Bellatrix Lestrange (unyieldingstar) wrote in an_ill_wind, @ 2009-07-03 10:14:00 |
|
|||
Entry tags: | - 1980/07 july, bellatrix lestrange, sirius black |
Who: Bellatrix and Sirius
When: Friday morning
Where: Easington, County Durham
What: Muggle hunting
Rating: R for graphic violence and mild sexual innuendo (don't ask)
Status: Completed log
Bellatrix was, admittedly, finding far too much enjoyment in her cousin's newfound allegiances. In seeing him make his friends miserable with his sudden change of heart; in gleefully corrupting him, turning him into the very thing that he loathed and truthfully, in simply having her cousin around as the man he should have been. The last was likely somewhat problematic as he was still nothing more than a pawn under her control, a fact she had been forced to remind herself of on more than one occasion by now, but that did not mean she could not enjoy this while it lasted.
There was little doubt in her mind that at some point he would be able to throw the curse off. Even as talented as she was, she doubted she would be capable of keeping him under the curse for the rest of his life. She did not even think such a thing was possible, really, although that did not mean she was not going to keep him under her control for as long as she could. And force him to do such things that whenever he did finally come back to his senses and realised what he had become, it would destroy him completely.
And so today, Muggle hunting.
Although her typical practice of the sport was to simply pop into a village and wreak as much havoc as she could possibly manage before she grew bored, today she had something decidedly different in mind. In the hour since she had instructed Sirius to meet her, she had gone to Easington, a small village on the northern coast and rounded up a selection of prey - or game - who dutifully followed her out of the village as if she were the Pied Piper herself. The imperius curse was truly a more remarkable thing than she had ever given it credit for.
But now the curse was lifted and the twenty or so now-panicking Muggles were left bound and sitting on a stretch of grass overlooking the steep cliffs. Bellatrix cast a wide net of wards, mostly to keep the Muggles in, but also to keep others out. The horses were fetched and secured to a tree (apparating the animals was a tricky business, but one she was well practised at) and Bellatrix returned home to collect Sirius. This was to be a proper hunt. Clad in her riding clothes, she perched herself on a side table in the massive foyer, twirling her wand between her fingers as she waited for Sirius to join her.
For once Sirius wasn't entirely sure that he could pull an outfit off; he'd spent a few minutes peering critically at himself in the mirror, thinking he looked (more than) vaguely ridiculous in the riding outfit. It didn't help that it was attempting to shove his balls back into his body, the trousers were so damn tight, but he finally left his chambers with a sigh, making his way downstairs to the foyer to meet Bellatrix. He pouted a little as he spotted her - she looked better than he did - but his disappointment was squelched by the fact that he was almost absurdly... well, excited, to go hunting. Talk about the perfect cure for boredom.
"I have to admit," he said, crossing the foyer to join Bellatrix. "I hadn't considered hunting as a way to spend my afternoon, but the idea is a brilliant one." He grinned a little, resisting the urge to pull at his trousers.
Bellatrix tilted her head, giving Sirius a half-smirk, half-smile as she jumped off the side table. "There are few things I find to be a better cure for boredom," she admitted as she pulled Sirius's wand from her pocket and held it out to him. "You will be needing this. I was able to find it in the room where they were keeping you. Shall we?"
She held out her arm to Sirius, as if there was not the slightest thing odd or unusual about this entire situation, that she was taking her Muggle-loving blood traitor of a cousin out to slaughter the breed that he so loved, or would have were it not for the imperius curse. She had vaguely wondered if he would require a little additional urging to muster the proper levels of enthusiasm for their afternoon outing but was quite pleased by his eagerness. All with a few well-placed suggestions about his nature. Turn him into a purist and the blood lust came right along with it. Oh, this was going to be delightfully fun.
Sirius very nearly beamed when Bellatrix pulled his wand from her pocket, recognising it immediately. He'd been beside himself without his wand, though he'd tried not to let on just how desperate he'd been for it, and while he tried not to look like an eager child now, it didn't entirely work. "Thank you," he said gratefully, looking pleased as he balanced the familiar weight in his palm before pocketing it safely.
When Bellatrix offered her arm to him he stepped closer and took it, holding onto her securely so she could take them wherever she'd planned to go. He felt a rush of adrenaline at even the idea of it, and while he didn't know how it would actually feel, he knew it would be incredible.
"You are quite welcome," she replied with a polite nod before she led him out of the house and past the anti-apparition wards so that they could make the trip to Easington. They both appeared near the edge of the cliffs and prompted a fresh round of screams from the terrified Muggles, a sound that sent a broad smile across Bellatrix's lips.
But there would be plenty of time to listen to them scream. "I thought we might make a bit of a competition out of this," she said as she flicked her wand and released one woman from the ropes that were binding her and dragged her to her feet. "But first, a bit of practice for you. Kill her." She was, admittedly, rather curious to see if he could. And if he did not succeed on his first try, she had more than a few tricks up her sleeve to help him along, but it seemed only proper to at least give him the chance to try on his own first.
Sirius hadn't faltered - or, more precisely, the curse hadn't faltered - until the moment Bellatrix actually said the words kill her. He raised his wand but paused with his arm half-way in the air, something niggling at the back of his mind. Kill her one part of him said, and he steeled himself again, but that infuriating part in the back of his mind made him pause again, feeling the beginnings of uncertainty. Kill her?
