One thing was for sure. This wasn’t going to be an easy day for Bellatrix. It was only one week since her parents had announced her she was going to get married to Rodolphus Lestrange, and Cygnus had already decided that she should meet her future husband. Bellatrix hated the idea and only of having to meet the man who would become her husband, a man she had never seen before. It made sense, she should at least know how her husband looked like, but still, she wished with all her heart that she didn’t have to go through this. She had absolutely no idea about what kind of man Rodolphus Lestrange was, and she didn’t seem willing to find out.
She jumped out of her bed early in the morning, and the first thing she saw was one dress from her wardrobe, obviously picked by her mother, lying on the comfortable armchair in the corner of her bedroom. Great, her mother had decided what she was going to wear to meet Rodolphus. That really angered her, she wasn’t a little girl, she sure knew how to dress herself! She walked to the armchair and picked the dress up. She wasn’t surprised to find out that it was one of the dresses that she hated. It was a long, dark green, velvet dress with long sleeves, high neckline and not tight at all. She looked at the dress with disgust. She was not going to wear that thing, she needed to feel pretty, independed and sexy, not like a little housewife! She threw the dress on the floor, only to find out that a pair of shoes was also lying next to the armchair. It was a pair of black, short boots with a short heel. Yeah right, like she was going to wear such thing to meet her future husband. Yes, she hated the fact that she had to meet that Lestrange, but she knew she had to look beautiful and fierce and surprise him.
She threw the dress back in her wardrobe, and started looking for a dress to wear at night, when Rodolphus would come. She came down to one of her favorite pieces, a long, black, backless dress that clinged to her curves and cleavage, and a pair of black high heels. She had decided to let her hair down, since it was not a formal meeting, and match the dress with small, diamond earrings.
Satisfied with herself, she put on her simple, cotton green dress and walked down the stairs to go for breakfast. Her parents were already in the informal dining room, taking their breakfast, when they saw her coming in.
“Bellatrix, you woke up earlier today” Druella noticed coldly.
“Well, probably she is anxious about meeting her husband” said Cygnus, a small smile on his lips.
Bellatrix tried her best not to snort, and then smiled back at her father.
“My future husband, dad” she said softly.
“Of course, of course” Cygnus smiled. “Mr. Lestrange is very anxious to meet you, Bella. He owled me early this morning. He can’t wait to see you!”
Bellatrix found herself completely untouched by this, but she smiled politely at her father and assured him that she looked forward to meeting Rodolphus too.
“Good morning, Dad, Mom” Narcissa’s soft voice sounded form behind.
“Ah, Narcissa, you woke up as well. We were talking here with Bella, about her meeting with her future husband” said Druella, emphasizing on the word future, much to Bellatrix’s annoyance. Was she trying to tell her something? Moments like this really made her feel really angry at her mother, and she constantly wished that she would never end up like her when she would reach her age.
“It will be very exciting” said Narcissa, a smile in her face. Bellatrix noticed that her smile looked real, like she truly meant it. She looked at her sister, a puzzled expression on her face, but Narcissa didn’t look back, just took her seat on the table and began to eat.
“Bella, won’t you take your breakfast?” asked her mother, with her usual, cool voice.
Bellatrix hid her annoyance and pulled a chair and sat down. She realized that she wasn’t hungry at all, and the rich breakfast served before her didn’t tempt her at all. Not wanting to displease her parents, she grabbed some cookies and began to eat.
“Where is your sister?” asked Cygnus, after a long hour of silence. Only then Bellatrix realized Andromeda hadn’t come down for breakfast yet.
“That girl is always late for everything” Druella hissed. “I really don’t know what is wrong with her lately”.
Bellatrix shook her head.
“Girls, can one of you go and tell her to come down?”
‘Why not send one house-elf?” Narcissa asked.
“Maybe it will be better if she sees you, maybe she wants some more contact with her sisters” Cygnus said back.
Once again, Bellatrix tried her hardest not to snort at her father’s words. Lately, Andromeda did her best to avoid her sisters.
“Girls, you really need to go and talk to Meda one day. She acts so strange lately, she is becoming disrespectful, she argues with us a lot, she looks like she hates our own house...” Cygnus sighed, looking concerned.
Druella shot a glare at him, before turning to Bellatrix.
“Bellatrix, go tell your sister to come down. Quickly!”
Bellatrix sighed, but she decided to follow her mother’s orders. She stood up and rushed to the stairs, and she was soon at her sister’s door.
“Meda! Meda! Open up!” she shouted, after banging the door for a while, still not getting any response. Andromeda had locked her door, and Bellatrix didn’t have her wand with her to unlock it. Even though she had turned seventeen one month ago, she didn’t use magic so often lately, mostly because she felt bored to do anything.
