Infatuation

Bellatrix searched for him for the remainder of the ball, squeezing through crowds and looking anywhere she could find a painting. But the good-looking boy was nowhere to be seen.

Of course, that didn't stop her from being infatuated with him. As soon as the ball was over and the house elves were scurrying about to clean up the hall, she approached her mother at more of a bounce as anything. Andromeda and Narcissa were off giggling upstairs about Lucius, so she knew she'd have privacy.

"Mum?" she asked, causing her mother to look up from her paper. Her father was sitting with his arm around his wife, and her mother was leaning onto his shoulder.

"Yes?" she asked, examining her youngest daughter's face for any sign of why the young girl seemed so serious.

"How long have you known the Lestrange family?" she asked, slightly quicker than her normal rate. She was doing all she could not to wring her hands together.

"Not too long. They moved here from some tiny wizarding down in the south," Holly Black began, raising a curious eyebrow. Her eyebrows had always been perfectly shaped, just the right length from her eye.

"Oh..." Bellatrix muttered, swallowing hard, finally unable to resist wringing together her hands. "We should invite them to a dinner with us. You know, to be properly welcomed to the city."

"They came to the ball, dear." Holly reminded her daughter, lowering her curious eyebrow and glancing at the Daily Prophet in her hand.

"I know, but there were so many people there. It must be hard on a family to have so many new acquaintances," Bellatrix continued, her voice slightly persuasive. She might not be a good liar, but persuasion was a strong point.

"Maria Lestrange is a very nice woman... Well, I suppose we could have them about for dinner soon. Now, run on up to Cecilia and have her take down your hair," Holly replied with a small smile to Bellatrix, who bounded up to have the maid clean her up.

As the maid began to let down her hair, Andromeda and Narcissa flopped in, seating themselves on Bellatrix's bed. They tended to do this quite often, but it never ceased to annoy her.

"Didn't Lucius look ravishing tonight?" Narcissa asked dreamily. Bellatrix merely rolled her eyes at her five year old sister who had a far larger vocabulary than several Mudbloods, or so she liked to think.

"No, he looked like he was attempting miserably to look older," Bellatrix responded grimly as the maid gently ran a brush through her hair.

"Oh, no he didn't!" Andromeda exlaimed quickly, looking mortified.

"Yes, he did," Bellatrix snapped, remaining composed as the maid left the room.

"Well, I heard you talking to Mother about that Lestrange family," Narcissa scoffed, glaring.

"I was merely suggesting she welcome new families into our inner circle." Bellatrix replied, sounding far older than eight.

"Or trying to drool over their son." Andromeda piped up, and Narcissa's head bobbed in agreement.

"What do you know about their son?" Bellatrix asked as she turned sharply. Despite the fact that they were bugging her at the moment, she wanted to know all she could about the mysterious yet incredibly handsome young boy.

"Had you not been sitting down looking miserable, you could've met him in the Entrance Hall," Andromeda continued, shaking her head.

"He's got that wild hair. Sort of dreamy, isn't he?" Narcissa shrugged to her sisters.

"Yes. But not half as handsome as Lucius," Andromeda replied, and Narcissa nodded her head giddily.

Bellatrix really couldn't stand anymore of this. She quickly shooed her sisters from her room and sat down at the dressing table. She ran a brush through her hair a few more times, causing its waves to show a pretty shine from being brushed so much. She smiled in satisfaction, as her hair hardly ever looked tamed at all. Their maid had a way with hair, unlike her mother. Bellatrix tended to simply let it be as wild as it wished. She thought it looked fine.

She slipped into bed that night, unable to stop thinking about the mysteriously handsome Rodolphus Lestrange. She fell asleep dreaming of her wedding, and not recognizing the name of the man she was to marry. Then he had been there, tall, dark, and handsome, wearing a black tux...