Bellatrix was watching Sirius closely and she saw his hesitation, saw the doubt flickering across his face. Her own wand was still out and it would be a simple matter to reinforce the imperius curse and order him to kill the woman, and she would if it came to that, but she would much rather see him do it without the extra prodding. Instead she wrapped herself around his back and took his wrist in her hand, raising his wand so it was aimed straight at the Muggle woman.
"Kill her," she repeated, her voice low and in his ear as if she were the devil herself, purring instructions to him. "She is nothing but a Muggle. A filthy Muggle to be treated as nothing more than one of our playthings. Because we are Blacks. The rules of right and wrong do not apply to us. We are above it all. You know the words. Avada Kedavra. Have you not always wanted to know what it felt like, to take another life? Or if you would rather, imagine that it is one of your former friends. One of those who betrayed you, who turned on you when you tried to return to your family. Where you belong. They deserve to die for what they did to you."
Sirius focused intently when Bellatrix pressed herself against his back, her hand warm against his wrist and her voice low and cajoling in his ear. She was so overbearingly tempting like this, and he found himself confused in more ways than one; there was a part of him that was still insisting that it wasn't entirely right, to kill this woman, but Bellatrix made such a good point; he found himself doubting his ability to actually perform the curse (though he couldn't understand why, as he'd never doubted himself in any way before) but she seemed so sure he could do this; and she was his cousin, his own blood, but she was pressing against him in a way that made him feel a bit... warm. It was almost surreal, given that she was him, in many ways, wasn't she? A female version of him, of sorts, in mannerisms and feelings and attitude - they even looked alike, more so than their own siblings, and sometimes Sirius had the sensation that he was looking in a mirror, when he looked at her.
He shook his head a little, clenching his jaw as he shoved all of those thoughts from his head, glaring at the woman, thinking hard about what Bellatrix had just said. "Avada Kedavra," he said, and he felt something ripple out of him; a bolt of pale green light shot out of the tip of his wand, and while it hit the woman square in the chest and sent her tumbling to the ground, she was still breathing, and he felt a mixture of disappointment and relief flood through him. "Fuck," he said, shaking his head again.
A more sensible person might have questioned the wisdom of teaching a man who, when he was in his right mind, utterly loathed you to cast the killing curse, but Bellatrix hardly cared. Even if (or when) Sirius did manage to fight his way free, he would be so utterly destroyed by his own actions, she doubted he would be able to do a thing, let alone cast the killing curse again.
"Very few are able to cast it on their first attempt," she reassured him as her grip on his wrist tightened and she pressed herself more firmly against him, as if turning him into an extension of herself. He was, really. At least right now. And there was undoubtedly something highly inappropriate about this, beyond the random slaughter of Muggles, but sex and killing had always been rather hopelessly entwined for Bellatrix. The difference was that she would go home and fuck her husband, but that did not mean she was going to remain within the bounds of propriety for this. "Try the cruciatus instead," she urged. "Make her suffer. You know you can cast it. Think of your former friends. Think of how much you loathe them and make her pay for their crimes."
Now the cruciatus was a curse Sirius knew he could cast, knew he could effectively use, and he felt a rush of confidence as Bellatrix pressed herself more firmly against him. His ridiculous riding trousers were feeling rather tight, and he didn't particularly want to think about that, but the fact of the matter was that his body was thrumming with something - anger, hatred, confusion, arousal, a million other things, and if he didn't get it out of him he'd lose his bloody mind. "Crucio," he hissed, and the light exploded from the tip of his wand this time, nearly blinding as he thought about the disgusting, filthy blood traitors and mudbloods and all the in betweens that had kept him from his family, from his rights, from himself, and the woman on the ground screamed shrilly in agony, her body twisting and flailing so satisfyingly before them.
Bellatrix did not say anything at first, just watching the woman suffer before them as Sirius held the curse and then finally, she gave a slight unseen nod. "Good," Bellatrix said, quite genuine in her praise as the woman continued to writhe and scream. "Certainly better than your last attempt. It feels good, doesn't it. Natural. I told you, this magic is your birthright," she purred. Yes, a line had most certainly been blurred somewhere but she would coax the capacity to kill out of him. One way or another. "Now kill her. You have the anger and the power. Use it and put an end to her miserable life. If you can cast one, you can cast the other. It is the same magic, the same feelings. All you have to do is channel them through your wand and say the words..."
It was the same basic feeling as last time, casting the cruciatus, the power, the control, the adrenaline - it was intoxicating. But this time, with Bellatrix draped all over him, all but purring in his ear, with the curse still holding him, with his curse really working, it was a hundred - a thousand - times better. The power was intoxicating, really seeing just what he was doing to this nameless, unworthy muggle who right now embodied everything he despised, he loathed, that embodied the people that had twisted his mind, that had turned him against everything he'd known, against his family, and with Bellatrix against him, his entire body thrumming and alive - he could feel the hatred coursing through him, and the words were out of his mouth before he even realised he was actually saying them. "Avada Kedavra," he snarled, and this time the light that exploded from the tip of his wand was bright green, and he felt the curse ripping through him, tearing at him in a way that took his breath away and made his entire body shake, and the curse slammed into the woman, her writhing body falling limp immediately.
