Bellatrix

Chapter 13

The day was dark and cloudy. I stared out of the tower window- my new favorite place to be. Odds were, no one would find me.

Of course, the odds had not been very dependable of late.

Remus touched my shoulder.

"Bella." He said. Not a question.

"Yes." I replied anyway.

"Bella, ever since you came back to Hogwarts, you've been acting... strange." he looked at me searchingly.

"Moony, I told you, I was wrong, I didn't become a Death Eater." I faked a smile.

Suddenly, Moony pulled out his wand. Before I had time to grab mine, he yelled, "Petrificus Totalus!"

I couldn't move. My arms were locked by my sides, my legs together. The only thing I could move were my eyes- which found Moony's hand pulling up my left sleeve.

As he did, he looked at me apologetically. "Sorry. I just don't believe you."

When he saw the dark mark, he flinched, took a deep breath, and muttered a counter curse. "Bonewing..." He said.

"Enough, Moony." I clenched my teeth and pointed out the door. "Your common room is that way."

He nodded, not looking me in the eyes. "Bonewing-"

"No." I shook my head. "Just, no."

###################

We sat in the common room- Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, Prongs, and I- whispering. Moony and I still did not speak directly to each other, but the others had not noticed yet.

"Okay, so I was thinking. You know how we're always having to keep a look out for Filch while we're pranking?" Padfoot asked.

"Yeah..." we replied, not sure where he was going with this.

"Well, I came up with a plan. A map!" He said excitedly. "This map will have every room in Hogwarts, but not only that- it'll have every person in Hogwarts, and it will show exactly where they are, at all times." he grinned. "I know. I'm brilliant."

"Actually, Padfoot," Moony said, "That's not a bad idea. What do you think, Bonewing?" he was trying to trick me into speaking to him.

"Oh, it's a great idea, Padfoot." I said, speaking directly to Sirius. "But do you have any idea how we do it?"

"Well, first we have to draw up the actual map of Hogwarts. You have the best handwriting, so you should probably do it."

"Okay. What next?" I replied.

"Well, we'll need a spell to get all the people on there."

"I have an idea. What if we... make one up?" Prongs grinned.

"Have you ever made up a spell before? They're even more temperamental than potions!" I glared at him.

"So? We should do this map thing. I volunteer Moony to make up the spell. He's, like, smart and stuff." Wormtail piped up.

I stayed up late that night, drawing a map. When I finally had it perfect- except for the Room of Requirement, which for some reason I couldn't draw, (probably unplotable) I went back to the Slytherin Common Room. Unfortunately, there was someone standing in it. Well, pacing.

I tried to sneak around, but he whirled around and caught me. "Bella!" he said in surprise. "Hi!"

"Hello?" I said questioningly. "You okay?"

He avoided my gaze. "Yeah, it's just... my mark hurts."

"You know it only hurts if you don't want it there."

His eyes widened. "You won't tell anyone." He whispered.

"Mine hurts like hell, Marvel." I reply, raising an eyebrow. .

"Oh.. Sorry." He said, embarrassed. He scratched the back of his head and avoided eye contact.

"Oh, by the way, see you at hogsmeade this weekend," I grinned.

"Wait, what?" He asked, confused.

"Well, you're taking me, right?" I winked.

"Uh, yeah, sure." He stared, and I suppressed a laugh as I left him, confused and a little happy, in the common room.