Author's Note: So, you're probably wondering why I updated after all this time, or maybe where I have been. Truth is, I was abducted by Death Eaters, who were less than happy with my written work about some of their members. It took me awhile to escape from Malfoy Manor. :P

But Siriusly now, let's just say that I found myself in a new country speaking a new language, and life got in the way. For that I am deeply sorry. There is nothing more annoying than an abandoned story! But, I have been thinking a lot about the story and do want to continue it. I should be able to update regularly now, I promise! So if I still have any readers, which I hope I do, enjoy! And if it's not too much trouble, click on that blue review button and let me know what you think. (See how much I'm sucking up right now? *cookies for all readers who review*) Constructive criticism is appreciated, and compliments are embarrassingly enormous confidence boosters.

Thank you for your patience.

Chapter 9: His New Girl

"Lestrange! 10 points from Slytherin" exclaimed Professor Dumbledore.

Rodolphus snapped to attention from his daydream, groaning. He hated this class.

"Complain if you must, Lestrange, but perhaps you should learn to pay more attention in class."

Rodolphus rolled his eyes. What could be learned in Transfiguration that couldn't be solved by another spell? And he swore that Dumbledore had it in for him.

"Thanks, Rod" said Avery and Mulciber, sarcastically and in unison.

"Shut it" Rodolphus ordered. He looked up just in time to see Bellatrix pointedly roll her eyes at him as Dumbledore went on to compliment some Gryffindor's achievement. Great, he thought. At least she made eye contact now after their meeting in the common room, but did she always have to look over when he was doing something stupid?

His gaze shifted to the tall narrow windows of the classroom that looked out across the Hogwarts grounds, and he couldn't help but wonder how far his marks had fallen this term. He hadn't been able to pay attention in class for weeks. Before, it was because Bellatrix wouldn't speak to him; now, it was because every time that he heard her voice he could only think about was that night in the common room. The way her lips felt on his… he would give his very life to feel them again. He feared, however, that the figurative would become literal if he made another advance. The power she held over him was infuriating – so why did he find her so attractive? She dominated his thoughts, his dreams, his whole being; to her, he was but a mere convenience. Rodolphus didn't really want to believe what she had said that night, but it was his greatest fear that she did not love him.

He would change this.

He loved her with every fibre of his being; surely that must be enough to change her mind.

He looked up as the base of her goblet slithered outward as she transfigured it into a snake.

"Well done, Miss Black," he heard Dumbledore say. "It wasn't exactly the assignment, but interesting and highly skilled. 10 points to Slytherin!"

She smirked at me across the room.

"You're lucky to have her, Lestrange," Dumbledore said. From the twinkle in his eye, Rodolphus had the funny feeling that he was referring to more than just the house points.

Bellatrix's face darkened instantly as Mulciber and Avery whistled behind him.

Without taking his eyes off of her, Rodolphus simply said "I know."


Bellatrix sat in a large chair in the library, looking out the window. She held one of the Dark Arts books she got for Christmas; she had utterly exhausted the store of such books from the school library. At least the ones that weren't restricted. She would have to work on getting in somehow…

She gazed out of the window as the snow melted and dripped down from the trees outside and sighed. She just hadn't been able to concentrate lately, even on her beloved books. She didn't even try out one of her spells on a snivelling first-year in trepidation that she would have to talk to Rodolphus, as a prefect. There he went, ruining all her fun. Her life had changed so much in the past month, and not for the better. She didn't like the way things were going at all. And Bellatrix liked getting her way.

Yes, at least she had enough control over him now, she thought. She just wished that she had more control over the situation. She had asserted herself to him, and now he was hers. But if she had her way in the first place, he wouldn't have to be hers at all.

"Hello!" a bright young voice brought her into the present. Her hand instantly went for her wand – she did not like being interrupted – but she recognized the young first- or second- year as Rodolphus' brother, and sighed.

"It's Rabastan," he said matter-of-factly, mistaking her silence for confusion.

She nodded. "Mmm. What is it you want? I'm busy," she said as politely as she knew how, which took a great deal of effort. If he knew what was good for him he'd leave before she lost her temper, Rodolphus' brother or not.

"Well, I saw that you had stopped reading, since you were looking out the window. I thought it would be a good time—" Rabastan's eyes fell to the book. "What is that you're reading?"

"Nothing," Bellatrix said hastily, stuffing the book in her bag. She probably wasn't supposed to have it at school, and definitely didn't need Rodolphus' kid brother to ratting on her. "I was studying."

"Oh," he said, rather disappointed. "Anyway I saw that you had stopped reading, and I thought we could talk a little."

Bellatrix stared at him in disbelief. Were all Lestranges so annoying? "Why?" she demanded. Her patience was running thin.

"Well if you and my brother… you know…" Rabastan trailed off as Bellatrix raised an eyebrow. "I guess what I'm trying to say is that I feel like I should get to know you better."

Oh Merlin. Why couldn't he just leave her alone? Wasn't Rodolphus bad enough?

"I hardly think that should be necessary. Goodbye," Bellatrix stated, waving him away.

Rabastan pouted. He wasn't brushed off so easily.

"I just thought maybe we could talk! I should get to know my brother's girl—"

Bellatrix bolted up, grabbing Rabastan by the collar. "Listen," she hissed, so as not to draw attention to themselves, "there is – nothing – going on between myself and your brother—"

"—but—"

"—nothing!" Bellatrix repeated, shoving him into the bookcase and whipping out her wand.

"Ow!" Rabastan's eyes widened.

