AN: Firstly, I'd like to thank all those who have reviewed, followed and favorites. It means loads to me :) Your support is what keeps me going.

Not a very long chapter, but not short either.

Hope you enjoy!

Bellatrix heaved a negligible sigh of relief after her sister's approval.

Nodding to herself, her heart pounding louder than the beat of a thousand drums, she felt herself starting to shiver, not being able to comprehend whether it was the angst of the situation they were in or the cold temperature of the room, she looked down at her free quivering hand.

GET IT TOGETHER. She mentally scolded herself, straightening herself up, not letting go of Narcissa's hand, she once again looked up at the Dark Lord, only this time to meet eyes with him.

Oh no.

Occlumency. OCCLUMENCY.

"Ah. Bellatrix, does there seem to be an issue here?" He asked her, his voice as smooth as silk, making the hairs at the back of her neck stand up.

He slowly mounted himself up, stepped down and made his way toward the group, the ones who were in his path straddled away, paving way for him.

Bellatrix let go of Narcissa, pushing her away towards Lucius and mentally readied herself for what was to come next. Clearing her mind, making it blank and empty in attempt to shield her thoughts from the Dark Lord.

Other than the creaking of the wooden floorboard, the silence in the room was absolute.

The Dark Lord came closer and closer to a terror-stricken Bellatrix, who displayed no emotion on her face, although on close inspection did seem paler than usual.

Not bothering to respect the concept of personal space, The Dark Lord went straight at her, his reptile like hands on her stomach and their faces inches within each other's.

Bellatrix held her breath as she stared directly into his unnerving red eyes, his wand was now threateningly positioned under her neck, and its tip pushed her jaw up.

She contemplated on grabbing her own wand with her free hands, but decided not to make a run at it, deliberating about the fact that she wasn't nearly as powerful as the Dark Lord, and as much as a fluke wouldn't have helped her in getting away from him.

"What do you think you're doing?" He questioned her aggressively, in a manner that would have made even the bravest Gryffindor fall to their knees.

Bellatrix was silent, she wasn't even sure if she'd heard what the Dark Lord had said, all her energy went into trying her best hand at occlumency.

Rodolphus, couldn't bear to see the scene that was playing out in front of him, his hand reached deep inside his cloak as he tightly wrapped his fingers around his wand, his blood boiling.

As much as he was aware of the fact that he never truly aided romantic feelings towards her, he sure as hell did care about her. He'd known Bellatrix for as long as he could recall, their families had gotten along surprisingly well, and there weren't many pure bloods the Black Sisters were allowed to mingle with. He's always known that she was never much of a people's person, and allowed a select few people into her life, the fact that he'd always be one of them warmed his heart.

He slowly inched towards to where the Dark Lord stood, but came to a sudden halt, when he dawned upon the thought that he didn't know what exactly he planned to do to defend himself along with his wife, against the Dark Lord out of all people.

Trying to formulate his course of action as quickly as he could, he cursed under his breath, frustrated over the fact that nothing useful was coming to him.

Seeing that he was running out of time, he cleared his mind of all thoughts in the same fear of the Dark Lord rummaging into his head.

"My Lord, this was my fault!" He said, much louder than he intended to. His breath was shaky and heavy, already exhausted owing to the fact that he had just hastily tried his level best at occlumency and had cooked up a plan to defend himself and Bellatrix.

The Dark Lord, looked towards Rodolphus, deviating his attention from Bellatrix, with a menacing look. Rodolphus stared right back at him, not giving up his guard.

"Oh, was it?" The Dark Lord questioned Rodolphus. Leaving him to think of yet another witty explanation.

AN: A bit of a cliffhanger here, will be updating soon!