Hello everyone, and welcome to my new multi-chapter Bellamione story.

I'll start off by saying that it's a little bit different than my other multi-chapter Bellamione stories, as it's more of a personal story for Bellatrix as she copes with what's happening around her, rather than a series of murder investigations or a world where there's a Cosmic Horror looming over her head. As such, it's quite a bit more light-hearted. Still, the M-rating still applies as there'll be scenes of a sexual nature and some scenes readers might find disturbing.

Secondly, this story is completely canon compliant, and that even includes the god-awful epilogue. The buck stops at Cursed Child, which I like to pretend never existed anyway.

Thirdly, as the title of the story implies, it is very loosely based on the classic Star Trek episode Mirror, Mirror. Characters may be different from how you remember them... that's the whole point. :)

Fourthly, updates will be one new chapter every Saturday, as per usual, barring extraordinary circumstances such as being hit by a truck or going on holiday... hoping for the latter rather than the former.

I hope you'll enjoy the story.

Mirror, mirror

Chapter 1 – Mirror, mirror

Exhilaration.

That was the overwhelming feeling when a cackling Bellatrix felt the magic flow through her, all around her. Spells, curses and hexes were crackling through the Great Hall which such ferocity that she could smell the ozone from the magic ionizing the air. This was the moment she was born for: Fighting without mercy for her Lord, for a better, purer world.

She was dueling three witches at once, two blood-traitors and a mudblood. Oh, they were skilled, this she had to admit, but they were never a match for her. When the fat housewitch interfered, Bellatrix bristled. How dare this woman steal her prey from her? The fat housewitch shouted something about her daughter or whatnot, but it was not as if Bellatrix cared: she would deal with this interloper and then go back to finish off the other three.

Block, side-step, retaliate. Block side-sip, retaliate. Bellatrix's movements were as fluent as water as she cleft her wand through the air. It was a war of attrition, one she was absolutely winning. She could see that the fat housewitch was tiring. It made her confident enough to throw in a taunt or two. No specific reason: just a matter of style.

Her magic was flawless... but her timing was off. And the fat housewitch was just a little bit faster than she was. Bellatrix found herself a prisoner of her own body, totally frozen and unable to move. She could see, however, that the fat housewitch was getting ready to make her next move.

It was then that Bellatrix finally realized her mistake. The dark witch tried desperately to break free from the spell, to will the magic inside her body to shatter the curse laid upon her by sheer will. But the fat housewitch had poured all her anger, her passion and her hatred into the spell and Bellatrix wasn't able to make any headway into breaking free before a second curse hit her point-blank in the chest.

Her defenses down, a torrent of magic shot through her. Something... happened. It was much like the feeling of traveling by portkey, the feeling being forced through a tube. But this was much, much worse. A maelstrom of magic swirled around her, and she felt herself being stretched as if she was a strand of spaghetti. Light and energy exploded all around her as her vision was blinded; she could not even shield her eyes by closing them. Shapes and images formed and dissipated, as if she was passing by the pinpricks of light from over a billion stars. If she had been able to scream, she would have. For a moment, it felt as if her body, her soul, were being torn asunder.

Then, as quickly as it hard started, it ended. She felt herself moving until she was violently and unceremoniously deposited on the stone floor of the Great Hall.

The pain in the back of her head was a stark indicator that she was still very much alive, though she still could not move any part of her body, not even her eyes. Her back was went in a somewhat awkward position after having been caught off guard mid-spell and lying on her back in such a frozen state was less than comfortable, to say the least.

Oh, when she'd break free, there'd be hell to pay. She would make that fat housewitch suffer like she had never suffered before!

Still... this was all rather odd. The Great Hall was silent and there was no feeling of magic in the air: certainly not the level of magic that a massive battle would bring. She stared upward towards the ceiling. The intact ceiling. The intact windows letting in the light of the sun. There were no more sounds of battle, no more shouts, no more cries of pain or spells being cast. All was silent except for an odd whirring sound which was seemingly winding down.

Curious.

