Uploading this after a very sleep deprived day, waking up at 4:30 so I could watch the Game of Thrones finale before work, save me haha
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Bella
Bellatrix stood in front of her mirror, hissing as she gently touched the quickly forming bruise on her cheek. She sighed, walking to her draws and rummaging through until she found the bruise removal paste. She froze as she heard the door open, listening to the footsteps for a moment before she rolled her eyes.
"I'm not in the mood, Rodolphus," Bellatrix hissed.
"That's nice to hear," Rodolphus said mockingly, "truthfully I was hoping you weren't here."
"This is my room as well," Bellatrix said, "don't you have a whores bed to crawl into?"
"You would know a lot about being a whore, wouldn't you Bellatrix," Rodolphus mused.
Bellatrix turned to glare at the man "You dare—What on earth is so funny?" Bellatrix spat.
Rodolphus shook his head, eventually stopping his laughter as he gestured to his wife's face, "Did he hit you, hmm?"
"That is none of your business," Bellatrix growled, storming back over to her mirror and opening the tub of paste, "but it's as lovely as ever to see your care and concern for me, Rodolphus."
"Why should I care about the woman who let my daughter get tortured?" Rodolphus raised an eyebrow at the woman.
"Still sore about that little incident? Your daughter did that to herself," Bellatrix said, glaring at the man in the mirror, "she attacked my—"
"You know she didn't attack Delphini!" Rodolphus suddenly yelled, "You know that it was just an accident, something entirely acceptable when you do not leave your little wand collection properly protected. Though, it's my understanding that the only person with blood close enough to your own to open that little chest would be your daughter, no?"
"Delphi wasn't the one holding the wand," Bellatrix said.
"No, she gave it to Elara," Rodolphus said, "nothing would have happened if Delphi hadn't gotten that wand—you know Elara didn't want to play like that, she is a good child and knows better. Yet you found it acceptable in your twisted little mind to set The Dark Lord on my child and set the healers upon Nymphadora."
Bellatrix laughed, turning to face the man with a wicked smirk, "Do you care for Nymphadora now?"
"No," Rodolphus glared, "I care for the fact that you have made sure of the fact that I will never have children, for good this time. It wasn't enough that you wouldn't fulfil your duties as my wife, you had to make sure I could not get that anywhere."
"Just be glad we didn't have you neutered like a mutt on the street," Bellatrix sneered, she didn't expect it as her husband stormed over to her and grabbed her by the throat, she let out a cry of pain that caused the man to frown slightly. She hissed as he moved his grip to her arm just in time to stop her from pushing him away. With a curious look, he pulled down the high neckline of his wife's dress. Her face didn't carry the only bruise on her body.
"Cruciatus not enough for him anymore?" Rodolphus mused as the woman glared furiously at him.
"I can withstand it," Bellatrix spoke through gritted teeth, pulling her arm away from the man and taking a few steps away from him.
"Care to tell me what you did to deserve that?" Rodolphus enquired with an undertone of amusement.
"No," Bellatrix hissed, "you don't care."
"I did . . ." Rodolphus shrugged, "though you are not a very easy person to care for, Bellatrix."
Bellatrix sneered at the man, "Leave me alone, I care not for your games tonight, Lestrange."
"Shame, I thought you were a great lover of games," Rodolphus said, rolling his eyes at the woman's fury. He pulled a wand out of his pocket, handing it out to his wife, "Your trophy."
Bellatrix looked down at the wand carefully, looking to her husband, to the wand and back again as she slowly reached her hand out before snatching it away.
"Thank you, Rod. You're welcome, Bella." Rodolphus said as the woman inspected the wand.
"Did Elara have it still?" Bellatrix asked as she went to the chest she kept her trophy wands in and proceeded to prick her finger to open the thing.
"No," Rodolphus said, walking over to the door of the room, "Nymphadora had it. Elara handed it over when she ran to her, Nymphie wasn't exactly willing to hand it over. I daresay she'll have bruises now as well."
Bellatrix stood up straight after she had closed the chest and slid it back to its new hiding place, she frowned as she saw her husband taking hold of the door handle ready to leave. "Where are you going?"
"To bed," Rodolphus said.
"You sleep here," Bellatrix said, her voice lacking some of its usual strength.
"You wouldn't have noticed, what with your usual plans to sleep in another man's bed, but I tend not to sleep here too often," Rodolphus said, though he frowned slightly as he turned to see his wife sitting down on the bed. "What? Miss me?"
