"The stupid neither forgive nor forget, the naive forgive and forget, the wise forgive but do not forget" Anon

Natalia LeStrange was a very bright child who turned into an extremely intelligent young woman. She was a true Black in terms of looks, a natural beauty with long wavy black hair and piercing blue eyes she had always turned heads. As she grew up her body changed from a lithe, shapeless one of a child into a curvaceous, agile one of a woman. With such a mixture of brains and beauty she was a forced to be reckoned with and a true attribute to both the Black and LeStrange households.

She had a very mixed past in terms of authority. For the first 8 years of her life her parents, Bellatrix and Rodolphus, had been the ones to teach her the attributes needed to become a Lady of high standing in society as well as one to carry the honour of being able to perform the darkest of magic without the problems other wizards and witches faced such as insanity and loss of power. This included going to Death Eater meetings from the age of 6. She had been personally invited by the Dark Lord due to her ability to see mistakes in his war plans.

*Flashback*

"My Lord, are you sure this plan will work?" Rabastan, the younger brother of Rodolphus, asked.

"What do you mean is it going to work? Of course it is! There are no problems with this plan! Stop you're worrying and just get on with it!" The Dark Lord was getting frustrated with his Inner Circle; this had been the 10th time Rabastan had asked this question alone, and wished for a distraction of some kind.

At that point a young Natalia, who had turned 6 years old just the day before, walked into the room with, which happened to be the library, looking for a book to read. Interested in what was going on around her Natalia, ever the curious Slytherin, walked over to the plans and after about a minute of looking pointed and said:

"You need to block this entrance otherwise you'll be bombarded by the Aurors coming through here" she said then when back to looking for a book.

The Dark Lord looked shocked, then looked at the point Natalia had pointed at and realised she was right. A child had found a problem in his plan that no other had with all of their experience in and off the field.

"How did you see that?" He asked her from where he was sitting.

Natalia turned at the voice, realising it was meant for her, she turned to face the speaker and said.

"Well it's the same sort of set up Napoleon used. The only exception being that point and the few tactics you brought in from the Romans takeover." She stated.

The Dark Lords face was a mask but inside he was stunned that someone so young knew so much about war let alone the tactics used. As silence spread throughout the room he decided that this girl might be useful. Very useful in fact. He would use her. And then he would win.

"What's your name, little girl?"

"Natalia, My Lord." The Dark Lord raised his eyebrows at this. How did she know who he was?

"Natalia what?"

"LeStrange, My Lord."

"Ah, Bellatrix daughter. You may be useful. I shall have to test you to see. You will come to the next meeting and I'll do it then."

"Yes, My Lord." Natalia said as he turned away to continue working, wondering what she would be tested on.

*The Next Death Eater Meeting*

"My loyal followers! Tonight we have done well. Those blood traitors lost many. We not only didn't lose any comrades but also gained more! Tonight we have 5 new additions to our cause. We also have a new addition to our meetings. She will sit by me and observe while making changes to plans, for she is the reason we won tonight, she is the reason we are winning this war and she will be the one to help us win the rest of the battles to come. She will be introduced to the Inner Circle first and then to you all when she has truly shown her worth!" The Dark Lord finished as he heard cheers coming from his followers. This was good. This was very good. Now they were going to win and he would beat that good-for-nothing Dumbledore for sure.

*End Flashback*

Natalia had prospered in that short year she had been a part of the Dark Lords army. She was still able to be at home with her parents and do everything she normally did but for that year she did more. She learnt how to put the things she learnt into practice and how to win battles. This was where Natalia LeStrange truly began. Unfortunately it was soon due to change.

On 20th October 1981 Natalia grew sick with Dragon pox and was unable to see the plans the Dark Lord had laid out to defeat the Potters. This is why what happened on the 31st October was unforeseen. If he had gone to see Natalia he would've known that because of his excess use of Horocrux that he was in danger of making one out of anything be it human, animal or inanimate.

After this day Natalia's life changed. She recovered well from the Dragon Pox with no sign of it ever being there but a year later she had lost her parents, her uncle Rabastan and her uncle Sirius to Azkaban. She was shipped off to live with the Malfoy's and her accounts and properties were unable to be reached (even by those in the Ministry) due to it being in a Trust Fund which wouldn't be opened until her 21st birthday.

