"What are we waiting for?" Bellatrix asked impatiently.
Bellatrix, along with several other Death Eaters, were gathered in a tent that had been expanded with magic to fit all of them.
"We know where the building is now," Bellatrix continued. "It is no longer Unplottable. We've broken all the spells hiding it."
"I broke all the spells hiding it," Severus corrected.
"Whatever." Bellatrix rolled her eyes. "I just want to know what we're waiting for. Well, Lucius?"
"We can't just walk all casual-like into the building, Bellatrix," Lucius spoke from where he was sitting behind a desk, examining several sheets of parchment in front of him. Occasionally, he would use his wand to make a change on one of the sheets.
"Well, why not? What's got you all scared?"
"It has nothing to do with being scared. It's about being smart."
"Oh, stop with that whole 'I am wiser than all of you' act," Bellatrix snapped at her brother-in-law.
"Do you honestly think that a place that contains such dangerous, ancient artifacts as this building does is not going to have more than just one form of protection?" Lucius sneered. "There's going to be more protection spells inside the building. And according to Severus, there are also guards. We have to have a plan before we enter. We must be prepared for all possibilities." Lucius gestured to the sheets of parchment in front of him.
"We need diagrams for this mission?" Bellatrix looked at Lucius in disbelief.
"Severus has given me a lot of useful information," Lucius replied, "and it all needs to be taken into account before we take any action."
"Well, how much longer is it going to take before we're ready to get those artifacts for the Dark Lord?" Bellatrix pressed. "Honestly, Lucius, I think you're just being paranoid."
"There's still a few details that I'm not happy with," Lucius responded.
"Well, I am not going to wait any longer," Bellatrix shrieked. "Either stop making changes to your little diagrams, or I'm going to burn them."
Lucius stood up so fast that he knocked over his chair. He pointed his wand at his sister-in-law. There was an almost mad expression in his eyes.
"You are not going to do anything to my diagrams," Lucius spoke in a slow and deadly voice. "They are well-laid out plans. And I have worked hard on them."
"They are unnecessary," Bellatrix replied.
Lucius looked at the other Death Eaters. "Well," he drawled, "do any of you have anything to say on this matter?"
None of the Death Eaters, however, seemed willing to take a side.
"Well, I agree with Lucius," Severus spoke. "We need to make sure that we are fully prepared before we enter. We cannot afford to make any mistakes."
"I always knew you were a fool, Snape," Bellatrix hissed.
"Well, this fool is the one who found the building in the first place," Severus spat angrily.
"Yes, yes, you've already mentioned that," Bellatrix said impatiently. "It's obvious that you don't have your ego stroked enough. Do you sometimes feel like less than a man, Snape?"
"Would you like to be less than living, Bellatrix?" Severus retorted.
"Well, I can see Bellatrix's point," Rodolphus remarked.
"Of course he's going to agree with his wife," Severus muttered under his breath. "No surprise there."
Bellatrix shot Severus a dangerous glare, while Lucius did the same to Rodolphus.
"But I can see your point as well, Lucius," Rodolphus quickly amended.
"Well, you can't agree with both of us, Rodolphus," Lucius snarled.
Rodolphus shifted uncomfortably. He wished now that he had not said anything.
"Why can't you be a man for once in your life, Rodolphus?" Bellatrix taunted her husband. "I must have been drunk when I married you."
"Actually, we were an arranged marriage," Rodolphus smirked.
Bellatrix shrieked in anger.
Lucius, meanwhile, had returned to modifying his diagrams.
Macnair, who really had not been paying that much attention to any of the chaos going on in the tent (he really only paid attention when it was time for some action), was busy stroking his axe rather fondly.
"Is that axe a part of Lucius's plan?" Avery asked Macnair somewhat nervously.
"No," Macnair said simply. "I just like stroking it."
"You have some serious issues," Avery responded.
Macnair's only response was to give Avery a twisted smile.
"I seriously doubt that anyone in this tent is sane," Rookwood told Avery.
"And no one asked for your opinion," Avery snapped.
"If you two are going to start hexing each other," Dolohov grinned, "let me know, so that I can join the party."
"If any of you idiots get yourselves injured before we even leave this tent," Lucius spoke from where he was now once again sitting behind the table, "I will force-feed you one of my poisons. I have some on me, you know."
Avery, Rookwood, and Dolohov immediately stepped away from one other.
Macnair just continued to stroke his axe.
Severus and Rabastan, meanwhile, were busy trying to keep Bellatrix and Rodolphus from killing each other.
"Bellatrix, Rodolphus," Lucius finally snapped, "either stop acting like little children, or I'm going to take Macnair's axe and use it on the both of you."
"You're no fun, Lucius," Bellatrix pouted. She did, however, step away from her husband.
Rodolphus also had no problem with listening to Lucius.
Macnair looked slightly disappointed, but he didn't say anything. He had always been a man of few words.
Severus and Rabastan shot Lucius grateful looks.