Bellatrix felt Sirius's body shake against her own and a sharp, deadly smile curved across her lips. Perfect. The other Muggles who had been watching this whole scene play out in a shocked and horrified silence broke into a fresh round of screams as the woman fell dead to the ground, but Bellatrix paid them little heed instead uncurling herself from her position around Sirius's back and moving to his side, one hand still draped over his shoulder as she studied his face for a moment before finally speaking. "Well done," she said approvingly. She was hardly a woman who was generous with her praise but this situation certainly seemed to call for it. "Tell me, how did it feel?"
Sirius was breathing hard, adrenaline coursing through him, his gaze fixed on the dead body before him, because that was all she was to him, now, a body, a corpse, a nothing. He looked a little startled when Bellatrix spoke, and he started just slightly, his eyes very dark as he focused on her instead. It took a moment for what she was saying to sink in, but when it did he looked momentarily surprised and then pleased, a hint of a smile curling at his lips. "It felt... It felt incredible," he said, meaning it. Nothing had ever felt that incredible, that intoxicating, that all-consumingly good.
"It is incredible," she agreed, feeling quite pleased by his reaction, by how easily he was corrupted. "All that power. And your former friends would have you keep it buried away, never to be touched. Because they are jealous, Sirius. You have power they cannot even fathom. All their silly protests about what is good and right... it is nothing but their own jealousy as they seek to hold you back. Now... do you believe you can cast it again? On your own? I have a delightful game planned for us, but I do want to give you at least a sporting chance," she said, her eyes sparkling with amusement at both her challenge and just what she had created here.
It might have been the curse - it probably was the curse (mostly) - that made Bellatrix's words sink so deeply into his mind, but there was a part of him, the part he'd always kept pushed aside when he was on the other side of things, that soaked up praise, that luxuriated in it, no matter how dangerous or damning that praise might be, and Sirius felt her words, knew them. They were all jealous of him, of his power, of his abilities, of his status, of everything. He was a Black, he was heir no matter how much protesting Regulus may do, and he was everything. "Yes," he said, without hesitation. He was power, in his mind, right now. He could do this, he wanted the praise, the adrenaline, the connection.
"Good," Bellatrix replied, her smile broadening as she pointed her wand towards the Muggles and released them from their bindings. Most immediately jumped to their feet and began to flee although a few clearly had to take a moment to work through their stunned shock to actually move. And then they were off as well, running across the grass, trying to hide behind trees, anything they could possibly think of to just get away, although it would be a bit before any of them managed to make it to the edge of the wards and see just how very trapped they were. "Do not worry, they will not get far," she assured Sirius as she led him over to where the horses were tethered. "Nineteen Muggles. Whoever kills the most wins. We ride together. I do hope you can keep up," she teased, gracefully throwing herself up onto the back of her horse - a massive black beast of an animal - and settling herself into the saddle as she waited for Sirius to do likewise.
Sirius grinned as the Muggles fled, watching their panic as they tried, oh-so-pathetically, to run to their freedom, to save their unworthy lives. It was laughable, and Sirius really could not have imagined a better cure for his boredom. "I think I'll be more than able to keep up," he claimed, grinning as he climbed onto the other horse, settling himself as though it was second nature. It'd been years since he'd ridden a horse, but it was something that just came naturally after his youth. He looked extraordinarily smug as he gazed out over the last of the Muggles scrambling out of sight, knowing that, when they were done, not a single would be left alive.
Bellatrix flashed a grin of her own that was uncanny in its resemblance to Sirius's expression and this might have been one of those moments where she forgot that he was still the same infuriating blood traitor cousin, simply under an imperius curse. Or she decided she did not care. Either way, she squeezed her legs and the horse took off, responding easily to her commands. "We will see about that!" she called to Sirius. On horseback it was all too easy to catch up with the fleeing muggles and as she spotted the first one, flaming tendrils of red shot out of her wand, curling around the man's legs and ripping his flesh from bone as he was brought to his knees, howling in pain. But still alive. Oh sure, they could simply gallop across their little hunting grounds casting killing curses left and right, but it was much more entertaining this way. She caught up with the man and circled her horse around him once before sending another flaming tendril at him that cut across the neck, leaving him to bleed out. "One!"
"Not bloody fair," Sirius claimed, failing at his attempts to pout - even if Bellatrix had gotten the first of them, that had been bloody fucking impressive. He had a fair arsenal in his memory, though he had never actually used most of them in actual practice; a perk of growing up in a house that embraced dark magic, and a loss of spending his school years abandoning such embraces. If only... but that was the past, and this was the present, and there was fun to be had. He squeezed his legs around the horse' middle and leaned low as the horse took off, the wind whipping his hair as he rode again, thoroughly enjoying the sensation. There was a young woman, probably no older than himself, up ahead, and he had his wand trained on her even as she tried to dart behind a tree. He shot a Sectumsempra at her, focusing on severing her arm from her body, and a smug smile crossed his face when it worked. She dropped to the ground screaming, and Sirius felt she deserved some symmetry, really - he cast the curse again, taking her other arm off, and she collapsed to the ground in quite a spectacularly bloody fashion. "One here!"
