"What do you mean pregnant?" Bellatrix demanded shrilly, placing a silencing charm around her walls, her nostrils flaring, "How were you two idiots not careful enough?!"

She watched as her sister's eyes dissolved behind a mass of tears, and Bellatrix let out a disgusted snort, "Don't try it on me, you know you won't get any sympathy."
Her sister straightened up, pushing her blonde hair behind her shoulders, "I'm not pushing for sympathy, Bella... I'm... I'm scared."
"Are you positive that you're pregnant?" Bellatrix inquired, trying to sooth her sister in the only manner she saw fit, "Perhaps you messed up the test... It's possible."
"No... No, I'm sure I did everything right," she murmured, crossing Bellatrix's room and taking a seat on the bed, "I mean, Bella, I took it three times, just to make sure!"
"And it kept showing red?"

The pregnancy test was simple for witches. All the woman needed to do was hold her wand against her womb, murmur the spell, and a glow would hum out. If the test was false, the colour was blue, and if it was true, the colour was red. Bright red was always a sign that the child was atleast a month along.

"How bright?" Bellatrix muttered, raising an eyebrow in her sister's direction. Narcissa released a sigh, "Very."
"Bloody Hell."
"Well the wedding is soon," Narcissa chattered nervously, picking at her elegant, round nails, "So... So once we're married, it won't matter."
"Does Lucius know?" Bellatrix inquired, taking her response when she noticed her sister's face fall, "Ah, I see. When do you plan on telling him?"

Her youngest sister swallowed thickly, and for the first time, Bellatrix noticed her hands were shaking. Oh, Gods, she seemed so pale...
Narcissa was always a brave little girl. Bellatrix remembered when she stopped handling snakes as a young girl, Narcissa always picked them out of the garden, much to her mother's dismay. The very idea of a child seemed to frighten her out of her wits, and for once, she seemed disheveled and upset.

"Cissy," Bellatrix droned, strolling over to her and taking a seat beside her, "There's no sense getting upset over it now... I mean, you can't get... unpregnant."
"Thanks," her sister mumbled, wiping under her nose, "I'm only eighteen... Bella, how am I going to handle having a child?"
"I... I don't know," Bellatrix stammered, wrinkling her nose, "I've never thought of having a slimy brat."
"Bella!"
"I'm sorry..." Bellatrix chuckled, "Look, you're married in less than two weeks... You may be a month along, at the most, so you won't show for a little while longer."
"But..."
"I'm sure everyone is scared at first," Bellatrix stated, slipping into her lecturing tone, yet trying to keep it lighter than usual, "It's a big step... But... I don't know... You and Lucius can support a whole army of children once the marriage is final, so what are you worried about?"
"Everything!" Narcissa exclaimed, throwing her hands up in the air dramatically and rising, "Bella! What is the child doesn't like me? Or... Or... What if they run away from Lucius and I?"
"Nonsense," the dark-haired witch snorted, leaning back and making herself comfortable on the array of pillows surrounding her headboard, "I'm sure Lucius will beat the child into submission."
"Lucius would never do that!" Narcissa gasped, clutching her silver chain that hung daintily around her neck, "Do you think-"

"Cissy, I don't know!" Bellatrix groaned, finally having enough with the entire conversation, "Would you leave me be if I took you in to the doctor today to have everything ... checked out?"
Narcissa shrugged, straightening out her shoulders, "I suppose... Only if we leave now."
"Now? I need to shower..."
"Yes, speaking of that... Where were you last night?"
"Out."
"I noticed that."
"You keep prattling questions to me and I'll be forced to tell mother and father that you're pregnant out of wedlock... Your move, sister darling."
Narcissa's eyes narrowed, "Call me when you're ready."
"I won't be long."

She watched as her sister floated out of the room, shutting her door with restrained force. A slow grin spread over Bella's lovely lips, but she felt a sense of worry behind them. Her baby sister was pregnant? Gods, by now Bellatrix would have blasted the damn thing out of her. How could she be so calm? Yes, Narcissa had stressed her concern with being so young and with child, but not to the degree Bellatrix would have done. Had it been Bellatrix, things would have been thrown - people would be dead.

But each to their own, she thought as she trudged off to have a shower, thankful to finally be rid of her dress. She had been wearing it for almost a day and a half now... Well, she supposed half of it hanging off her body the previous night didn't really count as her wearing it...

She smiled at the very thought.

But, Gods, last night. She wished to never let that memory go. The Dark Lord was everything she had hoped for in a man, everything her other lovers had lacked. He was raw, primal; it made her weak just thinking about it. In reality it hadn't lasted terribly long, but to Bellatrix the night never seemed to end, and when it did, she wished for more. His hands were so cold, and for once, his eyes displayed a passion she had never seen in him. Lust, no doubt, but what else?

As she finished up her shower, she couldn't help but grin; today she felt different. Darker, more satisfied, yet hungry for more. It was such an odd feeling, to be so content with life, but desiring to further explore her options. What else could she be offered under the service of Voldemort