So I kinda of can't believe that this story is wrapping up now, I'm half way through doing the next chapter and I'm trying very hard to make it very interesting. haha

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

The Purple Black

It took days for Bellatrix to return to her normal self. It was arguably one of her shorter recoveries, though Rodolphus still kept a close eye on the witch as if she were some small porcelain doll. In truth it soon began to grate on Bellatrix and Nymphadora was soon stuck with Cassie, Delphi and Bellatrix in her room as she tried to get some space from her husband. The young witch didn't quite understand it, she knew that her Aunt loved her Uncle (though she knew just as well that that was something that Bellatrix would never openly admit). Though the time seemed to pass just as quickly as it always had and as Nymphadora watched her newborn baby soon grow to be nearly two months old she couldn't help but wish that time would just stop. There was a war going on and she had to agree with her Aunts constant comments on the matter; she could feel a battle approaching.

"She's growing too quickly," Dora murmured as she stroked the pink hair tuft of hair out of her daughter's face, her Aunt had left her alone for the day. She had made excuses of Delphi needing a nap when Barty had entered the room (forgetting the fact the girl had taken her naps in Dora's bed many times in the past without issue).

"She's supposed to grow, isn't she?" Barty frowned, looking to his daughter curiously as he sat at the end of the bed, leaning against one of the bedposts, "Metamorphmagus don't grow quicker . . . do they?"

"Well, no," Dora rolled her eyes, "unless she decides to start trying to morph her limbs of her own accord."

"Wait . . . She can't do that. She's just a baby," Barty seemed slightly concerned now, hesitating for a moment before he walked over to the woman and gently took his daughter out of her arms, "she won't know how to morph them back, will she?"

"Well not usually," Dora sighed, moving herself to sit on the edge of her bed as she watched the pair, "apparently I did it a few times. Sometimes I stayed like it a little longer than I should have but in the end, St Mungo's just told my parents to leave me to it to morph back—well, at least leave it a few days. But I didn't start doing that until I was running around apparently, more like when I wanted to grab something off of the counter I couldn't reach so just decided to grow my arm."

"Right . . ." Barty murmured, not sounding too relieved.

"She'll be fine . . ." Dora said, "Barty?"

"Hmm?"

"What—" Dora sighed, taking a deep breath before she looked to the man currently staring down at the dark eyes of his daughter, "What if we don't survive this war?"

Barty huffed slightly, looking up from his daughter to smirk at Dora, "Why wouldn't we survive?"

"We could be killed in a battle," Dora said, a lump forming in her throat as she looked to her innocent daughter and thought of what she would do without her mother or father.

Barty stared at the witch for a moment before with a small shake of his head he walked over to his daughter's bassinet and gently lowered her into it, surprising Nymphadora slightly as he paused a moment and placed a kiss on her head as she babbled to herself in her own baby talk. He turned to face Nymphadora, striding over to her and grabbing her hand he pulled her from the bed.

"Dora, how many Death Eaters have the scum managed to kill, hmm?" Barty said as he stroked the hair from the woman's face, "Compared to how many Death Eaters have killed? We're the winning side here, love."

"Well we're not exactly that much better off," Dora rolled her eyes, "I mean look at Gibbon. Bloody killed in the crossfire by one of our own."

"Well, Rowle's an idiotic fool and not someone I would recommend sticking by your side in a battle regardless," Barty gave a lopsided grin as he took hold of Dora's hip and pulled her towards himself, "You've got me as a duelling partner."

"Oh?" Dora raised an eyebrow, unable to help the slight playful smirk that played her lips as she reached up and rested her arms on the man's shoulders, "I don't think I need a duelling partner, Crouch."

"No?" Barty asked, laughing slightly as the woman shook her head, "True. But it's nice having you close by."

He reached down and pressed his lips to her own, wrapping his arms around the woman as she felt her let out a small groan at the touch of his lips.

"Barty," Dora pulled her lips away, shaking her head though she made no move to step back from him, "this is serious. We need to figure out where Cassie goes if . . . well if the worst happens. I don't want her ending up in some bloody orphanage."

"Well she won't, will she?" Barty rolled his eyes, "There's Bellatrix and Rodolphus, then there's Narcissa if they won't or can't. But I'm sure Bellatrix would have you down to take Delphi if anything happens to her—merlin knows she won't want her Delphi growing up like spoilt little Draco—so she'll take Cassie if it goes the other way."

