Who is she to me?

She is...

James had never understood his friendship with the Malfoys. Well, actually that wasn't true, Orion was his best friend for a reason. The pair got along well and were like brothers. His relationship with Scorpius was something of an acquaintanceship, but James rather liked his little brother's best friend. And Cetus, well, everybody liked Cetus and he was no exception to that.

Hell, he was even on good terms with Mr and Mrs Malfoy, who happened to be his Godparents.

The only Malfoy he didn't understand was the eldest of the siblings. Bellatrix Malfoy was and still is a complete mystery to him.

Despite having known each other for years, through the girl's twin Orion, he was still unable to get a proper read on her. He had thought he had her figured out when she was sorted into Slytherin. The girl was smart, reclusive, strong-willed and extremely cunning to the point where she had tricked her way into Ravenclaw Tower and had bypassed Hogwarts School Rules multiple times.

He thought that was enough to understand her. Apparently, he was wrong.

Their friendship James had always considered as an alliance of sorts. They were too close to be called acquaintances, but they were not to the point of being best friends. He would stick up for her to his classmates, even if she sometimes resented him for it. And in return she would help him with whatever he needed. No matter what it was, if it was in her power she would do it and if it wasn't she would still do it. It was an alliance formed between two opposing parties who were unaware they needed each other.

James didn't understand how people thought her to be cruel. Or hateful. She was aloof. A mystery. The Ice Queen of Slytherin House had been a title she had earned. And that people found her to be unrelatable? Hah! That was stupid. You can't expect to get to know someone if you don't actually try. If you want to relate to someone you shouldn't label them as a 'Diamond Goddess' just to spite them.

But maybe it was because a lot of people found her icy demeanor and blunt personality to be intolerable?

James did not find her to be intolerable like the rest of his house, or, as he had long suspected, as the rest of the school. He actually appreciated her cold presence at times. It was a reminder that reality was not always nice. It could be rough and hard and it could hurt you in the worst possible ways imaginable, just ask his father. Because Harry had lost many of his loved ones in the Second Wizarding War, and even the First Wizarding War had taken his parents. Bellatrix liked to remind him that there were more problems in the world to be aware of.

She had said so when he and Orion were studying with her for an Ancient Runes assignment and Orion had declared it was too hard.

He remembered that day with ease.

He and Orion sat in the opposite side of the Slytherin. Their heads bent over rolls of parchment and books scattered across the tabletop in an un-orderly fashion. They had been sitting there for less than three hours.

Orion's head snapped up, banging his fists on the table in frustration, making James jump and Bellatrix raise an eyebrow questionably.

"What are you doing?" She asked in her toneless voice that held no emotion and butchered all possibilities of soothing. It wasn't cold but it wasn't nice either. Simply indifferent.

"I'm sick of this! We've been here for hours and we still haven't finished!" Orion exclaimed.

James stared at him. He wasn't entirely sure if this was an argument he wanted to join.

"Try harder." She replied her silver-grey eyes measuring her brother's stance.

It was extraordinary how she did that. Observe someone without actually seeing them. James occasionally wondered if she was a Legilimens. It would explain a lot.