Four days later, Lucius Malfoy stood in his baronial hallway. From the outside, Malfoy Manor could be seen towering out of the mists in the middle of the barren Wiltshire fields. Each window was aglow with light in startling contrast to the frosty exterior.

"Merlin! Samson!" He called out through a huge oak door, as two Great Danes came galloping through from the fields. Malfoy had two doors out to his 'gardens'. One, the goliath oak edifice, led out to a desolate landscape; dramatic and dark as a wilderness. The other, which lay directly opposite, was of similar height, though made of a lighter wood and with intricate cast-iron patterning across the surface.

Lucius Malfoy sent his dogs to the pantry, where they began to eat a rich meal of some kind of dark red meat, no doubt laid on by the house-elves. He then proceeded to this second, beautiful door. Opening at his command, it stood wide as he walked through. Though it was twilight, the moon and stars seemed to shine as brightly as if it were the middle of the night. The lustre of his hair flashed in the light of the moon as he stood, surveying this garden, a perfectly manicured expanse complete with a Romanesque pathway, flanked by orange trees, leading down to a magnificently palatial fountain. Breathing in the night air, he closed his eyes. Things are going to be quite different from now on, he thought to himself.

In another part of England, Bellatrix sat at her dressing table, combing through her hair. She felt an immense freedom lay before her, and yet... with all this freedom, she churned inside at all the attention being lavished upon her sister, as her marriage was being arranged. She had also recently heard that the girl Nanaea had accepted a proposal from Leo Mortmain, a man whom she had always rather fancied for one of her lovers. Turning from her reflection she jumped when she saw a figure standing by her bed.

"Now now, Bella, I thought Narcissa was the one who looked at her reflection. Perhaps I am in the wrong room?"

Bella's eyes lit up. The perfect pick-me-up, she thought, standing to meet him.

Malfoy walked over to her and yanked at the cord around her dressing gown. Grabbing her around the hips, he threw her down on to the bed.

"So hasty, my love?" She countered, regaining her breath, "Did you miss me?"

"On the contrary," he declared, his eyes flashing, "I am here to punish you for being such a harlot." He stood at the foot of her bed and began methodically, but somewhat violently, taking off his clothes.

Bellatrix laughed. "A harlot? That's a new one." She had been here before and lay back, propping herself up on some cushions.

Malfoy did not look at her. "I think it is a highly appropriate title, actually, though perhaps, 'slut' would be more accurate."

As he threw his last item of clothing on to the floor, Bellatrix stirred. This was different, somehow his eyes were different, his body was different, as if preparing for battle. She pulled herself up against the head board.

"What is the matter with you?" She asked, pulling a blanket across her body, suddenly feeling less than comfortable.

"I should think that was plainly obvious," he said, looking at her, though his expression betrayed nothing.

Bellatrix pulled the covers up higher. "Well you can fuck off then. I don't want you here anyway."

Malfoy marched to her bed and tore the cover off her. "So modest now?" He said, tracing a cool hand across her breasts, "I know what you've been up to, Bella."

His tone was unpredictable, and Bellatrix shifted under his touch. She could not lie to him. She looked into his eyes.

"And..?"

"And... I think it is an affront to someone like me, having another lover behind my back."

He took her hands in his and pinned them down on the bed. "I don't like betrayal, Bella..." he said with a wicked glint in his eye.

Bellatrix stared at him, desperately trying to work out whether he was being serious or not. She wanted him, but there was something in his smile which made her uneasy. She knew that she could never beat him physically, he was going to have his way whether she liked it or not. However, she could not bear the idea of him dominating her without her consent. She opened her legs and leaned up to kiss his mouth.

"I love it when you are rough with me..."

"Rough?" He said, in a voice dripping with sweetness, "You don't know the meaning of the word."

Malfoy pushed his knees into the edges of her legs, forcing them even further apart. With one quick move he was inside her, pinioning her to the mattress. Repeatedly he lunged into her, all the time looking deeply into her eyes, as if looking for something he had lost. Bellatrix had her head tilted to the side, her breathing a deep staccato. Removing one of his arms from hers he moved his hand down to where their bodies joined, moving his hand in time. She came with a cry, her head jutting backwards, as he too thrust deeply one last time before collapsing heavily on top of her.

Bellatrix caught her breath. "That wasn't really a punishment, now was it Lucius?" She began to laugh, twisting her fingers through his slivery hair.

"True ... that was not a punishment, I believe I was particularly lenient. But the night is not over yet Bellatrix."

Malfoy rolled off her and began to pull on his trousers. Bellatrix again felt uneasy.

