A/N - Cyeah, REALLY sorry this took so incredibly long to update. But the second chapter is here, and it should be followed by the rest of the story. It's the summer now. So yeah. It took me a while, but here it is. R/R please!

I own nothing.

When he had first learned that he was to be in an arranged marriage he could only think of the negatives. He was sure that this, Bellatrix Black, woman, would be some horridly ugly witch. He in no way suspected that the woman he was to marry would be as beautiful nor as powerful as she had turned out to be.

The summer before his seventh year at Hogwarts his parents had sat him down and told him he was to marry Ms. Black, the eldest of the famous Black sisters. She had been going to Beauxbaton, and would transfer into Hogwarts so they could get to know each other before the wedding. Which was to take place at the end of the Seventh year term.

He hadn't shown it to his parents, but he was dreading this. But then he learned that Lucius Malfoy, one of his good friends, was promised to Bellatrix's sister, Narcissa. So maybe he wouldn't be alone in this.

From what he had been told this arrangement had been set up when they were born, an old promise of their ancestors, that none of them could get out of.

The day he left for Hogwarts was the day that he had fully dreaded for the remainder of the summer. He spent it joking, half-heartedly, around with his close group of friends. All Slytherins, of course, but they would expect nothing less. They planned out, not in vain, what they would do this year, what horrors they could devolve on First years, and it made Rodolphus forget about the dreaded wedding at the end of the year.

As it turns out, Bellatrix and her sister did not go to Hogwarts on the train, nor would they make an appearance that night, instead they would arrive in the morning, and would be welcomed to the school then. Bellatrix was a Seventh Year, whereas her sister was a Sixth Year. There had been rumors of another sister, but a name had yet to be discovered.

Lucius and Rodolphus spent the night talking, about their soon to be wives, turns out that Lucius had been told nothing more than Rodolphus had been told, so they both waited to meet them.

Sadly, both slept late and missed the commotion in the Great Hall that morning when every male head was turned to look at the two new students. A girl, with striking blonde hair and hard eyes, and another girl, the opposite of her sister, raven haired, mysterious eyes. Both beautiful in their own ways, and they knew it.

Both girls had drooling all over them, and they didn't seem to know that they were already taken, not by choice, but there was no chance in hell of getting with these two girls.

Both were housed in Slytherin, and the Headmaster showed both around the school.

When the boys awoke, they were summoned to the Headmaster's office, and both knew that they were going to meet their future brides.

They walked slowly, not in any hurry to meet the girls they would spend the rest of their lives with. After making their way in the office, all they could see what the backs of a blonde haired girl, and the back of a raven-haired girl, and the Headmaster. "Ah, here they are," exclaimed the Headmaster as he stood.

Slowly, the girls stood, and from where the boys were they could see no more of their future wives. "Gentlemen, may I introduce you to Narcissa Black," the blonde haired girl turned around, and curtseyed before they could see the real beauty of her. Lucius tried incredibly hard not to nudge his friend. "And Bellatrix Black," Rodolphus watched as Bellatrix's movements mirrored her sister's previous ones.

When she finally looked up at him, he saw one of the most beautiful girls he had ever seen staring back at him.

And that was when he fell in love with Bellatrix Black.

Rodolphus was remembering that day, when he met Bella. He had been so taken by her beauty that he could hardly pay attention to anything but her. And she had seemed to be quiet taken by him as well. All in all it turned out to be a good match, the two worked wonderfully together, and they couldn't have been happier.

Their parents had been pleased too, and all the more when they joined together under Lord Voldemort.

He was walking through the dark woods; they surrounded the house, just as he knew she had loved so many years before. All he wanted to do was please her. That was all he ever wanted to do.

He thought to earlier when she had finally slept for a few short hours, only to be awoken by a nightmare, the aftermath of fourteen years in hell. But she was getting better, gradually, which was what kept him, and maybe her, going. She had actually let him hold her this morning. Hadn't run off away into the depths of the house, which gave her some sort of comfort. He had never understood, but the woods gave him comfort. The house had too many memories in there.

Sighing he continued his quest through the forest. Trying not to think of his wife in pain. Oh how he loved her.

He thought of how his Lord had taken to her. Seeing the fire in her that he himself had seen. He had high hopes for the two of them. Knowing Bellatrix was the key factor in everything. And better yet, no one could control her, the only one coming close to controlling her was he, and he wouldn't dare.

