A/N: Hello everyone! I hope the next few updates will be as quick as these. I have in mind to try to update at least once every week now that my days are less preoccupied so hopefully it works out. I feel quite horrible in having all of you readers wait so long and I'm terribly sorry I do. Hopefully I can make up with it with these next few chapters! :D

Well, here's chapter 8. (and take note, the plot's moving, so the chapters are longer :D ) Please read and review, it means so much to me when you do – you have no idea. Take care!

In the Shadows of Endless Night Time

Chapter 8

"My Lord, please. Reconsider what I ask of you. Do not leave tonight to find that boy. I urge you to head my proposal." A young and elegant woman makes her way outside of the home of her parents to follow wearily behind the one she calls her Lord.

"No, and I have spoken to you of this before. I shall not rest till that child is dead. The opportunity is available to me now. I will not have you test my judgment when the chance so easily reveals itself." He hisses in reply.

"But, Master. Don't you see something wrong with this? Why is it a mere boy, and not an Auror, many of whom have been trying to track you down from the moment you declared yourself the Dark Lord? Please, I beg of you." Her voice strains desperately, "I do not feel security in knowing you will go to that house tonight. Let me join you, in the least." She stops, hoping that he will realize she has and will turn to face her.

"No." Is his only cold response.

He turns around and strides forward towards her, his frustration evident.

She replies, "What?"

On any other night, Lord Voldemort would have enjoyed their arguments, as dynamic as their relationship has been. But tonight was His night, one he would later pride himself in as he would return to his followers with news of victory. He did not want to fight with her, and leave her on a negative note. Slowly, he made his way towards her and sighed before beginning again in a less harsh tone, "My Bella, my young, beautiful Bella. Do not anger me tonight – I know what I'm doing. As I have told you previously, your mission after my return from the Potter's, is to find and kill the Longbottom's child. Your task is as simple as mine and would not ever present itself with any danger. It is only a child after all and I have foreseen all the possible outcomes: there are no real threats."

She struggles for words, for she knows she might not be able to convince him of staying. But she answers, "Please…… Tom." Her face is contorting, fighting to hold back tears.

Never before has she addressed him by his birth name, one she fully understands he hates. Never before has she been as bold to continue persisting. But as Voldemort stood there watching her in all her pure-blood stature, he couldn't help but think to himself of how much he adored her fire. She was all that he could ever ask of a follower, and more. He knew that tonight was the only night in which he could succeed, regardless of what Bellatrix said, but he did not want to disappoint her again.

He took her hands in his and brought both of them up to his face, eyes remaining connected with hers all the while. He brushed his lips ever so slightly against the back of her hands. Had she been alone, she would have fallen, right then and there.

In one final whisper, Voldemort said her name, before Apparating away from her.

"Bella," he breathed, and then he was gone.

Bellatrix remained there, under the loneliness of the moon, quivering so slightly, until she heard someone scream. She froze, and it began again. The screaming continued, growing louder and louder, until another scream followed. It continued and grew and others began screaming as well. She ran towards the edge of the forest, trying to escape their cries, running as fast as her feet could take her, but they followed her, chasing her through the thicket of trees and bushes in darkness.

"Bella…." She heard. "Bella...." they cried again….

Bella!" She yelled aloud.

Panting, she looked around the room to contemplate where she was. It was dark where the sun didn't pierce through the black curtains, but other than that, she could see she was safe from whatever was chasing her in her mind.

