Pleasant Surprises {Alana}

[Bellatrix Lestrange]

The thick, musty air of Knockturn Alley seemed to envelope the shops and any occupant of the dirty street that led through it. This alone was enough to make many people avoid it. It also didn't help that the sort that willingly lingered in such a foul place were usually dark and devious beings at best. If there was one word, and one alone, to describe Knockturn Alley, most would describe it as unpleasant. Of course, there were plenty of other worthy adjectives that fit perfectly with it as well.

As Bellatrix Lestrange strolled carelessly through the filthy little town, her eyes moving from side to side, she kept a careful watch on the inhabitants of Knockturn Alley. Few would dare to try anything with Bellatrix but that didn't mean everyone was nearly as intimidated by her as they had been back when her Dark Lord was in power. Oh how she missed those days! She'd yearned to possess the influence and utter power that she held when she was his most loyal follower. He'd promised her more. He promised that the wizarding world would be purified and that those loyal to him would bask in the glory of it all. Damned Potter!

"Move!" the Lestrange matriarch hissed, kicking the legs of a wizard who had obviously passed out drunk in front of one of the taverns. Was she in a bad mood? Not at all. Perhaps a little annoyed with the way things were and the fact that she'd been cooped up inside the manor for so long...but not angry in the slightest. With the two older children off doing whatever it was they did and the three younger in the forced care of their father, today was going to be Bella's day off from being a mother.

A mother. Now that was one thing that she'd never thought she'd be. The notion was frightening enough but something had to be done to help purify the world. If she and Rodolphus couldn't do it through violence and murder then they would simply have to find other means. In this case, it meant pushing out pureblooded children and trying to raise them under the same rules and beliefs that all purebloods should have. Glaring down at another dirty and disheveled wizard who had perched himself at a corner with a begging cup beside him, she hoped that such filth didn't have clean blood. It would be a disgrace!

[Alana Lestrange ♛]

Alana might have been an amazing liar, but this she couldn't lie about- she did quite like Knockturn alley. Besides the fact that it was dirty, or that her shoes got dusty-which set her back a fresh pair of expensive shoes- or that people here weren't all that pretty, it was a very familiar place. She'd been hear a lot as child, which made her twisting and turning in the dank streets of Knockturn alley comfortable to her. Maybe it was because she held some authority here, where all were considered to be "evil". She herself, was considered to be the poster girl for evil lately, which she was quite happy about.

Alana's nose always seem to lift higher in the air when she walked around these people... they were the type of people who gave evil a bad reputation. Alana, who considered herself quite beautiful, found that dirty people like this mucked of evil's image completely. She sighed, shaking a strand of dark hair out of her face as she trotted the streets, borgin and burke bag in hands. Ancient jewelery shopping as usual, not as if she didn't have enough already.

Ew. Alana thought, somewhat childishly the moment she noticed a man passed out in the middle of the street. Her nose crinkled in a slightly stuck up gesture, not aware who the women kicking him was yet. A smirk rose on Alana's face at the woman, she had just done something Alana would herself have done. Only then did she notice who the woman was.

"Aunty Bella?" Alana's innocent but commanding singsong voice sounded strangely through the streets of Knockturn alley, they rarely encountered a girl as bitter sweet as she was. Alana's heels clicked loudly as she made her way to meet her Aunt. Her curls bounced slightly in delight to see her favorite aunt. Alana was pretty much known in Hogwarts because of her cruelty, and it was a fact that she was compared to Bellatrix almost daily. Although she was not blood related to her, anyone who met the two could not deny the strange similarity in their cackle.

[Bellatrix Lestrange]

"Long live our Lord," murmured the filthy beggar as he looked up at Bellatrix with something similar to hope in his hazy eyes. Arching her left brow, the Lestrange matriarch gave him a short nod before disregarding the dirty indigent. Already, the wheels in her always wickedly plotting head had begun to turn. Flattening the dark velvet of her black dress with her palms, Bella could not keep her lips from forming a neat smirk. Even her dark eyes glistened with a hint of mischief, much the same as they tended to when she was younger and the Dark Lord was still in power, as she continued to stroll quite slowly down the dank street of Knockturn Alley.

One sound, however, broke Bellatrix from her pleasant thoughts and caused her to turn on her heels. Greeted with the unexpected sight of her precious niece Alana, she allowed her smirk to turn into a motherly sort of smile. It was pleasing to know that there were still purebloods who valued hygiene and showcasing what they had. If anything, she regarded Rabastan's daughter as one of the very few well-bred purebloods who were even worth her time. It seemed that, lately, there were less and less worthy ones. Though that should have been disheartening, Bellatrix had decided that it would prove rather useful in the future.

"Alana," said the Lestrange matriarch, "Such a pleasant surprise. Do tell what has you lurking about Knockturn Alley, my dear." Slowly, she began to retrace her steps as she approached the young woman. Though they were merely related by marriage, it was uncanny just how similar the younger Lestrange was in both appearance, reputation and the way she carried herself. Looking the girl over appraisingly, Bella made a mental note for future reference.

The rough, low sound of the haggard old beggar muttering something to himself made the elder of the females turn slightly to regard him once more. He'd taken to counting the coins which had been tossed into his begging tin and obviously was not pleased with his income for the day. A sneer began to form on her lips as her dark eyes rolled in annoyance. Though her fortune had been handed down through the ages, that was not to say that both the Blacks and Lestranges did nothing to add to it with each generation. It was much the same as her personal library. With each new generation, tomes had been added for the benefit of those to come. Letting this thought settle in the back of her mind, she turned her face to look at her relation once more.