"Bella?"
"Leave me alone, Andromeda."
"Bella? Are you alright?"
"I said to leave me alone."
"Why is your door locked?"
"It just is, OK?"
"What are you doing in there?"
"Can you just leave?"
"You've been in there all day. Come out and play with me."
"Go bother Narcissa."
"No, she's too little to do anything interesting."
"She'll be six soon. That's not that little."
"Yes it is! She just wants to play dress-up, or dolls."
"Teach her that spell I showed you, the one that makes sparks, then. That's fun, isn't it? Just leave me alone."
"I've forgotten it."
"Oh, all right."
The thick wooden door opened a crack, and Bellatrix's deep violet eyes, encased by a wild tangle of lashes, became visible to her little sister. Dark, unruly curls framed her thin, aristocratic face, and her features were delicate and sharp, even at nine her eyes slightly arrogant. The child before her was much like her in looks, but her face softer, her eyes lighter, her hair a deep chestnut, pulled back into braids while Bellatrix's cascaded like darkness drenched pine branches around her thin shoulders. Andromeda was like a painting of her older sister, but painted with soft watercolors, the arrogance and pride watered down and smoothed over, the sharp features rounded and touched up. The overall effect, when you saw them together, was astonishing, how alike they looked, especially from a distance.
"How can you have forgotten it? I taught it to you last week."
"I know."
"I'm not going to show you again, after this."
"I know."
"When you go to Hogwarts in four years, you'll need to actually remember spells."
"I'll have a wand then."
"There's no difference."
"Maybe for you. Anyway, how would you know? You won't get one for two years."
"I just know."
"That's what you always say! Every time!"
"I think I've found a way to kill bugs with magic, look!" Bellatrix said, changing the subject. And from an unknown pocket in her black dress, she produced a handful of slightly squashed beetles and spiders, all clearly dead. Andromeda paled and stepped back, eyes crinkling in disgust.
"That's disgusting, Bella."
"Why?"
"You killed them! They never did anything."
"Oh, grow up, Meda. They're just bugs."
"But still…"
"Do you want me to show you or not?"
"No."
"Fine. Then go bother somebody else. I'm busy."
"Doing what?"
"Go AWAY, Andromeda! Or I'll curse you."
"You don't know how!"
"Maybe I do."
"That's silly! Of course you don't," she said, but she left anyway, her footsteps echoing down the long, shadowy hallway. Once she was gone, small pale hands hastily closed and locked the door, deftly turning the ornate silver key with the finely chiseled gemstones. She leaned against the cool wood of the wall, the Black family crest engraved on it pressing into her back.
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"Bella?"
"I'm not here, Andromeda," came the exasperated voice, slightly muffled by the door.
"Bella?"
"What do you want?"
"What are you doing?"
"Nothing. Go away."
"Will you come play with us?"
"Us?"
"Me and Cissy."
"I thought you said she was little."
"She is. But there's nothing else to do."
"Where's Mother?"
"I dunno. Somewhere."
"With father?"
"I said I dunno. Maybe. I'm bored."
"Go bother the house-elf, then."
"I don't like bothering the house-elf!"
"Well, you should. Its fun. Have you ever tried shoving a hat at him? Say you'll set him free?"
"No! That's mean."
"I think its funny. The look on his face….."
"Its not funny! Its horrible. Mother wouldn't like it."
"Mother showed me how. She said it would teach him his place, and that I could beat him if I wanted, and I have! So there!"
Andromeda sighed, and glanced at the dark rain that slithered down the glossy windows, cold and impersonal as the chill that shadowed the whole house with melancholy.
She put her ear to the door, but heard nothing but her sister's quiet breathing.
"Come with us, Bella, please?" she said imploringly. "Its always much funner with you there. You make up the most interesting games." She waited hopefully for the unlocking of the door, and it came like she knew it would.
"Oh, all right."
"Thank you! But, please Bella, nothing gross this time, OK?"
"Whatever."
The two girls scurried down the shadowy hallway, their own small shadows rippling on the glossy floor, polished meticulously every day by the house-elves. Andromeda's chatter lingering behind long after she had left the corridor blanketed with Blackness and intrigue.
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"I don't think this is a good idea, Bella."
"There's nothing else to do."
"I know…..We could go and play in the library?"
"That's boring. Come on, Meda. Maybe they're talking about us, and we could hear what they're saying."
"Why would they be talking about us?"
"I don't know, they just do!" Said Bellatrix, glaring with frosty violaceous eyes at her younger sister, daring her to argue. The three girls were huddled in the hallway outside the kitchen, which in turn was home to a servants passage that made in possible to eavesdrop on their parents, who were in their study. Talking, presumably, about something that might be of interest to their three young daughters.
"Come on then," Bellatrix urged. She pushed open the heavy door easily, and beckoned her sisters through. They entered a scene of bustle and good smells. House elves scurried around the cavernous kitchen, gleaming with brightly polished pots and pans, some of which were in use on the large expanses of stovetop and counter. Surfaces were piled high with plump fruits and glistening vegetables, dewy and smelling of rain and damp earth. Pots bubbled and frothed, a small, hunchbacked house-elf in a dark green dishcloth stirring and dumping various spices into them in turn, muttering to himself under his breath. The smell of roast chicken snaked its way into the noses of all three children, tinged with garlic and peppers. A doughy, just baked-bread smell hovered around one of the largest ovens, adding its goodness to the collage of scents that perfumed the busy kitchen. A house-elf with a hooked nose and slightly crossed eyes caught sight of them at once, and abandoned his potatoes, rushing over to them, bowing so that his oddly-shaped nose brushed the ground.