It had been not two days since Bellatrix escaped from Azkaban and already Narcissa and Lucius made it a point to give her the liberty of her own bedroom. The room she harbored, bore colors of her old home, emerald green silks and ebonies of the finest foreign material, all woven together by imprints of the Malfoy crest. The bed she slept on matched all the same, except for the sheets; they were a pale grey, quite suitable to the scenery. The walls were lined with pictures of relatives she forgot of, some of which were still asleep in their frames. A lone, wooden dresser sat opposite the bed, south of the large bay window, and its mirror stared back at Bellatrix in the darkness. Her eyes grew accustomed to the atmosphere, and as she stared around her, she looked everywhere but the mirror. Although her previous clothes were disposed of, and a new nightgown given in their place, Bellatrix couldn't handle her own presence just yet. Instead, she sat up in bed, from her slumber, her forehead glistening with sweat, completely avoiding her reflection. After sitting there for several minutes, Bellatrix removed the heavy comforter from her sleep, and stood up, stretching her limbs before walking on. Though the wood was polished like new, the floor still creaked beneath her heavy footsteps and she feared stirring the others still asleep in the house, at such an early hour. She made her way slowly to the door residing in the far left corner of the room and turned its silver handle.

The hallway was dark but she could easily spot the staircase not far from her, spiraling to the ground and ending in front of the large entryway. There were iron rails lining the edge of the hall and continuing down the stairs. Bella took hold of them for balance and descended. She forgot that her legs still ached in pain, so her movements made it more difficult to withstand her travel downward. She would ask Narcissa for assistance with charm spells later, to tend to her wounds. As she made her way she could see through the windows in the halls; she could see the sun peeking from behind the hills and onward, its rays slowly washing over the walls.

As Bellatrix made her way to the end of the manor she could hear the sounds of a hissing tea kettle. She followed the noise passed a large study, an exquisite dinning room and past a closed door, till she reached a doorframe, leading to what looked like a very large kitchen. Apparently, she was not the only one awake.

"Good morning, Bellatrix." A snide greeting came from the blonde-hair creature that was enjoying his peace at a nearby table, the latest edition of the Daily Prophet in his hands.

"Lucius," her reply was crisp, and uninterested in anything else he had to say. As much as she loved her sister, she had always detested the man she married. Regardless, she took the empty chair next to him, resisting his pestering gaze.

"I presume you slept well? You surely had no trouble sleeping for nearly two days. Narcissa was ready to call for a Healer had you gone another hour." His eyes never left the columns of the morning paper. Surely he hadn't intended to move himself from the table and tend to the kettle without the need to smirk in her direction, but Lucius was not one for hard labor, so he remained seated.

"I guess you had no intent on calling for one yourself, hmm Malfoy?" Her face was hard.

"No, never in the slightest. You'd probably still be in Azkaban hadn't the mass break-out occurred."

"Oh you would enjoy knowing that wouldn't you?" His eyes rose once to observe her as she continued, "I'm sure you weren't happy to give Narcissa the good news that her sister is finally free after fourteen long years."

He turned a page before responding, "Well, if you must know, it was not I who told Narcissa of the break out. I was second to learn of that particularly small detail, before having to attend to your rescue."

Bella's brow furrowed, "Then who was it that –"

"The Dark Lord." He cut her off before she could finish her question.

Bella's heart began to race at the mention of his name. For a moment, she found it hard to breathe, hard to respond to Lucius' blunt remark. She calmed herself before beginning again, "Of all the things Narcissa would be asked of, why would the Dark Lord give my sister the news before you?" He smirked before she began again, "Forgive me, Lucius, but I'm sure as a Death Eater you would have come first in this situation?" Lucius was surprised by her sarcastic compliment, if it was a compliment. In any other instance, Bellatrix would try to insult him, but he noticed that it was hard for her to retort with her usual malicious comments.

Narcissa made her way into the kitchen now, and so he brushed it off; he did not want a problem so early in the day.

"By Merlin, don't you hear this bloody kettle going off Lucius?" Her pace was quick, and urgent. As she passed her husband sitting in his night robes at the table, she didn't even notice her sister, who was on the verge of laughing at her frustrated tone. It was only a mere kettle, after all.

"Sorry, dear. I was too occupied with such an –" he struggled to find the right word before smirking at Bella and replying, "– enticing conversation with your wonderful sister of yours." He motioned to Bella sitting beside him.

