The celebration lasted long into the night. Upon arriving back at Malfoy, Manor Bellatrix had insisted that they celebrate that evening's success. With no one willing to openly oppose her the Malfoy's kicked off the party with a toast to their son. After that, the night was a blur to Bellatrix who in her excitement drank the night away. There was no telling how late it was or even where she was when she was scooped up off the couch she had passed out on. Instinctually she wrapped her arms around whoever was holding her and buried her head into their chest. She was too intoxicated to care who it was, she knew she was safe here and even if she was not she was too drunk to do anything about it. Maybe letting herself get into such a state was a little too careless but there was nothing she could do about it now. She was carried through the manor, up the stairs and into her room where she was placed softly onto her bed. Only then did she open her dark eyes to see her master standing above her.
A rush of fear passed over her, "My Lord," she managed to mumble.
Her slurred words were met with a smile, "It's okay," he spoke softly pushing a strand of hair away from her face.
She smiled broadly and she curled up on the soft bed, the brief rush of fear completely gone. "Thank you, master," she beamed sweetly looking up at him; there was no hiding her affections in such a state.
"Someone has to look after you," he said matter-of-factly.
Usually, Rodolphus was the one keeping an eye on her, one of the only useful things he did as her husband. If she would not have had been so far gone she would have wondered what happened to him tonight. It was rare for her to be left lying around in such a state, it must have been one heck of a party.
The Dark Lord leaned down and whispered softly in her ear, "Good job tonight Bella. Without you, I doubt the mission would have been successful."
Her smile grew and her face blushed at her master's words, completely unable to hide her emotions. Before she had time to attempt to reply he spoke again.
"Now sleep my dear," before turning and heading for the door.
She looked after him longingly, even as drunk as she was she knew better than to ask for what she wanted. Somehow though she thought that maybe he already knew. He turned and looked back at her, her eyes longing for him to come back and to stay with her. The next thing she knew he was sitting beside her on the bed, looking down at her. Maybe she was in too sorry of a state to be left on her own, but maybe he wanted to stay with her. There was no telling at this point, and she really did not care either way. Eventually, she fell asleep under her master's watchful gaze, his hand running soothingly through her long hair.
She woke up sometime the next day, the sun streaming in through her window. She winced at the bright light, a throbbing pain in her head. She reached around aimlessly trying to find her wand, finally grabbing it off of the nightstand and using it to close the curtains over the window. Now with the light dim in the room, she looked around properly. She was alone in her room, which should not have seemed so shocking, and placed on the nightstand next to her were two small vials and a glass of water. She smiled as she reached for the vials, drinking them one after the other before drinking the glass of water. She laid back down, trying to remember as much as she could from the night before. There were very few memories coming back to her, and the ones that did she was not sure how real they were. A few minutes later her headache was gone and she slowly got out of bed and headed for the kitchen. She needed something to get the taste of fire whiskey out of her mouth and to soak up what was left in her stomach. She was thankful to not run into anyone on her way downstairs, she was not ready to deal with people. She really was not ready to deal with anything but allowed the house elves to fuss over her as she pulled up a chair to the kitchen counter. There was no way she was going to be able to eat a lot but she had to eat something.
After she managed to get something down she slipped off to her usual hiding spot in the library. She wanted to have her senses about her before she started trying to piece together last night's events. She stayed hidden away for some time, listening to the occasional person pass in front of the double doors. She was happy hidden away amongst the old books, alone with just her thoughts and a good book, even if she had read it a hundred times.
She eventually dozed off curled up in her high-backed chair, book in hand. There was no telling how long she had been asleep when she was suddenly woken by the sound of her name and a hand on her arm. She jumped up wand out and ready when she realized that it was only Rodolphus, who was now looking extremely pitiful.
"I'm sorry to have startled you," he stammered quickly. Bellatrix took a deep breath before lowering her wand and placing it back in her robes.
"What do you want?" she replied shortly glaring at him.
"I just came to see how you were doing after last night," he said meekly as she rolled her eyes and flopped back down into her chair.
"I'm fine, clearly," she said trying not to be as mad at him. She almost felt bad about how cruel she could be to him, almost.
Rodolphus took a seat next to her, "That's good," he nodded pausing for a little longer than he should, "Rabastan said he saw you get carried up to your room last night."
With his last statement, Bellatrix finally lost her temper, "So what!?" she screeched. "Did dear old Rabastan happen to tell you who it was who carried my sorry drunk self up to my room? It was the Dark Lord himself, looking after his most loyal servant. You are pathetic! I really do not like this jealous side of you, Rodolphus."
Bellatrix took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down before she really lost it on her pathetic 'husband'. Maybe she should just divorce him and put him out of his misery. It is not like they were going to reproduce and carry on their pure bloodlines like their families intended. If she did not leave now she might do something that she would almost regret, so without another word she stood up and stormed out of the room. Who the hell did that little prick think he was?! She was so angry she almost did not feel the burning across her left forearm. When it finally registered she pulled her sleeve up, looking at the burning dark mark on her arm, a wicked smile growing on her lips before she disapparated.
The next thing she knew she was standing the formal dining room which was quickly filling up with her fellow members of the Dark Lord's inner circle. She quickly took her place on the right-hand side of her master, looking around the room at the faces who were slowly taking their places around the table. Their numbers were certainly growing, there were many new faces sitting around the table than there had been back in August. She recognized most people from her various training groups but there were a few she had never laid her eyes upon. Her nephew Draco was smiling smugly next to her sister and Lucius, who also looked quite proud as he should be. Rodolphus was sitting across the table next to his brother who was giving Bella a dirty look. She just grinned wider, if Rabastan would have just kept his stupid mouth shut she would not have had to be so cruel to his brother. She was glad that she did not have to sit near him, after today's incident she wanted as little to do with the two of them as possible. Finally, the last of their inner circle had taken their seats around the large table and her master began the meeting.
"In the next few weeks the ministry will fall and when it does we will not only take control of the ministry but of Hogwarts as well. All of our plans for the ministry are lined up and ready to go. As for Hogwarts, Severus you will become headmaster and I will allow you to appoint teachers as you see fit. Except for muggle studies, which we shall be removing from the curriculum," he said laughing madly.
Bellatrix joined in with her maddening cackle with the rest of the room. She loved hearing her master laugh, who was she kidding, she loved everything about him.
"That is all for now, we will be seeing each other soon," her master's voice broke the laughter and he disapparated leaving his followers behind.
She hated the emptiness that lingered after her master would leave, but this was not the time to linger in his absence. While she was in a much better mood she was still in no mood to deal with her 'husband' and his brother. Before anyone had a chance to talk to her she disapparated. She needed dinner and rest, tomorrow was going to be a much more trying day. Life was finally getting more interesting.