A/N: Oh my God, I seriously have to get back into writing.
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.
)O(
The sea is grey and the waves are great; the boat that carries the prisoners rocks on its sides as any trace of sunlight disappears behind the North Sea.
One of the prisoners is a woman with dark and aristocratic features. Porcelain skin contrasts with her long ebony curls and onyx, heavy-lidded, long-lashed eyes. Her lips are soft and plump.
She dips her long-fingered, pale hand into the sea water and feels the liquid bite into her skin; it is even colder than she expected.
And she smiles.
"Bellatrix," one of the three men in the boat mutters, "for God's sake, you'll get frostbite."
Bellatrix laughs. It is an odd laugh; she has not laughed since she last saw her Lord. Not even when she tortured the Longbottoms – no, even then she could not laugh. The two people she thought had information on her Lord failed to give it.
And it surprises her that she can laugh in such close proximity to Dementors.
"The Dark Lord has disappeared, and you're worrying about your wife getting frostbite?"
"Merely making sure you're in tip-top condition for when he returns, dear."
Rodolphus's sarcastic comment wipes any hints of Bellatrix being in a good mood straight off her face. Her eyes narrow into slits and she leans ever so slightly forward, looks him straight in the eyes and snarls her words.
"It sounds like you're suggesting I won't be able to service him anymore."
"What if he does not return?" Bartemius whispers, his face clammy and white.
"No!" she shrieks, "Do not think like that! A baby can not cause the permanent fall of the Dark Lord! Do not even suggest he is gone for good!"
Bellatrix's screaming makes the three men jump. They have, of course, heard Bellatrix shriek like that before––but never at Barty.
"Sorry," Barty mutters.
"We will make it out of Azkaban one day," Bellatrix whispers. Her companions do not respond; to disagree with her would be foolish.
She bows her head and presses her lips against her left arm.
"I promise."
)O(