Nothing is mine.

Bad chapter puns involving the word black mean Bella and Bell, because there is, in fact, a wider world beyond Harry's little bubble of panic, and it may become relevant to him at some point, so we should all pay attention, just in case. Or, you know, don't, I'm not the boss of you, but don't you pout in the guest reviews if you skipped through the chapter and then it all happens to be important later xD (at least log-in and pout in person)

Black to the Future

A small stained wooden door engraved with the rough likeness of a serpent sat behind a row of large dark vases.

This is it, Bella.

Bella skipped through the thin gap in the vases.

'Come in,' a soft voice murmured through the door. 'I heard your footsteps.'

'Okay!' She shoved the door open and bounced in.

'Have a seat, please.' A thin, emaciated figure sat in one of two simple wooden chairs at the centre of the empty stone room, his pale skin cast almost golden in the warm orange lights upon the wall behind him.

A vampire, Bella. She pouted and dropped into the other. If he tries to bite me, I'll set him on fire, Bell.

'What brings you to my shop, then?' The vampire's red irises swept over her. 'I do not believe we have met.'

'I'm Bella.' She dug the thin, worn coin out of her pocket and held it out. 'I want to go to Copenhagen.'

'Ah…' A soft sigh slipped from the vampire as he reached forward and lifted the piece of silver from her palm with long sharp nails. 'The Carrow girls sent you. I remember their father. And his father. And his father's father. For this, I can arrange for you to make use of our secret smuggling routes out under the sea beyond the wards.'

'We need to get to Copenhagen fast,' Bella said. 'We don't want to wait around and be all bored.'

'We?' The vampire's long fingers curled closed over the coin. 'This is passage for one…'

'That's okay. It's just us.'

'I see…' His red eyes pierced through Bella.

She huffed. 'Staring is rude, vampire.'

'My apologies.' The vampire tapped his sharp nails on the arm of his chair in a slow deliberate rhythm. 'Might I ask why you wish to reach Copenhagen? You need not answer, I will make the arrangements nonetheless, but if it is as your appearance suggests, and you wish to fight for Grindelwald against those who have outlawed many forms of magicks over the last few centuries, I have a much swifter route to Nurmengard in my possession.'

It might be a trap, Bella. She giggled. A trap is just a new game, Bell.

'I want to get to Nurmengard,' Bella said.

'Then for this coin, I can help you on your journey. One moment, if you please.' He blurred from his chair and out through the door beneath the lights.

Soon we'll be there, Bella. Bella bobbed her head, swinging her bare feet off her chair. And then we'll find someone to play with until little cousin Harry appears.

The vampire reappeared in a blur of motion, leaning over the back of the chair and baring his elongated fangs in a broad smile. The coiled serpent etched into the rightmost canine drank in the orange light as he held out a gleaming necklace of copper links.

'What is it?' Bella scrunched her face up.

'A portkey,' the vampire murmured. 'It was smuggled to me with a number of others near fifty years ago, so some clients of mine might secretly meet with Grindelwald at Nurmengard. I know no more than that, but I was assured its magicks would not dwindle or fade at the time.'

Bella bounced from her seat and snatched the copper chain, pulling it over her head and shaking her dark curls out. 'Is that it?'

'You have to say the words, I believe,' the vampire said.

She grabbed a fistful of the copper chain and scowled, screwing up her face. 'What are the words, Bell?'

For the Greater Good, Bella.

The vampire cocked his head, a curious gleam in his bright red eyes.

'Bye!' Bella gave him a wave and a twirl. 'For the Greater Good.'

The stark stone room's circular walls vanished in a flash of golden flame. Bright light stabbed at her eyes and cold bit into her bare feet.

Ow. Stupid sun. Why is it so bright, Bell? Bella blinked, shielding her eyes with her arm. It's reflecting off the snow, Bella.

The elegant dark spires of Nurmengard towered over the small snow-veiled courtyard and its frozen fountain. A handful of white-cloaked pines clung to the steep mountainside beyond, shedding little eddies of snow in the wind.

A pair of loud cracks rang out through the air.

Bella twirled around, pointing her wand at a pair of white-robed blonde-haired witches. Grey mist poured from their sleeves, curling around them in little shivering circles, swirling past the golden emblem on their chests.

Sisters, Bell!

'That looks like fun magic,' Bella breathed. 'Are we going to play a game?'

'Did you come to meet with Grindelwald?' A playful grin spread across the face of the leftmost, her bright blue eyes gleaming with mischief. 'Sorry for the chilly welcome.'

The other witch sighed. 'What's your name?'

Bella huffed. 'Bella.'

