The sun glared through the window, heating her kitchen, but Andromeda felt no warmth. At that moment the kitchen could be on fire, and she wouldn’t notice. She was alone. Ted had already left for work, and her mind was focused on the Daily Prophet, which lay opened to the front page on the table in front of her. She shuddered as she stared at it. She knew she was lucky that Ted wasn’t there to scold her. He would never understand that she still cared.
The headline read, Known Death Eaters Still At Large: Bellatrix and Rodolphus Lestrange. Andromeda felt a surge of emotion as she read her sister’s name, but it was nothing compared to what she felt when she looked at the pictures beneath the headline. She scarcely glanced at the photo of Rodolphus, but she couldn’t look away from what was left of her sister.
Tears filled her eyes as she stared at the hollowed face, with sunken eyes”dead eyes. This wasn’t the that face she remembered, when she thought of her big sister. She thought of a face that held great beauty, and eyes that used to twinkle with delight and mischief. She stared at the hair in the photo, hanging around her sister’s shoulders in knots, also much different from the thick and shiny hair she remembered. Her sister used to be so beautiful. When they were teenagers, she used to be so jealous of Bella’s good looks. Now, she looked like a completely different person. But Andromeda knew that she was still her sister. Underneath everything Bella had become, she was still the little girl Andromeda used to play dolls with. Somewhere, under it all, that Bella still existed. She had always believed that, and nothing would ever change her mind.
She threw the paper down, and wiped the tears from her eyes. This wasn’t accomplishing anything. She could sit in the kitchen all day and cry for her sister, but what good would it do? Bella would be no better off, and she would have to explain puffy eyes to her husband.
She decided to go for a walk. Maybe getting out of the house would help clear her thoughts. After all, it was a beautiful day. A walk down the path that stretched behind her home would be the perfect remedy for her depressive state.
It had been months since she had felt confident enough to trek down the path. When Voldemort and his Death Eaters had been gaining power, everyone lived in fear. Witches and wizards hardly left their homes. Death Eaters were lurking everywhere, waiting to kill anyone who they deemed unworthy of life. But those days were over. The war had been fought and won. Voldemort was dead, and his Death Eaters were gone”all except two. However, she doubted that her sister and brother-in-law were waiting outside to kill her.
She stepped into the bright sunlight, breathing in the fresh spring air as the warmth engulfed her. A light breeze blew through her hair, and birds chirped loudly. It seemed as though the world was at peace, but Andromeda was not. The horrible picture of her sister continued to dance in her mind.
Andromeda knew that she should not be dwelling on her sister. She had so much to be thankful for. The war was over. She didn’t have to live in fear anymore, no one did. Voldemort was gone, and this time he would not be coming back. Her own daughter had fought this war, and she came home unharmed. She could have been seriously injured, or even killed. Her daughter was safe. That meant the world to her, but she couldn’t help but think about her family who hadn’t been so lucky.
Her baby sister was dead. Narcissa took her own life because she could not save her son. She knew that Draco would not survive, and she could not bear to watch it happen. And she had been correct. Her precious son had been killed by Death Eaters”his punishment for failing to kill Albus Dumbledore. And now Bella was being hunted down by the wizarding world as though she were an escaped dragon.
What had become of the family she used to know? It had been many years since she had spoken to either of her sisters, but she had not stopped loving them. She had always believed that they would change. She prayed that they would turn away from the darkness and come back to her. They never did, but she never stopped hoping.
She walked down the familiar path, without really acknowledging that she was doing it. She didn’t take in the beauty that surrounded her. The fresh smells and stunning spring colors went unnoticed to her. Consumed by her thoughts, she walked forward, with no real sense of anything.
After walking for what seemed like hours, she stopped and sighed loudly. There was no point. She had taken this walk to clear her mind. That was not happening. If anything her mind had become more consumed by thoughts of the family she had lost so many years ago. There was nothing to be gained by going any further. Maybe if she returned to the house she could distract herself with some mediocre chores.
As she turned to head back to her home, a flash of light caught her attention. A few feet away from the path laid a metal object, which was sparkling in the sunlight. She stared at it for a few moments before deciding to investigate further.
She stepped off the path, feeling slightly anxious. In her mind, she knew that the danger was gone. Voldemort was dead. The threat was over, but her common sense couldn’t stop her blood pressure from rising as she left the safety of sunny path and stepped into the shadowy forests.
She walked towards the shiny object and gasped when she discovered what it was. A silver bracelet, with a serpent engraved on it. It was a Slytherin bracelet. They had been very popular when she was at Hogwarts. But it wasn’t the bracelet that caused her to gasp, it was the fact that the bracelet was wrapped around a wrist”a very thin pale wrist.
Her eyes wandered up the woman’s arm. Blood stained her robes and the ground around her. It was obvious the woman had been horribly beaten, but why? And what was she doing here?
A shocked cry escaped Andromeda’s lips when her eyes drifted to the woman’s face. Bella! Her sister. The woman she had been worrying about all morning. She was lying in front of her.
She fell to her knees and gently shook her sister’s shoulders. “Bella!” she cried. “Can you hear me?”
There was no response.
She grabbed the thin wrist, and searched for a pulse. She nearly whooped for joy when she found one. Her sister was still alive. She still had a chance.
“It’ll be okay,” she whispered. “I’ll take care of you.”
A/N: First of all, I would like to point out that this story is not canon with my other stories. I usually try to keep my plots intertwined, but that was not possible here. For that reason this story will not be part of the Bella Files.
I ended up putting another story on hold to work on this. It was inspired by an essay I read on Mugglenet “Bellatrix: An Astrological Prediction” by Kazaf. I am writing this for a lot of reasons, and I hope that you enjoy it.
Blinded by Sly Severus
Chapter Notes: 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.