Back to Black

King’s Cross, 1st of September, 1962

“Chin up, Bellatrix. Let them see you,” Druella ordered the young girl. She listened, almost immediately, raising her chin up high and doing her best to hide her nerves by plastering a small smile onto her face. People were, in fact, looking. She didn’t know how much any of these people actually knew about her and her family—Cygnus and Druella always preached about upholding their family name, so she knew their family was sort of a big deal—but they seemed to part the way as they walked, as if getting in their way was against some sort of secret rule. It made Bella’s smile become more genuine, rather than the fake one she had almost moments ago. She liked that people were staring, whether they were looking in awe or in fear. It made her feel special. Important.

Both of her parents agreed that it would be best to bring the whole family along, since Bellatrix was the first in her generation to be going to Hogwarts — an idea that terrified her, even if she couldn’t admit it. Not including her extended family, of course. Her aunt and uncle were busy with two children, now. Sirius: who was apparently becoming quite the rowdy child, and Regulus: who was only two, but Bellatrix already liked him better than her other cousin. He, for one, had yet to fling any baby food at her, unlike Sirius when he was younger. Her other uncle, Alphard, likely wouldn’t have come even if he was invited. She had suspected for a long time that he didn’t like her, based on the distasteful looks he always shot her. But still, Bella was extremely grateful that her parents allowed her sisters to come along. It was hard to imagine the next nine or so months of her life without them, and she knew without a doubt that she was going to miss them terribly.

Their goodbyes were short and sweet, as neither of their parents were fond of letting them brace one another for too long. It was better this way. Bellatrix didn’t want Narcissa to start crying, which would surely get her in trouble for making a fool of the family out in public. Her mother gave her a swift kiss on the cheek, which came as a bit of a surprise, before Bella turned to board the train.

“Remember that you have an image to uphold. Toujours pur!” her father called to her before she could get out of earshot, though she didn’t make any acknowledgement of hearing the instruction. How could she forget when it felt as though she was reminded every time she took a breath? She didn’t turn around to see her parents’ expression or to get one last look at her sisters before she had to leave. Instead, Bella simply stepped onto the train as if she’d done this a thousand times before.

Bellatrix didn’t particularly have many… friends. Friends that weren’t her sisters, at least. She only got to interact with children of other respected pure-blood families on occasion, but she’d never been in a place with this many children at once, and she couldn’t say she knew any of the other pure-blood children extremely well. Fortunately, it didn’t seem to matter, as she was being beckoned over by a boy she recognized: Amycus Carrow. He was a first year student as well.

Upon entering the carriage, Bellatrix laid eyes on two more students already seated inside. One she knew by the name of Rodolphus Lestrange; she had met him before as well, but only spoke with him once if she remembered correctly. The other was a girl that looked about her age, though she couldn’t place a name. Amycus followed Bellatrix in, sliding the door shut behind them. She sat down next to Rodolphus, opposite the girl she didn’t know, leaving Amycus with her.

“Merlin, it’s noisy out there,” Amycus started the conversation up quickly, a dreadful hint to his voice that suggested he was sick of the abundance of students already. “I’m glad I spotted you, Bellatrix. I doubt you wanted to end up stuck in some carriage with half-bloods and muggle borns.” She grimaced at the thought.

“I think I’d rather jump off of the train,” Rodolphus cut in before Bella had even had a chance to answer, which irritated her. Clearly Amycus was talking to her, not him. “I’m Rodolphus,” he added at the end, seeming to catch her eyes flicking over to him.

“I know,” Bellatrix snapped, “we’ve met before.” Her gaze shifted over to the girl across from her, narrowing her eyes for a moment as she looked her over, and then raising an eyebrow as if daring her to speak. She didn’t. “And you are?”

The girl shifted in her seat before replying, “Evadne Bulstrode.” Her voice was meek, clearly lacking the confidence the other three had. That irritated Bellatrix, too. Didn’t she care at all about representing her family? Acting like a scared kitten certainly wasn’t the way to do it. Yet, she reminded Bella ever so slightly of Narcissa, with her blonde hair and shy eyes. The difference was that Narcissa was just a child, so her timidness was expected. She would grow into her skin just like Bella had.

The four of them proceeded to chat as the train began its journey to Hogwarts, breezing over topics each as what they thought the school would be like (they discovered that Bella, Rodolphus, and Amycus were all the oldest children, and Evadne was an only child, so none of them had older siblings to share their experience), what house they wanted to be sorted into (all of them said Slytherin, of course), what type of magic they were most excited to learn, and on and on until they eventually reached the school.

