A Letter in the Dark

####

Bellatrix’s Point of View:

I lay in bed, covering myself with the forest green comforter and resting my head on satin, silver pillows. I can’t stop thinking about her. Her with her glasses and her blonde hair. Her aqua-colored eyes.

She’s gorgeous.

The most beautiful girl I have ever laid eyes on.

####

Flashback to the Gryffindor Party:

“Bella, who did you invite anyway?” Andromeda questions.

“Just a girl. I think I have a crush on her,” I mumble that last sentence so no one can hear me.

“What was that?” She asks.

“I think she is fun to be around,” I try to refrain from mentioning her blood status so that no one starts to make fun of her.

I feel a cough beginning to develop in my throat. I know this isn’t right. Lying to your friends about blood status is the biggest no-no in the Most Ancient and Noble House of Black. I must remember the family motto.

Toujours Pur.

I feel Morella come up behind me and give me a hug. I feel her arms snake around my waist and her soft chin rests on my shoulder. I liked Morella a year ago, but I shoved it down because I’m not allowed to love a girl.

Nobody can blame me for being utterly in love with her. Her dark hair cut into a cute bob that was never too short and never too long made her adorable. She had those dark green eyes that always darkened the room she entered.

She was the definition of a Slytherin; a pureblood one at that.

We all collectively hear a knock at the door. I look over towards the sound of it echoes through the Potions Pantry of where I asked her to meet us. I immediately rush to get the door before anyone can say anything.

“Hi,” She simply says when she is met with my face.

Rita is wearing a dress. It’s cut to mid-thigh, and it is in this vibrant shade of purple. The long sleeves are laced with faux, green fur. She’s wearing a pair of silver earrings in the shape of beetles. Finally, to go well with the outfit she has a pair of green Gogo boots which are the same shade as the faux fur.

“You look nice,” she says while looking at the tight black dress that hugs my curves perfectly.

Merlin, she could her eyes on me all day.

“You look nice too,” I say, straightening my back and speaking with a bitter tone.

I feel bad for being rude to her. She is kind, smart, and her only possible dream is to be a writer. I know this because I overheard her stupid mudblood friend talking about it.

“Let’s carry on then,” Rodolphus says with a wicked smirk spread across his face and a roll of his light brown eyes.

We sneak out of the tower making sure to be quiet throughout the halls. Rita is the only one smart enough to put a silencing charm on her heels so that nobody hears the clicking noise they make.

I made sure to keep Rita close to my side so that she doesn’t get too close with one of the others. I’m not quite sure what would happen if she got too close to Rodolphus or one of the others. They might be a bit too mean for her liking and cause her a deep distaste with Slytherins.

It’ll ruin any chance I have of getting with her.

As we walk down to the Forbidden Forest where the party is being held, I notice Rita having a little trouble with the wobbly, stone path. I grab onto her upper arm to help brace her a bit. I make sure that she is not going to fall before I let go of her arm.

“Are you alright?” I ask, you can hear my French accent starting to come through more than usual.

“You’re French?” She asks me.

“I am. That’s where the famous Black Family saying comes from,” I state showing off my pearly, white smile as my attempt to flatter.

“Toujours Pur? Right?” She questions.

“That’s the one. In my mind, I think it’s a whole bunch of rubbish,” I let out a laugh.

I haven't had a good one like that in over a year.

We reach the party located at the edge of the forest and I am almost immediately hit with the stench of firewhiskey and muggle beer. I grab Rita’s hand and begin leading her to the table set up with drinks.

“Do you want anything?” I ask, pouring myself a cup of firewhiskey from the bottle.

“Can I have a cup that too?” She quietly mumbles as if she’s scared to drink.

I pour another cup of firewhiskey and watch the amber color swirl into the cup. The firewhiskey leaves a sound of a sizzle as it enters the glass cup. I then hand it over to Rita who reluctantly takes a swig.

“That’s spicy,” She states with a look of distaste spread across her face.

“It’s called firewhiskey, what did you expect?” I ask rhetorically with a snort in my laugh that I immediately try to cover up.

