11. THE END OF A BLOOD LINE

Bella took her precautions though. Even if she had offered herself to Rabastan to do with as he pleased in order to save her sisters, that didn't mean she wanted to ever carry his offspring. She drew out her wand, carefully. His eyes narrowed.

"What are you doing?" he asked suspiciously.

Bella knew she would have only one chance. She focused really hard on the spell and sent it towards Rabastan, without voicing the incantation. A red flash left her wand and hit Rabastan. He fell to the floor, yelping in pain. Bellatrix just stood there, her wand in her hand, and watched him. She had the same smirking expression on her face Rabastan had expressed towards Rodolphus earlier on. "You didn't think I would give in that easily, would you?" she said and snorted. "Surely even [i]you[/i] must know I'm not that stupid."

It took Rabastan a minute or two to recover somewhat from the spell Bella had casted. "What have you done bitch?" he screamed in anger.

"Just taking my precautions," she replied coldly, "You'll never reproduce."

Rabastan let out a laugh close to insanity. "You needn't have bothered. Or perhaps you failed to notice that in two years you still haven't giving my brother a child?" He said sarcastically. "Or have you done the same to him? That might explain some things." He slowly got up.

Bella looked at him, her eyes narrowing. "We may not be the perfect couple, but he's still my husband," she said.

"You're like an Ukrainian Ironbelly, nothing can grow inside your womb!" he shouted. "And you will pay for what you've done to me!"

Bella recoiled at his words; she felt like she had been stabbed with a knife. All blood drew from her face and tears welled up in her eyes but she fought them back. She would not show him he had hurt her. "How dare you?" she managed. She drew her wand again.

"You'd better not be using it again," he said dangerously. "Or I might change my mind about our little agreement."

Bella froze. It obviously was a treat to hurt her sisters instead.

"Ah, not so certain of ourselves anymore now, are we?" he smirked and fired a spell at the door. Bella heard a bang and knew he had magically locked it and that she was trapped. And he knew that she knew. "I think it's about time we had some fun, [i]Bella[/i]," he whispered with a devilish smile as he came closer. He mockingly ran a finger across her face and she shivered.

"So pretty," he said. "Such a shame my brother got to you first. But your sister resembles you. Too bad for you she fled, eh? And you just couldn't consent to an agreement you yourself proposed, no, you had to go and humiliate me. When I'm through with you, you'll be sorry about that. You shouldn't have pissed me off Bellatrix, you really shouldn't have." He shook his head and suddenly he grabbed her by the hair and pulled. She gasped. Her heart was pounding in her chest.

"Screaming won't help you," he said, reducing his voice to a whisper once more, "As you may remember, my brother was rather … annoyed with you when he left. He won't be coming back anytime soon. And no house elf would dare enter this room unless summoned."

That night, Bella lay awake and stared up at the ceiling. Rodolphus was sleeping and tears slowly travelled across her cheeks. Her entire body was aching. She knew Rabastan might not have treated her this bad had she not cursed him, but at this moment she hated him with all her might. AIt least Cissy will not have to endure this," she whispered into the night. It was her only consolation, knowing that her sisters couldn't be harmed by Rabastan.

The only way to cope with how Rabastan was treating her was to shield her thoughts, harden her soul, so he couldn't get to her. Rodolphus ignored her most of the time, and when he did speak to her, he called her 'whore', not 'Bellatrix' like before. She frantically pounced herself onto the Dark Arts, currying favours with Lord Voldemort whilst showing a ferocity unlike any of the other of his followers. Her eyes had gotten a dangerous glint and they all rather not cross her, for they knew they would regret it sooner or later.

It was during those days that Lord Voldemort voiced an idea. When the Walpurgis Knights were gathered in the dining room at the Estate, he spoke in his soft, velvety voice: "I think we need something to contact each other. Something so we could ask for assistance, without having to use owls."

"What did you have in mind my Lord?" Mulciber asked and leaned in a little closer.

"I'll show you, Melchior," he replied. "If you would be so kind as to give me your arm. No, not your wand arm, the other one. Could you roll up the sleeve of your robe?"

Mulciber did as requested, revealing his bare forearm. Lord Voldemort took his arm, drew his wand and placed the tip on Mulciber skin. As he started chanting a very long and very complicated incantation, he began to draw lines with his wand. Mulciber screamed but Lord Voldemort didn't release his arm. A smell of burnt flesh filled the room as he continued drawing lines, along with the screams of Mulciber. When he was finished, he held out Mulciber's arm. It showed a drawing of a snake in black ink.

