) Chapter Eleven – Veritaserum (
After Kreacher disapparated, Bella continued to stare out the window, her mind racing.
She simply could not tell her parents that Sirius was the father. Her mother had made her promise never to associate with Sirius ever again, and this was much, much more than just mere association. She had hopped into bed with him, figuratively and literally.
Could she lie? Could she blame it on another student? It would only backfire in the end, because her parents would try to force her to marry the unfortunate chosen target, who would vehemently deny that he was the father. The truth would come out eventually, only after a big scandal.
She simply couldn't answer them.
"Bellatrix," her father's disarmingly calm voice said warningly, "this will be much simpler if you just answer this straight out."
Bella ignored him. She heard the small pop of Kreacher re-entering the room.
"Come have some tea, dear," Druella said in a strange tone.
Bella turned suspiciously, arms crossed. Cygnus and Druella took their tea from the house-elf, sipping it with dubious calm. Kreacher stepped in front of Bella, holding up the cup for her with wide eyes. She took it from him slowly, and he disapparated.
"Drink, Bella," Druella said impatiently.
Eyeing her parents, Bella sniffed it. There was no strange odor.
"Why?" she asked.
"It'll calm you down while we chat," Druella said, making hurried circles with her hands. "Now have a sip and sit back down."
"No," Bella said flatly. "There's Veritaserum in here, isn't there?"
Druella glanced at Cygnus. "Of course not, dear. Stop being so distrustful."
Bella snorted and strode over to her. "Fine. Then have my tea, and I'll have yours!" She held out her cup.
"Don't be silly, Bella, my germs are on this one!"
Triumphant that she was right in her guess, Bella was about to defiantly throw the cup onto the carpet when suddenly—
"Imperius!"
At her father's voice, Bella immediately lost control of her body. Her mind started clouding as she lifted the cup to her lips under the direction of Cygnus' wand. Her mouth unwillingly opened, and she poured the liquid clumsily into her mouth, sloshing the hot tea on her sweater.
Merlin, no! she thought desperately. She panicked as she swallowed, scalding her throat, and knew it was all lost unless she could throw off the curse.
She mustered all the power she could. Think of Sirius, think of Sirius, she told herself. The anger that poured through her made her quiver, but did not break the enchantment. As she unwillingly drank, she tried to remember any manner of throwing off an Unforgivable Curse; she couldn't think of one!
Knowing that every second she tarried was another second closer to her spilling all of her secrets, she thought of the spawn: the parasite had made her magic unpredictable, but it also made her extremely powerful at times. Concentrating hard as she ingested the last drops of tea, she concentrated on channeling the baby's energy, focusing on it, then merging it with her own.
With a lurch that threw her to the ground, the Imperius spell broke. Now in control of her limbs, she threw the cup at her father, who ducked. As the cup shattered on the far wall, Druella pulled out her wand.
"Immobulus!" Druella cried, pointed her wand at her daughter.
Bella rolled out of the way, and the curse collided with a couch. She had one goal in mind: get out of there before her parents had any chance of asking her any questions, because she couldn't lie to them!
Just as her father was sending a spell at her, she twisted and disapparated out of the room. She apparated into the foyer; it was impossible to apparate in or out of Grimmauld Place. She heard her parents' yells coming closer as she broke into a run. Without thinking to grab a coat, she burst out into the dark, freezing night. A spell whizzed by her and made a small explosion in the snow. Once she had leapt off the front step, she twisted in air with one thought in mind: Spinner's End.
If there was one person who could help her, it would be Snape.
She appeared in the middle of a street next to a large factory. Small brick houses were all around—but which one was Snape's? She had never been here before, and couldn't even remember how she knew he lived on a street called Spinner's End. Perhaps she had been mistaken...?
She shuddered from the cold as she turned in a slow circle, studying each house for a hint that a wizard might live there. It was long past dinner, and most of the lights were out in the houses. The lone streetlight flickered. There were dirty toys tossed about the yards, along with abandoned furniture. Bella's lip curled. These Muggles didn't even have the sense to clean up after themselves!
Muffled yelling from the house at the end of the street caught her attention. She moved toward that home curiously. The houses' walls must have been quite thin, for it wasn't hard for Bella to catch what was going on from standing in their front sidewalk.
"...Why you let that boy play with potions, I'd like to someday understand!" a man's rough voice yelled. She could see his outlined shadow against the dirty shade of the front window. "Utterly useless! He should be doing some real work..."
"Honey, Severus is very good at what he does. He didn't mean to burn through the bathtub, it just happened..."
"Then he'd better find a way to grow a new tub, because he's paying for it!"
Amazed at her luck at finding Snape's house, Bella worriedly opened the creaky front gate. She wrapped her arms around herself as she went to the front step and knocked on the door.
The yelling stopped. A moment later, the door cracked open. A dark-haired, foul-smelling man peered out angrily.
"What do you want?" he demanded.
"I—I need to see Snape—Severus, I mean," Bella said, hoping he didn't ask her why. If he did, the Veritaserum would prompt her to tell him the whole story!
"Who is it, Tobias?" a woman's voice asked.
"Some girl," Tobias said, eying her up and down.
Bella wanted to glare at him, but thought better of it if she wanted to be let in. A pale woman peeked around him to get a look at Bella. Her eyebrows lifted when she saw Bella.
"You're a Black, aren't you?" she asked, looking surprised.
Impressed and pleased that Snape's mother knew of her family, Bella nodded.
