Upside Down

nitesfool - I did say two at first. I suppose I should have mentioned that by the end of the night it had increased to three. My bad. Anyway, I'm glad you liked it. I still think that Ruby wouldn't be right for Sirius or Snape. I see Ruby as a bit of a traditionalist. She was raised on a farm, and her life values are a bit old-fashioned. Sirius is too much of a prankster for her, and Snape's just too bitter. But I'll try to find them suitable mates....just not Ruby. Like I said before...I'm still not even sure if Ruby and Ron will definately end up together. I don't write my stories ahead of time...they just come to me.

distinctlyME - *gasp* You thought....oh no! I didn't mean to mislead. I always envisioned Bellatrix as a sort of Xena, warrior princess. And Xena expended more energy than most women...being a warrior and all. So does Bella. And I also see her as a great big tease. She knew her sister would get ill at the sight of food. And as for the lacking...I'm sure you will find this chapter more than makes up for the last one. *grins mischievously* Enjoy...

Matter of fact, I hope you all enjoy the chappie. I feel VERY positive that you'll like it. But do promise me you'll tell me if you do. I like feedback....alot.....
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Rodolphus was a fool if he thought Bellatrix was going down without a fight. She had conceded to her husband only to keep a fight from breaking out. She was beginning to learn the subtle art of being a wife. She who doesn’t fight today….can outwit her husband another day…. And she planned on doing just that. She had no intention of giving up Kyra (a simple identification spell had identified her as Kyra Lynne Fairwell, but Bellatrix all but ignored the last name…).

Molly and Narcissa were both helping Bellatrix take care of the baby, since they had more experience than she did. Molly had used money provided by Bellatrix to start up Kyra’s wardrobe, but now that she had some things to wear, Molly was back in knitting mode. At first Bellatrix thought that she was going to have to find some way to ‘accidentally’ burn it all, but a pair of knitted booties and a blanket later, she discovered that Molly took the tastes of people into account. The little booties were a fetching shade of Slytherin green, and the blanket was pink with a little cat knitted into the center.

Bellatrix, when she was playing with Kyra in the family room, noticed that Ruby and Ron were getting very close. And she wasn’t sure if she liked it. Ruby had become almost like a cousin to her as well, and Bellatrix was fiercely protective of those people that she actually liked. She had heard the stories of his behavior from Hermione, and if he dared to treat Ruby that way, she’d hack him into little pieces and feed him to the nearest dragon.

The next few days proved devastating for the Order’s ranks. Voldemort was outright attacking Order members and their families, often times appearing personally to leave messages and taunts to the Order. Kingsley no longer stopped in to check on the members at Grimmauld, since he was no longer the leader, but Dumbledore was there often, meeting with the officers and trying to come up with a plan of action. They finally decided that their plans were getting them nowhere.

Dumbledore had decided to send an ultimatum to Voldemort through Fawkes. Fawkes, his personal phoenix, could find people and places that were not accessible to owls, and could easily escape if things got hairy. He was to deliver a letter to Voldemort telling the snake-man to lay off of the Order members, and in return they would initiate the Final Battle. It also gave them two week’s time in between to finish any training necessary, and gather what troops they would be using. The Final Battle would take place in a remote location owned by Dumbledore himself. It used to be the training grounds for the original Order, but since the RoR had been created in Grimmauld Place, it had fallen out of use.

It was little more than very large warehouse. The inside was hollow and huge, and it would serve to keep the dueling away from the public. The winners would be able to walk out and do as they wished, but the losers would automatically be trapped inside until the winners decided their fate. It was a brilliant plan, really, and all they had left to do was wait and see if Voldemort accepted the challenge.

He did.

~~

Hermione had actually been working on the design for the Orders robes for months. She knew that she wanted the color scheme to be white and gold, but she couldn’t figure out a tasteful way to convey that the Death Eater robes did: that they meant business. She had run several sketches by various Order members, but she was almost always shot down by Snape, who said he refused to wear anything that ‘made him look like a glorified dress-up doll.’

