A/N: Thanks for reviewing guys. This chapter should get a reaction out of you...
The Years that Followed the Morning After.
by Flaignhan.
"I'm leaving now," he was standing in the doorway.
Emily did not turn around.
"Nothing will be in my way after this. After tonight everything will be plain sailing."
"Because a baby is really messing up your plans," she tutted, flipping the page in her book. She fidgeted, lifting up both of her feet in turn so she could slide the short zip on her ankle boots down and then pulled them off, dropping them on the floor next to her chair.
"You heard what Severus said about the prophecy, you –"
"And since when have you given a damn about Divination?" Emily demanded, slamming her book on the desk and turning to face him. "You know as well as I do that it's the biggest load of Flobberworm dung since –"
"Not this time," he said, cutting her off. "Besides, why do you care about one measly child?"
"He can't defend himself, and he's of no threat to you. There was a time when you would have considered harming children too low," she turned her back on him, picking up her book once more, making it clear the conversation was over.
Still, he stood in the doorway. "They're having a feast downstairs, if you wish to join them. Bella's even carved up some pumpkins."
The turning of a page was the only sound he got in response.
"I'll be back later."
He left, and once Emily had heard his footsteps disappearing down the stairs, she placed the book on the table.
If she had never sent that Valentines card when she was fourteen, she wouldn't be stuck at Myre Creek now.
She'd most likely be dead, or would have at least aged in a natural way.
She was unsure which of the three options was the most preferable.
Emily sighed and pushed her book away from her. He had been gone for three hours and she was starting to get worried. Surely killing a child couldn't take more than three minutes? Perhaps he'd run into some problems with the Fidelius Charm.
Her heart leapt into her throat as she caught sight of the reflection of somebody standing behind her in the window. She whipped around and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that it was only Bella.
"Hello Emily," she said, her brow fixed in that ever present scowl that they had all become accustomed to.
"Hi, Bella," she replied, running a hand through her hair as she let out a deep breath. "You scared me."
"Never mind."
Emily frowned just a little and brushed it off. Considering the amount of time the pure blooded families spent banging on about how they were so refined and special, Emily found it quite amusing that sometimes most had the social skills of an irritable grindylow. She found it even more amusing that they worshipped a man who was half muggle by blood.
She was forbidden to talk about such things of course. Only Arcturus and Abraxas knew about that.
"You never get older," Bella said, closing the door behind her. "What's your secret? Woman to woman, you can tell me. Is it the boomerang?" she smiled, and the look didn't suit her.
"It's not my secret to tell," Emily said, shrugging her shoulders. "I'm not even sure how it works. All I know is that the Dark Lord wishes for me to remain...perfect, in his eyes." She was twisting the knife and she knew it. She also knew that Bella was not here for beauty secrets.
"He cares only for your looks, then?"
Emily laughed, not taking the bait. "Why let me get old and ugly when he can prevent it? I won't die of old age, and that's just the way he wants it."
Bella's chin wobbled a little, and Emily glanced towards the closed door.
"You're married, Bella. You shouldn't be chasing after another man."
"The Dark Lord never married you. He must not want to commit," Bella pushed her thick dark hair over her shoulder, revealing long dangling earrings – goblin made, as she would tell anybody who so much as looked at them.
"The Dark Lord does not love me," Emily informed her, unable to keep herself from laughing at Bella's naivety.
Bella's eyes lit up.
"He just wishes to have me around. There is a difference."
"The difference being he will gladly cast you aside at any moment?"
"I never took his mark, never professed my allegiance to him, never promised a thing, other than to stay with him. And yet here I am, forty years after we first met, privy to all of his secrets and his plans. I'm quite sure that he will never cast me aside, no matter how much you might wish it."
Bellatrix let out a low feral growl. Emily turned around, under the pretence of returning to her book, though her eyes scanned the desk furtively for her wand. She nudged the top drawer of her desk open with her knee and glanced inside, seeing only scrolls of parchment littered with calculations, notes and doodles.
Eventually she saw it, on her dressing table, laying next to her boomerang.
She stood up, book in hand and wandered over to her bedside cabinet, setting the book down as she pretended to search for something in the drawer. "As charming as this little chat has been, Bella, I'm really rather busy," she shut the drawer with a snap and headed over to the dressing table, sparing a glance in Bella's direction. "The Dark Lord left me with a task to complete this evening and he will be most displeased if he finds that you have distracted me," she turned her attention to the dressing table, reaching for her wand, only her hand never touched the Yew.
Bella's hand gripped at her jaw, forcing her head up. Emily tried to call out, but found she couldn't breathe, let alone make a noise loud enough for the others to hear over the racket of their Halloween feast.
She struggled, trying to grab her wand, but Bella pulled her away from the dressing table, slamming her against the desk, where the only weapon in touching distance was a roll of parchment. Emily reached for it regardless of its utter lack of life saving potential.
