long, length and clean shaven. His arms were crossed and he was currently leaning against the doorway as he cocked his head slightly, staring down at his brother's niece with a glint of curiosity in his dark eyes.
"Well, according to Nymphadora, I'm cheating at chess," Barty said, "but really I'm just beating her spectacularly and she's being a sore loser."
"Sounds enthralling." Rabastan droned, not moving from his spot as he raised an eyebrow at Nymphadora, "You're the one that pulled me from my cell, aren't you?"
"Yes," Dora said after a moment, "you thought I was Aunt Bella."
"Aunt Bella?" Rabastan shook his head, "I thought Rodolphus was joking, you know."
"What?" Dora sat up, taking a defensive tone as she looked at the man.
"You're Andromeda's daughter, aren't you?" Rabastan asked, smirking as Nymphadora narrowed her eyes at him.
"Technically," she said.
"Technically?" Rabastan asked.
"I—" Nymphadora looked to Barty for a moment, the man now watching the pair talk with an air of curiosity, "She disowned me when I was sixteen, I've lived here since then."
"She disowned you?" Rabastan laughed.
"The feeling was mutual," Dora hissed, not liking the tone of the man.
"Merlin," Rabastan shook his head in disbelief, walking towards the liquor cabinet.
"What?" Dora snapped, standing up and ignoring the sigh from Barty behind her, she knew her hair was tinging red.
"It's just funny," Rabastan shrugged, pouring himself a small glass of fire whiskey, "Andromeda Black runs away from home to be with a mudblood, get away from her 'big bad family', and then you turn out like this; a Death Eater half-blood."
"Nymphadora isn't just a half-blood, Rab." To her surprise it was Barty that spoke up this time.
"Yes, I know she's a Metamorphmagus," Rabastan rolled his eyes, "that doesn't necessarily mean she's a good Death Eater."
"Don't make me regret taking you out of that cell, Lestrange." Dora near enough growled.
"Easily offended?" Rabastan chuckled.
"I wouldn't piss her off, Rab," Barty smirked, "she can be just as bad as Bellatrix when she wants to be."
"Oh really?" Rabastan looked intrigued, "Now that is something I would like to see."
"Well then, let's go see it," Barty smirked.
"What the hell are you talking about?" Nymphadora asked.
"Well," Barty shrugged, mischief glinting behind his eyes, "The Dark Lord said we could cause a little havoc if we wanted to, send a message."
"I'm listening," Rabastan smirked, downing his glass of fire whiskey and putting it down on the side.
"I say we go and do just that," Barty said.
"Let's." Rabastan gave a devilish grin.
"Wait," Dora shook her head, "you've been out of Azkaban less than a week, this isn't a good idea."
"Someone scared?" Rabastan teased, "I mean, if you don't think you can keep up with the two of us feel free to stay at home playing board games, Nymphadora."
She glared at him, annoyance and frustration rising inside of her until she let out a yell of frustration and went to leave the room.
"Where are you going?" Barty asked over Rabastan's laughter.
"Meet me out back in ten minutes!" Nymphadora yelled behind her, running off to get her mask and robes.
Twenty minutes later Nymphadora, Rabastan and Barty were stood on the outskirts of a small muggle village, covered by darkness as the boys buzzed with excitement. Nymphadora couldn't help but find it rather contagious.
"So," Dora asked, "how do you think the muggles are going to explain this one away when we blow the place to pieces?"
"A 'gas leak' is usually their excuse of choice," Rabastan laughed.
"Who cares," Barty smirked, "we'll have our fun either way."
"Where even are we?" Rabastan asked.
"Yorkshire." Barty said, "there may or may not be an Order member living somewhere around here."
"What?" Dora's eyes widened as she looked to Barty.
"Aww, is Nymphadora scared of one little Order member?" Rabastan said mockingly.
"No." Nymphadora hissed before a smirk fell on her features, "I'll race you. First one to find one of Dumbledore's band of idiots wins."
"Deal." Barty grinned, laughing as Nymphadora had already begun to run ahead of him.
