Numb {Bella} COMPLETE

[notalice]

Leander was a mess. There was no better way to put it. She felt lost and confused and paranoid about 99% of the time. She was always looking over her shoulder and double checking to see who was in a room before she let herself enter it. She'd never felt so alone or confused before.

The Christmas holidays had passed and now she was back looking constantly over her shoulder again, never feeling free from the paranoid feeling that someone would find out.

Even since that day in the Hospital Wing just a few month back, Leander had been carrying around the dangerous potions that Bellatrix Black had forced her to look after. Leander had been so convinced that it would only be for a day or two, maybe even a week. But a few month? Each day she grew more worried that the last. What if someone found her with them? What is she was caught with stolen potions? She'd be in so much trouble...

The snow was blanketing the grounds as she slid out of the front doors of the castle and made her way down to the familiar sanctuary of the CMC classroom. It was nothing more than a fenced in area of ground, but she still felt safe there even though it was an exposed place.

Today, she knew that Professor Kettleburn wouldn't be around, so she had nothing to do as far as helping out, so she just sat on the fence staring blankly into the space around her. Why couldn't everything just go back to normal? Go back to the way things had been before... Before long, tears began to streak down her cheeks, much alike how they had done many, many times over the past weeks.

She couldn't believe how scared this whole thing made her feel. She'd seen Bellatrix since - in the Great Hall and at the far ends of corridors, but the older girl had never once tried to speak to her. More than anything, the reminder that she lied to Bella gnawed at her insides and chewed her up. If Bella found out who she was... That she wasn't called Alison Smith...

How had she got herself in this mess?

Leander had no idea how long she sat there with tears streaming down her face as she reflected over everything that was happening to her as of late, but some time later she became aware of the fact that she was no longer alone...

[bellatrix]

Bellatrix was not a young woman with whom to be messed with and it annoyed her that someone had lied. Whipping out her wand she cast a curse upon the snivelling wretch that laid before her at her feet. He was filth, dirty mudblood filth and he dared speak to her, he dared to lie to her. Bellatrix was not amused, she was deeply annoyed at the insubordination. She asked him to do one thing, one tiny little thing and the rat came back to her with lies. Though Bella was surprised he'd come back at all, she had been about ready to hunt him down. Still it saved her some time and effort.

Bellatrix walked away, leaving the Gryffindor's friends to pick him up and drag him off to the Hospital Wing as he sobbed pathetically, his chin buried into his chest, muffling the sounds that passed his unworthy lips. Bella didn't have time to be lied to but she did have the time to follow up on some matters that had gone on long enough. Her potions, the ones she had stolen from the very hospital wing she had just sent that filthy fifth year off to. She had to get them back and she would have done a little sooner only it turned out, just as Bella had suspected, Alice Smith was not a real person. It seemed another student had found themselves in trouble by lying to Bellatrix Black.

Luckily for Bella as she was defending the main staircase down in to the entrance hall, she saw a familiar flash of red hair leaving the castle. The girl was highly visible against the white snow that layer the grounds and Bella had nothing to do but follow the lonely, lying little witch.

Bella had theories of who the girl was, the most likely was a fourth year by the name of Leander Spicer. Bella had always made it her business to know everyone in the school, know their backgrounds, their bloodlines and their allegiances, it was what made her a good death eater to have in the school, she knew who she could press for information, she knew who would cower before her and clearly, Miss Spicer, if this was her, was the girl to bend to Bella's will.

Bella kept her distance from her prey, surely the girl would spook if she knew Bella was around, but what was the poor thing going to do? Run? Bella scoffed at the thought. She hardly thought so. Running would be quite possibly the second biggest mistake this girl would ever make, the first of course was lying bluntly straight to Bella's face.

Bella's shoes crunched through the snow, the heels not even penetrating the once mushy ground, the once muddy grounds now were just solid like rocks. Bella kept walking and kept watching, it seemed 'Alice' was heading to the care of magical creatures section of the grounds and it looked like she was all alone. Bella watched for a little while. 'Alice' seemed to be sobbing and Bella couldn't help but think the girl had no idea just what it was she was getting herself in for.

