A/N: Well, it's been ages since the last update, but I've been piled up with school work, and I've been redecorating my room. Oh well. Here's the next chapter, and, as promised, it's at least 2000 words longer than the last, making it at least 2300 words long.

Disclaimer: My claim of ownership of Harry Potter is the same as my claiming to be Einstein: it doesn't exist, nor is it true.

Chapter 11

"Lucius," Voldemort hissed angrily, eye twitching, as the blond knelt before him. "Tell me, who gave you an order to retreat?"

Harry watched the blond try unsuccessfully to suppress the shudders at the thought of what would happen to him. The Dark Lord was unpredictable and harsh in his punishments, all of his ways of torture guaranteed to prevent failure a second time. And if they didn't... well, there was always the option of death.

"N-no one, My Lord," Lucius stuttered out, his nervousness painfully evident in his voice.

"Then tell me," Voldemort hissed, eyes narrowed in rage. "Why did you call one?"

It appeared that at this point Lucius simply stopped trying to control the shivers that were occurring due to his fear of what would happen, or maybe he was, they simply increased so much he couldn't keep them down. Either way, Harry knew that he must be terrified. He had learnt over the past few... however long he had been a Death, he wasn't quite sure, that no Malfoy would show their fear unless they were one hundred percent terrified, and even then it was rare. He had known about part of it before, of course, but now he knew it for certain.

"I-I-I-"

"Crucio! Because of your incompetence we failed in the attack! Because you called a retreat too soon and without orders, the distraction was not long enough for entrance to Hogwarts to be gained!" Voldemort finally lifted the curse, and Lucius still lay twitching on the floor from the after-effects of the curse. "Take him to the dungeons, I will deal with him later."

The two Death Eaters bowed and left, soon followed by the rest of their colleges, having all been dismissed by the Dark Lord. Harry just about got to the door when...

"Potter, stay behind."

Over at Hogwarts Albus Dumbledore surveyed the damage that had occurred, along with the loses. Parts of the school were badly damaged, and Hagrid's cabin was burnt to the ground. The Gryffindor tower was without it's roof and two of the secret passages into the school that were known had caved in in the assault. But that didn't matter. Those were all damages that could be fixed. What else had been lost could not.

A grand total of seventy, five of those being professors, had lost their lives directly in the attack, having volunteer to help fight off the Death Eaters, and another fifteen had been killed when the roof fell in on the Gryffindor tower.

Dumbledore could hardly believe it had happened. Jut the next day Madam Bones, or rather Minister Bones, as she was now called, would have upped the defences around the school. If only Voldemort had attacked one day - just one day - later so many of the casualties could have been avoided! But no, he had to chose the day before, causing far more set backs, far more deaths, than there could have been.

"Professor?" asked Hermione quietly,. She was one of the fortunate ones. Though she had participated in trying to stop the Death Eaters, she had not been harmed, fortunately. "Professor, are you alright?"

Dumbledore turned sadly and gave her a grim smile, all twinkle gone from his eyes.

"I will be fine, Miss Granger, however, I fear the same can not be said for many other."

Hermione went silent at the professor's words. Never had she seen anyone look so glum, so down, not even when he had been forced by the governors to leave the school in her second year (though of course, she had been in the Infirmary, petrified, at the time). Never before had she seen Dumbledore's blue eyes without their twinkle. It didn't seem right.

Of course, a lot of things hadn't been right since the end of their fifth year. First off Sirius had been killed by his own cousin (though that had been in the duration of their fifth year, it was still wrong), then Harry had been carted off to Azkaban for using magic during the summer and around muggles, though why he had been sent to Azkaban for such a crime was beyond her. Normally such a thing would simply result in expulsion. After that, though, things had truly started to go so dreadfully wrong.

When Harry had been sent to Azkaban (the first time, she reminded herself) half of the wizarding world had thought that he was evil incarnate, the rest holding onto the slim, and now seemingly stupid hope that the Fudge had simply had an incredibly large grudge against Harry and had used that. Whilst it wasn't the best thing to hope abut the person who was supposed to run their country, it was all they could. Then Harry had vanished from Azkaban during a raid.

Hermione herself hadn't thought there and then that it was conclusive proof that Harry had joined Voldemort - why shouldn't Voldemort kidnap Harry to torture him? But since then... her view had changed.

