A/N: Thank you all so much for your reviews, favorites and follows after last chapter! I hope that you enjoy this chapter - it's from a different POV! You can follow me on tumblr (nauticalparamour) where I post sneak peeks, story updates and answer questions.
Please let me know what you thought of chapter twenty-nine and be on the lookout for chapter thirty soon!
May 1969
The wild-haired witch scowled at the note in front of her, shoving her fingers into her black curls, barely able to resist the urge to pull at the strands. With a dark look on her face, she stared across the Great Hall to the Gryffindor table, where that mudblood sat, with her nose shoved so far into a potions book, it was a miracle that she was even able to walk anywhere.
What in Salazar's name was wrong with the mudblood, Bellatrix wondered?
Bellatrix had thought that she would be easy to manipulate into doing exactly what she wanted, but Hermione Granger had been resistant from the beginning. A little flattery here, some lies about how she and Rodolphus were star-crossed lovers, she was certain that the mudblood would have folded at some point in the two years she'd known Rodolphus. After all, Rodolphus was a good looking wizard and a pureblood to boot - what wasn't to like?
For someone other than her, that is...Bellatrix wouldn't touch that idiotic jock with a ten foot broom even if his father was highly regarded by the Dark Lord.
Why couldn't her dumb father see that Bellatrix was clearly destined for bigger and better men? She'd known it, felt it in her magical core from the first moment that she met the Dark Lord at her grandfather's Yule party in her fifth year. The way that he spoke, the way that he looked, Bellatrix knew right then and there that she would never accept anyone but him.
And the Dark Lord had noticed her as well. He'd laughed with her by the fireplace, sipping brandy, and told her about how he knew that she was a special witch, and he knew that she would do great things if she only just followed his path, followed his instructions. She was ready to take the Dark Mark then and there, just like her father had, but the Dark Lord had simply laughed and laughed, and praised her eagerness, and promised that he would mark her the moment that she graduated Hogwarts if that was what she wanted. He told her he would make her the first female Death Eater.
But Bellatrix just knew that she would never get such an honor if she had to marry Rodolphus Lestrange, no matter who his father was! She would be expected to pop out babies and keep their home and participate in society garbage like her mum did. And there was no way that Rodolphus would see the Dark Lord's cause as the necessity it was, not now that he was such a muggle lover!
She was tempted to stomp her feet in frustration. Couldn't her parents see what a terrible mistake that they were making? Didn't they hear the disgusting rumors that Rodolphus was fucking a mudblood in his family's home in Paris? Surely that would have been enough for them to break off the betrothal.
Apparently not, based on this utter drivel that her mother had sent to her that morning. Leave it to Druella to focus on place settings and guest lists and flower colors and robe fittings. Bellatrix would never consent to even stepping into Madame Malkins to let her mother dress her up in silk and lace, trussed up like a Yule turkey only to be given to that imbecile Rodolphus Lestrange to languish for the rest of her life.
No - she would not! And if her father made her, well...she had been practicing her unforgivables, and she would see to it that Rodolphus wouldn't be around for long. But then...what was to stop them from marrying her off again. Edmond Lestrange could always insist on marrying her to Rabastan. And, while Rabastan certainly was a better pureblood than his older brother was, there was no way that she was going to marry a twelve year old little twerp.
She was broken out of her homicidal musings by someone clearing their throat. Looking up from her mother's flowery handwriting, Bellatrix say Narcissa sitting across the table from her. She wondered how long her little sister had been sitting there, patiently waiting to be noticed. Narcissa would wait forever, if that was what was expected of her.
"What do you want, Cissa?" Bellatrix snarled, not caring if she hurt her little sister's feelings.
Narcissa's corn silk blonde hair was delicately curled in at the ends, with a big black bow that matched her uniform perfectly. "Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed," Narcissa countered, sniffing to show her disapproval. "Anyway, mother wrote to me and said that you still hadn't selected colors for your wedding ceremony to Rodolphus, and well, I just wanted to know if you had any thoughts about what you would be choosing, because, after all, I'll be your maid of honor, right? And I just want to make sure that my robes will flatter me because I want to make sure that Lucius will think that I look beautiful-"
"Cissa, shut up with your vapid, insignificant little worries about Lucius bloody Malfoy," Bellatrix snarled, her dark eyes snapping to where that little worm was sitting, laughing with his friends. "If Lucius Malfoy doesn't think you are beautiful all the time than you should destroy him."
"Bella! You shouldn't talk about him like that," Narcissa gasped, clearly aghast. "He's going to be your brother-in-law soon."
"Well, you should remember that you are a Black, and you are the prize," she answered, rolling her eyes. "The Black family is far more important than some silly little Malfoy, whose family has only just gotten an ounce of political power in the last fifty years."
Narcissa blushed under her sister's admonishment. "I know, Bella, I just..I really like Lucius," the fourth year answered, her face going a little bit dopey when she thought of her betrothed. "And, come on, can't you just pick green and be done with it so I can start looking for robes. There's only less than two months left before your wedding."
