Two weeks until the Hogwarts term was due to start again. Bellatrix sat starring at a piece of parchment in front of her. She was clutching an invitation to Will Skeeter's party. He wasn't such a friend as an acquaintance, but he seemed to know just about everyone. People always had a lot to say about Will's parties. He was in Ravenclaw, and naturally, his grades were phenomenal, he was a Quidditch wiz, all the girls loved him and he had a lot of friends. She probably wouldn't have decided to go, because Will became quite good friends with Remus Lupin, and his whole crowd, the year before. However, Lucy Rosier said she really wanted to go, and Bellatrix would always agree to support her best friend, and besides, she didn't have to even see Lupin or his friends. Although, she couldn't hide the fact from herself, that she secretly hoped she might see James Potter.

The night of the party, Bellatrix had put on a little black dress, and tied her hair up, some of the curls slipping from the grip and back onto her shoulders. But it still looked fine. She fixed her make-up and went downstairs, where her youngest sister was waiting for her.

'And you're waiting for what exactly?' Bellatrix asked her, taking the last few steps and joining her in the hallway.

'You,' She smiled sweetly at her. 'who's party are you going to?'

'No, you're not coming.'

'Hey! I didn't ask to come!' Narcissa laughed. Bellatrix knew she would have asked, though.

'It's Will Skeeter's party.' She replied eventually.

Narcissa nodded in approval. 'Will's nice.'

'You don't know him!'

'Yeah I do!' She tilted her head. 'Well, I've seen him on the Quidditch pitch. He seems… nice.'

Bellatrix smirked at her. 'You mean he looks nice?'

'Hmm… yes.' Narcissa grinned at her sister.

'You're one of a kind, Nancy. You know that, right?'

'Oh yes.' Narcissa smiled, walking past her sister and up the stairs. Bella watched her go and shook her head. Her little sister was certainly different. She could never quite understand how all three of them were so different. Bella was the eldest, and she really ought to set a good example – she didn't. But then again, she didn't try. Andromeda was nothing like her though, so clearly she was taking no notice of the example being set. Annie liked books… and Gryffindors. She got along with her cousin, Sirius, something which neither of her sisters had managed, or wanted, to do. Then there was Narcissa. She was the youngest, but had probably had more boyfriends than either of her sisters. But that was her nature, she just loved make-up, boys and more make-up and boys.

Bella made her way to the living room, with nothing better to do while she decided whether she was going to turn up on time to Will's party. Annie was perched on the sofa, reading yet another book. She glanced up, and seeing it was Bella, glared at her.

'I do love it when people look at me like I'm the devil, y'know. So you can stop that right now.' Bellatrix told her sister with a sarcastic twinge in her voice. Annie rolled her eyes.

'You ought to get used to it. After all, that's how everyone'll be looking at you before long.' Annie replied calmly, only spending a few seconds with her eyes off the pages of her book.

'Let me tell you something,' Bellatrix said in the same calm tone. All of a sudden, she snatched the book, slammed it shut and dropped it onto the table, safely out of reach of her sister.

'That wasn't nice.' Annie said simply.

'Listen,' Bella said menacingly. 'you might think you're the golden Slytherin or the lion in silver and green, or whatever. But you're not. You're in Slytherin; it's in your blood,' She looked her directly in the eyes. 'and you'll have to square with that someday, whether you like it or not.'

'I don't think so,' Andromeda answered in a whisper, leaning forwards to meet her sister's cold gaze. 'I think that when all this boils out of control-'

'When what boils out of control?'

'Slytherin house, rivalry, segregation, cruelty, blood status…' Annie listed quickly, before switching her tone back to her meaningful voice. 'When all that boils over, and people have been getting hurt for years, I'm going to be the one clearing up the mess. I'll be the one who's separated from this shipwreck of a family, and I'll be the one caring for loved ones, because everyone else is dead.' Bellatrix remained silent, thoroughly shocked by what her sister was saying to her. 'And d'you know who'll be responsible for it? You.'