The Great Hall was one of the first places to be hit. Had she been tossed into a part of the Great Hall which hadn't been damaged by the force of the blast? Yes, she must have been. But... hadn't it still been dark when they had made their attack? This was beyond odd.

Suddenly, however, her vision was blocked by three heads bending over her. Three heads belonging to three people standing over her. Three heads she recognized. One was Draco, her nephew. One was the Lovegood-girl, one of the blood-traitors she'd been dueling earlier. The third one was Potter's brown-haired mudblood friend. They were all wearing equally flabbergasted expressions. All three were wearing Hogwarts uniforms. That wasn't the strange part, however: the strange part was that all three of them were wearing Ravenclaw colors. Why the hell was Draco wearing a Ravenclaw uniform?

They seemed... different somehow, something Bellatrix couldn't help but notice due to her frozen condition. Draco's hair was longer and scruffier and he seemed decidedly less pale. The mudblood looked as muddy as ever, but unlike a few moments ago there's wasn't a single strand of hair out of place in her immaculately brushed coupe which was also a slightly darker shade of brown. The Lovegood-girl looked just as she had a few moments ago, but her eye-color had changed from a bright azure to a deep green.

It was Draco who finally spoke first. "Uhm," he started. " That's… not an apple."

"Startling powers of observation, Draco," replied the Lovegood-girl, adopting a stern expression. She drew her wand and waved a lighted tip in front of her eyes. Bellatrix tried to hiss as the sharp light hit her eyes, but her body refused to respond. "Is she even alive? Her pupils aren't reacting to the light."

"Put that away," the mudblood girl spoke tersely. "You're not doing her any favors by waving that light in her face. She looks stunned… no, frozen. I hope she's okay. Do you think we did this?"

"Weird. Why would she be stunned?" Draco mused.

"A side-effect of the teleportation, probably," spoke the Lovegood-girl. "I don't need to remind you that there's a lot about this type of magic we don't know about. She looks to be in one piece, though."

"Uhm, guys?" the mudblood girl broke in. "Maybe we should get someone."

"I think that's a good idea," said Luna. "She should be examined more closely. If she truly survived a teleportation spell intact..."

"That's not what I mean," said the mudblood girl. "I mean, we should get a healer. Or maybe the goblins? I think she needs to go to the infirmary."

The Lovegood-girl shrugged. "Oh. Well, I guess that would be a good idea. But we should take some magical readings first!"

'Okay', thought Bellatrix. 'My back is really starting to hurt now.' She tried to will the magic keeping her trapped away, but still found herself unable to move. She'd have to get to the bottom of this all. What was going on? Why was the Great Hall so quiet? Had they won the fight? Where was her Lord? Why was Draco fraternizing with the enemy? And a mudblood of all things!

Adding insult to injury, the mudblood girl was all of a sudden hovering right about her, her face scrunched up like a particularly muddy sharpei. "Strange. She… she looks a lot like. Luna, come look. If I didn't know any better, I'd say she's the spitting image of..."

The mudblood never had a chance to finish her thought as a fourth person came running right into the Great Hall. "Did it work?" yelled the fourth person, an adult. She recognized the voice immediately as belonging to Lucius Malfoy. However, she didn't quite recognize the man at first when he was bending over her alongside the three pupils.

Lucius Malfoy had never looked this shabby. His long blonde hair was tied back and spilled over his shoulder. Lucius lacked his usual sense of style, having swapped his expensive robe for a crinkled white coat with many pockets... many pockets with scrolls, notebooks, quills and odd tools sticking out. On his forehead was a complicated looking contraption with all manner of bronze-rimmed lenses piled up and over each other. On his face were glasses. Glasses. Lucius Malfoy and glasses? What on Earth was happening?!

"That's not an apple," spoke man who would be Lucius and bent down one of the lenses on his contraption to apparently study Bellatrix in depth. The dark witch bristled angrily at this embarrassment. Had she been able to move, she would have hexed him on the spot.

"That's what Draco said," said the mudblood girl. "Come on, we have to help her."

