The sorting began with very little activity. Bellatrix sat at the Slytherin table wearing a bored expression, and stabbing the table with her fork. She had Abby on one side and Narcissa on the other. Both of the pair on either side of her were also sitting with their respective partners. Bella felt somewhat alone as she watched them, unable to make herself focus on the sorting. As Matt Flint slipped his hand under the table, Bella forced herself to concentrate on watching the new students be sorted.

Professor Merrythought called out another name. Bella stared, as a small boy with ginger hair stepped up to the hat. Bella yawned and put her head on the table. She managed to turn off for a while, but the over-audible shout of 'Gryffindor!' made her lift her head up and glare at the hat. Slytherin hadn't had one successful sorting this time round, not one of the kids looked like they could be talented Quidditch players. Bella and Jamie Montague always exchanged glances and a few words while the sorting was going on; labelling potential players. This time they did no such thing. Bella took a glanced across the room and caught Barty's eyes over on the Ravenclaw table. He was sat with some of his mates from their year. Bella didn't know their names, it would never matter to her. He grinned at her, then one of his mates decided to draw a heart in the air. Bella rolled her eyes and looked away once more. The Sorting and the feast finished all too slowly for Bella's liking. It got to the end of the feast when Professor Dippet stood up to address the school. Bella assumed this would be his usual start of term speech, but when he started speaking, she realised it was not.

'As most of you will know,' he began. 'I will not be serving another term at Hogwarts.' Bella sunk slightly. She'd forgotten about that. And there was only one person she knew Dippet would have chosen to replace him. She was not impressed about it, and was silently willing it not to come true. 'But, I will not be leaving you in the hands of anyone I do not see fit for the position. And so, I will say a hearty welcome to our new first years, and a good luck to the rest of you, before I introduce you to your new Headmaster,' he paused and glanced behind him. 'Professor Dumbledore.'

The Gryffindor table erupted into applause and cheering. The Slytherin table remained almost deadly silent. Bella hung her head in her hands. This meant a new Transfiguration teacher, too. She could only hope it was someone who might actually not persecute the Slytherins as much as Dumbledore had. However, it occurred to Bella afterwards, that whoever was the new Transfiguration teacher, meant that they would also be head of Gryffindor house. Bella sighed as Professor Dumbledore began addressing the school. She didn't listen to any of it, as a symbol of her distaste for it. As soon as they were able, Bella left the Great Hall.

'Hey, Bella,' She heard a voice behind her as she made her way into the Dungeons. She was alone, and hadn't minded until now. Right then, she deeply wished she was back with Abby and Matt, rather than face what she was about to. She spun around to find Roddy Lestrange beaming back at her. Apparently he had forgotten their slight argument on the train. 'Can we talk?' He asked eagerly.

'No.' Bella answered quickly. Although, it seemed like there was only one answer.

'Okay, I'll talk to you a bit later on.' And with that Roddy swooped off in the opposite direction. Bella glared after him, fully aware he wasn't even looking at her. She shook her head and walked into the common room.

Music was blaring out from nowhere, and people were dancing and leaping around all over the place. Bella smiled at the scene. This was what it was always like on the first night back, and she was glad of it. She would have loved to join in, and usually would have, but tonight, she made her way straight to the dorms. Luckily, now that everyone was enjoying the festivities downstairs, she could have a bit of peace and quiet in the dorms.

She found Lucy in the dorms, sitting on her bed, writing inside a black, leather book.

'Hey, Lucy.' Bella said with a sigh. Lucy looked up and shook her hair out of her eyes. She managed a small smile. Bella took a second glance, as it appeared her friend had been crying. On this second look she realised that it was true, and mascara was smeared down Lucy's cheeks. 'What's wrong?'

Lucy shook her head and bit down her bottom lip, trying to stop herself crying again. Bella sat down on Lucy's bed and put her arm around her in an attempt to comfort her.