Bellatrix's horse trotted over to where Sirius was and she took a moment to inspect his work - to be certain that the woman was well and truly dead (she was) - before nodding approvingly. "Muggles die so easily," she declared with a short, sharp laugh. "Shall we add another rule? No using the same curse twice. Or on more than one victim at any rate." It was a rule that was decidedly in her favour but she did not suggest it out of some need for the advantage - she was already quite confident that she would be the one to win this little game of theirs - but because she wanted to push him. To coax him into casting spells that he had only ever considered, even if she had to show him how herself.
Sirius grinned again, nodding quite happily. "They do die so surprisingly easily," he agreed. He arched a brow at the new rule, wondering if he'd be able to keep up with it in place, but he hardly wanted to look weak by protesting. He knew what to use, if he let himself focus enough, and he hoped he could do that given the atmosphere. "Alright then," he agreed, looking a bit thoughtful as he went through his mental inventory of curses.
"Perhaps you may even learn something," she teased as she pushed her horse off again, this time only into a canter so that Sirius would easily be able to keep up with her. Despite her fiercely competitive nature, this was meant to be both lesson and sport and he would hardly learn a thing if she left him in the dust as she tore through the grounds. She brought her horse to a halt in front of an older woman who had frozen in place, looking up at Bellatrix in sheer terror. "Hello," Bellatrix greeted, her twisted grin still spread across her face. The woman screamed, turned and fled but did not make it more than a few metres before Bellatrix's curse connected and the entirety of the woman's skin was ripped from her body, shed as if it were nothing more than a winter coat. "Two."
Sirius smirked a bit at the teasing, even as he knew he would learn something. He was fiercely proud, but Bellatrix was a master at what she did, and he would be a fool to disregard a lesson. When she took off again he quickly followed, urging his horse into a canter of its own to keep up. He watched with intense curiosity as Bellatrix brought her horse to a stop in front of the woman, torn between wanting to see what she'd do, and wanting to rack up a higher tally for himself. He decided to watch, and nearly fell off his horse as he did so, eyes wide as the woman's skin was ripped clean from her body. "Fuck," he said, rather in awe, glancing between the skinless body and the bloody fucking shell of her. "How the fuck did you do that?" He'd heard of such curses, but never seen it in action before.
Ordinarily Sirius's language might have earned a reprimand from Bellatrix as she had a strange aversion to profanity that seemed to be one of the few vestiges of propriety that she held on to but in this instance, she hardly noticed. And it did seem almost appropriate under the circumstances. Mostly she was just far too amused by his reaction to care and she arched an eyebrow and smirked. Oh, the things she was going to teach him. "Flaying curse," she explained, although that much was rather obvious. "Crusta Viscus is the incantation. It is quite simple - at least for people like us - although it does take some practice to remove the entirety of the skin in one attempt." She moved her horse so it was right alongside Sirius's and switched her wand to the other hand so she could reach over and guide his wand in the proper motion. "I will even let you have the next one so you might practice. Just envision what you just saw and channel that into your wand." Of course the desire to kill and willingness to use dark magic were rather necessary parts of it as well but that seemed to go without saying at this point.
Sirius nodded, paying close attention as Bellatrix guided his hand in the proper movements. It seemed easy enough, right? He'd never actually cast this hex himself, never having needed it, but he highly doubted the spell itself would cause him any trouble - it was the intent and the whole 'getting the skin off in one fell swoop' bit that would be more difficult. "Perfect," he said, itching to try it out. To him these weren't people any longer, but trophies of sort - a way to assert himself, to show his talent now that he was back in an atmosphere that encouraged this. He straightened himself up on his horse, looking around until he spotted a middle aged man trying to pass unnoticed through a set of trees to their right. With a smirk - and confidence he mostly felt - he took off after him, knowing Bellatrix would follow. When he was close enough he trained his wand on the man, thinking about what he'd just seen, and channelled his focus into the curse as he called out "Crusta Viscus!" It... half worked? Sirius wrinkled his nose in distaste when half of the man's flesh was flayed right off, his bottom half sliding right off him as though he'd dropped his trousers. The man panicked and made a run for it, blood everywhere and Sirius grit his teeth and cast the spell again, successfully taking the top of the man's skin off this time - a shirt to go with the coat and trousers. "Whoops," he said cheerfully.
Bellatrix laughed as Sirius stripped off the man's flesh in two parts, amused by just how he had been flayed and the fact that her dear Gryffindor cousin had just done such a thing. "Two attempts is nothing to be ashamed of," she said and it was quite true. He had done better on his first try than the few others she had taught the curse to and if there was any lingering question about whether this was the man he was meant to be, it was gone with how easily he was taking to the dark curses she was teaching him. "You might also use it to torture a man, taking off his flesh one limb at a time, although I know a far better flaying curse for torture." She actually knew four, but that was neither here nor there. A bit of movement out of the corner of her eye caught her attention and the lesson was effectively over for the moment as Bellatrix turned her horse and took off.
This time it was another young woman and Bellatrix went for simple yet effective as the woman's intestines (and various other assorted internal organs) were ripped from her body with an entrail expelling curse that was so powerful there would be no putting them back in. "Three to two," she declared as the woman fell, dead before she had even hit the ground.
