Here it is, the chapter that's going to receive the most flames in Harry Potter FanFiction history 6_6U The plot is a bit of a heel turner but I tried my best to keep Bellatrix from being off the wall OOC; this is my first time writing her into a story. The same can be said for Narcissa and Lucius. This is a Voldemort POV, thought that might keep things interesting for a change! Enjoy..
It is a remarkable experience to catch a glimpse of ancestry in young eyes. Children that so resemble their parents in looks, personality, and allegiance yet detest them the very way they despise the darkness rising within their hearts, inevitably. They are able to endlessly ignore its numbing pain just as easily as smothering a weak flame with moist fingertips with hardly any burn caused to the extinguisher in the process.
There were the Malfoys. Their only son, a mirror image of his parents with silky platinum hair and penetrating silver eyes, Draco looked at his father with reticent indignation in his stone cold gaze, the same look Lucius returned to him from the other side of the room as he stood next to his wife. Narcissa, who was so involved in adoring her only son that she had yet to notice her sister and niece standing next to him, smiled warmly as he took his place before his family. It was a superfluous display of loyalty but nonetheless noted.
Then there were the Lestranges, granted there were only two of them but that was sufficient. I dare say raising Bellatrix's only daughter was troublesome enough in itself, another sibling would have been one too many. However, as I look at Flay I have yet to find a character flaw I regret instilling in her when she was a young and impressionable girl. She has her mother's ambition and determination, something I admired in a death eater. She used to have her mother's eyes as well, how I adored Bella's smoldering black eyes, but Flay's emerald orbs were just as captivating even though false in the nature of which she had assumed them.
I stared between the families as I spoke, "What news do you have for me," I paused before turning my head to look directly at the young Lestrange, "Flay?" She stepped forward and bowed her head in respect. I could tell she was much at ease facing me in a more human form compared to my last deteriorated body. She was more comfortable with Tom Riddle than Lord Voldemort. Regardless, she never forgot her place and did not balk at being the first to speak this evening.
"My Lord," she addressed me, "I am gaining Harry Potter's trust. I must be careful in assuming this, however, but it seems as if he accepts me as one of his friends now. When the time comes, I will deliver him to you." Vague as always, but acceptable nonetheless.
"I assure you, my Lord," her mother intervened, "She does everything in her power to please you." Normally, an outburst as such would be punished, but Bellatrix is my one unwavering follower. "As do I," she added. Yes. She alone stayed true to me when I was weak and presumed dead. She alone has earned the privilege of being my second in command.
"Yes Bella, of that I am quite certain," her daughter, darling little Flay, has yet to prove herself to me, as does the son of Malfoy, Draco. Soon though, soon they will both be given the chance to rise to power at my side.
"Draco," he stepped forward to answer my call, "Do you know what this is?" I levitated an old book closer to where he stood.
"No, my Lord" he shook his head.
"It is a book, as you might have noticed. Read the title please." I asked out of pure curiosity. I would like to know more about Draco but little time offered little opportunity. I took what was given.
"The History of Rare Magical Items," he said skeptically, unsure of why I was asking or what conclusion I was attempting to make him arrive at.
"Yes? Well, it has a magical ability, this book. One reads in it what is of utmost interest to the owner, so it changes from person to person. The title you see may or may not be the same that your father might see." At this Lucius gave a minimal scowl. He probably saw far darker topics than his son does; that won't last forever though. "As you turn the pages, the book slowly consumes your mind. You become the primitively instinctual being you were born as. It might aid you in your endeavors." I saw something fall into place in his grey eyes.
"I will put it to good use," he said before bowing his head and taking a step back into position in front of his parents.
"It would have saved the three of you," I addressed the adults that stood before me, "much hassle had I not called you here tonight for no apparent reason." I paused to see their reactions but the only one who answered was Bella.
"No, my Lord! It is an honor to be summoned at any time," she grinned and I could see the adoration in her eyes. "Your presence alone is of great glory," something distorted sparkled in her eyes, something she had gained while in Azkaban. I liked it though; it gave a true feeling of obsession to her faith. The Malfoys kept a stoic face and waited to see how I would continue. I was beginning to wonder if they depended too much on Bella to bring out my kinder, more merciful side.
"I expect many great things between the Malfoys and the Lestranges," I glanced from Flay to Draco, "Many great things," I repeated. "Flay," I hissed, drawing out her name and letting it dance across my tongue. Her beautiful green eyes were cast toward her boot clad feet. "I think it is time you tell everyone what great things you have been preparing for," the Black sisters exchanged a quick glance acknowledging that neither of them knew information that had been kept secret from the other. Lucius had more confidence and kept looking at me through narrowed eyes. He always expected the worst. Merlin only knows what was running through his mind this time.
