All right, so this is the beginning of the end, my dear readers. I am going to try to take us right up to where J.K. Rowling starts her story of Bellatrix. Let me just say quickly: I don't own any of this stuff, and I will never claim to.
Chapter Ten
"Bellatrix, my dear, would you mind passing Regulus that dish?" Narcissa asked sweetly, but I could see through her thin veneer of civilization to her true irritation. I was clearly beginning to upset her.
"Of course, Cissy," I replied just as sweetly, picking up the dish and shoving it at my idiot cousin. Somehow he had worked his way into a position of some actual consequence. I could hardly stand the injustice of it.
"Thanks, Bella," Regulus said, oblivious to the fact that I was seconds away from preforming the Cruciatus on him and being done with it. Sitting directly across the table from me, was Severus, which certainly did not improve the situation any. Severus smirked slightly as my hand clenched marginally.
Rodolphus sat beside me, and he was speaking in extremely hushed tones with Lucius, ignoring everyone else at the table. I sneered at my plate, pushing my food around the plate, but not actually eating any of it.
"You know, Bella, if you aren't hungry, you do not have to remain at the table," Narcissa snapped suddenly, and I jerked my gaze to meet hers.
"I'm afraid I have to concur with Narcissa," Severus said lazily from across the table. I stared at him in disbelief for a moment, before shoving my chair over in my haste to stand.
"Fine!" I shouted, flinging my napkin on the table. "You always support each other, even when it's a mistake! Even when it might cause one of you to get hurt!" I shrieked, unaware that all other conversation at the table had come to a complete stop.
"Bella, please, try to contain yourself," Regulus said quietly.
"Don't you try to assert any authority over me!" I shouted, whirling on him. He grabbed my arm and literally dragged me from the room.
"This is ridiculous, Bellatrix," he snapped, still gripping my arm. "You need to stop behaving like a child, and respect your superiors. You should--"
"My superiors?" I hissed. "Has our Master told you about his horcruxes? Has he entrusted them to you for safe keeping?" I demanded in a frigid whisper.
Regulus stared at me in shock, anger, and...it almost looked like disappointment. Clearly he hadn't been told of that. I smiled smugly and nodded. I took a perverse pleasure in disillusioning him, and making him realize that he was not nearly as important as he thought he was.
"Yes, he gave me one of the horcruxes to conceal," I gloated. That wasn't entirely true, but I wasn't going to worry about a small fib told to the likes of Regulus.
"Where would you hide it?" he asked, staring at me. I lifted a brow and smiled sweetly.
"You don't really expect me to tell you that, do you, Regulus?" I asked sweetly, patting his cheek. He seemed to be thinking very quickly. I turned to walk away.
"I know where you hid it," he whispered suddenly. I whipped around to see him staring at me in surprise and disbelief. "I know exactly where you hid and how to get it."
I walked over and pulled out my wand. He eyed me nervously.
"Regulus, I'm going to say this once. If you tell anyone, or it you ever go near it, I will not hesitate to kill you," I whispered intensely, my face only inches from his. He nodded weakly. "And just to ensure that you don't get any ideas...Crucio."
The spell only lasted a few moments, but when I lifted it, Regulus stared up at me with anger ad hatred burning in his eyes. Something flashed across his features that I didn't really understand. I turned and strolled calmly back into the dining room, taking my seat at the table. Narcissa looked at me pointedly, but I said nothing and began to eat very calmly. Severus' eyes remained fixed on me for a few moments, and I had the uneasy feeling that he may have been using Legilimency on me, but I had never been told that he was a Legilimens, and I found that possibility somewhat unlikely.
"Where is Regulus?" Rodolphus asked me, setting his hand on my arm. I smiled a bright, fake smile.
"He needed a few moments on his own. Don't worry, he'll be back shortly," I replied, not really meeting his gaze. Rodolphus didn't seem to care or notice that I wasn't being entirely honest. He shrugged and returned to his own plate.
Narcissa stared at me for a moment or two, and sighed softly. I looked over at her with a wicked smile. She lifted her gaze to meet my face, and her eyes widened slightly.
"Bella, could I speak with you privately for a moment?" She asked, standing up.
"Cissy, I'm eating at the moment," I replied sweetly.
"Now," she said firmly, moving to the kitchen door and holding it open. I walked over into the kitchen and turned to meet her onslaught.
She closed the door quietly and took a slow, deep breath. I waited as she turned around.
"Bellatrix, can't you make it through one meal without doing something stupid?" Narcissa asked me in a strained voice.
"Probably not," I replied flippantly. "Cissy, you hate Regulus almost as much as I do," I said coldly. "Why do you even care?"
"Because he's trying to get out of the Death Eaters, Bellatrix!" She snarled. "He's here tonight because Lucius wants to persuade him to remain loyal!"
The blood drained from my face, and I grabbed the counter. I had just told a traitor about the location of a horcrux! Not only a traitor, one of the few people in the entire world who would know how to get to that same horcrux. I lifted one hand to my eyes, and took a slow, deep breath.
"REGULUS!" I screamed from the kitchen running out and through the dining room to the sitting room where I had left him. He wasn't there. I looked around frantically.
Severus appeared in the doorway, and looked at me carefully.
"Bella, whatever is the problem?" He asked calmly.
I rushed over and grabbed his hand.
"You have to come with me. You have to help me," I whispered desperately as I looked up into his eyes. "I need you."
He stared at me for a moment before nodding curtly. I held his hand tightly and apparated to the Black Manor, looking about the foyer. I raced up the stairs, Severus close behind me.
"Regulus!" I screamed, as I ran down the stairs toward the kitchen. He wasn't there.
Severus stood in the foyer, and he looked at me curiously, as I raced up to him. I grabbed his hand and glanced at the clock. It had been thirty minutes since I had last seen Regulus, and there was no way for me to know where he would go after having obtained the horcrux. I knew that he would probably die as a result of what he would have to do to obtain the object, but he would have time to get away. My best bet was to try to catch him as he left the cave.
I looked up at Severus, and he nodded his acquiescence. I apparated as close to the cave as I could, and ran toward the entrance. It took me only moments to gain entry and to find that Regulus was lying dead in the middle of the cave. I made my way to the small island that had been the home of the horcrux. I saw that there was nothing in the goblet except for a single, ordinary looking locket. I searched him quickly and found that Regulus had nothing of import on him.
"Severus," I whispered, staring at the locket. "That is not the locket that our master place here to be guarded."
Severus looked at me for a moment, and then down at the locket. He whispered a spell and the basin was suddenly filled with liquid and the locket disappeared from sight.
"Bella, Lucius has another horcrux. Who knows how many there truly are? We will take Regulus back and I will formulate some story as to why he is dead. Nobody need know that the locket hidden here is not the actual horcrux," Severus said quietly as he stared at me intently.
I nodded, and was shocked when he pulled me to him and kissed me warmly. He let me go and hefted Regulus' dead body to be carried out of the cave. I followed him, hoping against hope that we would be able to pull this off.
"Don't think that kiss back there changed anything, Bella," Severus said as we stood outside the cave in the cool night air. "I'm never going to do something like this for you again."
"But you would for Narcissa, wouldn't you? You'd do something even more dangerous and serious, right?" I asked quietly.
"Yes."
