Ultimate Aphrodisiac

Chapter Four

Sisterly Devotion

"If you be loved, be worthy of love." - Ovid

Bellatrix had done her usual amount of raving and ranting at not being allowed to attend the evening ball held in her sister's honour. Bella had been throwing these fits since she'd been old enough to realise that galas meant beautiful gowns and lots of attention for whoever was the prettiest. It had been a moderate tantrum, however, more out of a sense of duty and expectation than true anger. Bellatrix had every intention of, if not attending the party, at least observing it, but without some token show of temper, her mother would have certainly realised the girl had plans.

All four of the younger Black children were taking supper in a room between Narcissa's and Bellatrix's suites. Governess Hamburton, in her third month on the job and beginning to show signs of wear, was on edge; she'd sensed that Bellatrix's earlier tantrum lacked its usual flair, and now the girl's placid behavior, along with Sirius's unwarranted good manners, had her tense.

Bellatrix would later claim she hadn't wanted to act before getting dessert.

As soon as she and Sirius had finished their puddings, their eyes met across the table. No words were necessary to communicate; Bellatrix blinked, Sirius arched his eyebrows, and the pair of them launched into action. Bellatrix dove first for Hamburton's wand, stowed in the pocket of her long skirt. Sirius, meanwhile, grabbed a pair of decorative scarves he'd stolen from his mother's wardrobe earlier that day and started pinioning the woman's arms to her chair. Bella helped to hold her down, and when she started to shout, Regulus jumped in, grabbing a napkin from the table and stuffing it in her mouth. "Not like that, you idiot, she'll just spit it out," Bellatrix chastised. "Didn't you learn anything from Greggs last year?" She readjusted the napkin, tying the ends of it behind the governess' head and making an effective gag. "Get another scarf, Sirius, tie her legs, too."

Bellatrix grinned as Hamburton looked at her with hate-filled eyes. 'Good. Perhaps this shall be the last of her, and I'll have a few weeks of freedom while Mama searches for a replacement.'

Once Hamburton was entirely secured, Bellatrix and Sirius looked at their handiwork with smiles. Regulus was bouncing excitedly about the room. Narcissa was still quite calmly eating her pudding, and had not given any sign that she had even noticed the coup.

Grabbing Sirius's hand, Bellatrix made for the door. "C'mon, Sirius, let's go see what all the fuss is about."

That got Narcissa's attention. "Bella, you can't go. Papa said no," she said in her dainty little voice, putting her spoon down and standing up.

Bellatrix rolled her eyes. "I'm not going down there. I'm just going to go watch. You can come if you don't give us away." She and Sirius fled the room, bolting down the hallway with Regulus close on their heels. Narcissa followed further behind, taking little steps down the corridor, trying to look prim despite her hidden excitement to see the gala.

The ballroom of Ebony Manor was quite large, and had a ceiling several stories high. Little balconies opened out onto the upper levels from the higher floors, and Bellatrix and Sirius made their way to one of these. The door had been left open, and the music echoed from several halls away, a lilting but dignified composition that Bellatrix thought suited Andromeda's nature quite well.

Sirius and Bella dropped to their hands and knees and crawled through the door, keeping low so as not to be seen by anyone below. They lay on their stomachs, peeking out over the edge of the balcony at the swirling mass of colour below. Regulus crept in beside Sirius, and Narcissa hovered back at the door, hardly daring to take a glimpse. "What pretty decorations..." she whispered to her sister, who nodded.

"I like the tigers on the walls." The ballroom had been enchanted to appear a wild Grecian forest, the stuff of mythology. Large felines prowled around the walls, stalking unsuspecting deer. Near the refreshment tables, a painted satyr sat under a tree, gurgling wine and laughing raucously. By the band, a group of dryads and oreads danced, occasionally pointing at young gentlemen and batting their eyelashes.

It was a conceit typical of the Black family; their galas generally had an aura of the divine about them. Greek themes had always been a favourite, as they claimed lineage to Circe, the famed witch who had notably been the first to develop the use of a wand in her magic.

Bellatrix glanced upwards, then gasped and poked Sirius in the ribs to make him look. Above their heads, the night sky swirled, constellations in dazzling array. Faint outlines surrounded the mock-stars, artistic depictions of their subjects. In the very centre of the ballroom was Andromeda, chained to her rock, and while the glowing sparks of light remained stationary, the drawn figure around them thrashed and pulled at her bonds, looking every so often to Perseus, not far away, flying to her rescue, and yet destined never to get to her, fixed in his spot in the firmament.

