Prisoner (Bella)

[Christine Montgomery]

Things had gotten worse for Christine at home since her night out with Sam and Lyra.

Besides the stinging lecture she had received for worrying everyone she now had four guards posted, and charms that signaled the household when she left. One of the guards had tackled a village man for giving Christine a flower, and if she left the castle guards would escort her causing crowds to gather around her.

The Ministry also had their own people following her which she was sure was Lex's doing. In short Christine was going insane.

Today was a training day with Bella and she looked forward to blowing off some steam.

[Bellatrix Black]

Bellatrix wore a sneer as she came into the room. "What is all that about?" she asked when she saw Christine, referencing the slew of armed guards outside the door. She had managed to slip past them using a special spell she had perfected since joining the Dark Lord.

[Christine Montgomery]

"Thank Godric you got through." she sighed sitting up when Bella arrived.

"That," she said referring to the guards by nodding at the door, "is my family's idea of 'protective custody'." she sighed, "And believe me if I could get rid of them I would."

[Bellatrix Black]

"Why now?" she asked curiously. There had obviously been an incident because Bellatrix's last visit had not been so crowded, nor did Christine have any guards around her when they met at the Ball or in Knockturn Alley.

Bella came fully into the room and pulled the large tome they had been referencing from her bag. She set it on the bed but turned to Christine, preferring to hear her story before getting to business.

[Christine Montgomery]

Christine briefly explained what had happened with as much bitterness as she felt over the outcome.

"I've been thinking about getting my own place, but I'm pretty sure they would just follow me no matter where I went."

[Bellatrix Black]

"Yes, that could be a problem." Bella looked back to the door, the other side of which four large men stood. Only Gringotts was better more protected, though she wouldn't have put it past the Montgomerys to have a dragon hidden in the depths of the castle somewhere.

"Lucky for you," she said with a clever smile as she turned back to Christine, "I have a spell that could be just what you need." She opened her spellbook and flipped to a section at the far back. The page had previously been dog-eared and still held the crease in the top corner of the paper. She pointed her long, thin finger at a spell for complete privacy. It didn't cloak the area like an Unplottability Charm, but simply stopped people from being able to see anything the caster didn't want seen.

She had been using it on her visits to Montgomery Manor to avoid detection. The Montgomerys were rich and powerful, but Bella couldn't be sure of their alliances and by all accounts they likely weren't sympathizers to Lord Voldemort's cause. She had to be careful when fulfilling her mission.

[Christine Montgomery]

Christine had come to have high expectations from Bella's spellbook which contained several of the spells she had used the other night. She had since attempted to get a peak at the Montgomery spellbooks, but either they were well hidden within the castle or the Montgomerys didn't have any. Christine believed the former more than the latter, but with so many eyes on her it was difficult to do much without garnering attention.

Perhaps Bella's spell could be useful in more than one way. Christine was easily lured forward to see the spell.

[Bellatrix Black]

"You can use it on your home to keep those snoopy guards at bay, or you can enchant yourself and anyone you don't want to see you will simply find their attention pulled elsewhere." Bella had used the latter version to sneak past the guards, and the former to keep their training sessions secret while using the Montgomery facilities.

"Here," she said as she moved to Christine's desk and pulled a slip of parchment from a stack. She set it next to her book and drew her wand. She muttered the incantation softly and ink appeared on the formerly blank paper. It was an exact copy of the spell from her book. Bellatrix then rolled the parchment and handed it to Christine. "Keep this safe."

[Christine Montgomery]

Bella had just handed Christine the key to her freedom and Christine was having a hard time believing the ease in which her problem had been solved.

"If I didn't know that you violently oppose any kind of display of affection I'd hug you right now." Christine said as she reverently held the spell in her hand. She turned her attention toward Bella finally, a soul satisfying grin appearing on her face.

"Lunch is on me if we can get the hell out of here using this."

There was a hint of the devil in her eyes as she spoke, but she would make a deal with anyone if it meant having her freedom back.

[Bellatrix Black]

Bellatrix sneered slightly at the thought of Christine hugging her, thankful that the girl had enough sense to keep her emotions to herself. Bella wasn't opposed to displays of affection, but she needed to be the one to instigate them and she saw no reason in hugs between quasi-friends.

"Well I wouldn't be a very good tutor if I cast it for you, now would I? Go on, give it a go."

[Christine Montgomery]

Christine caught Bella's sneer and laughed. Christine didn't hug very often herself, but Bella's gift had made her giddy.

She studied the spell before attempting it. In the time that Bella had been teaching her, Christine had proven herself to be something of a prodigy when it came to the dark arts. Magic had always come easily to Christine, but the power of dark magic came even easier. The spells seemed to speak to her, and with each spell she learned the easier the others came to her. This spell wasn't even that difficult in the first place, but where it might have taken one of Christine's classmates a few hours to learn the spell, and then a few days to make the spell strong, Christine was performing the spell consistently and powerfully within the hour with Bella's help.

She was about to try again, she could feel the power run through her, but she lost it at the last moment as she lost focus.

"Wait, I have an idea."

