A.N: Ta-da! I think this might be the fastest I've EVER updated this story...and I only stopped when I did because I reached a good place to start a new chapter tomorrow...ooooooh, being massively unblocked makes me such a happy fanfic writer...

Chapter 12

It was a large, old house they'd brought her to. A house that smelled like death. She'd heard two of the Death Eaters talking about it-one of them, they called him Lestrange, had lived here as a child, but he, his brother, and his wife had killed the rest of the family and offered the house to Voldemort as a base of operations. It was Lestrange's parents' bedroom they were keeping Celina in. She crouched on the floor, chained to a post of the enormous canopy bed, tense and waiting.

Finally, the door opened and three figures walked in.

The Death Eaters had removed the masks they'd been wearing when they brought her here. On the right of the trio, Celina instantly recognized Lucius Malfoy, who'd been in Slytherin before he graduated from Hogwarts...Even though Ally and the others had hated him, Celina had always had a bit of a crush on him. Damn. On the left was a woman who looked several years older than Lucius, and seemed oddly familiar although Celina was sure she'd never seen her before. There was something unsettling about her dark beauty and regal demeanor.

And in the center...who else could that be but the Dark Lord himself? Celina stared straight into his snakelike eyes, frozen with terror, burning with rage. She hadn't known it was possible to be so torn between two emotions.

He looked down at her for a moment, his expression unreadable, then waved his wand almost idly at the chains around her wrists, which disappeared. Instantly, she launched herself at him, striking out at him with her fists, her legs, her entire body, sharp nails clawing at his eyes as she struggled, in her blind fury, to simply hurt him as much as she possibly could.

The woman tried to drag her off; Celina bit her hand and drew blood, never letting up in her assault on Voldemort. With a shriek of incredulous anger, the woman struck her across the face, hard. At the same time, Lucius managed to pull her away from Voldemort. He threw her against the footboard of the bed, and the woman started toward her, wand raised, but Voldemort grabbed her wrist. It was only then that all of them realized-the entire time, he had been laughing.

"Good, good!" he said in his cold voice. "I expected nothing less from you. Now, if you've gotten that out of your system, we have much to discuss."

"Discuss?" Celina steadied herself against the footboard, her eyes narrowed to slits. "What could I possibly have to discuss with you?"

"The benefits of realizing that it is far smarter to be my ally than my enemy, Celina."

"Your ally?"

"I don't want to have to kill you-it would be a shameful waste of your potential-but if you become a threat to me, which you well may, I will have no other choice. But I would much prefer that you join me, rather than oppose me."

"Why in God's name would I join you?"

"Because I can set you on a path to greatness that your noble-minded friends never can. Because I can teach you to follow in the steps of Salazar Slytherin himself, which is something I know you want, even if you yourself don't know you want it. And because you are worthy of the things I can teach and show you, as few are, even among my Death Eaters." (The dark woman's eyes narrowed at that last remark.) "Now, I ask you this, Celina Merlin-why should you not join me?"

"You honestly need me to tell you that?" she asked, incredulously. "Or have you forgotten that you killed my father?!"

"What of it? I killed my father. I imagine I shall kill a great many more fathers before I am done."

"And that's supposed to make me want to join you?"

"Child, child...still bound by the mental chains of morality? That's a setback we're going to have to overcome."

"Go to Hell."

The woman stepped forward again, dark eyes blazing. "You dare speak to the Dark Lord that way, you little-"

"Bella..." Voldemort said softly, a tone of warning in her voice.

"You should just let me kill her for you, Lord. She won't join us."

"We knew that before we took her, my Lord." Lucius agreed. "She's too brainwashed with devotion to your enemies."

"Her devotion to those who oppose me runs deep, it is true. Particularly for her sister and the werewolf. But there is something in her that runs deeper, and in time she will realize it-I simply aim to make her realize it faster."

Celina's eyes narrowed again. "What are you talking about?"

"The connection between us, my young friend. Surely you're not totally unaware of it..."

"You mean...you mean my being in Slytherin and a Parselmouth?"

"In part, yes...but our connection goes far beyond that."

"What do you mean?"

He told her.

"No..." she whispered, staring at him in mingled shock and defiance. Her voice rose to a scream. "No! That's not true!"

"Oh, I assure you, child, it's true. I'm not surprised that your father never told you...your mother might have, had she lived, but I'm sure Nicodemus wanted nothing more than to forget it."

"No...you're lying...no!!"

She charged at him again, but he batted her away easily this time. "Tell yourself that if you wish, for now. In time, the truth will sink in...and we'll see what becomes of your righteous anger then."

Turning, he swept out of the room, giving instructions to the woman as he passed her. "Chain her again, and leave Nagini to guard her. Let's leave her alone for a while to...consider things."

A.N. "Celina-I am your father!!" (dun dun DUN!!!)

Eh...no.

(grabs Umbridge's Pen O' Detention From Hell and makes herself write "I must not copy George Lucas." fifty times)

But seriously, there is a connection between them, which will be developed and revealed in later fics, but that's not it.

Voldemort can't be Celina's father.

...He has to be Harry's. (ducks projectiles) XD

Oh, and I was wondering when someone was going to ask about Isadora...no, she's not Sirius and Alexandra's daughter, sorry. You'll find out about her...I could just tell you now, but I don't feel like it. ^_^

Whoa, smilies...I am hyper. Quite. Writing evil! makes me hyper, apparently...

Ooh, and Bellatrix is SO much fun to write...I may go a little overboard with her in the next chapter. (I have SUCH a weakness for cool female villains...)