Posted originally on the Archive_of_Our_Own at https://archiveofourown.org/
works/12510292.
  Rating:
      Explicit
  Archive Warning:
      Graphic_Depictions_Of_Violence, Major_Character_Death, Underage
  Category:
      F/F, F/M, M/M, Multi
  Fandom:
      Harry_Potter_-_J._K._Rowling
  Character:
      Bellatrix_Black_Lestrange, Narcissa_Black_Malfoy, Andromeda_Black_Tonks
  Stats:
      Published: 2017-10-26 Updated: 2017-12-14 Chapters: 5/? Words: 15297
****** A Moment of Silence, A Moment of Violence ******
by LadyValerianBlack
Summary
     The Black sisters journey through their Hogwarts years and the rise
     of the Dark Lord, experiencing all of the joys and anguish of being a
     teenager in a dangerous pure blood family. When war breaks out, can
     love save them? AU-Canon hybrid. Adult content - 18 and up
     recommended. Dark themes present. WIP.
***** Snape's Betrayal *****
A/N: So, about a year ago I started this fic and began publishing it really
impulsively. But, of course, I'm a Slytherin Capricorn and therefore a major
perfectionist. There was too much I didn't like about it and wanted to change
so I deleted it after about 5 chapters and decided to just start over. And here
we are! I plan to update weekly but if life gets in the way the, well,
obviously that won't exactly happen. But I will try!
DISCLAIMER: As usual, I do not own any aspect of the Harry Potter world. I am
not making a profit to write this. All aspects of Harry Potter are owned by JK
Rowling. The only pieces of this writing that are owned by me are the non-canon
plots, the original characters, and the non-canon character developments. Yes
WARNING: There will be some dark themes in this fic. Mention of abuse, death,
stuff like that. You have been warned.
This fic will bounce back and forth between Bellatrix's time at school and
"future" time (1980 and beyond). I will provide dates so you don't get too
confused. It will also mostly be from Bellatrix's point of view but there may
be times it's from another character's point of view. Just depends on what the
contents of the chapter are and what I feel works best. I hope you enjoy!
P.S. I love reviews. (;
 
===============================================================================
 
 
          April 1980
Order of the Phoenix Headquarters
"It has been brought to my attention that there is a spy among us," Albus
Dumbledore spoke to a room full of members of the Order of the Phoenix. If
there were anyone whispering to each other before Dumbledore started his
discussion, they stopped at these words. Severus Snape stood behind him, hidden
in the shadows. He knew he was not welcome among the Order members—especially
those obnoxious twits he had gone to school with: Pettigrew, Lupin, Black, and
Potter. The raven-haired wizard watched as the eyes and ears in the room perked
up at the word "spy" before turning his attention back to Dumbledore.
"However," Dumbledore continued, that blasted twinkle never leaving his
piercing blue eyes, "We have a spy of our own. Severus, will you please step up
and join us?" He stepped back, reaching his hand out as if he were introducing
a grand act at a muggle circus rather than introducing a reformed Death Eater
that nearly everyone in the room despised.
As Severus came out of the shadows and into full view, he held his head high,
arrogantly ignoring the shouts of disbelief and anger that arose from the
crowd. He could especially hear Potter and Black shouting. "You can't honestly
believe this greasy git would actually turn against his beloved Dark Lord,"
Black said, his grey eyes dancing in fury. Of course the man that had been
disowned by his own family filled with Death Eaters would be so angry he looked
as though he would hex the other wizard into oblivion. Potter piped up as well,
shouting, "He would rather spend the rest of his life rubbing the slimy snake's
scaly feet than help any one of us!"
Severus sneered in their direction. The petulant fools had no idea what he was
capable of or what was really happening. They would have been sorry if he had
never showed up… If he had never gone to Dumbledore and promised to help. If I
had never begged the old wizard to save Lily from the fate the Dark Lord was
planning for her... he thought. He was risking his own neck offering such a
thing, but of course these idiots had no idea what he was risking, nor did they
care.
Dumbledore simply smiled politely, ignoring the shouts for a few minutes.
Finally, he cleared his throat and spoke once more. "Silence, please." The room
gradually went quiet again. It was no surprise that the witches and wizards in
the room held such a high respect for Dumbledore. He was, after all, one of the
most powerful wizards alive and certainly the most powerful wizard in the Order
of the Phoenix. "I know there has been some… tension… between Mr. Snape and
some of our younger Order members…" He allowed his twinkling blue eyes to roam
and settle on the Marauders, all of whom were still glaring daggers at the
Slytherin at the head of the room. "Regardless, our guest has come to me with
invaluable information… and I have asked him to stay and help up in our quest
to vanquish Lord Voldemort." Angry murmurs started up again before the old
wizard raised a hand to silence the crowd yet again. "I do not want to hear any
more on the subject tonight. Our business is done here. Have a safe journey
home. Word will be sent when the next Order meeting is planned." He turned
toward James Potter, Frank Longbottom, and two pregnant witches: Lily Potter
and Alice Longbottom. "If I may have a word before you leave," he whispered to
the four as the other members of the Order stood up and left the tower, little
by little.
"What was that about?" Sirius had whispered to his best mate, "Should I stick
around in case you need help wrangling the greasy bastard?"
James chuckled and shook his head. "Whatever it is Dumbledore wants to talk to
us about, it must be private. If it's something we can share without
jeopardizing anyone's safety, you will know immediately, mate. Promise. I'll
see you later." Sirius pursed his lips and glared daggers at the Death Eater on
the other end of the room. He sighed before finally nodding his head towards
James, giving Lily a tight brotherly hug, and leaving the Order headquarters.
James, Lily, Frank, and Alice stayed behind, quietly and slowly getting ready
to leave. They waited until everyone had gone, save for Severus and Dumbledore,
before turning to their former headmaster to find out what it was he had wanted
them to stay behind for.
"Now that I have you alone," Dumbledore started, his face faltering from the
usual, cheery twinkle just barely enough to cause the younger few to worry.
"The information that Severus has provided us is especially important to you. I
would like to tell the Order in due time, but I wanted to inform you first…
There has been a prophecy regarding Voldemort and an infant due near the end of
July." Both women's eyes widened as they instinctively wrapped their arms
around their growing abdomens, hoping to protect the babies they were carrying.
They both knew that their babies must be the ones this so-called prophecy was
speaking of—why else would Dumbledore be giving this information to them before
the rest of the Order? James and Frank didn't catch on to the news quite as
fast. "The prophecy states that a child born at the end of July will have the
power to vanquish the Dark Lord. We believe this prophecy may be about one of
the two children you, Lily and Alice, are carrying. The Dark Lord knows of the
prophecy, which is why Severus has come to me… We are going to put you in a
safe house with a Fidelius charm. You will not be able to leave. You may be in
hiding for a long while but you must understand how important this is."
James and Frank looked at each other, each attempting, and rather failing, to
hide the fear that was growing inside them. Gryffindors really were not
excellent at masking their emotions. However, they had to be strong for their
wives… For their sons. "A safe house sounds fine with me, as long as my wife
and child are kept from harm," James said and Frank quickly agreed, taking his
wife's hand as he did so.
"Is that all then?" Alice asked. "We are going to be in separate safe houses,
under the Fidelius charm? What about the spy in the Order? Do you know who that
might be?"
The elder wizard shook his head. "Unfortunately, I do not know, and neither
does Severus. The spy has been working closely with Voldemort and has been
careful to not be seen… And I want you four to think about who you want each of
your secret keepers to be. No one will know except for you and I. Choose
wisely," he said, eyeing the four individuals carefully. He stood, releasing
some of the tension in the air. "You are free to go home for the night." He
smiled as if he were dismissing them from a class rather than a meeting
discussing the danger they were all in.
Severus watched as Lily quietly stroked her engorged belly, looking rationally
distressed, yet somehow almost calm and thoughtful, before walking over to her.
"I did it for you, you know," he said quietly. He had to speak to her, even if
it was the last time she would acknowledge him. He had to know if their
friendship was destroyed forever.
The witch looked up into the dark eyes of her old friend. He did it for her?
"Why?"
"You were my best friend. I hate that Pott—er—I ruined that." Severus stopped
and took a deep breath before continuing. "When I heard about the prophecy and
knew that you may be involved, I had to help in some way… I had to keep my best
friend safe…"
Lily nodded, though did not look particularly ready to forgive him for their
past problems. "Thank you, Severus," she said. There wasn't much else that
could be said. They hadn't been friends for years. After everything that had
happened, she couldn't just forgive him with one gesture, if he really was
using the gesture to help and not to turn on the entire Order and her. Using
his given name was already a difficult step for her to take. She missed her
best friend but… Too much had happened…
The corner of Severus's mouth twitched upwards slightly at the sound of his
given name on the witch's lips. It was something he hadn't heard in years.
Something he often longed for in ways he would never admit out loud. She didn't
say much else, but that one smidgen of a gesture told him that their friendship
could be salvaged. It would just take time… But he knew that he couldn't lose
her again. Thanks to his being able to find Dumbledore and warn him of the
prophecy, it was likely he would get the time to make amends with the stubborn
witch.
Lily turned away from the wizard that was once her best friend and her first
connection to the wizarding world. She turn to her husband to let him know she
was ready to leave. The Order would hear about the prophecy at the next meeting
and she was sure plenty more questions would be asked, more people worrying
about her and the baby, and more people arguing about what should be done. For
tonight, she wanted to go home.
When the last of the Order had gone, and all that remained was Dumbledore and
Snape, the old wizard turned to the young Death Eater. "Do you know what to
do?" That damn twinkle was back in his eye.
"Yes, sir."
The elderly wizard stepped out of the room, leaving Severus Snape alone at
last.
 
