It was now about ten at night, but the party was still in full swing. Most of the elder couples had departed hours ago, leaving the younger, newly married couples. They were sipping goblets of firewhisky and wine, and some couples were still spinning about on the dance floor.
I could feel the cold starting to take over when Lucius came over and told me that we were going to have to leave soon.
I took a deep breath to calm myself. I couldn't believe that we were going to meet him tonight!
I bid my parents adieu and found Lucius shaking hands, attempting to end the conversation. I saw him move from group to group, getting nearer and closer to the exit.
He looked to me with a pleading face that would have been humorous if he were not swarmed with hoards of women commenting on how handsome he had gotten since they had last seen him. I laughed at the thought of them pinching the pointed features of his face.
I sauntered over to him and he hooked his arm in mine as I interrupted, "Ladies, if you will excuse us, we have prior engagements to attend to, but if you're looking for someone desperate to talk to, I believe Miss Parkinson is over by her mother."
They looked at us stupidly, but we were already walking away before they had a chance to say anything.
"Thank you. I thought they were going to gab my ear off," he thanked with gratification.
We exited the gates of Malfoy Manor and apparated on the spot. We were going to be a minute or two late, but otherwise we were in good shape.
We reappeared in front of what I guessed was the Lestrange residence. It was far too dark to tell of what anything was, really.
When we walked in, we were greeted by darkness and figures dressed in black cloaks with silver masks. I made no movements against, nor did Lucius.
So these are death eaters, . . . curious.
A few candles lit as we walked across the foyer and entered a room with a large wooden table dominating most of the room's space. There were about thirty chairs positioned around the table, though most were empty. Only ten people occupied the chairs, leaving plenty of room for Lucius and I to sit.
Although, we made no move, unsure of what we should do first. Finally, Bella beckoned for us to sit down opposite her.
Across from us, we saw Bella, Rodolphus, and Evan. Further down the table was Crabbe, Goyle, and the Carrow twins. To my immediate left was Aaron and two places to my right, McNair was sitting next to Lucius.
After what seemed like eternity, the man everyone was so eagerly awaiting slithered in from a secret compartment from the wall. He had his hood over his entire profile, obscuring my view of him.
"Welcome, my fellow purebloods. I see a few familiar faces: Bellatrix, Rodolphus, Evan, McNair," he listed them off in a surprisingly nonchalant tone, "and a few new faces."
Bella was the first to stand, eccentrically anxious, "Yes, this are the Carrow twins, down there," she said pointing to the stumpy twins, "this, is Aaron Rosier, Evan's younger brother, this is Lucius Malfoy, son of Abraxas Malfoy, and this is my little sister, Narcissa," she finished, nodding her head in my direction.
"Well, Carrows, Aaron, Lucius, Narcissa, welcome to our organization," he greeted warmly. His voice seemed vaguely familiar from somewhere.
"Tonight, we are going to discuss the rules by which the wizarding community should abide by," he went on as soon as everyone was settled in and alert.
The night went on exceedingly boring, considering what I'd heard of what they usually do on most occasions. Lucius seemed bored, also. You would never be able to tell, though; he always has a blase expression on his chiseled features.
Once the meeting was over, we all stood and walked out of the meeting room and onto the porch of the estate. We were to apparate on the outskirts of Hogsmeade.
I apparated and landed directly next to an ecstatic Bella. She was all smiles, which distinctly worried me. She was never one for smiling, so to see her mouth turn into anything but a thin line or sneer was rather eye-opening.
Bella took my arm in hers and we walked back to the gates of the castle. I wasn't really how they had opened the gates without alerting Professor Dippet, but I figured I would ask later. I was too exhausted to do anything right now.
Once we were back in the common room, I plopped down unceremoniously across a plush arm chair in front of the fire. Bella and Rodolphus followed suit on the couch while McNair and Lucius fell onto a couch opposite of Bella and Rodolphus.
"So, Cissy, why were you and Malfoy late?" Bella asked in a accusatorial tone. Her forehead was set into a frown.
The rest of common room seemed interested as well and craned their necks to see what was happening between the two notorious Black sisters.
Lucius was one of the people interested in what Bella was saying, only for different reasons than the other prying ears of our Slytherin peers, I'm sure, "We were held up at the Manor because women never stop their incessant gabbing."
