Disclaimer- I do not own anything that belongs in the Harry Potter Universe. J.K. Rowling has that honor. If I DID own anything from Harry Potter, I would not have killed Sirius.
Summary- The Dark Lord gives Bellatrix Lestrange a task that she would have never expected. The question is, can she do it? Complete.
You Should Have Done Better
She stirred as the weight shifted on the bed, and she rolled over halfway on to her back to make a scathing remark at her husband for disturbing her attempt to sleep. She paused however, her dark eyes narrowing as she saw that his figure was hunched, much different than that of the usual posture of her husband. He usually sat up straight, strong, and proud. Rodolphus Lestrange was a dangerous and sadistic man, but now, looking from the back, he looked more vulnerable than ever.
Raising herself up in a sitting position with her elbows, she studied him slightly. Pushing her long, dark, raven hair out of her eyes with long pale fingers, she sat up straighter. He let out a breath, and pulled his legs up over the side of the bed, laying down on his right side, his back facing her.
"Did you displease our master, husband?" she said softly, but the tone was still sharp. She doubted that was the case. Rodolphus was one of the Dark Lord's favorite followers, and one of his most loyal, but only after her of course.
Rodolphus tensed immediately. Finally, after a pause, and to her surprise he told her what had happened in probably a softer voice than his usual. "It seems I have been displeasing him for quite awhile. Giving him the wrong information, which is unintentional, I assure you. Missing the targets in the field. He has become most...irritable with me. I deserve whatever punishment I get."
"And make sure you take that punishment into stride. It would not do to irritate our Lord again, nor me." Her tone was harsh, and she abruptly lay back down on her side, her back facing him. She lay awake for hours, listening as his breathing became steadier and softer, until finally they dissolved into soft snores. Her eyelids closed on their own account, and soon she too, drifted into a light sleep.
Bellatrix woke to an intense burning feeling on her left forearm, and she gasped and clutched at it instinctively. To her left, she heard Rodolphus do the same.
"Our lord wants us," he said unnecessarily. Simultaneously husband and wife rose out of bed, dressed into their midnight robes, placing the masks over their milk-white faces. Then in an instant, the two of them Apparated.
The lair was dark and gloomy, and both had a sense of foreboding. They walked briskly towards Lord Voldemort's throne room.
"Lucius!" Bellatrix called out suddenly, spotting the familiar figure of her brother-in-law about to enter the room. He paused and turned, bowing his head slightly to her.
"Do you know what our lord wants of us?" she asked coldly. Malfoy's gray eyes narrowed behind the slits in his mask.
"Not that I know of, Bellatrix," he said silkily, his eyes darting in Rodolphus's direction. "Why don't you find out for yourselves?"
The three of them entered together, immediately collapsing onto their knees to kiss the hems of his dark robes.
"My lord," they murmured, backing away in a bow, and taking their places in the semi-circle that surrounding the tall, white, figure that sat on the high-backed chair. He gazed at them all in scrutiny, his red eyes with catlike pupils lingering on a few in turn.
"Jugson!" he hissed, and a burly Death Eater immediately stumbled forward in front of Voldemort, shivering, but he bowed low and kissed the hem of Voldemort's robes.
"My Lord?"
"You gave me the wrong information, Jugson," Voldemort hissed coldly. "You said Dawlish was at St. Mungo's, but when I sent Mulciber there in disguise he was not. You told me he had been critically injured in the attack. But he was not. We cannot have Dawlish in action! He is critical for the Aurors' side! What have you got to say for yourself, Jugson?"
"F-forgive me, my Lord," Jugson pleaded, his voice shaky. "It will not happen again."
Voldemort's red eyes narrowed to slits, and his snakelike nostrils flared. Immediately Bellatrix stepped forward, and raised her wand, "Crucio."
Jugson's screams filled the chamber, the echoes deafening. After awhile, Bellatrix lifted her wand a fraction and Jugson ceased his wails.
"You will see that it will not happen again, Jugson," he said coldly, "or the punishment will be worse."
Jugson bowed low, "Y-yes, Master." He waited until Voldemort nodded to take his place in his circle again.
