A/N: Bellatrix goes to the headquarters and meets someone unexpected who helps her blow off some steam. Severus/Bellatrix.

Submission for:

The Huge Tim Burton Films Quote Challenge!: "All this talk of blood and slaying has put me off my tea."

The Disney Villains Competition!: The Queen of Hearts

Heroes' Hunt (Competition): Write about a character meeting someone/something unexpectedly.

The Pokemon Journey Challenge: "What did you just say to me?"

Non-Canon Fun!: Severus/Bellatrix

Chapter viii: Severus Snape - Heated Interactions

Bella extends her right arm, sending a blinding blue light from the end of her wand and decimating the charmed dummy at the end of the room, frowning slightly as the ashes and broken pieces pull themselves together and reform for another hit.

She had come here to the headquarter's training room to expend the remaining fire which burnt under her skin from her earlier disagreement with her husband. There was no love lost between them, that much was sure, as their relationship had been arranged when she was just a young girl, but they remained civil as long as he listened to everything she said. Normally, he was compliant but tonight he had decided to grow a backbone and oppose her. After a small fight of verbal and magical terms, ending very quickly with him lying unconscious on their living room floor sporting a few new bruises and scratches, she had taken herself away. When she returned, he would be grovelling at her feet for forgiveness if he knew what was good for him.

There is a halting sound behind her and she whirls about, her arm still extended and fires a half-aimed spell at the figure who had happened upon her. The intruder, quick on the draw, blocks it wordlessly with a slight wave of his wand, and fixes the woman an impassive look. Bella scowls; there was only one person who could block her spells so effortlessly.

"Snape," she says. Her eyes run over his outline, analysing him in the dim light of the candles near the opening. "I didn't expect anyone would be down by the training room tonight."

"Neither did I," he says. His eyes sweep across the room, taking in the fresh scorch marks on the floor and the slightly battered dummy which has been put together a bit too many times, before landing back on her lone form.

She fixes him a crazed smile and asks, "Does the thought of spilling blood and beheading Muggles help you to destress as well?" She can feel the shiver that runs through his body from her words and her smile widens. "Hearing them scream and beg for their lives always helps me go to sleep, though washing off the blood splatter before bed is always a pain," she adds.

He makes an odd sound of disgust in the back of his throat and says, "All this talk of blood and slaying has put me off my tea."

She turns away from him, cursing his pretentious ways and almighty attitude. She raises her wand again, counting off in her head the number of steps he makes towards her as he finally moves from the doorway. When she reaches four, she fires another spell, the red beam crackling as it flies through the air towards the dummy, its intensity causing it to catch fire.

"Now if only I could do that to my dear Roddy," she says. Her eyes are trained on the dummy, slightly mesmerized by the dancing flames attached to the wooden mannequin. "He would never dare talk back to me again."

"It must be exhausting to live with such an egotistical and controlling nag everyday while trying not to wet himself," the man says from over her left shoulder.

"What did you just say to me?" Bella says, her curly, unrestrained hair whipping wildly around her face as she spins to look into his cold dark eyes. Another man dare question and insult her today?

"The man must be practically cowering in the bathroom as he waits for you to stomp your way through your home in search of him," he says. "What will you do when you get home? A Cruciatus or more physical means?"

There is a teasing tone to his words and Bella's mouth fall open. No matter that what he said was probably likely, the audacity he had to say that to her face is appalling.

She strides up to him and points her wand to his chest. "I could show you what I'll do to him and any man who doesn't show me the proper respect," she says, gritting her teeth.

The man moves her wand away from his chest with the back of his hand, his own wand pointed at her in his other. "I'd love to see you try, Bellatrix, a duel for the ages, though I know you're one to play dirty."

Various spells are on the tip of her tongue, each one more deadly than the last, but she is still aware who she is challenging. Snape was an excellent duelist, fast and had a wide knowledge of his own deadly spells. Their skill level was close, he could best her and vice versa in different situations, but in her anger, she would certainly lose to someone who was so in control of his emotions, and Bellatrix was not one to lose.

She looks into his eyes, their faces just a few centimetres apart, her body curving into his. She will choose her battles wisely and there will be another day to knock him down for his insolence towards her.

But she will not back down without saying the last word. She opens her mouth to give one more scathing remark but her words die in her throat when his mouth is suddenly on hers. Maybe he is in control of his emotions but possibly not his hormones. His kiss is deep and hard, there is no love present, just adrenaline and testosterone. His hands find purchase at the base of her head, his fingers threading through her curly hair as he pulls her face into his.

She should push him away from her, take advantage of his stupor to curse him for touching her, for saying such things about her, but she sees a benefit to be had here.

She takes control, pushing the man until his back hits the stone wall of the training room, her hands working nimbly on the buttons on the front of his robes. She admires, practically revels, in the way his eyes watch her diligently and impatiently, his lips wanting to attach to her own once she's done. But she's the one in the charge now, he is at her mercy. Maybe she was as egotistical and controlling as he said.