Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Harry Potter. It belongs to J.K. Rowling… unfortunately.
Author's Note: I'm not sure when Bellatrix's parents died or Sirius's parents, but both are dead for this story.
Bellatrix waited for a response but nothing came. Then finally, Rodolphus brought out of his thoughts. He pulled way and kissed her.
"Bella, that's great!" Rodolphus shouted as he kissed her again.
"What? I haven't even decided if I want to keep it!" Bellatrix shouted as she pulled away from him, of the bed, and completely out of his reach.
"What?" Rodolphus stared at her. He searched her face for an answer. She couldn't honestly think they could get rid of their child. Did she? Suddenly filled with rage he yelled, "What the hell do you mean 'if you want to keep it'? Of course we're gonna keep it!"
Enraged Bellatrix fire back "You don't get a say in this! You're lucky I even told you!"
"Bella," Rodolphus paused. After years of dealing with Bellatrix he had learned not to lose his temper whenever she lost hers, which happened all too often. The only way he could get her to see reason was by keeping his anger in check. If he didn't, he would only piss her off more and they'd soon be dueling.
After several deep breaths, Rodolphus managed to ask her a neutral question, "How far along are you?"
Staring at him, her eyes partially ablaze with fury, Bellatrix answered "A month."
Seeing that she was slightly calmer, Rodolphus asked, "Can we talk about it?"
"We don't need to. There's nothing to be discussed. We can't keep it," Bellatrix responded.
"Why not?"
Bellatrix stared at him as if he had grown another head. "Why not?" she scoffed. "We're Death Eaters, Rod. We live to torture, maim, and kill. We could never raise a child," Bella sat down on the bed. Tears began forming and too tired to fight them off, Bella let them fall. "I could never be a mother," she choked out.
Rodolphus ran to his wife and pulled her close to him. "Bella," he sighed. "You'd be a great mother. I remember how you acted during Narcissa's first year at Hogwarts. You helped her out and made sure she was okay. You took care of her. I know you'd do the same with our child.
"How can you be sure? The lives we lead are too dangerous. We would never be able to keep a child safe."
"We're both skilled; we would do anything to keep the baby safe. I'll make sure you and the baby are safe," Rod assured.
Looking up, Bella said, "We have too much going on in our lives to raise a child."
"We'll make it work," Rod assured. "We'll find a way to make it work," Rod placed a finger under her chin forcing to look her at him. "We can do this. I'll be there," Rod kissed her temple and hugged Bella closer to him. Looking into her eyes he said, "Bella, you're stronger than this. I know you can do this. WE can do this. After everything that's happened with our families we deserved to have some happiness."
Bella buried her face in his chest, tears slowly making their way down her face. She nodded against his chest, forcing herself to believe him. Forcing her to believe that they could raise a child in their world, that they deserved happiness.
Rodolphus was never patient. And standing outside of the Dark Lord's lair, he found that he couldn't even handle a few minutes of waiting. All the other Death Eaters had already left, only Bella and Rodolphus remained behind, the former in the lair talking with their master.
After the Death Eater meeting, Bella stayed after to discuss her pregnancy with their master. Rodolphus was worried, he had a hard time convincing her to keep the baby, but she still wasn't entirely sure it was a good idea. He told her that the Dark Lord would be pleased, an heir for a pureblood family that believed in the cause, but he wasn't so sure. The Dark Lord might not think it a wise choice to have a child while in the middle of a war with almost the entire Wizarding world.
After what felt like hours to Rodolphus, Bellatrix finally emerged from the Dark Lord's lair. She met his eyes, but said nothing. Realizing this wasn't a good place to talk, Rodolphus nodded, and their disapparited to their manor.
Once inside of their manor, Bella ordered the house-elves to bring them dinner. Both sat at the dining table at opposite ends, still in complete silence. The house-elves served them dinner and quickly left their masters alone.
Realizing that Bellatrix wasn't planning to tell him what their master said, Rodolphus asked, "What did the Dark Lord say?"
Bellatrix looked up and starred at him before replying, "The Dark Lord passed on his congratulations on producing an heir. He seemed to think it was about time to start thinking about rebuilding the Wizarding world once all blood traitors, mudbloods, and all of impure bloodlines have been eliminated. But with the way things are going, the Ministry having giving Aurors to use Unforgivables against us, it seems more like the next generation of Death Eaters," Bella paused and took a drink, instantly discovering it was pumpkin juice not wine like she normally drank. She glared at Rodolphus, who must have instructed the house-elves to serve her only nonalcoholic drinks. "The Dark Lord also decided that I am not to go on any more missions as it could harm the child. He doesn't want anything to happen to his future lieutenant," she finished.
Rodolphus stared at his wife. The Dark Lord wanted their child to be a Death Eaters, to follow his (or her) parents' example and follow his every command. Rodolphus had expected the Dark Lord to say something about a pureblood heir, but he had fooled himself into thinking that their child wouldn't become involved in the chaos that was Death Eater life.
For her part, Bellatrix seemed to have reverted to her normal cold, detached self. After having shown, at least in her eyes, weakness and vulnerability she was now determined to keep her emotions under control. She would not breakdown again, Rodolphus had been right she was far too strong to breakdown.
Having noticed his wife's cold behavior, Rodolphus decided it would be better to remain silent, the only emotion he could get out of her now would be anger, and he didn't want to fight. He was growing tired of constantly fighting her, Aurors, Order of the Phoenix members. He didn't know how much more fighting he could take.
