The Death and Life of Bellatrix Black
Chapter One
On a grey and stormy day in the middle of November, our story begins. The Black family had two manors at which the two parts of the family resided. Our story begins at the second manor, tall and dark to those who observed it, on that grey and stormy day. Both manors, especially the second one, were associated with darkness and despair, as it was not uncommon to hear screams of terror and pain when within hearing range. On this day, however, the screams were different. They were not the screams of someone being tortured within an inch of their life. No, they were the screams of someone working at their hardest, almost as if they were attempting to push a very large boulder up a mountain.
The screams were that of Druella Black, who just happened to be going through a very strenuous birth. The baby born would be the son of Druella and her husband Cygnus, and heir to the Black family fortune as it would be the first child born into either part of the Black family. The name of the child had been decided since the day they had found out about Druella's pregnancy. Cygnus and Druella had decided that their child would be named Pollux Black, in honour of Cygnus' father.
The screams grew louder and longer as time stretched on, with Cygnus restlessly pacing outside of his and his wife's bedroom door. He was accompanied by his elder brother Alphard, who had travelled from Madrid, where he had been an Ambassador for the British Ministry of Magic at the International Ministry Meet (I.M.M). The current Minister for Magic had been unable to attend for one reason or another.
Cygnus had grown even more restless after one particularly loud scream, which resulted in him slamming his fist against the cold, dark wall by which he stood. Sighing to himself, Alphard rose from his seat on the opposite end of the room and made his way to stand next to his brother, placing a rough hand on his younger brother's shoulder. Having no children of his own, Alphard couldn't understand what his brother was going through, so the most he could offer him was his touch of comfort.
"It shouldn't be taking this long," Cygnus whispered in despair, running a bloodied hand through his hair.
"Patience, brother," Alphard replied, squeezing his brother's shoulder lightly.
"Patience? My son, my heir is being born in there! To hell with you and your fucking patience!" Cygnus roared.
Alphard removed his hand from Cygnus' shoulder, sighing once more, and returned to his seat on the other side of the room. Both men remained in that position for two hours, neither moving even an inch out of place.
Eventually, after one final scream, the painful noise stopped all together, replaced by a high-pitch wail. Cygnus' head shot up from where it was hanging dejectedly and he rushed to the large, wooden door, eager to see his son. Just as he was about to open the door, however, the elderly healer that had been called, Healer Thompson, stepped out of the door and closed it quickly behind him.
"Mr Black," the healer began in a sombre tone, "you have a daughter."
The years passed quickly, with little Bellatrix Black, as they had decided to name her, growing quickly. Bellatrix was loved, perhaps not as much as if she had been a boy, but she was loved. One thing her parents could say about her, and did on many occasions, was that even as a small child, she was incredibly beautiful. With long, raven hair and light green eyes, she had been born with the classic Black 'good looks'. Bellatrix also demonstrated her cleverness on many occasions as well, being able to solve riddles from the tender age of two years.
As the years went by, Bellatrix gained two sisters, first Andromeda, and then Narcissa. Andromeda could pass as Bellatrix's twin, albeit a slight bit smaller than her elder sister. Her hair was also dark, though not quite as thick as Bellatrix's, and her eyes were green, just not quite the same beautiful shade as her sister's. Narcissa, on the other hand, was born to her sisters' opposite. Her hair was blonde, not black, and her eyes were blue, not green. However, everyone in the pure-blood society noted how Bellatrix outshone her sisters in every way.
Eleven years to the day our story began, the Black family sat around their large dining table, all eagerly awaiting the arrival of their breakfast, cooked and brought to them by their very own house-elves. Young Bellatrix Black donned a long, green gown in celebration of her birthday and the arrival of her Hogwarts' letter.
As the family of five were finishing up their meal, a large owl, as black as a raven, flew into the large dining room and dropped a series of letters on the table. While Cygnus Black was picking up the Daily Prophet and reading about the latest in the Ministry, and Druella Black was reading a letter from her beloved mother about the latest in her series of illnesses, Bellatrix hesitantly picked up a thick, brown letter, with her name scribed in curvy, lime-green writing. Taking a deep, unnecessary breath, she gently tore open the envelope and pulled out its contents, which consisted of a letter and sheet with a long, long list on it.
Dear Miss Black,
I am pleased to inform you that you have been accepted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
She released a breath she hadn't even realised she had been holding. Thank Merlin, she thought to herself. According to her Uncle Alphard, it had been bad enough when it had turned out that she was a girl and not the boy her mother and father had longed for. Being a squib on top of that would mean she would either be treated worse than the house-elves, which meant being tortured daily, or killed instantly. Sadly, neither was an over-exaggeration.
Yes, Bellatrix Black was a witch, and when she was through with Hogwarts, she was determined she was going to be a powerful one at that.