The next morning, Bellatrix awoke to an annoying disruption from downstairs. Groggily, she got out of bed and pulled a robe over her pink silk pajamas, ignoring her inexplicably messy hair and heading downstairs to see what the commotion was about.

"You will NOT do this!" Bellatrix heard clearly from the foyer, the voice of her mother when the woman became agitated.

"Yes, I will. I have a duty to carry on the Malfoy name, and I will," came a persuasive tone from the doorway. It sounded somewhat like her own persuasion, but far more confident in its ability to succeed.

"Not to my daughters, you won't!" Holly Black shouted back, her pale cheeks pink with fury. Bellatrix couldn't see her mother's cheeks, but could only imagine their look.

"Betrothal has been going on for centuries in our families, and you're not going to be the one to stop it," continued the tone, and Bellatrix peeked her head around the corner to see Mr. Malfoy standing there. He looked nearly the same as last night, and Bellatrix was surprised to notice that the Malfoys always looked as though they were going somewhere important.

"She's barely eight! You can't betroth her at eight!" Holly called back, and Bellatrix nearly lost her cover as her father swept past her without noticing the small girl there. She resumed her cover behind the curtains, her head of messy black hair peering around it.

"What's the meaning of this?" Remulus Black demanded, obviously annoyed by the disruption as well.

"Darius here wants to betroth Bellatrix to Lucius!" Holly called angrily, and Bellatrix's eyes widened. She was terrified, to say the least. All the color that had been in her face immediately drained from it.

"They seem a likely couple," Remulus replied with a mere shrug of his shoulders. Bellatrix was just as surprised as her mother to see his laid-back reaction.

"You're not serious!" Holly shouted, sounding rather offended.

"Oh, honestly, we can't trust the girls to find a wealthy pureblood on their own. Its how we got together, isn't it, Holly?" Remulus coaxed to his obviously distraught wife.

"But that's different! We were lucky. Bellatrix might not be so lucky with Lucius," Holly carried on, disgust in her tone, tossing a glare at Darius Malfoy.

"The papers, Darius," Remulus responded sternly, and Darius Malfoy easily handed the papers over to him. He nodded. "Thank you. We will be contacting you by owl shortly."

Darius merely smirked, nodded, and apparated away in the blink of an eye, accompanied by a quiet pop.

"Mummy, don't betroth me!" Bellatrix suddenly shouted from her place in the hallway, exposing herself and hurrying to her mother's side.

"How long have you been there, Bellatrix?" Holly snapped, brushing loose strands of hair from her face, catching her breath.

"Long enough to get the gist of things. I don't want to marry him!" Bellatrix exclaimed, down struck. How ever would she pursue a possible future with Rodolphus if that prat Lucius Malfoy got in the way?

"I'm sorry, dear, but apparently my opinion doesn't matter much," Holly replied darkly, glaring at her husband before sweeping down the hall in a billow of robes. She disappeared into a doorway, and Remulus looked after her, but knew he had to take care of his daughter first.

"Now Bella, Lucius always has the option to back out. Of course he is only advised to do so if he finds a more suitable wife or if you find a more suitable husband that he agrees with... That husband absolutely must be pureblood, wealthy, and right for you. Now, I'll sign these papers after the contract is read. But Bella, don't try to trick Lucius into refusing. After all, he cannot do so until his sixteenth birthday," Remulus told her, and her jaw dropped. Betrothed to that fool for eight more years? No! He had to be joking! Then again, Bellatrix knew when her father was joking, and this wasn't one of those times.

"Yes, Father," Bellatrix muttered quietly, shuffling up the stairs. She knew better than to contradict him, since he was giving her a way out.

Though less traveled and dirty, the path to Rodolphus seemed a bit more walkable.

As she entered her room, she saw her two sisters once more sitting on her bed. They broke off from chatting as soon as she entered.

"What're you doing in here?" she demanded of them, moving to her closet to pick out some robes for the day. None of them seemed appealing.

