Broken Hearts And The Dark Arts

Three Years Ago

'Bella, you sure about this? What if the prefects catch us?' Frank whispered as he looked behind his shoulder. He followed Bellatrix down the corridor as she pulled on his hand.

'Oh, please. They won't check the astronomy tower. It's far too cold.' Bellatrix smiled as she began climbing the mountain of stairs that lead to the top of the astronomy tower.

Bella's legs were aching by the time they reached the top of the tower. She felt herself shiver as the cold winter air lapped at her skin, but she ignored it as she walked to the edge of the tower. Bella leaned over the railing and looked down to the ground. She could hardly make out anything in the darkness, but she knew very well that it would be a long way to the ground if she were to fall.

'Wow.' Frank whispered. Bella looked over to him to him staring up at the sky. As cold as it was, thankfully, the sky was completely clear, nary a cloud in sight. Bella followed his gaze and looked to the sky, she felt her own smile grace her face as the two stood in silence just staring at the twinkling stars.

Bella couldn't remember ever feeling this way; feeling so relaxed. She didn't care much for stargazing, but tonight was the exception. It was almost like she didn't have a care in the world.

'Beautiful, isn't it?' Frank stated as he continued to search the skies. Bella only nodded as she rested her whole body on the railing. She felt her gaze, as it did more often nowadays, look over to Frank.

He was still gazing at the stars with a small goofy grin. His hair was all messy from sleep and he was still wearing his Gryffindor pyjamas. She wasn't mad about the gold and red colours screaming at her, but on Frank, she found them tolerable.

'I should tell him.' Bella whispered to herself. It had been what she had been planning to do for weeks now. She had planned every detail of this night. She was going to tell Frank that she liked him, that she wanted more from him. Their casual dating wasn't enough anymore. She had surprised herself when she had realised that she was in love with Frank Longbottom. At first, she had tried to push it deep down; to hide away from these feelings. But slowly she began to accept them.

No longer were they a pain to deal with, but something she enjoyed. He made her smile so easily; he made her as happy as she would allow herself to be. But most of all, he was himself around her and she could be herself. No putting on airs. Perhaps it was because they had grown up together, they knew each other in and out.

She actually thought that it would only take a little persuasion from her parents for them to like him. After all he was a pureblood like her and smart, if he weren't a Gryffindor, he'd be perfect. But it wasn't a deal breaker by any stretch. To her parents, he would be the perfect candidate for marriage.

'Wait! You don't want that, remember?!' Bella thought quickly as she ripped her eyes from Frank and stared back at the sky.

Bella always hated the idea of marriage. She watched her parents, her aunts and uncles. They all looked miserable. All chained up. It was not a life that Bella found herself wanting to be confined in too.

'But it'd be different with him.' Bella found herself thinking. With Frank, Bella found herself doing and thinking a lot of things she wouldn't ordinarily want.

'You're not cold, are you?' Frank suddenly asked facing her. He reached out his arm and ran it across her forearm feeling the goose bumps that had formed.

'No, I'm fine.' She lied. She didn't want to leave yet, she had brought him here tonight for a reason. No time to chicken out now. She would risk the cold.

'Are you sure? We can go ba-' Frank began. He found himself cut off as Bella kissed him lightly.

'I said I'm fine.' Bella smiled at him and Frank smiled back at her.

It felt like some kind of dream being here. Bella looked into his smiling face and was hit with the feeling of butterflies once again. Her stomach constricted tightly, another feeling she had grown used too. If wasn't so dark, Bella would have felt self-conscious that he could see her blushing. It was a side of Bella that no one ever saw.

Frank stepped closer to her and wrapped one arm around her waist. The other lifted to her face as he tucked a messy curl behind her ear.

'Don't be a coward.' Bella thought as her heart doubled in speed. She suddenly felt a nervous wave consume her. What if he didn't feel the same way? What if everything she had thought they were both feeling was actually one sided? She knew, right from the beginning of this thing that Frank had a crush on Alice. It didn't bother her then, she wasn't looking for anything serious and she found Frank the most tolerable out of all the boys in school.

