Disclaimer: Sue? No, dear Bella is canon, and she's not a very pleasant person to boot. ...that wasn't what you meant, was it?

A/N: Ladles and jellyspoons, come one, come all, and watch the tragedy unfold. Make sure not to get any chocolate on the seats. No, we don't sell popcorn, this is a tragedy, dammit! You're ruining the mood!
(cough) Riiiiight. Anyway, this is my first attempt at a continuing series, blah blah blah, not going to be too good, I'll try to update frequently but please remember that I have very little work ethic. It also covers a span of about nineteen years, from the time Bellatrix enters Hogwarts to her arrest, so it might well take me years to finish. I'll try to keep it from becoming a deadfic, though.

Anyway, the main focus of this story is going to be Bellatrix, obviously, but I might devote a chapter or two to other people--Rodolphus, Narcissa, Voldy-mort, you know the drill. I'm going to rate it T to start with for language, disturbing content, implied sexuality/limes in the later chapters, and likely some violence, but I'd rather raise the rating than bowdlerize the writing. Just so you know. Pairings will include Voldetrix, Bellaphus, Lucissa (background only), and possible Rodolstan.

Okay, I've blathered long enough. Let the tragedy...begin!

The whole family had come to see her off.

Cygnus and Druella, dear Father and Mother, had been so terribly pleased when Bellatrix got the letter. Of course, it was only a formality, a girl from such an important Wizarding family was practically guaranteed to be a witch, and they had seen Bellatrix's talent from an early age. She had been such an enthusiastic little sorceress, making the spiders in the corners dance (or so she said) before Kreacher swept them away from her delicate hands and her expensive velvet robes. But still...it was The Letter. The one that marked her among the ranks of the privileged and gave her oh-so-proud parents something to gush about to anyone who would bother to listen. The one that secured her a future, probably a husband and two or three children and the occasional social occasion. The one that every mother wanted for her daughter. The Letter.

Little Narcissa had talked of nothing else, somehow making the topic last from the quiet October evening the owl tapped on the window to the harried September morning when they left for King's Cross. She had been so excited for Bella, thrilled to think that she was going to go off and become a powerful witch and, better yet, meet some charming rich boy, especially one with a handsome younger brother. That, Bellatrix suspected, was all she was really interested in. Not the magic. Not the power to change the world as you saw fit. The prestige, the stupid ornate empty shell, the trappings. It made Bellatrix so sick. To get anywhere in life, you had to have both, the pretty wrapper and the raw strength that it could hold. She had tried to explain this to Narcissa, but of course she had nodded and smiled and gone on blithering. So, inevitably, had Mother and Father and Andromeda and Uncle Orion and Aunt Walburga and even Cousin Sirius and Cousin Regulus. Not one of them understood what Bellatrix could do. Or what she could do with the world.

And here she was. Going off to the one place where she would learn how to use her abilities. As if she couldn't use them already. Had they seen the pigeons? The sparrows? The cat that had meowed at the wrong doorstep?
No. Of course they hadn't.
But they would see. In time. Of course they would. She knew exactly how powerful she was. Pigeons didn't settle on their roof anymore. She rather disliked pigeons, on the whole, and was glad to see them gone.

The train must have pulled up without her noticing. She had been staring off into the distance, thinking, remembering how sweet those little moments had been, nearly brushing an imaginary feather off her robes before the appearance of the bloody red train snapped her back to reality. Uncle Orion was tapping her rather hard on the shoulder--she jerked away from him, twisting around and glaring into his slate-gray eyes.
"What? What is it?" Orion's smile looked fake, artificially cheery, the corners of his mouth disappearing into his handlebar mustache. "Well, girl? You'll be in Slytherin, I suppose?" She made a note of his grammar--no doubt it would impress the professors, show them immediately that she was someone worth reckoning with.
"Oh. Yes. Of course." She sounded a little bit distracted, even to herself, less and less interested with every word. Orion was a bit boring, really, brisk and chipper, gentlemanly, but not too terribly deep or interesting to talk to. No doubt he had deep personal issues, somewhere underneath the stupid hat and stupider mustache, ripping his heart into tiny little shreds and making him into a shell of his former self. As if she cared about the idiot. He ought to go lie down on the train tracks... Pleasantly bloody images swarmed her mind. Without her conscious input--her mind was watching Orion's tragically premature death--, her face twisted itself into a smile, her hooded black eyes unfocusing.

"Bella. Bella!" Andromeda waved a hand in front of her face, looking resigned. It was a struggle to pull herself back to reality. She really would have to do something about that, it wouldn't impress the teachers much, they might think she was just a touch dull. But the things she could do with her mind...so pretty...they just wouldn't understand. Even Narcissa didn't, even though she tried, oh, yes, she tried. Andromeda hadn't even tried. Andromeda would fit under the train, might not even be missed too much.
"Oh, go away, why don't you?" But the damage was done, of course, she couldn't bring the thoughts back, couldn't lose herself again. Stupid, stupid, stupid Andromeda.
"There's no call for that! I was only trying to help, you know!" Andromeda thought she knew better...

All in all, Bellatrix was not in a good mood as her family swarmed her and said their goodbyes, or maybe their orders. She could barely see the train behind them, Mother's skirts and Father's cloak and Orion's stupid hat blocking her view. Go away, go away, she didn't need them, not now.
"Be a good girl, Bella!"
"Send us lots of letters!"
"We want to hear everything." Yes, she supposed they did. This was what she had been born to do, after all.
"Don't embarrass us, Bellatrix, or I'll make your life a living hell!" Ahh, Auntie Walburga. Always pleasant.
"Goodbye, Bella! I'll miss you forever and ever and..." Stop blathering and shut up, Narcissa.

It was a relief to get into the train, away from them and their idiotic orders. Of course she wouldn't make a fool of herself. That would bring shame on her whole family, would it not? And she couldn't have that...no, she would do well. Of course she would. She always did. She wasn't nervous about anything. Whatever it was, she would conquer it. In her own bloody way.

A/N: Dun-dun-dun-duuuuuuuuun!
Don't ask what happened to the pigeons. Believe me, you don't want to know. They're in a better place now.

What do you guys think? Good? Bad? ZOMG-this-chick-is-nuts? Please review! (I mean, you've wasted this much time, might as well waste some more...) Please? (pause) If you review, you can have popcorn for the next chapter, mmkay?

Next Chapter: Bellatrix gets an unwanted love interest!