A/N: Reposting an old story. I wanted to rewrite it (Heart of Black) and got completely side-tracked by life. But thanks to everyone who read and liked it! I do appreciate the views!

Prologue

Late Fall 1984

The young child with white-blond hair and clear grey eyes shied away from the towering dark-haired woman who had a crazed look in her heavy-lidded eyes. He all but pressed himself into the lush magical persian rug, with its writhing vines and blooming flowers, all in an attempt to move away from the woman, even if all he managed was a few measly centimetres. The woman's behaviour was nothing like his mother's - his mother who was nearly as blond as himself, with her serene smiles, and gentle hands on his shoulder, as light as the touch of a butterfly. And yet, some part of him saw that the dark-haired woman had a face so much like his own mother's; it was like a strange mirror distortion that confused his mind and made his insides feel funny.

"Hello widdle baby," the dark hair woman cooed, while the white-blond child forced himself not to cry. He was a big boy, and big boys did not cry when faced with scary ladies. Especially when the scary lady in question was his aunt. "Hello widdle Dwaco."

Her hand was reaching towards him, carding through his hair, and then clenching so tight that the pulling sting made his eyes water, and he whimpered.

"Bella," came a familiar graceful voice from the doorway. His mother! "Bella, stop that. You're not well yet and you mustn't leave the care of your healers - not so soon after leaving Azkaban."

The grip in his hair loosened. "But Cissy," the scary lady whinged in a baby-ish voice, pouting her lips which were a sickly purplish-red. "He likes me!"

His mother hummed, and gave Aunt Bella a tight smile. "My dragon is a little gentleman." There was pride in her voice, and the little boy felt his heart swell with love and pride, even though his head still stung from his hair being pulled. "But nonetheless, you must stay with the healers. I will bring Draco to see you later, and we will visit together. Come along Bella."

His mother led the scary lady - Aunt Bella away, and the white-blond child, Draco, breathed a small sigh of relief. He returned to playing with his wooden blocks, which, if placed just so, began to form intricate little architectural details, like arches, or flying buttresses, or tiny stained glass windows - but if the blocks happened to be knocked over or moved out of place, they returned to being ordinary wooden blocks. Aside from the blocks, were little moving figurines - jaunty knights with clinking armour, waving their tiny swords around, minstrels with bitty little lutes and harps, and fussy little damsels in velvet dresses and shiny coronet's on their heads.

Draco was not alone in the immense room, which was his nursery within his family's stately manor. A house-elf, which was a short, magical creature bound to serve and follow his family's commands, stood in the corner, keeping its ridiculously large eyes on Draco to assure that he would come to no harm. The house-elf did not physically need to be in the room with him. If any harm were to befall him, then no matter where they were in the house, the house-elves could appear and disappear at will, protecting Draco from any threats and dangers. But although Draco did not admit this out loud (not even to his beautiful and graceful and lovely mother), he did not want to be all alone, even while he was just playing, and so he commanded the house-elf, named Wiffim, to stay with him.

He did not know if or when his mother would return, but he was desperately relieved that she had taken the scary lady - Aunt Bella - away. And although he knew he would have to visit her later, it would be all right, because his mother would be with him, and Draco knew that his mother would never, ever let him come to harm, not even from the scariest of ladies in all the world.

-o-

In the coming months, Draco did not find living with Aunt Bella to be any easier, even if she was only permitted to visit him under the careful supervision of his mother. Unfortunately, Aunt Bella did not handle supervision well, and though Draco was at the impressive age of four years old, Aunt Bella sometimes threw tantrums that were worse than anything the he had ever managed, with ear-piercing shrieks, and the destruction of magical vases and figurines (some of which put themselves back together,) and screams about someone called 'the Dark Lord' that Aunt Bella just had to find, because 'he's out there! Waiting for me!'

If Draco knew the meaning of the word obsessed, he would have said that Aunt Bella was obsessed with the Dark Lord. Aunt Bella might have called it something else: devotion, or love perhaps. Once, Draco had asked his mother if Aunt Bella was married to the Dark Lord because devotion and love were for husbands and wives, just like his mother and father, wasn't that so? But his mother had only paled, and gave him one of her feather-light touches on the cheek, and said, "No, my dragon. Your Aunt Bella is - was married to Rodolphus Lestrange. He sacrificed himself in Azkaban to free her."

It was a long time before Draco learned the true horrors of the wizarding prison known as Azkaban. The way his parents spoke of it, it almost sounded like the unpleasant home of an unfavourable distant relation with bad manners that nobody wanted to visit.

It might not have been so bad if Aunt Bella had only been obsessed with the Dark Lord. The way Aunt Bella described him, he sounded like a hero from legends, with a level of magical power and talent that was unequalled, and a vision of a purer and better world for those that really mattered. Since Draco himself, and his mother and father counted as 'those that mattered,' being as they were pure-blood witches and wizards, Draco thought it all sounded rather nice.

Of course, Draco was also aware that the Dark Lord had been defeated by a pair of one-year-old twins (and everyone who was anyone knew about the Twins-Who-Lived) so it was rather difficult for his four-year-old mind to reconcile the image of an all-powerful Dark Lord who could not even muster the ability to vanquish a pair of babies. But then again, the Twins-Who-Lived were special.

No, if all Aunt Bella was obsessed with with the Dark Lord, then life here at Malfoy manor would be quite charmed indeed, but Aunt Bella was (to Draco's dismay) also obsessed with him. Or at least the idea of him, because Aunt Bella always wanted to hold him, and coo at him, and muss up his hair, and speak to him in that dreadful voice that was meant for babies and not big boys like him. For although Aunt Bella was older than his mother, she did not have any children of her own, and while Aunt Bella might not say it out loud, it was clear, through her actions, that she longed for children. But Draco suspected it was more than that - he was an observant child, and Aunt Bella was a (very) loud and outspoken woman, and he had the impression that Aunt Bella dreamed not only of a pure-blood world, but a of a family, with children of her own, and the Dark Lord at her side.

-o-

The longer that Aunt Bella stayed at Malfoy manor, the more bearable her presence became, not just because Draco's parents had hired the best (and most expensive) healers, but because Aunt Bella had a tendency to simply disappear, sometimes for days on end, with no regard to her own safety or the chance of capture. In other words, Aunt Bella's presence was bearable, in large part due to the very lack of it.

Draco's mother and father did not exactly know where Aunt Bella went - mother pleaded and begged for Aunt Bella to stay at home, and to consider her life and safety, but Aunt Bella just cackled (yes, cackled), and said: "I do as I wish, Cissy" as though that was all the reason that was needed.

But Aunt Bella's whereabouts were not entirely unknown, for Aunt Bella was not one to keep her cards close to hand.

"I'm going to find them," Aunt Bella had declared more than once, in her sing-sing way that she sometimes spoke. "I'm going to find them, and curse them, and rip them to little bitty bits, and put them back together just so I can do it again." There was always a manic light in Aunt Bella's eyes as she said this, and the look on her face was the look that Draco sometimes got when he was given his most favourite treat to eat. That particular treat being Bluebell-flame bonbons, that tasted like melted bliss, and caused one to breath pretty blue sweet-tasting flames for minutes afterwards.

As for the 'them' she was speaking of, Aunt Bella was referring to the Twins-Who-Lived. Draco wasn't sure of how he felt about this. One one hand, the Twins-Who-Lived were regarded as heroes in the wizarding world, and a part of Draco wanted, very much, to meet them because he was sure that they would be remarkable (and better yet, they were his age, which was four-soon-to-be-five.) On the other hand, the Twins-Who-Lived were in opposition to the Dark Lord, and while father might be convinced that the Dark Lord had been vanquished and killed all those many years ago, it was hard to argue Aunt Bella's certainty that the Dark Lord was Alive (even if it was an insane sort of certainty.)

"Watch your language, and don't be ridiculous, Bella," his mother had scolded, sitting elegantly on a chaise lounge in the north sitting room with her hands neatly folded on her lap. "You know how well protected those twins are by the Light. All you're doing is putting yourself at risk, and I won't have you captured and returned to Azkaban. You were there only a few years, and look what it has done to your health!"

"Nonsense, Cissy," Aunt Bella retorted, her voice filled with conviction as she paced. "It's only a matter of time. I will find them, and then I will find the Dark Lord, and bring him back to his full powers and the rewards -" Aunt Bella trailed off, her face somewhere between crazed and dreamy, which was a disturbing combination. Draco didn't want to know what she might be imagining. Probably something disgusting, like kissing. He turned his thoughts away, and focused back on the picture book on his lap, which depicted a soaring griffin that kept trying to nip at his fingers, whenever he touched the page.

"The Dark Lord has not been sighted since the day he attacked those twins. If he were alive, wouldn't there have been a sign?"

"Your lack of faith sickens me, Cissy," Aunt Bella replied, her voice suddenly flat, and her eyes hard, which was always a sign of danger. But Draco's mother had always been adept at navigating her sister's moods.

"I suppose you would know better than I, dear Bella," Draco's mother said, so smoothly and serenely, that one could not help but feel calmed by it. "You were one of the closest to the Dark Lord after all."

At this, Aunt Bella smiled, the hardness melting away like the thaw of snow in spring, looking supremely self-satisfied. "I was, wasn't I?"

"I worry for you Bella. So many were lost in the last war. I thought I had lost you as well when you and Rodolphus were captured and sentenced to Azkaban."

Aunt Bella edged around the elegant coffee table and sat next to her sister on the chaise, taking her hand. "I will succeed Cissy. We are Blacks. The world is our peach, and we need only pluck it."

Draco tilted his head, and looked curiously at Aunt Bella. Both Aunt Bella and his mother were daughters of the Most Noble and Ancient House of Black, but mother was a Malfoy now, wasn't she? And Draco rather thought that there was just as much (if not more) pride in being a Malfoy. They were one of the richest and most influential families after all - father couldn't be wrong about that. But Draco said nothing - it would only draw Aunt Bella's attention and she would start fussing over him again.

-o-

It was late summer, in 1985. Aunt Bella was gone again - it had been days now, and Draco's father was furious. Being the refined and elegant pure-blood that he was, Lucius Malfoy did not show his anger through shouts and gestures. Rather, he clutched his walking stick, decorated with a silver snake-head, tightly enough that his knuckles were white. His voice was clipped and tense, and his grey eyes were flinty.

"This is unacceptable, Narcissa," Draco's father gritted out. They were sitting at the vast dining table, polished so that the swirling wood shone brightly under the candlelight. "Everytime she disappears, it puts us at risk. You know what will happen if word gets out that we've been harbouring an Azkaban escapee. Even if they cannot prove anything, it would be detrimental to our reputation."

"She will not get caught," Draco's mother replied, as tranquil as ever, before taking a sip of elf-made wine. Draco could not tell if her mother truly believed those words, or if she was just saying so to appease Draco's father.

"That woman is completely reckless and irresponsible. You cannot keep encouraging her. Even if she succeeds at this mad quest of hunting down and killing the Twins-Who-Lived, what then? She'll have all of the Ministry and the Law upon her head, and nowhere she goes will be safe for her, or for us. Not to mention her conviction that the Dark Lord is still alive."

"What are you implying, Lucius dear?"

Draco glanced between his mother and father, as the tension in the room became weightier. Though it was unspoken, Draco knew that his father believed Aunt Bella to be insane (or if not that, then at least partially-insane.) Though Draco might not say it out loud, he suspected that his father was right. But if one thing could be said of the Black sisters, it was that they were loyal to each other (or at least Draco believed this to be so - at this point, he was still unaware of yet another Black sister that had been disowned, long ago.)

"I only wish for what is best for this family," Draco's father finally admitted.

Draco's mother smiled, and there was a genuine softness to her eyes that only added to her ethereal, pale beauty. To see them at this moment was to know that the Malfoys had a love match, no matter how cold and icy their demeanours may have seemed to outsiders.

The topic moved on to other (more boring) matters. Draco's father asked about his lessons with the tutor, and spoke of the going-ons at the Ministry. At five, it was difficult for Draco to understand complicated political matters, and know why the Wizengamot had voted a certain way, or why an increase in funding in a certain department resulted in so-and-so implication for (filthy) muggleborn families.

All Draco really knew about muggles (non-magical humans) and muggleborns (magical humans born from muggles) was that they were disgusting, dirty and unworthy mudbloods. Being five, Draco was convinced that this was quite literal - if you cut a muggleborn, they would bleed sludgy mud. Why else would they be called mudbloods? It was a long while before Draco truly understood the truth: that 'mudblood' was a term meant to degrade witches and wizards who were born from muggles.

It was over a week later when Aunt Bella returned, looking rather bedraggled (and was that blood that was staining her robes?), with a crazed, animalistic-grin on her face, and two gaunt and haunted looking children, clutching at her skirts, with unruly mops of raven-black hair and eyes as green as polished emeralds. Aunt Bella had entered the house by way of a secret entrance that led to the kitchens, and it was only by chance that Draco had been there (intending to steal a cinnamon biscuit before dinner).

It took all of Draco's effort not to flinch at the sight of his Aunt, but his eyes still widened, and they widened even more when he noticed the pair of children clinging on to her. To Draco, who was accustomed to playmates from other pure-blood families who were just as refined and well-dressed as himself, it was a shock to look upon the two skinny little urchins who could probably use a bath or ten (followed by a good dose of force-feeding to put something on their pitiful bird-like bones). Even more surprising was that the boy (at least Draco thought it was the boy) had scars and sores ringing his entire neck, which looked red and swollen and raw.

"Draco, my sweet," Aunt Bella cooed when she noticed him gawping at her. She looked down at the two children with a bizarre smile between predatory and affectionate, and rested her hands upon their heads. "Meet my new babies."

-o-

Early Spring 1987

"Bella? Bella! What have you done?! Tizzy! Call a healer! And Lucius - get Lucius!"

There was a sharp couple of cracks that indicated the arrival and disappearance of the house-elf. Harry groaned and peeled open his eyes, immediately searching for his twin sister, Holly. He recognized the voice of Auntie Cissy (though she much preferred to be called Aunt Narcissa), but paid the older woman no heed. A short ways away from him, Holly opened her eyes, and they were a brilliant green, the exact shade as his own. She peered towards her brother, and gave him a reassuring smile, reaching out her hand towards him. The twins clasped hands, and the magic between them seemed to flow and hum with a sweet familiarity. It was the feeling of home.

A short while later, a blond-haired man entered the room, followed by an older man with chaotic wiry grey hair who quickly knelt down next to the dark-haired Bellatrix, who remained unconscious. The blond man was Uncle Lucius and as for the grey-haired man, that was possibly the healer.

"What has she done?" Lucius Malfoy demanded of his wife, as he took in the scene before him. It was one of the unused bedrooms in the Malfoy manor, cleared of all furnishing - even the rugs. The floor was black marble, covered with three huge concentric circles drawn in blood. The spaces between the circles were filled with archaic symbols, drawn with a potion made of blood, phoenix eyes, unicorn horns, dragon-underbelly scales and snake venom.

The blood in question was a mix between Bellatrix Lestrange's, Harry Potter's and Holly Potter's. Though at this point, they would be Potters no more, for both Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy recognized the ritual that had been performed. It was an extremely powerful (and highly illegal) blood adoption ritual - one that could have very well killed them, and worse yet, it wasn't considered legally binding because of the Dark nature of the ritual itself. After all, the wizarding world that they lived in feared and reviled anything related to the Dark Arts and Dark Magic.

"Bella?" Narcissa Malfoy pleaded again, placing a hand on her sister's pale cheeks, tracing the sharp cheekbones. The healer muttered a series of spells that caused a dance of lights over Bellatrix's body, and the dark-haired woman's eyes fluttered open. Bellatrix gave Narcissa a slow smile, and to a stranger, the smile would have looked like pure seduction, but it was simply Bellatrix's way, to act with a mix of heady allure and madness.

"My babies?" Bellatrix croaked out, pushing herself into a sitting position, and looking over at the two bodies that were within the circle with her. Harry and Holly were both fully awake now, and had moved to a cross-legged position on the floor, knees touching.

"Mama," they both replied. It was a bit of an infantile address, but Bellatrix preferred it to the more formal 'mother' (that Draco used) or 'mum.' She scrambled over to them, and clutched them close to her.

"Babies!" she crooned, rocking them back and forth. It made them incredibly dizzy, in large part because they had both lost so much blood, but they only held onto her, Harry rubbing her back and Holly stroking her hair. Bellatrix pulled away to get a better look at their faces. The differences were subtle - the inky black hair and green eyes still remained (which was disappointing. Bellatrix had hoped that the unicorn horn would burn away all impurities of their mudblood mother's blood, as it was supposed to). It was a ritual meant to make the children share her own blood, and thus, making them pure-blood children (as was naturally the best). Still, the differences were there - their bone structure looked a little more defined, and their eyes were slightly more deep-set. They had already had full eyelashes, but somehow, their lashes were even thicker and longer, so much like Bellatrix's own.

"Babies," she murmured again, giving them a slow smile, and petting their cheeks, which were finally filling out, after nearly two years worth of decent food at the Malfoy manor. Life here was nothing like what the Twins-Who-Lived had dealt with before. Life here was good.

-o-

After giving Bellatrix and the twins several phials of blood-replenishing potion, and an admonishment to never do such a foolish thing again (which had earned the healer a look of the deepest scorn from Bellatrix,) the healer was sent on his way.

Narcissa herded Bellatrix and the twins towards Bellatrix's chambers, determined to put them all to bed, but Bellatrix only made it as far as her sitting room before she crumbled into a graceful heap onto the velvet sofa, and refused to budge. With a small put-upon sigh, Narcissa sat down on the armchair next to her.

"I can take care of myself, Cissy," Bellatrix said, stubbornly. "Babies!" This was said in her sing-sing voice. "Come sit with mama."

Narcissa glanced over to the twins. They look that they gave Bellatrix was a mix that was equal parts adoration and worship. Harry and Holly looked at Bellatrix as though she were the reason that the sun rose and set each day, and it made Narcissa think about what life had been like for the twins before Bellatrix found them and brought them here.

Narcissa could remember the day that the children arrived vividly: Bellatrix had left the kitchen, and was taking the twins up to her chambers when she was intercepted by Narcissa and Lucius near the grand staircase.

"Bella?" Narcissa had asked, hesitant, as her eyes took in every detail of the scene before her, including the famous lightning-bolt scar on the boy's forehead, and the red rawness of the boy's neck. "What is this?"

"Are these the Potter children?" Lucius had asked, and to Narcissa's alarm, his voice was raised. Lucius never raised his voice. "What are they doing here, Bellatrix? Don't tell me you mean to finish the job off in our home?!"

"Finish -" Bellatrix looked over at Lucius with wide, blank eyes that only served to make her look more insane than ever. But then comprehension seemed to sink in, and the blankness was replaced with a terrifying fury. How dare Lucius suggest that Bellatrix would kill the children!

Without realizing her own actions, Bellatrix had her hand grasped around her wand, and had taken a step towards Lucius; however, the two children clinging at the skirts brought her back to reality, and the fury was reduced to a low angry simmer.

"No one harms my babies," Bellatrix avowed, the words a threat. Lucius narrowed his eyes but said nothing more.

"Bella." Narcissa closed the distance between her and her sister, and noticed that the twins cringed at her presence, pressing themselves so close to Bellatrix that it was as though they meant to merge with her. Taken aback, Narcissa's steps faltered.

"Bella, please, tell me what's going on? Why are you calling the Potter twins your -" Narcissa hesitated, "- your babies?"

Bella peered down at the twins, and smiled at them with a look that was a mix of Bellatrix's natural wildness, mixed with what seemed like possessiveness. She stroked their heads, as though they were kittens, before looking back at Narcissa.

"I was going to find them," Bellatrix answered, her voice taking on a dreamy far-away quality that matched the blankness that had returned to her eyes. Narcissa felt a knife-like twist in her heart - it hurt her to see her beloved sister this way, even if she had been like this since childhood. "I was going to find them and curse them and kill them, and kill them again, the bitty ickle Potters."

"That doesn't explain anything," Lucius muttered under his breath. Narcissa looked back at him and shot him a quick angry glare, before turning back to her sister.

"Bella?"

"I was going to rip them to shreds, and I was so close too. Imagine my delight when I finally found them!" Bellatrix cackled. "The Light side thought they were so well hidden, but then again, they haven't dealt with the likes of me." Now, there was a feral grin that looked horribly incongruous with Bellatrix's blank eyes. "You should have seen them, the ickle twinsies. Dressed in rags worse than anything a house-elf would wear. The boy, collared by a rope, snarling like a beast whenever they came near his sister."

"They?"

"Those disgusting, filthy muggles." Bellatrix's eyes seemed to clear up and she looked her sister in the eye. "Those mudblood-lovers had us fooled, talking about Wuv and the Wight and Gwoodness. But you should have seen the filthy muggles that the twins were forced to stay with. Fat, useless lumps of flesh, not worth a heap of hippogriff dung." Bellatrix snarled. "They were forced to work themselves raw, and sleep in a cupboard, and were beaten for the slightest infraction. They dared to call them freaks. Those muggles! Calling a witch and a wizard freaks! And widdle Harry here was kept leashed, and chained and treated like a cur for trying to protect his sister, just because of the way her sweet magic would lash out at them - yes!"

Bellatrix looked down at Holly with manic fondness. "And such magic she has - such beautiful, dark, bewitching -" Bellatrix trailed off, as she pet the girl, who pressed herself against Bellatrix's side.

"Sweet babies," Bellatrix crooned.

"Bella?"

Bellatrix looked back up at her sister, and that dreamy look returned. "I watched the twins for days. I thought it was a trick, you see? I was thinking like a Slytherin - but those Light-sided fools wouldn't know a trick if it spat in their eye. Those mudblood-lovers really had placed the twins with those disgusting muggles. Those filthy, wretched, screaming, howling, begging-for-mercy, bloody -"

"Bella! Enough!"

"I knew when I felt the twin's magic that they were to be mine," Bellatrix continued, petting the twins once again. "Once you've tasted the Dark Lord's beautiful magic, you never forget it."

"What are you talking about, Bella?" Narcissa wondered if this was another one of Bellatrix's 'quirks.' Even as a child, Bellatrix would speak of things like feeling or tasting other people's magic. None of the other members of the family could do such a thing (though there was a couple of magic portraits in the Black Ancestral Home that claimed to be able to 'feel' or 'sense' magic, but who could believe a portrait? They probably just wanted attention.)

"Their magic feels like the Dark Lords. So sweet," Bellatrix crooned. "Sweet babies."

Narcissa sighed. She looked away from Bellatrix and down to the two twins. They were frighteningly gaunt, and the sores around the boy's neck made her wince.

"Let's get you fed and cleaned up, shall we?" Narcissa said gently. Though the twins remained tense, Bellatrix seemed to relax.

"Thank you, Cissy."

To Narcissa, it was strange to think that that had been nearly two years ago. Back then, the twins had looked like the most pitiful waifs she had ever seen. Both of them had had hollow cheeks, short statures, and haunted green eyes. Their skin had been raw and torn in places, and they seemed to be covered by a layer of grime.

Harry, of course, had his distinctive lightning-bolt scar, and was rather worse for wear from having taken more severe abuse from his former guardians. Bruises, welts, cuts, broken bones - no part of his body seemed unmarked. Alarmingly, he had even snarled at her once or twice in those early days - especially if she came anywhere near Holly - but that eventually ceased when he learned that she meant neither of them any harm. Though they were known collectively as the Twins-Who-Lived, Harry's scar was considered to be iconic - after all, as the legend goes, the Dark Lord had tried to kill the twins with a killing-curse, and the scar was where it rebounded. However, to Narcissa's surprise, Holly had a scar as well, that looked like a "V" had been tipped almost upside-down. Her scar was right in her hair-line, all but invisible when her hair was down. Back then, Narcissa (who had some rudimentary healing abilities) had attempted to heal both the lightning-bolt and the tilted-V scar. But nothing she did would work, and she had a strong suspicion that both scars were cursed.

"You should have told me about the ritual," Narcissa said to her sister, who had her eyes closed, and a twin leaning against her on each side upon the sofa.

Bellatrix lifted her eyelids, and gave her prim-looking sister a slow smile. "You would have stopped me, Cissy."

"It was a dangerous ritual!" Narcissa hissed. "You could have died! Or something could have happened to the twins! It isn't even legally binding - not since the late 1800s at least. Or what if Draco had walked in on you? He could have been hurt!"

"Dwaco is with his tutor, just like he is every day. What matters is that it is done. They are pure now, and they are mine."

Unable to help herself, Narcissa gave her sister a small smile. "You always were a wild one, Bella. No one could control you." She was silent for a moment. "What will you call them?"

Bellatrix's expression became distant. "Black. For now, Harry and Holly Black."

"For now?"

"You should know me better by now," Bellatrix purred, teasingly. "Have you forgotten what I've told you? My plan was to find the twins first. And I did! I did find them, the sweet babies. The twins and then… the Dark Lord."

-o-

Late Summer 1985

As soon as Draco realized that Aunt Bella had brought home the Twins-Who-Lived, he was immediately fascinated. He had, of course, been made to swear to tell no one outside of the family that the twins were here, but it was an easy promise to make - especially when the company that Draco was permitted to keep was so limited. But added magical safeguards had been put in place, so that even if he wanted to speak of the Potter twins, he would not be able to. It was difficult to reconcile the image of those ragged, waifish wretches, with the heroic Defeaters-of-the-Dark-Lord in his mind, but nonetheless, he was certain that there was something wonderful about them. What else could explain Aunt Bella's complete change of heart towards them? Why else would she have brought them home, except that the twins must have had some sort of magic to cause someone like Aunt Bella to change her mind.

Draco did not get a chance to see the twins again until nearly three days after Aunt Bella brought them home. In his five-year-old mind (at the time), this made perfect sense. Whenever he had a new toy or present, he always wanted to hoard it to himself first, and not let anyone else touch it or see it. But that did not mean that he thought it was fair, and he certainly made his thoughts known to his mother and father.

"I want t' see them!" Draco cried to his mother. She had come to visit him in his nursery, where his tutor had been spending the morning teaching him how to hold a quill.

"Pay attention to your lessons, my dragon," his mother replied, but there was an amused sparkle in her eyes.

"I know how to hold a quill!" He threw the quill on the floor, crossing his arms petulantly. The tutor did not reprimand him (he wouldn't dare) and silently picked up the quill.

"It's best not to think of it now," his mother commanded, and though her voice was soft, there was a hard edge of steel beneath. Draco pouted, but did not argue. In the coming days, he realized that his mother had been the wrong person to ask. Really, it was Aunt Bella he should have spoken to.

He had finished his lessons for the day, and because Aunt Bella had been taking her meals in her room, it seemed as though he never saw her these days. But he knew which wing of the manor she resided in, and even if there hadn't been a reason to go there in the past, there was reason enough now.

Ignoring the numerous talking portraits on the walls that commented on his hair or clothes or bearing, he stubbornly trekked towards Aunt Bella's chambers. The wide double-doors to her room were close.

"Wiffim!" Draco called out in his high voice. The house-elf popped in front of him.

"What can Wiffim do for Master Draco?" the house-elf inquired, eager to serve his young master. The elf's large bat-like ears were perked up with enthusiasm, and there was a hopeful smile on his face.