===============================================================================
 
 
Death Eater Headquarters
The warmth of the fire covered his body from head to toe as the Floo network
spun him around and around before making it to his destination. Floo was never
his preferred choice of transportation simply because of the nauseating
spinning paired with the overwhelming warmth of the flames. After years spent
in the cold Slytherin dungeon at Hogwarts, he certainly was not a fan of too
much warmth. Severus Snape came out of the fireplace into a large, dark room.
The fireplace was the only source of light in the room and he watched as the
dull green glow from the flames behind him changed into the usual red-orange
that filled the room. There was the faint sound of intense chatter in the next
room. That was where Severus turned to head to next. That was where the Dark
Lord would be.
He walked into the room and, at the sound of his footsteps on the cold tile,
the chatter in the room stopped and the fierce eyes of Lord Voldemort slowly
turned toward him. Severus, ignoring the rest of the eyes that were now focused
on him, walked right up to the man that sat in a large chair at the head of the
room.
"My Lord," the wizard said with a slight bow that made his greasy hair fall
over the sides of his face, shielding the others in the room from his
peripheral vision. "I have infiltrated the Order of the Phoenix, as you asked.
Dumbledore trusts me and has asked me to be his spy." Severus kept his face in
stone as he spoke in a low voice to his master. He was determined to make this
plan work. He was going to be a double agent. He refused to let his guard down
and immediately began to strengthen on Occlumency shields in his mind.
A cruel smile spread across the thin lips of the dark wizard at the high end of
the room. "Severus…" For a moment, Severus thought he was caught and the Dark
Lord had seen through him. He could feel the skilled Legilimens attempting to
penetrate his mind but he was a master at Occlumency. He had to have mastered
Occlumency long before becoming a Death Eater… Especially a Death Eater that
was going to betray the most powerful dark wizard of all time.
"You did well, I see," the cold voice of Voldemort spoke again. "You will
continue to go to these meetings at the Order. Bring me all the information you
can. We will crush our enemies. We will end this war. And we will rule all of
both the wizarding and muggle worlds." With that, the crowd in the room
applauded at the idea of finally winning this war. Severus smirked, satisfied
that his plan was working, and smug that his Occlumency shields had held
against Lord Voldemort himself.
With a slight raise of his hand, the excitement in the room died down for the
Dark Lord to speak. "We have received the information we were waiting for. You
are all dismissed for the night. Do not forget your missions. We must all be on
full alert in order to take control of what is rightfully ours." He waved his
long pale hand and there were murmurs of "thank you, my Lord" and "good night,
my Lord" as Death Eaters started to leave the room.
Severus watched as one witch stayed still, eyeing him suspiciously and glaring.
Bellatrix Lestrange sat in the corner and had been looking almost bored through
the whoops of excitement from her fellow Death Eaters. Next to her stood a tall
wizard with dark, sandy blonde hair. Severus saw his mouth form the word
"Bella" before the raven-haired witch broke her gaze and turned to the blonde.
Although he was not her husband, he held out his hand to help her out of the
chair she sat in and she followed him out of the room to where they both
disappeared into the Floo.
***** The Beginning *****
A/N: And so we begin little Bella’s first year at Hogwarts…
 
===============================================================================
 
1 September, 1962
A small girl, eleven years old, with dark, knotted, and curly hair was
fidgeting almost wildly as she stood in line in the Great Hall of Hogwarts
School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. She was fidgeting wildly, her eyes
occasionally darting to the bewitched ceiling that mirrored the shining stars
in the sky beyond the castle. She waited with the other first year students as
each of them waited for their name to called in order to be sorted into one of
the four Houses of the ancient school. Of course, she was going to be in
Slytherin House, right? The rest of her family was in Slytherin and they were
all expecting her to be in the same House as her ancestors. Oh, her parents
would kill her if she dishonored the family by being sorted into any other
House at Hogwarts.
“Black, Bellatrix,” the voice of a tall thin witch with a pointed nose that
stuck up slightly as if there was an unpleasant odor nearby, Minerva
McGonagall, rang throughout the near silent hall. McGonagall peered over her
parchment full of first year names, her glasses settled on the near tip of her
nose, waiting for the young witch she had just called forward. Bellatrix’s
breath hitched in her throat as she walked slowly up to the stool where the
ugly patchwork sorting hat sat waiting for her, a seemingly sinister smile
across its broad rip that was supposed to resemble a mouth. She waited for
Professor McGonagall to lift the hat from the stool and, when she did, the
first year sat down on the stool. The hat was dropped onto her curly head and
she jumped slightly at the sudden voice in her ear. Listening intently as she
bit her lip, she clutched the stool beneath her so hard her knuckles were
white.
“Another Black, I see,” said a low hiss that seemed to ring throughout her
head. She was the daughter of Cygnus Black and Druella Black, the pure-blood
family of the Ancient and Noble House of Black—one of the Sacred Twenty-Eight
families that were still pure, rich, respected, and powerful. “Ah yes, I see so
much potential in your brilliant head. Yet, also, so much fear. Hmm . . .”
Bella whimpered slightly and whispered breathily back to the voice in her head,
“I need to be in Slytherin.” Realizing she might come off as rude, she added a
quick “please.”
The voice inside her head merely chuckled. How can this bloody hat find this
situation funny? She thought. “You have the inquiring, creative mind of a
Ravenclaw, my dear,” spoke the voice, “And oh the loyalty and bravery that lie
within! Maybe even Gryffindor.” He sniggered with the last sentence. She knew
the hat was baiting her. He—or rather it—had to be. “I see deeper into your
mind than you can imagine, dear girl. However, I do see the traits of Salazar
Slytherin radiating deep within your mind.” The young witch had her eyes closed
tightly and had begun whispering “Slytherin” over and over again in the
following silence of the hat. A distant, low chuckle came from the hat once
more.
“I think . . .” the hat said, now, she could tell, loudly enough for anyone
near to hear. How long had she been sitting there listening to the hat provoke
her as it tried to figure out where she belonged? The silence that followed was
deafening. A ringing in her ears had started and she felt as if she was going
to be sick. The things her family would say. . . The things her father might do
to her if she--“SLYTHERIN!” The hat finally shouted for the whole hall to hear.
With the shouts from the silver and green table, Bellatrix released a deep
breath, unaware that she had been holding it in the silence of the hat’s
decision. As soon as the hat was taken off of her curly head, Bellatrix jumped
off the stool and pranced toward the Slytherin table, a relieved grin plastered
on her face.
The rest of the sorting ceremony went on, with the shouts of “Gryffindor,”
“Ravenclaw,” “Hufflepuff,” and “Slytherin!” The latter of which Bellatrix
absentmindedly joined in on the clapping that followed through her table,
though her mind was elsewhere. She was thinking of her sisters, Andromeda and
Narcissa. They were still at home, biding their time with their mother and
father until their protector of a big sister got home for the holidays. The
girls were stuck in that Gods awful house while Bella was at this phenomenally
magical castle. She missed them dearly, and worried about them tremendously.
The Ancient and Noble House of Black was not quite as noble as some liked to
think. Cygnus was a horribly abusive father and husband. He was a drunk that
was bitter that he had no sons to continue on with the family name, no proper
heirs to continue his family line. He loathed the woman he was forced to marry,
Druella. He loathed the disappointing children that plagued his existence with
a lack of masculine influence. He loathed nearly everything about his life.
Druella was kind and loving when Cygnus was not around, but was often too
terrified of him to do much when he went on a drunken stupor that terrorized
his family.
They will be just fine , a voice in her head continued to tell the first year.
I will write to Cissy and Dromeda as soon as I can. At least now I’m in
Slytherin. That will be one less disappointment for father to drink to. . .The
young witch knew, however, that this one small accomplishment wouldn’t do much
to keep their father happy. The fact that all three of his children were born
with a uterus would overpower everything else. He wanted an heir; that was all
that mattered. Cygnus’s sister-in-law, Walburga, had a small boy. Bellatrix had
often heard her mother mumbling about how an heir would calm Cygnus down. It
did little to placate his behavior, though he did make a point to brag about
the toddler whenever he got a chance, to anyone who would listen.
Another wave of applause had erupted from the Slytherin table again as a dark
haired boy with piercing blue eyes joined Bellatrix at the table. She
recognized him as being the oldest of the Lestrange boys: Rodolphus. The
Lestrange and Black families were close friends and Bellatrix had spent some
time with the strange, quiet boy and his younger brother. Like many of the pure
blood families, they were obnoxiously proud to have their blood be as pure as
the gold littering their filthy rich Gringotts vaults.
“Hello, Rodolphus. I’m glad to see a familiar face in my House,” Bellatrix said
with a smile on her face.
Rodolphus turned toward Bella as if he had just noticed she was sitting there.
“Hello, Bella. Yes . . . Good to see you again. . .” His was soft and airy, as
if he was distracted by something far off that only he could see or hear.
Either that, or he just had no desire to speak to the girl he was forced to be
friends with as a child...
Bellatrix didn’t bother trying to continue conversation with the boy. With a
sigh and a frown on her face, she turned her head back to the sorting ceremony
and watched it continue on through a hand full of names, shouts of Houses and
cheers until, at last, the noise died down and all eyes moved to the
headmaster, Professor Armando Dippet. He was a bit of a portly man: a little
short with a long beard that settled on his protruding belly.
“Welcome to all of our newest students joining us this year!” The booming voice
of Professor Dippet echoed across the Great Hall with the great fervor of a
proud and powerful wizard and Headmaster. “And welcome back to all of our
returning students. As usual, the Forbidden Forest is--well--forbidden to
students without a professor or other authority at your side. Classes will
start on Monday so eat up, get a good night’s rest, and prepare for the new
year!”
After the small speech of welcome, Professor Dippet clapped his hands together
and in seconds the great hall was filled with food of all sorts that looked
absolutely delicious. Immediately, everyone dug in and chatter filled the vast
room along with the sounds of cutlery, dishes, and someone chewing their food
and talking with their mouth full extraordinarily loudly, which Bellatrix found
very obnoxious. She turned her face to find the source of the noise. It was
another first year boy—she recognized him from the gather of students waiting
outside the great hall for the sorting to begin—sitting a couple seats down and
across from her. He had a head of the messiest dark blonde hair she had ever
seen and was chewing loudly and speaking with his mouth full, talking to
everyone that would listen about just about anything he could think of. What an
obnoxious little twat, Bellatrix thought. Looking up and meeting her eye,
something that looked like it ought to have been a grin spread across his face
and made his full chipmunk-like cheeks even fuller.
“’Ou ‘nuthr ‘irs yer,” he said with his mouth full.
“I’m sorry?” Bellatrix asked, looking taken aback and staring, repulsed, at the
bad manners he portrayed. It was obvious that he wasn’t a pureblood. No
honorable pureblood family would allow their child to grow up with such abysmal
manners.
With a tastelessly loud swallowing sound, the messy haired boy spoke again.
“You’re another first year. I recognize you. Bell-something-or-other Black,
right?”
Bellatrix raised an eyebrow. “Bellatrix Black, yes. And you are?”
“I’m Cian Reid. You can call me Cian. Or Reid. Whatever you prefer. Bellatrix
is an interesting name, isn’t it? I’m going to call you Bella.” He gave a sort
of goofy grin before digging back into his food.
“Pleasure to meet you,” Bella replied with a half-grin of her own. He seemed to
be a nice enough boy, though he clearly lacked any manners or sense of the
pureblood etiquette she and many of the other Slytherins at the table were
brought up with. However, he was most definitely interesting...
 
