Word Count: 554

Warnings: Depictions of abuse and sex

Challenge/Competition: 'School of Prompts' challenge

Prompt/s: 'cardinal'

Disclaimer: I don't claim to own Harry Potter, it's all JKR's.

Note: Probably worth noting that this is set before Voldemort's body was destroyed and the First Wizarding War, and timing on Rodolphus' death/marriage to Bellatrix is probably a little messy for story purposes.


i. lust

He throws her down onto the bed, determined to take her. She stares up, wide eyed, and he sees the danger in those obsidian eyes - darkly twinkling with love. He clamps his eyes shut, determined to empty his mind. He does not care. He does not care. He does not care. He wants one thing.

He gets it.

'Leave.'

ii. gluttony

No one quite satisfies him like Bellatrix, he admits. He will take it to the excess, spending consecutive days locked in his chambers with her. But when done, she must leave.

'I need you,' she says, strangled, edging on maniacal.

Drawing in a sharp breath, he points to the door, suppressing laughter over the pathetic irony that she is wasting her days trying to make someone as black as him, love.

iii. greed

He stands over a pile of bloodied and broken bodies, panting. 'I need more!' he roars, trembling with adrenaline.

She reaches across. 'There is no one else, my Lord.'

Yet it does not matter. There must be more. He needs more. To destruct, to ruin, to burn cities to the ground. He shoves her to the floor, finishing with a kick as she slams against the green marble.

vi. sloth

'Do you believe in anything, my Lord?' she asks, entwined with him.

He pauses for a moment. Maybe he did, once. It's long gone now.

'Only myself. Be wise and think the same way,' he replies, sternly.

v. wrath

He watches as her eyes sparkle in his direction, and she leans in to press her lips against his.

Voldemort recoils, instantly seeing red. She drives him to the edge of insanity, pushing him further towards it than ever before. He cannot love, and she is completely blinded.

With a flick of his wand, she crashes against the wall. Voice strained with anger, he tells her to get out of his sight. Confusion mars her face, but she silently walks across to the door, leaving him to the fury racing through his entire body.

vi. envy

Throwing the door open with his wand, he steps into the room and sets his eyes and curse on the man on top of her. Wide-eyed he jumps off, hands in surrender.

Voldemort wraps his hand around her skinny arm, dragging her out of the door. She does not struggle, but he feels the tension of her muscles. A sense of anger penetrates his skin through her, and he knows this is different.

'You are mine. Do not forget that.' And it might just be his fall.

vii. pride

Maybe the news squeezes something inside of him, makes him question himself for the first time in a long time. He is Lord Voldemort, he can stop this if he pleases. Bellatrix can be his toy forever. He summons her.

'I don't want to be a toy forever,' she says, almost like she had read his mind. 'But all you have to do is ask me and I won't go through with it, my Lord.'

Shutting his eyes for a brief moment, he almost says it. It would be so easy, just to roll the words off of his tongue, to ask her not to marry him. But no - he doesn't want to give Rodolphus the satisfaction. He's too proud.

And that, is his cardinal sin.


AN: I don't know, really. Still feeling rusty. Will i ever stop feeling rusty? Stay tuned hahaha. Reviews & favourites are ever appreciated!