"Wiffim, announce me to Aunt Bella!"

"Wiffim will do as Master Draco wishes." The house-elf popped out of existence, and less than a minute later, it was pulling open Aunt Bella's door from within, gesturing for Draco to enter.

"You are dismissed, Wiffim," Draco informed the elf, without a thanks. No one that he knew of ever thanked house-elves. It was simply not done.

"Draco!" Aunt Bella greeted, sounding almost surprised to see him. "What brings my darling nephew here?"

"H'lo Aunt Bella," Draco said politely (as he was taught), even though he could barely maintain eye-contact, and instead, searched the room, wondering where the twins were hiding. He spotted them peering at him, from the doorway that led to Aunt Bella's bedroom. By this time, they had been outfitted with a new wardrobe, and while they still looked malnourished, their long wizarding robes were as fine as his own. Their visible wounds had been (mostly) healed, and their colour had improved at least.

Catching his gaze, Aunt Bella turned to look at the doorway and spotted the twins. A slow smile crept onto Aunt Bella's face, and her eyelids dropped to half-mast.

"You've come to see my babies?" She purred. Draco looked up at his aunt, and tried not to flinch. His gaze was once again pulled towards the twins. Though they stood, half in shadows, there was something utterly compelling about them.

The boy, Harry, stood a little in front of the girl, Holly. One of his hands was balled into a tight fist (the other was holding on to Holly's), and his green eyes seemed to glow with an unnatural light (though perhaps that was all in Draco's imagination, which was quite vivid.) There was something fearless about Harry, but it was a terrible sort of fearlessness - the fearlessness of someone who has seen the worse, and does not care anymore because they expect bad things to come, and refuse to flinch from it.

As for the girl, Holly, though she was half-guarded by Harry, she was no less compelling. Her eyes were equally as green, and her face was like a mirror of her brother's. Curiously, her free hand was also balled into a tight fist. But while Harry seemed to exude fearlessness, Holly exuded something else - threat mingled with an odd vulnerability. She looked as frail and delicate as a flower, but if she were a flower, she would have barbs filled with the most toxic of poisons. To attempt to crush her was to crush yourself.

Did the muggles who had been raising the Twins-Who-Lived see them this way? Did those disgusting muggles (Draco had not heard about the abuse of the twins - he simply assumed that muggles in general were disgusting) know who they were dealing with?

But what fascinated Draco most of all was seeing the two of them together. They were separate beings, but they felt like One, and in an odd way, it left an aching, uncomfortable feeling in Draco's chest, as though something used to be there (his heart?), and now it was gone. He had never encountered anything like it. Was it due to their magic? Aunt Bella spoke of feeling and tasting magic, and at times Draco wondered if he could feel it too, but his mother and father were convinced it was a fanciful notion, so Draco rarely spoke of it.

It entranced Draco to see the twins together. He felt a strange yearning and wondered: why didn't he have anyone in his life like that? He thought he had everything once - his parents never said 'no' to him for anything, so he had every toy he wished, and every pet he longed for, and any friend that might be worth knowing, and yet, now he was hurting because he had become aware of something he lacked. He was afraid to ask his parents for it, in part because he did not know the words, but also, he was afraid that this was one thing that they couldn't give him. He wanted the twins, but in what way, he did not know.

Feeling a prickling sting in his throat and eyes, Draco backed away. That one step, that single moment in which he faltered was enough to break whatever resolve he had, and he turned around, and fled, unable to endure the weight of those green eyes, and that world between them that he was sure he could never be a part of.

-o-

On his own, Draco tried to gain his bearings and shake off the experience. If he had been a bit older, he might have been able to convince himself that it was a flight of his imagination, but as it was, the whole thing had seemed too real, and he was upset. He scampered down the stairs (there was no one there to chastise him for acting without dignity), and dashed off to the orangery where his mother often liked to tend to her exotic, tropical plants.

As he entered the orangery, he was assailed by the fragrant air, and damp heat of the room. His mother was gently deadheading one of her singing vines, which hummed a few trilling soprano notes whenever her fingers caressed the leaves. She heard him enter and turned.

"Hello my dragon." His mother examined his woeful expression. "What's wrong?"

Peeling off her gloves, and using her wand to vanish away the wilted remains of the vine, she led Draco to one of the decorative wrought-iron benches and sat him down.

"Darling?"

Draco tried not to squirm and fuss. It was unbecoming behaviour, but he was only five, and as such, his self-control was limited. But how could he express what he wanted? How could he put the strange yearning he felt into words?

"Mother -" he began. "I wan' the twins."

She blinked, uncertain of how to respond. "You wish for the twins to be your friends?"

Was that what he wanted? Draco could not deny that he would have liked the friendship of the twins, but that did not seem like quite enough. Nonetheless, he did want them to be friends.

"Yes," he affirmed. "But -"

His mother waited patiently for him to continue.

"But more," he finished.

His mother scanned his face with her gentle but knowing eyes. A flicker of sadness crossed her face, but quickly vanished. She did not exactly know what Draco wanted, or what he felt, but she had a sense of it. When Draco had been younger, he had begged his parents for a sibling, longing for that deeper connection that occurs when people know one another their entire lives. Draco's mother sensed that what he wished for was something like that, and it hurt her terribly to know that she could not give it to him. She and Draco's father had tried to conceive another child, but they could not. The last thing she ever wanted was to cause her darling dragon any pain, and yet, she could not shelter him from the world (even if she was determined to try.)

How was she to respond to his request? (In truth, it was a demand, but Draco's mother mentally considered them to be requests.) Furthermore, did she really want for Draco to be close to the Twins-Who-Lived? While she certainly loved her sister, she also knew that Bella was playing a dangerous game. Bella had been caught and imprisoned once before - what would become of her (and the twins) if she were to be imprisoned again? If Draco befriended them, would they just be ripped away from him? Her thoughts felt treacherous, but what mattered most was protecting her darling Dragon.

And yet, how could she ever say no to him? He deserved to have the whole world laid at his feet. "They will love you," Draco's mother said, with the certainty that only a mother (blinded by love) could have. "I'm sure of it."

-o-

Knowing that the twins would be needing an education, Draco had assumed that the twins might share his tutor, and while Draco did not love to share, he was willing to do so for the twins. Plus, there was nothing particularly exciting about a tutor. Furthermore, his parents had hired the very best tutor, and what's more, the man was discreet, and never discussed the family's business. In truth, the tutor had actually taken a magical Unbreakable Vow (facing the consequence of death) if he ever gossiped about the family, but Draco did not know that.

However, to the entire family's surprise, the twins were not tutored by Draco's tutor. Aunt Bella did not even choose to hire a new tutor. Instead, Aunt Bella declared that she would teach the twins everything they needed to know, all by herself. It was highly irregular.

This meant that the twins spent most of their time in Aunt Bella's wing of the manor, and the only time he ever saw them was in the late afternoon, when their lessons were over. And yet, for the first long while, the twins rarely, if ever, ventured out of Aunt Bella's chambers.

Draco's curiosity towards the twins never lessened, and instead, only grew. For a boy who was given everything on a (goblin forged) silver platter, patience was not his strong suit.

So, a (long) week after Draco's first visit to Aunt Bella's chambers, he ventured up to her wing, and once again called for Wiffim to provide him entry.

"Back so soon, widdle Dwaco?" Aunt Bella cooed when she saw him again.

"I'm not liddle!" Draco protested, his cheeks flushed. "Mother says tha' I am growing very well." And why would Aunt Bella say it had been soon? His last visit was the previous week. That was ages ago!

Aunt Bella cackled with amusement. "What do you want, little dragon?"

Draco shifted uneasily. He did not like how Aunt Bella had said 'dragon.' Her words lacked the warm, loving affection of his mother. Since the twins had arrived, Aunt Bella no longer seemed so obsessed with him - in fact, she seemed to have all but forgotten his presence. Draco would have been relieved, but this new Aunt Bella was just as unsettling as the old Aunt Bella. Draco peeled his eyes away from her, and gazed towards the doorway that led to her bedroom, but this time, the twins weren't there.

"Looking for something, little dragon?"

Draco plucked up his courage. "I wan' t' play with the twins."

Aunt Bella's expression was speculative. "Do you? Widdle Dwaco wants to pway?" Aunt Bella chortled, and walked up to him, lifting his chin with her long, bony fingers. "What if the twins don't want to play with you?"

Draco sucked in a deep breath, shocked to the core by the very notion. Was it true? Did the twins not even want his company? He tried to force his lower lip to stop trembling. He would not cry in front of Aunt Bella. He would Not!

Aunt Bella stroked his lower lip with her fingers. "Cissy is too soft on you, little dragon. It makes you weak. But my babies could use the presence of pure-blood company, to wipe the stain of their past memories from existence." Aunt Bella looked towards another doorway that led to another set of rooms - an office, perhaps? Draco was not intimately knowledgeable about Aunt Bella's rooms. In a sing-sing voice, Aunt Bella called out: "Harry! Holly! You have company!"

The twins appeared at the doorway holding hands, their body-language almost just as guarded as the first time he saw them. They flicked a quick glance at Draco before looking up at Aunt Bella.

"Mama?" Holly questioned, in a high, sweet voice.

Aunt Bella smiled at them indulgently, in a way that she never looked at Draco. "Babies, I want you to play with Draco here. You may play on the north lawn." Aunt Bella's windows overlooked the north lawn.

Harry and Holly shared a look. They had never yet explored the grounds at Malfoy manor, and through the magic that flowed between them, they felt each other's uncertainty and fear.

"Babies," Aunt Bella said to them, drawing their attention. "I've told you before, you don't need to hold yourselves back. Your magic is there to help. You will never be punished for protecting yourselves. Not by me. Not here."

Draco had no idea what Aunt Bella was talking about, but the twins seemed to understand her, because they relaxed, and their curious green eyes returned to him. Draco felt both flustered but also glad to have their attention.

"Well?" Aunt Bella demanded, shattering the moment. "Oh, wait - yes, we must observe protocols, mustn't we? Draco, may I introduce Harry and Holly of the House of Potter. Holly and Harry, may I introduce Draco, heir to the Most Noble and Ancient House of Malfoy."

The twins had venture forward. Harry and Draco shook hands, like miniature adults, while Draco kissed the back of Holly's hand, has he had been taught. Draco found himself wondering if they had been taught their manners by the muggles or by Aunt Bella. Surely, this was the work of Aunt Bella. She may have had a reputation for being wild, but she was a pure-blood through and through.

-o-

Harry and Holly followed Draco out of Bellatrix's chambers and along the stately corridors. They were both still in awe of the magical world around them, and while Bellatrix found it amusing at times, she also snapped that it was uncouth to stare. They would have tried to obey Bellatrix's teachings, even if she wasn't here to watch them (as far as they knew, but with magic, who could be sure?) But they had been given an opportunity to gawk and examine their surroundings, and they wanted to take it. From the moving flowery patterns of the carpeting, to the chattering portraits, to the funny-looking house-elves, there was a great deal to look at.

"Ah, so these art the two yond ev'ryone is discussing!" A blond man in a wide white ruff exclaimed. It was one of the portraits, framed in gilded gold. "Cometh h're and allowth me has't a behold at thee."

Harry and Holly shared a look that said: 'Did you understand any of that?' They paused in their steps and peered at the portrait. The blond man had a regal mustache and beard, and a vivid green and silver-embroidered jerkin. At his side was a sword in a scabbard.

Noticing the twins that stopped, Draco looked back to see what had caught their attention. "Oh, don' pay atten'tn to him. No one understands him." By 'no one' Draco meant himself and his playmates.

"How dareth thee, rapscallion! Didn'st thy parents teach thee any mann'rs?"

"Oh hush, Ampelius," a woman from a nearby portrait scolded. "Don't think we don't know the stories of what you got up to in your youth. Weren't you the one who besmirched the Malfoy name when you had too much mead and married that mule?"

A giggle escaped Harry and Holly's lips, and Draco gave the woman a pained look for airing the Malfoy's dirty laundry.

"Lady Moulari is not a mule! 'T wast a Transfiguration accident!" Ampelius exclaimed indignantly, referring to the magic that could change one object (or living being) into another.

The woman in the portrait smirked. "Really? I couldn't tell the difference."

"Come on," Draco said, tugging at the sleeves of the twins robes. The last thing he wanted to do was listen to the portraits bickering again (which they seemed to do a lot when they got bored - in other words, all the time.)

Draco took them down the stairs (he did not scamper this time - he did not know the twins well enough to be that comfortable yet), through a drawing room, and out a set of French doors that led to the north lawn.

Though Draco had a propensity towards chattering, his earlier interaction with Aunt Bella left him slightly subdued. But the brilliant blue of the sky, and the verdant greenery caused the shadows of his dark mood to dissipate.

"How're you likin' the manor?" Draco asked. The question was a mix of curiosity, but also pride in the stately grandeur of his home, which had impressed all his former playmates.

"It's -" Harry seemed to struggle to find the words. Due to the twins upbringing, their language skills were not as strong as Draco's quite yet, "-amathing." Harry gave Draco a hesitant smile, a slight lisp in his young voice that he had not yet grown out of. The smile was bewildering but also pleasing to Draco. The intense impression of fearlessness was gone, and now, Harry almost seemed like an ordinary boy, though he was still holding Holly's hand.

"We didn' even know 'bout magic 'til mama - 'till mama came" Holly admitted shyly.

"So you really did grow up with muggles!" Draco burst out. "What were they like? Are muggles really as awful as ev'ryone says?"

Harry and Holly shared a look, their link flowing with a reassuring warmth that reminded them that magic was, in fact, real and that they would never have to worry about those muggles again (or so Bellatrix had claimed.)

"They were -" Holly's brow knit as she tried to find the right word, "- terr'ble." As she considered those muggles, she felt that familiar buzzing feeling (of magic) within her - a darkness that seemed to coil from her center, moving outwards like undulating electric eels, ready to lash out at anything that would hurt Harry. She would never let anyone hurt Harry if she could help it.

"What did they do?" Draco couldn't help his curiosity. He had lived an incredibly sheltered life, and while he could understand the idea of being cursed (or hit, or beaten), such things were still only just 'ideas.' To Draco, the worst pain he had ever experienced was the one time he had fallen off his training broom when he was attempting to fly, and broke his wrist (which was immediately healed by his mother with magic.)

Curiously Harry growled, but Holly squeezed his hand and he stopped. If Draco found it odd, he did not comment, but patiently waited for their reply.

It was in Harry's nature to hide his hurts, except to Holly, who could understand without being told. He preferred to brush aside the horrible things that the muggles had inflicted on him, not liking any reminders that singled him out as being weird or being a freak. Though it was even worse if anyone called Holly a freak. He would tear someone apart with his teeth if they hurt Holly. "They didn't always feed us much, an' - an' they yelled a lot," he eventually told Draco, a bit reluctantly.

Holly narrowed her green eyes. "An' tied you up, an' hit you," she spat out.

"Tied you up!" Draco gasped. "The muggles did that?"

Harry shrugged again. It was a gesture that Bellatrix did not particularly like, but over the years, she would never truly be able to break him of the careless gesture. "I don't wanna talk 'bout it."

Draco pouted. He was used to having his ways. But something within him warned that he should be careful with the twins if he wanted them to like him (and he really, really did want to be liked.)

"Let's play a game!" Draco suggested brightly.

"What game?" Harry asked.

Draco furrowed his brow in thought. "I know! We can play catch the snitch. It's even more fun with a broom, but I only have one."

"Wha's a snitch?" Holly asked.

"I'll show you!" Draco dashed off around the side of the house, and the twins trailed after him at a more sedate pace, cautiously examining their surroundings for threats and also curious about the various decorative magical plants that grew in lush profusion. Along the edges of the lawn were topiary animals that moved, such as the rearing horse, and the lion shaking out it's leafy mane. There were also daffodil-like flowers along the house that emitted sparkling puffs that made the air shimmer, and hydrangeas whose fragrance evoked funny memories that made the twins giggle.

Draco soon returned with a small golden ball. Though he did not tell them much of the details of how the snitch worked, it was set to remain close to the ground, and fly at a fairly sedate pace (compared to a regular golden snitch.) As Draco tossed the ball in the air, its delicate wings unfurled, and it zipped about, causing Holly and Harry to laugh in delight.

"Las' one to catch it's a horklump!" Draco called out, as he raced after the snitch, followed by a laughing Harry and Holly.

-o-

The following months at the manor saw a great improvement in the twin's health. The pair of them remained close to Bellatrix, soaking in her attention and lessons like eager little plants. Bellatrix wasn't exactly kind (not that the twins had a good idea of what kindness was), and her behaviour was often erratic and unpredictable. And yet, she was also affectionate in her own way (which is to say, she was overly tactile), but the twins, starved for physical affection, craved her cuddles and coos and praise. She was their saviour. The twins loved each other with a bond that was infinitely deep, but somehow, their feelings for Bellatrix became woven into the fabric of their lives, and there was nothing they wouldn't do for their beloved mama, or so they told themselves.

Narcissa was pleased to learn that the twins both had rather sweet natures, and Lucius was pleased to learn that Bellatrix had not somehow warped their sweet natures into something a little more like herself. Draco had grown closer to the twins than he had to any of his other childhood playmates and his life was one of vivid and sharp happiness, even if he still sometimes felt that little 'something' that was missing. That something 'more.' But it was easy enough to put out of his mind when he could play with the twins, day after day, and know that he was their best friend, in all the world. He and no one else.

In their time at the manor, the twins had never asked about what became of their abusive muggle relatives. Of course, they were there when Bellatrix did the horrific things she had done to them, with all manner of creative and disturbing Dark spells. However, the twins never asked about the aftermath - after all, it was hardly the sort of thing they would consider.

The fact of the matter was, Bellatrix was irresponsible. She had always been reckless and irresponsible, because she was born a Black, and Blacks were rich and powerful. That meant that they had enough golden Galleons, and powerful connections, that all problems could be swept under the rug (except for the nasty business of Azkaban, but that was the past and did not bear thinking of.) And because Bellatrix was irresponsible, the matter of Harry and Holly's muggle relations was actually taken care of by Lucius Malfoy. It was the respectable Lucius Malfoy who used his power and his connections to take care of the chaotic mess of smashed objects and burned or broken walls. It was Lucius Malfoy and his connections who dealt with the gruesome bodies. And not only that but he had to use the Obliviate spell to change the memories of the muggles who had known the muggles. Now, what they believed was that Harry and Holly's relatives had up and moved away to America. The muggle house and muggle car were sold. The muggle assets in their bank account were taken care of, and a letter of resignation sent to their muggle boss. Identities were erased and created. And as far as anyone was aware, Harry and Holly's relatives were as pleased as could be in their new home, far, far away in America where no one would be able to find them.

As the twin's physical and mental health improved, they explored more and more of the manor, but they still preferred to stay as close to Bellatrix as possible. Bellatrix's lessons were a mix of theoretical and practical, and while she was quite thorough, she was also rather unconventional. She did not always take the twin's young ages into consideration during their lectures, sometimes focusing on basics, and other times, rambling about complex topics. Knowing her sister's nature, Narcissa had set aside some of the books that Draco's tutor had used to teach him. If Bellatrix had appreciated the gesture, she had never spoken of it, but Narcissa did notice Bellatrix referencing the books more than once. Regardless of what she taught, the twins listened carefully, attempting to absorb all that they could.

She spent all of the morning and early afternoons teaching them. Her late afternoons and evenings were spent in the library, combing the books and tomes for hints that might tell her where to begin her search for her beloved Dark Lord. It was a horribly slow process, made worse by Bellatrix's impatience. She would scan through tomes, skipping details, and failing to make certain connections, which meant that at some later point, she would have to re-read material to properly absorb it. She was a clever and dedicated witch, but she had not always been the best of scholars. But passion drove her, and because she was passionate about the Dark Lord, she could push herself to be something that she naturally was not.

At the moment, the twins were with Bellatrix in her sitting room. She was half-reclining across her sofa, in a rather languorous mood, and the twins shared the space on her lap, listening to the vibrations of her chest as she gave them their lessons.

"We'll start on some basic arithmetic today, my babies," Bellatrix randomly decided, as she stroked their hair. "You already know your numbers up to -"

"A hundred, mama," Holly informed her.

Bellatrix hummed, which made the twin's ears tickle and they giggled. "A hundred. How clever you two are." The twins felt a rush of warmth at the praise.

"Yes, we'll start on some arithmetic. You can use your fingers. Here, I'll show you." Bellatrix held out her hands, so that they could see. "One plus one is two. Do you see?"

The twins nodded. "Numbers are abstract, but they also apply to real things. I'll give you an example. If you kill one muggle. And then you kill another one muggle, then how many muggles have you killed?"

"Two muggles?" Harry and Holly answered, after thinking about it for a moment.

"Very good! Now look at my fingers again. If I kill one muggle, and then I kill another two muggles, how many muggles have I killed?"

The twins looked at the three fingers she held up, counting them. "Three! Three muggles!"

Bellatrix grinned, hugging them tightly against her. "There, you're catching on!" It was rather fortunate that their lesson this day had actually been age appropriate, but while the twins might not do quite as well in many of their other lessons, Bellatrix was surprisingly not a cruel tutor. If anything, Bellatrix sometimes seemed to forget the presence of the twins if she started reading to them about complex magical theories, or the intricacies of how the movement of the stars affected potion brews. It was the twin's occasional questions that would bring her back to the present moment, until she began drifting off as she read to them once again.

As much as the twins enjoyed their lessons with Bellatrix, they rarely ever discussed it in detail with Draco. Draco, of course, prattled on and on about his own lessons, and they knew that they were learning similar things - penmanship, maths, English, Latin, flora and fauna, geography, history, comportment, magical theory and pure-blood genealogy. But while the twins had come to adore Draco, their relationship with Bellatrix was special. There was always the sense that Bellatrix was planning something great - something grand, and Bellatrix had a tendency to act as if the twins were the only ones who could understand.

And as for what that something grand was - why, it was the return of the Dark Lord.

"My dear Cissy, and that Lucius doubt me," Bellatrix had said to them, in a woeful voice, as they lay together in Bellatrix's giant four-poster bed, readying for sleep. "But I know better. We'll find him, won't we babies? He'll be so pleased with me. And I believe he'll be pleased with you too, but I dare not presume. That's why you have to be good for me, babies. You have to listen to everything I teach you, and if you do, the rewards will be great -" and then Bellatrix would drift off into one of her faraway dreamy looks, her eyelids lowered, and a smile tugging at her thin lips. The twins were determined to see Bellatrix's dream come true. And if Auntie Cissy and Uncle Lucius did not understand, they perhaps Draco would not as well, and so, they did not speak of it.

-o-

Early Spring 1987

By the time Bellatrix had found a lead that might enable her to find her beloved Lord Voldemort, the twins had nearly been at the Malfoy manor for nearly two years, and Bellatrix deemed that their health was good enough to perform the Dark blood adoption ritual. She spoke of the ritual to only the twins, and of course, the twins assented to the idea (not that Bellatrix had actually asked their opinion.)

"We need to purify your blood, and make you my own," Bellatrix had informed them, as she attempted to smooth out their unruly hair with the wave of her magic wand. "Now that you are well enough, we need to remove that filthy taint from within you. I know it's not your fault, my babies, that your birth mother was a dirty mudblood, but soon it will no longer matter. The ritual will require a great deal of blood, and it will be quite painful. I've used the owl-post to order all the ingredients for the potion so we can perform the ritual in a sennight."

Bellatrix never told them that their lives would be at risk. But even if she had told them, and even if she had given them a choice, they would have agreed, because Bellatrix was their mama, and their saviour, and they loved her, so very much.

Draco had only found out about the ritual because the twins had to take the afternoon and evening off to rest and recover. He was rather put out, for he had grown accustomed to playing with them every day, but he was permitted to visit them in Bellatrix's sitting room, and they spent their time playing magic marbles (which, unlike ordinary marbles, was played in a three dimensional sphere since the marbles floated in the air, and what's more, after the game was won, the marbles turned into candy and could be eaten. Plus, the better the score, the tastier the marble.)

It took three days until the twins were returned to full health. That was when Bellatrix announced that they would be leaving. Most of Bellatrix's announcements were made only to the twins (or sometimes to Narcissa) but this time, the entire family had been seated at the large polished dining table when Bellatrix told them the news.

"We're leaving tomorrow," Bellatrix had declared, interrupting Lucius Malfoy as he was explaining some new legislation that was being written up. A line appeared between Lucius's brow at the interruption, but he was accustomed to Bellatrix's ill-manners. Of course, Bellatrix's comportment was beautiful if there was someone she wished to impress (and none could be more charming and graceful than Bellatrix at a dinner party or Ministry function), but Bellatrix did not care about impressing Lucius Malfoy.

"Leaving for where, Bella?" Narcissa asked, her fork hovering halfway between her plate her plate and her mouth. Narcissa was probably thinking that Bellatrix wanted to go out to the shops - perhaps a jaunt in Diagon Alley or Knockturn Alley.

"Eastern Germany," Bellatrix replied, after taking a sip of elf-made wine. The twins looked at her curiously. From their geography lessons, they knew that Eastern Germany was rather far away. But they did not question her - not at the dinner table. There would be time for questions before bed.

Narcissa blinked, surprised. "Eastern Germany?" she echoed. "Why, whatever for?"

"How long are you going for?" Draco demanded.

"Don't interrupt, dragon, it's rude," Narcissa corrected automatically, before looking back at her sister, expectant.

"I'm going to find the Crystal Caves," Bellatrix explained. "There is a spell I have found that uses crystal as a conduit for communication. The larger the mass or masses of Crystals, the greater the distance and clarity of communication."

"This - this is about finding the Dark Lord?" There was a worried expression in Narcissa's eyes.

"Of course!" Bellatrix scoffed. "What else what it be about, Cissy? It has been too long. Only think of how long he has been waiting for someone determined enough - someone loyal enough to find him. I have been here too long, and though it has been for a good cause, I need to find him soon." The yearning in Bellatrix's voice made both Narcissa and Lucius uncomfortable.

"We have been loyal to the Dark Lord," Lucius said darkly.

Bellatrix sneered in disbelief.

"You know where this Crystal Cave is?" Narcissa questioned, trying to break the tension that had settled upon the dining room.

"I know it's near some muggle mines, but there is a magical cave nearby, of greater power and beauty."

"You don't know where the cave is." Narcissa's voice was flat. Though she was as poised as ever, those that knew her best could see the tight tension in the straight line of her spine, and around her eyes.

Bellatrix took a lazy sip of wine. "I'll find it."

"Will you be taking the twins with you?" Lucius asked, not that he was particularly concerned, but it was annoying to be left out of the conversation (even if he didn't particularly like communicating with Bellatrix.)

"Of course."

"Bella!" Narcissa gasped. "What of the danger?"

Bellatrix's gaze slid over to where the twins sat, and a slow smile bloomed across her face. She glanced back at Narcissa. "What of it?"

Narcissa's lips thinned. "They can stay here."

As nonchalant as ever, Bellatrix said: "No. My babies will be coming with me. They are too important." Though her posture was relaxed, there was a hard look in Bellatrix's eyes now. There would be no arguing the matter.

"Aunt Bella?" Draco asked, his voice small.