"But—"

"Shh," Barty quickly kissed the woman to silence her for a moment before he shook his head, "don't worry about such things before we have to."

Barty leant his head back down to the witch, kissing her with all of his attention as his hands began to slip further down her back. But Nymphadora didn't have the luxury of being able to not worry about things. It was all she could do. Though she had to admit she was beginning to welcome the distraction as Barty entangled one of his hands in her hair. That was when she felt it. With a gasp of shock, she pushed the man away from her.

"What?" Barty asked with an expression on his face that made it seem as if the woman had just slapped him, "Dora I've told you before, Cassie is just a baby, she—"

"No!" Dora hissed, wincing as she heard their child stir, she gestured to the skull and snake on her arm now writhing and burning her skin, "I have to go. Look after Cassie,"

"I—Okay," Barty nodded, "Yeah, sure, come back soon—well as soon as you can. I mean . . ."

Dora wasn't listening to him anymore, she had already almost tripped over as she quickly slipped on her boots and ran from the room. She was surprised as when she slowed to a stop outside of the doors to the main ballroom she could see her Aunt and Uncle rushing towards her from the other side.

"What's happened?" Rodolphus asked hurriedly, ignoring his wife as she grabbed onto his arm to halt herself as she reached the pair.

"I—I don't know," Dora shook her head, "I—"

The Malfoys were approaching them. Though none of them were running as the others were they looked just as hurried and concerned that their summons, Dora wondered why her Aunt Cissa was there. She had no mark, no immediate pull to answer the call of their master. Though perhaps she was just there because her husband and child were? Or perhaps if the two men were summoned it was now expected for Narcissa to come. She didn't even realise as Rabastan came up behind her.

"Well?" Rabastan asked, "What's happened?"

"We need to find out," Bellatrix shook her head, marching to the front of the group she grabbed hold of the doors and wrenched them open.

Dora had to stop herself swearing. She couldn't remember the last time she had seen the room occupied by so many people that weren't Death Eaters. There were more goblins than she had ever seen outside of Gringotts at one time and it was only as she looked to the few wizards in the room in Gringotts uniform that she realised that that was exactly where all the Goblins had come from.

"How nice of you to join us," The Dark Lord said, the cold authority in his voice causing Nymphadora to only become even more nervous as she slowly and obediently followed her Aunt into the room.

"My Lord," Bellatrix replied, lowering herself into a bow as the rest quickly copied her actions.

"Get up," Voldemort hissed, clearly having no patience, "you two," Voldemort pointed his wand at Lucius and Bellatrix, "you advised me on using Gringotts to hide valuable items. No?"

"The Goblins assured me it would be safe, My Lord," Lucius said, always quick to blame others.

"They were wrong!" Voldemort yelled, pointing his wand at the blonde man he curled his lip as he hissed the curse that sent the man whimpering to his knees. He barely let the curse hold for more than a few moments before he lifted it, letting the man's wife help him back to his feet as he stormed to stand face to face with Bellatrix Lestrange. "You assured me that only the Lestranges—and Nymphadora—had access to your vault, that it was 'one of the best-protected vaults in Gringotts', did you not?"

"I—It is, My Lord." Bellatrix nodded, though her eyes were slightly wider than usual as her gaze flickered momentarily to her master's wand, "It has the Dragon, for starters."

"It had a Dragon." Voldemort sneered, digging his wand into the woman's neck as he forced her to look up into his eyes. "Potter stole it."

"Potter?" Bellatrix breathed.

"It seems this is the second time he has bested you, third if you count the Ministry," Voldemort said and without missing a beat he surged a Cruciatus through the woman, she instantly fell to the floor as her screams rang out through the room. He held the curse slightly longer than he had for Malfoy, though it was still only mercifully short. "Be glad that I need you all to be in prime fighting condition!" Voldemort yelled.

Nymphadora had never seen him so enraged, she could barely keep her eyes on her master as it was Rodolphus who slipped forward to help pull Bellatrix back to her feet. Though she quickly pushed him away and pulled herself back up, watching intently as Lord Voldemort passed through the terrified looking wizards and goblins alike.

He stopped at the head of the room, glaring at his followers as he raised his wand yet again, "Be thankful, Lord Voldemort shows mercy . . . to you."

