Bella's aunt's house looked the same as it always did. Kind of shabby, but at the same time maintaining an elegant standard of class. She couldn't explain it, but that was the way it always had been. There was a certain routine whenever they paid them a visit; the adults would sit and drink wine in the lounge, while the kids would sit in the drawing room. Bella hated that, it made her feel so restricted, she wasn't a kid anymore; she was fifteen, nearly sixteen! And then there was Sirius. He drove her insane! Regulus was her other cousin, Sirius' brother, and she could tolerate him. However, when she walked into the drawing room today, she didn't just see her cousins, she saw another face baring a familiar smirk.

'James Potter.' It wasn't a greeting, more of a verbal acknowledgement.

'Bellatrix Black.' James Potter smirked, his eyes unable to avoid looking her up and down. She rolled her eyes and sat down at the table at the back of the room, closely followed by Narcissa. Annie chose to sit on the floor with Sirius and his friend. Regulus joined the girls at the table, as a good excuse to leave his brother in search of better company.

'Didn't realise James Potter would be here…' Narcissa muttered to her sister, her eyes still on James Potter.

'Oh please,' Bella rolled her eyes. 'Nancy you have got to up your taste.'

'Come on, him? Are you joking?' Regulus laughed, not even bothering to keep his voice quiet. James momentarily turned around to them, but his eyes fell on Bella, not her sister or her cousin. His look was gone only moments after he cast it, leaving Bella wondering what it was she'd just seen.

'Bella?'

'What?' She snapped back, as her sister smirked at her.

Narcissa shook her head and gave her sister a familiar smile. 'Nothing,' She turned back to Regulus. 'How often is he here?'

He shrugged. 'Too often. Mum doesn't like him, but she said something about his dad coming from a "respectable family". No idea what she was talking about. His mother's a mudblood for God's sake.' He glared across the room with distaste in his eyes. Bellatrix smiled back at him in mild agreement. She wanted James Potter to turn around and say something about his family, defend them. He did no such thing. He muttered something to Sirius, and Annie cast an angry glance back at her sisters and cousin. Bella simply grinned back at her.

Bella decided to have some fun for a while, and jumped up from her seat. Much to the dislike of Annie, she sat on the floor with Sirius, James and Annie.

'Alright, boys?' She asked them, tossing her hair behind her.

'What do you want?' Sirius asked her bluntly. She laughed slightly coldly and didn't reply. Annie looked like she was so embarrassed she could burst into tears at any minute.

'He's too old for you, Annie.' Bella told her. Her sister blushed a bright shade of pink and quickly left the room, muttering something about the bathroom.

'That was mean.' Sirius growled at her. She rolled her eyes.

'True though. She's fourteen.'

'And?' James joined the conversation, a cheeky expression on his face. 'That's about two years…'

Bella stared at him. 'Two years too many.'

James laughed at her, not coldly, but with a cool edge. Bella watched him, feeling increasingly angry with him, but she'd keep it to herself – for now.

'As if you'd get with a Slytherin, Potter.' Bella spat back at him.

He shrugged and pretended to contemplate this for a moment. 'Can't complain about what you've never had.'

'You make me sick, Potter. Physically sick.'

'So does the sight of you and that slime at school. Honestly, it's everywhere I look!' James retorted, still grinning at her.

'If you're talking about Roddy, then you won't have to put up with that for much longer. We're not together anymore, thank you very much.'

'Realised he'd got more than he could handle?' Sirius interjected the conversation. He meant it as an offence, but Bella simply smiled back.

'Yeah,' She agreed. 'I got bored.' She threw a glance at James before letting her eyes sweep around the room. Her sister and Regulus were watching the conversation like it was the most controversial thing for a long time. This happened all the time! Not with James Potter though… usually just Sirius.

'And you, Potter? Girlfriend?'

'Is that an offer?' He said quietly with a smirk. Sirius couldn't quite decided whether to laugh or quickly change the subject, so ended up displaying more of a grimace.

'In your dreams,' Bella replied in a whisper. 'I'd get very bored of you.'

'I don't think so.'

'What's that supposed to mean?'