Bellatrix peered towards him. "Yes, little dragon?"

"How long will you be gone?"

Bellatrix smiled at him, but it was a cruel smile - the smile of a shark that has scented blood, and in this case, the blood was Draco's weakness for her twins. "As long as it takes to find the Dark Lord."

"How long will that be?" Draco persisted.

"Long enough."

-o-

With the aid of magic, packing was incredibly quick and easy. And with the aid of house-elves, one did not even have to use their own magic to pack. The Malfoys had a few older trunks stored away in the attic, charmed with magical space, so that one could store enough to fill the contents of a house within the small space. Perhaps not a large house, like the Malfoy manor, but a small house. The trunks also had feather-light charms, so that the trunks were no burden, and on top of that, the trunks were shrunk, so that they could be tucked neatly away into one of Bellatrix's pockets.

Bellatrix had packed all that she owned, as well as all of the twins possessions. She had 'borrowed' some of the Malfoy books as well, including the book that explained the use of crystals as communication conduits.

She had not bothered with the twin's lessons that day, but instead, permitted them to spend the morning with Draco so that they could say good-bye. Draco's own lessons were cancelled, but Draco took no joy in the matter.

Draco was surprisingly difficult for the twins to find. He wasn't in his chambers or nursery (which was now called his play room). He wasn't in the orangery or kitchen or anywhere else in the house. In the end, the twins found him by the west garden, sitting in front of the pond and watching the magical fish with flame-like fins with a pensive expression. His legs were drawn up against him, and he rested his chin upon his knees. The twins, who stayed close enough that their arms were touching, sat down next to him.

"Why didn't you tell me you were leaving?" Draco asked, his voice small. It was clear that he was hurting.

"We didn't know," Holly answered, still dazed about what was happening.

"She didn't tell us 'til yesterday - the same time she told you," Harry explained.

"But I don't want you to go," Draco repined. The whole thing had come as such a blow - just as he had gotten accustomed to seeing Harry and Holly every day - to thinking that they might be here indefinitely.

"It won't be forev'r," Holly tried to reassure him, though the words felt empty.

"Only 'til we find the Dark Lord," Harry added, unhelpfully.

The twins may have thought their words were reassuring but instead, it only hurt Draco more. While he did not want them to leave, they didn't claim that they wanted to stay. Didn't they like him enough to want to stay here with him? Or perhaps they did not care about him with the same intensity as he cared for them. Alarmed, Draco shoved the thought aside.

A part of him wanted to spirit them away - there was a grove a little further along the western garden with a bit of magical space. When one entered the space, no one could see or find them, unless they were aware of the very specific entrance to that space. Perhaps if he took the twins there, they would not have to leave.

"Do you want to leave?" Draco asked. He dreaded the answer, but he felt that he needed to know. The question may have sounded straight-forward, but it wasn't, for what Draco was really asking was: do you want to leave me?

The twins shared a look, before turning their gaze back to Draco. "We want to go where mama goes," Holly answered honestly. Harry nodded.

The answer wasn't quite what Draco wanted to hear, and he felt an angry tight heat in his chest from his sense of betrayal. His throat felt thick, and his eyes stung, but he refused to cry over this. It wasn't as though the twins looked like they were about to cry (though both of them were miserable in their own ways.)

"Maybe you can come with us," Harry suggested. It wasn't as though any of them had a sense of what going to East Germany would entail. And having lived amidst magic for nearly two years, it seemed like a valid possibility.

"Yeah!" Holly chirped, straightening up and filled with enthusiasm over the idea. "Ask your mother and father if you can come."

Draco looked up, feeling a small sliver of hope. "You want me to come with you?"

"Of course," Harry replied, matter-of-factly, as Holly said: "Yes."

Draco beamed. "All right. I'll ask." It wasn't as though his parents had ever refused him before (although he mentally disregarded all those times his father had not allowed him to handle or touch something - usually certain Dark Artifacts that he kept in the house.) "Come on."

Draco and the twins stood, and rushed towards the house. Once they were inside, they kept to a more sedate pace - it would have been unseemly to be dashing about like little hellions. At this time of day, Narcissa was often at the orangery, but this time she wasn't there. They eventually found her in Bellatrix's chambers, speaking to her sister. The doors to the room had been left open, and as the three children peeked into the room, the sisters stop talking and looked towards them. Narcissa's quickly schooled her face into her usual cool expression, while Bellatrix was smirking.

"Mother?" Draco said, a bit more hesitantly than usual, as he darted an uneasy glance towards Bellatrix. Draco had always been unsettled by Bellatrix's presence, but ever since she had brought home the twins two years ago, she made him more uneasy than ever. He could not help feeling as though she disapproved of him, though Draco couldn't make sense of it - after all, his parents were terribly proud of him.

"Yes, dragon?"

Draco and the twins entered the room, stopping before the two adults on the sofa. Jutting his chin forward stubbornly, Draco gathered his courage. He refused to let his Aunt Bellatrix's presence cow him; not when it came to something this important.

"I want to go to Germany with the twins."

Narcissa tensed imperceptibly. "Dragon," she began, but Draco seemed to have sense the refusal in her tone of voice.

"I want to go!" He insisted. Bellatrix, who was watching the exchange, had broken into a wide grin of cruel amusement. The twins shifted on their feet uneasily. As much as they adored their mama, it wasn't usually a good sign when she wore that expression.

"No," Narcissa answered, firmly. Draco's eyes widened in shock. Had his mother really just refused him? Even when she could not give him something he wanted, she usually tried to placate him with something else (and often something better). But Narcissa was already tense from her earlier conversation with her impulsive sister. It had made her more abrupt than she usually would be.

Upon seeing Draco's expression, her demeanour softened. "Dragon," she said, sounding placating, "We can all go on holiday together some other time."

Draco's lips formed a pout. "I don't want to go on holiday some other time! I want to go with the twins."

"You're not going to get what you want this time, little dragon" Bellatrix taunted in a sing-sing voice.

"Bella!" Narcissa burst out in frustration. Her sister always did have a way of getting under one's skin. She took a deep breath, and her mask of calmness returned. "Bella, please. Stay out of this."

But Draco was already upset, and Bellatrix's outburst had not helped.

"I will get what I want!" Draco cried out, not wanting to let his Aunt's words needle him as much as they did. "I will!"

Bellatrix just smirked, while Narcissa looked tense. Feeling the need to get away from Bellatrix's rather toxic influence, Narcissa stood and with a touch on Draco's shoulder, she gestured that he should follow her into the corridor outside of Bellatrix's rooms. Obediently, Draco allowed himself to be led away. Narcissa shut the doors behind them, leaving the twins with Bellatrix.

Bellatrix's heavy-lidded eyes rested upon the twins, a smile still pulling at her lips. "You two have spoken to Draco?"

Uncertain of what she meant, the twins nodded. "Yes, mama."

Bellatrix stood. "Excellent. Since we are all packed up, it's best that we get going, before Cissy tries to argue me out of it again."

The twins gasped. "We haven't said goodbye to Draco!" Harry exclaimed.

"He'll be so mad if we leave without telling him," Holly added mournfully.

Bellatrix only grinned. "That spoiled widdle baby will be mad either way. Cissy won't let him leave, and I hardly want to spend my time coddling the widdle dwagon."

Harry and Holly pursed their lips, wearing matching expressions of unhappiness. They loved their mama, but they didn't like it when she talked about Draco that way.

"Draco isn't a baby," Harry defended stubbornly. Neither Harry nor Holly minded when their mama called them babies because it was said with affection, but when she called Draco a baby, it was meant cruelly.

Bellatrix shrugged indifferently. "Draco isn't special like you two are."

The words confused them, making them feel both warm with pride, but also sad for Draco.

"Come along my babies," Bellatrix ordered. "We've a long day of travel ahead." Wrapping a pair of cloaks around each of their shoulders, she patted her pocket to assure herself that the trunk was still there, and then pulled the twins against her. With a loud cracking noise, the three of them instantly vanished from the room.

-o-

Bellatrix and the twins arrived at Eastern Germany using a series of apparition jumps over the course of a long, draining day. Apparition itself was an unpleasant experience - it might have been a mode of instant magical transportation, popping from location to location, but there was nothing enjoyable about feeling as though one were pressed from all sides with iron bands, pressed into yourself so that you were crushed, and then suddenly you weren't.

The twins were just as magically exhausted as Bellatrix. They could not perform apparition itself, but Bellatrix was extremely talented at Dark Magic, and because she and the twins were now linked by blood, she had been able to siphon off their magic, and use it for her own needs. It was not the same as the way the twins shared their magic - that was something natural, and powerful and right between them. When the twins shared magic, it was effortless, feeling no different from using their own magic. When Bellatrix used their magic, it felt like she had pulpy orange juice in her veins instead of blood - it was simply foreign and strange (and yet, rather sweet).

Bellatrix and the twin's final destination was a small wizarding village known as Mohnburg nestled in the mountains. While a wizarding community within a city may have provided better accommodations and more resources and information, Bellatrix was still a fugitive, and had no desire to be caught and returned to Azkaban. When she had first escaped, a years ago, it had been easy to be reckless and indifferent to her safety. But now, with her babies in her care, and a lead that might take her to her beloved Dark Lord, she did not dare to take the same risks as she once did.

The village of Mohnburg had cobblestone streets, and brightly coloured buildings, three to four stories tall, that were smooshed side-by-side. Poppies, alpine rose, and other wildflowers grew in profusion, adding a lovely fragrance to the air. It was charmingly whimsical, with a bakery that produced the most fragrant smelling bread, a quaint bookstore, a robe shop, an owl-post office, several stores that sold used antiques and artifacts, and cheerful apothecary that sold all manner of potions and potion supplies. There was also a stately building that looked a bit like a medieval keep, but turned out to be a branch of Gringotts wizarding bank, run by goblins.

Bellatrix did not bother to use the bank - she kept all her galleons close at hand in a pretty mokeskin handbag that was charmed to be close to bottomless (and light-weight) so that she could nearly fit the contents of her entire Gringotts vault in there, if she had wanted to. Feeling depleted, the plan was to find a nourishing hot meal and a room at an inn where they could sleep their achiness (and in the twin's case, their sadness) away.

Because Bellatrix and the twins spoke only English (and some Latin), they had to make use of a translating charm to understand the natives. The charm was far from perfect - at best, it gave them a grasp of traveller's basics - things such as asking about costs, or directions or bathrooms. But it had the added side-effect of making new languages easier to learn, so Bellatrix had cast the charm on herself and the twins as well. As long as they kept their language simple, they would be able to get by.

With the aid of the language charm, and the benefit of having a great deal of galleons, Bellatrix was able to easily procure both food and a cozy room to stay in (with homey patchwork quilts, and brightly coloured calico curtains.) Admittedly, Bellatrix wasn't at all charmed by their little room in the inn, but the twins liked it, even if it was nothing at all like Bellatrix's luxurious room at the manor. There was much that needed to be done here at Mohnburg, but it would be better to do so when one had the energy and sharpness of mind that came about after a good sleep.

Because the bed was rather small (anything would be small compared to Bellatrix's gigantic four-poster bed), and the twins were not accustomed to being separated from their mama, Bellatrix had to transfigure the bed in the inn into a much bigger bed (aided with the use of one of the arm chairs.)

Despite their exhaustion, it was a struggle for Harry and Holly to fall asleep that night. It wasn't that the bed was unfamiliar or that they felt too cramped. Considering that the twins had been forced to sleep together in a cupboard under the stairs when they lived with the muggles, pretty much anything else seemed spacious in comparison. The twins could tell that Bellatrix was still awake as well, though in her case, it seemed to be due to the discomfort of what she would call 'substandard' accommodations.

Understanding each other's need for reassurance, they reached out and linked hands. It was normal for twins to like to be together, but in Harry and Holly's case, the physical closeness was more important to them than most people. They may not have realized it explicitly at the time, but they had the ability to share and amplify one another's magic, and the sharing of magic itself created a link between them unlike any other. What they also did not fully realize was that when they were apart and not touching, their magic was closer to average levels, with their own individual strengths and weaknesses. However, because they made such an effort to remain close to one another, this detail had passed their notice.

This first night away from the manor, Harry and Holly were troubled because of the way that they had left Draco. They knew he would be hurt by their disappearance. They had a feeling that he would feel betrayed by their actions. Would he forgive them for what they had done? Though their penmanship and writing skills were still fairly rudimentary, they decided that they would write him, and hopefully, he would accept the gesture of goodwill. Though it helped to know that they had Bellatrix and each other, that did not mean that they wanted to lose Draco's friendship.

The following day, the twins had dark circles under their eyes from their poor sleep, and Bellatrix's mood was decidedly surly. While she had more energy after her sleep, it had not been a comfortable one. One would think that after Azkaban, Bellatrix would be less fussy about her beds, but to Bellatrix, luxury was 'normal' and her stay had Azkaban had been treated like more of a 'test' to prove her devotion to the Dark Lord.

The twins, though aching with the pain of missing Draco, were still felt a tentative interest in exploring Mohnburg. They had never been to a wizarding village before, and even in Britain, they had remained exclusively at the manor, and as such, had never seen the wonders of Diagon Alley, with its wonderful magical wares.

They wanted to ask Bellatrix about the sights, since she would surely know more about the wizarding villages than they did, but one look at Bellatrix's grimace was enough to convince the twins to leave Bellatrix alone.

"D'you reckon they'll sell brooms here?" Harry asked Holly (not that she would know, but it was fun to talk about tangible things, and not just feel feelings through their link.) Harry had tried Draco's training broom back at the manor, and had taken to flying with remarkable ease.

Bellatrix, who had overheard the comment, could not help but roll her eyes. Two years with Draco had appeared to instill him with that same obsession with flying. But Bellatrix made no comment. Instead, she waved her wand and uttered an incantation that took away the ache in her back from the horrible sleep she had suffered in that tiny bed.

"I'm sure they would," Holly replied, trying to envision such a thing. "I think I'd like t' see the owls though. The eagle owls at Malfoy manor were never very friendly. I should like an owl, I think."

The twins maintained their slightly strained light-hearted conversation, not uttering a single word about Draco. The fact was, they could sense their feelings about the whole matter through the link. To bring up their friend would be like a sharp slap to the face, reminding them of the terrible way that they had left him, and the possibility that he might not forgive their actions. It was a bit terrifying to think that they might have lost their first real friend.

"Come along then," Bellatrix beckoned, once the twins were dressed in their robes and ready to go. Her naturally haughty demeanour meant that the innkeepers easily fell into a deferential role, as Bellatrix paid them their galleons for a hot breakfast. They also answered her quickly and willingly as she asked them whether or not they knew the whereabouts of the mysterious Crystal Cave (though due to the translating charm, Bellatrix had to use some colourful descriptors and various hand gestures before the innkeeper could grasp her meaning.)

"We've heard of it, Madam" the dark-haired portly innkeeper admitted. "But we do not know the exact location. It is said to be extremely precise - you cannot stumble upon these particular caves by accident, I'm afraid."

"Who can I speak to who might know?" Bellatrix demanded. Her period of rest at Malfoy manor had helped her to recover much of her former beauty, and even with her imperious manner, the innkeeper all but fell over himself to answer her.

"If anyone would know it would be Old Aldo. He has lived in this village the longest, and has seen more than the others. He lives in the building at the very edge of the village to the north, but he spends much of his days at the cafe along the street, playing cards with his chums. I wish I could have offered more help to you."

Uninterested in sight-seeing (nor desiring to sate the curiosity of the twins), Bellatrix immediately headed to the village end, seeking out Old Aldo. Just as the innkeeper described, the old man was at a table at the cafe, cards kept closely to his chest. He had a liver-spotted bald head, covered with a cheerful black feathered hat, and more wrinkles than the twins had ever seen on a person. He was with three other old men (though not as old as Aldo), and their expressions ranged from friendly curiosity, to lecherous leers.

Wearing her pure-blood superiority like a mantle, she strode up to the table and stood before the rheumy-eyed scrutiny of the old men. Bellatrix smiled at them, but being who she was (without even trying), her smile was full of dark promise. She turned her hooded eyes towards the oldest looking man of the bunch, who watched with with something like amusement on his face.

"May I ask if I am speaking to Aldo? The innkeeper pointed me this way," Bellatrix explained, her tone of voice perfectly charming. The twins stood a bit behind her, watching the scene with curiosity.

"Indeed, I am Aldo," the old man replied, and as he smiled, even more wrinkles appeared on his face. "And you are?"

"Bellatrix Lestrange."

It was interesting, for the twins to witness Bellatrix acting in a way that one could describe as 'amiable.' She was beautiful and engaging, and while it was a mask, she wore it so well that one could not help but believe it to be genuine. In the time that the twins had known her, they had seen almost all of the faces that Bellatrix wore. They were accustomed to a woman who was often at the mercy of her own stormy moods, but this interaction only served to prove that Bellatrix could control herself, if she had the motivation to do so.

"How are you liking our ... village?" The low gritty voice of one of the old men broke into the twin's thoughts. It seemed that the translation charm did not pick up all the words, but the meaning was clear enough.

They peered at him, surprised at the attention. Before Bellatrix had found them, they had had a deep mistrust of strangers. Their muggle relatives had turned their neighbours against them, claiming that the twins had some sort of 'mental instability' that made them violent and dangerous, and so, even if they had been little more than toddlers, people saw them as odd and untrustworthy. But their time at Malfoy manor, under Bellatrix's tutelage and Narcissa's and Lucius's critical eyes, had given them a certain social grace.

"We have seen little of it, sir," Harry replied, with the smoothness of a pure-blood scion. It was so unlike his easy conversation with Holly earlier, but it would make their mama proud.

"What we have seen is beaut'ful so far," Holly added, with a smile that felt strained, but caused the older man's eyes to crinkle.

"What are you here for?" the old man asked conversationally.

The question caused Bellatrix to give Holly a light squeeze on the shoulder. It was a warning, that they weren't to reveal their business, but otherwise, Bellatrix did not cut into their conversation, and continued speaking to Old Aldo.

"Travelling with our mama," Holly answered politely.

"Both of you look very much like your mama," the old man replied. "She's very beautiful."

A curl of disgust tightened in the twin's belly when they saw the way the old man looked at their mama. They recognized that she was beautiful, and while the man's words were complimentary, the look he gave Bellatrix seemed somehow dirty.

"Where is your papa?" the old man questioned.

The twins had no idea how to answer that. They knew that they must have had a father, but now, all they had was Bellatrix. Sometimes, Bellatrix spoke of the Dark Lord as if they could all be a family together, but they could hardly claim that the Dark Lord was their 'papa.'

"Don't you have a papa?" the old man prodded.

It was extremely hard for Harry and Holly to maintain their polite and calm facade, and they could feel an inner tension, needling them. Harry's nails were digging into the palm of his hand, to keep him from snarling and growling for the man to leave them alone. Holly's magic twisted uneasily, and she just wanted the man to shut up. With that thought, the old man began coughing in loud, phlegmy hacks.

Holly blinked. Had she done that? She and Harry shared a look. They could feel their magic sparking in the air around them, and uncertainty and guilt tugged at their hearts. While the old man's behaviour had been intrusive and rude, they hadn't actually wanted to hurt him. All they wanted was to feel safe. The old man had stood up from the table and entered the cafe, looking for a drink of water, and they felt a rush of relief that he was not badly injured. Plus, they no longer had to endure the awkward small talk where they had to pretend to be something that they both were, and weren't.

Finally, Bellatrix had squeezed the last bit of information she could from Old Aldo, and they were saying their good-byes. Bellatrix took the twins by the hands, squeezing tight.

"Such beautiful magic," she murmured. "Such delicious Dark magic." Bellatrix often said such things whenever Holly's magic crackled loose. They did not question it - they could feel each other's magic after all, and they never considered how curious it was that Bellatrix could even feel their magic. After all, they could not feel hers, or anyone else's magic - only each other's.

"Mama?"

"Shall we have a look around town, my babies?" Bellatrix crooned. The twin's magic always did seem to put Bellatrix in a good mood.

By Bellatrix's estimation, Mohnburg was terribly provincial, with little excitement, and a pitiful assortment of wares. But to Harry and Holly, it was one of the most magical places they had ever seen, comparable to Malfoy manor, even if it lacked the manor's lavish grandeur. They were enchanted by the owls at the post office, ranging from the tiny pygmy owls which would probably struggle to lift a sheet of parchment, to the sweet barn owls, to the stately great grey owls. The bakery also happened to sell a number of sweet confections, so the twins purchased some kitten-shaped marzipan that pranced about playfully, some pumpkin spice biscuits and some chocolate wands.

The bookstore was a bit disappointing - the selection of English or Latin books was quite limited, and at six, their reading abilities were still limited. The apothecary was fascinating. What was one supposed to do with chicken lips, or flying seahorses or dog tongues? And there were brains of every shape and size, floating in clear jars for who knows what purpose?

Bellatrix wasn't at all engaged in the shops until they ventured into the second antique shop, in a side street away from the main thoroughfare. While the first antique shop had been crowded with knickknacks in every corner, and was run by a smiling middle-aged blonde woman, the second antique shop was vastly different. There were much less objects here, and the store itself seemed to have a dim and musty quality, as though the candles were too few (or burning too low.)

It wasn't dirty - there weren't cobwebs or broken windows or other obvious signs of disrepair. It was simply something in the air, and though they should have been uncomfortable, the twins felt surprisingly at ease, curious about the strange things that were bought and sold.

As Bellatrix perused the glass cases near the back of the of the shop, she noticed a long box filled with used wands. Her eyes glinted with interest. She herself did not need a wand, but what of Harry and Holly? If they were in Britain, they would have to wait until they were eleven, but they weren't in Britain anymore, were they? Even if the wand did not perfectly suit the twins, it would still give them ample opportunity to practice magic. True, it would be dangerous to attempt magic at six - children's bodies were so much more sensitive, and so much more likely to be damaged, and yet, Bellatrix was sure that the twins could manage it. She would be there, watching out for them after all.

Bellatrix called for the shopkeeper, which drew the twins towards her as they wondered what had caught her interest. From behind a curtained doorway, a young woman came forth, with drab hair, eyes, and clothes, making her look entirely colourless. Though the woman seemed unassuming at first glance, there was a sharpness in her eyes, and an assurance in her bearing.

"Something interests you?" the woman asked Bellatrix, resting her hands on the rough wooden counter.

"I'd like to purchase a pair of wands," Bellatrix replied without preamble. The shopkeeper nodded and opened the glass display case where the wands were held. She gave no warning about the fact that the wands might not suit Bellatrix, but assumed that the other woman would know. Taking the box of wands, she set it upon the counter.

The twins were at Bellatrix's side now, curious about the wands.

"Well, my babies, let's see if we can find something that suits, shall we?" Bellatrix asked them. She pulled out a pair of wands, and held them out to the twins. If the shopkeeper objected, she did not say, but simply watched the scene with her assessing gaze.

The twin's eyes widened. They knew that most witches and wizards did not receive their first wands until they were eleven. Even if Bellatrix had not told them, Draco had certainly mentioned it often enough, as he prattled on about all the magic he had planned to do when he was older. Not questioning Bellatrix's actions (for the assumed that she would know best), the reached out for the wands.

Holly had no reaction from her wand, but Harry's caused a ceramic figurine to shatter. The shopkeeper did not even blink, but waved her own wand to fix the figurine. Bellatrix took the wands from the twins and set them aside, handing them another pair. This time, neither of them had a reaction.

They tried wand after wand, and because there hadn't been too many in the box, the twins had tried them all with no luck. Bellatrix's lips formed an irritated moue.

"Is that all you have?" Bellatrix demanded of the shopkeeper. None of the wands were ideal (not that she was expecting that), but Bellatrix had hoped to find something that was at least passably compatible.

The shopkeeper hummed thoughtfully. "I have another pair of wands - brother wands, but they are dangerous wands." The shopkeeper's eyes looked from one twin to the other. "Not only to others, but to the bearer of the wands."

It was a warning, but Bellatrix ignored it. "Well?" she demanded. "Let's see them then!"

With a nod, the woman retreated to the back of the store behind the curtain and returned, carrying a long and narrow box with no lid. She set the box upon the counter. Bellatrix's eyes gleamed with interest, and her bony hands reached for the wands with eagerness. Before she touched them, her eyes widened, causing her to hesitate. But then, a crazed toothy grin spread across her face and she clutched the wands. There was a curious sound, like a cracking snap and a hiss as Bellatrix held the wands, and the twins widened as they saw that her hands seemed to be smoking.

Bellatrix looked down at the twins, and held the pair of wands towards them. Unlike the other wands that they had held, this pair of wands were particularly plain, with no embellishments. They looked like little more than straight, narrow sticks, with no knots in the wood or bends of any kind. Not daring to hesitate (especially when Bellatrix was in this particular mood), the twins took the wands. When Bellatrix opened her hands, they were both shocked to see it blistered and red.

As Harry and Holly held the wands, there was no snapping or hissing sound, but both of them felt a slick foreign sensation in their magic, like something oily was in their veins. It was an uncomfortable feeling and neither of them cared for it, but Bellatrix's teeth were showing, and her eyes had a manic gleam.

"Go on! Wave it about!" Bellatrix insisted, sounding almost breathless with excitement.

Harry and Holly shared a look, that silently expressed their unease, but they obeyed Bellatrix, giving the wands and down and up flick. A blackish green mist oozed from the tip of the wands, coiling with snake-like undulations, swirling ever so slowly around Bellatrix who stood between the twins. Bellatrix's heavy-lidded eyes closed and she moaned with pleasure.

"Yessss," Bellatrix hissed. "Yes, yes!" She snapped her eyes open and spun around, facing the shopkeeper. "The woods. The cores. I must know!"

The shopkeeper looked down at Holly's wand with an inscrutable expression Her wand was a blackish brown colour. "The girl's wand is ... with a … hair core"

She looked at Harry's wand which was a reddish brown colour. "And the boy's wand is ... with a … hair core"

Bellatrix cursed. "Useless translation charm!" While the charm worked for most basic words, it did not seem to have been able to translated the wood and core type.

The shopkeeper did not seem surprised that Bellatrix was not a native, and had been using a translation charm. Though the woman appeared to be the sort who would be unforthcoming, she instead attempted to work around the charm. "The core comes from the hair of a creature with a human-like head, a lion's body and a scorpion's tail."

Bellatrix gasped. "Manticore? I've never heard of anyone using manticore hair for wands."

The shopkeeper shrugged. "I do not make wands. I know little to nothing about wandlore. This pair was sold to me by a stranger to these parts who looked to be cursed and near dying."

Bellatrix was indifferent to the story, but Harry and Holly's stomachs twisted uncomfortably. They were still holding onto their wands, and still feeling that oiliness beneath their skin, but both of them wanted to let the wands go. Yet, neither of them quite dared to do so in front of Bellatrix. She had seemed so pleased with the wands.

"How much?" Bellatrix demanded of the shopkeeper.

The plain woman frowned, looking at Harry and the Holly. They tried to keep their expressions neutral, but she must have sensed their discomfort, for there was the faintest flicker of pity in her eyes that vanished as quickly as it came.

"I do not feel comfortable selling these wands," the shopkeeper eventually replied, her calm gaze returning to Bellatrix.

