[ Common Room - 1:15 A.M. ]

Hunched over at her usual table was the youngest Dark twin with the new egg from CoMC nestled in her lap. The problem? She was humming. Everything had been going smoothly and her happy balloon was so full that there was nothing anyone could do to pop it. She was even smiling at first years! She'd been in this blissful mood since Care of Magical Creatures class. It was a combination of things: Ayla being insulted down by Callum (an unexpected surprise for Bella), Xavier getting excited over whether or not he was going be with Bella for the project, and then Peyton whom she enjoyed talking to about Quidditch. What an amazing turn of events!

This guy wasn't only a Ravenclaw--a group that Bella had been wanting to associate herself with since her 1st year because of her twin--but he was a Quidditch player. He also kept up his half of the project. Maybe getting to know her fellow fifth years wasn't so bad after all. In fact, she might start handing out candy like the Potions professor! ..Nah, she wouldn't go that far. On top of everything else, she had become caught up on her homework! YES!! She was currently writing out an Arithmancy essay while humming to herself. Why hadn't she realized the time? Because she was in such a good mood that she didn't want to go to bed! For some reason, she'd been having really bad nightmares to make up for all the happy things going on in her life which made sleeping a problem for her.

Duke, her trusty toad, leaped up on to the table and croaked at her. His owner was bobbing her head, kicking her feet in her chair, and swaying back and forth. She couldn't wait for the holidays! She would be with her daddy and Beatrix--just the three of them! Forever! When she came back new term, she'd be with Xavier and Beatrix. Everything was perfect!

"Good morning, Duke! Lovely day, eh? I've been waiting for you. Here."

She pulled out a fresh box of Fudge Flies that she'd bought off of a student. Shame on her, she'd thought her monthly supply of candies had been filled enough that when she got to Hogsmeade, she didn't see the need to restock. It was her own fault for not double-checking. So, she'd had to buy some off of passing students. A handful of Fudge Flies were handed to the toad who slurped them up with his tongue causing his owner to smile.

"Sorry I've been in such a foul mood the past few years, Duke... I guess things never turned out like I'd imagined. But I'm doing better now. Y'know, that Peyton guy isn't so bad, right? I mean, if he's in Bea's house, maybe he and I could..."

She wasn't sure what they could do together. Bellatrix paused for a long while as she tried to think of what her and Peyton could do together. Quidditch, obviously, but what else? What else did she have in common with a guy she just met? Her and Xavier had so many things in common yet it felt as if they'd really gotten to know each other for the first time a few weeks ago. A content  sigh escaped her as she began to imagine Xavier's eyes. They resembled Peyton's. How odd.

Xavier had been pacing the hallway outside his dorm room. He had been pacing inside until some of the other fifth years told him to go to bed or to get out. Since he was nowhere near ready for bed he decided to leave but hadn't quite made it to the common room. His mind was racing with a thousand thoughts a second and he was having a hard time keeping up. He felt angry but hadn't really been able to pin point what was wrong. His maroon egg was currently nestled in his trunk wrapped in about five sweaters to keep up it's high demand temperature.

Figuring that pacing wasn't going to get him anywhere Xavier started to make his way to the common room. He figured this late at night no one was going to be around. He could relax by the fire perhaps even sneak off to the kitchens without anyone being the wiser. As he made his way closer to the common room entrance though a soft and cheerful voice reached his ears.

"Good morning, Duke! Lovely day, eh? I've been waiting for you. Here."

That was Bella and she was happy, really happy. Xavier didn't think he had ever heard her talk to her toad like that. He always thought she hated the thing. His racing mind began to calm at the sound of her voice and his curiosity was demanding he figure out why she was so happy. Could it possibly be because of him? Had their last few weeks together been so amazing that he had actually caused that drastic of a change in the Dark Slytherin?

