The next morning, I awoke at nine and went to the Hospital Wing with Bella by side. Ever since the Quidditch tryouts, she has been solemn and somber.
After a quick spell, my arm returned to its natural state, and we were walking back to the Common Room. Since we were alone, I thought that this would be the perfect time to interrogate Bella about her strange behavior.
"Bella," I started tentatively in a soft voice, "is there something wrong?"
She stopped and looked at me with anguishing eyes before saying anything, "No, why do you ask?"
"Bella, don't pretend that everything's fine; it's obviously not!" I said, stopping her with a hand on the shoulder, "now tell me what's wrong. When have you ever known me to not be able to keep a secret?"
She took a deep breath and pulled me into an alcove off the main hallway. She looked around as if she expected to see someone eavesdropping on our conversation.
Before I could say anything, she mumbled something into my ear that I didn't quite hear. When she pulled back, she looked at me expectantly, watching my reaction.
"Sorry, Bella. I didn't hear you," I said. She closed her eyes and blinked a few times before attempting to continue, but before she could get a word out, Rodolphus sauntered around the corner and spotted us.
"Hey, Bells, Cissa, they just posted the Quidditch team results in the Common Room," he said, pulling our wrists in an attempt to move us.
Bella walked ahead, hear head in her palms, eyes closed, and I could've sworn I saw a tear trickle down her cheek. Something was definitely bothering her, and Rodolphus saw it, too.
He leaned over to where I was walking and whispered, "What's wrong with Bella?"
I responded, "I'm not sure. She was just about to tell me when you came around the corner. Whatever it is, it's big."
Rodolphus nodded his head in understanding and continued to walk. Once we were back in the Common Room once more, I spotted Bella looking over the sheet pinned to a cork board on the opposite side of the room. Lucius saw us walk in and made his way over to us.
"Hey, I was looking for you three. We all made it, by the way," he said mirthfully and followed our gaze over to Bella sitting on the couch, head on the arm of the sofa, staring dead on at the fire without blinking, "what's wrong with Bellatrix?"
"We don't know, but I'm about to find out," I said while walking to the sofa, sitting next to Bella, who just kept staring into the fire.
Bella, what's wrong? Even Lucius noticed that you weren't yourself," I said quietly.
No response.
"You need to tell me what's wrong." I pleaded again.
She looked at me with heavy eyes and got up from her spot on the plush couch. She walked across the Common Room and up the stairs to the girls' dormitories.
I sighed but followed anyway. I walked through the hallways and opened the door to the seventh year dorms. After looking around for a minute, I found Bella in her bed, her canopy covers shielding her from eyesight.
Sitting down on her bed beside her, I could hear her steady breathing. Anyone else would've thought that she was asleep, but I knew better; this was one of her sly tricks when she didn't want to talk to anyone. She would slow her breathing to a steady beat as if she were fast asleep. I had seen her use it many times, only on our parents and Andy, though. I couldn't help but feel a little hurt that she didn't want to talk to me.
"Bella, I know that you're not asleep," I said. She turned over to me, looking me straight into the eyes. She locked the door with the flick of her wand and sat up.
"Promise you won't tell anyone?" she asked barely above a whisper.
"Of course," I reassured her, "now tell me what has been bothering you."
She closed her eyes and laid back down, "I'm pregnant."
My heart skipped a beat once I heard her. A million different thoughts were whirring through my mind before I could stop myself. What will mother and father think? What will Andy think? What will Rodolphus do? One thought in particular fell out of my mouth before I could stop it.
"Are you going to keep it?" I asked in a low voice.
She sighed again, but nodded her head, "I think so, but I'm not sure. I'm going to have to think about it, and I haven't even told Rodolphus yet."
"How are you going to tell him?" I asked in a hurry.
"I don't know yet. I'm not even sure I can," she groaned into her pillow.
"You have to tell him, Bella," I told her vehemently.
"I know, I know, but we have to think about other variables in this situation, too," she replied, lifting her face from the pillow.
"Such as?" I asked, confused.
"Well, Rodolphus and I are going to be serving The Dark Lord; we can't have a child. We won't have enough time to raise it, and I'm certainly not going to go handing our pureblood child off to some common muggles anytime soon. I'd rather snog a half-blood!" she nearly shrieked as her blood started rising the more she though about it.
"Yes, well, mother and father could watch-," I started before thinking on a higher, curious note, "is it a girl or boy?"
"I haven't a clue," she replied, hands over her eyes, fingertips rubbing her temples.
I took a deep breath before starting again, "You need to tell Rodolphus."
"How am I going to tell him, Cissy?" she mumbled in despair.
"You're the strongest person I've ever met, Bella. I f you can take on Quidditch with a team full of males all by yourself, I'm damn sure you can tell your fiancé that you love very much that you're expecting."
She wiped her nose with the edge of her sleeve and stood from the bed. I followed behind her as she walked back down to the Common Room. She checked herself in a mirror on the wall, primping herself and fixing her hair, before continuing and I had to smirk at that. They say I'm the vain one?
