Warmth was the first thing Bellatrix noticed when she was back in the Lestrange manor foyer, warmth and then dark. It had taken her a while to register just how dark it was inside due to her spending most of the evening outside, but the warmth was instantaneous. It was November so the night air was freezing, clinging to every centimetre of her skin and chilling her right down to the bone, there had been rain at one point too, and the last of the icy water hung in the fabric of her heavy skirt where it had seeped in under her robes. She made her way towards the grand staircase in the centre of the foyer slowly, her heels tapping slowly on the floor the only sound. The polished wooden banister creaked as she placed her hand on it, trailing it behind her as she made her way up the stairs, but she got a mere two steps higher before a harsh whisper sounded through the air and a figure appeared right in front of her face.
"Where have you been?" asked Rodolphus from the shadows on the stairs, his voice harsh, demanding.
"What are you doing?" Bellatrix questioned him, a sudden heat rising in her cheeks as he refused to let her pass and climb the stairs.
"I'm asking you where you've been," he stated, stepping out of the shadows so she could see all of him. He was in his night robes and the faint smell of whiskey lingered on his breath. In the darkness he just about saw Bellatrix's eyes widen, filling slowly with a furious disbelief.
"It's none of your business where I've been," she replied hastily with a firm tone of justification. Rodolphus let out a harsh noise somewhere between a laugh and a scoff.
"I'm not in the mood for this Bellatrix, where have you been?" he repeated himself, this time angrier. Bellatrix could hear it in his voice, the patience slowly ticking away. Just thinking about him having the nerve to question her on her whereabouts made the blood in her veins ignite with rage.
"Why do you care so much?" she spat at him, inching closer and bridging the gap between them even further. "And what makes you think you have the right to demand questions of me, especially at this time?"
"it's precisely this time that has me asking questions, where on earth have you been that requires you to stay out this late?" He fired back, droplets of spit landing on Bellatrix's cheek. She took a deep breath as the nerves in her body started to twitch with the energy it took not to strike him across the face.
"Oh, did I forget to ask for your permission," she answered, the tone of her voice twisting into a sweet mocking. "I don't need to inform you of my every whereabouts Rodolphus, I'm not a child."
"No, but you are my wife," Rodolphus nearly shouted, his chest rising and falling with his rapid breathing. He could feel his hands itching to grip her arm and force the truth out of her, he knew she was keeping something from him, and watching her deny it like its none of his business made the blood rush in his ears.
"And that changes things does it?" she snarled back, no longer able to contain her fury and outrage. Her breathing was quick and laboured and her veins burned under her wet robes.
"Yes," growled Rodolphus, clenching his fists. How dare she have the audacity to think that her actions had no affect on him, that she could just go around doing whatever she pleased at whatever time and it wouldn't matter.
The air around them was hot, smouldering with their anger. Bellatrix wondered to herself why he was even so bothered in the first place. Was the man that pathetic and insecure that he needed to know where she was at all times like some incompetent child? She wasn't having it. But then something clicked. She realised exactly what he thought had happened.
"Oh," she said slowly, all traces of rage worryingly gone from her voice. "Oh, I see what's happening here."
"What?" spat Rodolphus. Bellatrix laughed at him, a slow sultry hum of a laugh.
"You believe those pathetic little rumours the others have been spreading, don't you," she said, taking her time in drawing out the words, delivering them wrapped in velvet. She delighted in watching Rodolphus twitch in anger as she spoke the truth, him glaring at her as she tauntingly smiled back.
"You waited up for me, because you're suspicious of me," she sang, his face close enough for her to spit in it. "You're embarrassing Rodolphus."
"Well can you blame me?" he growled at her.
"Excuse me?" she hissed, incensed that he dare accuse her.
"Well it's not like you discourage them at all, if anything you make them easier to believe," Rodolphus was almost shouting, hoping that she would see the truth in his words. It was infuriating, seeing them together and hearing the others all whispering, it made him feel like a laughing stock, a fool who could do nothing but sit back and watch.
"Were you with him tonight?" he said, spitting the words out like bile. Bellatrix's mouth fell open with outrage.
"That's none of your-" she fired back, her eyes dark as death as her whole body felt like it was on fire
"Were you with him?" Rodolphus cut her off, gripping her arms hard. "If the rumours are completely fabricated then you should have no problem telling me where you were."
"That's not the point, you don't get to just demand answers from me," she hissed back at him, shoving him off her. "And wanting to know my every move is just desperate and pathetic."