'Evan,' Lucy whimpered. 'he was talking to some guy earlier… and…' Lucy took a deep breath and tried to even out her breathing. 'They were planning something, and I didn't know what it was at f-first…' She took another breath. Bella got a strange feeling that she knew what Lucy was about to say. 'They were talking about dropping out.' Lucy concluded. Bella tried to look surprised, although she wasn't sure how convincing it had been. She knew there was more to this story though, and she was positive that Lucy would have heard something about it, even just a tiny bit.

'Is that all, though?' Bella asked her. 'I mean, didn't they say why?'

Lucy stared at her, almost accusingly. 'Yeah,' The look in her eyes was gone almost as soon as it had come, like Lucy wasn't even consciously aware she'd done it. 'they kept referring to someone, but never said his name – they just said him. And whoever he is, they wanted to drop out because he wanted them to. Because he wanted… he wanted,' Lucy shut her eyes and inhaled. 'he wanted to make sure he had their undivided attention.'

Bella remained silent this time. That's what she'd been waiting to hear. Whoever it was that Evan and his friend were talking about, wanted to make sure they were completely loyal to him. It sounded important… risky, even.

'Bella,' Lucy began again, her voice quiet and reserved. 'I think he's into something he shouldn't be.'

'I don't know enough to comment,' Bella decided to be diplomatic. 'don't jump to conclusions, Lucy. Just wait until you've got all the facts. He might not even be serious about what he said.' Lucy didn't seem convinced, but nodded all the same.

'I just want to know.' Lucy concluded. 'Whoever it is that Evan's been listening to – he must be bloody important for Evan to pack in his education. You know as well as I do how much he wants to get NEWT's so he can work in the Department of Mysteries. He's always wanted to do that.' Lucy breathed in once more, not willing to lose her composure after working so hard to find it again.

'I know, Lucy, I know,' Bella agreed slowly. 'and I'm sure it's not what it seems like. After all, we don't know the whole story.'

'You're right.' Lucy said. 'I'm going downstairs. Gonna see if I can cheer myself up a bit. You coming?'

'Wasn't going to… I'm trying to avoid Roddy. He said we'd talk later.'

'Oh,' Lucy replied sympathetically. 'what about?'

Bella shrugged. 'Don't know, don't care.'

'You do care… really.'

'I actually don't.'

'Fine,' Lucy smirked. 'lie to yourself.' Bella grinned at her, glad that Lucy was back to her ordinary self.

Bella got up off Lucy's bed and went over to her own, opening the lid on her trunk. As she'd expected, most of the things inside it began overflowing and escaping to the floor. She shook her head. She'd sort it out later. Bella threw out a few clothes onto her bed, until she found a pack of cigarettes. She pulled a box out of the multipack and shoved the rest into the drawer by her bed. Lucy raised her eyebrows.

'We haven't even been back a day,' She commented.

'So?'

'You're going to claim stress.'

'Yep.' Bella laughed. The girls had rules about smoking. You didn't just do it – there had to be a reason for it. They had three reasons; stress, social and post-Quidditch. Bella was currently the only one allowed to use the post-Quidditch reason, as Lucy didn't play. Bella made herself promise that whatever the situation was, she would never smoke or drink with less than a week before a Quidditch match. So when it came to the night after the match, she could claim the post-Quidditch reason for smoking.

Bella pocketed the box of cigarettes she was holding, and slipped her wand into the other pocket. Lucy smirked.

'Can I claim stress?' She asked with a laugh. Bella shrugged. She probably could. 'I don't really want to, though.' Lucy said, in after-thought.

'Have it your way, then.' Bella smirked, as she followed Lucy out of the dorms.

She lost Lucy in the common room, she wanted to stay with Abby and Matt, who were now sitting with Alex Higgs, who was looking very sorry for himself sitting with a couple. Lucy seemed more than happy to cheer him up. Bella politely declined the offer, and left the common room. She had no idea where she was going, as she wandered the darkened dungeons alone. She knew she'd run into a Prefect sooner or later, but that didn't matter. They'd be Slytherins down there anyway, so she'd be okay.

Bella passed a few Prefects, but they just politely said 'hello' and a quick 'how are you?' and let her on her way. It was partly because they'd never tell of a fellow Slytherin, but mostly because they wouldn't question a Black. In Slytherin family connections were very important, much more than it was in other houses.

