So, this chapter took a tiny bit longer than I expected to write but it is the longer chapter yet. I really hope you enjoy it!
So please, read, enjoy and please do leave a review if you have a moment, I love every one of them and always reply!
The Purple Black
"Ouch!" Nymphadora cried out as she stubbed her toe on the frame of the bed, wincing as she pulled herself to a standing position again.
Bellatrix had left Nymphadora barely half an hour ago and since then Nymphadora had managed to put her things away, undress out of her muggle clothes, change her hair to a silver tone to complement the outfit her Aunt had provided her—even managed to put on the shoes with a small heel she had found in the bottom of the wardrobe—and slip the dress her Aunt had left out for her over her head. There was only one problem that she faced now; the corset. Dora had not ever worn such a thing in her entire life. Though her mother wore them on a day to day basis, and had tried to convince her once or twice to try to wear one, she had not once actually given in to her mother and point blank refused to wear them. Though this was different, she knew that the clothes she was wearing were undoubtedly 'muggle' and her Aunt entire disapproved of them, she was also sure her Uncle—who she had not yet met in her life—would have the same stance. She was adamant she had to do what her Aunt told her, to please her. Though she couldn't help but think, as she righted herself and tried to figure out a way to straighten the thing and tighten it at the same time, that she had really wished she'd brought some other clothes with her despite her Aunts instructions.
"Having trouble, are we?" Nymphadora almost fell flat on the floor as she quickly turned to face her Aunt, the woman now smirking in amusement from the doorway. Bellatrix had a habit of being able to sneak up on Dora without her knowing, something she found both impressive and slightly unsettling.
Her face turned pink in embarrassment as she looked down at her dress before smiling awkwardly at her Aunt before her "Uh—No . . . It's fine, I just—" Dora tugged the corset one last time to no avail before she grinned sheepishly at her Aunt "Yes, I'm 'having trouble'."
Bellatrix couldn't help but laugh slightly as she shut the door behind her, walking over to her niece. "I remember the first time I wore a corset." Bellatrix mused as she placed her left hand on the girl's hip to turn her to face the ornate floor length mirror in the room before she straightened the corset on her niece. "Almost cursed the thing across the room until my mother came in and forced me into it. Straighten up." The moment Dora complied and stood straight Bella tapped her wand on the corsets laces and the girl felt herself fall back into her Aunt with a gasp at the sudden tightness around her middle.
"That's tight." Dora said, lost for any other words.
"It's supposed to be, but you'll get used to it. You're nearly fifteen, practically a woman. You should get used to such uncomfortable dresses." Bellatrix rolled her eyes before she patted the girls shoulder and turned her to face her again. "Shall we go down? Rodolphus is already in the dining room, I believe."
"Right." Dora nodded. As she left the room she was suddenly made very aware of how the corset was affecting her ability to walk, her usual slouch and awkward steps nearly eradicated as the corset forced her to stand 'properly'. Perhaps this was why her mother had been trying to get her into a corset . . . Dora grunted as she collided with her Aunts back as she stopped outside the dining room. The older woman turned to the girl, raising an eyebrow at her as she attempted to disguise her annoyance at the girl's clumsiness.
"S—Sorry." Dora mumbled.
"It's . . . fine." Bella sighed before she forced a smile upon her blood red lips. "Ready?"
No . . . the girl couldn't help but think, though dared not to say. She had barely heard much about her Uncle Rodolphus, so she barely knew what to expect him to be like—though she was sure he wouldn't be as nice as her Aunt somehow.
"He's harmless." Bellatrix winked knowingly before she turned and opened the doors to the dining room. "Roddy!" Bellatrix exclaimed as she entered the room. Her husband was sat in the middle of a long solid wood table that could fit ten people at the least, the thickset man looking up to his wife as she entered the room with a look of retained irritation.
"Don't call me Roddy, Bella." He said in a dulcet tone.
