A Very Private Conversation

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Bruin Dumbledez

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Wand
Ebony Wand 15" - Dragon's Heartstring Core
Bruin held the door of the library open for Bellatrix and the two of them sauntered through the central stacks and settled into a pair of comfortable chairs across a table from each other in the centre of the library. The library was busier thas usual given the approach of exams and would provide an ideal environment for them to test the quality of their Muffliato Charm. Bruin still wasn't sure what the two of them would speak about, but was certain that they could come up with something that others in the library should not overhear.

"So, would you like to do the honours or shall I?" Bruin asked with a grin as he twirled his wand between his fingers.
 
"You can..." Bellatrix said softly, her eyes trained upon Bruin, slightly uncomfortable with his wand out and not her own. So quickly she pulled her wand out of her robes pockets, then placing it on her lap she waited.
 
Bruin smiled and grasped his wand more purposefully, flourishing it and stating Muffliato! clearly. What felt like a brief gush of air seemed to radiate outwards from his wand and Bruin looked at Bellatrix with a raised eyebrow and slight shrug of his shoulders as if to say "So, do you think that worked?".

Bruin smiled a little and then asked. "I guess we should probably test that to see if it worked before we say anything too interesting, eh?" Bruin thought for a moment and then noticed a boy from Ravenclaw sitting just behind Bellatrix. "Hey Bellatrix...did you hear the news?" Bruin asked in an overly loud voice. "They're going to be expelling all the boys in Ravenclaw soon and combining all their girls with Hufflepuff. They'll be know as Ravenpuff from now on!!!" He said jokingly.

Bruin waited to see if there was any response, but seeing none could only assume that the charm had been successful and that the people around them would only hear a buzzing sound in their ears if they attempted to listen in on the remained of his conversation with Bellatrix. "So, what's new and exciting with you? I've noticed you in classes a little more often this year. Don't tell me you're actually beginning to enjoy lessons?" Bruin added with a smile.
 
Bellatrix snickered at hist statement. "It worked..." she said stifling a laugh. "Well...nothing has really been happening to me. Sadly to say...sorry...I'm not much of an interest piece. I am attending classes so I don't fail...and well...they are interesting..." she said trailing off. "Only some of them though." she instantly snapped trying to keep her harsh composure, though around Bruin this was hard. He was so genuinely kind to her, that she just couldn't feel the need to be mean. Yet she could never care for him as more than a friend. They were too diffirent.
 
Bruin considered Bellatrix's response, wondering what went on in that head of hers. Sometimes it seemed like a lifetime ago when they first met and almost immediately began to trade insults and the occasional hex and at other times it seemed like just yesterday. The last few years had seen them learn to speak to each other, but Bruin still felt that he only had the faintest of ideas what made her tick. Bruin loved puzzles and he hoped that this conversation would help him make some sense of the puzzle that was Bellatrix Green.

"You, not an interest piece??? Come on...you've made more covers of the newspaper than anyone else around this place. If I didn't know better, I'd almost guess that you were up to something right now." Bruin joked. In truth, Bruin had probably caused more problems this year than Bellatrix, particularly his Yule Ball dust up with Ford, but he didn't want Bellatrix to sell herself short.

"So, heard any good gossip lately?" Bruin asked, knowing this would be the perfect opportunity for the two of them to trash some of their fellow students and professors.
 
Bellatrix laughed lightly. "I guess your right...but you did pretty well your self. Need I remind you? I may not have been there, but I most definitely heard about you lovely little...mishap with the Yule Ball." she laughed trying to brush the subject by and moving on to the new topic as quickly as he did. "I only know a few things about a few teachers. And one thing that I cannot ignore, is that Professor King seems to have a little...fling...if you know what I mean..." Bellatrix said, a slightly sneer upon her face. Her eyes locked upon Bruin.
 
Bruin coughed back a laugh at Bellatrix's comment. "Oh that...just a little misunderstanding, I suppose. But as for Kingy-baby, he is definitely a major league PLAY-AAAAAH." Bruin said with a wide grin. "You should have seen him snogging Professor Rambolt at the Yule Ball, it was awesome....actually, come to think of it, I'm almost sorry that I interrupted their little moment. Personally, I don't know why the women dig him so much, every time I look at him I have this weird feeling that he'd have made a better pirate than a professor."

"How are things over at Slytherin? Is MEAN-teia as big a pompous arse over there as he is in Arithmancy class?" Bruin wondered aloud, always curious to know what went on down in the dungeons.
 
"It seems our dear Cecily cannot contain her self. Nor our Nicolas." Bellatrix said, her mouth a thin line. "I wouldn't say a Pirate as much as a guard." Her face did not change from the harsh line it now had formed. She had plenty of run ins with both Professor King and Manteia. They were two men no matter what subject, she could not feel joking about. More so rage against them. "Slytherin is fine, thank you for asking, Gryffindor. As for..." she said coughing slightly. "Manteia, I do not care what he does or how he acts. He has always been a harsh...creature. I am surprised you even took that class. Arithmancy..." she said with a scoff. "I would never take a class from him again...and the first time, it really wasin't a class..."
 