"Mistress Bella! Mistress Andromeda! Mistress Narcissa! A pleasure, a pleasure! What is it that you require?"
"We wish to go down the servants entrance, Kargen."
"Of course, Mistress. All three of you?"
"Yes," Bellatrix replied, and with a jerk of her head motioned for her sisters to follow her.
"It's so interesting in here," murmured Andromeda, looking around at the chaos and food and confusion.
"Haven't you been in the kitchens before, Meda?"
"No."
"Goody goody – Come on, Cissy."
The three sisters reached the door, half hidden behind a large cupboard. Bellatrix pulled on the handle, and the door opened into a huge black corridor, musty and smelling strongly of lemons. She motioned her sisters in before her.
"Oh and Kargen?" she added, looking over her shoulder.
"Yes, Mistress?"
"Our parents do not have to know about this."
"Of course, Mistress."
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The cramped, narrow corridor was dark and musty, gray walls chilly and slightly damp to the touch. And silent. Silent as the rest of the house was, but a strange contrast to the noise of the kitchen. The three girls, Bella in the lead as always, crept quietly ahead, Narcissa clutching on to Bella's sleeve. Suddenly, the girl gave a little whimper and stopped.
"What is it, Cissy?"
"A….A spider, look."
"What do you want me to do about it, then? There are lots of spiders here," Bella said, exasperated. Narcissa just stared up at her, unblinking. Narcissa, despite being as much a sister to Bellatrix as Andromeda was; did not resemble her in the way Andromeda did. The two sisters did, though, share the same haughty, aristocratic features and great good looks that were the trademark of the Black Family. Narcissa had white blonde curls that fell in ringlets past her shoulders, glossy and thick and smooth. Her eyes were the sharp blue of a moonlit tide pool, chilly and blank where Bella's were prideful and arrogant. She looked like some antique china doll, her black dress bringing out the paleness of her skin.
Bellatrix sighed, and her face strained as though she was trying hard to remember something very important that she'd forgotten. There was a flash of purple light, and the spider fell dead to the floor. Narcissa stared up at her, astounded.
"There, see, it's just a spider. I'll teach you to do that, Cissy, if you want.
"Yes."
"But you can't be afraid. Don't ever, ever, be afraid. And if you are, don't show it, alright?"
"Alright."
"Now come on, Meda. No, wait. Stop here. Can you hear something?"
"No."
"Put your ear against the wall. Can you hear them now?"
"Oh! Yes, I can. Should we be doing this?"
"Of course. Now shush, I want to hear what they're saying."
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"Did you see that article in The Prophet, Druella?"
"The article?"
"The one about…"
"Yes."
"Him."
"Yes."
"It could be our chance."
"We don't know anything about him, Cygnus."
"He seems like he'll do it right…a nation of purebloods, muggles and mudbloods stamped into oblivion. Wizards free. No fear, no filthy mudbloods. He certainly has the right ideas."
"Gaunt…..The Gaunts….I haven't heard that name in years. "
"Not since that man murdered the muggle."
"I remember that. Well, that could be proof enough. They seem to be upholding the pureblood tradition."
"Certainly. Imagine, Druella. If he succeeds, if he wipes out muggles and mudbloods, or enslaves them to us….what we've wanted for years."
"What are you saying?"
"If we were to help him. Support him. Think where we could be when he rises."
"Lord Voldemort. Interesting name, isn't it?"
"We have no Lords in the Wizarding world."
"Maybe that's what he wants, then. To be Lord. A King, perhaps."
"We've never had nobility. True enough, though, that if some monarchy was established, we'd be as royal as any, more then most, even."
"Of course. We're Blacks, aren't we?"
"So if we gave him support, money, our future might be assured in this new world."
"If he succeeds, that is."
"He seems the sort who would. Very young, though."
"That will change."
"Of course. And better for us if he does not die of age before this is finished."
"You're right, naturally. Better to see it through. If it happens."
" I have a feeling it will. I've heard things…the Malfoys…..the Lestranges….Your father, Druella. They seem to think he has a very good chance indeed."
"But why?"
"They say he is descended from Slytherin himself."
"Well of course. The Gaunts always said…But it's true?"
"He speaks to snakes. They say he has great dark powers."
"I see. So do you think it would do to support him?"
"With money, perhaps. Nothing else."
"What do you mean?"
"He's gathering a group – an army, you could say. The Death Eaters."
"Death Eaters?"
"Yes. He teaches them, trains them, moulds them into, well, an army. They grow in number every day. He is taking only the best, powerful men. And women to, although not as many."
"As is proper. And you don't think….You, any of the children….you mean to say, wait?"
"Wait. Exactly. Wait and see before we get more involved, Druella. Who knows. But he has the right ideas, he's going about it the right way. A land where Wizards rule."
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Late that night, Bellatrix lay in her dark room, eyes wide and staring into the ambiguous darkness that shrouded the room. Phrases ran threw her head like a mantra. Support him….A nation of Purebloods….When he rises…..New world…Very good chance…Descended from Slytherin himself…..great Dark Powers….Death Eaters….Women, to….only the best….trains them….A land where Wizards Rule…..Lord Voldemort. Lord Voldemort. A man who would lead the wizards to victory over the horrible filthy muggles and mudbloods. A man on the rise, gathering an army. I want to be in that army. Bellatrix thought, with a burning desire that roared like a fire in her mind. I want to lead us to victory. I want them to talk about me, whisper about me. I want to help bring about a new world. Lord Voldemort. She fell asleep with his name on her tongue.
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Written as the first chapter for the Death Eater As A Child Competition.
