If Your Body Matches What Your Eyes Can Do|(Snape)

[Bellatrix Black]

There were times when Bellatrix Black genuinely wanted to be left alone. At times like this, she would find an empty room in the dungeons and spend the day there or as long as it took until she got bored and decided to return to the common room and her friends. Usually days like this were not because Bellatrix was in a bad mood (if she didn't like she was always in a very bad mood and if she did than she never was), but because Bellatrix was actually trying to get work done.

Such work was rarely ever school work. She could do that in her dormitory, or the seventh year boys' dorm if she did not want to deal with the girls she had to share a room with. Honestly some days Bellatrix thought she might as well just live in their dorm, she spent about as much time there and liked them considerably more than the girls. Now that she was betrothed to Rabbit... But no, Bellatrix would never actually do that. People would talk too much. Though Bella did not care what students said about her, she did very much care what her parents heard. It did not matter if their daughter was engaged or not, she was supposed to be a proper young lady.

Today she had received a gift from one of her relatives. Of course, she knew the whole family tree by heart (she'd been taught it since she was a little girl), but at the moment she could care less who it was from when she needed to learn everything the book could teach her. It was one of the books she had wanted most and was harder to find otherwise she probably would have already gotten it from her father's library. She had vaguely recalled that she had seen it somewhere and begged her father to have them send it to her. Cygnus would have preferred that Bellatrix not be quite so enthusiastic about the Dark Arts but his second daughter had both of their parents wrapped around her finger.

She was currently perched on the edge of the teacher's desk, with her legs crossed at the knees and even though no one was there, her skirt hitched up a bit higher than modesty would allow for. The large leather-bound book was on the desk next to her. If she had been the more caring type, she would have felt quite sorry for the owls who had to carry the book. Bellatrix had never been particularly concerned with anyone's well being other than her own and her family and friends let alone that of animals.

She closed her eyes, silently repeating what she'd just read in her head. Bellatrix insisted on practically memorizing books like this. It would be amazing if she devoted this much time and attention to her classes. However, she had much better things to do with her time. Said things of course generally being studying the Dark Arts, causing trouble with the boys, or the Lestrange brothers.

Bellatrix tucked a loose strand of her hair behind her ear as she opened her eyes and flipped the page with her other hand. Bellatrix was determined to be the best when it came to the Dark Arts, an ambitious goal given that most of the boys in Slytherin had the same goal. Generally the Dark Arts was dominated by men. She was going to change that.

[Severus Snape]

Severus walked very slowly down the dungeon corridor. It wasn't like he was trying to avoid something, Severus never avoided anything. Except for Black and Potter, but that was a different story. He pushed a lock of his black hair out of his eyes as he looked down at his slowly moving feet. He couldn't walk fast and think at the same time, it would be too easy to run into a wall or forget what one was thinking about. This was important matter that he couldn't forget, it was at least important to him.

Severus pulled out his tattered old potions book from his tan messenger bag. He opened the book as the pages fell open to a page with the top corner folded over. His eyes scanned blue inked notes scribbled along the margins of the page. Severus suddenly stopped walked as his eyes lit up. "That's it!" He whispered to himself as he closed the book.

Severus started to walk again with an increased pace down the corridor. Now he was in a hurry, as his brain raced with ideas. He took a sharp left as he awkwardly power-walked towards an old classroom door and stopped abruptly before it. Severus looked behind him before turning the brass doorknob and stepping in the empty classroom, hurrying towards the bookshelf.

Severus didn't even notice that there was someone else in the room, he was so wrapped up in his own bookshelf exploration. He reached up on the bookshelf to pick up a large book bound in dark green leather. "This is it, I might finally be able to complete this spell," He mumbled aloud.

Severus had been working on creating a new spell. He found that he had a talent for it, he had created sectumsempra after all. As Severus turned to exit the room, a girl sitting on the teacher's desk caught his eye. Bellatrix Black.

Severus just stared at her, not knowing what to say. This was awkward for him, it was the first time he had seen her since last year. Severus hoped that she hadn't noticed him as he tried to inch over to the door. It was stupid of him to think that she didn't notice him, he was talking pretty loudly to himself over by the bookshelf. He bit the corner of his lip as he stared at Bellatrix, not knowing what to do or say.

[Bellatrix Black]

Despite her focus on the book, Bellatrix had of course noticed someone had entered the room. She remained silent, amused that whoever it was had not noticed her. She glanced up slightly when he spoke, Severus Snape. This was going to be interesting. Bella could not exactly describe her relationship with Severus. They were competitive but not in the same way that she jokingly was with the older boys or nearly as bitter as with girls like Adela.