James looked her in the eyes. 'Means you'll never know.' He shook his messy hair out of his eyes and leaned back again. Bella didn't speak for a while, she was busy thinking about things. She wasn't quite sure what, but she was thinking about it. The conversation might have carried on without her, but she wasn't sure. She zoned back in just as James declared he was leaving.

'So, I'll see you back at school, Sirius,' he told his friend in the doorway of the drawing room. He shot a glance back at Bella, who met his gaze. He winked at her. She stared back. 'Bellatrix Black.'

'James Potter.' She replied similarly. He left the room without another word or glance. Sirius shut the door and turned on his cousin.

'What the hell was that about?' He asked her with a force behind his voice. He remained stood up, towering over her. She smirked and stood up to try and match his height. She almost did, but she wasn't quite tall enough, but it didn't matter, her attitude added a few inches to her height.

'Ask Potter. He started it.' She replied smoothly. Sirius was still glaring daggers at her.

'You best keep away from him Bella. I don't want you shitting up my social life. I get enough stick for you as it is.'

She couldn't stop herself laughing at that, and she could hear her cousin and sister sniggering in the background.

'You get stick for me? Hell, clearly you've not heard some of the things said to us about you! Honestly, you're an embarrassment to everyone! Running around with your mudblood friends, you blood traitor!'

Sirius snapped. He got his wand out and aimed it at his cousin.

'You'll regret that.' She said simply, taking her time in taking out her own. 'I could blow you to kingdom come, Sirius. I think you know that.'

'Bring it,' He paused and looked her in the eyes. 'bitch.'

'Come on, don't do this…' Regulus tried to break it up before it had a chance to start. Narcissa held her arm out to stop him.

'Nah, it's just getting interesting.' She pushed him back into his seat.

Bella laughed coldly, unable to stop herself as she watched her cousin pretending to be tough with her.

'Are you kidding? You honestly think you can take me?' Bellatrix asked her cousin, a menacing smirk appearing on her lips.

'No,' Sirius replied coolly. 'I know I can.'

Bellatrix didn't bother to stop herself laughing at her cousin's bravery… or foolishness. Her laughter stopped abruptly, and gave her a microsecond to aim her wand and say; 'Everte Statum.' She then reserved a simple smile as she watched her cousin hurtle across the room and send him smacking into the wall.

'Shit, Bella, was that really necessary?' Regulus exclaimed, leaping up from his chair once more.

'It was provoked.' Bella shrugged, throwing a cheeky grin in her sister's direction. Narcissa was only too happy to return it.

Sirius pulled himself off the floor, shrinking away from his brother's offer of help and marched back up to his cousin. He looked her in the eyes.

'James?' He whispered to her. 'Don't think he'd go for you if you were the last girl on this Earth… or the next one.'

Bellatrix lost control of what happened next. She felt a sudden and impulsive surge of anger rush through her, boiling her blood on its way. She felt a vibration from under the floor, and the sudden cracking of glass. She glanced towards the windows, her heart beating faster than it ever had before, as she watched the windows shatter and burst in on themselves. She felt scared, but at the same time she felt more alive than ever. She smiled but didn't realise it. Even though she hadn't cast a spell, she knew she was responsible for what had happened, she could just feel it.

'What did you do?' Sirius yelled at her. 'Are you insane?'

Regulus already had his wand out, muttering incantations to himself as he fixed the windows.

Narcissa was out of her seat by now, slightly shaky on her feet, and staring at her sister with confusion and horror. She grabbed her sister's wrist.

'Let's go.' She told her forcefully, and lightly dragged her from the room. As soon as the drawing room door shut, Narcissa began addressing her sister.

'What the hell was that, Bella?'

'I don't know…'

'You're smiling! Why are you smiling?'

'What?' Bellatrix suddenly began thinking about what she was doing. She was smiling. Why was she smiling? She quickly wiped away her grin and looked back at her sister.

'You scared me,' Narcissa told her. 'You really scared me. Please don't ever do that again.' She pleaded with her sister, her eyes expressing her genuine fear.

'I can't help it, Nancy. I didn't do it on purpose… Sirius spoke to me and I just felt so… so angry.'

Narcissa pulled her sister into a hug. 'Just don't let it happen again.' She whispered.

'I'll try.' Bellatrix replied, but she knew that deep down, she'd been enjoying every second of it.