Chapter 3
"Hey, Bellatrix," Remus Lupin called from down the hall.
Bella stopped and turned, mask and glare firmly in place. "Something you want, Lupin?"
He waited to answer until he was only inches from her, his hot breath tickling her ear. "Of course," he murmured, leaning closer. "I would like a prize for winning the quidditch match."
"What do you think you're doing, Lupin?" Bella hissed which was mirrored by Rodolphus' angry shout of the same as he pulled Bella away from the Gryffindor prefect.
"Just rubbing in Gryffindor's win," Remus replied calmly.
"Don't ever touch her again," Rodolphus sneered, pulling Bella closer and kissing her soundly. Bella neither pushed him away nor responded and Remus left, defeated.
Moments later when Rodolphus broke the kiss, her earned a resounding smack to his face for 'having the audacity to kiss her with out permission!'
* * *
"Sirius!" Narcissa screamed, "Get me off of this infernal thing now!"
Sirius laughed and steered the broom toward the ground. As soon as they were close enough to safely jump off, Narcissa did.
"My version of safe, remember?!" she shouted at him and started to stomp away.
Sirius grabbed her arm. "I'm sorry, Cissa, I couldn't help myself."
She glared at him and tugged her arm away. "I'm mad at you," she snapped, stating the obvious.
"I know and I'm sorry. I just--I like it when--you're the--oh never mind," Sirius tried–and failed to explain. He had just become unbelievably close to confessing his feelings to his cousin. He turned and walked away, leaving Narcissa to contemplate the meaning behind his stuttering.
* * *
Andromeda put the finished touches on the letter to her mother. All that was left was to read it to her sisters for approval and send it. Just then, her sisters came into the empty classroom they used as a meeting place.
"Let's hear it," Bella grumbled, still angry at Rodolphus for kissing her.
Dear Mother,
While Narcissa was exploring the attic room, she came upon your diary. Now we all know what was in that diary and we don't need to come out and say it. All three of your daughters feel that since they know the truth of their heritage, that they be allowed to pursue relationships with whomever they feel since you did so yourself. Bellatrix and Narcissa are very unhappy with the matches that father has made for them and Andromeda is in love with a muggle. We await your response impatiently as we would like to meet him...
Your daughters,
Andie, Bella, and Cissa
"Sounds good to me," Narcissa said.
"Yeah, just send it already so I can be rid of Rodolphus," Bella snapped.
"Trouble in paradise with Remus?" Narcissa asked, a sly smile on her face.
"No!"
"Methinks she doth protest to much," Andromeda quoted from Shakespeare. Ted introduced the fantastic writer and poet to her.
"I agree," Narcissa said happily.
"Go find Sirius and just snog him already and leave me alone!" Bella snapped.
"Ooo, I guess Remus is a touchy subject for her, we should talk about something else," Andromeda giggled.
"He was about to kiss me and then Lestrange came over and pulled me away, threatened Re--Lupin and had the audacity to kiss me in front of him!" Bella explained her crabby mood. "I would have smacked him earlier if not for appearances sake."
"I would have smacked him then," Andromeda replied.
"And that's why you're basically disowned," Bella replied hautily.
"Bella!" Narcissa admonished, seeing the hurt look on her eldest sister's face.
"What? Its true."
"I can't believe you, Bella. The three of us have to stick together, we're all we have left," Narcissa explained.
"I apologize, Andromeda," Bella said softly.
"Apology accepted. I'm going to go write a letter to Ted and send our letter to Mother."
After Andromeda left, Narcissa turned her gaze to Bella.
"Don't look at me like that, Narcissa. I know that I'm a horrible sister," Bella said, tiredly.
"You're not a horrible sister!" she replied, reassuring her. "Sometimes you just stick your foot in your mouth."
Bella sighed, thanked her sister, and walked out of the room and right into the Maraurders. 'Great,' she thought, 'Just what I need.' Instead of the customary sexy drawl of her first name, Re--Lupin ignored her, but his other friends didn't.