Without another word, Bella stood up and left the room, shutting the door with a bang. She didn't want to be upset by what Andromeda had just said to her, but she was. Only a little bit. The thing was, out of all the things she said, the one that actually hurt was her implying that Bella would turn on her own sister. She'd never do that. She stared at herself in the mirror.

'Or would I?' She whispered to herself. While her sister was like that, giving her attitude, she'd have completely flipped out of her if she'd have stayed long enough. She left the room to remove temptation from her path, rather than for dramatic effect.

Bella saw the clock behind her through the mirror. She'd probably better get going. She didn't want to stay around in this house any longer, but she knew she'd have to wait for Lucy and her brother to get there before she could go anyway at all. She wasn't allowed to apparate yet, neither was Lucy, but her older brother, Evan, was allowed. And he would usually take them anywhere they wanted to go. She would have persuaded Lucy to hang around for a while if she didn't feel like arriving on time, but she was more than happy to go early if it meant leaving the house for a while.

There was a snap from somewhere outside, and Bella had opened the front door before Lucy even had a chance to knock. Lucy smiled at her, and flicked her blonde hair over her shoulder. Bella couldn't help but smirk when she saw what Lucy was wearing. She had on a short, low cut green dress. Evan, on the other hand, looked like he couldn't care less, but he was meant to be friends with Will, and couldn't even be bothered to make an effort. He appeared tired though, as he threw a weak smile in Bella's direction. She smiled back.

Turning around briefly, Bella shouted, 'I'm going now, mum. I'll be back… er… later.' And stepped out of the doorway.

'Eager to go, Bella? Thought you had better taste than my little sister.' Evan smirked at her as she shut the door behind her.

She shook her head. 'It's not that. I fell out with my sister, that's all. Just wanted to get out of the house for a while.'

Evan nodded but didn't appear to have the effort left to pretend he understood. He held his arms out to the girls without a word. Bella glanced at Lucy, who simply shrugged. They each linked his arms, and left Bella's street.

They all appeared in an empty cobbled street, where all the street lights had been extinguished.

'Looks like Will actually thought ahead for once,' Evan muttered, glancing up at the black lights above them. 'actually prepared for people to come to his party.' He shook his head as though this were surprising. Lucy, on the other hand, probably wouldn't have cared less if they'd have had spotlights on them. She was desperately trying to hide her excitement. Bella rolled her eyes. She wouldn't have really minded if she wasn't even invited to Will's party, whereas it seemed that Lucy would have given her left arm to be there. She immediately began making her way down the street, with Bella and Evan casually following behind her.

'So what's up with you?' Bella asked him. 'You don't look good.'

'Well thanks,' Evan said dryly, but then a smile appeared. 'it doesn't matter, Bella. I'll be fine once we get back to school.'

Bella nodded back and didn't press the matter any further. They got to the steps of Will's house, where Lucy suddenly lost every ounce of confidence she previously had. She turned back to her brother, wide-eyed.

'You go first.'

Evan rolled his eyes and pushed past Lucy, to knock on the door. He just had time to throw a look back at her before Will Skeeter opened the door. He was tall and blond, wearing a black shirt, the first three buttons undone, and black jeans. He grinned at Evan, who didn't return it as willingly.

'Alright, Evan?' Will beamed at him, standing aside to let him inside. His eyes then turned to Lucy and Bella. 'Hey, girls.' He eyed them both up and down before Bella had enough and stormed ahead of Lucy, who trotted behind her, desperate not to be left on her own. Will smiled to himself and shut the door again.

The kitchen was near enough empty. Completely spotless, but almost empty. Lucy was pacing the marble floor, rambling things to herself about things Will had said and not said to her. Bella, meanwhile, was perched on the black kitchen units, pretending to listen to her. Bella's eyes began wandering around the room. She looked out of the window into the garden, where not many people were gathered. She did notice one person in particular though. She jumped down from the units, her heels clattering as she did so.

'Come on, we're going into the garden.' Bella grabbed Lucy's wrist.

'Yeah, I do need a bit of air. And see if Lucas has got any fags, would you?'

Bella ignored her comment until they were outside. Luckily, the very person Lucy was looking for was right outside, sitting alone on a bench swing.

