Hello there! I want to remind you that none of our characters are immune from bad things and I will not give any of them concessions. Therefore, be prepared if something unpleasant is mentioned or happens to any of your favorites somewhere in the future.
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I hope you all enjoy reading
Chapter 3
Lord Voldemort approached Rodolphus with a victorious smile on his face. They were the same height and now stood face to face. Rodolphus did not dare to look away. He felt his thoughts ripped open by the will of the Dark Lord. An unpleasant chill ran down his spine. It took him an effort of will to direct the flow of disturbed memories in the right direction and drive all the most dangerous of them under his mental shields. Images of Hermione's torment filled his mind for the Dark Lord to see: her unsuccessful attempts to escape from him, heartbreaking screams, her limbs twitching, lips curved in pain, futile attempts to end her torment. Tears pouring from under her dark eyelashes. Bright blood on her thin skin with veins shining under it — blood from the wounds ripped open by her own nails. Her senseless death and horror in her frozen eyes. The Dark Lord's lipless mouth stretched out in a contented grin, teeth bared. Voldemort reveled in these visions. The Dark Lord enjoyed her torment. Red eyes with vertical pupils narrowed in an eerie semblance of joy. Rodolphus looked down, deep inside he thought of how right Hermione was about Voldemort's expectations.
Voldemort's hissing voice sounded low:
"Rodolphus, my most loyal and valuable follower. I know what you did for me here — in this room. And now I know what you did for me after. No one can compare with you after such a great benefit that you have brought me in this war. Now I have two most valuable followers. You and Severus. You are both my best people, and I will not leave you without a generous reward."
Rodolphus bowed his head "Thank you, my lord."
All this time Bella loomed on the periphery, but patiently waited. Now she hung on her husband's arm as if she wanted to touch his triumph and take a piece of glory for herself. He would gladly give it to her. He did not need such a triumph and such glory, not now that he knew the truth.
"My lord, you are so kind to us," she said gently.
Voldemort grinned.
"Your family is loyal to me and proved it more than once, but I have a question about your actions Bellatrix," Voldemort spoke calmly, but something in his tone was half a degree colder. From the sudden change of mood, she backed slightly, unconsciously hiding behind Rodolphus like a little girl.
"You said that the girl has not been in your Bank Vault. However, you understand that I cannot trust the confession of a Mudblood?"
Bellatrix dutifully agreed, "Yes, lord. I'll go to Gringotts and check it out now."
"We'll do it together: you, me and Rodolphus," Voldemort's tone didn't promise anything good. Bellatrix nodded, but didn't let go of Rodolphus's hand. However, she was not going to just give up and made a new attempt to delay the inevitable.
"Maybe you have a little rest, lord?" She suggested. "You are bleeding, Rodolphus could heal your wounds..."
Rodolphus had no intention of offering his help, unlike Bella. The Dark lord hated it when a wand was pointed at him, and therefore he would be in an even worse mood than before.
"This is a gift from your Metamorphmage niece. Not even worth my attention," Voldemort waved his wand, wiping off the traces of blood. His wounds, which were now better visible, turned out to be small scratches, as if many sharp fragments had hit him. Another movement of the wand and his wounds healed just enough not to bleed anymore, but the marks remained and looked unpleasant on his gray skin. "She took the guise of one of Yaxley's recruits to sneak in. I think she really wanted to kill me. Silly attempt. She has a huge belly in her true guise. It must be a werewolf's child."
Rodolphus almost rolled his eyes. Another crazy pregnant witch related to the Black family. Madness must have been inherited after all. He should have stayed away from the Blacks, not marry one of the members of this family.
"I want Rabastan to track her down and destroy her along with her offspring," Voldemort said.
"He will fulfill your order with great pleasure," Bellatrix assured in an attempt to convince either the Dark Lord either herself. She knew Rabastan well, perhaps even remembered what happened at the Longbottom house. Her grip became more and more uncomfortable. The further she plunged into her gloomy thoughts, the more she squeezed Rodolphus's hand.
Voldemort finished brushing the blood and dirt off his robes. "We're leaving now," he headed for the exit.