"What?!" Bellatrix screeched. "No one denies me! How much?!"

The shopkeeper shook her head. "Sorry, but I will not sell them."

Furious, Bellatrix pulled her wand out, and with an ugly curl of her lips, she pointed the wand at the woman's forehead. "I said, how much?"

The shopkeeper replied with a cold smile. "My shop is protected with enchantments that prevent harm from coming to me. You cannot coerce me into selling those wands."

Bellatrix bared her teeth. "Protective enchantments can't protect you from everything. Especially not when you're dealing with a witch like me."

A flicker of uncertainty crossed the plain woman's face. But before she could say or do anything in her own defence, Bellatrix called out: "Crucio!"

The shopkeeper's crumbled to her knees, a terrifying scream of pain escaping her lips as the torture curse caused her to feel like white-hot knives were piercing every inch of her skin, and a terrible pressure made her feel like her skull and bones were twisting and ripping and crushing the sensitive organs around them. Not wanting to release the curse, Bellatrix had stepped forward, so that she could continue holding the curse on the woman behind the counter.

Harry and Holly gasped in horror, both of them dropping their wands, as they brought their hands to their ears and squeezed their eyes shut. Bellatrix had spoken of torture before, and they had witnessed her doing terrible things to their muggle relatives (or not exactly witnessed, since they had shut their eyes that time too, though they could not shut their ears), but that did not make it any less frightening or disturbing for them. But they did not make a move to stop Bellatrix - she was their mama, so surely, what she was doing was for a good cause, wasn't it? It was something they had to believe in their hearts. They refused to think that their savior would be needlessly cruel.

Bellatrix held the curse for only a minute, but for the shopkeeper and the twins, the minute felt like a long eternity. When Bellatrix released the curse, the woman was moaning and panting heavily. Bellatrix's eyes sparkled with a fiendish glee, and she kept her wand still pointed at the trembling shopkeeper.

"Well?" Bellatrix purred. "How much?"

The shopkeeper looked up at Bellatrix, her face streaked with wet tears. "I refuse to profit from your ... Take the wands and never come back," she spat out. "May you rue the day that you ever set sight on those ... things." Though the translation charm did not catch all the words, the meaning was clear enough.

Bellatrix's eyes widened, and then she threw back her head and laughed. The twins, who had dropped their hands from their ears and opened their eyes, shuffled closer together and held hands, watching Bellatrix with a mix of awe and uncertainty. The awe wasn't because they took pleasure in torture, but when Bellatrix was like this, she exuded a wild sort of power and beauty that was incredibly alluring. The uncertainty was because for all that Bellatrix might see a Darkness within them, they did not enjoy the pain of others.

They had hesitantly admitted this to Bellatrix once, that they did not like causing others pain (though they made an exception when it came to those who had hurt them first, like the muggles.) They were worried it would disappoint her. But Bellatrix had laughed indulgently and said that they would grow out of it, that underlying sort of compassion that someone like Bellatrix would never understand. ("You're strong," Bellatrix had told them that day. "I know you're strong, so even if you think you do not like to see others in pain, you will learn to enjoy it. I know it.")

The laughter tapered off, and Bellatrix turned to look at the twins, a relaxed and affectionate smile on her lips. Torturing others always did make Bellatrix feel good. "Pick up the wands," she ordered. "We're going, my babies."

-o-

The twins had feared that their rapid disappearance would leave Draco feeling betrayed, and they weren't wrong. He had been hurt by the way they had vanished, and that had quickly given way to a burning, uncontrollable rage. Nothing his mother or father had said had calmed him, and they were at a loss as to how to comfort him. When that fury eventually burnt itself out, Draco's anger turned into sadness and he was an inconsolable mess. He missed the twins terribly, with a soul-wrenching pain that was like nothing he had ever experienced. The feeling was like a black, gaping hole in his chest - why did the twins make him feel this way? Like something within him was missing (or worse - something had been ripped away from him?)

They were his best friends. Yes, he had other playmates, but it really wasn't the same. The twins were something special and not just because they were the Twins-Who-Lived, but there was something between them that drew him in, and made him yearn.

He was fairly articulate for a six year old (proper diction reflected well on a person after all, and Draco, Holly and Harry were being raised under pure-blood values, which meant that it was important to be superior not only in wealth and status, but in one's carriage as well.) But he still couldn't articulate why he wanted the twins the way he did. And while it was childish, and while he knew his parents (and especially his father) would not approve, he could not help his emotions. It hurt! It hurt like nothing had ever hurt before, to want something so, so badly, and yet know that it was out of reach.

The day that the twins had left, Draco had been in shock. His mother had pulled him into the corridor outside of Aunt Bella's rooms, and he thought that without his Aunt's spiteful presence, he might be able to convince his mother to let him go with the twins. In his heart, perhaps he already knew that she wouldn't - he could see the resolve in her eyes, and yet, he was so good at getting his own way that he could not help the little seed of hope within his chest. But then, there was a loud crack, and Draco and his mother had looked towards the closed doors in shock.

"No," his mother gasp. "She wouldn't have -" His mother pushed the chamber door opens, but Aunt Bella, and the twins were gone.

"Harry? Holly?" Draco called out, hesitantly. Surely they would not have left without speaking to him. They had said they wanted him to come along, so how could they just leave him?

"Mother - where are they?"

"Oh, dragon," his mother replied sadly, causing a sharp, knife-like pain in his chest. He didn't want to believe it. He refused to believe it!

"No!" he cried out, and began to frantically search Aunt Bella's chambers, even though he knew that she would punish him terribly if she knew (though generally, Draco's mother and father protected him from Aunt Bella's wrath.)

"Harry! Holly! Come out!" He demanded, peering into the bedroom, checking the bed, and flinging open the wardrobe. "Please come out!"

"Darling!" his mother called to him, pleadingly, but he ignored her. She reached out for him, but he slipped out of reach, continuing to frantically search the room.

"Harry! Holly! Where are you hiding?"

Unable to bear it anymore, his mother stunned him with the gentlest stupefy charm that she could manage. She caught him before he crumbled to the floor, and then called for a house-elf to put him into bed.

It wasn't until the following day that the twin's absence truly hit Draco. He had woken up feeling a bit groggier than usual, thinking about how it looked like another sunny day, and it would be nice if he could skip his lessons and play with Harry and Holly instead. He had been lying there, daydreaming about the fun they would have together when it suddenly occurred to him that: No, that wouldn't be happening. It wouldn't be happening because the twins were gone! With this thought, he burst into tears.

His crying brought his house-elf Wiffim, who quickly vanished to call for Mistress Narcissa. Not long after, his mother dashed into his room and to his bedside (and though it was early, she was already dressed for the day, in elegant robes, and every hair in place). She had been expecting something like this so she gathered him into her arms, holding him close - something she had often done when he was younger, but less so these days since Draco had insisted that he was too old for it.

"Shh, hush, my dragon, hush." His mother stroked his silky strands of hair, in gentle soothing motions. "Hush. It's all right. I know, I know, it's hard."

Draco only continued to sob, and while the tears would have soaked an ordinary set of robes, his mother's elegant robes were charmed so that no dust or dirt or moisture could affect them. As soon as his tears touched the fabric, they magically vanished away, leaving only the silky soft, dry fabric against Draco's cheeks.

"Shh. It's all right now. I have you, my dragon. It's all right."

She held him for a while longer, until his sobs turned into hiccups and ragged breathing. "I'm here for you, darling dragon. I'm here." she murmured, her voice tender.

"The - twins," he gasped out. "I want - them - back."

"I'm sorry, my dragon," Draco's mother murmured. These were not the words he wanted to hear. What he wanted to hear was that his parents would exert their considerable power to give him what he wanted.

His tears, which had begun to subside, sprung anew, and he was bawling again.

"Oh, darling!" his mother exclaimed, now caressing him more frantically, not that it helped. "Please don't cry! They'll come back. There, there, sweet dragon. Hush. Tizzy!" One of the house-elves appeared with a pop in front of the bed.

"Tizzy, get some Calming Draught." The house-elf nodded at his mother's orders and vanished, reappearing with the phial of potion.

Draco drank the potion without a fuss, and his sobs once again were reduced, this time to mournful sighs as he burrowed against his mother.

"I want them back," he repeated, his words muffled against his mother's robes. "Make them come back."

This time, his mother did not reply, but instead, continued to stroke his hair. Eventually, he fell back into a fitful sleep, and she tucked him in, letting him rest.

-o-

Holly and Harry were more shaken by the experience of witnessing the shopkeeper being tortured than they expected. In fact, the whole of experience of being away from Malfoy manor was more unsettling than they could have imagined. Though they had spent more time with their muggle relatives than they had spent with Bellatrix and Draco at Malfoy manor, the manor still felt more like home than the muggle's suburban house ever did. Mohnburg was interesting, and there were many things here that captivated them, but as much as they enjoyed it, it did not feel like home, which was disturbing because for Harry and Holly, home had always felt like each other - they had never been attached to a place before.

Living with the muggles had been like an unending nightmare for them, and not just because the muggles had been abusive. They were constantly worried for each other. Harry may not have been to concerned about his own fate, having developed a fearless numbness that was tragic in one so young, but he feared for Holly. And while Holly was more vulnerable, she felt the same for Harry. But then Bellatrix had swooped in and saved them and she had been unlike anyone they had ever known. While the muggles had reviled them, Bellatrix accepted them. No, it was more than acceptance. She seemed to admire them, which was something they had never experienced from an adult. They craved that positive attention. For once in their lives, they felt as though they might be worthy. Bellatrix was the parent that they had longed for, for all that she was erratic and emotionally unpredictable.

If they had stayed at Malfoy manor - if they hadn't been pulled into this mad quest of Bellatrix's, it was certain that the twins would have been entirely different people, despite Bellatrix's wild moods and behaviour. Perhaps they would have turned out more like Draco, or other indulged pure-blood children. Perhaps they would have accepted the pure-blood indoctrination, and more easily accepted the Dark Arts, if they had remained in that sheltered bubble of existence. Because while it was true that Bellatrix was rather unstable, life at Malfoy manor itself was a form of stability. At the manor, Harry's fearless facade had begun to crumble, allowing him to experience the normal joys of childhood. Holly's vulnerability was protected, allowing her to open up more fully and safely. For all the restrictions that might be placed on pure-blood children, Harry and Holly were freer at the Malfoy manor than they had ever been in their lives, and it was the closest they ever were to becoming 'normal.' But that was not to be - the twins had not remained at Malfoy manor. And so, the destiny of Harry and Holly changed.

Neither of the twins were strangers to darkness, torture, death and pain. But when they had lived with the muggles, it was they who had been in darkness. It was they who had been tormented, physically and psychologically. Back then, when the twin's magic lashed out, in what the wizarding world called 'accidental magic,' it was almost always in violent methods through Holly. They never felt guilty about it. They would not have known - could not have known how Dark that magic was. All they knew was that their so-called guardians had hurt them, and the strange ability that Holly had to return that pain upon them seemed justified.

Yes, they had been called freaks, and were ostracised by the people around them, but they accepted each other, and in a way, they were each other's lifelines. The world might have appeared to hate them, but as long as they were on each other's side, they could survive. But just because it was Holly's magic that tended to lash out, it did not mean that Harry's magic remained dormant, or that Harry remained passive. Curiously, Harry's magic tended to be more defencive than offensive, protective rather than harmful. But Harry manifested his protectiveness towards his twin in other ways - through physical action.

If Harry had been an only child, perhaps he would have been more careful and withdrawn. Perhaps he would have been more willing to submit to his relatives' cruelty. But having Holly changed things entirely. Having Holly meant protecting Holly because Holly was like an extension of himself. And so, Harry did not lash out with magic, but he lashed out with his limbs through punches and kicks, and he lashed out with his teeth, through snarls and bites, and in the end, his muggle relatives felt perfectly justified in collaring and chaining him.

Perhaps his life would have been a bit easier if it had just been him. Perhaps he would have kept his head down, and stayed quiet, and would have had more room in the cupboard, and would only have had to endure yelling (and the occasional food deprivation), but that would have been a different Harry in a different universe. And Harry knew that even with the horrible mistreatment at the hands of the muggles, he wouldn't have given up his twin for anything, and she would have felt the exact same. They were each other's source of strength and love. He couldn't have known that the link between them amplified whatever strange Darkness existed. He couldn't have imagined that having Holly in his life, somehow made things worse.

Since they had known her, the twins felt that Bellatrix was someone who was on their side. Because she was the first person to accept them, accept their magic, they felt that she understood them. Harry and Holly did not exactly see themselves as being good people. Their time with the muggles had left them scarred with the belief that they were wicked, dangerous creatures, who were most definitely bad. And while they had been very young, and their morals weren't fully developed, they still knew that it was wrong to hurt people (the way that Harry and Holly hurt their relatives, even if it had been in self-defence.) But for all that there was a deep-seated conviction of their own badness, it wasn't really true. The twins might not have known this, but they were both caring souls, who loved one another deeply, and if their muggle relatives had shown even a modicum of mercy and kindness, the twins would have soaked it up in a heartbeat, and would have been willing to be good and to please.

But that wasn't what happened. Instead, Bellatrix had swooped in like an avenging angel, and it had been she who had shown them kindness, and she who had said that they were magical, and that their magic was a wonderful (delicious, entrancing, bewitching) thing. And Bellatrix had then tortured, and tormented and utterly destroyed their muggle relatives, all the while firm in the belief that it was a good thing. So if Holly and Harry had hurt those same muggles in the past, didn't that make them good as well?

Yes, Bellatrix did speak of torture and death and destruction as if they were good things. Which meant that the conflict and distress the twins felt upon seeing the shopkeeper being tortured was wrong wasn't it? Their young mind struggled to wrap their heads around the whole matter. They clung to each other, closer than ever, desperately trying to be each other's anchors. They weren't afraid of Bellatrix, but they were afraid of something. But how could they put into words, what they felt? There was no one in their lives to tell them that with Bellatrix, up was down, and wrong was right. There was no one who had said to their face (not even Lucius or Draco), that Bellatrix might have been more than a little insane.

If the twins didn't enjoy torture (and deep down in their hearts, they really, really didn't), would they disappoint Bellatrix? She had claimed that they would learn to love it, learn to enjoy it. All they could really do was hope that she might be right. And besides, Bellatrix only tortured those who deserved it. Didn't she?

-o-

Despite being in Mohnburg, far away from the familiar setting of Malfoy manor, the twin's chaotic lessons with Bellatrix still continued, but now, the added instructions on the use of their wands. Bellatrix had hoped that their stay at Mohnburg would be a short one. She was an impatient woman, who valued action over planning, but after her talk with Old Aldo, she learned that finding the Crystal Cave would be more challenging than she initially thought.

Old Aldo, it turned out, did not know the location of the Crystal Caves, but he knew of someone who would be able to direct Bellatrix there. Perhaps 'someone' wasn't entirely the right word, for it was a creature or perhaps a being who knew of the whereabouts of the Crystal Cave and not a human. The notion made Bellatrix want to sneer with contempt. Like most other pure-blood witches and wizards, she viewed creatures and beings and other humanoid or non-humanoid species as being beneath her. Nonetheless, she would endure interactions with the creature, if it brought her closer to the Dark Lord.

The being's name was Gris Malmangeur, and he supposedly gravitated towards the mountains far to the southwest, but beyond that, Old Aldo knew little. He was not even able to tell Bellatrix what kind of creature this Gris Malmangeur was. Due to the lack of detailed information, Bellatrix was left with a sour feeling, sure that the search would take longer than she had anticipated. This meant that she and the twins would likely have to spend a great deal of time travelling, and their travels meant that they would need to pack appropriately.

Thus, instead of leaving Mohnburg immediately, they spent a week, purchasing the necessary supplies and planning the best route to travel. And because Bellatrix refused to travel on foot (both because she had no desire to make such an effort, and because it was horribly inefficient,) they ended up purchasing a couple of steeds. They couldn't have travelled by apparition or other faster means of wizarding travel, simply because Bellatrix knew so little of the region. Bellatrix would have preferred a winged horse - they were fast, powerful and noble creatures, but they were also highly regulated, and no one in Mohnburg bred them. What they had instead were some magical goats and rams that they called hitzetiers.

Though Bellatrix was less than impressed, Holly and Harry were delighted by the hitzetiers. They were silvery in colour - not grey, but a shimmery, glossy white-and-true-silver, with long, wavy coats, and dark blue eyes. The rams had immense, bronze-coloured curling horns, and matching bronze-coloured hooves. While the hitzetiers were temperamental steeds, they did have certain benefits over regular muggle steeds. Unlike regular goats or horses, the hitzetier were bred for mountain travel, and their bodies emitted an unusual degree of heat. This was a great benefit in the harsh winters, but since it was currently spring, it was not very great advantage. With the hitzetiers, they also had to purchase blankets charmed to remain cool, so that riding the rams would not cause them to overheat.

At the moment, Bellatrix and the twins were at the outskirts of the village. Bellatrix was seated on a transfigured blanket in a clearing and she was busy pouring over maps, while keeping half-an-eye on the twins, who were practicing with their new wands (at her insistence.) She hated the idea of being trapped within their room at the inn - it was so unpleasantly rustic compared to the grandeur she was accustomed to, that the idea of being out in the woods was much preferable. Though one would think that a rich and snobby pure-blood would feel nothing but disdain towards nature, it had its own sort of earthy magic that appealed to Bellatrix's sense of taste. It helped too, that she could use magic to assure her comfort.

Harry and Holly stood side by side, making a diagonal slashing movement with their wands. Bellatrix had wanted them to use magic to cut through the branches in the low shrubs in front of them. However, while many of her previous lessons had been detailed and very explicit (in part, thanks to the aid of books), the same could not be said about Bellatrix's magic lessons. However, the main reason for this was due to the unconventional way that Bellatrix viewed magic: through the lens of feeling and intuition.

"Magic is all about intent," Bellatrix had explained, soon after giving them their wands. "Yes, I know I've had you read texts on magical theory, and those books would have you believe that you need to worry about correct incantations, and wand movements. But I only gave you those books so that when you two start at Hogwarts, you'll have a head start. The magic in those books is limited. But no one at Hogwarts will tell you that." Hogwarts was a magical school for witchcraft and wizardry, but the twins wouldn't be going there until they were at the advanced age of eleven.

Bellatrix twirled her hair, in an oddly girlish manner, as she continued to lecture. "I'm not saying to forget what you've learned in those books. I expect both of you to achieve excellent grades. No, what I'm saying as that magic is much much more than what is written in all those musty old course books. What they teach you at Hogwarts is a very limited type of magic. It's what most people would call either Light or Grey magic."

Bellatrix tilted her head, yet another girlish gesture. "Not that Light or Grey magic means that a person is good." She cackled with amusement, giving the twins a sly look. "After all, it was a Light Wizard who left you two with those filthy muggles.

"The point is, that magic is more than what they'll be teaching you at school. Think! If all magic required Latin incantations, then how could the Ancient Egyptians, or Ancient Mayans or Ancient Chinese have performed magic, hm? Incantations are a type of structure, but magic doesn't need structure in order to work. In fact, some magic, like Dark Magic, often works better with chaos and intuition."

Bellatrix never explicitly mentioned whether the type of magic she was planning to teach the twins was Dark Magic. She only referred to it as just 'magic.'

"Between you," Bellatrix continued, "You already have a very remarkable magic, even if it is poorly channelled. While I could show you words and wand-waving, you would be better off to learn to feel your own magic, and to let your own strength of will create the results."

And with that, Bellatrix demanded that they start off with trying to cut the branches off of the shrubs, while she tried to determine where the mysterious Gris Malmangeur might be located.

Harry furrowed his brow, slashing his wand more aggressively in frustration. Picking up on his mood, Holly nudged him in sympathy. At most, they had gotten the branches to snap, but they hadn't been able to cut them.

Worse yet was simply having to handle the wands in the first place. The oily feeling still persisted, seeping into their very flesh, making them both feel dirty and unhappy. While it was true that the wands did not burn them, the way that it burned Bellatrix, that did not mean that they liked the wands. And yet, for all that they felt repulsed by the wands, they both had the impression that the wands liked them. It was strange - they might hate that oily feeling, but that oiliness seemed to be the wand's way of trying to claim them.

"Picture cutting it in your mind," Bellatrix called out to them from her spot on the blanket. "I told you that just waving your wand about won't help."

Harry and Holly nodded. They were already both agitated by their failure, combined with the ickiness of their wand, so when they envisioned cutting through the shrub, they did not picture simply cutting one or two branches, but entirely shearing the whole plant in half. Making identical sharp slashes with their wands, they gasped, as they saw the results. The shrubs had been cut clean in half. More than that, they felt a liquid warmth in their veins, as though that oily sensation was pleased with them. As much as they disliked the strange greasy feeling, this liquid warmth was rather pleasant.

"Oh, very good!" Bellatrix praised. "Again!"

Harry and Holly repeated the action until there was a pile of sticks and leaves scattered across the ground. Between them, their magic seemed to purr contentedly, and while it felt good, it also felt a bit bad, like a drug of sorts. It was almost like they knew that they were doing themselves harm, and yet, once they began, it was hard to stop. When they finally finished and pocketed their wands for the day, they felt a mixture of relief, mingled with a sense of loss. Harry shot Holly a look. He could see the way she longed to caress her wand, and he knew this because he felt the same way. It felt good, and yet, it felt so gross.

Holly couldn't help but be aware of a sort of itchiness across her skin. She rubbed her arm, lifting the sleeve of her robes, and noticed that her skin looked a bit reddish and raw - especially her wand arm. When she peered over at Harry, she could see that he too was rubbing his skin.

"Mama," Holly ventured, disrupting Bellatrix from the maps and books scattered around her.

"Hmm?"

"Are our wands supposed to make us feel -" Holly looked over at her brother.

"Oily."

Bellatrix raised her eyebrows. "Wands feel unique to the users. Does performing the magic make you feel good?"

"Well - yes, I suppose, but -"

"But not." Harry finished. "It feels kind of -"

Holly searched for the right words. "Icky."

Bellatrix examined the twins expressions, and they shuffled nervously. "It will probably feel odd because you're using wands that aren't completely compatible. For now, just be strong, my babies. If you can master these wands, then once you turn eleven and receive your wands from Ollivander's, it will be that much better." Ollivander's was the wand shop in Diagon Alley where most children in Britain purchased their wands. Ollivander himself was an actual wandmaker, unlike the shopkeeper at Mohnburg.

Satisfied with her answer, Harry and Holly accepted Bellatrix's reasoning. Without giving it too much though, both of them touched their wands. In an odd, contradicting way, they both enjoyed the sensation of it, while feeling relieved that they wouldn't be stuck with the wands forever.

In the following days, Bellatrix had the twins move on from severing sticks, to severing branches, and then finally severing insects. While neither Harry nor Holly particularly cared for insects, it made their skin crawl to use the sharp slash of their wand to cut the little creatures in half. For some reason, it felt both better to kill insects than to slash branches, but also somehow more disgusting (beyond the natural disgust they felt for insects.) It made them feel almost tainted. Worst yet, after cutting apart so many insects, their skin was even more raw than before - it almost looked scratched in places, even though neither Holly nor Harry could recall scratching themselves.

Finally, after a what felt like a long week, Bellatrix deemed that they were ready to depart. Harry and Holly were relieved - not because Mohnburg was boring, or because there was nothing to do. In truth, both of them felt homesick, and being stuck in one place meant that they both had a lot of time to think (and a lot of time to miss Draco.) They had both written Draco a simple letter (Bellatrix would not help them, so they had to sound out words themselves), and were now awaiting his reply. When they asked how the owls could find their way to the letter's recipient, Bellatrix just answered: 'magic, of course' while rolling her eyes, as if it were ridiculously obvious.

Everything that they needed was packed away, and shrunk by Bellatrix. The twins were petting the hitzetier that they would be riding, while Bellatrix looked at her own steed with disdain. The magical ram, seeming to sense Bellatrix's disgust, skittered nervously, while the twin's own steed nudged at their hands for more pets.

"Babies," Bellatrix called out to them. "You know you need not stick to only cutting spells. Anything you see me do, you are free to try and repeat." Though it sounded like a suggestion, the twins knew that it wasn't. Bellatrix had high expectations for them both, and wanted to push the limits of their natural ability, to see the kinds of magic they could perform.

While it was true that performing magic with pure intent might be less efficient, and much more dangerous than performing magic with specific incantations and wand movements, Bellatrix knew that it would would give them a sense of magic in a way that wand movements and incantations never could. Yes, they might waste massive amounts of magical energy, but Bellatrix saw it as part of the learning process. She had never cared about doing things the 'right' way. What mattered was getting things done.

Bellatrix and the twins mounted their hitzetiers and left Mohnburg heading towards the southwest, as Old Aldo had suggested. Though they did not appear that way at first glance, the silvery hitzetiers were surprisingly agile and fleet of foot, navigating the mountain roads with ease. In spite of the cooling blankets between the hitzetiers and the twins, they soon felt over-warm, from both the sun overhead, and the mount beneath them.

Fortunately, they soon entered into the forest of tall evergreens, which provided welcome shade. The air here was earthy and fragrant, and they could hear the flitting sound of bird wings, as well as the rustling of the breeze through the trees. The scenery was interesting at first - especially when Harry and Holly caught sight of the various woodland creatures, but they soon grew bored with the monotony of it.

Once they were in a settled pace, Bellatrix decided the best use of their time was to continue their lessons, so she pulled out one of the shrunken books and chose a topic to quiz them on, with a mix of questions that were either ridiculously easy, or confusingly convoluted and near impossible to understand. Either way, the twins attempted to answer diligently, trying their best to please their mama.

They took a break to rest and eat by a stream in the afternoon. Bellatrix insisted that they take out their wands, and attempt a new spell.

"It doesn't matter what," she informed them, with an airy wave of her hand. "Attempt something that you've seen me do."

Harry and Holly shared a look. The first thing that came to their mind was to attempt to levitate something. There was simply something about levitation that felt so innately magical. Harry focused on a fallen branch, while Holly aimed her wand at a stone by the river. They imagined lifting the objects in their mind, and exerted their will, channeling their magic through their wands. The oily feeling made them both want to jump into the stream and wash themselves off, but they ignored it. Bellatrix watched with mild interest as sweat beaded on their foreheads, but eventually, the branch and stone rose a few centimetres off the ground.

With a heavy exhale, Harry and Holly released the items. They were aware of that itchiness on their skin yet again, but it felt a little sharper this time, and they rubbed themselves uncomfortably, trying to sooth the sensation.

"Not bad," Bellatrix murmured, her eyelids at half-mast. She had not explicitly told the twins so, but this unstructured form of magic that she was making them practice was closer to Dark Magic than to either Grey or Light. Doing neutral spells, such as levitation, was actually fairly tricky when one was channeling Darker energies. In comparison, the cutting spell was much easier because of its more violent intent. Thus, even if levitation might have seemed very basic, she was pleased with their progress.

Too drained and uncomfortable to do any more spellwork, the twins climbed back on their hitzetier, and followed Bellatrix as she led them further into the forest. Once again, Bellatrix's lessons continued, as she pulled out another one of the books she had kept stored away and imparted the knowledge to the twins, reading with a melodic voice that instantly enraptured the twins.