"Now, if Melchior here wants to contact me, he needs only press this mark on his forearm and I will know. The snake is of course a direct link to my ancestor Salazar Slytherin," he said arrogantly. He looked around the table. "So, who will be next?" he asked matter-of-factly.

Several of the Knights shrunk back in their chairs, but Bella leapt up. "I will be next, my Lord," she said.

"Ah Bella," he said contented. "I might have guessed." He didn't need to ask her to roll up her sleeve, since she had already done so. She eagerly held out her forearm to him. When he grabbed it, she felt a familiar powerful sensation of dark magic overwhelming her. He placed the tip of his wand on her skin and began repeating the ritual he had performed on Mulciber, tracing lines and chanting the incantation. It hurt more than Bella had expected, but she bit her tongue to prevent herself from screaming. Not a single sound left her lips and when he was finished, Bella touched the snake affectionately. Having a bit of his power, a direct connection with him… She felt the dark magic pouring in her veins now. She couldn't understand why the others didn't jump to the occasion as well.

Lord Voldemort gave her a nod with his head and again looked around the table.

"Well, you can take an example to Bella here," he said and Bella smiled.

One by one, the other Knights followed her example until everyone was marked. The smell of burnt flesh hung over everything in the room. Bella was one of the very few women on the table and she was proud of the fact that out of all of the Knights, she was the only one who hadn't screamed.

When everyone had received the mark, Lord Voldemort spoke again. "My dear Knights, from now on, if anyone of you is in need of assistance he, or she," he added with a glance at Bella, "needs only press the mark and everyone will feel it. I will come, as I expect all of you to come as soon as you feel the burning of your marks. There isn't a lot we can't do and together we shall rid the wizarding world of those filthy mudbloods."

They all roared with applause and he bowed.

A couple of weeks later, Bella felt subtle changes in her body. She had been craving for them to happen for over a year, but now that they did, she panicked. Had the spell bounced off? Had she not concentrated enough? Had she flicked her wand the wrong way? She had to find out how far along she was. She knew that if she had made a mistake, she would sourly regret it, as she was sure Rodolphus would never accept it. So she started counting backwards. She repeated the counting three times and every time she got the same result: she would be almost three months now.

She sighed, relieved. Three months, that was long before Rabastan. So it was definitely Rodolphus'. She didn't know why it had taken them so long, but it had eventually happened. She hoped Rabastan would cut her some slack now that she was expecting.

She went to the salon where she knew she would find Rodolphus at this time of day. She knocked before entering. Rodolphus was indeed in the salon, as was Rabastan. They looked at each other angrily and Bella had the idea she was interrupting something. "Rodolphus, can I speak with you for a moment? In private?"

"I'm in the middle of something. I'm sure it can wait," he grunted and turned back to Rabastan, eyes spitting fire. "Like I just said …" he said angrily to his brother.

"Wait a minute," she interrupted him. "You can't just shove me off like that, I'm your wife!"

"Oh so you remember now?" he sneered. "Last time around, you couldn't be bothered too much with that 'little' detail, could you?"

"Look, I didn't ca

ome here to argue nor to fight," she said.

"Yeah? Then what [i]did[/i] you come here for?"

She hesitated. He sure wasn't in a good mood, so maybe now wasn't the right time to tell. "I'll come back later," she decided. "I really need to talk to you privately."

He snorted. "Since apparently my brother and I seem to be sharing [i]everything[/i] these days, included my house and my wife" he said darkly, "just tell us."

Bella felt anger building up inside at the way he treated her but she tried to withhold it. Spurting it now could only harm her cause.

"Very well then, if you insist," she replied. She took a deep breath and said as calmly as she could: "I'm expecting your child."

The reaction she received wasn't the one she had been hoping for. For a second, she thought she saw his eyes lighten up but then his face fell.

"And to which one of us are you referring?"

"Well, you of course. Why else would I want to talk to you in private?"

Rabastan burst out in laughter, it sounded wrong. "Ha, quite the wife you've got yourself Rodolphus! Not only does she humiliate you by offering herself to your brother, she now comes to rub your face in it!"

Bella looked at him angrily and was already reaching for her wand. Rodolphus' face had also taken on an even deeper shade of crimson.

"Oh, she plays the sweet innocent wife now, but you should hear how she screams in the bedroom. I'm thinking she missed out on a lot the past two years. Haven't you been giving her what she needed?" he mocked.

