Chapter 9

Malfoy Manor, one month before the Battle of Hogwarts

Bellatrix Lestrange was wearing a maternity gown, laying on her back, on a bed with her knees up and legs spread wide while covered in sweat. Her husband Rodolphus held her hand in emotional support. She was grunting and screaming in pain while she was in labor of giving birth to a baby.

"Keep going, you're doing great." said the midwife.

Bellatrix kept screaming in pain while pushing.

"Almost there." said the Midwife in support. "One last push!"

Bellatrix contracted her abdominal muscles with all her might.

"I see the head." said the Midwife as she grabbed hold and pulled. "There we go! It's a girl."

Bellatrix relaxed as the afterbirth was removed and the umbilical cord was cut and tied.

The midwife cleaned the baby fresh with a wave of her wand and then wrapped the crying newborn infant in its swaddling and placed it in the arms of Lord Voldemort's most faithful servant.

"She's beautiful my love." said Rodolphus. "What will you call her?"

"Delphini." said Bellatrix. "For one day she will be the dark Lord's most loyal servant."

It was then that Peter Pettigrew came into the room.

"Madam Lestrange." said Peter Pettigrew. "I apologize for interrupting, but Fenrir Greyback and a group of his Snatchers have just arrived here at the mansion. They have brought Harry Potter."

Bellatrix Lestrange then handed the baby to her husband and quickly put on her pants and picked up her wand to go and investigate the matter that had just happened at the mansion.

The Enchanted Forest, present day

Hermione, Emma, and Mary Margaret were face-to-face with Mulan, Prince Philip, and Sleeping Beauty.

"What has happened here?" asked Mary Margaret.

"Princess Snow White." said the warrior woman Mulan. "28 years ago a Curse was cast over this land where we and all of our occupants were frozen in time ever since. Only recently were we released."

"Wait," asked Mary Margaret, "when were you released from this curse?"

"About a few months ago. Just all of a sudden the curse lifted. We don't know what happened."

"So we're here now," said Emma, "how do we get back?"

"Crossing the Realms is extremely difficult." said Mary Margaret.

"And no doubt the others are worried about us." said Hermione. "Wait, I've got an idea."

Hermione then reached into the breast pocket of her jacket and pulled out a small 5 inch by 3 inch mirror. She held it up in front of her face until she saw her own reflection.

"Harry Potter." she said loud and clearly.

"What is that?" asked Mary Margaret, referring to the item in Hermione's hand.

"It's an enchanted mirror, one half of a set. Harry has the other one. When we say our names into each one then it creates an instant window for us to see and talk to each other."

But nothing happened. Harry's face did not appear.

"It must not be able to connect over realms." said Mary Margaret.

"Well, worth a try."

"You should come with us." said Mulan. "We have a safe haven about a day's journey from here."

It was then that Prince Phillip crouched down over the golden medallion that was laying on the ground that had fallen from the Wraith.

"Wait," said Hermione. "Don't touch that."

Hermione waved her wand over the Medallion and a wavy Rippling could be seen in the air around it.

"It's Enchanted. With a powerful curse." said Hermione. "Best to avoid touching it with the skin."

She waved her wand and conjured out of thin air a thick double layered leather handkerchief. She wrapped The Medallion in it and then put it into her beaded handbag.

"I'm familiar with that being." said Mulan. "In my land we call it the 'Qui Shen'. And we are fortunate that we all avoided its mark. For once someone is marked it will hunt that person to the ends of the Earth and then steal their soul."

"Don't worry." said Hermione. "I'll keep it safe."

They started walking.

"So you all have been under a curse for 28 years?" asked Mary Margaret.

"Yes," said Mulan, "your stepmother Regina, the Evil Queen, cast a curse over this land."

"We are aware of this." said Mary Margaret. "We, the citizens of Storybrooke have lived the full brunt of this curse for the past 28 years."

"For some reason this region of the land was spared, we don't know why." said Mulan.

"Yes, it is strange." said Mary Margaret. "The curse was supposed to transport everyone in the Enchanted Forest to Storybrooke."

They continued walking for a while.

Hermione was walking beside Aurora.

"So," said Hermione, "you're Sleeping Beauty?"

"Actually that's what they called my mother." said Aurora. "Like myself she was put under a sleeping curse by Maleficent. But it was short-lived because my father was able to wake her with a single kiss."

