Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or anything related to the books. No money is being made with this story.
I also do not share my main character's world-view if it's necessary to state this.

Victory of Darkness

Rodolphus Lestrange was sitting in the room at Malfoy Manor he was sharing with his wife Bellatrix. She wasn't there at the moment. He didn't really mind. His work was tedious enough without interruptions which were inevitable in her presence.

The Dark Lord had put Rodolphus in charge of the Magical Healthcare System. He had been highly glad about that at first, but the work proved to be way more difficult than he had imagined.

-Hospital was facing a wide range of problems. The most pressing matter in Rodolphus' opinion was the recent surge in cases of contagious diseases, mainly Dragon Pox and Spattergroit. There had been quite a few cases where the "patients" had simply used these diseases as an excuse to avert the laws of the new Ministry. Some Healers were quite prepared to support such claims. At this stage, Rodolphus couldn't be sure that this was true of all reported cases though. In this situation, Rodolphus regretted that he had specialized in Spell-damage early and wasn't an expert on contagious magical diseases.

Now he had to persuade the other Healers that there were things more important than their dislike of the Dark Lord, things such as preventing a deadly plague if such a danger did exist. He was hoping that he'd achieve this goal by reason rather than threats, he could be much surer about the Healers' compliance in this case.

There was some sort of commotion downstairs. Rodolphus barely listened. This kind of thing had become quite common. Many Death Eaters had grown very frustrated with their lives cramped together here at Malfoy Manor. Rodolphus hoped that the Dark Lord would soon decide that there was no need for this precaution anymore.

Fights were breaking out several times a day and even Bellatrix and her sister Narcissa who used to be very close were shouting at each other at least once a day. About a week ago, Bellatrix had actually attempted to cast the Cruciatus curse on her sister in such a situation; Rodolphus had managed to step in just in time. He believed that his ancestors had been right when declaring that the use of such magic on family members was taboo. After that, Bellatrix had apologized and they made up, but obviously, it hadn't lasted for long. At least, if Rodolphus did recognize the female voices downstairs correctly.

Bellatrix seemed to be quite distressed about something but even that failed to have much of an impression on Rodolphus. Since Azkaban, she was showing such hysterical reactions to almost anything concerning the Dark Lord.

He returned to his work. Maybe, the actual outbreak of a plague wouldn't be that bad at all. At least, if it was one that could be controlled. The new Ministry could show its competence and care for the people very well in such a situation. If people feared something more than the Dark Lord, they might start changing their minds.

The noises from downstairs interrupted Rodolphus' thoughts again. A woman was screaming as if she were in severe pain. Bellatrix wasn't doing it again, was she? If so, he had to stop this.

Shaking his head, Rodolphus put his papers away and apparated to the source of all the noise. In the drawing-room, Bellatrix was torturing a bushy-haired girl with a knife. Lucius Malfoy, Narcissa and Draco were watching, the latter two seemed quite pale.

Rodolphus was glad to see that the victim was a stranger. He was wondering who she was and what she was doing there. Asking questions often wasn't a good idea among the Dark Lord and his followers; therefore he tried to figure out what was going on by himself.

"What did you take? What did you take? Answer me you filthy Mudblood," Bellatrix screamed. "Crucio!"

Even from the other side of the room, Rodolphus could feel the power of the curse. Bellatrix threw every bit of destructive magic she had into that curse and she had lots. The girl's screams were drowning out all other noises.

Rodolphus knew that this was useless, if the girl really was a Mudblood she wouldn't be able to endure this for long without becoming unconscious, insane or dead. None of these states would allow her to answer any questions.

With voiceless magic, he cast the Mederi charm, a counter curse for the Cruciatus curse. Bellatrix turned to him, brandishing her knife, her face wild with furry. Another man might have been scared at the sight but Rodolphus knew her too well to be.

The Malfoys too had noticed him now.

"What are you doing? I need to know. I need to know!" she was screaming.

"You won't find out that way," Rodolphus told her walking towards her, his hand still resting on his wand. He wouldn't be surprised if she attempted to curse him as well.

