5I've got internet again! Call this a filler chapter or whatever, but I need to explain certain things otherwise parts of the story later on will not make any sense.
Sections written in italics are to signify the past tense, just to clarify.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
One week later, sitting in the living room, Daniel was at work and Bellatrix was reflecting upon the events of the last 7 days. She still had not returned home, not that she hadn't tried to. The morning after she had arrived at Daniel's house she was prepared to leave, thanking him for his care and hospitality, until he stopped her,
"Bella, do you really think it's wise for you to return home so soon? What if the person that hurt you comes back for more? I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if something happened to you." he said.
Tilting her head to one side, she replied, "I can't stay here any longer, it isn't fair to you, besides, we don't really know each other that well, and if he does come back, I will be fine."
"So it's a man! Bella you are not going home yet. I don't care how strong you think you are, you have already been overpowered by him, and I am not letting him hurt you again so quickly. Bella, you are staying whether you like it or not." he stated, trying to sound forceful, otherwise he knew that she wouldn't listen.
Inwardly kicking herself for revealing more about Voldemort, 'I'm really losing my touch here' she thought, incredibly annoyed with herself. Sighing, she said, rather half heartedly "Fine, I'll stay for a while longer, even it is only to keep you happy."
Smiling, he steered her away from the door, and back to the kitchen, making them both a cup of tea before he left for work. He was surprised, he didn't expect her to give in that easily, but he didn't care, he did enjoy her company after all. She was rather entertaining.
Since then, she had discovered that he was a lawyer, something that was highly regarded in the Muggle world, at least that was what she said read in one of the books she had found. They were both the same age, and their shared love for red wine was also uncovered, considering the copious amount of bottles that had been drunk since she arrived one week ago. One night, a rather large amount of alcohol had been consumed, so a rather tipsy Daniel tried to get more information out of an equally tipsy Bellatrix.
"So, go on then, tell me about your family, I want to know more about you. And you have to tell me, that's the BIG rule of the game." he said, slightly slurring a couple of words, other than that he was rather good at masking that he was in fact, quite drunk.
With a twinkle in her eye, she shifted her position on the sofa so she was looking directly at him, and said,
"So we're playing a game? Ok then, I like games, I'll play." Bellatrix had been taught by her parents that she was never to show how drunk she was, so she could mask her slurs without even trying, it came almost like a second nature. "There were 5 of us in my family. My parents, my two sisters and I. I'm the oldest, and then there is Andy and then Cissa. Myself and Andy sort of look similar, her hair is lighter though, more of a boring brown, but Cissa is completely different, she has really, really, really blonde hair. Really blonde Daniel, really blonde. Kind of ironic, considering her surname is Black. She doesn't look like us, we look like our father, but she's identical to my mother. She was the favourite, my parents adored her, especially our mother, and they didn't hide that fact either. They didn't acknowledge Andy, especially after she left school. See, she married someone that my parents really didn't like, and she wasn't supposed to marry him, that wasn't what they planned, so they disowned her. We had to as well, but I don't hate her, I actually guess I have more in common with her than I thought, my parents would have killed me if they knew I was with someone like you." Daniel's eyes widened and his eyebrows rose at that, until Bella reassurred him. "Don't worry, they just have big opinions on certain people, and they think everyone else should as well. Anyway, as I was growing up, I was ignored a lot of the time, my parents only really used me for my intelligence, I was quite good at school, and they used that to boast to other people we knew. Cissa was their trophy daughter, she was very attractive, but most of all she did everything they said, she was like their pet. They were so happy when she married, in their eyes she found the perfect husband, I personally can't stand him, he's extremely annoying, but I still love my sister. I love both of my sisters, even if I don't see them very often, or at all in fact. They both have children now, I think Andy has a daughter, although I've never met her, and Cissa has a son, who I have met once or twice, he looks exactly like his father, such a shame. It's funny, in your head you think that when you're the oldest you'll get married and have children first, but I'm the oldest and I haven't done either. Oh well, maybe I'm not supposed to. Yet, at least. I think I'd like to though, what about you? I've done enough talking, and as it's YOUR game, and it's your turn." she said, prompting his response.
They spent the rest of that evening talking about family, marriage, children, their past experiences associated with all three, and how if they did have a family of their own, they would do things different to the way their parents had done. They both had issues that they had not yet dealt with properly, as they had never had anyone to help them. Now it appeared that they did.