===============================================================================
 
2 September, 1962
On the Sunday before classes started, the morning was spent making
introductions to the witches Bellatrix would be sharing a dorm with for the
next seven years. There was Lauren Parkinson--twin sister of Jacob Parkinson--
Victoria Rowle, Calliope Nott, and Freya Karamakov. Bella excused herself soon
after, choosing to spend some time alone. She just wanted to read and prepare
for her first classes. Of course, growing up in the wizarding world, she knew
all about magic, but she had never been able to practice it until now. She was
determined to learn everything she could, and be the best in her year.
 
The dark haired witch woke up early Monday morning and rushed to shower, not
bothering to tame her unruly hair, and dress herself in the dorm before heading
out of the dimly lit Slytherin common room. She quickly headed toward the Great
Hall for breakfast, remembering the route from following prefects and older
students back to the common room after meals.
 
“Hey, wait up,” a voice called to her as she was exiting the common room.
Bellatrix turned around to see her dormmate, Freya. She had short, curly,
platinum blonde hair, a slightly round face with dimples in either cheek, and
wide hazel eyes. “You’re Bellatrix, right? Mind if I walk with you?”
 
Bellatrix smiled and nodded her head. “Of course. You can call me Bella.
Refresh my memory, what did you say your name was?”
 
“Freya Karamakov,” the short haired girl sang joyfully. The two had a feeling
they were going to be great friends.
 
It wasn’t long before the witches were joined on the way to breakfast by the
boy Bellatrix had met two nights before: Cian. He wriggled himself right
between the girls and wrapped his arms around each of them. “Hey, Bella. Who’s
your friend?”
 
Bellatrix rolled her eyes but before she could answer, Freya answered for her
as she slyly stepped out of his grip.
“Karamakov comma Freya,” said the witch, a dramatic hand extending as if to
show off how important of a witch she was. “And who are you?”
 
“I’m Cian, of course! Cian Reid.” His grin was so bright it seemed to brighten
the faint hall of the dungeons. “This is fantastic!” he exclaimed, clapping his
hands together, “We’re all going to be the best of friends.” His enthusiasm was
met with a dramatic eye roll and chuckle from Freya while Bellatrix smirked.
 
The three of them made their way into the Great Hall where Professor Slughorn,
the Slytherin Head of House, was already passing out schedules. Slughorn
stopped to peer at the curly haired witch as she took her class schedule with
great enthusiasm.
“Well, well, is this a new Black we have here? I will be delighted to be
teaching you this year, young lady.” The professor gave her a wink and then
passed another schedule along to another first year, during which Bellatrix
heard him exclaim, “Ah, and Mr. Lestrange! Your father was quite a fantastic
student. I daresay you will take after his brilliance, won’t you?”
Not looking over at Rodolphus and Professor Slughorn’s encounter, Bellatrix
turned to her two new friends. “We have double Defense Against the Dark Arts
first . . . And it starts in thirty minutes,” she said, looking from her
parchment with her schedule on it to the watch on her wrist.
The first years spent the remainder of their breakfast chatting excitedly about
what their first day of class was going to be like. Cian and Freya did most of
the talking while Bella watched and listened shyly, a little nervous to have
friends. With her food finally finished, Bellatrix stood up, grabbed her bag,
and waited just long enough for Cian and Freya to join her on the journey to
their first Defense Against the Dark Arts class.
The classroom was dimly lit and a tall woman with hair as wildly curly as
Bellatrix’s and beautiful almost-perfectly smooth brown skin that was slightly
sprinkled with scars--probably from being an auror before settling for a
teaching position at the ancient school--sat at the desk, watching with small
brown eyes as her class wandered in and took their seats. The room fell quiet
once the seats were filled and every pupil was staring at the professor in
front of the room, waiting for her to speak. Without getting up from her desk,
she did just that.
 
“Good morning, class,” the witch said in a low voice, “I am Professor Webb and
I will be your Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. Today we are going to
be talking about hexes, jinxes, and curses and how to identify each. First
off—” her eyes scanned the room full of nervous first years “—who can tell me a
bit about hexes, jinxes, or curses?” A few hands shot into the air and
Professor Webb pointed at a Slytherin student in the front, silently.
“A jinx, being one of the seven known types of spells, is distinguished by its
negative effects and used mostly for the amusement of observers and the minor
discomfort of the victim. A hex is of darker magic than a jinx but not as dark
as a curse. It generally causes moderate suffering to the victim. A curse is
the worst form of dark magic and generally causes severe suffering of the
victim.”
Professor Webb smiled for the first time since the start of class. “Very good,
dear. Twenty points to Slytherin. And your name . . .?”
“Jacob Parkinson, Professor,” said the boy that had answered the question.
The rest of the class went on with Webb’s explanation of jinxes, curses, and
hexes and into more detail of how to differentiate the three of them. It seemed
to be the longest, most boring thing Bella had ever sat through when the bell
finally rang to dismiss the students. Were all first year classes going to be
so bland? “Very well, class. Next week we will learn some very basic jinxes and
begin practicing conjuring them and resisting them. Have a good day,” Professor
Webb said as the students packed up their books and belongings and headed
toward the door.
The rest of the classes of the day seemed to be just as uneventful as the
first. Cian actually fell asleep almost immediately in History of Magic when
the old ghost, Professor Binns, started droning on in the most monotone voice
he could possibly muster. At the end of their Charms class and after doing
nothing but moving their wands about without actually doing any spells,
Bellatrix, Cian, and Freya set off to the Great Hall for dinner. The wizard in
the group was mumbling in a disgruntled tone about the day until Freya finally
snapped at him.
“Would you shut up?” Bellatrix couldn’t help but giggle at the way Cian stared
incredulously at their mutual friend. “If you really thought we were going to
be running about doing magic when we haven’t got the faintest bleeding idea of
what we’re doing, you’re about as daft as they come.”
 
“I just thought we would do more than listen to lectures and things,” Cian said
with his arms crossed over his chest. “I want to do magic, for Merlin’s sake. .
.”
 
Freya scoffed. “We’re barely first years, Cian. There’s not a whole lot of
magic we could do without blowing our heads off. Be a little more patient
before I start to lose my patience with your never ending whinging.” Bellatrix
reminded herself to never get on the other witch’s bad side. She certainly was
a feisty one.
 