Bruin wasn't particularly surprised by Bellatrix's rather stoic reply. It seemed that a lot of the students at the school liked to keep their guard up and keep their emotions in check. "I actually liked Arithmancy last year, but it has become a little dry this year. I'm not sure what electives I want to take beyond next year." Bruin wondered aloud, hesitating for a moment as he considered what to say next.

"You seem to have settled on Runes though, eh? I always see you in Heimdall's class and I saw you coming from her office the other day as I was on my way up to Gryffindor. My only question is were you dropping off some extra credit work or trying to break into her office and steal a copy of our exam?" Bruin asked with a raised eyebrow, having seen Bellatrix speeding away from Professor Heimdall's office door looking a little shifty earlier that week and thinking it odd to find her so far away from the Dungeons.
 
Bellatrix nodded slightly as a bit of confirmation about Bruins statement about Arithmancy. She had nothing else to say on the matter. Yet upon hearing Bruins next question she was rather shocked. Her eyes grew wide but she quickly hid this, returning to her guarded, hidden emotion. "Y-Yes I have surprisingly found a fancy in Ancient Runes. Its such an interesting class...and Professor Heimdall is...wonderful." Bellatrix said softly. "Oh and yes," she added with a light laugh. " I wanted to give her a bit of extra credit work, beings that I need to do as well as possible in all my classes to pass. Sorry to say I was not breaking in..." she continued on with another light laugh when a new sudden idea came to mind. "Which reminds me Bruin...beings that Gryffindor Common room is right there...would you mind dropping another bit of work off for me? It would save me a lot of extra work, beings that I have to go all the way down to the dungeons." Bellatrix asked, keeping a slight sneer off her face. This was perfect, for sure Bruin would be able to conceal any though of her getting caught, not that she though the Professor would even be able to catch on to her.
 
Bruin noticed something a little peculiar about Bellatrix's response to his question, but wondered whether she was just embarrassed to admit she was actually starting to care a little about her school work and put it out of his mind. "Sure, no problem at all. I'll be heading up to Gryffindor when we're done here and it's on the way. Do you want me to knock or just slip it under her door?" Bruin asked, not being familiar with Professor Heimdall's office hours.
 
"Oh, just slip it under her door." Bellatrix said. "We sort of made a little agreement...I wouldn't bother her with it, and she wouldn't bother me...overly. You know what I mean?" she asked, in her head very proud of the lies that she was able to come up with spur of the moment. Though it did make her feel slightly bad for putting a nice friend like Bruin in the line of fire for her own safety, but that is what she had to do.
 
"Sure, sounds cool to me...so, anything else interesting you'd like to chat about inside our little cloud of secrecy?" Bruin asked, punctuating it with a fake sinister laugh. He was enjoying talking with Bellatrix and could see that the Muffliato charm was one that he might actually use from time to time as he moved on with his life.
 
"I'll give it to you before you leave." Bellatrix added. Then smiling at Bruins sinister attempt. "Tell me how your life has been going...I haven't talked to you in ages, so I don't really know much of whats going on."
 
"Hmmm..." Bruin responded, trying to think about what had happened in his life since he'd last spoken with Bellatrix. "Well, I suppose it's been a mix of good and bad. I inherited a really old stone carving from my grandparents that I'm sure has some secrets about it, but they didn't share them with me before they passed on so I'm thinking that might be something I look into once I'm done with school."

Bruin paused and then continued on about school stuff. "As far as school goes, classes have been alright. My Quidditch team should be awesome, but it doesn't look like any of the other houses are going to get organized enough to offer us a challenge this year, and well, I suppose my relationships around the school have been a bit of a mixed bag. I apologized to Ford and Sophia after the little fight at the Yule Ball, but didn't get a response from either one...so I don't really know what's going on there... " Bruin's voice trailed off as he began to dwell a little on what his Arithmancy results had revealed about him not being comfortable with close relationships and he wondered whether there was more to it than he wanted to believe.

"Yeah, so that's about it, I guess. How about you? I mean, sorry if this is a little personal, but you weren't looking so good for awhile there. Is everything okay with you?" Bruin hoped that Bellatrix didn't mind this line of questions, but he had wondered a little about Bellatrix's health over the past year, both mental and physical.
 
"Yes...well wow...that all sounds interesting. I am sorry about Ford and Sophia, and I hope the rest of your year is well." Bellatrix said awkwardly. Then clearing her throat slightly. "And um...yes...I was...not doing to well but I am fine now." she said vaguely, curious as to if Bruin would push the point or leave it mute.
 
