A/N: I thought I'd start writing some little oneshots from antagonists' points of view. There is an ever so slight AU, but I promise it's barely noticeable; it just messes with the pre-series time line a bit.
Flawed Logic
Dark brown curls spilled over pages 54 and 55 of Bellatrix's copy of Advanced Potion-Making. She grumbled as she dipped her quill in ink and started righting down halfhearted notes on a piece of crumpled parchment. She didn't know why the Ministry of Magic made this course necessary, when would potions ever be useful in a life-threatening situation? Bellatrix smiled as she imagined a cloaked figure pointing a wand at someone, getting ready to perform the killing curse, and the victim holding up his hand and saying, "Hold on a second, let me get my cauldron..."
There was a pleasant, gently crackling fire lit in the Slytherin common room, which was deserted save for the fourth-year witch. The fire was the only light in the room; Bellatrix did not want to announce her presence at this ungodly hour to the prefects, so when she lifted a page of her book to turn it, she did not see that it ripped at her gentle tug until the page came loose.
Bellatrix resisted the urge to curse out loud and instead closed the book. She rolled up her parchment in a huff. It was too late to be studying something anyway, especially something as useless as Potions, if she wanted to remember any of it for her test.
She added a new copy of Advanced Potion-Making to her mental shopping list for when she went to Diagon Alley over the upcoming Christmas break. Most of the words from the pages were fading, anyway, partly because of the book's age, and partly because of the late hour. Besides, Bellatrix thought with a smile as she walked into the girl's dormitory, there would be a chance to visit Borgin and Burkes once she got away from this mudblood-infested school.
"Cissy, your old robes are fine, can we go to Borgin and Burkes now?"
"Easy for you to say, you don't have to impress Lucius with your report on the twelve uses of dragon's blood!"
Bellatrix sighed and bit back a retort. She knew pestering her little sister about this wouldn't get them to Borgin and Burkes any faster. Ever since Narcissa had met that bloke Malfoy, it was all the elder sister had heard about at Hogwarts, and it had become even worse over Christmas break. For once she wished Andromeda had come with them to Diagon Alley.
"Fine, you go try on robes for the millionth time, and I'll meet you back here. Just don't tell mom where I'm going."
"Wait, Bella, do you think these would look good?" Narcissa asked, pointing to a window display that looked no different than the last five uniform robes she had just tried on.
"It looks great, I think you should buy it." Bellatrix responded before she got a look at the robes, just wanting to satisfy Narcissa. She started inching away in the direction of Borgin and Burkes, knowing her response would be less than satisfying for her sister. But an entire day of shopping for robes had made Bellatrix a little snippy.
"But you didn't even look at it, did you?" came Narcissa's protest, and Bellatrix turned away in time to see her sister's mouth fall open as she looked at the price tag.
Bellatrix walked confidently down the crowded streets of Diagon Alley, looking at all the twinkling lights in the store windows. She still had a pocketful of coins her parents had given her for Christmas, even after she had bought her new school supplies, and she intended to spend the rest at Borgin and Burkes.
Bellatrix knew where the store was by heart, but it would have been easy to spot, even to someone who had no idea of its location. For one, there were no lights in the store's windows, and the building itself looked as black and dismal as the items it was so famous for selling.
There was only a small creak as Bellatrix opened the wooden door, almost perplexed by all the dark items that met her eyes as she walked into the store. Every time Bellatrix had been in Borgin and Burkes, the place was deserted, that was, until very conveniently, she had been about to buy something. Then a cashier seemed to magically appear. So, when Bellatrix heard a voice address her, she jumped and pulled out her wand, not caring that she was underage.
"Looking for something?" The speaker was obviously an employee, although he looked a lot younger than most cashiers Bellatrix had met in Borgin and Burkes. In fact, he looked like he couldn't be more than ten years older than Bellatrix. He was almost handsome, with neatly cut dark hair, dark eyes and a rather secretive yet intriguing aura about him that made Bellatrix's cheeks feel warm.
"N-not really." Bellatrix answered, fiddling with her wand in her right hand, avoiding the employee's eyes. She kicked herself mentally for stammering, and not coming up with a better response.
"Tom Riddle." The emplyee introduced himself and put out his hand.
Bellatrix narrowed her eyes; Borgin and Burkes wasn't known for its friendly employees, or visitors, for that matter. After a moment's pause, Bellatrix put out her hand and felt her cheeks grow warmer once she realized she still held her wand. She hastily pocketed it and shook Riddle's hand.
