The Pensieve of Bellatrix Black

The concluding part to the Seventh Year Black Family Yule Ball

Bellatrix seemed completely off balance. This wasn't a bad off-balance, but a strange one. She was used to being the center of things, and used to having everyone listen to her. With Tom, it was different. He commanded a certain amount of attention, but at the same time seemed completely attentive to her. It seemed to be an unspoken challenge for Bella to find her bearings, yet Tom was doing a wonderful job of covering for her when she was uncharacteristically lost for words.

"I thought you were enjoying the party, Bellatrix. Is everything alright? Why are you leaving?" Rodolphus' concerned voice seemed to echo softly in Bellatrix's mind, as if he were in a completely different world. Registering the necessity to respond to him was quite beyond her capabilities.

"Well, the young woman has had quite enough dancing for one night, so I was going to escort her to a quiet place to sit down," Tom covered for her. She didn't understand why he couldn't explain to Rodolphus that she and Tom would surely be married, and that he needn't be concerned for her.

"Ah yes, Bellatrix helped me facilitate the decorations for the party, so I'm sure she is a bit tired," offered her mother, somewhat oblivious to the fact that Bellatrix didn't seem to be entirely in the room. Rodolphus still gave her and Riddle a skeptical look, but decided to hold his tongue. His upbringing had taught him quite a bit of tact. Besides, Tom Riddle was someone he had heard a lot about and trusted fully. Why wouldn't it be appropriate for him to escort her to a quieter place?

With that, Tom and Bella continued on their way, with him leading, even though she was the one supposedly giving him a tour. Were those lanterns always so bright? Did the entryway to the ballroom always take so long to walk through? Bellatrix could not for the life of her pinpoint why she was so disoriented. This was the house she had grown up in, but it seemed unfamiliar. She looked up at Tom, perhaps it would help. It turned out, however, that upon seeing his remarkable features, she couldn't tear her eyes off of him. This caused her to nearly walk straight into a torch on the wall.

"Bella, are you alright? How are you to give me a tour when it appears you don't even know where we're going?"

His voice, and then his eyes turning directly towards her seemed to bring Bellatrix out of her reverie. Her feet lost that tingling feeling of being asleep, and the heat of the nearby torch provided a stark contrast to the cool air coming in from the entryway.

"I'm sorry, Tom. Perhaps I had too much of that Zabini wine. I'm not usually so... I don't even know how to describe it. It felt like you were the only thing I could concentrate on. Does that sound odd?"

"No. I often have that effect on women." This remark was accompanied by a Slytherin smirk that Bella usually hexed young men for pulling on her. On Tom, however, the smirk looked incredibly appealing. So appealing, in fact, it didn't even occur to her to blush. Instead, she raised an eyebrow and gave him a sultry smirk of her own. This caused Tom to cough, look away and quickly search for another conversation topic. Had she really flustered him? He's a grown man. Whatever could a seventeen year old do to intimidate someone of his power? Tom continued in his silence and feet shuffling.

"I believe you mentioned the balcony earlier. And our wonderful gardens...."

"Ah yes. I'm glad I have a personal tour guide. I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to find them from inside on my own."

"Also a good reason I'm awake again. This staircase is the one we want," she gestured to her left. Strangely, it seemed he was still guiding her. This continued all the way to the intended balcony. It just so happened that the balcony Bellatrix had intended was furthest away from the ballroom. Since all the balconies were visible from the front of the house, this was probably a fact that Tom had noticed. He didn't mind, however, since it fit into his plans quite nicely.

"Well, you can see three different gardens from here. On our left is the maze my great-great grandmother commissioned. Three hundred house elves were used in its original planting, and we currently have twenty designated solely for its maintenance."

"Extraordinary. I like the idea of a maze. It would be a very effective way of sorting people, wouldn't it?"

"Do you mean by talent or by natural selection? I think, if it were magic users in there, it'd be very convenient to cheat. Those people, however, would probably be the most fit anyways."

"Would you cheat? Hypothetically, of course."

"Need you even ask? I did land myself in Slytherin after all. I love performing spells, and I'm sure I know quite a few that would be useful to make my way through the walls of the maze. It's funny isn't it? The very things that make mazes so captivating in the first place would be the first things I would destroy in an attempt to escape."

"Perhaps using others in the maze would be more productive. The maze would remain, but you would find your way out while others continued to search for the exit in all the wrong places."

"Do you mean use other people to find the dead ends, then keep them there while you continue on out? I suppose those weak enough to do that, or be convinced to rather, would certainly deserve to be stuck there."

"What of the ones willing to search out the dead ends of their own volition?"

"It depends. Would they be doing that in order to aid someone they know is worthy to get out, or because they inherently know they don't have enough self worth to deserve to make it out in the first place?"

"Let's say they go for the first option. They search out dead ends, and weed through certain people by sending them to dead ends so that one great person can find his way out."

"Well, as long as this one great person, by finding his way out was able to provide a way out for all who followed and trusted him, I would certainly be an aid. But we're no longer talking about the maze now are we?"

"The Wizarding World is a maze, Bella. A maze of bloodlines and family histories and undeserving people and taints driving out the purities. It's a maze that is even more difficult to find a way out of because it can't be destroyed in the process. The maze must be preserved in every possible way, and for that to happen, there must be sacrifices. Sacrifices of those who are not fit to find the way out, and of those who will aid those true enough to exit."

