Okay, so I have been a terrible person and led a busy life for a while where I have been unable to update. Sorry! I have literally possibly two chapters after this one though and this story is finished (which is insane to think).

As always, please read, enjoy and please do leave a review if you have a moment as I love hearing your thoughts!

The Purple Black

They walked to the Forbidden Forest, the cool breeze on Dora's face a welcome comfort as she remained stuck in her thoughts. She noticed her Aunt glancing back to her every few moments, a curious look on her face as if she were waiting for the girl to break down or do something rash in her grief. She noticed her fellow Death Eaters walking around her on her way to the call of their master. Some certainly seemed worse for wear, blood staining their torn robes, dishevelled and the most showing at least some evidence of the battle in their appearance, though still they went forward with smirks on their faces. It seemed they were all having fun. Surely she should be too? Had she not been? She sighed deeply, shaking her head as she tried to push all thought from her mind.

"Ladies," Rabastan grinned in greeting.

"Bellatrix," Rodolphus sighed as he walked towards the women, "Where have you been?"

"Here and there," Bellatrix smirked, letting the man kiss her for a moment before she pulled away to look at the clearing (in particular their master who now stood feet in front of them staring towards the entrance of the forest, oblivious to all around him).

"Where's Barty?" Rabastan asked Dora, "I want to see if I'm winning this bet—I reckon he owes me twenty galleons at this rate."

"You win," Dora murmured.

"Why? Did he tell you how many he's killed so far?" Rabastan raised an eyebrow as he paused to look around the woman as if expecting the man to rock up behind her at any moment, "Where is he?"

Both Rodolphus and Rabastan looked to Nymphadora, the smirk began to fade slightly from the younger brothers face as Rodolphus sighed in realisation.

"Who got him?" Rodolphus asked, his voice low and steady but with definite undertones of anger.

"Lupin," Dora said, her fists clenching slightly as she said his name.

"We'll get him," Rodolphus said frankly, "we'll make sure he pays."

"I'll gut him like the fucking mutt he is," Rabastan growled.

"He's mine," Dora glared at Rabastan, revenge was now coursing through her veins.

"Of course he is," Bellatrix smirked, reaching out and squeezing the girls shoulder, "you—"

Everyone fell silent, the boy had arrived. They watched as the young boy approached their master, the crowd seemed surprised that the boy had turned up at all. Nymphadora could hear Bellatrix giggling under her breath behind her, watching her master taunt the boy—though he did not seem to be in the mood to play. The half-giant oaf chirped up from the corner, Dora had been too distracted to notice him at first but now she viewed the sight as almost comical. The pair ignored all those surrounding them though, as Lord Voldemort readied himself to kill his enemy. A green light soon flooded the clearing and in a bizarre turn of events, Harry Potter was not the only man to fall to the floor.

Bellatrix let out a small uncharacteristic yelp of shock and ran to her master, ignoring her husband as he tried to get her to wait. She was crouched beside him, trying to discern what had happened.

"My Lord, are you hurt?" Bellatrix whispered, as the man stirred on the floor.

"I don't need your help," Voldemort said as he pulled himself to his feet, pushing his right-hand woman away from him.

Nymphadora went forward before Rodolphus could move, offering a hand to her Aunt though she refused and stood alone, staring at the motionless form of Harry Potter as she moved closer to her master again. The group were silent in the gathering for a moment, as if waiting with baited breath to see if the boy would move again, it was Narcissa who moved forward to inspect when others would not.

"The boy," Bellatrix breathed, "is he dead?"

It was the longest silence of Nymphadora's life. She watched her Aunt as she crouched over the boy, moving her head close to him as she seemingly looked for a sign of life. When she eventually rose to her feet again she slowly turned to face them, her face was an emotionless mask and Nymphadora could not figure out what the answer was from her cold stare.

"Dead."

Lord Voldemort laughed, the rest soon following suit as the cries of the half-giant were drowned out by the celebrations of the Death Eaters. Even Nymphadora couldn't help but crack a small smile. Maybe it had been worth it? Maybe they were done now and she could still get home to see her daughter?