It started too quickly for Nymphadora to register what was happening. There was suddenly splashes of red began to spray as Nymphadora felt an arm pull her back and drag her to the safety of the back wall. Blood was everywhere, yells of pain and the cries of the dying filled the room as Nymphadora fell to the floor with Rabastan. She looked around in horror at the sight, not having to see her hair to know it had turned white. She saw her Aunt Bellatrix across the room, having thrown herself to stand beside the fireplace though she slowly now slipped down the wall to sit on the floor. The older witch shook her head, her lips moving inaudibly above the screams as she was clearly blaming herself.

"Stay still," Rabastan growled through gritted teeth, pulling her back as she went to try to get to her Aunt, "or he might change his mind about sparing us."

Nymphadora swallowed hard and nodded. The slaughter was almost done with, she saw a man trying to run the room and on instinct, she drew her wand and with a quick spell forced him back to the centre where with a yell of fear mingled with pain a spell sliced through him like a sharp knife through a butter. The last body soon fell to the floor with a thud. The silence was sickening, perhaps even more so than the small river of blood that was seeping it's way to Nymphadora. She didn't even care as the thick red substance pooled at the bottom of her boots. Her eyes were back on her master. He took one last look at the room, then spoke in the tongue he shared with his daughter. Nagini slithered through the mess of blood, joining her master at his command and raising her scaly head to his hand. With the familiar crack of apparation, they were gone.

It was like a scene from a nightmare. Though Nymphadora had witnessed and been the cause of many deaths over the years, this was an entirely different level of slaughter. The Malfoy's were the first to move, Lucius scrambling over to his wife and son as if he was still too afraid to stand up. She watched the little blonde family take stock of each other, assuring that none of them were injured and muttering words that only they could hear to each other. Nymphadora looked over to Bellatrix, Rodolphus had stood and walked over to his wife. He approached her carefully, stepping over the odd body and avoiding the blood on the floor as best as he could (though it was an impossible task). When he finally reached her he bent down to her level.

"Bella?" Rodolphus said quietly.

"No," Bellatrix shook her head, staring at the floor as she kept her knees drawn up to her chest, "I didn't mean to . . . I thought . . . I failed him!"

"Bella, look at me," Rodolphus said sternly, grabbing the woman's hands that were tangled in her hair and making her look up at him. She turned her face up at him with a glassy stare, it was as if she was looking straight through him and it worried Rodolphus to the pit of his stomach, chilling him far more so than the slaughter they had just witnessed. "You couldn't have known, but it's okay. You're not hurt, are you?"

"No . . . I—" Bellatrix turned her head to look at her niece, still sat staring at the victims of their master's wrath, she shook her head and pulled herself to her feet. She walked over to her niece with determination, ignoring her husband as he called her name. She didn't drop in front of her niece in a calming manner such as her husband had done, she merely grabbed hold of the white-haired girl's hand and pulled her to her feet. The girl continued to stare at all the blood.

"It's not as fun if you're not the one causing the massacre, is it?" Dora asked in a near enough whisper.

"Not always . . ." Bellatrix replied, taking a moment to look around the room before she tilted her head and looked to her niece curiously, "You're not hurt, are you?"

"No . . ." Dora shook her head, finally pulling her gaze away from the fallen and looking to her Aunt.

"Good," Bellatrix nodded, keeping a firm grip on her hand as she went to pull her from the room.

"Bella!" Narcissa cried, causing her sister to turn and raise an eyebrow at her, "We—We need to clear this—this mess."

"Do it tomorrow," Bellatrix rolled her eyes "we have nothing better to do by the looks of things."

"The blood will dry and the room will smell," Lucius wrinkled his nose.

"There's nothing wrong with a little decay," Bellatrix mused, letting out a huff of laughter at her brother-in-law's look of disgust "you clean it, if you must. I'm taking Dora back to Cassie."

She didn't listen to her sister calling her name again as she took Nymphadora from the room. Though the girl didn't pay any attention to where she was taking her, didn't even realise that they were going in the opposite direction of where her daughter was blissfully unaware of the horrors of the Manor as she lay in the arms of her father. She only noticed when she heard the door close behind her. She looked up to see what she recognised to be Lucius Malfoy's study, a room just as lavishly furnished as most of the rooms in the manor. A particularly sour-looking old Malfoy sat in a frame above the old oak desk, curling his lip in distaste at the witches appearance he quickly made himself scarce as he left his portrait whilst quietly hissing something under his breath.

"Why are we here?" Dora finally found her voice, looking to her Aunt as she opened one of the cabinets within the room.