"Thank you, Lucius," Severus spoke. "I was about to use Bellatrix's knife on both her and Rodolphus."
"I know," Lucius smirked. "You really have no patience, Severus. Patience is a virtue, you know."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Severus rolled his eyes.
"For once I agree with Snape," Bellatrix commented in a disbelieving voice.
"Will the wonders never cease?" Severus said sarcastically.
Lucius ignored them, at least for the moment. He had just seen something else on one of his diagrams that he didn't like.
"Are you done yet?" Bellatrix asked her brother-in-law impatiently.
"Almost," Lucius snapped.
"Patience is a virtue, Bellatrix," Severus smirked.
"Shut up, Snape."
"Shut up both of you," Lucius hissed. "I will never finish if I keep on being interrupted by your petty arguments."
Bellatrix immediately adopted an expression of perfect innocence.
Severus's face didn't reveal anything.
"All right, I'm done," Lucius finally said after what seemed like hours to Bellatrix.
Most of the other Death Eaters (except for Macnair, who was still busy with stroking his axe) cheered.
Severus also didn't cheer, out of respect for Lucius. Besides, Severus had no problem with understanding Lucius's diagrams. Severus had known the other wizard for long enough to be used to his very detailed nature, even if it was sometimes a bit annoying.
Lucius glared at everyone who had cheered, and they immediately looked sheepish.
Lucius laid out each sheet of parchment, and he motioned for the other Death Eaters to approach the table so that they could look at the diagrams.
"What is all this?" Bellatrix asked. "None of this makes any sense to me. You're just wasting our time, Lucius."
Most of the other Death Eaters also grumbled, as they also found Lucius's diagrams to be rather confusing and complicated.
Macnair just gave the diagrams a quick glance before returning his attention back to his axe. He would just follow Lucius's lead whenever it was time to act. That was what he always did. So far in Macnair's experience, Lucius had always known what he was doing; and Macnair doubted that would change anytime soon.
"I think we should just go for it," Rodolphus said, "and forget about these stupid diagrams."
"My diagrams are not stupid," Lucius snarled.
"You must forgive Rodolphus," Severus spoke. "You know how limited his vocabulary is."
Rodolphus glared at Severus.
Severus just smirked at the other wizard.
"Let's just go already," Bellatrix said. She began to walk towards the tent's entrance. When she noticed that no one (not even Rodolphus) was following her, she glared at them.
"What's wrong with all of you?" Bellatrix growled. "Do none of you have any guts?"
"I like the sight of guts," Macnair smiled.
Bellatrix just rolled her eyes at the axe-wielding wizard.
"Well?" she said to the other Death Eaters.
No one, however, seemed willing to move. Their eyes drifted back and forth between Lucius and Bellatrix.
"All of you are going to have to make a choice eventually," Lucius snarled.
"Well, I don't understand these diagrams at all," Nott spoke, "so I'm with Bellatrix on this one. Sorry, Lucius."
Avery, Rodolphus, and Rabastan muttered their agreements with Nott.
Bellatrix just smirked. "It looks like I win this time, Lucius," she said happily, almost singing the words.
"Well, then," Lucius said, barely managing to keep his voice calm, "how about another plan? What if I take my wand and slowly cut you all into little pieces? Would you like to go first, Bellatrix?"
"Fine," Bellatrix cried. "We will at least consider your bloody diagrams. You are such a control freak, Lucius. And people say that I'm the one with issues."
"I'm not a control freak," Lucius responded angrily. "I just want everything and everyone to be perfect, so that there are no mistakes. What's so wrong with that? What's so wrong with wanting this mission to be a success? Don't you want the same thing, Bellatrix?"
Bellatrix just looked at her brother-in-law in disbelief.
"You know," Lucius smirked, clearly enjoying his torment of his sister-in-law, "I'm not quite happy with this one diagram."
Bellatrix shrieked in frustration.
"Just as long as I'm not paired up with Bellatrix," Severus muttered, "I really could care less how long it takes before we enter the building that I found. I feel like everyone is forgetting that very important fact."
Bellatrix shrieked again.
"That's fine with me too, Lucius," Macnair commented. "I need some time to polish my axe anyways." Macnair then waved his axe at the rest of the Death Eaters.
Macnair didn't understand Lucius's diagrams either (Lucius's mind was too complex for most people to keep up with), but Macnair rather liked the blond-haired wizard. Lucius, after all, was always offering him chances to use his axe; and nothing made Macnair happier than being able to use his axe.
It would be several more hours and several more diagrams later before Lucius finally deemed them ready to begin their mission.
And as another important note, Severus and Bellatrix were not paired up with each other at any point in Lucius's well-detailed diagrams, much to both Death Eaters' relief.
Author's Note: Not all the Death Eaters are in this story. So, that's why we didn't hear anything from Death Eaters such as Regulus, Barty Crouch Jr., and the Carrows. There are just too many different personalities to have them all in one story. I hope, though, that you enjoyed the Death Eaters that I did include.