Disclaimer: I don't own anyone.
"Rodolphus?"
Although the way his name sounded when Bellatrix would say it changed all the time, he instantly knew something was not right. She had not said his name like that in years. Before when they were too young to get their Dark Marks from the Dark Lord, Bellatrix would say his name in such a tone that would make his heart leap for joy. When they had been declared two of the Dark Lord's most faithful servants, his name changed then as though it was a burden to her. When their lord had fallen and they were sent to Azkaban, it seemed as though she had blamed Rodolphus for his downfall. The tone she used now, when the Dark Lord was now back, made him feel as though the years he had spent with her meant nothing.
But Rodolphus did not let any of this display on his face. Perhaps deep down he knew there was still something left for him. He had to mean something to her. Did he spend all those years fighting beside her for nothing? Was he worthless to her? Why did she no longer hold the same affection he still had for her? He would always scratch his head when he thought this and would make himself believe that was still true. After all, she was always in bed every night and she still allowed him to touch her the way he always had.
Rodolphus turned to look at his wife as she entered the room behind him. He was surprised to see the look of excitement on her face, especially after last night's heat argument which ended when she threw a priceless china plate at him and it bounced off his head. Rodolphus's head was still aching from the blow.
"What do you want Bellatrix?" He snarled and crossed his arms as he glared at her. He could not help but notice how beautiful she looked in that tight black dress she was wearing. He shook his head and brought his mind back to last night to keep him focused.
"Rodolphus, I'm pregnant." She said happily.
Whatever he had been expecting, it was not that. "You're pregnant?" He repeated and watched her head nod quickly. His eyes widened and he almost choked on his own breath. How could they be parents? They had tried for a child in the first year of their marriage, ending up with nothing but a miscarriage. Since then, they never really desperately tried again.
Bellatrix dashed passed him and over to the fireplace. "I've got to tell the Dark Lord!" She said excitedly.
Rodolphus's head shot in her direction when he heard her mention their lord. His eyes flared with anger. They were finally going to be parents and all she cared about telling the Dark Lord? Rodolphus knew that informing him about the child would be a waste of his time. As far as Rodolphus knew, the Dark Lord would not show the slightest interest until the child was old enough to become a death eater.
"Why are you telling him now?" Rodolphus growled as she grabbed a handful of floo powder.
Bellatrix looked at him with a wicked grin on her face. "Well, whose child do you think it is?"
Rodolphus blinked and was rather taken back by her answer. "Well, mine of course." He snarled at her.
"Silly, Roddy. This is the Dark Lord's baby not yours." She laughed at him a proceeded to throw the powder into the fireplace, but Rodolphus was quicker and he made sure his grip around her wrist was tight enough to keep her from send a message.
"That child, if there's a child, is not his, Bella." Rodolphus said calmly.
She glared at him and used her free hand to slap him hard in the face. Rodolphus winced when he heard and felt the slap and did not bother to hide the fact how much that slap had stabbed him in the heart. He looked at her with eyes of sorrow, which she ignored.
"Keep your hands off of me and my baby!" She yelled at him and wiggled out of his grasp. "This is my lord's child, I'm sure of it. He was here a few weeks ago, that night when we were able to barge into the Ministry without any trouble from Potter's gang."
Rodolphus raised his eyebrow. "What are you talking about? That was me, remember?"
But Bellatrix shook her head. "No it wasn't! It was my lord, not you." She shrieked at him and went to slap him again, only was stopped by Rodolphus in midair this time. He glared at her as he brought her arm back down to her side. He knew, and maybe she did too, that the Dark Lord was never in her bed. He slowly released his arm and looked down at her flat stomach. He was not even sure if there was a child even growing in there.
"What makes you think you're having a child?" He asked quietly.
Bellatrix continued to glare at him and snapped, "If you haven't noticed, my head's been in that toilet for times than you can count. I took a test as well and it came back positive."
Rodolphus would have liked to see the test, or make her take it again, but he had a feeling her hand would be a lot quicker this time. He let out a deep sigh and walked passed her. He stopped before exiting the room and took one last look at her before he left for their bedroom.
"Congratulations," he muttered and slammed the door behind him.
As he slumped down to the bedroom floor, he heard Bellatrix make her way back towards the fireplace. He banged his head hard against the door and cursed his wife. Why she thought that child was the Dark Lord's was beyond him. Rodolphus knew that if there was really was a baby, it was definitely his as no one had entered or left the house in over four months. Even before then they had yet to meet up with their lord long enough for Bellatrix to pursue him into the bedroom. That child was his, whether she liked it or not.
Rodolphus listened to his wife's steady breathing beside him, making sure she was asleep. He crept out of their bed and silently walked over towards the crib, finally getting a chance to examine the boy his wife had delivered almost a week ago without any interruption. For a moment he watched the baby sleep silently and he could not help by give the child a small smile.
As he leaned against the crib, the baby's eyes flew open. Rodolphus's eyebrows arched as the baby's eyes found him. He took noticed that the boy had Bellatrix's eyes. They looked at each for a moment, before Rodolphus glanced back at his wife's sleeping form. Deciding she was in a deep sleep, Rodolphus lifted the baby out of its crib and cradled him in his arms.
The boy instantly nuzzled his small head into Rodolphus chest and watched him look at him with his visible eye. Rodolphus tilted his head at him before proceeding to study the baby more closely. He carefully touched the baby's dark brown hair, a color much like his own. Rodolphus looked down at his nose and found it to look like Bellatrix's, but the baby's chin was different as well as his earlobes. His fingers were long, like Rodolphus's. The baby was also constantly alert of his surrounding, much like Rodolphus is.
He gave the baby a grin and kiss is tiny forehead. "You're my child, aren't you?" He asked the baby quietly. The baby did not make any movements other than his small chest rising up and down against Rodolphus's. His visible eye was still watching Rodolphus with interest.
As he put the baby back down into his crib, Rodolphus quietly whispered to him, making sure his wife could not hear him even if she was awake, "Even though Mama says that some other man is your daddy, I want you to know I'm your father. Remember that for me, will you, my son?"
(A/N): That story just popped into my head a few hours ago. I was bored and I somehow ended up reading a few stories about Rodolphus and Bellatrix. Most of the time they have a love-hate relationship going on and I thought some of them were cool. But there's not a lot of them so I decided to add my own. Please tell me what you think!