It just so happened that during one of Hermione’s design sessions, that Ruby entered the room, intent on asking Hermione if Ron could take her with him to a Muggle restaurant he liked to frequent. When Ruby entered the room, Hermione gave a frustrated scream, and balled up her design. Ruby jumped, and backed against the wall, the color draining from her face. She had never seen her cousin look like that…

Hermione noticed Ruby almost immediately, and was out of her seat, apologizing profusely.

“I’m sorry, Ruby…I didn’t mean to frighten you…I’m just…I’m stuck on these designs for the Order robes, and I have no idea what to do. The battle is in a few weeks, and we need a way to look united.” She said. Ruby’s face lit up. She had seen Order robes in her dreams!

“Mind if I take a shot at it?” she asked. Hermione looked at Ruby for a moment, and then shrugged. Couldn’t hurt…

Ruby sat down with a clean piece of parchment, and began to sketch out a design. The robes were a traditional cut, but didn’t have a hood. The sleeves were loose enough for movement, but not so large as to provide something that the Death Eaters could grab onto. There was a single clasp on the front of the robes…a simple, rectangular gold hoop and hook style. When she was finished with the shape, she drew her wand and tapped it to the parchment. The robes colored themselves a brilliant white, and the border of the sleeves and the hem of the robes were lined with a simple band of gold. Then she tapped the left breast of the robes, and a small red dot appeared. She drew a close-up box, and revealed the design for the red and gold phoenix.

“What do you think?” she asked, finished. The design was simple…but beautiful. Hermione picked up the parchment, and stared at it in a state of awe. Ruby had done in minutes what Hermione hadn’t been able to finish in months. Hermione leaned down and kissed Ruby’s cheek.

“Brilliant!” she said, and then took off to show the design to the rest of the Order.

A few moments after Hermione had left, Ron poked around the corner. Ruby looked up from her seat.

“Did you ask her?” he inquired. Ruby shook her head.

“She was designing the Order robes for the Final Battle, and she needed some help, so I helped her. She was in planning mode…so there was really no need to talk about anything other than what she was planning.” She said. Ron nodded, knowing full well how Hermione was.

“Well…let’s leave the name of the restaurant and our return time with Sirius….he’ll tell Hermione.” Ron suggested. Ruby’s face split into a smile.

“Sure.” She said. Ron grinned as well.

“It’s a date, then.” He said, turning to go. He didn’t see the blush that spread over Ruby’s face. Date? She hadn’t meant to accept a date. The last time she went on a date….she shuddered violently. But she hadn’t known Tom….she knew Ron. Ron wasn’t going to turn into Voldemort and take her off to be raped violently. Oh Merlin…this was awkward. Well…she did like Ron…and this would give her a chance to get to know him better….gauge how he acted and such.

Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad after all…

~~

Bellatrix hadn’t felt well since the whole fire incident. But she hid it well. If there was one things that Bellatrix Lestrange hated in the world, it was healers. She absolutely loathed healers. It could probably be due to the fact that when she was a small child, a private healer her father called in to take care of her during some childhood sickness got a little friendlier with her than her should have. She didn’t remember much of it, but it had begun her life of ferocity. She had felt weak…and she didn’t like it.

She would calmly excuse herself from company when she felt she were going to be ill. She hadn’t even confided in her husband, afraid he would use his ‘husbandly influence’ to attempt to make her see a healer. So she kept it to herself.

And she would have gotten away with it too, if only Andromeda Tonks hadn’t come by one day to see her sisters. Bellatrix figured this day would come, but she had been hoping it was later rather than sooner.

Andromeda had heard of the changes her sisters had gone through from Nymphadora, who couldn’t believe some of them herself. Andromeda had recently heard the story of Kyra, and was eager to see her sister, and the babe she had rescued. When she arrived at Grimmauld Place, she was directed to the family room by Sirius, who was trying to hide a smile. This….he would pay to see.

Andromeda walked into the room silently, and was met by a most unusual sight. Bellatrix was sitting in the floor with Kyra, singing a lullaby to soothe the fussy infant.

