DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN HARRY POTTER.

Things had never felt quite the same for Abhimanyu after the break up with Bellatrix. It had pained him greatly, and on and off, he had wished that she had not left him. But he had not chosen the path of drugs and alcohol. Instead, he had decided that he would remain single. Ginger's mother had tried to talk him out of it saying that he would find the right girl for himself someday, but Abhimanyu had remained firm. Subhadra had told him that she would respect his decision.

As for Bellatrix, she had been subjected to many cruel comments from Walburga, Cygnus and Druella often. When her sisters had come back from Hogwarts after the academic year, her parents had forbidden her to go to the station with them lest the Mudblood be there. Abhimanyu had of course, not been there.

Andromeda and Narcissa had not been allowed to see Bellatrix immediately, but had been subjected to intense scolding from their parents for having befriended a Mudblood and for having followed Bellatrix's 'bad' example. And when they had finally been allowed to see her, she had broken down in front of them saying that she had failed them.

Narcissa had been frightened after hearing about Abhimanyu's visit and its consequences. She had said that Abhimanyu had put them all in danger, but Andromeda had disagreed with this, saying that Abhimanyu had only been trying to get to know their parents.

Rodolphus Lestrange had spied on Abhimanyu at the ministry and had rejoiced to hear about the broken relationship. He had then tried to meet Bellatrix and talk to her about getting together and fighting by the Dark Lord's side, but so far, she had only spoken to him for a short while each time, and she had told him almost every time, "I'll think about it. Give me time. I'm not ready." This had gone on for a few months and Bellatrix had still not agreed to join the dark lord who had been seeking her out, wanting her to join him and thus provide support as a member of the House of Black.

So when Rodolphus Lestrange suddenly and unexpectedly paid a visit to Grimmauld Place on the evening of Thursday, July 2nd 1970, Bellatrix was taken aback.

Rodolphus was sitting on the green couch in the sitting room, Cygnus and Druella on the white couch, and Bellatrix was standing in a far corner of the room, facing them but away from them.

Andromeda was sitting on the white chair and Narcissa on the smaller blue chair.

Rodolphus who was holding a goblet of wine spoke, "Sir, My Lady, the Dark Lord seeks interest in an alliance with the Most Ancient and Noble House of Black."

Cygnus asked, "And how exactly would this benefit us? What about other pureblood houses?"

Rodolphus replied, "The Dark Lord would provide you protection and reward you for providing support, as he propagates the rule of purebloods and the subjugation of those unworthy of magic. Many have joined his cause."

Narcissa spoke, "It's true. So many influential people are following him, including the Malfoys."

Rodolphus explained, "Yes, and forming an alliance would greatly benefit your family and his cause. It truly is a shame that too many ministry officials come by Malfoy Manor, but if you were to offer your house, it would prove your alliance to him, and to all the powerful families. It really is beneficial. He can keep you safe."

Druella spoke worriedly, "We'd be offering our house to rebellion meetings. If the ministry were to hear about it…"

Rodolphus said, "The Dark Lord helps those who support him, and he can keep you safe, so can I and your daughters, especially Bellatrix as she is the best duelist I have known apart from the Dark Lord. Besides, the ministry still thinks Bellatrix is a dedicated auror trainee."

Narcissa said, "The Dark Lord's only going to get stronger."

Druella turned to her husband and said, "Rodolphus here does have a point."

Andromeda spoke up, "I don't think this is a good idea. And who knows, the Dark Lord may lose within a year or so."

"He won't," Bellatrix stated.

Rodolphus replied, "No, he won't. With your help, we would all be able to set out and achieve what Grindelwald did, and more."

Cygnus looked at Rodolphus and spoke, "I would agree to this, but unfortunately, none of our daughters are willing to join the Dark Lord."

Rodolphus asked, "May I ask you something important from you?"

Cygnus replied, "Speak up."

And then, Rodolphus said, "I request the hand of your eldest daughter, Bellatrix Black of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Black in marriage."

Andromeda and Narcissa looked at Bellatrix who was standing still in shock, her mouth open. Druella turned to Cygnus and said, "Cygnus, we have waited long enough. We should agree to this."

Cygnus looked at his wife, nodded his head, and turning to Rodolphus, he said, "I will speak with her and inform you shortly about this."

Rodolphus said in a concerned tone, "Sir, I urge you to think about this as soon as possible. A great danger is upon this house."

Druella asked, "What is it?"

Andromeda whispered, "Oh no, I think I know what it is," even as Bellatrix backed out of the sitting room.

Sure enough, Rodolphus spoke, "A Muggleborn named Abhimanyu Pandey has set his lustful eyes upon your eldest daughter. If given time, this Pandey will spirit her away with him and take her for himself, thus defiling her and this family as well."

That was all that was needed for Cygnus and Druella to agree to the proposal at once without a second thought.

A few minutes later, just after Rodolphus had said his goodbyes and left, Cygnus and Druella entered Bellatrix's room to find her standing near her bed.

Moving a little towards the foot of the bed, he declared, "Bellatrix, the matter of your marriage has been held off long enough. It is high time you got married. Therefore, we have arranged for you to be married to Rodolphus Lestrange of the Honorable House of Lestrange."

Bellatrix cried out, "No, absolutely not! You can't…"

Even as Andromeda and Narcissa who were standing near their parents stepped into the room, Cygnus shouted, "You will comply with our wishes, Bellatrix Black!"

Bellatrix shouted, "This is brute force! You absolutely cannot do this to me! I do not want to marry Rodolphus! I will not! He is vile and arrogant! I will not marry Rodolphus Lestrange!"

Cygnus snarled, "Then who will you marry, that Mudblood Pandey? He is weak, and unworthy of you!"