She left Bella in the room before disappearing into her closet. She was gone for an indeterminate amount of time, but she was grinning ear to ear when she came back.

"Now I have a gift for you." she said before pulling out a set of silver earrings.

[Bellatrix Black]

Christine's ability to quickly pick up a new spell or hex was encouraging to Bellatrix. She had chosen wisely when she "accidentally" ran into Christine and her pseudo-boyfriend in the hedge maze at the ball many weeks ago. Her master would be proud.

She worked with Christine, giving directions as needed to adjust Christine's form and pronunciation. When the girl disappeared into the closet Bella thought she was giving up. She was therefore stunned when Christine emerged with a gift. She raised an eyebrow as she looked between the earrings and Christine.

[Christine Montgomery]

"I bound the privacy spell to the earrings. They should work as a charm, rather than needing to recast the spell. Though they may need more than a few minutes work in the closet...they should be effective."

It was clear that Christine was proud of her accomplishment. Ironically it was Lyra's ring that made Christine think about creating a charmed object.

Christine held her own new bracelet up for inspection.

"Considering I came out of the closet ten minutes ago and you didn't notice a thing, I'd say it was a success."

Christine nodded in the direction of her vanity, on the mirror in red lipstick were the words "Thank you Bellatrix".

[Bellatrix Black]

Bellatrix's confusion turned to a twisted sort of pride. She smiled but there was something behind her eyes that was dark.

"Very good," she praised Christine, before clearing the mirror of any mention of her presence. "Now let's see what kind of trouble we can get into with these new charms." Bellatrix slipped the earrings on, though she didn't need to bother as she had already been using the spell on herself to sneak past the guards and anyone else in the home. But Christine didn't need to know that.

[Christine Montgomery]

If Christine noticed the darkness she didn't say anything. She wasn't a fool. Bella was teaching her powerful spells from a powerful spellbook. Clearly Bella wasn't as innocent or good as one might believe, but sometimes darkness was necessary. Christine considered it a necessary evil to fight worse evil, and she had no reservations when it came to being prepared.

"Trust me, the way my luck's been going trouble will find us." Christine quipped joining Bella on leaving the estate.

[Bellatrix Black]

"Good, you could use the practice," she replied tauntingly. The girls left the estate and headed into town. They were met with no opposition from the guards or any of the other security measures Christine's parents had placed on her. It was ridiculously easy to get past one's defenses when you simply added a little dark magic. Christine was learning that quick enough, though her run-in with the brutes at the bar had only encouraged her since. Bella knew this was the perfect time to schedule a meeting with the Dark Lord.

[Christine Montgomery]

No one at the castle had been expecting it, though the castle certainly had preventive measures against it, but since some of the family members were experienced in Dark Magic there weren't any spells in place to forbid it or raise alarm when it happened. Since Bella's intent wasn't malicious even the privacy spell she had cast wouldn't have set off alarms. It was a security flaw that would be fixed.

Christine laughed at Bella's taunt, though a strange thrill shot through her at the idea of running into someone else who needed to be put down. Christine had no hesitation in being that person.

As she had offered earlier, she treated Bella to lunch, discussing things other than the dark arts that walked the line between legal and illegal and were instead undefined. Christine was learning to love the shades of grey.

[Bellatrix Black]

Their conversations over lunch only reinforced Bellatrix's confidence. She would receive high praise for bringing in Christine, who had a clear zest for the morally ambiguous. Of course, Bellatrix didn't see her life's mission as morally ambiguous or "grey," but she understood that her views were the minority. For now.

Society was continually moving further from the ideals of a pure wizard race, one that was not just a community but the dominant species. They were currently faced with a watered-down version of something that Bella knew they could make wonderful again, if only they could rid their world of the evils set against it. Those evils were muggles.  Witches and wizards were forced to hide, establishing small communities in secret or withholding their powers so as not to be detected. Muggles, on the other hand, went about their days in the open, not caring what they did or whom they did it in front of, having no idea they were in fact the inferior race. Bella's quest was not morally ambiguous, it was morally right! She just needed people like Christine to recognize that.

The Dark Lord would be able to persuade Christine far better than Bellatrix could. He had a flair for speaking and captivating every audience he stood before.

"Now that you can come and go as you please, I'd like you to meet my friend. He's truly a great man, you'll see that instantly." Bella smiled, her tender affections for her master disguised by the admiration and respect she held for him.

[Christine Montgomery]

Christine nodded, "I'd like that."

She had learned much from Bella's tutelage, and there was more she could learn from the girl, but Christine knew Bella's knowledge was limited. Christine hungered for power though she couldn't yet see the dangers of her obsession. She wanted more than Bella could teach her.

If Bella had a friend who could continue to teach Christine, then she was interested indeed.

[Bellatrix Black]

"Brilliant," Bella replied with a haughty look on her face. "I'll set something up for later in the week. Not only was Bella looking forward to showing off Christine, but this also gave her a legitimate excuse to see her true love. Her last visit had been impromptu and was not taken well. She knew Lord Voldemort would happy to see her now.