Special Tutoring. (Bellatrix)

Bells watched him carefully as he poured his own drink, suddenly pouting because he hadn’t bothered to pour her something a bit more strong than...water. But she bit down on her lip, knowing full well better than to question the Professor and his actions. He was the kind of man that knew better and if he wanted her clear headed and without anything else on the brain, then that was the way that she would be, ”Thank you, Professor. Comes from years of experience with my father.” She had learned how to stand her ground and pick herself back up. Cygnus Black III wasn’t a kind man and he often knocked Bells down a few levels with his own spells. She had learned over the years to not let it affect her for very long. It was all about bouncing back; stronger. She was like a mattress spring; someone could sit on her day in and day out and the moment that they moved, she would bounce back into proper form. Resilience is what she prided herself most on, ”Naive? I hardly-” She started to object, but he continued, looking over at her from the bar in his office. She wanted to object; hating the fact that he had called her naive. She wanted him to see her not as a little girl, but as a woman, ready to assume whatever role that he threw in her direction.

She listened carefully as he explained that the imperious curse could create lasting implications that Bells wouldn’t have been able to escape, even in her dizziest day dreams. It was sickening, really. Sickening in a completely intoxicating way. Bellatrix almost immediately wanted to do it to someone. She wanted to see someone fall under her spell and do something completely out of character and have to live with it for the rest of their life. She wanted to see Zeke-

She stopped herself before she could go any further, knowing that she was still feeling a little bitter about their encounter on the pitch the other night. She tuned back in to Professor Riddle and felt her pulse raise for a moment as she thought about what he was suggesting, ”Professor, I want to experience everything,” She breathed her fingers twitching around the glass of water that she had been holding for several minutes now. It was then that she realized that she had yet to take a drink. Thinking it best since it had been offered to her in the first place, she placed it to her lips and took a large sip, her eyes never leaving Professor Riddle’s. He offered her what appeared to be a smile full of pride, something that she ate up, ”I can hope to solidify it more as we continue.”

He asked about continuing and she nodded her head, setting the glass back onto his desk and then focusing her attention on the rat that was now tapping it’s nose against it’s glass holding. Bells didn’t bother to stand up, but pulled her wand and flicked it in the general direction, causing the glass to lift itself and allow the rat’s escape. For a moment, she could feel the searing anxiousness passing through her veins as she stared down the animal on the table. She wanted to show Professor Riddle that she could do everything that he had taught her...better than he had seen anyone do it, ”Imperio!” She growled and for a second, it looked as if the rat wasn’t going to obey her, but gritting her teeth, the animal froze, staring at her. She could feel something radiating from inside her veins, something that she hadn’t ever felt before...power. Power like nothing that she had ever experienced...That was the push that she needed. Slowly she lowered her wrist and the rat remained. Another push in the right direction in her opinion, ”Professor-” She continued to make eye-contact with the rat, willing him to move toward the side of the table and teeter on the edge, as if he was about to jump to his death, ”Do you think that it’s possible-” ’to kill someone using the Imperious curse...’ She finished the sentence in her mind and then willed the rat to jump off of the desk. It landed with a splat on the floor, presumably having broken its neck. Bellatrix’s jaw fell open slightly as she stared at the sight before her.

Pride was the only feeling that she could feel moving through her veins as she sat there, her hands slightly shaking. She had killed an animal. And instead of being upset like some people would be, she felt like she was on top of the world. She suddenly felt like she had been awakened from a very deep slumber and was beginning to recognize who she really was. She felt like every nerve ending in her body was on fire. Carefully, she placed her wand on the edge of his desk, wanting to have it out of her hand so that she could wipe the sweat off of her palms. She realized that he had been saying something to her and her head immediately snapped up, her fiery green eyes meeting his, ”Thanks Professor.” He offered her a drink and she thought that she was going to jump at the opportunity. After the mental stress that she had been put under this evening, she knew a drink was the first thing that she wanted. She bit down on her lip trying not to smile, ”I’d love one, thanks-” She breathed, wondering if he was beginning to see her as more of an equal than as a young student. That was the only explanation that she could muster; after all, why would a professor offer his student the opportunity to drink with them.

He returned to her and instead of crossing to the other side of the desk like she had anticipated, he sat down in the seat next to her; once again leveling the playing field between them. He handed her the drink and she looked up at him as her fingertips barely grazed his; Bells so desperately wanted to know what was going through his mind...what he thought of her, really. What he thought of all the students. What he thought about her family. She wanted to know everything that was going on in that head of his. ‘Probably perfection,’ Her subconscious sighed, almost making her laugh. She was hardly able to contain her excitement at this point; she felt like she was going to jump out of her skin if she let any more time go by without saying anything, but then he began speaking. He explained that she now had the chance to ask him anything that she wanted in the world and suggested that it would stay completely in-between them. She bit down on her lip, staring into the drink that he had just poured her. There was so much that she wanted to ask, but she wasn’t sure where to start.

”I appreciate the concept of your little offer, Professor Riddle. But I have a catch. You have ever right to ask me whatever you want as well. In fact, you have to.” She knew that she was yet again pushing her limits and testing the waters, but she couldn’t help herself. There was something so irresistible about this man. Something that created a flame in her that she had never felt before, ”Tell me professor-” She sloshed her drink around in the cup, making it swirl in the counter-clockwise direction as she thought about what she wanted her first question to be. There were so many possibilities, and each would have their own consequences and counter-actions, she was sure of that, ”What subject did you excel the most in at school?” ‘Extra curricular or otherwise-’ She asked, her green eyes seemingly sparkling with a hint of something unsaid with her words. She shifted in her chair, her fingertips tugging at the hem of her dress, pulling it down toward her knees. Slowly, she used her free hand to draw circles around the rim of her chaser, her eyes searching his face for a sign that he understood her meaning.

