Quietly, Ginny slipped into the drawing room as Leo used his wand to cast a lumos spell. Warily, Rose scanned their surroundings, looking into the rooms that opened to the hallway and up the staircase. A feeling of dread overtook her as she surveyed the darkness. The alleged Lady Black they were meeting had possibly killed Leo's grandmother in this house. Perhaps meeting her here had been a bad idea.
"Do you think she's here?" Leo asked.
"Maybe," Rose breathed, "but maybe we should go home. I don't like this idea anymore."
Leo shrugged. "We already thought it through. There is no use getting cold feet now."
"You are right, I suppose," Rose said, summoning her Gryffindor courage. "Lady Black!" Rose yelled. "Are you here?"
"There no need to shout," came a wry voice from the top of the stairs.
Leo lifted his wand and revealed a cloaked and hooded figure atop the stairs. Despite the robes, hood, and charms to prevent one from looking into the hood to see the face, it was patently clear that the cloaked figure was a woman. "Lady Black?" Leo asked.
"Indeed," she said. "Come up and let us speak. You can also bring your friend who is hiding in the drawing room."
.....
Though she knew that Rose, Leo, and Ginny had departed, Sidra knocked on the door to Rose's bedroom. When there was no reply, she entered to find it empty. Quickly, she scanned all the other bedrooms in the house before darting downstairs to the basement. They were not there either. That meant they were gone for sure-they had not doubled back. Smiling grimly, Sidra darted upstairs to find her parents and the Weasleys. Rose, Ginny, and Leo were going to be in so much trouble when their parents found out they had gone to Grimmauld Place late at night on a lark.
.....
Bellatrix watched the three abashed teenagers as they climbed the stairs toward her. That they had tried to conceal the third of their party for safety spoke of their cleverness. Their embarrassment at doing so spoke of their immaturity and sense of honor. The specially modified robes they wore spoke of their preparation, but their complete lack of proper stance and formation in a hostile environment signified that they were nevertheless inexperienced. Bellatrix smirked as the three teenagers arrived at the top of the flight of stairs.
"Did you bring the diary?" she asked, noting with satisfaction that the voice alteration charm she had cast on herself was working well.
"Yes," Rose said as Leo withdrew it from his pocket and held it up. "However, if we do not reach a satisfactory agreement, you will not get it."
Bellatrix turned her attention to the diary, still keeping an eye on each teenager and noting with amusement that the third one had faded to the back of the group and looked ready to dash down the stairs at the first sign of trouble. The diary was plain and black, just as Harry had described, but Bellatrix could not see anything else in the poor light.
"Is there a name inscribed on it anywhere?" Bellatrix asked.
"Tom Marvolo Riddle," Rose said in her most neutral voice.
"Excellent," Bellatrix said. "What is your price?"
"Before we even discuss price, we need to know who Tom Marvolo Riddle is," Rose told Bellatrix.
"You do not know?" Bellatrix asked, faintly surprised, though on second thought, she realized that not even Harry had realized what he was holding the first time he had happened across the diary.
"Er, no," Leo said. "Who is he?"
"You are holding the dark lord's personal diary," Bellatrix told them reluctantly, reflecting that she should have approached this transaction with a different strategy.
"Are you planning on becoming the next dark lord?" Leo asked, suddenly feeling like he did not want anybody but Dumbledore to touch the diary.
"The term is dark lady," Bellatrix informed the teenagers drily. "And no, my intent is not to follow the dark lord's footsteps. The diary is essential to his downfall."
"Then we should really give the diary to Professor Dumbledore," Rose said beginning to realize that she had perhaps been a little less than wise. She should have tried to find out more about the diary before attempting to pawn it off like this.
"I would rather that I possess the diary," Bellatrix said, beginning to see that there would not be any civil negotiations for the diary after all.
"If you want the dark lord's downfall, then you surely cannot object to turning the diary over to Professor Dumbledore," Leo said, his voice betraying that he had become somewhat nervous.
"If Dumbledore could bring down the dark lord, he would have done so by now," Bellatrix told them. "I am in a better position than Dumbledore to bring down the dark lord. My offer of fifty thousand galleons stands."
"I'm sorry," said Rose in a voice Bellatrix took to be very condescending, "but the diary is no longer on the market. If you want to help bring down the dark lord, you will have to contact Professor Dumbledore and offer your services." She turned to head back down the stairs.
Imperceptibly, Bellatrix's wand had appeared in her hand. She brought up her arm, and with a jab, a blinding flash of light bounded from her wand and struck the person that had tried to hide in the drawing room earlier causing her to fall to the ground, paralyzed, and blocking Rose and Leo from accessing the stairs. Rose had not had her wand drawn and Leo's wand had been providing light. Before Rose and Leo could even scream, Bellatrix struck them with curses that left them silenced and temporarily paralyzed from the neck down.
"Really, I did not want it to be this way," Bellatrix told them, noting with amusement the surprise, outrage, and shame in their eyes. This was a lesson they would not soon forget. "I was willing to pay you the fifty thousand galleons." She giggled a little at the irony. "Do not worry, though. I really do mean to use the diary against the dark lord. She stepped forward, bent down, and retrieved the diary from Leo's paralyzed form.
....
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