Appearances. That was Bellatrix's life now. It was only a matter of time before she would no longer be able to hide the child growing inside of her. Until then, it was business as usual. During the day she was training their French team, in the evening's she was hidden away with her books, and at night she spent under the watchful eye of the dark lord himself.

Today, during some of her downtime she started to draft her letter to her sister. Bella had received permission to tell her sister of her pregnancy so her sister could prepare the manor for the birth. There was a lot she was not allowed to say, especially in writing, but at least she was allowed to tell her. That alone was a great relief to her.

'Dear Cissy,

I have settled into my position here in France. The LeStrange Estate is as beautiful as I remember from our childhood visit.

Speaking of children, the real reason that I am writing you…'

No, no, no, Bellatrix thought as she lit the piece of parchment on fire, watching it burn over her waste bin.

'My dearest Cissy,

I have exciting news! I'm pregnant!'

"Definitely not," her thoughts escaped her lips as she crumpled another piece of parchment before lighting it ablaze.

How do you tell your sister that you are pregnant when you have not seen your husband in ages and have it not be suspicious? After all of these years, after trying so hard as soon as she was married. How do you just casually write such mind-blowing news? Maybe there is no way to?

'Cissy,

Please come for a visit? I am missing you terribly. I have the weekend next free if you could manage it.

Love your sister,

Bella'

She took a deep breath, exhaling deliberately. This was going to have to do. There was no other way around it. It would be much better to tell her sister face to face. This way there would be no way for someone to intercept her letter. Her hands moved down to rest on her slowly growing baby bump.

"You are top secret," she whispered softly. She was already so in love with the baby growing inside of her.

Another deep breath and she was off to find an owl to take her letter to her sister. Her robes glided effortlessly behind her as she made her way through the giant estate. Of course, the owls were clear on the opposite end of the home. At least this gave her time for a leisurely stroll through the old home. It was true… the estate was as beautiful as when she had visited as a child. She had hardly remembered that visit until her return. Over the last two weeks, the memories seemed to flood her mind. All three of her sisters played carefree in the gardens, sneaking through the hallways, the first time she met Rodolphus. She had known as soon as they were introduced that she would be forced to marry him. Maybe things could have been different if she had not known from the start. It would not have mattered if they were different, her heart would have always belonged to her master in the end. From the moment she met him she knew that she would love him for the rest of her life. Now, not only did they each have a piece of each other's souls hidden in the rings on their right hands, but she was carrying his child inside of her. The ultimate piece of her master was growing in her. The literal perfect combination of the two of them. His only heir. She could have never imagined the life he had in store for her loyalty.

Bella stayed lost in her own mind as she wandered around the mansion. Having successfully sent her letter to her sister she took her time going back to her room. Not that she was paying attention to much of her surroundings, but it was a nice change of pace. While adjusting to her current situation she had not done much exploring. If she was going to fully explore the estate she figured the sooner she started the better. After all, soon she would not have the freedom to be so carefree. She wound through the hallways, peaking in open rooms as if she was a child again. It had to have been over 35 years since she and her sisters were here and her memory of their time here was foggy at best. Somewhere hidden in one of these rooms she knew there had to be a library, and she was eager to find it. She could only imagine the dark texts the LeStrange family had tucked away.

It took a little while, but she eventually found the library up a delicate spiral staircase. Tucked away in a corner of the mansion. The stairs leading to it were sure to get more difficult as her condition progressed. Which only fueled her need to explore it more. Her time was limited and she wanted to know all of the secrets that were hiding within the library's walls. Time flew as her fingers traced the spines of the books lining the walls. The library here dwarfed the one at Malfoy Manor. It was not long before she had a stack of books pulled onto one of the large desks, most of them were not in English but that had never stopped her before. Bella was content in her own little world until she felt the air suddenly shift.

"Enjoying yourself," his words hissed from behind her.

"Very much so, my lord," she cooed back at him as she turned to take in his figure.

"I see you have found yourself a bit of… light… reading."

"Just a few interesting titles hidden away up here," her excitement was bubbling just beneath the surface. Could he feel it?

"No doubt you will find a way to put everything you find up here to good use." He remained cool and collected as usual.

"Of course, my lord," she grinned broadly.

"I do have a new text for you that I just recently acquired if you could give it a precedence to your newfound reading list."

"It would be my pleasure, my lord. You always bring the most interesting books for me." It was taking every ounce of control for her to not rush to her master. Her need to touch him was growing as her excitement rose.

He must have sensed her longing because he took a very deliberate step nearer to her. Her heart skipped a beat.

"Bella, getting a little ahead of ourselves are we?" Normally, such a phrase would shoot her back to reality but there was a playfulness in his voice that only made her crave him more. It took all of her strength not to take a step closer to him.

