Bejeweled

Bellatrix didn’t think she’d ever get tired of the way Remus would grin at her when he came down the steps to meet up to begin their rounds, but this time it seemed extra bright. 

“You’re in a good mood,” she commented. 

“I am,” he nodded. “I have a sort of present. I mean, I’ll need them back, but,” he held out a stack of four albums by an artist she’d never heard of. 

Bellatrix’s jaw dropped. “Are these the ones Professor Hoben has been on the warpath trying to find? You’re the one who stole them? For me?”  

“Well, sorta,” he blushed a bit. “Does that mean you’ll listen to them?” 

Did she want to listen to muggle music? Not really. It would just be inferior to wizarding music, since everything about muggles was inferior. But he looked so earnest in his excitement for her to hear it. And he’d gone out of his way to get these for her. Perfect prefect Remus Lupin had stolen these albums from a Professor just for her. She knew it was probably about getting her to open up to muggle stuff and all that, but it wasn’t like listening to an album or two would change her beliefs. Maybe she’d even enjoy a song. Maybe. That wasn’t a horrible fate…and it really was so sweet…

She bit her lip as she tried to hide her smile, rocking back onto her heels as she pretended to be considering. “I guess I’ve been a little curious about Muggle music,” Bellatrix said, just a little white lie. 

She didn’t think she’d ever seen him so happy. It made her melt. 

“In fact…” Was she really going to give up this secret to him? “Follow me.” 

Bellatrix put the albums in her bag and began bounding up the steps all the way to the 7th floor. 

They were both a little out of breath when she stopped at the correct corridor and told him to wait off to the side. She then went up and paced in front of the right spot, focusing on the room she wanted until the door appeared. 

“Wait..is this…?” 

“Yep,” she grinned at him. “The Room of Requirement.” 

A slow smile spread across his lips as he looked at her with awe. “Bloody brilliant.” 

Bellatrix felt like she was floating. 

The room she had summoned was about the size of a classroom, large but not too large, with mirrors completely lining one wall. The floor was hard wood, but in one corner there was a neat stack of rugs and a few comfy bean bag chairs sitting next to a record player with a large speaker sitting on a table. 

“Sooo sometimes when I do rounds alone…I don’t always do the rounds part,” she admitted to him. 

“I’m surprised you ever do, knowing about this place,” Remus said. “Have you asked for other things?” 

”Yeah, I like exploring the different rooms. There’s this one where people hide things, it’s so fun to search through. I think that one’s my favorite. Well, besides this one if I need to just get away from everything.” 

“We have to go there next week,” he decided. 

It felt strange seeing him here. Seeing anyone here, really. This room had become her sanctuary; her private space where she could escape from everything and everyone. She hadn’t even shown Cissy or Andy in fear of them being able to find her when she simply didn’t want to be found. But something felt right about having him here. Comfortable. Bellatrix felt like if she wanted to be alone, he would respect that. Knowing he would respect if she shoved him out made her okay with letting him in. 

“Absolutely.” 

Bellatrix got out the albums and flipped through her options. “Which one do we start with?” she asked him. 

“Well, Lily said this one is country,” he pointed to one with the artist in a purple dress against a dark background, “this one is pop,” he pointed to the black and white one, with newsprint covering half the artist’s face, “this one is folk,” the one with the artist walking towards a forest, wearing a braid and plaid jacket, “and this one is a concept album,” the last one, with the artist holding a lighter and a white border with the track list on the front. 

”Hmm, I do love a concept album, let’s go with that one,” Bellatrix decided. 

“Midnights it is,” Remus said, slipping the album out of its cover. He put it on the player and started the music. 

Occasionally it crossed Bellatrix’s mind that listening to that album for the first time with Remus might have been the best night of her life. Her assumption that muggle music must be inferior was simply incorrect. She was absolutely obsessed with the lyricism. The concept of an album based on sleepless nights throughout one’s life was fantastic, and the execution was amazing. The album had ups and downs, love, loss, and revenge…it was brilliant. 

Reading over the lyric booklet as she heard it for the first time, dancing around the room to the more upbeat, repetitive tracks, seeing his reaction to everything and sharing which songs they liked and disliked as they went. Before she knew it, it was a midnight memory of their own, and they were both rushing to their respective common rooms before it became too late to pretend rounds had just taken a while. 

Before she even made it back down to the dungeons, Bellatrix was already plotting when she could next sneak off to listen to the rest of the albums.