I just want to thank you guys SO much for your reviews! Keep up the great work! I encountered the problem of not exactly setting a date for when this story was to have taken place so their might be some time discontinuities and I apologize, that is entirely my fault. I know I made Bellatrix younger when she's supposed to be older I just see her as younger with a little bit of 'youngest child syndrome' so I kind of took that liberty haha but I should have warned you. Anyway, things start to not get so romantic now and I'm gonna miss it, they need some love! I might find little ways to slip it in but it's gonna get pretty dirty, and not in a sexy way :( Enjoy!!
Bellatrix had not spoken nor moved for the past fifteen minutes since they spoke. Severus wasn't sure she was asleep but he hoped she was. He couldn't take his eyes off of her as her chest rose and fell slowly. She seemed so peaceful now but he knew she was just as tormented as he was. During the course of the day, Bellatrix had shown him a different side of herself. In one day she had expressed extreme anger and jealousy and almost killed a man. What concerned him the most, however, was the manner in which she seemed to hide everything regarding Voldemort. She seemed so emotional when it came to her duties and all she had done for him and wouldn't give an inch as to why. He started to feel the prickling of growing anger inside him at all her secrecy but he instantly felt numb as he looked down at his arm. His dark mark burned hot and brightened a bit. He looked over at Bellatrix to see if she had moved or noticed the call but her chest continued to rise and fall in the same rhythm. He crept over to her side of the bed to look at her exposed arm. It wasn't glowing like his and her eyes were still closed. Was Voldemort excluding her from this meeting or did he want him alone?
Snape crossed the room and grabbed his mask and began to apparate when a painful thought occurred to him. What if she found out she wasn't called to the meeting or that the Dark Lord wanted Severus alone? She would be furious and he might even have to subdue her again. With a pang of guilt he murmured the Imperius curse to assure she slept until he came back and then pressed his wand to his mark.
Severus looked around expecting to see the same forest as last time but instead he found himself in a room lit by a single fireplace. He stood still for a moment waiting for others to appear around him but to his dismay none did, the Dark Lord wanted to see him alone. It was then that he noticed the familiar, cloaked shape of Lord Voldemort standing near the fireplace.
"Severus come. There's no need for your mask this time either."
He tapped his wand to his mask and it disappeared in his hand as he slowly approached the fireplace.
"I know you are wondering why I called you alone. I have called you to help you, to answer some questions. It is not within my general policy to inform my servants of other servant, as I'm sure you understand, but I find you to be an exception. I also know that nothing has been done by you and Miss Black since I last saw you."
"My Lord, since you have bound us to the Leaky Cauldron, we can do nothing but wait."
"Excuses do not do well Severus. Shall I continue?"
Snape nodded and knew it was stupid of him to retort but he was becoming almost as frustrated as Bellatrix at their position now that she was less than amiable.
"Miss Bellatrix is quite the creature…she is very driven and very powerful. I'm sure she has caught your interest as you have hers. However, she has not told you anything about herself has she?"
"No my Lord."
"Has she told you how she got her rose?"
"No my Lord."
"Has she told you why she nearly killed that man in the bar?"
"You know about that?"
"Has she?"
"No she hasn't."
"As a servant of mine she knows we must work in secrecy and has been correct in not telling you these things but how can you be partners if you are surrounded by secrecy? Does that not frustrate you?"
"My Lord…"
"If there is something you want Severus, even knowledge, you must take it. Nothing good has been gained if not by force. She has shown power over you Severus and that is quite concerning. I thought you quite strong in the mind, but now I see you have become quite weak. I know you will not hurt those you love Severus-"
"My Lord, I never said I loved her."
"You don't have to say it."
Without warning Voldemort suddenly dove into Severus' mind and saw Severus carry Bellatrix across the room and onto the bed. He then moved a chair to sit beside her and took her hand in his as he tucked her hair behind her ear. Voldemort then pulled himself from Severus' mind and stood there with his eyes continuing to bore into Snape's.
"How can there be love with so many secrets? She doesn't love you in return, you must know that by now."
