Warning: Graphic character death
Bellatrix as the eldest child of Cygnus and Druella Black was expected to act like the perfect princess. Elegant and intelligent, compassionate yet always composed, self-assured but modest; oh, how she wished things could be that easy.
But Bellatrix was the opposite of these things, she was loud and the tiniest thing could make her lose her cool; the only piece knowledge she seemed interested in was new ways to hurt and kill.
Only all that was -most of it anyway- was going to change since the day she met that tall man with eyes the colour of fire and the heart of ice who seemed to have taken avid interest in the young Black.
A man who encouraged her worst traits, praised the twisted ways she invented to kill her victims.
From the moment they had agreed he take charge of her 'education', she had found out that looks can deceiving.
He was overly strict and never hesitated to show his disapproval in the most cruel of ways, but he quickly also became protective of her and her ideas.
Her loyalty to him was stronger than that to her own blood. She would go to extreme lengths to prove her loyalty without even being asked to.
And indeed, that rainy day she had not been asked to prove her loyalty to the Dark Lord, and yet she had had to, regardless of whether she had been ready to or not.
The rain washed the blood that dripped from her fingertips while she hummed a lullaby that Jelly, the house elf, used to sing to her when she was little.
Bella turned her face to the skies, letting the tears of heaven refresh and clear her mind. She had no memory of what had happened, all she knew, was that pints of blood were soaking her robes and a corpse that looked very much like Dumbledore lay at her feet.
Her young pale face scrunched up in confusion while screams of pain and laughter rang out around her from different directions.
It took her a while to realise that it was her own mouth that was both laughing hysterically and screaming in agony, and the next second she found herself flat on the floor, petrified by fear and magic; the Dark Lord had arrived.
His face was completely unreadable and Bellatrix lay there unsure if she'd good or bad.
She felt rather than saw the tip of his shoe lightly poking Dumbledore's side, while she herself continued to stare at the dead blue eyes of her old teacher.
"You killed Albus Dumbledore," he hissed in her ear, his cold breath stroking her bloody hair.
Her mouth opened and then closed she didn't know what to say the only thing she seemed certain about was that Dumbledore was dead.
"Oh, yes, you did, my dear," he whispered, and his lips turned upwards, clear annoyance in his voice now.
"I would much like to hear how, but first I need you to tell me, what the hell were you thinking?" He had pronounced the last words in the most velvety and dangerous of tones. "Do you realise what this means? For me? For you?"
She looked at him with a almost childish expression before shaking her and muttering a barely audible "no".
"It means," and he leaned over her stretched body, "that everyone will view you as more powerful than me, Bella! It means that my Death Eaters might consider you their leader, not me! It means... that you have to go."
"But no one needs to know it was me you could claim it was you no one would doubt and the others here you could kill them to ensure they never speak of what really happened."
"I have told you time and again, Bella, it had to be me who killed Dumbledore, it had to be a public duel, like the one Dumbledore had with Grindelwald. How do you expect me to do that now? Just lie to a crown of reporters about something you cannot even recall?"
"History is always written by the winning side, my lord, facts are forgotten and an a distorted truth is all that is remembered."
"And how can I trust you, Bella? How can I be sure that you will never again take control of a situation that was better left alone, even after I have given you specific orders?"
"An unbreakable vow," Bellatrix suggested not daring to look him in the face.
"So I shall lose you without warning? You as well as I do that you cannot control yourself at times, Bella, and when that day comes and takes your life, I..." Voldemort's voice trailed off, for he had never really thought about this. "I would rather be able to tell you my goodbye and hear yours in return," he finally said, jaw set.
"So, what happens now, you kill me now because you'll get to say goodbye?"
"I really wish there was another way..." Voldemort whispered. " Avada Kedavra!"
Bella was gone, a smile on her face and her hands still reaching for the Dark Lord's. The last piece of Voldemort that felt anything died too.
A/N: Thank you for reading, please leave a review.