Being woken up was never something Bellatrix liked, but she liked it even less when the noise that woke her up was someone crying. At first she thought she was still dreaming, but when she stared around her room and noticed a figure by the window, she realised it wasn't a dream. She brushed her thick hair out of her eyes and threw her covers off. She moved towards the figure in the window. To anyone else, this would have been cause for alarm, but not for Bella.

Narcissa turned her head when she heard Bella get up, using the sleeve of her pyjamas to wipe tears from her face. Bella put her arm around her sister and pulled her into a hug.

'What's wrong?' She asked her gently.

Narcissa took a small gasp before she spoke. 'He kissed Amelia.' She whispered. 'Lucius kissed Amelia.'

'Clearly he doesn't know what he's missing, does he, Cis?' Bella assured her strongly. Her sister made a whimpering noise.

'Besides,' Bella continued. 'it's not as if you don't know how to play that game, is it? You know how to get revenge better than anyone I know.' Bella heard Narcissa laugh delicately, and she smiled, releasing her from the hug.

Narcissa dried her eyes and looked back at her sister. 'Should I though? What if it's a misunderstanding…' Bella raised an eyebrow at her.

'Misunderstanding? How can kissing someone else be a misunderstanding?' She questioned.

'Well, we're not actually going out…'

'And? He's made it clear that he likes you. End of.' Bella shrugged. Narcissa shook her head. Why did Bella never understand? Just because everything was so black and white to her! Didn't mean everyone else saw things that way!

'Bella… you don't get it,' Narcissa tried to explain. 'I've got no ties on him, have I? So, why does that make it any of my business what he does with other girls? There's nothing I can do.'

Bella smirked. She admired her sister's naivety and innocence sometimes. 'There's always something you can do – just some things are more effective than others. You can always get revenge. Do to him what he did to you; lead him on then kiss someone else.' Bella explained it like it was obvious. It took a few seconds, but Narcissa eventually smiled back at her sister.

'Maybe you're right…' She agreed finally.

'Maybe?'

Narcissa grinned at her. 'Okay, you are right.'

'Always am.' Bella beamed back at her sister. 'Now. Can I get back to sleep?'

Narcissa nodded and smiled. She gave Bella a quick hug before she got up to leave her room.

'Thank you.' She added, before she shut the door as she left. Bella shook her head. Poor Narcissa. She'd learn.

The sunlight began streaming in through the curtains, and once more, Bella woke up. She didn't feel like she'd had enough sleep, but that was hardly surprising. She quickly got dressed and went downstairs. Her mother was in the hallway, counting money into her purse.

'Ah, Bellatrix,' She looked up at her daughter as she came down the stairs. 'we're going into Diagon Alley today.' Bella nodded. 'You need to get your dress.'

'Dress?'

'For school? Remember? The ball they're planning? It was in your supplies list, you have seen it.' Her mother explained with a sympathetic smile and tone.

'Oh, right yeah.' Bella remembered it vaguely. It hadn't really entered her consciousness; she wasn't planning on going. Whenever something big like that happened, most of the Slytherins usually stayed in the common room and had their own party. Generally, they felt it was a better experience, and it came with the added bonus of not having to share it with other houses. Andromeda would revel in these parties though, all her friends were in other houses, she didn't have any friends in her own house. Bella had never been surprised at this. When she first started, Bellatrix had tried to help her make friends with people, advised that she could get on the Quidditch team, but she didn't even bother to try anything. She'd rather be friends with everyone else rather than Slytherins, so Bella gave up trying to help her.

'Andromeda's already got her things sorted.' Her mother added.

'I bet she has.' Bella muttered, rolling her eyes.

'Don't be bitter, Bellatrix,' Her mother picked up her purse and held out the rest of the money to Bellatrix. She took it with a small smile. 'I do wish you would try and get along with Andromeda.'

'But Narcissa doesn't either!' Bella protested.

'She tries harder than you do! At least she makes an effort. Sometimes I think you'd rather hate her.'

Bella stared coldly at her mother. 'It's not that. She doesn't want me to be nice to her, so I won't be. And it's not like this is one way! She doesn't like me either!'

'Yes, yes, okay Bella,' She sighed. 'I know it's not one way. Anyway, you take the money and you can go with your sister to Diagon Alley, alright?'

'Yep. Fine.' Bella replied sourly.

'And do me a favour,' her mother added. 'don't go through Knocturn Alley this time? I don't want you blowing money on something like last time,' She glanced at a jar on top of the drawers behind her. There was a small dragon asleep inside it. 'No matter what Mr Borgin tells you about it. Because that is not a Hungarian Horntail.'

'I know that now,' Bella shot back.

'You didn't at the time! It's no good knowing it now, is it?' Her mother was half laughing at the spite Bella had put into her expression. 'Go on then. Narcissa's in the kitchen.'