'I'm Astoria,' the grinning witch announced. 'Nice to meet you.' She poked the other witch in the side. 'Don't be rude, Daph.'

'Daphne Greengrass. Charmed.'

'What is your full name?' Astoria asked.

Bella glowered. 'Bellatrix Black.'

'Bellatrix Lestrange,' Daphne murmured. 'We should take her up right away.'

Astoria nodded. 'Come with us, Bellatr—'

'Just Bella!'

She laughed. 'Okay, come with us, just Bella.'

Grey mist curled around her waist.

'Where are we going?' Bella asked, poking a finger into the cool mist. 'What's this?'

'Up,' Astoria said. 'To see Grindelwald. You came here for him, right?'

'I came here to play,' Bella said. 'I just want to have someone to play with again…'

Daphne took Astoria's hand and with a loud crack, the snow-shrouded courtyard flashed into dark wooden shelves filled with multi-coloured leather-bound books. A plain desk and chair sat on the grey marble floor before thick, bright tapestries of dancing magical creatures and a floating city of thin, red-bricked towers.

'Guten Morgen.' A tall man in a sharp grey jacket turned from the elegant glass window on the far side of the turret. 'But I asked not to be disturbed this morning.'

'Sorry, Herr Grindelwald,' Astoria said as the grey fog slipped back into her sleeves. 'We had an unexpected guest.'

'Me!' Bella beamed. 'That's me!'

Grindelwald tucked one hand through the silver buttons of his dark blue waistcoat. 'And who are you?' His sharp blue eyes flicked to the copper chain hanging around her neck. 'I do not forget the faces of those brave few bearing the burden of ensuring our world its future. You are not one of them.'

'I'm Bella.'

'Bellatrix Lestrange,' Daphne murmured.

'Just Bella,' Astoria chimed in. 'She fought for Voldemort. She was infamously one of his most dangerous Death Eaters. Killed a lot of aurors.'

Bella giggled. 'That's me.' She bobbed her head. 'I never lose.'

We lost once, Bella. To little cousin Harry. A cold pang tugged at her heart. And then when we woke up, there were no more weird sisters left, Bell.

'Voldemort.' A sombre gleam shone in Grindelwald's eyes. 'There will be no place for such short-sighted petulance as his in the world to come. He lashed out at what he hated without care or understanding or any form of plan for his kin. A small piece of the evil that can only bring about a greater good, but not aware enough to see his part in the play.'

'He had a plan,' Bella said. 'A plan to get rid of all the boring muggle sheep. He kept it in a secret place by the sea.'

'Why are you here?' Grindelwald asked her. 'Our world shrinks; each year, there is a little less of its beauty remaining. Have you come to fight for that?'

'I want someone to play with,' Bella told him. 'I just want to play. I don't want to be bored, I want to see all the pretty lights and bright colours and amazing magic. The muggles will take it away forever and I want to feel alive.'

Feel alive or lose, Bella. She giggled under her breath. Win or die, Bell.

'So be it.' He turned to the window, staring out at the sky. 'You will be one of my Walküren. Not a leader of our brothers and sisters, but one of those sent down from my side to the battlefield.' A small sad smile graced his lips as he turned around. 'I thought the name fittingly ironic. For though you will come as saviours to some, it is no god that sends you forth. Daphne and Astoria, she is yours.'

'Okay,' Astoria chimed. 'We'll get her some nice white robes for the Walküren.' She smoothed out the front of hers. 'See?'

A pair of golden wings spread either side of a golden blade.

'A sight for sword eyes,' Astoria said.

Daphne sighed.

Grindelwald cleared his throat. 'Time marches ever on and there is a great deal yet for us to do. The moment for deception and duplicity is done. Introduce Bella to my other Walküren. Take her east with you when you go to break the Germanic forces fighting alongside Tsarina Bugrov in Polans.' He drew a long thin wand and flourished it, drawing the necklace from Bella's neck into a floating ball of golden flame and spinning it into a simple copper ring. 'Britain and France are pinned in place, as they were once before. You will deal with Tsarina Bugrov and I with Suleiman at Constantinople. This time, there is no Albus to stop me. This time, all that must be done, I will do without wavering or faltering or failure.' Grindelwald held out the ring. 'And you, Bella, will have your name written into the pages of history in the blood of the brothers and sisters you send screaming into Death's unwelcome embrace. Condemnation and revulsion are your fate now.'

Bella grabbed the ring and stuck it on her finger. 'As long as it's not boring.'