Bellatrix saw the look of sternness pass over his face and for a moment she thought that he was going to lash out of her; in fact, she was nearly positive that he was going to physically harm her for the words that had come out of her mouth. And yet, by some strange miracle, he simply reprimanded her with his words. She should have known better than to try and put them on equal playing field. She hung her head for a moment at his harsh words, feeling like she had done something wrong and thinking that she would never be able to get him to speak to her again. But just as swiftly as the words came from his mouth, it seemed that a softer apology was on the horizon. His hand touched her knee and immediately her head snapped her, her green eyes full of something much deeper than what she let on on the surface. The warmth from his palm seemed to radiate through her body, suddenly giving her a warm feeling in the very cockles of her blackened heart. Her thoughts seemed to be a jumbled mess as she listened him to explain what he had actually meant, ”You know everything?” She questioned, wondering if he had been reading her thoughts this entire time. If he had, it would have been obvious the sorts of feelings that she was having about him.

She blushed slightly, but tried to hide it by taking a huge swing of her raspberry mead. She knew that if she could blame it on the alcohol then she wouldn’t feel so silly blushing in front of the man that seemed to be the man of her dreams. She bit down on her lip slightly, still trying to hide her feelings from him, even though he had all but just told her that it was possible for him to read everything that she was thinking, ”Do you read people’s thoughts often?” She asked, raising one of her eyebrows in curiosity. She wondered if that was a skill that was on the list of things that they would be learning. In all honesty, she wouldn’t mind. It was an interesting topic and something that would be largely beneficial if she learned how to correctly use it. However, it was all hinging upon him actually teaching her the skill. From what she had heard, it was one of the hardest types of magic that there were out there. He gave her knee a gentle squeeze and she all but jumped, pressing her back into the chair and trying not to close her eyes in ecstasy. It was odd how much a simple gesture seemed to affect Bellatrix Black.

She raised both of her eye brows as he spoke about a Professor named Andrea Joyce. Bells knew that she could take his statement to mean one of two things: 1. He was very focused in his studies and Professor Joyce was one of the Professors who had made a lasting impact or 2. Professor Riddle had had something going on with Professor Joyce way back in the day. Slowly a smile begin to form on the corners of her lips as her mind decided that it wanted to go in the perhaps more risqué direction with his statement; after all, that made her think that she stood more of a chance with the elusive Riddle.

”Do you still speak to Andrea Joyce?” Bellatrix practically blurted, her lips on the edge of her glass, her eyes sparkling as she looked at him. She had to know these things; she wanted to know so desperately. It was almost sickening how obsessive she had become about Professor Riddle over the past couple of days. Being alone with him in his office for Private Tutoring seemed to only compound things. For a moment, she wondered if she had overstepped a boundary, but he had said that they would have no boundaries tonight, “Did she break it off, or you?”

Bellatrix had to admit that she was fascinated by the idea of being able to read other people’s thoughts...in fact, right now she wanted nothing more than to be able to know what Professor Riddle was thinking. She wanted to know what he thought of her so desperately. Did he see her as a child? Or as someone that he could take places and show things that he showed no one else? She wanted to be that person for him...she wanted to devote her entire being to him. Instead of questioning him further like she wanted to, she simply nodded her head, pretending to be not all that interested. She didn’t want to come off too strong and she knew that if she began asking how he felt about her and her family and her bloodline that the conversation would soon go sour and neither one of them would be able to pick it back up again.

She bit down on her lip slightly, her teeth chewing at the edge as she fought to keep her sanity. She wanted to know so much more. She wanted to know everything about him. In fact, she wanted to know it more than she had ever wanted to know anything in the entire world. It was then that she decided that she would make it her own personal duty to find out as much as possible about Tom Riddle as she could over the next week, because that was just the kind of person that she was. Once she was obsessed with something - ie the Professor before her - she had to know everything about it. She had to know the way that it worked, what made it tick and most importantly, how to win its affections, ”What?” Bells was suddenly brought out of her own thoughts by the idea of this...trampy professor tutoring Maxi-pad, ”Maxwell does find in potions.” She muttered, feeling her face burn slightly with a blush. She couldn’t figure out how he seemed to be so in tune with everything in her life...it was as if he already knew everything about her. Then again, she supposed it wasn’t too far fetched. She realized that she had probably come off a little strangely and back-tracked, ”Mr. Maxwell,” She adopted his stark name for her ex-boyfriend, ”Is a fine student. I’m sure if he needs any help in that department he can find his own tutor.” Her tone was a little harsher than she intended, but she figured that he knew that he had struck a nerve.

Still stunned from the Zeke question, it was taking her a little while to find the words to say to the Professor. She couldn’t figure out how he could be so void of feeling about the whole thing, but she vowed that one day she would figure out how he did it. Slowly she tugged on her hem again, wondering what more there was to say about the matter, ”A free spirit.” She mused, referring to him. It seemed as if he didn’t really have time for women. Something that Bells wanted to break him of. After all, why not her? She smiled at the very thought, the grin reaching down to the very core of her Black heart and making her feel warm and tingly throughout her body, ”I don’t think so actually-” She tipped her glass and downed the last bit of raspberry meade that was there, being careful not to spill any onto her dress. Then she placed the glass on the desk in front of her and looked up at the Professor whom she had developed an terrible fondness for, ”Except-” She looked down, her eyes staring at the lifeless body of the rat that lay between them, ”Might I have him?” She asked, her voice full of so much depth for a moment that it hardly sounded like her own.