She didn't take much care as to where she was firing spells, sending the nearest little cottage into a storm of flames, cackling with laughter as she heard the screams of the muggles within. The boys were soon copying, destroying pretty much anything they could see and cutting down the odd muggle that dared run through their sight down as easily as if they were crushing a bug beneath their boots. Nymphadora continued, hitting each cottage individually until she found what she was looking for; a particularly run down looking cottage at the end of the road. There was nothing in particularly special about this specific building to the naked eye, though as she fired her curse and watched it rebound on an invisible force surrounding the property she knew that it had to be where the Order member lived.
"I win!" Dora yelled out to the boys with a grin on her face, giggling to herself as she watched the front door open.
A man she vaguely recognised opened the door, shabby in appearance though already holding his wand firmly in his hand as if he was more than ready and a force to be reckoned with. She snickered at the thought, he wouldn't be able to defeat her. To her surprise, the first spell he muttered did not come hurling towards her as she expected. Instead, she watched as he cast a Patronus charm, saying something inaudible to it before it disappeared as quickly as it appeared.
"Not coming to play?" Nymphadora called out, "Come on." She pouted, giggling as the man strode forward.
She backed away, waiting for the man to inevitably step out of the wards of his home before quickly firing a curse at him. He was quick on his feet for such a downtrodden looking wizard, parrying her spells away as quickly as she could cast them. She ducked as he fired back at her, hitting him back twice as hard in return. It wasn't long until they were dancing around the middle of the road, passing spells back and forth in a lethal fashion. She was determined to bring him down. Perhaps she could bring him in and question him for the Order's secrets? Perhaps she could kill him and take the glory of casting down one of Dumbledore's idiots. She could hear the boys still firing curses at fleeing muggles behind her, either uncaring or unaware that she was in the middle of a heated duel. It was at that moment however, that she realised that they were about to become far too pre-occupied to care for her as the sounds of apparation went off around her. She pressed forward on her opponent, determination lighting a fire behind her eyes as she knew she had to get rid of her duelling partner so that she could properly focus on her surroundings. She quickly sent spell after spell at the man, determination in her young features met by the same look from his scarred old face. She ducked as he flung a spell straight at her chest, quickly taking advantage of her position and firing a spell right as his feet. She let out a yell of triumph as she watched him go skidding across the floor, falling back to slump over his own garden wall. She was just about to raise her head again when she heard a yell of "Watch out!" and a spell went flying over her head.
Barty came running up beside her, throwing spells at her assailant, Rabastan not far off joining them. She turned to see the man she recognised as Mad-Eye Moody now locked in a furious duel with Rabastan Lestrange as he took up his spells with pleasure ready to fight him as best he could. She was almost caught off guard as another man rushed forward to duel them. Kingsley Shacklebolt aimed directly at her, Barty deflecting the spell for her with ease.
"I can look after myself!" Nymphadora shrieked, though soon they were both duelling the man at the same time.
He seemed to be more skilled than the first man she had duelled, though not by much. They got locked in the furious dance of duelling, each spell uttered by the young witch unspeakable, though none managed to get through to him. She yelled in pain however as she felt a curse hit her side, causing her to her now fiery red-haired head to see that they were quickly becoming seriously outnumbered.
"We need to retreat!" Barty hissed beside her.
"No," Nymphadora growled, duelling her newest prey with such ferocity she had never had before. She cackled as a red-haired man fell to the floor. It was that moment of pure joy that was her downfall. Before she could even focus on the next duelling partner her eyes widened in the split second that she realised she was too late, a jet of hot blue light had come crashing straight into her from behind. She crumpled into a heap on the floor, the world seeming to stop around her.
Barty looked down to see Nymphadora fall, there were three slashes straight across the back of her robes showing the hot flowing deep red blood shimmering in the lamplight. "Rab!" Barty yelled, determined to get his comrades attention as he moved towards the witch whilst still deflecting spells. She wasn't moving, his breath caught in his throat before all of a sudden, he heard a yell of agony coming from the floor, her hand was still tightly gripped on her wand. "Move!" he yelled at her, though her whole body simply shuddered for a moment before resting again on the hard floor.