"Watch where you're going, Black," they told her as they passed. She swallowed heavily and gathered the measly amount of courage she had and called out for Remus.
"Lupin! I need to talk to you!" she shouted after them. The whole group stopped, Remus nodded to his friends, and walked back towards her as they continued to their destination. Bella didn't speak as he approached her.
"Well?" he asked, an uncustomary sneer on his face.
For some odd reason, Bella was feeling uncharacteristically shy and nervous. "Let me--let me just gather my thoughts for a minute, okay?"
"Okay."
Should I tell him? Should I not tell him? Why do I care what he thinks? Should I wait for Mother to write back? These questions raced through Bella's head and she didn't have time to answer them rationally before her mouth started working.
"The thing is Remus, I'm trying to get my betrothal to Rodolphus absolved. First of all, because I hate him and second of all, I... you... oh what the hell?" And she kissed him hard and passionately. It took a second for him to respond and in that second, fear like no other gripped Bella's heart. He lifted her off the ground with the force of his response. After they couldn't breath anymore, Remus slowly pulled away and set her down.
"Bellatrix," he drawled sexily. She closed her eyes and leaned into him, thankful that he was back to saying her name.
"Remus, please."
"Bellatrix, I won't be the other man, you must know that."
"I know."
"Then why did you do this to us? Now we can never go back."
"I know."
"So why?"
"I want to tell you the reason that I'm pretty positive that I won't have to marry Lestrange anymore, but I can't, not until I know that I will be able to do what I want without fear of repercussions," she explained.
"And I am what you want?" he asked.
"Yes," she breathed before kissing him again. He broke it before it could get too heated.
"Bellatrix," he whispered, "I have to go to my friends."
"I know."
"See you later," he said before kissing her forehead and leaving her alone in the corridor.
"I'm happy for you," Narcissa said from the doorway of the classroom.
Bella whirled around, not realizing that she had had an audience. "Thanks," she muttered and walked away.
Narcissa walked up the staircase, hoping to find Sirius before reaching Gryffindor tower. With no such luck, she walked down to the dungeons and on her way there she ran into Sirius who was looking for her.
"Hey, Cissa!" he greeted her with a quick kiss to the forehead and a ruffle of her hair.
She smacked his arm almost playfully. "Sirius! Don't do that!"
He showed her his signature grin. "I couldn't help myself."
She melted as she always does when he grins at her. "Well, don't do it again," she mumbled, knowing that he would.
"Sure," he replied as he slung an arm over her shoulder and started walking her back up to the main floor.
"Where are we going?"
"Nowhere," he answered, grin in place as he looked down at her.
"That's a lie," she said, smiling back.
"You caught me, we are going somewhere," he responded, playfully.
"Where?" she persisted.
"Nowhere."
"Sirius!"
"Yes?"
"Will you please tell me?" she asked, pulling out her puppy dog eyes.
"Oh all right. We are going... somewhere."
"Real mature, Sirius," Narcissa grumbled.
"What do you expect from a teenaged boy?"
"Not much, I guess."
"Exactly! So when you get something, you're happy! Just go with it, Cissa," Sirius explained. "Let me give you a surprise," he said more softly as he looked right into her eyes. Narcissa swore that he was going to kiss her, but he turned away, his face serious, and let his arm drop to his side.
"Sirius?"
"Yeah, Cissa?"
"Umm. I'll tell you some other time. Now where's my surprise?" she smiled, hoping that it would bring the mood back up.
"Over here," he replied, opening up the kitchens and showing her the chocolate chip cookies that he made. She enjoyed them immensely and thankfully, the upbeat conversation flowed. Before she knew it, it was time to get back to her dorm.
"Goodnight, Sirius," she whispered. "Thanks for a nice day."
"Anytime, Cissa," he replied, his voice husky from talking all day or something else. "Goodnight." He kissed her on the forehead and watched her walk away.