Sorry, this chapter is a little boring...but it is kind of necessary for the whole premise of the story. So sorry, but hopefully the next one will be better. Thanks for the reviews!
Chapter Four
The usual sounds of the Great Hall were peculiar in their lack of volume that evening. I sat at the table with Narcissa, listening as she chattered with Annette about Lucius and how wonderful he was. It was starting to grate on my nerves a bit. Typically, Narcissa's silly blathering didn't bother me in the least. But lately...it was all I could do to keep myself from shouting at her to be quiet.
"Bellatrix, are you all right?" Annette asked quietly, as she placed her hand on my shoulder. I turned to her with a false smile and nodded.
"Of course, why do you ask?"
"You seem a bit...out of sorts lately," she replied, as she turned back to her lunch. "And Rodolphus is walking over here."
I groaned and turned just in time to see Rodolphus sit beside me, smiling broadly. I glared at him, and continued to push my food around on the plate. Why couldn't he just leave me alone? Why couldn't he take a hint?
"So, Bella," he began, draping his arm over my shoulders.
"Stop calling me that!" I shrieked, pushed over the edge. "I'm not your friend, and I'm not romantically interested in you! What makes you think that I want to hear you call me that? What makes you think that I want to hear you speak to me at all? Why can't you just see that all I want is for you to leave me alone?" I demanded as I leapt to my feet, grabbing my bag.
After about two steps, a hand wrapped tightly around my wrist. I was jerked to a stop, and I spun around to see Rodolphus glaring down at me in pure rage.
"You can't just make a fool of me like that, and then walk away, Bellatrix," he snarled, his fingers tightening painfully on my wrist.
Rodolphus was not stupid. He knew very well that I was right handed, and he had grabbed that wrist. There was no way that I could get to my wand, I was completely at his mercy. I stared up at him defiantly, pride and anger clearly visible in my eyes.
"The sooner that you realize you belong to me, the sooner you'll stop making a fool of yourself," Rodolphus hissed, squeezing my wrist even more tightly. It took everything I had not to wince at the pain.
"I don't belong to you, and I never will," I sneered.
Unable to restrain myself, my hand came up and connected solidly with his face. I felt the shock reverberate through my arm, but the loud crack that resounded through the now silent Great Hall was highly satisfactory. I had never understood the allure of muggle fighting until that moment. Shocked by my behavior, Rodolphus dropped my wrist, and I ran out before he could grab me again.
If only he would stop being so obtuse! I stomped down to the Slytherin Dungeons muttering and gesticulating wildly. I knew that I looked like a mad woman and that I had frightened several of the younger students who had passed me, but I didn't care. I flopped heavily into one of the large emerald green couches, and pressed my fingers to my eyes.
"Ah, poor Bella, what a horrifying scene," an all too familiar voice commented from a few feet away.
My eyes opened, and I saw that Lucius was standing just behind the couch opposite me. I stared at him without responding, waiting expectantly for him to say something more substantial.
"What do you want, Malfoy?" I finally snapped in an unusually waspish tone.
"Bella, darling, that is no way to talk toa person who is doing you a favor. I want to discuss how you can join the Death Eaters," he said calmly, walking over to sit beside me.
My eyes met his warily and I nodded, indicating that he could continue and I would be listening.
"We have to take you to see our...I guess you would call him our leader. He will speak with you and determine whether or not you can become a member of the Death Eaters." Lucius smiled devilishly, patting my hand. "I believe that it would be best if you came with me and some of the others this Saturday. You will of course, need to pay attention to what we tell you before we leave the grounds," Lucius concluded. "Be ready to leave at Nine on Saturday."
With that, Lucius stood and walked away, leaving me to ponder my own thoughts. The Death Eaters. What a stupid name. I sighed heavily and glanced at the end table. A few letters were sitting on the end table, and I picked up one of the envelopes. It was addressed to Narcissa and myself. Curiosity got the better of me, and I opened it, pulling out the thin papers on which a letter was written.
My lips curled into a sneer as I read. It was from Andromeda. I continued to scan the letter, feeling supreme anger that she would even venture to write to Narcissa and I. We had made it perfectly clear when she married that filthy muggle, Ted, and completely disgraced our family that we didn't want to communicate with her anymore. My eyes narrowed as I reached the end of the letter. I flung the letter in the fireplace, not wanting to read about her half-blood daughter. I watched as the flames devoured the thin, dry paper. I felt some strange satisfaction. It was almost as if I were burning my connections to her and the Muggle World.
"Ah, there you are," Annette said from the doorway, relief on her face. "I saw you storm out of the hall, and I kind of expected Rodolphus to have followed you. I'm glad to see that he didn't. What have you been doing in here?"
"Spoke with Lucius, read a letter from the pathetic blood traitor," I replied nonchalantly, shrugging one shoulder delicately and grabbing my bag from where I had dropped it on the floor. "I'm going up to the room. I have to review for that exam in transfiguration. Want to come quiz me?" I said.
Annette sneered in distaste and shook her head. I didn't really have a transfiguration exam, but I didn't want to spend time with Annette right then. I wanted to start looking for something that would be appropriate to prove thatI belonged in the Death Eaters on Saturday. I also wanted to think about what I would have to do or say.
I dropped my bag on my bed, and walked over to my window. There was snow falling. I used to love snow. That day, it made me angry. Snow was cold and wet and the last thing that I wanted to see that day. I sighed heavily and rested my forehead on the glass.
"I need to go entertain myself," I muttered to myself. "Sirius," I whispered, grinning maliciously.
At that, I grabbed my wand and moved quickly from the Dungeons to find Sirius somewhere in the castle. There were any number of things that I could do to him and it was just as likely that he would try to retaliatewhich meant thatI wouldn't get in trouble. It was a perfect way to entertain myself.
"Oy, Bellatrix!" A female voice called as I walked down a corridor.
I turned to see Narcissa running up to me. "What?" I asked bluntly.
"This letter just came for you," she said, handing me a thick cream envelope. The ink was green and the script identified it immediately as a letter from my parents. I sighed and opened it, my eyes moving quickly over the page.
"What?" I whispered incredulously, staring at the page in front of me.
"What does it say?" Narcissa asked, obviously worried about my tone.
"Mom and dad have made arrangements with the Lestranges," I said quietly, still staring blankly at the page. "They want me to marry Rodolphus."
