CHAPTER 31: THE ENIGMATIC SORCERESSES

A frigid, brine-infused gale howled through the corridor. Shrill cries and mournful wails reverberated into her chamber, distorted and contorted by the relentless wind. The distant roar of crashing waves added to the eerie symphony. A shiver crept along her flesh.

A delicate frost began to encroach upon the floor, as sea spray and condensation transformed into intricate, frosty patterns.

"Ooh, exquisite," she murmured, brushing aside the tattered remnants of her ebony gown. With the tip of her finger, she delicately inscribed her name in the ice. "Bella!" she giggled. "That's me!"

An unsettling coldness settled over her cell. A spectral dementor hovered just beyond the iron bars, its rattling breath and noxious stench engulfing the vicinity.

Bella sprang to her feet. "Unless you've come to partake in a game of strategy, you may take your leave. We are far from being friends!"

The bone-chilling sensation permeated her, penetrating deep beneath her skin.

Images of Andi's shocked and horrified countenance flashed through her thoughts. Cissy's harrowing scream reverberated in her ears. She remembered the marble balustrade slipping from her young fingers, and a tidal wave of fear crashing over her as the floor rushed up to greet her. Her own scream echoed from years past.

"Cease this torment!" Bella's anger flared. She scraped a handful of ice from the floor and hurled it at the dementor. "You are insufferable!"

The wraith-like entity clung to the bars with its skeletal fingers, taking in a long, rattling breath.

"No! Bella! Her mother's anguished cries resonated in her mind. Andi! Cissy! What had you been thinking?!

A surge of fiery determination coursed through Bella's veins. "I said, cease!"

A rush of ethereal energy propelled the dementor down the corridor, distancing it from Bella's cell.

Bella leaned against the iron bars, defiantly sticking her tongue out at the retreating specter. "That'll teach you!"

A low groan emanated from the neighboring cell. "Bella, leave them be. They don't appreciate your antics. The rest of us are not entirely unhinged, and we'll bear the brunt when they come to investigate."

"Shush, strange boy," Bella retorted, her gaze fixed on the dementor's departure. "Nobody asked for your opinion, did they?"

A deep sigh resonated from the adjacent cell. "No, Bella."

"Exactly!" Bella thrust her finger through the bars of the strange boy's cell. "So, be quiet!" She spun around by the door, proclaiming, "I'm a - I'm a - I'm a... weird sister."

"Could you please cease the incessant racket!" A man's voice on her left bellowed. "You've been droning that same line from that dreadful song for nearly fifteen years! It's not even a good song!"

Bella pouted, muttering to herself, "But it's the only song I know. It's not my fault Andi kept singing that one line. It stuck." She twirled once more, her thoughts shifting. "Who was it that detested my singing? Oh, right, Sirius hated my singing."

"Is that you again, Sirius, you mutt?" Bella shouted. "I'm not talking to you! You abandoned us! You didn't even tell me we were on the same side all along!"

"He left us..." Bella cocked her head, a puzzled expression on her face. "Wait, didn't you escape, Sirius? Why did you come back?"

"That's not Sirius Black," the strange boy hammered his fist against the metallic door. "All of you, quiet down and stop provoking her. You know what happens!"

"She's utterly unhinged!"

Bella huffed, her expression indignant. "That's a naughty word, and I don't even know you!"

"Are you kidding me?!" the man retorted with exasperation. "We've been in here for fifteen years, and we knew each other for almost fifteen years before that!"

"Well, you must be dreadfully dull, because I've completely forgotten about you!" Bella twirled around and began to hum Andi's song to herself. "I'll probably forget about you again once we escape from this place!"

Another groan resounded from down the corridor. "The Dark Lord is dead, Bellatrix. The Potter child somehow vanquished him. We're not getting out of here."

"Nuh uh," Bella giggled. "This is precisely why you all keep losing. Your thinking is so limited. If you're clever, you'll always have a trump card up your sleeve."

The grubby, bearded face of the strange boy emerged behind the bars of his cell. "If he's not dead, why are we still stuck here?"

