Disclaimer - I don't own Harry Potter.

Chapter Two

Two Weeks Later

Bellatrix's POV

I looked down at the letter my mother and father sent me and an explosion of angry thoughts ran through my head.

Stupid Dad, having to get a divorce with Mom. Doesn't he know that it's going to ruin my life? Doesn't he know that choosing between him and Mom is going to be the hardest decision for me to make in all of my life? I love him, but God, I wish he had some idea of people's feelings. And Mom, if she doesn't love him, then how did she manage to be married to Dad for 20 years? And why can't she stay here? Why does she have to go to America? I was really looking forward to baby that she's expecting some time soon. That draws me to my next question. If they knew they were getting a divorce, why did Dad knock Mom up again?

I took a deep breath and thought of something else, like how I had a date with Severus tonight. I can tell him everything then and he'll help me figure out what to do, he always does. Ever since Sirius finally let me go from that stupid dare, my life has been ruined for the most part. Sure, I still have my friends and a real boyfriend who truly cares, but my parents are getting a divorce, my eldest brother was beaten to death at a bar last weekend, and my youngest sister has been kidnapped. To top it off, my oldest sister that it would be a good idea to mention she was getting married to a Mudblood tomorrow. I love her, and always will, but everyone knows Father will most likely disown her. It's not her smartest move, but if it makes her happy, then it's ok with me.

"Bellatrix!" cried the voice of Xhavior, a pretty good friend of mine whose girlfriend is one of the few decent Gryffindors.

"Yes Xhavior," I replied as I got off my bed and opened the door. "What do you want?'

"To tell you that Poison's coming with a few of her friends," Xhavior said.

"Who?" I asked, dreading the answer.

"The usual, Jinx, Martha, Lily, Dylan, Hannah, and Jennifer," Xhavior said as he slowly backed away from the door.

"What?" I exclaimed. I was fine with just Jinx and Martha, but Lily, Dylan, Hannah, and Jennifer? That happened once, and it did not end well.

"Poison is feeling a little depressed and wanted to have all her friends hang out somewhere so she could cheer up. Do you think you could do this for her?" Xhavior asked as he put on his puppy-dog face.

"Fine," I said as I turned around to get my wand. "You guys owe me big time."

"I know, I know, and we will," Xhavior said as he jumped up and down. I rolled my eyes and walked over to him.

"Where are we meeting?" I asked, hoping for some sort of dungeon.

"As much as the dungeons would be an ideal location, we're meeting them at the Hufflepuff common room," Xhavior said as we walked through the Slytherin common room. Mike and Severus stood up and joined us when they saw us.

"You guys also dragged into this?" I asked, feeling sorry for them.

"More like it gave me something to do on a boring Sunday," Mike said.

"Sounds like you were dragged into it," I said, being stubborn.

"Sure, we'll go with that," Mike said, giving up way to easily. I guess he really just wants to take a nap.

"What about you, Severus? You haven't answered me question yet," I said, trying to get my boyfriend to stop looking gloomy and actually talk.

"I knew you would be going, so I thought this would be a great way to spend some more time with you," he said, as he took my hand into his hand.

"So sweet of you," I said as I kissed his cheek.

"Enough of the lovey-dovey stuff," Mike said. "Let's just get to the Hufflepuff common room without throwing up."

"Fine," I said. We continued to walk, but I kept my hand in Severus's hand, making sure he was still there.

We finally made it to the Hufflepuff common room when I noticed that there was a big group of people gathered around a newspaper. I was worried about what it said. When I finally got to the newspaper, I first saw Jared with his hands on the newspaper as if he owned it. I also saw the headline, Voldemort's Family in Ruins. Great, just great. I was hoping that this wouldn't make headlines.

I was about to go up to Jared and curse him for having that newspaper out, when all of the sudden, a pair of arms closed around me, hard. It was obvious it wasn't Severus, but I didn't know who else would do this to me. I turned around to see Waldo dragging me over to where everyone else was. I hated Waldo, but I could see that he was trying to do the right thing, even if I didn't like it.

"It's ok Bellatrix," Jinx said after Waldo dropped me in between her and Poison. She started rubbing my back. "Everything will be ok. No one knows the truth."

