A/N: Voldemort attends Bellatrix and Rodolphus' engagement party and offers Bellatrix the life she always wanted. Bellamort. I do not own Harry Potter.
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The Pirate Ship Battles: Becoming Bound (Married) - Captain
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"Mother, you called for me?" Bellatrix asks as she enters the parlour room. She had had an odd feeling when the house-elf had summoned her and it only increases when she comes upon the sight before her. The room is unusually bright; the long grey curtains which usually block all the floor-length windows have been drawn to the side to let the sunlight in. Her mother, who rarely comes into this room is sitting in one of two high-backed arm chairs near one of the long windows, a slight breeze from the opening catching a few strands of her thin, wavy hair. On the table between the armchairs is a small tea tray, the same house-elf that had ran ahead of her, pouring a cup for her mother and presumably her. But the most unsettling thing she sees is the large smile that fills her mother's face.
Her mother hasn't smiled since she left. It had been a dark day in the Black household, filled with shouting and nasty words before she had stormed out of the home, vowing to never come back. Her mother had kept a straight face that day, but Bellatrix can see how it truly affected her. She locked herself away in her room, not speaking to anyone, and had all her meals brought to her. Bellatrix thought her mother was weak for letting the Blood-Traitor get to her. She would never let that happen to her.
But today her mother is outside of her room, sitting by an open window in the sunlight, and smiling at her as she brings a dainty white teacup to her lips. Something is about to happen.
"Yes, Bellatrix, please sit," she says as she gestures to the chair across from her.
Bellatrix crosses the room in three easy steps, her back straight and her eyes forward, before she takes her seat. In the presence of her mother, she always reverts back to her childhood lessons. Some things just can't be outgrown.
"As you know, you will be married by the end of the summer," her mother begins, the smile slipping slightly as she studies her daughter over the top of her tea cup.
Bellatrix just purses her lips to hold in her annoyance. Of course she knows. She has known since she was eleven that in the summer after she had finished Hogwarts she would be married. The only mystery that remained was to whom, but it didn't matter really. The union would not be one of love but of business, so any opinion she had on her future husband was a moot point.
"The documents have been signed and you will be wed to the Lestranges' older son, Rodolphus on August 28," Druella says as she took a long sip.
Lestrange. They were Sacred Twenty-Eight, though bottom of Top Ten. Bellatrix just nods as she brings her own teacup to her lips, careful not to leave a print on the porcelain. She could live with that union. Rodolphus was a Slytherin three years her senior, broad in the shoulders, had a rugged face and kept his hair neat and just below his ears. He was attractive, and a much better option than his brother, who was already starting to let himself go at the young age of nineteen. But again, when you knew you were going to get married to a rich, pretty woman, what did looks really matter?
Her mother lets out a tinkling laugh and Bellatrix's eyes narrow. "I thought you were going to throw a fit, my dear," she says lightly, though cautiously as if still expecting the explosion.
Bellatrix makes a soft sound in the back of her throat before she says, "I have known this would happen since I was young. I will fulfill my duty and bring honour to the Black family name. And Rodolphus is a wise choice, Mother."
Her mother just raises her eyebrow and then gives her a curt nod, "I'm glad you are in agreement with the decision." In her mind, Bellatrix replies, 'Would it have really mattered if I wasn't?'
They sit there in awkward silence as there is nothing more to be said. The argument her mother had expected is not forthcoming, something the two of them are secretly happy for. They finish their tea before Druella rises from her chair and leaves Bellatrix alone in the room.
Bellatrix looks out the bright open window, letting the warm air blow her hair out of her face. She is to be 'Mrs Lestrange' by the end of the summer. The life she currently lives now will be over in less than two months. Should she feel scared? anxious? excited? She feels none of that. Bellatrix just feels empty. It will just be a regular day, in a pretty white dress, words exchanged and night of meaningless sex to consummate the union.
She rises from her chair and leaves the tea tray out for the house-elf to take away. She has other things to do that are of more concern than something in the future that she has no choice in anyway.
Bellatrix stands next to Rodolphus as she has her hand kissed by the twelfth smiling wizard. She is playing the part of the blushing fiancée, eager to be married to her future husband. Inwardly, Bellatrix thinks this whole thing is idiotic. Everyone in pureblood society knows this marriage is just a business deal, so why did she have to have an engagement party? Why did she have to act as if she had wanted to be with Rodolphus all her life? She hadn't even known he was to be her husband until last week.
"Ah, Rodolphus, this is the lovely woman you were telling me about," a smooth voice says on her husband's right as she is greeting Mr and Mrs Crouch.
"Yes, my Lord, this is Miss Bellatrix Black, soon to be Bellatrix Lestrange," Rodolphus says as he turns her to face his companion.