“I like your laugh,” She states, and I feel the heat rise to my cheeks but like snorting in my laugh, I instantly hide it, so she doesn’t notice.

“Really?” I ask with a look of dumbness spread across my face.

A couple hours later the party began to die down. I notice the Gryffindors starting to clean up and the Slytherins me and Bellatrix arrived with are no longer there. Alas, Me and Rita continue laughing and throwing as much firewhiskey as we can down our throats.

“How about we blow this popsicle stand?” She says and a look of confusion crosses my face.

“What?” I yell trying to hear the meaning over the statement she just made.

“Let’s get out of here,” She reiterates.

I grab her hand and lead away from the loud music and the pungent smell of firewhiskey. I continue holding her hand until we get to a willow tree that stands right next to the Black Lake.

“This is my favorite spot,” I tell her, still holding onto her hand with her fancy manicure.

“Why is that?” Rita questions with a shiver running down her spine from the low temperature.

I wrap the black, leather jacket that I thought went well with the black dress I am wearing around her shoulders to shield her from the cold breeze.

“Better?” I inquire as she snuggles into the jacket that fits her curves perfectly.

“Much better. Thank you,” She replies with a shy smile spread across her pretty face.

“Lay down on the ground and look up,” I instruct with a subtle whisper in her ear.

Not too flirty, but not too friendly either.

We both lay on the ground, and I feel Rita scooch closer for my warmth. She was built like a heater, so I didn’t mind. I subtly wrap my arm around her waist in a friend-like way.

Right?

Rita takes this as an invitation to move closer. I realize I’m still holding her hand, and I take her pointer finger to direct it towards the stars. I point to one specifically.

“That is Sirius, it’s the brightest star in the sky. It’s also the name of my baby cousin,” I whisper, watching her stare into the sky.

I move her finger again to another star.

“That one there is Regulus, it’s the brightest star in the constellation Leo. Ironically, it is also the name of my baby cousin,” I state with a quiet laugh.

“You know a lot about stars, right?” Rita canvasses me with a soft smile located on her lips.

Bloody hell, I need to stop staring at her lips.

“I do believe so, yes,” I say, still staring at her plump lips, covered with some smudged red lipstick.

“Then where is the star Bellatrix?” She asks, finally taking her eyes away from the stars and staring into my brown eyes.

I look into the sky and move her finger to the third brightest star in the Orion constellation.

“That is the star Bellatrix,” I say before removing my hand from hers.

My hand moves to wipe the red lipstick that got smeared during our continuous amounts of drinking and dancing. Her hand drops from the star and her head turns to face me as I wipe it away. I can barely control the urge to kiss her right now.

Probably could control it a lot more if I tried harder.

Before Rita can say something about the makeup, I kiss her. Not like a little quick kiss that children do. But a real kiss.

I feel her hands instantly travel to my hair and get wrapped up in all of the curls. I move over so that she’s under me and I deepen the kiss. I almost even let my tongue enter her mouth.

Almost.

Before I can even think to let myself start to make out with her, I immediately pull away from the kiss and roll off of her perfect body.

“We can’t do that,” I say, trying to catch my breath and rubbing the red lipstick off of my lips.

“Why not?” Rita asks me with a pout made by her bright red lips.

“You’re a halfblood, and I’m a pureblood,” I hesitate to continue speaking, “I’m going to have to make you forget this ever happened,” I say with a look of melancholy spread across my porcelain skin.

“The alcohol will do it itself,” she says.

“I fear I can’t risk my reputation being destroyed if anyone finds out. I’m sorry,” I say as I hold my wand.

Rita gives me a nod showing that she understands where I’m coming from. She won’t remember anything of this party other than the drink I poured for her. She closes her eyes, and I hold the wand to her temple that is slightly covered by her fake, blonde curls.

“Obliviate” I mumble the wretched words as I watch Rita pass out onto the damp grass underneath the tree.

I ponder for a minute whether I should leave her here or go and put her to bed. I decide that it will be less suspicious if I just leave her here.

I begin walking away from her unconscious body and for a moment, just for a moment, I feel a tear run down my face.

But in that moment, that tear is wiped away.

Never to be seen again.