"No," Bellatrix said quickly, her glare seeming slightly more forced, though there was an all too familiar slightly glazed look in the woman's eyes.
"Bella . . ." Rodolphus groaned as he let go of the door handle, cursing himself for his care for the woman despite all she had done to him. He walked over to her, watching her curiously as she stared up at him.
"I—Elara deserved to get hurt," Bellatrix shrugged.
"Trying to anger me to get me to hurt you and stay here won't work tonight, Bellatrix," Rodolphus rolled his eyes, he knew the witch far more than she would ever be willing to admit, "If you want me to stay, admit it."
Bellatrix remained silent, though she shook her head a little, "I hate you,"
"And I you," Rodolphus said, acting contrary to his words as he sat next to the witch, "how did we ever end up like this, Ma Belle?"
"I don't know what you mean," Bellatrix looked to the man, "is this not how we've always been? Fighting and plotting to destroy each other one minute and the next . . ."
"You're an infuriating woman," Rodolphus mused.
"I'm losing control . . ." Bellatrix stared blankly in front of her, "I can't control my own daughter, I can't control my own mind . . ."
"Did you ever have control over your mind, Bella?" Rodolphus smirked slightly, though soon saw his wife was merely staring blankly ahead still. He sighed, reaching out and touching her bruised cheek despite her hiss of pain as he turned her to face him, "Why don't you heal this with spells?"
"I inflict the pain," Bellatrix let herself grin ever so slightly, "why should I need to heal the injured?"
"Because then everyone around you has to learn how to heal you, from your sisters to your husband . . ." Rodolphus mused, letting his magic caress the woman's cheek as she closed her eyes at the warm soothing sensation.
"You can do both . . ." Bella breathed, "You can break and mend . . . You only enjoy one of those though . . ."
"I haven't touched you in years, Bellatrix," Rodolphus said, moving his hands to the woman's neck as he went to heal her again, "Stop acting the pathetic victim."
"No," Bellatrix opened her eyes and smirked at her husband, "that's Nymphie's job, no?"
She giggled as her husband couldn't help but let out a small huff of laughter at the statement, "I suppose so . . ."
The pair stared at each other for a moment after the man had finished healing her. Rodolphus eventually sighed, reaching out and brushing a strand of stray hair from the woman's face. "You don't care who you hurt, or what you do, do you?" Rodolphus mused, "So long as you get what you want . . ."
"The same to you . . ." Bellatrix breathed.
Rodolphus shook his head, unable to deny the truth he went to stand up again but to his surprise, Bellatrix grabbed his arm. He frowned at her as she shook her head slightly. He sighed, he knew what she wanted, she was in one of her moods and no matter how hard Rodolphus Lestrange tried he was unable to deny the fact that he still cared for his wife. He took off his shoes then shrugged off his outer robes, getting onto the bed and laying back into the pillows. He let Bellatrix crawl up beside him, resting her head on his chest he wrapped an arm around her and ran his hands through her wild curls. If he closed his eyes he could almost begin to forget about the fucked up mess that was his marriage, almost pretend that they were newlyweds with their whole lives ahead of them yet again. He sighed deeply and let his wife fall asleep curled into him, following her into a dreamless sleep soon after.
Nymphadora paced the small room that they had long deemed the sitting room of the Prisoners ward, holding her crying son as she tried to rock and shush him to no avail. Draco had long given up with the noise, taking little Teddy in tow as they went to hide from the screaming child, though Narcissa merely frowned at the woman as Andromeda sighed and stood up.
"Dora give him here," Andromeda asked.
"No," Dora shook her head, rocking her son and rubbing his tiny back as she tried to calm him, "I can calm him myself."
"I'm only trying to help, Dora," Andromeda insisted.
"Try giving him a feed," Narcissa suggested, something the sleep-deprived mother was not appreciative of as her hair turned red and she shot a glare at the woman.
"I fed him less than an hour ago," Dora snapped.
"Don't speak to Narcissa like that, Nymphadora," Andromeda warned, though went back to sit next to her sister.
"I—I'm sorry," Dora said, shaking her head as her hair fell to a mousey brown, "I'm just so tired and I'm getting a headache."
"We all are," Andromeda sighed, "have you checked his nappy?"
"Yes," Dora nodded, forcing herself not to snap at the woman, of course she'd checked his nappy. This wasn't exactly her first child, she was not idiotic enough not to do something as simple as checking his nappy and feeding him. "You try," Nymphadora sighed, giving up as she walked over to her mother and gently passed off her son to her. The older woman took the boy and held him on her chest, patting his back gently and kissing his head as she gently shushed him. To Nymphadora's astonishment, the boy's cries soon died down to whimpers and then stopped entirely.
