DISCLAIMER: All things Harry Potter belong to J.K. Rowling.
A/N: Another snippet from the cancelled fic "Sugar". Takes place years before "There Are Feathers Everywhere".
"She exhales vanilla lace.
Read the lines in the mirror
Through the lipstick trace." -AFI, "Love Like Winter"
-- Vanilla Lace --
Bellatrix sighed. It was ridiculous, really. Her mother was fussing over her more than Narcissa and Narcissa was the one getting married... Well, she supposed her mother was hoping that Bella would be able to secure an engagement today.
Bella wasn't counting on it. Rodolphus was already starting to show less interest in her. Ever since-
A sharp click jerked her out of her thoughts.
"What's this? It fell out of your cloak pocket, Bella."
Bellatrix looked at the object her mother was holding.
"Oh, that..." She'd forgotten about it. I guess it's just my luck that I ended up wearing that cloak today. "It's perfume. I think he said it was called Xero, or something."
"Oh, Bella," Narcissa squealed. "You're so lucky! A man doesn't usually give perfume like that to a woman he's already caught."
The perfume bottle was a hollowed-out raw ruby. The bottle itself cost almost as much as the actual perfume inside it. Almost.
"There's nothing lucky about it," Bellatrix snapped.
"Really? I didn't think Rodolphus was the type to spoil a girl," Narcissa replied, frowning thoughtfully.
Oh, if only my dear sweet naive little sister knew who really gave that to me...
Narcissa took the bottle from their mother and removed the cap, sniffing delicately to sample the scent. It was dark and sensual, something Narcissa never would have chosen for herself, but-
"Oh, Bella, it's perfect for you!"
And before Bellatrix realized what she was doing, Narcissa had already sprayed her with Xero.
Meanwhile in the men's dressing room...
"Proposing at someone else's wedding would be completely tacky, right?" Rodolphus asked, looking to Lucius for confirmation.
As much as Lucius would have liked to honestly answer I'm sure Bellatrix would be happy all the same. She's probably tired of waiting, all he really said was, "Yes, completely tacky."
Because that's the answer that he knew Rodolphus wanted to hear.
-end-
A/N: I thought Xero was a sexy name for Bella's sexy perfume. lol.