"Bellatrix would you just answer my question, were you with him?" Rodolphus shouted, his eyes animal as he looked at her with all the rage and contempt his body was capable of feeling.
"Yes," she snarled with vicious pride, revelling in the burning in his eyes.
The moon shone bright and full, bringing a sliver of light to the freezing graveyard. It was quiet as death, no whistling of the wind or sounds of animals roaming the night, nothing. It was now so dark that Bellatrix couldn't make out the shapes in the landscape around her, could barely see her breath swirling in front of her face.
"Are you ready to go again?" a voice said from behind her.
"Of course, My Lord." she murmured, her eyelids fluttering shut as the man gently touched her shoulder as he brushed past her.
They stood opposite each other now, just a few feet of grass between them. Bellatrix couldn't help but admire the way he stood, the way his stance dripped with power and commanded attention, as it should. She stared at the man in front of her, taking the powerful sight of him without looking in his eyes. He didn't even need to say the spell as she braced herself.
She felt the incoming invasion immediately, slamming up a mental block almost as quickly as the spell had been cast. She felt him fight to get inside her mind, the force of his spell as it bashed at her defences. She threw everything she had into blocking him out, it wouldn't have been such a strain if they hadn't been at it for hours, if the force of his attacks hadn't brought her to her knees in the waterlogged grass, where he dragged her up by her hair and made her do better next time.
When her attempts were eventually thwarted she fought to keep her feet in place against the soggy, sinking ground.
"You failed again Bella." The man said in a cold, almost disappointed tone. His words felt like a kick in the stomach to her, each word ice in her blood from the man she lived to impress, to prove her power and worth to.
"I'm sorry My Lord," she said feebly, knowing that it wasn't enough. He walked towards her, the darkness swallowing up his silhouette and making it appear as if he were gliding.
"Your apology is useless Bella," he said as he stood right beside her, his voice was stone. "You were never going to be able to keep me out, I'm too powerful." He explained, bringing one cold hand up and placing it on her arm. "Did you honestly think you would be able to outmatch me?"
"No My Lord," she whispered, her voice harsh and her eyes trained on his hand as it wrapped around her forearm. She could feel the power in his touch, radiating off of him and into her.
"Good," he asserted, moving his hand slowly up and along her arm as he moved to stand behind her. "You might not be able to stop me from invading your mind but you have shown yourself to be a very skilful Occlumens, just as I knew you would be." His words were softer this time, and she could almost feel his breath against her ear as he moved so close to her, her eyes trained on the spot where his hand rested against her shoulder, captivated.
Bellatrix couldn't help but look at him, his presence held such magnetism that she just couldn't convince her eyes not to follow him. Power thrummed through her body underneath his touch, she felt his power, the potential that he saw in her and no one else, the closeness of this moment that he would not allow anyone else to experience. She didn't even realise her lips had parted as his hand moved from her shoulder and his finger slid up the curve of her neck.
"You are very useful to me," he breathed, the words sending shivers down her spine. Her pulse spiked under his fingertips as she leaned into him, her eyes titling towards the sky.
"Thank you, My Lord. It is an honour to be of use to you," she whispered, his proximity making her breath uneven. So much power, so much power in those fingertips hovering so close to her throat.
"Leave," he hissed, using his grip on her to shove her forwards. And with his word she apparated from the clearing.
How dare he think he knew anything. Training with the Dark Lord was an honour, a privilege bestowed to her that required hard work, determination and power. Power so strong that Rodolphus couldn't even imagine it. She smirked at him, watching the emerald fire consume his insides, encouraging it, hoping it burned him alive.
"And he showed me things you could never hope to achieve in all of your miserable life," she spat at him, just to see the look on his face. He snarled at her, the muscles of his face twitching with rage. She merely laughed.
It was then that he lunged at her, his arms raised and his eyes feral as he tried to grab her, but she grabbed her wand and without a word Rodolphus was thrown across the foyer, slamming into the wall with such force that the chandelier shook.
"Look at you, you're too weak to admit that I'm better than you so you rely on pathetic rumours to justify your own inadequacy," taunted Bellatrix from the stairs, watching his collapsed form sprawled on the foyer floor.
"You bitch," he growled from the floor, raising his head to meet her gaze, sweat matted hair falling in his eyes. She scoffed at him before raising her wand, and without even uttering the incantation fired a cruciatus curse at him. She laughed as he writhed in pain on the floor, a wicked smile forming.
"Goodnight Rodolphus," she murmured sweetly once she'd stopped, listening to his heavy, ragged breathing. "Don't join me."
And without a backwards glance she sauntered up the stairs.