Bruin sensed that Bellatrix didn't really want to talk about her own situation and knew better than to push with this kind of stuff. Besides, he was getting rather tired of having to fight to get people to open up to him. It seemed like everybody at this friggin' school had secrets that they felt compelled to keep to themselves and he sometimes wished that he could just have a "normal" life with "normal" friendships. Bruin had tried to joke around with people, play games, hang out, start snowball fights, and it seemed that everyone that was interested in those kind of things found one reason or another to leave the school. Maybe he should just pack it in and follow them? Bruin wondered to himself.

"Well, I'm glad you're doing better now." He replied sincerely. "And as for Ford and Sophia, don't worry too much there. I've done what I can to make things better, but if they are going to keep giving me the silent treatment then I guess they aren't worth my time." Bruin was still confused about the whole situation, but it felt good to say aloud what he'd been thinking for the past month.

"Anyways, it looks like this charm works pretty well, but I wonder how long it lasts? Do you think it follows us if we move?" Bruin knew that Bellatrix probably didn't have the answers to these questions, but figured it couldn't hurt to throw them out there in case he'd missed something in class.
 
Bellatrix was shocked, she actually was expecting Bruin to press the point. Some part of her, buried deep down, felt compelled to accept the truth. People cared and she had to accept it some way or another. She also had to accept what she had done to her self...how she was destroying her from the inside out. "I don't know..." Bellatrix said answering his last question. "It would be cool if it could though..." she then waited in an awkward silence. "I would rather not try it...not now...and I am sure Sophia and Ford will soon come around..." She then began to fidget. "Bruin...I was not fine...I was really sick..." she sighed deciding to tell him the truth. "I was starving my self..." She felt embarrassed, angry, annoyed all at once. Why was it Bruin's business? Why did she even tell him? And then it dawned on her. Thats what friends do...
 
Bruin was still considering the uses and limitations of the Muffliato Charm when Bellatrix opened up about her eating disorder. A flood of questions rushed through his mind, but he managed to prevent them from spilling forth from his mouth. Instead, he simply sat quietly and considered what he should say, knowing deep down that what Bellatrix had just done took a great deal of courage and trust and his parents would kill him if they knew he had responded in an insensitve way. Finally, he spoke slowly and softly, more out of habit than not trusting in the charm surrounding them.

"Oh...I'm sorry to hear that you went, er, or are, uh, struggling with that. I've heard that can be really tough to deal with..." Bruin almost added the word alone, assuming from the little he knew about Bellatrix's background that she didn't have a whole lot of family or friends in her life. "So, it sounds like the worst is over, but, you know, is there anything that I can do to, uh, help from here on?" Bruin was completely sincere in his offer, but like so many other times recently, questioned his ability to be of much good.
 
Bellatrix could feel her nails slightly digging into the palm of her hand. I can't believe I just told him... she thought. Shocked. "Yes....it is..." she said quickly. "And it would of helped to have...someone around...but I had Kiera Kingsly...she at least got me to the Hospital Wing...her and Professor King. Shockingly enough. And I guess my form of...eating disorder...if you will, was not conventional. Most girls do it because they think their fat, I just didn't see the point in eating...I more or less just wanted to die." Bellatrix added dryly. "And Bruin, don't worry about me. You have enough on your plate already, not to mention that I am pretty much over it now anyway. But..." she stopped taking a quick inhale. "T-Thank you for wanting to help...your a true friend..." she stammered softly, surprised she was saying such words. Suddenly beginning to feel a twinge of guilt. He was so selflessly helping her...and what did she have to offer back?
 
Bruin listened quietly as Bellatrix spoke, not wishing to interrupt or make her feel uncomfortable. He didn't know how to respond to her admitting that she had not wanted to go on living, but was relieved to hear that was no longer thinking along those lines. Bruin smiled at her last words, glad to hear that she considered them to be friends.

"Well, if you ever want to talk or anything, the offer stands." Bruin replied and then glanced at his watch. "Well, I guess we should get going. It'll be dinner soon..." He said as he started packing up his stuff. "Oh, I almost forgot...do you have that stuff for Professor Heimdall?" He added, remembering the promise he'd made to drop off her work for her.
 
Bellatrix quickly stood, also grabbing her things. "Yes...wow...time flies when your catching up with a friend..." she murmured reaching into her bag and pulling out a square envelope that contained her blackmailing letter. "And here you go." she said handing it to Bruin with a smile. Upon the envelopes face it read in a beautiful calligraphy script:

freya.jpg


The letter read:
The Ides of March has come, thorns that cut and twine and choke, cannot save your precious Runes.
Click to expand...

And nothing more. The writing was a strange font and unable to be identified for it was not commonly used. Who ever wrote it, knew to cover their tracks well...and knew something they should not...


"Please slip this under the door for me. The grade is something I really need, and its of the utmost importance." Bellatrix said sweetly.
 
Bruin took the envelope from Bellatrix without a second thought. "Alright then. I'll see you tomorrow in class." He stated with a wink as he headed for the stairs, anxious to drop his books off in his dorm room, change for dinner, and then strap the old feed bag on. Just as soon as he dropped the envelope off that is.

Click here to continue reading about the misadventures of Bruin and Bellatrix...
 
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