The mission to kidnap a student out of Hogwarts had failed, and the Death Eaters expected retribution. It should have been straightforward, and yet somehow Dumbledore had been able to thwart them. When no retribution came, for days on end, many of them had gotten increasingly paranoid, feeling as though their Mark was burning even though it was not.

It was almost a relief when they had finally been summoned, one by one, to the LeStranges' house. Bellatrix and Rodolphus were on either side of the Dark Lord, and they watched as each Death Eater materialized out of thin air and dropped to his knees. Some of them shouted that they had nothing to do with the failure, without even being asked. Yaxley had barely parted his lips from the hem of the Dark Lord's robe before suggesting that the guilty one was Jugson. The Dark Lord's fury was concealed, but Bellatrix did not conceal hers - Yaxley had some nerve, to interfere with the proper way to do things. She knew - everyone would be interrogated, and the guilty one, or ones, will pay the price of this defeat. She made a tiny movement with her wand - the Cruciatus Curse was her speciality and her wand, that had so often served as a conduit of her rage, could now inflict a lot of pain even without the incantation, almost as if it had gained its own reflexes. Her upper lip curled upward as Yaxley shrieked from the brief moment of pain. Bellatrix knew they would catch the guilty party - no one could lie to the Dark Lord. Her only concern was that her own flesh and blood was the prime suspect. She knew why her master had waited so long to summon his followers - he had to make sure the prime suspect could attend the interrogation, and this was only possible during a Hogsmeade weekend.

Her cousin Regulus was summoned last. He did not appear more distraught than usual when he apparated, but it did not matter - they had very good reasons to suspect him. Of all the people who knew about the mission, he was the only one still at school, and he had ample opportunity to warn Dumbledore. Regulus took his place near the half-blood at the table, right next to their recruiter, Malfoy.

Bellatrix prepared herself for the most likely outcome - she would have to torture her own. This is an opportunity, Bella, a chance to show your devotion, and to show them that the Dark Lord comes before all - traitors will not be spared for family ties. On the contrary - I will not be disgraced because he had decided to betray us.

The Dark Lord rose from his seat, and Bellatrix had to conquer her urge to follow. She loved being by his side, and even a little bit of distance had hurt her. As she planted herself more firmly in her seat, her fingers closed more tightly on her wand. The traitor will pay for this as well - the time we could be spending together, and we are spending it questioning the Death Eaters as though they were misbehaved children who had broken a vase. The Dark Lord was too merciful, as far as she was concerned - she would have gone straight to interrogation by torture.

She watched him pace with his hands behind his back. Each footstep made a dull sound on the stone floor.

"There is a reason I have summoned you all here on this particular day. All of you must be aware, by now, that our most recent operation has been an unacceptable failure. This cannot repeat itself, and all my Death Eaters must be here to prevent this from recurring."

Suddenly, he smiled.

"If you have done nothing wrong, you have nothing to worry about. I am not a cruel man, and all of you have proven loyal so far." His smile left his face, and the effect was chilling. "All of you, I'm afraid, except our youngest and most recent recruits. It is not their fault. They simply did not have the opportunity to prove themselves yet. Yes... some of you might have guessed it. I have summoned you here on this particular day because we require the presence of Regulus Black."

Regulus seemed genuinely surprised. Lucius, though he sat next to him, moved in his chair, closer to the Death Eater who sat to the other side of him, his face disdainful and calculating. The half-blood's eyes were fixed so firmly on the table it seemed as though he would bore a hole into it with his gaze. From the height of her throne-like chair, Bellatrix saw their knees were almost touching.

The room was silent. The Dark Lord continued. "Dumbledore has been able to thwart our plans, enlisting the help of one James Potter. Some of you" - he stood behind the half-blood and paused briefly - "know his work. Indeed, some of you have lost to him before."

He resumed his pacing.

"But there is no shame in it, none at all. It is the person who made it possible for Dumbledore to enlist James Potter, to prevent us from overthrowing him, whom I am angry with. But you can still be forgiven, Regulus. Do you admit it?"

Bellatrix was disgusted at the child-like confusion on her cousin's face. His eyes were open so wide, and his insolent lips parted only to lie - "M- My Lord, I did not say anything," he stammered. The Dark Lord smiled and put his hand over Regulus's shoulder. Bellatrix was outraged on her master's behalf, but her master seemed almost forgiving. The half-blood ran his hand on his forehead, seemingly to get the hair out of his eyes. "Are you speaking the truth, Black? Are you - ah - quite sure? Perhaps your headmaster has hoodwinked you, perhaps you did not intend it?"

Regulus insisted: "My Lord, I have not, I swear it."

"So. You wanted the operation to succeed. You have indeed given us accurate information about Ms. Unguent's habits. But I must question you. You have had the most opportunity."

Regulus was smart enough to look into his master's eyes, as he said: "I have not, My Lord. I want nothing more than to see Dumbledore exposed for what he is."

"Have you discussed the details of your assignment with anyone else? Any of your teachers? Any other student? Perhaps someone had seen you, and you did not think it warranted mentioning?"

"No, My Lord. I have followed your orders, exactly as Severus relayed them to me."

