Little Bird

Little Bird

Bellatrix watched the girl through the bars of the cell. The girl inside did not move, instead becoming still as if waiting for something to happen, accepting that something was going to happen, whether she liked it or not.

'What do you want, Bella?'

'Why do you ask, little bird?' The girl shifted slightly. 'Do you want me to come in?'

'Yes.'

'Why?'

'I like you.'

'I torture you. I hurt you.'

'I don't care. The pain almost feels good now.'

'I told you it would.'

'It feels better then anything else I could feel.'

'What else could you feel, little bird?'

'Many things. Things that scare me.'

'Shall I come in?'

'Yes.' Bellatrix unlocked the door of the cell and walked over to the girl. She lay on a simple cot; eyes fixed on the ceiling. Bella sat down next to her. Pulling out her wand she uttered a single word.

'Crucio.' The girl shrieked and writhed. After a while she lifted the curse. Any longer and she would lose her mind, become nothing. Running her fingers through the girl's red locks, the only true colour in the room, she could feel her responding, moving towards the warmth.

'Bella,' she murmured.

'They are looking for you, little bird. Your friends are looking for you. Do you truly want them to find you?'

'Yes.'

'Do you doubt your answer?'

'No.'

'Indeed, why should you? Are they good friends, then?'

'Very. The best friends in the world.'

'Am I a friend?'

'No.'

'Who am I then?'

'I don't know.'

'Who are you?'

'I am Ginny.'

'Are you sure?'

'Don't say that.'

'Why not.'

'Because then I'm not sure.' Ginny sat up, leaning against Bellatrix. Bella took Ginny's hand in her own and examined it. It felt delicate; bones covered with paper skin, giving a sensation that even the smallest amount of pressure would snap everything.

'You say you like me, but I'm not your friend.'

'I like you better then the others.'

'The others being the other Death Eaters?'

'Yes.'

'I see.'

'Who am I, Bella? I keep forgetting.'

'You are a fledgling who tried to fly from the nest, little bird. Tried to fly and fell. Why did you leave the safety of the nest?'

'I wanted to show them that I could. That I could fight.'

'Them?'

'My family. They never saw me. I was always overlooked, overprotected.'

'You did not want protection.'

'No.'

'Why are you telling me these things?'

'We're probably both going to die.'

'So it won't really matter who knows.'

'Exactly.' Ginny pressed herself closer to Bellatrix, who felt a sudden urge to hurt her more, to break her. To shatter her like porcelain doll. Ginny spoke again.

'Why did you come in?'

'Why do you ask, little bird?'

'You never came in before. At least not without Malfoy.'

'What are the feelings that scare you? The ones you spoke about before I came

in.'

'Why did you just change the topic? And do you really want to know?'

'No, not really.'

'Have my friends come for me?'

'Yes.'

'I thought so.'

'Do you want to go with them?'

'Yes.'

'Why?'

'They are my friends and family. Why shouldn't I?'

'If you want you could come with me, little bird. You could learn to use your

powers in the service of a greater master.'

'No.'

'I will not offer it again.' In the distance both can hear screams and other noises. The sounds of a battle.

'No.'

'As you wish, little bird.'

---------------------------------------------------

Afterwards, it quickly became clear who had won. All the known Death Eaters had either been killed in the fighting or the fire that now blazed through the old house. It had been believed to have been their base of operations for quite some time.

And finally they had found her. Three years they had been searching. He looked down at Ginny. She was staring at the flames that enveloped the Death Eater hideout.

'Did they all die, Harry?'

'Yes. Don't worry, Ginny, you're safe now.' She did not answer. 'Ginny...are you feeling okay?' She was still staring straight ahead; murmuring something that Harry only caught a snippet of.

'As you wish...little bird.'