She waited carefully for him to notice her. She didn't move and tried to avoid staring as that might draw his attention towards her sooner. Then Severus spoke and it took quite a good deal of restraint not to make some quip about him talking to himself. She waited impatiently for him to notice her. Although this was entertaining, Severus was quite fun to engage in a battle of wits.

Finally he turned and looked at her. She could feel him watching her so she smirked and looked up at him. "Hello Severus," she greeted calmly. Bellatrix was one of those people who got a strange sense of amusement out of incredibly awkward situations and tended to make them worse for her own enjoyment.

"How are you, darling?" she asked. She called pretty much everyone by pet names either as an actual sign of endearment (which was rare), to patronize people, or just generally to annoy them. With Severus, it was probably a mix of all three really.

Bellatrix of course, could make the situation much more awkward by making some comment about being all alone in an unused classroom, in the dungeons no less, but refrained for the moment. On occasion, she could be a civil human being. Severus had caught her when she was in a very good mood over her new book. She decided to leave the innuendos out of the conversation for a bit but really, with a girl like Bella, it was only a matter of time.

That was probably one of the reasons Bellatrix and Severus were not closer. She was compulsive, loud, and always wanted to be the center of attentions whereas he was much more subtle. In some ways this also seemed to help their friendship (if it really could be called a friendship) since they therefore had fairly different approaches to the Dark Arts, making them not need to be quite so competitive in absolutely everything.

[Severus Snape]

Severus quit his attempt to make an escape as Bellatix smirked at him. He knew he had been noticed, whether or not he was lucky to have been could only be told in a matter of moments.

Severus Snape was by no means scared or intimidated by Bellatrix, at least not at the moment. He was always confused by the relationship the two of them shared. It wasn't hate, yet they weren't best friends either. They were more like allies in Severus's mind, with a twist of rivalry, if that was a possible combination. Well, whatever they were, she at least deserved a greeting.

"Miss Black," Severus said with a nod. It was a dry, formal greeting, he was never one to throw around cheesy, emotional greetings. His lips formed into a smirk as his awkward mode turned into quite a slightly wittier one. "And what a rare occasion it is today, to find you all by yourself quietly reading," Severus cocked his head to try and get a glimpse at the book's title.

"Must be quite interesting to draw you away from your usual... hobbies." He didn't know what exactly to call the things that Bellatrix did. He didn't consider shagging a hobby, but what else there was to call it

[Bellatrix Black]

It was probably a good thing that Bellatrix was in such a good mood today. Not that she'd really be particularly rude or cruel to him. She was not as friendly with him as she was with the seventh year boys but she was always mostly civil by her standards. Today was a good day though so she would probably be especially kind.

Bellatrix and Severus indeed had one of the strangest relationships. Things were obviously not quite as black and white as most people seemed to think. Bella trusted Severus, for now anyway. She also preferred his company to taht of quite a few Slytherins, especially the girls. However, there had always been an underlying rivalry between the two that she was constantly aware of.

She smirked when he made his comment about it being a rare occasion to find her alone reading. She held up the book so he could get a better look at the title. "Hm, I know, quite the turn on isn't it?" Bellatrix raised one eyebrow suggestively as she licked her lips. Being one of the only girls who was so deeply involved had its perks during conversations like this. She could turn practically anything into a sexual reference and make things much more awkward.

Bellatrix laughed. "The Dark Arts will always be infinitely more important than shagging Rabbit or any of the others," she explained. "A girl's got to have her priorities straight," she added with a grin. Ms. Black was a very strange girl sometimes. Of course, most of the Slytherins knew better than to expect anything else from her. Dark Arts, sex, potions, pureblood affairs, or she simply did not care.

[Severus Snape]

The awkwardness for Severus rose when Bellatrix mentioned it being a turn on and licked her lips. He assumed that he was one of the only boys at Hogwarts who wasn't sexually attracted to Bellatix. Most guys would be dying to be alone in a room with her, but for him it was not a big deal, just awkward.

It was a rare occasion that girl flirted with him, but it seemed to annoy him more than anything else. He always believed that it was a joke, the romance stuff. That it was for the weak at heart. But this is only what he express out loud. Severus Snape would never admit his longing for a certain redhead. He ignored the turn on comment in the end.

Severus suddenly became more interested in the conversation when he realized what book she was reading. If there is one thing he likes to talk about, it was definitely the Dark Arts. "The Dark Arts, eh?" He questioned. "An unusual topic for a girl to be reading." He said with a smirk. He actually had no problems with a girl interested in the Dark Arts, he just had the slight urge to annoy her. It was always fun to fire her up a bit, it always led to something interesting.

