Subverted Expectations

After she kissed her, Emma Green appeared to believe that they were dating.

Bellatrix, first and foremost, did not do dating. She had a few girls she preferred hooking up with (which honestly did constitute most of the girls in her year or the one below who were willing to hook with a girl, because there weren’t that many of them at the end of the day), but there was always the understanding that there were no emotions attached. It wasn’t personal. Emma Green didn’t seem to have gotten that memo.

Although, in her defense, even Bellatrix had to admit at this point that there was something different about Emma Green. She had never pursued anybody like this before- not to this extent, and certainly not in the same way. By all respects, Green had every reason to believe that they were dating.

Still, Bellatrix had not thought of this when they’d walked back up to the castle together two nights ago, or any time after, so the next time they saw each other, she was quite surprised when Green reached out to grab her hand.

“What are you doing?” she snapped on instinct. Green withdrew her hand as if burned.

“I- I’m sorry. I thought that after-”

“Not here,” she hissed, glancing around to ensure that none of their classmates were listening in. Thankfully, they were standing in a crowded hallway as everyone hurried to class, so no one was paying them any mind except to send her the occasional wary glance. They probably thought she was going to hex Green right there, which would explain why everyone seemed insistent on skirting around both of them instead of just her.

Unfortunately for her reputation, she couldn’t exactly hex Green, because that would screw up whatever it was that they were doing. But she also wasn’t about to start holding hands with her in public.

She nearly walked away right then and there, assuming the interaction done- Green had approached her, and she had rebuffed her and let her know that she wasn’t discussing this in the middle of a crowded corridor. But Green looked all upset, and if she remained upset with her for the rest of the day, if that was left to stir in her thoughts, that could mess up all of the progress she’d made recently.

So she softened her features, just a fraction of a bit. “Can we talk later? Our usual spot?” she muttered, trying to keep any possible annoyance out of her voice.

Thankfully, this seemed to calm Green down a bit, because she was no longer looking at her like she’d murdered her parents. “Alright. We should definitely talk anyway,” she nodded. Bellatrix thought that was making things far more complicated than they really needed to be- why would they need to talk about them kissing? It had happened, and would presumably happen again in the future, so there was simply nothing else to discuss.

But Green had some weird views on- relationships (including that what they had was even necessarily a relationship) in general, which she suspected was a Muggle thing. It would explain why she was so weird about all this stuff.

So they would talk it out, and be mature about it, or whatever. She supposed that, if she was going to keep this going, she would have to make a few concessions.

—---------------------------------------------

“Bella, why were you talking to Emma Green earlier?” 

Bellatrix’s heart leapt up into her throat- partly because Andy had snuck up on her (she was one of the few people who could- despite their current animosity, she still let her guard down around her sister), and partly because of what she had said. “Who?”

“Don’t play dumb, it doesn't suit you,” Andy snapped. “What did you do to her?”

Oh. This wasn’t an interrogation about her love life- of course, Andy had zero right to interfere if she was so insistent that Bellatrix stay out of hers. Andy just thought she had cursed Green or something inane like that.

She could deal with that.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” she said airily. “Perhaps you mistook me for someone else.” This was, of course, quite impossible- if it were anyone else (except for Cissy), she might have been able to convince them that they had actually seen Andy instead, but as she was speaking to Andy now, that wasn’t exactly an option. And there was no one else that looked like her in the school.

“Right. There are a few third years around your height…,” Andy smirked, which she thought was entirely unfair. It was true, yes, but whenever she left her room (or her bed, honestly), she was wearing her heeled boots, which did put her above the majority of the third years at this school (there were a few taller ones, but that didn’t count, they were just freakishly, abnormally large). 

“Oh, shove off,” she huffed instead of saying any of that, because Andy definitely would’ve just started making fun of her insistence on wearing heels everywhere (if she wore them all the time, then people would just assume she was actually that tall, saving her the indignity of being the shortest person in her year). “Anyway, if I was speaking to Green, I don’t even remember. I talk to plenty of people.”

