Quidditch Reserve League, Season 1, Round 8: The Blacks

Position: Chaser 3

Prompt: Bellatrix Lestrange

Optional Prompts: 2. Destruction, 5. Sleepless Nights, 7. Tap on the Window

Word Count: 1,057

Warnings: Torture, Home Invasion

~End of Author's Notes~

The house was a quaint little thing. A perfectly organized front garden, a back garden that matched, two bedrooms, one for the little one, another for the grown-ups, one kitchen, a bathroom upstairs, a bathroom downstairs, a kitchen, a living room, and a hallway. It was standard for the street, every house was built the same, with little more than colors and furniture to distinguish it.

And the occupants, Bellatrix supposed. They didn't matter this time, because the both of them were sprawled out on the floor, their bodies spasming and their faces twisted in silent screams. Their voices had stopped working...how long ago was it? She let her gaze drift from Alice, but the clock had been knocked off of the wall in the fight, and it was facing away from her. She muttered something to herself, adjusted her grip on her wand, and flung the Cruciatus Curse anew.

Where was she? Ah, how they'd gotten in. The Longbottoms were talented, certainly, but not more than her, her admittedly worthless husband, his brother, and Barty Crouch together. They weren't a problem, but escape routes were. It was easy to see where they'd attempt to get away; they'd modified their house and made it a little more plump, an anomaly among their neighbors.

So she'd poked and prodded and what did she find? A magically-molded door into a hall into a secret door that led straight into the upstairs hallway. That was silly of them, but then, she'd always had insight. Not the kind that was appreciated at Hogwarts, but under her Dark Lord? Her particular capabilities for destruction were valued indeed. She was his most valued follower by far and...

Something tapped on the window. And tapped again. And tapped again. Bellatrix snarled as she snapped the tip of her wand away from Alice Longbottom's body and took in her surroundings again. A living room, Barty Crouch, Rodolphus, and...the other one. He was there. He was the one tapping at the window, breaking her concentration. She marched over to it, threw it open to the night.

"What is it, Rastaban?" Bellatrix growled. "Can't you see I'm busy here?"

"You asked me to check for the little one. No sign of it. Want me to keep looking?" Rastaban asked, him with his gormless face and his dim eyes. He was lucky his blood was pure, else he wouldn't have had half the talent he did. He'd be a squib, she was sure.

"Want me to keep looking?" Bellatrix mimicked in a high-pitched voice. "What do I care? Get in here," she said, opening the window to let the man through. He hesitated and she shot a bolt of magic at his feet to get him moving quickly. "Rodolphus!" She spun around.

"Yes, my lady love?" Rodolphus asked, his hands crossed over his chest as he sat on one of the many pieces of wrecked furniture scattered across the room. His choice was a chair that had been torn open by stray severing charms and was currently bleeding fluff.

"What was I just doing?"

"Getting my brother in."

"Yes, yes, and what were you doing?" Bellatrix narrowed her eyes at the man. The buffoon. The fortunate-he-had-an-arranged-marriage-with-a-Black hedge wizard.

"I was sitting down."

"Also known as not doing your duty!" Bellatrix marched over to Alice, who was panting and heaving, drifting in and out of consciousness like a bottle of butterbeer in the black lake. She kicked Alice in the stomach with the toe of her boot; not effective compared to Crucio, but she wanted to make a point. And the wheezing sound Alice made did make her giggle, just a little. "Crouch didn't waste a second, and look at you, acting like you're the wickle pwince of da wiving woom." She gestured at the remnants of a family life all around them, as well as the convulsing body of Frank Longbottom and the cackling Crouch.

"Yes. Sorry, dear." Rodolphus rose from her seat and went to join his brother by the window. Had he rolled his eyes at her? Well, no matter.

Bellatrix sighed as she crouched down, grabbed a handful of Alice's hair, and jabbed the tip of her wand into the vulnerable woman's neck.

"Is there a thought going through that stupid, Muggle-loving head of yours, Alice?" Bellatrix asked softly, as tendrils of light emerged from the tip of her wand and seized the woman's throat. She didn't even need to speak the words to cast Crucio anymore. "It's a good thing you're still jiggling, or I'd have no idea! Let's see, shall we? Start, stop, start, stop." She cast the spell for a second, released it, and did it again to the tune of Alice's heels hitting the hardwood floor. She had to swallow her laughter, lest she get derailed again. "Well, good enough. Maybe there's a teeny little part of you that can hear me."

"Right now you might be thinking...what a monster she is! How horrible! My poor, poor baby! You do remember him, at least?" She moved Alice's head up and down by yanking her hair. "Yes, good, little Neville...little baby Neville...all alone, now. Well, you don't have to worry, we're not going to torture him. What's the point? They cry all the time anyway, and there's nothing to break. Not like adults, not like proper people. You have so many things...love, friends, children, and I get to snap every one of them under my boot…"

Bellatrix cast Crucio again, but she didn't release it this time.

"Oops, there goes that Arithmancy classes. There goes your first date with Frank. What about the first time you held Neville in your arms? Should I? That might be cruel..." Bellatrix snickered. "Ideally, I would, but Crucio is so ineffective. I can't tell whether I've even done enough to eliminate any memories yet. It's all random, but then...the specifics don't matter. No matter what I've done, you're destroyed. And I'll let you live, so you'll erode a little more every day...but you'll always remember me, won't you, Alice?"

Bellatrix angled Alice's hanging neck up so their eyes met, Alice's barely flickering with recognition.

"I'm not going to kill you...but I am going to make sure you're left with many, many sleepless nights. Sweet dreams." She grinned, stood back up, and pointed her wand down again...