"How was work yesterday, Bellatrix?" asked Cygnus Black III. Andromeda yawned behind a fist, and Druella Black shot her an angry look. Andromeda blinked, and Bellatrix murmured,
"Someone was out late last night. With Ted Tonks, I think."
Druella gasped. "You best not have been!" she cried to her middle daughter.
"I haven't been!" Andromeda exclaimed shrilly, but Narcissa cut in and said somewhat sharply,
"I heard you go into your room at two in the morning, Andy."
Cygnus Black looked around his breakfast table and scowled deeply. "Rifts between my daughters. One running about with a Mudblood. I just -"
"Don't call Ted a 'Mudblood,'" seethed Andromeda. Druella Black narrowed her eyes at her daughter.
"We'll call him that because that's what he is, Andy."
"You're on thin ice," Bellatrix warned, raising her brows. Andromeda tossed her napkin onto the table and flung back her chair.
"I'm going to a friend's house," she complained, and Druella scoffed,
"One of your Mudblood friends?"
"None of your business," Andromeda burst out, and she dashed from the room. Bellatrix heard Andromeda's footsteps running in the corridor, then heard the front door of the house open and slam shut. Narcissa winced, and Druella looked tearful as she said,
"Well. That's my middle daughter gone from us forever. She's lost, Cygnus. Lost!"
"She'll come to her senses, Mum," Narcissa insisted, but Bellatrix shook her head and said,
"Mark my words; she'll be married to that boy the second she leaves Hogwarts."
"Then she will be forever wiped from the House of Black!" spat Cygnus. "No more talk of Andromeda now; I've had enough of that nonsense. I asked you, Bellatrix, how work was yesterday."
"Mr Riddle woke up," Bellatrix smiled, and she said softly, "He's everything you've said and more, Papa."
"I think he prefers to be called Lord Voldemort these days, doesn't he?" Druella actually laughed a little, but Cygnus gave her a serious look and noted,
"He went to the Continent and came back a changed man. You knew him in school, Druella. That little boy is gone."
"So he is," Bellatrix affirmed. She tucked into her eggs and her rashers, decided not to tell her parents that she'd Transfigured her features and gone to Diagon Alley to buy a Flobberworm for Mr Riddle. She decided not to tell them that she'd gone to his house, that she'd seen where he lived, that she'd planted the worms to feign an infestation. She decided to just eat in silence, and when at last the clock read five to seven, she rose from her chair and said,
"Must be on my way. See you both later."
She went out into the corridor and Disapparated, coming to outside Purge and Dowse Department Store in London. Bellatrix opened the front door of the disused department store exterior and entered into the clean, white tiled interior of St Mungo's. She gave a nod to the witch at Reception, who recognised Bellatrix's Mediwitch attire and let her pass by. Bellatrix went to the bank of lifts on the left side of the building and entered one, depressing the number 3 and waiting as the lift slowly rose. The silver grate slid open on the third level, and Bellatrix stepped out to see that Madam Carte had Mediwitches around her, getting ready to start the shift. Bellatrix joined them and listened as Madam Carte barked out orders.
"Velynda, you'll have Beds One, Two, and Three. They're all easy - don't forget that Mr Grought needs his Decalcification Syrup every three hours now, not every four hours. Healer Parkland wants to speed up his recovery. Marleigh, you'll have Beds Four, Six, Seven, and Eight. Monitor the MacMillan girl for any signs that her warts are coming back. If they do, give her more Clear Skin Concoction. Bellatrix."
Bellatrix snapped to attention, and the other Mediwitches and Madam Carte stared at her.
"You stay by Mr Riddle's side in Bed Five. He's eating and breathing fine, but we want to be certain he doesn't regress, so he needs close monitoring. Also, he'll be visited by the Ministry of Magic today. You may step away for that meeting."
"Yes, Madam Carte," Bellatrix agreed.
"Velynda, let Bellatrix know if you need her to give Mr Grought his Decalcification Syrup if you're busy," said Madam Carte. "Right. Go on, then, girls."
Bellatrix scattered along with the other Mediwitches, and she made her way straight to Bed Five. She peeked around the curtains to see that Mr Riddle was lying on his back with his hands folded over his chest and his eyes peacefully shut. Bellatrix panicked for a moment as she feared that he'd gone back into a coma, and she burst around the curtain.
"Mr Riddle?" she said loudly. His eyes sprang open, and he blinked a few times before rubbing at his eyes with his fists and smiling a little.
"Miss Black. Erm… good morning."
"Sorry," Bellatrix huffed. "I wasn't certain if you were asleep or… you know."
"I really am fine," Mr Riddle insisted. He licked at his lips and said, "So fine I think I shall insist they let me go home today."
Bellatrix grinned and came beside his bed. She walked up to the cupboard and pulled out her equipment to give him a quick beginning-of-shift exam. She placed all of her equipment on the table beside his bed and hummed,
"Andromeda was out until two o'clock with her Mudblood boyfriend."