'Lucas is there,' Bella told her. 'Go see what he's got. Kiss up to him and he won't charge, y'know.' Bella told her with a cheeky grin.

'But you always get the stuff, Bell…' Lucy whispered nervously.

Bella shook her head and brushed her curly hair off her shoulder. 'You can do it, Lucy. You kind of know Lucas, anyway.'

'Yeah… guess you're right…' Lucy forced a smile as Bella pushed her in Lucas' direction. She continued after that and sat down on the swing next to him. Bella nodded to herself, glad her plan was working. She then set her eyes back onto the person who'd drawn her outside in the first place.

James Potter was casually leaning against the garden fence, evidently telling some sort of joke, as all his friends started to laugh. He was clutching a beer bottle in one hand, as were all of his friends – apart from Remus Lupin. Bella took a deep breath and made her way over.

Sirius spotted her first, and alerted his friends. Lupin didn't seem all that bothered, after all, Bella had never really had much of a vendetta against him. Peter Pettigrew on the other hand, he looked as if he was going to either pass out or run away at any moment, glancing over his shoulder and seemingly trying to work out an exit. James was calm as ever, greeting her with his famous cheeky smile.

'Alright, boys?' Bella said, as she reached them and stood next to James.

'Yeah – until you got here! What the hell are you doing?' Sirius asked her heatedly, but trying to keep his voice quiet, so as not to attract attention.

'Just saying hello, honestly, anyone would think I embarrass you.' Bella grinned menacingly at him. Pettigrew made a whimpering noise.

'What's got into you, Wormtail?' James asked him, raising an eyebrow.

'N-nothing,' He replied quietly, still repeatedly glancing at Bella.

James suddenly laughed, quite coldly. 'Anyone would think you were scared of her!'

Bella stepped back into conversation. 'And why shouldn't he be?' James turned back to her, and leaned closer.

'Because you're harmless.'

'Am I?'

James' eyes passed her over.

'Anyone would think you'd want to find out.' She continued. James didn't blush or seem at all thrown off by this. He simply smirked and turned back to his friends. Sirius was fuming, and it seemed as though he might explode at any moment.

'Cool off, Sirius.' Bella said with a bored tone. 'I am family, after all.'

Sirius didn't reply, but said to his friends. 'I'm going inside. If you don't wanna be thrown into or over that fence in the next half an hour, by her, then come with me.'

It was not surprising to Bella when Pettigrew almost sprinted after Sirius into the house. Lupin looked calm, as he had been the entire time, he was watching James, before he finally spoke.

'Although I'd love to stay and chat,' He began. 'I probably shouldn't be here.'

'What are you talking about, Remus?' James asked him, even though the smile on his face told his friend everything.

'Apologies, Bellatrix,' Lupin continued. 'James, maybe we'll see you later.' He nodded politely, then followed his friends back into the house.

'Well that was different.' Bella sighed. 'What's wrong with Lupin?'

James shrugged and took a sip of his drink. 'Dunno. D'you like him?'

'He seems okay,' Bella said slowly. 'Why?'

James grinned at her. 'Because you seem to hate all of my other friends.' Bella laughed, she couldn't help it.

'Yeah well. It does come with the territory, Potter. I can't be Slytherin and get on with Gryffindors, can I?'

James smirked. 'Then why are you still talking to me?' He leant slightly closer. She smiled at him.

'Not really sure,' She answered honestly. 'but if you want me to go…?'

'That won't be necessary,' James smirked, leaning back against the fence once more. 'besides – if you left I'd just be standing by myself like a loner.'

Bella shrugged. 'Not my problem.'

'And yet you're still here.'

'I'll go…' She turned around, about to walk away. She would have come straight back after a few steps, but what she expected to happen did. James grabbed her hand and gently pulled her back around.

'No, no, you stay put,' He reached behind him onto the table and handed her a beer bottle. She stared at him.

'And you give me this?' She glanced from the bottle to James. 'Something tells me you don't have many drinks with girls.'