Bellatrix supressed a giggle as she bit her lip. She knew that her husband didn't usually mind being called such names, though she was sure he would be mortified if his little half-blooded niece started calling him such. "Sorry," Bella sighed sarcastically as she walked over to the chair opposite him, drumming her fingers on the high back "Rodolphus." She looked into the man's eyes, she needn't read his mind to know that he was set in his opinion that he was not going to enjoy Nymphadora Tonks' visit to Lestrange manor, nor was he particularly going to enjoy meeting her in the first place. Bellatrix, however, was convinced by the end of Nymphadora's visit he would be just as determined as herself to have the girl join their cause. "Dora?" Bellatrix tilted her head as she looked to her niece, the young girl had clearly forgotten how to follow her like the usefully trained puppy she had become when she laid eyes on her Uncle. She feigned a warm smile at the girl as she pulled out the chair beside her own "Come sit here, pet."
"Okay. . ." The girl murmured, walking up to her Aunt as she forced herself not to stare at the intimidating looking man opposite her. She was grateful as she felt her Aunt's reassuring hand on her shoulder as the both sat at their places at the table.
"This is Nymphadora, Rodolphus." Bellatrix gave a sideway glance to her husband, the man not missing the mischievous glint in her eyes the woman always had when she was carrying out a plan.
"Nymphadora?" Rodolphus asked "That's a bit of a mouthful, isn't it?"
"I don't really like it." Dora blurted out "The kids at school call me Tonks—started off as an insult I think but it kinda stuck once so many people stopped hating me and it's better than Nymphadora I suppose." The girl instantly cursed her nervous habit to let her mouth run in front of her mind as she saw the man wrinkle his nose in distaste, knowing she had reminded him of her muggleborn father—something she knew Bellatrix didn't like so was sure he wouldn't either and he surely didn't seem the type to be so nice about it to her. "B—But my mum calls me Dora." The girl added, purposely leaving out the fact that it was her father mainly that called her that, her mother stupidly proud of the ridiculous name she had given her.
"Dora?" Rodolphus said after a few moments of awkward silence. The girl watched the man look to his wife, though when she turned her own gaze to her she quickly saw whatever look he was giving him turn into a polite smile "Well, that's a . . . nice name."
"Thanks." Dora said, unsure of what else to say. She was grateful as with a snap of her Aunt's fingers the evenings meal appeared in front of the trio, quickly picking up her knife and fork and cutting into one of the roast potatoes on her plate to occupy herself.
"So . . ." Rodolphus said with a sigh after at least a few minutes silence, Dora had missed the pointed look Bellatrix gave her husband "Bellatrix tells me you can morph, Nymphadora."
"Oh!" Dora nodded, quickly swallowing a mouth full of carrots to look to the man. "Yeah, I'm a metamorphmagus."
"Interesting ..."
"Why don't you show him, Dora?" Bellatrix prompted.
"Uh—Okay." Putting her knife and fork back down on the table. She screwed up her facial features for a moment before she looked back to her uncle, her long silver hair now a short bright pink bob, her eyes a pale blue.
"Impressive." The man breathed "is that all you can do though, change colours and the length of your hair?"
"No." Dora replied "I can morph into entirely different people, change my height, my size, anything really."
"Really?" Rodolphus asked, seemingly intrigued now, the thought that the man was interested in her relaxed Nymphadora slightly as to her it made him seem slightly less intimidating.
"Yeah," Dora nodded enthusiastically, spearing her fork in the last of her dinner "I can change into an entirely different person if I want to."
"Dora was only telling me last week how she turned into Professor Snape in order to amuse her class mates." Bella chimed, sipping at her glass of wine.
"It was worth the detention." Dora couldn't help but laugh slightly at the memory of Snape coming into his potions classroom only to see the spitting image of himself instructing her class mates of the world's deadliest potion in Snapes opinion; shampoo.
"Professor Snape?" Rodolphus asked. "Who would want to look like Snape?"
"It was fun." Dora shrugged with a smirk.
"Show him, Dora." Bella encouraged, turning in her chair to face the girl. "Though perhaps not Snape, I don't want to think of his greasy, snivelling self in my Manor."
"I—" Dora hesitated for a moment before she nodded. She put her knife and fork down on her empty plate, taking a deep breath before she screwed up her face on concentrated. The familiar giggle of amusement to her left let her know that she had succeeded and when she opened her eyes Bellatrix Lestrange was smirking back at a carbon copy of herself.