But now it was different, over the months together she started to feel something. Bella was considering putting her heart on the line. Something she had never done. What if he still loved Alice? He hadn't mentioned her in months, not really since she had started dating a boy called Greg. Did that mean he was over her? Did it mean he would give them a chance? She and Frank seemed to have been getting closer.

'Frank, there's something I've been wanting to tell you.' Bella practically whispered. She scolded herself for being so weak. But she couldn't deny that she was scared. 'I-I think I want more from you.'

Frank looked back at her confused and Bella found herself taking another deep breath.

'For a while now, I've been thinking about this, what we've been doing. I don't want to just mess around anymore.' Bella spoke to his chest. When Frank said nothing she finally felt herself gather the courage to lift her head. She had run over this moment time and time again. Going over every possible scenario. She had told herself that she was prepared for anything. But when she finally looked up to him and locked with his eyes.

His face said it all.

xxx

Present Day

Bella felt herself bolt upright. She looked around the room and slowly registered that she was no longer with Frank on the astronomy tower. She was in her room, back home. Her Hogwarts trunk was laid at the end of her bed and the house elf Medli was slowly unpacking her things.

As her senses slowly seemed to come back to her, Bella felt the sting of tears prickle in her eyes. The remnants of her dream still lingering. Bella screwed her eyes shut and dug her nails into her bedding.

'Get out! Now!' She screamed. The elf jumped and dropped a school shirt she was holding. She quickly scrambled to the door and fled from the room.

Bella did nothing for a long while. Her eyes were still tightly screwed shut and her fists stilled balled up. She hadn't thought about Frank in a while. She didn't allow herself to dwell on it, knowing it would only make her feel things she didn't want to.

But running into Frank only two weeks ago seemed to shake her off her balance. When he had come over to her on career day, she almost felt her whole world shift. But looking into his concerned face only made her furious. She had to remind herself that he didn't care about her. That he had used her and manipulated her into having feelings for him.

He had also gotten a glimpse at the marking on her forearm. She had seen the fear in his eyes.

'Good. Now he might be afraid of me. He might have the sense to leave me the hell alone.' Bella thought to herself.

Bella pulled back her sleeve to reveal the mark on her arm. She took her hand and ran it over the black skull and snake embedded in her arm, 'I traded in for better.' She thought as she felt the remnants of her dreams start to slip away. As her finger glided across the curls of the snake, she felt and excruciating burn erupt from the mark.

What had first scared her and caused her to cry out in pain. Had now turned into something soothing she craved for. The dark lord was calling her, calling all his followers.

Bella quickly dressed and grabbed her wand. She pointed the tip of her wand in the middle of the dark mark and closed her eyes. As always, the meeting places of the Death Eaters changed every time. She had no idea where she was going. She felt the dark lords call and followed the image of a location that swarmed in her mind. In a moment, Bella felt her body shift. She felt herself being pulled from the warmth of her room and thrown into an unknown location.

She was outside when she opened her eyes again. The winter winds made her yearn for the indoors, but looking around, Bella couldn't find any type of building in her sight. She stood stationary in the middle of what looked like an abandoned field wondering if she had somehow gotten the wrong location.

There was a hint of fear bubbling in her. She knew the consequence of being late to a meeting but she was sure that missing it all together could mean her imminent death.

Bellatrix looked around again for any sign of a meeting place. She squinted her eyes as she caught sight of something strait ahead of her. It was small but it was somewhere to try. Bella traipsed across the dry muddy field until she spotted it. It was indeed small, but the only thing around for miles.

Before her stood an old red, run down barn. The paint was old, shabby, and chipped off and there was a large hole in the roof. As she approached the barn door she saw that it was hanging on one hinge about to break at any moment. It swung lightly in the wind making a soft creaking noise. Gently pushing it aside, Bella stepped in.

She had convinced herself that she would be faced to face with more of the dirty old barn. But in quite the contrast to the outside. The nondescript barn held a secret. It had been transformed into a lavish room that looked similar to the Slytherin common room. But instead of couches surrounding a large decretive fireplace, there was a large table filled with eleven people and a host of others standing around it.

