DISCLAIMER: All things Harry Potter belong to J.K. Rowling.
Excessively Complex is responsible for encouraging me to continue this series from the tiny oneshot that started it all
kalabangsilver is responsible for helping me sort out my plot threads and get this fic past the first three sentences.
(Thanks, guys.)
- As Blood Calls -
I wake to the sensation of scales sliding against my face. Annoyed, I push Nagini off the bed.
Bad snake, I hiss in Parseltongue.
I feel Bella shifting beside me and realize that I've woken her.
"Good morning," I say softly.
"Good morning, my lord," she mumbles, sounding like she is still half-asleep. Then, realizing where she is, her eyes snap open and she stares at me. It is morning and we are both still dressed in the clothes we wore the day before. As this realization sinks in, I watch her expression slowly sadden.
I have never seen someone look so broken.
She has been betrayed by the people closest to her. I am the only person that she still trusts. I am all that she has left to cling to. If I were to hurt her now, she would be completely destroyed. It is this thought that scares me the most. I have never been good at being gentle.
In a hushed whisper she says, "Yesterday was real."
"It... does not have to be," I say slowly, fingering my wand.
"Even if you erase my memory, it doesn't change the truth," she replies bitterly. "Could you stop me from finding out again? And from finding out that I'd found out before and couldn't face the truth then?"
I know she means it as a rhetorical question, but I answer anyway. "I could not do that without killing you. Or them." I pause. "Do you want me to kill him?"
"No."
I am surprised by the vehemence of her answer. Surely she can't possibly be harboring any affectionate feelings for her husband after what he's done to her...
"He deserves to suffer." Her voice is a whisper but her tone is pure poison.
"Yes, he does," I say and without thinking about what I am doing, I lean down and place a chaste kiss on her forehead. This is going to be a long day, so first things first.
I stand and walk to the closet.
While I am trying to decide what to wear, Bella comes to stand beside me.
"I don't have any clean clothes," she says. I get the distinct impression that she doesn't want to go back to her own room and risk running into Rodolphus.
"What about this?" I say, pulling out a white dress that was hanging among my clothes.
She looks at it and makes a face. "Was that even mine?"
"Perhaps not," I concede. "But it is here, and you need something to wear." And, without giving her a chance to argue further, I wave my wand and the white dress changes places with what she is wearing. I quickly change my own clothes as well.
When I turn to look at her, Bella is staring at herself in the mirror with an unpleasant expression on her face. I walk up behind her and wrap my arms around her waist.
"That dress looks good on you," I say, unable to keep a hint of exasperation out of my voice. "What do you think is wrong with it?"
Bella leans back against my chest and I close my arms more tightly around her, enjoying the physical (but nonsexual) pleasure of the sensation.
"It's white," she says.
"You look just as beautiful in any color," I say, pressing a soft kiss to the top of her head, trying to placate her. "Everything you wear doesn't have to be black." Although I must admit, I've hardly seen her wear anything that isn't black. "When is the last time you wore a white dress?"
As soon as the question is out of my mouth, I realize it is the wrong thing to say. I know the answer before she says it.
"At my wedding."
Unfortunately, that seems to be the answer to several other questions she doesn't really want to think about. Predominantly among them is When was the last time your husband kissed you on the mouth?
She turns around in my arms and buries her face against my shoulder. She isn't crying, though, and for that I am grateful. I place my hand between her shoulder blades and rub her back in what I hope is a comforting manner.
This is what I get for trying to be nice without ever having done it before. I know how to seduce women. I have plenty of experience in that area. But I have never attempted to maintain a relationship over any period of time and I very obviously lack the necessary skills for it.
Inspiration strikes me, and I trail my fingers lightly down her spine, casting a simple spell.
Bella feels the ripple of magic and lifts her head to look at me questioningly.
"Turn around," I say softly.
She turns and catches sight of herself in the mirror. I've changed the color of her dress to palest silver. It suits her much better than white. Or perhaps it is the small smile she now favors me with that colors my judgment.
I slide my arms around her waist once more, and she leans into the embrace.
"Why are you being so sweet to me?" she asks softly.
"Because you need me to," I answer in surprise.
She seems more surprised by this answer than I was by her question.
"Bella," I say her name softly in just the way that she likes, and hug her close. "I will help you through this."
It's as obvious from the look on her face as it would be if I were actually reading her thoughts: she is starting to realize that I have decided to take care of her and she is thinking that perhaps I am not completely heartless after all, that maybe I hold some small affection for her...
"What are we going to do now?" she asks.