Daniel, unlike Bellatrix, hadn't been the direct victim to the issues that now plagued him, he had been a witness. From the age of 5, his father became abusive, an alcoholic that would arrive home, high on drugs and alcohol that would send him so into a craze that he would abuse his wife, Daniel's mother. His father would disappear for days on end, disappearing without any notice, leaving his family behind. He didn't have any siblings, so Daniel took it upon himself to help and care for his mother, even though he was still a child himself, and needed someone to look after him. Sometimes Daniel would see the abuse happen, he would hide behind the door as his father kicked his mother, slamming her head against the wall. There were other times when he couldn't see, his father would lock the door to the bedroom and rape his mother multiple times, and although Daniel was too young to understand what was happening, he knew it wasn't right, and from then on vowed to protect his mother. At 7 years old, he stood in front of his mother as his father approached her, trying to block her from getting hurt, but his father simply tossed him aside like a piece of rubbish. His father finally left when he was 11, but the damage was done, his mother was a broken woman and he had a broken childhood, living in a broken home. They managed together, and Daniel had always had an outstanding respect for women, especially mothers. He was an intelligent boy, and went through school wanting to do his best, to make his mother proud. He achieved high grades, and then went on to study a law degree, which is where he met Scarlett, whilst he was travelling to university. Of course he had other friends, men and women, but she was special, different to everyone else, and she had left a huge hole in his heart that has yet to have been filled.
Bellatrix, having never been the favourite, the daughter that should have been the first son, the heir to the Black family, always felt a disappointment, and knew that she was, but yet still tried to please her parents, at least until she left Hogwarts. As a child she was never kissed or hugged by her parents, and whatever love they had for their daughter seemed to disappear as soon as she left for school. She remembered standing on the platform, waiting to get on the train, she turned to her parents and all they did was look her up and down, and said "Do not let the family down. Remember our reputation." They then left their eldest daughter, aged 11, alone in the train station, and didn't see her until the following summer. Bellatrix didn't see the point in coming home for Christmas, the only person that she really missed was Andromeda, but they wrote letters to each other, and that had to suffice for the time being. She had never spoken ill of her parents, out of respect, despite the little respect they had for her, especially when it came to her future. She didn't go willingly into the Death Eaters, nor did she actively choose to support Voldemort and dedicate her life to following him. The summer after the end of her 7th year, she was at home and was about to begin training as an auror. Although she was a woman, and was not physically threatening, there was a strong power in her spell casting, and was able to disarm an opponent without much effort at all. The job seemed perfect for her, and it would also give her an excuse to get away from her parents. It seemed like she had it all planned out, until her father stopped her in her tracks.
"Bellatrix, I have a great opportunity for you, and I am sure you will agree to the terms." Cygnus said, his deep voice filling the room. "I have been approached by a man, a man with great promises and goals, and he has convinced me to hand you over to his services."
"Who is this man? Will I have heard of him?" Bellatrix replied, wary of how this type of situation always seemed to rapidly deteriorate.
"He was once a student at Hogwarts, and is older than you, wiser than you, and he plans a revolution. A revolution that you will be part of. He plans to rid the Wizarding world of all mudblood wizards and half blood scum, so that the authority is given back to us, the rightful purebloods. This is what we have dreamt of Bellatrix, and I know that you will do as he and I say."
"No." she said.
"What did you say? No?! How dare you! You are lucky to have been given this chance, you ungrateful brat! You will do as I say, anyway you have no choice, you have already been promised to him."
"No! I am not your pet, and I have the right to choose my own future. Stop controlling me! I am not taking part in anything to do with this 'revolution', and how dare you confirm my place to him without consulting me first! Who do you think you are?!"
"I am your father and you will do as I say!" Cygnus bellowed, and with that his fist made contact with her cheek, and continued to do so all over her body for the remainder of the hour, until he had hit her so many times she had passed out. He left her, an unconscious ball on the floor, and locked the door behind him, placing as many security charms as possible around her room, to make sure that she couldn't escape. He starved her until she finally gave in and agreed to join Voldemort.
She couldn't deny that she did agree with some of the things he said, muggles had somewhat infiltrated the Magical world, and changed laws and rules, yet that hadn't happened in the Muggle world. Some of the muggleborns she had come across during her time at Hogwarts had been rather arrogant and incredibly pleased with themselves, as if they had been 'chosen' and were therefore superior to others. She also of course had some previous prejudices due to her upbringing, although up until that point they hadn't been acted upon. Furthermore, Bellatrix also came to the realisation that this would give her power, power that she hadn't ever experienced before, and the idea thrilled her. Over time, she became much more drawn in by Voldemort, she wasn't scared of him, but she knew that he was dangerous, and that interested her, and as days turned into years, the Death Eater routine that she began to follow became more of a habit than a novelty, thus becoming a second nature.
