The Other Bellatrix

Prologue: A Chance Encounter

On a cold night in London, a woman sat alone in a bar nursing a beer. She had been there nearly an hour, but she was still on her first drink.

The woman looked around the quiet bar. There were only three other patrons; a couple snuggling in a booth and a man sitting down the counter from her.

"Ready for another miss?" asked the bar tender for the second time that night.

The woman shook her head no as she rolled the half full bottle between her hands. She looked around again, hoping the person she was supposed to meet would show up. Looking at her watch, she sighed; it was nearly eleven.

"I'll give him five more minutes," she mumbled as her eyes closed in weariness. She had been up since five that morning, packing to go home to her family for a few months. And she still had to be up at five tomorrow to catch her flight.

Another minute passed before the door clanged open. A rush of cold air flew in, causing most of the patrons to shiver.

The woman turned to look at the door, but it was not the man she needed to see. Turning back to the bar, she threw some notes on it and got up to leave. Down the bar, the man also paid for his drinks and got up.

"Excuse me miss, but I think this belongs to you?" said man. He was tall with black hair and dark eyes, and just a bit handsome. He was holding out a green patchwork scarf with the name Delilah Auburn Darling sown into it with silver thread.

"My scarf," Delilah whispered as she carefully took it from the man's outstretched hand. "Thank you Mr.?"

"Call me Severus," the man replied, giving just a hint of a smile.

"Thank you Severus," she said again as she pulled on her jacket and her knit cap. As she put her scarf on, she felt as if she had had one too many drinks that night. Everything seemed to go slightly fuzzy.

"Perhaps I should walk you home?" Severus suggested as he pulled on his own coat. Delilah nodded and let him lead her out into the cold and down the street.

"My loft's just down this way," she managed to get out through her muddled thoughts. Severus held onto Delilah's arm as she stumbled down the road. When they finally reached her building, he insisted that he help her up the stairs. A few minutes later, they were outside her room.

"Thank you again Severus," she said as she leaned against her door. He stepped towards her and gently kissed her on her lips. Suddenly, Delilah was overcome with longing. They stood there for a few minutes, just kissing and touching each other's faces. When they finally pulled back, they were both flushed.

"Would you like to come inside?" Delilah whispered, afraid to break the spell of the kiss.

Severus nodded slowly. "Yes," he answered just as quietly as she had asked.

Delilah nodded and quickly opened her door. As soon as both of them were inside the loft, she shut the door and soon they were kissing again, only this time more passionately. Soon there activities moved to the bedroom and they went a step farther than either of them ever had.

. . . . .

Not long after Delilah had fallen asleep, Severus was up and gathering his clothing. As he pulled on the last of his clothing, he said aloud quietly, "It is done my Lord."

Soon there was a pop on the door step as someone apparated to the loft. The person opened the door that was still unlocked.

"Well done, Severus," said a gaunt looking man. He had circles beneath his eyes and looked years older than he was. The man came towards the sleeping form of Delilah. He waved around his wand while uttering indeterminable phrases. Soon a soft light appeared around the red head and then it disappeared.

The gaunt man nodded slightly as his magic finished. "Now she will never know that you were with her or that she had ever even met you." The man disapparated with a muffled pop and Severus looked around the room for Delilah's scarf.

When Severus finally found the scarf, he also found something he had not been planning on. Delilah had a wand. She was a witch!

Severus dropped the wand as if it was a snake. He quickly grabbed the scarf and disapparated to his own home in the country side.

"She wasn't supposed to be a witch," he thought aloud as he paced his living room. He still had Delilah's scarf in his hands. "She was supposed to be a muggle!" He balled up the scarf and threw it at his chair as he continued to pace. Finally he stopped pacing and just looked around his home.

"It's too late now anyway. She'll be off to America in a few hours," he concluded. He walked to the chair and grabbed the balled up scarf. He had taken it from her home in the first place because it reminded him of Slytherin and it gave him a reason to speak to her in the bar. Now he kept it so that he could remember her even though she would never remember him. He placed the scarf on his trunk. Term started in two days, so he headed upstairs to try and rest before waking up early and leaving to watch the wizarding school.

Hello everyone! Sorry for missing my publishing date yesterday but I left the house really early and I didn't get back until really late and I crashed when I got home. It doesn't mean I won't try and publish every Saturday until the story is done though. Hope you enjoy it and please review, I really like to know how well this is so I can decide if it should continue past Bella's first year. Thanks!