Voldemort's gaze drifted around the room again, settling on Rodolphus.
"Step forward, Rodolphus," he said softly, sending shivers down every single one of their spines. Bellatrix took a step back to her place. Rodolphus scrambled from his spot, going into a bow as Voldemort rose. Bending even lower to kiss the hem of his robes once again, but instead he got a hard kick to his face. He flew back a step, accidentally allowing a quiet yell to escape as he clutched his face.
"You have yet again disappointed me, Rodolphus," Voldemort hissed. "I would have thought it not possible, until you were re-arrested at the Department of Mysteries." Several of the Death Eaters shifted nervously, for some of them also had been taken to Azkaban that night. "Then when the Dementors came, you were the first to flee from them. They are on our side, Rodolphus. And in the attack against the Aurors, instead of jinxing the Auror that you aimed for, you jinx a Death Eater!" he hissed. "My tolerance has been running low of late, Rodolphus. It seems that Azkaban has truly addled your brains, for you cannot even perform duties that would have been tedious fourteen years ago! You have become more of a nuisance of late. I will not tolerate it."
Rodolphus bowed his head, prying his hands away from his aching face. "My Lord, it will not happen again."
Voldemort sneered. "No, it will not." He glanced at Bellatrix, who stepped forward and raised her wand.
"Crucio."
Rodolphus screamed and writhed. As time went on, the screams intensified. Finally, Bellatrix raised her wand, and the screams and wails dissolved into whimpers.
"On your knees," Voldemort hissed. Rodolphus did his best to position himself on his knees as fast as he could, gasping and breathing heavily.
"I've decided I don't need you anymore," Voldemort said softly.
"M-my Lord," Rodolphus stammered. "I-I have been nothing but faithful to you, my Lord. I sought information of your whereabouts, Master! I sought to revive you! Nobody else looked for you, my Lord, but Bella, Rabastan, Bartemius, and I!"
"Enough," Voldemort hissed venomously. Rodolphus immediately quieted. "You need not remind me that some of my followers were not as faithful as they would have seemed." The Dark Lord glared around the chamber at each and every Death Eater.
Voldemort turned to Bellatrix, his robes swishing behind him. "You may say good-bye before you kill him, Bella." And he strode back to the black, high- backed chair and sat, his chin resting in his palm as he watched with a look of mild interest.
"My Lord?" Bellatrix questioned Voldemort for the first time in her long service.
"Do not question me, Bella," Voldemort hissed softly. Bellatrix bowed her head.
"Forgive me, my Lord. I had forgotten my place," she murmured, and he nodded. She turned to her quivering husband. Reaching out with her pale hands, she gently took off the mask and threw back his hood, revealing his dark brown hair and hollow brown eyes, and the gaunt, white face. Drying tears streaked down his face and there was a slight grimace of pain etched on his face. Azkaban, as it did to others also, had withered away his good looks.
Bellatrix took off her mask and threw back her hood also. Leaning forward, she gave him a soft kiss on his dry lips. Pulling back slowly, she stood with her back straight, her wand held loosely at her side. Gripping his chin gently with her left hand, she forced him to look into her dark eyes.
"Never would I have thought that you would have been ordered to be killed before worthless Wormtail." She said, throwing a glare to the shortest member of Voldemort's followers there. Her gaze then returned to his, but this time her face was impassive. Rodolphus narrowed his eyes for a second, because what she had just said was one of the biggest insults that a Death Eater could say to another. But his face softened as he realized what her neutral mask was hiding. "You should have done better, my husband." She stepped back and raised her wand.
Rodolphus turned his head to look at Voldemort. "It has been an honor serving you my Lord. Even if the outcome turned out ill for me." Then he turned back to face Bellatrix as she uttered the curse that would end his life.
Green light burst out of the tip of her wand, and Rodolphus fell face forward on to the floor with a thud, lifeless.
All of the Death Eaters stood, frozen, suddenly frightened. If the Dark Lord would order Rodolphus Lestrange, one of the only Death Eaters that had looked for him and one of the most loyal, killed then the Dark Lord would not hesitate to kill them.
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