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Bellatrix Lestrange (first_bellatrix) wrote in _firstwar_hist,
@ 2009-11-24 02:40:00

Entry tags:

* incomplete, 1972, bellatrix lestrange, sirius black

Who: Bella and Sirius.
What: Bella surprises Sirius by teaching him how to fight like a Muggle and in fact revealing that she know show to do so as well.
Where: The Black family summer home in France.
When: Summer of 1972.
Rating: IDK. I'll fill this in later.
Status: Closed/Complete.

The summer couldn't come fast enough for Bella. To say that her year had been busy was an understatement. Missions, recruitment, moving up in the ranks and proving herself to be more than just a female with thoughts and ideals of her own had kept her far busier than she had ever expected it would but never once had she complained. She had been knocked down, beat up, pushed to the brink of exhaustion and then pushed even further but she had taken it all and dealt with it as was expected of her and in the end her dedication had paid off and she was quickly rising in the ranks, surpassing many of the men who had had their marks for years now and were still no further than when they had taken them. Bella was pleased with herself, incredibly much so. But her dedication to her cause and her mark had caused other areas of her life to suffer, mainly her relationship with her family. She had closed herself off and withdrawn from in favour of being able to focus and she knew they noticed. The owls from her sisters and her parents were piled up on her desk, unopened, unanswered and collecting dust. Furious wasn't what they were with her and she knew it but at the moment it didn't matter to her. She had a mission of her own and she would see it completed if it killed.....something it might very well do yet.

Summer arriving though changed all of that. She had informed her Lord that she would be spending it in France and that all he need do was call and she would come as she always had but she needed to work on her relationships with her family and prove to them that she was not as horrible as they believed her to be and that she did in fact still love them. They had arrived at the manor the week before and Bella would have been with them but loose ends needed to be tied up before she could go. Rodolphus was accompanying her but he was staying at the Lestrange family home and she would travel back forth between the two. The moment she set foot inside of the manor though and took a breath it seemed as though all of the stress of the past nine months just disappeared. Summers in France were always relaxing for her and this would be no different than all of the other times she had been there. Heading up to her room she dropped her bag on the floor and kicked off her shoes, a grin spreading across her face as she did. Sure the summer was a time for relaxation but for her it was filled will lessons, adventures and relaxation. It meant more time with her family and now more time with Sirius. He had gone to Hogwarts the previous fall and as such she had not seen as much of him as she usually did and if she were honest it bothered her a bit to not be able to see him whenever she liked or to show him new things such as the wide array of spells and tricks she had learned in her time with her Lord. That would all change now though. They had the rest of the summer and she was determined to show him as much of what she knew as she could before they all had to part and go back to their normal lives.

Barefoot and clad in a pair of shorts and a tight black shirt she left her room and went in search of her cousin. The spells could wait until later. At the moment she had something more important she wanted to show him, or well something she felt was more important. Most would be shocked if they knew she could do it but she felt it was a necessity, especially with the life she led. One always had to be prepared and this ensured that she was. And as such was the case what she knew she passed onto Sirius and this was going to be no different. She really was in no hurry though so she wandered through the hallways slowly, poking her head in and out of random rooms trying to find the others and simply to see what had changed and what hadn't in the she had been away.

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first_sirius
2009-11-25 05:03 am UTC (link)

At school Sirius had become aware of the fact that not so many extended families were as close as his own. Well, he'd always known that his family was exceptional, that they stood a bit apart, but it was strange to hear other students talk about how they had cousins they'd never met. Distant cousins were one thing, but it was practically impossible for Sirius to envision a life that didn't contain Bella's company. Part of him felt a little bad for those who didn't have the sort of family that was... connected.

"Of course," he answered easily, but straightforwardly, opting to ignore the opportunity to tease her back.

If he hadn't, he wouldn't have said anything. For whatever reason, the underpinning to the inquiry seemed to deserve a direct response. It was almost strange, acclimating to that impulse. At school, the opportunity to say simply whatever crossed his mind held sway over the desire to reveal his true thoughts.

The book slipped easily from his grasp with an indulgence long made thoughtless through habit. Upon hearing her question a smile was unfurling along his mouth, his eyes suddenly sharp with interest. Bella always came up with the best sorts of games. And when she said exciting, she rarely ever disappointed. Sirius had developed an escalating sort of desire for real excitement, though the catalyst for that remained a bit unclear. He was largely content to blame it on the tussles he'd found himself in with a few boys from Slytherin who didn't seem to approve of his Sorting. Why they cared at all was a bit beyond Sirius, but he'd seen that as no reason to back down. He was really starting to develop quite a fondness for the way such situations could get his heart to slam against his chest.