"I would like to be someone to aid it."

"I know, Bella. You're strong. You know what is at the heart of the Wizarding World. You know the risks that need to be taken in order to save it from the corruption seeping through it."

"And you are the one great person to find the way out, and lead us all out in the end, into the new Wizarding World free of taint."

"Yes. I am that man. Are you willing to be at my side? Seeking out the dead ends in our society and destroying them? Are you willing to commit your future to our cause, forsaking anything coming from the muggle world and swearing supreme allegiance to me as long as you live?"

Perhaps it was the wine, or the seductive effect Tom seemed to be having on her, but what Bellatrix noticed was the faint resemblance to a marriage proposal. Normally, that would unnerve her. Coming from Tom, it was a welcome blessing, one she certainly had to provide a "yes" to.

"You wouldn't even be asking if you didn't know the answer would be affirmative. I don't see how I could ever turn down an opportunity to help you in such a noble cause. Walking away when my very world and all I hold dear would be a betrayal I'd never be able to forgive myself for. Ever since I started hearing whispers of your name, and about things that you had accomplished, I knew that somehow, I'd find a way to commit myself to your cause, as you said. My future would have no purpose if I were to refuse."

"And my being here would have no purpose if I were to fail in confirming your loyalty."

"You came here just to speak with me?"

"Ask Malfoy. I'm certainly not very celebratory and he looked as if he had just seen a three headed hippogryff when I requested to come with him."

"Well, I'm glad I could give you the tour, then, since it seems like the fate of the Wizarding World depends on it."

"The fate looked rather shaky a bit earlier, I must say."

"Well, what's a girl to do with a man like you fawning all over her?"

"I don't fawn."

"Oh, you were fawning. With all that graceful dancing commentary and how you effect women remarks. How can you justify treating such a young girl like that, Mr. Riddle?"

"By explaining that the young girl in question is much more a woman than her family gives her credit for. Don't think my decision to ask for your help is arbitrary, Ms. Black. Even I've heard of your achievements in school and your superior talent in dueling."

"Ms. Black? It's strange, to hear that coming from you. Why don't you call me Bella again? Only my sister calls me that."

"No one calls me Tom."

"Perhaps I'm the first to realize what a charming yet completely necessary man you are."

"I'm powerful and that's why you are so familiar with me?"

"Isn't that why you're so familiar with me?"

"Don't push your luck, young lady. You just signed your life over to me."

"And what, pray tell, will you choose to do with it? I have many talents you know."

"If you seek to proposition me...."

"Mr. Riddle! I'm only seventeen. The fact that you suggest I would proposition you clearly shows an underlying desire on your part to be propositioning me!"

Bellatrix knew she'd won when a slight blush came to Tom's cheeks. How she had played him. Did he honestly expect her not to realize he had deep romantic feelings for her? He had practically proposed!

"A request for loyalty is not a proposal, Bella." His words stunned her. He had been doing that all night. How was he doing it? Was she so predictable that he could just tell what she was thinking?

"Joining me would help you learn darker magic they don't teach you in school. There's a whole world of possibilities out there, and these muggle influences are tearing our society away from them. I see remnants of dark magic throughout your house, yet you have never had direct exposure to it. You don't realize the possibilities of it. I could show you, Bella. This isn't just about purification. This is about darkening and strengthening our powers. The Dark Arts are made up of ever-changing potent forces. These forces are very rarely even tapped by most witches and wizards. I can lead you to them, and teach you how to wield them. Great power is in a future with me, Bella."

It was then that Bellatrix was truly seduced by the Dark Arts. She had literally been seduced by the attractive man, Tom Riddle. His motives were certainly not wholesome. He had pretended to care when he cared for no one. He was flustered by this young spirit because he had no real experience with anyone. He hadn't the slightest intention of ever involving himself with her, but had led her to believe he would. Most people would feel guilty. Tom Riddle only felt triumph. He had gained a loyal supporter. She would trust him and follow him and do whatever cruel things he requested. He held no regrets about taking a woman with such potential and twisting her to his every whim. After all, that is exactly what Tom Riddle had done his entire life. Others meant nothing to him. Of course he respected Pure Bloods, but his cause was more.

As much as he clung to them, Tom Riddle was also seduced by the Dark Arts. The very powers that gave him his life force and led him entirely had slowly eaten away at his humanity. The young woman beside him knew nothing of this. She was too enamored with the mask Tom Riddle wore to see the horror beneath. It would be several years until she would see even the hint of it. Yet, there would be no escape. The ever-changing forces of Dark had grasped Bella firmly and would never release her. The worst captive of all is the one stuck in a maze who is unaware of losing freedom. Any progressions towards freedom will only bring her deeper into the chasm of enslavement. This enslavement would lead Bellatrix through a life of sadism, bloodshed and madness. All facts would be showered in a red haze of seduction and greed from the person that had led her there. Although Riddle might have offered her power, what he had really offered her was a path of blind servitude and fervor that would destroy the person Bellatrix would have become. It was with a firm hand and a forced smile that Tom led the young woman back inside. It was with undying devotion that she allowed herself to be led, not just back to the party, but through the rest of her life.