Fairy Tale Opposition
Dark orange flames in the fireplace were the only thing illuminating the nearly empty Slytherin common room. Bella's tired eyes skimmed over the pages of eternal text in her dull History of Magic book for possibly the hundredth time. She had to beat Malfoy at their NEWTs next week, she just had to; he was the only serious competition for her position as best of their year.
It was well past midnight and even Rodolphus, Bella's fiancé and fellow night-person, had given up on studying and had departed to his room about half an hour ago. The only other person besides Bella in the common room was Antonin Dolohov. She was quite sure the main reason he was still up was not his NEWTs, but rather his quite obvious affection for her. It didn't bother her so much; Bella mainly found it amusing. In fact, she could use a bit of fun. The engagement ring around her finger didn't stop her from that; she was quite sure Rodolphus was not always faithful himself. Monogamy was simply not laid out for Bellatrix.
"You're up late", she finally said when Tonin made no attempt to speak up himself. It wasn't difficult to see the boy lacked experience. He glanced up at her over his Potions book nervously; being alone with Bellatrix Black was not something that occurred every day. He appeared to be looking for words, but Bella didn't give him time to finish.
"You don't have to be so shy; I know how much you fancy me". She spoke calmly, but with a hint of dark seduction in her voice. Her staring at him through her dark, heavy-lidded eyes and black, long eyelashes made the boy shift nervously; it almost made Bella chuckle, but such a thing might just spoil her fun.
"I don't know what you're talking about", the boy said, sounding like he was not at all speaking the truth there.
"I'm sure you don't. I've noticed you looking at me, Antonin".
He shut his Potions book and walked over to the bookcase where he picked up a copy of The Dark Arts in Russia. Bella turned around to face him and spotted her own reflection in the window; a curtain of black curls hung over her shoulder.
"It's not very mature of you to hide behind a book, you know", she teased.
"Who says I'm hiding?" Antonin questioned back.
"Then why don't you come over here?" Bella's lips curled lightly into a smirk and she held her hand out to him in encouragement. Any other girl in her position might feel guilty toward Rodolphus, but not Bella. Things were just so boring with just one lover; where was the variation in that? Antonin slowly made his way over to her. The look on his face was hesitant, but Bella knew of the strength and determination he possessed within. She had seen it when they had spoken of the Dark Lord with the other Pureblood students; she was convinced he would make a fine Death Eater one day. His knowledge of the Dark Arts was also quite impressive, though not as much as her own, of course. Things like power and dark arts attracted Bella greatly.
Without giving him time to react, she pulled Antonin on the sofa with her and kissed him passionately. Bella noticed how his shyness disappeared within seconds; perhaps he had more experience than she had first suspected, and had simply been shy with her instead of with girls in general. Quite likely, now that she thought of it.
"Are you a real man yet, Antonin?" she chuckled and pushed him down on his back, climbing on top of him. In response, Antonin smirked quite wickedly and pulled her down for another heated kiss.
"And here I was thinking you were such a shy little boy", Bella said into his ear seductively. Her black curls covered the space on either side of their heads like a heavy curtain.
"Well, you know what they say; some people change when the lights are off". He ran one hand up her leg, stopping at her thigh to glance up at her; perhaps with some of his former hesitation.
"Well, go on then, show me how much of a man you are", Bella said. It was about the most obvious invitation a man could get, especially from Bellatrix Black. Soon, their NEWTs, Rodolphus, and any kind of politics they tended to be interested in were forgotten and replaced by the welcoming darkness of the night and the warmth of each other's bodies.
It didn't last very long, but perhaps that was only the way it seemed to Bella, for she was used to Rodolphus. She stood up from the sofa and smoothed her skirt back properly over her legs. Her blouse, which now still hung open to give him a clear view of her black bra and cleavage, got buttoned up again. When she was almost completely dressed up again, Bella's eyes rested on Antonin, who still lay half-naked on the sofa, panting for breath. A smirk spread across her face; she had exhausted him.
"Of course you understand, that this will stay between us?"
He nodded, and finally started to put his uniform back on. Bella couldn't quite put her finger on what the look in his eyes was after she had said that. Was it disappointment? Not that it really concerned her; Bella had more important things to worry about.
"Good, now that's settled, I'm going to bed. Good night, Antonin". Without awaiting his reply, she had turned her back on him and climbed the stairs out of the common room.
When Bellatrix entered her room, she had to share with no one for she was Head Girl, she was surprised to find her younger sister Narcissa asleep on her bed.
"Cissy?" Bella sat down on the edge and shook the blond fifteen-year old gently. Cissy rubbed her eyes before she sat up against the pillows.
"What are you doing in my room?" Bella asked, a little less harsh now. She always had a soft spot for her little sister, who was a lot more like herself than their middle sister Andromeda, who shamelessly hung out with Mudbloods and blood traitors.
"I couldn't sleep, Bella", Cissy started. "I was homesick, I didn't want to be alone, but you were gone. I decided to wait for you. Where were you, Bella?"
Bella shook her head and started to change into her white nightgown. "It's quite useless to be homesick, Cissy, you know that. Mother would undoubtedly scold you for such a thing, and I should too". She started to brush her hair in front of the mirror. "You're a Black, Narcissa, you should know better than to show such signs of weakness". Bella climbed in the large four-poster bed next to the younger girl.
"I'm sorry, Bella", Cissy said softly. "But where were you?"
"I had business to attend to in the common room", Bella mainly said. Cissy appeared to understand the hint.
"With Rodolphus?"
"No, not with Rodolphus". That was all Bella would say of the matter. "Now let's go to sleep, it's very late". For a few minutes both the girls were silent.
"Bella", Cissy's voice sounded after a while.
"What?" she replied with a sigh.
"I'll miss you when you've married Rodolphus".
"Don't be so ridiculous. You'll still see me a lot", Bella responded. Such sentimentality was not exactly laid out for her.
"But we won't be able to be together like this at night", Cissy complained.
"Maybe not, but in three years or so you will be married yourself and then you will have Malfoy or whoever to talk to at night. And not just talk". She added that last bit with the well-known smirk of hers.
Cissy nodded and smiled. "Lucius. Do you really think I'll marry him?"
"Maybe, maybe not. Now don't start acting like a silly teenager on me, Narcissa, love is so overrated. Marrying out of love is something you must have read in all these silly novels of yours", Bella said, annoyed at how immature her little sister was sometimes. She didn't think she herself had ever been like that. In fact, she was quite sure of it.
"Bella! Love is the most beautiful thing in the world, and why are you marrying Rodolphus if you don't love him?" Cissy sat up and even in the dark Bella could feel the icy blue eyes glaring at her.
"A lot of reasons; he's fro ma Pureblood family almost equally pure and ancient as ours, he shares the same political views as we do, and he's also not unattractive", she replied, grinning at that obvious understatement.
Cissy sighed and laid back down. "Still, Lucius and I are in love", she stubbornly claimed.
"Go to sleep, Cissa". It was very late already and Bella was no longer in the mood for discussions; she already had a long night behind her. She gladly noticed how Narcissa had listened and gone to sleep. Bella would let her believe in her cute little fairy tale-world for now. In time, she would learn how things really looked in a world of darkness.