“That is you with patience?” Cian’s eyes widened and Freya laughed before
shooting him an evil grin.
“Boys . . .” Bellatrix said, rolling her eyes and stifling a giggle. Cian stuck
his tongue out at the two of them like a five-year-old and smirked as they
entered the great hall.
XXXXXXXXX
“You guys go ahead,” said Bellatrix to Cian and Freya after dinner, “I’m going
up to the owlery to send a letter to my mum. She will want to know how my first
day went.” The other two nodded and said their goodbyes before walking the
opposite direction toward the Slytherin common room.
Surprisingly, Bellatrix had little trouble finding the owlery. Her mother had
made sure to give her exact directions on how to find it, insisting that her
eldest daughter write home as much as possible. As soon as she walked into the
room, her eyes widened. There had to be at least two hundred owls sitting on
perches, sleeping, leaving the large windows to go stretch their wings or hunt,
and flying back in to join the others on the perches. It was a magnificent
sight. Bellatrix searched the dropping-sprung floor for a clean spot to sit and
pulled out a piece of parchment, quill, and ink bottle. She dipped the quill
into the ink and stuck her tongue out slightly in concentration as she wrote.
 Dear Mother,
I have had the loveliest first day at school. Of course it has been a little
boring as we haven’t learned much magic yet. It was mostly theory. But it was
great nonetheless. I’ve already made two friends. I saw Rodolphus Lestrange a
few times but he didn’t seem too interested in talking to me. I suppose I can
try again. I know you and Father want me to make some friends with the children
of your friends…
 
Anyway, I was sorted into Slytherin, of course. You knew I would be.
 
There’s not much else to say so I will leave it here. I miss you. I miss
Dromeda and Cissy. I love you all. I will write to you again soon.
Love, Bella
Bellatrix stared at her letter and, deciding it was good enough, folded the
parchment and wrote her mother’s name and address on the outside. She walked
over to where a few owls stood on one of the lower perches. Many of them seemed
to be sleeping. “Erm . . . May I use one of you to send this letter to my mum?”
She felt incredibly silly speaking out loud to the birds like this. However,
two of the birds lifted out their leg lazily to her. With a smile, she chose
one and tied the parchment to its leg, watching it fly off soon after.
 
===============================================================================
 
 
A/N: For those that may not be familiar with Irish names, the “C” in Cian is a
hard “C.” So, it’s pronounced more like “Key-an.” The more you know!
***** Daddy Dearest *****
 
November, 1962
Bellatrix, Freya, and Cian stood outside their potions classroom with the
Ravenclaws as they waited for Professor Slughorn to arrive. After over two
months of school, they were starting—very slowly, that is—to get the hang of
how things seemed to work in the castle. There were certain
professors—Professor Slughorn, for example—that were nearly always late to
their classes. There were professors that played favorites with students
(again, Professor Slughorn), and there were a seemingly infinite amount of
rooms and staircases in the castle that the trio were just barely starting to
get the hang of, at least well enough to find their classrooms.
Today, Freya was sporting shoulder length Slytherin green hair. It hadn’t taken
long for Bellatrix to realize that the girl was a Metamorphmagus. It had
happened when Freya had woken up one day and, looking in the mirror, decided
she was bored of her short hair and scrunched up her nose to grow her hair over
a foot and turn it a chocolate brown rather than the platinum blonde she
normally sported. Bellatrix had been shocked and excited.
“You’re a Metamorphmagus?!” she had exclaimed. “I’ve always wanted to meet one!
I had one in my family generations ago, you see. Just the one, though. They are
very rare!”
Freya laughed. “Yes, I’m a Metamorphmagus. I’ve been changing little things
about my features since the day I was born. As far as I know I’m the only one
for generations, as well. My mum’s a muggle and my dad used to tell me stories
of her absolutely freaking out when I popped out of the womb with neon green
hair. He thought it was just hysterical.” She rolled her eyes but smiled
reminiscently as she thought of the memory.
Slughorn finally came striding down the hall, humming a random tune, and
unlocked the classroom door, waving his hand to have the students follow him
inside. “Good day, my dears! I hope you have all finished your homework
alright? Well then, hand it in.  Accio! ” A large stack of parchment flew
forward and into the professor’s open arms. He set them aside in a neat pile on
his desk and turned back to the class with as much enthusiasm as he showed in
just about every lesson. At least the cheeriness of the bloke was enough to put
nearly anyone in a decent mood.
“Today we will be brewing the Wiggenweld Potion! Who can tell me what the
potion is used for?” Surprisingly, Cian raised his hand. “Yes, Reid, my boy?”
“The Wiggenweld Potion cures minor damage and can awaken a person from a
magically-induced sleep.”
“Excellent!” Bellowed Slughorn. “Ten points to Slytherin. Now, how to brew
Wiggenweld . . .” Professor Slughorn continued to tell the students what page
to turn to in their books and to begin, while Cian grinned with pride at
gaining points for their House in Potions, of all subjects. He was quickly
learning that he didn’t have the knack for potions he thought he would.
Within only ten minutes the class was filled with different fumes and coloured
gases. The instructions made it seem like a fairly easy potion. However, it was
the first potion they were actually brewing on their own and not just studying
ingredients, theory, and watching Slughorn produce different potions. The
beaming smile on the professor’s face indicated that he had expected the first
self-brewing to go exactly as it had: slightly disastrous.
By the end of class, nearly no one had the green potion they were supposed to
have. There were two Slytherin students, Antonin Dolohov and Rodolphus
Lestrange, and a small handful of Ravenclaw students, including a strange
silvery blonde haired boy Bellatrix had come to know as Xenophilius Lovegood,
that had actually gotten the potion to the green look it was meant to have.
“Excellent! No worries, now. The first time brewing is nearly always
disastrous. Aside from the few Potions prodigies we seem to have amongst us.”
He beamed brightly at the few students sitting with green liquid in their
cauldron, compared to the various shades of pink and brown the rest of the
class had. “Twenty points to both Slytherin and Ravenclaw. Very well then.
Clean up and you are dismissed! I will write the homework on the board while
you are busy washing up.”
Cian’s aura of pride and confidence that he had been radiating earlier that
class period was replaced with a look of distress that matched the frizzy mess
of his hair and the salamander blood that stained his cheeks. He definitely did
not  have a knack for potions.
 
===============================================================================
 
December 1962
The first year of Bellatrix’s Hogwarts life was already halfway over. She was
one of a handful of students that learned quickly in her classes, and had some
of the top grades in her year. Freya was also doing fantastic in most of her
subjects and helped tutor Cian in his more lacking subjects, such as History of
Magic, Potions, and Transfiguration.
Christmas arrived with a mixture of dread and enthusiasm. Bellatrix was excited
to see her mother and her sisters and spent the first few nights home getting
scolded for staying up too late to tell her sisters about the things she
learned in her first term at the wizarding school and the friends and
acquaintances she made. Her birthday passed on December twenty-first, during
which she turned twelve and her family held a small celebration with a
delectable dinner and cake prepared by the family house elves.
On Christmas Eve, Cygnus, Bella’s father, had much too much to drink and ended
up getting ridiculously annoyed by the “girly giggling” from his daughters. He
overheard Andromeda laughing and joking, in a rather insulting manner, about
the Lestrange boy, based on some information Bellatrix had fed her. He was
livid that his daughter dare speak ill of a pureblood family friend and
Christmas Eve turned into a match of shouting until Cygnus cracked and moved in
to attack his twelve-year-old daughter, who was defending her younger sister.
Bellatrix spent the holidays with a fresh bruise across her face that the house
elves were forbidden to heal until just before she left for school.
“She needs to learn to not speak to her father the way she did,” Cygnus had
said to the elves when the incident had happened, “she can’t think it’s alright
to shout at her elders because she will just turn around and be rewarded for
her bad behavior.” The house elves, though clearly disgusted by the order, were
afraid to speak up for fear of being set free and not being able to take care
of their young misses ever again. Druella had fumed loudly over this
declaration and placed subtle charms on her daughter’s wound in private. Her
goal was to at least stop the pain and excess swelling in secret. She wanted to
help her eldest daughter but did not want to risk healing the wound completely
for fear of Cygnus’s backlash, possibly making matters worse.
Christmas day was much less enthusiastic for Bella, with the events of the
night before still fresh in her mind. She wrapped herself in a dressing robe
and went down the creaky old stairs to the living room to find her sisters
already gathered around the Christmas tree with hot cocoa mugs in their hands,
waiting patiently for their older sister to arrive. The smallest of the girls,
little blonde haired, silver eyed Narcissa, immediately set down her cocoa,
jumped up and ran to Bellatrix, laughing.
“Bella!” Narcissa squealed as she wrapped her arms around the older witch.
“Mummy made us wait for you to open presents. She forbade us from waking you
up. Said you needed your rest . . . Come on!” Narcissa was pulling on
Bellatrix’s sleeve, trying to drag her toward the tree and a laughing Andromeda
and Druella.
“Okay, Cissy, I’m coming,” Bellatrix said as she slowly walked toward the tree,
chuckling when the younger witch, looking frustrated, started pulling harder.
Druella called for one of the house elves to bring Bellatrix a mug of hot cocoa
and the small family sat around the fire. Cygnus joined them, seeming to be in
a much happier mood that morning, though Bellatrix tried to avoid talking to
him at all cost.
The Black family sat around their tree and opened gifts from one another and
other family members happily, as if the disastrous Christmas Eve hadn’t
happened. Bellatrix opened some licorice wands, Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor
Beans, chocolate frogs, and other various treats from her friends at Hogwarts.
 