"We heard Mummy and Daddy's conversation," Narcissa informed her, her tone more serious than Bellatrix had ever heard it.

"Good for you," Bellatrix growled with a scowl, forcefully pushing hangers aside on the rack.

"I can't believe you get to marry Lucius! You don't even like him!" Andromeda yelled angrily while Narcissa's head bobbed, as it so often did, in agreement.

"I don't want to marry him! Now get out of my room!" she told them furiously, and the two girls glared at her for a while, then scoffed and left.

That was merely another problem to add to the list.

In order not to think of the giant weight being dropped on her shoulder, and knowing that her mother would want to make her right now, Bellatrix demanded that Holly take her shopping for new robes. She merely wanted to impress the guests they were to have that weekend. Or so she told her mother, anyway. Holly had been quick enough to let it be. She was still furious with her husband for the whole betrothal ordeal.

They headed into Diagon Alley later that day, after Bellatrix had properly showered and tossed on some robes. She didn't bother with her hair, letting it dry without even running a brush through it.

When they arrived, Bellatrix quickly scurried to Madam Malkin's, grateful that her younger sisters were not there to bother her. They had been left in the maid's watch, but would probably play dolls and fantasize over Lucius Malfoy the whole time. She scowled at the thought of him, though her thoughts were interrupted by something much worse than mere thoughts of the fool.

"Why, look who's here," scowled a dark voice behind them, and Bellatrix whipped around. Darius and Lucius Malfoy stood before them, both looking smug.

"Darius, good afternoon," Holly Black responded quietly, restraining herself from attacking the man. He was quite a bit older than her, as Bellatrix was quick to notice. It would've brought a smirk to her lips, but it hadn't, given the situation.

"As to you, Holly. Come; let me buy you a cuppa while we allow the children to chat," Darius suggested a smirk on his lips. Holly weakly accepted, whispering something to the man behind the counter and handing him a few coins before heading out. Bellatrix expected it was for him to watch both Lucius and her as they were left in the store alone.

"I bet you're absolutely ecstatic," Lucius drawled, crossing his arms and picking at the robes near him.

"About what?" Bellatrix merely snapped, waiting impatiently for her mother to return.

"About our betrothal, of course," Lucius replied, a smirk identical to his father's settling onto his lips.

"Why would I be?" she snarled, forgetting temporarily the manner she was supposed to keep up. According to her mother, no matter how angry you were at any man, you were to never snap at them.

"Only because you're marrying me," he replied, brushing fine blonde hair from his eyes.

"Oh yes, because I like you so much," she answered coldly, her eyes glinting maliciously.

"It's obvious, darling. You and your sisters are infatuated with me," Lucius replied, sounding just as conceited as his father.

"I am? My sisters, possibly, but I absolutely do NOT like you!" Bellatrix nearly yelled, causing several heads to turn her way. She only gained a bit of pink tinge to her cheeks and looked away.

"Tsk tsk, darling. You should know by now that women are to be seen, not heard. And you're doing a really awful job at that," he said smugly, his smirk merely broadening.

She simply glared, ignoring him for quite some time until her mother returned.

She spent the rest of the afternoon fuming, that was, until Rodolphus crept back into her mind. Would he say she looked spiffy in the navy blue robes she'd chosen? Hopefully. It was just a wild wish.

Darius and Lucius Malfoy had disappeared some time after Holly had returned from tea. Both women looked positively crazy as they carried on their shopping as they had before the two had hopped in.

When she arrived home, she instantly began to boss house elves around, ignoring the fact that she sounded a lot like her mother. Any place in the home that even sounded like it would be remotely dirty was to be cleaned spotless.

"Not one spot of filth!" she snapped harshly to the elf, clothed in just a tea towel with the Black crest sewed onto it. She sported a disgusted expression, as the crest carried on since the beginning of wizardry didn't deserve to be upon such an item.

At dinner, she had been particularly snappy and chatty. Nobody seemed to notice, as she had never been anything short of chatty.

