Disclaimer: I don't own the Blacks or Voldie… -sadface-

A/N: Becki here. O.o Have I even given my name out in one of these before? Anyway, I'm SOOO SORRY THAT I TOOK LIKE, ALL SUMMER TO WRITE THIS! But now with school, I'll be motivated to do this because it'll be way more fun than actually focusing on homework. –grin- So… I really hope this chapter was worth the wait. If not… then you can review and complain! Hehe.

And this is Catherine. I too, apologize for Becki taking so long, I swear that I tried to make her work on it. I gave her Popsicles! Took the girl forever, but I think that she did a good job, I mean look, PLOT! haha! Anyways, please review, we love getting them, good and bad. OH! And enjoy the chapter!

Review Thanks:

SharkiesGirl: I'm glad that you enjoyed the word choice. Let me tell you, it was NOT all me. I have awful word choice, hahahaha. And the characterizations! I always worry about those… Hope you enjoy this chapter too! Sorry it's taken so long.

Trumpetina: Thank you SOOO much for the review and adding us to your Author Alert AND Story Alert list! Sorry that this wasn't a very quick update… That was my fault. Now that school's back, I might write more to avoid homework and all. Enjoy!

x-slytherincess-x: Awww, thanks so much! Sorry that this took so long… But you actually get to see some of Voldy's conversation! Hope that makes up for it a little bit… Hooray for Voldy!

buttonbit: Yay! I'm glad we've got you off on a good start then! And thank you so much for the add to the Story Alert list! Sorry that it's taken so long to update… Bet you'd have forgotten about this without that alert.

That appears to be all! I'm SO SORRY IF I MISSED YOU! Just yell at me if I did…

Chapter 10

"Welcome, Lord Voldemort," greeted Mr. Black, the first one to gain composure after the sudden intrusion.

"Thank you," Voldemort responded, sounding rather cold as he dropped his cloak onto the waiting house elf. Each of the girls bowed respectfully to Voldemort. Although the gesture was the same for all three, the meaning conveyed for each was quite different.

Bellatrix only bowed for a short amount of time, but her wide grin and raised left eyebrow revealed her sincerity and interest in seeing the man once more; Voldemort smirked knowingly, aware that she was already eager to do his bidding at such a young age.

Turning to Andromeda, Voldemort's smirk grew even wider. She bowed stiffly and rigidly, while instead of eyeing him, eyed her sister with a glance of worry. Bellatrix remained unaware, but the Dark Lord noticed, and it fueled his ego further to know that children such as them could notice his power and influence.

And last came little Narcissa. This year as she bowed she had enough sense not to request anything from him, at least. But she was still too young to understand what exactly was going on. It was clear, though, that her sisters had brought some understanding to her for her own protection.

He nodded to each individually in return, saying their first name as he did. Their father then guided Lord Voldemort into the living room, and offered him something to drink while all three girls sat on the couch, hoping that they wouldn't be shoed out of the room right away. Not to anyone's surprise, Voldemort declined the offer for food or drinks; however, surprising all of them, he said nothing when the three girls didn't leave the room.

Instead, he turned to them and nearly giving the two eldest daughters a heart-attack (for different reasons, no doubt) he asked them how they were doing in their studies at school.

Suppressing her joy to herself at the thought of Voldemort actually somewhat acknowledging her, Bellatrix calmly replied that she was at the top of her year, if not in first place. She didn't want to seem like she was bragging.

At Bellatrix's reaction, Andromeda scoffed. She knew that Bellatrix was just acting calm so that she wouldn't sound conceited. She didn't even understand why. If this guy was as powerful as he seemed, he would already know that her ego was just about as big as they come for a Black. Which was pretty darn big, if she did say so herself.

"I'm also at the top of my year," Andromeda said quitely, but also with a tinge of pride. Her reason for modesty was quite different from Bellatrix's, though; she didn't want to stand out to this stranger.

Voldemort nodded to Mr. Black, showing his approval. The two just looked at each other, saw the confusion, and decided to ignore it for now.

"They got in a fiiiight," Narcissa sang happily, feeling left out.

"Cissy!" they both hissed at Narcissa. They both knew that Narcissa was perfectly aware of what she had done, judging by the smile she gave to feign innocence.

"Really, now? Again?" Voldemort asked, surprising himself that he had to fight showing his amusement. He let a little smirk show, though, and mentally grinned when he noticed the two girls' internal panic on how they should act.

"Well," Andromeda began, figuring she had the best chance at fixing things because she was the calmer one.

"Yes," Bellatrix interrupted with a shrug. Andromeda sent a glare to Bellatrix, who ignored it. "But that was the only time we were caught," she added happily.

Voldemort outwardly raised an eyebrow, turning to face Bellatrix. Inside, he was smirking, already able to tell that all three grils knew that he had enjoyed their little fight last time he was present. He was surprised that Bellatrix was already using this to her advantage, and amused that Andromeda tried to cover it up.

