Drabble: The Brightest Star
Title: The Brightest Star
Author: dexstarr
Word Count: 497
Rating: PG-13
Challenge: deatheaterdrabs Round #7: Bellatrix; "Well behaved women seldom make history"
Characters: Bellatrix Black, Cygnus Black
Warnings: Minor character death
Author's Note: Meh.
Disclaimer: HP and all assorted belong to JKR, and are not mine.
Summary: Bellatrix and her father discuss her 'business' for the Dark Lord.
***
The soft scritch scratch of a quill caught her ear as she walked past her father’s study. She pushed on the partly open door and asked, “Business or pleasure, Father?”
“Oh, a bit of both,” he replied absently, and then realized who was standing in the doorway to his office. “Bellatrix! I didn’t know you were here.” Cygnus Black stood to embrace his eldest daughter.
Bella kissed her father on the cheek, just as she had thousands of times over the years. “I came to visit Mother before I leave. Rodolphus and I are going to France next week to see some of his extended family, and for business.”
Cygnus sat down slowly. “What ‘business’ do you have in France?”
He could hear the pride in her voice when she said, “The Dark Lord wants more allies. Some of Rodolphus’s relatives have connections with giants, and some are quite accomplished at the Dark Arts. So business and pleasure, just like your letter. Who are you writing to, Father?”
“Avery. We’ve been discussing how to oust Dumbledore from Hogwarts. The standards of education there are simply appalling with him as headmaster. But Bella - must you go? Why can’t your husband handle it himself?”
His daughter shook back her mane of black hair, and her eyes gleamed dangerously as she said, “Unlike you, Father, I prefer to have an active role in changing society.”
Cygnus held up a hand, trying to forestall a possible tantrum; he knew her mannerisms well. “You are a Black, Bellatrix, not a common foot soldier. If your Dark Lord really valued you -”
Her rage rose as rapidly as a storm at sea, and she was behind the heavy mahogany desk, hands on the leather armrests of her father’s chair, before either of them knew it.
“Bellatrix!” Cygnus sputtered in shock. “This isn’t proper -”
“He does value me, Father.” Bella pulled back her sleeve and shoved her left forearm in his face. “See? He has marked me. I am his favorite.” Her father opened his mouth, but she angrily cut him off. “You sit in your study and talk about restoring purebloods to their proper place in society. Talk. That is all you do. You hide behind your letters and books, while I act.”
Cygnus tried to regain some of his composure. “That is what families such as ours do, Bellatrix. We plan, and use others to carry out those plans. We don’t put ourselves in danger. We are the stars of this world, daughter. Now unhand me, and I will forget your improper behavior.”
Instead, Bellatrix leaned yet closer to her father’s face and said softly, “You are the star of nothing. A swan cannot stand up to a warrior; you named me well, Father.”
Her branded arm suddenly circled his throat and she squeezed tightly while he wheezed for breath. As her father’s dark eyes dulled, she whispered triumphantly, “I will be the brightest star on the Black family tree.”
***
Author: dexstarr
Word Count: 497
Rating: PG-13
Challenge: deatheaterdrabs Round #7: Bellatrix; "Well behaved women seldom make history"
Characters: Bellatrix Black, Cygnus Black
Warnings: Minor character death
Author's Note: Meh.
Disclaimer: HP and all assorted belong to JKR, and are not mine.
Summary: Bellatrix and her father discuss her 'business' for the Dark Lord.
***
The soft scritch scratch of a quill caught her ear as she walked past her father’s study. She pushed on the partly open door and asked, “Business or pleasure, Father?”
“Oh, a bit of both,” he replied absently, and then realized who was standing in the doorway to his office. “Bellatrix! I didn’t know you were here.” Cygnus Black stood to embrace his eldest daughter.
Bella kissed her father on the cheek, just as she had thousands of times over the years. “I came to visit Mother before I leave. Rodolphus and I are going to France next week to see some of his extended family, and for business.”
Cygnus sat down slowly. “What ‘business’ do you have in France?”
He could hear the pride in her voice when she said, “The Dark Lord wants more allies. Some of Rodolphus’s relatives have connections with giants, and some are quite accomplished at the Dark Arts. So business and pleasure, just like your letter. Who are you writing to, Father?”
“Avery. We’ve been discussing how to oust Dumbledore from Hogwarts. The standards of education there are simply appalling with him as headmaster. But Bella - must you go? Why can’t your husband handle it himself?”
His daughter shook back her mane of black hair, and her eyes gleamed dangerously as she said, “Unlike you, Father, I prefer to have an active role in changing society.”
Cygnus held up a hand, trying to forestall a possible tantrum; he knew her mannerisms well. “You are a Black, Bellatrix, not a common foot soldier. If your Dark Lord really valued you -”
Her rage rose as rapidly as a storm at sea, and she was behind the heavy mahogany desk, hands on the leather armrests of her father’s chair, before either of them knew it.
“Bellatrix!” Cygnus sputtered in shock. “This isn’t proper -”
“He does value me, Father.” Bella pulled back her sleeve and shoved her left forearm in his face. “See? He has marked me. I am his favorite.” Her father opened his mouth, but she angrily cut him off. “You sit in your study and talk about restoring purebloods to their proper place in society. Talk. That is all you do. You hide behind your letters and books, while I act.”
Cygnus tried to regain some of his composure. “That is what families such as ours do, Bellatrix. We plan, and use others to carry out those plans. We don’t put ourselves in danger. We are the stars of this world, daughter. Now unhand me, and I will forget your improper behavior.”
Instead, Bellatrix leaned yet closer to her father’s face and said softly, “You are the star of nothing. A swan cannot stand up to a warrior; you named me well, Father.”
Her branded arm suddenly circled his throat and she squeezed tightly while he wheezed for breath. As her father’s dark eyes dulled, she whispered triumphantly, “I will be the brightest star on the Black family tree.”
***