"And I am most certainly not his 'girl'. Is that quite clear?" she whispered franticly. It took all that she could not to curse the kid, but that would involve Rodolphus which would necessitate her talking to him. Her wand hand lowered.

At this Rabastan scampered off. Probably just to go bother someone else, she thought.

Her gaze shifted once more out of the window, contemplating the grey sky and the frozen window panes. She wasn't his – anybody's – 'girl.' She yearned for the day when the world would recognize that, but recently it didn't seem like the world was paying very close attention to Bellatrix Black at all.


Bellatrix wandered into the common room late that night. She no longer freely sought respite there after hours in fear of what happened between her and Rodolphus repeating itself. The common room appeared to be empty, but she checked in all the shadows just in case. The last thing she needed right now was another nasty surprise.

She sat down by the fire, stretching out her feet and tilting her head back on the couch. She was so tired, but she never slept well. She couldn't remember the last time she had gotten a restful night of sleep. She closed her eyes and breathed out.

As she began to drift off, to her great annoyance, all she could see was Rodolphus, the engagement party, his smug smirk that he always gave her in class, his face that was close, just too close to hers, the kiss... then she would awaken with a start, like when you dream that you're falling, and you wake up just before you hit the ground. She saw her family, her parents' proud faces as she waltzed around the room in Rodolphus' arms—but then she saw what she so longed to forget...her parents fighting, yelling...blaming her for being different, for wanting more...for not knowing her place...her father clearly would have preferred a boy...her parents telling her that she will be engaged...her whole life ending, ending before it even began... She dozed in this uncomfortable manner for what could have been hours or what could have been five minutes, until she awoke with a start to see Rodolphus still there in front of her.

She opened her mouth to scream, but Rodolphus beat her to it and clapped his hand over her mouth before she made a sound.

"Ow!" he shrieked in half of a whisper, as she bit down hard on his hand.

"What the hell, Rod! What are you doing?"

"That is the second time that you bit me!"

She simply glared at him. "Then stay away from my mouth if it bothers you—"

"Wait – what did you call me?" he asked, calming down.

"What? How should I know, Rod, I just want to know what the hell you think you're doing—"

"There it is again!" he cried, his stupid grin spreading across his face, much to Bellatrix's chagrin.

"What?"

"'Rod.' Have a nickname for me now, Bella?"

"What? No, that's – that's nothing" Bellatrix snarled, fighting back a blush. "And don't call me that. And don't antagonize me!" she said, her voice escalating the entire time.

"You're getting awfully bossy. It's not an attractive quality." Rodolphus retorted.

"Well you're getting awfully forward, and you're just plain annoying." She breathed in, collecting herself. "What is it about the middle of the night that makes you so sure of yourself? And why are you stalking me?"

"I'm not stalking you."

"You were staring at me while I slept. That's weird."

"You were having a nightmare or something. You were twitching – it was strange. I– I just wanted to make sure you were alright."

She stared into his eyes, narrowing hers, thinking how ironically little he understood. He was her nightmare. Her walking, breathing nightmare. "Lovely story. Now tell me the truth."

"That is the truth, I swear! I was worried." Rodolphus reached out his hand towards her face, but she slapped it away.

"I can take care of myself." Standing up, she said: "Goodnight, Rodolphus."

"No, wait, Bella—" seeing her glare, he hastily added "—trix, I need to tell you something."

"What is it, three in the morning?" she scoffed. "We have Potions tomorrow morning. I'm going to bed. Goodnight."

"Bella!" he cried, but she had already disappeared into the common room.

Although she was out of earshot, he closed his eyes and said what he came to say. "I love you," he whispered to the dark. He only wished that she would listen one day.


The next day, Bellatrix was running late for Potions. She stayed up so damned late, and her encounter with Rodolphus was left her nearly restless the entire night, she thought with disdain. To her dismay, but not necessarily surprise, Rodolphus was running late, too. She saw him just in front of her, about to leave the common room.

Bellatrix knew that if she followed him, he would want to walk with her to class, which, although practical since they were going to the same place, would be incredibly annoying. She had had about enough Rodolphus to last her a lifetime. This, she thought, was ironic, since that was about how long she would have to deal with him. ''Til death do you part.' So what would it be: death, or eternal misery? Angry and angsty, Bellatrix punched the wall closest to her as she hung back and watched as Rodolphus left. Ignoring the stinging of her hand, Bellatrix noticed a posting on the bulletin board in the common room, just above where she hit the wall.

She never really read the postings here, preferring rather to remain generally unattached from school. But this one caught her eye.

Slytherin Quidditch Team Tryouts

Positions Open: Beater (2)

Prior Experience Necessary – Newcomers Need Not Apply

Help Us Beat Gryffindor and WIN the Quidditch Cup!

It struck her odd that there would be tryouts midseason. She didn't particularly follow the school's Quidditch, but she did like the sport. And she had always thought that it would be fun to be beater. It was the best position, really; all you would have to do is knock other people off their brooms. And protect the team. She could deal with that. Which, she thought… wouldn't entirely be a bad idea. It would give her something to do, get her out of the library, take her mind off things… why shouldn't she join?

Of course, there was answer to that. It's not ladylike. In fact, Slytherin House had never had a girl on the team, as far as she could remember. And her father surely would disapprove. Bellatrix smiled. All the more reason to do it.

Feeling rebellious, she sauntered into Potions over 20 minutes late. It earned her a detention from Professor Slughorn, but it didn't bother her any. She ignored Mulciber and Avery's snarky comments regarding how she and Rodolphus were both late, and that could only mean one thing, etc. She merely cast a gaze over at Rodolphus, smiled a fake smile, and winked.

Game on.