AN: Suddenly the writing-lust (can you say it like that?) has gripped me again and I had to write something about the quite inspiring student-teacher-cliché. Somehow this story feels incomplete, but I read and re-read it again and again and can't think of anything better. So I hope you like it, none the less :)

Master of Pain

She wanted to join him because she wanted to learn how to fight. Everyone knew that he trained fighters, high ranked duelists. She wanted to be one of them. Not because she was keen on dueling, but because it was what society did not want her to do. They wanted her to be dependant and weak, so she chose to become a great duelist in order to defy them.

When she first came to him, he asked her if she knew what kind of life she was choosing by joining him. He asked her if she knew that one day, people might not want to talk to her anymore, might cross the streets when they saw her. She shrugged. She shrugged again when he asked her if she was bothered by pain – she felt quite indifferent, as she had never really experienced it, nor inflicted it.

"You will learn both when you become one of us." The Dark Lord said quietly while his cold eyes examined every inch of her body, as if determined to find faults.

"I would be honored, my Lord" she replied, because that was the answer he needed to hear.

The teacher and the student, it was so cliché and yet it felt so enticing to Bellatrix. She knew she would do more than she should to satisfy him, to make him proud and to make him want her. She knew she gave him too much power this way, but she could not help wanting to feel his touch on her skin. By the subtle remarks and casual touches, he let her know that he knew. He knew her thoughts exactly, knew what she fantasized about and what not. One day, after their usual training, he asked her to stay a while longer. She felt her heart race in her chest as he approached her.

"I will teach you pain, Bellatrix. And I will teach you to rise above all that you feel. I will teach you to be great." He said, before undoing the clasp of her robes. Anticipation shivered down her spine and her breath caught as she felt his fingers softly caressing her skin. His touch was oh so gentle; she was so ready to let herself fall into his arms, to succumb to his sweet whispers.

"Do you trust me, Bella?" He whispered in her ear, taking hold of her hands and pulling her arms towards him behind her back. She nodded, pressing her backside against his front. She could feel him, every detail of his warm body. At first, she did not notice the ropes he wound around her wrists, immobilizing her arms behind her back. When she did, she tried to move them, to wriggle out of the restraints, until the Dark Lord turned her around and gripped her chin. "Don't be scared, Bella." He said and kissed her lips before she could utter a complaint. Suddenly she did not mind the restraints so much.

"I am going to ask you to kneel before me. Will you do that?" he asked while already pushing her down with his hands on her shoulders. Bellatrix complied, her body racing with a mixture of fear and anticipation. "When you joined me, I asked you if you knew pain. You said you did not. I have promised to teach you – will you let me teach you now, Bella?" the Dark Lord murmured as he walked around her, contemplating her naked body. She shivered a little, then said: "Yes, my Lord." Her voice almost did not waver. He was proud of her.

The first lash hit her unexpectedly and her body surged forward, almost falling front-first to the floor. He heard her gasp of surprise and pain, but before she had the chance to turn around, he let his whip flick another time, inflicting another red welt across her back. Bellatrix cried out, "What are you doing?"

"I am teaching you, my sweet Bellatrix," the Dark Lord replied, his voice a bit darker than before. "Do you not want me to teach you anymore?" His hand snaked around her, softly caressing her cheek. When he felt her relax, his other hand, still holding the black whip, slowly wandered over her shoulder, towards her exposed breasts. Her breath caught in her throat when he let the knotted end of the whip gently stroke her nipple. "It's not that bad, is it?" he whispered in her ear as he continued his caresses. He felt her shivering underneath his touch, but she shook her head. "No. It is not bad."

"Do you want me to continue? Do you want to learn?"

She nodded and he kissed her neck before withdrawing his hands from her body and taking a step back, retrieving his former position. Bellatrix heard his cloak whisper across the floor as he moved, and she tried to brace herself for the coming blow. She did not know why she had allowed him to continue. She could not understand why she did not simply walk away. She just knew that she wanted to prove something to him, or even to herself.

Her efforts did not help against the next touch of the whip; the leather, which had previously caressed her skin so beautifully, now hit her with angry force, leaving a burning mark across her back. She cried out as the next blow hit her much too quickly. She cried louder when the next few hits seemed to set her whole back on fire, and the whip still did not stop. The Dark Lord's voice interrupted the heavy silence in between the lashing sounds of the whip and her following cries: "I want you to count the hits, Bellatrix!"

The pain stopped her from thinking, so she just obeyed. "One" she pressed out between her teeth, as she felt the leather touch her once more. "Two", "Three", "Four", "Five". Then he stopped. She heard him drop the whip and move towards her. He moved around to face her and helped her stand upright. Her legs were weak and her knees ached, but she almost did not feel them at all with the burning fire on the skin of her back dominating her senses. When his hand touched her wounded skin, she winced, but his hands were soft and cold. So very cold and calming as they carefully stroked across the many welts they had inflicted.

"You look beautiful, my Bella."

She almost smiled; his voice sounded so sincere, and so very proud. She was glad she had made him proud. Maybe she did prove something to him. His hands, softly caressing her, slowly lessening her pain, felt almost like a reward. She knew he never touched anyone, only her, because she was special.