James laughed. 'I've had more than my fair share, Black. But I know you'd probably rather drink that.' Bella thought about it for a moment, then gave up and nodded. He was right.

'You're right.' She said eventually, taking a sip.

'Thought so,' James grinned at her. 'I can read people fairly well.'

Bella smirked. She didn't doubt that he could read people well, but she did doubt that he paid an awful lot of attention to what he read most of the time. She knew that James and his friends, including Bella's cousin, did a remarkable amount of prank-pulling – a lot of which was played on a boy named Severus from Bella's house, Slytherin. It was pranks in her eyes, but a lot of other people called it bullying.

'And you can't read it when Snape's crying for you to stop teasing him?' Bella probed, her dark eyes glittering.

'If I didn't know you better, I'd say you felt sorry for him.'

Bella couldn't stop herself laughing coldly. 'Not a chance, Potter. He's a foul boy, and I think it's funny when people pick on him. Call me sadistic, but I think the majority of the school would agree with me.' She shrugged, suddenly a little defensive after James' last sentence.

'But not Lily Evans,' James added. Bella stared at him for a moment, trying to remember exactly who Lily Evans was. The sickle dropped after a moment.

'No,' Bella agreed with him. 'she doesn't, does she? I see them talking all the time, outside our common room. Can't see why they ought to be friends… or whatever it is.'

James bit his lip. He didn't want to laugh, he was meant to be friends with Lily. But Bellatrix just had a way with words that made him want to laugh. She was so sarcastic, but in a way that didn't seem too harsh.

'But we're friends, though,' He said, the sparkle in his eyes glimmering brighter. Bella stared back at him, a confused expression on her face. 'aren't we?'

Bella was about to reply when she heard her name being called from across the garden. Lucy was shouting after her, Lucas now having leapt up from the swinging bench. Bella could tell from where she was standing that he'd done something to upset her. She turned back to James, a grin on her face. She leant slightly closer to him and whispered.

'Not sure you wanna be friends with someone like me, James Potter,' She paused. 'I might be a bad influence.'

She strode away from him, her hair flying behind her as she approached her friend.

'What did he do?' She asked in a bored tone. Lucy's expression was thoroughly stunned at what had just happened. She was glaring at Lucas, as if he'd just tried to kill her.

'Lucas,' She began. 'thought he'd be smart and try and give me dodgy stuff,' Lucy took a deep breath. 'and then try and come onto me!'

'You seem fine to me.' Bella observed out loud.

Lucy sighed and shook her head. 'I'm too smart for him, obviously! I knew what he was doing, and I thought maybe I'd play along a bit… but then he was just… eugh!'

Bella nodded. Had Lucas not have been a little bit high, he would have seen what Bella was doing before she did it. He'd been on the receiving end so many times. Bella drew her wand from a seemingly hidden place in her dress, and pointed it straight at Lucas.

'Impedimenta!' She shouted out, causing the remaining people in the garden to turn around and watch the action. James continued to observe, a smile slipping onto his lips.

Lucas tripped himself up under the effect of the spell, and fell to the ground. Enough time for Bellatrix to find her next spell to inflict.

'Incarcerous.' She didn't say it loudly – she didn't have to, it was so quiet. Ropes quickly descended from nowhere and began to bind themselves around Lucas. He instantly began squirming on the floor, rolling around trying to rip them from him, and they only became tighter. Bella glanced at Lucy, who seemed quite satisfied with this result. She grinned at her friend. Bella turned her attention back to Lucas, she didn't really want to hurt him too much, she didn't want to get herself into trouble. She really couldn't be bothered with that. She released the spell, finally.

Lucas took a few moments on the floor to catch his breath.

'You're a real… bitch, Bellatrix… Black…' He panted, staggering to his feet. He began trying to grab his wand from the pocket of his jeans.

'Expelliarmus!' Bella was too quick for him, and his wand flew into the air. Bella would have caught it, but she didn't aim the spell properly. It began to drop from the air, and someone caught it. Bella's eyes slowly followed the arm to their face. James Potter was smirking back at her, twisting the wand in his fingers. Lucas stormed past him, grabbing the wand on his way and striding off into the house.