“Andromeda! Open the door, or I’ll break it!” She yelled.
The door opened, and a furious Andromeda was staring now at Bellatrix.
“Excuse me? How can you bang my door like that, yell and threaten me?” she snapped.
Bellatrix tried to remain calm, though it wasn’t as easy as she thought.
“Andromeda, I have been knocking on your door for quite a while now, and you weren’t opening!” she said in a loud voice.
“Well, I opened!” Andromeda yelled. “What is it?”
“Mother sent me to tell you to come down for breakfast. Do you know how late you are?”
Andromeda snorted.
“Come down. Now!” Bellatrix said and turned her back to her sister, going back to her parents and Narcissa.
Andromeda followed from behind, an angry look on her face.
“Andromeda, can you explain why are you so late? There are some rules in this house, and you owe to fol-“
“I was sleeping, okay? I woke up just now, thanks to Bellatrix’s barks!” Andromeda snapped.
Druella looked shocked at her daughter, and Cygnus glared at her. Andromeda didn’t seem to want to confront with her father as well, so she glared at the floor and took her seat at the table.
“Rodolphus Lestrange is coming tonight.” Cygnus informed Andromeda.
“Oh. That guy she will marry, without even knowing him.” Andromeda said sarcastically.
“Andromeda, watch your tone!” Cygnus said in a high voice.
“Sorry” Andromeda murmured and Bellatrix smiled, satisfied.
“Girls, you’re off now. Bella, I would advise you to start picking up your dresses, Rodolphus will be here in about six hours. You must start getting dressed after lunchtime.”
“Don’t worry, Cygnus, I have already picked up a dress for Bellatrix” Druella said coolly.
Bellatrix smiled. She decided not to say anything, and simply left the dining room and headed to her bedroom.
.XX.
Bellatrix was applying her final coat of mascara when Narcissa stormed in her room.
She looked back to face her sister, who was wearing a long, long-sleeved dress in an emerald shade. It looked very modest.
“Mother picked the dress for you?” Bella asked, smiling.
“Yeah.” She replied, and looked at Bellatrix’s backless dress, shocked. “Mother picked yours, too?”
Bellatrix laughed.
“Well, she picked one, but there is no way I will meet Lestrange looking like a boring housewife.” She said and stood up, heading t her wardrobe. She opened it and pulled out the dress Druella had picked for her to wear.
“Well…it is…so not you…”Narcissa said slowly, when she saw it.
“I know.” Bellatrix replied simply. “Can you imagine me in that?”
Narcissa shook her head.
“Will Andromeda be downstairs, too?” Bellatrix asked.
“No.” said Narcissa, a strange tone in her voice.
“Mother told her to stay in her room while Rodolphus is here. She doesn’t want a drama to occur…”she added in a sad voice.
“It’s fine” Bellatrix said, emotionlessly. “It’s much better without her.”
Narcissa dropped her gaze on the floor.
“Look, Cissy, we will talk to her. We won’t loose her, ok?”
“Yeah...”Narcissa said softly, and her face lightened up as she looked to her sister.
“Rodolphus will fall in love with your dress” She said playfully.
Bellatrix laughed.
“I think so” she said, smiling.
“Oh, come on, any man would fall for you!” Narcissa smiled back to her sister.
“Hey, shouldn’t we be downstairs now?” she added.
“No, you go. I will come a minute after he arrives” Bellatrix said.
“But, mother-“
“Hey, I am not the boring housewife, remember?” Bellatrix smiled coolly.
“Yeah…I’m going downstairs, I’ll be waiting for you. Rodolphus will be here at any minute”.
Bellatrix nodded. She didn’t fell anxious. As Narcissa left, she looked herself at the mirror. She looked fantastic, and knew it.
She was not going to wait for him like an obedient puppy, she would come down after he arrived. She wanted to amaze him, and she wanted to look independed and fierce.
“Bellatrix! Come down, he’s outside the door!” she heard her father’s voice calling her.
She sighed. She didn’t know what to expect, but she would not look weak and boring, in no way. She straightened her back, and wore a slightly arrogant look on her face. She wanted to look sexy, but not give him ideas of wanting to get her to bed early on.
She walked out of her bedroom, and reached the stairs. She could hear her father’s voice, and another voice, one she didn’t know, that definitely belonged to her future husband. It was deep and clear, though it gave away some stress. Bellatrix smiled. He was stressed, and anxious to meet her. This is going well, she thought.
