Snape was silent until Harry asked him again about Dumbledore and Lucius.
'Dumbledore is very worried and he asked me to get in touch with Lucius and see if Bellatrix has come to Malfoy Manor. As of this morning, she hasn't.' Snape told Harry.
'Are you sure Lucius is not lying?' Harry asked him. 'Bellatrix would go to her sister. I am sure of that. And the next step would be to gain her strength and resurrect Voldemort. Last time Voldemort came back to life in my fourth year. This time, I hope he will not return early.' Harry shivered as he thought of the graveyard; memories that still made him shudder.
Snape nodded. 'I asked him, if I could help. And I also know about his lost horcrux. I do not think he will lie, but I also don't think he will contact me when Bellatrix comes to their Manor; I doubt she would want it and I also think Lucius will not go against her. Draco is our best bet. Keep an eye on him and ask him for news.' Snape advised.
They were silent after that. Snape took out an old book which was tattered and started reading it, making small corrections and frowning over certain paragraphs. Harry sat there lost in his thoughts until it was time to leave.
'You may go.' Snape told him. 'I will take your next detention in two days. I shall see if I can find out a bit more.' Harry nodded and left the dungeons.
From his detention Harry went to meet Malfoy. Hermione and Neville were already there along with Malfoy and all three of them were sitting rather silently.
'Hey!' Harry called out and all three of them jumped and Hermione beamed at him. Neville and Draco looked very relieved to see him.
'Bad detention?' Draco asked sympathetically.
'Not really.' Harry said. 'He made me do some cauldron cleaning; that's all.'
'Why does he hate you so?' Hermione asked him unable to understand.
'I dunno.' Harry told her. 'I still admire him, though. He gave me a few pointers while I was cleaning and they would help immensely in potions. That man knows his stuff!' Harry said and added, 'Really!' when all three of them looked unimpressed.
'What is it Draco? Tell us? We should not be here and if Filch catches us, we could get into trouble.' Harry urged him and all of them went and sat on the desks in the middle of the classroom. Harry cast a few spells at the door and a few wandless ones around the room. Then he turned to Draco, who was now pink and staring at the board, instead of at them.
'I just wanted to tell you Harry that I will pass on any information I get about Aunt Bellatrix.' He said stiffly and fell silent. Harry blinked and his mind processed what he had heard and then he beamed at Draco.
'You are such a friend Draco.' He said and Draco flushed. It was, apparently the right thing to say and Draco looked at Neville. Neville was staring at him in shock and when Draco looked at him, he stared at Draco before he nodded once. Draco turned away. Neville and Harry had understood.
'I would suggest one thing, though.' Hermione spoke up softly. All the three boys turned to look at her. She blushed and continued. 'I think Draco; you should not be friendly with us openly. Tell Pansy and Blaise too. If your aunt is even half the things I read, I think it would cause problems for you, especially now that you've agreed to pass on any information you get about her to Harry.'
'That's brilliant, Hermione.' Harry told her admiringly. 'You are correct of course. We should be careful. Draco, be careful and warn the others too. Let us not get into hostility, but let us not be very friendly either. People will think we are drifting apart, because of Bellatrix.'
Draco did not like that, but he could see the logic in those words, because his father had said just the same thing. He nodded reluctantly. 'I will send you an owl if I have any news and we can meet here, alright?' he asked and on that note all of them went to their respective dorms to sleep.
The next two weeks went by without anything much. Bellatrix had not made an appearance at Malfoy Manor, and Harry, Snape and according to Snape, Dumbledore were all very tense. Harry had told him about Draco and Snape had been astonished. After that, he went out of his way to favour Draco and the other Slytherins and soon earned more hatred in the school than before.
The new DADA Professor was a quiet man who taught them well. Harry was amazed at this. He had looked at Harry on the first day, when he had called out the names. He had not said anything, though and treated Harry as any other student. He knew his subject well and he was fair, and also took no nonsense from anyone.
Snape was also giving detentions to Harry at the rate of one or two a week. He used all kinds of reasons that Harry and Snape hoped would do the rounds and be established that Snape thoroughly disliked Harry. 'It is true; I hope you do not have thoughts to the contrary.' Snape asked him, his eyebrows raised and his lips twisted in amusement.
'Not at all, Snape.' Harry assured him with a huge grin remembering the way he had got his detention that evening.