Bellatrix was happy that finally one of this lot was being somewhat sensible, despite it being the mudblood. What happened next was in equal manner confusing and embarrassing. A couple of goblins came to lift her off the floor and put her on a gurney. Though she was glad to be off the cold, hard stone floor, it was very much confusing to overhear that the goblins were actually Hogwarts' maintenance staff. But... wasn't that what house-elves were for? Why were goblins working at Hogwarts?

It wasn't until the infirmary that actual shock set in. She had expected to be examined by Madame Pomfrey, because she had been running the infirmary apparently since the dawn of time. However, the healer running the infirmary was someone else entirely.

If she could gasp, she would have. 'IMPOSSIBLE!' Bellatrix screamed in her own mind. Though she was older, she had faced off with this woman in the past. Before Azkaban. The red-haired woman looked to be older, but it was unmistakably her.

Lily Potter.

The dark witch was certain that she was losing her mind. She knew this woman to be dead. Yet here she stood. She looked about twenty years older, but still had that same annoyingly friendly smile of hers. Worst of all, she was touching her. Bellatrix fought for the power to be able to recoil from her, but it was to no avail.

"Oh, dear," Lily spoke while carefully examining her. "Let's make you a bit more comfortable. Can't be good lying in that position."

Kindness in her voice? Was the Potter woman mocking her?!

Despite the insult, relief washed over her when Lily put a supporting pillow in the arch of her frozen back.

"There we go," Lily said, roving a wand over her. "Hm, I see. Powerful binding magic. I realize that being trapped like this can be a bit claustrophobic, but there's no need to be frightened. The spell will wear off soon enough. I'm more worried about the back of your head. From what the kids told me, you certainly hit your head on the floor hard enough to crack the back of your skull. There's no need to be worried. I'll take good care of you."

Frightened?

Worried?!

Bellatrix bristled. Obviously, the Potter woman had no idea whom she was dealing with. Bellatrix Lestrange would not be coddled or pitied! If only she could move or speak, she would give the woman more than a piece of her mind.

"Hm, nothing more than a slight concussion," said the Potter woman. "Once the spell wears off it'll be a while before you regain muscle control. Looks like you'll be my guest for the next couple of hours."

A set of footsteps entered the infirmary and it took a while before the owner of said footsteps came into her field of view. 'Snivellus?!' shot through her mind as she regarded the man. He was... different. Just like everyone else here. Snape was a lot more stylish it seemed. No more greasy hair, but rather long elegant hair tied back in a tail. He wore a gray suit underneath a darker robe and brandished a gentleman's walking stick. Most striking, however, was the neatly trimmed ring-beard which adorned his stern face.

"Lily?" he asked. "How is our guest doing?"

"I've just finished examining her," spoke Lily. "She's unharmed, relatively speaking. In a physical sense, she's definitely malnourished and I get the impression she hasn't been taking proper care of herself. She's suffering from a slight concussion. Nasty bump on the head from the fall, but thankfully no broken bones. There's a powerful stunning spell on her, but that should wear out soon enough. I don't like the look of those teeth of hers, so I'll be sure to give her some dentsurius later. Otherwise, I expect her to make a full recovery."

"Good," said Snape, bending forward. "Madam, I do sincerely apologize for this terrible inconvenience. I promise you that those involved will be dealt with accordingly. I assure you that our infirmary is one of the finest in Scotland and we will see to your recovery."

Bellatrix realized that Snape didn't seem to recognize her. Or perhaps that was simply one of his other lies.A third person came running in. Though she heard the approach, she could not turn her head to see who it was. The voice, however, was enough to identify him. "Ah, there she is!" sounded Lucius. "I have to examine her. I need to ask her a few questions."

Before Lucius had the chance, Snape blocked his approach to her by stepping in front of her. "You will do nothing of the sort, Malfoy," he spoke sternly. "Have you not done enough damage today?"

"I'm telling you, it's working! It worked!" Lucius protested. "The result is spectacular! Beyond our wildest dreams!"

Though she could not see his face with his back turned to her, Bellatrix could just hear that Snape was scowling. "We differ on opinion! As far as I'm concerned, the poor woman lying on that hospital bed confirms just how dangerous teleportation magic truly is!"