The girl was lying on the floor, shaking all over. Her gaze was still focused as she was looking at Rodolphus. He was quite sure that she was wondering who he was.

"Let's discuss this outside," Rodolphus said, laying as much persuasive power into his words as possible. This was a technique they learned at 's as well, very useful when dealing with disturbed or panicking patients. It wasn't very far from the Imperius curse though no one had ever said this aloud.

The more emotional someone was at the moment, the more receptive they were for this kind of magic and so Bellatrix quickly obeyed.

Rodolphus looked at the Malfoys. "Can you make sure that she stays here? We'll be back in a moment."

"So, now take a deep breath and tell me what's going on?" Rodolphus said as soon as he had closed the door behind himself.

"They've broken into our vault. They've stolen the sword. They've got the sword. Do you know what that means?"

"It means they might also have the cup. That cup the Dark Lord has given you to keep safe." Slowly, Rodolphus was catching up. This cup really seemed to have been highly important to the Dark Lord.

Rodolphus had advised against keeping it at Gringotts but rather at Lestrange Manor under the family's guarding spells but Bellatrix had refused. She didn't have any Lestrange blood and therefore this might have made it unavailable for her.

"You are sure that they did break in?" Rodolphus asked. This was bad news indeed.

"Yes, they've got the sword. Gryffindor's sword. They must have been there."

"It's not necessary. Gryffindors might acquire this sword in other ways," Rodolphus said. Breaking into the high-security vaults at Gringotts was almost impossible and so far, Rodolphus hadn't heard about anyone other than the Dark Lord who had successfully done so. "If she does have the cup, we need to get it back of course," he said calmly. "But we won't achieve this if you keep using such powerful curses. A Mublood's body can't cope with them. How did she get here at all?"

"Greyback brought her in. Together with two boys. They claim one of them was Potter. Draco couldn't say for sure though."

Rodolphus only heard one word. "Potter? We have to call the Dark Lord at once."

"No, no," Bellatrix said, her voice full of panic. "If he finds out he'll punish us so terribly!"

"Potter is much more important to the Dark Lord than this cup." Rodolphus was absolutely certain about that. Nothing seemed to matter to him more than the boy recently.

"And what if it's not really him? Remember what he did to Dolohov and Rowle."

Rodolphus hadn't been aware of the fact that she was so scared of their master.

"They survived," he said shortly.

"Without your help, they would have been insane forever," Bellatrix said.

"It wasn't that bad," Rodolphus answered. "But we're wasting our time now. Let's take all the prisoners to the torture chamber."

"We're not allowed to harm Potter."

"We won't have to. Harming his friends will be enough. This way we can find out if they were in our vault and if it's really Potter. As soon as we know, we're calling the Dark Lord."

"All right."

Rodolphus took a deep breath. This would be a challenge but he did feel up to it. They were dealing with Hogwarts students and not with trained Aurors after all.

"I'm going to inform the Malfoys and fetch the Mudblood; you can take the other two from their cell. You want to make sure everything's alright with Potter, don't you?"

Bellatrix nodded and walked off towards the dungeons. Rodolphus was surprised that she was accepting his plan so easily. Maybe there was a chance that things would go back to the way they had been before Azkaban after all.

Before the plan was carried out, Rodolphus had to inform the Malfoys. This wasn't as easy as he had hoped.

"You want to keep us away and call the Dark Lord so you can take all the glory for yourselves," Lucius claimed.

"We don't want any such thing," Rodolphus said even though he knew he couldn't be sure in Bellatrix' case. "And even if we did. The Dark Lord always knows the truth. He's not going to reward the one who pressed the Mark first but the one who's most worthy."

Lucius didn't look convinced. "It's my house and I'm deciding what's happening here." "Lucius, please be reasonable," Rodolphus said. "We only want to use your torture chamber for a short time. Nothing more. The Dark Lord will know who really brought him Potter. You do not doubt him, do you?"

This argument always worked in Bellatrix' case and it wasn't quite useless with Lucius either.

