𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝘂𝗻 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗯𝘂𝗿𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗠𝗼𝗼𝗻

Chapter 19: Threads Pulled Loose

[Vivienne – The Safehouse]

The door closed behind her with a weight she hadn't expected.
The air inside the manor's hidden wing was warm, but Vivienne's fingers were still numb.

Narcissa and Andromeda stood near the hearth, waiting — two sides of a coin she'd long stopped trying to separate.

"Well?" Andromeda asked, arms crossed.

Vivienne didn't answer immediately. She peeled off her cloak, folded it with unnecessary precision.

"She disarmed me," she said flatly. "We fought."

Narcissa frowned. "And?"

"She saved me."

That stilled the room.

Vivienne finally looked up, meeting Narcissa's eyes. "Lucius tried to kill me. She stunned him."

Andromeda looked surprised — but not impressed. "So, what does that mean? She's playing both sides now?"

Vivienne's voice dropped. "No. It means... she's splitting."

She moved to the table, laid down the ash-stained ring box Bellatrix had slipped into her hand before disappearing.

"She's not ours yet," Vivienne said, "but she's not entirely his either."

Narcissa moved closer, eyes narrowed. "And what did she say?"

Vivienne smiled — small, bitter. "That she didn't know how to be forgiven. And I told her I didn't come to forgive."

[Bellatrix – Malfoy Manor]

The halls of the manor echoed louder than usual.

Every step Bellatrix took sounded like a mistake.

She moved through the corridor with practiced elegance, but her hands wouldn't stop trembling. Her wand felt heavier than ever — as if it, too, sensed her fracture.

She passed by the mirror in the drawing room.

She avoided her own reflection.

"Bella," came a low voice from the shadows.

She stopped. Slowly turned.

Voldemort was not there — but Severus Snape was.

He stepped forward, gloved hands folded in front of him, expression unreadable.

"The Dark Lord is asking questions," he said calmly. "About your whereabouts last night."

Bellatrix's blood turned to ice.

"I was gathering intelligence," she replied instantly. Too quickly.

Snape studied her.

"And what did you discover?"

Bellatrix met his gaze. Her voice dropped into a hiss. "That some ghosts aren't finished with me."

Snape tilted his head. "Be careful, Bellatrix. He doesn't tolerate hesitation."

Bellatrix smiled — but it didn't reach her eyes. "Neither do I."

She walked past him, each step heavier, the corridor behind her darker than before

[Vivienne – That Night]

Vivienne sat alone by the window, arms folded on the sill, eyes fixed on the stars.

Narcissa had gone to rest. Andromeda paced downstairs, her usual insomnia filling the halls.

Vivienne didn't sleep.

Not tonight.

She replayed Bellatrix's face — every twitch of her mouth, every pause, every word unsaid.

She closed her eyes and whispered to the night: "Come apart for me, Bella. And I'll decide which pieces to keep."

The stars didn't look the same. They never did, after Bellatrix.

Vivienne rested her chin against the windowsill, the old stone cool beneath her skin. Her hand still wore the faint redness where Bellatrix's fingers had gripped her wrist too tightly. She hadn't healed it yet.

Part of her didn't want to. Her reflection in the glass looked pale. Hollow. But something burned behind her eyes — not rage. Not yet. Something more dangerous.

Want.

She told herself this was about the war. About balance. About using every tool she had to dismantle the madness Bellatrix served. And yet...Vivienne closed her eyes, and the memories rose like steam.

The way Bellatrix had looked at her in the forest, moments before pulling her wand. The way she'd whispered her name like it still mattered. Like Vivienne was a word she hadn't let herself say for years.

The way she'd stopped Lucius. The ring. Vivienne swallowed hard. She hated her.She missed her.She wanted her to suffer. She wanted her in her arms, once — just once — without the war, without the mask, without the madness. She whispered to the night, brokenly.

"I came back to finish you. But if you asked me to... I'd still choose you."

Her fingers gripped the window ledge until her knuckles ached.

"I thought hurting you would make me free," she said to the dark. "But it only makes me remember... how badly I wanted to keep you."

No one answered. Not even the stars.

And somewhere, far from the safehouse, in a manor heavy with secrets and silence,
Bellatrix Black opened her eyes — as if someone had spoken her name in their sleep.