"We've teleported a person! A living person!" Lucius raised his voice, the passion in his voice evident. "Tell me that isn't a massive success!"

"You were attempting to teleport an apple," stated Snape with his usual dry drawl when he was about to ask a question he already knew the answer to. "May I ask what has happened to said apple?"

Lucius deflated somewhat. "It… it has yet to appear."

Snape threw up his hands. "I rest my case! I've given you enough leniency already, Lucius. I'm shutting down the experiment, effective immediately. I regret ever letting you run it in the first place!"

"Y-you can't do that! Just look at…"

"Enough, Lucius! You're no longer going to misuse school grounds or equipment for your misguided experiments, nor poison our students' minds," said Snape. "That you ruin your own reputation is bad enough, but I won't let you drag three misguided yet innocent students down into the depths with you! Think of your own son, Lucius."

"Severus, please! We're so close!" came a final desperate plea.

"Enough!" said Snape. "If you continue, I will have you removed from school grounds!"

"Will you two stop it!" Lily said as she stepped in between them. "Don't argue in front of my patient! She requires rest and doesn't need to listen to your bickering."

"Understood," said Snape. "Let us continue this conversation elsewhere. Preferably off school grounds."

The two men left and she could hear the two of them bickering back and forth as they walked down the hallway outside. By now, Bellatrix was relieved that she should move her eyelids again. Though it was still a far cry from being released from this spell, it was a good enough start. She finally started to feel just how soul-crushingly tired she was... from the fighting, from the excitement, from... whatever had happened to her. She tried to fight it, but as soon as her eyes fluttered shut she fell into a dreamless sleep.

When her eyes fluttered open again, the room was darker. She found that she could move her neck again. As well as the rest of her body. Still, her body protested as her muscles were still uncooperative. Bellatrix let out a deep, involuntary groan as she tried to will her body to move.

"Hey, hey," Lily was upon her. "Easy. You're still recovering. Can you speak?"

The attempted 'bugger off' Bellatrix wanted to throw in her face came out as a strangled 'urrrkkk'.

"That's a no," said Lily. "You can tell me your name later. I'm Lily, by the way. Lily Snape, the school healer. Pleased to meet you."

Lily...

… SNAPE?!

Bellatrix gasped. Just what the hell was going on?! What kind of madhouse had she found myself in?!

It was then that Bellatrix spotted her wand lying on a desk near her bed. She lay down again as Lily excused herself to mix a potion for her... and turned her back to her. Quickly, Bellatrix weighed her options. Obviously, she could make a grab for the wand and attempt escape. However, that would be quite difficult. There was no place in the UK as heavily warded as Hogwarts. She wouldn't be able to apparate away until she was off school grounds. Dark magic was mostly blocked.

Perhaps... she could take Lily hostage. Yes. Take the wand and jab it in against her neck. Drag her along with her. But then again, her body was still struggling to respond to her command. She was simply too weak still. Lily could easily wriggle free or, to be fair, in her current state she was likely to fall over just getting off the bed.

She looked around for other options and found tray with medical equipment much closer to her bed. One item in particular caught her eye: a small pair of scissors used to cut bandages off the roll. It was short, but very, very sharp. The dark witch spread her fingers and willed magic to flow from her body. A wandless, silent accio later and the pair of scissors was in her hand. While Lily still had her back turned to her, she quickly hid the tiny pair of scissors up her sleeve. If push came to shove, she could use it as a punch-dagger. Somehow, it made her feel a little more secure to simply have a weapon at the ready, should she need it.

But no, this wasn't the right time to make her move. She'd just have to bide her time for now and wait for an opportunity to arise. By now, Lily was ready mixing her potion and turned around to find Bellatrix trying to raise herself from the bed. "Hey, calm down," she said, moving to support her. "You're still feeling the effect of the stun and your muscles are as stiff as a board. I'll give you something that'll help you relax."

Bellatrix bristled as Lily moved to put a potion to her lips. A thousand-and-one thoughts shot through her mind as she regarded Lily warily. Could this be poison? Or just a botched potion? The woman was a mudblood after all. Eventually, she simply decided to take the hit for now and punish the woman later if something was wrong with the potion.