Rodolphus now stood up. He also drew his wand.

"Come on, Rodolphus, even to you it should obvious! Two years with you: nothing. Two months with me and all of a sudden she would be carrying your child? Face it, it's not yours."

"Shut up!" Bella yelled. "You're a liar. This child can't be yours and you know it!" She turned to Rodolphus. "I'm almost three months now," she said. "Three months, Rodolphus, you know what that means?"

"That you can't count," Rabastan sneered.

"It isn't yours!" she screamed. "Keep out of it!"

"I don't believe you," Rodolphus said coldly. "Did you really think I would buy it?"

"I'm not expecting you to 'buy' anything," she said, "I'm telling the truth. I'm three months now, so it's your child I'm carrying."

"I'm not that stupid."

"You'd rather believe that brother of yours than your own wife?"

"You mean the wife that couldn't wait to go and offer herself to my brother when the occasion arose? Just like Rabastan said, it's a little too coincidental."

"Fine, don't believe me then!" she shouted.

They stood opposite of one another, wands drawn, furious to a point one of them might kill the other. Rabastan just laughed, mocking her, mocking Rodolphus.

"I will not allow my wife to carry my brother's offspring," Rodolphus said, his voice drenched in anger. He flicked his wand and yelled: "Abortio!"

Bella fired a protective spell, but she wasn't quick enough. A flash of red light hit her at the place where her unborn child was growing. "NO!" she screamed as a terrible pain spread through her. She grabbed the doorpost but could barely hold it together as a new flash of pain spread through her body. She sank to the floor in agony. Her instincts told her she would not only be loosing this child but would also never again be able to conceive. Something snapped inside her and she screamed again. Clenching one hand to her stomach, she raised her wand with the other hand and pointed it at Rodolphus.

"You are just as terrible a person as your brother. So you'll just have to share his fate." Her voice pitched when she shouted: "The Lestrange bloodline ends here! Castrato!"

Just like Rabastan had done weeks prior, he fell to the ground, screaming in pain.

Bella staggered onto one of the chairs, still clenching her stomach. Tears of anger and of sorrow were streaming down her face, she didn't even try to hold them back. She felt so much hatred towards the Lestrange brothers that the only thing she wanted to do was to hurt them.

"See, I told you you would regret the day you pissed me off," Rabastan sneered. "Looks like I'm no longer the only one never to be able to reproduce again."

His remark was the final push over the edge. She got up and shouted "Crucio!" The spell bounced of the wall as a flash of red found its way towards Rabastan. He screamed in agony but Bella showed no mercy. She fired another 'crucio'spell at him, her only goal being to inflict pain. However, she noticed hers wasn't the only one. She looked aside and saw that Rodolphus had raised his wand too, his face thwarted in anger. Hit by two 'crucio'spells at the same time, Rabastan squealed and screeched like a pig. Bella laughed maniacally: "Like I told Lord Voldemort on the day I first met him: If you mean to harm me, you're meddling with the wrong witch!" She rolled her wand between her fingers, enjoying the sight of him suffering, chuckling as he screamed.

"Well, well, what have we here?" the cold voice surprised her. She looked up. "My Lord?" she asked. Rodolphus had looked up as well. Rabastan was no longer being hit by spells and slowly the screaming died away. He lay on the floor, panting. Lord Voldemort, for it was indeed he who had entered, raised an eyebrow. "What is going on here?" he asked with a hint of amusement in his voice. Neither of them answered. He turned to Bella and made eye contact. She knew what he was trying to do, and she just let him. She didn't have the strenght to keep her guards up. And besides, it was easier if she didn't have to tell.

"I see," he said slowly.

Rodolphus looked a bit confused from Bella to Lord Voldemort. Not a word had been spoken, yet Lord Voldemort seemed to know exactly just what had happened.

"I came here to talk to you about leading one of my new missions," he said to Rodolphus, but still keeping his eyes on Bella, in something that looked like admiration. "But it appears I was considering the wrong family member."

"My Lord?" Rodolphus asked quizzically.

With a minor hand gesture, Lord Voldemort silenced him. "I think you'll make an excellent second-in-command, Bella," he said.

For a moment, Bella was too shocked to say anything, then she sort of bowed. "It would be my pleasure, my Lord," she said, gleaming with pride. She didn't even shot Rodolphus one look when she and Lord Voldemort walked out of the salon.