The witch trailed reluctantly, led by her husband. Rodolphus saw how frightened she was that something unsightly might be opened in their vault, as she was not sure that she could keep Voldemort's treasure entrusted to her. Bella's sharp nails dug into Rodolphus's arm. He gently freed himself from her painful grip, but did not let go of her hand. In this state she could stumble on the stairs or something like that. It is not her child's fault for being result of her betrayal.
In the distant past, on their wedding day, Bellatrix swore allegiance to Rodolphus. She was dazzlingly beautiful, he considered himself lucky, he thought that they would be happy together. But she broke her vow, and all loyalty and respect he had for his wife vanished the day she told him she was expecting a baby from Voldemort. If Rodolphus had ever had any feelings for her, then there was nothing left. According to the old law, he could kill her when she gives birth, only this will not solve his problems. He was stuck with her among the Death Eaters, unable to leave society while the Dark Lord lives. Without the opportunity to refuse marriage, because he had to pretend that it was his child. And he will continue to play a role that no longer suits him in order to destroy Voldemort.
Three unknown guys were sitting in the hall at the foot of the stairs. While their small procession descended, the youths hurried to their feet. They did not give the impression of serious strength. Potter and Weasley were younger than these three, but even in the Department of Mysteries two years ago, Gryffindor boys seemed much more serious opponents because they were confident and decisive.
"Useless bastards who can't even hold their wands correctly," Voldemort hissed. "And they were offered to me by Corban as the most promising future Death Eaters. You Rololphus will have to talk to him later."
Voldemort stopped in front of the young people, pointing at one of them, he said: "You will come with us."
A handsome young man approached and proudly walked after them. Bellatrix looked at him curiously, trying to understand for what purpose the Dark Lord called him. He was puny, his movements were angular, his expression good-natured.
They all apparated to Diagon Alley and walked down the empty street to the bank. Rare passers-by hurried away as soon as they saw them. Finally, they came to the stately Gringotts Bank. The wizard guards bowed to Voldemort without attempting to rummage him as was the custom of late. The goblins noticed them, but many continued their business, trying not to pay attention to the arrival of Voldemort. The clerk who hurried to meet them to bow obsequiously was an old wrinkled goblin with shrewd dark eyes. "How can I be useful, gentlemen?"
"We came to check the Lestrange family vault," the Dark Lord looked from his height at the tiny clerk, waving a spider-like hand at the couple.
"May I have a look at the wands of Mr. and Mrs. Lestrange?" asked goblin. Rodolphus and Bellatrix handed him their wands. Even for Voldemort's sake, the goblins had no intention of breaking the routine. Gringotts Bank had a responsibility to maintain its reputation as a safe place. Even when the Death Eaters took control of the wizarding world.
While the goblin was checking the wands, Voldemort asked, "Has your bank been robbed lately?" The goblin frowned and seemed to have a rough answer on his tongue, but he remembered in time who was in front of him. As a result, he gloomily replied: "The last robbery happened here in 1991. But that time, the culprit could not bear anything. The cell was empty when the robber arrived." Voldemort was pleased with the answer.
Another goblin younger than the first led them all down a narrow aisle to the cart, where they huddled in twos: Voldemort in front with the goblin beside him, Bellatrix next to Rodolphus, and yong man behind. Bellatrix closed her eyes and grabbed onto Rodolphus again as they dashed downward at great speed. At some point on a way, they were all doused with a stream of water from a protective waterfall. The goblins called this thing The Thief's Downfall. The water turned out to be icy and none of them was happy about this. When they made it all the way to the Lestrange vault, Rodolphus helped his wife out of the cart and she staggered on unsteady legs and leaned against the wall, panting.
The goblin accompanying them carried a sack containing a clankers to scare away a blind dragon. Rodolphus smiled involuntarily. This point always left his little brother resentful. Rabastan's personal vault was located opposite the Rodolphus' family vault, and every time Rabastan needed to go down for something, it became torment for him. Younger Lestrange loved animals, but had to put up with this circumstance. When he grew up enough, he asked to allocate another vault for him, so that he would never see the unfortunate creature again. Bellatrix laughed for a long time at the sixteen-year-old boy and promised to give him a vault closer to the first floor, so that it would be easier to get there. In her opinion, this was ridiculous, because the topmost vaults usually belonged to either the poorest families or mudbloods who had never used Gringotts services before. Rodolphus just did everything as his brother asked. He now had his vault a couple of levels higher. Rabastan's former vault in the dungeon was converted for the future Rodolphus' heir. Rodolphus transferred some family values and relics from his main vault and put gold and jewelry there for his unborn child. The child that he will never have as he realized.