"But, what if he's rewarding Greyback then? He can't. Greyback's only a Werewolf."

"The Dark Lord can do however he pleases," Rodolphus answered.

"Yes, he can," Lucius said a hint of bitterness in his voice. "I'll take your word for it. Do what you think is necessary. But give me my torture chamber back without any dirty Muggle blood in it, will you?"

Rodolphus promised that before turning to the girl. A quick swish of his wand undid the ropes binding her legs.

"Get up!"

She scrambled to her feet right away. Rodolphus was surprised. He had expected her to be more affected by Bellatrix' curse. Extraordinary resilience for a Muggle-born.

"Come with me!"

The girl hesitated. Obviously, she wasn't really keen on following this order.

"Move or do I have to drag you along?"

She suppressed a sigh and began to walk. Rodolphus was walking next to her and tried to gather a bit of information via Legilimency. Bellatrix didn't like to use this art on Muggle-borns or any enemies actually but Rodolphus had no problems with that. He easily figured out that the girl was called Hermione Granger; if Potter was as unskilled at protecting his mind it wouldn't be hard to confirm his identity. Granger was mainly feeling scared of more pain, humiliated, but also determined to resist and give of an impression of bravery. That wasn't unusual; many of Rodolphus' earlier victims had felt something similar, Muggle-born, mixed-blood and pure-blood alike.

They reached the Malfoys' torture chamber before Bellatrix and the others did. The room was dark until Rodolphus lit the torches in the corners. Chains and forbidding looking objects were hanging on the walls. Rodolphus didn't believe that many of them were useful in magical torture; they had probably been added to increase the feelings of fear in Muggle-raised people like Granger. It definitely seemed to work, she seemed quite worried.

Rodolphus took her to one set of chains. The chains were slithering around her like snakes, binding her tightly.

Rodolphus used the opportunity to test if she had managed to fight Bellatrix' curse of completely, she had. Impressive indeed. The minds and bodies of Muggle-borns weren't adapted to strong magic and therefore they tended to be affected in much worse ways compared to pure-bloods. This one seemed to be an exception though.

Rodolphus lightly touched her wrist, sending a surge of pain through her body. She screamed with pain and surprise.

"What have you done?" she asked before she could stop herself. Obviously, she hadn't seen wandless magic in use before.

"Magic is Might, little Mudblood," he quoted the Dark Lord's new motto.

The girl was bleeding from various wounds. Bellatrix had obviously used her knife as well. A pure-blood wouldn't be too impressed by mundane Muggle methods which could be undone by a simple healing spell but Mudbloods where a different matter. It was quite effective on them.

Bellatrix had carved the word Mudblood into the girl's skin. Rodolphus remembered the time back at Hogwarts when she had caught a Mudblood and cut the boy's skin to see if the dirt in his blood was really visible.

It wasn't.

There were footsteps outside. Granger was looking towards the door and Rodolphus did the same. He hoped that it would be Bellatrix with the other prisoners, but was a bit worried that it would be someone else trying to get into their way again.

He was lucky; it was Bellatrix with Potter and the red-headed boy.

"Hermione, what have they done to you?" the boy screamed in shock as soon as he saw her.

Rodolphus smiled. This would be easier than he had thought.

Bellatrix shook her head. "Weasley's so pathetic," she muttered.

"Don't worry, I'm alright," Granger said.

Bellatrix was tying the two boys up as well before turning to Rodolphus. "This idiot Greyback couldn't even make sure they were properly secured. He put them together with all the others and didn't even tie them up properly."

Rodolphus was glad that they had checked on them rather than kept Granger alone. He didn't want to imagine the Dark Lord's reaction if Potter had escaped again. If it was him. This was the first thing they had to find out.

"What's your name boy?" Rodolphus asked.

He didn't get an answer but he hadn't expected one. The answer was easily available in the boys mind. Snape hadn't lied; the Occlumency training with Potter had been a complete waste of time.

Rodolphus looked at Bellatrix and nodded, a fanatic light shone in her dark eyes.

