Thank you for all of your favourites, follows and reviews so far!

As always, please read, enjoy and leave a review if you have a moment!

The Purple Black

Nymphadora paced the main hall of Malfoy Manor, her gaze flickering around to each person in the room. Bellatrix had a shit eating grin on her face, leering down at the young man she had on his knees in front of her in the middle of the room. The snatchers and Fenrir were stood to the side, the two snatchers gripping tightly onto their two captors. She did not believe the names the trio had given the snatchers, the ginger boy looked familiar, the girl seemed far too nervous (though she could hardly blame her when she was in the presence of two renowned Death Eaters and the boy . . . she was inclined to believe her Aunt's suspicions that he had to be Harry Potter.

"Draco!" Bellatrix beamed as the three Malfoy's entered the room.

Dora stopped pacing, turning to face her cousin. It always shocked her how much older, how much more pained and almost sickly looking he appeared to be more recently. The boy was certainly not thriving under the rule of the Death Eaters, though she could hardly imagine why he would not be pleased with The Dark Lord's success, he would rise high in this new world if only he allowed himself to.

"Aunt Bella thinks this sorry soul is Potter," Nymphadora chimed, smirking as the boy temporarily tore her gaze away from the boy to look to her, "though we can't be sure."

"Well?" Bellatrix looked at her nephew, grabbing hold of the boy on the floor by his hair and raising his head to face him.

"I—" Draco hesitated, "I don't know,"

"Get a closer look," Dora said, catching her Aunt Cissa's gaze for a moment before she walked over to her cousin and took her to the boy, "he does look rather like him . . ."

"W-What happened to his face?" Draco asked.

"Yes," Bellatrix frowned, letting go of the boy for a moment, "what did happen to his face?"

"Reckon he ran into a stinging hex," one of the snatchers said, "the girl threw something at him."

"Well, check her wand," Dora said, walking over to the girl, she smirked as the young witch shuddered as she stopped in front of her. She held her hand out to the snatcher holding her, not listening to the rest behind her as they argued over their prisoner as she took the wand off of him. She just about to draw her own wand to test for the last spell cast. Though she heard her Aunt laugh as she walked up behind her, as her laugh was cut short for a sharp intake of breath Nymphadora frowned and turned to see the woman staring at shock at the snatchers.

"What's that?" Bellatrix breathed, staring at the sword one of the snatchers was holding by his side, "Where did you get that from?"

"It was in her bag," the snatcher grinned stupidly, clearly unable to tell that Bellatrix Lestrange was not impressed by his discovery, "reckon it's mine now."

It was only from years of knowing her Aunt that Nymphadora knew to act so quickly. She grabbed the girl in front of her, pulling her away from the snatchers and into her own grasp just in time as Bellatrix sent a curse flying at the man instantaneously snatching the sword out of his grasp. The young woman whimpered in her grasp as Lucius jumped just in time to catch the struggling ginger boy before Bellatrix turned her fury onto the man who was previously holding him.

"Out!" Bellatrix screeched, "Get out!"

She didn't even have a chance to take in the amusing sight of the men now clutching at the ropes on their necks or groaning at the spells her Aunt had thrown at them. They didn't need to be told twice. She watched the snatchers attempt to leave the room for barely a moment before her Aunt came over her way, dragging the boy they suspected to be Potter by the scruff of his neck.

"Cissa!" Bellatrix yelled, throwing the boy in her sister's direction as she came over to her and grabbing hold of the other boy only to do the same, "Put the boys in the cellar," she commanded, striding over to the squirming witch in Nymphadora's grasp she grabbed onto her chin. A glint of madness sparkling in her eyes as she was so close to the pair Dora could feel her Aunt's breath "we're going to have a little conversation with this one. Girl to girl."

The girl screeched as Bellatrix wrenched her from her niece's grasp, throwing her to the floor in the middle of the room.

"Now, you're going to tell me what I want, aren't you girly?" Bellatrix hummed, she waited for a few moments for the girl to answer, a smirk creeping onto her features as the girl did not respond, "Tell me what I want or this could be rather difficult for you."

Nymphadora walked over to the pair, drawing her own wand she twirled it between her fingers, her gaze meeting her Aunts for a moment in silent understanding. She gave a small nod.

"Crucio!" Nymphadora screamed.

The girl instantly screamed, writhing on the floor in agony as she tried to grasp on to anything she could, pulling at her clothes as if she could grasp onto the curse and rip it away from her. Nymphadora only let the curse play out for a few moments before she lifted it, smirking as the girl panted for air, tears rolling down her cheeks.

"Just a taste," Nymphadora hummed.

Bellatrix laughed and without warning dropped herself next to the girl, brushing the hair away from her face as she pouted at her, "Hurts, doesn't it?" Bellatrix paused, though when she did not get a response she quickly stuck her own wand into the girl's neck, "Doesn't it?"

"Yes!" The young witch cried, trying to flinch away from the wand but Bellatrix merely grabbed her hair and pulled so she was forced to look up at her.

"It could hurt a lot more . . ." Bellatrix murmured as she trailed her wand across the girl's neck, "it could hurt less though . . . we could make it slow and painful . . . or quick . . . and less painful. Now . . . where did you find the sword?"

