Bellatrix laughed, honestly, they were a bunch of children. A bunch of children free to fight and die like animals? What was the world coming to? An evil smile crossed her face as she faced the Longbottom boy. "Crucio!" She screamed, feeling a beautiful pleasure that only the suffering of another could ever bring. It came from her stomach, burning through her body and making her wand hand tingle. She laughed as the child fell at another's feet, screaming in agony writhing in pain. The blood roared through her mind, roaring in her ears. It was odd, his parents hadn't screamed that much. In fact, the only time his father had screamed was when she had been torturing the mother. The mother, hadn't screamed, she just sobbed. Torturing the child wasn't that fun. "Just a taster." She promised him. Her seductive voice dripped with hatred. She shot a glance at Lucius licking her full lips as if there were blood on them. She fingered her wand. "Now, Potter, either give us the prophecy or watch your tasty little friend die." She said, she didn't move her wand from Longbottom's figure huddled on the floor. She knew she'd won. She always won. Potter cared for his friends! She almost laughed. He cared too much, he'd never let them die. The boy obediently held out the sphere like the good little boy he was, as she shrieked with laughter, Lucius fumbling carefully with it. She turned, ready to kill the boy.

Explosions echoed around the room, and she spun on the spot wand at the ready. More had arrived. This was turning into a party! Moody, the fool had arrived, there was the werewolf she knew and hated. Oh this was going to be fun. Now there was more of them, and a bunch of kids. Any curses they fired could so very easily hit each other. Killing each other by crossfire was just too amusing.

Light's flashed all around. "Ginny MOVE!" Hermione screeched. "Stupefy!" She screamed at one of the Death Eater's whose curse had narrowly missed the girl. Bellatrix laughed, her eyes fluttered open from where she had been following her dim witted cousin, she heard the rhythm of war returning to her thoughts.

"Well, what do we have here then?" Her malicious whisper pierced the air from where she appeared from behind them. "The mud blood came to help her fwiend?" She slurred the word, mimicking a childish voice. Around them the battle comensed. "STUPEFY!" She screamed. Hitting the Weasley brat square in the chest, she span around at the sound of her cousin's voice behind her. She blocked his first move as he danced around her. "Avada Kedavra!" She screeched, but he danced away from it. Battling her, moving with inhuman speed. He could have had help, there was enough of them. But her cousin had always been confident. He'd always underestimated her.

"Am I playing too hard for darling Bella?" Sirius asked, dancing around her spells, reacting with his own as she wove her own. "You never-" he huffed "did like competition did you?"

"AVADA KEDAVRA!" She roared, the green light filled her. Moving her soul once more, perhaps destroying a part of it as she echoed the spell she seemed to have cast a thousand spell rocketed toward him, he wasn't fast enough to escape death. She giggled, he'd always been fast. He'd always been confident. But no one was fast enough for her. It was like taking candy from a child, instead she was taking his life. He fell backward, his eyes hilariously wide. He was shocked. She wondered why, surely he knew that she would not hesitate to kill him. If he didn't, he did not know her well enough. her head fell back and she began to laugh, the laughter combined with the echoes and bangs and shouts from all around the room. "SIRIUS! SIRIUS!" He was staring at the space the man had fallen through, begging him to return. He screamed the name over and over again, wanting him back. Bellatrix heard his voice, and realised that the pain in those shrieks was much more satisfying than any scream she had ever heard.

She opened her eyes and found herself staring directly into the emerald eyes of the Potter boy. She licked her lips once more, a demon waiting to strike. From behind her she heard a voice cry. "Avada-avada-" he didn't finish the spell. She'd fought this kind of fight before, had the child finished the curse, had he intended it then he was sure to have killed her. He'd had a good shot, and he hadn't taken it. They never did. The Potter boy was still crying, crying like the baby boy who should have died almost fifteen years ago. He was sobbing, screaming his Godfather's name. The screams brought her immense happiness.

She giggled as she span around to face her would be attacker. Who could ever expect a child to go through with the killing curse? He simply wasn't capable of it. He never would be. "Avada Kedavra!" She hissed, it echoed around the room. And the child's body dropped to the floor like a sack. The green light's flash faded, as warning shouts began to be called. She hadn't killed a child before, plenty had been tortured. Plenty had been cursed. But she had not raised her wand to kill one, she thought it might feel different. Perhaps it would make her feel remorse, but she decided that she would never feel remorse. She didn't know if she was capable of feeling regret or sorrow. But when the child's body dropped, he looked startled. Like he didn't expect her to kill him. She wondered why he was surprised? He had been ready to cast the spell, he should expect it to be cast upon him. She didn't feel any different. The theft of a life from another person had never been hard to her, it made her feel emotion. She hardly felt emotion these days. But the laughter and the eyes of those who were dying and those who were about to die, brought her pleasure. She thought she might love the pain they felt, but she wasn't sure quite what it was to love. The Dark Lord didn't love, and she realised it was a weakness. It was a weakness that the mudblood was suffering from.