"Really, now?" she said, still unconvinced, "Surely society women aren't that terrible."
I had to laugh at that; Bella hated society women, with their rules and regulations and what not, "Leeches, Bella, society women are nothing more than leeches."
It was at that time that Violet Parkinson and the nonentities who were also invited to the party stormed into the room.
"Forget something at the party, Lucius?" Bella asked in a sardonic voice. That drew laughs from the older Slytherins, but Lucius and I had completely forgotten about them.
"So, where did you two go off to after you left, hmm?" Violet demanded, "after you two left, I was bombarded with queries of where you two had slunk away to! Can you even begin to contemplate how embarrassed I must have been. I had no answers to any of their questions!"
"Violet, I don't particularly care at the moment, okay? You can chew us out later, but right now, I don't feel like hearing your high pitched squeaky little voice right now or I'm going to throttle you! Understand?" I snapped.
Violet stood aghast and shocked, "I will not be talked to this way, Black!"
"Who's going to stop me? You? I highly doubt that Parkinson." I retorted with a smirk.
Bella was watching in amusement as was everyone else. I was done with being nice to this girl; if she was going to be a bitch, I was going to be a bitch back to her.
I stood from my comfortable place on the chair. I was about to walk back up the stairs when I noticed that Violet was still staring at me and everyone else was still quiet.
I riled them up, might as well give them a strong ending to the show.
"Parkinson, it's about time you found your place in society and it's certainly not above myself, so I would work on that," I said over my shoulder. I started slowly ascending the stairs to the showers.
"You're a vile beast!" she shrieked back at me.
"You're a desperate whore made out to be a pureblood wife. I'm sure you'll make a fine one, though. All you'll really have to do is spread your legs and bear heirs. I'm sure you'll have plenty of practice by the time you're married, though, so I wouldn't fret," I riposted.
I turned back to see the shocked look on her face; it was truly priceless.
"Goodnight, Bella. Thank you for inviting me to the party, Lucius. Your grandparents are very interesting, and they invited me back for conversation another day," I said and proceeded to climb to the stairs.
I took a warm shower to cool my tense nerves, shimmied into my night clothes, and padded back to the first year dorms only to find Bella waiting on my bed.
She was smiling even bigger than when we returned from the meeting, "That was just about the funniest thing I've ever seen since mother lost her temper on Avery's mother two years ago."
"Yes, well someone needed to wipe that proud smirk off of her face," I replied with a yawn. I scooted her over, so that I could lay under the duvet. I pulled my legs up to my chest in sleeping position and closed my eyes.
"No doubt she's going to owl her mother tomorrow. I wouldn't be surprised if she was writing the letter right now," Bella continued.
"Let her," I replied in a tired voice, "I don't really care what Mother Parkinson thinks about me, but I don't think you care either. The only person we have to worry about is mother because I think she'll go into Cardiac Arrest if she finds out what I said," I finished with a light laugh.
"Yes, well, I'm sure we'll here about it in the morning, so get a good night's sleep. Goodnight, Cissy," she said and left the room. I turned the lights off and drifted off into a well deserved sleep.
The next morning came too quickly for my own good. The sky was still a dim blue when Bella strutted into the first year dorms and pulled my curtains back, rifling me from my sleep.
After Bella's futile attempts to rouse me from my sleep failed, she turned to the one tactic that never failed: shouting.
"CISSY, GET UP!" she wailed into my ear. I refused to give her the satisfaction of letting her see me scowl like I had done in the past.
Bella started growing impatient when suddenly she took a vase with black roses in it and poured them over my exposed face.
I flew out of bed as soon as the water's icy clutches bombarded my skin.
BELLA, I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" I screamed. I heard a few soft moans of protest from the girls still sleeping who were now forced to listen to Bella and I.
Bella let out a manic giggle as I chased her out of the room and down to the common room. To my surprise, students were already starting to crowd the couches even at this early in the morning.
Rodolphus was sitting on one of the couches and smirked at my appearance. Bella went to hide behind, giggling the while time, him as I followed.
"What is it that she's done to you exactly, Cissa?" he asked from his same position on the sofa. I threw him an icy glare that made him raise his hands in defense before continuing.