"Very well, Black. You are speaking the truth."

Lucius closed his eyes and exhaled audibly. His recruit had not dishonoured him.

"Now, Severus, I cannot reasonably accuse you of loyalty to Dumbledore," the Dark Lord said, apparently to himself. "But you have not proven your faithfulness to me." Bellatrix watched the half-blood turn his head up slowly. Recruiting him had been a mistake, she knew it - her master insisted he would make it easier for the masses to accept his reign if they pretend people like him have a place among them - but people like him were muck, they had to learn their place. She was glad her master had shifted his focus from her cousin, who had been faithful after all, to the half-blood. I will remove his Mark if I have to unburden him of his hand, she told herself.

"Indeed, you have been Marked three months ago, and you have not volunteered for a single mission while your brethren have faced the Ministry's Aurors; instead, you have enjoyed your job at the Department of Mysteries while others have placed themselves at risk. What have you to say in your defence?"

Severus did not answer immediately. It seemed to take an extra moment for him to remember he had to answer the question.

"My Lord, I have relayed your orders to Regulus exactly as you told them to me. I submit myself to your interrogation."

Severus knew he should have been more afraid - the Dark Lord had spoken as though he knew Severus had second-guessed everything - but he had just let Regulus go, and so Severus felt genuine gratitude and relief. He felt like he could withstand whatever punishment the Dark Lord had in store for him. His master looked into his eyes, and ordered him to show him exactly what he had told Regulus. Severus obeyed without hesitation - and the Dark Lord saw him brief Regulus perfectly. He then saw him apparate out of Hogsmeade without speaking to anybody. A thought occurred to the Dark Lord - perhaps Severus had intended for Potter to be injured, or even killed? But when he evoked in himself the desire to hurt, to see his enemies suffer, and looked into Severus's eyes, he saw nothing. Severus was too happy Regulus had been spared the Dark Lord's wrath. Excellent, Lord Voldemort thought. It has not even occurred to Severus to further his own ends. He had never had another follower so wonderfully servile.

Bellatrix watched as the most obvious suspects had been eliminated, as her master grew angrier with each one. She watched Yaxley volunteer to punish the traitor himself, she watched Dolohov try to reason with the Dark Lord that if it had been up to him, he would have made an attempt at Dumbledore's own life, she watched Lucius explain that he has no sympathy for blood traitors like Potter and that if he had been involved in this, he would have made sure Potter met his maker, and she watched Karkaroff declare, quite gratuitously in her opinion, that he would never put his fellow Death Eaters at such risk. Finally, only two people were left. Her, and Rodolphus. Her revolting husband was the traitor. He was positively glimmering with sweat by the time the Dark Lord reached him. As soon as the Dark Lord turned to look at him, his face full of contempt, he shouted: "It was only a mistake, My Lord! I didn't mean to -"

"Silence." The Dark Lord hissed, and the two rows of teeth did not part as he spoke.

His glittering eyes looked into her husband's doughy, pitiful face, and he started laughing. "You got drunk at the Leaky Cauldron and advertised our plan to the whole pub, Rodolphus? Have you considered taking a full page ad on the Daily Prophet? And now you have sat here and allowed me to question your fellow Death Eaters, hoping, perhaps, that one of them will take the punishment intended for you?"

Bellatrix's husband began to grovel, and she had had enough. "My Lord," she panted. "I will punish him. Please, it will be my highest pleasure." Her chest rose, and her master surveyed her from the top of her head to her dragon-skin boots.

"Your own husband, Bella?" He said, fiendishly.

Rodolphus looked at her, imploring for mercy. She looked right at him but without meeting his eyes, and back at her master. "He is no husband of mine," she said. "He is a loose-lipped traitor, My Lord. Let me punish him."

"As you wish, Bellatrix," he whispered softly, and Bellatrix drew her wand, and her husband covered his head with his hands as though there was any stopping his wife's Cruciatus. She briefly caressed her wand before she spoke the incantation, and she looked at him coldly, almost bored, as the red light from her wand hit him. She knew that the pain was as though she was ripping off his fingernails, as though she had exposed his nerves and touched them directly to ice, as though he was both set on fire and torn limb from limb.

"That is enough, Bellatrix," her master ordered her after Rodolphus had stopped trying to run away between curses. His voice released her from her trance. She had forgotten the others were there.

The half-blood looked nauseated. Let him , she thought. It was one of the very few times in Bellatrix's life when as though nothing could disturb her.

"Lucius," the Dark Lord said, "I think you have proven more worthy of a place by my side. The Death Eaters you have recruited have been faithful, after all. Someone drag Rodolphus to St. Mungo's", he ordered. "It will be the killing curse if you tell them it's your wife," he warned the whimpering mass that trembled on the floor. Lucius stepped over what was left of her husband as he took his place on the throne-like chair. "Bellatrix, you have done very well," her master told her. "Your loyalty will not be forgotten."

[A/N: Hope you've enjoyed the story so far! I have it written down up to Chapter 25, but after that I haven't got much, so please leave reviews and let me know if you wish me to just post the remaining chapters or what - and I'd love to hear your thoughts in general. Thank you!]