Author's Notes: Chapter edited and corrected by Scott Fellman.
September 1, 1976 – Bellatrix PoV.
The holiday had been a shitty trip. Andromeda had decided to run away with her Muggle-born boyfriend, and was immediately disowned; to say that hadn't ruffled every feather in the family was an understatement.
Many mixed reactions to Grandpa's decision to expel Andromeda spread in the family. Mother and Father were sad most of the time. Aunt Walburga was the most vocal about hating Andromeda and her 'Mudblood' boyfriend, as if that mattered; it just existed in power, and those who were too afraid to take it.
Dumbledore was a great example of this. There was no doubt that the old fool was powerful; one did not face Grindelwald and come out triumphant without the necessary skills. Moreover, Dumbledore's magic felt overwhelming. Anyone who thought he was weak was an idiot.
I didn't believe in the superiority of purebloods, I had my pride as a Black, but I couldn't care less about segregation. Still, I knew what was expected of me, what was expected of someone in my position, and my future position.
Narcissa had been devastated by Andromeda's disappearance, and no matter what she did, she couldn't fix it. She couldn't comfort Narcissa in any way, and it was… frustrating, especially when she seemed to move on by diving headlong into her relationship with that idiot Malfoy.
Malfoy, a thorn in my side that I couldn't get rid of, even if I wanted to. I didn't hate him, despite being utterly convinced that he wasn't enough for my sister; no one would be. I hated what he represented more.
The pureblood movement, a new movement, a new cause that had arisen in the pureblood supremacy, pure idiocy, that's what it was. Purebloods already controlled the entire government; you could count on one hand the number of Muggleborns who sat on the Wizengamot or held any kind of authority and still have fingers left over. So purebloods were already in charge. Hence, a movement to oppress Muggleborns and Muggles was the height of stupidity.
And that's not even counting the attacks that were happening, the murders, the disappearances, the repression. I couldn't help but say how stupid the whole idea was.
But Malfoy was in the middle of it all, and that pushed Narcissa right into the middle. I'd already lost Andromeda; I refused to lose another sister, and the engagement I had asked Grandfather to arrange would push me in the same direction.
I would be there for Narcissa, I would protect her from anything that would hurt her, no matter the cost, no matter what I had to do, even if I had to marry that stupid Lestrange.
And speaking of Cissy, I looked for her in the crowd once we got off the express and saw her next to Malfoy. I couldn't help but wrinkle my nose before looking at her third companion and... who the hell was she?
Her appearance stood out like a sore thumb: her star-shaped pupils, stars tattooed on her cheeks, piercings all over her face, purple lipstick, and… were those long fangs? A vampire?
But her clothing was more scandalous than her appearance; it was the Hogwarts uniform, but the fishnet stockings made her look like a whore from Knockturn Alley as she walked around in her open robe.
I followed her with my eyes as the girl walked confidently beside Cissy. I heard Narcissa's genuine laughter, and I couldn't take my eyes off the girl. Who was she?
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"Snape?!" I hissed in disbelief as I looked her up and down again. No, impossible, the change was ridiculous! Her appearance now didn't fit with what I remembered of Snape, a thin, lanky, sullen girl, of questionable appearance and hygiene. No... whatever Snape is now, Snape didn't smile, Snape didn't mock or destroy Rosier or Rabastan, so easily, she caught me so off guard that I found myself laughing out loud at a careless moment.
Snape was different, but… nothing special, she wasn't the first person I'd seen change out of spite or a broken heart. Snape had been humiliated enough last year by Evans; something had happened to her in the summer, undoubtedly, and she was certainly an improvement on her former self, but nothing relevant. I tuned out the chat. I looked at McGonagall as she walked in with the new entrants.
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October 30, 1976 – Bellatrix Pov.
"How dare Snape kick us out of our room this morning! And all so Narcissa can dress up for her date with Malfoy." I stopped in my tracks upon hearing Narcissa's name and looked at the pair of girls who were talking. It was Narcissa's roommates, but I didn't care to know their names. They hadn't heard me, and they hadn't seen me, so I stayed in the shadows.
"Well, from the looks of it, Narcissa wasn't so much preparing for her date as she was preparing to spend the night with him." I bristled at that.
