There was only one who tried to walk away without meeting the Dark Lord. His name was Munsen Wilhelm, and my master asked me to take care of him in a way that would stand out to the others I had led to him, but leave keep our dealing inconspicuous to the outside world. The only way to do this was to take care of him outside of school, at Hogsmeade during a student weekend. I wanted him to forget about my threat so when I came up behind him he died with a look of surprise on his face. In order to achieve that, I had to treat him as though he had nothing to worry about.
I played the seductress, my favorite role, and led him on to believe that the Dark Lord granted second chances. I cooed to him in a sweet voice. I let him get comfortable with me, but I could see that underneath his quick replies and anxious nods, he was terrified of me and what I was going to do to him. It would take a month to reprogram his suspicion so that he finally let his guard down, and that was when I planned to strike. The Dark Lord said my plan was absolutely flawless. He said that he loved how all my thoughts came out already dark and twisted, with very little need for manipulation. He appreciated my deviousness, and that was what I always loved about him. He was the only one who ever got me . . . the only one who cared. . .
"Tonight is the night," Bella leaned close to her sister at breakfast, pushing aside another bouquet of orchids from Rodolphus. Three days in a row he had sent flowers, and even though she'd wanted his attention, Bella felt that his approach was a little unoriginal.
"The night?" Narcissa repeated. She curiously tilted her head, and a perfect gold ring of hair fell off her shoulder and down her back.
"The night," Bella nodded. "Mummy's vengeance," she said.
"Oh," she nodded. "Oh, yes!" she said with a bit more enthusiasm. "The night! But Bella, how?"
"Don't worry," she shook her head. "I can't divulge details, but mark my words, it will be done."
Narcissa smiled sweetly, "Think of me as it is done."
"Of course I will. I shall mention your name to him moments before."
"Thank you," her sister nodded. She changed the subject here, "Rodolphus seems to be singing a different tune all of the sudden, sister. Tell me, what have you done to him?"
"Nothing," Bella shrugged.
"Come now," Narcissa replied disbelieving. "Love potion? Did you have that greasy boy, Snape, mix one up for you? I would have done it, Bella. You know that. Even though I think Rodolphus is a horrible man and you deserve so much better. Two bad Lucius didn't have a brother. Think of it! We could go from being the Black Sisters, to the Malfoy sisters, and all that money. . ." she had gone off among the clouds with that last statement, her dreamy sigh lifting her away.
"Thank Cronos Malfoy doesn't have a brother!" Bella laughed. "One Lucius is far too many as it is. And besides, we don't need the sanctity of marriage to reinforce our sisterhood, 'Cissa. We'll always be the Black sisters."
"Yes," she agreed. "Yes we will! Now tell me how you've done it. Which potion did you use?"
"No potion, honest. I simply decided to change my strategy."
"Oh?" Narcissa glanced sideways at her sister, "What did you change?"
Bella grinned casually, "I stopped playing hard to want?"
"You mean. . ."
"Yes, I stopped letting him think I even care, and look at how it works. Oh, yeah, and I stood him up on Saturday."
"You didn't?"
"I did," Bella was still rather satisfied with this. It amazed her how confident she felt with the Dark Lord's support. No one had ever reminded her of her worth before. "I think it makes a big difference that the Dark Lord seems to favor me a bit. He enjoys sharing his private reveries and plans with me and me alone and that drives Rudy crazy. He wants to know what's going on and I'm not talking."
"Well done, sister dear!" Narcissa brought her arm around her younger sister's shoulders. "I'm so proud of you, and I can't help feeling a bit of a glow when I think that if there's anything you've learned from me it's how to properly play your cards with a man."
"I was a bit slow with the lesson at first," Bellatrix had never felt such a genuine smile as she did at that moment. She looked down at the flowers on the table, admired the contrast between their color. Black and Purple, like a bruise. Is that what she had done to his heart? Left it bruised? The grin broadened. She could feel her whole face tightening with its movement. "But I think I've got it now."
"Good! Fantastic! It'll be so much more appealing if the two of you are an actual couple when you appear in my wedding."
"Your wedding?" Bella questioned. "That's the second time you've mentioned marriage this morning. Shall I be so bold as to assume that Lucius has gone and made the ultimate fool of himself so soon? Why, it's been barely two months he's been courting you, and already he's asked you to marry him?"
"No, not yet," Narcissa gave a confident, little giggle before she sang, "but it's only a matter of time."
"I'm sure. He adores you," the eagle owl dropped in over the table, shadowing over Bella's dark bouquet before a dainty package fell before he sister. "See, simply adores you. You're lucky, 'Cissa."
"I am, aren't I?" she grinned, unwrapping the package. "He is wonderful, and such a wicked man. Why last week at Hogsmeade he tried to get me to. . ."
"Bella, Rodolphus is here to see you," Rabastan approached the table. He wore a look of great deprecation when she glanced back over her shoulder at him. "He's out on the steps. Dumbledore won't let him in, but he swears it's urgent. That if he doesn't see you he'll go mad."
"What?" she remarked. "What on earth is he doing here?"
"Who knows," Rabastan shrugged, dropping into the seat opposite Narcissa. "Who cares?"
"That's odd," Narcissa noted. "Are you sure you didn't use some kind of potion on him? He sounds like a man possessed."
A casual laugh escaped her, "No potion, I told you. I just learned how to play his game and it looks like he doesn't like it."
"He always was a sore loser," Rabastan smirked.
"You should go and see what he wants," Narcissa urged. "Before he lands himself in Azkaban for assaulting the headmaster of the school."