"Sounds intriguing," Sirius replied, meaning it. It was intoxicating, killing freely, wildly like this, and the sound of being able to refine the art appealed to him in a similar way. Still looking smug and pleased he took off to the right, wanting to catch up (and overtake Bellatrix's numbers, of course), and he found a younger man who was sprinting towards a looming tree. His eyes narrowed and he focused all of his strength on a particularly potent Incendio, and fire billowed from his wand, engulfing the man. He screamed, much to Sirius' delight, and kept sprinting, a fireball as he streaked across the ground and finally collapsed, looking quite like an impressive bonfire. "Matched you!" he called out. It seemed so normal to be doing his - any hesitation he'd had before had disappeared entirely.
"Pass me and then I might offer some praise," she called back smugly as she prodded her horse into another gallop. She had to search a bit this time and she did not want to stray too far away from Sirius which did hinder her progress somewhat but it was not long before she spotted a boy who could not have been more than a teenager and had taken up refuge in one of the trees. Well now that was just too simple. A flick of her wand sent him flying from the tree and crashing head first into another, snapping his neck and cracking his skull. His body crumpled lifelessly around the base of the tree and Bellatrix rode back towards Sirius to gloat. "Four!"
Sirius pouted a bit when he watched the boy come crashing out of the tree, as he'd been looking for another kill of his own (were Muggles ever little weasley things) but Bellatrix had beaten him to the punch. He finally spotted movement off in the distance, and he urged his horse on, passing rather close to Bellatrix so he could shoot her a smirk. There was a woman attempting to hide under some brambles and brush, and an idea came to mind as he closed in on her. Pleased with himself, he focused on a curse he remembered his mother using on a house elf once when it took off, and with a sweep of his wand the bramble's thorns grew longer and sharper, and they wrapped themselves around the woman, tearing her flesh off in ragged strips and chunks as the vines crushed her. "Four for me!" he called out smugly, shooting Bellatrix another smirk over his shoulder.
Bellatrix watched curiously as Sirius turned the bramble into a deadly weapon and she had to admit some begrudging admiration for the creativity, although her only spoken praise was an observation of "Intriguing." She was actually quite pleased with him for being able to hold his own, but at the same time? Well really she was holding back. No more of that, then. Off and riding again, she flew past one Muggle who had frozen, hoping for all the world that she hadn't seen him, only to fall dead to the ground a moment later as his head slid neatly from his body. And then she rounded on a second Muggle, backing him up against a tree as he stared at her in terror. Bellatrix dismounted from her horse and smiled at the young man, looking for all the world like the cat that got the canary as she stalked towards him.
Sinister hands of dark magic burst out of the ground and wrapped around the man's feet, pulling him to his knees and then all the way to the ground, both searing his flesh and dragging him under the earth all at the same time. Bellatrix watched for a long moment as the man desperately screamed and fought against the burning, insidious hands until his mouth and lungs had filled with dirt and he was sinking into the ground as if it were nothing more than quicksand. "Does it count if he is buried alive? Or are you going to make me kill him more quickly?" she asked, her hands on her hips and a pleased smirk across her face as she turned to Sirius.
Sirius looked impressed when Bellatrix killed the first of the two Muggles, cocking his head slightly to the side as she somehow took the other man's head off. Quick, clean, and efficient, that. He was intending to go off after another target of his own when he saw the hands burst out of the ground and pull the second Muggle through the ground, his skin searing right bloody off as he was dragged down, and Sirius brought his horse to a quick stop, staring in amazement. He'd never seen anything even remotely like that before, and for the life of him couldn't remember his parents ever mentioning something quite so... impressively gruesome. "Bloody hell," he said, with feeling. "What was that - those hands?" He shook his head lightly, still staring at the spot where the man disappeared into the ground. "No, I think buried alive very much counts."
"He will be dead soon enough," she shrugged as she flashed him a grin and tapped the toe of her boot over the man's grave. "It is dark magic in its purest form," she explained, tilting her head thoughtfully as she considered how best to explain. "Do you remember the cloud I created in Hogsmeade?" Somehow she doubted he could forget. Although she certainly was not going to apologise for it. "It is the same as that, just given shape and purpose. Come here," she instructed. "Off the horse, it tends to spook them."
Of course Sirius remembered the cloud she'd created in Hogmeade - how could be possibly forget? He'd had no idea what it really was, other than some literal embodiment of dark magic. He arched a brow when she said the curse was the same as the cloud - with a shape and a purpose, which fascinated him immensely - and he raised both brows when she instructed him to join her. She certainly didn't have to ask twice. He dismounted easily and stepped up beside her, any sense of smug pride gone, wanting now to learn.
Truthfully Bellatrix was not entirely certain of her ability to teach this particular breed of curses as they were so innate to her now, explanation was a challenge. And the more advanced uses of the magic pushed even her to the edge of her capabilities, but she was certainly going to try. The idea of teaching Sirius Black himself how to tap into the darkest parts of his soul and use the magic that came from it was just too tempting to resist. At the very least, she expected he should be capable of mastering the more basic elements with some practice.