"Now listen well," he told the three prisoners. "This is actually going to be quite easy. We're going to ask questions and you're going to answer them. Nothing more required."

"We won't tell you anything," Potter said right away.

Bellatrix' hand was wandering towards her wand.

"You don't know how many times I've heard those words before," Rodolphus said. "And they've almost always been proven false. You're friends with Neville Longbottom, aren't you?"

The prisoners were sharing questioning looks. No one said a word.

"He's been at the Department of Mysteries with you. He fought for you," Bellatrix said. "I'm sure you are friends."

The prisoners were staying silent but Rodolphus could see anger and hatred in Potter's face.

"If you're friends with Neville, you've probably visited his parents at some point, haven't you?" he asked.

"You're disgusting," Potter shouted suddenly. "You're proud of what you've done to them, are you?"

"That's beside the point," Rodolphus said. "You've seen the state they're in, that's all that matters. You are aware of the fact that we can easily do the same to you, aren't you?"

Bellatrix was smirking. Rodolphus waited for an answer but there was none. He didn't need it though.

"The Longbottoms are from old pure-blood stock. They've resisted the curse for hours. Your friend Granger is a Mudblood. She won't last nearly as long."

"This is not true," shouted Potter. "Muggle borns are not inferior wizards!"

"Do you want to see it?" Bellatrix asked, still smiling. "You have to take our word for the time the Longbottoms lasted of course."

Weasley's face was as white as snow. He kept looking at Granger. The boy really seemed to care about her.

"Where did you get the Sword?" Rodolphus asked.

The prisoners refused to answer.

Bellatrix raised her wand.

"Let me do it this time," Rodolphus told her. "We don't want it to be over too quickly, do we?"

He walked towards Granger, his own wand raised. Since he had joined the Dark Lord's ranks, the part of Rodolphus that wanted to cause pain to others was always accessible. He tabbed into the source of his destructive magic, taking only as much as necessary. "Crucio." He spoke the incantation quietly and calmly, there was no need for anything else.

The girl started to twitch in pain, throwing herself against the chains and screaming.

"Stop! Stop it!" Weasley shouted.

Rodolphus did so right away. Granger was gasping for air; Weasley looked at her, worry edged all over his face.

"Is there something you'd like to tell us, Weasley?" Bellatrix asked.

"Ron, no," Potter was urging but Weasley didn't listen. His voice shook as if he had had the Cruciatus curse used on himself.

"We didn't break into your vault. The sword that's there is a fake. It must still be there. We found this one."

Bellatrix laughed. "The Mudblood has told me this wild story as well. Couldn't you make up something better?"

"It's the truth," Weasley said desperately. "It's the truth, believe me. Don't hurt her. Please don't hurt her."

"He's not lying," Rodolphus said. "If he were, he must be a damned good Occlumens and I seriously doubt that. They've never been to our vault."

"You are sure?" Bellatrix asked.

"I am sure. We can call the Dark Lord. "

Potters eyes widened with shock.

"But first a little bit of precaution if something's unexpected does happen. I don't think you should remember this little conversation we've had."

Rodolphus walked towards Potter first. It wasn't hard to use the memory charm on his unprotected mind. One whispered "Obliviate" later, the fact that Bellatrix kept something in her vault which was precious to the Dark Lord was erased from his memory. In Weasley's case it was as easy, but the Granger girl was a different matter. The Muggle-born witch was defending herself against the touch of Rodolphus' magic now. A surprising talent indeed. Too bad she was a Mudblood and an enemy of the Dark Lord as well. Finally, he managed to break through her defenses, but it had taken a while.

"Alright?" Bellatrix asked.

"Alright."

Grinning wildly, Bellatrix was pressing the Dark Mark on her arm.

About half an hour later, the Dark Lord had assembled all his Death Eaters in their usual meeting room. Potter was sitting on the floor, his legs and arms tied together; Weasley and Granger had been taken back to the dungeons.

"Now my Death Eaters, the time has come to dispose of my last enemy, the boy who was supposed to vanquish me. This time, I'm going to make it quick. We don't want to give luck another chance to rescue him, do we?"