"Queen Leah?" said Hermione.

"No, my mother's name is Briar Rose."

"Oh," said Hermione with confusion, "different version."

"I don't understand." said Aurora.

"In my realm, there is a fairy tale that is sort of about you." said Hermione awkwardly.

"You mean like a sort of Legend?" asked Aurora.

"You could say that." said Hermione. "It's a fictional story based around your character. Though a different version…reality."

As much as she believed in magic in all forms, this was all so surreal, that she was actually in a fairy tale universe. Though for a witch as talented with magic as she is she was the most closed-minded of everyone in her group.

"Would you be able to tell me the fairy tale?" asked Aurora out of sheer curiosity.

"I will attempt to translate an abbreviated version." said Hermione.

She closed her eyes to collect her thoughts.

"So here it goes. 'Once Upon a Time'... there lived a king and a queen in a wonderful Kingdom that thrived and prospered. And then one day King Stephen and Queen Leah became blessed with a child. A child that they named Aurora, like the dawn. They then decided to host a christening. A lavish party where anyone who was anyone would be there for the king and the queen to announce the child's name. Among the guests was another royal family from a neighboring Kingdom and they had a young son by the name of Phillip who was betrothed to marry this child when she comes of age.

"Then appeared before the king and the queen three fairies wielding magic wands. They told the king that they were there to bestow upon the child three gifts. One of the fairies came forward and waved her Wand Over the child and said that she bestows the child the gift of 'beauty'.

"The second fairy waved her wand and bestowed upon the child the gift of 'Grace and happiness'.

"The third fairy is about to bestow her gift when suddenly the entire assembly was interrupted by the arrival of another fairy. The fairy materialized out of thin air. It was Sinister in appearance with whitish gray skin and large twisting horns coming out of the top of her head like the devil. She wore a black cloak and wielded a staff.

"She looked around the room with a malevolent smile. This was the dark fairy, 'Maleficent', The Mistress of Evil."

Aurora was listening with great attentiveness. Though as far as she knew none of these events had ever actually happened, she was interested in this version of the story.

"King Stephen." said Maleficent. "What a lovely Gathering you have here. Royalty. Nobility. Common folk."

She then walked over to the baby carriage to observe the child up close.

"Your daughter is so beautiful. Gift or no gift from a fairy."

"She said the last part as she looked over at the three fairies that observed her with distaste.

"I wish to apologize for the tardiness of my arrival, it seems that the invitation that was sent out to me did not reach me."

"We did not send you an invitation." said King Stephen.

"Oh," said Maleficent with disappointment in her voice, "you did not send me an invitation you say. Until you mentioned it just now I was under the mistaken impression that my not receiving an invitation was of some oversight. But if it is your wish, I will leave."

"You are not upset?" asked Queen Leah, hopeful that she had not offended.

"You believe that I am upset at this?" Asked Maleficent. "Why, not at all. In fact to show that I hold no ill will, I too wish to bestow a gift upon the child."

"Maleficent then waved her staff.

"This child, Aurora," said Maleficent, "will be beautiful, graceful, happy, and she will also be loved by all those who look upon her. But on the eve of her 16th birthday, she will come across a spinning wheel, where she will then reach her hand out towards the tipped point of its spindle and prick her finger! And when this happens, she will die! Destiny and fate are in place. It will happen. It will not be able to be stopped."

"The king orders the guards to arrest her, but with a wave of her hand she vanishes into thin air.

"The king and the queen asked the fairies if there is anything that they can do, but they say that Maleficent's magic is too powerful and that the spell cannot be undone, but it might be able to be altered slightly. The final Fairy gave the final gift to the child. The gift being that 'should this evil curse come to pass that when she pricks her finger on the spinning wheel' she will not die, no, she will simply fall into a death-like sleep, and that should she receive 'true love's kiss', then she will awaken from this sleep.

"That gave 'hope' of a fate and destiny that they hoped to change.

"To keep Aurora safe from Maleficent the king ordered the three fairies to take her out to a cabin in the woods and raise her as their own child. And that on the day after her 16th birthday they would bring her back to the castle for her wedding to Prince Philip.

"The king then had an idea. Possibly a way to cheat the curse. He ordered the destruction of every Spinning Wheel in the entire Kingdom.