"Did you enjoy it?" the Dark Lord interrupted her thoughts. His hand on her back was slowly gliding lower, lower still, moving between her legs, stroking her. "Did you enjoy the biting touch of the leather on your skin?" His dark voice made it sound oh so sensual, so desirable, and his fingers, slowly gliding in and out of her, rendered her unable to think about his question. She moaned softly, pressing her body against his, wishing only for her hands to be free so she could touch him.

"Answer me, Bellatrix! Did you enjoy what I did to you? Did you enjoy the many sensations that you felt, the thrill and the exhilaration of powerlessness? Did you feel alive?"

Strangely, she felt that she did feel alive. She might even have enjoyed the thrill of the unexpected, the slightest touch of fear. "I did, my Lord."

"I am glad, my sweet." He said and withdrew his fingers from her, leaving her yearning for his touch. "You may leave now." Upon registering her bewildered look full of badly disguised disappointment, he added: "You may return whenever you wish to see me again, and receive your reward then, but you will get another whipping before."

She stared at him, desire cursing through her veins, so much built up adrenaline urging her to release her stress somehow, but she simply nodded and said: "I understand." She gathered her robes and left, moving carefully, as the clothing rubbed painfully across her back with every step.

Of course, Bellatrix could not stay away. She had debated heavily with herself, but before the cuts on her back had fully healed, she walked into his chamber again. She needed him, and she needed whatever he promised her. She just had to endure his lesson before. He greeted her with approval. "I knew you could not stay away. You are, after all, not afraid of the pain I can inflict upon you. You are not as weak as the others."

Just like before, he directed her every move. Just like before, he bound her hands behind her back. Just like before, the whip stung so much more than she had expected. He made her count from the start, this time.

When her back was red and raw again and she felt as if she could not breath, he stopped and started to caress her instead. Again, he sent her home before giving her what she truly wanted. "Come back if you crave more, still. One day I might give you what you want."

Despite the previous disappointments, she returned to him again and again. After a while, she did not even expect the reward anymore, she just wanted to feel the sting again, to feel the exhilaration of powerlessness. Slowly, this feeling of weakness disappeared, leaving her to feel a strange kind of strength, even power, when the leather bit into her flesh her but did not cause her to cry out in pain.

One day, Bellatrix walked into the Dark Lord's chamber and did not await instructions. Instead, when the Dark Lord greeted her, she smiled, opened her coat and let it fall to the ground. She looked him in the eyes as she slowly walked towards the spot where she always knelt and gracefully got to the ground. She even put her hands behind her back. The Dark Lord watched her with a wicked smile forming on his thin lips. She learned so fast. He moved towards her slowly, drinking in the sight of her unblemished skin soon to be marked by his touch. He noticed the remnants of their last encounter were still not fully healed. He smirked. "I appreciate your enthusiasm, my Bella. But I plan something else for today. Get up and walk to my desk, please." He saw her blush as she got up and obeyed. "Lean forward and grip the side of the desk top."

She obeyed again, bending over and granting him a view on her backside. "I want you to count again, Bellatrix." He said as he unrolled his whip and stroked across her white skin one time, before replacing the soft touch with the unyielding pain of the first hit. "One" she hissed, not yet screaming. "Two", "Three", he felt challenged, as she still did not cry out. The blows increased in force, biting deep into the skin of her buttocks. Harder, and harder still, until she finally cried out: "Ten!" Tears of pain streamed across her cheeks, but she was proud to have stayed silent for so long. She could feel his elation that he had finally won, and she was determined to fight longer next time.

"Nineteen", she shrieked, "Twenty". And just when she thought she could take no more, when she was sure there was no skin left on her backside, he stopped. He let the whip fall down and considered his work of art for a moment, before his hands softly strolled across the red, swollen skin, soothing her pain. He leaned down until his face was level with hers, and whispered into her ear: "I am proud of you, my Bella."

His lips trailed across her neck, while one hand nestled with his clothes. "Do you want your reward now?" he asked, his fingers now between her legs, stroking her wet folds. For a second, she wondered what he meant, then she nodded, "oh yes, please!" She shivered from anticipation, feeling as in a strange dream. She had almost expected him never to ask.

"I am very proud of your strength, my sweet," he whispered as he slowly entered her. "You will become my finest student", he withdrew and pushed inside again. "You will become the greatest witch of your time. You will stand above them all." She moaned as he picked up speed. His hips were grinding against her sore back with every move, but somehow the pain did not bother her; it was a good pain, welcome even. "No one will be able to stop you anymore, my Bella. You will be my finest soldier." He pounded into her faster. "People will shiver when they hear your name, just as they do when they hear mine." He could feel her quivering around him. "You will go into history as my most trusted. No one will ever forget your name." She moaned loudly, grinding against him in desperation as she reached release. He thrust into her a few more times and followed her in his own release.

Quickly afterwards, he withdrew and got dressed again. Bellatrix seemed dazed when she finally pushed her torso from the desk and got up.

"Did you come here for this, or did you come here for the pain?" He asked when she had dressed herself.

"For both." Bellatrix admitted.

He smiled. Finally, she seemed to have understood her lesson.

"One day, I will teach you how to inflict pain, so you can become the terror of all those weaker than you."

She smiled and said: "Thank you, my Lord."

AN: Did you like it? Did you hate it? Feedback is greatly appreciated! :)