"How much more exciting?" he asked, the tease back in his tone and his consent quite obvious from the way the entirety of his attention focused on her.

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first_bellatrix
2009-11-25 05:29 am UTC (link)

She wasn't quite sure why but when he admitted to missing her it had a pleased smile spreading across her face and her mood shifted entirely. Bella would never figure out why she was so drawn to him, especially given that he was nine years younger than she was but it was what it was and she wouldn't give up the relationship she had with Sirius for anything in the world. Though there were days that she felt the only one who really understood her desire to protect and guide and teach him was her father who never got onto her about all of the time she spent with him or the things she taught him. If anything her father encouraged it and she knew she could always count on her father to back her up when others got onto her about how much time she spent with the boy. It was never dull when they were together and she had missed that companionship from him over the past few months.

Rodolphus and those of her fellow Death Eaters were good for some company but there was something about her cousin that made things simple, easy. Made it so that she didn't really have to think when they were together she just acted and in the things generally went well. She had that with Rodolphus to an extent, how easily things came with him and how on some occasions she didn't have to think she just acted, but with Sirius it was different. Perhaps it was the blood connection they shared being with being family or perhaps it was the similar positions that they were in in the family but whatever it was it made her look forward to the time they got to spend together.

"Well that depends on whether or not your arse is going to move from that chair for if you remain sitting and in this room then it really won't be any sort of exciting at all. In order for it to be that you have to move." She shot him a smirk as she stood up and held out her hand to him. "Care to take the risk of following and not knowing what's going to happen?"

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first_sirius
2009-11-25 07:58 am UTC (link)

He gave her a halfhearted roll of his eyes. It was hardly fair to expect him to have any idea what she wanted to get up to, or where, if she was keen on being cryptic. Not that he wasn't curious. Sweeping his gaze over her, it was difficult to tell by the way she was dressed exactly what she'd gotten into her head.

Not knowing exactly what he was getting into rarely served as an actual deterrent for Sirius. Standing, he slipped his hand into hers to follow her without much of a second thought. Beneath an implicit sort of trust was the certainty that he could of course handle whatever she might set before him.

"Don't I even get a hint?" he mentioned, not really expecting her supply one.

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first_bellatrix
2009-11-25 08:18 am UTC (link)

Bella just smirked as they left the library and headed for the main floor and one of the larger rooms that her parents and Aunt and Uncles used mainly for their large parties or gatherings. She had had it set up that morning by the elves in preparation of this and hopefully they were finished as she did not want to wait. The thought of teaching him what she was going to actually made her rather giddy for the pure fact that it would shock the hell out of just about everyone to learn that the Black heiress knew how to fight like a Muggle and rather well at that.

"It has been far too long since I have taught you anything, especially now that your at school I imagine that the amount of time between our lessons is going to grow much larger but I intend to change that today. Its time you learn how to handle yourself in a duel." They had already gone over proper dueling etiquette and how to fight. How to hold his wand and make sure his grip was firm but still allowed him to cast and move about freely without having to worry about loosing his wand or casting a spell but dueling very rarely ever took place in such a controlled environment and more often than not you ended up loosing your wand for you can not control the surrounding factors in a fight. As such she wanted to ensure that if he ever did loose his wand in a duel that he was not completely and utterly defenseless. Bella wanted to make sure that if that ever happened that he would still come out on top and would have a damn good chance of winning and walking away from the fight fairly unscathed.

"Do you need more of a hint or can you figure things out on your own?" Bella liked to challenge and push him. She enjoyed making him think and making him come to answers all on his own. Sometimes she would provide the answer or give a hint that would let him know what she was thinking and allow him to come to the answer quicker but today she would do no such thing. No today he was on his own with what she had given him.

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first_sirius
2009-11-27 02:27 am UTC (link)

The lift of Sirius's brow was more of a suggestion than an overt arch. He wasn't nearly foolish enough to believe he could hold much of his own against her, but Sirius's at-home education had certainly entailed dueling fundamentals- some of it from her, in fact. So it made her answer both seem too direct and too vague.

That she would be teaching him magic was hardly out of the question. That was one of the very nice things about her being older; even with his parents out of the house, Bella was still of age. Sirius really didn't understand how it worked for the other kids at school who literally had to put their wands away all summer. Then again, it was still a bit difficult for Sirius to conceive of what it was to have muggle parents. Less than a year ago it had seemed more a laughable absurdity than a possible reality.

Not that Sirius thought it was a particularly good idea to talk about, so he turned back to the riddle Bella was playing at. The only trouble was, he didn't have his wand with him at the moment. It might have been poor practice, but he wasn't even dressed yet.