“Usually to mess with them,” Andy pointed out, which, yes? Of course. There wasn’t anything wrong with that.

“Why do you care, then, Andy? It’s not like Emma Green’s all that special, and you don’t know her. She isn’t even in your year.” Andy didn’t even have a great, bleeding heart like she liked to pretend for her Hufflepuff friends- she had been sorted into Slytherin for a reason. If she couldn’t handle some light bullying, she never would’ve made it five years in this house, nevermind fifteen years being her sister.

“No, I don’t know her, but she just looked upset. Lay off her, won’t you? You could also just, you know, not be a bitch for the last- what, four and a half months left of Hogwarts?”

“But what would the fun in that be?” she pouted. Andy looked entirely unamused- last year, she might have cracked a smile, even if she didn’t think it was funny, just because they were sisters. So much for bonded for life. “Alright, fine. I’ll lay off Emma Green. If it’ll make you happy.”

This was actually perfect, now that she thought about it- it gave her an excuse for no longer messing around with Green, because she couldn’t do that anymore, and it threw her sister entirely off guard.

Besides, maybe if she presented herself as a nice person or whatever, Andy would have an easier time when she finally gave up on her stupid mudblood and came back to them, like Bellatrix planned on doing herself when she graduated Hogwarts and no longer had a need for Emma Green. 

So she left her sister looking vaguely baffled, walking slightly faster than normal- she was going to be late to meet with Green in the library if she didn’t pick up the pace.

Despite her holdup with Andy, she still got there before Green, so she pulled out a book at random just to entertain herself. It was very poorly written, but that was engaging in and of itself- criticism could be so fun, after all.

“What are you reading?” Green asked cautiously when she approached her. She looked wary- was she still on about her slight lash-out earlier? Honestly.

“No idea,” she shrugged, not even bothering to look at the title. “It’s horrible, though. Definitely wouldn’t recommend.”

“Why would you read it, then? Wouldn’t you rather read something intellectually engaging, and that you actually enjoy?” Green protested. 

“Not while I’m just sitting around waiting for you. It’s not like I’m going to finish it- it’s just fun making fun of this stupid Muggle-loving sap,” she explained. Green froze in place just as she was about to sit down, looking taken aback for some reason. “What?”

Green really looked like she wanted to say something, but whatever it was, Bellatrix would evidently never find out, because she swallowed it down and settled into her chair. “Nothing. But can we talk? What was that about earlier?”

Right. Yes.

“We can’t act like we know each other in public,” she told her. “If my father found out I was friends with a mudblood, he would literally murder me. And probably you.”

“Really?” Green asked, once again reacting in a strange way to something completely normal.

“Of course he would. It would be disgraceful,” she huffed.

“Well, people don’t know I’m muggleborn, do they?” she reminded her. “Besides, we’re hanging out now.”

“Yes, which is another thing I wanted to talk to you about,” she declared. Honestly, that hadn’t even occurred to her- they’d been hanging out in the library, in public, for a while. Long before they’d been doing- whatever it is they were doing. “We should find an abandoned classroom instead, especially if we want to continue being intimate.”

Green flushed. “Do we?”

“Well, yes, I would assume so. I would like to.” Hey, Green wanted her to be straightforward, didn’t she? This was her being straightforward. 

“I- but what does that mean to you, Bellatrix? I don’t want to be the girl you’re- snogging on and off,” Green protested, which was really the root of the whole problem, wasn’t it?

“Then be my girlfriend,” she shrugged. 

She didn’t mind the title- it honestly wouldn’t be terrible to try her hand at dating before she graduated and had to marry Rodolphus pretty much immediately. Who knew? It could even be fun. Especially as it was Green, and she wouldn’t kiss her unless they were official.

“Okay,” Green said, almost cautiously, but Bellatrix didn’t read very much into it.

She counted that as a success.