She walked down the stairs, looking straight down. And she saw her father, with Rodolphus at his right. He was a tall man, with slightly messy, dark brown hair that reached a little before his eyes, and slight facial hair, that made him kinda sexy. Bellatrix never actually liked facial hair, but she had to admit it worked well on Rodolphus. He wasn’t pale, but he looked quite anxious, and it made him loose a little of his color. Bellatrix smiled at him and continued to walk down the stairs, feeling almost like a queen.
Once she finally stood before him, she smiled politely and he bowed lightly and took her hand, kissing it lightly. Cygnus seemed very pleased.
“Rodolphus, my daughter, Bellatrix.” He said, a proud tone in his voice.
Rodolphus smiled. “She is truly outstanding.” Bellatrix smiled back.
“My brother, Rabastan, speaks only the best about you, Bellatrix” he said smoothly.
“And he also speaks only the best for you, Rodolphus” Bellatrix lied. She rarely talked to Rabastan.
“Shall we go to the dining room? We have an excellent dinner” said Cygnus, more than pleased with his daughter’s reactions.
“Of course, Mr. Black” Rodolphus said, and they headed to the dining room.
Her mother and Narcissa were already at the dining room, waiting for them. When Druella saw Bellatrix’s dress, she gasped, but hid her shock quickly, as she stood up to greet Rodolphus.
“Miss Black” he said, kissing her hand, a little cooler that how he kissed Bellatrix’s.
“And is that your beautiful sister, Bellatrix?” he asked, smiling warmly at Bellatrix.
Bellatrix felt a little annoyed by his warmness towards her. He had just met her!
“My sister, Narcissa” Bellatrix replied back, a little coolly.
Narcissa smiled at Rodolphus, who kissed her hand too, a little coolly.
“Shall we begin?” Cygnus smiled.
Rodolphus smiled, and glanced at Bellatrix.
She felt a little more annoyed this time, and didn’t smile.
They sat down, and began eating the well-prepared meal, talking mostly about Bellatrix and Rodolphus. Rodolphus wanted to know more about Bellatrix’s life, how she was doing at Hogwarts and everything.
Bellatrix was being polite, answering him, and asking him questions, too. When she asked him about his profession, he avoided to answer, and took a ship from his whine, and changed the subject quickly. It was like a slap in the face for Bellatrix. How could he ignore her? She glared at him, but then her eye caught her father nodding to Rodolphus.
She decided not to stay on that, so she tried to smile and asked Rodolphus about his home.
“Oh, it’s beautiful” he said, smiling.
“Quite similar to yours, quite fancy, rich.” He added. “And soon to be our house.” he smiled.
“Yes” Bellatrix replied, a slightly cold smile on her face. She had almost forgot that she would move to his house.
Cygnus seemed to be very pleased, Druella was constantly glaring at Bellatrix’s dress, and every time she did so, Narcissa tried to suppress her smile.
Bellatrix caught Rodolphus’s gaze dropping to her cleavage, and she knew when she was receiving an appreciative look. She smiled.
“So, the marriage will take place after Bellatrix graduates from Hogwarts…She has another year” Druella said aggressively, when she noticed where Rodolphus was looking.
Bellatrix tried to suppress a laugh, so did Narcissa.
“Yes, of course.” Rodolphus said. “You will be going back to Hogwarts in a week, right, Bella?”
“Yes” Bellatrix replied coldly. It was the first time he called her by her pet name.
Cygnus had noticed too, and he seemed pleased. Bellatrix didn’t want to look at her mother.
She glanced at Narcissa, who was still smiling.
After a few hours and a few drinks, Rodolphus left, kissing Bellatrix on the cheek, and leaving her slightly shocked.
She went to her bedroom after everything was sorted with her parents, and took her dress and make up off. Once she was in her nightgown, Narcissa stormed in.
“Wow, that went really well!” she said smiling.
“Yeah, I know…”Bellatrix had kinda liked that man, but still felt nothing more.
“And he kissed you on the cheek!”
”Yeah…”
“You don’t care?”
“Look, Cissy, we have had this conversation before.” Bellatrix said coldly.” You know what I think of this marriage. When you get married like that, you’ll understand.”
And with that, Narcissa simply left the room, and Bellatrix collapsed on her bed.
A.N./Yay, finished second chapter!! Well, the action hadn’t started yet, but still…Anyway, I was concerned about making Rodolphus a little too smiley and happy…but this fanfiction, anyway…! So, Rodolphus is hiding something about his profession, isn’t he? And Bellatrix still doesn’t feel a thing about him…Or does she? Well, I proclaim that, this won’t be a main Belladolphus, I am not a big shipper of theese two. They get married, share their lives, that’s it. I don’t think I’ll make Bella fall for him…but still, I have some great things planned for later chapters…hope you enjoyed it!!! Review!!!:)
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