Chapter One- Prologue

Harry yawned and closed the ledger on his desk. He glanced at the clock. It read 11:03 PM. He sat back in his chair and sighed. He had officially finished the case he had been working on for a week, a tricky capture and trial of a banshee, and now was the time to relax. It was Friday night, and he had this weekend officially off. Ginny was out of town visiting one of her brothers, and Harry had elected to stay home to get this case done.

He realized that he could easily apparate and spend the weekend with her still, but he had really been craving some time to himself. The kids were away at school, his wife was with her family, and he had two days to kill. He was going to see if Neville wanted to go to the tavern with him, but then he remembered that he had seen Neville the other day and he had said that he was heading to St. Mungo's this weekend to be with his parents.

Harry stood and put his cloak on to commute home. Something was irking him, and the faces of Frank and Alice Longbottom entered his mind. Bellatrix is dead, he reminded himself. They're all dead or locked up. Still, her twisted smile entered his mind. He began walking down the long Ministry hallways towards the elevators, still thinking of her.

Her long, dark hair. Her crazed eyes. Her prodigious wandwork. He was curious as to what made that witch tick. Of course she was dead, it wasn't really worth his investigation, but he was still curious. She had tortured Hermione, killed countless people, attacked the Longbottoms, and committed countless other crimes. She killed…. She killed Sirius. Her own cousin. It made him cringe just thinking about it. She had a sick fascination with Voldemort. She loved him. The thought made Harry shudder. 'What happened to her? Was she always so… evil?' It was just illogical. He hated her. He absolutely, truly hated her. But still, he was curious.

Harry stepped onto the lift and instead of pressing the 8 button for the atrium, he pressed the 1 button, and headed down towards the minister's office. He wasn't going to see the minister, however, he was headed in a different direction. He exited the lift and took a left, and headed down another long hallway. On the right side was a large room, and Harry entered it, lighting a lamp in the corner.

The room was a ruby red color, with a large circular table in the center made of dark wood. Lining the walls of the room were shelves, and a small annexed room off the back was filled with more shelves. On these shelves were labeled the names of many infamous witches and wizards. Above each name were crystal vials of various people's memories, each referring to the person in question. These memories were for the use of aurors in the cause of catching rogue witches and wizards. Harry came here often to do research. The witches and wizards currently at large were in the main room, and there were more, closed cases in the large annex room. The shelves were locked with an unbreakable glass and also protected by enchantments.

Harry stepped into the annex, and after searching for a moment, found her: Bellatrix Black. There were actually quite a few memories that the Ministry possessed of this witch. Some, he read, belonged to her mother and father, some to her sisters, and some to various other schoolmates. There was even some from Dumbledore himself. Harry's curiosity was piqued. He waved his wand and placed his hand on the glass, gaining him access, and he pulled out the large rack holding the phials, and he carefully took them to the large table.

He sat in one of the large chairs and turned a hand-crank under the table. A circle vanished from the wood, in the spot where a dinner plate might go, and a small pensieve rose from underneath the table. Harry examined the memories he had brought out. They were dated. Although there were some he was eager to see, he figured it would be best if he went in chronological order. He pulled the first one out. May 1, 1951, Druella Black nee Rosier.

a/n: Hi! I hope you like my first chapter. Basically this story will be told as a frame, with Harry viewing the memories of people close to Bellatrix through the years. Please read and review, it means a lot!