-o-

Narcissa hoped that as the weeks passed, that Draco would grow accustomed to the twin's absence and his misery would subside. It was normal to feel grief when loved ones were gone, and she understood this. She knew of Draco's attachment to the twins - he had gone from seeing them every day for nearly two years, to suddenly having them whisked away by her impulsive sister. So, as much as it it pained her to see her dragon hurting, she patiently waited for his pain to lessen, trusting that he would grow accustomed to their absence.

Unfortunately, Narcissa was wrong. While at first, Draco seemed to be doing better since his fits of crying had ceased (though part of that may have been due to all the Calming Draughts), he had taken on a wan look that did not seem to improve with time. His sleep had become broken, and Narcissa hesitated to give him too many sleeping potions, because they were known to be addictive, and yet, as a mother, it broke her heart to see him suffer so.

The only time he had ever perked up was when he received letters from the twins, but those bouts of elevated mood were always short-lived and he would sink back into his melancholy. As the days passed, she and Lucius noticed the way that he would pick and poke at his food (which was appallingly ill-mannered, though they did not scold him too harshly about it.) Draco just seemed to stop wanting to do anything. He was indifferent during his lessons with his tutor. He had no interest in playing on his training broom or other beloved toys. And worst of all, he stopped eating.

"We have to do something about this," Lucius gritted out, when it was clear that the situation would not improve on its own. They were in their shared bedchamber, Narcissa sitting on the delicate chair in front of her vanity, and Lucius pacing. "This cannot continue."

"But what?" Narcissa pleaded, desperately wanting a solution. "He's so young."

"Young, yes, but he is a Malfoy. This kind of behaviour is unacceptable." Lucius's words sounded harsh, but Narcissa knew that her husband meant well.

"Perhaps, given more time -"

"Give him more time, and he's likely to starve himself to death!" Lucius's voice was raised, and Narcissa flinched. It wasn't like him to be so emotive, and it showed the depths of his concern.

"What should we do then? The healers have already taken a look at him. They say that it's all in his mind."

Lucius and stopped pacing, and stood before her, a hard look in his clear grey eyes.

"Lucius?"

"Yes. It is all in his mind. Which is why we obliviate him."

Narcissa gasped. Did Lucius truly want to use memory charms on her darling dragon? Admittedly, the Malfoys knew that many parents obliviated their children as a method to manage naughty or undesirable behaviour. Narcissa had never particularly condoned such methods. It was such lazy parenting, and it seemed horribly excessive. Surely he could recover on his own. "Two years, Lucius," Narcissa said, barely above a whisper. "It's two years worth of memories, and he is so young! The danger!"

"It won't be so dangerous if we do it together, Narcissa."

Narcissa seemed to be in a state of shock, so Lucius continued: "We need to wipe the memory of those twins from his mind. His fixation on them isn't becoming, and while I had hoped that some space from them would lessen his obsession, it has only worsened. If we can erase those two from his mind, then he can go back to being himself. Were he older, I might trust him to pull himself together, and exhibit greater self-discipline, but -" Lucius grimaced, "- he is still just a child, and lacks sufficient control over his own emotions and reactions. We cannot keep giving him potions. It is not a permanent solution. Obliviating him would be the most merciful solution and would do the least harm."

"But - but what will we do when Bella and the twins return? What of their letters?"

"If, they return."

Narcissa narrowed her eyes. "Bella will return." She refused to doubt her own sister, even if the consequences of Bellatrix's return meant the return of the Dark Lord.

"If they return, then we will simply treat it as a first meeting," Lucius decided. "As for their letters, it's only sensible that we withhold them from Draco."

"A first meeting," Narcissa echoed. Though she hated the idea of using a memory charm on her darling dragon, the idea had its appeal. Draco was indeed a little too fixated on the twins. Perhaps, if he were to meet them again, that same obsession would not arise. It would be a fresh new start for them. "This might just work."

"Write to Bellatrix. Tell her of our plan to obliviate Draco. She'll take care of the rest," Lucius answered.

Narcissa considered his words, and then nodded. It was true enough - if Bellatrix knew that Draco was obliviated, she might not do the same to the twins, but she would certainly go along with their plan. Bellatrix had always been rather single-minded. All she cared about at the moment was the Dark Lord and the twins. If they wrote to her, telling her that Draco no longer remembered the twins, she would likely view it as a positive thing - after all, as disturbing as it may have seemed, Bellatrix likely saw Draco as a distraction, and would be happy to know that he was out of the way.

"When will we do this?" Narcissa asked her husband.

His grey eyes scanned her face, as though wanting to ascertain that she was truly on his side in this matter. After all, he cared deeply for his wife, and did not want to drive a wedge between them by creating conflict. Satisfied with what he saw, he answered. "Tomorrow."

-o-

Bellatrix and the twins had been travelling for a few weeks now in large part because Old Aldo's directions were so vague, but also because there was a lot of ground to cover. There were certain signs that Bellatrix was looking out for, which slowed their progress, and unfortunately, these signs seemed scattered at random intervals. Instead of taking any sort direct route, they seemed to almost zigzag from place to place, stopping frequently as Bellatrix examined the signs, or pulled out one of her books to reference certain notes. Bellatrix also made an effort to avoid any major muggle cities and settlements. When the twins had questioned her actions, she made mention of some sort of magical territorial markers, but Bellatrix also hinted that she hoped to find the Crystal Caves on her own without the aid of the mysterious being called Gris Malmangeur.

Though Holly and Harry were rapidly growing accustomed to the wonders of the wizarding world, they were both still enchanted by the silvery hitzetier, with their gentle dark-blue eyes that seemed preternaturally intelligent. They had named their mount Hamal, and secretly called Bellatrix's mount Sheratan, and while Bellatrix found it to be ridiculous, they treated the rams like dear pets, feeding them flowers, and scratching them between their bronze horns. Though there had been a number of interesting (and usually decorative) creatures at Malfoy manor, it was the first time that Harry and Holly felt that they had a pet of their own.

The twins were also fascinated by the wizarding tent that Bellatrix had packed for their travels. While the wizarding tent was not the most impressive magic that there was, the twins still found it amazing. Of course, one of the reasons that the charmed tent was so remarkable was because it belonged to the Malfoys. Being one of the richest families in Wizarding Britain, they could afford the very best charmed tent, so while the exterior of the tent appeared to be fairly plain (even if the material was silk), the interior of the tent was like a small palace. The Malfoys had even allowed Bellatrix to borrow one of their house elves, who seemed content to live within a magical space within the trunk, only appearing when called. After all, there was no way that Bellatrix would ever want to bother with anything as mundane as cleaning and tidying charms, or cooking magic, and neither did she expect the twins to do such work because obviously, such things were beneath them.

The tent was enchanted to assemble and disassemble itself with a tap a wand. From the outside, it looked as though it would fit the three of them, but one would think it would be a tight fit. However, from the inside, the space was so vast that there were seven bedrooms and three bathrooms, as well as a large central sitting room with its own marble fountain (though Harry and Holly couldn't figure out the purpose of it.) The floors were lush, magical persian rugs, and a few of the tent windows were enchanted. From one window, the outside scenery always looked like daytime, even in the dead of night. From another window, there was the view of the Malfoy manor's south garden - perhaps the familiar sight was meant to help sooth one's homesickness. For the twins, it only made their homesickness worse, so they avoided that window.

Bellatrix found the tent to be an improvement over the inn, but to her, it was still barely passable. Yet, it did provide plenty of table space for her to spread out her maps and her research. She felt that she was sure to come across this mysterious Gris Malmangeur soon.

Despite seeming as though they were in the middle of nowhere, Bellatrix still made use of magic to provide her all the resources that she might need. She had taken one of the manor's eagle owls (that did not mind being shrunk and packed away into charmed wizarding space within the trunk), so she was able to make use of the owl-post to order books, enabling her to further her research.

In the meantime, the twin's lessons, as well as their magical practice continued. Deliberately using magic remained extremely draining - they could rarely ever practice more than one spell a day. The twins found that certain spells were quite easy to do (such as slashing, or exploding, or setting things on fire, or crushing things, and in particular killing things but the twins could only bring themselves to kill insects, and even then, only the particularly scary and disgusting ones), while other spells that seemed like they would be simple were incredibly challenging (like cleaning things, or finding resources like fresh water, or even creating light.)

But while the challenging spells made their skin prickly and itchy, the easier (and more destructive spells) had other odd side-effects. If they attempted a particularly destructive spell, they sometimes found that on top of itchiness, that they also had mysterious cuts on their arms and bodies, or sometimes even bruises. They assumed it was a side-effect of using less-than-compatible wands. But at moments, they would think back to what the shopkeeper had said, so long ago: that their wands were dangerous not only to others, but to the bearer of the wands.

"Can a wand hurt a witch or a wizard?" Holly had asked Bellatrix, even as she was caressing the stick of wood in her pocket.

"Yes," Bellatrix answered. "One can be harmed if a witch's or wizard's alignment doesn't match with that of the wand. Failing to gain mastery of a wand can cause it to backfire as well."

"How do we know whether or not we're aligned with a wand? Or if we're masters of it?" Harry asked.

Bellatrix tilted her head thoughtfully. "You can tell by how your magic works." She looked down at their hands, which were in their robe pockets. "Your wands seem to like you."

"How can you tell, mama?" Holly wondered.

Bellatrix smirked. "Well, your wands have never burned you like they burned me, have they."

Harry and Holly shared a look. "We don't get burned - but other things happen," Harry informed her.

"We get bruises and cuts."

Bellatrix seemed to straighten, a look of interest lighting up her dark eyes. "Let me see."

The twins pulled up the sleeves of their robes, and showed her their arms. Bellatrix grabbed Holly's arm, stroking her finger along one of the cuts.

"Poor babies," Bellatrix murmured, though oddly, she did not sound that sympathetic, but rather thoughtful. Bellatrix looked into their green eyes and a pleased smile pulled her lips upwards. "You're doing well. Both of you. When you are older, and have better and stronger control, the cuts and bruises will go away. But for now -" Bellatrix pulled out her wand, and without a word, she healed their wounds. The twins noticed that after using that particular spell, dark circles had formed under her eyes and she looked particularly pallid, but they did not comment. Instead, they felt a greater love for their dear mama, who had done so, so much for them.

As the days slipped by, their store of food began to decrease, and because their journey was taking so much longer than Bellatrix had anticipated, she was in a sour mood. Though it irritated her to have to plan ahead, Bellatrix began to ration their food in a rare display of foresight. It wasn't as though they knew anything about this mountainous region of Germany, and who knew when they might come across some semblance of proper civilization (though Bellatrix's idea of proper civilization meant wizarding civilization, since to her, muggles were little better than animals.)

The mood between Bellatrix and the twins became more subdued, and while their lessons continued, they lacked the liveliness of earlier lessons. The strain of the situation was certainly getting to Bellatrix, who at times began to snap at the twins so that they both learned to keep quiet. Yet, neither of them resented Bellatrix - they knew that she was doing her best, and were predisposed towards thinking the best of her. They were well aware that she wasn't a very patient woman, so all things considered, she was doing rather well.

However, the twins were troubled by the fact that they had not received a letter from Draco for quite a while. At first, they thought that perhaps he had not received their last letter, so they even took the time to pen another one and yet, there was no reply to that as well.

"D'you think we said something wrong?" Holly asked her brother, who sat in front of her on their hitzetier, Hamal.

Harry chewed the inside of his cheek thoughtfully. Their spelling and penmanship still needed a lot of work, and their letters were fairly short, but he didn't think they could have said anything to offend their friend. He could sense Holly's fears though - he had the same fear after all, of losing Draco's friendship. When they had first arrived in Germany, the twins had been so tense, until they received that first letter from Draco that confirmed that while he was upset that they left without taking him along, he still wanted them in his life. It had been an immense weight off their hearts, but now that Draco wasn't writing them, that weighty pain was returning.

"I don't know," Harry finally replied.

"Maybe he's mad that we get to learn magic, but he can't," Holly suggested. It did sound like the sort of thing that Draco would be jealous over. However, as amazing as magic was, the twins couldn't claim to wholeheartedly love it. Not when they both craved, and yet dreaded their wands. Not when using magic felt both so pleasurable, and yet sickening and also uncomfortable or at times painful.

"Maybe," Harry echoed. Their conversation was disrupted by an exclamation from Bellatrix. They turned to look towards her, and then followed her eyes to see where she was looking. Their hitzetiers were climbing down a rise, and below, ringing one side of a small lake, were some cozy looking cottages, nestled amidst the trees.

Harry and Holly pulled Hamal alongside Bellatrix's silver hitzetier Sheratan. "Are they wizards?" Harry asked, looking from Bellatrix back down to the cottages.

Bellatrix narrowed her eyes, and there was a sadistic and predatory look on her face. "No. Not wizards. Muggles." She spat out the last word, saturating it with contempt.

"So we won't be staying?" Holly asked. Both the twins knew how much Bellatrix and the Malfoys disliked muggles.

A cruel smile caused Bellatrix's lips to curl upwards, but her dangerous gaze remained on the cottages. "I didn't say that my babies," she purred. "Let's tie up the mounts and go for a little walk, shall we?"

Holly and Harry did not know if it was a premonition, or if they were just adept at reading Bellatrix's moods, but they had a very bad feeling about what was to come. They found themselves grasping each other's hands, hugging tightly from atop their hitzetier, trying to take strength in the gentle flow of soothing magic between them. But ever since they had received their wands, there was something else there. They couldn't really pinpoint it as something bad. But it did feel somehow foreign. While they could still take comfort in each other's magic, there was now an awareness that something had somehow changed, and somehow, they did not think it was a change for the better.

Bellatrix was fixated on the cabins below, and had not noticed the twin's nervous gesture.

"Maybe we should stay here and watch the Hamal and Sheratan," Holly offered tentatively. The twins knew that Bellatrix preferred boldness, but the disquieting feeling between them was intense enough that they were willing to risk her reproach.

The words caused Bellatrix to finally peel her eyes away from the colourful little houses. She looked at the pair of them, as though they had just said something so ludicrous that she was still trying to decide whether it had actually happened or not. But then Bellatrix began to laugh, her dark eyes alit with amusement.

"Sweet babies," she crooned warmly. "You have nothing to worry about. I won't let a few widdle muggles hurt you."

Harry and Holly's grip on each other didn't loosen. They hadn't actually even been considering their own safety. It hadn't even crossed their mind that they could be hurt. No, the fact was, after that incident with the shopkeeper, it was the people down in those cabins they were worried about. They were both aware of what Bellatrix was capable of. And yet, for all their concern, Bellatrix's words still soothed them. She was their mama, and she was telling them that she cared about them. That itself made it very difficult to say no to her.

Bellatrix and the twins dismounted. Being magical creatures, the hitzetiers did not need to be tied up, but were allowed to graze on the side of the grassy rise. If they wandered off, they would come when summoned with a particular whistled or sung melody.

Bellatrix gave the twins an indulgent smile, before eagerly striding down the towards the cottages with long, impatient steps, letting Harry and Holly trail a small ways behind her. Though the cottages fronted a beautiful blue-green lake, no one was in sight. Bellatrix and the twins were not aware of it, but these cottages were summer homes, and for much of the year, many of them remained vacant. However, that did not mean that all the little cottages were empty.

Much too soon, Bellatrix and the twins were in front of the first cottage. Bellatrix had pulled out her wand, pointing it at the door. With a twirl of her wrists, the door unlocked and opened itself, and Bellatrix entered, as though she owned the place. Not wanting to dither alone outside, Harry and Holly followed her in, feeling a sickness that tightened their throats, and made them feel like there were nifflers burrowing inside their guts. Not that the rodent-like nifflers were something the twins had ever seen - the Malfoys would never allow such destructive creatures in their home.

"Come out, come out!" Bellatrix sang gleefully, as she moved from room to room. However, though the cottage was clean, it had an air of disuse about it, that suggested that it might be currently unoccupied. And to the twin's great relief it was. The twins had noticed pictures on the bed stands and walls depicting a golden-blond family, wearing sunny smiles. Neither of them particularly relished the idea of seeing those smiles turn into expressions of anger when the muggles realized their home had been broken into, or fear, when Bellatrix did whatever she planned to do. Bellatrix and the Malfoys might speak of muggles as if they were less than animals, but even though the twins had suffered greatly at the hands of muggles, it was really confusing when, on the outside, muggles looked just like witches and wizards.

Bellatrix did not look at all disappointed that the cottage was empty. If anything, her predatory instincts had sharpened, and now, the sense of anticipation was building as she continued her hunt. They left the first cottage and made their way to the second one. Yet again, it was empty. By the time they were at the door of the third cottage, which, of all the bizarre things, was decorated with what looked like ceramic garden gnomes, Bellatrix was practically humming with excitement.

Harry and Holly felt like the squirming nifflers in their guts had died, and turned into rotting weighty lumps. They were both pale - almost greenish with anxiety, longing to flee, and yet feeling rooted to the spot. They thought they heard a sound - voices, perhaps, or footsteps behind the brightly-coloured door. The vibrancy of it all was too much - the pink and purple blooms in the window boxes, the patterned curtains that could be seen peeking behind the windows, the neat pathway up to the house that all but proclaimed 'welcome to our home!'

And then, in contrast to the brightness of the scene before them was Bellatrix. Bellatrix with her near-colourless skin, and her abundance of wild, dark hair and dark, dark eyes. Bellatrix with her elegant, flowing black robes, and her threatening, dangerous gracefulness. Bellatrix who looked like she could very well be Death's Consort, like an ominous black thundercloud over the sunny cheeriness of the happy cottage. She would have looked right at home amidst a swarm of dementors - those wraith-like evil creatures that drain away all joy and peace and gladness, leaving only soulless despair. And yet, she was also Bellatrix, the affectionate and protective mama of the the twins, and she had said there was nothing to worry about, right?

With a lazy twist of her wand, the lock turned open, and the sound seemed to echo in the twin's minds: click, Click, CLICK. Bellatrix pulled her eyes from the door and looked down at the twins, and she seemed to vibrate with hungry, unsuppressed anticipation. And yet, the look that she gave them was full of care, like the look a mother tiger would give to her her growing cubs.

"Pull out your wands," she told them, before flicking her wand at the door, causing it to open.

"What was that?" they heard a muffled sounding voice from within the house. "Darling, did you hear something?" The translation charm was still in effect, and it was somehow worse, being able to understand what those as of yet unseen people were saying.

"Someone at the front door?" another muffled voice answered. "Shall I go check?"

"No, no," the other voice answered, and even from the doorway, the twins could hear the affection and love in that voice. "Stay there, my ... You're pregnant after all."

There was the sound of tinkling laughter. "Being pregnant doesn't make me useless."

Then a soft humming murmur. "Let me spoil you. I want to. I'll go check the door."

The other voice sighed and sounded playfully reluctant. "Fine then, just leave me."

A yelping sound was then followed by giggles. "I could never leave you - not for anything."

Bellatrix, who had heard the entire exchange as clearly as the twins had smirked. "What a pretty little scene," she murmured, sounding disturbingly pleased. "The filthy muggles playing at wuv. Come with me babies. Your lesson for today will be how to deal with vermin."

Harry and Holly could not disobey the order in Bellatrix's voice. Walking on wooden legs, they followed her into the homey looking cottage, through an entryway that led to a cozy sitting room. The twin's eyes fell upon a young-ish looking couple, a friendly-faced dark-haired man, and an obviously pregnant dark-blonde woman, who had been nuzzling each other, but now, were staring at Bellatrix and the twins with their jaws dropped, and their eyes bulging in surprise.

"Watch closely, babies," Bellatrix said breathily, lustfully. With a figure-eight swirl of her wand, shadowing tendrils seemed to rise up from the rug beneath the couple's feet, wrapping tightly around their ankles and holding them in place.

"Who are you?" the man asked, a hint of anger in his voice. It was evident that he had no idea of the danger he was in.

"What is this?" The woman, who had tried to back away, was suddenly aware of the shadowy bindings around her ankles. She struggled to move, which only caused her to fall, rather awkwardly on her bum, causing her to wince in pain.

"Darling!" the man exclaimed, but now, he too was aware of the black shadows that held him in place, and with an ungraceful windmilling of his arms, he too had fallen.

"When you're in Hogwarts," Bellatrix explained as though lecturing the twins, "You might learn such spells such as the Full-Body Bind or the Incarcerous spell which conjures ropes to tie a person up. But I find that this particular spell is much more satisfying. It allows a much better view."

"Mama?" Holly all but croaked, not even wanting to know what Bellatrix meant. Holly and Harry's eyes were glued onto the muggles, and the twins looked as sickly pale as the muggles did.

"What is going on?" the man asked. "What is this strange witchcraft? How did you get in here, and what have you done to us?"

Bellatrix continued, as if she had not heard the muggles. "We used to have such fun during the last war, the others and I. I had plenty of time to perfect this lovely little spell. It was disappointing, you see, when I couldn't see all the results of my torture. It's an art, my babies. An art to create the most exquisite pain upon muggle skin." She turned away from the muggles to look at the twins, but there was an unseeing, crazed blankness in her eyes. "It's important to do something fitting for their crime. It's important that they suffer for being what they are. They have to be punished for the filth they've inflicted from their very existence. They are disgusting."

"Let us go," the man demanded, but beneath his bravado, one could sense his fear. "Please. My wife is pregnant."

At that, Bellatrix broke into a maniacally toothy grin. "All the better," she said in her sing-song way that made the muggle couple visible shudder, as if now sharply aware of Bellatrix's insanity. "Best to destroy the vermin before it's born. Shall we start with that?"

The woman's eyes widened, and she began shaking her head and blubbering: "No - please, please, please, no, please!" At the same time, the man was crying out: "No! Not her! Take me, I beg you, take me!"

But the pleas only widened Bellatrix's sadistic grin, and with a slow downwards movement of her wand, a long, red gash appeared on the woman's pregnant belly. The woman began to shriek, with ear-splitting cries that felt like daggers that cut deeply into the twin's souls. They hadn't bothered to hold on to their wands. They had already dropped them, and squeezed their eyes tight, and covered their ears. But even though their eyes were closed, they still saw that first, creeping spread of red upon the woman's swollen stomach, and the image would be forever branded in their minds.

-o-

Bellatrix's torture of the muggles felt like it had lasted the span of a thousand lifetimes to Harry and Holly, but in truth, it hadn't taken more than a half-an-hour. In all likelihood, Bellatrix could have drawn it out for much, much longer, but she had been over-excited, and the muggles simply hadn't lasted that long.

Bellatrix had spent the entire half-hour transfixed on turning the muggles into shredded bits of bone and gore, and had not noticed the way that the twins had turned away, attempting to hide the sounds and the view from their not-quite-so-innocent hearts. The smell of blood and pain and excrement would have been overwhelming, but to protect her delicate nose, Bellatrix had made use of a spell to contain the sweetly sharp butcher-shop odors.

By the time Bellatrix was finished with the muggles, she was panting heavily, and her pupils were dilated. She looked as though she had just taken a dose of the sweetest, most intoxicating drug, or experienced the most mind-blowing orgasm fifty times consecutively. She had turned away from the remains of the muggles to look at the twins, but it was several minutes before she was aware that they were covering their eyes and ears, and had dropped their wands.

The pleasure remained in her system, but the vivid intensity of it was fading, and while it irritated her that the twins had not watched what she had been doing, she felt too good to be very upset with them.

"Pick up your wands, and look at it, my babies," she commanded, her voice low and husky. Their hands might be pressed tightly to their ears, but she knew that they heard. Whimpering with dread, both of them opened their eyes at the same time, and their eyes immediately fell upon the bloody scene before them. If the muggles were human once, it was impossible to tell, and even without the smell of blood and death, the twins sicked up, unable to hold the contents of their stomachs.

Rolling her eyes, Bellatrix waved her wand and cleaned up the sour-smelling mess they had made. Both twins had looked away, tears making their green eyes glow, and neither made a move to touch their wands. The pleasure faded further, and Bellatrix's annoyance increased. Her nails dug into her palms, as she tried to remind herself that they were just babies, just babies. And just because they hadn't been able to watch her torture and dismember the muggles, it didn't mean that they were weak. It just mean that they had to learn to like it (and she was sure that they would. Dark Magic felt too seductively wonderful to resist for long.) And besides, she had tasted and felt that decadent Darkness within them, she reminded herself. She just had to find a way to draw it out, strengthen it.

"Babies," Bellatrix gritted out, trying to keep her tone light, but the twins tensed, sensing something in her voice. Their eyes remained stubbornly fixed to one of the far walls. Bellatrix had ingrained in them the notion that purebloods did not keep their heads down to the floor like cowed house-elves or any other creatures of service.

"Babies, look at me," Bellatrix ordered. Finally, those green eyes met her own. There was no anger or fear there - only shock and pain.

"I know it's difficult at first," Bellatrix crooned, her voice gentle now. This was a lie of course - Bellatrix didn't think there had ever been a time when she found it difficult to hate (and thus, want to hurt) muggles. But Bellatrix was also accustomed to dealing with those who had softer sensibilities - people like her gentle sister Cissy. And thus, Bellatrix was able to sooth the twins. She moved closer to them, pulling them both against her in a hug, and they flinched, only slightly, but she did not mind.

"Babies," she continued, as she began to stroke their hair. "I want you to stay here. I want you to stay and look upon that pile of filth that I've left because it is important for both of you to learn that that's what all muggles are, in the end. I'm going to go check the other houses, and you must stay here, and keep looking. I promise, I will know if you try and look away, but you wouldn't consider doing something like that, would you? No, my babies, I know you wouldn't because you're both so good. My sweetest, sweetest babies. Will you do that for me, babies?"

Neither Harry nor Holly answered, but they seemed to cling tighter against her robes.

"If you stay here, and promise not to take your eyes away from that pile of filth - if you stay and look at it closely - then I promise that when I come back, I'll put them all back together. Would you like that, babies?"

That seemed to have gotten the twin's attention. The pulled back a little, and a set of bright, wet green eyes peered up at her.

"You can put them back together?" Harry asked, sounding pitifully small.

Bellatrix smiled indulgently, as she carded her hands through his hair. "Of course, babies. Of course I can."

The only thing she didn't mention was that while she might be able to put their torn and broken bodies back together, they would still be completely and irrevocably dead.

-o-

Harry and Holly sat on the floor, pressed against the wall that was furthest from the bloody bits and pieces of the muggles. Bellatrix's magic held strong, and they could smell nothing from the bodies - only the homely woodsy scent of the cottage, and the scent of their own fear and dread. They had put their wands back in their pockets, and neither of them had any desire to touch the wands at the moment. Bellatrix had already left, checking the neighbouring cottages that faced the placid lake.

The twins were holding hands, their grip so tight that both their hands and arms were starting to feel numb, but neither of them dared to let go. They kept their eyes locked upon the sight in front of them, not daring to disobey Bellatrix's order, hoping, so desperately hoping that by doing so, they could put everything to rights.

Neither of them spoke a word. What they could they possibly say? They could already feel each other's feelings, and their feelings were the same - shock, horror, terror and a confused sense of guilt. Neither Harry nor Holly could tell what they were guilty about. Did they feel guilt because they had not stopped Bellatrix from torturing and killing the two muggles? Or was the guilt due to the fact that they had not enjoyed the torture, like Bellatrix hoped that they would? Or worse, were they feeling guilty because now, some small part of them was aware that they were actually afraid of Bellatrix, of their beloved savour?