Xavier paused in the archway watching her with cool blue grey eyes. She was so beautiful. He still couldn't get over how gorgeous she was or why he had never seen it before. Perhaps he really was becoming a man now. A smile was wide on his lips as he watched her gleefully feed her toad but it soon fell as she spoke again.

"Sorry I've been in such a foul mood the past few years, Duke... I guess things never turned out like I'd imagined. But I'm doing better now. Y'know, that Peyton guy isn't so bad, right? I mean, if he's in Bea's house, maybe he and I could..."

So that's why she was so happy? This was all because of Wentworth?! An inexplicable anger took over Xavier. He clenched his fists, gritted his teeth and glared at the girl he was sure he was falling in love with. How could she do this to him? How could she be ready to drop everything they had just to be with Wentworth? Just the sound of his name was enough to cause of ripple of rage to break through the Slytherin. All Wentworths were scum, good for nothing scum.

"Maybe ye an' he could what? Snog in thee halls when no ones lookin? Sneak off to some secret passageway so he cin feel ye up? Sure, why not? Ye spend four years ignorin' me, hexin me bloody arse off an ye spend one day wit Wentworth an yer ready to hop right in bed wit him. Show him how a proper Slytherin shags, that it?" At the moment there wasn't a single part of him that thought he was over reacting or being unreasonable. When it came to any of the Wentworths, nothing was unreasonable.

"Maybe ye an' he could what? Snog in thee halls when no ones lookin? Sneak off to some secret passageway so he cin feel ye up? Sure, why not? Ye spend four years ignorin' me, hexin me bloody arse off an ye spend one day wit Wentworth an yer ready to hop right in bed wit him. Show him how a proper Slytherin shags, that it?"

The sound of an enraged voice made her jump. Bella got to her feet so suddenly that she nearly knocked over her chair and when she turned to yell back at the person, she saw Xavier. Her heart pounded faster and harder. What was he talking about? He kept saying 'him'. Who did he mean? It dawned on her what she had said. Peyton? Was he angry about Peyton? Why? What was going on? He looked so angry. Wait, he wasn't just angry; he was insulting her! Fury sparked in Bella, though it was connected with the tormenting amount of confusion she was still feeling.

"Don't you talk like that to me, Tawse," was the automatic reaction.

They'd spent years quarreling, but this was different. This was no game of tease-and-jinx. This was serious. But... Did she really want to argue with him? YES! Of course she did! He couldn't talk about her like that! On the other hand, noooo! She was arguing with Xavier! Weren't they on the verge of dating? Were they? Maybe he'd been playing at her good side so he wouldn't get cursed if he pulled something like this! Ridiculous. Xavier never said anything like this to her, even when they were younger. What was going on?

"I--I don't know what you're going on about, Xavier," she said in a more gentle tone, "but there will be no shagging of Peyton or snogging or anything else! I... I don't snog." There. That was simple and clear. Not entirely true. She'd snogged once, but not since then.

"Besides, what business is it of yours where I go and who I talk to? You're not my boyfriend, are you?"

It was a question that had been welling up inside of her for the past week and a half. She'd been having feelings towards Xavier. Great feelings that made her daydream, that made her want to actually kiss his cheek or snog him in a dirty lavatory. But she wouldn't. She wouldn't because something was keeping her from doing so. She wanted to be with him, always around him, always in that good mood. How could she? He was a big boy. She didn't want to be a puppy dog on a leash. Bellatrix wasn't the sort of girl to fall in love! That was a dare she'd never do, a risk she'd never take! Never again would she try to date!

But...the fact that he hadn't asked her made her angry. It was one thing if she said 'no', but for him to never ask? Was there something wrong with her? Was there a reason he hadn't asked her to be his girl? No, there was nothing wrong with her! He'd called her perfect! If she was so perfect, though...why wasn't she his girlfriend yet?

"Go on, Xavier. Are you my boyfriend or am I just some cheap tramp you laid your eyes on until someone better comes along?"