Bellatrix was the only woman Death Eater, and he had a feeling it would remain that way for a long time. Possibly forever, no other woman had proved strong enough to join his ranks, a fire reserved for her.

Lost in his thoughts Rodolphus had not noticed that the forest had grown silent, everything seemed to stop as a dark figure crept towards him.

Feeling a cold hand touch his shoulder he jumped and turned, falling to his knees as he saw it was his Master. "Lord, I did not realize you were here," he said, from his position on the ground.

"Stand," the voice from beneath the hood commanded, but it did not sound angry. He did as his Master told his to, but still he kept his eyes down. "I wanted to see how you were fairing," came a hiss of a voice.

Rodolphus was startled by this question, in the last fourteen years he had grown accustomed to superiors talking down to him. He was still getting used to life out of prison. "I am fine, my Lord." He stammered.

"And Bellatrix?" Only Rodolphus called her Bella.

"She is recovering, my Lord. It is going more slowly for her, because," he stopped as he thought of what the guards had done to her in the dark of night, "she was a bit more roughed up than I." He watched as the hooded head nodded.

"Good, I am glad to hear it." Voldemort stopped for second before continuing. "Everywhere I turn to I hear whispers, people wondering what my next plans are." He drawled. "But the most I have heard are about you and your wife," he said this, and Rodolphus thought it sounded amused. "Wondering where you were, when you were going to come back into play." It sounded now as if he were speaking to himself.

"Do they miss us that much, Sir?"

"I think they liked it better when they could keep some sort of tabs on you." Voldemort chuckled, a sound that was like nails on a chalkboard to most. "I heard one rumor that you and your wife plan to rise against me."

Rodolphus' eyes widened in shock and fear. If the Dark Lord thought at all that any of his Death Eaters were going to rise against them, he would eliminate them. He had seen it happen. "Surely you do not believe these to be true, my Lord?" He asked, struggling to keep the fear out of his voice.

"No, Rodolphus, I do not believe you would do that." He breathed a sigh of relief. "Like I said, I just came to see how you were fairing. I must be off now." Without another word or gesture, Voldemort disapparated with a crack and Rodolphus was alone.

Turning around as the forest started to move again he made his way back home. Winding through the forest he came to the clearing where his house stood. More of a castle than a house he made his was up to it. When he walked inside he was greeted by the sound of pots rattling in the kitchen.

Making his way he found his wife sitting at the table, watching as the house elves cooked. She hadn't heard him come in, or if she did she made no indication that she had. Walking up behind her he placed a hand on her shoulder and watched as she jumped, "You scared me!" She accused as she stood up into his embrace.

"It wasn't my intention," he lied, smirking as he held her to his chest.

"Liar," she muttered and hit his arm softly.

He laughed again and pulled her away from the kitchen, fearing she would hurt one of the house elves, and he didn't really want to replace one of them any time soon. The little beasts were just to damn trouble.

"Where'd you go?" She asked him as they walked through the house.

"Out for a walk."

"Meet anything interesting?"

Not sure whether he wanted to tell her of his meeting with Voldemort he shrugged, "No more than usual." She looked up at him and frowned. She looked as if she was about to say something, but she shook the frown off her face and shrugged.

"You're in a good mood, Bella," he told her softly.

She shrugged again, "I feel good tonight." He knew this was good, and that she and her moods could change with a blink of an eye, and he was glad she was happy, a little at least.

They walked hand in hand, as if they had just been married, not wanting to loose contact with each other. Rodolphus looked down at Bella from beside her and saw how much better she looked. She hadn't had a relapse in several weeks, and it seemed that she had been getting better. Nothing had set her off lately, and he was hoping to keep it that way.

"What?" She asked him, startling him out of his thoughts.

"What?"

"You were staring," she told him, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh," he frowned, shook his head and then pulled her closer to him, nuzzling her hair, "Just thinking how beautiful you are." He told her sweetly, kissing her neck before pulling back.

They reached their bedroom and he pulled her inside. "It's late, you should get some rest," he told her, leading her towards the bed.

She pouted as he sat her down. She didn't let go of his hand; instead she pulled him down on top of her. "But I'm not tired." She told him, looking up into his eyes before closing them and bringing his head down to meet her lips.

He responded to her immediately, pushing her deeper into the mattress and deepening the kiss. One hand moved to the back of her neck as he repositioned them on the bed, so they weren't half hanging off it.