The first year students got to ride the boats across the lake, but Bellatrix spent half of the trip over to the castle rolling her eyes at how many students stared up at the structure with their mouths wide open. She wanted to tell each and every one of them to have some dignity. The castle was impressive—larger than any building she’d ever seen, and especially beautiful with the moon behind it. But for Merlin’s sake, it didn’t mean she was going to spend the entire boat ride trying to catch flies in her mouth. It was like some of these people had never seen magnificence before! Then, she quickly realized that some of them likely haven’t, growing up with muggles. What a dreadful thought that was.

First was the sorting ceremony. Bellatrix knew exactly what house she wanted to end up in. Matter of fact, she was completely sure that she would go outside and bury herself alive if the sorting hat placed her anywhere but Slytherin. From what her parents had told her, it was the only respectable house, containing more pure-bloods than any other house. Ravenclaw was for wizards and witches that couldn’t get their heads out of the clouds. Gryffindor was for hot-headed idiots. And Hufflepuff was the worst of them all, containing more mudbloods than any other house. Every single person in her family had been sorted into Slytherin for years and years. It was where she belonged—she simply knew it.

The first boy to be called was sorted into Gryffindor, which resulted in applause from their table. The students dressed with red detailing in their robes welcomed him in, and Bella silently wondered how anyone could be so proud to be part of a house like that. Or, honestly, to be part of any house that wasn’t Slytherin. As the sorting continued, she decided that they were simply ignorant fools. Thankfully her name was high in the alphabet, so she didn’t have to wait too long for her turn.

“Bellatrix Black!” Her name was soon called by the frail lady that had introduced herself as professor McGonagall, meaning it was her turn to step up to the stool. A hushed silence fell over the room, which was quite impressive, actually, given just how many people were in the Great Hall. It was another reminder of what her name meant, and she wore it proudly, walking forward with a smirk on her lips. One glance over at the Slytherin table showed her that many of them were already grinning, as if to say, “she belongs with us.” Bella even thought about snakes as she sat down on the stool, wanting to do absolutely anything she could to ensure her fate. The professor began to lower the hat towards her head and…

“SLYTHERIN!” The hat bellowed to the crowd before it had even touched her head, still a good centimeter or two away. The Slytherin table erupted into cheers, and Bellatrix felt quite delighted with herself as she made her way over. Her smirk spread into a wide grin, and many of the older Slytherin students congratulated her before making room for her to sit. McGonagall had to order the students to calm down so that they could get on with the process. The sorting continued, and Amycus, Rodolphus, and the Bulstrode girl were all sorted into Slytherin as well, along with a few other pure-blood children that Bellatrix recognized. Many were sorted into the other houses too, of course, but she frankly didn’t care to pay attention to any of the students that weren’t part of the house she could now call home. Once there were no remaining students to be sorted, Dumbledore, the headmaster, gave a short welcoming speech, and then all of the plates were filled and everyone dug into the feast.

*   *   *

When the Slytherin prefect had shown the first year students where their common room was, Bellatrix first thought that he was mad. It was simply a…wall. Until he spoke the password, and the wall changed to form a doorway. She thought it was quite brilliant, actually. With their common room disguised behind a wall, no students from other houses should be attempting to sneak their way in.

The common room was fantastic: decorated with green accents and serpents to represent the house, a huge fireplace that would do well to keep the place warm, considering they were in the dungeons, a large window that allowed them to look directly into the lake, and more. The sophisticated, dark style of the room reminded her of her own home, which was a good thing. It made it feel familiar and comfortable. She tried not to think of her sisters.

“Come on,” The Bulstrode girl was saying to her, suddenly, “let’s go see our room!”

Bellatrix was slightly surprised by the newfound confidence she suddenly seemed to have. Perhaps she was just nervous in front of boys, which was incredibly stupid, in her not-so-humble opinion. She nodded anyway and proceeded to lead the both of them up the stairs to the dormitory for the first year girls.

The room was decorated with green tapestries and curtains, along with green bedspreads. Once again, there were some snake designs around the room, and Bella noticed that there were four beds with four trunks each assigned to a bed. There was one for her, of course, one for Bulstrode, one for a Yaxley girl, and some other girl named Maude Hopkins. It wasn’t a pure-blood name, which Bellatrix knew because her father had made her memorize all of the pure-blood houses from a young age. She frowned at the thought, not quite fancying the idea of sharing a room with someone “impure,” as her parents would say.

Just then, another girl entered through the door that the other two had left open. She had mousy brown hair and sandy brown eyes, and she was wearing what seemed to be a mischievous grin on her face. It was the Yaxley girl. Bellatrix had seen the Yaxley family before, but it had been some time ago, and she hadn’t realized who she was until the sorting. Before she had a chance to say anything, the girl quickly turned around and slammed the door shut, then proceeded to hold the door handle as if she was keeping someone from turning it.

