Bellatrix Black

suddenlyprompts:

After being around and looking up to Bellatrix her entire life she was usually able to tell if something was bothering her but she didn’t know if it was her place to ask at the moment. So instead she just smiled at her and tapped her chin. “Well you have two options, you can find me a goddamn Chocolate Frog or you can tell me what’s bothering you. You can choose.” She said in a lighthearted tone which she hoped conveyed that whether Bella cared to share or not she wouldn’t be offended.

Bellatrix didn’t like the fact that Narcissa had picked up on something being wrong; didn’t like the fact that she’d lost that much control over her composure. “Let’s find you a chocolate frog, Cissy.” With a soft sigh signalling that she wouldn’t be revealing anything to her baby sister, Bellatrix began to walk towards the common rooms, knowing there was likely to be at least one frog in one of their trunks. 

Rabastan knew the stories about Bellatrix, how could he not and yet when he was with her it was difficult to consider that a half of them where anywhere close to true. “Stolen limbs?” He questioned with a laugh he wasn’t quite quick enough to stop. “Whose limbs did they assume you’d managed to steal? We hardly had a collection of students walking around the school without arms and legs.” He ran a hand back through his hair, still present amusement at the idea resting over his expression. “If you did there’s always the strong risk of my death overshadowing your big day, put a slight darkness over the wedding.”

“Mhm, apparently I’ve been collecting them for years.” Chuckling to herself, Bellatrix turned the corner, coming to a stop outside the common room, where she was quick to mutter the password and step inside. “Oh, come now Rabastan; rumours aren’t meant to be logical.” With a grin on her lips, Bella wasted little time in heading for the stairs leading up to her dormitory; she had a stash of bottles beneath her bed that were simply calling out her name. “Hardly; no-one would know you were dead till after the wedding, you’d have simply been called away on business.”

I am a hard person to love; but, when I love, I love really hard.

Regulus smiled politely, deciding not to really press the topic. He was sure that there was probably more to it than just ‘tip-top’. “I’m alright… Just busy… I’m glad to be back at school though.” He wasn’t sure if she’d heard about his run-in with Lupin (and the preliminary events with Rabastan) but he wasn’t going to just bring it up.

“Busy? It’s only been a few days, Reg; are the Professors putting pressure on you?” Furrowing her brow a little in concern, Bellatrix was soon hopping up onto one of the kitchen counters, acting as though the house-elves scurrying around their feet were not even there. 

“You looked in my direction, I commented on it – I don’t believe that’s considered to be approaching” 

“You started a verbal conversation; what’s the difference between that and approaching me, exactly?” Stubbornness rang through her tone as she jutted her jaw out ever so slightly, her smirk returning with fervour as Frank chose to walk away. “Cheerio, Frankie.” Shooting the male a sugary-sweet smile, Bellatrix turned to walk away, choosing t ignore how petty she had been throughout the entirety of their interaction.

Rodolphus ran a tongue over his teeth as he allowed his body to fall into a sofa. His long arms outstretched over the back of it, and he watched her expectantly. “Your role? Whatever the hell you want it to be.” He told her, which was a quite shocking thing for a man like him to tell his betrothed. His entire life he’d only listened to men telling their wives their roles. Be quiet. Be pretty. Be subservient. That wasn’t a life Rodolphus wanted, someone chained to him obediently. He wasn’t even sure that Bellatrix would oblige to such a role anyways. “If you think that just because you’re betrothed to me I’m going to make you assume any certain role you’re mistaken Bella.” He murmured quietly, reaching into a cushion to withdrawal his flask. Smooth and sleek and silver, with his families crest etched elegantly into it. “Our marriage will not be our death certificates, signed and waiting for us to quietly kick the bucket.”

Pausing for a moment as Rodolphus dropped onto a sofa, Bellatrix remained standing, not wishing to get comfortable. She would rather have gone up to his dormitory, where they could be alone and talk freely without the listening ears of their house-mates waiting to hear whatever they could. But she couldn’t very well say that without admitting to what she perceived to be a weakness, and so it was with great reluctance that she moved to sit down next to him, curling up at the other end of the sofa so as not to appear too affectionate when others could walk past and see. “You were the one that said acting pretty wasn’t my role, Rodolphus. I was merely asking what you thought it was.” Silently rather pleased with his response, Bellatrix held her hand out for the flask, snorting at his words. “Then what shall our marriage be like, hm?”

“That isn’t your role though.” Rodolphus told her smoothly. “We both know that what you truly want isn’t what Narcissa wants. You can’t expect me to believe that all you want is to be the pretty face, hosting the pretty party.” He told her again, just as they reached the common room. He spoke the password, waited for the passage way to open and led her inside. Narcissa was easy to peg. She was shallow, you could see behind her eyes that everything was so simple for her at this point. Bellatrix was different. There was a wild uncertainty behind her eyes, some sort of begging for an adventure or a thrill or something that she wasn’t getting in her life.

“I never said that was all I want; simply that it can be nice.” Bellatrix knew how people viewed the Black sisters, knew that she was expected to be calculated, and intelligent, and entirely uncaring of things as shallow as how she looked. But sometimes it felt nice to simply be pretty, to simply be admired for the one thing she hadn’t had to work for, or put work into. “What is my role then, hm?” Rather intrigued as to what Rodolphus would say, Bellatrix stepped into the common room after him, soon stepping in front so that she could head towards the dormitories, silently making it clear to him that she didn’t want to be with anyone else. 

Cissy smiled smugly, not used to being a very good trickster. At least not to her sister. “I finally got you.” She teased, leaning into her. “I really meant the Chocolate Frog, though. I just wanted to see if you’d fall for it.” She winked at her. “Now after all these years I actually kept a poker face around you!” 

“You must be so proud.” Drawling her response, Bellatrix couldn’t tease Narcissa in the way she normally would, finding herself far too caught up on why Matthew’s death was affecting her so much. It kept taking her by surprise, leaving her short of breath and questioning what the hell was wrong with her, and Bella wasn’t sure she could pretend for much longer. “You caught me, Cissy; what would you like as a prize?”

“So are you –”

“Yes, but you approached me. So unless you enjoy my company so much you wish to spend the entire day with me, I suggest you go.”

“I am all to aware,” she spat. Alice thought of her brother and how his best friend had been ripped away from him already, how she had stood on his side as they buried Matthew and she felt bitter. “But I will never get used to the idea of death. It may not be going anywhere, but that does not mean I will ever get used to it.” Because this was something Alice was sure of: this war might be something that would become part of her life – as she planned to fight the good fight – but she would not allow it to turn her into a cold person, she would not allow it to damage her like that. Maybe she was naive. Maybe she was just human.

“Seems it.” Softening her tone as though she were talking to a five year old, Bellatrix was soon grinning outright at Alice’s continued outburst, finding how riled up the other girl was thoroughly amusing. “Well I am simply thrilled you stopped to tell me that; my day will run much more smoothly now I know exactly how you feel about it.” Schooling her grin into a cool smirk, Bellatrix dragged her gaze up the length of the other’s body just once, eventually staring at her dead in the eyes. “You’re free to run along now.”