"Mmm, now that you mention it, you might be right, still, how dare Snape!" I took long strides until I reached the girl, grabbed her by the shoulder, and spun her around. "Who the-" The words died in her mouth when she saw me. I didn't have time to smile at the paleness that had just formed. "Bbb- black !!" I ignored the squeal that left her mouth.
"You mentioned my sister, start talking, I want to know everything!" I demanded, and the girl looked like she was about to faint as I dug my nails into her shoulder, but she didn't. Instead, she started singing everything I needed to know.
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Stupid castle and stupid stairs, the longer she went without finding Narcissa, the more likely she was to hide wherever Malfoy took her to get his way with Narcissa.
I wouldn't allow it, not if I could help it.
It was almost dinner time, and they were definitely not in the Great Hall. If those stupid girls had talked earlier, I could have intercepted them during their stupid date in Hogsmeade, but now I was forced to search for her around the huge castle.
Any other time, I couldn't care less who Narcissa slept with, as long as she was safe, but Malfoy and in this political climate? Once I made the decision, there was no going back. It was getting worse by the day. I had to protect her even if she screamed and kicked, or even if I had to get rid of Malfoy myself to get Narcissa out of this circle of shit she was about to enter.
I was wandering around for almost half an hour, climbing the hundredth staircase, when I got close to the left corridor of the seventh floor, and I saw her. It was impossible to miss her; she stood out wherever she was at the moment, and maybe not in a good way. Her appearance still stood out, and… her cape is fluttering inside the castle? Phenomenal. I snorted.
"Snape!" I exclaimed as I walked steadily towards her. She stopped in place and turned to look at me without any emotion.
"Yes, Black?" Snape dragged out my name; I couldn't help but bristle at the tone, wrinkling my nose.
"Where's my sister?" Snape shrugged.
"Andromeda? In case you don't remember, she's already graduated, Black, she left with that Muggle-born." I gritted my teeth tightly as she smirked at me. How dare she mention Andromeda? Who did she think she was?!
"Cissy! Where's Cissy?! " I growled fiercely. Snape put a finger to her chin.
"Cissy... Cissyy ... Ciisssssyyyyy - nope, doesn't ring a bell." That bastard was messing with me! I'll get this!
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"Wait, Snape!!" The fog disappeared from my face, leaving me completely alone, staring into nothingness.
…
"HOW DARE YOU!!" I screamed without holding back and used my wand to cast curses around the room. I didn't care about the destruction of the room, I just kept using curses to make everything I saw explode, "BASTARD! I 'LL KILL YOU!! "
It took me an eternity to finally calm down. I was breathing heavily as I clenched my wand tightly in my hands and gritted my teeth. I let out a sigh of frustration as I looked around.
The astronomy tower.
I grimaced as I looked at all the destruction I had caused, reluctantly starting to use Reparo on the entire room, all the while thinking about what had just happened.
I wanted information from Snape to intimidate her a little; I didn't think she would be a good opponent. She moved abnormally fast, faster than she should, faster than she showed daily, and not only that, she moved... abnormally, as if she were being pulled all over the place. One moment she's moving to one side, but suddenly she's pulled back to the other side; it was annoying.
Not only that, her healing was weird, too. I don't remember any spell or charm that could heal a wound as fast as Snape did. It was almost instantaneous. I was a Black. If I had to play dirty, I would. So if I could rip an enemy's throat out or kiss her to bite her tongue off, I would, and I did. Only Snape didn't stay down; I was hoping she would clumsily and panickedly walk away, enough to overpower her, and quickly heal her enough before throwing her into the infirmary.
Instead, I was the one who lost, the one who was tied up, the one who was manipulated, the one who was… whipped.
Gritting my teeth once more, I winced as I heard the furniture in front of me break once more. I sighed and loosened my grip on my wand.
Snape had surpassed me; there was no doubt about it, and there was nothing I could do about it now. I had better things to do, like discovering the secret that was Snape.
Her abnormal abilities during the duel, her healing, her mist, Parseltongue, the Chamber of Secrets, and… her magic. I had felt her magic next to me; her magic… it was intoxicating, dark, twisted… exciting.
Nothing was right with Snape; she was too different from the Snape of last year, there were too many unknowns, too much to unravel, but... it wasn't a challenge I didn't want to tackle.
and… I looked at the mirror I had just repaired, my smile growing wider as I looked at the trail of purple lipstick marks Snape had left on my neck.