"My wand's upstairs," he replied a bit slowly, still assuming she meant to deal with magic.

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first_bellatrix
2009-11-27 06:51 am UTC (link)

"Your wand should be kept on your persons at all times, even if you think it isn't necessary, it is. Never go anywhere without. You never know when your going to need it. Even if all your doing is lounging around in your pajamas you are to make sure you have with you at all times, there is no excuse for not having it. Period. If I catch you again without it you'll write lines about it until your hands fall off. That being said your lucky as today your wand will not be needed." It was the first lesson Bella had learned and she had learned it the hard way. Your wand was an extension of you and to be caught without it was like being without a leg or an arm. It didn't happen. Had they been doing magical lessons that day his being without his wand would have been the first strike against him and Bella would have come up with some way to punish him for not having it but as it was she was going to let the mishap slide this once.

Pushing open the door to one of the smaller ballrooms she was pleased to see that the elves had set up the mats as she had asked and that a portion of the room had been sectioned off in order for her to teach him today. Normally she didn't like the mats as they added a factor to the sparring lessons that would not normally be present in a normal fight but seeing as how Sirius was only twelve she didn't want to hurt him. Not to mention she didn't need her Aunt and Uncle and her parents screeching at her non stop for hurting him.

Letting go of his hand she headed over to where the mats were setup and took a seat on one of them as she stared up at him.

"In a fight you never know what the conditions are going to be. It will almost always be a given that the conditions are unfair, uncontrolled and in an environment where you have no control over outside forces such as stray hexes coming your way or another person possibly joining in on your duel. Because of said conditions the chances of you loosing your wand during a fight are rather high and most witches and wizards if left without their wands are defenseless. You can change that though and surprise your opponent by being able to fight without your wand....by being able to fight like a Muggle. Its a dirty tactic but one that most people won't expect to see coming. And in a duel where your life could very well be on the line anything little extra thing that you can do is to your advantage. With that being said, I intend to teach you how to do just that, fight like a Muggle in case you ever find yourself in a situation where your wand has been taken and you need to defend yourself."

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first_sirius
2009-11-28 07:19 am UTC (link)

He bore her lecture rather well, though when she got to the point about writing lines he couldn't quite suppress the roll of his eyes. Long ago he'd learned to school away an expression of rapt captivation, but that didn't mean he wasn't paying attention, that he wasn't letting her words burrow into his memory. Still, the mention of not needing he wand was a bit curious. He already knew how to fence, and he didn't think anything else was called a duel.

When the mats came into view, Sirius frowned. He didn't care for them. Sirius far preferred legitimate simulation. If he was going to be taught something, he liked the conditions to as closely mirror their real-life application as possible. He'd had to start fencing with a mat before he'd learned to fall properly, and had then promptly dismissed them as soon as he was able. At the very least, their presence suggested combat far more physical- but it was hard to believe that Bella was intending to tutor him in the ways of a fist fight. Then again, it was Bella.

It was a little odd to remain standing as she sat, the feeling of towering over her rather peculiar. Not unpleasant, not strange enough to compel him to sit beside her instead, just new. He'd grown quite a bit at school, something he'd noticed enough to purchase new robes but not enough to insulate him from the contrast of being back home and being taller than he recalled. It made the house seem smaller. The school year had made a lot of things seem smaller.

As Bella spoke, her words washed over him with such a certainty to that questioning the source of her knowledge didn't even cross his mind.

Sirius couldn't quite restrain the satisfied curve to his lips as he mentioned, "I have been in a fight before."

Not for his life, sure, but who was going to try to kill him at Hogwarts?

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first_bellatrix
2009-11-28 11:58 pm UTC (link)

If Bella could have read his mind at that moment it would have amused her greatly to know that he despised the mats almost as much as she did but alas they were necessary....for now at least. They could and would be removed at a later time but until she was certain that he could handle himself and wouldn't end up flat on his arse more often then not as she completely expected him to be for the first few sessions they stayed.

Tilting her head to the side a slim brow arched in curosity as she stared at him and took in what he said. It honestly shouldn't surprise her that he had ended up fighting already but she doubted that it was the fight for your life sort of situation that she in mind to train him for. After all while Hogwarts could be harsh and unfair at times she didn't think that one would be stupid enough to try and kill the House of Black heir. To do so all but signed not only your death warrant but that of your family as well as you would not bring down one, but all of the Black's tempers upon your head and no one ever survived such an attack. No one.

"Oh? What for? And with who? And what sort of situation was it? I highly doubt that it is the same situation that I have in mind but I am curious none the less to know what happened."