"What are you playing at?" She asked with a smile, rolling onto her side. Malfoy did not answer. He appeared to be preoccupied. "What?" She demanded, sitting up on the bed. Still Malfoy said nothing. When he was fully dressed, he walked over to her dressing table and straightened his cloak. Bellatrix stood up and waved her hands over her body. Immediately she was clad in thick velveteen cloth. She began to boil with rage. With Lucius, though she enjoyed the time she spent with him, she could not stand the way he made her feel inferior.

Bellatrix was suddenly overwhelmed by the desire to assert herself, she wanted to regain some power. "I'm considering joining the Dark Lord, properly… I'm fed up with this place, anyway..."

She walked around him, watching closely for a reaction.

"The Dark Lord is not for little girls, Bella. I shouldn't meddle with things that you don't fully understand."

"The nerve of you! You aren't as great as you think, Lucius Malfoy... in fact I think you had better leave now, you bore me."

She stood looking at him, waiting for him to shout or something, anything. She wanted to hit him, but thought better of it. In the shadowy light of the candles his shoulders looked even broader than usual.

"I shall leave, Bella. But I shall go this way." He indicated to her bedroom door. She raised an eyebrow, thoroughly nonplussed, though straining to display a calm indifference.

"As you wish," she said, and opened the door.

Bellatrix let him walk in front of her, wondering how on earth he planned on leaving the house. Moreover, what would happen if her met her family on the way? A thought occurred to her, that if her parents were to meet whom they would presume as an illicit lover, they would no doubt try to arrange some kind of official union between the two. Bellatrix smiled to herself. Perhaps he wants to be caught, she thought to herself, Perhaps his jealousy over my liaisons in France have spurred him on to thinking about settling down? Even as she thought this, though, she knew she was deluding herself. Malfoy had no intention of settling down, whether he got married or not.

His earlier threat about punishment hovered about her briefly and suddenly she felt nervous, walking down the marble steps behind him. At the bottom, Malfoy made a sudden dash towards a heavy set door, which stood in the shadows opposite the stairs. Bellatrix rushed to grab his arm, "What are you doing?" But too late, he had thrust open the heavy door, breaching the darkness of the hallway and casting a huge band of light over the couple.

Malfoy continued to walk through the door. Bellatrix ran after him, blinking in the brightness.

"Lucius, darling, I see Bella has shown you in. Won't you sit down?"

Malfoy walked over to a seat and sat down. Bellatrix stared at him, then her mother, then seeing the entire room was now looking at her, she too sat down. She was too shocked to speak, or question anything; too shocked to trust herself to say anything which might give her away. But what was going on? She looked now at her sister, who evidently was in the same position. In fact, Narcissa looked even paler than usual and was doing her utmost not to look anyone in the eye.

Narcissa Black sat in her chair, wishing it would swallow her up so she didn't have to look at anyone. She could feel her eyes getting hazy, and she couldn't work out whether she felt embarrassed or frightened. Her mother had called her downstairs that evening, sent her back up to redo her hair, and then had made her wait. She had been told that this night she would meet her future husband.

When Lucius Malfoy had walked in, she had thought that he had, for some unknown reason, come to visit her family, perhaps her father regarding work. It was only when her mother invited him to sit down... as if she had been expecting him...

The understanding had dawned on Narcissa like water slowly rising up to cover her face, unnoticeable until suddenly she could not breathe and everything seemed to float around her.

The room was now silent. Mr and Mrs Black were beaming. Bellatrix and Narcissa both looked as though they had been struck over the head, and Lucius Malfoy sat in the centre of the room, calm and composed.

"Bellatrix, my dear," said her father, hastily jumping up to break the ice, "Things should be done formally, so... I have the pleasure of introducing you to your future brother in law. I know you were not informed of this little arrangement, but now I hope we can all celebrate together."

With a flurry of hands, Mr Black summoned champagne for all. Taking his blonde daughter's hand, he led her to the chair where Malfoy sat. Offering her hand to Lucius Malfoy, she fell to her knees. Her father patted her shoulders, seeing this as pleasing genuflection towards her future husband. The truth was that Narcissa did not think she could stand on legs which now seemed as flimsy as cotton.

"Now, now," said Mrs Black, "We must leave these two alone, to discuss... er, things, plans et cetera for the nuptials!" She clapped her hands together and ushered out her husband and her other daughter.

The latter daughter whose blue-green eyes seemed to have taken on a similar hue to her ebony hair, rose slowly from her chair.

"Congratulations," she said, though her voice sounded more high-pitched than usual.

As her parents left the room, she turned back.

"Punishment indeed," she said quietly, looking at Malfoy. Then, forcing a smile, "For my darling sister, of course."

With that she was gone.