"And the rain will kill us all.
We throw ourselves against the wall." -Slipknot, "Psychosocial"
-- The Killing Lights --
He broke the kiss and apologized, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that. I'm so sorry, Bella."
"You're forgiven," she mumbled. She hadn't minded the kiss that much, really. But he obviously felt guilty about it. If she were thinking straight, she would have connected the current events with the apology from earlier and the kiss from this morning... But as things stood, she wasn't thinking straight. Her mind was filled with thoughts and memories of the death of her child, and of her husband leaving her. It had barely been a full day since then. She couldn't get it out of her mind even if she tried. In fact, trying made it worse.
He noticed that things were oddly not awkward between them afterward. He'd expected there to be some awkwardness, but Bella acted exactly the same way she'd been acting ever since the incident. So, either it really didn't bother her or it just hadn't registered in her mind...
Back at Voldemort's secret lair, the pair spent the rest of the evening in the library. Bella sat in a chair with a book open in her lap, staring at it and occassionally flipping the page but not really taking in anything she was reading.
The Dark Lord was busy planning his next avenue of attack. The tides of war were turning in his favor now that he had extinguished the light side's hope that the Potter child would be their savior.
Once his plans were readied for the next meeting, he put everything away and left the room.
It took him a moment to remember that Bellatrix was still in the library, and that he'd just left her there in the dark. She didn't seem particularly bothered by it, which he found disturbing. He would rather deal with her emotional breakdowns (during which she at least acted like a person) than this strange mindless, emotionless state she fell into.
That night, he only got a few hours of sleep before he was awakened by her screams.
The nightmares were worse this time, much worse than the night before. Nothing he did could calm her. All he could do was hold her and wait while she cried it out.
After the fourth time, he carried her back to his own bedroom where - safe in her master's arms, surrounded by his scent - she finally slept.
-tbc-
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