Disclaimer- As always Harry Potter belongs to J.K Rowling

When Rodolphus Lestrange imagined his life he never thought it was going to turn out like this. For a long time it seemed perfect; he was fighting for a worthy cause, the Dark Lord, and he was married to the woman of his dreams whom he loved with all his heart. Yet appearances can be deceiving and for a long time they were.

He used to view his wife as nothing less than perfect; with her pure blood, amazing strength, passion for their noble cause and her absolutely gorgeous looks. Every night he was able to come home to Bella, take her upstairs and love and worship her as only a husband can. But as time went by his wife began to work later and later for their Lord and these occasions became scarcer.

First he thought it was just an evolution from being newly weds; she would come around. But then years went by and it became worse, she barely ever talked to him anymore. She was almost never at home, always with the Dark Lord on some task or anther.

With every Death Eater meeting he went to Rodolphus would hear the sultry rumors about his wife and his Lord. He would see how her attention was intently focused on their Master. But still he could not bring himself to believe the whispers, Bella was merely worshipping the Dark Lord as he deserved.

With all these thoughts still stirring in the corners of his mind Rodolphus began to find it harder and harder to sleep. This became worse when every other night his wife would slowly get out of bed and leave, not returning for hours. And every time she would give the explanation that she had just been summoned by her Master. How could he argue with that? But still there was a nagging idea that his summons for his wife may be for something other than work. Rodolphus quickly dismissed such thoughts; how dare he accuse his master and wife of such actions? He should be proud that he had a wife who was loyal and dedicated to such a great man.

Such delusions were eventually erased one night. He was visiting his father who had suddenly fallen ill, it was in response to the cries of help from his mother he had gone to see him. Finding Bella he begged her to come with him and give him some support, but she responded that it would be all right it could not be that serious. Kissing his wife, he told her he hoped to be back in the morning. Now, Rodolphus could just imagine the smile that would have crept onto her face at being left to herself.

His father did die that night, suddenly and unexpectedly. The whole family was with him at his bedside, and all Rodolphus could do was cry softly. Out of the goodness of his heart Rabastan suggested going home, and eager to see his wife for some comfort, Rodolphus happily obliged.

When he returned, Rodolphus saw that it was not his comfort that Bella was preoccupied with.

Entering their home he heard voices coming from the living room and Rodolphus eagerly investigated. Later, Rodolphus reflected on how naive he was, to be proud the Dark Lord was in his house, as he walked towards the room. Opening the door the thought was quickly erased. The Dark Lord had his back to the door, and he was pinning his wife up against the wall. They were so close, his mouth slowly kissing his wife's neck, and his wife was moaning his name. But that was not the worst of it. She was smiling. He had never seen her so happy, it was as if her life was complete with just the Dark Lord.

He remembers standing there in complete shock, making no move to do anything. It is only when his wife meets his eye that anything happens. Her eyes widen in shock and she slowly whispers something in their master's ear. Their master turns around and calmly greets him as if it was the most normal occurrence in the world. Then Rodolphus cowardly bows.

"Sorry my Lord, I will leave you to it." Rodolphus states, completely dumbfounded.

The whole night he was ashamed of himself, sitting at the dinning table, slowly making his way through a bottle of firewhisky. As each mouthful burned through his throat, he knew what his wife and the Dark Lord were doing in his own home, what he had left them to do, what he could not stop.

Letting out a cry of frustration he hurls the now empty bottle against the wall, taking satisfaction in the smashing sound and its disintegration into hundreds of miniscule shards.

At the end of the night he saw them once more; the Dark Lord calmly entered the dinning room to say goodbye, while Bella leaned in the doorway, her hair in disarray, her face flushed pink, and her eyes glowing with happiness. No shame or sorrow was exhibited by either of them.

For months this memory haunted him. Every time he closed his eyes he saw them together. Every time he saw either of them, he saw them with the other. Every time he touched his wife, he thought of how someone else had touched her too.

It took him months to become disenchanted with his 'master'. He had destroyed his life! Any form of happiness he had once had was disappeared!

In every gathering of the Dark Lord's Death Eaters, Rodolphus tried not to watch the two. But every meeting the Dark Lord gave him a malicious smirk, and slowly touched his wife in some way. Every instance made him increasingly angrier. This only proved to cement his view that it was the Dark Lord, his wife's Lord, who was at fault entirely! Knowing exactly how his wife felt, the Dark Lord manipulated her every move like the puppet master he was.

Standing alone in his dimly lit Gringott's vault, these are the thoughts that Rodolphus cannot help but think. Raising his wand he aimed it at an innocent golden cup with a badger engraved into the side, lying on the floor a few feet away from him. He knows it is far from innocent. It took him months to figure out the secret from research in every book he could get his hands on, and a particularly long conversation with Regulus Black.

He had made his decision. Sliding his wedding ring off his finger he kissed it lightly, and held it tight. He now knew the only way he could destroy the cup. While he may have enough strength to summon it he had no hope of controlling it. But he needed to do it, even if it meant that, though the Dark Lord had destroyed Rodolphus's entire life, it only destroyed a fraction of his former Lord's soul.

Raising his wand he aimed it carefully at the artifact, and his last thought was only of her. Perhaps his actions and the note he left on the table may enlighten Bella.

He whispered the incantation and a burst of fire erupted from his wand, soaring at the cup before it was engulfed. It continued on, slamming into the vault door, and turning in the air it headed straight for Rodolphus.

Holding his head high, a small tear fell slowly down his cheek. He accepts his fate. His last thought was of his wife. The last word to escape his lips was her name:

"Bella,"

This idea arose from discussing would Rodolphus ever betray Voldemort and if he did what could he offer the Order (the horcrux). Anyway I hoped you liked it I would love to read what you thought.