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first_sirius
2009-11-29 12:27 am UTC (link)

Oh, right.

In his interest to make his point, he'd overlooked the fact that he wasn't terribly keen to discuss the conditions. Really, anything that highlighted the fact that Sirius had been sorted into Gryffindor instead of Slytherin was a bit taboo once Sirius had gotten home from Hogwarts. It wasn't as if Bella had reacted poorly to the news, certainly nowhere near as bad as his mother had, but it just felt odd to talk about. She'd been in Slytherin. And he wasn't. And it wasn't as if there was much love lost between the two Houses.

With an air nonchalance that was perhaps just a little too studied he shrugged, "A few boys from Slytherin." Sirius's gaze didn't stray from hers. "It was just a lively debate that... escalated."

It probably wouldn't even have come to blows if they'd left Sirius's friends out of their criticisms of his House. Probably. After that first time, Sirius found that they were just too easy to goad, easy to entice into a brawl when he was feeling bored. Or restless. Or frustrated. Slytherins were perfect for it, because half they time they'd start trouble all on their own. Not to mention the fact that they had a penchant for picking on people who either wouldn't or couldn't defend themselves. Interceding there was just... an ethical thing to do.

And besides, fighting with their fists instead of their wands got them into much less trouble.

"It's fine, though. Mostly just tussles till they get broken up by professors," he was quick to add, a more natural smile creeping back in. "Beats homework, anyway."

He didn't want her to worry, and even more, he didn't want her to think he couldn't take care of it himself.

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first_bellatrix
2009-11-29 12:40 am UTC (link)

"Ah." It was really the only answer that Bella could come up with that didn't sound patronizing or biased or judgmental. And she wasn't...not really anyhow. Sure his being sorted into Slytherin had shocked the hell out of her, so much so that when her Aunt had told her the news she had missed the chair she had aimed to sit in and had ended up flat on her arse on the floor and she had wondered if perhaps the hat had been tampered with or if maybe it was all a big joke but upon confirmation from not only her Aunt but her father as well that it was true reality sank in and she realized that she and Sirius were not as alike as she had thought. After all the hat had barely been placed upon her own head before it shouted out Slytherin and off she went. There had been no debate over where she had belonged and she had thought the same was true for Sirius and that he would follow in everyone else's footsteps and end up in Slytherin. But he hadn't and it had taken her a while to come to terms with that fact. It still bothered her a bit that he was in Gryffindor but she could easily over look it and in fact it was something that could be a great advantage to him. With him being a lion and the rest of the family snakes everyone would think him to be different and would never expect him to be like them. It was something Bella planned on working on with him later, using his sorting and the traits he picked up in Gryffindor to his advantage but that lesson would come another for today was already all planned out in her head.

"Just about anything beats homework, especially for a Slytherin. And goading Gryffindors is one of our favourite past times. You just need to remind them that even though you are a Gryffindor you are a Black first and foremost and that fucking with you is not the wisest of ideas. Even if the national past time for a Snake is picking on Gryffindors." Bella had done it off and on for seven years and by the time her seventh year had arrived her goading of them had turned much more violent and hateful but she always made sure to never get caught. It was something she was rather proud of and something that she used to her advantage in what she was doing now to ensure that she never got caught in what she was doing.

"Who was winning? Before the fight got broken up that is."

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first_sirius
2009-11-29 01:16 am UTC (link)

That one syllable was really the best possible response she could have given. The simplicity of the acknowledgment settled his wariness of the topic.

Sirius didn't much care for the notion of winning on the merits of his name alone, though he knew that wasn't quite what she was saying. It felt kind of like cheating, and not in the pleasant sense- but like it would have cheated himself out of something. He liked recognition for his own sake, not just for the family that had preceded him. He didn't want them to be hesitant to fuck with him because he was a Black, he wanted them to be hesitant to fuck with him because he was Sirius Black.

He shot her a look with an arch of his brow that implied he was offended she even had to ask.

"It was hardly a fair fight, though- one of me and only two of them," he said with mock graciousness, as such odds clearly stacked up in his favor. The first boy had seemed as if he'd never even seen a punch thrown before, let alone been up close and personal with someone else's fist. "They weren't anyone of note."

By that he meant they weren't purebloods - which wasn't surprising, since the halfbloods in Syltherin seemed to feel the need to pair up seeing as to how there were so few of them - let alone purebloods from families of enough status to put them within the realm of her interest.