"She poured icy cold water on me while I was trying to sleep!" I screeched at him, "And it is freezing down here. Why do we have to be under a bloody lake?" I finished in a murmur.
Rodolphus just laughed and pulled Bella on top of him. I scowled at them both in an amused fashion as I warmed myself by the fire.
"Here," Rodolphus said as he noticed I was shivering. He handed me his thick robe, and I took it gratefully.
When I put it on, it overwhelmed by petite frame, but I was warmer than I was before, "Thank you, Rodolphus. At least someone knows how to act. You're going to have yourself a handful with this one," I said, pointing at Bella.
She just stuck out her lip in a fake pout and put on some baby doll eyes in an sad attempt to make me forget. When I said nothing, she just leaned back and lounged on the couch next Rodolphus.
Since I was already awake, I grabbed my bag by the fire and went over my essay on the history of troll wars for History of Magic. It was supposed to be at least half a roll of parchment, and mine went well beyond half the scroll, so I should in good shape.
I curled up in my chair with a pillow under my head and attempted to go back to sleep. From the silence in the common room, I concluded that Bella was doing the same.
Half an hour later, people were starting to wake and stumble down the stairs in their robes. It wasn't too long before I could see Lucius and his minions coming downstairs. Unfortunately, Violet came sauntering down the stairs after him.
"Morning, all," Violet brassily proclaimed to the common room. A few students mumbled their response, but they went unheard by Bella's comment.
"Stuff it, Parkinson. It's too early in the morning," Bella groaned as she turned to face the back of the plush sofa.
"Don't be so lazy, Bella," she replied in a nauseating innocent voice.
'Don't call me, Bella," Bella snapped with a look of malice on her face.
"Narcissa gets to! And so does Rodolphus!" she whined in her high-pitched voice that grated my ears like cheese.
"Yes, well, they're family and fiancé, now aren't they! And I really don't like you now go away," she replied in a bittersweet tone.
"Well, good morning to everyone except Bella, then!" she said as she pulled back curtains that revealed a shimmering bright lake. We could see the fish swimming and the giant squid flow by.
"Parkinson!," I yelled in frustration, "some of us are trying to sleep."
"Well then go back upstairs," she said with a smirk.
"No, I don't think I will," I said and with a flick of my wand, the curtains were pulled back into darkness. Bella laughed as she her head fell back on her pillow again.
"Yes, because some of us want to get up and moving," she said opening the curtains again.
"Some of us can get over it, now can't they," I said closing the curtains with my wand again.
By now, people were snickering into their sleeves at the show. They were paying close attention to see if a fight would break out after what happened last night, I assume.
"Now you're just being childish, Narcissa," she said in a mocking tone that she was using just to agitate me.
"No, this is being childish," I replied and threw my pillow at her. It hit her square in the face and she fell back against the wall in shock. I closed the curtains for what I hoped would be the last time.
Bella burst into a fit of giggles, well, they were more like cackles. Still, some other people joined in eventually.
"Fine, stay here and sleep. I'm going to the Great Hall where I won't get pillows thrown at me," she shrieked in frustration.
"That's all I ask," I said turning my back to them and resting my head on the arm of the chair.
She let out an exasperated sign before stomping out of the common room and out of the dungeons.
"Peace and quiet," I mumbled to myself. It wasn't too long before Bella had to ruin my morning once again.
"No, no, no, Cissy. You're not going back to sleep, not yet," she said mischievously.
"Bella, what are you-," I started, but before I could say anything else, Rodolphus picked me up by my feet and Bella grabbed both of my wrists.
I couldn't move my feet or hands, and I was starting to get angry.
"Where are you two taking me?" I asked through gritted teeth.
"You'll find out soon enough, Cissa," Rodolphus laughed.
They dragged me out off my chair and Rodolphus' robe I had been using as a blanket fell off me. I was being dragged out of the common room and out of the dungeons.
I couldn't turn my head too much, but I could vaguely see that we were going outside.
"You never should have gone to sleep, Cissa," Rodolphus said, trying to contain his laughter.
We passed the Great Hall and heads turned towards us, but Bella and Rodolphus kept moving. Evan and Aaron got up from their seats at Slytherin table and came running after us.
"Bells, Rodolphus, where are you going with Cissa?" Evan asked in a slightly concerned voice. Aaron, on the other hand, was laughing and grabbed my left foot that Rodolphus had been holding.