James brushed past her, and delicately whispered to her.

'I think I can handle it, Bellatrix Black.' And with that, he walked back into the house, without casting a second glance back at her. She remained still, hoping that Lucy hadn't noticed anything unusual. Maybe that was wishful thinking.

'What the hell was James Potter playing at?' She asked Bella quickly, as soon as James was out of earshot. Bella shrugged, like it was nothing.

'Can't say I noticed.' She replied smoothly.

Lucy stared at her. 'What?' She spat. 'You didn't notice? How? He caught Lucas' wand, surely he should have given it back to him… or stopped you in the first place!'

'He's a Gryffindor, Lucy, not just an enemy. He wouldn't have stopped me because I was doing the right thing, and he wouldn't have helped Lucas because he was in the wrong.' She explained calmly. She was actually very pleased with her explanation, as she had just made it up on the spot and hoped it sounded convincing.

Lucy took a moment to think about it, then finally nodded in agreement.

'I suppose so.' She added. A glint suddenly appeared in her eyes. 'I'm going back inside.' She decided and quickly scampered into the house. Bella watched her go and realised it why, when she saw Will sitting alone in his kitchen, and Lucy rapidly appeared by his side. Bella smirked to herself. However, now she was alone. And she didn't really feel like making friends tonight.

She made her way upstairs, not really sure what she was expecting to find. She'd never seen Will's bedroom, and that was possibly her main draw. Curiosity. But the first door she opened was not Will's room. It was a study, with a desk and a few books piled onto a coffee table. She noticed a figure standing by the window, gazing out of it, letting the breeze sweep his hair behind him.

'Well, well,' Bella began. 'James Potter? It seems our paths have crossed again.'

James turned away from the window as Bella approached him.

'Apparently so,' he couldn't help but smile at her.

'What are you doing up here? Shouldn't you be with your mates?' She asked him, joining him at the window, feeling her hair suddenly sweep behind her as the breeze caught it.

James shrugged. 'Sirius isn't speaking to me – or so Remus said. So I'm gonna leave it a while. He'll come round though… I'll tell him I hexed you, or something.'

Bella smirked. 'You know… you're just as bad as I am. Call yourself a Gryffindor? Sneaking around behind your best friend's back, then lying to him? Shocking.' She teased.

James grinned back at her, suddenly very amused. 'Would you rather I told him the truth?'

'And what would that be? That you've held a few conversations with me?'

James stared out of the window again, something still amusing him.

'Fine then. Don't tell me.' Bella said, impatient of waiting.

'I won't.' James replied with a smirk. He turned back around to her. 'Considering Sirius doesn't have a nice word to say about you… I'm struggling trying to think of a bad one.'

Bella felt her cheeks blushing and tried to hide it. She didn't reply to him for a while. 'So,' She said finally. 'after that display with Lucas… do you still think I'm harmless?'

He smiled at her. 'Still think I want to find out?'

'Well, do you?'

He laughed. 'I still think you're harmless.' He came a little closer. 'But I want to be proved wrong.' He said in little more than a whisper. She was about to reply, but she didn't get the chance. James kissed her. She didn't push him away – she was too stunned! It was over quickly, but James didn't step backwards.

'I still think you're harmless.' He concluded.

'You caught me off guard. That's not fair. Had I have seen that coming… you certainly wouldn't be saying that.'

James caught the sparkle in her eyes and believed every word she said. He would have kissed her again…

The door opened with a creek. Both Bella and James turned to stare, but neither of them thought that stepping apart might have been a good idea. Remus Lupin stood in the doorway, an expression on his face caught between shock and amusement.

'What's…' he began, but Bella had already planned her escape in the seconds it took Remus to speak. She gave no warning, then promptly slapped James across the face. He was about to shout out something in retaliation when she winked at him, before bringing back an angry expression. She stormed past Remus and flew out of the room. James clutched his hand to his cheek.

'Gonna tell me what the hell that was?' Remus asked him, a smirk creeping onto his lips. James rolled his eyes and sat down, Remus entered the room and shut the door behind him.