Lucius groans, rubbing his neck as he heads up to his room. He was covered in sweat and dirt after a particularly grueling quidditch practice and eager to go take a shower. They were gearing up to a game against Gryffindor and Lucius had pushed them particularly hard to make sure they were ready. There was none he pushed harder than himself, however, and he felt the effects of the exhaustion in every step. He wanted more at this moment than to take a long, hot shower and fall into a deep sleep.

He already had his shirt halfway off by the time he opened the door.

"I'd leave that on if I were you," comes a cold, cruel voice from the direction of Lucius's bed.

Lucius starts, alarmed. His eyes dart to his bed where an angry looking Bellatrix Black lays sprawled out atop his silk blankets. "Jesus Christ, Bella. Jesus Christ. What the hell are you doing in my room?"

"I came to talk to you," she says, sitting up and stretching. "God, you took forever."

"How the hell did you even get in here? There are spells to keep you out of the Boys' Dormitory."

"Same way I've been getting into Rodolphus's room for the past two years," Bellatrix says. "But that doesn't matter. Come take a seat, Lucius."

"I'm not sitting with you on my bed, Bella. What the hell are you doing here?"

"I told you, I came to talk." She gets out of Lucius's bed and goes to where she's placed a glass of what looked like Lucius's wine on his dresser. "About Narcissa."

"Are you here to threaten me?"

Her eyes look him over and he's surprised by the intensity of her gaze. There was something bubbling just below the surface in her eyes, a heat, a malice. "We'll see how the conversation goes."

Lucius shakes his head and peels off his sweaty shirt, ignoring Bellatrix and changing into a plain shirt. "Go ahead, then," he says. "Let's get this over with."

Bellatrix takes a long drink from her glass. "You have a dreadful reputation, Lucius Malfoy. I've taken the past few weeks to talk to the little remains of your past indiscretions. Circe Fairmonth. Vivianne Morrison. Iris Lefay. A few others."

Lucius shakes his head again. "Bloody hell, Bella, really? That's downright psychotic."

Bellatrix grins at this accusation. "No one ever claimed that I wasn't psychotic, Malfoy. Now, are you going to let me continue?"

"Go on. If you must."

"They all had quite a similar narrative about you. Passionate starts. Rather… physical relationships. Then abrupt endings. No closure, no conversation, no denouement, if you will. A few broken hearts, a lot of angry girls. You're not very popular with your exes, Malfoy."

"I didn't really expect to be."

"And yet you can sense my concern."

Lucius looks to Bellatrix. "I could tell you that my relationship with Cissa is different from those of my past, but I doubt you'd believe me on word alone. Rather, let me emphasize Narcissa's qualities. She is not like the other girls I have dated, Bella. Surely you see that. She's of better name, from a better household- far better than Circe or Iris. She's intelligent. Well bred. Beautiful. My relationship with her is different because she is different. I don't regret that my exes feel unwelcoming towards me because I never had serious intentions with them. Not like I do with your sister."

"So you have serious intentions with her, do you?"

"Yes. I'm a Malfoy, Bella. You know I am of the best stock around. I know that I am entitled to the best things in life, and I know that your sister is one of those best things."

"Charming," she says, but there's a flicker of approval that crosses her face. Bellatrix's disapproval was always easy to read on her face, but this little acknowledgement was so fast it was nearly imperceptible. "All the same, Malfoy, I hope you appreciate that I have a little problem."

"Do you? And that is?"

"Narcissa wants you."

Lucius walks to her, reaching around her and grabbing the bottle of wine she had stolen. He pulls out a second glass and pours himself wine as well. "I don't see how that's a problem. She's my girlfriend, I'd hope she would want me."

"No, Lucius. She wants you. Not for just a day or a week or a year. She wants you forever. I can't give her credit for taste, you're much too prissy in my opinion. All that blonde hair and garish clothes. But she wants you. So I'm going to do what I have to to make sure that you don't break her heart."

"And what will that entail, exactly?"