"There isn't going to be a wedding, Cissa," Bellatrix answered, feeling her rage bubble up once again when she thought of her short sided parents. "Or if there is, it certainly won't be to Bellatrix Lestrange."
"But Bella - mother said," Narcissa tried to argue back, only to be cut off once again.
Bellatrix growled in annoyance, before setting the letter from her mother alight. "I don't care what mother says, Narcissa," she argued back, her chin gutting out in defiance. "I am not marrying that oaf Rodolphus Lestrange, and I won't hear another word about it, understood?"
"Ahem - Miss Black?" Professor Slughorn's voice boomed. "I think you know as well as I that using an incendio at the breakfast table is not acceptable."
Putting on a fake smile, her dimple showing in one cheek, she agreed effusively with her Head of House. "Of course, Professor Slughorn, my apologies," she told him. "My emotions just got away from me for a moment...you see I got some unhappy news about my upcoming nuptials from my mother today," she lied.
Slughorn's face lit up at the mention of her betrothal to Rodolphus, perhaps still hoping for an invitation to the event, a joining of two influential families. "Of course, Miss Black. Perfectly understandable. It's a big day for you."
"Actually, I was wondering if I could make a floo call in your office, Professor? I am sure that a quick chat with my father will get this all sorted out," she said sweetly, twisting her fingers together. Narcissa started to pipe up, but Bellatrix stomped on her foot under the table. "I promise that I will be quick."
"Certainly, I was just about to return there now!" Slughorn said, his jolly voice booming down the table, gathering unwanted attention.
Bellatrix practically leapt up from the table, following the portly man back down to the dungeons, pointedly ignoring small talk that he was making, chattering away the whole time, not even bothering to see that his student was utterly bored.
When they got back to his office, he handed her a jar with some floo powder, before sending his wand at the hearth, a fire immediately starting. Slughorn made no move to leave the office, though.
"Um, Professor, would you mind if...well, could I please have some privacy when I speak with my father?" she asked. He looked somewhat uncomfortable with her request. "I promise it will only take a few minutes and I will come get you the minute I'm done."
Slughorn laughed. "Of course, Miss Black," he agreed eventually, only to leave the office.
It did not take long for the image of her father to come into the green flames. "Bellatrix? What an unexpected surprise to hear from you today. Did you get your mother's letter?" he asked.
"Yes, I did get mother's letter," Bella answered tartly.
"Good," her father said, smiling broadly. "Are you ready to put some effort into your wedding now? We have a lot of decisions that need to be made and not a lot of time to make them happen. Money can do a lot of things, Bella, but it can't do everything."
"No, daddy," she said with a frown. "I'm not going to be getting married to Rodolphus."
"Bellatrix, you are acting spoiled. I really expected better of you, especially after what happened with your sister," Cygnus snarled, clearly angry. "First Andromeda with that filthy muggle, and now you with this fit of pique over a perfectly good husband that I found you. Is Narcissa the only one of you three willing to do what's right for this family?"
"Don't compare me to Andy, daddy!" Bellatrix complained, feeling tears come to the edges of her eyes. As if she would dishonor her family the way that her sister had. "I'm trying to not make the same sort of mistake that she did."
"What on Earth are you talking about, Bella?" he questioned. "The Lestranges are a perfectly respectable family, and I won't hear you talk about them that way."
"But daddy, I've...I've been hoping that it wouldn't come to this," she said looking down into her lap. "I was hoping that I wouldn't have to tattle on Rodolphus, and what he was getting up to...I had hoped that you or his father would see what he was doing and would make the right choice, but...but I can't throw my life away on someone like him."
"What do you mean?" her father said, his face suddenly serious.
"I mean that...Rodolphus has been dating a mudblood here at Hogwarts. They go out in public all the time, not caring who sees them together, not caring that it dishonors me...he even took her to France last summer," Bellatrix said, letting her angry tears pour down her face. "And well, I don't know how to say this delicately, daddy, but I think it's no secret that he's...that he's had relations with her."
The thunderous look on Cygnus's face was exactly what Bellatrix had wanted. "Who else knows about this?"
"It seems like an open secret here at Hogwarts, daddy, and well...I thought that other society people knew about it, too," she answered honestly. "I had hoped that it would get back to his father and he would do the right thing and dissolve the betrothal, but daddy, please don't make me marry him. I couldn't bear the thought of letting the same hands that had touched a mudblood touch me, too."
She could see the muscles in his jaw working, trying to get ahold of his anger. "Tell me, Bella, what is this mudblood's name?" he asked. "I need to look into it, but I promise if it's true, you won't even have to look at Rodolphus Lestrange ever again."
"I knew you'd see it how I see it, daddy," she said brightly, wiping the tears off her cheeks. "The mudblood's name is Hermione Granger. And I think she's been living with the Weasleys."