The group moved quickly at Lord Voldemorts command, someone forcing the half-giant to collect the lifeless form of Harry Potter. Bellatrix near enough skipped at the front of the crowd on their way back to the castle, close behind her master as they approached the castle. Dora kicked a piece of rubble away from her feet on her path as they eventually stopped. The boy's followers were exiting the castle to meet them, Nymphadora was amused to see that they looked more dishevelled and war-torn than her fellow warriors.

"Harry Potter is dead!" Lord Voldemort cried.

"No!" A guttural cry came from the crowd as Ginny Weasley ran forward, running straight at them as if expecting to take on The Dark Lords army singlehanded for the boy laying limp in the half-giants arms.

"Silence!" Lord Voldemort yelled as he cast a silencing spell on the lot, watching as Ginny's father pulled her back from her plight of revenge.

"Stupid girl," Voldemort snickered, "Harry Potter, is dead. From this day forth, you put your faith in me." He turned back to his followers, grinning as he repeated himself "Harry Potter is dead!"

Those around her laughed and cheered, though as Nymphadora looked to her side she couldn't help but think something was wrong. Narcissa Malfoy was staring forward still, not even a shadow of a smile on her pale features as her eyes flickered momentarily to the 'chosen one'. She was about to nudge her, to see if she was okay, but that was the exact moment that Neville Longbottom stood forward to meet their lot.

Bellatrix laughed as the boy said his name to their master, clearly amused at the boy whose parents she had helped torture into insanity standing before them with nothing but the old sorting hat in his hands.

"It doesn't matter that Harry's gone," Neville said, ignoring his friends protest for him to stand down, "people die every day! Friends, family . . . Yeah, we lost Harry tonight . . . but he's still with us, in here," he put his hand to his chest, "so's Fred, Molly," Nymphadora bit back her own snicker despite herself, she had almost forgotten about her triumph over that woman, "all of them . . . they didn't die in vain. But you will! Because you're wrong! Harry's heart did beat for us! For all of us! It's not over!"

Nymphadora frowned as the boy pulled a sword out of the hat, though as she heard the scramble of someone to her left her attention was diverted. Her heart stopped, her breath caught in her throat, her eyes turned wide as Harry James Potter seemingly rose from the dead and threw himself from Rubeus Hagrid's arms. He ran and The Dark Lord threw curses towards him. But she looked to her Aunt Narcissa. Her mouth was open slightly, though it was only a temporary look as she turned to see her niece staring at her.

She knew why she had done it. She wanted the battle to stop. She still hadn't found Draco in the mess of the battle and had been running around the castle without a wand trying to find her only child. She could understand it. She was a mother desperate to find her child, to stop the battle before Draco was hurt. That didn't mean that she could condone it. Regardless of the Potter child's fate, she would have found her son eventually. Dead or alive. But it was too late now.

"Run." Nymphadora said simply and quietly, ignoring the chaos around her as some Death Eaters were beginning to flee as the rest of them ran back into battle, "You find him and you run."

Narcissa hesitated for a moment before she nodded, reaching her hand out to the girl to show her appreciation for not just trying to punish her for their master right there on that spot. But she pulled her hand away, shaking her head and then nodding towards the castle. She could not be seen to associate with the woman now, she had to cut herself away from her Aunt just like she had her mother. Narcissa gave the girl one last look before she took her husband and ran back into the fray in hopes of finding her only child.

Their opponents were running back into the castle already, the Malfoys paying no attention to the rest as they ran to find their child, Narcissa not even hesitating when her sister screamed her name in her anger. Nymphadora looked to the woman for a moment before running up to her.

"Come on," Dora said, "we have a war to finish."

Bellatrix considered the girl for a moment, her eyes still flickering to the spot her sister had disappeared to before she gave a short nod and without warning ran towards the main fray of the battle. Nymphadora struggled to keep up with her, a fact that was made apparent when Rodolphus was quickly running beside her into the castle. Though she was stopped dead in her tracks as she looked into the devastation of the Great Hall. People were duelling all around, fighting for their lives, for their freedom, for what they believed in. The hall was alive with the sound of battle, the likes of which had never been witnessed within its walls before. She was only snapped out of her thoughts when she saw Remus Lupin. He was standing by one of the tables that had been pushed to the side, surrounded by those battling around him though he was only focused on Rabastan as he duelled him singlehandedly. Dora couldn't help the small growl of fury that left her as her hair went red, acting upon instinct she ran to the end of the table and jumped up. She ignored the other few Death Eaters that had gotten the upper hand and were stood along the tables (her Aunt included) as she passed them without seconds thought, only stopping when she reached the end of the table and quickly turning to throw a curse at the turned back of Remus Lupin. The man let out a yell of pain as a cut appeared to slash through the back of his robes and graze his skin underneath, Rabastan laughing as he looked to the girl.