I knew what I would do. Snape wanted me, or enough to lose control in the hallway, I just had to play on that angle, and soon I would have her singing all her secrets. Seduction is a weapon like any other, and I would use my body to achieve it.
She won't know what hit her.
I finished repairing the last object on the astronomy tower and left while coming up with a plan.
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November 11, 1976 – Bellatrix PoV.
"Bella! What were you doing?" I felt Narcissa's complete weight fall on me. I let out a sigh.
"Writing a letter for Grandpa." I said simply as I continued to trace words on the parchment, not caring that Narcissa began to read over my shoulder what I had just written.
"Dear Lord Black?... I, Bellatrix Black, do hereby formally request the dissolution of the betrothal to the Lestrange family?! ... I have a new suitor who has been courting me, her name is Serena Eileen Snape!? Bella! Does this mean you're official?! " Narcissa shrieked in my ear. I grimaced and growled in her direction.
"Narcissa, the library." I hissed softly. Narcissa shrugged, moving away from me and sitting next to me. She scooted the chairs over so she was thoroughly pressed against my side.
"Don't worry, I used a charm so they wouldn't hear us." My eyebrows rose.
"I didn't know about such a charm. Where did you learn it?" I asked curiously; it sounded too useful. Narcissa smiled at me, amusedly.
"Serena taught me." I paused momentarily and looked at her closely. Narcissa smiled at me. "You can ask her, I don't think she'll refuse to teach you, now that you're making it official with Grandpa." Narcissa said happily. I made a face.
"I... I'm not going to send this letter yet." I said simply as I looked at the scrolls I had written, Narcissa looked at me in disbelief.
"What?! Why not!? You are both so cute together! You need each other! " Narcissa said fervently, and I grimaced, it wasn't Snape's fault… honestly, I preferred her far more than anyone else, and definitely better than Lestrange, and I wasn't against… formalizing our encounters, I wasn't a scarlet woman to start having sex without a formal relationship with my partner.
But… Narcissa's protection came first; it would always come first. Snape might have Malfoy's patronage, but if she joined the Dark Lord's service, then she would be starting from the bottom anyway. Lestrange would ensure me a place close to Narcissa.
The letter? It had been an idle thought, something that had suddenly occurred to me, and besides, it didn't hurt to be prepared.
"I… I'm nervous." I lied simply, wincing as Narcissa gave me a soft look, came over, and hugged me.
"You have nothing to worry about, Serena loves you very much, and I know Grandpa will understand." Narcissa comforted me. I suppressed a grimace, turned around, and went back to the letter, picked up the pen, and began writing once more.
"Could you… Help me finish the letter? I need to sell it to Grandpa," I said, changing the subject without looking at her. I saw Narcissa grimace out of the corner of my eye before sighing.
"Alright," Narcissa said simply, before stopping and smiling. "Did you know that during the summer, she worked for Lady Cordovin?" My pen completely strayed, crossing out the words above, but I didn't care. I looked at Narcissa in disbelief.
"You're kidding me," I said incredulously. Narcissa let out a thoroughly amused giggle.
"Definitely not, do you remember how there were rumours that Lady Cordovin had improved her poisons once again? It turns out there was someone who got a summer job at her shop and started modifying the poisons." I felt a chill run down my spine. I knew Snape was good with potions, excellent, prodigy, genius; all those words were associated with the creator of Wolfbane at the age of 17. Still, one thing was healing and anti-curse potions; another thing entirely were poisons. Also, poisons? Cordovin's poisons? And improve them? That was terrifying in its own right.
"Yeah... that'll do, that'll impress Grandpa," I said dryly as I pulled myself together. Looking at the parchment, I grimaced. I took out my wand and removed the ink that was ruining it.
After finishing the letter with Narcissa's help, I stretched lazily.
"By the way, where is she?" I asked about Snape's whereabouts, and Narcissa stopped stiffly before grimacing.
"...we...had a run-in with Evans," Narcissa hissed hatefully, my eyebrows shooting up to their full height, "...she ran away," Narcissa confessed.
"And you couldn't have started with that?!" I hissed in Narcissa's direction as I began to gather everything up from my desk. Narcissa grimaced.
"I... got distracted?" I tried to say it timidly, but snorted loudly instead.
"Do you have any idea where she might be?" I asked simply, but Narcissa grimaced and shook her head.
"I'll go find her," I said simply as I strode out of the library.
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November 17, 1976 – Bellatrix Pov.