When Bellatrix woke up the next morning, she wasn't surprised to find herself alone in bed. Rodolphus and would have had to leave sometime during the night for his missions, somewhere in East Europe recruiting dark creatures for the Dark Lord's cause. And when he returned he would take over her Death Eater responsibilities.
After finishing with her morning routine, Bellatrix decided to visit her sister Narcissa. She expected to spend a lot of time with her now that she no longer had Death Eater responsibilities.
Bellatrix was led by a house-elf to the drawing room where Narcissa was waiting for her. The contrast between the two sisters couldn't be more pronounced then in that moment. Narcissa's fair features shone in the sunlight while Bella's dark features contrasted completely.
Noticing her sister for the first time, Narcissa jumped up and asked, "What happened? What did Rodolphus say? Lucius mentioned you were at the meeting last night, but didn't say anything else."
Bella stared at Narcissa, not sure what to say. Finally, she answered, "I've decided to keep it. And as for the meeting, I no longer have Death Eater responsibilities."
"That's wonderful!" Narcissa said as she hugged Bella.
Bellatrix and Narcissa parted and took seats, opposite each other like they had the day before. After the house-elf brought them tea, Bella and Narcissa became lost in their thoughts. Narcissa's filled with happiness at the thought of a niece/nephew to fawn over, and spoil. Bellatrix's thoughts were less happy. She thought about ways to entertain herself now that she would have lots of free time on her hands. She had never been a housewife, she had designated house-elves to take care of everything, and she never planned parties, or did anything else a pureblood housewife would do. She remembered what her mother had told her about taking care of her husband's household, but that was the house-elves job, Bella never bothered with any of it.
Finally, curious as to what Bella was going to do, Narcissa asked, "What are you going to do? You have 8 months of pregnancy, and then several months before you can return to your duties," Narcissa never mentioned the Dark Lord, Death Eaters, or anything related. She didn't particularly care for her family to be involved in such dangerous activities. She believed in the cause, but not how dangerous it was.
"I have no idea," Bella answered. "I've never had much to time to worry about household running duties, and it's the house-elves job. I suppose I'll have to find something to do."
"You could start a project, something to occupy your time. Like…redecorating the manor. You could modernize it. Bring in some color to it," noticing the skeptical look on Bella's face, Narcissa quickly changed course "Or you could start working on a nursery of sorts. Decorate the baby's room. Of course, it'll be several weeks before you know the gender, but for now you can begin by choosing a room for the baby that's close to the master bedroom. Maybe we could go shopping for some baby toys, furniture, clothes."
"I…," Bella paused, unsure of how to respond. Narcissa longed for a child since her marriage to Lucius. She had believed every word their mother told them. She wanted to be just like her. A perfect pureblood housewife. It annoyed Bellatrix indefinitely.
Before either of them could say anything, Lucius walked into the drawing room. He paused at doorway, surprised to see Bellatrix and Narcissa having tea together. Lucius was aware that the sisters spent some time together, but he knew it wasn't often. Narcissa had told him Bellatrix had visited her yesterday, meaning it would be days before Lucius would hear about Bellatrix from his wife, or it should have been.
"Lucius," Narcissa stood up and kissed her husband's cheek, snapping him out of his thoughts.
"Narcissa, Bellatrix," Lucius greeted the two sisters. Turning to Bellatrix, he continued, "I didn't expect you to be here, you have mission to fulfill. I was unaware of a change in plans."
"There's been an unexpected discovery," Bellatrix answered.
"Bella's pregnant!" Narcissa exclaimed.
"Preg…preg-pregnant?" Lucius stuttered.
"You're gonna be an uncle Lucius," Bellatrix deadpanned.
"Isn't it wonderful?" Narcissa asked as she led Lucius to the sofa across from Bellatrix. Lucius took a seat, but remained silent.
"Is it really that appalling to think of me as a mother?" Bellatrix said, smiling at the look on his face. She loved poking fun of him. If Narcissa or Rodolphus had reacted that way, Bellatrix knew it would have hurt her tremendously, but she didn't care for or value Lucius's opinion in the least bit.
"Of course not," Narcissa responded for him, as he still seemed frozen in place.
Lucius stared at Bellatrix. She was having a baby. The thought of what kind of monster she and Rodolphus would raise was sickening. She should never be allowed near a child, let alone have one of her own. Bellatrix struck Lucius as the type of woman to hurt her child if it cried even the slightest amount, she would be a dreadful mother.
"Lucius, dear, are you alright?" Narcissa asked. He'd been silent far too long in her opinion. Frustrated with his lack of response she gently tugged his hair.
Snapping out of his thought, Lucius snapped, "Don't touch my hair!"
"I didn't know you were so sensitive about your hair," Bellatrix laughed.
Glaring at Bellatrix, Lucius stormed out of the room, no doubt to take his anger out on some poor house-elves. Lucius was so easy to irritate. Even with Lucius gone, Bellatrix continued laughing. But Narcissa was concerned for her husband. She worried about how much he and Bella argued. It wasn't healthy for her sister and husband to argue so much.
Don't worry; Rod will be back soon, maybe not in chapter 3, but definitely in chapter 4.
I love making fun of Lucius; it's so easy to make him a wimp. But don't worry Lucius fans: he will continue to show up (can't guarantee how much), and he won't be a total wimp.
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