[Bellatrix Black]

Bellatrix loved making situations like this as awkward as humanly possible. Though really, she'd probably limit her flirting with him to words rather than pretty much throwing herself at him. It was somewhat out of respect and somewhat out of a knowledge that it was pointless. Though really, it might be rather entertaining...

She probably ought to have been more offended that he was uninterested in her advances but Bellatrix was not one to take such things personally. It was just like with Lucius, only she and Severus were not as close and Severus was not betrothed to any of her sisters.

Ms. Black was rather disappointed he had not even bothered to reply to her comment. She of course had not expected him to flirt back (that would have genuinely startled her) but she was hoping for at least some sort of reaction. She would have to be more persistent apparently.

Bellatrix would not let on that his comment bothered her slightly. She simply shrugged her shoulders. "Well, I guess I'm just not like other girls, then, am I?" she questioned. "Personally, I find it all utterly fascinating," Bellatrix is probably the only girl who would talk about the Dark Arts in an oddly seductive tone. Then again, with a girl like Bellatrix, it was entirely possible that she considered such things a turn on.

[Severus Snape]

Severus leaned his back against the wall, showing that he had gotten a bit more comfortable with the conversation he was having. He found it took a couple of minutes to get used to Bellatrix. Now that they were onto the topic of the Dark Arts he found himself more at ease, but Bellatrix was so unpredictable at times that he wouldn't be surprised if she made it awkward again.

"No, you are definitely not like most girls," Severus said. She had in fact spent a good chunk of the day sitting in the empty classroom reading a book on the Dark Arts, something most girls in their school couldn't do without a makeup or hair fix. "And fascinating they are," he said agreeing with her.

Severus had to admit, he did respect Bellatrix a lot. Most girls were to wrapped up in materialistic things or they were too immature to focus on something as fine and thrilling as the Dark Arts.

[Bellatrix Black]

Bellatrix was not the easiest person to get along with. She respected Severus for falling into pattern so quickly. It took most people longer to be so composed while having a conversation with her. Conversations were basically games for her; see how long it takes to really throw the other person off and then how long it takes for them to get used to her. Severus was a worthy opponent.

"I'm much better," Bellatrix responded arrogantly. As far as she was concerned, it was a simple fact though. Much in the way her older sister prided herself on being an individual, Bella did the same, though for very different reasons. Bella was vain, but not quite in the way most girls were. Rather than worrying about her appearance and make-up, she believed herself to be stunning enough not to really need to worry about such things. The not caring thing worked for her.

"Unless of course, you're into the whole innocent, overly girly, and fake type," she added as an afterthought. She looked at Severus for a moment before shrugging. "But I sincerely doubt you are." Yes, Bellatrix had interesting ideas of what was socially acceptable to discuss in a casual conversation.

She smirked when he agreed with her. "It's a pity they can't just teach about the Dark Arts directly in school instead of Defense against them," she complained. "Though, Defense has it's uses. For instance, if I were to duel some pathetic fool who thinks that Defense is so much more important than the Dark Arts themselves, I'd know how he planned to counter my attacks and how to get around his defense plans." Really, that was the only reason she even bothered to go to Defense Against the Dart Arts. She wouldn't give a damn otherwise. She didn't plan on having to defend herself much.

[Severus Snape]

Severus slightly cringed at the idea of the over girly, fake types. There were way to many of them at Hogwarts. All they did was hang and cling onto boys like the Lestranges and Sirius Black. What they saw in Black, Severus would never know.

Severus smiled at the thought of a Dark Arts class. It would be his best by far. "Now that, would be a good idea," He said before he paused to think for a moment.

"Although all the good for nothing Gryffindors would would be complete pests," Severus added with a tone of disgust. "I can picture them now, scrambling around trying to do the 'noble thing' and put an end to the Dark Arts," Severus had to laugh at this. He found the Gryffindors to be so "goody-goody" that it was just plain funny sometimes. He didn't laugh much, but when he did it was usually at people he found stupid or ignorant.

"They don't even need to take Defense Against the Dark Arts, they all know that we will defeat them all anyways," Severus said boasting. He truly believed that the Dark Arts could get by any forms of defense, although he wasn't so sure that their would be a large battle or duel in the near future. But who knows, one must always be prepared.

[Bellatrix Black]

Bellatrix laughed softly when Severus cringed slightly. "Well then, what is your type? Since thankfully you are obviously not a complete idiot who falls for those ridiculously sappy girls but you ignore all my advances, which I assume unfortunately means I'm not your type either," Bella was just voicing her thoughts as they came to her. She didn't like to censor herself around people she trusted. "Though really, I can be anyone's type, just ask Rabbit."