"The cloud is the simplest form - first you bring it into existence, then give it purpose. It can absorb spells, suffocate a man, dissolve flesh..." There was a slight smirk at that and Bellatrix took a moment to focus her thoughts before a small black cloud erupted from the end of her wand, hovering in the air before them. "It is its very nature to consume in one form or another and it must be constantly controlled - rather like fiendfyre - lest it turn on you." She gave a few twists of her wand, letting the cloud grow until she sent it flying towards a nearby bush where it concealed the plant for a moment before dissipating, leaving behind nothing but shrivelled and dead foliage.
"We are beyond incantations now. There are no words to bring this magic forth, just feeling. Anger, hatred, the desire to destroy. It is your darkest desires made tangible. Tap into them and channel those emotions into your wand."
Sirius took a slight step back when the magic blossomed from the tip of Bellatrix's wand (she had just said it was in its nature to consume) and watched, still fascinated, as the cloud covered the nearby bush and seemingly sucked the life right out of it. Wicked. He had to be able to cast it, right? He'd just cast - successfully - the Killing Curse, and if he could harness enough power for that, then this had to be within his realm of capability. He'd always had... a knack, really, for what he'd always called blind magic. When he was particularly angry things tended to explode around him, much in the way it did around small children who hadn't yet learned to use their wand as a medium for their magic, and he'd always been able to feel magic - to feel it in his veins, to feel it around him, to sense it when others had no idea it was even there. Most capable witches and wizards could feel strong magic, of course, it had a life of its own, but the subtle spells, wards, power he could always feel as though it were a tangible force. And wasn't this doing just that? Feeling magic and calling it forth?
He bit his bottom lip as he focused intently, eyes closing as he channelled his anger, his hatred, his unhappiness. No matter what state of mind he was in, the fact of the matter was that Sirius was a very angry, unhappy person. He tried to push it all aside, and often times he was successful, but those feelings were always there, under the surface, and it was all too often that they boiled over and got the best of him. It was perfect, for this. He was certain, now, certain that he could do this, and he focused with everything he had and urged the magic out and he could feel it- He opened his eyes, breath held, but all that came out from the tip of his wand was the tiniest puff of smoke, a pathetic little wisp of nothingness that promptly disappeared.
His brow furrowed in annoyance, and he clenched his jaw, closing his eyes once more to focus even harder now, to try to think of everything wrong in his life, everything wrong in the world, really, and he put himself into the magic and- Nothing. Well, another spurt of grey wispy smoke, and then it was gone. "I don't understand," he said, frowning.
Bellatrix watched intently as Sirius attempted the magic, her wand at the ready in case he did manage to be successful and was unable to control his own creation, although she did not expect he would be able on his first try. And as he became frustrated, as his annoyance showed on his face, Bellatrix was reminded of her own attempts, learning under the merciless hand of the Dark Lord himself. His method of teaching would undoubtedly work on Sirius as well as it had on herself, but she wanted one more attempt of her own first. She was treading on dangerous ground here but the notion of teaching him, making him learn was already too fixed in her mind to turn back.
"Dig deeper," she urged as she moved to stand behind him once again, resting her hands on his shoulders. "You are just tapping the surface of your emotions. You have to push past them, past the wall that keeps your deepest and darkest urges at bay. Feel it break so that you can harness that power. The first time is the hardest, but once you are through... Think of what you might be able to do with this kind of magic at your hand. What destruction you can wreak, the pain you can cause, the things you have always wanted to do but could not because your friends, your conscience held you back. Destroy your conscience." Her voice was low and reverent as she spoke, her hands curling more tightly around his shoulders as if she might some how imbue him with her own strength by presence and will alone.
Sirius steeled himself once again, when Bellatrix stood behind him, the feel of her hands on his shoulders spurring him on. He wanted to break through his mental wall, to destroy his conscience (or what was left of it), to be utterly free - he wanted to wield unparalleled power, to have full control over what ran in his veins, to be power. But he needed to dig deeper, he needed to focus. He clenched his eyes shut as he concentrated on his anger, on the root of it all; the details were confusingly blurred, but there was an intense feeling of loneliness deep inside Sirius, a desperate wanting (for what, exactly, he wasn't sure) and a destructive, lashing jealousy of anyone who felt fulfilled where he felt empty; he wanted to destroy even those he had called friends, the ones that hadn't felt that crushing sense of being alone, and he wanted to destroy it all, to rid himself of that hurt and turn it into something dark and powerful. He leaned forward slightly as he poured everything he had into his wand, and with a wrenching feeling in his chest a small cloud burst from the tip of his wand; it was much smaller than Bellatrix's had been, and it seemed to hover uncertainly in the air, unlike her confident cloud, but it was there, right there in front of them.
"Good!" Bellatrix exclaimed, squeezing his shoulders and laughing in pleasure at just what he had brought forth, although not for the reasons that Sirius in his current state would likely assume. Well perhaps a little of it was the pleasure of a teacher having successfully instructed a student but mostly it was because she knew that she had pushed him past a point to where there was no turning back. Not truly. He could go back to his friends, he could take up the mantle of the good and noble crusader but he would still be a wizard who had opened up the floodgates on the darkest magic imaginable. "Oh very good! Make it stronger. Wherever you went to bring that forth, push more of those feelings into the cloud. You've managed the most difficult part, now just give it more and send it off to destroy... whatever you wish."
