𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝘂𝗻 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗯𝘂𝗿𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗠𝗼𝗼𝗻

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟗: 𝐁𝐞𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐲𝐚𝐥𝐬

Hours slipped by inside Bellatrix’s locked chamber, the air heavy with tension and the scent of burned candle wax. Vivienne sat quietly, her wrists raw from the tight magical binds, her mind racing, calculating, waiting.

Then, faint footsteps echoed in the hall.

Vivienne tensed.
Had Bellatrix returned — or was it someone else?

The door creaked open.

It was Narcissa.
But she wasn’t alone.

Behind her, stepping hesitantly into the room, was a woman Vivienne hadn't seen in years — her heart caught in her throat.

"Andromeda..." Vivienne breathed, almost not believing her eyes.

Andromeda Black — or rather, Andromeda Tonks now — stood proud and composed, her dark hair streaked with a few lines of silver, her face determined and wary. She wore plain traveling robes, utterly different from the elegant silk and arrogance that clung to her sisters.

Andromeda gave Vivienne a sharp nod, her voice low and direct. "There’s no time. Can you walk?"

Vivienne staggered to her feet, biting back the wave of dizziness that struck her. "I can walk."

Narcissa was already working at the enchanted ropes with a delicate silver dagger enchanted to slice through magical bindings. She muttered under her breath, her hands trembling slightly.

"I can't believe I'm doing this," Narcissa whispered. "If Bella ever finds out—"

"If Bella finds out," Andromeda cut in sharply, "we're all dead. So move faster."

Vivienne stared at them both, mind reeling. "How are you even here?" she rasped.

Andromeda gave a grim smile. "You’re not the only one with secrets, Vivienne. The Order still has allies everywhere. When Narcissa sent a message — discreetly, I might add — I came."

Narcissa glared but said nothing.
It was clear the sisters' alliance was fragile, born not of love but necessity.

"We need to go, now," Andromeda urged, glancing toward the hallway. "Lucius will be back soon. Bellatrix is occupied arguing with the others about the Dark Lord's plans."

At last, the bindings fell away. Vivienne sagged for a second, then straightened, fury and hope burning in her chest.

Narcissa pressed something small and hard into Vivienne's hand — a portkey, fashioned from an old silver coin. "This will take you to the edge of the Forest of Dean. From there, you must disappear."

"And you?" Vivienne asked, staring hard at Narcissa.

"I'll stay," Narcissa said, her voice steady but full of weariness. "If I vanish now, it will be obvious. I can protect Draco better from within."

Vivienne nodded grimly, squeezing her hand for a brief second of understanding.

Andromeda moved to the doorway, checking the hall. "It's clear. Move."

Vivienne tucked the portkey into her robe and followed. The three women hurried silently down the corridor, their footsteps muffled by a quick silencing charm. Every corner turned, every darkened hallway passed, felt like threading the eye of a needle.

They reached a side hall leading to the outside gardens — ancient, overgrown hedges that could hide them long enough for Vivienne to activate the portkey.

As they crossed the threshold, a cold voice rang out from the shadows.

"Going somewhere, dear sister?"

Bellatrix.

She stepped into the moonlight, wand raised, her face contorted in rage and betrayal.

"Andromeda," she spat, "I should have known you'd crawl back like a rat. And you, Cissy..." Bellatrix's voice cracked with fury. "You traitorous little—"

Before Bellatrix could finish her curse, Vivienne spun and flung a Stunning Spell straight at her.
Bellatrix dodged — but just barely. The spell cracked against a stone pillar behind her.

"Go!" Andromeda shouted, casting a barrage of protective spells between them and Bellatrix.

Narcissa grabbed Vivienne's arm and shoved the portkey into her hand. "Now, Vivienne! NOW!"

Vivienne gripped the silver coin tight, focusing on the destination burned into her mind.

Bellatrix shrieked a curse so powerful it split the earth at Vivienne’s feet — but too late.

With a jerk behind her navel, Vivienne was yanked away, the manor vanishing in a whirl of darkness and magic.

---

She landed hard among the cold, damp leaves of the Forest of Dean, the night sky spinning above her. For a moment, she lay there, gasping, the scent of moss and pine flooding her senses.

Free.

But not safe.

And she knew, somewhere far away in Malfoy Manor, Bellatrix Lestrange was screaming Vivienne’s name into the night — not just with hatred.

But with heartbreak.

The cold night air wrapped around Vivienne like a second skin as she knelt among the wet leaves, her breathing ragged. The stars wheeled overhead, distant and indifferent.

But Vivienne’s mind wasn’t here — it was still trapped back at Malfoy Manor.

Still trapped with her.

Vivienne closed her eyes, the rush of memories almost knocking the breath from her lungs.

She could still hear Bellatrix's scream — not the high, triumphant laugh of a Death Eater, but something raw, cracked open, human. A sound that Vivienne had not heard since the day they last fought at Hogwarts as girls.

A sound of someone losing something... or someone.

Vivienne pressed her forehead against the cold earth, her fists clenched.
Damn you, Bella.
Damn you for making it harder than it should have been.
Damn you for still mattering.

For a long time, she stayed there, letting the forest hold her. No spells, no defenses, just silence.

But deep in her gut, she knew it was not over.
Bellatrix would come.
Bellatrix would find her.

---

And Vivienne — Merlin help her — wasn’t sure if she was ready to run again.

She stood, brushing the dirt from her robes, her mind sharp now, crystal clear.

I need to be the one to finish this.

Not just for her own sake — but for Bellatrix’s.
Because if they met again... it wouldn't be as captor and prisoner.

It would be as two souls, broken in different ways, finally colliding.

Vivienne pulled the silver ring off her finger — the one that had once bound them together, the one that had nearly destroyed her — and stared at it in her palm.

She whispered a single incantation, ancient and soft. The ring shimmered, releasing a faint pulse of magic — a call, a summons only Bellatrix would feel.

A message: Come find me. Come finish what we started.

Vivienne slid the ring into her pocket and turned her face to the trees, stepping deeper into the forest.
She would not hide.
Not from Bellatrix.

When Bellatrix came — and she would — Vivienne would be waiting.

Not with hatred.

Not even with anger.

But with everything that had been buried between them for far, far too long.