"A gossip paper?" Bellatrix Black scowled at her colleague. "Who would read something like that?"
"Any normal kids here at school, actually," Rita Skeeter answered, raising her nose in the air. She now realized, a bit too late, that Bellatrix Black's opinion was not the one she needed. All the girl ever talked about was obscure curses and blood purity.
Bellatrix barely heard the insult in Rita's remark. People usually thought she was a slow kid, because her attention span for conversation was rather low. The truth was, she was barely ever interested in idle conversation.
Rita Skeeter raised an eyebrow at Bellatrix's lack of response. It annoyed her how odd the girl was. She had never been seen either hexing or snogging other students, but Rita had the feeling that she did plenty of both, but as covertly as a true Slytherin should.
"Really, everyone wants to read about gossip, Bella," Rita went on, deliberately using the girl's nickname to try and get an angry spark from her. "The problem is, the Slytherins have the juiciest secrets, and as a Slytherin myself, I'm supposed to keep these secrets. My colleagues would kill me if I told a Gryffindor about, you know, that Andromeda girl..."
Bellatrix's head snapped up from the book she was reading, her eyes narrowed. She looked around and saw that the common room was empty, which was no surprise, since it was nearly half past midnight. "Andromeda?" she hissed.
Rita was actually surprised now. This was no new gossip. She had only meant to tease Bellatrix by implying she'd spread the gossip wider across school. Rita wondered if the girl didn't even talk to her younger sister.
"Why, haven't you heard? Andromeda Black is secretly dating Ted Tonks," Rita whispered to Bella, even though they were alone in the common room. Rita knew whispers added to the impact of gossip.
Bellatrix's eyes bulged. "No, he's just her study partner. Andromeda already told Druella and Cygnus that, after their OWLs, they'll no longer associate!" she said, urgently.
"Well, maybe they won't, but right now they are quite close associates," Rita said, in a calm voice. "Quite close."
"Who else knows?" Bellatrix asked, her eyes shifting around the empty room, looking slightly neurotic.
"Most of Hufflepuff and Slytherin, I reckon. They tried to keep it hushed, meeting secretly someplace. I still haven't found out where, though. But a secret this dirty can't be swept under a rug! Imagine, a Slytherin pureblood sleeping regularly with a muggle-born!" Rita said, beginning to ramble. Her mind didn't have much filter, and whatever she thought, she said, making her ramble constantly.
At Rita's last word, Bellatrix rose up fiercely, knocking her chair down. She stormed up the stairs to her room, knowing resentfully that Rita would be following soon. She lied down on her bed and pulled the curtains closed, still in her robes, thanking her ancestors that this was her last night in Hogwarts, ever.