“How sweet of your friends to send you gifts,” her mother had said with a warm
smile on her face. It was clear that the older woman was fond of the idea of
her daughter having such caring friends.
As soon as she was able, on the last day of the winter holiday, Bella’s
favorite house elf, Tansy, had suddenly appeared in her room with a loud  crack
. “Wake up, young miss. Tansy has a potion for young miss so young miss’s
injury is all fixed up before young miss goes back to Hogwarts.” Bellatrix
groaned and sat up in bed, looking around at the small elf with large bat-like
ears, long, slim nose and wide green eyes. “What time is it? It doesn’t even
look like it’s light outside, Tansy,” she said.
“Oh, young miss . . . Tansy just wants to help young miss feel better, she
does,” the elf squeaked.
With a roll of her eyes, Bellatrix smiled. “Oh, all right. Come on, then.”
Tansy grinned and crawled onto the bed, her large ears flapping slightly. She
sat on the edge and pulled out a jar filled with a thick clear goo that had a
ghastly smell. Immediately, the elf started rubbing it onto the bruise that was
already starting to fade slightly. Bellatrix wrinkled her nose but said
nothing. She knew better than to fight the elf when she was determined to help
. . .
 
===============================================================================
 
 
 
May 1963
Bellatrix had decided to stay at Hogwarts with several other students for the
Easter holidays. She had written to her mother, telling her that there was too
much studying to be done for the upcoming end of term exams and she just
couldn’t afford to go home then. She had a feeling her mother understood the
true meaning behind wanting to stay at school. The incident at Christmas was
fresh in everyone’s mind. It wasn’t too often that their father got physical
with the young girls. He was angry and hurtful with his words but most of his
physical “punishment” was saved for his grown witch of a wife, who could defend
herself much more easily than her children if it got to that point.
A tiny Professor Flitwick was walking around the charms classroom watching
students practice their  Lumos  charms. There were several students that had
failed to produce the light from their wand and many more that had been able to
produce a very feeble light that flickered and died out as soon as it came.
“Look, Cian,” Bellatrix was saying, taking his wand hand and showing him the
proper movement. “Concentrate. Now, say it with me . . .”
“Lumos,” the two of them said in unison. Cian’s wand lit up brightly and was no
longer flickering sadly as it had done a few minutes ago. She grinned as he
looked at the witch beside him, his blue eyes shining in the wand light.
“Thanks! I finally got the hang of it. Sometimes I think maybe you and Freya
should be professors . . .” he spoke the last words quietly so as not to offend
the Charms master, who was trying to help a student close by that had not
managed to light up their wand at all yet.
“Well I think Professor Flitwick is an excellent professor,” Freya said with
her nose held high and bright in the light of her own wand. She wasn’t wrong.
Flitwick was one of the few professors at the school that was all of fair,
helpful, and kind.
Professor Flitwick had turned around at the sound of his name from the witch’s
mouth and beamed. “Wonderful work, Karamakov! You too, Reid and Black. Five
points each for Slytherin!”
The bell rang signaling for class to end and the quiet murmur in the classroom
became noisy once again as the sound of hundreds of feet overhead in the castle
mixed with the shuffling sounds of students packing their bags and heading out
of the room and off toward dinner, as it was the last class of the day.
 
===============================================================================
 
 
  June 1963
With June had come end of term exams. Cian, Freya, and Bellatrix all passed
everything quite to their satisfaction. The time now came for them to go home
for the summer. The three of them soon found an empty compartment on the
Hogwarts Express and gathered in, putting their trunks on the rack. Merlin,
Bellatrix was not ready to leave behind this second home of hers and the
amazing best friends she had made. “I’m going to miss you guys so much,” she
said, sniffling and forcing back the tears that threatened to escape.
“Oh Bella,” Freya said, rubbing the dark haired witch’s back, “Let’s not think
about that now, okay? Let’s play some Exploding Snap! We have plenty more time
together until we get to London.”
So the trio did exactly that. They talked and laughed and played their silly
game until the food trolley came around. With some treats purchased, they
paused their game and ate heartily, reminiscing over the year they had had, and
just enjoying one another’s company. The train ride seemed to end much too soon
and before they knew it, they were pulling into King’s Cross Station in London
and dragging their belongings out onto the platform.
“You will write, of course? I couldn’t bear going the whole summer without
hearing from my two favorite ladies,” Cian said with his usual goofy grin. The
girls laughed and together pulled him into a group hug.
“Of course we will,” said Bellatrix.
“I wouldn’t dare think of leaving either of you without my presence, even if
just on parchment, over the summer,” Freya teased and threw her dirty blonde
hair back in a dramatic way. Cian and Bellatrix both rolled their eyes, an
annoying habit the three of them seemed to have in common when it came to one
another.
“Mum! Dad!” Freya had seen her parents and took off in a half run, dragging
them back to her friends. “This is Cian and Bellatrix. I told you about them in
my letters.” Freya was beaming like a proud mother as she introduced them.
“Such a pleasure to meet you. We’ve heard so much about you!” Freya’s muggle
mother smiled warmly and held out her hand to shake them both and her father
followed after, saying, “I hope Freya doesn’t cause too much trouble with you.
She can be quite a bit of a handful.” Freya simply laughed and playfully
punched her father in the arm.
Cian’s mother came over as well and introduced herself to the friends her only
son had made. The way she looked at him, it was easy to see that he was her
pride and joy, her entire world. The thought pulled a small string of envy in
Bellatrix’s core but she shook it away without so much as a facial expression
to give away the thought.
Bellatrix spotted her own family just as they were moving toward her, the small
blonde witch running at top speed. Bracing herself, Bellatrix grabbed her
sister in a bone crushing hug just as she ran into her harms.
“Bella!” Narcissa laughed as she let go of the eldest sister.
Cygnus cleared his throat angrily but still did his best to look polite in
mixed company. “Narcissa dear, that is no way to act in public. And please
don’t run off like that, you could get hurt.”
Yeah, like you really care what happens to your daughter, as long as you don’t
look bad while it’s happening, you . . .  Bellatrix thought, forcing a smile in
the direction of her father. “Mum, dad. These are my friends: Cian and Freya.”
She pointed out her friends and her mother nodded politely, offering her hand
to be shaken. Bella was not oblivious to the way her father eyed the muggle
mother of Freya as if he had a particularly foul smelling cauldron stuck under
his nose.
Bellatrix hugged her friends once again. “I will write to you. Have a great
summer!”
“You too, Bella!” Freya and Cian said in unison before going back to their
parents.
Bellatrix left King’s Cross station with her parents and walked with them to a
small shop a couple blocks away to use the Floo. She told her family all about
her first year of Hogwarts, how well she was doing learning magic, and how well
she did on her exams—her father actually smiled, shocking her greatly, and said
he was glad she was doing well enough to live up to the family name. The little
witch already couldn’t wait for her next year to begin.
***** Snape's Betrayal: Part 2 *****
A/N: WARNING! THERE WILL BE ADULT CONTENT IN THE SECOND HALF OF THIS CHAPTER
AND IT IS NOT AT ALL VANILLA. I REPEAT, IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO READ NSFW
MATERIAL THEN PROCEED WITH CAUTION.
Also, happy Thanksgiving to my fellow Americans! Nothing like a little smut
after dealing with a bit of family drama and/or cooking all day amirite? xD
 
===============================================================================
 
 
April 1980
Malfoy Manor -- The Current Headquarters of Lord Voldemort
 
Bellatrix Lestrange rolled her eyes as her husband, Rodolphus, rattled on about
placing bets as to whether or not Severus Snape would show up for the meeting.
The Death Eaters had been gathered in the sitting room of the large manor for
what seemed like ages. While their Dark Lord sat at the front of the room,
watching them all in silence, his piercing green eyes scanning the room, his
followers were engaging in conversation of all sorts while they waited.
 
“Do you have to be so obnoxious?” Bellatrix asked, glaring at the wizard she
was magically tied to for life. “Of course Severus will come back from his
task. It’s disgusting that you have such little faith in the Dark Lord’s choice
of spy. . .”
 
Rodolphus rolled his eyes right back at her. “Yes, dear. Of course I have faith
in the Dark Lord. I don’t have nearly as much faith in Severus being competent
enough to pull off worming his way into the Order. There’s nothing wrong with a
little gamble now and then.” He grinned cheekily, his white teeth gleaming in
the light. The other Death Eaters gathered in the proximity laughed along with
him, a few of them raising the glasses of firewhiskey they had been provided by
the house elves. Alcohol and gambling. Lovely, Bella thought sarcastically
 
“I’ll take you up on that bet. Five galleons says that the git wasn’t able to
complete the task,” said another male voice. The witch had no desire to look
around for the source of the noise.
 
“Only five galleons? Come on, you can do better than that, Yaxley,” Rodolphus
said.
 
The raven haired witch simply sighed before making her excuses and leaving the
group of men. There was someone in particular she wanted to find. . . It wasn’t
long before she found him having a chat with her sister and brother in law,
Narcissa and Lucius Malfoy. When his eyes met hers as she approached, the smirk
plastered on his face made Bella’s heart flutter like some little girl with a
pathetic crush.
 
“Cissa,” Bella said with a warm smile as she wrapped her youngest sister in
hug, fighting to work around the belly that held her nephew. She felt a small
kick coming from Narcissa’s middle before she released the younger witch from
the hug. “Oh! Well, hello there, little Draco. Good to see you too.”
 
Narcissa had one hand resting on her pregnant stomach while the other held a
glass of some concoction the house elves had made up for her, claiming it would
help her feel more alert as she joined the festivities. The beginning of her
third trimester had brought on exhaustion and physical pain that would have
kept her away from the meeting if it weren’t for the helpful little elves.
 
“Good evening, Bella. You’re looking lovely as always,” the blonde witch said.
“Of course Draco is happy you’re here as well. He’s excited to meet who is sure
to be his favorite auntie.” The two witches rarely spoke of their sister, since
she had run off with a muggleborn, straight out of Hogwarts. It had caused so
much anger and pain in the family, it was best if they just spoke as little
about Andromeda as possible . . . At least in mixed company. . .
 
