This drabble is written for the 'Can You Write A Drabble Collection Competition, Round 1' (Prompts: mandatory: smirk, snow, bloody hell!; optional: headache, infuriate; bonus: crystal ball, Chair Collapses Under Someone) and the 52 Weeks of Writing 2013 Competition (Prompt: New Year).
Word count:291
First Attraction
It was Christmas, and for once it had snowed. Usually Bellatrix would have loved this, for she always liked the cold bite that came with it, but this once she hated it. Her whole family was celebrating, and her cousins (and sisters) were just too loud for her. It was more than infuriating and she could already feel the headache coming. What would New Year's Eve be like if Christmas was like this?
Fortunately she had a plan, one that Kreacher the House Elf was only too happy to help with since he hated Sirius. Already, as she sneaked out of the room she could hear her cousin's chair creaking as he used it like one would a horse as he proudly – and loudly – narrated one of his dreams where a seer had predicted from her crystal ball that he would slay a dragon.
Her goal was to reach the library, where she would take the books she had seen her father read. They had seemed deliciously dark and she had heard their call, beckoning her like a siren's song. She could only want for more and fortunately she knew the way.
She didn't need to look and the loud "Bloody Hell" from her cousin, followed by angry shrieking from the adults at the language, brought a smirk to her face. Obviously Kreacher's weakened chair had collapsed under the dark-haired boy at last, allowing her to enter the library.
Finding what she wanted was easy, and the books turned out even better than she had hoped. She forgot time and it was her father who found her.
She had thought he would be angry, but he was happy. She got the best gift that year: access to that darkness.