The ordeal didn't last long. She felt something cold against her neck, colder than anything she'd felt before, even colder than his hands.
Emily didn't feel it when she fell, her head hitting the desk. She didn't feel it when she slid to the floor.
She didn't feel anything at all after that.
"You're lying."
"No Bella, it's all over the wireless, you can see the fireworks from here, look," Rodolphus hauled her in front of the window of the dining room, colourful explosions scattered over the night sky as witches and wizards celebrated their freedom all over the country.
"I won't believe it until I see him," she said, her heavy jaw set stubbornly.
"Abraxas and Arcturus have gone to investigate."
"Old men!" Bella spat. "What good are they? What good have they ever been?"
"Bella, you should have more respect when talking about your Uncle."
Bella turned quickly, her jet black hair fanning out behind her, finally coming to rest on her left shoulder.
Arcturus was pulling off his leather gloves, the colour washed out of his already pale face. Abraxas was standing next to him, resting his weight on his cane. He too, looked paler than usual.
"Well?" Rodolphus asked, taking his hands away from Bella. "Do you have news?"
"I'm afraid so," Abraxas said. "It appears that the Dark Lord is no more."
"And the child?" Rodolphus demanded. "Did he kill the child?"
"No," Abraxas answered. "He did not. It appears that little Harry Potter is the first person to ever survive the Killing Curse."
"So the Dark Lord is gone and it was all for nought?" Rodolphus sat down in the nearest chair, his fist clenched.
"He took Lily and James Potter with him, though that is little consolation," Arcturus continued. "The place is crawling with Aurors, we were unable to get a close look. We saw them remove three bodies from the wreckage. The boy has gone already – he's under Dumbledore's protection."
"Wreckage?" Lucius asked, arriving in the dining room. "Are the rumours true?"
"Yes," Abraxas said. "The rumours are true. There was barely anything left of the house when we arrived. Fetch me a Firewhiskey, boy."
Lucius scowled but didn't argue, his eyes dropping to the cane in Abraxas' hand before he moved over to the drinks cabinet.
"You can pour me one while you're at it," Arcturus told him.
Lucius' only response was to noisily take an extra glass from the cabinet and set it on the counter.
"You can go and tell Emily," Arcturus said.
"Why me?" Abraxas asked straightening the lapels of his jacket. "Why not you?"
"You're better friends with her than I am."
"You were the one who wanted to marry her," Abraxas argued, taking his glass of Firewhiskey from Lucius.
"I've already shirked the responsibility, just because you weren't fast enough, old man..." Arcturus nodded at Lucius as he took his own glass from him, and Lucius leant against the table, holding his hands together as his father argued about who would go and break the news to Emily.
"Why don't you go together?" Bella interrupted, her voice milder than it normally was. She trailed her fingers over the carved designs of the wooden chair next to her, her lips pouting, as always.
The pair of them stopped arguing.
"That's an unusually sane suggestion from you, Bella. Are you turning human on us?" Arcturus quipped.
Bella narrowed her eyes. "I am merely sick of your bickering when there are far more important matters at hand. We must find the Dark Lord and aid him, if he needs our help at all, which I doubt."
"I believe him to be beyond help, Bella," Abraxas said, taking a sip of his Firewhiskey as he paused. "I never imagined he would be the first of our lot to go," he said, a mild expression on his face. "I suppose death catches up with us all in the end...except for Emily, of course."
"Mmm," Arcturus agreed, frowning at his reflection in the mirror. "So many lines...I was handsome once."
"Really? Was that before we met?"
"Stop!" Bella shrieked. "How can you stand there drinking and making jokes when our entire world has fallen apart?"
"Bella, the Aurors will hunt us down soon enough, now they know he is gone, and I'm afraid only Azkaban awaits us all. You must accept your fate, my dear," Arcturus set his glass down on the dining table with a sigh.
"Never," she growled, hand gripped tightly around her wand. "Those of us who are loyal to the Dark Lord shall never just sit and accept his death when we all know the Dark Lord is immortal."
"Try telling that to his corpse," Abraxas replied, before turning his attention to Arcturus. "Come, we'll tell her together."
"Fine."
"Who do you think it was?" Arcturus asked in a whisper. He kneeled down, grunting as his joints protested and turned her body over.
Her blue eyes were open and glassy, her light brown hair matted with the blood that had pooled around her, though the carpet was clean – evidently her charms still worked, even if her body did not.
"Does it matter now? He's gone, and so is she. We've got our freedom to worry about, and we can't help her now."
Arcturus touched her face gently with his fingertips, then brushed his palm over her eyes, closing the lids.
"We should bury her," he said at last, twisting his head to look at Abraxas.
"Very well, we'll do it tonight. The garden."
"We're not just going to throw her in a hole," Arcturus argued.
"I know we're not, but where else can we bury her? Where else would be fitting? This is her home."
Arcturus nodded. "Okay," he said. "Tell the others, I'll bring her down in a moment."
Abraxas left the room.