"Wow..." Sirius said, gazing out at the skyscape. "Look, look! There's mine!" he said, pointing across the room to where a large dog trotted at a hunter's side. The constellation was not very large compared to some of the others in the sweeping epic painted above their heads, but the canine was sharp and alert, ears pricked up, tail standing straight in the air. Sirius' star blazed from within,

"Well, there's mine!" Bella countered, pointing to her star, one of the brightest in the constellation that represented her father. She noted with amusement that the hunter Orion had indeed been drafted in likeness to the reigning Black patriarch, the Grecian hero given the family's traditional high cheekbones, broad shoulders, and strong jawline.

"Oh!" gasped Narcissa suddenly from behind them. "There's Andi!"

She was pointing down at the crowd, not at the celestial ceiling, and Bellatrix followed the pale finger to see a familiar head of black curls in the centre of the room. "Oooh," Bellatrix said, scooting herself closer to the edge of the balcony. "Oh, she's lovely tonight."

Andromeda's gown was, appropriately, Grecian style, a swath of silver satin draping off of her shoulders and falling gracefully to the floor, belted at the waist with a chain of sapphires. The same gems were hung in her hair, so that she sparkled like the sea under a sunset whenever the lights caught her. Like Orion, she was tall, moreso than most of the young women in the room, and so she

"I still don't see why we couldn't go," Sirius said. "Look, there's Lucius Malfoy. He isn't that much older than us."

Bellatrix looked where her cousin pointed. Sure enough, the head of Mr Malfoy could be seen, his nearly-white ponytail shining brightly. "And the Nott brothers, too, and one of them's only fourteen," she added, sulkily, seeing the pair of dark-headed boys standing near the refreshments. "And that Dearborn boy, and--!" An indignant gasp broke from her voice. "Thalia Wilkes! She's barely older than us! Oh, that just isn't fair! She's not out yet, why is she there?"

"Because her mother doesn't have any sense of decorum, and is a great friend of our mama's," Narcissa said.

"That doesn't make it any more fair!" Bellatrix exclaimed, starting to get up, the look in her eyes indicating she was about to do something reckless.

"But just think, Bella," Narcissa said softly, finally kneeling down and crawling closer to her sister. As she moved, her nose wrinkled slightly, evidence that she feared she would be creasing her gown. "If you'd gone tonight, you'd have had to let Andromeda have all the attention. By the time you're grown up enough to have galas, she'll be a married woman and you won't have to share."

Mollified by this statement, Bellatrix nodded and settled back down. Narcissa sighed lightly, causing Sirius to send an inquiring look over at her. She only shook her fair head, thinking how unlucky it was for them all that Bellatrix and Sirius liked each other best, when neither of them could control the other. Together they just created more problems. In the soft sigh of an eight year old was a knowledge too weighty for her years, the faint prophecy of spending a lifetime cooling an older sister's temper.

The music changed then, from a graceful slow tune to something with a bit more of a beat, a dancing tune. With a small laugh, Bellatrix edged backwards from the balcony to where she could stand in the hallway without being seen. "Dance with me, Sirius!" she commanded, holding a haughty hand out to him.

Grinning, Sirius likewise crawled back from the balcony, then rose and gave his cousin a deep bow. "It would be my pleasure, my lady," he said, making a great affective show of kissing her hand.

"Are you sure you remember this one?" Bellatrix asked as her left hand fell on Sirius' shoulder and her right found his hand. "We only learnt it the other day."

"Of course I remember!" Sirius said defensively. "I was paying attention that day."

"I thought that was the day you were trying to catch the frog on the windowsill." Sirius's hand moved to her child's waist, and he started spinning her about in time with the music.

"No, that was during our French lesson."

"Oh. Right. Reggie! Dance with Narcissa!"

Narcissa shook her head. "No, that's all right, Bella, I don't want to dance."

