She took a deep breath, pushing her dark hair away from her face. Struggling to her knees, she crawled to the cabinet. "Where is it?" She rasped, as she searched, "There must be some left…" Coming upon an bottle, she shook its contents, "It's not enough, damn it!"

With the last of her energy, she flung to offensive object to the wall. As it shattered, the women clasped her hands to her head. "No, No, No." She curled into herself, hoping to alleviate the pain. I will not fail him, not when we've come so far!

Farther down the hall, The Dark Lord awoke. Cloak billowing, he left the room in search of his most faithful follower. Coming to a stop in front of her door, he waved his hand to lower the shields and entered.

Her eyes snapped open at the sound of his footsteps so near. She pushed herself up on shaky arms, "My Lord, to what do I owe this honor?" She forced her self to breathe evenly, deep in through her nose. "I apologize for the mess, my Lord, I wasn't prepared for company." Her body began to tremble waiting for a response.

"How long?" Her eyes widened at his question. Her mouth opened and closed, mind searching for a proper response. "How long has it been trying to free itself?" He hissed lowly.

Hanging her head to hide her eyes, "Not long at all, My Lord. I'm sure this was a single occurrence." She pushed herself to her feet, smoothing out the wrinkles in her robe.

In the blink of an eye, the Dark Lord appeared before her. Gasping, she tried to take a step back, but not before he grasped her neck. Caressing it slowly, he asked again, "How long, Bellatrix?"

Bellatrix tried quickly to gather up a mind-shield. Lord Voldemort narrowed his eyes in concentration and anger. Focusing quickly, he ran threw her mind, searching for the information he needed. Snarling, he threw her to the ground. Fixing her with a deadly stare, "Since before your release, and you have yet to inform me?"

Sitting up as quickly as her tired body allowed, she pleaded with him. "My Lord, surely it is not that important, as you can see I can handle it, just as I have for over two decades." She crawled slowly to him, reaching the ends of his robe and kissing it. "There is no reason to doubt my abilities, My Lord. I assure you this."

Lord Voldemort took out his wand and waved it over Bellatrix. "Even now, I feel it. Your hold on it is weak, barely managing its great strain. I'm proud that you have lasted this long, Bella." She breathed a sigh of relief, leaning forward in to a bow.

"Yet it is not enough." He continued, "You grow weaker every time an outburst occurs, the horcrux is rejecting you as its host." As he finished, he leaned toward Bellatrix's face, eyes dancing across her features as if looking for something. Shaking his head, he turned away, "We must prepare a new host, you're usefulness in this task has run its course." Standing, he began to make his way out of the chambers.

"Come, Bella. We must find a new horcrux before you completely wither away." He waved his hand towards her. Bellatrix took a deep breath, as she felt the pain diminish. Standing she followed him out of the room, "My Lord is merciful."

Behind her the door closed, wards locking themselves in place again.

Disclaimer: I own nothing. The characters and familiar settings belong to JK Rowling, WB, and Scholastic blah blah blah. Just the plot is mine.

An Author's Note: Yes this is a Pansy story, but you need to wait. I'm writing this, and I shouldn't be. I have a Chem Exam I should be studying for, but as you can see this came out instead.

Reviews are lovely. Flames are welcomed ((Bring it on, baby))