"16 years later, young Aurora was out in the woods. She had developed a fondness for making friends with animals. When suddenly she comes across a young man on a horse. This young man did not know who this Young woman was, but they began to talk. And they really hit it off. It was love at first sight for those two. He then later identified himself as Prince Philip, the one that she was betrothed to, but she did not know that she was betrothed at all. For the three fairies had made her live a very sheltered life.

"Prince Phillip had to go on his way while she then went to the fairies to tell them of the young man that she had met. But the fairies had other plans. They now had to take her to the castle to be reunited with her mother and father. They told her that she was to be married to another person the next day.

"She despaired at this but she accepted her fate as she had no choice. They put on their traveling cloaks and made their way to the royal castle. When they got there servants dressed her up to be ready for her wedding. That is when the curse began to kick in. Almost in a trance, Princess Aurora started to walk through the castle up into one of the towers. And in this Tower was a long forgotten old dusty spinning wheel that had not been destroyed with all the others. And as the curse drove fate and destiny to play out, she reached out with her right hand and she touched the tip of her finger to the spindle of the spinning wheel. And within seconds she collapsed on the floor.

"The fairies had realized something was wrong a little too late and when they got there. They helped her onto a bed where they then realized that they needed to find the young man that she had developed a bond with. It was their only chance. It was a short time later when they realized that the boy that she had met in the woods just happened to be Young Prince Philip.

"The fairies went in search of Prince Phillip where they then found that he was being held prisoner by Maleficent. They went to Maleficent's Castle where they found him and released him. They then realized that Maleficent was just going to keep coming after them. They had to stop her. Unfortunately one of the rules of their magic was that they could not use it for evil, not even to stop Maleficent. What they could do is have someone else do it for them. They waved their wands and gave Phillip an enchanted shield and sword.

"Prince Phillip made his way through the castle aided by the magic of the fairies, until finally they came face to face with Maleficent. Maleficent then made a declaration that she was going to destroy everyone's happiness. And that there was nothing that they could do to stop her. She then transformed herself into a dragon, and they fought. The enchanted Shield was able to deflect any Dragonfire that came at him. After trying to slash at her whenever she got in close but he just barely avoided getting hit by her. He was brave. Fearless. And strong. He then hurled the sword like a spear and it impaled itself through the dragon's belly. Maleficent was defeated.

"Prince Phillip made his way back to King Stephen's Castle. He was led up to where Aurora was asleep. And with true love's kiss she was awakened."

Aurora was fascinated by the story. Though completely inaccurate to what really happened.

"Well, that's it." said Hermione. "That is the fairy tale in a nutshell. As I said, it is an abbreviated version."

"Well I will say that the immensely inaccurate fairy tales of your Realm are very interesting, but strange." said Aurora.

Voldemort's secret hideout, 10 and a half months before the battle for Hogwarts

Voldemort sat waiting in his private Chambers. His snake Nagini curled up at his side as he affectionately stroked her with one hand. He now had a dark purpose. With deliberate intention. He was preparing a fail safe for maintaining his immortality should something go wrong, though he did not expect anything to go wrong this was an overprecautious unnecessary precaution.

The door opened and in came his most faithful death eater, Bellatrix Lestrange.

"You summoned me master?" said Bellatrix, half statement of fact, half question.

"Yes Bella." said the Dark Lord. "Come in, close the door."

He stood up so that he was face to face with her.

"There is something that I need." said the Dark Lord.

"I will get you anything my Lord." Bellatrix promised.

"Oh I have no doubt." said the Dark Lord. "But what I need is something a little different."

"What is it my lord?" asked Bellatrix eagerly.

"I have a very important mission for you." said Voldemort with a serious tone.

"I will carry it out without delay, my Lord." Promise Bellatrix.

"You cannot fail." Voldemort reiterated to her with a firm tone.

"You have my word." said Bellatrix with dedication in her voice.

"I need a child of my blood." said Voldemort. "And I need you to be the mother."

Bellatrix looked at the Dark Lord with a look of awe on her face. To her this was something that she had always wanted to do with the Dark Lord, that there could be no greater honor.

"However," said the Dark Lord, "while I'm sure you're eager to do this with me, for Lord Voldemort is not fooled by your feelings for me, for my own personal reasons I wish to exercise discretion; I need you to pass the baby off as Rodolphus's."

This was a disappointment to Bellatrix as she had little to no interest in making love to her husband. But she decided that it was a small price to pay for this.

Bellatrix consented.

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