LOYALTY & TRUST

Written by: Izabella Blanc, aka, rigamortis.

Main Characters: Snape, Bellatrix, Wormtail, Voldemort, A bit of Draco thrown in for good meaure.

Spoilers: Yes. I suggest you read all the books written by JK Rowling thus far. nods

Rated: M, 16+. Contains violence, horror, sex scenes, low level coarse language, etc.

Disclaimer: Most of the brilliant characters mentioned in this fanfic were created by the mastermind, JK Rowling. Let us all worship on the count of three.

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Chapter One - Loyalty and Trust

Severus Snape bent down and smoothed the frizzy, crumpled hair off her face with his long, pale fingers. When she slept she looked almost radiant, and in the least bit scary as she was when she was awake.

Her heavy lidded eyes fluttered for a moment and she turned over on the sofa, muttering to herself through her unsettling dreams. Her raven hair fell back over her pale face like a curtain, cloaking the red puffy cheeks that had been the result of her non-stop crying and raging tantrums for over a week.

She would just cry, scream, and occasionally throw heavy, valuable stuff at Snape before she went back to sleep.

She hated Snape; wouldn't even call him by his first name. And the recent death of her husband seemed to have sent her off edge, infuriating her resentment towerds Snape like oil thrown on an already blazing pyre.

And though he hid it well, Snape could not deny his feelings that he was strangely infatuated with her; intoxicated by her mere presence.

"Bellatrix..." he whispered her name quietly, the syllables trickling through his lips like honey.

The Dark Lord had put Bellatrix in Snape's care because, as Snape was his most trustworthy death eater he knew he could count on Snape to look after his most loyal; Bellatrix.

The Dark Lord did not wish for his most loyal death eater to do anything rash in her sensitive state; to hunt after the boy who had killed her husband: Neville Longbottom.

Bellatrix, to say the least, did not want to be looked after, housed and fed by th man she trusted least at the house she disliked the most, but the Dark Lord wanted her out of the way while he took care of Potter, and his orders were to be followed.

But if her dislike for the Dark Lord's choice was anything to go by, Snape's dislike for it was even worse. What was he supposed to do? Comfort her? She would not even heed a single word he said; and he didn't dare touch her unless he wanted to be most horribly cursed. Moreover, it wasn't exactly any secret that he and Rudolphus had hated each other's guts.

Snape had felt no remorse for Rudolphis Lestrange's death, except for perhaps the effect it had on Bella. To tell the truth, he had no idea why she had stuck with her abusive husband for so long. Snape had seen Rudophis hit Bellatrix on more than one occasion. If he, Severus, was with Bellatrix, at least...

No. Snape thought to himself, wrenching his gaze away from her. What on earth am I thinking - if I were with Bellatrix?

Silently he paced the floor of his study, occasionally sparing glances at the sleeping woman on his sofa.

Bellatrix was drooling. Her hair was in tangles and her toes were bare.

Carefully, Snape pulled the blanket over her toes and spared her one last glance before quietly leaving the study.

He must somehow pursuade the Dark Lord to send her somwhere else; this was ruining him.

Please Read & Review / rigamortis.