"See, it's amazing, isn't it Rodolphus?" Bellatrix remarked, looking to her husband as he stood from the table and walked around to the other side to see his niece. The young girl stood automatically as he reached her. "Can't tell the difference, can you?"
Rodolphus looked the girl up and down, his eyes wondering over every aspect of the young girl as she couldn't help but give an identical smirk to her Aunt. She was right, if he had not seen the girl transform himself he may have struggled to decipher which of the women before him were actually his wife.
"No . . ." Rodolphus shook his head "I can't . . ." he could suddenly see how his wife thought this mere half-blood child could help their cause as he curiously watched the fourteen-year-old turn back to her natural appearance. The rest of the meal went smoothly, dessert soon appearing on the table as the three sat back down and resumed their meal. It wasn't until Nymphadora had gone to bed and Bellatrix was left alone with her husband in their bedroom that evening that she asked him what she had really wanted to.
"So?" Bellatrix turned to the man as she slipped her night dress over her head "She's perfect, isn't she?"
"I wouldn't call her perfect." Rodolphus commented as he pulled on he did up the last of the buttons on his night shirt.
"Forgetting the blood." Bellatrix rolled her eyes.
"Blood is important." Rodolphus said, getting into their large bed "You should know that, Bellatrix."
"Of course, I know that!" Bellatrix hissed, shaking the annoyance from herself before going over and kneeling on the bed, looking down at her husband "But in a case like this . . . it could be worse."
"It could be." Rodolphus agreed.
"You see the importance of my befriending her though?" Bellatrix asked, casually letting one her of hands rest on the man's knee. "She will be the perfect tool."
"Perhaps, if we can get the stench of Mudblood off of her." Rodolphus remarked.
"We?" Bellatrix grinned, leaning down over her husband as she laid on his chest.
"Well, mostly you." Rodolphus shrugged with a smirk. "You're already doing a good enough job without my interference."
"Was that a compliment, Lestrange?" Bellatrix giggled.
"Why yes," Rodolphus commented before with a shriek from his wife he soon had her pinned to the bed as he loomed over her "I do give them on occasion."
Bellatrix went to speak though she was soon silenced by her husband's lips crashing into her own as his hands wandered her body. Merlin, she had forgotten how much Rodolphus enjoyed seeing her in her mischievously evil moods. She gasped as his teeth grazed her skin, this was sure to be an enjoyable Christmas.
The next day Nymphadora was woken up by a peculiar looking house elf at eight thirty in the morning, a time she deemed far too early to wake up for in the Christmas holidays. As she dressed for the day she was secretly grateful that her Aunt had instructed the elf to stay to take her down to the dining room, she definitely needed help with todays corseted dress. Rodolphus was not at the breakfast table, according to his Aunt he was at the ministry. She wasn't sure what he did there, though the girl naïvely guessed that from the size of their home he must be in some high up position.
"Come, Dora." Bellatrix said as the mornings breakfast vanished from the table, rising to from her seat and beckoning the girl from the room.
"Where are we going?" Dora asked, walking quickly to keep up with her Aunt whilst not tripping over her own feet.
"We're going to a special room of mine." Bellatrix said, "I'm going to teach you some spells today."
"Cool." Dora grinned, unable to help but let her hair turn its usual bright pink. "Have you put wards up? You know, because of the whole 'no magic outside of Hogwarts' thing?"
"No," Bellatrix scoffed "families such as mine have long since earned the right to teach the children of their family magic outside of the confines of Hogwarts. There would be uproar if they stopped us—and they would be considerably worse off for gold."
Nymphadora just about managed to stop herself crashing into her Aunt again this time as she stopped abruptly again.
"What's wrong?" Dora asked as she straightened herself.
"Someone is here." Bellatrix reached out slightly, as if trying to grab something that wasn't there before with a small smirk she walked back towards the front of the manor. Nymphadora frowned for a moment before she hurried to catch up with her Aunt, though as she reached the front doors of the manor she couldn't help but instinctively pull back slightly, her bright pink hair turning into a less noticeable dark brown.