Bella marched past her and opened the kitchen door. Narcissa was sitting at the table, flicking through the morning's post.

'Anything?' Bella asked her.

'Nah.' She replied, putting down the stack of letters again. 'We going now, then?'

The girls arrived in Diagon Alley, like their mother had told Bellatrix. She would usually have taken the route to the fireplace in Borgin and Burke's, but she knew her mother would find out. She'd just walk there instead.

Diagon Alley wasn't too busy, because they'd got there early. There was no doubt it would get busier and day progressed – it always did.

'Where'd you wanna go for the dresses then?' Narcissa asked her. Bella glanced back at her.

'Er… tell you what. You go and have a look around for some nice ones, yeah? And I'll meet you back here in say… an hour?' Bella told her. Narcissa gave her a look but nodded nonetheless. Bella threw her a quick smile and walked off in the opposite direction. Narcissa knew exactly where she was going, and she would have gone with her, but the idea of dress shopping seemed far more appealing.

Bellatrix opened the door to Borgin and Burke's, and it squeaked through the silence as she did so. Mr Borgin, the aging man who ran the place, looked up from his books. He smiled at her, and she returned it.

'Miss Black,' He addressed her. 'School supplies shopping today?'

'Yeah,' She replied with a sigh. 'thought I'd come in here instead.'

'An excellent idea.' Mr Borgin agreed. There was something about that man that didn't seem at all menacing. Bella had heard stories of the way he 'procured' some of the stock he sold, but she didn't believe it. Now Mr Burke on the other hand, no one ever saw him, and he wasn't dead, so she assumed it was him who did the business of stock collecting.

Bella stared around the shop. Everything changed every time she was in there, and that's why she liked it. There was always new things she'd never seen before – and, the best part, it was okay to ask questions. They would always be answered.

She spotted a small box in the corner of the room, it was black with a transparent lid. The contents seemed to be a lot of swirling black and silver smoke. Mr Borgin joined her to peer at it.

'What's this?' She asked him, still watching the smoke.

'That is an Anubis box,' He told her quietly. 'very rare item.'

'What does it do?' She looked up at him this time.

He titled his head to one side slightly. 'It saves dark thoughts… they usually come as a pair. Somewhat of a messaging system. Extraordinarily dark item, Miss Black, very dark.'

'But you've only got one…' She stated slowly.

'Only one on display,' He corrected her. 'We're working on getting the sister box.' He explained with a small smile. Bella smiled back and nodded, then stepped away from the box to look at something else. She spotted a small round orb, with a hole at the top, balanced on a small black platform. She walked over to that, curious as to what it's purpose was.

'Ah, the Gravida Orb,' Mr Borgin said, once more following her across the shop. 'the owner can set the emotion of a particular room to whatever they wish.' Bella stared back at him. That was truly impressive. He nodded, he could tell she was struggling to believe it. 'For example, say you wanted someone to tell you something… you would be able to set the atmosphere of the room so that your subject would feel an overwhelming sense of trust for you.' Bella's jaw dropped.

'Really?'

Mr Borgin nodded again. Bella smiled to herself. She liked this item. But, she couldn't think of a use for it, so continued around the shop.

'Actually,' Mr Borgin said suddenly. 'I have something you might be interested in. One moment,' He wandered off into the back room of the shop. Bella liked it when he saved things for her, because usually, he was right about what she liked. The dragon box had been something she'd seen by herself and bought on a whim. She wasn't even sure that Mr Borgin knew he was lying when he told her it was Hungarian Horntail, after all, he owned a shop, he wasn't a dragon breeder.

He re-immerged carrying a small black box. He placed it on the counter and opened it carefully, revealing what looked just like a piece of glass with a handle. The glass was slightly coloured, and as the angle of it shifted as it was removed from the box, the colours changed.

'This is an Animi Speculum,' He told her, passing the handle to her.

'What does it do?'

'This is a very special item,' Mr Borgin informed her. 'if you look through it you will be able to see people's… emotions, so to speak. You can read their interactions, is probably a more accurate description.' Bellatrix was still looking confused. 'Look out of the window, give it a go.' He told her. She agreed and wandering over to the window. She saw a guy and a girl talking at the opposite side of the street. She held the glass up. She grinned at what she saw. There were words simply hanging in the air in the space between them. An arrow pointed to the girl, it said madly in love. The other arrow pointed to the guy, and said thinks she's annoying, but he's trying to be polite. Bella smirked. She liked this glass. She took it back over to the counter.

'Impressed?' Mr Borgin asked her, full well knowing what the answer would be.

'Absolutely.' Bella beamed back at him. 'That's amazing. It's like it's talking to you… it seems almost… friendly.'

