Disclaimer: I own nothing. All characters belong to J.K. Rowling.

A/N: No longer a one-shot.

Hermione was stuck in Malfoy Manor, along with Harry and Ron.

As soon as the Snatchers captured them, she knew that they were in trouble. Big trouble. Hermione felt sick to her stomach as they dragged her to Malfoy Manor, and felt the bile rise in her throat when she saw Bellatrix Lestrange waiting for them by the gates. As soon as she saw the deranged Death Eater, she wanted to cry out in despair.

No, she thought. This cannot be happening.

The very idea of being in the same room as Bellatrix sent chills down her spine. She's heard of how many people have been tortured or murdered mercilessly at the hands of Bellatrix, which led Hermione to believe that the woman, who now stood before her, was truly heartless.

Bellatrix must have noticed the sword of Gryffindor peeking out from her bag because she went completely ballistic. "Where did you get that sword from?" she shrieked at the Snatchers. Bellatrix shook with dangerous rage that even Lucius Malfoy cowered before her. "The-the mudblood had it in her bag when we-we captured them, ma'am," said one of the Snatchers. "It appears that she had it with her all this time."

And with that, Bellatrix looked even more sadistic than Hermione has ever seen her.

"Take them to the cellar," she ordered. "Except... the mudblood." She looked at Hermione directly in the eyes. For a moment, something changed within Bellatrix's sadistic glare towards her. It almost looked like recognition. But as quickly it appeared, it was gone, replaced by a cruel smirk. She moved towards Hermione rather quickly, cornered her to a wall and pinned her against it. Hermione has never been more terrified in her entire life.

"I want to have a nice little chat with you, muddy," Bellatrix spat at her. "Girl to girl!" And with that, she yanked Hermione by the hair and threw her on the hard cold floor. Hermione grunted at the pain.

Bellatrix's eyes glittered. "We can do this the easy way, muddy. All you have to do is answer my questions truthfully." The way she looked at Hermione reminded her of how a predator might look upon its prey seconds before killing it.

She gulped.

"Now," Bellatrix began. "Where did you get the sword?"

The dark woman was so close to her and it was terrifying. "Some-someone gave it- it was given to us," she sobbed.

Bellatrix's eyes flashed in anger. "You nasty little liar," she snarled. "I know you broke into my vault at Gringotts!" And with that, she slapped Hermione harshly across the face. Hermione cried out in pain. She felt a bruise forming on her cheeks.

"Tell me the truth, filthy mudblood, or else I will kill you!"

"I'm telling the truth!" Hermione pleaded. "Please! It's a copy, only a copy!" Without a warning, Bellatrix pointed her wand at Hermione's shaking figure and yelled, "Crucio!" Hermione's never known pain up until this moment. The pain was too much. It felt like someone was setting her body on fire, as well as ripping it apart at the same time. Her screams echoed throughout the manor.

After what seemed like a long time, Bellatrix stopped her torture.

"I told you, we can do this the easy way... but apparently you prefer doing it the hard way!" she yelled at Hermione.

"I'm telling the truth, please!" Hermione yelled pleadingly, her voice raw from screaming. Tears ran down her cheeks, blurring her vision.

"LIAR!" Bellatrix bellowed.

She bent down close to Hermione and took out her wand once more. Hermione braced herself, expecting another Crucio to hit her. Instead, it was worse; she felt pain on her left arm. It was as if something was being carved into her very own skin.

Hermione screamed out in so much agony that she did not even realize that Bellatrix was on top of her, laughing cruelly at her pain. She felt blood leaking out of her arm. It was so much... too much that there was enough dripping down her arm to create a small pool on the white marble floor.

It was too much for Hermione. Everything around her was hazy. Bellatrix's cruel voice turned into echoes, slowly fading away. Before she fully succumbed to the darkness, she heard Narcissa Malfoy screaming, "Bellatrix, stop! That's your daughter!"

The pain stopped immediately, but it was still overwhelming for Hermione. Between the smell of her own blood pooling around her and the pain from the Cruciatius Curse, Hermione fainted.

"What?" Bellatrix whispered. "No, it can't be." She glanced at Hermione, who was now unconscious.

"It is, Bella," Narcissa said, her voice trembling. She was crying openly. "When the Snatchers took the sword out, this came out of the bag." She held out a small photo of baby Hermione, smiling brightly at the camera. Bellatrix took the photo out of her sister's hand with a shaking hand. She looked at the baby in the picture and touched it. Underneath the photo, there was a caption that read "Lyra Bellatrix Black".

Bellatrix felt tears dotting her eyes as she looked at the baby girl- her baby girl- in the picture.

The eyes.

