July, 1972
"Dolph?" Bellatrix opened the door of the London townhouse she shared with her husband. She shut the door behind her and frowned. He'd known she was going over to her parents' house to have tea with her mother and Narcissa. He knew she loathed tea. He knew she loathed her mother. Shouldn't he be smirking in the parlour, not one bit surprised that her visit had been cut short by acrimonious conversations and an abject lack of comfort? Bellatrix huffed. She climbed the townhouse stairs, thinking that he must be reading in the sunroom behind their bedroom.
She was halfway up the stairs when she heard the moaning.
Bellatrix froze, her fingers tightening on the bannister. She pulled out her wand, her soldier's instinct kicking in as she climbed the stairs. She padded carefully, silently, moving like a cat. The moans and creaking grew louder, and finally, when Bellatrix reached the top of the stairs, she realised just what was going on.
He had a girl. Worse, he had a girl in their bedroom. Bellatrix's stomach churned with horrified nausea. She shut her eyes on the landing at the top of the stairs, wondering why the damned House-Elf hadn't had the wherewithal to keep her from coming up here. Bellatrix stepped closer to the bedroom where she and Rodolphus had reluctantly shared a bed for two years, and she let out a shaking breath.
"Dolph," she choked out, and he finally heard her. The pretty blonde witch who was riding him yelped and scrambled off, landing beside the bed with an ungraceful thud. She rushed to fetch her clothes, leaving poor naked Rodolphus all alone on the bed. He sat up slowly, covering the cock that was smeared with the girl's fluids, and he dragged his fingers through his mussed chestnut brown hair. His boyish face looked younger than ever as he whispered,
"Bella."
"Holly Thorpe, isn't it?" Bellatrix sniffed a little. "Get out of my house. Now."
"I'm so sorry, Madam Lestrange," mumbled Holly, yanking on her skirt and shoving her shoes onto her feet. She spared a glance back to Rodolphus and then Disapparated with a resounding crack! Bellatrix eyed the place where she'd been, and she barked at Rodolphus,
"Get yourself in a shower. You are absolutely filthy."
He wordlessly rose, walking past Bellatrix and going into the bathroom. A moment later, she heard the shower running, and her eyes burned as she aimed her wand at the bed. For half a second, she considered burning it, but she didn't want to incinerate the entire house, so instead she Vanished the blankets and sheets upon which Rodolphus had taken his little whore. She walked into the bathroom and called over the sound of the running water,
"You'll need to Conjure or purchase new blankets for the bed in the master bedroom; the old ones are gone. I shall be sleeping in the guest room."
Rodolphus said nothing in response to that. After a very long while, she saw his silhouette lean against the wall behind the curtain, and he finally murmured,
"If you and I had been in love, Bellatrix, I could understand your hurt, but -"
"I am not hurt," Bellatrix snapped. "I am angry. There is a difference. Scrub nice and hard, Dolph. You're disgusting."
Bellatrix and Rodolphus walked three paces apart as they climbed the foyer steps in Malfoy Manor. They kept their distance as they walked down the long corridor that led to the meeting room. Halfway down the corridor, Bellatrix paused. She wrenched suddenly at the white gold wedding band on her left hand, and she tossed it onto the carpet runner.
"Wouldn't want anyone getting any silly ideas," she mumbled. Rodolphus scoffed loudly, bending to pick up the ring.
"Don't be stupid," he said rather loudly. "We're still married. You can't divorce me; we're a betrothed, arranged marriage bound by ancient rites. Taking off your ring does absolutely nothing."
"It makes me feel better," Bellatrix snarled. Rodolphus shrugged and tucked her wedding ring into his robe pocket. The two of them walked down the corridor and into the meeting room, which was already mostly full of Death Eaters. Lord Voldemort sat at the head of the table, and Bellatrix felt her heart speed up at the sight of him.
She adored him. She was like a child in awe of the stars and moon when she was around him. She was brave in battle for him, and vicious with Cruciatus and Killing Curses, but she was really just a silly little girl for him. He knew it, too. He knew she simpered and sighed over him like a stupid little lunatic, but still he took her on missions and assigned her the task of torturing prisoners. Today, Bellatrix got to sit right beside him, just to his right, for that chair was available. She nearly squealed with delight as she sank into the chair and flashed a little smile his way.
Voldemort flicked his eyes coldly around the room, seeming to take in all of those who had gathered. He did not look at Bellatrix, not even once, and her chest ached as she silently begged him for some semblance of attention. He eventually called the meeting to order and began talking with Abraxas Malfoy and Yaxley and Avery about their mission in Wales the previous week. Then he began to talk with Rookwood about Ministry happenings.
"Tell me about departmental infiltration," Voldemort said. Rookwood began to drone on about how they had spies for Voldemort in nearly every department now. Voldemort nodded, looking bored. His eyes turned to Bellatrix as Rookwood talked, and she felt her eyes go wide. He looked her up and down, and then his brows knitted together as his gaze settled on her left hand. Voldemort held up a finger, still staring at Bellatrix's hand, and he said,
'Thank you, Rookwood; I quite get the picture. Mulciber, Nott, Selwyn. Try and get me more information on Dumbledore's friends and their whereabouts."
