(Author's Note: Yay! Part 2, I'm writing faster than I originally planned, which is good as long as that doesn't stop. Bellatrix is about to begin her forth year at Hogwarts where this story begins, it's early July now. Aside from occasional grief from her parents, she's used to getting whatever she wants. Her Dark Arts skills have increased while her passion for learning them is wavering slightly... Well, enjoy.)

"Crucio!"

Bellatrix flinched as she heard the shouted incantation but relaxed again immediately afterward. The curse hadn't been directed at her which meant that Cygnus must have found a more deserving victim. A rat or house elf perhaps, Bellatrix didn't really care as long as he stayed away from her and her sisters.

It was the summer between her third and forth year at Hogwarts and Bellatrix had isolated herself in her room for the majority of it because her parents had recently been all-but unbearable. Cygnus and Druella Black, as she was now calling them instead of Father and Mother in order to communicate that she no longer had any respect for them, were self-absorbed and paranoid people who had never loved their children because they cared about only one thing: their family's reputation.

They had raised their three daughters with their inherited ideals of what pure-blood girls should behave like. Cygnus had focused on training them as warriors for the Cause of pureblood supremacy and had gone as far as using the Cruciatus Curse on Bellatrix in order to test her endurance and loyalty, an act that she would never forgive him for. And Druella had constantly lectured the girls since birth about their place in society and their duty to the family: to get married to a respectable pureblood man and spawn as many pureblood children as possible.

Since Bellatrix had turned fourteen, the two of them had not stopped aggravating her. Cygnus constantly asked about her school work and what sort of friends she had. Druella always wanted to know about the pureblood boys Bellatrix went to school with. She'd recently threatened to arrange a marriage if Bellatrix didn't choose a husband for herself by the time she graduated.

Bellatrix didn't mind shutting herself up in her room if it meant escaping that aggravation. She had always been anti-social and these days she had plenty of things to occupy her time. Mostly, she focused on the three Dark Arts books that someone had mysteriously left for her to find around the Hogwarts campus and that she had acquired one at a time over the course of her first three years there.

Bellatrix was staring at the three of them now, laid out unceremoniously on the bed in front of her. She had read the three volumes cover to cover and had familiarized herself with every magical ability they offered her, but was puzzled by the lack of additional instructions. She had been told to read, to learn, to memorize, and to attempt every spell that she was capable of. And she had done all these things, multiple times, but she had no idea what to do next.

There was a knock on her door then and she happily accepted the distraction. "Who is it?"

"Cissy," Narcissa called from the other side of the door.

"Come in."

"I can't, it's locked."

"Oh, sorry." Bellatrix had locked the door with the ordinary bolt and also magically in addition the anti-apparation spell she'd cast around her room so that not even the house elves could bother her. She waved her wand at the door, muttered a couple of words, and watched it unlock itself and then swing open to admit her worried-looking sister inside.

Narcissa closed the door behind her and went to sit on the bed next to Bellatrix as she warily eyed the three Dark Arts books.

"Just doing some studying," Bellatrix dismissed her sister's concern. She replaced her locking charms. "So, what's up?"

Narcissa didn't respond immediately, when she finally did her answer was sweet and simple, "Nothing, I just wanted to talk to you."

"Okay, what do you want to talk about?"

"Um, well, Andromeda is starting school this year, and you're there already. So, I'm going to be all by myself here." There was a heartbreaking sadness in her voice.

"Oh, Cissy!" Bellatrix hugged her sister. "It's okay. Just think, if Andy's birthday was any earlier in the year she would have started school last year... and you'll be going next year, so it shouldn't be so bad. It's only one year, Cissy and I'll see you on holidays. Look, I'll write to you every day if you need me to, but I promise, you will get through-"

She broke off as Cygnus's voice bellowed "Curcio!" yet again. It came from somewhere down the hall and was shouted less than five minutes later than the first time she'd heard it. She completely forgot about reassuring Narcissa as a horrifying idea entered her mind.

"Cissy, where is Andromeda?" Bellatrix asked, but didn't wait for an answer. She tore down her locking charms and ran down the hall to her sister's room.