"I don't know what you mean my lord," she was really pushing her limits today. There was something about him that was egging her on.

A wicked grin flashed across his face and she knew she had pushed back just enough to get exactly what she wanted. Or had she just fallen prey to another one of his brilliant plans to get her to do exactly what he wanted? Something seemed different tonight, but she could not put her finger on it. Maybe deep down she did not want to. Their relationship was such a balancing act to begin with. But maybe, just maybe she still had a little room to push. Before her master could make another move or speak another word she had her wand in hand, swiftly and silently locking the only entrance into the library.

"You know, my lord, this might be my favorite room on the entirety of the LeStrange Estate. So far." There was no going back now, she had fully committed to pushing her boundaries, just a little bit tonight.

"I can see why," he hissed as he finally approached Bellatrix. He was mere centimeters from her face when he pulled out his own wand, silently casting something out into the library. "I guess while we are at in we should ensure that no one can eavesdrop since you have already ensured that no one should be able to come in here."

After hovering so close to her he finally closed the gap, his lips hungrily finding hers. Bellatrix was growing braver in her current condition, and she almost thought that he might be enjoying it… or maybe she was just enjoying it enough for the both of them. Their times together had grown softer since finding out about her condition, but today felt more like it did before. It was wild and passionate, and maybe even a little frantic. By the time he was finished with her they had made a proper mess, there were books strewn across the floor and if he had not have cast a silencing spell the whole mansion would have heard them. The Dark Lord held her in his arms on the floor by the fireplace his hand cradled her belly where their unborn child was growing inside of her. He did this every time he had the chance, and it filled her with such warmth. His hands had never been warm until now.

"Bella, my dear, everything is about to change," her master hissed into her neck.

"Yes it is my lord," she cooed back to her love.

"The weeks are dwindling that we can conceal our secret. Plans need to be made when your sister arrives for our return to Malfoy Manor." His free hand was now gently stroking her arm, his other hand still firmly resting where their child was growing.

"You will return with me?" Her eyes darted up to his in shock. "What about all of our work here, my lord. Will you be able to step away long enough to accompany back?"

He grinned his twisted grin down to her as his hand moved up her arm and up to her chin, lifting her face nearer to him. "Nothing is more important than our child."

Her heart skipped beneath her chest as her master's lips once again found her own. His words echoed in her mind as she lost herself once again in his embrace.

"Now it is time for you to eat, you must keep your strength up," his words slipped from his lips as he pulled away from her. "I'll send your lunch up here for you so you can start on your new reading list." He kissed her forehead as he waved his wand, returning the books to where they had been carelessly tossed off of the desk.

They had only known of her pregnancy for two weeks, yet her master had changed so much in this time. What changes would the next 32 weeks bring, let alone after their child was finally in their arms? Would they have a boy or a girl? Would the child's gender sway her master's feelings? Regardless of gender, their child would be one of the most powerful children to have ever been born into their world. How lucky she was to be carrying the Dark Lord's child.

It did not take long for the Dark Lord to get dressed and disapparated, removing the spells that kept them safe. She quickly dressed and moved back to her stack of books, sorting them into an order to read through. The one her master brought would be the first thing she dove into today. She paused at the ancient cover, her finger tracing over the Latin words on the cover. "Potiones Amoris et Maledictas eorum Frangentes." What a strange subject. Why would her master give her a book on love potions and curse-breaking? It must be important, or he would not have asked her to study it. Flipping open the delicate pages, there was a handwritten inscription staring back at her. It looked as ancient as the text was. "Pro dilectione mea, quae amorem meum reddere non potest." It was a simple enough translation. "For my love, which cannot return my love." How very strange indeed.

Bella spent the rest of the day hidden away in the library, carefully translating the strangest text she had ever received. Both lunch and dinner were taken up in the library as she poured over the pages. There seemed to be a lot more to love potions than she had ever imagined. So much knowledge had been lost to time, recorded ever so carefully within the pages of this book. There seemed to be varying curses associated with a variety of love potions and breaking these cursed seemed almost impossible. Especially impossible were the ones associated with the children from a union of someone under the influence of a love potion. To be born never knowing love. How cruel could a parent be to knowingly risk such a curse on their child? As she had never heard of this maybe it was no longer common knowledge. Her hand subconsciously rested on her stomach as her mind was overcome with the tragedy of a child born without love. There had to be a way to save a child born this way, but how? It had to be here somewhere, hidden in the pages of Latin script. A spell? A potion? A plant? Something… anything? Then she spotted something, "Solus filius ex libera unione natus potest maledictum frangere eorum qui amare non possunt." The translation was a little strange, which was nothing new when translating Latin. "Only a child born from a free union can break the curse of those who cannot love." How very strange indeed. What in the world could her master want with this information?