Bubblegum Pink and Chocolate Tweed (Prequel to DCMN)

Chapter 13

AN: Hello, dear reader. It's been quite a while. I know. I'm sorry. I don't know how to explain except for that I lost interest and school and life got hectic. It's my senior year (12th grade for you non-Americans) and everything is a mess, but I've finally decided to come back to this. I do hope you'll forgive me. 

There she stood, the unmistakable, utterly intimidating form of none other than Bellatrix Lestrange. Her ragged curls hung haphazardly down her shoulders, and she looked leaner than Sirius had remembered her. He still couldn't help the shudder that went through him, and sure enough, as he looked at his younger self, saw the same. He locked his jaw and cracked his neck, allowing his hatred for her to burn and fuel him. He'd need it to override his long since instilled fear of her.

"Sup dearest Trixie?" said Tonks from her spot beside Remus, who, Sirius noted, had moved in a protective stance in front of her. Bloody heroic idiot.

Bellatrix gave a shriek at that nickname. "Don't call me that!"

Tonks cringed at her wording. "Why shouldn't I? It's not like you ever listened when I said that."

Sirius shook his head. "As much as I'd love to catch up with Aunt Bella," he said, his tone clear that that was the furthest thing from the truth, "we need an explanation."

Remus nodded from beside Sirius. "We're missing someone. We know you're behind it." he said bluntly, getting straight to the point.

Bellatrix fixed her piercing gaze on him, and Remus may well have been having a stare-down with two black holes.

She shook her head slowly, laughing manically, which was, granted, probably her everyday laugh.

"Me? I came here because my darling husband was taken and figured one of you fiends were behind it. I was going to confront you all and kill you as soon as you told me where he was. Now it looks like I'll have to keep you alive a bit longer." She sighed at the end, horribly put out by that terrible inconvenience to her schedule.

"Wait a minute," said Lily from her place next to James and Young Sirius.

"If you're not behind it, then who is?"

It was a fair question which was met with silence. The room then broke into anxious chatter while Bellatrix studied her wand intently.

"Alright, enough," Remus hollered, voice raised way past his normal octave so he could be heard over the din. "We've got to get to the bottom of this and we're certainly not going to do it by talking over each other!"

Everyone blinked blankly at him for a moment, clearly not expecting his uncharacteristic but highly necessary outburst.

Tonks recovered first and said, "Remus is right. We also, as much as I hate to say it, need to team up with Bellatrix because she may actually be of some use as an ally."

"I mean, I don't trust you at all," she said, pausing to stare at her, while Bellatrix shrugged and gave an I don't really blame you look, "but, I think an alliance, however temporary, will help us all get to the bottom of this issue. Besides, we need to find out how the culprit pulled off such a convincing Bella that Remus fell for it."

They nodded solemnly, Bella too despite her earlier words. She likely still found Tonks and Sirius stinking and filthy for their beliefs and their corruption of the family line, but she seemed to grudgingly agree that they were right about this.

If she wanted to find out how the hell she'd ended up traveling back in time, and who was behind all this, well, she was pretty much out of luck except for this group. 

Bellatrix nodded, curls flouncing on her head. "Right. I'm in."

Rose, who had risen slowly and was now leaned almost entirely into the Doctor, spoke up. "So, how's this all work anyway? Doctor, I mean, we had reapers with two of me, and there's two of most of 'em!"

The Doctor nodded solemnly. "I'm not entirely sure. There's a deadlock seal on the time around this part of the building, which, if I'm correct, is why there are no other students bothering us?" The second part was addressed at Dumbledore, who nodded in response.

"Besides, it's different if time has stopped. This shouldn't be happening, but it does explain how you lot are here from the future."

Hermione shook her head at that. "It's not an accident for us. We had a time turner."

She handed it only slightly hesitantly to the Doctor, who had stretched his arm out.

"Thank you, Hermione," the Doctor said.

Rose froze, her mind suddenly realizing why this place seemed familiar in the oddest way, and these faces so distinctly like characters from a book series she'd avidly read and watched, several years before they came out in her own "normal" time. "Wait. Hermione? As in, Granger, as in Harry Potter?"

The Doctor turned to her, eyes flashing that dangerous way from tropical ocean to a thunderstorm sky. She nodded, and Lily was keen to notice how she instantly knew what he meant just by that look. She idly wondered if she'd ever have that kind of connection with James.

Hermione nodded, her own eyes flashing dangerously. "How do you know who I am?"

Ron shook his head from beside her. "It doesn't matter right now. We need to find who or what is behind all this."

While Hermione turned to him, shocked at his abrupt but on-topic interjection, Dumbledore nodded gravely. "Mr. Weasley is right, we do need to get to the root of these rather unfortunate circumstances."

XxXxXxXx

The group decided, disjointedly, that addressing the entire lot of them would grow to become a problem, and everyone rather reverted back to the classroom-esque rules of raising their hand when waiting to speak. Even Bellatrix obliged. There was just something about being in the presence of the Headmaster that made almost anyone more obedient than they intended to be. 

They were all now in Dumbledore's office, and despite the many hormonal and adrenaline-filled Gryffindors itching to do something, no one had made a rash decision. It was funny, Hermione mused, all this standing around. Had Harry been with them, he wouldn't have stood for it.

As soon as she thought this, James exclaimed loudly, having raised his voice from where he'd been conversing with Young Sirius and Young Remus, "This is getting ridiculous. I get we need to have a plan, but someone has been kidnapped, and this person is a master of disguise as they fooled everyone as Pomfrey and then again as Bellatrix."

Bellatrix nodded. "Only I get to be me, thanks," she said, likely annoyed that someone else had gotten to torture Remus. Tonks shivered at the thought of Bellatrix getting her hands on Remus. Still, this other person had even played Bella, and that was something to be said.

Tonks opened her mouth to ask the Doctor what he thought when Rose spoke up from where she was sat swinging her legs on a table. "So, who goes where, and how?"

She said the how with a pointed look toward the Doctor, as though he had some way to get them there. Clearly, her Remus had the same line of thinking, as he raised his hand and asked, "Doctor, do you have a way to track someone down?"

They all watched slightly taken aback as a glint appeared in the Doctor's eyes, and a wide, manic smile spread across his features, Tonks noting Rose's face too had stretched to mirror his. "Of course I do! And I have a plan, a brilliant one, it's going to be fantastic!"