Two years had passed since Sirius' death, and although Bella thought about it less and less as time went on, she knew that she would never get over it. It had been so sudden, so unexpected and there had been nothing she could have done to prevent it. She was sat in the drawing room in Malfoy Manor, in the same armchair by the fire that Narcissa had pushed her into that night. This house had become the Dark Lords base of operations, and Bella spent most of her time here now, unless she was sent somewhere by the Dark Lord. There was a commotion in the hallway – Bella listened and decided to leave the drawing room. Surely this was where they would come, whoever had come to the house, and she was not in the mood to talk to anyone. As she stood up, the door farthest from the hallway opened, and Lucius was there, obviously drawn to the sound of people, just as it was pushing her away. She strode quickly to the door and closed it just as Narcissa opened the other one. She skulked outside the door, listening to what was being said.
"What is this?" Lucius asked Narcissa. He had been broken out of Azkaban, but he definitely looked worse for having been there.
"They say they've got Potter. Draco, come here." Narcissa replied. These words made Bella feel something other than anger – she felt excited. If they had Potter at last, the Dark Lord would be pleased with them.
"Well, boy?" Fenrir Greyback rasped at Draco.
"Well, Draco? Is it? Is it Harry Potter?" Lucius asked his son.
"I can't – I can't be sure" Draco said.
"But look at him carefully, look! Come closer!" Lucius was also excited at the prospect of being back in the Dark Lords good books. Bella could hear it in his voice. "Draco, if we are the ones who hand Potter over to the Dark Lord, everything will be forgiv–"
"Now, we won't be forgetting who actually caught him, I hope, Mr. Malfoy?" Greyback said menacingly.
"Of course not, of course not" Lucius said impatiently. "What did you do to him? How did he get into this state?" He asked Greyback.
"That wasn't us" Greyback said quickly.
"Looks more like a Stinging Jinx to me" Lucius said. "There's something there, it could be the scar, stretched tight. … Draco, come here, look properly! What do you think?"
"I don't know" Draco said.
"We had better be certain Lucius. Completely sure that this is Potter, before we summon the Dark Lord … They say this is his, but it does not resemble Ollivander's description … if we are mistaken, if we call the Dark Lord here for
nothing ... remember what he did to Rowle and Dolohov?" Narcissa was saying this while examining a blackthorn wand.
"What about the Mudblood, then?" Greyback asked.
"Wait. Yes – yes, she was in Madam Malkin's with Potter! I saw her picture in the Prophet! Look, Draco, isn't this the Granger girl?"
"I … maybe … yeah" Draco said despondently. Bella wondered why.
"But then, that's the Weasley boy! It's them, Potter's friends – Draco, look at him, isn't it Arthur Weasley's son, what's his name –?"
"Yeah it could be" Draco said.
Bella was excited again; it was almost certainly Potter if both of his friends were there. She opened the door and strode in, putting on the mask that she wore so often nowadays. The mask that she had been cultivating for thirty-six years. The one that hid her true emotions, even from her sister. "What is this? What's happened, Cissy?" She walked over to examine the prisoners for herself. "But surely, this is the Mudblood girl? This is Granger?"
"Yes, yes, it's Granger. And beside her, we think, Potter! Potter and his friends, caught at last!" Lucius was so excited, Bella was surprised he wasn't bouncing with joy.
"Potter?" she shrieked "Are you sure? Well then, the Dark Lord must be informed at once!" She wanted to get the upper hand on Lucius. She had been more faithful than he ever was. She deserved to tell the Dark Lord.
"I was about to call him!" Lucius said. He had grabbed her wrist so that she could not summon the Dark Lord herself. This enraged her so much that she was tempted to hex him. "I shall summon him, Bella, Potter has been brought to my house, and it is therefore upon my authority–"
"Your authority" she sneered at him, while trying to break free from his grip "You lost your authority when you lost your wand, Lucius! How dare you! Take your hands off me!"
"This boy is nothing to do with you, you did not capture the boy–" Lucius snapped at her.
"Begging your pardon, Mr. Malfoy, but it's us that caught Potter, and it's us that'll be claiming the gold–" Greyback interjected.
"Gold!" she laughed "take your gold, filthy scavenger, what do I want with gold? I seek only the honour of his – of –" She saw the sword. No! How could they have it? How could they get into her vault? It was impossible. Lucius had drawn back his sleeve and was about to summon the Dark Lord. "STOP! Do not touch it, we shall all perish if the Dark Lord comes now! What is that?" she snapped at the snatcher holding the sword. The sword of Gryffindor.
"Sword" he grunted.
"Give it to me."
"It's not yorn, missus, it's mine, I reckon I found it." She could not be dealing with idiots like this. Not today. She Stunned him.
"What d'you think you're playing at, woman?" Scaboir asked.
"Stupefy! Stupefy!" She screamed. None of them understood the danger that they were all in. She had Stunned all of them apart from the werewolf now. She picked up the sword and moved towards him. "Where did you get this sword?" she asked him, pulling his wand out of his hand at the same time.
"How dare you? Release me, woman!" he snarled at her.
"Where did you find this sword? Snape sent it to my vault in Gringotts!" she said.
"It was in their tent. Release me, I say" Greyback rasped. She did so, but he did not make a move towards her.
"Draco, move this scum outside" she pointed at the Stunned snatchers. "If you haven't got the guts to finish them, then leave them in the courtyard for me." She said to him.
"Don't you dare speak to Draco like –" Narcissa said fiercely.
"Be quiet! The situation is graver than you can possibly imagine, Cissy! We have a very serious problem!" She shouted at her sister. She examined the sword. "If it is indeed Potter, he must not be harmed. The Dark Lord wishes to dispose of Potter himself … but if he finds out … I must … I must know …" She muttered this to herself before saying more loudly "The prisoners must be placed in the cellar, while I think what to do!"
