Thank you Cassia4u for your encouraging review! I think cassia flowers are beautiful, and this chapter is dedicated to you. I hope you enjoy it!
…Black Rose…
The entire Black clan had turned up to show off their two new students, taking up a large portion of Platform 9 ¾ and looking so forbidding that they had a large radius of empty space around them. Gazing out of the accelerating Hogwarts Express, Bellatrix idly watched them alternate between sniping at one another and haughtily looking down their noses at other children and their parents. She knew she shouldn't be feeling so relieved that she would not have to see any of them for months and months, but even being in a compartment with Sirius and several unlikeable family friends hand selected by Orion Black couldn't quell the butterflies that were fluttering so vigorously she could practically feel them spilling out of her throat.
A bray of laughter Rudolphus Lestrange drew her attention away from the views, now country scenery, and Bellatrix once again sadly admired her betrothed's remarkable goatishness. Next to him sat the angel faced Lucius Malfoy who didn't try to mask his irritation at being forced to sit with first year babies. Sirius sat sullenly next to Bellatrix, his knees bouncing up and down like hyperactive pistons. Rounding off the group was Mathilda Parkinson, engaged in telling Rudolphus of the various things she'd imperio'd garden gnomes to do over the summer.
"…and it was really quite astonishing, the tactics they used when they realised it really was a matter of survival of the fittest. Midnight raids and such. Some even took to making little weapons! However that was nothing compared to when they started eating each other-"
"That's fucking disgusting," Sirius interrupted angrily, still boring holes into the floor with his eyes.
Sirius. Always angry, never happy.
Everyone knew he was referring to Mathilda's activities rather than the garden gnomes. Sirius's unorthodox attitudes were common knowledge in the circles of magical aristocracy, much to his parents' anger and dismay. But Bellatrix couldn't help but agree with her cousin a little. Mathilda's stories had been making her feel that uncomfortable niggling ache, and she glanced uneasily at his tapping feet.
Lucius rolled his eyes, "Listen to what she's saying. A little bit of pressure and those creatures turn cannibals. That's disgusting."
"But Sirius," Rudolphus chimed in with a wicked edge to his voice, "A Black should really know better than to expose his own weaknesses. Of all things, garden gnomes? I trust you have heard of the Slytherin initiation… I feel it is my duty… well, you're just giving me so many ideas."
That caused Sirius to look up. The compartment was tense and quiet, watching conflicting emotions wrench around his mentally willed him to shutupshutupshutup, knowing she really shouldn't care, but caring for her vulnerable, misguided cousin anyway.
Finally Sirius's face settled into a calm countenance. To Bellatrix's internal distress he stood up and walked out, saying grimly, "Whatever. I'm leaving." The sliding door slammed shut.
"Tch, what a drama queen," complained Mathilda, "Not like you, Bella. I can never tell what you're thinking. All you Blacks… you mess with my mind." She elbowed Rudolphus and they resumed their conversation.
Lucius, however, leaned in towards Bellatrix. Leaning in allowed him to better admire the smooth contours of her face, but he muttered seriously, "Stupid thing for Rudolphus to say, eh? Right before the sorting and everything. Seriously Bella, you'd better go talk to him. Your uncle would kill us if Sirius did anything stupid and we didn't stop him."
Bellatrix shrugged as if she couldn't care one way or another. "My uncle would kill you," she corrected apathetically, "And besides, Sirius wouldn't do anything stupid. He knows what's expected of him."
Lucius opened his mouth, then seemed to think better of what he was going to say. Trying to ignore the bawdily loud pair beside them, he stood and reached for his trunk overhead, "Game of chess, Bella?"
"Don't cry when I beat you."
It was a close game, but Bellatrix did win. And Lucius didn't cry, but rather shook her hand with mock solemnity. The sky was darkening and Bellatrix felt a twinge of responsibility.
"I'm going to get Sirius," she announced, nodding to Maria Zabini and her boyfriend who had joined the compartment whilst she had been engrossed in the game.
On her way out, she almost bumped into a lady with a food trolley. Realizing she was actually quite hungry, she bought two cauldron cakes, one for herself and one as a peace offering for Sirius when she found him.
It took her far less time than she expected to find him. Bellatrix could hear shouts of laughter echoing through the corridor from what turned out to be the last compartment on the train. She was surprised when she realized she couldn't remember the last time Sirius had laughed in front of her, certainly never with this lack of abandon and with such carefree joy. Bellatrix hesitated uncertainly at the second-last compartment. Looking in she could see sleepy inhabitants clearly irritated by the noise from next door. Giving herself a mental slap in the face, she walked steadily towards where Sirius was and, without ceremony, opened the door.
Three faces looked up at her in surprise, one person, intent on finishing his joke ("so then the bartender turns to the unicorn..."), had his face turned away towards Sirius. Bellatrix did a quick visual sweep. Three boys, one girl. No one she knew except Sirius. The redheaded girl was irritatingly pretty. The boy next to the girl was weedy and mousey looking, nervous and easily dismissed. Sirius was facing her directly, back against the window. He stared at her defensively, not laughing anymore. Bellatrix wondered how she looked- beautiful and intimidating, obviously. But could they sense her uncertainty, her embarrassing shyness. She felt she had interrupted something private and sacred and mysterious.
Then the boy with his back to her turned, neck craned to peer up at the disturbance through wiry glasses, and Bellatrix felt electricity spark through her so thoroughly and unforgivingly that she only just managed to catch an unwilling shiver. He was gangly and not as handsome as half the young men she had been introduced to in her life, but Bellatrix had to make an effort to pull her eyes away from the confused but cheeky hazel eyes. Shaken by these new and overwhelming feelings, and horribly aware that she was just standing there in the doorway, she focussed on Sirius's face. Bellatrix opened her mouth, but found she couldn't speak.
I hope you enjoyed the latest instalment (I had to do a little editing)! Please review, constructive criticism