The Dunnest Smoke of Hell
PG-13. Harry Potter lies face down in the dirt, surrounded by a ring of Death Eaters in the Forbidden Forest. Narcissa Malfoy approaches, lowering hand to the boy's chest to see if he yet lives. Everyone knows what happens next: Narcissa announces Lord Voldemort's triumph as Harry plays dead. What if, in this crucial moment, Bellatrix did not trust her feckless sister? What if she strode past her celebratory comrades and knelt by the Dark Lord's fallen enemy, wishing to feel for herself the absence of the boy's heartbeat? This is the story of that tragic turn of events.
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