"Can you feel her burning through your veins?" -Atreyu, "Her Portrait In Black"

-- The Killing Lights --

Bellatrix woke up the next morning in the Dark Lord's bed with a bad headache, dry mouth, and the taste of stale vomit lingering in the back of her throat. He wasn't in the bed with her, or even in the room.

When she got up to go look for him, she noticed that she wasn't wearing the pink dress anymore - she was wearing a nightgown. She wondered how she'd gotten her clothes changed last night - or, more accurately, who had changed them. She went to the bathroom and rinsed out her mouth before going downstairs.

Bella found the Dark Lord in his favorite armchair under the window in the library, reading Nightdream again.

"What happened last night?" she asked him.

"I should think that was obvious," the Dark Lord replied curtly without looking up from his book.

"I've got a hangover from Hell so it's obvious I was drunk off my ass, but what happened?"

His head snapped up at the note of panic in her question.

"What do you remember?" he asked, frowning.

She thought hard for a moment before answering.

"I remember dancing with you at the wedding. After that, nothing."

He sighed and set Nightdream aside. "Come here."

She went to him and curled up in his lap. His arms closed around her and she buried her face against his chest.

"What happened?" she whispered fearfully.

"Oh, Bella..." he sighed, before outlining the events of the previous day. "... After I got you back here, things were easier. Apparating, after all the alcohol you'd had, made you sick to your stomach and you threw up everything. You broke down and cried for a while after that, then you asked me for a Dreamless Sleep potion. I gave it to you, not foreseeing the problems with that solution..."

"What problems?"

He was silent for a moment, debating whether or not he should tell her.

"... you pissed the bed."

"I what?" she shrieked. Something like that was far more embarassing than being drunk in public or causing a ruckus at a family member's wedding.

"Well, you were too deeply asleep from the combination of the alcohol and the potion to be able to wake yourself up to take care of your bodily functions... that's why I changed your clothes and moved you to my room."

"Were you with me all night?" she asked softly.

"Yes," he answered. Although it was more like from yesterday afternoon until early this morning.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. He heard the tremor in her voice that indicated she was about to start crying.

"It's alright," he said softly, rubbing her back. "It was my fault as much as yours. I should have known better than to give you the Dreamless Sleep potion when you were in that condition."

He'd been more concerned with getting her calmed down than with her overall health at that point, and he'd carelessly given her something that could have proved more harmful than it had.

"I-" She stopped and sucked in a shaky deep breath, willing herself not to break down crying. "I'm glad I've got you to take care of me," she whispered.

-tbc

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