Sirius grinned, expression of smug pride, even if it had been somewhat exhausting to force the magic out through his mental barrier. It pulsated a little in the air with his pleasure, and he could almost feel it calling to him, begging to be made stronger, to be given a purpose, to be. He focused once more on that awful combination of feelings, of the loneliness and the uncertainty, and on the deep anger it inspired - he didn't particularly want to think of these things, but it was working, and now that the gates were open he could feel the power pulsing through his body, he could see the way the cloud grew darker and larger - it was intoxicating. He focused on the very people that Bellatrix had instructed him to hate - Potter, with his loving, doting parents and golden upbringing, Remus with his beloved mother and infuriating quiet certainty, Peter, the weak, pathetic nothing who'd had more love growing up than he had, and Dorcas, the one who though she could cure him with misguided love - oh they infuriated him, they made him want to rip them limb-from-limb, to tear them apart for his own gratification. With a snarl he raised his hands and the cloud shuddered and took off, and while it was still not nearly as large or as dark as Bellatrix's had been, it caught a woman straight in the chest as she tried to make a run for it, obviously having thought they were too caught up in this to notice her movement. The cloud overtook her, and she screamed shrilly from somewhere inside of it, the sound coming to an abrupt end as the cloud disappeared, leaving a withered, dried husk of a person (or what had been a person) behind.
Bellatrix had moved to his side and was once again been watching carefully, ready to reign Sirius's creation under control if needed but he truly was taking to this even more naturally than she had expected. Almost as naturally as she had and she had the benefit of the Dark Lord as her teacher. "Impressive," she admitted, sincere in her compliment. "And it will only become easier for you as you practice. If there is ever any doubt in your mind that you are a Black, you need only think of this. You belong here, with me. Where you are allowed to reach your full potential, where you will be encouraged, not held back." She flashed him a rare genuine smile before turning and heading back to her horse, the lesson over for the time being. She would teach him what else could be done with that magic later. For now, there was still a hunt to finish. "Six to five, I believe," she declared as she threw herself back into her saddle and waited for him to do the same.
She was right - he was a Black. He belonged here, with her, with the family, with people who understood him. He could be finally happy, embraced by those he'd grown up with, put back into his rightful place in the world. No longer would he be held back, no longer would he have such burdening restraints, no longer would anyone be able to keep him from being who he was. He smiled back a little, knowing just how rare it was for Bellatrix not only to hand out compliments but to smile, and he felt a rush of pride, knowing he'd not only done well, but that he'd made her proud in return. He couldn't exactly explain why he was so desperate to please her, knowing only that he had, and that it made him inordinately happy.
His smile turned into a grin as he mounted his own horse once more, settling comfortably into the saddle. "Not for long," he claimed, feeling bloody invincible - he could do anything, now. The power was his.
"Yes, soon it will be fourteen to five," she teased as she twisted the reins around her wrist and set off. She too was feeling quite exhilarated by this whole adventure. As if hunting alone were not enough of a thrill, she was quite pleased with both how naturally Sirius was taking to this and the havoc it would wreak on his mind whenever he was free from her curse. Although there was, admittedly, a part of her that was beginning to hope that day never came. It was foolish of her, but she genuinely liked having him around when he was like this and that was a sentiment she felt towards precious few. He was so much like her. He understood... No, that was not a train of thought to be indulged.
Pulling herself out of her thoughts, Bellatrix returned to scanning the horizon in search of any flash of movement and then careened her horse dangerously around a tree as she rounded on a middle aged woman who had chosen that moment to try and dart across the grass. A killing curse this time and her horse trampled over the woman's dead body as she went off in search of her next victim.
Sirius knew it could soon reach fourteen to five, if he didn't get moving, and with a grin he urged his horse away from Bellatrix and further through the grounds, knowing that a fair number of the panicking Muggles had taken off and would be somewhere near the edge of the wards, trying to get out. He kicked the horse into a gallop and finally spotted a young man near a stretch of trees. He aimed an entrail expelling curse at him but missed, and turned his horse around sharply to give chase as the man darted past him. He lost him for a moment, then caught movement overhead, realising that the man had begun to climb the tree to his right. He aimed another entrail expelling curse at him, but the man was extraordinarily annoyingly spry, and he dodged it, though the curse blew the leaves off a particularly large branch. WIth an annoyed frown Sirius took better aim and cast the curse once more, and to his delight he caught the Muggle right in the chest, and he fell to the ground in a pile of his own innards. Perfect. "Six!" he called out, though he thought Bellatrix was too far to hear him (and that she'd probably already killed four more herself) and he went off in search of his seventh.
Perhaps not four more but now that they had split off on their own, Bellatrix was making rather efficient work of killing the Muggles. One had fallen under an onslaught of conjured knives that went flying through the air and another the tragic victim of a suffocation curse. And that made nine. With a smug expression, knowing that one more kill and the game was hers, she turned her horse around and went trotting off in search of Sirius, wanting him to witness her victory, although she did not provide any explanation as she reappeared, their horses now galloping together side by side.