The older witch did not answer her, rummaging around what Dora could only guess from the one clinking of glass was Lucius Malfoy's potion kit. She pulled out a large half-empty bottle and ripped off the cork with her teeth, quickly spitting it out and taking a large swig of the potion. She tilted her head back, closing her eyes for a moment Nymphadora watched as her whole body relaxed. Bellatrix had clearly downed a swig of calming draught.

"I don't need it," Nymphadora said as Bellatrix eventually turned and held the bottle out to her niece.

"You do," Bellatrix huffed.

"I—" Nymphadora stopped as Bellatrix pressed the bottle into her hands and gave her a stern look, a look that she had given her many a time before and Nymphadora had long learned that it meant her Aunt was not to be argued with. She took a swig without further protest, relief flooding through her as the potion took effect and she could feel her racing heart beginning to calm slightly.

"You need to be in order, Nymphadora," Bellatrix hummed, flicking her wand as she made the bottle cork itself again and fly back into the cabinet.

"What?" Dora frowned, unable to help but think the potion may not have helped her Aunt as much as it had her.

"It will be soon," Bellatrix said with an eerie sense of certainty.

"You've been saying that for weeks . . ."

"Because it's true," Bellatrix said, walking over to her niece and taking a strand of her still white hair, "you can't be afraid . . . you're not a little girl anymore."

"I was never afraid," Dora said, morphing her hair to a dark purple.

"You weren't . . ." Bellatrix nodded, speaking so quietly that Nymphadora would not have been able to hear her if it wasn't for the fact that she was stood so close to her, "but then you became a mother . . . motherhood changes you. Makes you think of someone apart from yourself . . . makes you fear for them when they're still too young and innocent to know what's going on in the world around them . . . it's a weakness. But though you understand this, you know they make you weaker . . . you can't stop it. You wouldn't if you could. Because all you care about now is making sure that you do your duty and serve your master and in doing so make sure that you win . . . but you came into this for yourself. You came in wanting to make a difference, to be famed and feared and rule the wizarding world all to show those around you that you could. But now it's for them . . ."

Nymphadora didn't say a word, knowing that what her Aunt was saying was correct but not being able to help but think that Bellatrix wasn't talking about her niece anymore. She nodded slightly as the woman raised her black eyes to look into her own.

"It will be fine," Bellatrix smirked, "The Dark Lord will win. He will not fail."

"I know . . ." Nymphadora said, knowing that she wasn't sure if she did know for certain anymore, she considered if her Aunt would be more open to her previous worries about Cassie than Barty, "What about if we . . . die—The Dark Lord could still win if we were to die, we aren't as important as him." She quickly added the last part as her Aunt narrowed her eyes slightly.

"There are plans in place . . ." Bellatrix said after a moment.

"What plans?" Dora asked.

"Don't worry," Bellatrix said, stepping away from the girl as she let go of the strand of Dora's hair she had been twirling absentmindedly in her fingers.

"But—"

"I said don't worry," Bellatrix repeated, "clean up and go to your daughter, I'll speak with you tomorrow."

Nymphadora went to press her Aunt for answers again; if there was a plan that involved her daughter should she die she needed to know every detail. But Bellatrix was done talking, a fact that was made very clear as she walked from the room without any more answers. She stood in the room for a long while after her Aunt had left her, thinking over what had happened as well as what was yet to happen. Though her mind began to spiral as she thought of all of the possibilities and she soon realised she had been in there for long enough that the small swing of calming draught had long worn off. She gathered her senses, eventually clearing the splatters of blood that had hit her robes and making her way from the room.

Barty was in her bed, his eyes closed as he had seemingly taken advantage of their daughter taking a nap and decided to join her. Dora smiled as she looked into the bassinet, Cassie was stirring, the little girls now blue eyes staring up at her mother as she wriggled in her blanket to gain her mother's attentions.

"Hey beautiful," Dora cooed, reaching down and taking her into her arms she rested the baby on her shoulder and rubbed her back gently, "it's okay, Mummy's here."

She walked over to her bed, kicking off her boots she decided to lay back on the bed herself. She lay with her daughter on her chest, kissing her hair that now matched the colour of her own and cherishing the calm of laying with her daughter in her room decidedly ignoring the world around her at that moment. She was blissfully unaware of the events waiting for her the next day, ready to change both her life and the wizarding world forever.

So I hope you enjoyed! Please leave a review if you have a moment, I looooooove reading them!

'til next time!

The Purple Black