There was a small hum of chatter as Bella walked into the room. A few people glanced at her entrance but most continued to chat amongst themselves. Bellatrix scanned the room until her eyes fell on two people. Her parents were stood in the back facing the table. They seemed to sneer at her before looking away.

Bella couldn't help but smile at them as she walked towards her seat at the table. They were angry that she had a place there. They had been in the group much longer than she had, yet they were still forced to stand at the back through the meetings. Only the Dark Lords favourites sat at the table.

'That must be why they didn't call me.' Bella thought. The moment Bella had been invited to the table was the day her parents saw her as a threat. They had purposefully apparated to the meeting without her in the hopes that she might be late and lose favour.

Bellatrix pulled back her chair and took her seat. She waited, like the rest of the death eaters, for Him to arrive. Sitting across from Bella, like a shining beacon of blonde hair, was Lucius Malfoy. When the two locked eyes, neither smiled. The last time they had spoken was right before Christmas break. Lucius had been furious with her for not attending his meeting in Hogsmeade. Not that Bella cared that he was angry. She had very little time for him, she loathed seeing her sister swoon over him. Cissy deserved better than a cowardly little boy who hid behind his father. She would rather die than take order from him.

The room seemed to quiet as everyone looked to the empty chair at the top of the table. There was a dull sting in each of the death eater arms as they waited. The room watched in wonder as a tiny flash of lighting seemed to erupt in midair. The pulsing lightening was joined with black smoke that swirled in circles before exploding.

The black mist, as if it were being pulled by a magnet, slowly attached itself to the cloak of the figure standing before the table. The man before them stood quietly with his eyes closed and his wand delicately balancing on his fingers.

Bella's eyes were wide and a grin was plastered on her face. She could never strike away her admiration of the man before her. But he was different from the last time she had seen him. His skin was whiter. So pale that she could see the beginnings of his veins start to show. His lips had also lost their colour, they now nearly as white the rest of his skin. It was almost as if he had no blood in him at all. He all at once looked like a man and not.

The man took a long breath as he lifted his head. The rest of the table scrambled to their feet to greet him. But as soon as he opened his eyes, Bella could feel the atmosphere change. The man's eyes scanned the room looking at each face on the table; some looked away from his glare, others, including herself chose to return his look with a head bow.

Bella noticed it right away. As soon as she locked eyes with him. It was small and barley there, but his skin was not the only thing that had changed. His brown eyes had begun to emit a faint red hue.

'Welcome, to you all.' The Dark Lord spoke in his usual slow tone as he finally sat down in his chair, the rest of the table following suit. 'I'm delighted that you could all be here with me.'

Some of the members of the table and those standing around briefly glanced to the empty chair at the other end of the table where once sat Gideon Franklin, the senior undersecretary for the Wizengamot. His presumed death had been splashed all over the Daily Prophet for week now. No one, but the people in this room knew his real fate. They all knew the consequences of trying to leave Voldemort's fold. But Gideon's death had seemed to strike a chord with a few of the members.

Bella thought perhaps that some of the purebloods that had joined had expected this group to just be another extracurricular activity for them. They might agree with keeping wizard society clean from the mudbloods. But their views would never go further than an odd protest now and then. Not many would want to publicly risk ruining their reputations.

They were all a bunch of hypocrites. Every one of these so called "Death Eaters" would never have done anything more that talk if it wasn't for the Dark Lord. Bella was the only one here who was truly dedicated to Lord Voldemort's cause. She knew, right from the beginning that she would do anything he asked of her, anything to return the wizarding world to how it was and get rid it of the mudbloods and people like Longbottom who tried to defy them.

Bella looked back to Lord Voldemort as he pulled his attention away from the empty seat across from him. His arm fell from its armrest and draped towards the floor. Bella wondered what he was doing when she saw something start to crawl up his arm. It was a small but very long snake winding its way up Voldemort's arm. The rest of the table watched in silence as the snake slowly slithered onto the table and settled in front of the Dark Lord.

