Bejeweled

Remus wasn’t there on Thursday. Bellatrix wasn’t surprised, he’d looked rough at the meeting, his condition clearly acting up. But it still disappointed her. 

Which…wasn’t something she expected. She liked doing rounds alone. That was the whole point in choosing him as her partner. So why was she disappointed he wasn’t there? 

Several images flashed through her mind when she asked herself that question. Him laughing at something she’d said; him looking thoughtfully out a window, considering something in a conversation; listening to music with him in the Room of Requirement; him shoving her against the wall… 

Bellatrix shook her head to clear it. It didn’t mean anything. She simply enjoyed his company, enjoyed talking about music and school and all the gossip with him. It was simply disappointment at not getting to share her thoughts about the other records. That had to be it. 

She’d brought them with her in case he was down to skip rounds and listen to one of them in the Room of Requirement again. Actually, listening to them alone sounded like a great idea. Yeah, that’s what she would do.

As soon as it was a semi-reasonable time to be done with rounds, she headed back to the common room. If anyone asked, she’d just say it didn’t take long without him slowing her down. 

Since it wasn’t too late yet, Cissy was still awake, working on a paper in the common room, quiet from so many students already calling it a night. 

“Hey,” Bella said as she plopped down in a chair next to her sister. 

“You’re back early,” Cissy noted, looking up from her work and seeming happy to have an excuse to stop for a moment. 

“Lupin was sick,” she shrugged. “I may have skipped a few halls, it sucks being so tired every Friday.” 

“I don’t blame you. You’ve been getting back awfully late, he must be unbearably slow.” 

Or maybe they just took their time. Dragging their feet near the end to keep their conversations going just a little longer. “He is,” she rolled her eyes. “I think it’s because he’s so sick or whatever.” 

“Are you sure?” Cissy asked neutrally. 

Bellatrix raised an eyebrow at her sister. “What’s there to be unsure about?” 

“I don’t know, I’m just asking.” 

“What are you insinuating?” Her eyes narrowed at her sister skeptically. 

“It’s just, well,” Cissy let out a breath, “you’ve been acting sorta different lately. Not a lot, no one else has noticed, but I know my sister.” 

“Different how?” Bella challenged. 

Narcissa bit her lip, glancing down at her homework and back up again before answering. “Well, you haven’t used the word ‘mudblood’ in weeks.” 

“I was sick of losing house points over it,” Bellatrix brushed it off. 

Cissy continued. “And sometimes at dinner I’ll see you looking over at the Gryffindor table and you’ll have this look on your face…” 

“Disgust?” Bella guessed. 

“No. The same look Andy used to give the Hufflepuff table.” 

A heavy silence passed between them. They both knew exactly where those looks had led. 

Bellatrix burst out laughing. “Cissy, you can’t really think that I would end up like Andy, do you? A blood traitor?” she scoffed. “Over what, some sickly little Gryffindor?” 

Narcissa bit her lip, her fears apparently not put to rest. “I didn’t think Andy would over a pathetic little Hufflepuff.” 

“You know I’m already very much taken. Besides, I’m not Andy, I’d never let a boy get between us,” Bella said as she reached out and took her sister’s hand. She could never lose another sister, never. It had almost ripped her in two the first time. Whatever happened, it was her and Cissy ‘til the end. 

“Have you talked to him recently?” Cissy asked, a bit of an excited smile creeping onto her face. 

“Of course, we send owls regularly.” 

It wasn’t a lie exactly, just a little stretch of the truth. Her and the Dark Lord had sent a couple owls since the school year started, which was their usual amount. It didn’t matter that she wasn’t pining for them the way she had been the year before, searching the flock that came into the Great Hall every morning for one she didn’t recognize that would fly over to her and drop a neatly folded piece of parchment. Hadn’t really thought about how long it had been since he’d sent one. Hadn’t analyzed the one she’d last sent for days on end, making sure every single word was absolutely perfect before owling it his way. It was 7th year, she’d been busy with studying and Prefect duties, completely normal reasons that had nothing to do with the Gryffindor in ratty clothes whose smile sometimes made her stomach flip. She was loyal to her Dark Lord, that hadn’t changed. 

”What about you?” Bella changed the subject. “Has Lucius written recently?” 

Cissy’s cheeks turned pink. “Yes, he wrote me about his recent travels to Italy, but he’ll be back by Christmas break. He’s hoping to see me over the holiday.” 

“Well I don’t like that, he’s too old for you,” Bellatrix chided her playfully for the millionth time. 

“Oh please,” Cissy rolled her eyes. “Only by two years! I’m barely a 5th year, just a few more days and I’d have been in 6th with Andy.” 

“And he graduated last year!” Bellatrix reminded her, the practiced conversation seeming to ease her sister’s nerves. 

“Which means he’ll be established and ready to marry me as soon as I graduate!” Cissy insisted. 

“He better be, or I’ll Avada Kadavra him myself,” Bella promised.