Regulus seemed well pleased with her refusal; he was quite occupied watching the crowd at the gala. Narcissa's bright blue eyes, though, were on her sister and her cousin, watching placidly as they whirled about the hallway. Their steps were childish but not ungraceful; both moved with such natural ease, no halting or faltering to their limbs, and Narcissa wondered that they should both like dancing so much, when they so fervently resisted all other civilising attempts by their tutors. She suspected Bellatrix liked it because it made her feel pretty; Bella never failed to receive compliments on the lightness of her step and the quick way she could twirl about, and Narcissa knew that Bellatrix enjoyed anything that brought her adulation. Sirius, though, she could not figure. Not until this night, anyway. Somehow the reality of it, dancing not with their tutor pounding out the steps with his cane, but with the tunes of a full orchestra wafting up from the ballroom, made Narcissa look at the scene differently.

Bellatrix liked dancing because she liked feeling beautiful and free, liked imagining what would come in a few years, when she would be the centre of attention at a gala. That much was evident in her appearance; she danced with her eyes closed much of the time, as though picturing her fantasy, and though she wore only a simple playdress, Narcissa found it no stretch to imagine her sister older and in a dazzling gown, bedecked in gold and jewels. Bella's carriage seemed to give the impression of imperial glory even in the simplest of outfits. A smile curled her lips, her cheeks flushed a pretty red, and when her eyes were open, they glinted as brightly as the false stars in the affected sky of the ballroom.

Sirius, on the other hand, kept his eyes open the whole time, watching Bellatrix more than his own steps, and yet never missing a beat, a turn, or a slide. He moved with such careless grace, his steps just sloppy enough to be entirely charming. He kept the lead, but let Bellatrix make little flourishes as much as she wished, let her give in to the exaltation of the music, content to admire as her passionate spirit freed itself through movement. And that was how Narcissa found her answer: Sirius liked dancing because he liked seeing Bella happy.

When the song ended, Bellatrix laughed and gave Sirius a joyous hug, her small arms wound about his neck, and then she dashed back to the balcony, resuming her place beside Narcissa, flat on the floor. "D'you think she's having a good time?" Narcissa asked.

"Of course!" Bella said. "Look at all that, and it's all for her! Why wouldn't she be having a good time?"

"I can't really see her face clearly," Narcissa said, "but she doesn't seem..."

"What?"

"Well... happy."

Bellatrix's little nose wrinkled as Sirius crawled back between her and Regulus. "Maybe she's just tired. It is late, after all, and her constitution's always been more like yours." Narcissa, as always, ignored the glancing insult. "I'm sure she's had a fine time. I know I would have. And wouldn't you, Cissy?"

"Not everyone enjoys these things..." Narcissa murmured. She couldn't deny, though, that she found the romantic appeal of the gala quite delightful, and was, like Bellatrix, thinking of the day she'd be old enough to dance with the young men.

"I'm sure Bella's right. She's probably just tired," Sirius said.

They stayed there on the balcony a while longer, watching the dancers, pointing and laughing at some of the parents in attendance, and watching admiringly as Orion spoke a toast to his daughter. Regulus and Narcissa eventually dozed off there on the balcony, but Sirius and Bellatrix stayed awake, chattering to each other, until the guests began leaving. Only then did they rouse their siblings and return to their quarters to liberate the long-suffering Hamburton, who stormed away, vowing to inform Orion what they had done. Bellatrix only laughed, knowing her father wouldn't see someone as unimportant as a governess tonight, and readied herself for bed.

~~*~~

Ever since she was small, Bellatrix had been troubled by sleepless nights. She never seemed to need as much rest as most children, and when plagued by insomnia, she would take to wandering the halls. Some nights she would traipse down to the Hall of Portraits, and look at her ancestors, pausing at the most beautiful of them: famed Grandmother Alcyone, the delicately-featured Cassiopeia, Xanthippe Malfoy who had married Phineas. These were only the more recent generations, and the father down the hall Bellatrix went, the further back in time she wandered. Aquila had been one of the greatest beauties of the Renaissance wizarding world, immortalised by one of the most famous painters of the day. Bellatrix liked to talk to Aquila sometimes; she was a woman who had had her priorities in order. Before her, Corona had not been quite so lovely, with rather heavy features, but had been one of the most respected Dark witches of the thirteenth century, and Bellatrix admired her very much.

Other nights, Bellatrix would wander until she found herself in the Hall of Mirrors, a very gratifying place for the vain young woman to be. Or she would hole up in the library, finding ancient texts that interested her and perusing their pages until dawn peeked through the curtains. At other times, she would simply let her footsteps take her where they willed. On occasion she would find herself in a part of the Manor she had never seen before; the structure had a great many hidden passages and secret stairs, and Bellatrix loved to explore. It was always a fine thing to find out something new and be able to show it to Sirius.

