They were sent to Azkaban while they awaited trial. Bella was not sure how long it was between their capture and their trial – time passed so strangely when surrounded by dementors. Bella was not sure what was real and what was not, as being in such close proximity to dementors had strange side-effects. The ghosts of her past came to haunt her. All those she had killed. All those she had tortured and hurt. And Alice and Frank Longbottom. They had been the first people that Bella had seen become insane due to the Cruciatus Curse. She had never heard of it happening before. In all of her time with the Dark Lord, nobody had ever tortured another person for so long and with such unwillingness to accept the truth that they had gone insane. These thoughts were the ones that haunted her most in that first stint in Azkaban. The baby crossed her mind regularly too – who was looking after him? The thought that he would now have to grow up without parents who loved and cared for him was sickening. Then Bella thought about her own parents – if they had shown her more love and affection, would she have turned out the way she was? A murderer? Someone willing to break someone else to the core just for some information? It felt like both one hundred years had passed but at the same time like no time had passed at all when she was collected for her trial.
The four of them were taken to the Ministry, down to the courtrooms which were at the bottom of the building – furthest away from any exit – Bella noticed. They were brought in to the same courtroom, and sat on four chairs whose chains bound them instantly. There was no way of getting out of those chains.
"You have been brought her before the Council of Magical Law, so that we may pass judgement on you, for a crime so heinous –" It was Barty Crouch Sr. who was addressing the room at large.
"Father, father … please …" It was Bart who was pleading with his father.
"– that we have rarely heard the like of it within this court. We have heard the evidence against you. The four of you stand accused of capturing an Auror – Frank Longbottom – and subjecting him to the Cruciatus Curse, believing him to have knowledge of the present whereabouts of your exiled master, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named –" Crouch Sr. was obstinately refusing to acknowledge his son, which seemed to drive Bart a little bit mad. Bella thought back to Frank and Alice Longbottom, how Bart had been involved in what had happened to them, and that if he couldn't face the consequences of his actions, he should have thought twice about committing them!#
"Father, I didn't! I didn't, I swear it, Father, don't send me back to the dementors –"
"You are further accused of using the Cruciatus Curse on Frank Longbottom's wife, when he would not give you information. You planned to restore He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named to power, and to resume the lives of violence you presumably led while he was strong. I now ask the jury –"
"Mother" Mother, stop him, Mother, I didn't do it, it wasn't me!"
"I now ask the jury to raise their hands if they believe, as I do, that these crimes deserve a life sentence in Azkaban!"
All of the members of the jury raised their hands, and all the other members of the Council of Magical Law began to clap, looks of triumph on their faces.
"No! Mother, no! I didn't do it, I didn't do it, I didn't know! Don't send me there, don't let him!" Bart was screaming now, begging his mother to take pity on him, but Bella knew that there was nothing she would be able to do.
The dementors were coming back into the courtroom now, and the chains holding Bella loosened as she came into the icy clutches of the nearest dementors. Their grip took away any hope that she had, and filled her with despair. She rose from her chained seat and looked Barty Crouch Sr. in the eyes. "The Dark Lord will rise again, Crouch. Throw us into Azkaban; we will wait! He will rise again and will come for us, he will reward us beyond any of his other supporters! We alone were faithful! We alone tried to find him!" She had hoped that the words, even if she didn't quite believe them, would give her a little hope back, but they did not. All she could feel was the dementors grip, and the deep hopelessness that it brought.
"I'm your son! I'm your son!"
"You are no son of mine! I have no son! Take them away! Take them away, and may they rot there!" Bella was almost surprised at Barty Crouch Sr.'s reaction to his son, but the dementors grip on her was getting stronger and stronger, and any surprise she would have felt began to melt away into the despair and misery of the dementors presence.
"Father! Father, I wasn't involved! No! No! Father, please!" It was though Bart was calling from a long way off – what he was saying didn't really register, and it faded away, into the screams of the Longbottoms, and all the others that she had killed or tortured or tormented or hurt. There were so many screams.
And then she was sent to Azkaban and every day for the next fifteen years, the faces of those that she had killed and hurt and tortured haunted her. They screamed at her all day and all night, and slowly wore away her sanity. She was not sure how she had survived. There must have been one small part of her subconscious focussing on something that the dementors could not feed off. Many people die when they are in Azkaban for so long, but somehow Bella survived. It was a dark and stormy night when she escaped, along with some of the other faithful servants of the Dark Lord. They had been saved from Azkaban by the Dark Lord and he thanked them for their faithfulness, their unwavering loyalty. He had come back whilst they were in Azkaban – they had all felt their Dark Marks growing stronger, and had felt it burn the night of his return. Bella was unsure how long ago that had been. As time seemed to disappear in Azkaban, to be replaced with the despair and nothingness that the dementors brought. But now she was free! Along with Rabastan and Rodolphus and Rookwood and Dolohov and the others who had escaped and those who had managed to escape going to Azkaban plotted with the Dark Lord, and began to plan his rise to power. This brought back some of her sanity, and she was able to plan effectively, and they all began to train. Most of them had been wandless for more than a decade, so they needed to practice if they were to have any chance of succeeding. Slowly, she began to build up her protective walls and display the persona that she had cultivated so carefully at school, but her dreams were still haunted by the voices of those that she had hurt during the first war. She was careful not to let anyone see this, practicing Occlumency around the Dark Lord, so that he would not know her worries and doubts. After all, he had been beaten once before and by a baby no less, so was he the right person to support? However, she had chosen her side long ago, and there was nothing that she could do to change that now. She had to deal with the situation she was in, and she did so in the only way she knew how – she supressed all of her emotions apart from anger, as she could use this during duels, and focused on forgetting the innocent little girl that she had once been.
It was January 1996. Bella was staying with the Malfoys at their manor in Wiltshire. She and Rodolphus could not return to their home or they would be certain to be caught and sent back to Azkaban. She was weak, but under Narcissa's care, and being away from the dementors, she was regaining her strength. She was enjoying the training that the Dark Lord was making them do; being able to use her wand again was a light in the dark world her life had been for the last fifteen years. She drew strength from being able to cast spells again. But the best news since her escape was the plan to destroy Potter. The one who had caused the Dark Lords demise. He would not be given that opportunity again. He would give the Dark Lord the weapon. The prophecy which must contain details of how to destroy the boy. It had begun just before Christmas – Kreacher, the Black family house elf, had arrived on Narcissa's doorstep, with news that could destroy both the Potter boy and the blood traitor, her cousin, Sirius Black. Kreacher came with the news that Potter had come to view Black as someone like a father. He cared for Black so much that he would do almost anything if he thought that he was in danger. It was this that the Dark Lord was going to exploit. He had realised that the Potter boy had a powerful connection with him. The boy could see into his mind. The Dark Lord was going to use Legilimency to plant a vision in the boy's mind that showed Black in danger. It was almost certain that the boy would rush to help Black, and then he would be in their hands. They would get the prophecy from him and then destroy him. And then the Dark Lord would be unstoppable.