Disclaimer: I do not own these characters or anything in their magical world. These characters and their world belong to the talented J.K. Rowling and Warner Bros.

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Confusion settled around Bellatrix. She had no idea where she was but it appeared that she in the middle of an intense battle. Her wand was raised and she was somehow certain that she had just used it to shout a curse.

An old man was yelling taunts at her. He looked like a beggar. He was beyond thin and his hair was matted, yet there was something familiar about him. She found that rather odd. She knew that her parents would never allow her to come into contact with such a person. Of course, her parents were also unlikely to allow their fifteen year old daughter to become involved in a battle. Just what was going on and why couldn’t she remember what had brought her to this place?

The man was laughing now, taunting her because she had failed to hit him with her curse. She could feel her arm rising, but she had no control over it. She continued to stare at the man as she unwittingly sent another curse his way. Or at least the curse seemed to come from her, even though the voice did not sound like her own. It sounded older, much more like her mother’s.

This time the man was hit square in the chest from the jet of red light coming from her wand. The man’s eyes filled with shock and Bellatrix gasped as recognition hit her. The man looked like her small cousin, Sirius. Obviously, this man was much older, probably old enough to be her cousin’s grandfather, but the resemblance was clear.

The man began to fall and somehow she knew he was going to die. She could hear a crazy cackling and it took her a few moments to realize that the noise was coming from her. She was celebrating the demise of this man, who looked very much like her cousin. But why? What was happening to her? How could she not even understand what her own body was doing? And why did she sound like a full grown and rather insane woman?

Above her crazy laughter she heard a new voice—a young voice. She thought that she must have heard incorrectly. It seemed that the voice was screaming for Sirius, but that didn’t make sense. Sirius was only a child. He would never be at a battle. Of course, she was little more than a child herself and she was there. Frantically, she began searching for her tiny cousin.

She spotted the boy who was yelling. He had messy black hair and a mad glint in his eyes. She had never seen him before.

Before Bellatrix had much time to contemplate the identity of the boy, she was attacked by another man. She went to take up the fight and then suddenly everything became dark.

“Bella?� said a frightened female voice. “Are you awake?�

Sighing with relief, Bellatrix realized that it was her sister’s voice. It was dark because it was the middle of the night. She was sitting up in her own bed, safe and sound at home. It had all been a dream—a nightmare. She was fine. Sirius was fine. It had all been a dream and yet she couldn’t shake the eerie feeling that it was more than that.

She forced those thoughts from her mind and answered her sister.

“Yes, Cissy, I’m awake. Is something wrong?�

Her bed creaked as Narcissa sat beside her and curled under the blankets.

“I had a nightmare,� Cissy told her. “Can I stay with you tonight?�

“Of course, you can,� Bellatrix replied as she wrapped her arms around her sister. “Do you want to tell me what the dream was about?�

“It was strange,� Narcissa replied, shivering visibly in Bellatrix’s arms. “I was in the future. I was old and married to Lucius Malfoy. I guess I really loved him. I was pacing this huge mansion and it felt like home. I was waiting for Lucius to come home, but he never came. Some Auror came to the house to tell me that my husband wasn’t coming home. Lucius had been involved in some attack at the Department of Mysteries. I was told that he would spend the rest of his life in Azkaban. When I woke up I was still crying. It was just so real.�

Shivers ran through Bellatrix. She wasn’t even sure what caused them. Something simply didn’t feel right. She was certain that there was a connection between her dream and her sister’s. Were she and Lucius at the same battle?

She shook her head. That was ridiculous. Of course, she and Lucius were not at the same battle because there was no battle. She had never left her bed and she was certain that Lucius was sound asleep like any other sane person would be.

“Bella?� Cissy said, after a few moments of silence had passed.

“I’m sorry, Cissy,� she replied, trying to sound casual and nonchalant, “but I wouldn’t worry about it. It was just a dream.�

“It seemed so real. What if it was a premonition of things to come?�

“There has never been a seer in the Black family,� Bellatrix reminded her. “It was just a dream. I’m certain that you will marry Lucius Malfoy one day, but I am confident that he will have the good sense to remain out of Azkaban. If he doesn’t, I shall Crucio him for you.�

Cissy giggled.

“Now get some sleep,� Bellatrix told her. “Dreams don’t tell us the future.�

The second the words left her mouth, she wondered if they were true. She had an urge to leave the house and check on her young cousin; however, she repressed it, remaining with her sister. By morning, she had forgotten the specifics of her dream and of Narcissa’s.


1996

She ran through the forest, her hair became tangled with twigs, but she didn’t care. The night air was cold and she felt as though her lungs would burst. Pain surged through every part of her body, but she couldn’t stop. She had to get to her sister. She needed Narcissa.

She ran for what seemed like centuries, but finally the looming figure of Malfoy Manor came into view. It was only a little further. Soon she would be with her sister. Soon she could rest. She could try to erase what she had done from her mind.

Rushing through the door, she didn’t bother to knock. She found her sister sobbing in the setting the room.

Narcissa looked up when Bellatrix barged into the room.

“They arrested Lucius,� she sobbed. “He’s been sent to Azkaban. Bella, they’ll never let him out. Draco has lost his father. I have lost my husband.�

Bellatrix wrapped Narcissa in her arms. They sobbed together.

“What happened?� Narcissa asked when she finally regained her composure.

“I—I killed him,� Bellatrix choked out, still crying.

A look of surprise passed through Narcissa’s eyes. “Killed who?�

“Sirius,� she sobbed. “He’s dead. I killed him. I didn’t mean to. I had to fight him. I was supposed to get the prophesy, but I was using gentle curses. He shouldn’t have died. I didn’t mean to hurt him. I should have known. Cissy, I saw it. I should have remembered. I should have known that Sirius would die tonight.�

Narcissa held her tightly, running her fingers through her hair in a soothing fashion.

“You’re not making any sense,� Narcissa finally told her.

“We both had a vision of tonight’s events, Cissy,� Bella told her, in a slightly calmer voice. “We were children. You came into my room. You had a nightmare about Lucius. You told me that you were married to him and that an Auror came to the house telling you that he would spend the rest of his life in Azkaban. That happened tonight, didn’t it?�

Narcissa shook her head, as though trying to clear her mind. At first it appeared as though she was going to pretend her sister had not even spoken.

“Yes,� she finally replied.

“Well, that night you woke me from my own dream,� Bellatrix went on. “I was confused. I was in the middle of a battle, but I was sounded old and I didn’t know what was going on. I killed a man in that dream, Cissy. Even at the time the man looked like Sirius, but I knew it couldn’t be. He was old and sickly looking. I didn’t think a Black could ever end up like that. But I still saw Sirius in him. In my heart, I knew I had killed my cousin. Narcissa our nightmares came true tonight. They were supposed to be warnings. I think we were supposed to stop tonight’s events from happening.�

“Bella, honey, you’re sounding crazy,� Narcissa told her. “We couldn’t have stopped what happened tonight.�

“We were supposed to,� Bellatrix persisted. “We were warned.

“We were children. Bella, they were dreams. We couldn’t have been expected to remember. I didn’t think of that dream again until you mentioned it tonight. I didn’t even think of it when an Auror arrived at my door. There is no way we could have been expected to remember those dreams and act upon them.�

“We were supposed to stop it. Something bad is going to happen because we failed,� Bellatrix told her. “I can feel it.�

Bellatrix felt fresh tears forming in her eyes and Narcissa pulled her close again. She relaxed in Narcissa’s embrace, knowing that they would both pay for their failure. She knew that it would be best to take the comfort offered to her because bleak times were surely ahead.