They entered the main vault. The yong man next to Rodolphus sighed with admiration, looking with all his eyes at the riches of an ancient magical pureblood family. The vault was filled with mountains of gold and jewelry; ancient artifacts, skins of rare animals and priceless magical ingredients were kept here. Bellatrix snorted contemptuously, as she already recovered from her nausea.
Rodolphus wanted to ask guy's name, but his attention was distracted by Lord Voldemort, who approached the pedestal with a golden cup on it. Rodolphus had never seen this cup among his treasures before. But this was not the only thing that kept his attention. As soon as Voldemort approached the cup, the air in the vault thickened, the space seemed to be distorted in places. There was a monstrous concentration of magical power around. The Dark lord passed a long knotted hand over the cup, covering his red eyes and smiled with satisfaction. So this is Helga Hufflepuff's cup.
Bellatrix found herself at the other end of the vault, where the sword lay. "Look, here is the sword of Godric Gryffindor! Mudblood told the truth," she breathed happily. "The Mudblood's sword was indeed a fake."
"And where is the fake sword now?" Rodolphus asked.
Bellatrix smiled absentmindedly, "I hid it among my things and forgot to bring it. But since it is a fake then it can be thrown away." Rodolphus nodded; he knew that sword was not a fake. He could not tell how he knew this, the memory still refused to throw the necessary memory.
Meanwhile, the Dark lord was looking around the Vault appraisingly. It was a possessive look. The impression was that he considered everything around his property.
"Nothing is missing!" Bellatrix said cheerfully. "We can go back."
"Take your time, Bella, there is one more thing to do. There is so much magic here; it should have been put to work, not allowed to lay," Voldemort said, "My boy, come here, I need your assistance."
The young man obediently approached. Rodolphus suddenly realized what was about to happen, so he grabbed Bellatrix by the arm and dragged her toward the exit, she shouldn't have been around such strong magic. She gasped: "Let me go, it hurts!"
"Bella, you better not be there." he hissed.
"What's happening?" She looked at him worriedly. Rodolphus said nothing. No sounds came from the vault, only a bright light illuminated the space around for a few moments. He and Bella both sensed something. And both were shocked at how they felt. They literally felt that something had happened to their property, it was a strange magical effect, apparently the Vault was so enchanted that they felt it as if they had just been robbed and all supplies had been emptied. Bellatrix frowned, staring at him with displeasure as if it was his fault, "Rodolphus, what happened?"
"I don't know, the Dark Lord is just…" He couldn't find the right words. Voldemort corrupted his vault. Turned it into something disgusting. Every thing radiated dark energy and anyone could feel it. Bellatrix didn't move. Rodolphus felt despair overwhelm him. Just an hour ago, it seemed to him that the Horcrux was in his pocket and it would not be difficult to take it out of his own vault. Now things have gotten more complicated. The Dark lord created a very dark defense for his Horcrux and made a human sacrifice while he used the treasures of the Lestrange family. Everything that Rodolphus' ancestors have saved for centuries.
The goblin outside who was waiting pretended not to notice, but if the goblins seemed eternally unhappy with what was happening, then it was a shame to look at it, he was clearly paler than usual, sweating and breathing heavily. His clawed hands clenched and unclenched and trembled finely.
Soon, the Dark Lord appeared alone. He waved his hand allowing to close the Vault. Bella was silent as she watched the metal door close slowly and silently. The vault contained her favorite jewelry, which she loved to wear even before Azkaban. Now all this was cursed and inaccessible. Rodolphus felt it was almost the same as if it had lost all value.
"Now no one will steal nothing from your Vault. And if someone wants to rob you, they will regret it" explained Voldemort with a cold grin.