“When the sun goes down,
And the moon comes up,
And the stars twinkle in the skies,
Then, my little one,
It's time for bed
And time to close your eyes;
For the fairies wait
Till you're fast asleep
To bring sweet dreams to you,
And the moon and stars
Through the windows peep
To see what the fairies will do.”

By the end of the lullaby Kyra was fast asleep, and Bella gingerly placed her in a small bassinet that had been set up in the room for her. When the babe was safely nestled into the covers, Bellatrix began to pull away. She was hit with a strong wave of nausea, and stopped, lowering her head and placing a hand on her stomach. Andromeda tilted her head.

“Are you okay?” she asked. Bellatrix’s head snapped up, and Andromeda got a good look at her pale face.

“I…I’m fine….what brings you here?” she asked, cursing silently when her voice shook a bit. She then began clearing away some of the toys she had used in an attempt to calm Kyra.

“I came by to see if the rumors about my dark sister were true. By the lack of a wand pointed in my face, I’ll assume they are.” She said, and walked to the sofa to sit down. Andromeda moved very much unlike Bellatrix, with a gentle swaying grace that her sister missed in her stalking steps. “You appeared ill. You should see someone.”

“No!” Bella snapped, too quickly. “No…ah….I’m fine. I just haven’t been feeling well since I pulled this one out of the fire.” She said, gesturing to Kira.

“Very well…” Andromeda said, shrugging to indicate she would not pursue the topic further. “I heard that you and Rodolphus are getting along better, now…” she said, looking up at her sister. She didn’t miss the very slight coloration on her normally pale cheeks.

“Why yes…we have.” Bellatrix said slyly. Andromeda wasn’t stupid. Her sister was getting shagged senseless…good for her!

“It seems to have done wonders on your disposition.” Andromeda teased. Bellatrix colored.

“Yes…well…” she sputtered.

“So how is he?” Andromeda asked brazenly. Bellatrix’s blush deepened.

“What?” she stammered.

“How….is….he?” Andromeda asked again.

“I don’t know what you mean…”

“How is he in bed, Bella? I can tell you one thing…for all his gentleness in polite company, Ted is an animal in bed…” Andromeda said, her eyes glazing.

“I don’t….um….think that th-this is proper conversation!” Bellatrix said. Her face was now a Weasley worthy shade of red.

“Nonsense. We are women. We are sisters. We are seriously overdue for some girl-talk.” Andromeda was teasing her sister. She wondered how long it would take her to figure it out. Turns out it didn’t take long. Andromeda was laughing genuinely when realization crossed Bella’s face. Bella narrowed her eyes.

“You’re still a fucking tease.” She snapped bad-naturedly.

The rest of the visit went rather well, surprisingly. Bellatrix was truly surprised that her relationship with her sister could fade back in so seamlessly. But it did. After about an hour of talking, Andromeda got a mischievous look in her eyes. She excused herself from her sister’s presence, and told her she would be back soon. And she was. She came back within ten minutes of leaving Grimmauld Place, a small bag in her hands. She then promptly retrieved her dark sister, and led her to the bathroom.

“What the bloody hell do you mean, ‘pee on the stick.’? Ugh!”

“Just do it!” Andromeda snapped, closing the bathroom door behind her as she exited. It was about that time a very pale-faced Sirius came bounding up the stairs.

“Andie! They’ve just sent word through the floo! Nymphadora’s house was attacked by Death Eaters!” he said. Andromeda looked at the door to the bathroom. Oh fuck it! She ran back down with Sirius, quickly disappearing, inadvertently taking the box with her.

Bellatrix came down a few minutes later, holding the little stick in her hand. She met Sirius at the bottom.

“Where’s Andromeda?” she asked.

“She had to go off through the floo. Nymphadora’s house was just attacked.” He said.

“Well that’s just fucking convenient….” Bellatrix snapped. She had no fucking idea why she had been told to pee on the stick. What was this damn stick anyway?

“Why do you need her?” Sirius asked, eyeing the stick in her hand warily.

“She’s supposed to tell me what the bloody hell these two blue lines mean!”
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