"Bellatrix." She was skeptical about giving out her last name, and as soon as his grip released, she turned and pretended to admire a dark and rustic-looking birdcage.
"I think I may have something of interest to you." Riddle walked over to one of the many ancient-looking bookshelves, pulled off a small object delicately, and walked slowly over to Bellatrix, turning the object over in his hands.
Bellatrix had to tilt her head up to see what Riddle was holding, but once she did she bit her lip. It was a knife, on the smaller side, and it looked like it had a smooth grip. Bellatrix had no idea what kind of material the handle was made out of; it looked like some kind of silver, and the blade was slightly curved and looked perfectly polished.
"It's- not exactly what I was..." Bellatrix started, not sure what her parents or sisters would say. She wasn't even sure if she was allowed to have a knife. Many blokes from this store had tried to sell her weird things, but this made the top of the list.
"What you were looking for?" Riddle interrupted with a kind of half-smile, "Of course it's not. The way I heard it, you weren't looking for anything."
Bellatrix opened her mouth to say something, then closed it again. Was the knife bewitched? Or did it have some kind of curse on it? Was that the reason this Riddle character was trying to sell it to her? She lost her response when she met his eyes. What was that thing Andromeda kept telling her, the eyes are the windows to the soul? It was the first time Bellatrix thought she might be right.
"I- my sister is waiting for me, I need to go." She turned before she could see Riddle's response and rushed out of the store.
"Bella? You buy anything?" Narcissa asked once they met back up outside Madame Malkins.
"I- no." Bellatrix wondered why her mind was going blank, like it did in Borgin and Burkes. She didn't even feel the need to point out that her sister had bought the most expensive robes in the store.
"Are you okay, Bella?" Cissy asked, squinting her eyes and clutching her new robes, "You look different, what happened?"
"Nothing!" Bellatrix responded a little too quickly, realizing she sounded defensive.
"OK, then," Cissy said, not sounding convinced at all, "Anyway, I took your advice, and bought them! You just have to see how they look on me, no wonder they cost so much..."
Bellatrix spent the rest of her Christmas break listening to her sister row about how much her new expensive cloth would make Lucius fall madly in love with her. More than once, Bellatrix found herself wondering if Tom would approve of the new robes...
Finally, Bellatrix just had to ask her sister if she knew anything about a Tom Riddle.
"Riddle? Yeah, mom told me there was something about Borgin and Burkes in the Daily Prophet, I think he works there. She did tell me he was a halfblood, you know how mom gets about that. Anyway, there was this break-in and some guy named Hepzibah something was killed..."
Bellatrix stopped listening. Halfblood... of course, he had to be a blood traitor. Still, Bellatrix wasn't sure whether that or the fact that her parents had forbidden her to interact with Muggles, or anyone whose ancestors might have interacted with a Muggle before, made her want to talk to Tom again.
Before she went back to Hogwarts, Bellatrix convinced her parents to take her back to Diagon Alley, making up some excuse that she had forgotten to buy new ingredients for potions class.
Bellatrix made the same trip down the streets that she remembered so well the last time she was here. She didn't notice how crowded it was, or some leftover lights still twinkling in the stores; Bellatrix realized she didn't notice anything, until she walked up to the dismal store that was Borgin and Burkes.
She recognized the creak the door made when she opened it, and as soon as she walked inside, she approached the rusty birdcage where Tom had first appeared. Bellatrix waited for the familiar sound of his voice, but no sound at all came. The store was just as dark and empty as it had been before. That was when it hit her, she had tuned out of Cissy's description of the Daily Prophet after she heard the word "halfblood". But she remembered what Cissy said now: "The reason this guy was in the article was he disappeared right after the break-in..."
Bellatrix resisted the urge to slap herself or knock over the bloody birdcage in exasperation. Then, a hopeful thought came to her. She walked carefully over to the bookshelves, and reached up to the top level, feeling around slowly. Then her hand hit sharp metal.
Bellatrix felt for the silver knife's handle and took it off the shelf to examine it. Was it just her, or did it look different somehow? Less sinister, more of a reminder... a reminder of what? For the first time since Bellatrix thought about coming back to Borgin and Burkes, she realized how silly she sounded. She sounded like Cissy, talking about Lucius. Bellatrix had only met Tom once, she barely knew his name...
A sound from the desk in front roused Bellatrix from her thoughts, "Lady! You gonna pay for that?"
Bellatrix looked down at the knife once, then strode over to the desk and put down a handful of coins, "Yes, I am."