Bella opened her mouth to ask something, but immediately closed it, deciding it wasn't worth it.
They walked back in gloomy silence. As soon as they left the door of Gringotts, Voldemort disappeared without warning, leaving Lestranges to deal with each other.
"What does all of this mean?" The witch asked pitifully.
Rodolphus answered trying hard not to swear: "This means that you and I have nothing else. If we want to take something from our vault the Dark lord's curse will fall on us."
Bellatrix sighed. "Okay. So be it. Since the cup and the sword are so precious-"
"What could be so precious that our family legacy is now cursed?" he interrupted.
"I don't know," she stamped her foot angrily. "What do you want from me? Do you feel sorry for gold or something else? I didn't care about your family legacy." With these words, she disappeared.
Rodolphus clenched his fists, the Dark Lord dared to trample on the honor of his family, and now he ruined what was left of Rodolphus's ancestors and used the magic of the family vault to save his disgusting Horcrux. Here is another insult to the Lestrange family from Voldemort. This time he crossed the line. Rodolphus Apparated to his home. He urgently needed to tell Hermione everything.
When he returned, the evening had already turned into an early night. The March spring air was still cool. The house was dark and seemed deserted. For a moment it seemed to Rodolphus that Hermione ran away, deciding that she should no longer trust him, but that would be stupid after she gave him the most important of the Dark Lord's secrets. Plus, how far could she go without her wand.
He entered the house and followed into the living room, where he had left her earlier. He waved his wand to light the candles and the fireplace. As he thought she was asleep on the couch, without moving from the spot after his departure. Most likely she fell asleep immediately. There was still clotted blood and dirt on her skin. She curled up into a ball and snored softly. She pressed the beaded handbag to her chest, not parting with her precious burden for a second, as if ready at any moment to jump off the couch and start running. Rodolphus didn't wake her, only transformed the blanket from one of the sofa cushions. She needed rest, a warm bed, a bath, hot food, and in the end a little respite in an endless kaleidoscope of wanderings in godforsaken places. She was too exhausted, emaciated, faded. Her face did not look peaceful and calm, on the contrary, it was gloomy even in a dream. She must not have dreamed of anything good, her eyes were spinning rapidly under her drooping lids. Eyes in which a lively clear mind was reflected, as before.
He suddenly clearly remembered the moment when he made the most difficult decision of his life. He was raised as a pureblood wizard. He lived all his life with the confidence that his bloodline status bears witness to him better than others. It had been too long until he realized that his life did not match his status. He stayed in prison for fourteen years as a convicted felon. The leader he followed had betrayed his trust: dragged his wife to bed, made her pregnant. This was the first attempt by the Dark Lord to have a child. Rodolphus was powerless to influence this situation. Bellatrix intended to hide the pregnancy from everyone, even from the inner circle of Death Eaters, but not from her husband. If suddenly everyone finds out this news, then Rodolphus was obliged to convince everyone that this is his child. The truth would put the Dark Lord's heir to danger from his enemies. Rodolphus had no choice but to agree or die. It was then that something in him broke. Deep in his soul, he always hoped that he would have the right pureblood family, that he would have children of his own, but Bellatrix destroyed that hope once and for all. He couldn't forgive her. Then he realized that he must free himself from this trap. Even if he again finds himself in Azkaban, he will not calmly watch as the honor of his family is being trampled on. When this is over, perhaps his name will be rehabilitated at least partially, as he hoped. He made the decision to prevent Voldemort from gaining power. His only hope then was Harry Potter.
Rodolphus did not think long. He had a plan to win the trust of the Gryffindor: he took Godric's sword from his family vault. He didn't remember this moment very well, but apparently he created a copy of the sword that day and left it in storage so as not to arouse suspicion. Now he understood why today in the vault he had confidence in which sword is a real, and which is a fake. He decided to give Potter the sword because it was the only thing he could offer him.
He was looking for a meeting for a long time, since last summer he didn't stop searching and waited for an opportunity. He often kept watch at Grimmauld Place 12, hoping to catch the boy when he tried to leave the house. But one not the most beautiful day in early September, Yaxley appeared almost out of nowhere instead of Potter. Rodolphus went up to him.
