It wasn't hard to find the party. They were loud, drunk, and extremely careless. Unable to be seen by anyone and not needing to be quiet, she snuck around to the largest table. She knew the Bitch would be at his right hand, rewarded for her unfaltering loyalty. She found the Bitch standing next to a throne that seemed to be made of blackened human bones. With a sure stride she closed in on the Bitch, quickly wrapping her arms around her prey. They vanished with a WHOOSH! of black flames.
They landed on cold stone steps. The candles burst forth, shining their eerie light on the windowless room. Before letting the struggling Bitch go, Hermione pulled the energy from her.
"You will pay for daring to harm a servant of the Dark Lord," Bellatrix Lestrange screamed as the red glow faded. She turned and pulled her wand in one fluid motion, pointing it at the Hermione's heart. "CRUCIO!"
But nothing happened. The look of Lestrange's face turned from shock to rage.
"What have you done to me? The Dark Lord himself will strike you down for this!"
"Wand broken?" Hermione asked snatching it out of the Bitch's hand. She turned and pointed it at the shocked Death eater. "Crucio."
Bellatrix fell to her knees, writhing in pain.
"Nope, works fine," she said matter of factly, handing the wand back. "How does it feel being stripped of your powers by a mudblood?" She let those words settle in before continuing.
"Now Bella... Do you mind if I call you Bella? Now Bella, I brought you here to give you a choice: die at my hand or walk through that," Hermione said coolly and pointed up to a stand-alone archway with a black curtain fluttering in a non-existent breeze.
Bellatrix Lestrange's eyes went wide with fear. Hermione thought it was probably the first time ever. The fear was replaced with a steely determination.
"I will die for my Lord before taking the coward's way out," Bellatrix replied as she got to her feet.
"I was hoping you'd say that." Hermione's wand suddenly appeared in her hand as she raised it above her head. "AV-" She hesitated. "AVA-" she tried to continue, but something inside of her prevented it.
Denied her vengeance of Harry and Sirius' deaths a hate filled rage grew inside of her. Almost instinctively she drew back her fist and struck Bellatrix squarely on the nose. Blood issued forth from the Bitch's nasal cavity as she stumbled back clutching the wound. She looked back up at Hermione and the fear was evident in her eyes again. Quickly looking around, Bellatrix ran up the stone steps to one of the exits, but it disappeared before she reached it. Hermione powerfully strode towards her, forcing Lestrange to move towards the arch. The Lestrange Bitch looked left and right, before sprinting towards, then diving through, the blackness of the archway.
The candles along the wall flared up momentarily before growing dim. Hermione stood still, just watching the arch for a few minutes before disappearing in a roar of black flames.
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A/N: Well, my postings have finally caught up with my writing. I have the rest of the story sketched out, just a matter of getting in the proper mood to write. I don't expect a long hiatus, just a slowing of the pace of postings.
Let me also say that I hate excessive author notes. I would reply to most of your questions in the reviews, but often if I did that, it would ruin any plot twists/points/secrets that I have planned. When the fic is complete, I will answer any lingering questions either in the reviews or in an Author's Note chapter at the end.
I know a lot of you are disappointed with the short chapters, but I did it for a couple of reasons. One the plot bunnies I had to expunge are in the first three chapters. Second, I felt that to write in a hurried style worked with the events of the story, like a blurred memory.