Up until recently she had become so used to fulfilling Voldemort's tasks she had stopped questioning them, the motives didn't seem important, the tasks were simply her missions and she set out to complete them. However, in the last year Bellatrix had become disenchanted with the whole Death Eater regime, attacks seemed random and didn't present any explanation, and the 'revolution' she had been told about at the beginning seemed yet to have happened, which was frustrating, considering how long it had been sinced she had joined, or been forced into, the movement. Also, there had been talks of attacking a house in Godric's Hollow, in order to kill a child. A child? Not even 2 years old? The plan seemed ridiculous to her, as well as being against her morals. As hypocritical as it may sound, Bellatrix refused to kill children, whether that was due to a maternal instinct or simple reasoning, that was where she drew the line. In her mind, murdering adults appeared less barbaric, because at least they had lived and had some sort of a life, whereas young children had not, and nearly 100% of the time hadn't done anything to deserve murder to be inflicted upon them, and she stuck to that rule. Of course during the early days she had been punished for this, however over time Voldemort learned that no matter how many times he hurt her, she would not change her mind, so he just instructed other Death Eaters to fulfill his wishes, as it was just an easier way to get what he wanted. Bellatrix was still loyal to the Dark Lord, even though she had become tired with the current situation she hadn't 'seen the light', but he wasn't her main priority. Especially at the moment.
Since meeting Daniel, her attitudes towards ordinary muggles had changed, they weren't uncaring nor were they inhospitable and evil, as Voldemort had made them out to be, and so therefore every day she was becoming much less convinced by the 'revolution' and its purpose.
During the time she had spent with Daniel, they had grown much closer, learning things about each other, as well as about themselves. At the weekend, as Daniel wasn't at work, he had taken her shopping, as she didn't have any of her own clothes apart from the dress that she had arrived in, and she was becoming increasingly intolerable of the clothes he had given to her, as well as the fact that he felt she needed to leave the house, she hadn't ventured outside since they arrived back from the hospital, but he wasn't going to let her go alone, just in case something happened, or she managed to escape away from him. They had left for the local shopping centre, travelling by car, something that seemed to fascinate Bellatrix, although Daniel didn't quite understand why. The two went in and out of every shop, but Bellatrix couldn't find anything that she liked. She was used to a certain style of robes and dresses, so to then be presented with muggle clothes was quite a shock to the system, and she didn't like any of them.
Holding up a pink floral blouse, Daniel turned to her, "Couldn't you just try this on? It seems alright to me."
"There is no way I am wearing that. Honestly who would even try to make that work! I'm sorry but no, it's not happening." Bellatrix replied.
Sighing in frustration, Daniel left her by herself and went over to the men's section of the shop, choosing to at least find something for himself, he wasn't going to waste a day shopping for nothing. In the end Bellatrix found a pair of jeans and three tops which weren't too untasteful, and she returned to him.
"Oh so you did find something. Wasn't that hard, was it?" Daniel said sarcastically.
Scowling at him, Bellatrix said, "They'll do, can we just pay now?"
They made their way to pay, before Bellatrix realised that she wouldn't be able to pay with the galleons she had in her small drawstring purse she always kept with her, for emergencies.
"Erm Daniel, I don't have any money to pay for these." Bellatrix said, looking from the items of clothing she had in her hands to him.
"I know. That's why I'm paying." he replied.
"What? I can't let you do that, they aren't yours to pay for." she said.
"I really don't mind, I'm happy to buy them for you. And if you really don't want me to pay for them, I'm sure we can go home and you can go on wearing my old clothes." Daniel said to her.
Realising that she really didn't have any choice, she said, "Fine then." And then she handed her clothes over to him. He might as well carry the clothes as well as pay for them.
A few shops later they were standing in their last destination, a women's boutique, and Bellatrix was currently trying on a dress in the changing room.
"Daniel?" Bellatrix called out.
Hearing his name, he wandered down to where she had her head poked out of the curtain.
"Would you be able to do this up for me please?" she said, a red tinge coming to her cheeks, embarrassed to be asking the question.
"Of course I can." he replied.