"This mudblood insane. If I catch her, I will tear off her arms and legs," the furious Corban muttered. Rodolphus did not laugh at him openly, although he really wanted to. He had never seen the neat and pedantic Corban in such a shabby state: hair sticking out in all directions, a fresh bruise poured on his eye, one sleeve of his robe was almost torn off.
"Well, where did they go now?" Rodolphus asked without much hope. Yaxley rolled his eyes "How should I know, but they certainly won't reappear here."
Yaxley had to go to the Dark Lord to report his failure and receive punishment. Rodolphus went to home. Now the three Gryffindors were missing and he had no idea where to find them. Nevertheless, he continued to search. He tried to appear first at any mention of the Dark Lord's name. He interfered with his comrades, without arousing suspicion, he confused their tracks and sent them in false directions. But he himself could not find Potter and his friends.
While he was in search of Potter, Bellatrix suffered a miscarriage in September, four months pregnant, and the reason was still a mystery to him. She was hiding something. Having lost her child, she hardly spoke to anyone. But the Dark Lord did not intend to abandon his plan. Bellatrix tried to get pregnant again and drank many potions to improve her chances.
Several months passed, Rodolphus was almost desperate to find Potter, until one day in November he stumbled upon Ronald Weasley, surrounded by snatchers.
"So what is your name, redhead?"
The young man rolled his eyes and answered "My name is Stan. How many times to repeat?" A year and a half had passed since the battle in the Department of Mysteries, the young man became taller and wider in the shoulders, but it was impossible not to recognize him. He was Ronald Weasley.
"Repeat as much as it takes, redhead. Name?!" snatcher grumbled.
"Stanly Shunpike. S. H. U. N. P. i. K. E. Staaan-Shuuun-piike," he repeated the syllables, stretching out each syllable so that it would have already reached the snatcher's mind. Bored, he explained to the snatchers that his name was Stan Shunpike. The snatchers, not the smartest rabble, looked for that name on the list.
Rodolphus folded his arms over his chest, waiting to assess the situation. Ron Weasley was alone, with no sign of his friends anywhere. It is possible that they split up. Perhaps the boy could take him to Potter. But first it was necessary to get rid of the snatchers and talk to him face to face.
"Stan, there you are!" Rodolphus came out of his hiding place.
Ronald's face instantly turned pale, he also quickly recognized Rodolphus. Until now the redhead has shown his relaxed self-confidence in all his appearance, and now he has noticeably crept up, preparing for a decisive dash. Rodolphus grinned and shook his head, hinting that he shouldn't make sudden movements. Rodolphus had a magic wand with him, unlike Ron. And the young man's wand was taken by the snatcher, so he still could not run far.
"And who are you? Are the Ministry authorities looking for you too? Name!" all the same guy insolently asked. Obviously he never looked into the leaflets about the wanted Death Eaters, which not so long ago decorated all the pillars in Diagon Alley. His assistant, apparently a little more knowledgeable, was fiddling with the sleeve of the first one, trying to attract attention and looking warily at Rodolphus.
"Rodolphus Lestrange," the Death Eater said with pleasure. The snatcher's face stretched out as he dropped the long scroll from his suddenly weakened hands. He hastily picked up his burden, shaking off the dirt. "So what? Is my name there?"
"No- no, of course not, Mr. Lestrange?" the snatcher began to stutter. And Ronald Weasley had already quietly taken a few steps back.
"Stan, we need to talk," Rodolphus said decisively, stepping toward the redhead boy. "They took your wand? Which one of them?"
Ron looked at him with pursed lips, nodules played on his face, he did not understand what was happening and that was why he was angry. One of the snatchers rummaged in his pocket and pulled out few wands.
"We'll return it, Mr. Lestrange, here! Here is his wand, you can take it.
Rodolphus did not budge, shaking his head to Ron to take his own wand. He calmly watched as Ron hesitated for a moment, then grabbed his weapon and squeezed it so hard that his knuckles turned white. The snatchers hurried away, the anti-apparation charm still hasn't dissipated. Both magicians stood opposite each other, not paying attention to anything else. The slight battle of views lasted for a few more moments.