Since the start of the summer a grand total of six professors had died because of Voldemort. Professor Snape had been the first to die, obvious, his cover having been blown - by Harry no less - that he was a spy. The other five - McGonagall, Trelawney (Hermione, as harsh as it seemed, had trouble feeling upset about that), Flitwick, Sprout and Sinistra - had died in the attack that had taken place only that day. It seemed sadly ironic to her that all of the four previous Head of Houses were now dead, along with the most incompetent teacher of the lot and the school's resident star gazer. It was almost like they had deliberately taken them out...

The professors definitely weren't the largest loss, though they would have the widest effect. The students... the number of deaths in the student body was high, unconventionally high. Sixty-five - yes, sixty-five! - killed in actually fighting, fifteen killed because the Gryffindor tower's roof collapsed in on the occupants inside, and countless more wounded. Including Ron.

The redhead still had to come around from his fight with one of the Death Eaters. Hermione was fairly sure it had been either Harry, or a low rank Death Eater, rather than anyone else. If it had been Ron would surely be dead, rather than just unconscious from the number of dark curses that were used on him.

The Dark Curses that she had seen Harry used were certainly different from the conventional ones that Death Eaters used, as far as she knew. Hermione didn't think that she'd ever heard of a Death Eater using a curse on someone that would cause bunny rabbits to burst forth from the victims stomach. It would have almost been comical if it had not been in real life, and would most certainly not have been far out of place in a muggle cartoon.

Hermione sighed. Trust Harry to use the strangest of curses.

Harry approached the Dark Lord's throne with trepidation, and bowed his head in submission and, hopefully, respect.

"You wished to speak with me, My Lord?" Harry said, looking up after a few moments.

"Yesss," the Dark Lord hissed, switching to parseltongue. "Nagini, come."

Harry's brow furrowed the slightest amount at the snake being called in. Only a matter of about two or three years ago Harry had dreamt that the Dark Lord had threatened to feed Harry to the snake. That was about the only detail he could remember at that moment, and soon enough the diamond-patterned snake came out from behind the Dark Lord's chair.

"What is it master? May I eat the boy yet?"

"No Nagini, not unless he displeases me."

Harry gulped at Voldemort's words, but made no other sound or movement. To do so may cause his death.

"You are a parseltongue, aren't you Potter?" Voldemort said, back to English.

"Yes, My Lord," Harry said quietly, silently wondering what this would have to do with anything.

"That is most... fortunate," Voldemort said. Harry waited for a few moment for the Dark Lord to continue. When he did not Harry spoke.

"My Lord? How is it fortunate?"

Voldemort smirked at Harry, and Harry suddenly felt a sense of impending doom and dread.

"You shall see very soon."

"No, Father, please! I won't do it again! I swear! Please Father! It will never happen again!" Bella watched helplessly on as her uncle cast various dark and painful spells on a twelve year old Sirius. She and her sisters and her cousin Regulus were being forced to watch when Hogwarts had broken up for the summer holidays.

Sirius had been sorted into Gryffindor that September, which alone was bad enough, but then he had befriended a Potter, a Lupin and a Pettigrew, all three families being known for their muggle-loving status. The family could have lived with a Gryffindor as a relative by blood, though only just, but one who was friends with muggle-lovers... That was simply going too far.

No doubt that by the time Sirius turned fifteen Sirius would be disowned, possibly disinherited as well. But, until then, he was at his parents, and possibly hers too, mercy, and they would show him next to none.

Sirius' screams filled the air as he was hit with a particularly agonising curse, and Bellatrix, Andromeda and Narcissa winced whilst Regulus watched on, expressionless. The four of them understood why they were being forced to watch though. It was so they wouldn't even think of trying to befriend muggle-lovers, and probably more than a bit to put them off of becoming Gryffindors if this was the treatment that they were given. It almost certainly would.

"So," her uncle sneered down at Sirius' shaking form. "You will break off any friendships you have with this Potter, Lupin and Pettigrew?"

Sirius looked horror-struck at the thought.

"B-but I can't! Th-they'll hate me!"

"You will break off your friendship with them, or this will look minor compared with what I will do with you, am I understood?"

"Yes sir," Sirius muttered, looking away. Bella's uncle sneered once more then left the room. "But I'm not going to stop being friends with them."

"Are you insane?" Andromeda hissed, staring at Sirius as if she thought he was. "He will kill you if you don't!"

Sirius looked up, his eyes flashing angrily.

"Then let him," he growled. "I refuse to abandon my friends!"