Bellatrix declared, "Abhimanyu is ten times the man Rodolphus is! And he is far from weak! During the last dueling tournament at Hogwarts, he faced me during the finals and it was a tie. If he hears about what you've done to me…"

"Silence, Bellatrix," Druella cruelly cut her off, "That boy has set his lustful eyes on you. He had no right to even associate with you. He will defile you and bring shame upon this house!"

Andromeda who by then had moved to Bellatrix's left side and was between her and Cygnus spoke up, "Mother, Father, Abhimanyu may be a Muggleborn, but he is not a bad person. In fact, he once saved me from…"

"SILENCE, ANDROMEDA BLACK!" Cygnus yelled in her face, "YOU ARE…"

Bellatrix moved in front of Andromeda protectively and cried out, "Father, leave her alone. She didn't do anything wrong."

Cygnus snarled and brought his hand down on his eldest daughter's cheek with as much force as possible.

As Bellatrix reeled from the slap, caressing her cheek, Andromeda and Narcissa gasped in horror, but Druella stood still like a stone, looking indifferently upon them without as so much as a flinch.

And then, Cygnus hissed cruelly, "You are a disgrace to this family, to your Mother and me, and to your sisters! You will marry Rodolphus Lestrange, and then you will leave this house and I will no longer have to deal with you. And Pandey shall never be worthy of you! Now you shall not leave this house, even for auror training, until you marry Rodolphus Lestrange. You shall marry him within a week. Do you understand?!"

Then turning to the other girls, he yelled, "Andromeda, Narcissa, go to your rooms!"

Druella ordered sternly, "Do as your father says at once."

Andromeda and Narcissa looked sadly at Bellatrix and complied with their parents' orders.

Later on, Andromeda and Narcissa were standing in the former's room, looking similar to Bellatrix's own room, but with blue walls.

Narcissa whispered, "Andi, I knew that this friendship would put us all in danger."

Andromeda on the other hand, looked angrily at the door and hissed, "Mother, Father, I never thought I would say this, but you have gone too far. You disgust me!"

"Andi," Narcissa said pleadingly, "How can you say that? They are still our parents."

Andromeda turned to her and said, "Narcissa, this is about Bellatrix. We have to help her. We can't just let Rodolphus have her for himself when she doesn't want to be with him."

Narcissa asked, "But who can we trust?"

Andromeda declared, "You heard what Bellatrix said about Abhimanyu, right? If there's anyone we can trust to help us, it's him."

Narcissa pointed out, "But if we help him, we'll be thrown out."

Andromeda said, "We'll be thrown out either way; if not by helping our sister, then by marriages arranged by our parents."

She paused before asking, "Narcissa, who do you love more, our parents or Bellatrix?"

Narcissa said, "Andi, I can't choose like this."

Andromeda explained, "We have no choice. Tell me, who's the one that's supposed to protect us and has always done their best to do so? Who's the one that sat and played with us every single day when we were small? Who's the one that always kissed us goodnight? Who's the one that has always stood up for us, no matter what? Who's the one that has practically raised us?"

Narcissa looked at Andromeda for a long time and finally answered, "Bella."

Andromeda held Narcissa's shoulders and said, "Then we need to help her."

Narcissa asked, "Yes, but how?"

Andromeda said, "Abhimanyu's our answer. He would never leave a friend behind."

Narcissa pointed out, "But Bellatrix broke up with him. She cut him off."

"No," Andromeda pointed out, "She was forced to break up with him. But now it seems there was absolutely no point in it. Mother and Father will never stop putting us down for their own gains. Abhimanyu needs to know what really happened."

Narcissa asked, "But now, Father and Mother will be watching our every movement. How should we inform him?"

Andromeda smiled smugly and asked, "Cissy, you're good friends with Lucius, aren't you?"

Later on, half past midnight…

Abhimanyu, clad in his pajamas, was blankly staring at a book.

He muttered, "Oh God! I'm too sleepy for this! I think I should sleep."

He closed the book and walked towards the bed from his study table.

Just as he had turned off the lights and was about to get in, he suddenly heard a tapping noise nearby.

He nearly panicked, thinking that Voldemort had perhaps showed up.

But when he turned around in the direction of the noise, there, just outside, tapping against the window, was the beak of an owl.

Abhimanyu turned on a lamp light, and the light revealed the owl to be an eagle owl.

Abhimanyu opened the window and took the letter. He then moved backwards to get some treat for the owl but the owl just flew off straight away, into the dark night.

Abhimanyu opened the envelope and proceeded to read the note.

Dear Mangal Pandey,

The Black Company has gone too far. They have decided to use the Enfield rifle and greased cartridges. Meet me and a few other sepoys day after tomorrow at 8:30 pm at the Arc Bistro in Broadway, London.

Sincerely,

SUICUL YOFLAM

"What?" Abhimanyu muttered as he looked at the letter, "What's this Black Company? And Enfield rifle and greased cartridges, but that was from the East India Company, and that was 113 years ago. And who is this… wait a minute, could it be?"

He looked carefully at the name at the bottom and noticed something about it.

One thing he had enjoyed since his third year was spelling people's names backwards. He had done it to Bellatrix and Molly many a time, and they had gotten quite infuriated with him a couple of times. Gideon and Fabian had laughed their heads off every time it was Molly's name being spelled backwards.

And the name spelled backwards was….

LUCIUS MALFOY.

Abhimanyu's eyes widened as he whispered, "Lucius? What's going on? This letter is so weird, but something's going on. Alright Lucius, I'll be there at the Arc Bistro at 8:30 pm, but I will have my wand ready with me, and I sincerely hope this is not a trap."