Chapter 3
Bellatrix sat on the floor of her bedroom watching a small ant crawl around on the dark wood floor. She quickly looked up as she heard footsteps in the hall outside of the room.
"Bellatrix, what are you doing?" Andromeda asked as she entered the room.
Bellatrix quickly moved her hand to the spot where the ant was crawling, squishing it with her fingers.
"None of your business, Andromeda. Go away."
"I only came on here to tell you that dinner's ready. And stop being such a git." Andromeda quickly stepped out of the room, leaving Bellatrix to herself.
Bellatrix sat on the floor of her room for a moment more before something caught her eye. She stood up quickly and walked towards the far corner of her room.
She picked up an old picture that was sitting on the shelf. A picture that she had never noticed before in all the times that she had examined her room.
A young girl, that looked around the age of seventeen, waved out from the photo, smiling brightly, as a young boy stood by her side smiling softly.
Bellatrix almost immediately recognized the girl in the photo as her Aunt Walburga, but as for the boy, she had no idea who he was, but Bellatrix continued to examine the photo as she walked towards the dining room for dinner.
She stopped in the middle of the stairway on her way down, as she spotted something in the picture. The boy was holding what looked like a black leather diary that had the name 'Tom Marvolo Riddle' written on the back.
Bellatrix shook her head and continued walking downstairs, holding the picture tightly in her hand.
Bellatrix quickly walked into the dining room and sat down in her usual seat next to her father.
"Bella, what took you so long?" Cygnus asked, looking at his oldest daughter.
"Do you know anyone named Tom Marvolo Riddle?" Bellatrix asked quickly.
Cygnus sat quietly with his jaw clenched.
"Who's Tom Marvolo Riddle?" Narcissa questioned.
"Nevermind. It doesn't matter. He's probably just no one." said Bellatrix.
She looked down at her plate of food nervously as the room stayed silent. The only sounds were the clanging of forks on plates.
"So, Bellatrix, are you excited for your first year at Hogwarts?" Cygnus finally said, breaking the long silence.
Bellatrix hadn't even thought about Hogwarts, even though it was only two weeks away.
"I dunno yet. Seems interesting from what I've heard." Bellatrix replied boredly as she picked at her food.
"You don't seem interested at all. And you haven't seemed like your self lately," said Andromeda.
"I don't have to seem interested to be interested in something, Andromeda, and of course I'm not myself anymore. I don't think you would act like your self if you saw your own mother fall down dead right in front of you."
"Why can't you just move on from that, Bella? That was two years ago."
"Oh, so you're angry because I was Mum's favourite and you weren't! You're jealous!" Bellatrix yelled at Andromeda.
"I'm not jealous! Mum never even had a favourite! She loved the three of us equally! At least I'm not the weird one though!" Andromeda argued back.
"Bellatrix! Andromeda! Would you both go to your own rooms? Narcissa, you can stay here." Cygnus shouted at the two of the arguing sisters as he shook his head.
Bellatrix quickly stomped up to her room, slamming the door shut behind her as she entered. She fell onto her bed, tears filling her eyes. She realized that she had accidentally crumbled up the old picture in her hand. She took it out and tried to uncrumple it.
She exhaled deeply before standing up. She decided to put the picture right back where she found it.
'Only two weeks.' Bellatrix told herself. As she knew that Hogwarts would definitely be a change from her home.