Her own anger was flooding into her words said half-way behind clenched teeth. The blue eyes that were gradually warming up were instantly back to their cold, apathetic usual. She was angry and she was waiting, impatiently, for his answer.

If he hadn't been so angry he probably would have softened at the look of confusion and hurt in her eyes. As it were though the rage had taken over and anything that resembled the regular charming and generally nice Xavier was gone. It was a rage and hatred that had been stewing inside him for eight years, finally breaking it's way through every barrier he had tried to put up and unleashing itself upon the one person that might be his saviour in all this.

"Don't pretend ye don't know what I'm talkin about." He started to pace again while keeping a fair amount of distance between the two of them, "ye don't snog? Well ain't that rich? Don't try an sell me that load of bullocks Bella. Yer a sixteen year old girl that's drop dead gorgeous, don't tell me ye don't snog." He occasionally glanced at her as he paced pausing only when she mentioned him being her boyfriend or not. There was a small bit of his normal self screaming on the inside, trying to calm the rage and tell Bella how much he cared about her but it was a small insignificant voice that was quickly fading into the background.

"Of course I'm yer feckin' boyfriend, I though ye'd figure that much out by now!" He ceased pacing and took a step forward, his usual handsome features contorted with rage, "An' as yer bloody boyfriend I want ye ta stay thee feck away from him!" He clenched his fists again and was on the verge of screaming, "he's a Wentworth fer feck's sakes! Thee whole bloody lot o' them are good fer nothing scum, jus like yer lil Ravenclaw buddy, jus like me fatha. Ye can't trust a single one o' them an' Salazar be damned if I let me girlfriend get won ova by that prick!"

"Don't pretend ye don't know what I'm talkin about. Ye don't snog? Well ain't that rich? Don't try an sell me that load of bullocks Bella. Yer a sixteen year old girl that's drop dead gorgeous, don't tell me ye don't snog."

Had the accusations not been so serious, she probably would have become a little flustered at this point, but it only seemed to add to her arrogance. The same arrogance that she used to carry herself with when she was younger: rebellious, devil-may-care, I'm-better-than-you-because-I'm-a-Dark sort. The kind she had been before she became I'll-kill-you-if-you-breathe-around-me moody. Her long hair, now dyed with a mixture of her natural platinum blond, black, and streaks of blue was flaring around her. She wasn't angry; she was furious.

"You know nothing about my love life, Tawse, so don't you dare call me a liar! I don't snog! D'you honestly know of any boy in Hogwarts that would come that close to me? The first and last boy I snogged was in my 3rd year! Don't you dare try and tell me I'm full of dragon dung, Tawse! I'm not like you, am I? I'm not like that little rat you fell in love with! I don't run around snogging every boy in sight, y'know! Give me a little more credit than that!"

He was pacing now. Furious, enraged, even livid. This wasn't about snogging. If it was, he would have calmed down, but he only seemed to be lost on one track of thought. Nothing was calming him down, nothing inside of him was going to stop. She would make that boy see reason again if she had to jinx him and set his hair on fire or transfigure herself into his mum--whatever she looked like. Bellatrix was constantly cracking her knuckles out of angered habit--and nervousness. She was nervous because she was just starting to get closer to Xavier and now he pulled this: accusing her of snogging Peyton! The accusation of her shagging, let alone snogging, were absurd and they sent flames of rage through her body that boiled her blood.

"Of course I'm yer feckin' boyfriend, I though ye'd figure that much out by now! An' as yer bloody boyfriend I want ye ta stay thee feck away from him! He's a Wentworth fer feck's sakes! Thee whole bloody lot o' them are good fer nothing scum, jus like yer lil Ravenclaw buddy, jus like me fatha. Ye can't trust a single one o' them an' Salazar be damned if I let me girlfriend get won ova by that prick!"