The potion was actually quite soothing as it slid down her throat; a pleasant and unexpected surprise. She felt more relaxed, her head started to hurt less and she felt she could breathe more calmly. There was, however, and sharp and tingly sensation in her mouth for a moment which she found out. When she tried to raise a hand to her lips, Lily spoke.

"I've mixed in some Dentsurius. Seriously, you should brush more often. Far too many people don't bother to brush these days because Dentsurius exists for a quick fix for cavities and tooth rot, but in my experience prevention is the best cure," said Lily and help up a small hand-mirror.

Bellatrix was surprised to see pristine white teeth when opened her mouth. She was a prideful creature and knew that Azkaban had taken a toll on her. Being a witch on the run, however, didn't give her much opportunity to have her former beauty restored: her rotten teeth were a constant source of shame in particular. But she had never heard of magic which could restore teeth so quickly and painlessly.

"And take better care of yourself," said Lily. "You have not been eating well as of late, haven't you?"

Bellatrix could not yet speak, but shook her head 'no'.

"Well, when you're feeling better," said Lily. "I'll be happy to set up a better dietary plan for you. I'm curious, though..."

Bellatrix gave her a look.

"Your corset," said Lily. "That's... dragon leather, isn't it? Such an odd design and so magic-resistant that it threw off my examination at first. Are you an auror?"

Bellatrix decided it was best not to answer for now.

"It's not like any auror uniform I recognize and, well, if I didn't know any better, I'd say it's battle-armor," replied Lily. Truth be told, this line of inquiry was starting to make Bellatrix more than a little nervous. It dawned on her that this was likely nothing more than magic trickery: a series of illusions specifically designed to catch her off guard. But why? Had she been captured? She knew they could never breach her mind: nobody had ever been able to. So they must have put up this farce to trick her into divulging... whatever it was they wanted her to divulge.

Her body was regaining its strength and soon she'd be able to walk again. This would be the moment to strike.

The wand was still out of reach, but she still had the small pair of scissors. She fumbled a little and worked two fingers through the eyes of the scissors, hiding the sharp end out of sight. It would be a small matter to lash out, grab the fake Lily by the hair and give her a few jabs to the side of the neck. Then, she would clean up the blood, hide the body in the cupboard and make for the nearest secret passage which, if she remembered correctly, was only one floor down and led to the lakeside. From there she'd flee back to the Death Eater encampment in the Forbidden Forest.

The fake Lily was mucking about the potion cabinet now, but quickly turned around to walk back towards her.

Closer.

Her body tensed, ready to strike. Her grip on the scissors tightened.

Just a little bit closer.

Lily Snape would never know just how close to death she had come. Just before Bellatrix was able to strike at her, she was startled by the sound of approaching footsteps and quickly hid the scissors in her sleeve again, doing her best to look innocent and demure as Lily put another potion to her lips.

Snivellus had returned, looking is unusual dapper self. "Ah, Lily, is your patient up and about?"

"Not quite up, but certainly about, Severus," Lily smiled.

"Good," said Snape. "Madam, Head Master Dumbledore would like to see you as your earliest convenience."

Bellatrix's eyes grew wide. 'Dumbledore?!' she hissed inwardly, absolutely regretting not attempting an escape when she had the chance.

"Oh, before I forget, here is your wand," said Lily, holding out the curved dueling wand for her to take.

Bellatrix stared at her incredulously. If they were trying to trick her or had captured her, why on Earth would they even consider giving her her wand back?

Nothing about this made any sense at all. The dark witch carefully took the wand and kept it close to her. It was definitely her beloved old wand and not a fake, as she expected.

For now, she would simply have to go along with whatever would happen and perhaps a new opportunity would arise.

Everything about this madness she was going through was getting stranger and stranger. The goblins, once again, helped her off the bed and, as soon as she could take her first steps, carefully guided her towards the Head Master's office. In her youth, she had made plenty of visits to the Head Master's office, but what she saw when she entered the office surprised her to no end.