He knew what he had to do. "Retreat!" Barty yelled out, putting a shield up to defend both himself and Nymphadora from the next lot of spells. He could see the pale white face of the Order member that he had known to be the one to put Nymphadora in such a position, clearly the man had not meant to hurt her to that extent. It didn't matter. Without thinking he let out a guttural yell, using all of his power and determination he threw an almighty curse at the red-haired man, he barely let himself smirk as he went crashing into the building behind him. He felt Rabastan come up to his side, shielding himself from another curse.
"Retreat?!" Rabastan questioned, "we can—"
"NOW!" Barty cried in outrage, shielding yet more spells as he leant down and grabbed Nymphadora's wrist, a small sense of relief passing through him as he could now hear her still moaning in pain. Moaning in pain was better than the silence of death. Still, he waited for Rabastan's grunt of approval before with one push of a curse to throw off their opponents he concentrated with all of his will and disapparated with Nymphadora Tonks.
Nymphadora's breath was shallow, though she soon let out an almighty scream that pierced through as the pressure of apparation felt like her already burning wounds were about to explode. She gripped tightly onto Barty, screwing her eyes shut as she tried to think how to stop it, though her thoughts were blurred through the pain and she was unable to focus. She could feel Barty pounding up the drive to the manor, each step like a knife was being plunged ever deeper into her back.
"Get Rodolphus!" Barty yelled at Rabastan, his voice vibrating through Nymphadora as her head was pressed against his chest.
She squinted as the bright lights of the manor blinded her, screwing her eyes shut. Even as Barty continued to run through the hall and up the stairs towards her bedroom she could hear Bellatrix's heels clicking on the floor as she ran towards them.
"What have you done?!" Bellatrix yelled, her voice full of fury mixed with an undeniable tone of worry as she took in the scene before her.
Barty didn't stop, ignoring the witches glare as he sped past her leaving her to quickly follow behind. He kicked open the door to Dora's bedroom, swearing under his breath and rushing his apologies when Nymphadora yelled out in pain again as he managed to collide her legs into the door frame.
"What have you done?" Bellatrix repeated through gritted teeth as she watched the man lay her niece on top of her bed, he was covered in blood, it only took her a split second to realise that it was not his blood but her blood.
"Help me get her robes off!" Barty growled, "We need to get to the wound, it's on her fucking back."
Bellatrix held back a yell of frustration as she rushed forward, climbing onto the bed next to her niece and drawing her wand. "Get out of my way!" Bellatrix hissed, hexing the man's hand as he reached out for the young witch. She leant over her niece, she was shivering in pain, taking weak and shallow gasps for breath. Bellatrix took a moment to compose herself, her face hardening to a determined mask as she quickly slashed her wand down the witches torso slicing her corset in two and then quickly vanishing her cloak from her body. She took a moment to shoot a glare at Barty, the man now stood against the wall staring wide-eyed at the pair as he tried to calm himself, then quickly pulled her corset away in a swift motion. She ignored the girls scream of agony, extremely aware that the bedsheets were soon turning a blood red as she inspected her front to ensure she was unharmed from that area, grabbing her destroyed corset and putting it to her chest to cover her modesty.
"Nymphadora?" Bellatrix called as she leant forward to her niece's face, putting a hand on her cheek to turn her face to her own, "Nymphadora, talk to me."
"I—" Nymphadora coughed and spluttered, tears now streaming down her porcelain cheeks as she forced her eyes open to look at her Aunt. "I—I'm okay, I—I'll be okay."
It was at that moment that Rodolphus strode into the room, walking straight over to the bed and throwing down a bag of potions, bandages and the likes before he knelt up onto the other side of the bed. "Where is it?"
Bellatrix looked at her niece for a moment before with a sigh she whispered, "I'm sorry Dora."
"I—Ah!" Nymphadora screeched in agony as Bellatrix grabbed firmly onto her shoulder and pulled her onto her left side so that her back was facing her husband.
"Shit." Rodolphus murmured, "What was it?"
"Ask him," Bellatrix growled as she looked to Barty Crouch before she softened her gaze to look back to her niece, "Come on Dora," she winced as the girl cried out in pain again as she rolled her onto her front as gently as possible, letting the girl cry into the pillows.
"It was the Order, they hit her from behind," Barty near enough whispered, "I didn't see the spell."