"Maybe he's preoccupied," Bella mused, nonchalantly. "He's got his game to play, and he can't be bothered with coming to our rescue. We ought to consider an escape ourselves, really. I'd expect us to try to escape."

"No!" another man's voice reverberated down the corridor. "We're not participating in one of your harebrained escape schemes!"

Bella cheekily stuck her tongue out at the wall that separated her from the voice. "Awww, why not?"

The strange boy wiped dirt off his face with his sleeve. "Because the last few times, you let us out of our cells and just stayed in yours. Rookwood has a point."

Bella crossed her arms, a mischievous glint in her eyes. "But that wasn't an escape plan!"

"You said it was!" the strange boy protested.

"Of course I did," Bella grinned. "It was the only way to get you and the dementors to play hide and seek together. I simply wanted to watch someone play hide and seek. It's been ages since I played it with Andi and Cissy."

Strange boy sighed. "You're completely mad, Bella."

Bella pouted in response. "So? You're a dull strange boy. And you stare at me all the time."

"That's because your dress is practically rags," the other man chimed in from his cell. "And even though you're completely unhinged, you're still attractive! Why did they have to place bloody Lestrange across from you? We all know him and his brother would rather gaze at each other!"

Bella's blood ignited with fury. "Quiet!" A surge of magic coursed through the walls, causing dust to cascade from the ceiling. "It's impolite to stare, especially at girls who aren't wearing much. I'm not speaking to you anymore, faux Sirius!"

Strange boy brushed the dust from his hair and warned, "Enough, Rookwood! Keep provoking her, and watch if she doesn't bring the entire place down on our heads or summon all the dementors back!"

A heavy silence settled in the corridor.

Bella listened to the howling wind and the crashing waves. Thin, cloaked figures danced in the air beyond her window. "This place is so dull. Perhaps I should take another nap."

"I'm a - I'm a - I'm a... weird sister. I'm a - I'm a - I'm a... weird sister." She twirled in place. "I wonder what Andi and Cissy are up to. I hope they're not having fun without me."

She danced from one side of her cell to the other, prancing from the rough, frost-covered wall to the smooth, mirror-like one. Frost speckled all the walls.

"Those silly floating skeletons make such a mess." Bella tore another scrap from her dress and used it to wipe away the frost from the smooth wall.

Her reflection in the polished stone revealed bright purple eyes, tangled black curls that hung to her knees, and pale, dirt-smeared skin where her tattered black dress didn't cover.

"Hi Bell." Bella waved at her reflection and playfully wagged her finger. "You look like you need a bath, young lady."

We really are a bit mad, Bella, she thought. Bella tilted her head and gazed into her own purple eyes. But not really, Bell. We know we're just talking to ourselves, so we can't be mad, can we?

"But we still do it, I guess," she mused, shrugging as she settled on the floor. "Well, Bell, if the Dark Lord doesn't decide to come and let us out soon, maybe we should find our own way out."

Sirius managed it. Bella gazed into her reflection's eyes. He really should've taken us with him, Bell.

She huffed dust off her tattered dress. "I wonder why he didn't?"

Because we're better at the game than he is, Bella, her reflection replied. Nobody wants to lose.

"Maybe," Bella said as she looked up at the arched ceiling. "But you have to play, Bell. It's no fun for anyone if you sit out. I detest it when people try to ruin things for others. Eventually, everyone loses, even those of us with trump cards."

We should use ours, Bella. Her reflection's purple eyes glowed. It's so boring in here. We should leave.

"Strange boy doesn't even want to play noughts and crosses with us anymore," Bella murmured. "Maybe we'll go, Bell." She closed her eyes and allowed the faint threads of violet magic to guide her.

In the recesses of her mind, a pair of little girls swayed and danced. Their eyes burned with a purple flame, and strands of violet light extended from their limbs like ethereal strings, reaching out into the darkness.

Footsteps echoed down the corridor.

Bella opened her eyes, her face lighting up. "A visitor, Bell!"

Perhaps it's an Auror, Bella.

Strange boy peered through the cell door window again. "It's been ages since anyone's ventured down here. Not since Sirius Black escaped."

