"Cygnus. Thank you for meeting me. And over lunch, no less."
"I usually pack something from home into the bank, My Lord, so this is a nice change," Cygnus Black said. Voldemort looked down at his roast beef carpaccio and salad with bleu cheese, and then he watched as Cygnus Black tucked in. Voldemort took one small bite of beef and a sip of water, and he said primly,
"I am made to understand that Daemon Bulstrode paid a visit to your house two days ago."
Cygnus snapped his face up, washing down his mouthful of meat with a rather ungraceful gulp of water.
"Erm… yes, My Lord. He and I spoke, and eventually included Druella in the conversation, and -"
"Was Bellatrix included in the conversation?" Voldemort asked rather harshly. Cygnus' lips parted, and he said almost defensively,
"I was following typical Pureblood courtship procedures, My Lord."
"But Bellatrix is not exactly typical, is she?" Voldemort poked at his beef, calmly eating another bite. He took his time chewing and swallowing, and he pointed out, "Bellatrix is a Death Eater. She belongs to me."
Cygnus' cheeks pinked, and he nodded. "Forgive me, Master. Of course, I ought to have asked you first. Is… is there an alternative besides Mr Bulstrode that you prefer?"
"Yes," Voldemort nodded. "No one."
Cygnus looked very confused. "No one?"
"I prefer that she remain unwed," Voldemort said simply. He took two slow bites of lettuce with bleu cheese and sipped at his water. Cygnus had stopped eating now. He set down his fork and knife and insisted,
"Bellatrix is nineteen. She is very eligible. It seems appropriate and, indeed, necessary, that she should marry and begin… you know."
"Procreating?" Voldemort asked airily. He shook his head. "I disagree entirely. Bellatrix is far too valuable to be used as a Pureblood broodmare. Let the lesser witches squeeze out the next generation. Bellatrix is meant for much more than that."
He finished his beef and salad without looking up again. Once his plate was clear, he smirked, knowing what food would appear next. Sure enough, honey and pine nut tarts appeared on small plates, and Voldemort dug a spoon in as he said,
"Your daughter very much enjoys honey tart. I like eating it with her. I enjoy the time I spend with Bella. Particularly the time I spend alone with her."
He put a bite of the tart into his mouth and raised his eyes to see Cygnus Black staring open-mouthed at him. Voldemort nodded, knowing that Cygnus understood full well now. Voldemort had taken Bellatrix away after she'd been drunk at her birthday party. He must look at her a certain way, he thought. Surely her father could perceive the way Voldemort looked at Bellatrix.
"This is Bella's very favourite dessert," Voldemort said, keeping his voice casual. "In fact, we don't really eat any other desserts anymore, she and I. Just this one. And we eat it often. Two nights ago, I managed to talk her into a second slice."
"I apologise, Master, for arranging the meeting between Bellatrix and Daemon Bulstrode. I was unaware of... the circumstances." Cygnus quickly downed the rest of his water, and Voldemort nodded tightly.
"No matter, and no harm done. You know now. Bellatrix is not to be married off."
"I understand," Cygnus said firmly. "I'll leave it be."
"Very good. Finish your lunch and get back to work," Voldemort said, rising from his chair and striding out of the dining room without another word.
Bellatrix's eyes sprang open, and she gasped as she reached for her wand. She'd heard a distinctive pop that had roused her from sleep, and now she aimed her wand blindly and hissed,
"Who's there?"
"Put your wand down, Bella," came Voldemort's voice. Bellatrix's fingers shook around her wand as he stepped into a stream of moonlight, looking completely white. She put her wand on the table beside her bed, and she whispered,
"Master. I never thought I'd see you here… at this hour."
"I was bored," he informed her. Bellatrix rubbed her eyes and opened the clock pendant round her neck.
"Bored at three in the morning, My Lord?" she teased. She shut the clock, and Voldemort sighed as he came to sit on the edge of Bellatrix's bed.
"I don't have to give you a reason for coming," he said quietly. He didn't look at her then as he informed her, "I had lunch with your father."
"Oh." Bellatrix frowned a little. "He didn't mention it."
"No, I expect not." Voldemort picked a little at the blue brocade coverlet. "Don't worry. You won't have any other wizards chasing after you. I made it quite plain to your father that you were unavailable."
"You told him you wanted me to focus on my service," Bellatrix nodded, but Voldemort shook his head and said,
"I told him that I enjoy eating honey tart with you. He got the message."
"Oh," Bellatrix said again, lacking anything more insightful to say. She cleared her throat a little and whispered, "Thank you."
"You kept all your dolls? I didn't notice the last time I was here." Voldemort raised his eyes in the moonlight to the shelf of porcelain dolls on the wall. Bellatrix laughed softly and insisted,
"I never played with them. Well. I tried, but I always got into trouble."
"How does one get into trouble with a doll?" Voldemort asked, still staring at the shelf. Bellatrix shifted where she was sitting against her pillows.
"Lighting their hair on fire, pretending to drown them in the pond outside. Frightening Andromeda and Cissy by putting decapitated doll corpses in their beds. Things like that."
"What a wretched child you must have been." Voldemort's lips curled up a little, and then he turned his face to Bellatrix and asked seriously, "Would you like to go on holiday with me?"
"Holiday?" Bellatrix felt very confused then. "W-Wouldn't you be recognised, Master?"
"Yes. It's entirely impossible," he confirmed. "Still, a pleasant little fantasy, isn't it? Going on holiday together."
He shut his eyes and breathed air audibly through the slits on his face. He kept his eyes shut as Bellatrix asked him,
"Master, are you quite all right? Have you… have you taken something?"
His eyes flicked open then, and he smirked. "You think I'm drugged."
"You just seem a bit off," Bellatrix admitted. She clutched anxiously at the edge of her blankets. Voldemort took another long breath and told her,
"I came here to fuck you in your parents' house. Their room is just downstairs. I came here to lock your bedroom door and fuck you so hard that your father heard your moans, heard the bed creaking. I thought that would amuse me."
"Oh," Bellatrix said yet again, her cheeks going very hot. Voldemort licked his bottom lip and informed her,
"I'm not going to do that." He stood slowly and began to pace a little. "Rodolphus Lestrange was my exit strategy last time. But this time, when presented with a convenient exit strategy, I felt ill. I do not want an exit strategy. Not this time. I want you."
"Well, My Lord," Bellatrix told him, "I am yours to have."
"I do not fear your nearness this time," he told her, still pacing. "I am remarkably unafraid of certain sensations seeping in. And that seems… dangerous."
He stopped then and looked right at Bellatrix with a cold, angry glare. He had his wand in his hand, Bellatrix could see now. Her lips fell open, and she was barely audible as she whispered,
"Are you going to kill me?"
"No," he said at once, tucking his wand away. "I should, probably. That way, I would have all the knowledge and experience I needed to ensure that I won this war and gained power the way I desire. Eliminating the distraction of you would seem wise. But somehow, I know that doing so would break a bit of me, and I do not wish to be broken."
Bellatrix was shocked by that, by those words. She was even more shocked when he approached her, twined his fingers into her hair as he stared down at her, and said,
"I'm going to keep you this time. I apologise for waking you. There will be a meeting tomorrow. Get some rest."
He turned to go then, and Bellatrix nearly asked him to stay. But she knew better than that, so she just whispered,
"Goodbye, Master."
He turned over his shoulder and nodded, and then he Disapparated in complete silence.
Author's Note: Sorry for the extremely rapid updates! Yayyyyyy hypergraphia! Thanks as always for reading, and a MASSIVE thanks to those who have left feedback. It's been enormously helpful as I craft this story.