Bellatrix
Catching her lower lip between her teeth, Luna attempted to process what Draco had just said. It wasn't possible he had told her there would never be any love between them. She dismissed that small part of his speech, he didn't know what he was saying, it wasn't possible for him to know what would become of them in a few years time. He might not love her now, indeed she didn't love him, Luna however was sure they would learn to love each other in time.
Wiping at her eyes her head snapped up, when the door opened expecting the return of Draco to apologise, and she was willing to welcome him with open arms and an open heart.
It wasn't Draco who stood in the doorway. Luna's breath left her lungs in an instant and a clammy sweat broke out over her back as she stared at Bellatrix Lestrange.
"Miss Lovegood I presume? My nephew's future wife?" Bellatrix entered the room with slow, graceful movements.
Luna could see the difference in bloodlines just by looking at Bellatrix. Although years in Azkaban had hardened her features, the air of superiority still clung to the woman, she reeked of good breeding, of class and wealth. Luna figured when she was younger Bellatrix would have been a woman who had the whole world at her feet, young, beautiful, confident and wealthy. She'd had it all and had thrown it away for the Dark Lord.
"I am Bellatrix Lestrange, I am Narcissa's sister and Draco's aunt." She folded herself into the chair opposite Luna.
Luna took a deep steadying breath. "I know who you are."
"Of course you do. Everyone does." Bellatrix examined her critically. "You were at the Ministry with Potter two years ago, were you not?"
"That's right."
Bellatrix clicked her tongue disapprovingly. "I wonder what baby Potter will think when he finds out his little friend has married a Malfoy? Most likely he will feel betrayed."
Luna swallowed, she hadn't thought of Harry's reaction to her marriage to Draco.
"Oh, and image his horror when his little friend has been tainted by his school nemesis and you carry Draco's son."
Luna's face flushed pink at this insinuation and she dropped her eyes from the older woman's face.
"Good, that's good, Luna. That you're pure," she explained at the questioning look Luna gave her. "It would not do if someone had been there before your husband, it is not how things are done in the good pureblood families."
Unsure of what to say for the best, Luna remained silent. She had no idea why this woman of all people was questioning her about her virtue. She swallowed nervously, now Bellatrix had brought it up it was forefront in her mind. She hadn't thought about her wedding night and what it would mean, what Draco would expect from her. A small horrified gasp left her lips before she even registered it was there.
"Narcissa was nervous on her wedding night too. There has been no-one for Cissy except Lucius." Bellatrix snorted. "Always so prim and proper my sister was. You remind me of her a little, all stiff and uncomfortable, but underneath all that is Esperanza."
Luna's jaw dropped. "You…you knew my mother?"
"Yes. Everyone knew her, everyone knows the Black's, the Malfoy's, the Weasley's and the Potter's," she said the names disdainfully. "Everyone knew Esperanza as well."
"How did you know her?" Luna leant forward on her knees eager to hear any story Bellatrix would tell her.
"She was part of the Foxworth bloodline, they died out as have a lot of pureblood families who ended with girls. She became a Lovegood and after her parents died the bloodline was gone. Good stock the Foxworth's were, Cissy and I were friends with Esperanza as young girls. Broke her mother's heart when she married Lovegood," Bellatrix said forcefully, her eyes hardening slightly. "It would do the old woman's heart good if she were alive now to see Esperanza rectified her mistake by arranging for you to marry Draco. The Foxworth's would be able to hold their heads high again."
"They didn't like my father," Luna whispered, it was more of a statement than a question, but Bellatrix answered it anyway.
"No they did not. Complete and utter mess Esperanza made of her life." She snorted again. "Marrying Lovegood like that. Sometimes I wonder what would have happened if she had stopped to think instead of rushing into it the way she did. He was much older than her of course, with no money or family connections, he was and still is a blood traitor. There was no need for that kind of madness. Esperanza was never one to take telling. Rather like me that way."
Luna's back stiffened slightly. "She loved him."
Bellatrix sneered. "Love. How many women have wasted their lives and made a mess of everything over love, over a man."
"Like you?" The words left Luna's mouth before she could stop them.
Bellatrix heavy lidded dark eyes narrowed to mere slits, a look of anger washed over her face and her fingers curled into balls on the arm of the chair. "What do you mean by that?"
In spite of angering the dreaded woman, Luna was determined to speak her mind as she had always done. "The Dark Lord. You threw your life away over love for him, didn't you? You ended up in Azkaban for years. He's a man…."
"He is all powerful! He is the Dark Lord!" Bellatrix yelled jumping to her feet pointing her wand at Luna, her eyes flashing.
Luna allowed her voice to come out in soothing and placid tones. "He may have power above other men, but he is still just a man with the face of a snake. He has given you nothing for the years you have wasted over him."
"How dare you! How dare you say such things, you filthy little blood traitor! You are not fit to marry a Malfoy! You are a Lovegood not a Foxworth! Marry my nephew, carry his child, you are not fit!" Bellatrix screamed erratically her arm shaking with the force of her anger.
"Bellatrix, calm yourself." Lucius appeared in the door way and crossed the room to them
His presence brought a sense of safety to Luna.
"She said, she said…" Bellatrix spluttered.
"You do not speak to her in that manner, Bellatrix. I heard what she said, but you must remember how Luna has been raised, remember it has been by her father alone, who has today been committed into Saint Mungo's. Think Bellatrix, the girl has had no mother to show her what is the right way, how purebloods should behave. She has been an outcast due to her father and his insane ways." Lucius patted his sister-in-law's arm to indicate he wanted her to lower her wand.
It took a great deal of will power, but Bellatrix regain her composure. "You're right of course, Lucius. I admit I expected too much, a young Esperanza when she was not there to be the role model her daughter should follow."
"Good." Lucius smiled. "Then we will forget this silly little episode and we shall all be friends, we will be family by the end of the week. Bella, can you arrange a wedding to take place in two days?"
Bellatrix smirked. "Cissy not doing the honours?"
Luna saw the muscles in Lucius face tighten, but his voice was as smooth as silk when he replied. "You know how she is over Draco, she cannot face the idea of another woman in his life so soon. Cissy will come around, she just needs some time to realise her son is a man and no longer a baby."
"Of course," Bellatrix agreed snidely. "That's exactly what it is." Turning, she bestowed a small smile on Luna. "Come along, Luna. We must pick a dress and discuss certain aspects of the wedding we mentioned earlier."
Luna's face flushed at the idea of discussing that kind of thing with Bellatrix, a woman she had never had any regard for, had always feared and in truth totally disliked. Now she was forced to befriend the witch who was considered the worst Death Eater there was.
Her life really had turned upside down in a matter of hours. The worst part about it all, Luna reflected as she followed Bellatrix from the library, was that Draco didn't seem interested in anything in the slightest.
How was she meant to live a life with him?