The dress was black, naturally, and had a zip running from the base of her back to just below her neck. It was made of a clingy material and fell to just below her knees. It wasn't anything spectactular, but it suited her and looked as if it had been made for her. As he did up the zip, they both looked at their reflection at the mirror. Neither of them said anything, they stood there and took in the image in front of them. They looked good together, and their different appearances complimented each other, making them sort of fit together, like two jigsaw pieces.
"Are you going to get it?" said Daniel, breaking the silence.
"I'm not sure, it's quite expensive, although I do like it, a lot." she said.
"Well then we're buying it. If you want you can think of it as a gift from me, to say thank you for keeping me company this last week." he said, and he wasn't joking, he truly had enjoyed having someone else around all the time, like how it used to be until 3 years ago. With that he unzipped the dress again and left her alone in the changing room.
As they were paying, the girl behind the checkout interrupted, or jerked, them out of their respective thoughts,
"So how long have you been together then?" she said, glancing between the two of them.
"Oh, we're not together actually, we're just, erm..." Daniel said.
"Special friends." Bellatrix finished, somewhat awkwardly.
"Oh I'm sorry, I thought you were a couple, you looked like you were." The cashier replied.
They finished paying in silence, shuffling their feet, unsure of how to start another conversation without it ending in embarrassment. Once they had finished, Daniel handed the bag to Bellatrix,
"I may have been paying but you're still carrying the bags." he said.
As they walked to the car they were both wrapped up in their own minds about what had happened in the boutique.
'Oh that was so awkward. It was going considerably well until she said that. We look like a couple? It's not like I'm snogging her face off. She did look good in that dress though. Oh God.' Daniel thought.
'Merlin that was embarrassing. The whole thing. He had to do up my dress and that stupid girl made it even worse, bloody muggle. We weren't acting like a couple were we? No, we weren't. At least I don't think we were.' she thought, becoming more embarrassed and flustered as she went over the recent events again in her head.
They were putting the bags into the boot of the car, ironically Daniel had ended up buying more clothes than Bellatrix, when she realised that she hadn't thanked him properly, since he had bought everything and hadn't seemed too bothered by the cost of it, after all Bellatrix did have expensive taste.
Turning to him she said, "Thank you, for everything. I honestly don't know what I would have done without you, and you really are very... special." she said, not just meaning to thank him for the clothes, but for taking her in, helping her and giving her someone to trust. She then leant over to kiss him on the cheek, something she had done more than once in the past, but this time she added a little extra pressure into it, ensuring that her gratitude came through the gesture.
Smiling at the memory, Bellatrix got up and decided to have a proper look around the house. Despite having been there for one week, she hadn't seen all of the rooms, she hadn't been into Daniel's room, out of respect, nor had she been into his study. Choosing that going into the study wouldn't invade his privacy too much, she went in and studied her surroundings. There were many books on the shelves, primarily law books, piles of paper and folders belonging to old cases, and pens with lids discarded around the room. She saw on his desk that there were two photographs, one of him with who she assumed was his mother, and another with a girl who looked around her age. She knew that he didn't have any siblings, so she couldn't have been his sister, and then she remembered Daniel mentioning that his best friend had died a few years ago, so she presumed that this must have been her. She spent a while looking at the photo, noting how he looked truly happy, he had a glint in his eyes that wasn't there now, but what intrigued her the most is that the girl seemed vaguely familiar. Putting the photograph down, she sat on his chair and remained there, trying to work out where she knew this girl from, until she noticed a piece of paper poking out from a drawer under his desk. Opening the drawer to straighten it out so it wouldn't protrude anymore, she found something she hadn't expected. Daniel had never gone into detail into how his best friend died, and now she knew why. Pages and pages of notes, photographs and theories surrounding her death were visible and available to Bellatrix, and she couldn't help but read them. As she processed more and more information, the identity of the girl came flooding back to her. Her name was Scarlett, she couldn't recall her surname, and she was in her year at Hogwarts. A Ravenclaw, and as Bellatrix was in Slytherin, they had shared various classes with each other. They had never spoken, as she was a muggleborn, and Bellatrix really only associated herself with purebloods, but she did remember her, she was a true Ravenclaw, there was no question as to why she was sorted into her house, always knowing the answer to questions. Bellatrix then began to read into the details of her death, and more recent memories appeared.
"I have called you here as I require your assistance." Voldemort said, addressing his Death Eaters. "There is a witch, a mudblood, who thinks she can outwit me. What do we do with these traitors, Peter?" he continued.
"K-k-kill them my Lord." Pettigrew replied, stuttering his way through the sentence.
