"NO!" someone from the castle shouted. Looking up, Bella could see that a crowd had gathered at the entrance, and Professor McGonagall was looking in horror at the sight of Potter in Hagrid's arms. It was she who had cried out.
More voices began to call out. "NO!"
"No!"
"Harry! HARRY!"
The rest of the crowd began to shout at the Death Eaters. Bella could not make out what they were saying, but she knew that they would not be pleasant things.
"SILENCE!" it was the Dark Lord who had spoken, and he had clearly cast a Silencing Charm, as the sound stopped immediately. "It is over! Set him down, Hagrid, at my feet, where he belongs! You see? Harry Potter is dead! Do you understand now, deluded ones? He was nothing, ever, but a boy who relied on others to sacrifice themselves for him!" The Dark Lord was enjoying this, Bella could tell. He had been waiting for a long time to finally kill the boy, and now he got to show this to the whole of Hogwarts. To all of the boys friends.
"He beat you!" Someone from the crowd shouted. Bella wondered how he had done it. He had been magically silenced by the Dark Lord, so how was he speaking now? The rest of them began to shout again. The Dark Lord cast another Silencing Charm, and the noise stopped abruptly.
"He was killed while trying to sneak out of the castle grounds, killed while trying to save himself –" The Dark Lord said to the assembled group of fighters. He was cut off by Longbottom running forward, as if to duel him. The Dark Lord disarmed him easily, and laughed. "And who is this? Who has volunteered to demonstrate what happens to those who continue to fight when the battle is lost?"
Bella laughed. "It is Neville Longbottom, my Lord! The boy who has been giving the Carrows so much trouble! The son of the Aurors, remember?" Bella prompted him.
"Ah, yes, I remember. But you are a pureblood, aren't you, my brave boy?"
"So what if I am?" The boy said loudly and defiantly.
"You show spirit and bravery, and you come of noble stock. You will make a very valuable Death Eater. We need your kind, Neville Longbottom."
"I'll join you when hell freezes over. Dumbledore's Army!" The boy shouted. Many of the crowd surrounding him cheered.
"Very well, if that is your choice, Longbottom, we revert to the original plan. On your head, be it." The Dark Lord said this extremely quietly, and Bella knew that his quiet voice was the most dangerous. It meant imminent pain. The Dark Lord waved his wand, and Bella saw the Sorting Hat fly down from one of the broken castle windows. The Dark Lord caught it. "There will be no more Sorting at Hogwarts School. There will be no more Houses. The emblem, shield and colours of my noble ancestor, Salazar Slytherin, will suffice for everyone. Won't they, Neville Longbottom?" He pushed the hat onto Longbottoms head. "Neville here is now going to demonstrate what happens to anyone foolish enough to continue to oppose me." He flicked his wand, and the hat burst into flames. Longbottom screamed.
Bella was unsure why seeing this made her feel so uncomfortable. Then she remembered. She remembered that she had tortured his parents and regretted it. She remembered what she had done to protect her family, but she had almost certainly killed Tonks. By modifying her memory, she had done the very thing that she had been trying to prevent. She had caused the death of another family member. It was all her fault. She realised that the Memory Charm that Narcissa had cast had broken. This was obviously the right time for it to break, but she could not understand why. She realised that the Memory Charms had made herself become less of herself. She didn't know what she meant by this thought, but it also made sense. She was not the unemotional and careless person that everyone expected her to be. She cared. She really cared, and regretted her actions since the age of fifteen when she hadn't stood up to Sirius' parents for him. He had only been seven! She suddenly became madder than she had ever been, thinking that she didn't care if she died now. She realised that she could not continue to live like this, modifying her memory whenever she realised that the Dark Lord was wrong. But then she remembered the plan. She and Narcissa had a plan to bring down the Dark Lord. She glanced at her sister, and the look in her eyes made Bella suddenly realise the truth. The boy was not actually dead.
At the same moment, Neville suddenly free from the Body Bind Curse, jumped forward. He was still holding Gryffindor's sword. Bella realised that Nagini had slithered from the Dark Lord's shoulders and had been making her way towards the school, readying herself for the fight that was surely to recommence at any moment. She did not have the chance to do anything as Neville suddenly swung the sword up and cut off her head.
Many things began to happen at once. "HARRY! HARRY! WHERE'S HARRY?" Bella heard the giant shout. The crowd also began to shout again, a giant came around the side of the castle shouting "HAGGER" and there seemed to be more cries coming from the boundary walls. The giants that were fighting on their side roared and ran at the lone giant. All Bella knew after that was chaos. She was shooting spells all around her, not caring who she hit. She ran at the school. She suddenly knew that the Dark Lord must be nearing his defeat, why else would the Longbottom boy have been so determined to kill the snake. She had looked into his eyes at the exact moment that the sword hit, and she had seen something in them. The move had been quite deliberate on his part – he knew that killing the snake would have an impact on the battle. Bella suddenly realised that the snake must have been a horcrux and that the sword had been able to kill it. Now she understood why the trio had needed the sword.
She was in the great hall, but was unsure how she had got there. She became aware that she was duelling three people at the same time. She had fought all of them before. There was Granger who she had tortured at Malfoy Manor, and the two girls who had been with Potter that fateful night at the Ministry two years ago. People were falling all around her. She did not know nor care who they were. She knew that the Dark Lord must be defeated soon. Somehow she knew that the snake must have been his last horcrux and that the only thing left to do was for someone to kill him. She breathed freely for what felt like the first time in forever. Her family was safe from the Dark Lord now. There was only one thing left for her to do. She aimed a Killing Curse so that it would just miss the blood traitor. The Weasley girl. She had aimed well - it missed her by less than an inch.
"NOT MY DAUGHTER, YOU BITCH!" The girl's mother had pushed her aside, and was ready to duel. "OUT OF MY WAY!" She shouted at the other two girls. Bella was delighted. This was exactly what she wanted to happen. She was looking forward to this duel, not because she thought she would win, but because it would be believable for her to lose. And that was all she wanted right now. She didn't want to live like this anymore, modifying her memory on a more and more frequent basis. He only regret was that she would not be able to say goodbye to Narcissa. They began; both knew that only one of them would make it out of this fight, but only Bella knew that she would be the one to loose. Some students ran forward as if to help the woman. Bella laughed, not because she relished the added challenge, but because but Mrs. Weasley shouted "No! Get back! Get back! She is mine!" Bella suddenly became aware that the other duels had finished. The only people who were still fighting were herself, and the Dark Lord. Hundreds of people were watching their duels.
"What will happen to your children when I've killed you? When mummy's gone the same way as Freddie?" Bella knew that this would taunt Mrs. Weasley, so that perhaps the motherly fierceness that she had seen in Narcissa might burst out of Mrs. Weasley, and end the duel.
"You – will – never – touch – our – children – again!" Mrs. Weasley screamed at her. Bella simply laughed – she knew that her time was coming, and was glad. She was no longer living a lie. She realised that Sirius had laughed the same laugh just before she Stunned him that final and deadly time. For the briefest of moments, Bella wondered what lie he had been living under before Mrs. Weasley made a complicated movement with her wand. Bella just had time to register that she hadn't been hit by the Killing Curse - it had been something else - before everything went black.