Rodolphus was glad to hear it. He had secretly feared that the Dark Lord would attempt some ill-advised proof of his powers as he had supposedly done three years ago. Not this time.

Without much ado, he got up, raised Lucius Malfoys wand and said: "Now it's time to say goodbye to the world, Potter."

Savoring his triumph he looked around. Do it, Rodolphus thought. He didn't mind if the Dark Lord's Legilimency skills caught this.

Then he did it.

"Avada Kedavra!"

A jet of green light erupted from the Dark Lord's wand and hit the boy. Harry Potter crumbled over and lay still.

Bellatrix began to applaud and quickly, more members of the circle joined in.

The Dark Lord raised his wand again, the Death Eaters fell silent. "Incendio."

The boy's body was erupting in flames, eating themselves through flesh and bones. Some people said that there was no smell as terrible as that of burning human flesh; Rodolphus couldn't claim that he agreed. To him, it didn't smell any differently from pork that a House Elf had forgotten on the stove.

Finally, Rodolphus thought. He had never believed that this boy really posed such a threat simply because of the prophecy but the Dark Lord and many others obviously had done so. His death would make their victory complete.

"Fenrir Greyback, come to me," the Dark Lord said. Rodolphus watched the elderly Werewolf walk towards his master.

Disappointment was etched into the faces of both Bellatrix and Lucius.

"Fenrir, you are the one who managed to capture Potter, a feat my other Death Eaters have been incapable of for months. For this, you deserve to be rewarded."

Greyback was grinning eagerly.

"From this day forth, you and all other Werewolves will be full members of the magical society. You are free to take on every job you are capable of and no one will have the right to attack you for what you are. If anyone does, he or she is disobeying the orders of the Dark Lord and will pay accordingly."

Rodolphus could feel the reaction this was causing among some members of the circle, his wife included. No one dared to oppose the Dark Lord openly, but they didn't like this at all. Rodolphus did. He had always disapproved of the treatment Werewolves were receiving. A typical example of Mudblood morality. Every dangerous manifestation of magic was feared and suppressed.

"You will be supplied with Wolfbane Potion if you choose to use it to make your transformations easier to cope with", the Dark Lord added. "If you decide against that, you are required to go to a place where you're not endangering any witches and wizards for your transformations. That's the only special rule you'll have to abide by in future."

Greyback was trying to hide his disappointment. He had grown used to his feral lifestyle and had probably hoped for a different kind of reward.

Still, Rodolphus knew that many of the other Werewolves were feeling very differently. He had cared for their sick many times and most of them actually did want to be allowed to live like human beings. Finally, they would be given this chance.

"You are required to pass this message on to your brothers and sisters," the Dark Lord told Greyback. "As proof for my words, you are going to receive the Dark Mark from me now. Every other Werewolf who wants to do the same can follow if he or she proves worthy."

A few people were gasping at these words. The Dark Mark for a Werewolf? Not many Death Eaters had been able to imagine that.

Rodolphus could see how Bellatrix was struggling. Her deep care for her master suddenly stood against some of the beliefs installed by her family.

The ceremony went by without any trouble. Greyback bravely took on the mark. The sight was very different from that of Draco who had screamed and cried from the pain.

When the Werewolf got up again, a hint of pride had replaced the disappointment on his face.

"Lucius, it's your turn now," the Dark Lord said.

A mixture of fear and hope on his face, Lucius Malfoy walked up to their master and knelt down.

"Your childish squabbles have disappointed me," the Dark Lord told him. "It doesn't matter who calls me, I always know who deserves praise."

Rodolphus was hiding a smile. This was exactly what he had told Lucius before.

"But at least, you did want to call me right away. Tonight is the night of victory Lucius and I'm feeling merciful. I shall give you back your wand."

Lucius' face was alight with happiness and relief. Finally, the time of shame and humiliation was over.

The Dark Lord handed his wand to him. "Thank you. I have no need for it anymore. My own will serve me well enough against normal enemies. I hope you're going to offer me better service in future."

