The Chaos Within (A Bellatrix Fanfiction)

Friends?

Later on in the year, roughly

"Right, the homework is to write a five-page essay on the difference between the Draught of Living Death and a Sleeping Draught," Snape announced in his usual acidic drawl. "Anyone who fails to hand it in by Friday will be serving detention. For a week."

Groans rippled through the classroom like a wave, rolling off the stone walls. The potion fumes did nothing to help; wormwood, valerian, something metallic underneath. My head already throbbed.

I stuffed my parchment into my bag before Snape could think of a reason to single someone out again. My stomach growled loudly at the motion, loud enough that the Slytherin boy next to me- Caleb Bletchley, I think, shot me a sideways look. I ignored him. I was starving, and after two hours inhaling fumes thick enough to pickle lungs, food was the only thing I cared about.

As soon as we were dismissed, I bolted for the door, sliding into the corridor with the tide of students.

Dinner. Silence. Maybe a nap. In that order.

I was halfway up the stairs when I heard it.

"Erin- HEY, Erin!"

I froze for half a second. Of course. Exactly the voice I least wanted to acknowledge right now.

"Erin!"

I exhaled sharply through my nose, turned on my heel, and snapped, "What?"

Lee Jordan skidded to a stop right in front of me, breathless, curls a little wind-tossed from sprinting. He blinked, startled at my sharpness, clearly he'd expected something warmer. Or at least... normal.

"Can we talk?" he panted. "Please, just hear me out?"

My instinct screamed no. My common sense agreed. My perfectly constructed Slytherin reputation absolutely agreed.

But guilt? That stupid, stubborn thing? It tugged.

I huffed. "Fine. Make it quick."

He nodded gratefully and led us down a side corridor, a quieter one, dimly lit by a single low-hanging torch. The hum of distant footsteps faded, leaving us in a pocket of old stone and shadow.

Lee turned to me, pushing his curls back again, a nervous habit he hadn't grown out of. "I just don't get it," he said. "Why can't we be friends? I mean... yeah, you're a Slytherin, but I don't care about that."

I raised an eyebrow. "You should."

He shook his head stubbornly. "The rest of them might be total arses, but you're different. You're actually-"

"If you say nice, I'm hexing your shoelaces together."

He huffed a frustrated laugh. "Why are you being like this? I'm trying to talk to you like a normal person."

"I am being normal. And you already know why this won't work. You're a Gryffindor, I'm a-"

"Yeah, yeah, a Slytherin," he cut in. "Big deal. That's just a stupid house rivalry. It doesn't mean we have to hate each other."

I glanced away, jaw tight.

No- but what if you knew who I really was?

Oh yeah, because I'm going to tell you that my dad followed you-know-who, murdered a whole family and got thrown into Azkaban for it, then I'll time how long it takes for you to run.

What if you knew my name isn't really Brooks? That my father used to wear Death Eater robes and cast the kind of spells people still wake up screaming from?

I couldn't tell him that. I couldn't tell anyone that.

He didn't notice the silence stretch between us, or maybe he did and just didn't care.

"Look," I finally said, forcing my voice to sound casual, "it's just the way things are, okay? Slytherins and Gryffindors... we don't mix. Not if we want to survive."

"But we could," Lee insisted. "We could prove that things don't have to stay that way. That we don't have to follow everyone else's rules."

Something in me cracked - just a little.

Maybe I was tired of lying. Maybe I was tired of pretending I didn't miss having someone who knew the real me. Maybe... I missed being liked for me.

I let out a slow breath.

"Okay," I said. "Fine. Maybe we can be friends."

His face lit up like Christmas. "Really?"

"Don't get too excited," I warned, a reluctant smile tugging at my lips. "But yeah. Just... keep it on the low, alright?"

"Quiet friendship. Got it."

I rolled my eyes, but I couldn't help grinning. "And you'll have to call me Ezza. All my friends do."

"Ezza," He echoed with a mock bow. "It's an honour."

"Alright, alright," I muttered, turning back toward the stairs. "Let's go before someone thinks I've hexed you in a corner."

"Come on, admit it," he said, falling into step beside me. "You missed me."

I snorted. "Like a rash."

Maybe it wouldn't be so bad after all. My other friends didn't know about my real identity. So what difference did it make if I was mates with a Gryffindor? Besides, all Lee had done from the moment he met me, was be nice to me. 

But as we headed toward the Great Hall, something warm and almost light unfurled inside me - and for once, the weight of my secret felt just a little less crushing.

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Authors note

Hey guys, apologies for the short chapter. I'm going to keep doing time jumps because this part of the plot isn't relevant just yet, however, there is some significance to it, later on nearer to the end of the story.

Thanks for reading, and please don't be a silent reader! Vote and Comment!

Lydia  (Miss_Angel_13)