Chapter One

I sighed in boredom as Professor McGonagall droned on about some ridiculous aspect of transfiguration. As far as I could tell I was never going to need to know anything about transfiguration. Once out of Hogwarts I would be married to a proper pureblood wizard and live the proper pureblood life. School was really a waste for girls in my situation. I watched as McGonagall transformed the desk into a giraffe, and sneered mentally at my ridiculous Gryffindor classmates.

"Ms. Black, since you seem to be paying so little attention, I can only assume you have already mastered today's lesson. Please, give us a demonstration," McGonagall said, her eyes meeting mine coolly.

"No thank you, I would rather not," I replied in a voice just as cool as her eyes.

"Then kindly pay attention!" She snapped. "Five points from Slytherin. Ah, Mr. Potter, give it a try."

Class seemed to drag on for endless hours. I feigned attention, watching as the old bat moved around the room and managed a few mediocre transfigurations when she stopped by me. I really had very little talent in any of the subjects. I had gotten owls in Transfiguration, Potions, Charms, Arithmancy, and Defense Against the Dark Arts, but only due to extensive studying with some of my house mates and some very fancy, careful cheating. The end of class bell rang, and I jumped up, rushing out of the room before McGonagall could call me to her desk again.

Lately, teachers seemed to be noticing that I was becoming less and less a normal girl. At one point I had simply been sly, cunning, and ambitious like the other students in my house. Oh, I had never been one of those decent, up right citizens but now… Now, I was feeling a much darker need for power. I felt an unnatural desperation to inflict upon others the pain that was being inflicted upon me. I moved hurriedly down the corridors toward the Slytherin common room.

Rodolphus Lestrange was waiting for me just outside; leaning against the wall in what he thought was an appealing manner. He stood up quickly when he saw me approaching and smiled in a suggestive manner. Rodolphus was attractive enough, and I had snogged him on more than one occasion, but I had already set my sights on someone else.

"Bellatrix, my dear, you must have run all the way from transfiguration," he said, as he ignored my glare and took my books smoothly. "I had no idea you would be in such a hurry to see me."

I glared at him angrily, and jerked my books out of his grip as I stormed over toward the dormitories.

"Don't worry, I wasn't hurrying to see you. Don't even try to follow me, or I'll hex you into oblivion," I snapped, stomping to my dormitory. I dumped my books on the bed with its emerald green hangings.

Severus had been sitting in the common room, reading through some old potion tome. For the past five years I had been trying to get him to notice me. As a first year, I had found him undeniably attractive, unfortunately, he fancied someone else. My sister. Narcissa. I didn't understand what he found so appealing about her, except for her talent in potions. But that was hardly anything to base a relationship on.

"Bella, are you coming to dinner?" Annette Parkinson asked from the doorway.

"Of course," I snapped waspishly, storming past her and out to the common room.

I glanced toward the fireplace and saw that Severus was staring at Narcissa longingly while she was giggling and flirting relentlessly with that Malfoy prat. I sighed quietly and looked back toward the entrance. Avery and McNair were standing there, obviously waiting for Rodolphus or Rabastan.

Lately, many of the boys in the house had started some sort of club. I had always been the best of friends with the boys in our house until they had started their stupid little club, the "Death Eaters," and had insisted that girls weren't good enough to be in it.

"C'mon, Narcissa," I called in a strained voice. Everytime I saw Severus watching her, I felt something inside of me blacken just a little more.

"Bye, Lucius," she breathed, leaning forward boldly. Her lips met with his and my gaze swooped over to Severus, who seemed shocked and hurt.

Narcissa was a year behind us, but Annette and I always made an effort to include her and to protect her from my idiot cousin and his friends. I glanced over at the Gryffindor table as we walked in, and saw that Sirius was sitting there, glancing anxiously at the Slytherin table. Apparently some prank was planned.

"Let's sit here," I said suddenly, grabbing Annette and Narcissa and pulling them over to the Ravenclaw table. Antoine Patil moved over to make room for us, and many of the boys at the table turned to watch Narcissa and I.

We weren't stupid, we knew that we were some of the prettiest girls to pass through Hogwarts. It was also common knowledge that our family had a history of producing Metamorphmagi and, although none of our generation had inherited it, many men found it intriguing and mysterious.

I hadn't been paying attention, and as a result I didn't manage to catch any of the boys before they sat at the table. I shrugged and returned to my meal. We were nearly finished when shouts and screams erupted from the Slytherin table. I spun in my seat to see that Severus, Lucius, Rodolphus, Rabastan, Avery, McNair, and Nott were all jumping up. Each of them had a word emblazoned on their back. I noticed that they had left three seats empty for Narcissa, Annette, and I, so the message was not exactly what Sirius and his friends had probably intended. It read "We Damn Sexy Beasts That Are The ." I assumed that it was supposed to read "We love the damn sexy beasts that are the marauders," but I couldn't be sure. I looked over Sirius with loathing evident on my face. He had always assumed that just because I was in Slytherin meant that I deserved to be the victim of his stupid pranks. I had never really done anything to him, but he felt a need to be an ass to me.

"Bella, you were supposed to be sitting over there!" He shouted, pointing to the seat that would have branded me with 'marauders.'

"Sod off, Sirius!" I shouted, before standing up and marching out of the hallway.

I had only gone a few corridors when I came across Rodolphus. He seemed to make a habit of waiting around for me. I brushed him off and stormed into the common room. Severus was sitting alone by the fire. I walked over and sat across from him.

"Hey, Severus," I said quietly. He looked up and sneered.

"What do you want, Bella? More help with potions?" he asked.

"No," I said quietly. I stood and sauntered to stand directly before him. "We both know what I want," I told him, sliding one of my hands into his thick, silky hair.

"Hmm, interesting, I seem to remember that you're with Lestrange at the moment," he sneered, looking up at me arrogantly.

My fingers tightened slightly on his hair and I shrugged.

"Apparently your memory is faulty," I returned with a sneer to rival his own. "Sharing a good snog doesn't necessarily mean that you're dating someone."

"Perhaps you should discuss that with Rodolphus," Severus suggested.

"Perhaps I don't care to," I replied, sliding my other hand into Severus' hair. "Perhaps what I want to do is this," I added, as I lowered myself onto his lap.

"You should be careful Bella, you wouldn't Rodolphus to walk in on you in a position like this," he said.

"You should shut up about Rodolphus," I snarled, before capturing his lips with my own.

It was common knowledge throughout Slytherin house that I wasn't exactly what many would call modest or chaste. I had snogged my fair share of the members of our house and others, but none of them had been anything like this. I could feel things that I had never imagined. Severus' hands slid up to grip my hips tightly, and I sighed into his lips, melting against him. He let his hands roam my body, and I groaned softly, my hands rushing over his neck and shoulders before settling on the buttons of his shirt. Severus shifted slightly so that I was sitting on the couch, facing him, and in mere moments, his weight was pressing down on me. I was ecstatic. This was something I had only dreamed of since first year.