"Of course, my Lord. Thank you, my Lord."

Lucius returned to his seat and the Dark Lord's eyes were meeting those of Bellatrix. She got to her feet before he had even spoken her name and let herself fall to her knees before him.

"Bella, Bella, you have disappointed me again. You too took part in these struggles among my Death Eaters. Much worse than this however, you've actually kept your fellow Death Eaters from calling me after Potter's capture because of some irrational fears. I confess myself disappointed Bella, I would have expected better. Especially from you."

Rodolphus saw tears shining in his wife's eyes. Being chastised by the Dark Lord in this manner had to be horrible for her. Still, Rodolphus couldn't deny that the Dark Lord was right. Bellatrix' hysterical behavior really could have ruined everything. It was due to the effects of Azkaban combining with the horrors lurking in her past but the Dark Lord didn't excuse mistakes for such reasons.

Still, his punishments made everything much worse. Every time he cast the Cruciatus curse on her, it was as if an old wound was opened again, just when it had slowly started to close. For Rodolphus' healer personality this was more than frustrating, his torturer personality saw it as an efficient way to thoroughly destroy an enemy. He did not see the point in case of someone on your own side however.

He didn't want to go through this all over again with her. Rodolphus knew that he was behaving almost like Ron Weasley now, but there was nothing he could about it. At least, he could hide it better than the young Gryffindor.

Or so he had hoped.

"Rodolphus come to me as well," the Dark Lord spoke.

Without hesitation, Rodolphus obeyed and knelt down before his master.

"You doubt that my punishments have a positive effect on Bella, don't you?"

Rodolphus' heart was beating way too fast. He tried to breathe calmly but didn't answer. There wasn't a right answer to give.

"I know that my victory tonight was only possible because of your involvement, Rodolphus. She would have messed up again."

Bellatrix swallowed. "Please Master. I only wanted to make sure that everything went properly. I only wanted to serve you well."

The Dark Lord ignored her. "She deserves to be punished for that, you are aware of that, aren't you?"

"I'm sure that Bellatrix did her best," Rodolphus said tentatively.

"If that's her best, her best won't do," the Dark Lord said. "I know that this isn't the first time where you've saved her from messing up. I'm quite aware of the fact that the curse you took from the half-blood Tonks had been directed at her. Bella was too emotional to calmly fight her."

Rodolphus had never told anyone about that. The injuries had healed; it hadn't been such a big deal. He knew that it could have ended much worse but it hadn't. So what did it matter?

"You should be grateful that your husband is going to such lengths to protect you from your own foolishness, Bella."

Rodolphus felt embarrassed by these words. "She's my wife, it is my duty. She gave plenty of help to me in the past, now it's my turn to do the same."

"You should give your husband more respect Bella."

If it had been anyone other than the Dark Lord, Rodolphus would have told them that he preferred others to stay out of their private life.

In this case, he couldn't do so of course.

"Rodolphus, this evening you made sure that I could kill my enemy. For this you deserve a reward. Your reward shall be that Bella won't receive the punishment she has deserved tonight."

"Thank you Master," Rodolphus said.

"Don't expect me to do this again however, Bella. There's something I want you to do. One person who's strongly opposing me is still alive, a fact that you could have rectified many years ago. I'm talking about Neville Longbottom of course."

Bellatrix looked very relieved. "I'm going to kill him right away if you want me to."

The Dark Lord's lips curled into a smile. "I don't want you to kill him. I want you to take him here, prepared to do what my friend Fenrir did tonight. If you succeed, I'll be reassured of your ability, if not; you're going to face the consequences"

The relief in Bellatrix' face turned to disbelief and a new wave of panic. This sounded quite impossible. Severus Snape and the Carrows were sharing meaningful looks. Obviously, they felt the same way.

"Rodolphus may help you if he chooses to do so of course. Actually, I'd be quite glad if he did," the Dark Lord added.

"Of course," Rodolphus promised. This surely wouldn't be easy but he liked challenges. There would be a way, he was certain of that.