Disclaimer: I own nothing. It'd be pretty awesome if I did right?

A/N: I take a lot of liberty with the canon, so it goes without saying this piece is strictly AU. A lot of the events in DH will be ignored, seeing as this is my own rendition of our dear heroes 7th year. And if I do indeed make any mistakes with Potter-lore, PM me and correct the error of my ways!

MONSTER

Prologue

The tension in the room was so thick it could be cut with a knife.

Hushed whispers punctuated an otherwise deathly silence. Several cloaked figures sat around a rotten table, anxious for something, anything to happen. Goblets brimming with various liquors were brought to lips and drank nervously, for none knew what to expect from tonight. Cigarettes were brought to quivering lips, each hard suck a feeble attempt to calm rattled nerves.

Another raid had gone sour. No leads. No signs of them. No signs of Him. The group that sat around the table knew that there would be punishment. Consequences for their failure.

One such member ran a skeletal hand through her wild raven black locks, a sign of obvious frustration. The others, save for their meager food and drink, barely moved at all. Frozen in abject fear for what was about to happen.

Unexpectedly a foul draft burst through a rear window, snuffing out all of the decaying candles strewn about the dank space. The air suddenly grew noxious and fetid, as a dense black smog swirled around the head of the tables. The occupants drew in a collective breath.

Out of the smoke materialized Lord Voldemort, his crimson eyes burned bright with rage. The death eaters felt their collective spines straighten at the sight of their leader.

"I am…" began his voice, barely louder than a whisper. Suddenly a few of the death eaters were flung from their stools like ragdolls; the bodies nearly cracking the feeble rafters that held up the ceiling. Bones cracking on impact made sickening sounds like the snapping of twigs. The table, and its contents sprung up from the floor and instantly exploded into a maelstrom of splinters and glass shards. Hands flew to shield faces and eyes as the once quiet room was plunged into complete and utter entropy. Blood poured from freshly formed wounds. Bright flashes of red erupted rapid fire from two pallid hands concealed within the darkness.

When the lights settled, the candles burst to life once more. Writhing, groaning bodies were now strewn across the floor, and before them all stood one.

"…disappointed." Came the final word, slipping like tepid sludge from the paper-thin lips.

One death eater began to stand on weakened legs, bracing himself against a far wall. "M-m-my Lord…we were out numbered…the lead we had received…it was a lie. The Aurors…they were waiting for us." He cowered like a beaten child sniveling all while he spoke.

"CRUCIO!"

The man's body contorted and crumbled to the cold stone floor once more. He convulsed upon the floor as if volts upon volts of electricity coursed through his veins.

The whispered voice hissed, "I did not come to you for excuses Wormtail." Angry red eyes became mere slits. "I grow weary of your failures. All of you. Time is running short, and the boy gathers an army whilst you all cavort about! The time for desperate measures is nigh."

A woman rushed to his side, falling to her knees before him. "My Lord, say it isn't so! Dumbledore is dead! Surely we aren't in such a dire situation while that meddling wizard lies in a coffin!" She wailed in a nearly inhuman voice as she clawed at his legs.

He lowers a calm hand to her head, curling a strand of her sable hair between to fingers. "Hush…hush my dear Bellatrix…have you no faith in your Lord?"

Bellatrix wrapped two anxious arms around one of his legs, clutching to him as if she would surely die if she were to let go. "Of course I do!"

A jerk of his leg and she was kicked back to the ground with the rest of her comrades. The Dark Lord looked at all of them as if he stumbled upon a writhing nest of vermin.

"What I have learned is that strength, can lie in numbers. And a number of particular interest…is three. They now call them the 'Golden Trio'. The Boy is held up at the apex by the two. Every one of my attempts at ending Potter's insignificant life is thwarted somehow by the two. I have taken the boy's family…his godfather…Dumbledore…and yet still he is unrelenting. The Order thrives. He is not alone. We must break this trio apart…in any way that we can…"

Fenrir Greyback was first to speak, lust for blood thick in his words. "We kill the Weasel!" Saliva began to drip from his gnarled fangs.

The Dark Lord chuckled to himself. "Patience Fenrir. I was thinking more along the lines of the girl."

Bellatrix's eyes widen in surprise. "The mudblood?" She gaped at Lord Voldemort, mouth agape.

Fenrir grumbled in disdain, "The meat of a mudblood is most displeasing."

Hushed whispers littered the air of the once silent room.

"SILENCE!" Bellowed the Dark Lord. "Yes…the Granger girl. She is far more dangerous to us than the Weasel and his entire family combined. She is the key in achieving our grand goal…"

Bellatrix clamors to his feet once more, clutching desperately at his robes. "Surely you don't mean to sully our ranks with that brat's dirty blood. She cannot be trusted! She will ruin us." Her final words nearly a screech.

Voldemort silenced the dark witch with a wave of his hand. "Ah, Ah, Ah! Dear Bella…didn't your mother tell you never to judge a book…by it's cover?" Out of nothingness a dusty tome appeared above Lord Voldemort's open palm. He slowly turned toward the prostrated death eater on the floor; two fingers at her chin to direct her gaze up to his scarlet eyes. "Bella…what if I could give you that which you desire most?"

The dark witch accepted the Dark Lord's open hand and slowly rose to unsteady feet. Her hands came to rest upon her lower abdomen on their own accord. Voldemort's lips nearly grazed the heated flesh of her right ear as he whispered to her; "I know that you are barren…" Her ruby lips quivered as large tears began to run down the slope of her chiseled face. "Shhh…my dear Bella…all will be fine…trust in this…you will understand everything…and you'll soon know what you must do…"

And with that, the decrepit book was placed into Bellatrix' eager hands. A devilish grin spread wide across her blood red lips as she read the title upon the book's cover.