So, this chapter has been sitting in our docs for about a month now and believe me I am so excited to share this with you!

This is mine and Dora's newest adventure, Valley of The Shadow. This story follows the idea of Harry losing the final battle, going mostly along the third timeline of Cursed Child wherein Harry Potter died. We of course decided that this would allow Bellatrix, Tonks and Remus to stay alive as well (I can think of legitimate reasons as to why Bella would survive but we have to have our Dora and some Remus, we just do. haha) So anyway, please do enjoy! We would love to know what you think! We currently have ten chapters written so we're going to go on the same basis of we'll update once we have a few reviews or after a little while.

Please read, enjoy and review

Bella

I also am completely thrilled to be sharing this story now, as Bella and I have so many plot ideas we can barely stop ourselves from writing chapters out of order. :D

I must also say that this story is fifty shades darker than any other story I have ever written, and I fricking love it.

I hope you all love it too! :D

Dora

The castle stood in ruins. The Great Hall that so many students throughout the centauries had discovered the world of magic in its fullest potential, made life long friendships in and arguably spent the best years of their lives in was now unrecognisable. The stone walls were scorched with the evidence of stray spells, the old stone sconces mostly smashed off the wall, leaving nothing but the early morning light seeping through what was left of the glass of the windows. Bodies laid across the floor, some that had been ceremoniously laid out in the small break of battle before the last push, others were . . . less ceremoniously laid. Witches and Wizards from school age to the older generations had fallen in the battle, from both sides, innocence of youth or loyalty was no longer a question as death clearly did not discriminate. The click of heels echoed on the floor, a small piece of rubble skimming across the hall and rebounding off a poor fallen witches shoe, inspiring a childish giggle that rung throughout the hall.

The footsteps stopped, the owner now standing at one of the fallen warrior's feet, a sardonic sigh expelling from her lips "Oh dear . . ." the witch brushed one of her thick dark curls from her face, her heavy lidded eyes shutting for a moment as she took in the moment before they lit with amusement again "well Weasel, I did warn you now, didn't I?"

"No-one listens, Ma Belle." A hand slipped onto her hip as Bellatrix Lestrange let herself fall back into her husband slightly, giggling in further amusement whilst the man pressed a kiss to the pale skin of her neck.

Bellatrix spun on the spot, instantly wrapping an arm around the mans neck as she gave him a mischievous smirk, pouting with her childish voice "Well you would think that, yet people still try and go against my advice. I mean, I was only trying to help."

"Of course." Rodolphus chuckled, claiming his wife's lips with his own as her body still shook with her now silenced giggles of amusement. She let the man claim her tongue, his hands intertwining in her hair as he slowly tried to direct her further to the wall as if he were ready to make mad and passionate love in the middle of that make shift mortuary.

It was only as Bellatrix reached her hands up to her husband's chest, pushing gently against him to try and remove her new found attachment that the witch spoke again "Roddy." Bella breathed, rolling her eyes after a few moments of no response to her request as she gripped her hands onto him and surged a small stinging hex through the man. Rodolphus growled as he backed away from the woman, though Bellatrix merely smirked as she walked away from him, stepping over some of the occupied cots of deceased before she made her way to the centre of the room "Our Lord will be back soon, behave."

"We have time." Rodolphus mused, watching Bellatrix jump onto one of the tables and casually walk the length towards the head of the room "Besides, what are you still doing here? Do you not have other responsibilities at home? She'll awaken soon, Bella."

Bella spun around again, her eyes narrowed dangerously at the man for a moment before darting her gaze around the room to make sure they were truly the only living souls within the room. "Delphi is fine." Bellatrix hissed "I instructed the elf to feed her breakfast and watch her if I had not returned when she woke up. Besides, The Dark Lord told all those who found any rebels of import to take them to the Great Hall. Someone has to babysit."

Rodolphus nodded, making his way to Bellatrix as he looked up at her "Though that is why I am here, Bella."

"No." Bellatrix jumped off of the table, glaring at him playfully for a moment before she jumped to sit up on the old wood "I have unfinished business."

"Oh?" Rodolphus raised an eyebrow.

Bellatrix nodded, reaching out and playing with the buttons on Rodolphus' robes "I have a family tree to prune—I was this close! I had the freak and her mutt right in my grasp."

"So you want to see if they find them?" Rodolphus frowned questionably.

"I didn't see them leave . . ." Bella sighed, laying back on the table as she watched the few surviving floating candles hung underneath the clear morning sky "Besides, I enjoy being where the bloodshed is." Another giggle sounded through the great hall as she felt her husbands hand tracing up her leg, kicking out playfully "Later."

"If that's a promise." Rodolphus said, moving his hand away from the amused and sated witch.

A dirty grin appeared on the female Death Eaters lips, sitting up again as she pecked the man on his cheek "I promise nothing." She whispered in his ear, giggling again as her eyes swept over the bodies on the floor. Without warning she shot off the table, skidding to a halt at the body of a young man, smirking cruelly. "Wars fought and lost for the sake of a child," Bellatrix shook her head, pushing the dead boys head with the toe of her boot "pity. Do you think we should stuff him, put him up on display as some sort of warning?"