"Could you repeat that?" I asked incredulously, "Because I just heard you say that you and Malfoy were leaving the fold of the new pureblood movement," I hissed loudly. We had finished our impromptu training.
Serena knew a lot of curses, several of her own creation, and it had been fantastic until she decided to speak up. It didn't make sense. Malfoy was so profoundly in this shit because of his father that it should be impossible to escape it. While Serena had always wanted to be respected, acknowledged, ...no, the old Serena wanted that, the new one, it seems, didn't want any of what she was being offered, something changed, obviously. She was dragging Malfoy out of that circle...
…and if Malfoy left, so did Narcissa.
I felt a great weight lifted from my shoulders at the relief of those words. I vaguely heard Serena's explanation about the dark lord's deal, but I was only partially paying attention to her. I had a letter to deliver to Grandpa immediately.
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November 23, 1976 – Bellatrix Pov.
"Is everything okay?" I asked Narcissa after placing a Muffliato around us. She was sitting on her bed, staring into space with glassy eyes. We had returned from the Chamber of Secrets a while ago, and I was about to sneak into Serena's bed, but the sight of Narcissa in such a state stopped me.
"I... sort of finally finished digesting everything that just happened," Narcissa said honestly. "Our entire... our entire family, the Black family, will be wiped out in less than 20 years," Narcissa said, almost horrified. I rolled my eyes.
"You're being dramatic." I said simply, and Narcissa looked offended. I rolled my eyes again as I plopped down next to Narcissa; she immediately took my hands in hers, seeking comfort.
"H-how can you say that?! In the end, it's just Andy and me!" Narcissa muttered almost brokenly, and I made a face.
"Yes… It was horrible." I said honestly, "But, only we, the younger generation, failed." I added, Narcissa stopped. "Cissy, the older generation, they're all over 50 years old," I said softly. Narcissa wrinkled her nose.
"But… they would only be about 70 when the 'movies' started," Narcissa said. "Wizards and witches live to be 130 on average." I let out a hollow laugh.
"Not for the Blacks." I said simply, Narcissa looked at me once more, "I don't know if you noticed, but the dates of the ancestors on the family tree, most of them don't make it past 80, the entire generation before us? They probably died of old age," I said honestly. Narcissa looked at me, horrified. "So, the only ones who failed were us, well, not you or Andy. Sirius, Regulus, and… me."
"No... you don't... you..." Narcissa tried to say softly, but I snorted.
"Don't sugarcoat it, I know I screwed up, everything I did could have been… acceptable, but killing Sirius? I hate that idiot, but he's family, I wouldn't kill him, and trying to go against Andy and her daughter? Definitely not." I said firmly, I had screwed up, I had screwed up hugely, or… I would have screwed up if I hadn't met Serena. I can make all the excuses I want, saying I did what I had to do, that I had my head in Azkaban… anything, but it was still unforgivable.
"Still..." Narcissa said softly, but then fell silent. "Lay with me?" Narcissa asked weakly. I paused for a few seconds and sighed, taking out my wand and transfiguring my clothes into a nightgown. Narcissa smiled weakly as she climbed into bed.
We both fell asleep hugging each other. It had been a while since we shared a bed as sisters, but it was nice; it was missing something… Andy, but it was still comfortable, nice.
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January 1, 1977 – Bellatrix POV
I looked at Lucius and Narcissa sitting there; Serena had left a while ago, so we were alone in the pocket 'apartment'. The couple looked at me curiously.
"We need to talk about Serena." I said seriously.
Author's Notes: First! Sorry for the delay in this chapter! I didn't think I'd ever finish it! Unfortunately, this and a chapter of my other novel are the only ones I've been able to write for the past few days. I've been running around all week and have had little to no time to write at any point. Recently, I had some free time to complete this chapter, and I finished it just a few minutes ago.
Now, next week I'll be just as busy, so again, I'm not sure how much or if I'll be able to post chapters next week. Sorry, but thank you for reading and for your support. Happy New Year!
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About the chapter! First, I hadn't realized that I had made Andromeda the eldest daughter when I wrote that she had already graduated from Hogwarts and married Tonks several chapters ago, but now she stays. Regarding the age of the previous Blacks, if you had the chance to see the family tree created by JK about the Black family, you would find the years of their birth and death. In fact, most of them were between 70 and 80 years old at the time of their death.