Bellatrix looks at him and grins as if she has been waiting the entirety of the month he had been dating Narcissa for him to ask this question. "This is where the threatening comes in," she says. The grin on her face was an intense and creeping thing and Lucius resisted the urge to shiver. He wasn't scared of this small girl. Of course he wasn't. And yet, Bellatrix Black had a presence that was filled with malice and a wild undercurrent of something untameable and unpredictable. "You're going to marry her, Lucius. You've already ruined her chances of Mother and Father finding her an honest match, and she has been counting on that since she was old enough to know what it meant. So you're going to marry her Lucius, but you are going to court her first. The proper way. My parents aren't going to hear a bloody word about what you've done to her. You're not going to ruin her reputation in their eyes. If you don't do this, I will make your life a living hell, Lucius. I will devote myself to that cause, and I promise you, I will enjoy every minute of it. Every time you try to fly your little broom, I'll be there to crash it. Every time you try to pursue a girl that isn't my sister, I will be there to riddle you both with boils and warts. Every time you try to go for something that you want, something you desire, I will be there to ruin it, to destroy it, to make you miserable."

Lucius looks at her, not letting his expression change with her threats. "I accept."

"You accept?" He's amused to find that there's surprise in his voice.

"Your threats are unnecessary, Bella. Honestly, this little conversation of yours was a wasted trip. I want the best things out of life and that includes Narcissa. I knew going into this that I wasn't dating her just to mess around. I'm serious about her."
"You'll marry her?"
"If she still wants me when it's proper to propose, yes, Bella. I'll marry her. And I'll give her a life that is full of the finest things in this world. She'll wear the most beautiful dresses and live in the finest house. She'll host balls and dinners with the most influential wizards in the world. And I will love her. Every whim of hers, I'll provide. I'll spoil her just to see her smile. Bella… I love her. I think she's perfect."

Bellatrix studies him, scrutinizing every detail of his face. He feels a sudden presence in the corner of his mind and he lets out a laugh. Narcissa had been right, after all. Bellatrix was a talented legimancer.

"You're not going to be able to read my mind, Bella. You're just going to have to believe me. I love your little sister and it is my every intention to marry her someday."

Bellatrix frowns, annoyed at having been caught trying to rummage through his thoughts. "Fine," she says glowering. "Then we're in agreement. You best take care of my sister, Lucius. She's a damnable idiot for giving a bloody ass like you the time of day, but you better take care of her."

Lucius laughs again, drinking from his glass. "Oh, come now, Bella. The game is up. You don't hate me as much as you profess or else you'd never have come here to threaten me to marry her. You know I'm an excellent choice for her. Pureblooded, good name, rich. I can give her a life far better than just about any other man on the planet."

Bellatrix sends him a dirty look but doesn't respond to it. "Now that that's finished, I have another matter I must discuss with you."

"Yes?" Lucius smiles, amused.

"Rumor has it that your father has been in contact with the Dark Lord." Her voice takes on a sudden reverent tone that surprises Lucius. He had never seen her like this.

Lucius nods. "Father has been financing him."

"I heard he's been doing more than just financing him," Bellatrix says coyly. "They say he's one of his true supporters. That he's… taken the mark."

Lucius doesn't react. It was all true, of course, but he was not at liberty to discuss it.

"I want to meet him, Lucius." Bellatrix doesn't go as far as to outright ask Lucius. She was above begging, even though he could see in her eyes how desperately she wanted this. "We're going to be family some day, after all."

Running a hand through his long hair, Lucius considers things. "I'll invite Narcissa to my family's Christmas dinner," he says nonchalantly. "I'm sure your parents will insist on a chaperone for her, as is proper. No one better to keep an eye on her than her favorite older sister."

Bellatrix grins and nods, getting the subtext. "Good night, Lucius. It was a… surprising conversation with you."
"Don't ever break into my room again, Bellatrix. You and Rodolphus have already been too friendly with my alcohol collection. You've nearly depleted it."

"I'm not in control of Rodolphus's actions."

Lucius rolls his eyes but lets it go. "Tell me the spell you've been using to bypass the protections on the dormitories."

"Why? So you can sneak my little sister in here and ravish her like a little whore?"

"Yes," he says plainly. "I'd prefer to stop having to risk getting caught by teachers. Neither of us want to put her reputation in jeopardy."

"Introitus Circum," Bellatrix says, giving up the spell. "Don't get her pregnant, Lucius. I will murder you if you do."

"Not until we've been married," he promises.

Bellatrix nods her approval. She downs the rest of her glass, setting it down on his dresser and taking the bottle. She doesn't bother asking Lucius's permission, taking the wine with her. "Goodnight, Malfoy. This has been rather… transactional."

He rolls his eyes but opens the door for her. "Goodnight, Bella."