Madness (a Bellatrix fanfiction)

Chapter 4

"Wake up."

Mrs. Black shook her daughter's shoulders, waking her from sleep. Bellatrix opened her eyes, squinting at the bright light.

"What?" Bellatrix asked groggily.

"We're going to go meet someone." Her mother answered.

"Who?" Bellatrix asked.

"That's not important right now. Just get dressed," Mrs. Black said, and left the room.

Reluctantly, Bellatrix pulled herself out of bed and walked into her closet. She put on a short black dress with her favorite knee length, lace up black heeled boots. Heading to the mirror, she looked at her hair and sighed. Her curls were tangled together in a black mob. She reached for a comb when her mother came back in, holding a long dark green dress with matching heels.

"Take that off," she said, looking at what Bellatrix had put on. She held out the dress.

"Why?" Bellatrix protested.

"Do it," her mother insisted.

Rolling her eyes, Bellatrix took the green dress and went to her bathroom to put it on. She slipped out of her black dress and boots and put the green dress on. She studied the dress in the mirror. It was pretty, but Bellatrix didn't want to wear it. She had a bad feeling about this.

When she came out of the bathroom, her mother looked at her and smiled.

"Perfect," she said. "You look beautiful. Now about that hair," she said, and gestured for Bellatrix to sit on the bed. Bellatrix sighed and sat down on the bed in front of her mother. In just a few minutes, Mrs. Black had put Bellatrix's hair up in a perfect bun, with a gold and emerald hair clip to match her dress.

"Okay. Now let's go," Mrs. Black said, and Bellatrix followed her mother downstairs.

When they reached the front door, Bellatrix took her mother's hand and they disapparated.

When they arrived, Bellatrix looked around and saw an elegant looking manor in front of them. Together, Mrs. Black and Bellatrix approached the front door. Her mother knocked, and a woman answered the door almost instantly. She smiled when she saw them, and said:

"At last! Please, come in."

When they stepped inside the house, Bellatrix saw a boy standing at the end of the hallway. As he walked towards them, Bellatrix recognized him. He had been in her year at Hogwarts, a slytherin as well. His name was Rodolphus Lestrange. He acknowledged Bellatrix.

"Hey," he said.

"Hey," she said in return.

The woman who answered the door, whom Bellatrix had assumed must be Rodolphus's mother, smiled at the exchange.

"Excellent! You've already met, which saves me from having to introduce you. Rodolphus, why don't you show Bellatrix around? Her mother and I have some business to discuss."

"Of course. Bellatrix, would you care to join me?" Rodolphus asked.

Bellatrix looked at her mother, who narrowed her eyes at her daughter, as if challenging her to say no.

"Yes, thank you," Bellatrix said, and she could feel her mother's eyes on her as they left the room.

They walked together up a large set of stairs, which opened up to a large living room with many chairs and couches to sit on. Bellatrix chose to sit on the black leather couch, and to her surprise, Rodolphus sat next to her.

"So, how have you been?" Rodolphus asked her.

"Okay, I guess. I miss school," she said.

"Really? I'm glad it's over," he said. When looking at Bellatrix though, he changed his mind and said,

"Actually, I do miss it a little bit."

Bellatrix stared down at the floor. Why am I here? She thought.

As Bellatrix pondered over why her mother had brought her to this house, she tensed up when she felt an arm go around her shoulders. Bellatrix jumped up immediately, and backed away from Rodolphus. She tripped in her heels and fell, which caused Rodolphus to spring off of the couch to come to her aid. He offered her a hand, but she pushed herself away from him.

"I'm fine, thank you," she said, and stood up.

"Bellatrix? It's time to go!" Her mother called up the stairs. Bellatrix had never been more happy to hear her mother call her, and she dashed out of the room in a hurry, Rodolphus following close behind.

When they reached the bottom of the stairs, Bellatrix stopped running. She didn't want to draw attention to herself. Instead, she willed herself to wait for Rodolphus. He looked surprised to see her waiting for him, and they walked to the front door together. Bellatrix moved to stand by her mother.

"Goodbye Rodolphus," she said, and turned to the door, ready to leave.

"Thank you for having us, Mrs. Lestrange," Mrs. Black said.

"You are most welcome. See you soon," she said, and closed the door behind them.

See you soon? What's that supposed to mean? Bellatrix thought as they disapparated. When they arrived back home, Bellatrix immediately began to question her mother.

"What's going on? Why did we go there? What business do you have with Mrs. Lestrange?" Bellatrix asked.

"It's very important business," her mother said.

"Like what? What is it? Tell me." Bellatrix insisted.

Mrs. Black hesitated, and then said, "you're going to marry Rodolphus, Bellatrix. It's been decided."

Bellatrix froze. "What?" She said, shocked.

"I just arranged the marriage. I brought you along so you could meet your future hus-" Mrs. Black explained, but stopped as Bellatrix began to cry.

"I hate you. I hate you!" She screamed at her mother, and ran into the house, up the stairs, and into her room. She slammed the door behind her, locked it, and ran to her bed. She sobbed into her pillows. Someone sat down on the bed beside her.

"Go away!" She said, assuming her mother had used magic to open the door.

"Bella," someone said, and she instantly recognized the voice as Tom's. She looked at him, her face stained with tears. He moved closer to her, and she crawled into his lap, burying her face into his chest.

"What happened?" He asked softly, but she couldn't explain it to him, she was crying too hard.

"Let me inside your head," he said, and she nodded. She closed her eyes, and gasped softly as Tom entered her mind. He saw only what she would want him to: the uncomfortable encounter with Rodolphus, and the exchange between Bellatrix and her mother about the marriage. When he left her mind and came back to reality, he put his finger under her chin and lifted her face to his. He looked into her eyes.

"Bella. I'm so sorry," he said, and brushed the tears off of her cheeks.

"D-don't leave," she said between sobs.

"I won't," he said. Tom held her as she cried, and after a while Bellatrix became quiet. He looked down at her and noticed that she had fallen asleep. He laid her down in her bed and pulled the blankets over her body. Tom got up to leave, but remembered his promise to her. He came back and laid down next to Bellatrix.

As he laid there, he watched her sleep, her chest rising and then falling softly. As he looked at her, a sharp pang of sadness ran through him. Knowing her mother, he knew there was no way Bellatrix was going to get out of marrying Rodolphus. Nevertheless, he still wished she didn't have to.

"I'll make it better. I promise," he whispered to her.