She found the portrait she'd hoped to find. The occupant was asleep, so it was easy for Bella to gently ease open the portrait and climb through the passage without being noticed. This portrait passage led to the astronomy tower, but without going through the whole school and running into numerous Prefects.

Eventually she came to the top of the tower, the gentle night's breeze breathing past her. She took out a cigarette and lit it with her wand, then gratefully took a drag, thankful she'd made it this far without running into Roddy. As she watched the smoke swirl around her and be carried away on the wind, she didn't hear the footsteps behind her.

'It's bad for your health, you know.' She heard a smug voice. Bella smiled to herself and turned around. Greeting her was the glowing and smiling face of James Potter.

'I know,' Bella shrugged. 'but I choose to disregard it.' She took another drag and blew smoke in James' direction. He simply grinned at her.

'Are you gonna put it out?'

'Why?'

'So I can kiss you.'

Bella smirked at him and dropped the cigarette without even looking at it. The next thing she felt was James' lips on hers, like they'd not seen each other for years rather than weeks. Eventually, James broke away from her.

'I missed you,' He whispered, before he kissed her neck.

Bella couldn't help but giggle. 'Missed you, too.'

'You shouldn't.' He told her simply.

'I know.' Bella answered. 'But you're just as bad.'

James smirked. 'Tell me about it. I go for a week without seeing you, and I'm getting withdrawal.' He grinned and slipped his arms around Bella's waist. She couldn't help but smile at him.

'I was supposed to be talking to Roddy tonight.' Bella informed him. James gave her a look.

'What about?'

Bella shrugged. 'Dunno. He just wanted to talk.'

'He'll want to get back together with you.' James thought aloud.

'I don't care if he does. I don't want to get back together with him. I'd die of boredom.' Bella giggled.

'And besides,' James added. 'you're with me.'

'Am I?' Bella's eyes flashed to an unreadable state. Was she with James? She knew they could never publically show their feelings, so she'd always assumed James thought the same.

'I'd like to think so,' James replied with a slick smile. 'we're close enough.'

Bella stared at him for a minute, before un-hooking herself from his grasp. She leant against the wall, looking out over the grounds of the school.

'But James,' She began.

'Oh, don't start.' James interjected, then added a cheeky smirk.

'I'm serious,' Bella tried to put on a serious expression, but it didn't really work. She couldn't be serious when James was around. 'we both know how we feel about each other, but what are we meant to do with that? I mean, we can't be together, can we? We'd both get cast out… and there'd be no one but Hufflepuffs to accept us.'

'I've got friends in Hufflepuff.' James looked slightly hurt. Bella glared at him. He cleared his throat slightly nervously. 'But that's not the point, is it?' James said exactly what Bella wanted him to say.

'I mean, we can just do what we're doing, can't we?' James asked her. 'Just keep seeing each other like this? It's not hurting anyone.'

Bella nodded in slight agreement. 'So… are we…' Bella shook her head. She couldn't bring herself to say it.

'If you like.' James shrugged, knowing what she was going to say.

Bella sighed. She didn't want to say what she was about to. 'We can't.' She said simply. 'It would get complicated. And I can't deal with that. And I hate lying to my friends, which I've been doing a lot of lately.'

James tried to be sympathetic.

'And I hate lying to my sister.' Bella added sadly. Even though she'd been honest with Narcissa about letting James stay in her room, she hadn't told her the nature of their relationship. She felt guilty about it. The only person she ever felt guilt over, was her baby sister.

'You girls really are inseparable, aren't you?' James commented. Bella smiled at him. 'So,' James diverted the topic. 'are we just staying in this… friends with benefits type thing? Because I always said I'd never do that…'

'Friends with benefits?' Bella repeated. 'I thought you had to be friends for that to happen.' She gave him a cheeky smile. He beamed at her.

'Oh, yeah,' He replied slowly. 'no one even knows we're friends… this just gets better.'

Bella laughed, she couldn't help it. Her eyes darted over the grounds, and as they found the Quidditch pitch, she was reminded of something.

