Disclaimers: See the first chapter.

Snippets From the Potterverse

Chapter 71 - Voodoo Lady

It was a normal day at the Malfoy household. Lucius was moping because Draco had returned to school, and he had no one to sit in his lap and cuddle with. Narcissa still hadn't recovered from discovering that Lucius had a new lover, and was still wondering who on Earth it could possibly be. Rodolphus was dozing in his broom cupboard. Rabastan was munching on Bertie Bott's Every-Flavour Beans while he watched television. And Bellatrix was... Bellatrix was where?

She was in her bedroom, sitting at the sewing machine. Normally, she hated sewing, but this was a task better done on her own.

"Ow!" She cursed as she pricked herself for the hundredth time. Wiping the blood off on her hanky, she applied another Band-Aid.

She bent down busily, her mind on her work instead of her stinging fingers. She was busy making a small doll. It was dressed in a scrap of grey cloth, and had painted-on eyes.

"There." The sewing was finished. Now for the final touch. She opened her drawer and pulled out an envelope. Inside the envelope were a bunch of clippings of black hair. Smiling, Bellatrix glued these to the doll's head, giving it a long, scraggly mane.

"AHA!" She was done! It was a perfect doll of her cousin, Sirius.

"Now, I'll make you pay," she said, seizing a handful of pins.

STAB.

Meanwhile, at Grimmauld Place, Sirius was sitting between Remus and Bill. He was sniggering at the cartoons in The Quibbler. The rest of the Order was there as well, taking advantage of the children's absence by having a huge, important meeting. Once Dumbledore and Hagrid arrived, it would be time to start.

Snape was sitting across from Sirius. Suddenly he screamed, and toppled out of his chair.

There was a pause. Then McGonagall spoke up. "Er... Severus?"

"I'm fine. I - AAARGHH!" Snape rolled over, clutching at his stomach. "OW!"

"What are you up to now, Snivelly?" Sirius demanded.

"It's not -aaaaarrrrghhh!" Snape grabbed his head. "It's like - PINS - ARE - STABBING -ME -"

Bellatrix was still merrily stabbing her voodoo doll, convinced that she was hurting Sirius. "Just you wait!" she sang, thrusting another pin into the doll's crotch.

"ARRRRGHHHH!" Snape was in intense pain. The rest of the Order were in an uproar, trying to determine what was going on.

"It's voodoo!" Kingsley cried.

"It's a ghostly curse!" Tonks wailed.

"It's the Dark Lord's doing!" Moody roared. "I told you to have CONSTANT VIGILANCE!"

Dumbledore appeared, took stock of what was going on, and tapped Snape firmly with his wand. "Finite Incantatum!"

Bellatrix's doll burst into flames and crumbled into ash. The voodoo curse was lifted.

"Not fair!" Bellatrix burst into tears. She had just retrieved her spider-smashing mallet from under the bed.

The hair clippings she had taken from Grimmauld Place's dustbins had been Snape's. He had hired Kreacher to trim his hair.

"I'll never cut my hair again, ever!" Snape wailed.

"You'll look like Sirius," Bill said.

"EWWW!" Snape cried, and burst into tears.