Bellatrix was not a fangirl. Although she was obviously attracted to both Rodolphus and Rabastan, she was not counted among the pathetic girls who were absolutely convinced they were in love. She was their equal. She had her fair share of guys who were after her. She just happened to enjoy their company more. Besides, though no one else knew yet, she was betrothed to the younger Lestrange brother, so it was perfectly acceptable.

"We ought to be given a choice, Defense, the Dark Arts, or even both," Bellatrix suggested. It made sense as far as she was concerned. Then everyone would be happy. Of course, she did not care about other students being happy any more than she cared about whether house elves were happy, but she knew Severus was right and the Gryffindors would be dreadfully annoying and she simply did not want to put up with that.

She shook her head. "They ought to know that, but I doubt they do," she replied. "Optimistic fools." Bellatrix hated people who suffered from such delusions, thinking they would obviously triumph because they were the good guys and people like her and Severus were the bad ones. As far as she was concerned, there was no good and evil. There was power and those too stupid to recognize and use it.

"Sooner or later, they'll learn their lesson," she added. It was a simple statement, but it was obvious that Bellatrix believed every word of it. She was convinced there was going to be a war. They were going to win too. Ms. Black could not wait for it. She probably should not have known as much as she did but that's what happens when your best friends are the Lestrange brothers and Lucius Malfoy and you come from an equally family like the Blacks.

[Severus Snape]

Severus listened to Bellatix's question. "My type?" He lingered on the question for a bit. He didn't really feel like pouring his heart out to Bellatix at the moment. Plus, he wasn't quite sure what his type was anyways. "My type," He repeated as he thought a bit longer.

"I guess, she would have to be intelligent." After Severus had said it he felt like it was a dry and boring answer. But he did suspect he was kind of dry at times. "...I don't think I really have an answer for that yet," But what Severus didn't know was that he really did, deep down. He thought about it for awhile in his head. Intelligent, caring, non-judgmental, able to see the inside rather than the outside. As he thought these qualities inside his head a face formed around the words, depicting the girl he knew that possessed all of these. As soon as the realised who this person was, he shook the thought out of his head.

"Well, there are more important things than short teen flings," Severus said to cover up his moment of what he called "weakness." So Bellatrix wasn't his type. He found her too loud at times and too sexual to his tastes.

"A choice could be good, it would completely separate the Gryffindors and the Slythrins though," he said as he rubbed his chin with his index finger. "Not that it would be a bad thing," he added. "I wouldn't mind a bit less of them, although the drama that would be created would be rather annoying as well," He finished.

"They will, they all will. They'll see." He said as his voice trailed off at the end of the statement. "War or not, we will win."

[Bellatrix Black]

She nodded when he repeated her question. Bellatrix waited patiently as Severus gave her a very vague explanation of his type. She was smiling slightly, but it was a smile of patronizing amusement rather than a genuine one. For Bella, it was much easier to define her type: pureblooded Slytherins, particularly attractive ones.

"Well, at least you have some standards," she replied. "Because really, that eliminates at least three quarters of the girls at this bloody school." As far as she was concerned, her statement had been true. There were very few people she considered intelligent, particularly from the other houses. Aside from Cissa, she thought most of the girls in her own house were incredibly stupid. "And that's being generous because not all the Ravenclaws are intelligent, Andromeda for instance, is being quite stupid as of late."

Bellatrix nodded, actually agreeing with him on that one. "Well of course, the Dark Arts for instance. The Dark Arts will always be more important. However, flings can be quite... entertaining. You don't have to care about the girl, though it is rather bad form if she cares about you... unless that's the whole point. Like Rabbit with the stupid Hufflepuffs who think they can change him." Bellatrix rolled her eyes. "It's rather pathetic, really. They never learn their lesson."

"Excellent, then I'd have to see a lot less of that horrid bloodtraitor and that mudblood-loving filth he has chosen to disgrace the family with," Bellatrix growled. All her amusement at their previous discussion was gone at her own mentioning of Sirius. Bellatrix had to respect you quite a bit to actually bring up either Andromeda or Sirius in conversation, and she had now mentioned both. They were not a topic she was particularly fond of. After all, those self-absorbed and ignorant fools were ruining her family's good name. Tojours Pur. Bellatrix had come to the decision long ago that if either of them went and married some horrid mudblood, she would simply have to kill them. She would not have her bloodline tainted.

