Lily stopped dead in her tracks as she heard the faint voice. The potions room was usually under lock and key unless there was a class in there because of the expensive and dangerous ingredients in the storage shelves. Usually, the potions teacher arrived early and unlocked the room. But now, the door was unlocked. Whoever was inside apparently hadn't closed it properly. It leaned open by just a tiny crack. Carefully, Lily leaned in closer, peering intently through the opening.
"What about?" She located Harry easily enough. He was standing behind his desk at the front of the room, sorting through stacks of books.
"What happened on Friday night." Lily was close enough to recognize the voice. Gritting her teeth, she resisted the urge to storm in the room and wring Bellatrix's neck. So the rumors were true, she thought to herself.
"What happened on Friday night was a one-time deal. It will not happen again." Harry's voice seemed to harden at that.
"Cut the act, Ashworth." Bellatrix snorted in amusement. "You know that you wouldn't even be here if it wasn't for me. I'm in, whether you like it or not."
In what? Lily wondered.
"It's dangerous. While I can leave the castle at night without problems, you cannot. Sooner or later, someone's going to get suspicious."
"They already are. Haven't you heard the rumors?" Bellatrix chuckled. "I told you to straighten up after we got back, but no, you had to come to breakfast looking like you'd just frolicked with an orc."
"You didn't look much better."
"At least I didn't look like I just had a roll in the hay."
Harry paused for a moment. "What exactly are they saying?"
There was another pause, and Lily could just imagine Bellatrix rolling her eyes. "Apparently, you and I had a late-night tryst in the woods. Congratulations, Ashworth, you now have a reputation as a womanizer and a cradle-robber."
"I'm not that much older than you, you know."
Bellatrix shrugged. "So? You're a teacher. I'm a student. It's still a big no-no. Fortunately for you, though, there's no proof, no matter how much that Potter brat wants to go on about his magical map."
"Magical map?" Ashworth asked in a decidedly neutral voice.
"Heard it from my no-good cousin. Apparently Potter and his posse have been working on some magical map of Hogwarts of some kind." Bellatrix idly picked up one of the books and rifled through it. "Thankfully, Potter is miserable at Charms, so he fouled it up pretty good."
Harry looked up from the book he was going through. "Do you know everything that's going on in this school?"
"No." Bellatrix shrugged. "Just most of it. If you ever bothered to actually keep your eyes and ears open and listen to what people are talking about, so would you."
Harry let out a long-suffering sigh. "I don't suppose there's any way I can change your mind? Your father and uncle are going to kill me if anything happens to you."
"Give me some credit, Ashworth. I can take care of myself." Bellatrix flipped her hair over her shoulder as she turned around. "Besides, you still owe me a duel. And a spell."
"Yeah, well, things have been hectic the past couple of days." Harry put his books down. "What's your uncle planning?"
Bellatrix shrugged and glanced at him over her shoulder. "I don't know. I reckon that's what my uncle wants to talk to you about. Tonight, at seven."
"All right. And Bellatrix. Stay out of trouble."
"Don't tell me what to do, Ashworth," she replied snidely.
"I mean it. It's dangerous."
"I figured that the moment we were being chased through the forest. I can take care of myself."
Lily hastily scrambled away from the door and around the corner the moment she saw Bellatrix moving to leave the room. She watched silently as the raven-haired young woman disappeared up the stairs, idly contemplating what to do next. Clearly there was something going on between her and Harry that went beyond the usual teacher-student relationship, but it didn't really sound like an affair. For a moment, she considered talking to the headmaster about it, but she discarded the thought quickly. She didn't want to get anyone in trouble in case she had misunderstood something. Maybe talking to Harry would be best.
The thought crossed her mind that it might be none of her business, and that, since it wasn't an affair of any sort, she didn't really have any right to butt in, but her curiosity got the better of her, and she slowly pushed the door to the potions classroom open. It creaked loudly, causing her to wince.
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