Black Rose - Severus Snape x Bellatrix Black

Prologue - A life-changing discovery

Dear readers,

a new idea for a fanfiction popped up into my mind today, and I simply needed to share it with new. As this is a work-in-progress, I'm currently also working on other fanfictions and haven't got any chapters pre-written, I don't know, how often I will be able to update it. But I plan to update at least twice per week. As I'm not an English native speaker, I hope that you can bear my mistakes in grammar, spelling, and punctuation, that I will undoubtedly make, although I check everything with a programme before posting it. I appreciate any constructive criticism, so if you notice anything major in the language department, please don't be afraid to point it out to me via a review or PM. I always long for your honest feedback - constructive criticism included - to improve my writing and story. So, if you like my story, want to know something about the storyline, characters or time frame or point something unpleasant out, don't hesitate to leave me a review or PM.

This story will play in the Marauder's Time, starting in 1978, and span into the 1980s. It will be AU, non-canon and rated M because it will contain distressing topics like physical abuse and depression as well as descriptions of physical interaction of sexual or violent nature. So be warned and only read it, if you are over 16. The main ship will be BL/SS. I will change Bellatrix Black's birth year to 1955, Andromeda's to 1953 and Narcissa's to 1957 so that my story will make more sense.

I hope that you will enjoy reading it.

Best wishes,

charmed 92

Bellatrix' Bedroom, Black Manor, Countryside near London, February 1978

Bellatrix Black fiddled nervously with her 12 ¾", Walnut, Dragon heartstring core wand between her delicate, long fingers. Hell, what was wrong with her? For the last days, she couldn't stop throwing up, had terrible headaches as well as some dizzy spells and felt miserable in general. Well, it was a given that she would be the only person in her family who had caught a stomach bug, Bellatrix thought groaning miserably. Being sick wasn't fun at all and a real pain in her ass because she needed to cancel her next meeting with the brilliant Dark Lord. She played distractedly with her thick, raven-black curls and tried to suppress her nauseousness. Fuck, she really couldn't stomach anything without vomiting again. Today, her mother Druella, a thin, elegant blonde woman with striking icy-blue eyes in her mid-forties, had urged her to drink a camomile tea and eat a toast for breakfast. She claimed that Bellatrix needed to stay hydrated and nurtured to build up some energy. Although Bellatrix was highly stressed out by her constant nagging and mothering, she decided to follow her advice like the obedient, perfect pure-blooded lady she claimed to be. Sure, Bellatrix was anything but a well-behaved, doll-like daughter, but her mother Druella didn't need to know this.

Well, Bellatrix thought with a wicked smile gracing her pale, pouty lips, her mother was sadly well aware of some of her youthful escapades and knew that she was a strong-willed, ambitious and independent young woman with an allergy to rules, societal expectations and authorities. Albeit she didn't suspect anything of her newest escapades and knew only a sliver of the wild and crazy things she had gotten up to in her youth. But Bellatrix could nonetheless count the scars on her body for any mischief and scandalous action she had been caught for in Hogwarts. Druella valued discipline, virtue and proper behavior above all and punished her daughters for failing to meet her standards mercilessly and cruelly. Behind her well-practiced mask of the caring, loving perfect pure-blood mother slumbered a vicious, sadistic and crazy witch who wanted to model her daughters into perfect pure-blood wives by any means. She had tortured her daughters until they were exhausted with wicked dark curses and jinxes when they had misbehaved and shamed the esteem of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black and ruled over their entire future with an iron fist.