Andromeda was curled up on her bed obviously experiencing terrible pain. Her eyes were tightly shut and her mouth was open as if trying to form a scream. Her body was convulsing and she let out little whimpers and gasps of pain every few seconds. The girls' father stood over her, he held his wand so it aimed directly at Andromeda's chest and moved whenever she did, and he was wearing his permanent mask of emotionlessness.

Bellatrix watched the scene with disgust at first, but then switched to feeling intrigue instead. She couldn't help it. The Cruciatus Curse was just one of the many Dark spells that she had taught herself with help from her Dark Arts books. She had not tried it on another person yet, but torturing bugs and small animals always reminded her of her superiority and made her feel alive and powerful.

The girl writhing on the bed in front of her looked so small and weak. Surely, if she wasn't strong enough to even try to resist the pain, then she deserved to suffer it. That thought sent chills through Bellatrix's entire body but she did nothing but keep watching with a fascination that some part of her knew was perverse but it was still something that she couldn't keep herself from feeling even if she wanted to, which she knew she didn't.

"Trixie, do something!" Narcissa's voice cried desperately as her tiny hand seized Bellatrix's arm. "Please!"

That brought Bellatrix back to reality. She shrieked in horror as she remembered that the girl on the bed was Andromeda and realized that she'd been captivated, even amused by her sister's suffering. Her scream had caused Andromeda to open her tear-filled eyes and stare at her as if begging for her help.

Bellatrix clutched her wand threateningly as she turned to face Cygnus. "Stop it!"

"Do not interfere with my parenting, Bellatrix," he ordered. She had distracted him enough that he unintentionally released Andromeda from the torture curse.

"Parenting?" Bellatrix repeated in outrage.

Her sisters meant the world to her and she was not going to let anyone hurt them. She had never been the self-sacrificing type, but she saw no other option and quickly made her decision. "Look," she sighed. "You can do whatever you want to me, but leave Andy and Cissy alone. They can't possibly stand all that pain, they're just children."

That wasn't technically true. Andromeda was almost twelve years old and Narcissa had just turned ten, but Bellatrix had been only nine the first time Cygnus had used the Cruciatus Curse on her. All the same, Bellatrix knew she was stronger than either of her sisters and would do just about anything to protect them. Especially now that she needed to redeem herself for not helping Andromeda sooner.

"Bellatrix, I will not ask you again..." Cygnus warned.

Bellatrix motioned for her terrified sisters to flee the room, then she sent one of her favorite Dark spells at their father. "Sectumsempra!" She screamed, slashing her wand through the air and aiming the curse at his face.

He blocked it with a shield charm, conjured wordlessly with the tiniest flick of his wand, then repeated this gesture and used a second unspoken incantation to send Bellatrix's wand flying out of her hand. "You're not supposed to use magic outside of school," he reminded her with a slightly mocking tone.

Bellatrix knew what was coming but she had no hope of even trying to brace herself for it. She choked out an order to Andromeda who had remained frozen on her bed and was now hugging Narcissa protectively. "Andy, don't let Cissy watch this!"

"Crucio!" Cygnus bellowed for the third time that night.

Bellatrix kept her eyes open long enough to watch Andromeda cover Narcissa's face with a pillow before she squeezed them shut and crumpled to the ground.

She hadn't been under this curse for almost three years but the pain was just as horrible as she remembered it being. She felt like her skin was burning, her bones were breaking, her skull was splitting, and her muscles were tearing. But all that she could do was wait for it to stop.

"Expelliarmus!" She heard her sister's voice call from across the room and then the pain ceased.

Andromeda must have retrieved Bellatrix's fallen wand and shot the disarming spell at their father. Bellatrix was glad she'd thought to teach it to her sisters. She felt relief, but other than that she didn't think at all. She picked herself up and ran from the room, down the stairs and into the parlor.

There, she snatched a handful of floo powder from a vase on one of the bookshelves, then stepped into the fireplace, threw down the powder and urgently cried, "Lestrange Estate!"