Narcissa froze, before putting the kettle down on a mat on the counter. She turned and her eyes grew wide. She hadn't seen Bellatrix conscious for over a decade. Now she was sitting in her house, at her kitchen table, seemingly healthy aside from her horrid looks. "Bella," she began, "How are you feeling?" She moved to stand closer to her sister.

"Much better than I would have been in that hole another few days. Your husband is already making me feel quite at home. I've never missed his lively conversation more." She stood up from her chair, not bothering to see Lucius' reaction.

"Wonderful." She said. "Would you care for something to eat? Toast?" She took out a ceramic cup from the cupboard, "Tea?"

"Tea would be just fine, thank you."

The three of them moved to what appeared to be a sitting room, with black velvet couches and silver night tables all around. Bellatrix and Lucius were already seated on opposite ends of the room, as Narcissa settled down beside him, the tray of tea, dishes, and cups floating to her side. Bella took a cup from the tray as it floated from person to person, and had it filled to the brim with boiling-hot ginger tea. The aroma overwhelmed her senses. Narcissa and Lucius did the same soon after and for several moments they sat in uncomfortable silence. It wasn't till Bella took the initiative to end it, that the tension in the room began to fade.

"He has returned, hasn't he then?" She spoke softly.

Lucius replied, "Yes, and he is more determined than ever to succeed." He took a sip of his drink. "I understand you know every thing that has occurred, up until your trial, yes?"

Bella nodded silently.

Lucius continued, "Then you are aware that our Lord's greatest problem is that of a boy of fifteen years?"

"Is this the same child that destroyed him that terrible night?!" Bellatrix grew angry, recalling memories of how he chose not to listen to her warning, how if he hadn't gone and let his followers go in his path, he might have never left her, and she would have never gone to Azkaban.

"Yes. His name is Harry Potter, and he and his little friends have caused surprisingly more trouble than any Auror has ever given us. But his only security is that of Albus Dumbledore and whatever pathetic power he has left at Hogwarts these days. Alone, he is just a boy, nothing more."

"So, let me make this clear, Lucius," She cleared her throat.

Narcissa watched in silence, occasionally sipping the hot tea.

"For the last fourteen years, while I suffered for our Lord, hoping that one day I may be free to return to serve him and fulfill what he asked of me, no one, not you or Pettigrew or even Snape….no one, not one of his remaining followers, have ever attempted to kill this boy?!"

"There have been –complications. You see –"

"What complications?" She snapped. "A boy lies in the way of our conquest and our failure. A boy…who should have been gone before I ever entered those walls." She was standing now, "and yet you sit here every day in this house, in silence. What are you…afraid?"

"Surely you must understand, Bellatrix. After His…untimely fall, we assumed that it really was all over. There was no point in chasing after this child and risking his murder if we risked our own lives without any real hope in a strong outcome. We did not want to jeopardize ourselves and be captured with all the Auror activity that was occurring. If anything, we did try in the least, but we failed several times and chose to stay hidden. If there were signs, we would have immediately acted upon them."

Her chest rose and fell dramatically. Her stare bore into his soul, yet his gaze did not waver. She resisted screaming in his direction, however pointless it may have seemed, and instead she stopped and calmly asked, "So how is it then, that you two are here sharing a cup of tea with a fugitive, instead of attending one of His meetings?"

"Funny thing isn't it? Would you care to have me explain it to you rationally, or should I get up and dance like a buffoon, hoping you'd understand?"

"Lucius," said Narcissa, urging her husband to keep his mocking tone to a minimum. He turned to acknowledge her before continuing once more.

"The Dark Lord has asked that we tend to you personally, till you are fully recovered. We don't know of the other's just yet, but we know Rodolphus has made contact with the Lord and is residing in one of his camps." Bella cringed at the mention of her husband's name. "He has made sure that you are kept out of harm's way till you heal. He did not explain much further, other than he expects the both of us to be ready for a most imperative mission on our return."

"He knows I am here?" Her voice was slightly more forceful.

"Yes." Lucius replied.