"What does all of this mean?" Ron asked menacingly, aiming his wand at his opponent. Rodolphus raised his empty hands to show that he had no intention of attacking. "I need your help, Ronald Weasley," he said quietly.
At first, the boy took him with hostility and tried endlessly to sneak away, but Rodolphus was still able to talk to him after he disarmed him and tied him up. The Weasley lay on the damp ground tied hand and foot, and yet he did not give up, "You're just trying to creep into my trust to get to Harry. I won't let you!"
Rodolphus rubbed the bridge of his nose wearily, his head ached and impatience began to boil in him. He knew it would be difficult to talk with Gryffindor because of his reputation, but he could not imagine how much. The Gryffindor's stubbornness could only be envied. Not that Weasley was as stupid as Snape said he was, not at all. The boy was very quick-witted and resourceful, but he got the idea into his head that Rodolphus could not change because he is just the Death Eater. As if Rodolphus was not human. "Salazar, help me. What the hell am I doing here with this boy?"
"Then don't torture yourself, Lestrange. Let's get this over with, I'm tired of you." redhead snapped, he was still crawling on the ground trying to move away from Death Eater.
"Listen, I have something your friend needs," Rodolphus growled and drew the sword from the secret pocket of his robes. Weasley froze for a second, looking at the sword. "What is this knife? Why would someone need it? You are confusing something. I have no idea what my friend needed it for," Weasley stubbornly resisted again, not wanting to acknowledge the house relic.
"Stop pretending to be an idiot! This is the sword of Godric Gryffindor!" Rodolphus hissed, completely discouraged by the redhead's behavior. He had never met anyone so intractable. Subsequently, Ron was slightly ousted by an even more stubborn and principled Potter, but at that moment Ron occupied a leading position on the pedestal of stubbornness. Weasley puffed, trying to free himself from the ropes without success. Rodolphus said "I made the snatchers return your wand."
Ronald was genuinely indignant: "Then you took it from me!"
"Just because you didn't want to listen to me… Listen, I'll give you your wand back and I'll give you Gryffindor's sword if it will convince you of my best intentions."
The Weasley grabbed onto it. As a result, Rodolphus had to give him the sword, only after that Ron agreed with his arguments. But in addition, he took an oath from the Death Eater. Now that the boy was dead, the oath was no longer valid, but Rodolphus was not going to break it, if only out of respect for his stubbornness.
Ron, after their conversation, went to his brother. Rodolphus and he agreed on a method of communication and parted. For some time after the first meeting, Rodolphus felt deceived, because he gave Ron the sword, but didn't take anything in return . His doubts disappeared only when the Gryffindor honorably kept his word and they met again on neutral territory to discuss a further plan of action. Ronald didn't know how to get back to his friends, it turned out that he left them after an emotional breakdown, but he also looked for a way back.
Rodolphus shared some information. He also talked about the Taboo on Voldemort's name. This information confirmed the redhead's fears. "I knew that something was wrong with his name! And Hermione didn't believe me," Ron exclaimed contritely. After that, they saw each other a couple of times but did not get far.
In one of the next meetings, they were again sitting opposite each other in some abandoned house and discussing how they would find his friends, when a muffled sound was heard from Ron's pocket, as if a voice coming from a radio. The redhead pulled out a deluminator in surprise. He flipped a switch and a light appeared in front of them. Without saying a word, they stepped into the light.
They apparated and found themselves in a snowy forest, it was dark and cold around. But Ron was sure that his friends were somewhere nearby. He ran around, calling them by their names. His friends got a knack for hiding and were in no hurry to show up, if they were there at all. Rodolphus was beginning to lose patience. He was decidedly unlucky. He had already decided that he was wrong again when Harry Potter showed up. Squinting short-sightedly he asked: "Ron? Who is it with you?"
The Weasley waved his hand uncertainly, "This is Rodolphus Lestrange. He's on our side, Harry."