Lucius gave his greetings and the other wizard in the small group finally spoke
up. “Mrs. Lestrange,” he took her outstretched hand planted a light kiss on it.
Always the gentlemanly actor, the witch thought with a roll of her eyes. He
continued once he released her hand, “I take it you got bored of your husband’s
. . . um . . . habits?” He raised one eyebrow and the look he gave her was more
along the lines of ‘I’ve been waiting for you to join me here, witch.’
 
“Yes, I got a little bored listening to the wagers,” Bella said with a laugh.
“I would much rather mingle with the other guests in my sister’s lovely home. .
. Come, Cissy, let’s sit down. You don’t need to be on your feet for too long
with my little nephew in there.”
 
Narcissa, who normally would have protested to being babied but was too tired
of being on her feet in the wretched heels she had to wear as a high-society
pureblood wife, simply nodded her head and waddled over to a small sofa. She
settled in trying, unsuccessfully, to hold in the moan of comfort from
relieving her feet of the weight. Lucius chuckled and took the seat next to his
wife, wrapping his arm around her. The dark haired and sandy-blonde haired
witch and wizard joined as well.
 
Severus Snape arrived at the manor a short while later, gliding into the room
and straight for Lord Voldemort. The room fell silent as all the Death Eaters
watched to see if the younger wizard had been successful in his endeavors.
 
“My Lord,” Severus said with a bow, “I have infiltrated the Order of the
Phoenix, as you asked. Dumbledore trusts me and has asked me to be his spy.”
 
Voldemort made a show of staring into the dark eyes of the younger wizard
before him, searching his mind for any indication of failure or dishonesty. He
seemed satisfied when he finally spoke. “You did well, I see. . . You will
continued to go to these meetings at the Order. Bring me all the information
you can.” He turned to address the entire room rather than just Severus and
Bellatrix watched a maniacal grin turn the corners of his mouth upward. “We
will end this war. And we will rule all of both the wizarding and muggle
worlds.”
 
The room burst into joyous whoops and shouts. Bellatrix looked sideways at the
wizard that momentarily stiffened next to her. She kept her expression blank
and stared across the room at Severus. Was this man really able to fool Albus
Dumbledore? How was he able to do it? Her mind was racing and, if it weren’t
for the sudden lack of background noise once again, she would have been too
lost in thought to even hear the next words coming from the powerful wizard at
the head of the room.
 
“We have received the information we were waiting for. You are all dismissed
for the night. Do not forget your missions. We must all be on full alert in
order to take control of what is rightfully ours.”
 
Bellatrix was still eyeing Severus suspiciously until she heard a familiar
voice say “Bella” next to her. She looked up at the sandy haired wizard that
was now standing, waiting for her. She nodded her head and stood up, saying her
goodbyes to her sister and brother in law, before leaving the room.
 
===============================================================================
 
 
Bellatrix said farewell to her other colleagues, chatting a little here and
there about the events of the evening and other upcoming missions and plans.
She looked around for her husband to see he had already left. “Wanker,” the
annoyed witch mumbled under her breath.
 
Looking at the large grandfather clock in the corner of the room, she noticed
it had been about three minutes since the gentlemanly wizard she had spoken to
earlier had disappeared into the Floo. Sighing, the witch slipped out of the
manor to head to the apparition point. She didn’t want anyone hearing the name
of her destination. Luckily, many of the Death Eaters at the meeting preferred
to apparate rather than use the Floo so it didn’t look suspicious that she
would do that same. When she reached the end of the anti-apparition wards put
up around the building and felt the faint change in the air from the magical
signature, Bellatrix thought hard of where she wanted to be, held her wand
tightly in her hand, and turned on the spot.
 
===============================================================================
 
“You’re late,” a husky, playful voice said as soon as Bellatrix landed in front
of the small London flat. She looked up to see her wizard in the doorway with
that damn goofy grin that made her stomach turn. She rolled her eyes at his
comment before stepping past him into the front room and taking off her cloak.
 
“If you’re going to be a prat about it, I can just leave, I suppose.” She
feigned stepping back to the door before strong arms were wrapped tightly
around her frame, pulling her back against his chest. She laughed as she was
lifted into the air and spun around.
 
“You’re not going anywhere, cheeky witch.” His voice was in a low, dark whisper
and she shuddered slightly at the feel of his breath against her neck. He bit
her lightly at the base of her neck and then kissed the same spot, repeating
the motion all the way up to the spot just below her jaw when she let out a
delighted moan. He chuckled against her skin and grabbed her neck, squeezing
slightly as he forced her head back, forced her to look into his eyes. Her
wizard’s pupils were dilated and he grinded his erection against the small of
her back. “You see what you do to me, witch?”
 
Bellatrix tried to respond but with his hand around her throat all she could
manage was a whimper, a sound that forced a mischievous smirk onto his lips. He
removed his hand from her neck and moved it down over her chest, reveling in
the way her heart pounded and her breathing was uneven. The curly haired witch
spun herself around in his arms and crushed her lips to his. She took
initiative and bit down on his lower lip. When he gasped, she guided her tongue
into his mouth and moaned when it found his own.
 
The wizard wrapped his large hands around her waist and lifted her up, allowing
her to wrap her legs around his waist. He broke their kiss so that he could
carry her through his flat to the bedroom, groaning as she kissed and nibbled
on his neck the whole way down the hall. Growling, he threw the giggling witch
onto the bed and crawled on with her, lowering himself to take her perfect,
full lips once more. She fumbled with the buttons on the back of dress and her
wizard leaned down to help her, pulling the offending clothing off with one
swift movement before moving on to do the same to her knickers and bra. He
stared at her with complete adoration, taking in every inch, from the flushed
pink cheeks and the wild dark hair spread out around her to the round breasts
with erect pink nipples and the curves of her perfect, creamy skin all the way
down to the slit that he knew opened up to the most delicious cunt he had ever
had the delight of tasting. “You’re so beautiful,” he breathed.
 
“Shut up and take your fucking clothes off,” Bellatrix said with a roll of her
eyes and a tug on his t shirt. There would be time for his romance later. Right
now, she wanted him in the most downright filthy way possible. She wanted him
to take her and make her his little slag.
 
With a laugh, her wizard obeyed, pulling his shirt over his head and undoing
his trousers while she traced the muscles in his chest with hands that were
growing ever more impatient. Once his was free of his clothes, he leaned down
to place a kiss on her neck, allowing his tongue to dart out and gently trace
her throat. “How bad do you want me, little witch?” He growled as he reached up
to grab her throat once more, leaving his grip loose so he could hear her
reply.
 
“Fuck,” she hissed. She loved when he talked to her like that. “Fucking take
me. Please, baby.”
 
“How can I deny you when you ask so nicely?”
 
He placed his hand ever so gently between her thighs, chuckling at the way she
gasped and leaned her pelvis into him. “You’re so wet, my love; my dirty little
whore.” He moved his fingers to rub the witch’s clit, gently at first. Her
moans urged him to go on until he slid two fingers into her tight warmth and
stroked her from the inside while simultaneously rubbing her clit with his
thumb. He watched her face as she moaned and gasped, his own hardness becoming
nearly unbearable. Finally, she released herself around him and he removed his
fingers from her to bring them to his mouth, tasting them as she watched him
breathlessly. Bellatrix lifted herself up to kiss him, tasting her own wetness
on his tongue and he moaned into her mouth.
 
“You’re so fucking hot,” he said as he pushed her back down onto the bed and
spread her legs to position himself at her entrance. Before he thrust into her,
he used his cock to tease her, rubbing it against her clit while she squirmed
beneath him.
 
She narrowed her eyes at him, producing a glare that he would have been afraid
to see if they were in any other position. “Give me your bloody cock, damn it,”
she demanded.
 
Of course, he obliged.
 
He thrust into her, deep and hard. She shouted out and he groaned, telling her
how perfect and tight her pussy was and how much of a perfect little slag she
was just for him. Bellatrix reveled in every word of dirty talk that escaped
his lips. She reveled in the way he held her hips so tight she was sure there
were going to be bruises. She reveled in the way he looked at her with dark,
seductive eyes that ravished every inch of her skin and her soul the same way
his cock ravished her quim.  She felt the heat rise inside of her once again
and knew it wasn’t going to be long before she burst and was screaming his name
as she came around him for the second time. From the look in his eyes, it
seemed he was feeling the same. His breathing was heavy and uneven and he was
groaning and moaning right along with her.
 
“Fuck,” Bellatrix said, “I’m gonna . . .” She didn’t even get to finish her
sentence before he grabbed her throat again and growled. She felt herself snap
and screamed out, “Fuck! My Gods!” She bucked underneath him as he grabbed her
hip with his free hand and kept thrusting through her climax, making it even
more intense than she was expecting.
 
He could feel her tighten around his cock as she squirmed and screamed
underneath him. She looked--and felt--so good when she came, it was easy to let
himself release inside her. “Bella,” he said, “Oh fucking Merlin.” He shuddered
and collapsed on top of her, his head in the valley between her breasts.
 
They laid like that for a few moments as they caught their breath. Finally, he
rolled over onto his back and Bella laid on his chest, laughed when he swatted
at her wild, ruffled hair to get it out of his face.
 
