A/N: I just realized I haven't written anything Bella-related. I guess there's a first time for everything. Enjoy.

Word count: 970

Beta love: Huge thanks to Kefalion (Frida) for betaing! :)

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry: Divination Assignment #6 - Write about a character asking questions (out of worry, nervousness, guilt - anything) to a mirror or any reflective surface. Think of it like when someone might be questioning aspects of their life, and they find themselves looking in a mirror whilst questioning.

QLFC Practice Round: Write about Bellatrix Black. (extra prompts: (sentence) The clock on the wall seems to be ticking backwards, (dialogue) "Your father and I disagree; you are forbidden.", (phrase) Good as gold)

Mirror, mirror on the wall

Who's the evilest of them all?

Hair black as her surname, skin light as her foes,

Lips tainted with curses, but her beauty's widely known

~oOo~

Bellatrix was standing in front of the mirror in her bathroom, scrutinizing her appearance for any little imperfections she could correct while she was still there. She wore a long, black dress with laces hanging off of the shoulders and her trademark high-heeled boots. A belt was hanging on her broad hips, and in the holster laid her walnut wand, which was currently unused, though she was sure that would change before long. .

To an outsider, she would have seemed like a perfectly calm and collected young lady, with her head held high and her back straightened, but on the inside, she couldn't help but feel nervous. Of course she had been taught how to mask her emotions in her younger years, and she had perfected the ability to look composed long before she turned fifteen – and she was already seventeen, officially an adult now, and her ability to behave like the noble woman she was never had only increased -, but nobody had ever taught her how to control her feelings on the inside.

And now, that fact was not going to help her. She had heard that the Dark Lord was rather merciless – which she thought was perfectly reasonable -, but he was also a master of Legilimency, and she dared not think about what would happen if he found out about her inner turmoil. Looking weak and cowardly in front of him could potentially be a fatal mistake.

"Will I be enough to join the ranks of the Death Eaters?" she asked her reflection with a steady voice. The other her, the one looking back at her from the mirror seemed to be telling her yes. After all, she was a daughter of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black, who wouldn't want to accept the heiress of said family?

"But will he forgive my sister for turning away from our family?" she pressed on, asking herself another question that was weighing on her mind.

It was true, her younger sister, Andromeda had made it abundantly clear that she didn't want to be a part of an anti-Muggle society, and that she would not marry Rabastan Lestrange, like she was supposed to, instead, she opted for a Mudblood Hufflepuff named Ted Tonks. Bellatrix could still recall when Andromeda had told their mother about the marriage plans in the hopes of getting some kind of help from her. She had been full of hope.

That was, until Druella answered her the following day. She had said, "Your father and I disagree; you are forbidden". And that was it. Bellatrix's sister no longer cared about a family that couldn't accept her decisions, so she left to pursue her chosen path and was blasted off the family tree.

And so, Bellatrix feared that she may have to suffer because of what Andromeda had done. Bella was deeply ashamed about it, since she couldn't understand what could be more important than to carry on the bloodline of her family. Ever since she was born, she had been good as gold in the eyes of her family; she deeply believed in whatever beliefs they had, and she couldn't wait until she turned seventeen, when she could finally do something to further the eradication of dirty blood.

She wasn't sure if she was going to be punished for her family's sins, but if she was, she would grin and bear it. After all, it would be deserved.

"Will my magical abilities be enough?" was her next question to her reflection. She was a well-known fanatic of dark magic – and she often liked to demonstrate her knowledge and devotion to the topic, mostly on whatever little creatures wandered into the garden - she was proficient in duelling – according to her last two DADA teachers, at least - and she knew a thing or two about Charms as well, but she had never been any good at Potions or any of the other subjects – which she deemed useless anyway, but now that she thought of it, maybe they would have come in handy, if it was what her induction depended on.

She had heard that only the fiercest, the most loyal and the most knowledgeable of the Dark Lord's followers would get into the sacred Inner Circle, and as a proud pureblood heiress, Bellatrix would not have opted for anything less than being as near to the Lord as she could. And if she was going to get in this Inner Circle, she would have to prove that she was good enough, not just with her loyalty to the Dark Side, but with her abilities as well.

Maybe she would have to duel the Dark Lord himself. What an honour that would be!

She couldn't help the excited and slightly maniacal glint in her eyes that appeared at the thought and which she noticed when she glanced back at the mirror.

In those moments, the clock on the wall seemed to be ticking backwards, as her expression became more intense, although nothing else changed on the outside.

Even though she still felt nervous about her first meeting with the Death Eaters, if it depended on her, she would show them that she was better than any of them, no matter how much it would end up costing. She would pride herself in being the best, and nobody would argue with it. In spite of her young age, she would become the Dark Lord's most faithful in no time, she decided, she vowed.

And as she cast one last glance at the mirror, she realized that failure would not be an option either.