"This is my house, Bella, you don't give orders in my–" Bella was furious!
"Do it! You have no idea of the danger we are in!" She shrieked at her sister.
Narcissa hesitated, then said "Take these prisoners down to the cellar, Greyback."
"Wait, all except … except for the Mudblood." Bella instructed.
"No! You can have me, keep me!" It was the ginger haired boy who had spoken. Bella slapped him. She had no time for this.
"If she dies under questioning, I'll take you next. Blood traitor is next to Mudblood in my book. Take them downstairs, Greyback, and make sure they are secure, but do nothing to them – yet." She threw Greyback his wand, then cut Granger free using a small silver dagger that she kept under her robes. She pulled Granger away from the others by the hair, and waited for Greyback to take the others away. "Where did you get the sword from" she asked. The girl did not reply. Bella had no time for games, so she went straight for Crucio. That usually opened the tongues of people unwilling to talk. The girl screamed.
"We found it." She sobbed "it was just in the woods so we picked it up!" Bella didn't believe her.
"I don't believe you. I'm going to ask you again! Where did you get this sword? Where?"
"We found it – we found it – PLEASE!" Bella decided to make a lasting mark on the girl. She began to cut into her arm with the knife. The girl screamed louder and louder.
Bella still didn't believe her. "You are lying, filthy Mudblood, and I know it! You have been inside my vault at Gringotts! Tell the truth! Tell the truth!" she shouted this louder and louder. She Crucio'd the girl again. Another scream. "What else did you take? What else have you got? Tell me the truth or, I swear, I shall run you through with this knife!" she held the silver knife up to the girls face.
"We haven't been in your vault! We haven't taken anything of yours! We found the sword!" The girl cried. Bella didn't believe her.
"What else did you take, what else? ANSWER ME! CRUCIO!" The girl screamed even louder, but Bella had to know. If they had been in the vault, they had to have been there for more than just the sword. They had to know that the Dark Lord had asked her to keep something safe in there. "How did you get into my vault? Did that dirty little goblin in the cellar help you?"
"We only met him tonight! We've never been inside your vault … it isn't the real sword! It's a copy, just a copy!" Tears were streaming down her face. Bella was about to curse her again when Lucius spoke.
"But we can find out easily. Draco, fetch the goblin, he can tell us whether the sword is real or not." Draco nodded and headed out of the room. Bella was breathing heavily – it had been a long time since she had tried to torture information out of someone. It had given her something else to think about. Something other than that night two years ago. A couple of minutes passed before Draco returned with the goblin. They heard a loud crack. "What was that? Did you hear that? What was that noise in the cellar?" Lucius was shouting. "Draco – no, call Wormtail" Make him go and check!" Draco left the room.
Bella gave the goblin the sword to examine, and then went back to torturing the girl.
"What is it Wormtail?" Lucius called.
"Nothing! All fine!" Wormtail called back.
After a couple of minutes torturing the girl, she stood up and looked at the goblin.
"Well? Is it the true sword?"
"No. It is a fake." The goblin told her.
"Are you sure? Quite sure?" She asked him. She needed to be certain.
"Yes" he said. Bella felt the relief spread all through her body.
"Good" she said, and using her wand, she slashed a deep gash in his face. He yelled and fell at her feet. She kicked him. He was nothing. "And now, we call the Dark Lord!" she said triumphantly. She pressed her Dark Mark and felt it burn.
"And I think we can dispose of the Mudblood. Greyback, take her if you want her." She said looking at the werewolf, who looked delighted.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" the Weasley boy had run into the room. Bella was shocked, but raised her wand instinctively. "Expelliarmus!" the boy cried, and she felt her wand fly out of her hand. Stunning Spells were being cast from all directions, with Narcissa, Draco, Greyback and the escaped prisoners firing. She bent down, picked up the Mudblood, and held the knife to her throat.
"STOP OR SHE DIES!" she shouted to the room at large. "Drop your wands. Drop them, or we see exactly how filthy her blood is!" The boys did nothing. "I said, drop them!" she pressed the sharp blade of the knife into the girls throat.
"All right!" Potter shouted, dropping her wand that he had picked up. The other boy dropped the wand that he was using too.
"Good! Draco, pick them up! The Dark Lord is coming, Harry Potter! Your death approached!" She was delighted! "Now, Cissy, I think we ought to tie these little heroes up again, while Greyback takes care of Miss Mudblood. I am sure the Dark Lord will not begrudge you the girl, Greyback, after what you have done tonight."
She stopped talking. There was a peculiar grinding noise from above them and she looked up. The crystal chandelier was trembling, and with a jingle, began to fall. Bella screamed, dropped the girl and dived out of the way. The chandelier crashed onto the girl and the goblin, who was still holding the fake sword. Draco had been hit by the glass – his face was bloody.
"Dobby!" Narcissa shrieked suddenly. "You! You dropped the chandelier–?"
The elf walked into the room, saying "you must not hurt Harry Potter"
"Kill him, Cissy!" Bella shouted, but the elf snapped his fingers, there was another loud crack, and Narcissa's wand flew into his hand. "You dirty little monkey! How dare you take a witch's wand, how dare you defy your masters?" She shrieked.
"Dobby has no master!" The elf squeeled. "Dobby is a free elf, and Dobby has come to save Harry Potter and his friends!"
"Ron, catch – and GO!" Potter shouted, as he threw a wand at the boy. He and the Mudblood disappeared. Potter ran towards the goblin, pulled him from beneath the chandelier, picked him up and grabbed hold of the elf. Bella knew that she only had a second to act. She threw the knife. It span in mid-air, and disappeared as they disaparated. She hoped that she had got one of them. About five seconds later, the Dark Lord apparated into the room.