I wanted to ask her how she knew, but stopped myself. I had forgotten she could read minds and my emotions, so she knew what was going on inside of me. I was grateful for her. Even though people think we are sworn enemies, we're actually pretty good friends, not exactly as close as can be, but able to talk to each other and do an occasional stupid thing together.

"Thanks Jinx," I said as I calmed down.

"No problem," she said as she stood up. "Look, I would love to stay and chat with you guys, but I've got some work I need to help Waldo get done. Maybe next time."

"Definitely next time," I said with a smile as Jinx and Waldo walked arm-in-arm out of the common room, most likely heading for the Ravenclaw tower. They looked funny together considering their outfits did not match. Jinx was wearing a purple v-neck t-shirt with a yellow spaghetti strap underneath it, dark blue jean capris, and brown flip-flops. Waldo was wearing a bright neon orange t-shirt, black and white plaid shorts, and black flip-flops. I chuckled as they left. They could make a cute couple if Waldo could get his act together.

"If she can leave, can I leave?" Mike asked as soon as Jinx and Waldo were gone, making it obvious he wants to take a nap.

"NO!" Poison shouted. She was looking a bit peppy today. She wore a rainbow tank top that said "The Sky is This Color in My World, Deal With It," black jean capris, and brown flip-flops. Her hair was it's natural blonde with blue highlights and she was wearing a bit of mascara and lip balm.

"Why not?" whined Mike.

"Because Waldo and Jinx had an excuse, you don't," Poison said as if it was obvious.

"I do too," Mike said. "It's called I need a nap."

"Sucks for you 'cause you're gonna have to stay here and deal with it," she said in a tone of voice that said her decision was final.

Mike, being the idiot he was, decided to keep arguing with Poison. That lasted for ten minutes, during which Martha, Hannah, and I managed to mess up Xhavior's hair twice, which was hard to do. He puts so much hairspray and gel in it, it's always stiff and stays in place.

"Fine, I'll stay," Mike said as he sat down where Jinx had been sitting earlier.

"Good," Poison said, sounding more positive. This meeting seemed to be helping her feel better.

"So what are we suppose to do?" Dylan asked, seeming bored. I had to agree with her, this really wasn't all that fun.

"I don't know, just something random," Poison said, obviously unsure.

"Why don't we go for a walk?" Hannah suggested. It was a good idea, but I knew Mike wasn't going to go for it.

"That's a great idea," I said quickly. "Why don't the girls go on one while the boys go back to their common rooms, that way we can talk about girl stuff?"

Everyone mumbled their agreement and got up to go to where they were heading. Before Severus left, he came up to me and gave me a quick kiss on the lips and a quick before going off with Xhavior and Mike. I hurried over to Jennifer, who was waiting for me.

"How far ahead of us are they?" I asked, surprised they didn't wait for us.

"The walk's off," Jennifer said, seeming indifferent to the decision. "Poison and Martha forgot they were meeting up with Remeus to discuss an important matter and Lily was going on a date with James. It turns out, Waldo needs a lot of help, so Jinx has Dylan and Hannah helping her out."

"That leaves you and me," I said, not really pleased with this. Nothing against Jennifer, but she is related to Jared, who's a nice guy who just ends up getting all this bad luck that makes people dislike him.

"We could try and do something or we could just go back to our common rooms," Jennifer said as we walked out of the Hufflepuff common room since neither of us were in that house.

"Let's just go back to our common rooms," I said, wanting to go take a nap. I guess after all that arguing Mike had with Poison about sleeping made me sleepy.

"Okay, I guess I'll see you around," Jennifer said as we parted our ways.

"See you around," I replied as I hurried to the Slytherin common room. While I made way to the common room and into the room I shared with a few other girls, I thought of my mom and dad. I thought of their decision and saw how it somehow made sense. Even though they loved each other, Dad was wanting to spend more time doing his work than being home with us. Mom must have gotten sick of it and decided the only way she could put an end to it is threaten Dad with a divorce. Dad must really care about his job way more at that moment cause he let Mom file the divorce. The papers are going to be signed soon, so I really don't get the chance of seeing them together one more time. And there's still the choice between leaving with Mom and staying with Dad because I know they won't do joint custody. I guess that will have to be discussed with Severus tonight.