Rodolphus Lestrange stood anxiously waiting for his fiancé. He had recently been betrothed to a classmate, Bellatrix Black, and while they had been somewhat good friends, he still for some reason felt incredibly nervous. It was almost as if they were meeting for the first time again, but of course under much different circumstances.

Ever since the marriage had been arranged, Bellatrix had begun ignoring him, or at the very best saying few words. This had made Rodolphus extremely worried, but his mother Faustine had assured him that it was perfectly natural for a young lady to shy away from her betrothed. Still, Rodolphus missed Bellatrix's high, breathy giggle and biting sense of humor.

The door to Lestrange Manor swung open, and Bellatrix sauntered in. She was accompanied by her petite blonde sister Narcissa, who Rodolphus guessed was to chaperone them for their first and last time meeting while engaged, as the wedding was only one week away. He couldn't wait to be married to Bellatrix, and those feelings of giddiness were especially high that day as he took in the beauty of his bride-to-be. Bellatrix wore purple robes of an incredibly dark hue with a neckline shaped like a V, so that it covered her shoulders modestly but dipped down to reveal her cleavage. She had a rather large chest and curvy hips. Her dark eyes resembled the depths of a murky, muddy river, and her long wild mane of curls, which had been pinned up into a crown braid, was pure black.

Rodolphus gave both sisters a warm but dignified nod. "Hello Bellatrix, Narcissa. Shall I call the elf to pour us some tea?"

"Of course," said Bellatrix with a sweet smile. Something about her matte brown lips and the way they do gracefully curled when she smiled made Rodolphus's stomach flutter.

Rodolphus turned away and tugged on a bell that hung from the wall, designed to summon the family's elf, Jukie. A few moments later, Jukie arrived carrying a tray of tea and sugar in her tiny hands. Jukie was a good elf, and Rodolphus cared for her, although he was sometimes annoyed by her. She was very volatile, calm and dignified one minute and jumping all around joyfully the next.

Bellatrix's shoulders stiffened, and her warm expression turned stone cold. "What's wrong with this tea? It's black, and doesn't seem to have any milk in it..."

Rodolphus shifted uncomfortably. "Er... It's the way the French serve tea."

"Oh."

"Be nice, Bella!" Rodolphus heard Narcissa hiss. "Remember, you have a large reputation, everyone knows you're the most loyal to our blood—"

Bellatrix shoved her sister aside and, with a poisonous smile, took the dainty porcelain teacup from the tray in Jukie's hands.

"Where is your sister Andromeda?" blurted out Rodolphus suddenly, eager to attempt conversation. "I'm sure that Rabastan would have loved to see her..."

Bellatrix rolled her eyes and sighed. "She's at The Leaky Cauldron doing what she claims to be pure blood charity work. But I swear, she's surely chatting up that landlord Tom, who's two-quarters shy of being twice our age. She's such a whore, I guarantee you'll she be pregnant, disgraced, and disowned and working in Knockturn Alley within a year. She's just as much of a whore as Sirius is a player."

Rodolphus nodded as he listened to this ramble. Andromeda was, as everyone knew, the black sheep of the Black family. Rodolphus's younger brother Rabastan was rumored to soon be bound to her in a few months time, while Rodolphus, known as the luckier brother, got to have Bellatrix. Her reputation as a virtuous and beautiful pure blood lady of tradition was famous in pure blood circles, and every man wanted her to bear and bring up his children with pure blood values. Narcissa was also loved for her docile nature and good manners, but most pure blood men liked a woman who had a fiery and exciting streak to her, and Bellatrix had that too.

Rodolphus and Bellatrix weren't that different in some ways. Although he had been brought up to be just as proud and fierce in character, Rodolphus was nowhere near as much of a pure blood gentlemen in taste as wizards like the famously arrogant Lucius Malfoy. Lucius was occasionally Rodolphus's friend, but they usually spent their time at odds. In contrast to pampered Lucius, Rodolphus had spent every summer of his childhood in his family's ancestral cottage in the French countryside, where he had been taught hard work and developed what his father had described as "character". He had helped elves weed the garden and destroy Doxie nests. He loved the outdoors, and he loved old traditions. He had been taught by his mother the French way of Divination, practiced by ancient tribal wizards during the times of Rome, and had been fascinated. He dreamed of running a farm in France and maybe a trading company in India with the help of his great aunt Laurena's family, and perhaps being a Seer on top of that.

After reflecting on both his and his fiancé's character as he observed her sipping quietly on her tea, Rodolphus knew without a doubt that they would make the loveliest, most ideal pure blood couple Wizarding Britain had ever seen.