Needless to say, Potter didn't believe it. Rodolphus allowed himself to be disarmed by bushy-haired girl who crept up from the opposite side. To his surprise, this girl that was soft in appearance did the same with Ron much roughly. Weasley somehow seemed pleased with her actions. And then they both were tied up. Followed conversation was long and difficult, and more like an interrogation. The two decided that Ron was either under the Imperius or had betrayed them. The girl tried several times to take off the non-existent imperius, but Ron's behavior did not change. Earlier when Rodolphus tried to convince Ron at times he did not know whether to laugh or cry. But with these two, communication took place in a darker and more serious atmosphere. He was no longer in the mood for jokes.
"In general, you, Ron, are trying to convince me that one of the most fanatical Death Eaters suddenly decided to get over to our side?" Potter asked sarcastically.
"He gave me the sword, Harry!"
"This is probably some kind of trick, but you naively believed it," Potter continued, pacing the tent like a tiger forced to sit in a cage. The guy was on edge and apparently really needed some kind of active action, and now he got what he needed. He radiated grim enthusiasm. It was obvious that the young man was tired of inaction and wandering, now he was breaking away as best he could. The girl, on the other hand, hardly dropped a couple of words for the whole time and did not make a single unnecessary movement. Letting Potter lead the interrogation, she stood to the side. Her attentive eyes noticed the slightest movement of the prisoners, she analyzed every little thing.
"It's true. I have already betrayed the Dark Lord by stealing the sword. If he finds out about it, I will not live. I can no longer serve the Dark Lord for a second." Rodolphus did not give details. He had more than enough reasons. He truly believed that he had laid his life on the altar of a false leader who had no regard for his followers. Voldemort did not care about anyone except himself, and Rodolphus was tired of fulfilling someone else's will and turning a blind eye to his own desires.
"He could have killed me a thousand times already," Ron explained patiently. "And there's a Taboo on You-Know-Who's name. If he wanted to, he would have already broken the Taboo and we would have already been captured." The teenagers looked at each other. The case was slowly moving in the right direction, but Harry had not yet satisfied the need for action and for several more hours tortured his friend and the Death Eater with tedious interrogation.
In the end, Ron managed to convince his friends to believe Rodolphus. They agreed to give him a chance with a squeak. Godric's sword really turned out to be a powerful argument in his favor. They finally agreed among themselves and released the captives. Ron asked Harry and Hermione to listen to their new ally and accept his all possible help. "How can you help us?" Hermione spoke up in the end, "What else can you offer us besides the sword?"
"What do you need?" He asked in turn.
It turned out that Harry and Hermione were desperate. They just visited Godric's Hollow and were attacked by Nagini. Harry broke his wand. And they were also terribly hungry.
Ron stayed with his friends. The redhead became the link between his friends and Lestrange. It was he who first believed in the sincerity of Rodolphus, and therefore now it was his area of responsibility. Rodolphus went to fulfill the requirements. He got out a pair of wands for them. Rodolphus warned them about possible dangers, about the number of snatchers, about Death Eaters prowling all over Britain. A couple of times he took the danger away from them. The Golden Trio was constantly changing their location. Rodolphus gave them food and things they needed. Ronald pounced on delicacies and sweets with pleasure. Hermione constantly scolded him for filling his mouth to capacity at the sight of food, but she herself also enjoyed the food. It was all even funny. Rodolphus was beginning to become attached to the them.
The strong bond of these three also played a big role in this. In some ways, this connection reminded Rodolphus of his connection with Rabastan. The brothers were each other's best friends. Rabastan was ready to stand up for his brother like a mountain, and Rodolphus was ready to do the same for him.
Harry and Hermione were wary of him anyway. Harry was almost always serious and his mood could range from just calm fatigue to gloomy pessimism. He had a secret that pressed on all three. Rodolphus did not know how Potter intended to win this war, but they assured him that they had a plan. They didn't tell him about the details, only admitted that they really needed the sword of Gryffindor.
In late January, Bellatrix became pregnant again months after her first miscarriage. During this time, Rodolphus saw her only a few times. If the first pregnancy went as expected and only in the fourth month she had a miscarriage, then this pregnancy was initially a cause for concern. Rodolphus did not say anything about this to Golden Trio, it was none of their business, and besides, they had other concerns.
