Disclaimer: Nothing has changed in the last 10 minutes. I don't own anything except my fire breathing nun. And a pope-card. Don't ask.

I'm Not Ashamed, You're Entertained

"Who are you?" asked Bellatrix pointedly. The boy had not broken her gaze, and was still staring at her intently with black eyes, admonishing her silently for having interrupted his reading.

The boy marked the page in his book and laid it on the seat next to him. Scowling, he pushed hair out of his face.

"Who wants to know?"

"Bellatrix Araminta Black, second daughter of Cygnus and Druella Black, said Bellatrix proudly, tossing her long hair. "I'm a first year. And you are too, 'cause if you weren't, you'd be sitting with your friends instead of in an empty compartment, right?"

The boy rolled his eyes.

"For your information, Bellatrix Araminta Black, yes, I am a first-year. And no, I'm not sitting alone because I haven't got friends, I'm sitting alone so that I can read in peace, without being disturbed by idiots!"

"Ooh, touchy! You still haven't told me your name, though," said Bellatrix, bounding over to the other side of the compartment and plopping herself down on the seat next to the boy, narrowly missing the book.

"Severus Snape! And I'll thank you not to sit on my book!"

"Snape…," said Bellatrix slowly. "I don't recognize that, and Mother and Father always told me that I'd meet all the wizarding families worth knowing before I went to Hogwarts! You've heard of the Blacks though, right?"

"I can't say that I have. Now will you kindly leave-"

The young girl's eyes had suddenly turned from dancingly playful to fiery. She glanced back at him, and got up, pacing despite the rocking of the train.

"So you're…not pureblood, are you? You know, that's going to be a problem. Everyone knows that the only good House is Slytherin, and they take mostly purebloods. All the Blacks have been in Slytherin, you know."

At this, Severus stared out the window, annoyed. This wasn't at all how he had imagined his train ride to Hogwarts. Past experiences had taught him that normally, students waited until they were actually at school to tease him. Then again, this wasn't school, this was Hogwarts. The wizarding school.

At that moment three Gryffindor third-years burst into the compartment, jeering and taunting.

"Aww, ickle first-years! Scared of the big bad Sorting Hat?"

"No, for your information!" stated Bellatrix, getting right up to the tallest Gryffindor and poking him in the chest. "We," she gestured to Severus and herself, "know we're going to be sorted into Slytherin, there's nothing for us to worry about!"

She made to slam the compartment door on them, but before she could reach the door handle, Severus had drawn his wand and was pointing it at the group of Gryffindors. Instead of backing off, frightened, the boys grabbed each other in mock fear, all of them trembling exaggeratedly.

"Oh, we're so scared! What are you going to do, try and levitate my quill?"

The other boys laughed, but Severus merely glared at them.

"Tarentallegra!"

At once, the three boys' legs began to jerk uncontrollably, and they were forced out of the compartment, not by Severus and Bellatrix, but by their own cursed legs.

The compartment door closed with a soft thud, and Bellatrix gaped at Severus, a strange look in her eyes.

"I thought you said you weren't pureblood! That was amazing! Most kids our age can't do spells at all, let alone jinxes! Especially when the opponents are twice your size," said Bellatrix amusedly, giving Severus's scrawny body a look of disdain.

"Thanks," said Severus shyly, suddenly losing his confident air.

Bellatrix seemed to have gotten over the fact that Severus wasn't a pureblood; his jinxing abilities rivaled her own, and Bellatrix Black was not one to take defeat, even potential defeat, lying down.

"Look!" said Severus, gesturing out the window. "I expect we'll be arriving soon."

He was already in his regulation black Hogwarts robes, and he was busily returning Potions Moste Vyle to his trunk, which was impeccably packed, though falling apart slightly.

Bellatrix looked at him pointedly, gesturing slightly to her green dress. When Severus made no move to look up from his re-packing, she gave a little cough.

"I need to change into my robes."

He looked around, two points of color appearing on his pale cheeks.

"Oh…erm…right."

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The first-years were ushered out of the train in a line. As the other students took their seats in great carriages, seemingly being pulled along by nothing, the first-years trooped out to a dock not far from Hogsmeade station. Ten rickety looking rowboats were haphazardly tied to a pole. A large woman, taller than Bellatrix had ever seen, met them at the dock and gestured to the boats. She must have been at least eight feet tall, and her dust-bin lid sized hands held a wand not unlike the one Bellatrix had in the inside pocket of her robes. The only difference was that this wand was roughly the size of a large branch.