With a flick of her wrist Bellatrix opened the doors to Lestrange manor, grinning as she saw the woman before her. "Narcissa." Bellatrix said, summoning the elf to take her sisters traveling cloak "and Draco."
The seven-year-old blonde child look up at his Aunt nervously, sticking closely to his mother as possible. "Come Draco, don't be shy." Narcissa sighed as she looked down at the boy, "Say hello to your Aunt."
"Hello Aunt Bella." Draco said dutifully, handing his traveling cloak to the elf now bowing before them.
"Good boy." Narcissa sighed before she went to say something to her sister, though whatever she was planning to say was soon lost on her lips as she caught sight of the teenager staring at her. "Bellatrix . . ."
"Hmm?" Bellatrix smirked, then looked back to Nymphadora, grinning as she realised what her sister wanted as she held her hand out for the girl to come to her. "Oh, this is Nymphadora. You know Nymphadora, don't you? Well, I suppose you don't know her but—well this is our niece."
Draco frowned at the girl stood now stood before them, holding the hand of his Aunt who in his opinion was rather terrifying. "Hello . . ." Dora said, not sure of what else to say as her blonde Aunt looked down to her with a wide-eyed look of what seemed like a mixture of shock—if Nymphadora wasn't mistaken—fear.
"Bellatrix . . ." Narcissa said her sisters name again "What—?"
"Shall we speak in private, Narcissa?" Bellatrix interrupted. "Let the youngsters keep each other company whilst we have a little chat, they are cousins after all."
Narcissa held back a shudder at the thought as she turned to glare at her sister for suggesting such a thing.
"They'll be fine." Bellatrix shrugged as she let go of Nymphadora's hand and took her sisters arm. "Dora, why don't you take Draco to your room for a little while."
Narcissa was stunned for words, wanting nothing but to simultaneously scream at her sister and grab her child and apparate as far away from the situation as possible. Though she couldn't help but stare at the teenager leading her child up the stairs whilst her sister lead her away, the girl looked so much like Andromeda at her age it pained her to see it. Soon all nostalgic thoughts were swept from her mind as Bellatrix shut the door to the living room she had led her into, quickly warding the room so that they couldn't be heard from outside its walls.
"How can I help you today, Narcissa?" Bellatrix said as she went to the drinks cabinet, pouring two small glasses of wine for the pair before turning and offering one to her sister. The innocent look on her features as if she had done nothing wrong infuriated Narcissa, so much so that she nearly threw the wine from her sister's hand rather than accept it.
"What—How—How can you help me?" Narcissa said, giving her sister an incredulous stare "Are you serious?"
"No, I'm Bellatrix." Bellatrix laughed, putting the wine glasses down on the table.
"This is not the time for jokes!" Narcissa snapped. "Does Rodolphus know that she is here? Did you kidnap her? Are you mad?!"
"Yes, no and maybe a little." Bellatrix shrugged, sitting down on the couch.
"Bellatrix!" Narcissa yelled in her frustration before she begun to pace the room, Bellatrix following her with her eyes as she relaxed on the couch, she continued this for a few minutes before she calmed enough to be able to stop and look to her sister yet again. "What are you doing with her?"
"She wanted to stay with me for Christmas, so I invited her." Bellatrix said, as if having the half-blood child of her disowned sister in her home was the most normal thing.
"What about Andromeda?"
"What about her?"
"What about her?!" Narcissa repeated.
"Honestly, Narcissa you're not a parrot." Bellatrix sighed as she took a sip of her wine. "No need to repeat what I say."
"Bellatrix." Narcissa groaned as she fell into an armchair "What are you doing liaising with Andromeda and her half-blood offspring?"
"Who said I was talking to Andromeda?" Bellatrix wrinkled her nose at the thought.
"I—Andromeda doesn't know!?"
"Calm down."
"Don't tell me to calm down!" Narcissa yelled as she stood up yet again. "Are you looking to get disowned?! Just because you are married now doesn't mean you can't be struck off the family tree!"