Bellatrix turns, her 'greeting smile' in place but then she freezes upon seeing the man before her. His face is more animal than human, his high cheek bones and smooth features almost serpentine. His skin seems unnaturally pale and his long fingers feel clammy as he takes her extended hand and kisses it like the other wizards.
"She is definitely a beauty," he murmurs against her skin and Bellatrix tries to hide the slight shiver that runs from where his lips make contact and settles somewhere in her lower abdomen.
"Thank you, my Lord," Rodolphus says, bowing his head slightly. There was that term again, 'my Lord'. Who was this man who had a Lestrange under his foot?
Before Bellatrix can do anything else however, the man lets go of her hand and walks around the ballroom, leaving the couple to continue greeting the guests. She feels the shiver again as she watches his form disappear into the crowd of gossiping purebloods. Who was that man?
"He is going to rule the world, my dear," Rodolphus says as if answering her unspoken question. He turns and picks up two champagne flutes from a passing house-elf tray before giving one to her. "He has a grand plan to rid the world of the filth of the world who force people like us to hide our true talent and worth. While the rest of them are just talking about it, he is going to do something about it."
Bellatrix turns back to the crowd, trying to spot the man to get a second look. He has a plan and he was going to take action. He was going to go against the social norm and do what no one dared to do. He was going to question what had been told to him and everyone else for centuries. He was going to change the world and make it a better place. Bellatrix could admire that. Bellatrix wants that.
Bellatrix shakes her head and looks towards Rodolphus. He is a nice man and anyone would be happy to have him, but he is who her mother wanted. By marrying Rodolphus, she isn't changing the world. She is doing what society dictates. She hands the champagne flute back to her fiancé. "I need some air. I'll be back in a minute," she says, not bothering to wait for a response.
She stands outside on the balcony, listening to the muffled music of the small band her father had hired for the party. They had started the dancing without her. Bellatrix smirks to herself and her own boldness. Her mother must have been so upset when she wasn't there to start the dancing. Bellatrix knows she has to go back in and face her mother's ire, but she will spend a bit more time out here. Her own little form of rebellion. That's what she wanted, but just couldn't attain in this life, so she would take what she could in small doses.
"Isn't it custom for the bride-to-be to start the dancing with her fiancé?" a cool voice asks behind her. The shiver has come back again, setting her insides on fire, as she hears his footsteps approach from behind.
She doesn't turn, afraid he will see the effect his words alone are having on her. In an effort to seem braver than she is, she asks, "How would you know pureblood custom? I've never seen you at any pureblood functions I've ever been to."
The air seems to drop a few degrees and Bellatrix feels that maybe she has said the wrong thing. She shouldn't have said something so rude to someone like him. Normally, her words are more guarded around guests but she just felt so different tonight. She just wanted to be someone else tonight.
But then the man chuckles and says, "It helps to know about pureblood custom when it comes to achieving my goals. By knowing their customs, I know how they think and what they will and will not do."
She turns slightly to look him in the eye, her shyness slowly disappearing as she regards him curiously. "And what are your goals?" she asks.
"I want to do what no one has ever done, what others are afraid to do," he says simply.
She says, "So I've heard, but I wonder how you manage to go about it."
"That's where the knowledge comes in. It helps me to find like minded people who aren't afraid to take action, to actually do what it will take to make the world I want a reality. I'm slowly recruiting the very best and I think you could be one of them."
Bellatrix's mouth opens in a most unladylike fashion as she doesn't know what to say. She is shocked but somehow, she also feels a strange sense of pride of being recognized by someone like him. Her grades had been great at Hogwarts, something to be envied, but as a pureblood woman, they had no place in her future. She was proud of her magical ability and her ruthlessness, but her husband would see that she would never need to use it. Her destiny was to be a pureblood wife, but here was a man who saw her as something more.
He walks up behind her and places a hand on her shoulder. "I can feel it within you, Ms Black. A swirling blackness, a desire for rebellion, a thirst for blood and violence. You want excitement and change, and you want to see the filth removed from this earth, just as I do."
She swallows thickly, feeling so vulnerable. His fingers feel so cold on her exposed skin but she doesn't want him to remove them. Instead, she wants him to bring her close to him. She wants him to hold her against him. She wants him to take her away from this stuffy and boring life of rules and expectations.
He grins and leans in to whisper in her ear. "Just say the word, and I can do all that Ms Black."
She turned and stares deeply into his eyes, no longer afraid and more sure of anything ever before in her life. This is what she wants. She wants to be at his side and fulfilling his dream. She wants to change the world. She hears neither the music nor the idle chatter from the ballroom over the sound of her own beating heart. Her marriage to Rodolphus is the furthest thing from her mind, and she cannot deny the attraction she is feeling towards him. She says with a slight bow of her head, "Yes, my Lord."