Rodolphus shook his head at his wife, an amused smirk on his lips as he went to sit on one of the benches. He watched the cogs of his wife's insane mind go round as she presumably tried to decide what would be the most horrific and poetic way to dispose of the bodies. It was only as the sound of the first of the stragglers being taken into the hall came that both Bellatrix and Rodolphus focused their concentration back on their duty.

"Oh." Bella made a small noise as she walked up to her husband, watching her brother-in-law be pulled into the room "Lucius . . ."

"Oh how the entitled have fallen." Rodolphus rolled his eyes, wincing as Bellatrix sent a hex at him to discreetly silence him before walking up to the worn down Malfoy.

She dismissed the poor snatcher that had dragged him in, staring at him intently until the coast was clear. "Where's Narcissa?" Bellatrix hissed, though the man simply stared back at her, distaste mixed with defeat in the mans eyes "Tell me, Lucius!" Bellatrix yelled.

"She ran off with Draco," Lucius winced "though I believe she's a little behind me on her way in here."

Bellatrix narrowed her eyes, pausing for a minute before she spoke again "Idiot." She spat in his face, straightening her back before she turned to look at her husband "Roddy, go find Rab, help him hunt me a play toy."

Rodolphus chuckled, smirking to his wife before he nodded "Any preference?"

"Half blooded freak if it's on the menu, if not . . ." Bellatrix sighed forlornly "just go have some fun."

Rodolphus walked up behind her, placing a hand on her hip as he pulled her into himself, kissing her neck. "Fine." He growled "You owe me."

"Yes yes." Bellatrix sighed, tilting her head away from the man before he strode out of the room. The black haired witch didn't seem to move at all, leaving the remaining man in a position of awkward silent anticipation, it was only after at least five more minutes had passed that Bellatrix Lestrange deemed it necessary to pay attention to the events of the room again.

Narcissa Malfoy was no longer her pristine, well presented self. Her usually sleek long blonde hair was dishevelled, her dress ripped, a purplish coloured bruise was beginning to frame one of her pale blue eyes. The witch struggled to keep her balance as Marshal Avery kept a vice like grip on her upper arm, he threw her with a cruel smirk, watching her hit the floor before he flitted his gaze to the repressed glare of Bellatrix. Without a word he walked back out in search of more, though Bellatrix did not move. She stared down at the woman, unsure of what to say or do as her youngest sister looked up at her with her innocent ice blue eyes pleading with her in silence. Bellatrix closed the few feet between the two, hesitating for a split second before she knelt down on the floor. Her dark eyes looked over her sister's dishevelled state, the silence hanging heavy in the air.

"Bella—" Narcissa breathed, though quickly stopped as her sister closed her eyes, shaking her head slightly.

"Why?" Bella's voice was barely audible, barely above the sound of a soft breath.

Narcissa swallowed hard, a pained look on her delicate features as he was about to speak, though she was quickly distracted by the sound of her son being dragged into the room. She went to stand, though the surprisingly gentle hand of her sister on her shoulder kept her from getting up. Tears filled her eyes and she bit her lip, her voice cracking in emotional hurts as Narcissa glanced back at Bellatrix. "Bella . . . Please."

Bellatrix looked to her nephew for a moment, considering the boys pathetically broken demeanour before she looked back to her sister "I can't."

"Bellatrix." The cold voice sounded from the entrance of the great hall, sending a chill down the spine of each witch and wizard in the room. The loyal servant soon stood to her feet, backing away from her sister and bowing her head.

"My Lord." Bellatrix purred.

Voldemort looked throughout the room, his eyes pausing for a slight moment on each fallen soldier until he got to that of Harry James Potter. A cold smirk spread across his lips before he walked over to his most faithful servant, his long bony fingers grazing her body until they reached up to stroke the woman's cheek. He took great pleasure in watching Bellatrix's breath hitch in her throat, her whole body humming in anticipation at his slightest touch. A deep chuckle of amusement came from the man before he expelled a long breath.

"Oh Bella," Voldemort sighed, withdrawing his hand "it seems you do not have much luck in the family department. Two members of the Order of fools, a mudblood lover, werewolf, a freak child and now . . . this."

Bellatrix raised her bowed head, looking to the family in front of her. The witch was torn, an internal struggle of what to say or do in her mind, half of her wanting nothing but to celebrate their winning of the war and the other frantically trying to determine what her Lord would do to the last of her family. A gasp sounded from the woman's lips as with one swift move Voldemort waved his hand, rendering the Malfoy's to be bound separately. A small nod from their lord indicated for the Death Eater that had brought the boy in to leave.

"It's a shame." Voldemort mused "This should be a day of celebration; we should be rejoicing . . . yet still we have the few—within our own ranks—that displease me. Pity."

Bella stared at her sister, speaking quietly "My Lord—"

"Hush Bella." Voldemort hissed, making the woman jump slightly before nodding as she bowed away from him slightly. The hall was silent whilst the man considered the witch on the floor, after a few moments he walked over to the blonde witch, stopping mere inches from her face "You knew he was alive, Narcissa Malfoy." Narcissa stared at the floor, not saying a word, though as a strong stinging hex caused her to flatten on the floor in pain she nodded. "I can't hear you." Voldemort hissed.