Goats everywhere. Figures. Wood carvings. Paintings. Statues. Everything except a real goat, unless there was one hiding underneath the desk. And, strangest of all, she found herself sitting opposite from the wrong Dumbledore.

Behind the desk sat the stern and gruff Aberforth Dumbledore. His long gray beard swayed a little as he moved. Next to him stood Snape with his arms folded behind his back. On a bench to their side sat the three pupils, Draco, the Lovegood-girl and the brown-haired mudblood. Lucius, however, was nowhere to be seen.

Bellatrix found the mudblood to be especially irritating: the girl was leaning forward, constantly scrutinizing her. Worst thing yet, whenever Bellatrix looked in her general direction, the girl gave her a coy smile. It made Bellatrix narrow her eyes and she promised herself she'd find the opportunity to capture the girl again and use her dagger to write 'nosy git' in the flesh of her other forearm.

"Do you three realize just how much trouble you are in?" Snape said. "If this poor woman had been seriously injured or worse, you would have been responsible."

"Now, now, Severus," said Dumbledore. "I'm sure we can all agree that this was an unfortunate accident. The experiment they helped with was purely to teleport an apple from the courtyard to the Great Hall. Nothing more, nothing less. All things considered, you were very lucky, madam. Teleportation magics are wild and unpredictable. That you arrived alive and one piece is a miracle in itself."

Draco raised his head. "Head Master, was it really necessary to have my father removed from school grounds?" There was spite in his voice, indignation and shame.

"It was!" Snape interjected. "Boy, your loyalty to your father is commendable, but do not test our patience!"

"Severus, please," said Dumbledore, causing this odd version of Snivellus to settle down somewhat. "Madam, please do accept our sincere apologies. We'll return you to wherever it is you were teleported from as you as you can tell us where to return you to."

Bellatrix narrowed her eyes as she regarded the people in the room. The mudblood was still staring. Bellatrix glared back.

"The Great Hall," said Bellatrix, her voice still a rasp.

"Yes," said Aberforth. "That was where you emerged. But where did you come from?"

Bellatrix glared again. "I told you. The Great Hall."

Aberforth and Snape exchanged a look, while the mudblood's face seemed to light up.

"Uhm, I see," said Aberforth. "Severus told us you hit your head when you..."

"Don't insult me," Bellatrix hissed in interruption. "I just told you where I came from. I don't know what kind of game you lot are playing or whatever trap you are trying to lure me into, but you won't pull the wool over my eyes! You're not the real Dumbledore! You're just the idiot bartender brother! I won't... be... fooled!"

Gasps sounded. Aberforth's expression darkened considerably, while Snape looked flabbergasted. Draco and the Lovegood-girl sat frozen in shock while the mudblood girl was even more intrigued.

Snape leaned in to Dumbledore. "She did hit her head earlier today," he whispered, just audible enough for Bellatrix to hear.

"I understand you're upset," spoke Aberforth, a hint of poorly masked anger on his voice. "But there's no need to be rude. Albus… made his choice a long time ago."

"Who are you?" Snape demanded.

This was it. The prideful Bellatrix would not back down. She never had. Not when the Council of Magical Law had her chained to a chair during her trial. Not during her captivity. And certainly not now. She would face her enemies with pride like she'd always had.

"Bellatrix Lestrange," Bellatrix hissed.

And.

Nothing.

An uncomfortable silence followed as Snape and the Head Master shared an odd look.

"Is that supposed to mean something?" Snape crossed his arms.

There was not a hint of recognition to the mention of her name: A name which made the wizarding world tremble. Even her own nephew Draco was looking at her quizzically. It was, however, the mudblood who would respond.

"I KNEW IT!" she rose from the bench with a broad grin on her face. "I FUCKING KNEW IT!"

"Miss Granger! Language!" Snape admonished. "You've been warned before!"

"I have a theory of what might have happened!" the mudblood exclaimed, ignoring Snape.

The lovegood-girl buried her face in her palms. "Oh dear Merlin, here we go."

"Don't you see? It's so obvious!" said the mudblood. "She's not from another place. She's from another... universe. Another reality!"