'Quidditch is going to be fun.' She grinned at James. He smirked. It hadn't dawned on him that he'd be playing against Bella. They were both Seekers, and they'd played in opposition since third year, but it had managed to escape James' memory.

'I'm still going to beat you.' James teased.

'No!' Bella laughed. 'You're not. Because our team is going to be unstoppable this year.'

Bella felt James' arm slip around her once more. She sank onto his chest, feeling glad of the warmth as a chill crept into the air. James kissed the top of her head.

'I'm kinda fascinated by your hair, Bells.' He whispered.

'Really? I hate it. It's untameable.'

'Like you.'

Bella didn't reply, she simply smiled to herself. She'd never thought about herself like that, but now he'd said it… he was right. James kissed her cheek.

'I think I'm magnetic.' Bella said.

'Huh?'

'You keep touching me.'

James hugged her to prove her right. 'Can't help it then. It's a scientific reaction.'

'Sure.' Bella giggled, straightening James' collar. He leant in and kissed her on the lips. Not for long, as a sudden bang interrupted them.

They both turned to search for the source of the noise. The door to the astronomy tower had flung open and banged against the wall. Standing in the doorway was none other than Remus Lupin. Bella said a silent thanks that it wasn't Sirius.

'What… the… Hell…' Lupin breathed. James almost dropped Bella as he stared back at his friend, like she'd suddenly become unbearably hot.

'I just… it was… I mean…' James was lost for words, something incredibly rare.

'Bellatrix?' Lupin's tone had quickly turned from shock to boredom, as he turned to Bella for a more accurate string of words.

She glanced at James. He exhaled and waved his hand carelessly. He gave her a look that said just tell him. Bella shook her head, stuck for the right thing to say. How to define her relationship with James? They're just classified it as not friends with benefits. But what did that make it? Just benefits? That didn't even make sense.

'Or I'll just put it together myself.' Lupin said again. Bella rolled her eyes. Who did this guy think he was?

'So I'd guess,' Lupin continued. 'that you guys met each other at Will's party? And then it kicked off from there? And then you just continued your little activity?'

Bella clapped her hands. 'Oh, well done, Lupin. You're not even fucking close.' James sighed and stared back at his friend.

'Remus, what's this even got to do with you?' James said flatly.

'I'm just trying to look out for you,' He told him sincerely. 'Both of you.'

Bella snorted at his comment. He wanted to look out for her, too? Yeah, right.

'You're Sirius' cousin. No matter what he says, I think he'd be upset if something happened to you,' Lupin told her sternly. Bella shrugged. She wasn't sure about that. 'and if someone else saw you… even suspected for one minute that you two were together? You'd both be off your Quidditch teams before you can even protest.'

James didn't reply. He knew he was right. They hadn't announced the Quidditch Captains yet, but whoever it was would certainly not tolerate that. They always announced the Quidditch Captains after the first week of term, and they'd be told by their head of house prior to this. Both Bella and James desperately wanted to be Quidditch Captains of their teams. But they hadn't even considered, let alone discussed, the effect this would have.

James ran his hand through his hair and exhaled slowly, thinking through what he was going to stay. 'Remus, this is between me and Bella. I appreciate that you just trying to look out for us… but it's our thing. Yeah?'

Lupin stared at him for a moment. 'I know, I know. But at the same time, I just feel like because I know, I ought to give you some advice.'

'Thanks,' Bella interrupted before anyone else had the chance. 'but no thanks. I think we can handle this without any help, Lupin. You seemed like and alright guy before. Please don't change my opinion on you. And I realise that you feel some kind of loyalty to James, but can you please use that loyalty to keep quiet about this – rather than "advise"?' Bella seemed to shock both boys with her outburst. She smirked at their expressions.

'Er,' James tried to think of something to say.

'I'll be going then.' Bella told him, before turning back to Lupin. 'If you'll excuse me?' He politely stepped aside to let her pass.

The last thing Bella saw was James almost collapse over the wall, his face in his hands. She couldn't help but feel a little bit sorry for him… before her thoughts got the better of her and told him to grow up and grow a pair. Bella smiled to herself and made her way back to the common room.