Chapter 10

Danger.

It's never new, but this time, it was. Working against The Dark Lord is something not many Death Eaters get away with, Rodolphus and I were surprised we weren't found out and strung up by our long dark hair. My main concern was with Cassandra and how she may be treated if we were caught. If she would be killed, or if the Dark Lord would raise her as his own and train her just as he did me. Things change when you have a child, everything becomes about them. So for once in my life I was second guessing my motives in action, and was close to calling it quits, fleeing the country, and letting Harry and Voldemort battle for themselves.

But what kind of example would that leave for my daughter? To show her that her mother is a coward for leaving something she contributed to and letting it become such a giant mess?

We weren't sure if Harry and his friends chose to use the portkey, but we knew he would, not without a standing argument from his bushy haired girlfriend and freckle faced coward.

Later that night, we were called into another meeting. Perhaps the last meeting. Voldemort strode into the room, not bothering to wait for our respectful stance or bowed heads or for Pettigrew's cowardly opening. He hissed behind that hood of his, his pale face streaked with sweat, eyes narrowed into the slits that matched his nostrils. "So this is where we stand." He began, pulling at the ends of his robes, trying to contain himself. "We work for years on a perfect mission, on a perfect plan. All of my servants start out as passionately devoted into their work, what is that, a DISGUISE? Your devotion is the only way to blind me to let you in so you can turn everything upside down!" His fist slammed on the desk, but we stood still and quiet.
"Don't pretend you do not know who you are. There are two traitors in this room right now. I plan on finishing them just like I finished every last unworthy Death Eater who dare cross my boundaries and try to pull the hood over my eyes! Right now, we're in danger, curtesy of those two who stand next to your loyally folded hands and drawn hoods. Blame whoever you please, I'll handle them better than any of you could ever manage. I was given a message late a few nights back of those two in the Leaky Cauldron. Those two met up with none other than Harry Potter and gave him a PORTKEY! In which to find my home to finish me off! "

The Death Eaters who surrounded that table every night since the first hissed under their hoods. Rodolphus and I remained quiet, we tried not to draw attention to one another, and we hoped no one knew. No one knew, with the exclusion of Rabastan, that Rodolphus was alive, and Rodolphus' place next to me was the assumption of a new recruit.

"If you two thought you could get away with your betrayal, you have something else coming. In the meantime. My followers, my still devoted servants, those who will not turn to the otherside to clear some subconscious guilt you have, it is time. None of you will go home from this meeting spot, you will go down into the basement and prepare. BUT DO NOT TAKE THEIR SIZE FOR GRANTED! Harry will arrive with others, we cannot take any of this lightly. They're small, and I hate to admit it, but they're strong. " His gleaming eyes traced the room, he was nervous. I could tell. You would be nervous too if everything you worked for was about to be lost by the doing of a friend's betrayal and a seventeen year old boy.

We cleared out, I held onto Rodolphus' hand the whole time, our palms were wet and clammy, we knew of what was to happen, quite possibly it would have been our end too. We felt the Dark Lord's eyes on our backs, we knew he was watching. We knew that the Dark Lord knew Rodolphus was alive, and standing by my side. We knew that it was over.

At home, Rodolphus held onto Cassandra while he paced the living room. I sat back with a scotch spiked coffee and parchment prepared on the table infront of me. "What can we do now? We were seen exchanging that portkey, our letters could be intercepted at any time now." I chewed on my fingernail, sipping the warmth in my hand, watching the fire dance in a shadow against the paper and shined table. "Do you think he knows?"

"Damnit Rodolphus, of course he knows. You didn't feel those eyes piercing into the back of your head? He's going to do something, I know it. I stood up, grabbing Cassandra from him, she struggled and whined. She was a little bigger, able to walk and grab and eat. Children grow too fast. She pulled at my hair and wiggled her feet. I set her down and let her run over to the corner where her toys sat. Rodolphus sat next to me, looking outside then looking at the parchment. "You don't think he'd hurt Cassandra, do you?" He shook his head, holding me close, watching Cassandra play.

We held each other in the morning, only wondering what to do next in our mistake of helping Harry. Could we have put even our comrades. ourselves in danger? We looked over at our clock, it was odd to not hear Cassandra's morning screech to alert us of a fresh, warm diaper. Rodolphus got up, walking over to her room, running back and shaking me awake. "Bellatrix! Bellatrix! Cassandra is gone! He took her! He took our little girl!" I shot out of bed, running to her crib, seeing it torn up from it's blankets and toys from Rodolphus' scramble to find her. The only tell tale sign of him taking her was the small morsmordre like snake that slithered around the bars of the crib before vanishing. We weren't sure if she was dead, or alive. We knew one thing.

We had enough.