A low hissing escaped Voldemort as the snake turned its head towards him and hissed in return. Bella had known of the Dark Lord's gift of parseltongue, but she had never dreamed that she would be able to see it in practice.

Bella had been so entranced by the snake that she barely registered the meeting starting. She listened quietly as Voldemort hopped from one member to the next. They talked of werewolves and the possibilities of gaining the goblins support.

It was not until Lucius Malfoy opened his mouth that Bella felt a burning rage fill her. She watched as he began spouting off his annoyance at her incompliance. Bella felt embarrassment flush through her as she caught the eyes of her parents smirking at her. It was as if she were ten years old again being tattled on by Cissy.

Bella wondered what The Dark Lord was thinking as he sat staring at Lucius. She desperately wanted to keep his favour; it was about the only good thing that kept her going these days. She felt her fingers start to dig in the table, scratching the wood back.

'She refused to follow simple instr-' Lucius began.

'I follow the Dark Lords orders! Not yours!' Bella hissed angrily. Realising her outburst she whipped her attention to the man at the top of the table. She had expected him to be furious for acting like a child. For interrupting their meeting because her own personal dislike for the Malfoy boy. But he was just the opposite. He was smiling. Not a full smile, but a gentle quirk of his lips that sent dangerous chills down everyone's smiles.

'I am pleased you both are so eager. How refreshing it is to see someone so young so devoted.' Voldemort hissed. He turned to Malfoy first and his expression hardened. 'Lucius, perhaps I was wrong to give you so much control? It seems as though you do not possess the command that I thought you might. Disappointing to say the least. I was hoping for much more from you, yet you still come back each week empty handed.'

Malfoy looked as though he were about to argue but knew better. Voldemort's eyes darkened and his jaw tightened as he watched Lucius bow his head in resignation.

'Bellatrix...' He said slowly as he turned his attention to her. Bella felt herself straighten eagerly as she looked to him. 'Any order that Lucius has given you, has been orders from me. Orders that you have seemed to disregard so easily. I do not take kindly to those who's faith in me is lacking.'

Bella felt as if she might throw up. She watched with the rest of the table as Voldemort slowly grasped his wand and lifted it up. Bella's heart sped up as she knew what was coming, a punishment for her disobedience. She had watched it being inflicted on many people in the meetings.

But the pain she expected did not come. Instead Voldemort flicked his wand to the end of the room were a latch could be heard unlocking. He then nodded to a man who stood at the back of the room.

'But I am, if not a merciful Lord. I can see potential in you Bellatrix. Perhaps you can do what Lucius has failed to?' Voldemort hissed. Bella nodded quickly as she glanced over to Malfoy. He was hiding it well, but she could practically feel the daggers being shot at her though his gaze.

It was now a competition. A competition that she would go to any lengths to win. She would bring Voldemort all the students she could recruit and Lucius would try everything he could to win back favour.

'I look forward to the work you will do.' Voldemort hissed. 'But please keep in mind, failure is not something you should dwell in Bellatrix. I believe Lucius will understand that if he continues to disappoint me further, I will be forced to...re-evaluate his position with us.'

Bella glanced across the table and looked at Lucius. She almost felt sorry for him. Almost. But the gagged cries of a woman snapped her out of her thoughts.

The door at the other end of the room had now opened fully to reveal a woman. She looked like she was in her mid-forties. Her dirty blonde hair had streaks of grey flowing in it. You could tell she was pretty, but her delicate features had been riddled with bruises and dried blood. She was wearing a ministry uniform; the engraved badge that lay above her heart was that of an Auror. The man who held her captive dragged her forward further into the room and then pushed her back so that she stumbled forward. She was now standing at the end of the table behind the empty chair.

'Now moving on to our final act of business. May I introduce our honoured guest for this evening.' Voldemort spoke as he smiled ruefully across the table and raised his wand to meet the woman. 'Miss Amelia Wright. Head of the overseas Aurors.'

A/N: Thanks for reading! Please review and all that brilliant Jazz! We'll be jumping back to Lily in the next chapter, but we needed to set up Bella's character a little more for future chapters...

As always, Thank you very much to my Beta reader - AsMomma for all your help!