"Yes, Master." Mulciber bowed his head. Voldemort finally turned away from Bellatrix, his eyes settling on Rodolphus. He stared for a long moment, and Rodolphus squirmed. Everyone in the room knew what was happening. Everyone knew that Lord Voldemort was a Legilimens. He was inside Rodolphus' head. Bellatrix gasped a little. Voldemort had seen her without her ring, and now he was searching Rodolphus' mind. Suddenly she felt abject humiliation, that her master would see her mundane and embarrassing private business like this.
Rodolphus slumped in his chair after a while, and Voldemort cleared his throat. He nodded and said,
"Dismissed."
Everyone got up, silent and frightened, and made their way out of the room. Bellatrix rose, but Voldemort snapped at her,
"Not you, Madam Lestrange. Stay."
"Yes, Master." Bellatrix stood beside his chair and waited. Rodolphus looked over his shoulder at her as he left the room, but she could not read his face. When at last the doors shut, Voldemort aimed his wand at them, and they buzzed with a nonverbal Colloportus spell. Bellatrix wondered suddenly if she had done something to anger her master. Was he going to punish her? Was that why he'd locked the doors?
"Holly Thorpe." He put his wand on the table before him and rolled it back and forth a little. He did not look at Bellatrix. She sighed.
"A Half-Blood Ravenclaw from our year at Hogwarts, My Lord. I think she works in Magical Games and Sports or something now."
"You went to have tea with your mother and sister, and your husband spent that time with a Half-Blood Ravenclaw named Holly." Voldemort was a bit cruel in the way he spat out the words, and Bellatrix pinched her lips. She sniffed.
"Ours was strictly an arranged marriage, Master. I assure you there is no love lost between Rodolphus and myself."
"He's got your wedding ring in his pocket," Voldemort noted. "You do not wish to wear it."
"I threw a tantrum," Bellatrix said, but Voldemort shrugged. He raised his eyes to her and stopped playing with his wand.
"I do not blame you one bit for your anger," he said. "The question now is… what do you do with that anger?"
"What do I do with it, My Lord?" Bellatrix gulped. "There's nothing to be done. I can't divorce him. I can't go hexing him; he's your servant the same as I am. I can't… I have no leverage."
"No leverage," Voldemort repeated, raising his eyebrows. "You think you have no means of exacting revenge upon that boy?"
"Well, I don't suppose you'll be handing him over to me for a good solid Cruciatus any time soon, Master," Bellatrix joked. Voldemort shook his head and whispered,
"Not that sort of revenge, you silly girl."
Bellatrix stared at him. What exactly did he mean? What sort of revenge was he talking about? Suddenly Lord Voldemort had taken his wand in his hand and was rising slowly from his chair, towering over Bellatrix. She was quite short, and he was very, very tall. He had his hair clipped short, and it was dark brown with bits of grey. He had a strong, straight nose, and sharp cheekbones, but his face was criss-crossed with pale scars. His eyes were dark, so unlike Rodolphus' pale blue ones.
"Bellatrix," said Voldemort, and her knees went weak all of a sudden. Hearing her name from him was almost orgasmic. Those three syllables - Bellatrix - were honey on his lips, and she shut her eyes for a moment after he spoke them. When she opened her eyes, he nodded down at her and observed, "You have wanted me ever since I put the Dark Mark upon you. No. Before that, even. You have wanted me, Bellatrix, since you were a fifteen-year-old flit and I was the aspirational Tom Riddle. But things are different now. You are my prized, vicious soldier, and I am your master. I am Lord Voldemort, and you are Bellatrix Lestrange, with a husband. Still, you want me."
"I'm sorry," Bellatrix whispered, feeling desperate. She stared up at him, at his face and his hair and the high collar of his robes, and she said it again. "I'm sorry."
"No." He shook his head firmly and told her, "I tire of pretending about it. I grow weary of ignoring it. And you have revenge to exact, Bellatrix."
"Revenge." She still couldn't quite comprehend what he was suggesting. He huffed a breath and reached for her hair, tucking it behind her ear. Bellatrix froze at his touch, at the way he had actually touched her. She mewled helplessly when he pulled his hand away, and he told her,
"I don't suppose that was Rodolphus' first time with Holly, do you?"
Bellatrix shook her head. The thought had certainly crossed her mind that Rodolphus had probably been having an affair for some time. Voldemort told Bellatrix,
"You know what you want. I know what you want. And you have revenge to exact. So, Bellatrix, are you up for a little revenge?"
She tried to speak, to answer him properly and respectfully. But all she could do was nod her head, mute and shaking as his hand went to the small of her back. She gasped as he bent down, descending toward her, and pressed his lips to hers. The kiss was brief; it only lasted a moment and it was relatively chaste. But Bellatrix's world was spinning as she realised just what had happened. Voldemort pulled back, smirking down at her. He tipped his head and nodded.
"Oh, yes," he said. "I think this will be good fun."
Author's Note: Mwah hahaha. Another Bellamort story! And in this one, we've got a Bellatrix/Voldemort dynamic where she's completely subservient to him and she's utterly enamored with him and there's revenge involved. So, as Voldemort says, this should be fun.
Please, please, please do review if you get a quick moment. Thanks so very much.