Sirius gave Bellatrix a curious look as she joined him without saying a word, wondering if she'd hit the majority mark. He'd killed his seventh (rather spectacularly, he thought), crushing a woman with the heavy rocks she'd been hiding behind, amused at the way she'd held her hands over her head, as though that'd do anything to save her. She'd splattered, he'd noted with satisfaction. "How many?" he asked, tearing his thoughts away from his own triumphs.
"Nine," she replied, her lips twisted into an amused smirk. While ordinarily, killing was not something she put a great deal of thought into, instead simply throwing whatever curses came to mind, whatever inspired her, now she was giving it some true consideration, wanting to come up with something spectacular for her "victory kill." She did enjoy showing off just as much as Sirius did, after all. It was in their blood. But the time for thinking was over as Bellatrix spotted a flash of movement from behind one of the trees off in the distance. She glanced over at Sirius to see that he had seen it too and while she could have simply taken off to finish their little game, she was feeling rather playful and instead shouted a quick, "Race you!" to Sirius before urging her horse still faster.
Nine? Not fair! But Sirius couldn't help grinning when she challenged him to a race, and he bent low over his horse, urging him into a gallop once more as he tore off after Bellatrix. At this point it wasn't even about the killing, it was about the freedom, the exhilaration, the adrenaline; he laughed as the wind whipped his hair, closing in on Bellatrix and the Muggle currently tearing through the trees. His wand was aimed as best he could, but he couldn't get a proper window to cast anything, at least not yet, and he urged the horse faster still, wanting to overtake Bellatrix. When his target was somewhat better in sight he sent off a Killing Curse, though the burst of green light shot past the man without hitting him.
When Bellatrix saw the green light explode from Sirius's wand, she felt both a rush of pride in her creation and a flash of irritation that he was going to beat her, if only with this particular kill. The game, of course, would still be hers. But then his curse missed and Bellatrix kicked her horse even faster, pushing the animal to its limits (he was used to it by now) so she could pass her cousin and it was only when she was very nearly on top of the poor Muggle that she turned her wand on him. She had flayed, disembowled, decapitated, buried alive... it was difficult to think of something that might top all of that, even for her twisted mind. But then inspiration struck and while it was not a curse Sirius was unfamiliar with, it was quite delightfully perverse.
A silent imperio was thrown at the Muggle as Bellatrix slipped a knife from her boot and tossed it to the now-frozen man's feet. A silent order was given and soon enough the man had picked up the knife and stabbed himself in the stomach, burying the blade to the hilt and dragging it up to his chest. He fell to his knees with little more than a groan, but Bellatrix was not finished yet. Muggles were all too susceptible to the curse and soon enough the man was reaching into his own body, pulling out whatever internal organs he could get his hands around. Various small semi-essential parts, intestines and oh, that was definitely his stomach were dragged from his body while Bellatrix watched with idle curiosity, wondering just how long he could survive his own self-inflicted brutality. And then once his hands stilled and he collapsed dead to the ground, she summoned her knife and dragged it across her riding breeches before sliding it back into her boot. "Ten!" she declared smugly as she turned to Sirius.
Sirius urged his horse faster when Bellatrix passed him, torn between wanting to beat her and wanting to see what she was going to come up with, but he brought the horse to a skidding halt when he noticed her tossing the knife at the man, intensely curious to see what was going to happen. She'd won, of course, but now was the time for learning. He watched closely as the Muggle picked up the knife, then raised both brows as he stabbed himself in his stomach and dragged the knife up through his chest. He grinned, impressed, although when the man began yanking out his own insides he wrinkled his nose delicately, even though he was quite pleased with this outcome. "Disgusting," he said with a grin, conceding the game to Bellatrix.
"Indeed. I have Muggle on my trousers," Bellatrix replied, still smirking as she clearly was not overly bothered by her state. "How many remain? Shall we allow them their lives as a reward for surviving this long or did you wish for further practice?" she asked curiously as she was not certain what Sirius's count was any longer, although she figured there could not be more than one or two Muggles still running around their little hunting grounds.
Sirius shrugged, tapping his wand thoughtfully against his riding trousers. "I've finished seven, you've ten, so there's only two left running. We could keep the wards up and leave them here to die," he offered with a pleased little smile.
"Give them false hope that they're saved now that we're gone, only to realise that there's nowhere left to go."
Bellatrix laughed at that, terribly amused by the thought. With the fun of the hunt itself over and her general disinclination to leave people alive, it did seem to be the perfect solution. "I do like the way you think," she declared. "I can only wonder how long it will be before one resorts to attempting to eat the other. Although I suppose we have left them plenty of food." Yes, this was definitely a plan she approved of and she dismounted, leading her horse away from the dead Muggle to tether it to a tree and giving it a rather affectionate pat to the head. She would be back for the animals shortly but apparating both them and Sirius was a bit much, even for her. "Home then?"
"Hopefully not long," Sirius replied cheerfully, imagining the two panicking and attempting to eat the other. Muggles. He followed her lead and dismounted from his own horse, tethering him to a tree close by, then focused his attention back on Bellatrix. "Home," he agreed, more pleased by the word than he wanted to think about.
"You did well today. And we will continue your training soon enough. You may have much to make up, but it will not take long. Not for you." Bellatrix wrapped her arm around Sirius's and apparated him back to the Manor grounds, leading him into the house that was unknowingly his prison.