Flay remained silent but Bella did not take well to her daughter's disobedience, "Speak, Flay," she growled anxiously through gritted teeth. I could see the nerves in her hand twitching around her long, slender unyielding wand. Flay looked at her mother with pleading eyes, "Answer your Lord," was the only response she received. She opened her mouth to speak twice but nothing came out. Her mother, however, was more successful with words, "Crucio!" the woman screeched. There was no pain in her eyes as her daughter jerked in pain, only a compulsive need for my adoration. Flay did not immediately fall to the floor. She was able to stay standing until Bellatrix screamed in rage and the curse amplified, crumpling the petite girl to the floor with a blood curling scream. Even Lucius, the compassionless cold-hearted man who knew no pity, cringed at the sound of pain that left more than a mere physical wound.
Narcissa ran to her sister's side and knocked her wand from her hand, "Bella!" she yelled. Her voice came out strained as she watched her niece twitch on the floor in what was best described as shock. Then she turned to me with terror on her face, "My Lord, I had to!" as if she had disobeyed a direct order and felt the need to explain herself.
She tried to blurt out excuses for her actions but I held my hand up to silence her, "Stand, Flay." She got to her feet shakily and stood facing me, never once glancing at her mother. "So strong," I commented. It was a difficult task even for a strong witch to mentally override the pain she must have still felt vibrating through her core. "Please, answer the question," I asked again.
"I am to bear you a child, my Lord," her voice hardly wavered as fear of imperfection took over. Her hand twitched to grasp her throbbing ribs but she stood properly at attention. Bellatrix's face had gone from enraged to stern. A shimmer of relief graced her features as she heard the news that she would be sharing a grandchild with me. Narcissa and Lucius almost seemed relieved that the news was not as extreme as they had expected. I gave Flay a look, urging her to go on. "It will be your son, Draco" her eyes shifted to glance at him but he stood too far behind her for it to go unnoticed. The silence in the room grew thick and unpleasant.
"My Lord! You cannot expect her to bear you a child with my nephew!" Bellatrix cried out desperately. Her eyes searched me for any mercy I might have normally showed her but my mind had been made up many years ago.
"Lord Voldemort, please!" Narcissa begged for my consideration as well but her husband simply remained quiet by his son who could not hide the emotions from his face this time. His jaw was hanging open and there was too much white showing around his silver eyes.
"How long have you known for?" he directed the question to the back of Flay's head and failed to illicit a response from her. She stood still as death in the center of the room, shame exuding from her flawless features. Her full lips were pressed tightly together in a thin white line but I did not know if it was from the embarrassment of revealing our secret or from the pain of being cursed, most likely an unhealthy combination of both, nothing Hogwarts' hospital wing couldn't handle I'm sure.
"Permission sir?" she pleaded quietly.
I ignored her and faced the rest of my followers, "I want a pregnancy by the end of the year, this December. I expect no delays, especially since the two of you will be spending winter break together, am I correct?" I asked Lucius but it was hardly even a question. He nodded his head in forced agreement and continued to follow me with his hard, indecipherable grey eyes. I momentarily turned my attention to Flay and nodded once slowly. Seconds passed and she disapparated with a loud crack. A puff of black smoke dissipated where she had been moments ago.
Her mother stood frozen as she was. Poor Bella, she never saw it coming. I was well aware she wished me to be the father of her grandchild, or even of her son if I had allowed it, but now was not the time for such frivolous displays. I nodded once to the Malfoys and they left quietly. Narcissa and Draco, a deep scowl on the boy's sculpted face, disapparated curtly. Lucius nodded once and vanished as a cloud of black smoke through the cracked window.
Bellatrix was left and I called her to me with a sweeping movement of my hand. She never feared me, even if I was not quite back to Tom Riddle's impeccable form yet. My fingers were still slightly longer and bonier than they had ever been when my soul was whole. "My Lord," she whispered, eyes wide as if gazing upon a wondrous spectacle, "Voldemort, how is it that you come to wish this upon my family when it is I who remains most loyal to you?" Once she was within reach, I lifted my hand to tug her closer by a lock of her untamed raven hair. "I beg your mercy my Lord," she pleaded. I saw the emotion bubble up inside her until it reached her eyes. They wanted to overflow but she held them back, restricting herself as she was so accustomed to doing since before Azkaban. I had not seen that kind of look in her bottomless gaze in so long, only reckless abandon played at her wicked smile and never even a kind word slipped from her soft lips or scheming glare.
"Dearest Bella, you will find me quite impossible to persuade," I paused and let the hopelessness sink deep into her cavernous eyes, "But you will be rewarded for your loyalty and efforts."
The corner of her lips twitched upward into the barest of forced smiles, "You are most generous, my Lord."