Written for the Monthly Challenge of the Plot Bunnies Forum. The given prompts were write about someone getting a pet or a new house. I couldn't choose, so I'll be writing all four combos for Bellatrix and Voldemort.
In this chapter, Rodolphus thinks that the best wedding gift to his wife is a sick, vicious little fur-ball.
"Well, open it," Rodolphus encouraged his wife.
Bellatrix and Rodolphus Lestrange had gotten married just a week ago in a fabulous ceremony with important guests from all over the world. His beautiful, hot-tempered and very active wife had been stuck since then at home, inviting over family members and close friends, so they could admire how dreamy their marriage was. All those social interactions and her mother's constant criticism and endless interventions had been driving Bellatrix up the wall.
It was the first time they had some peace and quiet this afternoon and Bellatrix had been walking the library up and down in front of him muttering stuff about 'insufferable people' and 'mindless chatter' more to herself than him. When his ears caught something about setting the bloody curtains of their bedroom on fire, he had decided right there and then that it was time to give her the wedding gift he had gotten her and had summoned a battered, pink hat box that had holes poked with a sharp instrument on the cover. It was shaking violently every other second, as if it contained a trapped animal; which apparently it did.
Bellatrix' dark eyes had become slits when she had spotted how old and worn the box was and hadn't even bothered to take it from his hands.
"You know wedding gifts customary come in fancier boxes, right?" Bellatrix said sharply. She had never been one to phrase her thoughts pretty, and the fact that she was Dark-Lord deprived that week had drained the little patience she had.
"You were the one who said this marriage is not going to be traditional," Rodolphus reminded her pleasantly. "Can't I break tradition too? Trust me, you want to open the box."
Bellatrix shot daggers at him, but he continued to smile broadly, so, mouthing a swear, she took the hat box, holding it with nothing more than her long fingernails, as if it contained something diseased.
She removed the cover slowly and a cry of pain escaped her lips. Bella retrieved her hand to find a small but prominent cut running through her palm, droplets of blood spreading on her cuff.
"What the-" she began.
In the bottom of the box, a tiny, emaciated animal sat with its fur sticking up, filthy and sick. Its paw was still in the air; it was ready to strike again.
"A rodent?" hissed Bellatrix dangerously, eyes gleaming deadly. "You got me a rat to seal our marriage? Are you completely out of your mind, Lestrange?"
"It's a kitten, Bella," Rodolphus corrected his wife, unfazed by the verbal attack. "He kind of reminded me of you."
Bellatrix blinked and her fury seemed to leave her speechless for a whole minute. Her beauty, though not of particular value to her, had been a favourite subject of all kinds of newspapers and magazines since before she had been able to talk. To suggest that this poor, diseased, pathetic excuse for a cat looked anything like the daughter of one of the most influential families in the wizarding world was somewhere between insulting and barking mad.
"Wait, before you explode, let me explain," Rodolphus hurried on, because the delicate pink colouring his wife's pale cheeks was synonymous to an omen of his painful death. "The last couple of days I was finding small animals dead in the gardens. Rabbits, birds, ferrets, that kind of thing. They all had their necks broken and the skin and fur had been torn in places, like something had tried to eat them, but hadn't managed in the end. And then, last night, my hunting dogs started making noise and there it was, surrounded by three of them, trying to fight them back. That little guy killed all those animals and injured Rex, my best hunting dog, and it's sick and not even four months old. See?" he pointed at the kitten's jaw where a few baby-teeth were visible.
"And when I tried to pick it up, it did the same it did to you. I was going to put it down, but then its temper reminded me of you, and how could I possibly do that? Thought you'd appreciate his company in the days to come, especially since you have put an... ehm, ban in having children. Look, I can't guarantee you won't have another week like this one from now on, but this stubborn little fur-ball can make it a bit easier for you. You know, while you eat salmon sandwiches and prepare for the next ball, you'll have the chance to chat with it about your shared interests, like what's the best way to keep someone alive while taking their guts out and stuff..."
A mischievous smirk illuminated his handsome face, but soon faded, for he noticed Bellatrix' expression. She was scanning the kitten as if estimating where it would hurt the most.
"On the other hand," he muttered, "I have a magnificent diadem for you, it has a large sapphire on top, it matches your eyes exactly, you are going to look so-"
"Oh, you can keep your stupid trinket," she brushed him off, before picking up the sick, bad-tempered kitten from the neck. It tried to smack her again, but failed and eyed her grumpily, tail in the air, front paws crossed in front of it in an almost human manner. "Mephistopheles and I have a lot to talk about, don't we, my sweet?"
And she left the library without looking back, Mephistopheles still hanging from her fingertips importantly.
A/N: Thank you for reading, please let me know what you think.
Mephistopheles is a demon featured in the classic German legend of Faust, where an accomplished scholar, Faust, is unhappy with his life, so he sells his soul to the devil in exchange for limitless knowledge and pleasure.