After watching for a little while to ensure that 'Alice' would be completely alone, Bella made her way towards the girl and came to a halt a little way in front of her. "You ought be careful, your tears might freeze to your face on a day like this." Bella stood before the girl in her Winter uniform, she wore her long black skirt, her white shirt, grey jumper with the slytherin emblem and her black, fur lined cloak that also held her house crest.

[notalice]

The tears that had started to fall grew worse, and she could feel her whole body starting to shake, and not just from the cold. Leander wrapped her arms around herself and put her head down, letting the tears that bubble up then rolled down her face drip onto her sleeves.

Why did she feel like she was living in a constant state of fear all the time? She was constantly scared that Bellatrix was going to appear out of nowhere and demand her potions back, and while she wanted to get the potions out of her care, she also knew that there would be a high chance that Bella would have found out her real name by now, and she didn't think the 7th year would just let that slide.

It had been a mistake made in a brief moment of fear when face to face will Bellatrix, and it was something she'd regretted almost instantaneously. And then Bella had given her the potions... There was no way she was ever going to escape the repercussions of that lie. All she could do was wait till the day that it came, and that was why Leander was always so scared now.

She knew what the Slytherin's were capable of. She knew that many of them had joined with that Lord person... And she knew as well as anyone that Slytherin's had been responsible for the attacks that had Forbidden Forest back in September. There'd be whispers that Bellatrix had been involved in those torturings, but no evidence, and no one had entirely took the blame for that event yet...

"You ought be careful, your tears might freeze to your face on a day like this."

Leander looked up with a sharp gasp that quickly turned into a small cry when she realized just who was standing in front of her. This was like her worst nightmares were finally become true. Bellatrix Black...

Leander could do nothing but sit there and stare, frozen to the spot in fear and terrified out of her wits at what might happen now.

"B-b-b-bellatrix..." She stuttered in a small voice, her breath already coming in short, uneven gasps with her fear.

[bellatrix]

A stutter! How utterly pathetic was this wretch? Honestly, Bella could have scoffed at the thing weeping before her, it would have just been easier to hex her off that bloody fence. Better yet it would simply be kinder to put the liar out of her misery all together by simply using an unforgivable. Bella's favourite was crucio but avada kedavra would do nicely on this little pipsqueak. At least then Bella wouldn't have to worry about the possibility that the little brat might tattle on her. Hmm, that was quite a plan, but no, Bella knew she might have been spotted coming down this way, following 'Alice Smith'.

Bella smiled a wicked smile at 'Alice'. A smile that suggested that Bella wasn't going anywhere just yet and that she had many a thing to discuss with this girl. "Indeed, it is I and what brings you here, Alice?" Bellatrix had little else to ask the girl, she wanted to know what she was up to, a shrewd cloud of suspicion was starting to cloud Bellatrix's mind, from time to time the witch was known to be a little paranoid and in this instance she was paranoid that 'Alice' might be confiding in someone about the potions, or perhaps she already had, if that were the case and Bella found out, well it was a difficult thing to admit to and it grievously upset Bella to even think it but ... but ... well, she'd have to kill the other person and teach this supposed 'Alice' a lesson. Ha! Who was Bella trying to kid? She would love every second of torturing this little fourth year, if she was indeed a fourth year as Bella suspected, there was much Bella suspected about this girl and she had to weigh up her options. Did she want this girl holding her potions a little longer or did she want to take them away? The thought of the girl feeling absolutely terrified of having stolen, dangerous goods within her possession pleased Bellatrix and so she figured it was probably best the girl hold them for another week, maybe two, but Bella didn't want to push her luck, she didn't want to have this liar getting all panicky and telling someone about these positions, especially any of the professors.

[notalice]

"Indeed, it is I and what brings you here, Alice?"