Bellatrix shook her head. "It would be worth it," she replied confidently. There was nothing that mattered to her more than the Dark Arts, other than perhaps the preservation of the Black family name and bloodline. Despite the fact that Bella was the second daughter of the family, she acted as though she was the oldest and to some degree as if she was the male heir in charge of protecting the family. Andromeda and Sirius were screwing things up royally and Regulus was too young and too quiet to be in charge. So the role had fallen on her and she embraced it completely.

"There will be a war," she told him. "Sooner or later, they won't be able to deny us for much longer." Perhaps she ought to not be telling Severus the things she had overheard but she trusted that he was on their side and therefore it really didn't matter if he heard from her or someone else. Besides that, having been in practically every class with Severus for the past five years, she knew that he was a worthy opponent and would much rather have him as an ally than an enemy.

[Severus Snape]

Severus smiled at Bellatrix's comment on the Ravenclaws. It was true, very few of them were intelligent according to Severus's standards. "The sorting hat has got it all wrong. It would probably sort a mop into Ravenclaw claiming it has a strong intellectual future." Severus really thought that the sorting hat was completely corrupted. For example, Peter Pettigrew. How he got into Gryffindor had always been a mystery to Severus.

"The Dark Arts will be more important than most of the things I can think of," Severus didn't know if their was anything out their that could pull him away from the Dark Arts. If their was, it would have to be really, really special. "Who cares about the Hufflepuffs anyway. Let all their hearts be broken for all I care." He snorted as he tilted his head back to rest against the wall. He believed that Hufflepuffs were just a waste of space.

"Less of your cousin and his friends would be a blessing." Severus said as he smiled. Bellatrix most likely already knew his relationship with Sirius and Potter. He would never admit it out loud, but everyone knew he was a victim of their bullying. It made him feel weak and powerless, even though he knew he could take them both out with an unforgivable. But Severus was not in the mood to get expelled this year.

Severus sometimes felt a bit jealous of Potter. He was very popular and good-looking, both of which Severus lacked. "No..." He muttered under his breath. He wiped the thought out of his head. He was NOT jealous of Potter, or at least he didn't want to be.

'Then when the time comes we will be ready, and defeat them." He was at least semi sure of it. They had the unforgivable at heir side, and the opponent was sure to be too "noble," as they call it, to use them. Severus wasn't scared of using an unforgivable. He already knew them all and what they did. If the time came when he would need one, he was ready.

[Bellatrix Black]

Bellatrix thought there were maybe slightly more than a handful of intelligent students at Hogwarts and two of them were in this room. All of them were in Slytherin and friends with her. "As long as it keeps mudblood filth out of our house, I don't care what the hat does with the rest," Bellatrix replied haughtily.

"Well yes, of course, the Dark Arts is the most important thing," Bella agreed. "You are allowed to have hobbies though, you know," she explained. Bellatrix would consider flings as a hobby. "You have to find someone attractive. As much as I may wish most idiots were so they can't reproduce, no one is nonsexual. You're obviously not omnisexual like Rabbit, but very few people are."

"Oh yes, that's about all they're good for," Ms. Black replied. "Merlin, it's hilarious to see the poor heartbroken look on their faces when they show up to meet with Rabastan and find out that, as always, he comes back to me." She smiled darkly. She was very amused by the poor girls whose hearts Rabastan broke. Being a sadist was ever so much fun.

"Indeed," Bellatrix agreed. She of course was well aware of what that horrid bloodtraitor and his friends did to Severus. She'd had her share of scuffles with the Marauders but as she was pretty much constantly in the company of at least one of the seventh year boys, it never ended so badly for her. That and no one would dare laugh if the Gryffindors did manage to humiliate them, not if they valued their lives anyway.

She would of course never go out of her way to assist Severus, though she was all for Slytherin pride, she had a reputation to maintain. However, that didn't mean she couldn't request that the boys help her defend the house's honor by pranking the idiots back. More often then not, those pranks were pulled on Peter Pettigrew because he seemed to be their weak link. "Really the school would be a better place without those idiots. Without all of the Gryffindors actually."

Bella did not hear Severus mutter to himself. It was probably for the best or she would have made some witty remark about talking to himself being a sign of madness and would have hounded him to find out what he'd been thinking about. Yes, it was very good for Severus that Bella did not hear him.

She nodded solemnly. There was not a bit of doubt in her mind. The Dark Arts and their power were the one thing of which she was absolutely one hundred percent sure. Anyone who didn't see this power was an idiot as far as she was concerned. "It's not evil versus good like those idiots think. It's the powerful versus those to stupid to see this."