"Rodolphus?" Meira Lestrange stepped into the library, finding her son splayed on the couch, reading yet another book. "Rod, if your father saw you right now..."
The boy sat up, straightening his robes and smoothing his hair quickly. "Where is he?"
His mother smiled a little. "Waiting for us in the Entrance Hall. You didn't forget that we were visiting the Blacks again today?"
"Oh," Rodolphus said, sighing. He always dreaded visiting Ravensden because Bellatrix had never hesitated to make fun of him the three times he'd been to her father's manor. "Yes, I did. Do I have to go this time, too?"
"Yes, Rodolphus," Meira told him. "You know that your father wants to make a strong alliance with the girls' family."
"But why do I have to be there every time?" Rodolphus sighed, almost complaining. "It's not as if I do anything besides talk to Andy and Cissa."
Meira placed one hand on her son's shoulder. "You are your father's heir, Rodolphus, and you will one day be head of the House of Lestrange. That is reason enough for you to be friendly with the young Blacks."
The boy placed the book he'd been reading into his pocket before leaving the room with his mother. He joined his father, who didn't say a word as they left Lestrange Manor.
Moments later, they were in the Entrance Hall of Ravensden, greeting the five Blacks. As Rodolphus took each girl by the hand in turn, he marveled at the differences between the sisters. Bellatrix smirked at him when he kissed her hand out of courtesy, her black eyes sparkling with amusement that did not bode well for his visit. Andromeda stood next to Bella, just as tall, but with brown eyes instead of black. She spoke kindly to him, inquiring as to his well-being during the last few months.
The youngest sister murmured a greeting, and Rodolphus said, "Hello, Narcissa." She looked up, the usual spirit in her black eyes strangely subdued.
"Welcome," she answered, pulling her hand away from his as quickly as possible without seeming rude. Her blonde hair hid her face a moment before Bella slipped an arm around her waist and led them away from the adults.
The oldest Black sister was whispering to the youngest very quickly as Andromeda walked next to their guest, talking loudly enough that Rodolphus couldn't hear what the other girls were saying, and quietly enough that she wasn't obviously trying to make conversation.
Rodolphus walked into the room, then found himself staring at a scorch mark on the wall. "What's that?" he said, knowing that he probably shouldn't have seen it.
"Bella did that," Andromeda sighed. "With Grandmum's wand. Father doesn't know yet: we don't know what to tell him."
"Well, we could tell him I did it acci-dent-ally," the littlest girl said.
Both the child's older sisters cut her off at the same time. "You won't," Andromeda said sharply as Bellatrix said, "He'd never believe that."
Rodolphus frowned at the burn mark. "What was it?"
Bellatrix smirked. "Has your father taught you the Unforgivables yet?"
"It was a Cruciatus, wasn't it?" Rodolphus realised, a grin spreading across his face. "A house-elf again?"
"Ooh, Bella, he knows!" Cissa said, and Bella rolled her eyes, shoving her sister playfully, though hard enough that the child sat down on the floor with a thud.
"Be quiet, Cissa." Bellatrix was grinning at Rodolphus delightedly, ignoring Andromeda as she helped Narcissa to her feet and brushed off the girl's dress.
Rodolphus was almost sorry for Bella's two younger sisters, but thought that if they had lived with her all their lives, they would be okay. "And yes, Father has given me a few lessons," he told the oldest Black sister.
She grinned excitedly. "Good!" she said firmly. "Then we can practise—"
"On insects only, Bella," Andromeda cut in.
"Of course," Bella waved her sister off. "We can practise our lessons, and tell Father that we misjudged one of the Curses! That's perfect, Rod!" She didn't touch him at all, but dragged him over to the windowsill all the same. "You have a wand with you, don't you?" she demanded, and he said yes. "Show me your spell," she said hungrily, pointing him to a spider in the corner of the window. "I've been practising on this one."
Rodolphus looked at the spider, then quickly glancing around the window, finding another spider. He didn't think Bella would appreciate his killing her victim for her. He brought the spider down onto the windowsill before pointing his grandfather's wand at it and saying, "Crucio!"
The spider didn't die, to Rodolphus' surprise. Bella giggled as she watched the spider jerk and twitch under the boy's spell. "Not bad," she told him when he was finished. "I like that you don't even have to shout."
He grinned, his first reaction. "It's not necessary," he said. "But I used to struggle with not killing the spider—the beetles, I mean—with my Curse."
"Your Crucio must be quite intense," Bella mused, smirking. "For the beetles to just die afterward."
"They died during the Curse," Rodolphus replied, seeing Narcissa tilt her head and look at Andromeda in alarm.
The two younger Black sisters slipped over to the couch, Narcissa sitting behind Andromeda and beginning to play with her hair. Bella didn't seem to notice, instead saying, "Oh. Well, you've got to make sure that you don't use more than three versions of the Cruciatus at the same time unless you're really trying to cause damage to—"
"Bellatrix," Andromeda said sharply, and the dark-haired girl turned to give her sister a glare.
"Go somewhere else, then," Bella replied, tossing her dark curls and turning back to Rodolphus, who was staring at her blankly. She didn't even glance at her sisters as Andromeda followed the youngest sister out of the room. "Unless you want to cause damage to or kill your victim," she finished. "You don't know about this." She frowned at him, then added, "It's all in this book that father has. Here." She crossed the room and retrieved a book from between the cushions of the couch, sitting down where her sisters had been a moment before.
Rodolphus sat down beside the girl, close enough to see the pages over her shoulder. "Variations of Crucio," he read from the chapter title. He glanced through the overview, realising that he really had no idea of the scope of the Cruciatus. "How well do you know this book?" he asked her.
Bellatrix smirked, pushing the book into his hands. "Check me," she told him, then began to recite the versions of the Cruciatus.
He realised that she knew far more about torture methods than any seven year old girl should, Black or not. Her recitation was close enough to perfect that he didn't interrupt a single time as she told him of cracking bones, flaming flesh, being crushed...her eyes were wide with excitement and interest as she spoke passionately about using the Drowning Cruciatus on one of their house-elves.
"I thought it was going to scratch its throat out," she giggled. "Andy made me stop so she could help it, but it said that it really does feel like breathing in water, and pain besides that. I wouldn't know." Bellatrix was back to giggling, her shoulder brushing his as she leaned closer to check her own recitation.
"Have you used them all before?" Rodolphus asked her curiously.
"Yes," she said, then frowned. "No. I haven't used the shriveling and melting one yet. I thought it would be better to do it on something else, but Andy refused to let me try it on a house-elf, and not the cat, either."
Rodolphus laughed, and Bellatrix laughed too. "Try a rat," Rodolphus told her. "Father said that he'd let me try it eventually, but that I'd need more practise. I'm sure you could do it."
Bellatrix looked offended. "We haven't got rats!"
He looked at her for a moment, then said, "Not a single rodent? Not even as a pet?"
"Maybe in the dungeon," Bella muttered thoughtfully. "Father doesn't like me to be down there, though. Andy might get one for us." She jumped to her feet, shoving the book into her pocket. "Let's go ask her!"
"Why does your sister get to do everything that you don't?" Rodolphus asked without thinking.
The black-haired girl stared at him, her eyes sparking dangerously. "Because she's our parents' favourite, and she never does anything wrong. She's perfect. You've seen her. Now come along."
Bellatrix swept from the room, leaving Rodolphus to follow in her wake.