Bellatrix inwardly rolled her eyes, she'd never liked Peter, a traitor to his friends who was petrified of Voldemort, yet followed him like a lost puppy. She didn't understand why he'd become a Death Eater, or how for that matter.
"Exactly, and that is what I will do. However, to truly make her suffer, I wish to kill her differently with as much pain as possible, how I should do this is the question I put to you all." Voldemort said.
"Torture her repeatedly and then cast the killing curse my Lord?" Lucius suggested.
"I said differently Lucius, you fool! Are you all that pathetic that you cannot come up with a painful death?" Voldemort hissed, casting a torture curse on Bellatrix's brother in law.
"Fiendfyre could work." Bellatrix mumbled, slightly glancing to the jerking form of Lucius, who was currently wriggling around on the floor.
"CRUCIO! When you speak to me you will speak loud and with respect!" Voldemort commanded, sending fear down all of the Death Eaters' spines.
After recovering from the curse, still slightly out of breath, Bellatrix said,
"My lord, what about fiendfyre? It has not been used recently, and would provide a painful death."
"Yes, that would work. I will cast the spell myself, I want to feel her death. We will attack tomorrow evening, when she least expects it." Voldemort said.
The next day, in the darkness, Voldemort emerged from the trees, and cast the Fiendfyre spell upon the home that had held Scarlett. The flames were slow to begin but rapidly grew high, high above where the chimney of the house used to be, reducing everything to ashes. Removing all traces from the surroundings, Voldemort and his followers apparated back to the headquarters, pleased with how well the evening's events had gone.
Putting everything back into the drawer and closing it, Bellatrix looked back to the photo on the desk. Suddenly consumed with guilt, not just for Scarlett, but for Daniel as well. She had lost her life, yet Daniel had lost his best friend. He didn't know about this other side to his former best friend, he had no idea of the Wizarding world and the dangers it can present. That was the moment when Bellatrix realised how wrong this 'revolution' was. She had tortured and killed people, and never questioned why she was doing it. She had cut their throats, placed them under torture curses, making them bite their tongue so hard that they bit through it, causing them to suffocate themselves, and then placing the killing curse on them to ensure that they were dead. She had done this for a man who hadn't completed the promises he had made so many years earlier. She had done this without feeling any guilt, remorse or stopping to think about who would be left behind. She had reached her tipping point, and had come to the conclusion that she couldn't go on like this. It had to change. She had to change. But before this, she needed to talk to Daniel.
A few hours later, after dinner, they were sitting on the sofa in silence, Daniel was reading and Bellatrix was picking a loose thread from her shirt. Knowing that she needed to speak to him, she cleared her throat and faced him.
"Daniel, tell me about your best friend." she said, wishing to tackle the subject straight away.
For the next hour, Daniel described what she was like, how close they were and how they met. It was a chance meeting actually, they had ended up sitting together on a train to Manchester around 9 years ago and from then on had become incredibly close. Like the brother and sister neither of them had ever had. They had bought a house together, the house that he now lived alone in, and up until 3 years ago he had never imagined his life without her. He told Bellatrix how her death had affected him, and how he was determined to find out who killed her and why, so her death wouldn't be in vain. By the end of the hour both Daniel and Bellatrix were crying, the former due to the grief he still had for his friend, and the latter partly due to guilt from her part in Scarlett's murder, but mainly in sympathy, for Daniel. In essence, he had lost his best friend, and had lost part of himself, and he had never got over her death. He never would, nor would he understand why it happened.
In a motion rather unlike Bellatrix, she motioned him over to her, "Come here." she said softly, ushering him in for a hug. She never used physical affection as a form of comfort, in fact she never really comforted anyone, as she had never been truly comforted ever, but she knew he needed a shoulder to cry on. They stayed in their cuddled position for a while, until somehow Bellatrix had slid down lower than Daniel's head, and looked up at him. He looked down at her, and they realised what they wanted. Their lips touched each others, and they both felt something they had never felt before. Love. They kissed each other over and over, physically expressing their desire for each other, before falling asleep right there, on the sofa, linked together, her head on his chest, his arms around her waist. Not only had they fallen asleep, they had fallen in love.
Whether you think that Bellatrix is OOC, the Bellatrix written in the books has gone through things that will not happen to 'my' Bellatrix, as some of her circumstances have drastically changed, so therefore her future will change as a result.
I'm going back and reading through the earlier chapters so that I can edit them, as I think some bits need improving.
Please review!