So three months passed until Hermione announced that she had to speak to Xenophilius Lovegood. Rodolphus had warned them that Lovegood's daughter had been kidnapped, but they took the risk anyway. They escaped from Lovegood's house, but almost immediately after that they were caught and brought to Malfoy Manor. Rodolphus could not save them.
And now there are only two of them left. He and Hermione.
Wanderings affected her condition. She was exhausted despite all his support that what he was doing was not enough. Rodolphus hoped the cardiac arrest spell would not affect her health because she was at risk. In moments of exhaustion body's resistance decreased. But now he could only scan her health and observe the changes.
He decided that nothing bad would happen if he healed the scratches while she slept. She may not even feel anything. Only the warmth that has always accompanied healing spells. He knelt down in front of the couch and pulled out his wand. It shouldn't have taken more than a few minutes. Maybe he should have done it right away, rather than leaving her like this. He got down to business.
"You're a mediwizard," came Hermione's quiet voice two minutes later. Her eyes were open, she watched him.
"Yes, I worked in st. Mungo for several years, even before I married Bellatrix."
"Just a few years?" She sat up, tucking her legs under her. She clearly felt discomfort.
"I had to maintain the status of my family. It is not appropriate for a representative of an ancient pureblood family to earn extra money in a hospital."
Hermione smoothed the folds in the blanket. "In books on applied medi-medicine they write that the main quality that every healer possesses is the ability to empathize. It's true?"
He nodded "Complex magic doesn't work at all without the right intention. No healing spell will cure without the magician's ability to empathize with the patient."
From childhood he wanted to become a healer, he was preparing to become a great mediwizard. He studied tons of literature, trained on Rabastan, an avid lover of traumatic adventures, and his adopted animals, which the boy dragged home. Rodolphus has learned the most difficult high-level spells. He was able to correct hopeless cases. He was highly regarded at St. Mungo's Hospital. He could empathize, he could save, and he could give strong healing. But years of service to the Dark Lord revealed aspects of him that he did not suspect. Something dark, dangerous and greedy always lived in his soul. He could be cold-blooded, he could bring death, he could destroy. One seemed to contradict the other, but somehow coexisted in him. It seemed that it was this inconsistency that worried Hermione.
He finished, satisfied that there were no scars or wounds on her. Now she needs strengthening potions. Suddenly his gaze fell on the sleeve of her jacket, soaked in blood, he remembered that she had another last wound. He took her slender hand, lifted her sleeve. She frowned.
"It hurts a lot and the blood doesn't stop. Was the blade poisoned?"
"Yes," he said. The edges of the wound darkened.
By the time he finished treating the cut, she was almost falling asleep, and he accompanied her to the guest bedroom, giving her dreamless sleep and restorative potions. And then he went to his room. He had his wounds too, which should have already been given attention. For example, his burn and concussion from a fall. He was so tired that he decided to leave the check for the morning, and now he just drank the potion for concussion. He then untied the Muggle bandage around his wrist to assess the condition of the burn. Thanks to Hermione's ointment, the wound did not hurt much, but it was better to simply remove the burn with a spell. He took the wand in his left hand, he was right-handed and not used to using his left hand. And he was not Dolohov, who was so obsessed with honing magic skills that he trained both hands. Rodolphus grabbed the wand tighter and began to cast. The skin regenerated more slowly than if he had used his dominant hand. The skin was flattened and pinked inch by inch. And he was almost done when he saw a thin open wound in the skin that did not heal in any way. It was strange. This wound was so even that it looked more like a cut than a burn residue. No spells helped Rodolphus to heal it. He was puzzled, not having the slightest idea how it happened that under the burn he had a cut so similar to the wound from Bellatrix's knife.
He certainly didn't remember how he got burned or how he cut himself. Looks like he shouldn't have neglected the brain test. He may need longer treatment if the memory lapses persist. He felt himself slumberous. The concussion potion had its side effects, such as overwhelming drowsiness. With a sigh, he repeated the same steps that he had used on Hermione's hand: he treated wound with a potion against infection, applied a light freezing charm to stop the bleeding,, rubbed in a thin layer of ointment and conjured a fresh bandage. Then he decided to go to bed and deal with everything in the morning.