“I love you so much,” he said through shaky breaths.
 
“I love you too,” she said back quietly.

The witch bit her lip. She needed to go home her to husband sometime. That
night, however, she was content staying right where she was.
***** Year Two *****
July 1963
“Come on, Cissy! Catch it!” Andromeda called to the youngest Black sister as
Bellatrix tried to throw a quaffle through the hoop the blonde witch was
blocking. The girls were in the garden of the Black manor playing a modified
game of Quidditch they had put together to include only three players. The
game, obviously, was not very reminiscent of a real game of Quidditch, with
only three players. The young witches mostly just tried to score goals with the
big red quaffle, competing against one another. Sometimes they would have
cousins play with them over holidays, during which they would play a full
version of the wizarding sport, but that did not happen often. It was one of
their favorite things to do during the warm summer days.
Narcissa reached to block the ball and hit it with her fingertips. Instead of
the quaffle being thrown away from the goal, it just bounced off the edge of
the hoop and fell through the hole anyway.
“Ha! Score! That’s fifty for me, witches,” Bellatrix shouted, pumping her fists
in the air and whooping.
Narcissa groaned. “You always win, Bella. It’s not fair.”
“Oh don’t be such a sore loser, Cissy,” Andromeda teased. “You’ll get better!”
Narcissa stuck her tongue out at her older sisters and giggled.
With a loud  pop , Tansy the house elf showed up in the field. The three
witches landed their brooms to talk to the elf, knowing she usually popped up
with a message of some sort. “Wotcher, Tansy?” Andromeda asked.
“Good afternoon, young misses. Mistress Druella has asked Tansy to come fetch
the young misses for lunch.”
It was then that a loud growling came from what seemed to be Andromeda’s
stomach. “I didn’t even realise how hungry I was,” she laughed. “Come on, let’s
go.”
The three young witches put away their brooms in the shed in the yard and went
inside to the small family dining room off the kitchen, where the house elves
had already set up a hearty lunch of sandwiches, fruit, and pumpkin juice. All
three of the girls dug in immediately. Druella walked into the dining room to
find her three daughters eating and laughing about the events of their mini
Quidditch game.
“Remember when Cissy nearly fell off her broom trying to throw a quaffle
through the hoop?” Bellatrix said with a chuckle before taking a large gulp of
pumpkin juice.
“Yeah, clearly Cissy isn’t the family Quidditch player,” Andromeda teased.
“Ha ha, so funny,” Narcissa said with a roll of her eyes, “Not all of us can be
athletes, you know.”
“Did you girls have fun playing outside?” Druella said, thus announcing her
presence.
“Oh! I didn’t see you come in, Mother. Yes, we had so much fun! You should see
how wonderful Bella is on the pitch. I wouldn’t be surprised if she managed to
get on the school Quidditch team. If she ever tries out, that is.” Andromeda
raved about her older sister with a proud twinkle in her eyes.
Druella laughed lightly. “I’m glad you had fun, my darlings. I love having
little athletes in the house.”
“Mummy, where is father this afternoon?” Narcissa asked with an innocently
puzzled look on her face.
“Father is out, my dear. He will be back soon. Don’t you worry your pretty
little head,” Druella replied, giving her youngest daughter a soft stroke on
the cheek.
Bellatrix couldn’t help but wonder where her father was, he seemed to be
disappearing a lot lately. She had walked in the room on day to find her mother
and father speaking in hushed tones. Cygnus had said something about a “dark
lord” and was showing Druella his arm. As soon as Bellatrix had walked into the
room, they stopped talking about whatever it was and changed the subject to
something, Bellatrix assumed, they deemed more “child appropriate.” That didn’t
stop their oldest daughter’s curious mind from wandering, though. Not one bit.
 
What are you keeping from us, Mother?  Bellatrix thought, making a mental note
to find out as soon as she could.
 
===============================================================================
 
 
 October 1963
With Cygnus Black spending more time than ever out of the house, there was a
much more cheerful atmosphere in the Black household for the rest of the summer
holidays. The girls didn’t know what he was up to when he was out but their
mother repeatedly assured them that it was nothing for them to be too worried
about.
With the start of September came Bella’s second year, which promised to be must
more exciting than the last. First year had been filled with far more theory
and far less practice than anyone was happy about. However, more magic meant
more practice. Not that many people much complained about doing practical work.
At least doing so was much more fun and entertaining than writing essays on the
uses of Monkshood or the Giant Wars of the 1200s.
It was the weekend of the first Hogsmeade visit of the year and the Slytherin
common room was practically cleared out as all the older students went down to
the wizarding village and the younger students stayed back. Freya, Cian, and
Bellatrix were sitting in their usual squashy chairs by the common room fire,
working on homework, when Cian finally threw his work down and folded his arms
in frustration.
“I can’t think,” he said, “it’s supposed to be a really nice day out. Why don’t
we skip work for now and go have some fun? Enjoy the fresh air?”
Bellatrix and Freya both looked up from their work. “Well, I guess we can do
that. We have plenty of time to finish,” Bella said, putting down her own
assignment. Freya agreed and the three of them set off toward the grounds.
Just as they suspected, the day was beautiful. There were students everywhere
enjoying the sunshine, despite the chilly October air. The trio found an open
space on the grass and sat down, stretching out their legs before them. Freya
laid back in the grass, her metamorphmagus hair now a shade of strawberry
blonde glistening in the October sunlight. She put her arms over her head and
closed her eyes. “This was a perfect idea, Cian. Who needs Hogsmeade when we
have this beautiful thing called nature?”
Cian scoffed. “You won’t be saying that next year when we’re actually able to
go to Hogsmeade. . .”
 
“Hush,” Freya said with a teasing push toward the wizard, “Don’t ruin the
mood.”
 
The three of them laid in the grass for what seemed like ages when a harsh howl
of laughter came from behind them and they all turned to see Lestrange,
Dolohov, and a couple of other Slytherins, including one of Bella’s own
roommates, Rita Skeeter, walking up to them, shaking with laughter over some,
probably bigoted, joke one of them had made.
“Oh look!” Dolohov chimed, “What do we have here? The little half-breeds and
the dirty-blood loving traitor. Disgraces to Slytherin, they are.”
Cian’s cheeks turned red before he laid back on the grass and looked up at the
sky. “Ignore those gits,” he said to the girls. He refused to give the others
the satisfaction of bullying them.
“What a whimpy little one,” Dolohov said again, “Won’t even fight back will
you?”
Another Slytherin chimed in, Rookwood was his name. “I heard your dad left your
mum all alone with you. Is that why you’re such a little prat? No daddy-kins to
help raise you like a man, eh? He was a filthy muggle, wasn’t he?” Skeeter
laughed nervously at the declaration.
 
Like most pureblood families, the bullies were all raised as blood purists.
They had little respect for Freya and Cian, both of whom had only one magical
parent and a muggle parent. They had the least respect for Cian, who didn’t
have much money in the family considering he was being raised by his single
witch of a mother. Being halfblood on top of being poor and having divorced
family was almost as bad, in their eyes, as being a mudblood. Bellatrix had
never had a single negative feeling toward the family of her dearest friends.
 
Dolohov joined in, saying, “I can’t say I blame the filthy animal of a father.
I would leave too if my wife popped out a beast that ugly. I bet his mother
isn’t much better.”
Bella and Freya were both on their feet with their wands out within seconds.
Cian hadn’t felt comfortable with sharing the full story of why he only had his
mother around, but they knew it was a touchy subject regardless. Before either
witch was able to throw a jinx, Cian had scurried to his feet as well, his
hands clenched into fists so tight they were stark white.
“What’s the matter, Reid? Can’t even fight your own battles, can you? Have to
have your little witches fight for you.” Rookwood turned back to the others in
his group, laughing. “The git didn’t even pull a wand on me. I bet he thinks he
can fight wandlessly like his lazy, no good, muggle fath—“
“ Locomotor Wibbly! ”
“ Engorgio Skullus! ”
It was near impossible to tell which of the two girls had uttered each spell
but both hit Rookwood at the same time and, with a flash of brilliant light,
sent him crashing to the ground. His legs wobbled uselessly and he held his
head in his hands as it steadily grew bigger and bigger, becoming heavier and
harder to hold up. Rita Skeeter shrieked and ran to his side. Lestrange and
Dolohov ran to help carry their friend, deciding it would be best to drag him
off to the hospital wing rather than fix the double jinx attack themselves.
“That big head suits you much better, you foul, arrogant, hunk of scum,” Freya
called out to him, causing Cian and Bellatrix to both burst into hysterical
laughter. “Come on, let’s get out of here before we’re found at the scene of
the crime.”
Of course, with four students to testify against the trio, Freya and Bellatrix
were given a week’s worth of detentions for attacking another student and a
total of 60 points were taken from Slytherin for the bickering: a little bit
from all students involved.
“Honestly!” Slughorn had said angrily. “I am so disappointed. Some of my best
students too! You should be ashamed of yourselves.” Clearly he was not happy
that his House was starting fights amongst themselves. He had a reputation to
uphold and keeping his students under control was part of that. Slytherins, he
had said, we’re meant to stick together. Like family.
When the witches returned to the Slytherin common room after their first
night’s detention, they complained about how miserable it had been to polish
trophies half the night. On top of that, they had to go back again every night
for the next week. “It could be worse,” Shane said with a shrug, “You could be
cleaning owl droppings out of the owlery or tramping through the Forbidden
Forest with Hagrid.” Freya scowled at him but agreed, it could be worse.
“Why didn’t Rookwood get detention, the slime ball?” Bellatrix said angrily as
she threw her book bag down to pull out the Potions homework she still had to
finish. “He started it.”
“Apparently there’s no rules against insulting other students. Just hexing
them,” Cian replied heavily as he pulled his chair closer to Bellatrix to help
her finish the Potions assignment more quickly; he had already finished it
while the others were in detention.
“I’ll finish my homework later. I smell disgusting and I need a wash,” Freya
said with a dramatic wrinkle of her nose before heading toward the wash room,
leaving her two friends alone.
  
