The Untold Story of: Bellatrix Lestrange (Untold Stories Book One)

Chapter Eight

The next day, in the Great Hall, Bellatrix was greeted with the sight of her owl, Crissy, returning with a letter from her sisters.

Dear Belly,

I'm sorry to hear that you're uncomfortable with your choice of 'protector', so to speak. I don't particularly like him either (don't tell your father that), but he's the only choice we had. I'm sorry, Belly, but it's better to be safe than sorry, and there are a lot of people that dislike the Black family. I can't explain it all now, and certainly not in a letter. Perhaps when you come home for Christmas I can explain.

I'm sorry you aren't having a good time yet. I felt that my first day at Hogwarts was the best day of my life, but  I suppose it depends on the company you keep. Try and make friends with a couple of girls. They may not seem too nice on the outside, but, once you get to know them, they can be great! Please don't feel too bad. Try to distance yourself from Greyback. Act above him, as I do with most people in Diagon Alley, ignore him, and tell him not to talk to you. He will probably obey your wishes. If not, owl me and he will get a stern owl back.

Cissy and Andy do nothing all day but mope about your absence and you've only been gone a day! We're really missing you, darling, and I can't wait for you to come home for the holidays! 

Love you, missing you, and wishing to see you soon,

Druella (your mother), Narcissa and Andy (your beloved sisters).

The letter made Bellatrix feel slightly better. She really loved her mother and sisters, and hearing from them in a strange environment made her feel a lot better. She wasn't sure about making new friends- surely she could get by on her own?- but it put a skip in her step for the rest of the day.

And that was what got her through the day, really.

She had Transfiguration first, and Professor McGonagall, as the Head of Gryffindor, had a grudge against all Sytherins. She was very abrupt in her teaching, and cold towards members of the class if they didn't listen, or got something wrong. The next lesson she had was two hours of Charms. The little teacher, Professor Flitwick, was obviously intimidated by them all, despite the fact they were only eleven, and kept squeaking a falling off the stack of books he had to stand on. Then they had History of Magic with Professor Binns, who was an old ghost that had been sat in the staffroom and died- of boredom from his own voice, Fenrir tried to joke, but nobody laughed- but got back up again as a ghost and continued to teach. He was very boring and almost everyone in the room fell asleep during the lesson, except Bellatrix, who remained sat straight in her chair so as to appear 'above' everyone, as she had been told.

Throughout the day, Fenrir had done nothing but complain and try to act cool. Sometimes, Bellatrix would crack a smile, but then she'd remember his long nails, yellow teeth and greasy hair and the smile would disappear. He wasn't very funny though, and was quite obviously desperate for attention, which annoyed Bellatrix to no end. Eventually, she told him to stop talking to her unless absolutely necessary, due to a 'headache' she had. That shut him up for a while, until dinner, when he continued to rant to Megan Kettleburn, who agreed whole-heartedly. A bit put off, she'd left the Hall early without eating much food, and gone to the Common Room, where she'd finished all the homework she had- she was very bored and had nothing else to do- then retired to bed early, writing a long reply to her mother about her day and how she was finding it.

For the rest of the term, her days were pretty much the same. She talked to no one (except when telling Fenrir to shut up) and listened attentively in lessons. She ignored everybody (except, again, when telling Fenrir to shut up) and managed to get through the days, albeit a little bored. The magic was wearing off. Now she knew the basics, she wasn't too enthralled or happy. It was more hard work than it looked, and she had no one to talk to who she could share experiences with.

Then it was Christmas and everything changed.