"What on earth were you three doing out getting into trouble with the Order?" it was Rod's turn to yell as he turned his glare to Barty, "After we just broke Rabastan out of Azkaban, without a word of warning to us! You're lucky you—"
"Rodolphus!" Bellatrix yelled, causing her husband to turn back to her as she gestured towards the crying witch between them, "Fix it now," she hissed through gritted teeth, clasping her hand over Nymphadora's clenched fist, "yell at them later."
Rodolphus stared at his wife for a moment before with a small nod he leant over the witch, running his wand over the witches back as he attempted to stop the blood flow. "She's lost too much, Bellatrix keep her awake."
"Get out, Barty," Bellatrix hissed.
"I—"
"I SAID GET OUT!" Bellatrix screamed, the man froze for a moment before with his own yell of frustration he stormed from the room.
Nymphadora had stopped crying, she could feel herself growing weaker, the dark comfort of the pillows pressing into her face so welcoming and willing for her to just let herself slip deeper and deeper into the dark until she didn't feel the pain anymore. It was at this moment that she felt the long fingers belonging to her Aunt come under her and grab her chin, she let out a weak moan as she kept her eyes closed.
"Dora, look at me," Bellatrix's voice sounded distant, too distant in fact, she was sure she could ignore it. That was until a sharp sting came to her cheek and she forced herself to open her eyes. Bellatrix was caressing the spot she had just slapped, Dora didn't see the point, the pain of her cheek was nothing compared to the intense agony still coursing through her entire form right now. Her Aunt shifted herself on the bed, using the space beside her to lay down so her face was mere inches from her own. "talk to me."
It was a simple command, but one that at this current moment in time Nymphadora found intensely difficult, "S-Sorry."
"So you should be," Bellatrix said, though the anger and frustration were now gone from her voice, she let out a huff of relieved laughter, "what were you thinking?"
"Th-The boys . . ." Nymphadora mumbled, hissing as she felt Rodolphus working to heal her back.
"What?" Bellatrix spoke softly, pushing the girl's sweat-drenched hair from her face.
"Rabastan was annoying me . . ." Dora strained to speak but her Aunt gestured for her to carry on, "he-he questioned my capa—he said I—he implied I was shit."
"So you thought you'd prove him wrong with a little outing?" Bellatrix asked, continuing to stroke the girl's hair.
"N-No," Dora coughed, hissing in pain again.
"Stay still," Rodolphus warned.
"Work faster," Bellatrix narrowed her eyes at her husband, ignoring his returned glare as she looked back to her niece. "What do you mean, no?"
"B-Barty suggested we go out, s-said The Dark Lord said we could g-go 'cause a little havoc'. I-I didn't think it was a good idea, but Rab—" she gritted her teeth in pain, reaching out her hand and gripping tightly onto Bellatrix's robes as another wave of pain stabbed through her. "O-Order tried to kill me . . . The fucking Order."
"They usually just try to capture people," Rodolphus mumbled as he pulled a solution out of his bag and began dabbing it onto a cloth.
"You must have proven a threat," Bellatrix smirked, "I—Dora?"
Nymphadora had closed her eyes, screwing up her features. Bellatrix watched as her hair faded out from the red it had settled on to streak with white, red, mousey brown, black . . .
"What are you doing?!" Bellatrix demanded of her husband as she sat up to glare at him.
"Hold her still." Rodolphus growled, "It's too deep, Bellatrix."
"Save her." Bellatrix hissed.
"That's what I'm trying to do!" Rodolphus retorted, pressing a cloth to the girls back though he stared at her hair, "Why is that happening?"
"I-I don't know, she's in pain, she can't control it." Bellatrix shook her head, though she couldn't deny the sight of the witch was extremely worrying.
"Aunt Bella!" Nymphadora screeched in pain again, pulling at the handful of robes she still had a hold of.
"Nymphadora," Bellatrix swooped back to the witch, taking her face in her hands as she tried to get her to open her eyes and look at her, "Nymphadora listen to me! Nymphadora, listen, you need to wake up, come on, Dora, wake up . . ."
The strained worried voice of Bellatrix Lestrange was the last thing that Nymphadora Tonks heard before she finally succumbed to pain, slipping into the darkness of her unconscious mind.
So I hope you enjoyed! Please leave a review and let me know what you think if you have a minute :D
The Purple Black