"Thank you, Aaron. You are such a good friend," I said sarcastically.
We were outside now, and a burst of wind gave me a hint of where we were at, The Black Lake.
"Bella, what are you doing?" I asked in a final attempt to figure out just what she was trying to do.
"You'd think she would have figured it out by now," Rodolphus said. His face was just dancing with amusement by now.
"Okay, ready, one . . . two . . .," Bella counted down, steadily rocking my body over the edge of the clenches of the Black Lake, "THREE!"
They threw me in the water and for the second time that morning, I was freezing cold from the Black Lake's water. I surfaced after swirling in the water for a while.
I swam to the shoreline and crawled over to the sand. I flipped over on my back and curled up into a ball of freezing cloth and wily hair.
"I. AM. GOING. TO. KILL. YOU. BELLA!" I shrieked and got up ready to chase her. When I looked up, I saw that they were already running back to the castle. I picked up my speed to a dangerous level; if I were to trip, I would probably go unconscious.
"Can't kill what you can't catch, Cissy!" Bella yelled back. I burst into the door they had just closed and they were hunched over laughing, panting out of breath.
Once they saw me, they took off running with me tailing close behind. Evan burst through the doors behind me, but slipped on the trail of water I had been leaving.
"Sorry, Evan!" I called back as I kept running towards Bella and Rodolphus' fleeting figures ahead of me. They burst into the Great Hall where everyone immediately stopped.
However, Bella and Rodolphus kept running, as did I. They rounded the Slytherin table and ran straight into Crabbe and Goyle. I didn't stop running, and they saw that. They clumsily stood up and ran through a crowd of first year Gryffindors.
They shouted for them to 'watch it'. I took this opportunity to grab a goblet full of pumpkin juice and continue running. I caught up to Bella while Rodolphus kept running through a gaggle of Hufflepuffs. I threw the pumpkin juice at Bella, splattering some on the Hufflepuffs, who screamed and ran off to the girls' lavatory.
Bella slipped in the new puddle of pumpkin juice and landed straight on her arse. I ran after her and slipped in the puddle of water I was trailing, landing on top of Bella. Despite being cold, wet, and humiliated in front of all of the school, we were still laughing hysterically.
"What in Merlin's name is going on?" McGonagall asked in hysterics. Just as she said that, Evan burst through the door with Aaron snickering beside him.
"Cissa, Bella, what have you two done?" he asked, amused.
Bella stood from where she had fallen and made a miraculous recovery, "I haven't the faintest idea of what you mean, Evan."
"Well, you just burst into the Great Hall being chased by your younger sister who is soaking wet," Lucius intervened, "why is she soaking wet, Bellatrix?"
"I'm soaking wet because Bella, Rodolphus, and Aaron threw me into the Black Lake" I said with a dangerous edge directed at Bella. She started laughing again, and Lucius helped me off the ground.
I thanked him and continued, "and she poured water from a vase next to my bed on me this morning, too."
"Why?" Lucius asked curiously, though I could see a smile tinging his lips .
"Okay, yes, well, Bellatrix, take your younger sister to go dry off and see me in my office when you're done," McGonagall said in a disheveled tone, eyes wary.
"Will do, Minerva," Bella chirped happily. McGonagall gave her a stern look before walking back to the teacher's table.
Bella and I walked back to the common room - still laughing - with Evan and Aaron.
"Thank you, Aaron, for helping me with my sister," I said sarcastically and playfully punched the side of his arm.
"Anything for you, Cissa," he replied in a flippant tone, rubbing his now sore arm.
We entered the common room to find Rodolphus waiting on a sofa, smiling a cheeky smile.
"So what happened?" he asked eagerly.
"I have to go see McGonagall and possibly Dippet right about now, but I think I'm just going to stay here and see them tomorrow," Bella said in total seriousness.
"Bella, no," I told her vehemently, "this isn't just like class, you can't just skive. They're going to be waiting for you, and if you don't go, they'll come looking for you eventually."
"I guess you're right. Wish me luck," she said.
I watched as she sauntered out of the common room on her way to seal her fate.
A/N:
Well, I don't like this chapter too much, but I needed a filler chapter before I wrote the next important chapter, so here it is.