"I won't be struck off." Bellatrix laughed.
"Oh? What makes you so sure of that?"
"Because Nymphadora is a powerful child, you know this Narcissa. It was you who told me of it." Bellatrix said "Remember, years ago, in Diagon Alley? You told me she was a metamorphmagus. Well I simply had to meet her after that."
"You mean to tell me—You mean to tell me that you have been talking to Nymphadora Tonks for this long?" Narcissa asked, her eyes wide in disbelief yet again "You have been talking to this girl without Andromeda's knowledge? What for!?"
"I told you, she is powerful." Bellatrix said, more slowly this time as if she thought her younger sister to be dumb "I have plans for her. She will make a powerful servant to the Dark Lords cause one day and before that—if I end up having to divulge my association with her—our family will not disown me for it. They will be just as intrigued to know her. Imagine the uses of a metamorphmagus for the House of Black?"
"You—You would not give her to father." Narcissa shuddered at the thought, their father was a terrible man and she dreaded to think what treatment the young girl would receive from him. "You can't."
"Oh, I won't." Bellatrix shrugged. "Though they would hardly shun her when they knew of her powers."
"I can't believe you . . ." Narcissa sighed, shaking her head as she summoned her wine glass and drank deeply from it. "This is madness . . . The girl . . . She . . . The Dark Lord is—"
"Shut your mouth before I make you." Bellatrix hissed. "He will rise again, even if your coward of a husband is too naïve to think so. He is not dead, he had too many precautions in place to prevent that happening. He is out there somewhere and he will return to power."
Narcissa opened her mouth, ready to speak again though the look of fury her sister gave her warned her to keep her thoughts on the matter to herself. She took a deep breath before she stood up again. "I do not want to know what you are doing, though if you hurt that girl . . . Well Andromeda will come down on you like a ton of bricks."
"I'm not scared of her." Bellatrix laughed.
"No, though she knew just as many curses as you did when we were children, Bella."
"When we were children." Bellatrix scoffed "I could defeat her with my eyes closed now. Besides, my intention is not to hurt the girl—she idolises me."
"Poor girl." Narcissa shook her head as her sister laughed again.
"Come now, Narcissa." Bellatrix walked ahead of her sister, forcing her to follow her. When they reached Nymphadora's room they found the girl sat on the bed, her nose that of a pig's snout as Draco laughed hysterically sat beside her.
"Aunt Bella." Dora looked to her Aunt, sheepishly morphing her pig snout away as her other Aunt gave her a curious look.
"You look as if you two are having fun." Bellatrix smirked as Draco jumped off of the bed, composing himself. She could feel the unease from her sister still radiating off of her, though she didn't care. She knew that Narcissa would play along with her games, just as she always had since they were children.
Christmas day was a wonderful affair. Nymphadora woke up early that day to a small stocking full of perfumes and trinkets at the end of her bed, they had a small breakfast before she received clothes of beautiful jewellery and clothes along with some dark arts books that looked extremely intriguing (all of which the girl was forbidden to let her parents know she had). Though her favourite present from her Aunt had to be a two-way mirror, her Aunt told her that she had the sister mirror and that all she needed to do was say her name into the glass and she would be able to talk to her.
They had a small feast for the three of them for their lunch and that evening Narcissa popped over briefly to give her sister and brother-in-law their gifts. Narcissa even gave a small gift to the girl, a silver necklace with a jewelled pendant that changed colours to match her hair.
It was nothing like the Christmas's the girl was used to. Usually she would end up in the living room with her father, watching his favourite Christmas films on the television as her mother busied herself in the kitchen to avoid the embarrassment of her confusion with the 'muggle box'. They would have a reasonable Christmas dinner and then, if they had been lucky enough to have snow, she would end up in a snowball fight with her father in the garden. She couldn't help but miss her parents slightly and perhaps that was the reason that after an hour of trying to sleep in bed that night Nymphadora found herself on a midnight stroll to the kitchens.
