She stared into the mirror, barely able to meet the black eyes that were staring back at her. She'd done it; she had joined the ranks of the Dark Lord. She was amazed to have been accepted at just 16, of course she had lied about her age, but the Dark Lord had seen through her lie almost immediately. He told her he was honoured to have someone from the noble House of Black join his Death Eaters. The Dark Lord, honoured to have her at his service? She nearly fainted there and then. Yet, there was a nagging feeling in her stomach as she had waltzed back into Hogwarts from the Death Eater meeting and saw her blood traitor cousin with his blood traitor friend. She couldn't explain the nagging feeling, but it was there and it was persistent. She hated the guts of her blood traitor cousin…Sirius, but she couldn't forget the memories of her childhood, the memories where they played silly games in the woods, promising to be friends forever, the memories that made her eyes well up with tears as she snatched stolen glances at her cousin, who was rolling around on the floor with laughter, just like he used to do when she told him the sarcastic jokes that she still told today.

Yet she walked on by, ignoring her cousin, who was doing the exact same as her, snatching stolen glances and reminiscing about his childhood memories with cousin Bellaminx. But they both ignored eachother, Bellatrix instead concentrating on the burning sensation coming from the new sign of loyalty on her left forearm, and Sirius turning his attention to a pretty Ravenclaw girl.

They had their own lives now, their own interests, and chances are, they would never speak again until that fateful day in the Department of Mysteries where Bellatrix would commit the act that would tear her apart inside. The act that would make her fight even more strongly against the resistance, desperate to relieve herself of the gnawing grief that remained constant in the very depth of her shattered soul.