"W-We found it," Hermione said in as strong of a voice as she could muster.

"Where?" Bellatrix hissed.

"I don't know!" Hermione cried as the witch stuck her wand back into her neck.

"Liar!" Bellatrix hissed.

Nymphadora didn't see what her Aunt had pulled from her skirts until the girl sobbed at the flash of silver in her eye-line. Bellatrix was nearly on top of the girl now. "You won't tell me the truth, will you?"

"Perhaps we should get the goblin," it was not Hermione to speak this time, but Lucius, stood between his family with Peter Pettigrew of all people having snuck into the room behind him, "he will be able to tell us if it is real, for starters."

"Do it," Dora said before her Aunt could speak, she looked over to the rest in the room, "Pettigrew, go fetch the Goblin."

It seemed the whole room flinched collectively as the girl on the floor screamed out in agony again. Nymphadora couldn't help but shake her head as she saw her Aunt seemingly carving something into the girl's arm.

"She'll bleed out if you're not careful," Nymphadora sighed.

"You seem to think I care!" Bellatrix laughed as she continued her plight in scarring the young witch.

Nymphadora sighed as the Goblin was brought before them, watching Bellatrix walk over to the creature when she was done with her little toy, "Get the boys," Dora sighed, "they can watch their little friend die—that might spark something in a way of information."

"I'm not your—"

"Now!" Nymphadora hissed, glaring at the cowering Death Eater before he scurried from the room again.

She walked over to the young witch as Bellatrix questioned the goblin. The woman's eyes were red and puffy from all of her tears, her chest rising and falling rapidly as she tried to ride out the pain still coursing through her from her arm and earlier curses. Nymphadora smirked, she was sure that they would get the information they wanted by the end of the evening. She was lost in her own little world of thought as she focused on the weak pathetic excuse of a witch on the floor in front of her, barely reacting as her Aunt screamed at the goblin for Merlin knew what. She barely noticed that her Aunt was walking back towards her until she was right next to her, pointing her wand at the broken mess of a girl on the floor.

"Avada—"

"Expeliarmus!"

Bellatrix shrieked as her wand went flying out of her hand. Narcissa and Draco went forward quickly enough, instantly locking the pair in a duel as spells went flying between them. Nymphadora considered running to join the fight, though before she did she turned to see her Aunt and smirked. The woman had grabbed the girl off of the floor, holding her dagger to her neck as she pulled her head back with a tight grip on her hair.

"Stop!" Bellatrix yelled.

And they obeyed her, the poor boys staring frantically at their friend as they realised their predicament.

"Drop your wands," Dora said casually, pointing her wand at the pair as she tilted her head to the side slightly.

"She said drop them!" Bellatrix commanded and again they obeyed.

The wands clattered to the floor, the sound of wood hitting stone echoing throughout the room. Draco obeyed his Aunt as she instructed him to collect them from the floor. Nymphadora couldn't help but smirk as she watched the dark-haired boy, whatever had been done to his face was starting to lose effect and it quickly became apparent that the boy now standing infront of them was undoubtedly Harry Potter.

"Well well well, look what we have here," Bellatrix grinned, practically whispering as she taunted the girl in her grasp, "he's all bright and shiny and new again, just in time for The Dark Lord . . . Call him."

Nymphadora looked to the Malfoy's, stood to the side in a huddle as if nervous to bring The Dark Lord into their home. It was pathetic, Nymphadora thought, when you took a moment to think about it. The Dark Lord would reward them beyond their wildest dreams if Potter was caught in their home. She was tempted to call their master herself, but as her eyes met that of her Aunt Narcissa she knew deep down that the Malfoys had to be the one to call them. They needed to be able to claim this victory as part of their own (even if they had merely stood to the side, played fetch with the prisoners and Pettigrew and duelled a couple of teenagers).

"Call him!" Bellatrix repeated.

Lucius Malfoy stood forward, hesitation in his every step as he looked at Bellatrix for a moment before he slowly lifted his sleeve to reveal the pitch black skull and snake on his left arm. His hand hovered over his mark for a brief moment, it was clear that he did not want to do as he was told and Nymphadora was ready to give up and call their master herself.

That was when they heard it, the slow squeak of metal on metal coming from above them all. Nymphadora furrowed her brow in confusion, looking up she was unable to stop her jaw dropping slightly at the absurdity of the sight. There, clinging to the chains of the chandelier in a rotten pillowcase and several oddly knitted accessories, sat the Malfoy's old House Elf Dobby. The ridiculousness of the situation was enough to throw them all off guard and it wasn't until the last thread of the screw holding the thing in place was released and the large glass chandelier began to fall as if in slow motion to the ground that Bellatrix moved. She screeched as she threw herself out of the way, completely forgetting her prisoner as even Nymphadora had to dive to the floor to narrowly miss the oncoming broken shards of glass. She hissed at the pain as she fell awkwardly on her side, though she quickly turned on her back and faced their prisoners, ready to reign them back in. To her horror Potter successfully wrangled the wands from Draco, including her cousin's own. She heard a spell thrown by the Potter boy, watching her Uncle go flying backwards as he was unprepared to defend himself. She couldn't believe the sight before her. The recently obtained trio, the goblin and Dobby stood in a cluster together readying for their escape.