She was sure she was lost though, for she hadn't even managed to reach the staircase yet. A week in the large manor had not yet led Dora to be able to find her way around the place without getting lost, usually her Aunt or Uncle would bump into her and show her where she was supposed to be going or even the house elf. Though as she wondered the halls she wondered if she'd even be able to find her way back to her bedroom, let alone the kitchen.
"I don't see the point anymore, Rodolphus." Bellatrix's voice carried down the hall, causing the girl to jump slightly though she quickly held her balance to stop herself falling over. She looked down the hallway, she could see a small light flowing from an open door a little way down. Nymphadora Tonks bit her lip before her curiosity got the better of her and she found herself tiptoeing towards the sound. "It's so faint now . . ." she heard her Aunt breathe.
"Yet it's still there, Ma Belle." A man's voice replied, Rodolphus. Dora held her breath as she tried not to make a noise. "You don't want anyone to see it, do you? What if Nymphadora sees it?" her Aunt grunted in reply. "When do you plan to tell her, Bellatrix?"
"She's too young . . ." Bellatrix murmured. Dora's mind raced. What was she too young for? What wasn't she telling her?
"You were never too young for such information." Rodolphus remarked.
"I was determined to know it all . . . to do what I could when I could." Bellatrix replied, "Though I was a different case."
Nymphadora edged closer to the door, it was only open slightly ajar, if she was ever so careful she could probably lean forward a little to see into the room.
"Hmm, ready?" Rodolphus asked.
Nymphadora leaned forward, convinced that her Aunt and Uncle would hear her from how loudly her heart was beating in her chest. She could see a small section of what appeared to be a study, her Aunt was sat on the desk as her husband stood beside her, she held her left arm up to herself as she inspected it very carefully as if it held deep secrets she was trying to unlock.
"Just get on with it." Bella hissed as her husband asked her if she was ready again. She held her left arm out for the man and that is when Nymphadora saw it. Her Aunt was right, whatever was on her arm was extremely faint though clearly still there. Her uncle moved his wand to the tip of her arm and muttered an incantation, with a hiss of pain from her Aunt the mark gradually disappeared.
"Better than the pain of the Dementors." Rodolphus mumbled, lifting up his left sleeve and holding out his arm to his wife so he could do whatever he had just done to her to him.
"We are still faithful." Bellatrix whispered as she looked down at the mark on her husband's arm. "The Dark Lord, he'll rise . . . though the other Death Eaters may be traitorous scum we will still be there for him."
Nymphadora didn't hear what her Uncle said, it seemed as if all the blood had rushed to her head and her stomach had dropped several inches. Without thinking she turned on the spot and returned in the direction of what she thought was her room, being careful to be as quiet as possible until she reached her goal. She dropped onto her bed as she stared at the mirror opposite her, her hair had turned white.
The last wizarding war had finished in 1981, when Nymphadora Tonks was eight years old. Therefore, she was not naïve even to not know who 'The Dark Lord' was or what 'Death Eaters' were. She remembered her mother being so careful, she was barely aloud to play in the garden as a child without her mother or father present for fear of these people. Though she never fully understood the depth of what they did—her mother was sure to hide her from those details—one thing she did know is that she was supposed to be scared of them. Though her Aunt was not scary, not at all, and even though her Uncle could be a bit intimidating she was sure neither one of them would harm her. She had known her Aunt since she was nine years old, there was no way on this earth she could be seen as 'evil' to the girl in the way that her mother had described the Death Eaters. Even as she watched herself in the mirror she thought it preposterous and forced the white out of her hair as she changed it to a black to match her Aunts. Perhaps her mother had lied about the true nature of Death Eaters and The Dark Lord? Her mother told her that they would hurt her but her Aunt would never . . .
Nymphadora's head spun with a thousand thoughts as her head hit the pillow, staring up at the canopy of the four-poster bed. There had to be an explanation to this, her Aunt had planned to tell her about this from what she had heard anyway—just not yet. She was sure that she had nothing to worry about. Though as she closed her eyes and tried to sleep she decided she would have to do some investigations into what being a Death Eater actually meant, rather than what her mother told her.
Soooo I hope you enjoyed reading that chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it, please do leave me a review if you have a moment and let me know what you thought!
The Purple Black