Bella sighed, and rose from the table, "I suppose I should go and see what he wants." She glanced down at Rabastan, a bit of pleasure warming her as she realized the younger brother was jealous. Poor boy, she thought. He should have known what he was getting himself into, entangling with her on any level. "I might be late for Charms, Rabastan. Will you take notes for me?"
A compliant smile lifted his cheeks, "Of course I will, Bella."
She walked out of the Great Hall and into the foyer, where she saw Professor Dumbledore standing with his arms crossed over his chest, the silvery length of his beard draping over those arms as he assured a very aggravated Rodolphus Lestrange that he was not permitted within the castle no matter how urgent his message for Miss Black was. "Ahh, Bellatrix Black," the headmaster smiled pleasantly. "Just the girl I was looking for. It seems a very disturbed young man has come vying for you attention. Shall I send him away, or would you wish for permission to see him to the gate on his way out."
Bella tossed her options around in her mind for a moment. She actually considered sending him away empty hearted now that she knew it was an option, but alas, she realized that such a gesture might actually blow her own plot up in her face. She heard her sister's voice reminding her that "A proper lady knows how to play her cards. She always knows when to yield to her paramour to keep their relationship in tact." This was a yield moment, she thought, or at least a temporary rest stop between the monumental struggles that would eventually bring them together.
"I'll walk him to the gate, Professor," she decided.
"Very well, then," he nodded once, stepping aside and opening the door for her. "Mr. Lestrange, Miss Black will see you to the gate. One can only hope this jaunt will be enough time for you to say whatever it is you need to say to her."
Rodolphus muttered something unpleasant under his breath which evoked nothing more than an eyebrow from Professor Dumbledore.
Bella heard the door close behind her, "Rudy, what on earth are you doing here? Causing some kind of scene? Making a menace of yourself? You'll get me expelled!"
"I had to see you," the scowl lifted away from his expression, the lines in his furrowed brow softening when she stepped toward him. "Why are you avoiding me? Why did you stand me up?"
"I had work to do, Rudy," she explained casually, drawing her robes tighter around her to ward off the chill of the late, February wind. "Work comes before pleasure, most especially in his service. You should know that yourself."
"Well, of course, but. . ."
"No buts."
"You could have sent me an owl to cancel. I waited for hours."
"Awwe," she sympathized with sarcasm. "Poor Wudy. He had to wait for something."
"Imagine if it had been you." He said. "You would have never let me hear the end of it."
"Imagine?" she asked. They had both started the journey toward the gate. "Imagine, Rudy. It has been me. Dozens of times you left me waiting for you, no note, no explanation. I'm tired of waiting for you. I don't need you."
"What do you mean you don't need me?" he gasped. "I thought you loved me."
"I do," she shrugged. "I love you the only way I know how to love, but that doesn't mean I need you."
"Well, I need you."
"You don't!"
"I do!" he insisted. "These last weeks without you have really shown me. I can't live without you. I want to marry you tomorrow."
"Don't be stupid," she rolled her eyes. "I have to finish school."
"What do you need school for? You know the Dark Lord will provide. He will make our way for us." She'd actually had that thought more than a hundred times those last weeks. She was learning nothing in that school and she hated being there. "Leave this place tonight and marry me. We'll run away together."
"No," she shook her head.
"Please, Bella," he reached into his pocket. "I even brought you this, see? See? This is me, being serious about us. I love you." He grabbed for her hand and dropped something cold into her palm that immediately began to warm to her blood temperature. "Let's just get married. We can walk through that gate right now and never look back."
Her heart was rumbling inside her like thunder. Surely he could hear it, or maybe it was only her, her burning ears and face showing how afraid she was to give in to him. Had the Dark Lord done something? Had he said something to change Rodolphus' mind, or was the power of her taking control really more than he could stand to have wrought against his heart? "Not tonight," she shook her head. "I have work to do tonight."
"What work?"
"My work. Nothing for you to concern yourself with."
"Fine then, tomorrow." He tried. "I'll come back for you tomorrow."
"I don't know," she shrugged. "I need to think about it."
"Think about it?" he astounded. "Bella, what is there to think about? I love you, you love me, let's do this!" He grasped both of her hands after taking the ring from her. "We belong together."
She looked away from his pleading face, "I know we do."
"See, you know it. I know it. Let's do something about it."
They walked slowly in silence. Bella was surprised that she had to think about, but her instinct had become so honed over the last weeks that she knew what an immediate response would do. He would win, things would go back to the way they were again, and she would be left wanting and alone, the only difference being that she had a ring on her finger. They had just arrived at the gates of the school when she decided that she had come too far to let him get away so easily.
"Rudy, I will marry you, but it won't be tonight, nor will it be tomorrow." She said. "I will marry you when I am ready, and not a moment before that. In the meantime," she took the ring from him and slipped it over her finger, "I'll take this."
"Don't you want me to get down on my hands and knees?" he asked.
"Good gods, no! I couldn't stand to see you grovel." She shuddered. "You'd remind me of your brother far too much."
"Thank heavens for that, then!" He smiled.
Bella leaned across the space between them and placed a kiss on his cold cheek, "Come and see me next Saturday."
"Of course," he nodded. "If you change your mind and want to get married tomorrow. . ."
"I'll owl you," she winked, and stepped back from him. "Goodbye, Rudy."
"Bye, Bella," he was still grinning. He didn't even seem to realize she had played him completely.
Now that was power, she thought. She turned around and started walking
back toward the castle and never looked back. She knew that he was
watching her, hands gripping the gate from the other side. It was then
that she realized how easily she had won, and she had definitely won,
for not once had he told her not to call him Rudy. Things were
definitely looking up, she noted with a self-satisfied smirk. Things
were looking up indeed.