"Stupid elf!" Bellatrix screeched, now on her feet as she walked towards the lot, "You could have killed me!"

"Dobby never meant to kill," the elf said proudly as he held his head high, "Dobby only meant to maim or seriously injure."

Nymphadora watched as Narcissa narrowed her eyes at the lot, going to throw a curse at them she let out a gasp as the wood vanished from beneath her fingers.

"How dare you take a witches wand!" Bellatrix cried, "How dare you defy your masters!"

"Dobby has no master," the little elf responded proudly, "Dobby is a free elf and Dobby has come to save Harry Potter and his friends!"

The elf grabbed the arms of his fellows and went to disaparate. Nymphadora barely noticed the ringing of metal passing her at the exact moment the lot disappeared. The room stood in silence for a few moments as they were left without their prisoners. Bellatrix was the first to move, storming over to the place where they had been mere seconds previously she looked around the floor.

"It's gone," Bellatrix smirked, "got the foul creature—see, blood!"

"Aunt Bella . . ." Nymphadora called, hesitant to disrupt the woman's train of thought, the older witch merely turned and raise an eyebrow to her with her smirk still plastered on her face, "What do we do now?"

The smirk faltered as if Bellatrix had only just come to the realisation of the gravity of their new found situation.

"The rest . . ." Dora shook her head, "they could be gone . . . Draco check the cellar."

Draco didn't hesitate and nobody else argued, the boy quickly ran from the room.

"Did you call him?" Narcissa asked, staring at the broken chandelier on the floor as if scared to make eye contact with anybody.

"No . . ." Lucius said, "he doesn't know."

"But he will," Dora shook her head, "we have to tell him."

"If the other prisoners are still there we won't—"

"We will not keep secrets from our master!" Bellatrix snapped.

"He'll find out," Dora said, "whether we tell him or not he'll find out."

". . . He'll kill us all," Narcissa whispered, her words barely audible in the room but still enough to send shivers down everyone's spines.

Silence hung heavy in the room, silently agreeing to wait for Draco's return until they decided how best to act next. They could hear his footsteps running back to them from down the hall, his shoes slamming against the stone floor in his urgency to reach his family. The doors to the room were flung open and Draco stood there, pale-faced and out of breath. She didn't need him to speak to know what he was going to say next.

"They're gone," he breathed.

"All of them?" Nymphadora was surprised to hear that she still had a voice.

"All of them," he confirmed, "a-and Pettigrew is down there . . . I think he's dead."

Narcissa walked over to her son, not saying a word as she looked into his features, Nymphadora could only imagine what was going through her mind. She didn't want to think about what she would be feeling if Cassie's life was at risk due to such a failure as this one.

"Go," Bellatrix breathed, looking to her sister.

"Bella—"

"He won't kill me," Bellatrix sighed as if resigned to her fate.

"He might—"

"He won't!" She hissed.

"I'll stay with you," Nymphadora offered, though she was unsure if she could say with full certainty that The Dark Lord would not kill her for her involvement in this monumental fuck up, she was sure she had a better chance than the Malfoys and did not like the idea of Bellatrix having to report this on her own.

"No," Bellatrix said, she looked almost dazed as she searched for her wand for a moment only to remember she had lost it in their fight, "go to Cassie . . ."

"I—"

"I said go!" Bellatrix glared at her niece for a moment before she looked to the rest of the room, "The lot of you! He'll call you if he likes, but let me report this."

Lucius strode over to his wife and child grabbing them, without further question he took them from the room. He ignored his wife as she glanced back at her sister and closed the door abruptly behind them. Nymphadora stood and listened to their footsteps retreating until they could no longer be heard.

"Are you deaf, girl?" Bellatrix asked, tilting her head to one side as she looked at her niece, "I told you to leave."

"He'll hurt you," Nymphadora said.

To the younger witches surprise Bellatrix merely laughed at this comment, "Then do me a kindness?"

"What is it?" Dora asked.

"Find Roddy," Bellatrix hummed, lifting her sleeve as she readied to call her master, "tell him I'll be in need of his services shortly—he'll know what you mean."

Nymphadora didn't argue any more, she knew it was pointless now. She gave a small nod. Bellatrix nodded towards the door and Nymphadora took a deep breath, she slowly walked past her Aunt, taking hold of her arm only momentarily in a reassuring manner she soon left the room. She tried desperately to ignore the rush of dark magic that pulsed through her mark as she could sense her Aunt had pressed her mark. Their master was on his way. She looked back at the dark wood of the door, imagining her Aunt stood solemnly waiting for her fate. It took more strength than she thought it would to tear herself away, following her Aunt's instructions she near enough ran to her bedroom to find her daughter.

Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed, please do leave a review if you have a moment as I love hearing all of your thoughts and they do help with this story sometimes. I am unashamed to admit that some reviews may have influenced a couple of scenes so far haha

The Purple Black