Bellatrix had been married to Lily for nearly six years now, and if she was to be honest, it didn't suit her. Lily was a very sweet girl, but in her heart of hearts, Bellatrix craved excitement, and Lily was just not an exciting person.

"I'm going out," Bellatrix said. Lily was curled on the couch with wool and needles, working on a shawl.

"Where?" Lily asked.

"For coffee," Bellatrix told her. "With Tom Riddle."

Lily nodded. "How is Tom?"

"He's well," said Bellatrix shortly. If Lily kept this meaningless talk up, she was going to be late.

"You see him a lot."

Bellatrix sighed. "We just talk, Lily. Do you want to come with me, satisfy yourself there's nothing else going on?"

"Oh, no," said Lily. "I trust you, you know that, Bella. Tell him hello, from me. Maybe invite him for dinner this weekend."

"I will," Bellatrix said. "I'm going to be late. I'll see you later."

"Love you, Bella." Lily waved lightly as Bellatrix was heading out the door.

Bellatrix hesitated, then waved back. "I love you too, my Lily."

)O(

Bellatrix sat down opposite Tom Riddle. The coffee shop was bustling with activity, and she leaned close to him so that they could talk.

"I trust you're well, Bella?" he said.

"Not bad," she replied.

"How is Lily?"

"She's…" Bellatrix searched for the word. "Lily is… she's the same."

"Is she." Tom Riddle raised an eyebrow. "The same as what?"

"The same as ever."

"Oh, well then…" Tom raised his cup to his lips. "Being the same is better than changing for the worse, isn't it?"

"I suppose." Bellatrix stretched out her legs under the table, and her ankle brushed against his. "But it isn't as good as things changing for the better."

His lips twitched in a sort of slight smile. "And pray tell, Bellatrix, what would make things change for the better?"

"That's a very personal question." Bellatrix glanced down and then back up. "Oh, I don't know." She blew on her coffee and sipped it.

"You've never had problems answering personal questions before."

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Well then, talk about why you don't want to talk about it." This time it was Tom's foot that brushed Bellatrix's beneath the table. She bit her lip, tried to think about something asexual.

"You asked to meet me here," she said. "Was there something you wanted to talk about?"

"Yes, there was, actually." He put his coffee aside. "But I don't think this is the best place to do it. Somewhere more… quiet, perhaps?"

"If you like," said Bellatrix. She stood up, and so did Tom. "Where shall we go?"

"I have a flat above Borgin and Burke's."

"Oh." Bellatrix's heart skipped a beat. "Er… All right, then."

He held out his arm in mock-formality, and Bellatrix took it with an ironic tilt of the head.

Tom Riddle's flat was barely the size of Bellatrix and Lily's parlour. There was a small cupboard in a corner, a trunk at the foot of a small, hard bed. The whole place was beyond minimalist, but meticulously clean.

"Sit down," Tom said, gesturing at the bed. Bellatrix settled on the edge, and looked at him expectantly.

"What did you want to say?" she asked.

"I have a… request for you." Tom was pacing the flat, six paces across, six paces back, in front of Bellatrix.

"What sort of request?" she asked breathlessly. That sounded like a lead-in to something that a married woman shouldn't do.

He stopped in front of Bellatrix and looked down at her.

"As I'm sure you know," he said, "I head a substantial movement, for the purity of wizard blood."

Bellatrix looked at him questioningly. Well, she hadn't been expecting that. Why would he be talking to her about that? Tom said he liked to talk to her because it was refreshing to talk to such an intelligent woman, but he knew she didn't see eye-to-eye with him on blood purity. She was married to a Mudblood, after all.

"And the cause has need of your particular… skill set."

"I don't understand–"

"Let me be blunt, then. We need a woman who has the brains, and the stomach, to kill."

Bellatrix stared at him in horror. "To kill? Tom, I–"

"I know you're going to say that you couldn't kill anyone. But think clearly, Bellatrix. This person we need to have killed is not just anyone. She would see us all in Azkaban without a second thought. She would have me imprisoned for life, and you too for knowing me. She would even let the Dementors have Lily."

Bellatrix's eyes widened momentarily then narrowed. "I wouldn't let them."

"You wouldn't be able to stop them."

Bellatrix twisted her hands together. "I couldn't kill someone. Not in cold blood. If she attacked Lily, she'd be dead in a second, but…"

"Look," Tom said. He sat down next to her on the bed, put one of his hands over hers. "I know better than anyone this isn't an easy thing to do. I wouldn't ask you if I didn't think you could do it."

Bellatrix glanced at him, then looked away. He could be so charming when he wanted to be. She could almost kiss him. In fact, she would like little more than to kiss him…

"I'll make it worth your while," he said, leaning so close she could feel his breath on her ear.

"How?"

His hand left hers, and trailed to her stomach, then slowly up towards her breast.

"It's been a long time since you've been with a man, hasn't it?" he breathed. "You may love your Lily, but you crave a man, a man who will pin you to the bed and take you so hard you can scarcely stand afterwards. You want a man who you can battle with between the sheets, someone as strong and rough as you. Don't you?"

Bellatrix's heart was hammering against her ribcage. She had thought about Tom before – how could she not, he was a handsome man. And if she could have him, make love to him just once… if there was anything Bellatrix would kill someone for, it was that.

I'm married. I couldn't…

"Lily–"

"Will never have to find out," Tom said. He lifted her thick black hair off her neck and kissed it. "Bellatrix, you are…"

Bellatrix moaned quietly. He was right, she did crave a man. Lily was sweet, and wonderful, and beautiful, but Tom was…

"Delicious," he whispered, and pushed her back, flat onto the bed.

)O(

Bellatrix lay, heaving and panting, lost in the aftermath. Tom was next to her, and he shone with sweat and lust, gasping for air.

"God, Tom," she managed. "That was…"

"It was indeed." He sat up, ran a hand through his hair, wiped his sweaty brow. "So, dear Bellatrix, am I to assume you are willing to help our cause, then?"

"On one condition." Bellatrix smirked at him.

"What would that be?"

"When I'm done with this person who needs to be killed," she said, sitting up as well, "we can do that again."

Tom smiled wickedly. "That sounds fair."