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first_bellatrix
2009-11-29 01:26 am UTC (link)

"They are the ones who are most dangerous though. The ones of very little to no note for they are the ones who have to try harder to prove themselves and to make themselves known and be able to get somewhere. They have nothing to lose and everything to gain and as such have no fear of doing whatever it takes to get themselves noticed. Even if it means picking fights with those that they shouldn't. Just because they are not known or even known very little doesn't mean that you should underestimate them or count them out as they will be the ones to surprise you and will more often then not be the ones to defeat you. Especially if you get cocky or are so sure of yourself because of who you are and who they are. Never underestimate your opponent, no matter who they are. If there is one lesson, one rule, one thing you take from everything we teach you and everything we throw at you its that you should never underestimate anyone, regardless of who they are." Bella had learned that lesson the hard way from her father as she had assumed that because he was her father that he would take it easy on her and that she would have the upper hand because of that. It was that thinking that had gotten her knocked on her arse on several occasions and Crucio'd more than once because she had not been paying attention and had instead been focusing on the fact that he was her father and as such would not hurt her.

"And that situation, two of them and one of you is precisely why we are doing this. Most fights are not going to be fair, they are going to be just like that and you need to know how to take care of yourself for just because you are beating one does not mean that the second can't come up behind you, steal your wand, and then murder you before you can even blink and all because you are without your wand. Granted two on one is never fair and will more often then not lead to the person who is on their being defeated but if you can handle yourself both with and without your wand then you are one step ahead and above the rest. It is something no one will expect and may very well save your life if you ever need it to." With that statement Bella was done talking. It was time to back up what she had said and time to get the lesson underway. She only had a little while before her parents and her Aunt and Uncle returned and she wanted be well underway with the lesson before they showed up this way when they did come home they couldn't stop them if they were already so involved in it.

A dark smile spread across her face as she glanced up at him and in one fluid motion she was on her feet and then crouching again as she swept her leg out towards his own, intending to knock him off of his feet and therein starting their lesson.

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first_sirius
2009-11-29 02:46 am UTC (link)

Well, Sirius wouldn't have called it a fair fight unless it had been him against at least two or three more Slytherins. The first time, neither of the other two boys seemed to have expected a physical altercation to much beyond a bit of posturing. They had just seemed so caught off guard by sudden action, and Sirius had a knack for going from perfectly at rest to full-on. If they hadn't been interrupted, Sirius had little doubt that he'd have been the clear and obvious victor.

Her casual mention of him being potentially murdered wasn't terribly anomalous. It hadn't been that many years since she'd been telling him bedtime stories about muggles who killed wizards to steal their magic, something that was perhaps a bit keeping with the instruction to avoid underestimating even those who seemed weak. The certainty behind those stories had been pretty thoroughly torn asunder, but Sirius was kind of writing them off as just another vein of stories they told magical children in order to.... well, he hadn't quite figured out the actual moral, or the applicable point, but he was still working on that. The underlying awareness of the possibility that there were people out there willing to attempt killing him, however, was much more difficult to discard. It just seemed obvious to him. A self-evident truth.

Her initial attack was a move he'd seen before, a move she used when they were fencing, and he was familiar enough with it, and practiced enough in avoiding it, that he managed to evade free before her foot could take out his ankles. Exceptionally pleased with passing her first little test, Sirius flashed her a rather smug little smile from where he stood, now a couple of feet away. She might still think he was young, but Sirius was quite certain he wasn't as ill-prepared as she seemed to think.

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first_bellatrix
2009-11-29 03:27 am UTC (link)

Bella was nothing if not every bit of a Slytherin and in that house you learned that there was no such thing as a fair fight. You used whatever was presented to you to your advantage regardless of whether it was fair and clean or not. If it meant your life or that of the other you used it and Bella had come to embrace and love that fact. Rarely if ever when dueling did she ever do it fairly the only difference between her and everyone else was that she was able to keep everyone from noticing that she was deliberately fighting dirty. Her tactics and motives were well hidden and it had taken her quite some time to master that art and now that she had she wasn't letting it go any time soon.

He may have avoided her first attack and she had all but expected him to seeing as how they had fought before although not in such a way but that was not to mean that she was finished, not by a long shot. She wasted no time in closing the space between them, her fist coming up to collide with the side of his head. His smugness and feelings of being cocky at having avoided such a thing were going to be the death of him and she would beat common sense into him if it killed her to do such a thing. Giving him no time to adjust or shake off her hit she advanced on him once more, her hand shooting out to wrap firmly around his arm and she yanked him towards, spinning him around so that his arm was pinned behind his back between the two of them.

"Your arrogance may be a skill for you but for others it is a weakness that can be exploited. You must learn to temper it when it a fight or you will end up loosing far more than you could ever imagine." Her voice came out in a low hiss as her grip on his arm tightened and she turned it just a bit, preventing him getting away....for the time being any how.

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