All they knew for certain was that they were bad. Both of them were so very, very bad, just as their muggle relatives had always said the were. Bellatrix might claim otherwise. Bellatrix might comfort them and pet them, and say that they were good, but in their hearts, they could not believe it. The guilt they felt told them otherwise. They had let the muggles suffer and die. Thus they were bad. They had not enjoyed the muggle's torment like Bellatrix had hoped. Thus they were bad. They were afraid of their own mama. Thus they were definitely bad, and something was most certainly wrong with them. The least that they could do then, was stare at the mess of gore and offal before them. They had to redeem themselves somehow.

Both Harry and Holly lost sense of time, but it was blessedly dark by the time Bellatrix had returned. The darkness meant that neither of them were able to see the reddish, brownish and white bits scattered in chunks in front of them. On some level, they felt guilty about their relief, but still, their eyes remained pinned to that spot, and their numb hands remained clasped.

Bellatrix's arrival was heralded by the bright, unearthly blue-white glow of a magical light, as well as her sing-sing call.

"Babies! Supper time!" It sounded so mundane, so ordinary, that Harry and Holly found themselves wondering if this had all been some sort of twisted nightmarish dream. Was this the moment of their waking? But then, Bellatrix entered the room, and as the light fell upon the scene of horror before them, they knew that it was no dream.

"Ah! Have you two been good?" Despite the harsh blue-white light, Bellatrix somehow looked especially beautiful, and especially healthy. She radiated with an irrepressible inner joy and wonderment - the sort of intoxicating and seductive happiness-equivalent that only the Dark Arts could bring. At any other time, the twins would have been completely enchanted by their mama. At any other time, they would have felt an overflowing gratitude to know that they belonged to her, and that she was the one who loved and cared for them.

But at the moment, they felt only a roiling sickness, a disgust aimed largely at themselves.

"We have done as you asked, mama," Holly informed her, her voice small but steady.

"Will you put them back together now?" Harry questioned, his voice just as small, and just as steady and determined.

Bellatrix peeled her eyes from the twins, and looked upon the bloody mess, as though aware of it for the first time. She turned her gaze back to the twins, and a sweet and warm smile spread across her face, so terribly incongruous with the sight that lay before them.

"Of course, my babies," she replied indulgently, and with a spiraling movement of her wand, the solid chunks and liquid remains of the two bodies lifted up into the air, and like three-dimensional puzzle pieces, they flew into their proper places, bones and marrow first, followed by organs and muscles and fat and then skin. All the while, the blood seemed to vapourize in a red mist, flying towards the bodies like it was drawn in by a magnetic force. Soon, the two bodies looked as whole and untouched as ever, floating in the air with their eyes closed, as though sleeping. With another looping flick, their torn clothes reformed on their bodies.

"Let's put them to bed, shall we?" Bellatrix said to the twins, cheerfully. The twins eyes were wide with amazement. They looked at Bellatrix as though she were a goddess, gracing the earth with her exalted presence, and nodded in agreement. The muggle bodies were levitated in front of Bellatrix, and when they reached the bedroom, the sheets were magically pulled aside, and the muggle placed together in a sweet looking cuddle that suggested domestic bliss. Once they were in place, the blankets covered their bodies.

For Harry and Holly, seeing the couple in bed felt strangely intrusive. They looked so peaceful there, and the twins thought it would be a shame to wake them. They edged closer to Bellatrix, wanting to capture the mood that spoke of things like 'families' and 'love.'

"Will they remember any of this?" Holly asked in a hushed voice. Harry's eyes held the same question.

Bellatrix smirked, unable to help but feel amused. It was so sweet, how innocent her babies were. A part of her was tempted to let them remain in their charmed and sheltered little bubbles forever, because as much as she thought it was a flaw and a weakness, she could not deny that the twins were so very, very cute. But it would be better yet to stain them with Darkness early on, rather than to let their innocence weaken them further. Bellatrix had a feeling that such a thing would please the Dark Lord.

"They won't remember a thing, my babies" Bellatrix answered serenely. Harry and Holly sighed with relief. But Bellatrix wasn't finished. "They won't remember because they're dead."

Bellatrix might have found their innocence to be adorable, but upon seeing the twin's stricken expressions, irritation quickly rose within her.

"This is a happy occasion," Bellatrix snapped at them. "Do you know why?"

Harry and Holly recoiled in the face of her ire, terrified and dismayed to have displeased their mama, but also aghast to have learned that the loving-looking couple that they believed were alive were in fact dead.

"Well? Do you?" Bellatrix demanded.

It was Harry who eventually answered, his voice wooden. "Because we have rid the world of vermin."

"Because we have cleansed the world of filth," Holly added, sounded just as flat.

And just as quickly as it came, Bellatrix's anger vanished, and she smiled, pleased with the twins.

"Very good. Come along then. It's time we eat." And with that, Bellatrix brushed past them, heading towards the cottage's kitchen, both to serve the twin's food, and to gather all the rations that she could fit into her magic trunk for the next part of their journey.

Rather than staying and sleeping in any of the cottages, which were far too rough and simple for Bellatrix's tastes, she opted to set up the wizarding tent a small ways away, right by the lake front.

"Gris Malmangeur has been here," she commented, staring down at a spot very near the cottages. "I can taste his territorial marker." There was an expression of disgust on her face as she said this, but while the twins had often been curious about Gris Malmangeur in the past, they were too numb and miserable at the moment to ask any questions.

Harry and Holly were uncertain if they would be able to sleep that night. Perhaps they might have feared nightmares, except for the fact that their memories were as bad, if not worse than anything that could haunt them in their dreams. Neither of them wanted to be close to Bellatrix. It felt horribly treacherous, and it made them hate themselves (because it still hurt far, far too much to consider hating her.) And yet, their feelings were so confused, and so hurt and on some level, they both felt deeply betrayed.

They had assumed that when Bellatrix said that she could put the muggles back together, that it meant bringing them back to life. They recognized now that Bellatrix had said no such thing - in fact, Bellatrix had technically been completely truthful. Yet, she had raised their hopes, and they had endured hours of sitting and staring at that ghastly scene. And for what? For nothing.

Holly and Harry found themselves in the room of the tent that showed the Malfoy manor's south garden. They had avoided this room for all these weeks, but now, the familiar landscape was what they needed to see, to provide some measure of comfort to the screams of their souls and the cries in of their hearts. Though they had not heard from Draco, they both thought of him - of the fun they used to have, and of the laughter and joy they took in one another's company. They thought of how safe they used to feel back in those days, when mornings and early afternoons were reserved for lessons, and evenings were all about play. Harry and Holly could not help but feel an intense wave of homesickness, as they longed for those days to return. Instead of sleeping with Bellatrix that night, they fell asleep before the enchanted window, into the comforting arms of black oblivion.

-o-

In the days that followed, Harry and Holly were both withdrawn and distant from Bellatrix. Their lessons continued, and they both acted as diligently and as well behaved as ever, but a coolness had settled over their relationship with their mama. The twins took solace in each other, and in the sweet nature of Hamal, their hitzetier, who seemed to have somehow picked up on their mood, and would gently nudge at their hands for more pets and caresses than ever.

Bellatrix did not comment on their behaviour. The twins were not certain if she had noticed - perhaps she was too intent on her mission of finding the mysterious being that was Gris Malmangeur, or perhaps she understood their need for space so that they could try to process their emotions. And yet, she had to have been aware of something - they were no longer cuddled up with her in her bed at night, and they were no longer asking her the curious questions that they once did. Did she not care? Were their feelings and concerns unimportant to her? Didn't she understand?

The questions that whirled around in Harry and Holly's mind only made them feel worse. They were only six (soon to be seven in a few months). It wasn't enough to only have a pet ram and each other for comfort. They needed an adult in their lives - a parent - who could provide guidance and care because as intelligent as they might be, they were still only children. Could it be that Bellatrix did not love them anymore? Was her disappointment in them so great that they had lost her affections? Perhaps she no longer wanted them, and it was only a matter of time before she would tell them so. And worst yet were the emerging dreams, starting off with the dead couple, but then transforming so that the bodies had Bellatrix's face. The dreams filled both the twin's hearts with a terrible cold dread.

It was only three days after they left the cottages that the twins were thinking they ought to consider apologizing to Bellatrix. They needed the sense of security and affection that she provided. Perhaps if they were older, and a little more independent, their impulse would have been to push her away, but they were both so young, and neither were ready (or able) to face the world on their own. Three days of stilted exchanges and three nights of sleeping without her and being plagued by dreams of losing her were becoming unbearable. Hearing the muggles tortured and killed, and seeing their broken remains was beyond disturbing, but each moment estranged from their mama was painfully heartbreaking.

That evening, the twins were in the room of the tent with the window showing the Malfoy's south garden. They were sitting side by side, watching the albino peacocks making their way across the perfectly even lawn.

"Should we do it now?" Holly asked her brother, even though she already knew his feelings.

"Better now than later," Harry affirmed. And so, the two of them crept into the room that they had previously shared with Bellatrix. The silk curtain that was the doorway to the bedroom was closed.

"Mama?" the twins called out hesitantly, but there was no answer. They shared a look, uncertain of whether or not they should intrude. Did she not want to see them? Or perhaps she had not heard them.

"Mama?" This time, the spoke a bit louder, but there was still no reply. Tilting up their chins, and lifting their small chests in a gesture of courage, they pulled aside the curtain and entered the dark room. They could see Bellatrix lying on the immense bed, and as they crept closer to the bed, they saw that she was asleep. Harry and Holly felt a mix of relief mingled with disappointment. Relief that she had not been ignoring them after all; disappointment because they had wanted her affection and forgiveness, and now they would have to wait.

Neither of them quite dared to climb into bed with her, as much as they longed to. But neither of them wanted to leave as well. Instead, they curled up on the rug at the foot of the bed, like two lost puppies. To Harry and Holly, it was close enough.

They had scarcely closed their eyes for a moment when the twins suddenly heard an unusual sound. They opened their eyes at the same time, and peered out the window, noticing nothing but the black tops of the trees spearing the blue-black sky, dotted with pale stars. The sound came again - a high-pitched cackling laughter that had them immediately sitting up, bright with curious wonderment. It was such a delightfully amusing sound, and twin's eyes met, as they both broke into wide grins. They tilted their heads, curious to know if the laughter would return. There! Again!

Harry and Holly giggled, as they crawled towards the wall of the tent, pressing their ears against the silk fabric. The gleeful cackling sounded farther away this time, and for some reason, this disappointed the twins. They wanted to hear more. They sneaked out of the bedroom, towards the sitting room and to the entrance of the tent. Pulling it open a crack, they poked their heads out. The cool night air chilled their skin, and they could hear the chirping of frogs and the rustling sound of the wind through the leaves. Both of them strained their ears, hoping to hear that captivating sound once again. Finally, they were rewarded when it came, so clear as the laughter cut through the night air, dancing over the wind.

The almost musical cackle seemed to make all their worries melt away. It was like sugary sweetness to their ears, like the sight of unwrapped presents on their birthday, or a merry fire waiting for them on the coldest of winter days. It was like a promise of good things to come, a sound of wonderful anticipation, calling and beckoning. Without a second thought, the twins had left the tent, not even bothering with shoes, as they followed the sound, deeper and deeper into the black shadows of the woods.

They barely noted the crispness of the air that caused goosebumps to rise on their skin, or the sharpness of the stones and sticks and plants beneath their feet. They paid no heed to the branches that scratched their robes and faces, and pulled at their hair. No thought was given to the predators that might lurk in the night, all too happy to feast on a pair of unguarded young children. If not for the fact that their wands happened to be in their pockets, they would have been completely defenceless, and if not for the fact of their twin bond, they wouldn't have even been holding hands, but they were, and though it made walking through the woods more difficult, at no point did they let go.

Neither Holly nor Harry cared about what direction they were walking in. All that mattered was reaching that sweet laughter, that wondrous sound, and they knew that they were getting close. Interspersed with the laughter was the sound of high-pitched, raspy sounding voices that spoke in a sing-song kind of manner, much like Bellatrix often did.

"Closer, come closer children." The cackles that sounded so far seemed to now surround them.

"Come here, delicious little children." More cackles, and though the words were strange, Harry and Holly could not resist.

"Where are you?" Holly called out longingly.

"We want to see you," Harry beseeched.

"Closer, come closer, tasty little children." The voices sounded even nearer, and the entrancing cackles even louder. The twins could hear the snapping of twigs, the tramp of small footfalls. The feeling of anticipation only increased.

From the shadowy darkness, came skinny, hunched little creatures with pointed, menacing faces, and as the sound of laughter surrounded them, the creatures leapt forward, and Holly and Harry shrieked in terror and agony as they felt jagged teeth digging into their arms, and legs. Harry's instincts took over, and a howl escaped his lips as he began to claw and bite at the creatures, with only one thought in mind: 'Protect Holly.' He snarled and yelled, swinging his arms and kicking his legs, but the swarm of creatures felt endless. It became too much. He tried to guard Holly with his body, not fearing for himself, but he knew he wouldn't last. Soon, their minds blanked out in animalistic panic, and at once, Harry's accidental defencive magic came into force. The twins vanished from the ground, and popped back into existence on the thick branches of a nearby tree, barely able to keep their balance, though they were pressed near the trunk. And yet, it was not enough. The creatures were hungry and determined, and though vast majority of them were left on the ground, three still clung stubbornly to the twins by their teeth - one on Holly's arm and thigh, and one on Harry's shin, biting so deeply that the twins swore that they could feel teeth scraping their bones, and feel hot blood gushing down their limbs.

Worst yet, the rest of the creatures were scrambling up the tree, tearing and fighting each other as they attempted to be the first to make up to those branches where a delicious feast awaited them. The twins kept their grip on one another, using their other hands to try and fling the biting creatures off, screaming from a mix of pain and panic. They could feel Holly's magic building, and building, like electric eels beneath her skin, and when it finally whipped out of her, it ripped through the creatures with such violence that their jaws were sheared apart, hot blood splattering their skin, and the jagged halves of their heads fell away, subject to the force of gravity (and why oh why was it so easy to just kill these creatures? The twins had never found it easy to kill before...)

But all that they had succeeded in doing was removing the pointy, threatening creatures that had bitten them, and now, the twins were bleeding freely, driving the frenzy of the voracious little monsters below them. Scrambling and fighting on the trunk were more - so many, many more of them, their faces filled with ravenous, slavering hunger, and there was nowhere for Holly or Harry to go. The twins screamed and yelled, and kicked their feet, barely able to avoid the razor-edges of teeth, while the creatures mocked and laughed, so that all the twins could hear were the words 'tasty,' and 'delicious,' and 'yummy,' and 'treats.' Unintentional, wandless magic had only ever saved them once - they were drained, and neither of them expected any more miraculous acts tonight. They clung to one another, wildly flinging and throwing their legs, and the shift in their movements finally made them aware of the poking wands in their pockets.

Hope suddenly renewed within them. At the same time, they pulled out their wands, and with a violent forward jab, they let their magic loose, heedless of the slick oiliness, unaware of the pain ripping through their own bodies as their skin tore and bruised. All that mattered was the removal of the threat, and with a deafening BANG, there was an enormous blast that caused a ringing in their ears, while the cackling, chittering creatures blasted apart into messy, bloody (and very dead) pieces, scattered in a wide radius. Unfortunately for the twins, not only had they blasted apart the swarm of creatures, but they had also destroyed a large chunk of the tree trunk, and with a jarring crack, they felt the tree as it began to tip over, the ground coming ever closer and closer.

Neither of them gave a thought to the light drawing nearer to them - all they were aware of was their loss of balance, of the way they desperately clung to the tree which was bringing them perilously closer and closer to the ground. All they wanted was each other's safety, and to be in their mama's arms yet again, protected and loved. Why, oh why did they have to disappoint her? Why did they have to distance themselves from her? If not for that, they'd be safe, lying together in their large bed, cuddling together like a happy family. Harry and Holly could not help but think that if they got out of this alive that they would never question Bellatrix again - that they would trust that she knew best, because she had never truly hurt them, and had only ever wanted to help them.

A familiar voice, filled with terrible urgency shrieked: "Babies!" And the twins had finally lost their grip and were falling, falling, but then there was a sensation of weightlessness, and when they finally hit the ground, the sensation was so light that it was like falling into a bed of leaves. And then, a familiar scent hit them, and arms and a cloud of hair were around them, and they could hear their mama babbling: "Babies, my babies, my sweet, darling babies!" And all the twins could do was cling to her like limpets, wailing out: "mama!"

With a crack of apparition, the twins were startled out of their sobbing relief by the horrible feeling of being compressed, and a second later, they were all back in the familiar comfort of their tent. Bellatrix murmured soothing words of love and comfort as she laid the twins upon the bed, checking their still-bleeding wounds. Healing magic was not one of her strengths, so it was fortunate that Narcissa had had the foresight to remind Bellatrix to pack a full supply of a large variety of healing potions. Once the twins were reasonable settled, Bellatrix scrambled to the trunk, searching out what she needed.

Opening the phials with frantic impatience, she gave doses to each of the twins, and watched as their wounds sealed up, without even leaving a scar. The twins, who had been feeling an intense, needling itchiness in the limbs, on top of the piercing pain of their throbbing wounds, sighed with relief. Even the bruises faded, though many of them still remained.

"We're sorry, mama," the twins murmured tiredly, now that the adrenalin was finally wearing off. They wanted to say more - to say that they would always obey her, or that they trusted that she knew best, or even that they were grateful for her, but the weight of their tiredness was too immense, and their eyelids were too heavy, and without being able to utter another word, the pair of them drifted off to sleep, not noticing the pained and desperate expression that looked so close to love painted ever so clearly upon Bellatrix's face.

-o-

Harry and Holly woke up to the familiar warmth and scent of their mama, and without even opening their eyes, they cuddled closer, wanting to remain enveloped in the fuzzy, comfortable happiness they felt. There was something mildly troubling lingering in the corners of their consciousness but they were not ready to face it yet.

But whether they were ready or not, awareness pulled at them, and the memories came tumbling forth: memories of hunched little creatures with scrawny bodies, pointed faces and jagged teeth. Fear and surprise caused them both to tense and cling closer to Bellatrix who groaned restlessly, and mumbled something incoherent. The twins reached for each other's hands, clasping tightly and drawing comfort in their familiarity and aliveness.

So many emotions flooded them. The greatest of all was the feeling of relief. Of course, they were glad to be alive, but more than that, they were so very, very glad that Bellatrix had come for them. After the past few days, neither Harry nor Holly were certain that Bellatrix still cared for them. They felt that they had failed her - that they had proven themselves too weak to be worthy of her regard, and the fact that she had come for them showed them that she still cared. Though they had been with her for two years, and she had never given them reason to think that she would abandon them, the fear still remained. When they had lived with the muggles, they had been constantly reminded of how unwanted they were, through both words and actions. The belief of being unlovable was something that resided deep in their consciousness - a belief they had yet to break free of.

But just because Bellatrix had come for them, it did not mean that they had her approval. She had showed them that she cared, but the twins wanted more. They wanted her to be proud of them. Fortunately, the flame of hope still burned in their hearts, and they felt that there was still time for them to prove themselves to their mama. Just because they could not endure the torture last time, it wouldn't mean that the situation would be the same next time. Harry and Holly would simply have to prove themselves stronger and better than before.

Having come to that resolution, the twins found themselves feeling a bit better, and by the time Bellatrix woke, they were both calm.

"Babies," Bellatrix greeted, her voice sounding gritty from sleep. She attempted to peel her eyes open, but it felt like too much of an effort, and she groaned, rolling over so that she could block out the light with her pillow Bellatrix had never really been a morning person. "I had the most curious dream." Her words were muffled by the pillow, and the twins shared a look.

"Dream?"

"I dreamed that the two of you were nearly eaten by erklings, but then you blew them apart into itty bitty ickle bits and fell out of a tree."

"Erklings?"

Bellatrix moaned, as though the conversation was far too much effort, this early in the morning. "Those pointy things. You know. Short. Hunched. Ghastly, elfish-looking creatures. Creepy laugh. Eat children."

The twins shared another speaking look, though this time, their eyes were alight with amusement. It was funny that Bellatrix would think that another creature would have a creepy laugh, when she herself often laughed in a way that clearly unnerved others. Though the twins adored Bellatrix, even they weren't immune to her sometimes-maniacal cackles.

They were both intrigued to learn that they were attacked by creatures called erklings. They knew about the more common types of magical creatures, such as dragons, unicorns, trolls, griffins and the like, but they had never heard of erklings until now. They couldn't help the shiver that swept down their spines as they contemplated the disturbing notion of being eaten. It was a good thing they happened to remember to use their wands.

When Bellatrix was eventually fully awake, she seemed as pleased as the twins that their relationship was back to normal. Of course, she also realized that the incident with the erklings was no dream, and if they weren't all dead, she would have stalked back out into the woods with nothing but her wand and her rage, and she would have killed them all (after torturing them first, naturally.) Beyond that, Bellatrix was aglow with pride, simply because of the fact that the twins had both killed. True, they had killed insects before, but erklings were such an immense step up from insects. After all, erklings spoke. In human words. Erklings had faces. And hands. And humanoid bodies. And Bellatrix could not help but think that if the twins could kill erklings, then it wouldn't be long before they were killing muggles.

A few days after the erkling incident, Bellatrix and the twins were travelling again. Bellatrix had a book floating in front of her, and she was reading out loud to the twins about the theory of protective enchantments. The material was far beyond their skill level - after all this time, Bellatrix still did not have a good sense of the type of lessons that were appropriate for six year olds, and this was only made worse by the lack of Narcissa's gentle manipulations. Regardless, the twins absorbed the information to the best of their ability, and asked the appropriate questions to clarify concepts (though most of their questions related to the meaning of certain words.)

Harry was absently scratching Hamal between his bronze horns when he looked up and spotted a familiar eagle owl.

"Look!" he pointed out, disrupting Bellatrix's reading. "An owl! D'you think it's from Draco?" Holly's face lit up with anticipation. But instead of dropping a letter upon Harry or Holly's laps, the majestic owl landed on Bellatrix's outstretched arm, and handed her the folded parchment. Harry and Holly's faces fell in disappointment, but they still looked towards Bellatrix with hopeful expressions. Any news of home was better than no news at all.

Bellatrix lifted her arm, in a gesture that indicated that she was done with the owl. It never would have occurred to her to thank the creature, and she had no treats readily at hand, but the owl did not nip at her, or scratch her with its talons in disappointment. Creatures that irritated or angered Bellatrix had a habit of turning up dead (or if not dead, then at least maimed.)

Holly and Harry's eyes never left Bellatrix as she split the seal and opened the letter. As Bellatrix read the words written in Narcissa's curved and graceful penmanship, a smirk of amusement pulled her lips into curl, and her eyes glittered with a bright sort of glee. Bellatrix chortled as she took in Narcissa's message, and the twins thought they heard her say something like: "why, Cissy! I didn't know you had it in you" before laughing once again.

"Mama?" Holly asked. The twins were desperate to hear any word from Malfoy manor.

Bellatrix looked away from the letter towards the twins, her face still bright with good humour and delight.

"What does the letter say?" Harry asked. "Did Draco - ?" Harry trailed off, but Bellatrix understood the question well enough.

"Oh, it's just Cissy," Bellatrix replied airily, with a nonchalant wave of her hand. "Such a dear, but she worries far too much, the silly girl. As if I can't take care of myself - she very well knows that I can!"

Harry and Holly shared a look. It was difficult to think of the regal and icy Narcissa as being a 'silly girl' and the twins would have wondered if she were talking about someone else entirely, except that they had heard Bellatrix reference her sister that way before.

"Draco?" Harry prodded, trying to get Bellatrix's mind back on track.

"Hm? Oh, the little dragon?" Bellatrix made another indifferent gesture. "Forget about him. He isn't important."

"What do you mean?" Harry questioned, dissatisfied with Bellatrix's comment.

"We want to know why Draco hasn't written us," Holly added, sounding just as stubborn.

Bellatrix blinked, looking at the twins as though she wasn't entirely sure what to make of their outburst. "Do you care for that sniveling little boy so much?" Bellatrix sounded genuinely perplexed.

"He's not a sniveling little boy!" Harry defended hotly.

"He's our best friend!"

Bellatrix knit her brows and pouted her lips as she contemplated the twins words. "I suppose I understand the need to cultivate powerful and influential connections but babies - you're already connected to the Malfoys. Draco is my darling -" ('darling' was said mockingly), "- nephew meaning he is your cousin by blood. You don't have to pretend to like him. Only consider Lucius. I can hardly stand the man, he's so rigid. Any stiffer and he could quit his hobby as a political dilettante and take up a career as a his own walking stick. But whether I like him or not, we stand by one another against all others because we're -" (Bellatrix scrunched up her nose in disgust) "- family. It really is a shame that Draco takes after Lucius so very much."

Holly and Harry considered her words. They had never given too much thought to Draco's behaviour (beyond finding him a likeable friend), but it was true that Draco spoke of his father as though the man was his personal god. As much as Draco adored his mother, it was his father that he sought to emulate.

"Why do you hate Uncle Lucius?" Harry wondered. It was true that Lucius Malfoy was a rather stiff and cold person, but the same could be said of Narcissa (or at least, that was the facade that she projected) and yet Bellatrix clearly loved her sister.

"Why do I hate dear Lucy?" Bellatrix laughed coldly. "Oh babies, there are more reasons than there are stars in the sky. But only one reason is truly important. I hate him because he is weak. I hate him because he is cowardly. When the Dark Lord disappeared after trying to kill the two of you -" (Bellatrix never made it a secret and spoke of it so matter-of-factly that the twins did not even bat an eye at the statement, for the whole notion seemed so abstract) "- Lucius evaded Azkaban by claiming that he was acting under the imperius curse. I've taught you about that one, haven't I babies?"

"Yes, mama," Holly answered. "That's the curse that puts other people under your control and you can make them do whatever you want."

Bellatrix beamed. "Very good!" Her smile soon faded as she continued her explanation. "Yes, well, Lucy dear claimed to be under the imperius curse, rather than standing by the Dark Lord's convictions. He may claim to be loyal and devoted to the Dark Lord's cause, but when it comes to facing any threats to his own skin, Lucius is ready enough to throw his own beliefs atop a burning pyre. Perhaps -" Bellatrix's expression became thoughtful. "Perhaps he could have been forgiven for his actions, had he used his time and freedom to go seek out and find the Dark Lord. But did he do that? No. He didn't. Instead, he hid out in his countryside estate, going to parties and making friends and dabbling around with inconsequential policies, raising his little heir to be just. Like. Him." Bellatrix's tone of voice had become venomous, and her eyes flashed dangerously.

Lucius had done that? No wonder Bellatrix treated him with such animosity. Still, Harry and Holly felt the need to defend their friend. "But Draco never did any of those things," Harry pointed out.

"And Draco really isn't like Lucius." Draco was his own person, true enough, but Holly was still glad he wasn't here to hear those words. It would have only hurt Draco's feelings.