The Lovegood-girl groaned. "Oh, Hermione, why do you always do this?! You always cling to the single most far-fetched and impossible explanation you can think of! That's all you ever do! It's far more likely that this woman was just teleported out of Hogsmeade and got her memories messed up by hitting her head on the floor. This woman is not a trans-dimensional traveler!"

"No, no, it's perfectly possible!" the mudblood raved. "She said she started out at the Great Hall right? That's likely the Great Hall in her universe and she was teleported from there into the Great Hall in our universe. When we tried to teleport our apple, the magic we used somehow connected to the use of powered magic in her universe and dragged her into ours! The theory of magic supports this completely. I mean, that stunner spell wasn't caused by our experiment, but it could have been what carried her across the fabric of realities."

"Do you know how ludicrous that sounds, Hermione?" the Lovegood-girl retorted angrily. "For this to be true, the flow of magic we used in our experiment should have exactly the same magnitude, exactly the same phase-frequency, exactly the same directional flow and happen in exactly the same location as the flow of magic in her world. The chances of that happening are astronomically low! Think one in a trillion to the tenth power low!"

Bellatrix was a little disturbed by the passion in the mudblood's voice, especially when she animatedly moved through the room and stood next to her. "And yet… here she is. Improbable doesn't mean impossible, Luna! Come on, you all know who she looks like. And it completely explains why she's older. And why she doesn't know who Albus Dumbledore is! She's not from this world!"

"Hermione, you are a complete and utter loo..." the Lovegood-girl started to say, when Draco lay a hand on her shoulder.

"Alright, calm down, Schwarzenegger," he told the Lovegood-girl. "Dreamer," he said, addressing the mudblood girl. "You have to admit it sounds a little far-fetched."

"Not you too, Draco," the mudblood seemed disappointed. "Come on, it's why we didn't find any trace of our apple either! The apple must have ended up in the universe she came from!"

"Ahum," sounded Aberforth. "That is quite enough, children. Get some rest. It's been an eventful day for all of us."

"But..." the mudblood started to say.

"Miss Granger! Enough!" Aberforth raised his finger and the mudblood immediately deflated. She seemed resigned for now and withdrew from the room with her two friends, giving one final almost wistful look in her direction. Bellatrix made sure to shoot her the dirtiest look she could muster.

"Please, may I speak with the lady in private, Severus?"

"Of course. If that is all, I've heard enough for today," said Snape. "Aberforth, we'll speak later."

And so, Dumbledore and Bellatrix sat facing each other in silence for a few moments. It was Aberforth whom eventually broke the silence. "I sense no lies from you," said Aberforth. " We'll try to contact the Lestrange family for confirmation. Let me ask, was your maiden name Black?"

Bellatrix nodded. "Yes."

"Curious. And the resemblance. Uncanny. Would you follow me, please?" Aberforth said while getting up. Together, the Head Master and a wary Bellatrix walked side by side through the meandering halls of Hogwarts, passing curious students along the way. From her time at this school, she knew that she was being led towards the astronomy tower. In front of the tower, near the entrance, stood a life-sized statue... of herself.

The statue was a perfect likeness of her, age forever frozen at age seventeen, determined look on her face, wand in one hand and the other hand outreached towards the entrance of the tower. Her hair was a little straighter, but it might as well have been an old photograph. A bronze plaque was attached to the base of the statue:

'In Loving Memory Of Bellatrix Black,

1951-1968

May her boundless courage forever continue to inspire'.

Bellatrix turned to Aberforth and offered him a questioning look.

"Madam Lestrange, you will be our guest until we have sorted this matter out. I will have the goblins prepare suitable guest-quarters for you. Now, I don't know if miss Granger's theory is true, or that you have simply lost your memory. But I will tell you this: if you are here to besmirch the good name of one of the bravest souls whom has ever walked these halls, I swear you will regret it."

Aberforth stepped off, leaving a gobsmacked Bellatrix to stare at the statue.

Apparently this place, where ever she was, had decided that she was dead. Bellatrix was determined to prove it wrong.