"Silly mutt," Bella grumbled. "He should've taken me with him. Aunt Walburga meant for him to look out for me."

A sharp-collared, black-robed Auror stepped in between them, clutching a small envelope in his fist. "Bellatrix Lestrange?"

"Just Bella!" Bella exclaimed, eagerly sticking her hand through the bars. "Is it a present? Is it my birthday?" She tilted her head. "When is our birthday, Bell?"

"We don't remember," Bella responded. She clawed her way back through countless days in her room to a time before this. Grey eyes shone back from her hand mirror as Cissy struggled to braid Bella's dark curls. Her sisters' laughter rang through a bright London townhouse. Andi's terrified face loomed in her memories, and the memory of the marble floor rushing up to meet her. "Don't think about then, Bella."

Bella glanced back at her reflection, her purple eyes gleaming like stars. "We've forgotten, Auror. Can we have the letter anyway, please?"

The Auror opened the letter and scanned it with his wand. "Yes, it seems clean." He gestured with his wand. "Step back."

"Oh, I wouldn't go inside," Strange boy interjected, his face pressed against the cell bars. "The last Auror who ventured inside had to be cleaned off the floor with a mop."

Bella giggled. "He was rude and he smelled. You shouldn't snatch."

The Auror slid the letter through the bars, turned on his heel, and made his exit. Bella snatched the letter out of the air and listened as his footsteps faded.

"You didn't do anything, Bella?" Strange boy scowled. "You should've torn him apart."

She tilted her head, swiping her tangled curls off her face. "Why? He wasn't rude?"

"Because he's the enemy!" Strange boy insisted.

Bella shrugged and unfolded her letter. "It's from Cissy!" She quickly scanned the cramped lines of text. "Urgh, she's become so boring. Just look at all this writing." Bella shook the letter near the bars.

"What does it say?" Strange boy inquired.

She playfully stuck her tongue out at him. "It's my letter, from my sister. You can get your own."

Strange boy sighed. "You're a terrible wife."

Bella huffed. "It's just about dull things. My husband is worried. My son is stressed. Wow, little Draco has grown up quite a bit. I thought he was just a baby?"

"He was, fifteen years ago..."

She glanced at her reflection, noticing crow's feet at the corner of her eyes and faint lines creasing her forehead. "We've been in here for quite a while, Bella."

"Huh," Bella murmured. "I forgot that would happen." She skimmed through the rest of the writing. "Anyway, more mundane stuff. Harry Potter has turned up and doesn't seem to get along with Draco, which is a shame because they're both part of the family." She tilted her head. "I suppose you can't always get along with your cousins, though. Sirius has always been cruel to me, the mangy liar."

Strange boy sighed and banged his forehead against the bars of his cell. "Bellatrix? Is there anything in there about us?"

Bella finished reading. "No." She shredded the letter into tiny bits of paper and playfully flapped it around the room. "Look, it's like snow, strange boy!" She watched as the paper bits drifted to the floor. "It's been ages since we've seen any snow."

"I hope that if we get out of here, you return to your usual level of madness, Bella," Strange boy commented while continuing to bump his head against the metal bars. "You're really a bit much like this. Although, dealing with your antics has kept me somewhat sane, I suppose."

"Oh!" Bella discovered another piece of the letter hidden among the shredded bits. "I missed a bit."

An ink serpent coiled on pale parchment, then crumpled to ashes.

"He's back, Bella," she whispered. She stared at the fading glow of the ashes, then down at the tattoo on her arm, and back at the ashes. The mark on her arm darkened and writhed beneath her skin, stinging like fire. "This means – this means it's time to start playing again." A broad grin spread across her face, and she burst into laughter. "I guess we can wait a bit longer before we leave, Bell."

"Bella?" Strange boy froze. "Bellatrix?"

Bella proudly held up her forearm. "I told you, strange boy. The best players always have a trick up their sleeve."

"The Dark Lord," Strange boy whispered. "He's coming back for us."

"Game time," Bella declared with glee. "Ohhhhh, it's been so long. I'm probably all rusty."

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