Dumbledore's eyes twinkled as he leaned back in his chair. "I am not so sure Mrs. Black will allow her relationship with us to become that close. However, we must work to bring her into the Order, and then I think even into our inner circle if we can establish some sort of trust between us."
"Our inner circle?" Lily questioned. "Don't you think that is going too far?"
Dumbledore shook his head. "Bellatrix Black was fighting this war before any of us. I also mentioned at a previous meeting that she has made more progress against Voldemort than all of us combined-and when I say that, I am not even taking into account the effect her ghost of Ashworth ploy is having on the Death Eaters and Lord Voldemort."
Moody was nodding, though perhaps a little bit grudgingly. "I remember you saying that, but you have not yet let Lily and me into your confidence as to what Bellatrix has done that is so important."
"I am afraid, my friends, that tonight is not the right time to discuss that matter," Dumbledore said slowly. "I want to corner Mrs. Black and discuss some of the details of the situation with her before I have the Order as a whole start taking action."
"I am not sure that you should be giving her that much influence in the Order," Lily opined.
Dumbledore shrugged. "I am now convinced that the prophecy regarding Lord Voldemort's downfall relates to her."
"How is that?" Moody asked.
"Bellatrix qualifies as Daughter of the Stars," Dumbledore declared. "Her father was Cygnus, named for the constellation. Her uncle was Orion, named for a constellation as well. She carries on their crusade. Undoubtedly, she is the Daughter of the Stars."
"Well great," Moody said. "I seem to remember, though, that Lord Black is the one who is equal to the Dark Lord, according to the prophecy. The last time I checked, Bellatrix isn't a wizard."
"It is possible that the prophecy was referring to the influence Lord Black could have beyond the grave. In that instance, it could be that Orion or Cygnus is the subject of the prophecy," Dumbledore speculated.
"And what does that do for us?" Moody asked.
"Not much, other than remind us that we probably need Bellatrix firmly in our corner," Dumbledore said quietly.
.....
Bellatrix stowed her overnight bag on Ginny Weasley's desk. She could have packed more clothes for her stay at the Burrow, but had deliberately packed only enough clothes for one day. Thus far, her lack of clothes had proven to be an admirable excuse to depart from the Burrow during the day. Bellatrix had spent the last several days preparing for Pettigrew's arrival, researching horcruxes, and gathering supplies. At night, she had slept in Ginny Weasley's room, her own wand and a couple of spare Wandel wands nearby. In effect, the Burrow was turning out to be a very nice bed and breakfast.
After unzipping the bag, Bellatrix removed a briefcase-shaped container from the bag's bottomless depths. Case in hand, Bellatrix exited Ginny's room and made her way down the stairs where she joined Mrs. Weasley in the kitchen. Mrs. Weasley had just finished cleaning up dinner.
"You do realize that you are always invited to join us for dinner, don't you?" Mrs. Weasley said.
"Of course," Bellatrix said as congenially as possible, "it is just that I have so many errands that I often just eat out as a matter of course."
"Well, there's plenty of dessert left," Mrs. Weasley said, handing Bellatrix a small plate with a slice of pie.
"Thank you," Bellatrix said, accepting the plate. "I am just on my way to work on your wards a little bit." Balancing the plate and case in one hand so as to keep her wand arm free, Bellatrix wandered outside, leaving Mrs. Weasley alone in the kitchen.
Bellatrix made her way across the yard to Mr. Weasley's storage shed. The Weasley patriarch's obsession with all things Muggle struck Bellatrix as rather odd, but she liked Mr. Weasley quite a bit. He would enjoy the pie more than her, and he would be able to comment on Bellatrix's proposed changes to the wards.
"I brought you some extra pie," Bellatrix announced as she entered the shed and looked around. She could not see Mr. Weasley anywhere. "Mr. Weasley?"
"Right here," Mr. Weasley called from across the garage and toward the floor. His feet were sticking out from under an old Muggle car.
Bellatrix set the pie down on a workbench and set down her case as Mr. Weasley scooted out from beneath the car.
"You really should try Molly's cooking one of these days," Arthur said, eyeing the pie.
"I have already had plenty of dessert for today," Bellatrix said, studying the car on which Mr. Weasley had been working. She had noticed it in the shed before, but it had not occurred to her that Mr. Weasley might be doing more than admiring it in a general sort of way. "What are you doing with the car?"
Mr. Weasley picked up the pie and looked around furtively before answering her question. "I'm actually making some improvements."
"What kind of improvements?" Bellatrix inquired.
"Expanding space on the inside and in the trunk," Mr. Weasley said, setting down the pie plate and stepping over to the car. He opened the trunk and waved his hand around in it. "Back in the day when we had as many as five children attending Hogwarts, we were able to get all their trunks and the whole family into the car for the ride to King's Cross."
"Impressive," Bellatrix said, eyeing the car enviously as Mr. Weasley continued to talk about the various modifications he had made to the Muggle automobile.
"Of course, I don't drive it around all that much," Mr. Weasley concluded, picking the pie plate back up and preparing to take another bite of pie. "Then, of course, there is the fact that excessive use of it could raise trouble with the Ministry, especially if Muggles were to notice."
"I am quite sure your modifications help prevent detection," Bellatrix observed. "What is it that you do in the Ministry, by the way?"