Bellatrix took this new information in, before asking, "And when will we be invited to join him?"

Lucius sighed in frustration, tired at all her questioning. He snapped, "The sooner those bags under your eyes disappear, the sooner we'll be ready to leave."

"Lucius!" Narcissa yelled. "That is not how you talk to family! You should know that by now." Narcissa got up, almost spilling her tea on her satin blouse before turning to face her sister, "Bella, I'm sorry. If you need anything, just call for me, otherwise, Lucius, I want a word, now."

"Thank you, Cissy." She said, and returned the cup to the tray, not bothering to acknowledge her sister's snappy husband, and made her way around the house.

xxxxx

By nightfall, Bellatrix managed to occupy herself with roaming every area of Malfoy Manor. She particularly enjoyed working her way through the study, packed with hundreds of ancient books on magic and family history. Her fingers graced the spines of many of the novels atop the shelves, skimming over many particularly interesting titles: The Wand without the Wizard, 301 Ways to Transform An Owl, The Adventures of Abarnax: A Quest Along the Shores of Scotland. She continued further till her eyes caught something more intriguing than any other titles she had come across.

"He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named: A Look at the World's Darkest Magic, by Ferona Furnagle." She said aloud, removing the book off the shelf. She ran her hands over the rough material of the cover, studying its texture, before opening to read inside the cover:

He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named:

A Look at the World's Darkest Magic

Ferona Furnagle

Contents:

Introduction

Before His Time

Suspected Origins

His Influence at Hogwarts

Life after School

Reign of Terror

Those Who Chose to Follow

Threatening Destruction

The Downfall

Post-War Peace

Acknowledgements and Credits

Bellatrix turned to the chapter that talked of his various followers, before finding her way to a nearby couch and taking a seat to begin reading. She came across articles about each significant Death Eater –Barty Crouch Jr., Antonin Dolohov, Amycus and Alecto Carrow, Rodolphus Lestrange –and then to an article on her. There was nothing written she didn't already know; merely basic information, and facts as all the other articles written. But there was one particular paragraph that caught her attention most.

She read aloud, "Though the Dark Lord was known for recruiting only male followers into his elite circle, his only female Death Eater, Bellatrix Lestrange, was as capable, if not more, of fighting as sufficiently as the others. There has been debate however, over whether or not this particular initiated member joined for solely loyal reasons or for reasons beyond our presumptions. Experts at the Ministry of Magic's Department of Magical Relations have often speculated that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was romantically involved with, or having an affair with Lestrange before his initial choice to begin world domination. Though she is bound by marriage to her husband and fellow Death Eater, Rodolphus Lestrange, it's not impossible to assume that Bellatrix was the only female servant because she alone could fulfill the more lustful commands of her master…" She chuckled. So they knew, didn't they? She thought.

The more and more she read on about his conquest and the things he did, the more she yearned to see him again. She did not want to rely on mere words to fulfill her need. She wanted to see him now. She decided it would be best to ask Narcissa about it and so after supper that night, while Lucius and Draco were out of the house, Bella approached her sister who was sitting in the study occupying herself with a newspaper.

"Cissy?" She asked.

"Yes, Bella?" She replied, looking up from the Daily Prophet.

"I wish to ask you something, although as much as this question is fit for Lucius to respond to, I'd rather not go seeking your husband for answers." She walked towards the center of the room now, and looked down at her sister whose expression became slightly puzzled.

"What is it you ask?"

She did not want to sound desperate, nor did she want Narcissa to suspect anything further than mere interest in her voice, so she softly said, "I was wondering, if the Dark Lord had said anything about when he would be returning to your home, to…ensure his commands are carried out?"

Narcissa eyebrows went up in interest. Surely Bella didn't believe her to be completely naïve of what she implied. "You mean: when is it Voldemort will return to see if you are alright?" Bella's eyes grew wide before she attempted to hide her reaction. But Narcissa noticed and knew her assumptions were correct, "Oh come on, Bella. You and I both know you've been lusting after that man since we were teenagers. And I'm sure you had no trouble occupying yourself with memories of your time with him while in prison." Narcissa folded her hands over her lap.