"Well, orf ya go, then! Four stu'ents to a boat, no more! Yeh'll be followin' me. I'll keep this 'ere lantern raised up high so yeh can see the way."

A deafening silence met the huge woman's words.

"Well…what're yeh all waitin' for?"

Bellatrix looked around for Severus, who had gotten caught between four other boys, all talking excitedly over his head. Bellatrix instantly recognized one of them, and ran forward.

"Sirius!"

"Trixie!"

Bellatrix elbowed Sirius hard in the ribs, hissing. "Don't call me that in public!"

Sirius laughed. Bellatrix nodded to Severus, who was now standing next to her looking mildly annoyed.

"Severus, this is my cousin Sirius. And Sirius, this is Severus…Snape."

Sirius, trying to avoid his friends' sniggers, said "Well…nice seeing you, Trixie…uh, Bellatrix. We're going to get a rowboat now."

Sirius backed off, followed by the three other boys.

"Well…I guess it's us then, Severus," said Bellatrix a little wistfully, staring after her cousin. "He's always been a little too macho anyway."

Bellatrix and Severus finally jumped into a rowboat along with two other boys. One was tall, with dark brown hair and strikingly light blue eyes.

"I'm Rodolphus Lestrange", he said proudly, holding out a hand for Severus to shake. "And you're obviously Bellatrix Black."

"I'm Rosier. Um…Evan. I mean…my name is Evan Rosier." The small dirty-blond boy held up a hand in a feeble wave. "I'm just really nervous, you know? For the Sorting?"

Rodolphus laughed. "You're kidding me, Rosier! You, scared of the Sorting? Your family's been in Slytherin for years and years! If anyone's got to worry, it's you," he said, pointing at Severus. "You haven't told us your name or anything. For all we know, you could be a Weasley! Well…" Rodolphus considered the boy's pale skin and black hair. "Maybe not. But still!"

Bellatrix surveyed the boys, all of whom were paddling the rowboat in the direction of the faint lantern beam, coolly.

"For your information, Severus Snape isn't a pureblood, but I'm sure he knows tons more jinxes than either of you put together!" Bellatrix took a breath, and looked at Rodolphus and Evan, both of whom were staring at Severus with a new-found reverence.

"Blimey!" said Evan. "Is that true?"

"Yes," said Severus shortly.

"Oh, stop bickering already," said Rodolphus. "Blood purity's important, Severus, if you really want to fit in. But we won't tell anyone, as long as you help us learn all the jinxes and everything, okay?"

Bellatrix pulled out her wand, surreptitiously fixing her hair. "Densaugeo!"

Suddenly, Rodolphus's teeth began to grow, as Evan and Severus roared with laughter. Once the teeth were past the young boy's collar, Bellatrix lifted the spell, amidst much groaning from both Evan and Severus. The boys congratulated her on the spell work; even Rodolphus had to give her a hasty pat on the back. The spell had been extremely well aimed, and Rodolphus's teeth had helped cut the ever-growing tension between them as they approached the glowing stone fortress that was Hogwarts.

As the four of them stepped gingerly out of the boat at the bank of the Hogwarts moat, Rodolphus looked at Bellatrix, eyes blazing. "I must say, Bellatrix, as much as that was painful and stupid and useless…it was also extremely amusing." He broke into a grin, eyes darting playfully.

Bellatrix grinned, as she tossed the goblin-wrought gold ring into the choppy black water. Severus and Evan however, didn't notice this. They were too busy peering at the ground around Rodolphus. Evan looked up.

"Lestrange lost his money-bag! Maybe it's…on the train or something, you know?"

Rodolphus looked around, annoyed. "I'll ask my brother about it later, I guess. There's no point squinting at the ground in pitch darkness," he said. He began to walk faster up the winding path to the castle, Bellatrix, Evan and Severus following a few paces behind.

"Hey! Severus, Evan, look at this."

With a grin, Bellatrix reached into her robes and pulled out Rodolphus Lestrange's money bag, which jingled merrily. Evan and Severus broke into gales of laughter anew.

"Why'd you do that?", asked Evan, through a fit of giggles.

Bellatrix smiled and winked.

"Obviously, I aim to please."

Author's Note: What next, lovely readers of mine? I've got some ideas which can be found on my livejournal (prozac-fidelus. but all reader ideas are totally welcome. By the way, young Bellatrix reminds me a lot of myself. It's a bit odd, actually. And yes, that might very well be Hagrid's mother.