The rage inside of Bellatrix snapped off like a light switch. She listened closely, running through his words again over and over in her mind. He said he was her boyfriend? Her knuckles cracked themselves again habitually as she tried to process all of this new information. There was something different about the way he ranted on and she slowly began to figure it out: it wasn't her he was mad at, it was Peyton. At the time, she wasn't able to clue herself in to why he was so pissed off at Peyton. Something about the last name Wentworth and his father. This time, she also stepped forward, stared up at him calmly yet without fear, and made her tone of voice a lot more tender.

"Well, as your girlfriend," butterflies appeared in her stomach at the idea, "I wouldn't go around him were it not for the fact that we have a project to do together. I don't want to snog him, I don't want to shag him. For Potter's sake, Xavier, d'you honestly think that I can think about another boy like that?" Her tone started to grow irritated. "I am giggling in class, Xavier! I've been giggling all week and humming! Who at Hogwarts hums to themselves? Honestly! I'm sick of myself acting like such a..such a..." And then it dawned on her exactly what she was doing. "Uric's leaking flagon, I'm turning into my sister! I'm acting like an idiot--because of you! You've done this to me! You've made me friendly and sociable and happy! I'm not that kind of girl, Tawse! I don't act stupid like my sister over a boy!"

This new realization that she was in fact acting exactly like Beatrix did around Vincent Pennyapple made Bellatrix try to cry. Of course, nothing came out because she still felt far too happy to cry, but it did bring a pout to her face. These were the emotions she had been missing out on, this was a life she'd been watching her sister lead and yet never understood...until now. Did Vincent make Beatrix feel this way? He sure made her act the way Bella was now: giggling, singing, skipping in the hallways, making friends. But Xavier was so different from Vincent! How? What was going on? What was this actual feeling?

"I want to be furious with you," she added timidly as if afraid to say it. "I want to pound your face in until you're bleeding out of every ruddy hole, but I can't even bring myself to think about it. I can't lift a wand against you anymore, I can't think bad thoughts at all when you're around. Where d'you think my mind is when I'm around Peyton? It's not on him, it's not on the egg, it's not on how good he is at Quidditch! It's here! Right here! Right here with you and you're driving me crazy! You've done something to me and I can't hate you for it because it feels like I could make the biggest Patronus Charm in the world! You haven't even taken me on a proper date and here I am giggling and humming to myself! This is ridiculous!"

Bella stared at him for a long time, expecting him to say something. Anything. If he wanted to be angry with her, let him. If he wanted to hold her and snog her and...she snorted at the thought. What a ridiculous image! Xavier Tawse, her mortal enemy all these years at Hogwarts, putting his arms around her and snogging her. Ridiculous. More than that, it was positively absurd! She insisted that she wouldn't get anything good out of it! Or at least, she could try to lie to herself.

Xavier took a step forward lifting a finger and opening his mouth to yell at her but nothing came out. He was still furious and a blistering fire was burning inside him but he couldn't think of anything else to yell at her about. This had never happened before, no one had ever been able to talk him down from one of his rages. He was actually stumped, completely lost for words. He dropped his hand turned his back on her and walked a few steps away. Xavier hung his head closed his eyes and exhaled. With that long low release of breath all of his anger seeped out of him.

His brain started to work over everything he had just said to him. She agreed to being his girlfriend and with the way she was describing things it sounded that she was very close, if not already there, to being in love with him. His mind was reeling at the thought of Bella skipping down the hallways of Hogwarts singing to herself all because of him. It was that strange, bizarre thought that actually took every ounce of anger out of him. Knowing that there was someone out there that cared about him that much was enough to quell the anger about his father and Peyton's unknown link to him, at least for the time being.

Steeling himself for what he was about to do, he took another deep breath. Opening his cool grey blue eyes Xavier spun on the spot and quickly closed the distant between the two of them. With a hand wrapped around the back of her neck, his fingers through her blonde, black and blue hair, and the other clenched tightly just below the small of her back he thrust his body against hers and closed her lips with his.