This night, however, she barely made it out of the children's wing. As she passed her sister Andromeda's room, she heard the most troublesome sound of crying. It seemed muffled somehow, but in the stillness of night, Bellatrix could still hear it, and without any sort of announcing knock, she pushed open the door to her sister's room and padded in.

Andromeda was in bed, her jewels and satin exchanged for a simple blue nightgown not unlike Bella's own shift, and she was curled in a heap among the bedclothes, her face buried in one of the enormous fluffy pillows. Her back heaved and shuddered with the force of her sobs, and she did not notice that Bellatrix had come in until the girl climbed up onto the bed and started shaking her. "Andi. Andi! What's wrong? Did you have a bad dream?"

Andromeda sat up, pressing her hands to her eyes in an attempt to stop crying. "No, Bella, I didn't have a bad dream," she said in a despairing voice.

"What's wrong, then?" Andromeda did not respond, but gathered her sister into a hug, holding the somewhat bewildered girl close. "Andi, you're behaving very strangely," Bella commented.

"Someday, Bella," Andromeda murmured into her younger sister's hair, "someday you're going to know what it is to love someone... to love them so much you're like to die from it..."

"But I do love someone!" Bella protested, pulling away from Andromeda slightly. "I love you and Sirius and Father. And I suppose Cissy."

But Andromeda only shook her head, still weeping helpless tears. "It isn't the same, Bellatrix... it isn't as powerful..."

"What could be better than love of your family?" Bellatrix half-asked, half-declared, all innocence.

Impulsively, Andromeda tightened her arms around Bella's little form, pressing kisses into the dark curls. "You'll understand someday... I hope you'll understand someday... hope you have cause to know..." She sniffled and slowly released her sister. "Go on, now. Back to bed with you. You shouldn't be wandering about this late at night."

Scowling slightly, Bellatrix slid off of Andromeda's bed and padded back to her own room.

~~*~~

The next morning, Bellatrix woke up early and sneaked out of her room, evading the eye of Governess Hamburton,. She did not even take her usual partner-in-crime Sirius along with her on this venture; this thievery would be hers and hers alone.

Still in her violet nightgown, Bellatrix slipped from her bed. Without troubling to put on shoes or comb her hair, she pushed open the door to her room and crept down the hallway, taking care to be especially quiet while passing her governess's chamber.

In the dawn hour, Ebony Manor was yet still and quiet. House elves went silently and swiftly about their morning chores, nearly unseen in their speed and efficiency, and if any of them had cause to wonder over the middle Black daughter's early rising, certainly none would have dared to challenge her over it. The grand doors to the Sunrise Room had been left open, and as Bellatrix's bare feet tiptoed down the marble staircase and into the foyer, she glanced aside and saw the brilliant play of light, the golden glim at the horizon bleeding into the fantastic colours of the sky.

The spring air cut a crisp breeze across the grounds, and after taking only a few steps out on the garden path, Bellatrix broke into a run with the sheer joy of it. Racing the wind, she tore across the grass, dampening her feet with morning dew, running so hard that her chest hurt with the exertion of it, but not wanting to stop or slow down. It was too precious, too much fun to feel so alive, and she strove to hold on to that feeling as long as possible.

When she finally did come to a halt, it was with laughter in her ragged breaths, collapsing against the door to the greenhouse. After taking a moment to catch her breath, Bellatrix pushed open the door and slipped inside.

The extensive gardens behind the house were glorious, to be sure, but the finest and most delicate blooms would be found in here, and Bellatrix wanted nothing but the best for this gesture.

She strolled down one of the aisles between rows of potted plants. She'd stolen into the greenhouses often enough to know which displays to avoid, lest she be bitten, burned, or otherwise assaulted by botanical substances. Bella's discerning eye and nimble fingers plucked out some of the most unusual and darling flowers: a golden rose that glimmered like the son, a tulip the colour of the moon, a red-and-white streaked flower that smelled like peppermint, violet blooms with petals that tasted like sugar.

The arrangement was left by Andromeda's bed. The older girl was in the deep sleep of exhaustion brought on by many hours' tears, allowing Bellatrix to slip in, place the flowers on her nightstand, and kiss her sister's cheek without being noticed.