'Well, Potter,' Snape had said softly, his eyes glittering and Harry thought he saw amusement in them, rather than anger, 'do you call this a perfect potion?' he had lifted up the potion vial and had sneered at it and Harry.
'Yes sir. I know that potion is perfect.' Harry had replied to gasps all around the room.
Snape's face had darkened in anger. 'Detention!' he had hissed. 'I do not take cheek even from the boy who lived.'
'Please sir, what is wrong with it?' he had asked.
'I will tell you Potter when I meet you at detention tonight.' And that was that.
Life went on normally and Harry was waiting for some kind of news of Bellatrix. There was nothing.
Once Bellatrix left the Ministry yard….
Bellatrix had left the wards and slithered away to freedom. She was exhausted, but did not dare stop and moved on until she could move no more. Stopping at the foot of a huge oak tree, she looked around, but she could not see where she was, only that there were trees all round her. She did not dare to transform and try to apparate. She knew she had not the strength. She coiled up at the foot of a tree and went to sleep. She slept for more than three days, waking up weak with hunger.
It was daytime and she glanced around her, but could not see any kind of human habitation. She seemed to be in the wilderness. She slowly moved and winced inside at the pain, movement brought her.
She moved slowly until she spotted a small rabbit just ahead of her. Drooling inside at the sight of food, even though, uncooked, she went very quietly behind the rabbit and in a sudden swift movement, caught it and swallowed it.
She went back to the tree and once again lay down to digest the rabbit and gain a little strength. She had lost count of the days, but she was not bothered, because she was still alive and free.
More than ten days passed, with Bellatrix changing very rarely into her human form, scared about the dementors, and slowly moved a little around the tress everyday, gaining her strength. It took her more than three weeks to even think of trying to apparate. She finally managed it one day just three weeks after her escape. She had cleverly not ventured outside the woods she had spent the first night in. It was very close to the yard and yet it was lonely and wild. The dementors and the Ministry were searching for her in London and in the homes of all those who were suspected to be death eaters.
Even Lucius Malfoy had received a visit from the aurors, led by Moody and Kingsley. They found nothing and went away still suspicious, especially Moody. Fudge had apologized profusely to Lucius, who brushed it off, saying that no one was above the law and it was a good thing that his home was searched, because now he was in the clear. He also assured Fudge that if Bellatrix ever came to his home, he would apprehend her and turn her over to the Ministry of Magic.
It was the third week, when Bellatrix felt that she could try and apparate successfully. She changed back from her animagus form and slowly stretched herself. She carefully stowed her wand away, not wanting to do magic until she was safe behind wards. She walked, stumbling a little and getting the feel of being in her human form for sometime. She had not dared to be in her human form for more than a few minutes at a time and the last three weeks had been spent in her animagus form and she was rather disoriented.
She apparated close to Malfoy Manor and changed at once to her animagus form and started slithering. She met no one and she successfully reached the Manor. It was night time and she went to the wards and slowly pushed her way inside. A few minutes later she was at the door and she changed and knocked at the door.
Lucius Malfoy and his wife were relaxing after a nice dinner. They were very relaxed and Bellatrix had almost left their minds. It was three weeks after her escape and there was no news about her. As Lucius thought, she may have died even. After living in Azkaban for almost 13 years with the dementors she would have lost her mind and hopefully her life as well, he thought, sipping his wine and sighing in appreciation. Narcissa was sitting her head resting lightly on his shoulders and Lucius was never more content.
It was at this time there was a knock at the door and Lucius frowned and then stiffened in alarm. The wards had not alerted him; his heart suddenly pounded with fear; what if it were HER? Could…could she have escaped and found her way here? She was keyed into the wards, her whole family were, and Lucius after the fall of Voldemort, never thought to change it.
He stood up, his fear spreading to Narcissa, who understood, the moment she heard the knock and saw Lucius stiffen and placed a warning hand on his shoulders, when he was about to stride away to open the door.
Both Lucius and his wife walked to the door and hesitating only for a second, Lucius threw open the door and took a step backwards. Standing in front of his smiling insanely and triumphantly, her hair all dishevelled and knotted her robes in tatters, her frame skeletal, gaunt and horrible. He tried to stretch his face into a smile and say something welcoming, but Bellatrix was not looking at him; her eyes were looking at her sister, who was standing in the shadows, behind her husband. Her voice unused to speech and weak with exhaustion and hoarse with screaming against the dementors in Azkaban now croaked.
'Cissy?'