Bella's face fell before she began again, "I can't even recall what his voice sounds like, Cissy. As much as I pride myself in knowing I never lost hope, I can't help but wonder if it was worth losing what I had so long ago. How do you handle returning when there is nothing worthy to return to?" Narcissa's heart felt a twinge of pity for her eldest sister. This woman risked her being for one man her entire life, and even now after spending half of it in prison for him, she is still lost in her own feelings.

Narcissa knew only one way to answer her, and it was stating the completely apparent truth. She sighed, "Because despite your torment, you're still in love with him, though you're fully aware he cannot reciprocate your feelings."

Bellatrix was silent for a moment.

She replied, "It's pitiful, isn't it?"

Narcissa shook her head, "No, just sadly unlucky. How horrible it must be for the only female Death Eater to be in love with the one she calls her Master, and not have him feel the same…what will her husband think?"

Bella's head shot up, "That man means nothing to me and you know that. Hadn't it have been mother and father's request, I would have never agreed to bind myself to him." Narcissa laughed. "Don't test me Cissy, I'm in no mood."

"You forgot your sense of humor, dear. I didn't mean to upset you. But you do know once the both of you return to his side, you'll eventually have to face him?" She asked.

"I know. I'm dreading the day."

"Dreading?" Narcissa began, "I would be terribly frightened of seeing that man after he's been in prison for so long, let alone be his wife. Knowing how you've looked since your escape, I can only imagine what he'll act like." Bellatrix glared at her younger sister.

"Please, don't be so kind, Cissy." She retorted.

"Nevertheless, I'm sure that He'll return to us soon to ask of your recovery. But I don't know when. Lucius hasn't spoken much of Him since the escape, so I can't necessarily help you there."

Bella did not speak –she found it more interesting to pace slowly in front of her sister in silence. Narcissa didn't know what to say. She glanced at the clock above the shelf that read 10:36. It was getting late, and Bella was likely to keep her here for a few more hours if she didn't ask anything of her soon.

"Bella, look…why don't you get your rest now. Go up to your room, get settled in bed, and try to find some sleep. The less you worry, the more likely it'll come before you least expect it. Tomorrow I'll help you with the remaining bruises and then we'll locate your wand so you can take care of the rest yourself." Narcissa was anxious for Bella's agreement.

Bellatrix stopped to contemplate her sister's wishes. She nodded once and wished her a good night before climbing the stairs to her bedroom.

xxxxxxx

It was dark when she entered the room and made her way over to the bed. The only visible light was that of the moon. Bella did not care to sleep tonight, as much as she wanted to. She eventually climbed into bed, fresh nightgown and all, but she could not help to toss and turn. Too often did she feel she would awaken back in Azkaban, and all of this would have been a dream invoked by her insanity. She did not want to shut her eyes knowing she might risk returning to that world. Yet, exhaustion was overtaking her, try as she may fight it. As she lay there with her eyes giving into sleep, she tried to picture the Tom she knew so long ago: his pitch black hair, his pale smooth skin, those devilish eyes and that wonderful nose, and those lips…oh those soft lips she so dearly missed against her own….

"Bella…" she hears. A voice like dark silk sweeps over her ears, snapping her eyes open.

"Bella…" it repeats again. Bellatrix sits up, looking around the room. For a moment, she could have sworn it to be Him beckoning to her. But as she glanced again, nothing but the wind made its presence known. The window has been left open.

She sighed; her mind was playing tricks on her again. That comes to no surprise; she'll eventually be overrun by hallucinations and the latter anyway. No reason not to start now.

As her eyes close finally, the wind caresses her hollow cheeks and Bellatrix finds peace in her slumber.

A/N: Like it? Love it? Hate it? Let me know! Send me a review please! :D Thanks!

Hope you enjoyed this!