Grindelwald smiled a small sombre smile. 'If only such change as we must make could be brought in with no more price than tedium.' He turned back to the window and folded his hands behind his back. 'Do not disturb me again this morning, Daphne and Astoria. No witch or wizard has breached the wards of Constantinople in all the time it has floated above the sea. I must once more do what has never been done before.'

Astoria grabbed Bella's arm and, with a loud crack, they appeared in a long, bare hall beneath drifting iron chandeliers.

A trio of figures in identical white robes sat at the long tables, talking amongst each other in low voices. The bald old wizard and the slim Indian witch studied the small chessboard sitting between them and the third figure watched on, swigging beer from a brown bottle.

Grindelwald's been recruiting from abroad, Bella.

'Introduction time!' Astoria clapped her hands together and they all turned. 'You know who I am, Bella, and who my sister is. Since Julien learnt we were among the Last Scions and convinced us to meet Grindelwald and speak with him—' she shrugged '—we've done what we must to bring about an end to the conflict that tears our world apart.'

'We are not all here, Astoria.' Daphne sighed and stared up at the floating iron chandeliers and their enchanted candles.

'Bella can meet Chasca and Enni later.' Astoria grinned. 'Everyone, this Bellatrix Lestrange. I'm sure at least one of you knows who she is.'

Bella waved at the three. 'Just Bella.'

A short, broad, red-headed man stood up and folded fire-scarred arms over the golden emblem on his chest. 'Lestrange is dead. They pulled her body out of the fountain in the British Ministry's atrium years ago. Voldemort killed her when she failed to bring him something from the Department of Mysteries.'

'The Dark Lord?' Bella giggled. 'The Dark Lord would never kill me. It was little cousin Harry. He broke the prophecy orb and I heard, but I lost and he didn't want the Dark Lord to hear what it said.'

'Harry Potter?' the man snorted and swept his long red hair out of his eyes. 'He was my kid brother's friend. He was fifteen. Bellatrix Lestrange would have torn him apart at that age.'

She beamed. 'He knew how to play. He was faster and stronger than Bella and we lost.'

'How interesting,' Astoria chimed in. 'This is Charlie Weasley, Bella.'

The wrinkled, bald Chinese wizard swung his legs around and rose from the bench. 'He can do defensive wards and he knows a lot about dragons, but he duels like a nine year old girl who is scared of getting her hands dirty.'

The slim Indian witch laughed and pushed a pawn across the board; it drove its spear through the chest of another pawn and twisted, shattering it into pieces.

'Shut up, old man,' Charlie grumbled. 'At least I don't mess around burning human bones.'

Astoria snickered. 'Charlie is here because his expertise and familiarity with the dragons in the preserves of the Sunset Princedoms are going to be very useful sometime soon.'

'And because I'm tired of watching my friends and family die because the muggles can't leave anything alone and we can't bring ourselves to put up a fight against them.' Charlie gestured at the Chinese wizard. 'Liu Zhou is the same.'

Liu Zhou coughed into his long thin white beard. 'Not quite the same. You are a traitor to your country. Lúwěi Zhīchéng, my home in Jiujiang, sent me with their blessing after the bone oracle's predictions.'

Bella cocked her head. 'Bone oracle?'

'He scribbles on human bones, sets them on fire and then runs off to read them under the stars.' Charlie muttered something under his breath and drained the last inch of beer from the bottle. 'I have to be at the preserve soon, so I'd best leave.'

'All ready?' Daphne murmured.

'It will be after today,' he replied. 'They'll head north through the Germanic States to Polans tonight.'

'Great!' Astoria beamed.

Charlie looked Bella up from head to toe. 'I don't much care for you and your sort,' he said. 'But if you're here fighting with us, I won't bring up any of that if you don't.'

'I'm here to play.' Bella sighed and waved an imaginary wand around. 'We just want to play forever and ever so we never get bored again.'

Or lonely, Bella. Or sad.

'Right…' Charlie shot a flat look at Astoria and vanished with a loud crack.

'I am Zareen.' The slim Indian witch rose and strolled around the edge of the bench. 'From Taxila, the second largest of the Indian states. I was the sitting member for the Indian Secret States on the ICW until recently.'

Chinese Hidden Cities. India's Secret States. Grindelwald has grand plans, Bella. Bella waved at Zareen. He wants to get rid of all the dull stupid muggle cattle that can't play with us. And good riddance, Bell!

'Well, there you go!' Astoria poked her sister in the side. 'Come on, Daph. We need to go make devious plans.'

They vanished with a loud pop.

'Do you play chess, Bella?' Zareen asked.

'No.' Bella scrunched her face up and shook her head. 'Never. It takes forever and there are no pretty colours, just silly little pieces.'

AN: You know what goes here usually. Just pretend it's here.