They were the very same eyes that had, only moments ago, been lifeless from the torture she inflicted.

Bellatrix closed her eyes tried to remember Hermione's eyes... those beautiful, soft brown eyes and how she looked at Bellatrix with such fear as she begged to stop hurting her. She compared those eyes from her memory to the ones in the picture.

Bellatrix, who finally realized the full extent of what she's done, unexpectedly fell onto the floor and let out an agonizing scream.

"NO!" Bellatrix sobbed. "No, no, no!" She then crawled over to Hermione. Bellatrix's black dress was now soaked in Hermione's blood, but she didn't care. She cradled a now lifeless Hermione into her arms, sobbing as she held her as close to her chest as possible, similar to how a mother held her newborn baby in her arms.

"Mummy's here now," she whispered into Hermione's ear. Her tears stained Hermione's cheeks, which were still red from the slap. "I'm so-so sorry, baby-baby girl."

Words could never describe the pain and absolute guilt in Bellatrix's chest; for years, she believed that her baby girl would never return to her, which drove her to insanity, and then returned to her after years- only to be tortured by her.

Fate was a cruel bitch.

Bellatrix held on to Hermione tightly and apparated to a bedroom. When they arrived, Bellatrix gently laid Hermione down to a bed.

She was still unconscious.

She took Hermione's cold hand and held it. Fresh tears rolled down her cheeks.

"I'm so sorry, my darling," she whispered. "I can never take back the pain I've caused you."

She took out her wand and began to heal the wounds on her daughter's body. She gingerly took Hermione's left arm and began to heal the word carved into her skin. After a few minutes, all of the wounds disappeared but Bellatrix still felt guilty for inflicting pain to her long lost daughter. She laid beside Hermione and cradled her.

"I'm so sorry, darling," she sobbed. "I should have known you were my daughter, I'm so sorry, love..."

And then Bellatrix heard a gasp. It was Hermione. She was finally awake. "You're awake, thank the heavens!" Bellatrix cried out, happy tears rolling down her cheeks. She wrapped her arms around Hermione, who flinched.

Hermione was alarmed at Bellatrix's sudden change in behaviour. "Miss Lestrange," she croaked out. "Please... if this is another one of your plans to hurt me, please stop!" Bellatrix immediately released Hermione. They stared at each other for a few seconds. Bellatrix looked at her eyes and noticed how afraid Hermione was of her.

"I'm not going to hurt you," she said softly. "Please, I- I made a mistake..." Without warning, she wrapped her arms around Hermione and held her tightly. "I'm so-so sorry, my baby girl, I'm so sorry, I don't... I don't know how to take back what I did..."

It shocked Hermione to see Bellatrix Lestrange, the most deranged Death Eater, breaking down in front of her. And then Hermione realized what Bellatrix called her.

"What did you call me?" Hermione asked, her voice low. "Baby girl?"

Bellatrix could only look at Hermione with tears in her eyes. She nodded slowly.

Hermione shook her head. "No," she whispered. "No."

"Yes," was Bellatrix's weak reply. "Hermione, dear... I'm your mother." At that, Hermione stood up. "N-no..." she said. She observed Bellatrix's appearance; how they both had the same unruly hair, only Hermione's was a light brown and Bellatrix's was black... and then the eyes. They were very similar, only Hermione's was a light brown and Bellatrix's was dark brown.

To prove her point, Bellatrix took out Hermione's photo and held it out. "Look at this," she said softly. "It's you isn't it?"

Hermione took the photo. "Yes," she said hesitantly. And then she saw the caption.

Lyra Bellatrix Black.

Hermione felt sick to her stomach. She dropped the photo in her hand. Her head started spinning. Her mother was Bellatrix Lestrange, the most deranged and sadistic Death Eater, the most loyal follower of Voldemort.

"NO!" Hermione screamed out. "This-this can't be!"

Hermione fell back onto the bed, curling up into a ball. Bellatrix slowly pulled her into a hug. "Shhh," she said. She'd never made an attempt to calm down a child. She never got the chance to do so, as Hermione was ripped away from her the moment she was born, crying helplessly. Bellatrix brought herself back to the present.

"I'm here, love..." she murmured. "I'll never leave you, I'm here."

Hermione kept sobbing. Bellatrix held on to her tighter, but not too tight that it would scare her away.

"Hermione," Bellatrix said softly. "I'll never hurt you again."

The moment she said this, Hermione threw her arms around Bellatrix, still sobbing.

"Mum," she cried. "Mum... don't leave me." Her words touched Bellatrix.

"Darling, I won't," she said firmly. "I love you."

That evening, neither let go of the other.

All mistakes are mine. Please review!