"He's mine," Dora hissed.

"Flattered," Remus coughed, turning to face the witch before they quickly engaged in battle.

Bellatrix's mad cackle echoed throughout the hall over the din of battle. She was stood on the table, laughing as George and Ginny Weasley tried to battle her. It was insane to her, how the two children thought they were capable of taking her down even with their combined force. She was merely toying with them, duelling them with barely her full capacity as she threw away their attempts to bring her down with relative ease. She was amused for now, though the moment she became bored she would put an end to the pair. But she would make the little Weasels dance first.

"Step away from those children!" Minerva McGonagall yelled just as Bellatrix managed to disarm the Weasley girl, storming up to the fray as she pushed the children aside.

"Oh," Bellatrix pouted, "but I was having fun."

Minerva narrowed her eyes at the woman, watching her mad grin carefully as she walked around and took the chairs as a small step to the table as she got to the same level as the woman.

"Looking for a challenge?" Bellatrix giggled.

"Your reign of terror ends here, Bellatrix." McGonagall said firmly, not waiting for the woman to finish her next round of laughter at her comment as she threw a hex at the witch that was narrowly deflected.

Bellatrix stepped backwards, still laughing as she continued to throw spells at the woman, aiming to throw her to the floor before she ended her pathetic old life. It was a periodic dance, the rest of the room falling out of their concentration as the pair battled for their lives on top of the table, each knowing that both of them could not walk away from this battle. Bellatrix laughed again as the older witch stumbled backwards at the force of one of her spells, a cut appearing on the woman's left arm. The professor inspected her wound for a split second before she attacked the Death Eater with renewed determination.

But Bellatrix continued to duel, with a grin on her face even as she was pushed further towards the end of the table not once letting it show on her features that she was losing the upper hand of their fight. The thought never passed her mind. It was only as the jet of green light came towards her, however, that Bellatrix Lestrange realised this was not a fight she was walking away from.

A yell of fury echoed the hall, the room seeming to stop as Bellatrix toppled off of the end of the table, falling in a heap on the floor. Nymphadora looked from her paused duel, her eyes widening as she noticed what had happened when her Lord turned his attention towards Minerva McGonagall. She didn't particularly notice as Harry Potter ran forward to The Dark Lord, ready to engage in his own final battle. Her feet were already moving as she stormed towards her Aunt, hoping that the woman had merely been knocked out even though the doubt in her mind fuelled by her master's reaction lay heavy on her. McGonagall had already moved out of her path, all eyes on the battle between Potter and Lord Voldemort as she stopped to look down at her Aunt.

She jumped down, hesitating a moment before she knelt down to the woman. Nymphadora Tonks looked down to the body of Bellatrix Lestrange with a cold shock settling over her like a ton of rocks sitting in the pit of her stomach. The witch that had helped raise her, that had been there for her since her childhood, that had introduced her to the life she knew, had helped her through so much . . . She still had the echo of a grin etched on her lips as her eyes, once so full of passion and determination, stared blankly into nothingness. A once strong and powerful witch reduced to a lifeless corpse.

Nymphadora didn't realise as a single tear rolled down her cheek. She didn't notice as the Rodolphus struggled to make his way over to them from the opposite end of the hall. She barely lost her train of thought as her head turned to see their master fall. She didn't register it though, even as the majority of the remaining Death Eaters began to flee. She only snapped out of her thought entirely as a curse hit her in the back, making her twist as she fell on her back next to the lifeless form of her Aunt Bellatrix. She was wandless within seconds, staring up at the emotionless face of Remus Lupin as he towered over her from on top of the table she had been previously duelling on. He ensured she was bound and helpless left without a chance to defend herself. She tilted her head to the side just in time to see Rodolphus falling mere feet from her as he too was captured. It was over. They had lost.