Upside Down

Hee hee! Another chapter. This one isn't much on plot, but I think you'll find it enjoyable nonetheless.

smurphy - I love Bella too. She's so versatile. Not to mention she's an awesome female character.

bLondpierogi - I live in Shelby, North Carolina. I won't get any more specific than that, because I'm afraid I'm terribly paranoid. But that's pretty specific. It's a medium-sized city, but it's still kinda off-the-map.

distinctlyME - Aww...it's okay. I can't pretend to know what it's like to be independant (I still live with my mother), but I do know what it's like to need sleep before reading material. Ugh...school....I think I'm almost done with my subplots. I do believe a little time jump(or two) is in order to wrap some things up, and then I'l do an epilogue. I plan on having just a bit more angst before I stick a fork in this story. But as for Snape as a daddy. Oh yes...he won't change a lick towards anyone else, but I can already see him wrapped around his baby's fingers. And I think...I think he deserves to be happy with his American witch. (Did I explain her enough?) Looking forward to your next review!!

FlowersBecomeScreens - Um...I listened to the song that is your namesake....I listened to it all the way through...and to be honest it scared me a bit. I was always taught not to judge a song until the very end, so I finished it. It was a bit freaky. Not horrible...I've heard worse....but creepy. And yes...apologies and make-up sex go hand-in-hand. You really shouldn't have one without the other...

RyGirl824 - Hmm...There's quite a few girls that think Alan Rickman as Snape is hot. Myself included...but I understand he's not for everyone. THat's just more for me!! And Bella's revenge is revealed in this chappy.

angelnomiko - I don't know about talking to Mione. She wouldn't approve of that kind of violence...but I feel confident that they will be unscathed.

cherripepsiisgod - Mmm....I like Cherry Pepsi....and I'm glad you like my story. It's never too late to join. And Skeeter will get her just deserts.

EVERYONE - this chapter is a little short, because it's mainly just a blurb that describes the revenge on Skeeter. I will get back to plot in the very next chapter. Thank you for your time, and I hope you enjoy the story.

A/N: This chapter has been changed, although I left some of the original bits in it, and I left my original review replies there as well. If you left a review on the old chapter, I hope you leave one on the new one as well.

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Rita sat in her lavish flat, paid for by the millions of copies of the Prophet she’d helped sell over the years. She had just enjoyed a bit of music from the wireless, and was lounging in her sitting room with a glass of wine and her newest paycheck.

“Ah…it’s so much sweeter knowing I can take advantage of stupid people. Those mangy Lestranges never saw it coming. Hah! Mangy Lestranges…” she giggled, and set her glass of wine on the table, spilling a bit as she did. She must have celebrated a bit too much.

She stood, and stretched, her house robe slipping up above her rather conservative knickers.

“A bath, and then bed. Yes…” she said.

She walked to her bathroom, and began to run hot water, laced with a strong floral scent. She stripped out of her robe and underthings, sinking into the steaming water.

“It feels good to be in control…” she sighed.

She soaked for a good twenty minutes, before she finally stepped out of the tub, using her toes to pull the stopper. She walked, naked, to the sink, and plucked her toothbrush from its holder. She didn’t bother with a towel, as she preferred to ‘air dry.’

She put some paste on the toothbrush, and began to brush her teeth. She made sure to brush every chemically-whitened tooth, and then bent to spit. She gathered some water in her hand and rinsed her mouth. She rinsed off the brush, and put it back in its holder.

When she raised her head to look in the mirror, she saw someone standing behind her in her reflection. She screamed, and whirled around, only to discover she was alone. She whirled back to the mirror, and saw no one.

“Just your imagination, Rita. Nobody here…” she said softly.

She retrieved her wand from the edge of the sink and cast a drying spell over herself.

Rita had to admit she was a bit freaked out by whatever had happened in the bathroom, so she kept her wand with her. A quick trip to her walk-in closet to get some pajamas, and then she went back to her bedroom, and warded the door shut. She climbed up into the bed, and nestled herself into the satin sheets.