"Do come in, do come in!" she said.
"But, Eileen—" Tobias started.
Eileen shook her head quickly. "Very powerful wizarding family," she said warningly.
Tobias' eyes flashed with disgust and fear, but he stepped back for Bella to come in. Their house was small and grimy. A very old television sat in the corner with bent antennae hovering above it.
Before they had a chance to ask her anything, Bella asked, "Is Severus here? I must see him at once."
"Is he in trouble?" Tobias asked. "That boy—"
"No, sir!" Bella assured him. "I am!" She had not wanted to say that last part, but the Veritaserum forced it from her.
"He's up in his room. I'll call him down," Eileen said.
"No, that won't be necessary!" Bella said quickly. "I can just go up."
The parents looked unsure, but Eileen said, "Top of the stairs, first door on the right."
Bella thanked them and rushed up the rickety stairs. Snape's door had nothing on it save for some marks that looked scarily like someone had been kicking it brutally. She knocked on it quickly.
Snape opened it. His jaw dropped. "Bella! What...what are you doing here?" He was wearing baggy, faded clothing that she had never seen him wear at school.
"I need you to perform Termino Fetusium on me," she blurted, marching into the surprisingly neat room.
"Excuse me?" He closed the door behind her. She had never seen Snape genuinely shocked, but he was so now. His beady eyes bulged at her.
"I'm pregnant, and I need you to get rid of it. Preferably this instant! I just barely escaped Grimmauld Place without telling my parents everything."
"Everything what?"
The Veritaserum made it so easy to divulge what would have been a huge struggle otherwise.
"I'm having Sirius Black's baby."
"What?" He suddenly looked suspicious. "Hey—is this some kind of prank? What form does your Boggart take?"
"My Boggart is me as a Squib," she sighed, anxious to get past the questions. "And no, this is not a prank! What do you think I am, Potter in disguise?"
Snape still stared at her in shock, but didn't look as suspicious. "Something like that. But come on, Bella—you pregnant? With that bastard's...bastard?"
She glared at him. "Will you help me or not?"
"Why do you need my help? Can't you just do the curse yourself?"
"I tried, but my parents interrupted. They forced me to drink Veritaserum, and I'm a little too riled up to be performing complex magic like this! Can you please just do it for me so this can all be over? I don't want Sirius leveraging this against me!"
"How can he use it against you unless he knows?" At Bella's guilty expression, Snape's jaw dropped. "You told him?"
"I...had a moment of...weakness..."
"How about a whole term of weakness? What were you thinking becoming involved with him?" he snapped. "Have you any idea the power he has over you now? He could make you the joke of the school!"
"Don't you think I'm aware of that?" she screeched. "Why do you think I want to get rid of the baby so badly?"
A knock sounded on the door, and Snape's mother peeked in. "Severus, your father is going to bed now, and I advise you to keep noise to a minimum..."
Snape nodded. "Okay, Mum."
"I won't be here long, Mrs. Snape," Bella said politely.
"Oh, don't worry about it!" Eileen quickly assured her. "Severus has never brought a girl over before, especially someone with a family as renowned as yours! Stay as long as you want!"
She shut the door behind her softly. Snape's cheeks were burning as he waved his wand at the walls, muttering "Muffliato." Bella could see she had the upper hand now, thanks to his mother.
"Now will you help me or not?" she asked, hands on her hips.
"Bella, the Abortive Curse is highly dangerous. There's a reason why it's illegal!"
"What other option do you see? I'm not having this baby, Snape. I can't."
He studied her, his eyes hard and thoughtful. "Tell me what to do."
She glanced about the room, spotted the dirty-but-made bed, and lay down upon it. She hiked up her top. "Point your wand here, picture what it looks like, and say the Curse." She looked over at him.
With trepidation, Snape went over and pointed his wand at her belly button. "I don't like this, Bella..."
"Do it," she said. "Do it or I will never be a Death Eater, and all of our time and studying will be a complete waste. Do it, or the Dark Lord may wonder why you were so oblivious to what I was doing."
"Don't turn this on me, Bellatrix Black!"
"I'm just saying what might happen! Just do it and everything will be all right!"
He hesitated.
"Do you want me to beg, Snape?"
"Might make it more enjoyable," he sneered, but positioned himself for the kill.
Bella closed her eyes. She knew what might happen. The books had mentioned the possible effects of the Curse.
"Termino Fetusium!"
The sound of a small explosion filled the room, and a blinding, shocking pain that almost made Bella pass out filled her abdomen. Bella screamed and Snape shielded his face as they were instantly covered in blood and tissue. Still screaming in agony, Bella looked down: her stomach had been blasted open. She could see the flesh blown back, and pieces of organs swimming in the pooling blood. She swayed on the edge of consciousness, dizzy from the horrific sight.
Snape, wiping the blood from face, instantly started muttering healing enchantments over her. Bella moaned, wishing she could just die. The pain was intolerable. She was losing too much blood...
"This is too much for me, Bella!" Snape yelled. "I need help!"
Bella couldn't reply.
"I have to go get help!"
"No..." she managed to gasp. "Don't leave me..."
"It's your only chance. This is too serious—you need someone powerful enough!"
Bella no longer had the strength to scream. Numbness was taking over. She heard a pop, and when she opened her eyes, she saw that Snape had left her.
She was alone in Snape's bedroom on the verge of death, all because she had let herself fall for a jerk named Sirius Black.