Once we were back in the Common Room, I watched from my spot in my chair as Bella walked over to Rodolphus, who was, by now, expecting the worse.
"Rod, let's take a walk," I heard Bella say. They walked out of the Common Room with stares on their backs. Once they were no longer in sight, the overly confabulate girls stared at me expectantly.
"Back to your asinine gossip, you prying leeches. What they do is none of your bloody concern," I hissed at them. They turned back around, grumbling; whereas the boys just laughed at my words to the girls.
Lucius walked over and sat in his chair next to mine. We both stared into the fire, silent. Finally, he asked, "What was wrong with Bella?"
I sighed a sigh similar to Bella's from moments ago but replied, "Nothing was wrong with her. She's not really losing anything, more like gaining something valuable."
This seemed to confuse him, so I finally said, in an overly cheery voice, "I'm going to become an auntie."
"From Bellatrix or Andromeda?" he asked curiously.
"Bella," I sighed.
"Well, that's not too bad. At least we know that it's a pureblood baby," he said, obviously trying to lighten the mood.
"I suppose that you're right. Aunt Walburga will be overjoyed, but my mother will be scandalized that she's expecting before she's even had the wedding," I babbled.
"Has she told your parents yet?" Lucius asked.
"Godric no," I said, letting out an unlady-like snort, "she wouldn't be here if they already knew she was pregnant."
Some of the boys who had laughed at the girls ambled over to where we were sitting and heard what I had said.
"What?" the leader said.
"McNair," Lucius whispered roughly, "quiet down or I'll do it for you!"
"Sorry, sorry," the one name McNair replied, scrambling over to the sofa across from us, "but is it true?"
Lucius looked at me, his eyes asking for what to say. I leaned over to Lucius and whispered, "Remember how you said that we would have to make friends with this lot eventually? Well, now's the perfect time,"
He looked at me and smirked, "How true."
Finally, we turned back to see the bemused group still standing there. I smiled and motioned for them to all sit down.
"This is Narcissa Black, Bellatrix's youngest sister," Lucius explained as they eyed me with suspicion. Smart boys.
"Cissa, this is McNair," he said, gesturing at the brunette who was sitting with a haughty expression, "the rest are Crabbe, Goyle, Dolohov, and Jugson."
I nodded my head and McNair nodded back in cordial understanding.
This was going to be the beginning of a very beneficial friendship.
It had been a week since Lucius and I had formed an alliance with McNair and his lot. I can only assume that we were all mutual friends, seeing as we hardly ever talked except at break and sparse conversations in the Common Room at night.
Ever since Rodolphus had found out that Bella was pregnant, it was always quiet. Neither had spoken for days, and I was starting to worry. Bella was always locked up in her dormitory and never came out unless necessary, meaning for class, food, and quidditch.
I was studying for Herbology and finishing my Potions assignment. I was writing six inches of information on Gillyweed when Bella trotted down the stairs.
"Hey, Cissy," Bella said as she walked down into the Common Room.
"Hi, Bella," I said slowly, closing my textbook and turning to see her. I got a good look at her; she was sickly pale, had sunken eyes, though they still sparkled magnificently, and her hair was limp and lacked its usual luster.
"What?" she asked, sitting next to me on the couch. I moved my feet over to make room for her to sit down. As soon as she did, I replied.
"You look terrible, sickly. Are you alright, Bella? You know, with that," I said, nodding my head towards her stomach. It had been two months and she still wasn't showing. If I timed it right, she wouldn't be showing until mid way through summer break.
"Actually, I feel a lot better. If I look terrible now, you should've seen me a few days ago," she replied with a small frown.
"Well, I'm happy about that," I said, smiling again, "have you told mother and father yet?"
"Of course not, but I have talked to someone else," she said giddily, "and he has the best plan!"
"Who?" I asked cautiously, "what are you thinking of doing, Bella?"
"I talked to the Dark Lord," Bella whispered and smiled feverishly.
"What?" I nearly shrieked, "why would you do that, Bella?"
"I figured that he would be able to help me hide the child until I find the right moment to tell mother and father," she said, overjoyed.
"When will the right moment be?" I asked curiously.
"I haven't decided yet," Bella admitted with a light shrug of her shoulders.
"You better hurry up and decide," I said, returning back to my Potions homework, "you only have seven more months before you'll have to tell them."
"Not necessarily," she muttered under her breath to where I barely heard her. Just barely.
I snapped my head around, "What's that supposed to mean?"
"The Dark Lord may have suggested that he keep the child once its born and Rodolphus and I may have agreed," she said guiltily.
"You are not really seriously going to give up your child to the Dark Lord, Bella?" I asked
"Well," she mumbled, "I don't know. Maybe,"
I looked at Bella, dumbstruck. Was she really going to give up her baby?
I didn't have time to reply before the bell sounded for dinner. Bella grabbed me by my arm and practically dragged me across the room and out of the Common Room.
"Come on. Let's go to dinner," she said cheerfully, "then you can tell me the plan for what you are doing with that new group of yours," she finished with a sinister smile and an evil glint in her eyes.