Leander swallowed hard. She could see the way that Bellatrix's eyes seemed to bore into her - like they were seeing straight through her or something. There was something in the way she said the false name too... did she know? This was Bellatrix Black, of course she knew by now. How could she not? She'd know that Leander had lied and then... and then what? Leander's stomach felt like lead as she considered all the possibilities...

"I-I-I was just..." She was just what? She was just sitting down here to be out of the way of every one and everything, because she never felt safe in the castle any more, whereas CMC had always been a safe place for her... and now her safe place was looking to be her living hell... "Nothing..."

Part of her wanted to look at Bella to try and judge what she was thinking, though Leander had never really been very good at reading people... the other part of her though, just wanted to bury her head in the ground and hide away. The most Leander could do though, was look down at her hands which wound nervously in her lap, and hope that Bella would just ask for her potions back, and then leave her be...

[bellatrix]

That was it? That was all the girl had to say? Bella was surprised that there wasn't any form of grovelling, that the girl didn't beg to be rid of her task but perhaps this girl was smarter than Bella had initially thought. Perhaps this girl wasn't such a big fool after all. Though if the girl stuttered any more then the likeliness of them being here three times as long were quite high.

"Nothing? And I don't suppose you've told anyone about our little meeting, have you?" Bella stepped closer and closer to Leander until she was face to face with her all though Leander spent a lot of her time studying her twiddling hands. Bella's eyes widened as though she had a shocked look stuck upon her face, her cheeks sucked in a little as she pursed her lips and she closely surveyed Leander, looking upon the fear in the girls face. Bella's stomach twisted with a thrill, she liked her victims squeamish, she liked them in agony be it physical or mental, any sort of distress was welcome. "Have you?" Bella whispered in a mildly threatening tone, it wasn't anger it was more a persuasive sort of threat where the threat itself was silent and implied, if Leander had told anyone anything then the girl could kiss goodbye to everything precious in her life, including those hands of hers she seemed so interested upon watching.

[notalice]

Leander kept her eyes on her hands as Bella spoke and tried not to think about the situation that she was in. She hated any kind of attention and this was the worst possible sort. If she thought that the initial meeting the Bellatrix in the hospital wing had been bad that was nothing to how this was fairing up… Maybe if she just hadn't lied? If she'd just told Bella her real name from the start… maybe then she wouldn't have this problem.

She didn't know how to answer the older girl's question either. Had she told anyone? No. She wouldn't dare. Besides, who was she supposed to tell? But if she just said no would Bellatrix believe her? Maybe there was something… something Leander had done… something that Bella had seen perhaps that made her think Leander might have been telling? She really didn't want to know how far she'd go to find out.

The Slytherin moved closed and Leander took a deep, shuddering breath, her eyes widening with fear even though she still kept her eyes cast downward.

"Have you?"

Leander looked up then. "No." Her voice was little more than a whisper and she couldn't force herself to say more even if she wanted to. She couldn't make herself speak louder either. It was like cold tendrils had wound their way around her throat and started to squeeze, making even breathing difficult.

[bellatrix]

Bella felt a wave of glee crash through her body, this little Gryffindork was so easy to scare, it was almost a little too easy for Bella's liking but not quite, there was still a little more work that needed doing. Bella reached one hand to Leander's wrist and another to her throat, her crazy brown eyes bore into Leander's steely blue orbs. With a tight squeeze on Leander's wrist she pulled it away from her lap but not quite as tight a squeeze on her throat, Bella dug her nails into the little red head and slowly pressed deeper with every word she spoke.

"You'd better pray that no one finds anything out," She hissed at the girl "Because if they do whatever happens to me will be nothing compared to what I'll do to you next time I get my hands on you." Bella let go, scratching her nails quickly across Leander's neck. "Is that understood, Leandra?" Bella stared intensely at the girl, "And if I ever catch filth like you, lying to me again, I'll have your head. You don't want me as your enemy Spicer because they will never find your body." Bella was taking a gamble. She had deduced that this girl was most likely Leander Spicer and was calling her up on it, making her aware that she wouldn't tolerate any more of her dirty little lies.