Breaking the kiss he looked down at her heavily breathing form, her dark eyes filled with desire, reaching over he blew out the candle that had served as their only light before going back to his lovely wife.

A while later Rodolphus lay sleeping with his arms wrapped around Bella's waist and his chest pressed to her back. The soft, yet steady, breath on her back told her that he was asleep without having to look at him.

In her mind she thinking over memories, her eyes had a very far away look, not that there was anyone to see her eyes.

Her hands were shaking lightly, as she recounted some of the time in Azkaban. The pain, tears and torture all came rushing back to her as she tried not to scream. Tears feel steadily down her face silently as she tried to not shake hard as to wake her husband. She wanted him to believe that this never happened. It would break his heart. He thought she was doing so well.

She moved out of her husbands grasp as she stood, pulling on a robe that lay on a chair near her. Walking to the door she opened it softly, not wanting to wake him up. She looked back at him, the moon shining on their bed, on his sleeping form. She shook her head sadly as she slipped out of the room into the dark halls.

She needed tea. Or so she told herself. She wanted to make it herself. The house elves slept in the cellar, none of them would be up right now it was well past midnight. And plus, making tea had always calmed her down.

She filled a pot left on the stove with water, before setting the stove on. Rummaging around her kitchen she did not notice that anyone had entered the room behind her.

It was not until she heard the floorboards creek did she turn around, and gasped. There before her, in a dark corner of her kitchen, stood Lord Voldemort. "M-My Lord," she started uneasily, afraid he might be offended or angry she had not noticed him. "I did not see you, Master."

"It's fine, Bellatrix," he assured her. His voice coming out as a hiss, quietly, almost soothing. "I saw Rodolphus earlier," he began, and watched, with slight amusement, as Bellatrix frowned. "I guess he didn't mention it." He told her coolly.

She shook her head, confused as to why he hadn't told her of this when she had asked him. When she didn't say anything he continued. "I was telling him that there was many rumors and fears about what you two were doing."

"But we are doing nothing, my Lord," she replied, obviously confused.

He chuckled and moved closer, before she knew it he was stand in front of her, hand on her neck. "My Lord?" Her asked, he had only once been this close to her; the day that he told her she was to be his Queen one day, as the only female Death Eater.

Her hands her clenched by her sides as she stood in the center on the circle. She could feel the eyes behind the masks burning into her flesh. She wasn't sure why she was here, why they were so silent, or where their Master was.

And then his was there. The crowd parted slowly and Lord Voldemort pushed his way through them. Coming to stand in front of her.

He stood close, a hand running down her cheek, she fought to keep her eyes open, and not melt into the touch. So soft, so much like her husband-to-be's loving caresses were like.

Rodolphus, he was here, in the circle, watching her. She wondered what he thought of her now. Soon her lord interrupted her thoughts. "Bellatrix Black."

His words burned into her mind. The hiss of them, the hidden meaning behind them. "You have come to me at last." He said, and she could feel his lips curving into a slight smile.

"My only female follower. You will serve me well won't you, my dear Bellatrix." Even though he could do anything he wanted with her. He still did not call her 'Bella'. He, somehow, understood that it was something that even he could not break into, her love for Rodolphus.

Suddenly his hands tightened on her neck, and she dug her fingernails into her palm. It was all she could do to keep from screaming. "One day, Bellatrix," he whispered into her ear, so no one else could hear, "You will be my queen." He told her, and she feared the evil gleam in his red eyes, knowing what he could do to her, if he wanted.

He straightened, his hand still on her neck, eyes searching out some defiance he knew she wanted to bring out, but wouldn't. Before releasing her neck he squeezed it once more and then backed away.

Much to her dismay she fell to her knees, gasping for breath. Dark blood fell from her hands onto the ground, wounds from when she had penetrated the skin to keep quiet.

Voldemort looked around the circle, his eyes settling on no one before the traveled back to Bellatrix, who was still on the ground.

"I will contact you all soon," he said in a soft voice that could have been an echo for what they heard. Before anyone could make a move Voldemort disapparated and they were left alone.

Voldemort saw a hint of fear in her eyes, as he knew she was recalling that night. "Dear Bellatrix, don't worry, I won't hurt you."

His hands tightened on her neck and try as she might, she couldn't get out of his grip. His hood fell back and she tried to scream as she saw the look in his eyes. "I won't hurt you," he repeated, sounding half crazed.

And then the darkness came.