"My Lord, please-"
"Everyone is being tested in this war Severus. Black has learned that this world is no place for love and that only the pleasures we can see and feel are of value. You are a fool if you think she loves you Severus. If you still question this, don't wrack your mind for the answer, search hers."
Snape merely stood there, his brain and body seemingly paralyzed as he tried to take in what Voldemort was saying.
"Remember Severus, we are all being tested. When you acknowledge that what I have told you is right, you will find that knowing me to be your true master is the only way to find peace in this world. Your power over the pure and the wealth that will come can replace all those pleasures you used to find paramount."
Voldemort then nodded and Severus took it as a sign to leave. He concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other as he made his way to the door. This time it wasn't the prickling of anger he felt, it was a consuming pulse that enveloped his entire body. How could she do this to him? He apparated once he reached the door and immediately removed his Imperius curse as he dropped into the chair he had left by her bed. The noise had woken Bellatrix and Severus took no time before beginning the interrogation.
"Why did you hurt that man Bellatrix? Why did you almost kill him?"
"What?"
"Downstairs. The man on the floor. I had to run in and stop you."
The man seemed insignificant now, compared with everything running through her head. Bellatrix wondered whether or not she should tell Snape the truth because the truth could lead to even more questions. Regardless, she knew he would be persistent and even if he wasn't it wouldn't be hard for him to find out because of his Legilimency. Why did he have to know this now? He had a look of insanity in his eyes that she had never seen before.
"He tried to curse Narcissa."
"And…"
Could he read her mind without her knowing or did Severus really know her that well? Bellatrix tried to close her mind anyway, but both ideas were beginning to scare her.
"And what? He tried to curse her and so I made him pay."
"Oh come on, there's something you're not telling me. Actually, there are a lot of things you're not telling me 'Miss Bella.'"
"Why can't you just leave me alone? You don't need to know every detail of my life. You don't find me asking you what the Dark Lord saw when he looked into yours. It doesn't matter, and frankly I don't give a shit. So why don't you stop asking goddam questions and leave me alone. Just because we're on a mission together doesn't mean we can't have secrets."
"Oh come on Black! I had to save your ass back there from possibly blowing our cover! If you could just control your emotions a little maybe we'd be in a better position. You're so weak when it comes to the mind. I had to save your ass against the dementors and I had to save it again downstairs. Why is it driving you so completely insane that I came up with the idea about Tom and that Narcissa is becoming a Death Eater? Are you that selfish? I saw what happened to you when it was I who stood next to the Dark Lord."
Bellatrix sat still for a moment, her head hung low. Snape stood a foot away staring down at her, his hair fallen across his face and his forehead beginning to sweat. He thought he had finally shut her up until she slowly lifted her head, her eyes brimming with tears. She spoke very slowly,
"Don't you ever speak to me like that again…you have no idea what I've been through."
With her last word, she raised her wand and red light erupted from it just as it had earlier. This time, however, it missed its recipient and everything around her, once again, went black.
When Bellatrix awoke, she didn't open her eyes, this time for fear that Severus would be sitting in the same chair as he was last time. She needed a plan before he could find out she was awake.
"Well good morning…"
Her eyes snapped open, he already knew she was awake. She reached for her wand by her side but it wasn't there, he had already taken it.
"So here's the deal Miss Bella, you have two options. One, I can sit you up and let you tell me exactly what it is you're hiding. Your second option, is for me to enter your mind and allow me to experience all your secrets firsthand. So what's it going to be? Either way, I'm going to find out."
He had a smile on his face that Bellatrix had never seen, and for the first time she was terrified of him. She had two options, either of which seemed a sure way for Severus to see anything she'd been hiding. If she told him herself she might be able to lie and leave things out, but then again, he could probably tell too easily. If she let him use Legilimency at least she wouldn't have to tell him everything and hopefully not have to explain her decisions…but why was he doing this? She still didn't understand.
"Well, I'm afraid times up. As much as I'd like to hear the sob story straight from your own pouty lips, you failed to give me an answer, therefore I'm left with no option other than to experience it firsthand."
Bellatrix tried to block her own mind but he was too fast and too powerful. She tried not to concentrate on any particular memory, especially those that she didn't want him to see. However, he seemed to find the ones she feared regardless.