Rachel slammed the door to her chambers, her cheeks turning the shade of her lips. She threw the decorative pillows off the bed and held one of the larger pillows to her face. Screaming into the pillow seemed to help her rage a little and she just stewed in silence afterwards. She had been looking so forward to her eighteenth birthday; now, she had to marry Draco once she turned eighteen. Rachel sat with her legs crossed, hanging over the edge of the bed with her arms folded over her chest. She heard the knock, but didn't care to talk to anyone at the moment. The problem, however, with living in the wizarding world was that it was difficult to keep others out of locked rooms.
"Rachel, be reasonable..." Regulus begged. He, Lucius and Narcissa were now standing inside the room in front of her.
"Father, I am nothing if not reasonable." She scoffed. "I believe it is all of you who are being unreasonable!"
"Perhaps, dear cousin, you should let me talk to her?" A voice not unlike Rachel's own, mature, commanding and slightly husky came from the doorway.
Standing at the doorway, leaning on the frame with shapely white arms, was Bellatrix Lestrange.
"Aunt Bella!" Rachel shot up and ran over to the slightly older woman, who hugged her warmly. Looking at the two next to each other always made others gape. Bella, having been born a Black, had their traditional jet-black hair, eerie golden-brown eyes, and pale skin. Rachel also inherited these genes. They were both very strong-willed and independently powerful witches, with a little streak of madness in them, and it was uncanny just how similar they were. The only major difference was that Rachel, at 5'7", had grown to be an inch taller than Bella, who was nearly eighteen years older than Rachel. Bella also had thin lines on her face and her eyes seemed to have lost the golden sheen during her time in Azkaban.
"Why don't you leave me alone with my niece for a little while, hm?" Bella dared the others to object, madness replacing that old malevolent shimmer from long ago.
"Alright, Bella." Lucius finally spoke, desperate to make sure there would be no halts in their plans.
Bellatrix and Rachel sat down on the ebony colored velvet bedspread and smiled at each other.
"So, you have objections to marrying Draco Malfoy?" Bella tossed her black waves behind her shoulders, forcing it out of her eyes.
"Of course I do!" Rachel snapped. "I don't want to be married yet, especially to someone I do not know well." She insisted, glaring a hole in the wall that separated her from the offensive male.
"You know," Bella smirked. "I've met him before, and you are quite lucky." She experimented with a look between her previous smirk and a coy grin. "He is quite handsome, tall, rich, and purely wicked and evil." The playful tone of her Aunt's voice made Rachel's lips curve up ever so slightly.
"Well, he is all those things, I suppose," She sighed. "But I had always wished that I would have a choice in the matter."
"Darling Rachel," Bella's voice grew a bit softer, gentler, and she touched the younger girl's cheek. "None of us have gotten to choose before, but we have all ended up happy."
"How is Uncle Rudolphus?" Rachel said, remembering for the first time in a while that he was working very closely with Lord Voldemort.
"He is wonderful," Bella smiled. "Our Lord makes us happy to serve under him."
"That's good." Rachel's smile slowly seceded.
"The Dark Lord has yet to steer me wrong, and he tends to be right about these things, given past examples..." Rachel reasoned with herself out loud.
"I suppose, in time, I can learn to love Draco." Her voice had more than an iota of defeat to it.
"Wonderful!" Bella clapped. "Now we get to bother your beefy fiancé for a deliriously lavish and expensive engagement ring!" She taunted. "But just out of curiosity, if you had to choose now..." Bella thought aloud rather absently as they got up to go to supper.
"Who would I choose?" Rachel finished for her and paused in thought. "I don't know." She frowned.