Bellatrix's expression had become suspicious. "What is this about, babies? What has that little dragon done to earn such a fierce defence?"

"Draco is our friend," Harry repeated.

"Friend?" Bellatrix echoed, her eyes blank. But then, comprehension seem to finally settle in and she blinked. "Ah, this is because he's the only playmate you've ever had, isn't it? I forget how young you two are." This wasn't strictly true. It wasn't that Bellatrix ever forgot that the twins were young. Rather, it was more that Bellatrix had been so vastly different as a child, so much darker and crueler and wilder that she could not really understand the twin's hearts and minds.

"Don't worry, babies. You'll forget him soon enough - especially once we find the Dark Lord. And besides -" Bellatrix made another airy gesture. "He has forgotten you."

"What?" Holly and Harry gaped at Bellatrix, wondering if they had misheard.

"Hm?" Bellatrix acted as though she had not heard the question. Instead, she folded away the letter, tucking it into her robe pocket, and she began to read out loud from the book again, continuing their lessons.

But Harry and Holly would have none of it. "Mama!" Holly demanded.

"Tell us what you mean! Why would you say Draco's forgotten us?"

Bellatrix sighed, as though the question was too ridiculous to waste any time or effort on. "I mean just that. Widdle Dwaco had forgotten all about you." She sounded almost taunting as she said it.

Harry and Holly felt the blood leaving their face. It couldn't be true, could it? How could Draco have forgotten them? After playing together every day for two years, could they have truly escaped his memory? Did he care for them so little?

"Oh yes," Bellatrix continued, her voice taking on a slight sing-song quality. "He has forgotten everything." She laughed, mockingly. "Forgotten all those games out on the lawn, and all those flights on your little brooms, and all the places that you used to hide together in the manor. Malfoys always were of bad faith after all, and it's foolish to ever trust them." Bellatrix's voice had become cold now. "Remember that well. Never trust a Malfoy. Never trust anyone but yourselves, the Dark Lord and me."

-o-

As one month slid into the next, a familiar pattern in their lives emerged. Just like at Malfoy manor, mornings and early afternoons were reserved for lessons, while the twins had their late afternoons and evenings to themselves. For the longest time, the twins had been withdrawn and morose. They felt the pain of Draco's absence and abandonment like that of an old wound, newly opened. But at the same time, they were both still children, and it was hard to stay on their hitzetier's back all day. They fidgeted restlessly, agitating Bellatrix with their sighs and occasional bouts of repetitive questions ("are we there yet?")

It was then that Bellatrix seized upon what she felt would be the perfect solution. After the erkling incident, she was sure that it was a sign that the twin's magic was maturing and growing. What better way was there to work off the twin's energy than to practice the art or killing? Of course, to Bellatrix, the ideal sort of killing involved muggles, and what better sport could there be than muggle hunting? Unfortunately, muggle hunting was not at all practical (not to mention the issues of legality), and though Bellatrix was not always very perceptive, she was aware enough to know that the twins were not ready to kill muggles. So, instead, she decided that Harry and Holly would have to learn ordinary hunting. Not only could the twins hone their killer instincts, but it would take care of their food rations problem. Bellatrix could see no faults in her plan at all.

So, one afternoon, after their lessons were done, Bellatrix made the announcement. "Babies! I have a surprise for you!" She spoke in a bright sing-song manner. "This is going to be so much fun! The two of you are going to learn some new skills! You remember what it was like the last time we were running low on food don't you?" Her face scrunched up with distaste. "Having to make use of muggle supplies." She shuddered. "How distasteful." The twins had their own reasons for shuddering, completely separate from Bellatrix's reasons.

"Well," she continued brightly. "The two of you are going to learn how to hunt! You have such energy! Like little crups, you are." She was referring to a type of wizarding dog. "I'm going to cast a spell on you - a tethering spell so that you can find your way back to me. If anything dangerous is out there, the tether will let me find you immediately. Now, off you go! Magic will take care of the rest."

And with that, Bellatrix flicked her wand in a bow-tie pattern and a pale shimmering thread appeared to flow between Bellatrix and the twins. When they tried to touch it, their hands passed straight through the thread, but they felt a faint tingle around their ribs and it made them immediately conscious of Bellatrix's location. She motioned for the twins to dismount from Hamal's back, and she made a gesture to shoo them off.

Harry and Holly looked at one another, their brows furrowed, but they obeyed Bellatrix and climbed off Hamal. "What are we supposed to do?" Holly questioned.

Bellatrix sighed as though the answer was painfully obvious. "First, you find something." Bellatrix spoke with an exaggerated slowness that had the twins hackles rising. "Then you kill it. Then you come back to me, yes?"

"Erm - okay, mama," Harry replied, sounding not-at-all certain. But it was clear that Bellatrix had nothing more to add. So, the twins took each other's hands, and ventured into the thicket, trusting that the tether spell would keep them safe.

Being in the woods on their own was an unusual experience. They had spent their earliest years shoved in a cupboard. Then they had lived in luxury at the Malfoy manor. And after that, they spent most of their time on Hamal's back, following Bellatrix. Perhaps they should have been afraid of being left alone in such an unfamiliar setting, but the twins trusted Bellatrix, and they explored the forest with open curiosity.

On their first evening of 'hunting,' the twins failed to find anything at all. They heard creatures rustling in the bushes, and occasionally caught sight of birds, but the noisiness of their footsteps scared everything away. They were unsure of whether or not to return to Bellatrix - after all, they had nothing to show for their day of wandering, other than weary limbs and tired eyes. Both of them hesitated at the entrance of the tent, wondering whether or not Bellatrix would be disappointed in them. To their relief, Bellatrix had simply shrugged and said: "next time, my babies." If anything, she was just glad to have a break from the twin's restless energy, so she could focus on her research related to seeking out the Dark Lord.

After the first week, the twins finally learned how to silence their steps, both with the aid of a light touch of magic, but also, due to gaining a greater awareness of their surroundings, and their bodies. The only thing they had managed to catch was a bird, which they had accidently stunned in a moment of startlement, causing it to crash into a tree. Despite their 'failure' at hunting, a sense of peace was settling over Harry and Holly. They felt a bit guilty, but there was something nice about being away from their mama. Here, amidst the bracken, they could forget everything but their senses. The twins liked to pretend that they weren't children at all, but instead, were a pair of nundus, which was a magical leopard-like creature - one of the deadliest in existence. Curiously enough, their imaginary play-acting seemed to channel their inner grace, and they moved with greater stealth, sticking to the shadows, aware of every sound.

In their second week, their skills continued to improve, but the only kill they made was once again accidental. They had frightened a flock of birds from a tree, and another stunning spell had caused one of the birds to fall from the sky and break its neck. It was in their third week that they had their first real kill. They had spotted numerous birds, rabbits, squirrels and even dormice in the past few days, but despite their silence, the animals' reflexes were fast enough to dodge their spells.

"We need a plan," Harry huffed, after yet another hare had escaped. "We're just not quick enough, and the killing spell is hard to do quickly."

"Maybe we should split up," Holly suggested. "It might be easier to trap something that way. As long as we keep each other in sight. Plus, I think I can sense you, even if we aren't touching. We didn't used to be able to do that before."

"Oh! I've noticed that too, but I wasn't too sure. I don't feel it strongly, but I still know where you are."

"Me too. Even when you're being silent." The twins shared a pleased smile. It was yet another way that they felt that they were somehow progressing. True, they weren't any good as hunters (yet) but they were getting somewhere.

Thus decided, they parted from one another, and slipped into the shadows of the trees. Both of them had their wands in hand, ignoring the warm oiliness and the faint itching, paying attention to their senses instead. Harry peered over at his sister, making sure that she was still in sight. It was strange, not being able to hear her at all. But it was true that he could feel her familiar magic, reassuring him of her presence. He hadn't noticed it when they stayed close, but now that they were at a distance, she appeared to fade into the shadows like a silent wraith. Was that the result of their magic as well? Through Bellatrix's teaching methods, they getting better and better at shaping the wild, chaotic magic within them to their will. They might not have caught any prey yet, but they were rapidly learning the art of stealth.

As Harry moved silently through the bracken, he caught sight of something brown moving in the corner of his eyes. He threw out a spell, hoping to stun the creature, but hissed with annoyance when he missed. Stunning spells or immobilization spells felt a lot easier than killing spells, but he still wasn't fast enough. Some corner of his mind was aware that Holly was running towards him, but most of Harry's attention was fixed on his prey. He was determined to chase it down. He leapt over a fallen log, dashing between trees and cast another spell. The creature, which turned out to be a rabbit, leapt away from him towards Holly's direction.

He could see the coloured light and feel the swell of magic as Holly cast her own silent spell, but the hare twisted away at the last moment, barely escaping the spell. Yet, Holly's presence was herding the hare back towards him. It was on an intersect path, bounding closer and closer. He waited until he was sure he wouldn't miss and with a quick slash of his wand, the rabbit squealed, and flopped over. Harry was filled with a bright feeling of triumph, resonating between him and his twin. The pair of them were panting as they dashed towards the fallen creature, wearing identical grins. It wasn't dead - Harry had only managed to use the cutting spell on its legs so it could no longer run. But the feeling of elation was quickly fading and the sight of the animal suffering filled Harry with a sudden flood of guilt. What had he done?

Harry looked up at Holly, who had come upon the hare at the same time. "I -" he began, intending to explain himself, but the words died when he saw Holly's expression and became aware of her magic.

There was something strange in the air around them. Holly's familiar magic was there, but there was something else as well - something just as familiar, and yet somehow wrong. It was Dark, like some strange taint. It was like some extra magic that he hadn't been fully conscious of before, and yet it had been around him for as long as he could remember. Why was it suddenly so intense now? And why was Harry's scar suddenly aching painfully? He lifted a hand up to rub it, trying to ease the throbbing discomfort.

Not only were they surrounded by the strangely familiar magic, but Holly's expression was oddly intense, and she seemed to be holding her wand with what could only be described as 'fierceness.' Her green eyes were hard, and with a zigzag of her wand, a bright green light appeared. When it hit the hare, its twitching ceased. Slowly, Holly lowered her wand, and began to blink. A look of confusion crossed her face.

"Wha - did you kill the rabbit?" Holly asked, bemused. "Or - did I?" She squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head. "What happened? I feel - really good, but really weird. It stings." She scrunched her face in discomfort and began to rub her arms, her gaze drifting over to Harry. "You're rubbing your scar. Does it feel weird too? Mine feels -" her eyelids fluttered shut, "- good. Tingly."

"Holly - you don't - remember? And what do you mean good? My scar hurts!"

"Hurts? What?" she frowned. "Wait. I - I killed the rabbit didn't I? I remember running, and feeling amazing, like a nundu. Like I was running on air and nothing could catch me."

"Yeah. It was like that for me too."

Holly's brows drew together. "It kept feeling better, the closer I got to the rabbit. But then -" Holly shuddered, and Harry crossed over to her, taking her hand and squeezing it. She smiled weakly and squeezed back.

"It's so - weird! For a moment, I felt like I wasn't really me anymore. It was like something Dark was all around me - or - erm - inside me perhaps. I -" Holly looked at Harry, and there was something in her eyes, as though she were pleading. "Did you feel that too?"

The question made Harry's chest feel like it was suddenly encased ice. He was so accustomed to knowing everything his sister felt. He was accustomed to her knowing what he felt as well. So it was horrifying to know that he had no idea what she was talking about. Through their link, they were aware of the sense of disconnection between them. Holly's face paled, and she gave Harry a wounded look, even though he couldn't have been at fault.

Holly began to pull her hand away, looking hurt and betrayed and Harry felt himself panicking. Without thinking, he threw his arms around her and hugged her close.

"It doesn't matter!" he affirmed. "It doesn't matter at all. I love you no matter what. And you love me too, right?"

A whimper seemed to escape Holly's lips, like the beginning of a sob. "Mm," she nodded, unable to speak past the thickness in her throat. She closed her eyes, letting Harry's familiar magic flow through her until the horrible sensation of being alienated and abandoned faded away.

The twins stayed like that, until their hearts were no longer racing, and they felt as though they could breath again. When they were calm, they pulled apart, and Harry picked up the hare. He gave his sister a weak, crooked smile. "At least mama will be proud."

Holly shook her head, looking troubled, and Harry immediately regretted his words, even if he wasn't sure what he had said that was wrong. Why did this have to happen? He had never experienced anything like this with Holly before. The pair of them touched the ethereal tethers, using it to guide them back to Bellatrix.

Though she was full of praise and affection, neither of them felt more than the faintest shadow of joy. Considering that it was just a single hare, Bellatrix made a fairly big fuss over it ("I'm going to have the house-elf make us rabbit cacciatore tonight!") She hardly noticed the twin's subdued mood and unresponsiveness, attributing it to tiredness rather than melancholy. As far as Bellatrix was concerned, if the twins could kill a 'cute widdle wabbit,' then they should surely manage a few muggles in due time.

That night, Harry and Holly had more difficulty falling asleep than usual. Their skin ached, and even though Bellatrix and attempted to heal and sooth their sores and cuts, they felt a persistent stinging that made it nearly impossible to relax. The twins stayed as close to one another as possible, as though physical closeness could make up for the strange fissure that had appeared between them. They could not shake the sense that there was something else there. Beyond their own familiar magic, there was that strange Dark feeling Harry had been aware of when Holly momentarily lost herself. It was both foreign and unsettling, and yet terribly familiar.

Whatever it was, it seemed Bellatrix could sense it too, for their mama had been particularly cuddly and affectionate, and had fallen asleep, looking much more blissful than she usually did, murmuring about sweetness and the Dark Lord. The words should have soothed the twins, but instead, they felt conflicted and bewildered.

It was disturbing to the twins, how the foreign familiarity within them continued to intensify. They both recognized that the feeling had seemingly always been there, and only now were they really aware of it, like a fish suddenly realizing it was in water. The force of it had been so weak before - if they felt it back when they lived with their muggle relatives, they could hardly remember. And during their time at the Malfoy manor, the tainted sensation was all but nonexistent. But ever since joining mama on this search for the Dark Lord, the Darkness seemed to grow and multiply. Was it ever since they picked up their wands? No, it was before that - when their magic lashed out and made that old man choke and cough. And now, with every spell they cast, every magical skill they learned, it was taking a deeper hold upon them, merging and binding with the seductive oiliness of their wand's magic.

Eventually, their consciousness seemed to fade out, and they were tucked into one another as though they were back in the cupboard where they muggles used to stuff them, needing the support of their twin's presence. They often shared dreams if they were touching, which meant it occurred more often than not. With the lives that they had led, they were often prone to having bad dreams, but with each other's presence, they could at least 'save' each other from their nightmares. Each twin was the other's talismen of strength.

However, this night, something was different. They thought they had fallen asleep. They were asleep, weren't they? So why was it that they felt like they were locked in their bodies, paralyzed and unable to move? It was dark - their eyes were closed, so they did not think they could see anything, and yet, they somehow 'saw' one another, lying so close together, but feeling strangely and frighteningly apart. They were simultaneously aware that there was something or someone there with them. True, Bellatrix shared the bed with them, but it was not Bellatrix that they sensed. No, the twins sensed another presence here, watching them as they watched it, not with their eyes, but with their magic. How long had that presence been there? Ever since they fell asleep? Or had it been there beforehand? Strange, how the presence felt like it was both there, and yet not there, as though it too, might be in this strange semi-conscious state.

Despite the there/not-there quality, the feeling of the magical presence was incredibly striking - it did not feel like a dream or some figment of their imaginations. It was that foreign and familiar magic and it felt far, far more intense than ever before. It was Dark - so Dark. They had only ever felt each other's magic, and so, they had never experienced something like this before. It did not feel like home, the way the twins magic felt to each other, and yet, it felt like almost home. They could not taste it the way Bellatrix claimed to taste magic; there was no feeling of sweetness. And yet, it was alluring. Alluring and also terrifying and oppressive. They wanted to run from it, as much as they wanted to grasp it close to them.

Their consciousness and their magic seemed to tremble and hum in the face of this familiar strangeness. They felt like they were specimens, being carefully picked and examined, being infiltrated and turned inside out. They could sense emotions from the presence - sense its fascination with them, its puzzlement as it tried to figure out what they were.

And what was it? Who was it (assuming it was a 'who.') Stranger yet, they could feel the presence asking the same questions: 'Who are you?' And curiously: 'Why does your magic feel like mine?' Neither twins could answer the questions. Their bodies were frozen. They could not speak. The twins reached their magic out towards one another. Neither of them quite dared to reach their magic out towards the familiar-foreign presence. The strength of their love enabled to find one another, even in this strange, paralyzed state; however, to their surprise, the presence seemed to recoil and back away when faced with the sibling's love. It was not entirely gone, but seemed agitated and uncomfortable, as if love were its antithesis and it could not bear to be too close, even as it was drawn to them, to their familiarity.

They did nothing more than stay close to one another; there was nothing else they could have done. They could feel the searching questions quietly brushing their minds: 'who are you?' and 'what does this mean?' but the twins had no answers. Eventually, the presence faded away, and the strange paralysis was gone. Their consciousness faded to black as the deepest phase of sleep overtook them. As for the strange 'dream,' it would be nothing more than the haziest recollection the next day, soon to be forgotten as faint tendrils of memory weakened and faded.

-o-

It wasn't until late spring that Bellatrix and the twins had any direct encounters with more muggles. Because much of the country was quite populated, Bellatrix had been very careful to avoid crossing paths with most muggle-populated regions, which wasn't always easy because the mysterious Gris Malmangeur often left signs of his presence near the outskirts of villages. While she could take on several muggles at once, even Bellatrix wasn't reckless enough to attack a whole village or town all by herself (even if, in her fantasies, she was all too happy to burn every settlement down to the ground.) So, if there was a risk that they were nearing any muggle towns, Bellatrix would carefully use the disillusionment charm on all of them, concealing them from any muggle eyes.

But although Bellatrix was careful to mask their presence, that did not mean that she actually liked slinking about in the shadows, hiding herself and the twins from the lowly muggles. No, if it were up to her, she'd be walking proudly amidst them, knowing she was far superior to them in every way. If anything, having to use disillusionment charms or muggle-repelling charms only made her long to kill and torment muggles all the more.

Ever since Bellatrix had the twins take up hunting, food was rarely if ever an issue, so there hadn't really been the need to seek out a fresh store of rations from muggle sources. The strange incident where Holly felt like she wasn't entirely 'herself' when she killed anything (and curiously, it was always Holly who made the kill) always repeated itself. Furthermore, the Dark sense of that familiar and yet foreign magic persisted, like a stain that was impossible to remove. But while it was unnerving and strange, the twins learned to accept it when they realized that it wasn't something that would come between them, nor did it bleed into other aspects of their lives. While it was true that Harry couldn't understand how the experience was like for Holly, Holly was reassured by the fact that he would be by her side no matter what. The twins had even tried to explain it to Bellatrix, but their mama couldn't seem to get past the fact that it was 'unfair' of Holly to hog all the kills while Harry got none. At least she was proud of them for having some 'killing spirit' (whatever that meant - the twins didn't really understand, but they were still glad their mama was proud.)

If anything, this new difference between the twins had brought them closer than ever. True, they no longer understood seemingly everything about each other. But there was the understanding that they accepted one another unconditionally, and that was somehow more powerful. Their hunts had increased their confidence and honed their magic. In many ways, they were stronger than ever, even if the Dark taint also strengthened as well.

As the twins used their magic with greater frequency and power, it left Bellatrix in a rather intoxicated state. True, it was not an overwhelming intoxication (and in fact, it was fairly mild), but it was enough to keep Bellatrix relatively calm and level-minded on her quest to find the Dark Lord. Without that delectable 'taste' of Dark magic on a near daily basis, it was quite possible that Bellatrix's underlying instability would have led her to start killing and torturing muggles left and right, in an indiscriminate fit of temper. But just because Bellatrix had so far refrained from going on any sort of reckless solo rampages against muggles, that did not mean that she felt no urge to hurt and kill. It only meant that she had some measure of self-control about it.

As Bellatrix and the twins continued on their long and maddeningly convoluted journey across (what felt like all of) Germany, they came across a derelict looking farmhouse, perhaps abandoned. At any other point in time (excepting Bellatrix's time spent in Azkaban,) Bellatrix would have paid no heed to the farmhouse. It looked dilapidated and dirty, and they very sight of it made her skin crawl as she considered the insects, dust and muck. However, Bellatrix was bored and she was itching for an opportunity for some sort of real fun.

The twins were busy working on their penmanship as they sat on their hitzetier's back. She had transfigured a pair of floating boards to be used as makeshift desks, as well as parchment and long pheasant-feather quills. A lesson such as penmanship did not really require any participation on her part (aside from praise or criticism of their letters.) If they had been any other children, she would have likely entertained herself by mocking and making fun of them as they tried to concentrate, but when it came to the twins, it didn't occur to her to do such a thing. It was true that she wasn't really kind, and that she did sometimes taunt them, but in her own way, Bellatrix also cared for them, and deeply at that.

And so, as Bellatrix's eyes fell upon the ramshackle farmhouse, her first instinct was a strong desire to explore, and because the twin's attention had been focused on creating even letters, they did not notice their surroundings until they were upon the old farmhouse.

"Mama?" Holly questioned, when she noticed the gleam in Bellatrix's eyes as she scrutinized the run-down building.

"What are we doing here?" Harry looked at the farmhouse, puzzled.

"Let's have a look-see, shall we?" Bellatrix climbed off her mount and gave the twins a toothy grin, unable to repress her excitement. She had a feeling that she'd be able to find a little fun, and her fingers curled and uncurled in anticipation around her wand.

Harry and Holly climbed off Hamal reluctantly, petting him more for their own reassurance, than for the hitzetier's. The farmhouse looked terribly neglected - for all they knew, the roof could fall down upon their heads as soon as they walked through the door. But in truth, it wasn't the state of the building that gave them that sick, roiling feeling in the pit of their stomachs. Hunting and killing for food was one thing. But this? This wasn't hunting. This was something else. Something that just felt bad (even if Bellatrix would claim otherwise.)

"Well, what are you waiting for?" Bellatrix called out impatiently, gesturing for the twins to follow close behind her. "We could do with a bit of time out of the sun. Those mounts are preposterously hot."

The twins knew that if Bellatrix had truly wanted some shade, this was not the sort of place she would have chosen (ignoring the fact that she could have easily used magic to create shade, or even a nice little breeze to blow upon her face.) But neither of them commented. It was true that even with the cooling blankets, that the hitzetiers radiated a great deal of heat, and now that they were edging towards summer, it was only getting worse.

The twins trod up to Bellatrix, standing a short distance behind her as she pulled out her wand and used it to flick the door open in a gesture that was the perfect mix of disdainful and haughty. The door creaked with an uncomfortably long screech, but the sound seemed to be swallowed up by the oppressive and heavy atmosphere of the abandoned looking house. Everything appeared to be covered with a thick grimy layer of dirt. The furniture within was either broken or badly rotted, and the wallpaper was peeling and moldy. There was rubbish everywhere: broken and unbroken bottles, wrappers, cigarette butts, rags, bits and pieces of paper. And yet, as neglected as the house looked, it felt lived-in. There was the odor of human musk and human waste, and the twins could see sleeping bags tucked against one of the walls. Harry and Holly wanted nothing more than to turn tail and leave. This was nothing like the serenity of the woods. This felt sick.

Bellatrix's nose wrinkled with disgust, and with another wave of her wand, the pungent odors lost their sharp intensity. Now, all that was left on Bellatrix's face was a look of hungry anticipation. She made a humming noise, and the twins thought that they heard her murmur: "time for the hunt to begin."

Harry and Holly stuck close to Bellatrix. They had never encountered a setting like this one. Their muggle relatives had been middle-class, living in a 'respectable' house, and the Malfoys were in the top tier of society. The animal-like dirtiness of the farmhouse left the hairs on their arms standing, as though their instincts were warning them that threats could leap out at them at any moment. It was true that they trusted in Bellatrix's abilities to keep them safe, but something about this squalid and unfamiliar scene screamed danger, and the twins could not help but feel tense.

Somewhere within the house, they could hear slurred voices talking. None of them were able to pick out the words, even with the translation charm. Bellatrix was all but vibrating with giddiness, while the twins felt sicker than ever. They were getting more accustomed to seeing death, whether it was fish, or rabbits or deer, but the death of animals couldn't prepare them for the death of humans. Even the death of humans that they had already seen couldn't prepare them for the death to come.

They crept deeper into the house, and the voices got louder as they neared one of the open doorways. A set of rickety looking wooden steps led down to a dank basement, lit with a bare lightbulb. At this point, Harry and Holly were clutching each other's hand, feeling cold with dread. Though logically, they knew that they were at an advantage because they had magic, they could not help but feel as though they were walking into some sort of horrible trap. The confined looking space of the basement only increased their apprehension.

"Wands out, babies," Bellatrix ordered softly. The twins quickly obeyed, letting the warm greasy feeling wash over them. Curiously, a bit of their fear subsided and was replaced by something a bit more disturbing, that felt almost like eagerness.

"I'm like a nundu," Holly whispered in a mantra, so quietly that only Harry heard her. "I am the predator. Nothing will hurt me." Her grip on her wand was so tight that her knuckles were white. True, she had killed many times before, even if it was just animals. But even now, she could never fully remember how she did it. What if she couldn't do it now? In fact, how could either Harry or Holly even contemplate killing muggles? This didn't feel anything like a hunt. Harry edged closer to her, letting their familiar magic wash over her.

"I'm with you no matter what," he whispered to her. "I have your back, and you have mine."

Holly could only nod stiffly. At this point, Bellatrix was already climbing down the stairs, and despite their worn and rotting state, she moved with inborn elegance, completely unafraid.

The voices below were clearer now. The twins thought they heard someone say: "Who's there?" and they found themselves wishing that the words had remained muffled and slurred. It was somehow so much worse, when the words were clear. It reminded them that these were humans that they were facing.

Bellatrix had reached the bottom of the stairs, the twins right behind her. Bellatrix twirled her wand in an utterly casual gesture as she surveyed the scene before her. There were three filthy-looking men, staring at Bellatrix with bleary eyes and dazed expressions. To the twins, it looked like some sort of strange muggle potions lab with giant cauldrons, but Bellatrix recognized the scent of alcohol. It was some sort of illegal set-up for the home-distillation of liquor.

The men had perhaps been imbibing their own brew because all of them looked to be various stages of drunk and all of them were grimy. They had scarcely noticed the twins, but were instead ogling Bellatrix who, even under the harsh light of the bare lightbulb, looked regal and exquisite. They cursed and murmured appreciatively, as their eyes roamed up and down her body.

Bellatrix's lip lifted in a sneer. "Looks like I've finally found the filthy little rats."

The men seemed to completely disregard her words. One of them was saying something like: 'beautiful goddess,' while the second was describing the perverse and disgusting things he wanted to do to her, and the third was drooling (though how much of that was related to Bellatrix's beauty as opposed to his inebriated state was hard to tell.)