"I believe it's time for some drinks, don't you agree, Cygnus?" Mrs. Black suggested nervously, gesturing to the parlor.

"Yes, I agree," he replied quickly, and they ushered (politely, don't worry) Lord Voldemort towards their cabinet where the alcohol was kept.

"Firewhisky?" Mrs. Black asked, already opening a bottle. It was going to be a long night…

"Awww, why'd they wreck our fun?" Narcissa pouted, staring at the door knowing that they weren't supposed to follow.

"Fun? FUN?! What do you think you were doing, pointing out that we fought at school?" Andromeda fumed, angry and ready to lash out from a dose of fresh adrenaline from the panic that was caused just moments earlier.

"Well, I found it entertaining," Bellatrix answered with a smirk while Andromeda shot her a glare. "And it proves our point that he most likely enjoys it when we fight or argue."

"But why?" Andromeda asked, knowing that Bellatrix wouldn't look for sense. Sure, he enjoyed the fights. But what did it prove?

"It doesn't matter to me, I already found out what I wanted to know," Bellatrix answered with a shrug. Andromeda knew exactly what she was doing; she was trying to make her angry enough and provoke another fight while he was there, probably to show off how much stronger she'd gotten, and hopefully prove her worth.

"I'm not going to get into a fight with you, Bella," Andromeda hissed angrily at how she was being toyed with. She was her own sister!

"Yeah, I agree…" Narcissa piped in.

"What? You too, Cissy? Why?!" Bellatrix asked surprised.

"Well… Wouldn't it seem like you were almost asking for attention?"

"…" Bellatrix had nothing to say, as she had just been bested by her youngest sister. Then again… "Well, I am."

"So, you want to seem desperate, then?" Andromeda asked, picking up onto Narcissa's idea quickly. In fact, by this point, they all knew how it would play out. The majority usually won in the case of these three, and the swing vote was always Narcissa. This was one of the few but crucial times that Bellatrix would have to back down.

"I suppose you're right…" Bellatrix conceded with a sigh. Then she asked, "Well what do we do now?"

Andromeda rolled her eyes. It was like her sister didn't know how to do anything other than fight. How did she even have friends? "We can just sit and talk… Or do you not know how to do that?"

"I can talk just fine; but with you, it generally turns into an argument."

"Oh, is that so?"

"Guys!" Narcissa yelped, trying not to laugh.

"What?" hissed Bellatrix and Andromeda, both rounding on poor Narcissa in their fury. She shrunk back in her seat, her laugheter ending immediately.

"You're doing it again…" she said quietly.

"Oh," Bellatrix said with a small grin. Her small acknowledgment of it was concealed by Andromeda's "Oh! I'm so sorry that we rounded on you like that, I didn't mean to 'Cissy!"

"Ah, well. I'm going to go upstairs and write to some friends, then," Bellatrix decided after seeing Andromeda rush over to Narcissa and start to apologize.

"Okay," Narcissa chirped happily, as Andromeda had just offered to play a game with her as atonement.

"Who could possibly want to hear from you anyway?" muttered Andromeda under her breath, still mystified how people could want to be friends with her violent, arrogant, abusive, and rude older sister.

"I HEARD THAT!" Bellatrix yelled from halfway up the stairs. Andromeda and Narcissa just looked at each other with wide eyes.

"She did not," Andromeda whispered to console Narcissa. "She was just expecting me to still be angry at her."

"I DID TOO HEAR WHAT YOU SAID!" Bellatrix answered. Narcissa and Andromeda decided to go and play some Wizard Chess in Andromeda's room…

"And why must she wait?" Voldemort asked impatiently. Cygnus was all for allowing Bellatrix to be trained by him. Bellatrix would be more than willing. He needed someone competent in the future, and the best way would be by training someone from an early age.

"She's too young!" Druella said as she glared at her husband; he was obviously expected to support her, but he had decided to agree with Voldemort.

"That's exactly his point, though," Cygnus said calmly. "If she's taught early, she'll be much stronger. She already shows the potential to learn, why not give her the chance to? I've read her homework, and we've both seen her grades. She's bored, at the top of her year, and thinking about joining the Quidditch team this year. She's smart, strong, and talented. Why let that go to waste?"

Voldemort smirked as he saw the look on her face drop. It was only a matter of time now before she would allow Bellatrix to be taught.

"Next year, then?" Voldemort asked as he reached for some Firewhisky himself, deciding the matter was settled and celebration was in order. "She'll be thirteen, then; a lucky number, I dare say."

Druella said nothing, only nodded stiffly in defeat as she raised her glass to the other two as Cygnus said a short toast, and they all drank.

Again, hope it was worth the wait! So sorry, hope you enjoyed your summer!