Natalia didn't like her life with the Malfoy's. She loved her life at the Manor but her aunt and uncle were not the kind of people she enjoyed spending time with and Draco was too young. She was lucky though. She got to see her uncle Sev whenever she wanted, which was generally every day, she was also allowed to use the libraries and go out into the grounds all by herself also long as she was back for meal times and properly dressed.

Though she did not spend a lot of her time with her aunt and uncle she did go shopping with her aunt on a regular basis, once a month, always in a different set of cities. The most usual set though was London, Paris and Milan as these were Narcissia's favourite though they did go to Madrid and New York a lot as well. It also meant that Natalia had a large supply of clothes, shoes, books, jewels, toys and other things thought to be necessary for her upbringing. Not only did this make Natalia prone to shopping and a love of fashion but a love of reading which she had inherited from her father and was continued through her time spent with Severus Snape.

Through all of this Natalia was still lonely, most of her friends had left for France after the Dark Lord's demise and some had died as their parents tried to protect them. She wrote to her parents and uncles in Azkaban, though she knew they wouldn't receive them until they got out, if they got out, but it made her happy to write without consequence. Even so, Natalia wished for the company of another child, preferably one around her own age, whom she could play with.

As luck would have it Natalia was able to get her wish. She befriended one Charlie Weasely at the age of 8 ½ years.

*Flashback*

"Now Natalia, remember to be back for dinner at 8 o'clock. Lucius and I are going out this evening but this does not mean you can miss your meals!"

"Yes, Auntie!" she said with a large smile on her face at the prospect of being able to run outside.

"Very well, then. Off you go!" she said with a small smile as her niece ran out of the house into the grounds.

She ran and ran and ran. She ran in circles, straight lines, twirling and swirling until she came to the edge of the forest which took up 100 acres of the grounds which stretched over 2,000 acres of Wiltshire countryside. As she reached it she saw a shape, no larger than a medium sized bolder, crouching on the ground. As she got closer she realised it was a child, around her age, closer still she could see it was a boy who was wearing something akin to rags. 'Must be a new fashion' she thought. The boy was crying as he held onto his knees in a death grip.

"Are you okay?" she asked as she knelt down beside him.

He sniffed and turned towards her, eyes widened in shock.

"How did you find me? Who are you?" his voice was a whisper as he continued to stare at her.

"I was just playing and I saw you here so I came to investigate. I'm Natalia, what's your name? How did you get here?"

"Charlie... I don't know... I just wished to be away from my family and I found myself in this forest and I walked and walked until I got to the edge and I didn't know where I was and I got scared."

Natalia gave him a hug and felt him stiffen slightly before he relaxed into the embrace.

"Come with me, I'll take you home with me, hopefully auntie will still be there and then she can take you home!"

They walked up to the house and talked about Charlie's large family while and the problems which had led him to leave. He hated how over protective his parents were and how he was never allowed to just be. Either his brothers were bugging him or his parents came to nag him or he was blamed for something he didn't do while the brother he did do it smirked on the sidelines as he got away with his crime. These were normally performed by Bill though slowly the twins were also becoming what his parents called 'mischievous'. This left him to try and stay out of the way which made it worse when he was around.

When they reached the house Charlie was in awe of its size and grandeur, even more so when they got inside. It was the Wizard version of Versailles with the same architect renewing the outside, while adding additions, the same interior designers and gardeners were used when it was first done. The same style had been carried on through the ages down to the modern day and it was a modern example of excellent architecture within the wizard community. The styles were not updated as regularly as the muggles due to the lack of intervention during the wars (WWI and WWII) which affected their world so greatly.

Once they had reached Narcissia's rooms Charlie's shock had turn into a dazed statement of admiration. Natalia knocked on the double doors which were the entrance to the rooms.

"Enter" Was the muffled sound which they heard coming from inside.

They walked through the doors and came into a well decorated room. It was in done in a less elaborate style than the exterior of the house and the rooms where guests were able to see. It was simply elegant, matching its owner well. It was cream, emerald and gold leaving it light and airy rather than the darker colour's she had grown up with in the Black household.

"Natalia? What's wrong, you only just went out! Did something happen?" her worried aunt exclaimed.