He nodded. 'It knows about you when you hold it. It tells you what you want to know, even if you don't know, and tells you in terms you'll understand.' He continued to explain. Bella didn't need any more convincing.

'How much is it?' She asked him. His smile seemed to widen.

'Sixteen galleons…' He told her. 'But, for you, I'd be willing to lower it to fourteen.'

Bella thought about it for a moment. It still left her with just enough money to find a dress, and she had her Gringotts key so she could get some money if she needed it… it just meant she'd have to be very careful not to let her parents know she'd done it. They told her the money in her vault was for emergencies, and to help her buy a house when she was older.

She passed the money across the counter as Mr Borgin put the Animi Speculum back into its box and sealed it once more. He took the money from her and it flew into the till.

'An excellent buy,' He told her. 'use it well.'

'Certainly,' She grinned at him and slipped the box into her bag. She left the shop and made her way back to Diagon Alley. She didn't do what most people did in Knocturn Alley – keep their heads down and walk quickly. But then again, there were very different types of people who came to Knocturn Alley. As she saw someone turning the corner, she wished she had been keeping her head down.

'Bellatrix!'

'Oh shit,' She muttered to herself, as Rodolphus Lestrange walked towards her. She put on a fake smile.

'How are you?' He asked her rather awkwardly, beginning to wonder why he'd even come over to her. Bella secretly wished she could get out the glass she'd just bought and find out what he really wanted.

'Good, thanks.' She replied with a sigh. 'And yourself?'

'Excellent,' He answered, grinning.

After a moment of silence, Bella spoke. 'I need to find my sister, if you'll excuse me.' She began to walk past him, but he called her name once more. She turned around reluctantly.

'I just… I wanted to know if you… maybe wanted to get a drink or something?' He asked her stupidly.

She gave him a slightly pitying look. 'I don't think that's a good-'

'I haven't seen you all holidays, Bella, just a catch up, you know?'

Bella looked at her watch. She hoped it would be sooner to meeting Narcissa than it was. She glanced back at Roddy, standing hopelessly in the middle of the street, anticipation all over his face. She sighed.

'Alright. But it's going to have to be quick.' In her head she was saying it always used to be… but she figured it would probably hurt his feelings to say it out loud, and forced herself to bite her tongue. As much as she didn't think he made a good boyfriend, she wanted to still be friends with him. He was smiling the entire way to the coffee shop. Bella felt like slapping him just wipe that idiotic grin of his face – but she resisted the urge.

They found a table at the back of the shop and he brought her back a drink from the counter. She took a sip and glanced out of the window. They were back in Diagon Alley now, and it was getting busier now. She was hoping to catch the eye of someone she knew, who'd come and rescue her from this fate.

'So,' Roddy began. 'done much this summer?'

She looked back at him, taking her eyes off the street. 'Yeah, a bit. I went to Will Skeeter's party the other night.' She told him. He nodded, slight disappointment behind his eyes. He was never friends with Will, but he used to go to his parties because Bella was going, and she'd take him because they were together.

'Many people go, did they?'

She nodded. 'Yep.'

'Who did you go with?'

'Lucy.'

He stared at her. She smirked.

'I know what you meant, Roddy,' She told him, raising in eyebrow. 'I just went with my friend. I didn't bring a date, sometimes people can go a night without a date.' She added. One of the reasons she hadn't liked going out with him was that he was too clingy, and used to make it a priority that they did everything together.

'Right…' He replied slowly.

Someone approached the table, and placed the bill in the centre.

'Thanks.' Roddy replied, without even looking up.

Bella bit her lip to refrain from laughing as she saw who'd just brought their bill. James Potter was grinning down at her. He clearly had picked up a Saturday job there, as he was wearing the employee shirt, with a huge sizzling coffee cup on the chest, that simmered as steam rose from it at random intervals.

'Nice shirt.' Bella teased in a whisper, as Roddy stared outside, assuming the conversation was over.

'Yeah?' James smirked. He leant slightly closer to avoid Roddy hearing his comment. 'It would look better on your bedroom floor.' He flashed her a smile and left the table. Bella felt herself blushing but quickly covered it up and regained her composure. Roddy suddenly lifted his head up.

'Was that Potter?' He asked, only just noticing.

Bella shrugged. 'Can't say I was paying that much attention.' She lied smoothly. He nodded and took a sip of coffee.

'Probably had to pick up a job, the family will go bankrupt if he doesn't.' He said with a sneer. Bellatrix simply smiled back.

'Actually,' She replied quickly. 'I heard his family are quite well off.'

Roddy glanced back at her, a quizzical look on his face.

'Is that so?'

She nodded, and smiled again, slightly smugly. Roddy simply nodded back and didn't reply. Bella felt like she'd done something to offend him – she couldn't think what, but considering this was his idea, he wasn't saying an awful lot.