[notalice]

Leander wasn't expecting what came next. She didn't think she'd get away from Bellatrix quite so easily, but she wasn't expecting to be grabbed in quite the way she was. Nails dug at her neck, and another tugged her wrist away from her lap. It felt in that moment like all the oxygen had been drained from the air - not from the tightness of the older girl's grasp, but from the fear that tore through Leander's body at lightening speed.

She stumbled unsteadily off the fence and she had a hard time trying to keep her feet under her. Her knees felt weak and shaky, as did the rest of her. Sometimes she wonder why she had to be so pathetic and useless, and now was one of those times. By the same length, even if she wasn't, there wasn't a lot that she could do up against someone like Bellatrix Black.

Leander's eyes widened. She'd been caught. She'd told a lie and the older girl knew about it. How had she known? Probably very easily... Still, Stefan's face appeared in her mind. Had he said something? Surely not. This was what she'd been expecting all along, quite simply. There was no Alison Smith in this school, and it wouldn't have taken long for Bellatrix to find that out. Sure Leander wasn't the most popular kid on the block but there were still plenty of people who would know her name if asked.

"Und-"Her own hands came up to her throat and she swallowed hard, followed with a small cough to try and get her voice back and working. "Understood." The words, again, were hardly a whisper.

She didn't want to ever find out whether Bellatrix actually meant what she was saying, but she was certain the older girl's cold words were only the truth of what she was capable of. Leander wanted to say more. She knew how pathetic she must sound but no words came to mind. All she wanted was for Bellatrix to ask for her potions back so that she could be free from all this. Then she could just go back to walking silently in the shadows and staying out of everyone else's way. She wouldn't have to worry about watching over her shoulder all the time.

[bellatrix]

Bella tiled her head slowly to her right, staring at Leander. She then lifted her head upright before tilting it to her left, her neck creaking and clicking with her lazy movements. Slowly but with deliberation Bella pulled out her wand from beneath her robes with her wand hand, her right. "This has just been a little exercise, Leander. Just remember how easily I have found you today, just remember that you have nowhere on this Earth where you can hide from me, Bellatrix Black." Bella said her name with pride as she continued to stare at Leander, not even blinking against the brutal wind that would pass by. "Next time I find you, I'll be wanting my potions so have them at the ready or one of your friends will pay for your insolence."

Bella turned on her heel and straightened herself up, organising her robes before she started walking back up towards the castle. It wouldn't be long now until she would have her potions. She wouldn't leave the girl too long carrying them around the school, maybe just another week, keep her on edge who knew, the girl might even have a mental breakdown and skip a few lessons. As long as she didn't keep herself locked away in Gryffindor tower, Bella wouldn't care where the girl went, not that Gryffindor Tower wasn't penetrable, anyone would give up the password for a high enough price or long enough torture, no it was just an inconvenience the brunette did not want to suffer through.

[notalice]

Bella pulled her wand from beneath her robe and Leander wasn't sure whether she whimpered out loud, or whether fear had frozen the sound in her throat before it could escape. So many horrible things flashed before her eyes in that moment in time and it took all her effort just to stay standing and not allow her legs to collapse beneath her.

"Next time I find you, I'll be wanting my potions so have them at the ready or one of your friends will pay for your insolence."

What did that mean? Did that mean if Leander didn't have the potions on her when Bellatrix found her then some one would get hurt because of it? But... did that mean that she wanted Leander to keep the potions in her bag all day every day? What if she was caught? What if something happened and the bottles got smashed? What if...

Before she had a chance to react, Bellatrix had turned and started to walk back in the direction of the castle. Leander's hands automatically went to her throat and she finally allowed her knees to buckle. She hit the ground hard and knelt there shaking, fear still flooded her even though Bellatrix was gone. What did this mean? What now?

For now, Leander just sat there, hands at her own throat, tears streaming down her face, and thousands of terrible thoughts racing through her mind... Who would Bella hurt if Leander messed this up?