Bellatrix was increasingly busy as the summer dwindled away. Her schedule was packed, much to her delight. In the mornings, she trained with her nephew, Draco. He thankfully was getting the hang of everything his aunt was teaching him and they grew closer as their lessons continued. She had a soft spot for her nephew, he was a good kid, and he had the possibility to make them all very proud. Then in the evenings, she trained with Rodolphus, Rabastan, and a few other various death eaters. She loved training so regularly, it made her feel alive. She also loved having an excuse to curse people. It was all great fun but there was one thing missing from the rush of the past weeks; Voldemort.
She had not seen him since he showed up in her room but she knew that he must be busy. Their numbers were growing by the day, all over the country and he had to be working on plans for the Ministry. The last thing she heard, they had someone lined up to take over as Minister once they disposed of the current one. She hoped that the Dark Lord would trust her with such a task unless he wanted to do it himself. He seemed to be laying low, giving out more assignments to his followers. She should not be wondering what he was up to, just ready to do whatever he asked. She could not help but to wonder about him during her downtime. She could wonder about him all she wanted but it certainly was not going to change anything.
Just when she was wondering when she would see her master again she felt the familiar burn across her arm. A sick smile played across her lips and she quickly apparated to wherever her Lord was calling her to. She soon found herself in the formal dining room surrounded by her fellow death eaters. Finally a meeting, she did not like being in the dark about their plans. She quickly took her seat, at the right of the Dark Lord. She was so happy to see him again and she loved being by his side. It did not take long for everyone to arrive and take their seats around the table. The room was silent for a moment before her master finally spoke.
"My dear friends," he began slowly. "I am so pleased that you could all join me here tonight to discuss our upcoming plans. It has been two months since we last met and I need to make sure that everyone is on the same page moving forward. These next few months are going to be crucial. Our plans to take over Hogwarts will be set in motion at the start of term, but we still need to discuss who we will use as the new Minister of Magic." He looked around the room for a moment, waiting for someone to pipe up with a suggestion. "Well while you all think over that, I know who I cannot use. Our current head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement is Madam Amelia Bones and if the Minister resigns before we have more of a foothold in the ministry she will be the one to replace him. It would be most inconvenient if this were to happen." He paused once again before turning and looking directly at Bellatrix for the first time since she had arrived, "Bellatrix, you will take care of her for me."
She could not help but to grin, a little too excited for her own good, "It will be my pleasure, Lord."
He smiled at her, "I thought it would be. Your bloodlust is ever so inspiring." He then returned his attention back to the rest of the room, "We need to make sure whoever replaces Madam Bones after her death is someone we can use as Minister. Yaxley, who is in line to replace her?"
The whole room was now looking over to where Yaxley was seated. He was a rather unpleasant looking man, but she supposed that none of them were exactly pleasant looking anymore.
"I believe it will be Pius Thicknesse, my Lord."
Voldemort kept his eyes locked on Yaxley, "Will he be suitable as a new Minister?"
Yaxley nodded before speaking, "Yes, my Lord. He is quite a speaker, a true politician, my Lord."
The Dark Lord smiled wickedly, "Very good, you will need to place him under the imperius curse as soon as possible."
Yaxley bowed his head, "Yes, my Lord."
The Dark Lord's eyes moved back to the rest of the room "Very good, that is all for tonight. We will meet again soon." His words dismissed the group.
A few followers disapparated but most stayed to talk while they were all in the same place. Voldemort stayed for a moment to briefly speak to Snape before he too disapparated. Bellatrix stood and moved over to speak to Rodolphus and his brother.
"I will have you two begin surveillance on our little Miss Bones immediately. I would like to carry out the Dark Lord's wishes as soon as possible," she hissed as the two nodded before they too disapparated.
Rodolphus and his brother had always been very good at uncovering information on their targets. She then went over to where her sister was speaking to Severus. She personally did not care for the traitor, but clearly the Dark Lord did. She knew her sister was worried about Draco fulfilling his assignment and Severus was supposed to be helping him with it. She would have to make sure that he watched over her dear nephew.
"Severus," she hissed as she stood next to her sister, "You will be watching over our precious Draco while he works to fulfill the task the Dark Lord has given the two of you?" The Dark Lord trusted him, but she certainly did not. Especially when it came to her nephew.
Snape nodded, "Of course, Bella."
She moved closer to him, circling him like an animal circles its prey. "Swear to it," she hissed as she moved back to her sister's side, "Make the unbreakable vow."
Bellatrix smiled wickedly, her sister's eyes were wide clear shocked at what her sister was asking for. She cared a great deal for her sister and knew if anything happened to her son it would kill her. That and she had grown quite fond of her little nephew.
Snape's eyes moved to Bella, "Take out your wand," he spoke deliberately holding his arm out to Narcissa.
Bellatrix smiled wicked as her sister extended her arm to Snape. As Narcissa and Snape made their vow the red hot light wrapped around their hands. When it was done her wicked smiled remained, without saying another word she turned and skipped off to her room. Tomorrow was going to be a very busy day indeed.