"Why would you risk you life over Gryffindors?" Regulus asked, speaking for the first time.

"Because-" Sirius began, but was cut off by a cry of 'girls!' from Bella's mother. The three sisters sent sorry looks over their shoulders as they left, and Regulus soon left also, glaring at his older brother in anger.

Bella awoke with a shock to see Harry looking over her with an expression of deep concern on his face.

"What do you want?" she snapped angrily, glaring at him. Nightmares from her past always put her in a bad mood.

"Nothing," he said, looking amused. Obviously it was something.

"I don't believe you," Bella hissed. "So tell me now before I hex you into oblivion!"

"I can't," replied Harry with a small smile.

"And why not?"

"I've been sworn to secrecy," grinned Harry, an expression that had not appeared truly on his face in a while.

"By whom?" Bella growled, trying to ignore the fact that he was obviously enjoying this.

"Ah, but that would be telling."

Screw trying to ignore the fact he was enjoying it, where was her wand?

"Looking for this?" Harry's grin widened ever further as he held up a wand, her wand, after she had been searching for it for a few minutes.

"Give that here," she ground out, barely keeping her voice even.

"Why? So you can hex me into several million pieces, put me back together, and then hex me again?"

"Yes, now give it!"

"Nope!"

Bella glowered at Harry, really wanting to know why he was so cheerful all of a sudden. A few minutes ago he had been concerned about her - and now he was laughing at her! So much for ever having a meaningful relationship with a fellow Death Eater! Bella hated men so much.

"Give... Me... My... Wand!"

"No!"

"Then at least tell me what you want!"

"I already told you I've been sworn to secrecy!"

"Who swore you to secrecy?!"

Harry burst out laughing at this, for a reason unbeknownst to Bella. He was really infuriating her, something which no one had done to such an extent since, well, ever! And it was really pissing her off. About two minutes later Harry stopped laughing and looked straight into her eyes.

"You look beautiful when you're angry," he said, and leaned in to kiss her. Bella relaxed into it, glad she was still lying down on the bed, feeling sure she would have gone weak at the knees at that moment. "And you're even more beautiful right now."

"So what did you want?" asked Bella, blushing like a schoolgirl when confronted with her crush.

"Nothing, you were just tossing and turning a lot. It seemed like you were in the middle of a nightmare," Harry said, preparing himself to run. And run he did, having made the mistake of putting Bella's wand within grasping distance whilst they had been caught in the kiss. She now had it and was sending a lot of colourful curses and hexes his way, including ones that would turn the victim into jelly, cause whoever it hit to think they were a dog for half an hour and one to make whoever was hit by it to say the ransomest things when certain words were said. Unfortunately Harry was hit by the last one of the three mentioned, and then with a silencing spell.

"Serves you right," Bella said when he glowered at her, finally getting up. "You should have answered me in the first place."

A/N: So there you have it, 2,326 words of fic. Aren't you proud of me! And it's just out in time for Children in Need as well! For some reason I'm feeling charitable.

Blackhand/Exzlayer: Lol, I did! I did! See?!

Kage Mirai: Thanks!

Gohan25: Well thank you! I've not said I'll kill Ginny as of yet, so I probably won't.

MMockler4Tonks: I don't know, I just despise them! Good idea though, but I've already got half a plan for this fic (and even a sequel already, if you would believe it).

HAZZAGRIFF: Enjoying being an ego-boosting comedian then?

Trunks2598: Uh, who did you shoot with them thing? Or do I not want to know?

Silverscale: Thanks! And that's okay then.

Fire Gazer: Lucius called a retreat without permission, that was basically it.

Ryua Malfoy: Man, that is sad. You know what you need? And English to Latin translater on the net, then you can come up with your own curses like I do! Unless you already use one or speak Latin, of course.

Amscray: Hey! I have trouble writing fight scenes! At least I attempted it, rather than just skipped over it like I could have done if I really wanted too! And I don't think I mentioned that Harry knew Ron had left his side... if I did, you've found a plot hole, which I can fill with the explaneation that Voldemort has managed to get a spy inside the Order.

bellatrix-lova: Yeah, that's fun, isn't it? And now you know what he does!

JoeMama: I'm going to completely ignore your review, as it seems a waste of my time.

RandomnessDotCom: Thanks! And did you know your penname is a fun website with a lava lamp on it? I've spent ages there just staring at it.