===============================================================================
 
 May 1964
 
The holidays had passed quite uneventfully. Cian and Freya stayed at the castle
since Freya’s parents were going on holiday and Cian simply didn’t want her to
left behind alone. Bellatrix, on the other hand had been excited to go home to
her family, primarily her sisters. She had told them about the detentions she
had gotten after jinxing the pompous Rookwood--in secret, of course, so that
she would not hear backlash from her father for attacking the son of one of his
friends. She had suspected that Rookwood would be too embarrassed about being
bested by two witches to say anything to his own parents. Bella had told her
sisters about her classes and the new spells and potions she had learned, while
Andromeda fawned with whisperings of her excitement to start at the school the
following term and Narcissa grumbled about how she still had so long until she
could join her siblings. Her father was rarely home, which was a plus for
everyone involved.
 
Bellatrix had arrived back at school in January and was tackled to the ground
by Freya, her hair, as black and curly as Bella’s, tickling the her nose. Since
both of the girls had birthdays over the winter hols--Bella’s in December and
Freya’s in early January--they exchanged gifts and gossiped by the fire in the
Slytherin common room with their hands wrapped around mugs of hot cocoa. Cian
had, apparently, made friends with some of the first year boys and had left the
witches to their “girl time” to run off with the new wizards. Clearly the
amount of estrogen he was constantly surrounded with that starting to get on
the nerves of the thirteen year old.
May brought with it the joy of the Spring weather and another Potions class
where every student was regretfully forced into the dungeons rather than the
open air they would have much preferred to enjoy outside. The Potions class was
split into pairs that Professor Slughorn had picked at random: Freya and
Xenophillius Lovegood, Cian and Mariella Perez from Ravenclaw, Bellatrix and
Rodolphus Lestrange, and other mixes of the students in the class. Freya was
delighted by her partner, whom she always had a certain fondness for. She often
talked about how brilliant the strange Ravenclaw was in hushed tones to her
friends. She would never admit it, but it was obvious the witch had a crush on
him. Cian and Bella, however, were not as thrilled. The class was to be brewing
a Girding Potion.
“The Girding Potion,” started Slughorn in his usual booming and overly cheerful
voice, “is a potion that increases the drinker’s endurance for a considerable
number of weeks. The maximum dosage is no more than two vials, as more than
that can cause some horrible side effects, such as insomnia, giddiness, and
possibly hallucinations from lack of sleep.
“I would like you all to work together with your partners. I have paired you
rather unusually, in an effort to make you learn to be more – er – flexible to
whom you might have to have as coworkers in the real world. . . Right, then.
You may begin!”
All the students immediately opened their books to the correct page and read
through the instructions. It seemed to be a fairly easy potion. There was no
trying to remember to stir a specific number of times clockwise or
counterclockwise. It was basic.
“Get the ingredients,” Lestrange said to Bellatrix, without even looking at
her, as he set up his cauldron.
Bellatrix scoffed at his blatant rudeness. The bastard had known her
practically since they were in diapers and she had never done anything to him
to deserve his backlash.  “You could say please, you know. Did mummy never
teach you any manners?”
“Did daddy never teach you not to talk back? Get the bloody ingredients,
please .”
Bellatrix scowled but walked over to the cabinet where the ingredients were
kept and pulled out what she needed. She walked back to the table and sat down,
laying them out on the table. While Rodolphus looked at his book, she had
already added the first ingredient to the cauldron and started to heat it when
he said “fairy wings first.”
“Already on it,” Bellatrix said, sounding annoyed, as the potion started to
turn a beautiful shade of turquoise. “If you had the decency to drop your
shield of arrogance long enough to look in my direction, you would know that,”
she mumbled before speaking up again. “Doxy eggs, Lestrange.”
Rodolphus glared at the curly haired witch next to him but obeyed, pouring in
the measure of doxy eggs and watching the potion heat until it turned pink. The
two of them went through every step, glaring and scoffing at each other the
whole way. However, they still worked well together, whether they liked it or
not. Once the potion turned the correct shade of green, they extinguished the
flame underneath it and set the cauldron aside, turning to take a look at where
the other students were in their work. They were the first to finish! Bellatrix
looked around the room at her friends to see how they were doing with their
potions. Freya seemed to be close to being done, as she added dragonfly
thoraxes while laughing animatedly at something Xenophilius had said. Cian and
Perez’s potion had turned a foul smelling brown and they were both looking back
at their books trying to figure out what had gone wrong. The other students in
the room started finishing their potions, one by one, and chatter began to
ensue while they waited for time to be up.
“Alright, time’s up!” Slughorn called, “wands away, please. Step back from your
cauldrons.” He walked around the room, examining each potion and giving points
away to the pairs that had done excellent jobs, including Bellatrix, Freya, and
their partners. He stopped in front of Cian’s cauldron and sniffed. “Ah, it
looks like you missed an ingredient. You need to read the instructions more
carefully, my dears.”
Slughorn finished examining all the potions and waddled his way to the front of
the classroom once more. “That is all for today,” he called out. “If you brewed
your Girding Potion correctly today, you will be homework free this week.
However, if you did not, your homework will be to brew the potion again and
bring me a vial of your finished work by Monday.”
“Perez is about as intelligent as a mountain troll,” Cian grumbled as he left
the classroom with Freya and Bellatrix. “I was doing fine until she felt she
had to skip ahead and start throwing things in the bloody cauldron. Bloody git,
she is. I don’t know how she managed to be in Ravenclaw.”
“Come on, let’s go get some lunch. If you were doing as well as you say, you
should be able to brew another potion and hand it in easily without her ruining
it for you,” Bellatrix said, ignoring his insults. She had worked with Perez in
other classes and the girl definitely wasn’t unintelligent. Either Cian was a
sore loser or the girl just wasn’t too good at Potions, even if she excelled in
other subjects.
“Yeah, sure,” said Cian. “I’m starving though. Lunch it is!”
“When are you not hungry?” Freya said with a teasing grin.
 
Cian, as usual, stuck his tongue out like a child. “I’m a growing boy. Get over
it,” she said with his nose in the air as he marched to the Great Hall.
 
Cian had managed to finish the Girding Potion that very night and corked his
vial to turn in when he next had Potions class. "The potion really is quite
easy," he had said, though the other two were hardly listening to him. It had
taken Cian so long to finish the potion, Bellatrix and Freya had fallen asleep
in their Chintz arm chairs, parchment strewn over their laps. An ink bottle lay
propped open, balanced dangerously on the former witch's thigh.
 
Several things happened at once. Cian shouted "Oi!" and then immediately
started laughing at the scene that unfolded before him. Both Bellatrix and
Freya jumped awake in their chairs. Parchment flew into the air and the ink
toppled over, drenching its owner and then the carpeted floor in front of the
fire in the Slytherin common room, spreading dark and sticky like blood. There
was a loud bang and then silence as Cian stopped laughing hysterically.
Bellatrix looked up from her sticky lap to find Freya standing with her wand
pointed where Cian had been sitting moments before. The dark haired witch
walked over and looked at the figure of the wizard laying on the back of his
own knocked over arm chair and clutching at his face.
 
"What did you hit him with?" Bellatrix asked, turning to look at the other
witch, a grin threatening to turn up the corners of her mouth at her friend’s
misfortune.
 
"Stinging hex," Freya answered with a shrug of her shoulders.
 
Bellatrix broke into a shriek of laughter as she looked back at Cian, who was
no longer clutching his face but instead struggling to stand. Half his face was
unrecognizable, swollen, and ugly.
 
"Wha' tha' loody 'ell was tha' for?" he shouted, his words jumbled coming from
the swollen mouth.
 
"You're an arse, Cian! Startling us like that. Honestly! You deserved it. . .
Oh, quit your whinging. It's only a stinging hex. You'll be fine by morning."
Freya glared at the wizard and turned to stomp into the girl's dormitory,
muttering something about how he should have known not to mess with her,
especially after the Rookwood incident.
 
Cian stared after Freya with a strange mixture of annoyance and pleasure. "Go'
a bloody 'emper, that one does." He turned to Bellatrix and grinned. "Worth
it," he said, "'ou should 'ave seen you' face when 'ou jumped."
 
 He chuckled again at the memory and waved goodnight, turning toward his own
dormitory.
Bellatrix grinned back at the wizard. She turned and waved her wand to send the
mess of parchment into a neat pile. " Wingardium Leviosa ," she muttered,
pointing at the chair, which lifted into the air at her command. She rotated it
and laid it back onto the floor in the position it belonged. She hadn’t quite
mastered her  scourgify  yet so she decided to let the house elves take care of
the ink stain on the carpet, for fear she would only make it worse. Once the
common room was tidied up to the best of her ability, the witch yawned and
followed in Freya's footsteps up to the girl's dormitory for bed.
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