A shadow moved behind her, but she was too intent on staring at the door to notice. The shadow crept closer to her bed, and was suddenly on top of her. Turned out the shadow was a very solid male. He wrenched her wand out of her hand, and threw it across the room. Then, he silenced her screams with a wave of his own wand.

“Rita Skeeter.”

His voice was low and gravelly, and his breath smelled of cigars, firewhiskey, and something she couldn’t quite place. She closed her eyes, and tried to sink into the mattress.

“You make your living ruining the lives and reputations of people.”

She tried to struggle, but a quick slap across the face stilled her immediately.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you….it just makes it worse.”

She looked up into the face of her attacker. She could just barely make out his features in the moonlight coming through the window. He was pale, very pale, and had dark shadow of stubble on his face. His eyes seemed to light up an eerie pale blue, and his mouth was set in a thin line.

“You should really be more careful what you write about. I couldn’t count on all my fingers and toes the amount of people you’ve pissed off. It doesn’t bode well for your health…” he growled. But then, suddenly, he grinned at her. Her eyes widened when she spotted the fangs in his mouth. A vampire! She began to mouth desperately, trying to get a message to him. He watched her lips, and threw back his head and laughed. It wasn’t a pleasant sound. “Give me money? I’m dead, Writer of Lies. I have no use for money…”

With a flick of his wand he bound her to the bed, and crawled off of her.

“What to do with you? I could squash you like the bug you are…” upon seeing the look of panic on her face, he laughed again. “Oh….I was told to be creative. Let’s see…” he stood beside the bed, looking down at her. “Sometimes I think you just write about people to make yourself feel better. You’re quite like the playground bully, you know….making fun of people because you aren’t comfortable in your own skin. It’s so childish….hmm….now there’s an idea….” He said. Her eyes widened as he pointed his wand at her.

~~

Bozo was a photographer for the Prophet. It wasn’t a glamorous job, but it put bread on the table. His boss….now she had a glamorous job. Rita Skeeter could strike fear into the hearts of people just by raising a quill.

Usually she was right on time, and he met her at the front door of her flat building. She was late this morning. The first ten minutes didn’t really bother him, because after all, she was a woman, and sometimes women were just late….it paid not to ask questions or comment…

But after thirty minutes he was a bit miffed. He had other stuff he could be doing…

He went into the building, and took the lift to her floor. He had a key to her flats, and knew the wards, but Rita had said that if he ever used them for a non-emergency, she would make sure he never had children again.

He let down the wards, and then put the key in the door. He let himself in, and looked around. He didn’t see her.

“Rita? Miss Skeeter?”

He set his camera down on a table, and went cautiously through the flat. When he reached the bedroom, he gave a sigh of relief. She was sitting on the bed, looking around.

“Come on, Rita. We have to go.” He said. But his brows furrowed when h noticed her still in her pajamas.
Rita looked over at him, her eyes a bit wide.

“Who are you?” she asked, drawing her covers up to her chin. Bozo blinked.

“Now’s not the time for games, Miss Skeeter. We have an appointment with Grefty Greene in thirty minutes.” He said, looking at his watch.

“I don’t know you. My mum told me never to talk to strangers!” her voice was a bit higher than usual, and she looked a bit pale. When Bozo started to come towards her, she gave a squeak and thrust her head under the covers. He could hear her crying.

“Oh…um….maybe we should call a healer…” he said, moving towards the door to go to the floo.

~~

Bellatrix hummed softly to herself as she gave Kyra her bottle. She and Rodolphus had spent all day yesterday with the Weasleys. Bellatrix had gone under the guise of wanting to learn more about motherhood and child rearing. Rodolphus was just an unfortunate male who was subjected to the whims of his wife.

The visit was pleasant enough, although the one Weasley son, Percy, kept glaring at her through lunch. When she offered to fix his eyesight problem (as that could be the only thing she could think of to make a young man squint like that), he turned a horrible ashy color and kept his eyes on his plate for the rest of the meal. Molly wasn’t pleased at her tactic, but she knew that the woman wouldn’t follow through with her threat.

Molly had positively gushed over Kyra. It was clear to both Bella and Rodolphus that she really enjoyed children, and they promised her that if they ever needed a sitter, she would be the first they called.