"Well thank Merlin for that," Dora sighed, sitting down next to her mother and resting her head on her shoulder as she looked to her son.
"Sometimes they just want to be held by someone else," Narcissa said, watching her sister soothe her Great-nephew, "I hated it when Draco used to do that . . ."
"I suppose . . ." Dora said, "Teddy used to prefer Remus sometimes, well, before . . ."
Andromeda looked to her daughter, watching as her eyes drifted to the floor as she thought of her late husband. The three witches sat in silence for a few moments before suddenly Nymphadora jumped to her feet, they had all felt someone entering the wards. Nymphadora didn't say anything, she quickly went from the room and out into the corridor.
"Nymphie," Rodolphus said in acknowledgement of the woman, "I take it my son is in there?" he went to walk past the woman, narrowing his eyes as she grabbed him by the arm.
"He has been crying for over half an hour," Dora said quickly, "my mother has only just managed to get him to stop. Please do not disturb him."
Rodolphus stared at the woman for a moment before he let out a small cruel laugh, he turned and took hold of the arm that was clutching onto his own and backed the younger witch into the nearest wall, "Who are you to stop me seeing my son?"
"His mother," Nymphadora hissed, the tips of her hair going red.
Rodolphus stared at her for a moment before, to the woman's surprise, he laughed. "Oh Nymphie," Rodolphus shook his head in amusement, "have your hormones and sleep deprivation played with your mind a little?"
Nymphadora went to respond, though without a moment's notice the man's hand struck hard and fast across her face. Her head rebounded off the wall and she blinked as stars danced across her vision. Rodolphus smirked, letting go of the woman's arm as he mockingly gently stroked the hair out of the witches face, leaning forward and pressing his lips close to her ear.
"You do not tell me what I can and can't do with my son," Rodolphus hissed, "do you understand, Nymphie? Did the incident at St Mungo's not teach you that you have no control over what happens anymore?"
Nymphadora blinked slightly, trying to bring her hand up to her head but quickly being stopped by the man, he moved to hit her again and she tried to find the words to stop him though it was at the moment she frowned at the appearance of her mother holding little Reuben.
"Rodolphus," Andromeda said gently, stroking the back of the boy's dark tuft of hair with her thumb. The man turned to face her, his eyes flickering to the child in the woman's arms, "Reuben has just fallen asleep," she near enough whispered, slowly walking towards him as she looked from the man to her daughter and back again, "you can hold him, just be very careful unless you want to risk waking him and upsetting the boy."
Rodolphus seemed to consider the woman for a moment before with a sudden jolt he pushed the child's mother away from him and walked over to his son. His whole demeanour changed as he accepted the small bundle from the woman, bringing the boy close to his chest and shushing him slightly as he stirred. Andromeda watched the man carefully as he spared a glance for the mother of his child before walking ahead into the child's room, she waited until he had closed the door behind him before she walked over to Nymphadora and drew her wand.
"I'm fine," Dora mumbled, rubbing her head and wincing slightly, "I've had worse—Honestly Mum," she protested as Andromeda went to check her head anyway, "I'm fine."
Andromeda narrowed her eyes at her daughter for a moment, as if trying to decide if it was worth fighting her until she eventually rolled her eyes and pocketed her wand. "What did Rodolphus mean?"
"What?" Dora frowned.
"'The incident at St Mungo's'" Andromeda raised an eyebrow, "you gave birth, that was all . . . no?"
"He's being an idiot," Dora said dismissively, adjusting her robes and looking towards her youngest son's room, "I should go in there, it makes me nervous having those two alone."
"He's his father," Andromeda said, "what are you avoiding telling me?"
"Leave it," Dora shook her head, she had barely accepted what they had done to her herself, she did not want her family knowing about such things should she be able to help it. Though knowing her luck it would get to them eventually, she wasn't about to let them find out any sooner. "It's nothing."
"It's not nothing," Andromeda shook her head, "you were never very good at keeping things from me."
"That's what you think," Dora sighed, hurrying to speak again before her mother could interrupt, "I'm going to check on them."
"Dora—" Andromeda went to tell the girl to stop, but she was already gone. Andromeda couldn't remember the last time she had seen Nymphadora go so quickly and willingly into a room that held Rodolphus Lestrange, or if she had ever seen it. There was most definitely something wrong with Nymphadora and she was determined to find it out for herself.