'You done anything in the holidays?' She asked him, trying to bring back the conversation again, even just for Roddy's sake.

He shook his head. 'Not really. Went to Scotland for a while, visiting family up there. You remember my uncle Althawp right?' She nodded. Bella vaguely remembered him, crazy old fool, if she remembered correctly. 'Well. He thought he'd invented a new type of Draught of the Living Dead.' He looked back up at her. 'He hadn't.' He shrugged and continued. 'And my brother went to France with his friend… apparently they hooked up with a bunch of Beauxbaton's girls… don't believe a word of it myself.'

Bella nodded back politely, slightly regretting asking. She glanced at the clock above the counter of the shop. She actually should get going soon.

'Don't tell me,' Roddy said before she had the chance. 'you gotta go, right?' She nodded and tried to look just a little bit sympathetic. She was about to get up and leave, when she heard her name from close by, as Narcissa emerged by her side, someone else following behind her.

Bella stared up at her, and her eyes darted left to see who else was with her. She didn't really know any of Narcissa's friends, but this was a blonde guy, who she could only assume, was Lucius Malfoy.

'Alright?' Bella asked her sister, trying to ask with her eyes if this was the guy that had upset her so much previously.

Narcissa gently shook her head at her sister, unnoticed by anyone else. 'Bella, this is Lucius.' He extended his hand and Bella, reluctantly, shook it.

'I ran into him while I was shopping,' She continued. 'erm…' Narcissa knew what she was trying to ask, and Bella decided to pick up where her sister finished.

'I'll be going then.' She said, forcing a smile, and getting up from the table. She could tell that Roddy would have objected, had they not have had company. She glanced at him and he held his hand up.

'I'll get the tab, Bella.' He told her. She shook her head.

'No, you won't.' She said simply, and made her way towards the counter at the opposite end of the coffee shop. She wasn't really that bothered about who paid the bill, but, if she paid it, she'd have a reasonable excuse to go to the counter.

James turned around to lean over the counter, a cheeky smile on his lips. Bella passed over the bill and the money to cover it. James put it in the till and handed her back the change, still barely taking his eyes off her.

'So, where you off next?' He asked her, picking up a cloth and drying a few cups on the counter.

'I need to get a dress.' She told him with a sigh. 'For that ball at school.'

James nodded. 'Yeah I had to get dress robes for that. Refused to let my mum get them for me, I'd look like a bloody pansy or something.' He grinned at her.

'What time d'you finish here, then?' She tried to slip it into conversation, so that it didn't sound like she was actually asking him.

His eyes told her that he knew exactly what she asking.

'Whenever,' He replied quietly. 'I can finish now… if you want me to?'

'And what makes you think I want you to come with me?' She asked him, lifting her head slightly. He gave her a look and raised an eyebrow. 'Yeah, finish now.' She continued, knowing he already knew the answer.

'I'll just go tell Eddie I'm going then,' He turned to go through an arch that led to a back room. He momentarily turned back to beckon Bella to follow him. She glanced around to check no one was looking in her direction. Narcissa and Lucius had apparently sat down with Roddy, and seemed to be engaged in a very engrossing conversation. No doubt Bella would hear all about that later. She followed James.

'Eddie?' James called a few times, Bella following him through a small corridor to a back room, where coffee machines sat sizzling off their own accord. A middle aged, balding man was sat in a chair in the centre of them, seemingly asleep. James rolled his eyes and roughly gave the man a shake.

'Eddie!'

He jumped slightly and his eyes opened. 'James? What d'you want?'

'I'm finishing now.' James said abruptly.

Eddie stared at him and shook his head slowly. 'Fine, fine. You just come and go as you please, then, James.' He muttered sarcastically.

'Well it's not as if you pay me, is it?' James told him, before turning around without waiting for a response, although it didn't seem like he was going to get one anyway. James entered a second room, smaller, with a few coat hangers hanging from the walls, attached to nothing. James took down a t-shirt that was hanging on one of them, and proceeding the take off the shirt he was wearing. Bella stared. He was really toned underneath that, which she should have expected, she'd played Quidditch against him enough times. She swallowed, hoping her expression remained cool and calm. James glanced back at her and smirked. Clearly her expression was not so collected.

'What?' Bella asked him, trying to look like she wasn't impressed and leaning against the door frame.

'You're staring.' He said simply, turning to her – still shirtless.

She pouted slightly. 'Only a little.'

He shook his head with a smile and put his t-shirt on, throwing the other shirt into a basket at the corner of the room. 'Come on then.' He said to her, taking her hand and leading her out of the coffee shop. She hoped that no one saw this, but didn't have time to check. She smiled to herself, at least she was in his company, which seemed to please her. Surprisingly.