DISCLAIMER: All things Harry Potter belong to J.K. Rowling.
-- Burn Now --
(What Was Once Breathing)
When the Aurors came for her, Bellatrix answered the door covered in ashes. Her hair was partly singed and she held a charred lump of fuzz in one hand.
"Draco threw his toy dragon in the fire," she said by way of explanation, tossing what was presumably the remains of the stuffed dragon onto the couch. "Apparently he thought that since it was a dragon, it would like to be in the fire. Of course, once it started to burn he wanted it back out again, but it was already too late to save the thing." She took a moment to brush the worst of the ash from the front of her robes before addressing the Aurors again. "Is this about my husband?"
She moved back from the doorway and gestured for them to come in. The Aurors glanced at each other. Of course, news of Rodolphus Lestrange's arrest had already reached his wife. They had it on good authority that she was a Death Eater and they'd come to take her in for questioning, expecting a fight.
Yet here she was, acting like a common housewife, inviting them into her home. Surely one of the Dark Lord's followers wouldn't react this way? Unless she was a very good actress...
"Behwa!" a tiny voice whined.
Bellatrix moved farther into the room and scooped Draco up from the playpen.
"My sister didn't take the news very well," Bellatrix said conversationally. "Which is why I'm taking care of this one for now."
Lucius Malfoy had also been arrested, for the very same crime as Bellatrix's husband, along with Barty Crouch Jr.
The Aurors noticed that the living room floor was scattered with toys and children's books and various other things that one just doesn't bother to pick up when all their time is spent caring for a small child.
They wouldn't have expected someone who had such a reputation for being a coldhearted bitch to have any maternal instinct, either. Yet here she was, caring for her sister's child as if he were her own.
"If we could just look through your husband's things...?" one of the Aurors put forth hesistantly.
"Yes, of course, but if you're looking for Dark artifacts, I don't think he kept any here," Bellatrix answered in a polite tone, getting straight to the point. "He didn't want me to get involved in any of that, although I did have an interest..." She trailed off, as though realizing she'd said something she shouldn't have.
The Aurors glanced at each other again. This encounter with Bellatrix Lestrange was nothing like what they'd been expecting, but most of the Dark Lord's minions had already been rounded up and they were going on mostly rumors at this point anyway.
They searched the house but found nothing of particular interest.
Once the Aurors were gone, Bellatrix breathed a sigh of relief. She never thought she'd be grateful for all the stupid things her mother taught her.
"There is nothing inherently wrong with being intelligent, my dear. However, a man will only marry a woman that he believes to be less intelligent than himself. So you have to play dumb when you talk them, if you want to have any hope of catching a husband for yourself. Just smile and speak politely, and he'll never know the difference."
Of course, she'd thought her mother's advice was a crock of bull and hadn't resorted to such tactics with Rodolphus. But it had really come in handy just now.
Honestly, she would have given anything to be out there searching for the Dark Lord with the other Death Eaters... the ones who hadn't been arrested yet, anyway.
But no, she was stuck here, taking care of Draco while Narcissa had a total emotional breakdown over her husband getting arrested and being publicly outed as a Death Eater.
- tbc -
A/N: I know, I know. I shouldn't be starting a new fic when I have so much unfinished crap to take of. But the idea with baby Draco throwing his stuffed dragon in the fireplace hit me hard, and I thought it'd be perfect for the opening scene of this fic (which has been in the works for quite a while now.)
Reviews are love.