"Sort of. I made a friend," this made a smile grace Charlie's face, he'd never had a friend before, "He's lost, can you help him find his way home?" Natalia asked hopefully.

Narcissia smiled lightly at her niece and her warm, childlike heart.

"Of course I can, why don't you introduce us?"

Natalia pulled Charlie in front of her to be presented to Narcissia.

"This is Charlie... He was near the forest. Say 'Hello' Charlie." She smiled cheekily at him.

"Hello, it's a pleasure to meet you, Madam." He said in a soft voice.

"It's a pleasure to meet you too Charlie but please call me Cissia." She said pleasantly.

"Thank you Ma... Cissia." Charlie said stumbling slightly on his words.

"Don't worry about it, it's always a delight to have friends of Natalia's over, now what is it that I can do for you?"

"I want to go home... I think..." he mumbled the last part, almost to himself as if he was unsure whether he wished for others to know of his doubts.

"Why don't you stay the night then? Have you thoughts in order for tomorrow and you can decide then. Your parents might be worried though so why don't you write them a letter to explain that you're at a friend's house."

*End Flashback*

He did so and sent it with one of the less known Malfoy owls so as to not disturb his parents, especially so soon after the war. From that day the two became good friends and Charlie spent a lot of time on the Malfoy property, unbeknownst to his parents who only thought he was going to a friend's house as they were still in the dark about who the friend was.

While they were at Hogwarts their friendship continued, though in private to the rest of the school except Slytherin after 4th year when, as a child of the Inner Circle, she was expected to take part in the power struggle within the house though, as she was hardly ever there, wasn't. She told them about her friendship, showed them her letters from her aunt talking about Charlie as proof and as explanation for not being a traitor said it was a way to get into the others house and cause havoc. Charlie confirmed this story as he had wanted to be in Slytherin with Natalia but went into Gryffindor with his brother to be a spy. This went down well. Natalia became the head of Slytherins with Charlie becoming an honorary Slytherin. This allowed them to spend as much time together as they usually did while being able to use the Slytherin common room. This large step also meant a large step in their relationship.

*Flashback*

"Hey, what are you doing?" Charlie asked Natalia as she sat under the bleaches at the Quidditch pitch while it rained.

Sitting only in her school shirt and skirt Natalia hugged her knees, trying to warm herself up against the cold her wet clothes and the wind brought her. "Nothing, just watching the sky." She said as she lifted her head so she could see it better.

"Oh?" Charlie asked as he sat down beside her, wrapping his arms around her as he did so.

"Yeah," she burrowed her head into his shoulder turning her body into his. "It's beautiful when there's a storm." The truth was the reason she had come out her was to think. She recently found herself looking at Charlie differently, it had started on Platform 9 ¾ that year when she saw him in muggle clothes which hugged his body in all of the right places making him looking so very sexy. This was not a term she was used to using when describing Charlie. Charming, handsome, sexy, gorgeous, god-like were all words other girls used to describe her best friend, words she now found herself using on a daily basis the only difference being she also put in her usual ones: warm, powerful, passionate, intelligent, gifted, friendly, someone to talk to and many others, all ones a friend would use.

She hugged him tighter, not wanting the moment to end with the two of them sitting together in peace while everyone else was inside away from the rain. Suddenly Charlie turned his head a laid his lips on top of hers in a kiss. It was brief yet lovely. He looked at her wide-eyed as if waiting for her to scream or be disgusted with him. Instead he felt her lips on his again. When they broke apart again they were breathing heavily.

"So?" They asked at the same time, laughing, Natalia repeated it.

"I don't know," Charlie said honestly "I like you... a lot... but it's really up to you."

"Then Charlie Weasely would you like to be my boyfriend?" Natalia boldly suggested.

He smiled and kissed her again "I'd love to!" he said.

They kissed many more times that afternoon before they went in to get changed and go to dinner.

*End Flashback*

The relationship lasted until the end of Hogwarts. After 2 years of being lovers they were ready to go into the wider world and find out what they truly wanted from life. A year later they were back together in a long distance relationship. A year after that Natalia moved to Romania to live with him.

Now they were both back in England for the war and in need of employment. Natalia knew just the place and who would get it for her.