"Y—Yes, My Lord." Narcissa whimpered, trying to lift herself from the floor only to be flattened again with another hex. The once proud witch resigned herself to keeping her head pressed against the cool stone floor, staring at the feet of the cots mere metres from her.

"Yet you lied to me." Voldemort said "Why, Narcissa? Did you wish to give the boy the upper hand? Did you wish to carry on the battle? Did you wish to put your families and your own life at risk so?"

"I—" Narcissa breathed, trying to gather her strengths before she raised her head slightly, lifting herself from the floor just high enough to see the cold mans red eyes boring into her "I don't know what I was thinking, My Lord."

"You lie." Voldemort hissed, drawing his wand to point it directly at the witch "You were hoping for my defeat. I have been forgiving for your family and their indiscretions, their entire lack of diligence. Yet you wish for my disappearance in hopes of an easier life. The Dark Lord is nothing but merciful, you could have lived a long and happy life under my rule, Narcissa Malfoy. Shame. Avada—"

"My Lord!" Bellatrix shrieked, suddenly bursting back to life as she looked to her sister in horror "Please, My Lord! She is weak! She did not know what she was doing, My Lord!"

"You excuse this behaviour, Bellatrix?" Voldemort turned to the crazed witch, venom and shock in each of his words "She would see my downfall, Bellatrix. You commend her behaviour?"

"N—No, My Lord, I would never—"

"Then you agree?" Voldemort asked, storming over to the dark haired witch as his face lit with anger "You agree with myself?"

"My Lord, please." Bellatrix dropped to her knees, shaking her head "Spare her, I beg of you."

"Spare her?" Voldemort repeated, astonishment in his cold tones.

"Sh—She is naive, stupid, she didn't know what she was doing." Bellatrix cried "For my sake, My Lord. I need her."

"For your sake?" Voldemort repeated in a hushed tone.

"She . . . She helps me—" Bellatrix flickered her gaze to both her nephew and brother-in-law before she dared look back at her master "she helps me care for her . . ."

Lord Voldemort considered the woman, reaching down and running his hand through her hair before he took her hand and raised her to her feet "You have served me well tonight Bellatrix, tonight and all those before it. You are my most faithful . . ."

"Th—Thank you, My Lord." Bellatrix stammered.

"I was ready to reward you for your service . . ." Voldemort sighed, walking around the woman as he stopped behind her, his cold voice barely audible in her ear "instead I will do you a kindness. They all must pay Bella, surely you see this." Voldemort smirked as his servant nodded loyally "Good . . . Though they all must pay for their failure . . . I will kill but one . . . Choose which one, Bellatrix . . . You may do the honours."

"Bella, please!" Narcissa cried "Let me die! It was my failure. I did it to save them, Bella. Please—"

"Silence!" Voldemort snapped, throwing a mild curse at the woman, watching as she writhed in pain for a few moments before releasing it again "Bellatrix, this is your choice . . ."

Bellatrix closed her eyes, not wanting to see her sobbing mess of a sister. She knew her choice; she also knew her sister would hate her for it. But she knew her choice. She kept her eyes sealed tightly shut, her hand fingering the wood of her wand before she drew it from her holster. Her arm raised as if on it's own, pointing to its target ready to kill as it had so many times before, she didn't look. Bellatrix shuddered as she felt the hand of her master on her shoulder, the hiss of his voice in her ear "Do it, Bellatrix. Now."

"Avada Kedavra!" Bellatrix cried, listening to the dull thud of a body hitting the floor.

She felt dizzy, the screech of tormented heart break filling the room as she swayed on the spot before taking a deep breath and opening her eyes again. Narcissa Malfoy was already a blubbering mess, shaking in her hysterics as all ideals of how to compose ones self in public was thrown out of the window. Draco Malfoy stared at spot where his father had fallen, not being able to pull his gaze away from the crumpled heap of the once strong and powerful man.

"Go home, Bellatrix." Voldemort whispered in her ear "Go care for Delphini."

Bellatrix nodded, her expression blank as she watched her mess of a sister "Yes, My Lord."

"I will not kill them, as I have said I am a merciful lord." Voldemort said "Though they will not leave here unharmed."

"Y—Yes, My Lord." Bellatrix repeated in a monotone voice.

"You are banned from the dungeons until further notice, Bellatrix." Voldemort stated "Now go, your husband and his brother are already back at the manor waiting for you. They seemed to be having far too much fun destroying parts of the castle. We must rebuild now, for a better tomorrow—a new age."

"Yes, My Lord." Bellatrix repeated, hesitating for a second before she took one last glance at her remaining family and walked towards the exit of the school, deciding to walk to the boundaries of the school before she disaparated. She was glad for the air, for the space to breathe, though as she walked the grounds and could only hear the distant screams of agony of her youngest sister her resolve failed. The dark witch stopped, turning to take one last look at the castle before she turned on the spot and left the madness to return to her innocent child back at the manor as instructed by her lord. She was nothing but faithful, no matter the cost to her family, her happiness nor her sanity.