They had to flee now, flee from Dumbledore, or be left facing Azkaban. A low laugh escaped Bellatrix's lips, she had killed twice that night. She span on the spot disaparating to join her master. As she left the weeping girl, to mourn se laughed her hollow laugh, the laugh that only one other shared with her.

Hermione darted forward as Ron's body dropped. "No!" Her eyes were wide, she shook her head. "No." She begged.

The Death Eater's fled like the cowards they were. Harry was consoled by Remus Lupin, holding him back, restraining him from running after them. He slammed his fist against the werewolf's strong arms. "Sirius!" He screamed. "No..not Ron..No.."

"Ron you can't do this to me. You can't!" Shrieked Hermione. "Ron?" She asked almost laughing now. "Ron it isn't funny! Get up! Stand up!"

Moody had been battaling several of the Death Eaters. Now he aproached. His firm grip was placed on the sobbing Hermione's shoulder. "Girl, come away now." He said gently.

"Don't you die on me!" She screeched. There were no tears in her eyes now, only fury. "Where's Bellatrix? Where is she? I'm going to kill her!"

Lupin hugged Harry to him, the boy was not capable of saying anything. He could not speak, instead he simply cried. Sobbing into the cloaks of his ex teacher, sobbing to one of the only adults he could ever trust. "Hermione." Lupin's voice too was gentle. "He's gone."

"No." She stood, spinning around to face Lupin as if he was hiding Bellatrix Lestrange under his cloak. "Where is she? Where is she?"

Moody grabbed her wand hand, pinning it to her side, but she let go of the wand. "I'll murder her with my bare hands! I'll kill her! Where is she?"

"She's gone." Moody said. "She's fled. Coward."

Hermione collapsed to the floor, hugging Ron to her, his head to her chest, whispering into his hair. Ginny had been shielded by Dumbledore with the other children as he gathered them spotted the body lifeless on the floor, and sprinted towards her brother's empty shell. "Ron?" She asked, staring at the girl and the boy's body, bonded together with stronger chains than metal could form. "No.." She whispered. Her mouth gaped open, as if she too could not believe it. "No..not here..not now..no." She knelt beside Hermione, sobbing into her own ripped robes.

"Albus! We need to get them out of here." Moody ordered. Neville holding his bleeding head watched silently. He didn't seem able to cry or to scream. He just stood, watching. Luna stood, unseeing, unmoving completely alone. Her blonde hair was slightly scorched, she seemed to be crying. But she made no sound as she did, and didn't move to wipe the tears away. She had been afraid, she had thought she might die. But she didn't mind, dying wasn't too bad if it was with her friends. She valued each second of life, but if hers had ended, it wouldn't have bothered her much. But she hadn't died. Ron had died. Ron was dead, each time she said it in her mind it made it more real. Harry sobbed, heart wrenching, dreadful sobs. His sobs reflected the feelings of the entire room. He sobbed loudly, letting his heart pour out. "Now!" Moody shouted.

Lupin had control of himself more than any of the children, he managed to move Ginny away from her brother's corpse, taking her by the arm, holding her and Harry to him. He took them to stand by the head teacher. He managed to guide the empty Neville in that direction too. Tonks took Luna by the shoulder, following Remus's lead. Hermione still knelt by the corpse, shaking slightly. "Open your eyes." She murmured.

Moody put a hand on her shoulder, but she shrugged it off. "It was the killing curse." He stated calmly. "No one surives the killing curse."

Hermione looked up, eyes and cheeks as tear stained as Luna's robes were blood stained. "He did!" She spat. "He survived." She broke down again.

"That's-" Moody started. "This isn't the right time."

"I know." She looked at the sky.

"We need to get out of here." He told her finally. "We need to take him back to his parents, to be buried."

She sobbed wiping a tear from her eye. "He doesn't want to be buried! He wants to be cremated..it's a..muggle thing..I told him about it...he wants to be..free.." Her words were seperated by sobs. "He wants to be free." She managed.

"You need to let go of him." Moody told her now.

She clutched Ron's body, kissing his forehead one more time. "I can walk fine!" She snapped as Moody tried to help her stand. She looked at Ron once more. "Well?" She asked. "We're meant to be going! Come on then."

Harry held out his arms, offering to embrace her. It was something he felt right to do. But she shook her head. She didn't want him to touch her. She didn't wand to be anyway near her. Luna put an arm on her shoulder pulling her close. "Shush." The dreamy blonde murmured. Hermione didn't pull away, Harry's arms encircled the two girls, dragging Ginny into the embrace. His tears fell on their hair, as Neville became a part of the hug. The strengths in their number helped, somehow, some way. Tears stained Hermione's eyes, not that anyone could see her in the folds of Luna's cloak. "It hurts." Luna whispered. "It'll be ok." She murmured to the other's more than to herself. "It'll be ok. I promise."

No one believed her. She didn't even know if she believed herself.