Disclaimer:
Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to J.K. Rowling.
I own nothing but the original characters I make.
"Dialogue"
'Thoughts'
-Author notes-
Chapter 113: Mixed Reaction
"Urg… damn it." Bella was walking at a hurried pace through the endless corridors of Hogwarts while looking behind her every so often.
She was feeling grumpy because she couldn't finish her lunch in peace and had to rush out without making it seem obvious.
Since his return, Rodolphus had been keeping a closer eye on her, but so far hasn't attempted to get closer to her since she told him off the other day.
But the moment she left the Great Hall, Bella had this feeling that someone was following her.
She took a sharp turn and finally arrived at the classroom she had been looking for.
Bella opened the door and rushed inside, trying not to make any noise.
"Huf…"
"You don't look too well."
She heard his voice coming from the other side of the room.
"And whose fault is that?!" Bella glared at James. The boy was comfortably sitting on the teacher's table.
The chair was missing, among many other things. After all, this classroom had not been used in who knows how long...and the thick layer of dust seems to corroborate this.
"Sorry about that. But there was something important I wanted to tell you, and there isn't much time for it," James said.
"Couldn't even wait until the end of classes? I missed breakfast today, and thanks to you, I didn't even finish my lunch," Bella said with a tone of annoyance.
"You won't die from skipping a few meals, don't worry about it," James responded.
Bella crossed her arms. "Are you implying something?"
James ignored her question and instead used his finger to point to one corner of the room. "You were being followed."
Bella followed the direction he was pointing and saw two Slytherin boys lying on the ground, looking completely unconscious.
"I knew it!" Her instincts were not wrong this time. She was really being followed. "Those two…"
"Do you know them?"
Bella shook her head. "I don't know everyone… but I think they are companions of Rabastan."
"Should I have used the potion?" Bella had been wondering that. She could have done differently, but was hesitant to use the doppelganger potion because there was a limited number of uses, and she was saving them for when she had classes at the Chamber of Secrets.
"No. There is no need to waste it. That thing is costly to make," James glanced at the two boys. "And they won't wake up for a few hours anyway."
"What is so important that you have to send me a message during lunch?" Bella was very curious about it. James had never called her before in such a way.
"I wanted to give you a heads-up before it becomes official." James handed her the first letter that Lord Black had sent to him, just a few days back.
Bella took the piece of parchment and read it with care.
Her expression went through several changes as she read its contents.
"Is this real? Is my grandfather actually doing this?"
"It does look that way."
Bella's purple eyes moved away from the letter and towards James.
"Why would he send you this letter? Why is he informing you before me or my sisters?"
"As I said before… this is not official yet. Lord Pollux was just telling me what he intended to do," James said.
"That didn't answer my question completely… James… what did you do? Did you ask my grandfather to end our engagements in exchange for curing him?"
"Not exactly. I merely requested for him to take a closer look at who he was engaging his granddaughters to. I did not want to use a life debt to force your grandfather to do something he didn't want to do. He sent me that letter because he probably felt like he needed to inform me of his decision."
"He is going to end our engagements… I don't know how to feel about this. I mean, I know I should be happy since Lestrange is a piece of trash. But this is going to have some serious consequences for our family."
Bellatrix had never felt so conflicted before. She wanted to feel happy about getting rid of the brute but also felt concerned about the future of her family. These three alliances were extremely important for the future of the House of Black.
"Your house has been around for longer than this castle. It's not going to collapse because the Lord rejected some alliances. There will be other offers in the future. However, you are not wrong to be concerned about consequences… the three Lords of these houses will not take the news very well. This will be a great insult to them."
"You think my grandfather will be in danger? I know my parents will be angry as well when they learn the news… especially my mother. I cannot even imagine how she will react," Bella said.
"Lord Pollux can keep his family under control, so I would not be too concerned about your family's reaction. The three offended houses are a different story… they will definitely try something to change his mind."
"That's it! I should go back home then. I need to speak with my grandfather about this," Bella said with a nervous tone.
"It's too late for that. The decision has been made, and there is a meeting tonight between the four Lords. Your grandfather is planning on giving them the news then. Although I'm sure they already suspect what it is about."
"But… what if they…" She did not want to say it. Her grandfather was the only one who treated her well in that family. She did not want to think about losing him. She had to keep the tears from emerging.
'Maybe this was a mistake.'
James sighed. He had only planned on informing her so she would be prepared and alert, in case the Lestrange brothers or Malfoy tried anything to get revenge.
"Do you want to see this meeting?"
"What?…" Bella stared at him with shock. "What are you talking about? There is no way we can get permission to leave, and even if we do, my family won't allow me to get anywhere near such an important business meeting."
"I have a way, but… I have some conditions that you need to agree to, before anything else."
A.N: - Remember to comment, vote, and/or leave a review if you have the time. Those things help me a lot and I would really appreciate it.
You can Support me on P@treon if you like and get 20 advanced chapters. You can also find characters images to view for free in Collections/Invincible Stage Images
-patreon.com/Kriogenix
For donations and commissions, go to ko-fi.com/kriogenix