“Elves are nice for nappy changes, but long periods of time with them can give a child a complex…” she said. Bellatrix and Rodolphus only looked at each other. Both of them had spent large amounts of time with house-elves, and they had turned out just- on second thought, maybe a sitter would be a good idea.

She was interrupted from her reverie by an urgent pounding on the front door. She left it to the house-elves to attend to, and cooed at Kyra when she spit her bottle out to be burped.

“Who’s my big baby girl?” she said, and put the child on her shoulder, patting her back.

An elf appeared in the kitchen, looking a bit frightened.

“Miss…the Minister of Magic wants to see you and Master Rodolphus.” The elf squeaked.

“Send the Minister to the drawing room, and serve some tea. Then get Master Rodolphus. I’ll tend to the Minister until then.” She said. When Kyra burped, Bellatrix gingerly stood, and took the little girl with her to the drawing room. Kingsley had already been shown there, and was standing at the fireplace, looking annoyed.

“How are you on this fine morning, Minister?” she asked. Kingsley frowned.

“Don’t give me that bullshit, Mrs. Lestrange.” He said. He reached into his robe, and pulled out a newspaper. “Have you read the morning paper?” he asked.

“Why yes. One of the American Quidditch teams is going to be in the World Cup. Isn’t that fascinating?” she said, more to Kyra than the Minister. Kyra gave a little grin, and waved her fists.

“I’m talking about what happened to Skeeter. Her photographer found her in her rooms, babbling like a child. When he called St. Mungos, a Mediwizard was sent out. Turns out, she was attacked mentally, and left with the brain power of a five year old.” He said, and crossed his arms. “You wouldn’t happen to know anything about this, would you? Where were you and your husband yesterday?”

“We were at the Weasleys.” Rodolphus said from the doorway. “All day. Bella wanted to ask Molly a few questions on motherhood.” He said, moving beside his wife. “It’s a shame what happened to her, but we had nothing to do with it. Besides, didn’t the article on her also say that there weren’t any traces of a living person to be found? The Aurors believe it was a vampire. Why do you think otherwise?” he asked.

“I just find it amazing that the day after she writes an article on you two that she ends up in the psyche ward at St. Mungos.” He said, frowning.

“That’s all it is, Minister….coincidence. I’m sorry that the first people you blame are us, but we had nothing to do with it. We have lives to live now, Minister. We wouldn’t do anything to put that in jeopardy.” Bellatrix said. Kingsley frowned deeper.

“I cannot pin this on you….but we’ll be watching you even closer. I don’t find any of this funny…you two need to find another way to deal with people who piss you off. I suggest a strongly worded letter…” he said finally.

“Is that all, Minister?” Rodolphus asked. Kingsley nodded sharply. “Very well. Cookie will show you to the door. We have quite a bit of redecorating to do.” He said, and snapped his fingers. The little female elf appeared, and looked up at the great black wizard in awe.

“Cookie will shows you the door.” She squeaked. He followed the little elf, but turned to face Rodolphus as he passed him.

“Don’t let me catch you doing something you shouldn’t.” He growled, and then left.

Bellatrix looked over at Rodolphus and smiled.

“So…what color do you want to paint the master suite?”

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BIG OL' AUTHOR'S NOTE: I read your reviews, and gaged your reactions. I agree with all of you that the 'revenge' wasn't very creative, nor was it humane. So, after a quick nap, I have re-done this chapter, and I hope you find it more....ah....creative.

Now I will reply to the reviews that I got on the OLD chapter:

smurphy - thank you for your review. I hope you will consider this chapter as pleasing!

RyGirl824 - I changed the chappie. Is this better? And as for our other peeps, I promise to have a brand new chapter on them early Wed. morning. I just wanted to change this.

distinctlyME - I know...you're totally right. So...I changed it! Do you like it better? Wedding? Aww...good luck, and I hope you can pay for it! (Ugh....the phrase 'money makes the world go round' is too true...)

FlowersBecomeScreens - *Shame faced* Umm...do you like the new one better?