Behind the Shadows [Book One]

Chapter Twelve:

Chapter Twelve: 

"You're quite the student, aren't you Amaryllis?"  

I glanced up at Bellatrix from the piece of parchment I was writing on.  I was attempting to come up with a way to fix my Destroying curse but so far nothing I attempted really seemed to work.  I smiled at her, feeling my cheeks heat up with an embarrassing blush as I nodded.  

"I'm trying to come up with spells and such.  So far I've perfected seven new ones, but... this one just won't work, I don't understand.  Everything is right with it, it just won't do what it's supposed to do."  

Bellatrix grinned, making me slightly nervous but I pushed those thoughts to the back of my head as she pulled up a chair and sat down right next to me.  Her long, thin fingers tapped on the sheet of parchment as her eyes stared straight at me; unblinking.  

"Tell me about the ones you've already come up with."  

"Well I mean.. they're not very good or useful. They were more like practice for this spell I'm working on now. Just to get a feel of what needed to be done to make a successful spell or enchantment.  Most are defense spells, there's one that will last a full ten minutes in protecting you from enemy spells while you're still able to use your wand for other things.  That's probably my best one but I haven't had a chance to properly test it against real curses and such because Draco is too scared to help me."  

"That sounds amazing.  Tell you what, I'd like to help you with testing that one out.  What's this one you're having so much trouble with?"  

Grinning as she said she'd help me, I immediately began speaking excitedly about the curse I was working on.  "It destroys something and gets rid of evidence that it was ever there!  Only... I'm trying to get it to work on living beings, and it won't. I can only use it on inanimate objects.  Watch!"  

I stood up, muttering a quick Accio spell in order to bring down one of my stuffed animals to show Bellatrix my curse.  

"It's really cool actually, if I could just get it to work properly.  I think it'll be a lot of help for me in later years, it'll probably wind up saving my life honestly.  Casoplenta!" I stabbed my wand towards the bear, watching as it burst into a quick black flame before the ashes seemed to flutter out towards an open window, dispersing themselves into the wind.  

Bella clapped excitedly, her eyes seeming to have brighted up a lot with my show as she pranced towards me before she stooped down to hug me.  "Wonderful, that was wonderful.  You're so very smart, Amaryllis, I can't imagine you being related to the Potter's, they weren't nearly as gifted as you're proving to be."  

 I blushed again, my cheeks feeling pretty warm as I was praised by someone like Bellatrix.  I was never praised for anything, except in Aunt Marge's case, when her idea of praising was hitting me.  She didn't like it when I seemed too smart.. probably made her feel as stupid like the cow she is.  But here, especially now that Bella (I tried once to call her Ms Lestrange but she insisted I called her Bella or Auntie Bella) was here, I was being praised almost daily; I wouldn't lie, it certainly did something for my confidence and ego.  

"Really?" I questioned, wondering why I was happy that she didn't think I could be related to my brother or parents when I felt as though I should be standing up for them.  

Only... I didn't know them well enough to do so, at least not my parents and Harry seemed to have changed so much in the five years since he'd begun going to Hogwarts that I felt as if I didn't know him either.  It was sad, actually, to think that I didn't know my own brother but thinking on it.. he didn't know me anymore either.  I wasn't the sad little girl who at age nine actually thought of suicide, I was fourteen and all I wanted in this world was to survive and thrive.  I wasn't the same girl I used to be, I wasn't as weak or as scared, I didn't need my big brother to protect me and it was obvious that we weren't the same as we used to be.  

We used to be able to talk without getting awkward, without feeling as though we were wasting each other's time, we used to laugh and smile at each other and if someone so much as insulted me, Harry would get so upset.  

It wasn't that way anymore, now it was Draco who got upset, it was Draco who fought when some prick Slytherin decided to insult me and it was Draco who acted over protective.  He was more than a friend, more than a brother.. Draco Malfoy was pretty much my everything.  

"Yes, really.  You have so much potential, and I want to help you grasp ahold of it.  I want to teach you this summer, how does that sound?"  

At the word 'teach', I knew that I wouldn't be learning Muggle studies, or potions, or defense or charms... I knew, as soon as Aunt Bella said she wanted to help me, that it would be Dark Magic I'd be learning... and I was determined to learn everything that she was willing to teach me.   

*  

Draco and I got our Hogwarts letters at the same time, and about a week before classes began, Mum decided to take us to Diagon Alley so we could purchase all our things.  Draco was rushing me, though I wasn't sure why, he seemed in quite the hurry to get out of the house.  

I refilled the food bowls of Bambino and Gumball, checking to make sure they had water before I dug a few treats out of a large jar and laying them on the floor for them.  Ducking out of the room, I shut the door behind me and attempted the same thing I always did whenever I was going from upstairs to downstairs.  

Sliding down the rail on my feet.  I tried to handle it like a muggle surfboard but it never worked so I'd gone to trying new ways to try... still not much worked.  I usually ended up breaking something and then Mum had to heal me but I never gave up trying, nor did I plan to.  

I removed my shoes and tossed them down the staircase before I clutched the banister and used it to lift myself up onto the rail so I could keep my balance.  I turned to face outwards, instead of facing the stairs.  I'd learned my lesson.. falling down onto flat ground hurts a lot less than falling onto stairs and their many, many edges.  

Taking a deep breath in, I released the banister and straightened my back while bending my knees and holding my hands out stiffly at my sides.  Using the banister one last time, I pushed off with it and grinned as my sock-clad feet slid over the wooden handrail.  For a moment, I thought I was going to fall, but as the first curve in the wood came around, I was quite surprised with myself that I made it through the obstacle without so much as losing my balance.  I'd never made it even that far before.  I grinned before realizing that i was gaining momentum a bit too quickly and as the second curve came around, I flew off the rail and slammed into the stone floor.

"Mother, she did it again!"  

Ah Draco to the rescue again.  See.. that was why I loved him.  Always looking out for me, protecting me, saving me, helping me... annoying me, hurting my feelings occasionally... but still, I loved him.  I didn't think I would or could ever stop.

[[A/N: Welp!  Last chapter before this book is back on hold and Im heading back home.  Next chapter is back to Hogwarts for our favorite couple.. Remember this is the summer before Order of the Phoenix, it'll be her fourth year but Harry's fifth, so don't get all confused... Peace and Love, iJay! ]]