“Quick, help me!” she ordered, stealing a glance at the other two. Neither of them moved.

“What are you doing?” Bellatrix asked with an arched brow. She looked a bit ridiculous, if she was being honest.

“I’m trying to keep the other girl out,” she responded back as if it was obvious. “She sat next to me during dinner. Found out that she’s half-blood—dad’s a muggle. I ditched her while she was exploring the common room and thought it’d be funny if we locked her out. I was hoping the door would have a lock on it, but…guess we’ll just have to hold it. Unless either of you know how to spell it shut?”

Now Bellatrix was the one grinning. “What a brilliant idea,” she replied, her voice coming out in the same malicious tone that it did whenever she wanted to pick on someone, and someone lower than her in status would be the perfect victim. Of course, it’d be much worse if the girl was a muggle born, but her parents had warned her off of half-bloods too, not wanting her to socialise with anyone that would stain her mind with their filth. She moved to join Yaxley at the door, leaning her weight against it, ready to push if anyone attempted to open it.

The mousy brown haired girl shot her a smirk. “I’m Yaxley, obviously. Cerise Yaxley. Bellatrix Black, I presume?”

“In the flesh.”

“And that makes you Evadne Bulstrode,” Cerise said as she turned back to look at Evadne, who still hadn’t moved from her original spot. Or said much of a word since Cerise had entered. What was her problem?

“Are you going to help us or just stand there?” Bellatrix snapped at her, narrowing her eyes slightly.

“I’m going to unpack,” she said, giving them one final judgmental look before turning to her trunk and starting to sort through whatever she had inside. What a priss, Bellatrix thought.

Suddenly, the door handle wiggled, but the Yaxley girl’s grip on it kept it from being turned. There was a pause, and then another failed attempt to turn the handle, and then the muffled sound of a girl’s voice saying, “Hello?” through the door. Both Bella and the other girl began to giggle, and in response the door handle began to wiggle more aggressively, until eventually the girl on the other side managed to successfully turn it and began to push on the door. The two of them used all of their might to push against it.

“For Merlin’s sake, let me in!” the half-blood called out, clearly getting frustrated with them. “Seriously, it’s not funny.” Bellatrix thought it was very funny, considering her giggles turned more into what sounded like manic laughter when the girl began to repeatedly shove herself against the door.

“All right, I’m getting tired of holding it,” Yaxley complained.

Bellatrix locked eyes with her, delivering a smirk that she hoped the girl would understand once she started to count. “One.”

She seemed to understand quite well, as she was now smirking too.

“Two.”

Bellatrix angled her body to the right, and Yaxley did the same to the left.

“Three!”

Both girls let go of the door at once, jumping to each side of it in perfect timing for their fourth roommate to give another shove against the door with all her weight. But with no one holding it, she came flying in, almost falling straight on her face. Bellatrix was laughing again.

“You’re lucky I don’t know any hexes yet, otherwise I’d hex both of you!” The half-blood girl whipped around to face them, clearly not nearly as amused as they were. She was flattening out her robes with an angry scowl as if she’d just gotten into an actual fight. She was blonde, too, though a shade lighter than Evadne’s. Her eyes were a deep blue, and comparing them now to the other light headed girl made it obvious that Evadne’s were more green-ish. Bellatrix was clearly the tallest of the four of them, which she enjoyed.

“Oh, don’t be upset,” Bellatrix teased, using the condescending voice she usually reserved for when her younger sisters were mad at her for picking on them. “It’s all just fun and games.”

“You’d think you would be a little more welcoming to someone you’re going to be sleeping next to the entire term. Especially you,” she shot daggers at Yaxley with her eyes, “since we’ve already met.”

“Like Bellatrix said, we were just having fun. Anyway, I best start unpacking before Bulstrode over here is all done and ready for bed before I’ve even started.” With that, she turned towards her own bed and began doing so.

Evadne glanced back at the mention of her name, and then continued on unpacking her things. Bellatrix and the other girl started doing the same as well. By the time they were all finished and were ready to call it a night, their room had become decently quiet. It had been a long day for each of them, after all. Druella had made sure Kreacher, the Black family house elf, had woken Bellatrix up nice and early so she would be absolutely ready when it was time to leave for the train station. And all of the new experiences since then had taken a toll out of her, so she was actually quite tired.

Bulstrode and Hopkins had climbed into bed first, both of their curtains shut. Bellatrix and Yaxley followed shortly after, drawing each of their curtains around their own beds as well. Bella made a mental note to write home first thing tomorrow to share the news of her sorting—not that it was a surprise. She also wanted to tell Andromeda and Narcissa all about her first day, so she began to make a list in her head of all the things she would share. Her list didn’t get very far, though, as she was pulled into the darkness of sleep.