"Mother, what food will be served at our dinner?" Bellatrix demanded, lifting her silver goblet to her lips. It was filled to the brim with pumpkin juice, just as she requested.

"Oh... I don't know. Whatever the house elves can prepare best, I'm sure," Holly Black answered, still seeming rather sore from their encounter with the Malfoys earlier.

"But what if they prepare something absolutely barbaric? Or add a touch too much of vinegar?" she asked, trying miserably to hide the disgust evident in her tone.

"Why exactly is this so important to you?" Remulus intruded, his eyes scanning his eldest daughter's face for any sort of clue.

"I just want them to feel welcomed," Bellatrix lied, though she didn't do a very good job of it.

"Is that all? Wouldn't be a certain son they have, would it?" She finished with a twinkle in her eyes.

"Oh? They have a son?" Bellatrix attempted to lie again, but unfortunately faltered. "Honestly, he would be a proper crush for you if his parents didn't let his mop of hair go without cutting for such a long time. It isn't as though they haven't got the money," her mother continued, bringing a bite of pork chops to her mouth.

"They could certainly out bet the Malfoys," Remulus began. "They've got a boatload of money in Gringott's, or so I'm told."

"The boy's a natural for picking art, I've heard," Holly carried on.

"He pointed out practically every flaw in the Red Tang Silhouette," Bellatrix told her father, and he set his goblet down.

"That's hogwash! That painting has no mistakes at all," Remulus insisted.

"He said there was a blending mistake below the eyebrow, the floor was uneven, and the painter had obviously drawn it while tilted to the side. He called it a mess," Bellatrix recalled accurately.

"Did he? Well, he's full of codswallop," Remulus persisted, shaking his head.

"I've heard he's some sort of prodigy with art, Remulus. I wouldn't deny it," Holly replied with a little grin on her lips.

Remulus uttered a string of incoherent phrases, though didn't reply at all.

When the post arrived the next day, Bellatrix practically bounded into her father's study to see if the Lestrange's had replied.

"Daddy, did they reply yet?" she pleaded, hovering over his shoulder.

"Bellatrix, back away for just a moment," Remulus growled moodily, and she reluctantly moved to his side.

"Is that it? That one there?" she asked, pointing excitedly to a letter in the pile.

"I believe so. Here, open it up since you're so excited to see it arrive." Remulus said grumpily, handing her the envelope.

She ripped apart the wax, slipped the parchment out, and unceremoniously pulled it open, quickly reading it.

Mr. and Mrs. Remulus Black,

I am very grateful for the kind invitation to dinner at your Manor. We had quite a splendid time at your ball, and had been wondering when we would have the opportunity to visit it once more. I do hope you are all faring quite well.

We accept your offer, and shall arrive promptly at thirty after six this Saturday evening. I am anticipating the meeting, and once more, gratitude is offered for inviting us.

Sincerely,

Maria Lestrange

Bellatrix grinned excitedly. They were coming! Her father was enthralled with another letter, but she poked his arm.

"Father! They're coming!" she squealed and her father grunted.

"Good. We ought to buy some better paintings, the ungrateful child," Remulus muttered.

"Oh, father, don't be like that! You know he was merely being himself. And look, it says twice that they're grateful!" Bellatrix continued in a high-pitched tone that reminded her fearfully of Narcissa's.

"Good," Remulus grunted.

"Can I keep this?" Bellatrix queried, waving the letter in his face.

"Why on earth would you want to keep a letter?" he asked, obviously not still grasping the concept.

"Um... In case..." she stammered, unable to think of anything. "Oh, can I, daddy?"

"Fine. Fine. Go," he muttered, waving his light hand away and she quickly scurried out of the room.

Once safely in her room, she slipped the letter into her pillowcase after reading it once more. Even though she had already read it, she felt like she was reading something new every time. She was so nervous about being there with Rodolphus again. She just couldn't wait!