Though Holly and Harry were sure that Bellatrix planned to do horrible, painful things to these muggles, their first feelings were of disgust and revulsion rather than sympathy. This whole scene felt far, far too different from the scene with the loving couple, so that repulsion overrode their feelings of compassion. Even with Bellatrix's odor-blocking charm, the men stank, and they looked grubby and acted disgustingly vulgar. The state that they lived in was foul, and their minds seemed to be no better. The men began to shamble towards Bellatrix, and the twins backed away nervously, until their backs were pressed against the wall.

With a lazy figure-eight swirl of her wand, inky shadows arose from the dirt-caked floor, twisting slowly but surely around the ankles of the men. When the men found that they could no longer move, their expressions changed from lust to bafflement. They struggled to move forward, their minds too hazy with alcohol to be able to deduce what was happening to them.

Bellatrix gave them a predatory smile. Without looking away from the men, she spoke. "Babies, I want you to pick one. Pick the one you want to kill. I'll let you have first choice. The one on the left, perhaps - he looks the strongest, doesn't he? He might even put up a good fight." Bellatrix chuckled darkly at her own comment.

Though the twins wanted the men gone, that didn't mean they wanted them tortured and dead. They might have felt revulsion, but that wasn't a true motive for killing anything. "I - I don't want to, mama," Holly stammered, but there was an edge of mulishness in her voice.

Harry pressed against Holly in support. "We won't do it." Their mama had been happy with them lately, so surely, they would be given some leeway, wouldn't they? However, the twins did not fully realize the vast difference that Bellatrix perceived between killing animals and killing muggles. Yes, she had been pleased with them for killing animals, but that was because she expected it to lead up to killing muggles.

The twins words caused Bellatrix to finally looked away from the muggles, her lips twisted downwards as she looked at the twins reproachfully. "What are you going on about? Of course you will! You've both become excellent hunters, have you not? You bring back game nearly every day now. I know that you're both capable."

"This - this isn't the same," Holly admitted unhappily, staring at one of the far walls since she was unable to meet Bellatrix's eyes. "It's like - like killing cats in a basket."

Bellatrix hummed thoughtfully. "It is, isn't it?" She glanced over at the muggle men who were still struggling. "But letting them loose would make things so messy. They might -" Bellatrix cringed, "accidently touch me. And they're vermin! We need to get rid of them."

"But - well, getting rid of vermin doesn't mean we have to kill them," Harry reasoned with an edge of desperation in his voice. "I mean, if there's a spider in the tent, we can either squish it, or put it outside. If muggles are vermin, can't we just - put them somewhere else? Somewhere where they won't bother us?"

Bellatrix lifted one hand and began rubbing her eyes, while her wand hand maintained the spell on the muggles. "You two need a lesson now? Of all times? It's one thing to put a bitty spider outside, but these are muggles. Haven't I taught you time and time again of how dangerous they are? Of the things they'd do to us if given the chance? Do you want to be tied up and burned at the stake? Do you? If a spider or ant or bird gets stuck in the house, we let it outside because it's harmless. Muggles are NOT harmless. They are despicable and dangerous creatures and it is our duty to protect ourselves from them. Torturing them is just a nice bonus."

Harry and Holly shared a look. How could they argue against that? Almost all that they knew about the world had been taught to them by Bellatrix. They had no idea how to argue against her reasoning. It wasn't enough to just say that for some inexplicable reason, having to kill muggles felt somehow wrong. If they said that, Bellatrix would think they were completely backwards!

Bellatrix sighed. "Such little babies you are. You have to remember that mama knows best. And besides, your magic was made to hurt and kill. I can taste it. Oh! I know! I'll get things warmed up for you."

Bellatrix then turned back to the muggle men, her eyes gleaming with manic desire and blood lust, and the toothy grin returned to her face. "I've waited too long for this," she purred. "Far too long. Babies? Don't even think of closing your eyes this time. It's time you see the pleasure of this."

The twins felt their stomachs drop, just as Bellatrix screeched: "crucio!" An angry beam of red flew towards the man in the middle, who screamed in agonizing pain and fell to his knees. The other two men seemed to have been shaken out of their stupor, and tried to back away, only to fall backwards, ensnared by the shadowy bindings. The tortured muggle shrieked and wailed, his body contorting into strange distorted angles as his muscles strained and his hands became claw-like, and his spine curved so greatly it looked like a bow that might soon snap. He lost control of his bowels, and the other two men desperately tried to put distance between them.

The twin's had already made a move to cover their ears and squeeze their eyes shut, but they somehow stopped themselves, remembering Bellatrix's order, and forced themselves to watch, as horrific as it was. Some part of Harry's mind shut down. His eyes were open, but his thoughts and his heart was placed behind a wall, a barrier, unwilling to process what he were seeing. He separated himself from the present, dissociating from the horror before him. And because Harry closed down, he didn't fully realize that the Dark taint was rooting deeper and was causing some part of Holly to open up. If he had looked over at his sister, he would have seen her eyes wide, and her pupils dilated, taking in the muggle's pain with a terrifying look close to hunger. The Holly that he knew so well was gone, replaced by the One-Who-Kills.

Bellatrix was so caught up in the pleasure of the curse, so wonderfully and achingly thrilled to be feeling the seductive caress of Dark Magic once again that she did not notice one of the men breaking free of his shadowy fetters. It wasn't the case that Bellatrix had lost control of her magic - nor had she actually lessened the power of the onyx black bonds. However, it just so happened that some muggles had a resistance to magic. Those in the wizarding world had never cared enough about muggles to find out why - perhaps these people were descendants of squibs or other magical beings with resistance to magic itself. Whatever the case, one of the men here had a slight resistance to magic, and with enough desperate effort, he managed to free himself.

The man was frantic to get away. Even if he did not understand magic - even if he thought that maybe he was being attacked by aliens, or that this was some bizarre nightmare or hallucination, he still had his instincts, and those instincts screamed at him to run, to escape this threat to his life and well-being. Unfortunately, there was only one escape route: the stairs. The basement itself was barren except for the home-distillery - almost more like a cold-cellar than a basement. However, Bellatrix and the twins stood at the base of the stairs, blocking his way to freedom.

Yet, for all that the man was afraid, his sense self-preservation was strong, and upon seeing the two children, his mind immediately seized upon them as a weak point, and thus an opportunity. The twins looked so alike - and while they did not precisely look like the beautiful woman, there was no question that they were her children, for they had her elegant bone structure, deep-set eyes fringed by sooty lashes and dark hair-colouring. But it was the girl that drew his attention - she seemed to radiate a certain vulnerability so clearly seen in her luminous green eyes, but like a sweet scented predatory plant, her vulnerability was a lie. The man did not even register Holly's expression. He would not have been able to make sense of the hunger in her eyes anyway. His body acted without input from his mind. Lunging forward with clumsy steps, he seized her by the neck, by that delicate pale column of flesh, attempting to pull her in front of him and use her as a human shield.

Harry watched in horror as one of the men climbed to his feet and grabbed his beloved Holly. A moment ago, when Bellatrix had told the twins that she wanted them to kill one of the men, he had been sick with apprehension and dismay about the thought of taking a life. But now his sister's life appeared to be in danger, and it brought forth that animalistic instinct, so familiar from the days when the twins still lived with the muggles, or more recently, the erkling attack. He didn't think about what he was doing. Moments like these were not moments for thoughts, but rather actions. Instead, he snarled like a wild beast, wand forgotten even though it remained clenched in his fist, and leapt upon the man, tearing into him with his teeth and limbs, clinging tight with his legs.

Harry tasted hot, metallic blood gushing into his mouth and dripping down his chin, and bit down harder, ripping free a chunk of flesh before biting again. The man's screech joined the chorus of the screams from the man that Bellatrix was torturing, and he let loose his grip on Holly, attempting to pull the feral and vicious boy off of him. But Harry would not let go. The magic seemed to crackle and hum between Harry and Holly, but they were no longer touching - it did not have the same power that it would have, had they been in contact.

Harry was so caught up in his attack that he was barely aware of Holly's state of mind. When the man had lunged at her and grabbed her neck, she had not been afraid, but she was startled. The Dark side had already taken over her mind. That side of herself felt not fear but anticipation and craving - craving to hurt the muggle, to make him scream. With Harry mauling the man, he was distracted enough for Holly to be able to do what she wanted. True, she wouldn't be at full power, since she and Harry weren't in contact, but she had power enough to cause plenty of damage.

The muggle, who was roaring in pain, no longer paid any attention to Holly, but instead, threw himself and Harry against one of the walls with enough force to knock the air out of Harry's lungs, and crack a few ribs. Harry grunted in pain, losing his grip on the man and falling to the floor, as Holly shrieked his name. She may have fallen to her Dark side, but that part of Holly loved Harry as much as the rest of her. With a furious flick and slash of her wand, she cast a spell far more powerful than she should have been capable of, intent on obliterating the muggle. She might have considered torturing him earlier, but now, all that mattered to her was seeing him destroyed. Magic flowed through her and through the conduit of her wand, a hot, roiling toxic greasiness intent only on destruction.

A burst of light exploded from Holly's wand, and the recoiling magic from the manticore-core wand caused her to shriek in pain. The spell enveloped the man entirely in a burnt-orange light, and the man's screams became even shriller than before only to be cut off as his entire body obliterated itself. With the loss of contact between Harry and Holly, the burst of magic was far too much for Holly to handle. Killing him was one thing, but completely annihilating him was another. Holly's last thought was a silent plea for Harry to be all right, and then she lost consciousness, falling to the floor in a ragged heap.

The events that transpired seem to happen in slow motion, but in truth, it all occurred in the span of a few minutes.. Harry, though in terrible pain, remained conscious and was calling his sister in panic. He crawled over to her limp body, pulling himself towards her, even though his ribs screamed in agonizing white pain.

Bellatrix had stopped torturing the other muggle in surprise, watching the scene with bulging eyes. When Holly's magic burst forth, Harry was deaf to the muggle's shrieks of pain and oblivious to the muggle's total destruction, hearing only his sister's cries. He forgot even his own pain. All that Harry was aware of was Holly's crumbling body, and the desperate need to know that she was all right.

"Holly! Holly!" he pleaded, pulling her tight against him. Harry sent his magic towards her, willing it with all his might to give her strength and life. He sensed she wasn't dead - some part of him couldn't help but think that her death would spell his own death as well - yet it was extremely rare for one of them to be conscious while the other was not. It created a terrible chasm between them and he could hardly bear it. Harry did not even feel Bellatrix who had appeared by his side, a soothing hand in his hair while Bellatrix attempted to check Holly over and assess the state of her health.

"Shh, hush, my baby," Bellatrix crooned, wrapping her arms around the twins once she was sure that Holly was all right. "Holly will be fine. She used more magic than her body could handle alone. She just needs to rest. Hush."

It would have almost been a touching scene, except the other two muggle men were still moaning in terror and pain, begging and pleading for their lives, completely ignored by Bellatrix and unheard by Holly or Harry. There was no where the muggles could go - the shadowy tendrils still held them tight to the ground, and Bellatrix knew that they could wait. When it came to torture, Bellatrix's patience was near infinite.

Bellatrix gently stood gracefully, resting a hand on Harry's shoulder. "Come. Let's put you both to bed. Holly has done very well today - the spell she used was beautiful - so beautiful and so unique and you - ah well - you have proved yourself capable of hurting a muggle, at least. You're both making progress." Bellatrix would have preferred it if Harry had used a spell like Holly, instead of leaping upon the muggle like some creature, but neither Harry nor Holly were in a state to endure criticism. Later, when the twins were better, she would try and break Harry of his animalistic tendencies. He needed to learn to use his wand over his body, like a proper wizard.

Levitating Holly's body, Bellatrix ascended the stairs, followed closely by Harry. Outside, the tent was set up in a secluded area near the farmhouse, and Bellatrix gently placed Holly in one of the beds, checking her over for wounds. She checked Harry as well, healing his broken ribs and vanishing away the blood from his face and robes.

Whatever spell Holly had used had been brutal - her body was dark with bruises and cuts, so numerous that Bellatrix opted to use a potion rather than attempt to heal Holly herself. Harry climbed into bed with his sister, unwilling to allow any distance between them. He had never succeeded in any sort of healing magic before, but he wanted to try, for Holly's sake.

It was a while before Bellatrix caught on to what Harry was attempting, for she had been focused on applying salve to Holly's bruises. "Don't!" Bellatrix hissed when she became aware of Harry's actions. "Stop that!"

But it was too late - Harry's determination had been great, but healing magic was unlike anything that the twins had attempted. His skin paled to a sickly hue, and it was as if the life force drained out of him. Holly's wounds quickly faded, but even though he had been holding onto Holly, the effort was too much for Harry and he too lost consciousness, looking as badly drained as Holly herself. Bellatrix sighed heavily as she looked down upon her two babies. She could hardly be mad at Harry's recklessness. And besides, torturing the muggles had made her so wonderfully mellow, so that as upset as she was that the muggle had attempted to harm her babies, the anger did not run deep. The muggle was most certainly dead, by Holly's hand and that was what mattered. As Bellatrix admired the sight of the twins, she could not help but think that they were so lovely, even as drawn and pale as they were, tucked against each other like kittens. The pair of them looked like a set of beautiful corpses, like the most perfect gift to lay before the feet of the Dark Lord himself.

-o-

The twins ended up sleeping for three days straight, and while Bellatrix often sat by their bedside to stroke their hair and soft cheeks, she left most of their care to the house-elf. It was a bit of an irritation for her to delay the search for the Crystal Cave and Gris Malmangeur. She had noticed that he had left his territorial marker here as well - by this point, she could taste his disgusting magic, and had noted that he often frequented the edge of many muggle settlements. She had yet to figure out why.

However, Bellatrix was not too upset by the delay. The two muggles, still alive in the farmhouse, had provided hours and hours of entertainment. Sensing that the twins were magically burned out, she had opted to draw out the muggle's torture, thus providing herself with a continuous dose of sweet and blissful Dark Magic.

As for the twins, they drifted between the gentle blackness of oblivion, and that strange, paralyzed state in which they were both aware that something or someone was with them; that familiar foreignness that they kept remembering and then soon forgetting. It seemed more fascinated with them than ever - more eager to delve into their essence and find out everything that it could about them. It was as oppressive as before, and yet they longed for it, drawn in like helpless moths.

But at the same time, the twins longed to flee it. Whatever it was, it felt powerful. They could not help but think that it meant to crush them, to utterly smash and destroy them, and then pick through their remains, bathing itself in their still-warm blood. Yet at the same time, there was the sense that it longed to hold them close, cherish them like they were precious artifacts or treasure, meant to be placed in velvet boxes and locked away in the deepest, darkest and safest vaults.

But then, the twins would reach for each other, drowning themselves in their warm and protective love, and the strange presence would draw back, repulsed and attracted in equal measure, wanting to leave while wanting to partake in this thing it did not understand. The twins did not understand the presence either.

When the twins finally woke, the wisps of their dreams quickly faded away. It was maddening because they both felt as though there was something significant that they ought to remember, but no matter how they tried, they could not bring it to mind. Bellatrix was a mix of reproachful but affectionate, scolding them because of the delay they had caused, while hugging and petting them both (especially Holly.) Neither of the twins asked about the muggles in the farmhouse. Neither of them truly wanted to know, or even think about the matter at all. And if some part of them felt that it had been easier to watch dirty and ugly muggles being tortured, rather than attractive and loving ones, neither of them questioned the matter. Such aspects of their psyches would not be understood by such young children; not for years to come.

Through their twin bond, Harry could sense Holly's feelings of conflict about having killed the muggle. She couldn't fully remember it happening but she was aware of what she had done. She felt guilty for having killed the muggle, and yet a part of her didn't think it was so bad. Frighteningly enough, that part of her actually felt good. So she felt both guilty for her actions and also for not feeling guilty enough. Harry was aware that something was wrong, but because Holly was unwilling to discuss it, he was unable to discover what it was. He knew what she was feeling, and yet could not decipher what it meant. As for Harry, while Bellatrix hadn't directly said anything, he couldn't help but feel that he failed to live up to her expectations.

Bellatrix was pleased to finally be able to pack up their tent and continue their search. Their magic still felt a bit sluggish and weak, despite their long rest, so she focused their lessons on theoretical matters, rather than having them practice their magic. Once they were fully recovered, the hunts for food resumed, and for that, the twins were deeply grateful. Both of them needed to get away from Bellatrix, not because they didn't love her, but because the conflicted feelings of dealing with her praise towards Holly, and her instructive comments towards Harry were too overbearing. They valued the peacefulness of the forest - the sense of being a small part of a greater whole.

The pair of them split up once they were amidst the trees. It had become their usual hunting formation to stay as far away from each other as possible, while still being able to sense each other's presence. This allowed them to close in on their prey, like a pincer, herding their targets where Harry could get a clear shot. They were growing accustomed to casting solo spells, even if their individual spells were far more weaker than their dual spells. And while it hurt Harry's feelings, he knew that his sister wanted some space to think. They both knew that Harry couldn't understand what was affecting her. He would do everything that he could to support her, but beyond there, he was unequipped.

Perhaps it was because Harry was distracted by thoughts of his sister and his own niggling sense of failure, but his senses weren't as sharp as usual. As he leapt over small streams, and bound through the trees, he paid little heed to his surroundings. Some part of his instincts might automatically be honed towards prey, but he did not keep his guard up for danger. It was then he heard a rustling in the distant shrubbery, and a throating grunting sound. Through his link with Holly, there was a flare of her magic, like a warning, but by the time he whirled around, wand pointed, a large brown creature was already charging towards him.

Harry was caught off guard. Holly's magical warning, and his own surprise didn't give him time to think. He threw a rapid immobilization spell, which was more of an act of habit and instinct than planning, but the spell went wide of the wild boar that was aggressively rushing towards him.

"Harry!" Holly shrieked from the far right. "Run!"

Harry's feet were hitting the ground before he could even think. He paid no heed to where he was going - all that mattered was creating some distance between him and the hostile boar. He could feel pulses of magic as Holly threw spell after spell at the animal. But her reflexes weren't as quick as his own. Usually, it was Harry who incapacitated their prey while Holly dealt the killing blow when the creature was down. Trying to run and hit an agile creature at the same time, even one the size of a boar, was too much of a challenge. She couldn't instinctively anticipate the trajectory of the creature the same way that Harry seemed to.

Harry could feel his legs and lungs burning as he wove through the trees, bounding over roots to avoid tripping. He ducked under a fallen tree, dashing through a downward slope, which was easier than trying to run uphill. Behind him, he could hear the grunts and footfalls of the heavy beast, eating up the distance between them. He leapt over a small dried creek bed and turned sharply to avoid some thorny looking brambles. As he swerved to the left, he noticed a low-hanging branch, and immediately leapt towards it, hefting his body up. He climbed another branch, just as the boar reached the tree, slamming against it in rage.

Harry clung on to the trunk tightly and once he had his bearings, he aimed his wand. With a swift downwards stroke, he stunned the boar. When the creature finally lost consciousness its stubbly legs crumbling beneath it, Harry exhaled in relief. That was was when he finally became aware of the magic that was buzzing in agitation between him and Holly. The Darkness that he had felt before was more intense than ever, and when the burning of his limbs finally subsided, he realized his scar was stinging. As Holly drew closer and closer, the stinging became a nearly unbearable throbbing pain, and he pressed his palm against the scar, squeezing his eyes shut.

"I - am - going - to - destory - you," Holly spoke between panting breaths. When Harry opened his eyes to peer down at his sister, her eyes and wand were fixed on the boar, and the feeling of oppressive Darkness seemed to permeate everything around them, seeping through his skin. Mixed with the oily feeling from his wand, it was a mix of horrifying and pleasurable. And yet, he wanted it gone.

Holly made a figure-eight motion with her wand, and black tendrils rose up from the ground. It was the same spell that Bellatrix used to bind her victims. When had she learned it? There was a wide, predatory grin on her face, and she looked completely unlike the sister that he knew.

"What are you doing, Holly?" Harry questioned, once his lungs were no longer burning so intensely. "I stunned it. We just need to kill it, though we'll have to call for mama to transport it back."

Holly flicked a glance up at her brother, and the blacks of her eyes seemed to have swallowed up all of the green. "Kill it? That would be too easy. For daring to attack you, it deserves to suffer." Her high pitched voice did not suit the cruel worlds. Holly twisted her wand hand to draw a wave-like pattern aimed at the boar, and the creature awoke, grunting and straining as it tried to stand up. But the black tendrils held the creature down and it could not move. The whites of the boars eyes showed as the animal's panic increased.

Holly attention was pinned on the boar and she laughed, a frightening and soulless sound. "That's right. Fear me."

"Holly, you don't need to do this," Harry insisted. "Look! I'm fine. The boar didn't even hurt me. It just surprised me, that's all. My scar really hurts, Holly. Let's just get back to mama. I'm coming down." He started scrambling down from the higher branch to the lower branch. He had to do something. Shake her out of this weird state, perhaps.

"What are you talking about, Harry? My scar feels amazing. It feels so good. Warm, and nice." Her eyelids fluttered shut for a moment, and her expression made her look as though she were lost in warm, melted pleasure. When she opened her eyes again, she looked almost dazed. It was unsettling, how blown her pupils were. She looked like Bellatrix, and yet, not. Bellatrix could be scary when she gave herself over to Dark Magic, but Holly was somehow worse. Bellatrix might make Harry want to run and cover his eyes. Holly made him want to join her. He felt like she was floating over a deadly cliff, inviting him to walk towards her, but it would only lead to his death. And the worst part was that he would have done it. He would for Holly. But it was a cliff that would surely destroy them both and he couldn't let it happen, for Holly's sake. He couldn't explain how he knew this - he just did. His heart screamed that it was true. Somehow, he had to pull her back from that abyss.

"Where was I?" A slow smile spread across Holly face She acted completely unaware of Harry's feelings, but the Dark taint was so overpowering that this came as no surprise. "Ah yes. How shall I make you suffer, you wretched animal? How shall I make you hurt?"

"Holly!" Harry cried. He jumped from the lower branch down to the ground, and dashed towards his sister, hugging her tightly before she could cast a spell. The pain in his scar seemed to explode, and he saw only brilliant, stabbing white across his field of vision. His knees gave out, while his muscles tensed. He was gripping his sister around her waist, but the pain caused him to cling to Holly more tightly, and she yelped in pain. Though she was saying something, he couldn't hear the words over the roaring in his ears.

"Don't do this Holly," Harry pleaded, forcing the words out past his pain. "You don't have to do this." The intensity of the white hot stinging of his scar began to subside. It still hurt, but he could finally relax his muscles the slightest bit, and he could hear what Holly was saying to him. The Dark taint still lingered, like a thick sort of sticky heaviness, clinging to his skin. But it wasn't as overbearing as before.

"I thought you accepted me," Holly was saying, her voice hurt and accusing. "I thought you cared. Don't you accept me as I am?"

"Of course!" Harry exclaimed. "I accept you no matter what. You're Holly. I'll love you forever."

"Even if I torture the boar?"

Harry felt the pain in his scar intensify, and he winced. "Yes," he ground out, and as horrible as it was, he knew it was the truth. "Yes, Holly, even then. I'd love you even if you tortured me."

"I would never!" Holly cried, and the pain in his scar faded yet again. "I'd never ever do anything to hurt you. You know that, right?"

"I know, Holly. I'd never hurt you either." The Darkness seemed to recede a bit further, and Harry inhaled raggedly, suddenly aware of how much he needed to just breathe. "I'm sorry Holly."

It was hard to explain what he was apologizing for, but Holly immediately understood. For a moment, her world had narrowed down to nothing except her and Harry. For a moment, she was terrified of being rejected by him, and the idea was worse than being eaten alive by ravenous mongrels. Through their bond, she knew he was apologizing for making her doubt their connection, even if it was just for a second.

The Darkness faded away, bit by bit, so that the overwhelming atmosphere seemed to lighten. Holly peered over at the still-struggling boar. With a quick zigzag motion, a green beam of light burst out, and because the twins were touching, the magic took almost no effort. And yet, it still caused one final bright explosion of pain in Harry's scar, before all the discomfort and oppressive Darkness immediately vanished, and it was as if the pain never was.

Harry released his sister, and sprawled out on his back on the loamy ground, feeling like he had just lost a wrestling match. He was completely exhausted.

"Harry?" Holly asked, hesitantly, falling to her knees beside him. "What - what happened? I remember a boar chasing you, and then it gets a bit hazy from there."

Harry looked up at his sister and rested a hand on her knee. "Yeah, a boar was chasing me so I ran up a tree, and stunned it."

"I - wait - I was about to torture it, wasn't I?" A troubled expression crossed her face, and she looked ghostly pale under the shadowy light of the forest. "I was going to torture it but - but you stopped me? I -" Tears sprung to her eyes.

"It's okay," Harry soothed, sitting up and wrapping his arms around his sister. "It's okay."

"And - and I killed that muggle too," Holly stammered between her increasingly ragged breaths and the tears, which streamed down her face. "I'm a - I'm a killer."

"Shh -" Harry murmured, rubbing her back. "It's okay. It's good. We're - we're supposed to be killers. We're - well - we're hunters. We're like nundu. That's what we do. That's what we're good at. Together. I'm as much a killer as you are because I'm the one that catches everything. You're not alone. I promise."

Harry continued to hold her, until her sobs became hiccups. He spoke of every reassuring thing he could think of, but he meant every word. Through learning to hunt, Bellatrix had indeed taught the twins the art of killing. While Harry might not be the one to make the killing blow, he realized that he still held equal responsibility for every death. They might not want to kill and torture muggles. But some part of them was now aware that they were capable of it.

That night, the familiar-foreign presence returned to their dreams. Its presence was somehow more vivid than ever, and while the twins still feared it, the magnetic sense of attraction was even more powerful than ever.

'Who are you?' Dark presence asked yet again, with that odd way of speaking that felt like something caressing their minds. 'Why am I so drawn to you?' But in their sleep paralysis, the twins did not know how to answer. Though such a thing as mind magic existed, Bellatrix had never taught the subject to the twins, so neither of them realized that it was possible to read minds and project mental images.

The twins acted as they always did, in this curious situation, reaching for each other's magic and drawing a sense of power from each other's love. But while the Dark presence had always recoiled from their love before, it seemed almost curious now.

'What is this?' the voice asked. 'This - emotion. It feels strange. Painful, like being pulled apart. What is it? What could it be?'

The twins were unable to answer. Though the presence was overwhelming in both its magic and might, the twins couldn't shake the sense that the presence was just so familiar. They still could not decide whether their instincts were screaming at them to run towards or away from the presence. Some part of them wanted to envelop it, and be enveloped by it.

Tentatively, Holly opened herself up and sent out a feeling of love and acceptance. She was still feeling vulnerable from earlier events, and Harry's reassurance made her feel like love and acceptance would be the right answer. Following Holly's lead, Harry did the same and opened his heart as well. The presence edged closer, towards the almost-tangible magic created by love and affection, and for a moment, the presence appeared to reach out to them before hissing and drawing back.

'What did you do?' the brushing feeling in their mind demanded accusingly. 'I felt something in my core? My heart? I don't even have a heart. It hurt! How dare you! You'll pay for this impudence!'

With that, the presence finally fled, and the twins returned to the black unconsciousness of sleep. By morning, the odd presence was forgotten once again, all except for a faint lingering feeling in their heart, as though they given their love and were waiting to receive something back.