"I am going to go and speak with Lucius," I answer, disentangling myself from her. "You will stay here."
I am almost to the door when she calls me back.
"Wait!"
I look back at her over my shoulder.
"Please let me go with you," she pleads.
I want to say no, but I can see tears gathering in her eyes. The conversation I am about to have with her brother-in-law is not something she should hear in her current emotional state, but now I worry that leaving her alone may be the worse option.
I sigh. "You may come."
Outside Lucius's room, she takes hold of my hand. I feel a tremor of fear; she doesn't want to run into Narcissa here. Bella isn't ready to face her sister yet. After only a brief moment, her grip slackens. I close my fingers around hers before she can let go. She is worried about what Lucius will think. I am not. Right now, keeping her from breaking down further is more important than whatever her brother-in-law thinks is going on between us.
I raise my free hand and knock once on the door, hard.
"Lucius, I need to speak with you."
The door opens. Bella tugs her hand free of mine before her brother-in-law has a chance to notice.
"Here, my lord?" Lucius inquires politely, unable to keep the confusion out of his voice.
"Here will be fine," I answer.
He moves away from the door to allow me to enter. He shoots a questioning look at Bella, obviously wondering why I've brought her with me, but he does not ask.
Once we are inside, he closes the door behind us.
I sit in the room's only chair, a quite comfortable armchair. Bella comes to stand beside me. Lucius leans against the bedpost.
"To what honor do I owe this visit?" Lucius asks.
I'd wanted to play with him a little before getting into it, but since Bella is with me I decide that it would be best just to get this over with.
"Did you know," I say, "that you are not Draco's father?"
"Of course," he answers in surprise. This was not the reaction I expected. "I'm sorry, my lord. I would have told you about it sooner, had I known that you would find the information to be of any importance."
It isn't of any importance to me, really. I am not quite sure how to proceed with the conversation from here.
"Did you know that Draco's real father is Rodolphus Lestrange?" Bella asks quietly.
"I had no idea..." Lucius's shock at this revelation seems almost as great as Bella's was when she found out. He takes a good look at Bella this time. He noticed something odd in her voice when she spoke, and now he sees that she is pale and trembling. "How long have you known?" he asks, not unkindly.
"I found out yesterday." She sounds like she is about to cry.
He moves forward as if to embrace her, as if that were the natural thing to do in this situation. I feel a flash of anger. Lucius aborts the movement as I take Bella into my own arms.
It takes me a moment to realize that the anger I felt just now was borne of jealousy.
Bella curls up in my lap and settles against me in what is becoming a very familiar position. She clings tightly to me and presses her face against my shoulder, fighting to keep from crying. I hold her close, still unsure how to comfort her.
Lucius watches us curiously.
Turning my attention back to him, I say, "How did you know Draco was not yours if you had no idea who the father was?"
"Because," Lucius answers, sounding faintly uncomfortable. "I've never slept with Narcissa."
"Never?" I ask in surprise. Not once in all the time that they've been married?
"No... you see, Narcissa and I are actually brother and sister. Half-siblings to be precise. Her mother had an affair with my father, and Narcissa is the result of that."
This explains a lot of things, in Bella's mind at least. Out of the three sisters, Narcissa had always been her father's favorite but now Bella realizes that her father was overcompensating when trying to pretend that Narcissa was his own child.
Lucius continues to explain, "Our marriage arrangement was my mother's way of taking revenge." He stops and looks sharply at Bella. "Wait, weren't you already married when Draco was conceived?"
Bella nods and cringes, pressing herself closer to me. She whimpers softly and begins to cry.
I'd completely overlooked what Lucius has just pointed out. Of course, that fact only makes Rodolphus's betrayal seem even more vile. Only two years after the duel with his brother and the dramatic declaration of his undying love, only a year after their wedding, he got her sister pregnant. No one would have ever suspected him of being Draco's father, because everyone thought he was madly in love with Bella. And since he doesn't know his secret has been found out, he will still be trying to pretend that he loves her...
"Enough, Lucius," I say. "Leave us. And do not speak of this conversation to anyone, especially those ...involved..."
A plan is beginning to form in my mind. I may not be able to undo the damage that Rodolphus's betrayal has caused, but I will do all that I can to destroy him. Not physically but mentally, emotionally. I will cause him kinds of pain he did not even know existed.
I will.
... as soon as Bella stops crying.
-end-
A/N: I know I had him commenting on her facial expressions when she had her back to him, but please remember that they were standing in front of a mirror during that scene...
I didn't manage to work the title reference into the fic the way I did in Roses and Glass Houses. This saddens me.
Reviews: love.