Bellatrix was furious. She poked James and Sirius and gestured that they should retreat back to where they had left Remus and Peter. They did so, avoiding detection by Snape and Narcissa, and had soon returned to where they could talk in slightly louder voices.
"What's going on?" Remus asked.
"I'm not entirely sure," James admitted.
"It would appear that Lucius has arranged to meet with my sister Narcissa and then take her with him," Bellatrix said, sounding very annoyed. "Apparently, Snape is helping to engineer the meeting."
"Wait," said Sirius, "wasn't Lucius one of those Slytherins that tried to hurt you?"
"Yes," Bellatrix ground out from between clenched teeth. "It would appear that he is still trying to court my sister."
James snickered, "Maybe your father had better look into cancelling that marriage contract."
"You can hardly blame your sister," Remus interjected quietly. "Does she know all the facts of why Lucius is no longer at Hogwarts?"
Bellatrix sighed. "I'm not so much angry at the little idiot as I am at that slime ball who has the audacity to get involved with this business. Of course, I'm also angry at Lucius, but he's not here. I think the best course of action is to haul them both in to see Professor Ashworth. We can arrange for my father to deal with Narcissa, and Ashworth can take care of Snape. Maybe he'll convince Dumbledore to expel the little bugger."
"If Lucius is on his way here, maybe you could set a trap," James suggested.
Bellatrix took his suggestion under consideration. Capturing Lucius and his friends would be quite the coup. However, Bellatrix couldn't be sure which or how many friends Lucius would bring with him. There was also the matter of her sister, her cousin, and her cousin's friends. None seemed proficient enough to engage in a spellfire fight and emerge unscathed. "I don't like the odds. Too many things could go wrong." she told the Marauders. "Let's grab them and get out of here before anyone else shows up. Who knows how to do a stunner?"
The Marauders unanimously agreed that James, an aspiring auror, was the best at performing stunners. Bellatrix, wondering if a fourth-year student could really be proficient at the stunning spell, reluctantly decided that James should aim for Narcissa. Snape presented the more present danger, and Bellatrix didn't want to risk James failing on the first shot.
"Let's do it," Bellatrix said.
"Maybe the three of us could do a distraction," Sirius suggested. "It might not be strictly necessary, but it can't hurt to have a little bit more preparation on our side. Snape is annoying, but he isn't spectacularly stupid or anything."
"Can you do something that won't attract the attention of everyone in the castle?" Bellatrix asked.
"Yup," Sirius replied, grinning. "You and James go back to where you have a clear shot. We'll start our distraction in about three or four minutes." Sirius waved at Bellatrix and James and then led a thoughtful-looking Remus and a puzzled-looking Peter a little ways into the Forbidden Forest.
Bellatrix and James crept toward Snape and Narcissa with their wands drawn. They separated, James taking position in the shadow of a tree, Bellatrix crouching next to a bush. Their movement had only taken a minute, so they were left to wait another two or three minutes for the other Marauders. In the meantime, they had the opportunity to overhear more of the conversation between Snape and Narcissa.
"Severus, people don't refer to the noble heads of houses as lords anymore," Narcissa said, exhaustion evident in her voice. "It's all very outdated. Nobody calls my uncle Lord Black. And why should I be jealous of him or my cousins? My father just became the Minister of Magic this week. You can't tell me that being the noble lord of some has-been house is better than that."
"You don't understand," Snape said, sounding very sulky. "Being a pureblood means something."
"Yeah, it means you're rich," Narcissa said. "Nobody cares about poor purebloods. Haven't you noticed?"
Bellatrix thought over her sister's statement. In a way, it rang true for her. Deeper thoughts about pureblood status and how money was relevant to it were squashed as soon as Bellatrix heard a rustling in the foliage. It was coming from where they had left Sirius, Remus, and Peter.
"What's that?" Narcissa asked quickly.
"What's what?" Snape asked, drawn from his sulky reverie. He looked around.
"I thought I heard something," Narcissa told him. She pointed, "Over there."
Snape pointed his wand toward where Narcissa had directed. There was another rustling. "Who goes there?" Snape called.
"Maybe it's Lucius," Narcissa said hopefully.
"It's too early," Snape retorted, squinting in the direction of the noise.
Bellatrix too was curious about what was making the noise and she strained her neck a little to try and catch a glimpse of what was making the noise. More rustling brought the source of the noise within eyesight, though its identity was indistinguishable. All Bellatrix could see was that it seemed to be a living creature about as tall as her waist. It seemed quite wide, though. Perhaps a dwarf? she thought.
"I'm armed," Snape said, striking a formal dueling posture.
The mysterious creature moved closer, its movement quite odd. It didn't seem like a person walking. Snape was now visibly sweating. For all his bravado, it did not seem like he had planned on coming face to face with an opponent.
"Speak to me!" Snape demanded.
Ribbit!
Narcissa began giggling loudly. She walked over, drew her wand, and cast a quick light spell. "It's a giant frog!"
Ribbit!
Bellatrix was also staring with surprise at the frog. Had her cousin's friends really transfigured that? Then, remembering that it was supposed to be a distraction so that she and James could stun the two, she looked over to where James was hiding and motioned for him to start the attack.
"There is something suspicious about this frog!" Snape declared.
"Don't be ridiculous!" Narcissa laughed. "It probably wandered out of the Forbidden Forest."
"There's no such thing as a giant frog!" Snape insisted.
....
Join my P@treon and get 60+ advanced chapters.
Link: p*atreon.com/0LordSilvere0 (Remove the *)
Free members get 5 chapters free.
Join Right Now