Mr Riddle tutted. "I'm sure Cygnus didn't appreciate that."
"No. He did not," Bellatrix laughed. "She's a damned fool. Ready?"
She placed her stethoscope tips in her ear and encouraged Mr Riddle to sit up. She placed the diaphragm against his chest and listened to his heartbeat. Ba-DUM. Ba-DUM. Ba-DUM. She stared at his face and met his eyes, and his fingers tightened just a little around the blankets he held. Suddenly his heart rate accelerated beneath Bellatrix's stethoscope. Ba-DUM-Ba-DUM-Ba-DUM. Something had triggered his heart speeding up. Bellatrix gulped. She pulled her stethoscope away from him and dragged the tips out of her ears.
"You really are fine, I suspect," she mumbled. She set down her stethoscope and picked up her wand. She touched a small metal dial to Mr Riddle's arm and incanted, "Pressionem Sanguinis Revelio."
Mr Riddle squirmed a little as magical pressure was applied to his arm. Bellatrix carefully watched the dial that had two markers - Systolic and Diastolic. After a few moments, numbers appeared on the dial's face, seeping in through magic. 115/75.
"Perfect blood pressure," Bellatrix informed Mr Riddle. She smiled at him and removed the dial from his arm. She put her hands on her waist and asked, "Do you feel well in yourself?"
"Yes," Mr Riddle nodded. "I feel fine. I'd like to go home today."
"That," Bellatrix said, "is not in my control, I'm afraid. But I will report to Healer Comstock that you're doing very well."
Mr Riddle sighed and gazed right at Bellatrix. Finally he asked her, "What does your hair look like when it's down?"
Bellatrix smirked. She shook her head. "I'm not allowed to take it down in here."
Mr Riddle dragged his teeth over his lower lip. "I'm a Legilimens."
"Are you?" Bellatrix raised her eyebrows. "So have you been in my head this whole time?"
"No," he said, "but if you think of your hair in the mirror, I could see it."
She laughed and squeezed at her own waist, wrenching her eyes shut and thinking of the night before. She'd been fresh out of the shower, with a towel wrapped around herself, and she'd been staring in the mirror. Bellatrix realised at once that she'd chosen far too intimate a picture to show Mr Riddle, but it was too late. She could feel a thud in her head, and then she knew he could see the image of her dragging a wide-toothed comb through her damp, wild curls. She slowly dried them with a Hot Air Charm, pulling them over one shoulder and starting to braid.
She opened her eyes and felt a sort of suction in her mind - Mr Riddle pulling out of her head. He stared at her and blinked a few times.
"Pretty," he whispered, and Bellatrix's cheeks went hot at once. He was so handsome, she thought. Chipped and scarred and wounded by some unseen force, but handsome. She thought of the modest house where he lived, with its ugly Muggle furnishings. She thought of writing him letters once he went home. Then she realised she wished he was just a little bit sicker, that he would need her for just a little bit longer. He opened his mouth as if he were going to say something, but then Healer Comstock's voice boomed from behind Bellatrix,
"Mr Riddle! Good to see you sitting up."
"I've just examined him, Healer Comstock," said Bellatrix. "Vitals are perfect. He's doing quite well."
"Thank you, Miss Black." Healer Comstock waved his hand dismissively and then stepped up to Mr Riddle's bed. He began a physical examination of Mr Riddle, testing the strength of his arms and legs, making him follow his wand with his eyes, and peering into his eyes and mouth with an illuminated wand tip. Finally, Healer Comstock stood up and crossed his arms over his robes.
"Well," he said, "you need to stay here until the Ministry comes calling. That's on the Aurors' orders. But then we'll discharge you and you can go home."
Mr Riddle grinned broadly and nodded. "Good."
But Bellatrix felt her stomach sink a little. She hadn't expected to be sorrowful about Mr Riddle going home. She hadn't expected to feel anything; she never felt anything when patients were discharged. But he was different. Wasn't he so different from all the rest?
Once Healer Comstock left, Bellatrix sat beside Mr Riddle's bed as he ate porridge and apples for breakfast. The House-Elf came to clear the tray, and then Bellatrix whispered,
"My parents say you prefer the name Lord Voldemort. Is it true?"
"Yes," he said, sipping from his glass of water. "It is true."
"Would you like me to call you that?" Bellatrix asked. He curled up his lips a little and said,
"In your letters? Yes. Please."
"All right." Bellatrix sighed and licked her lips. She wondered aloud, "It must be very convenient to be a Legilimens."
"It's come in handy more than once," Mr Riddle admitted. He smirked a little at her and sipped again. "I promise I'm not constantly in your mind."
"Were you in my mind at all when you were unconscious?" Bellatrix asked, but Mr Riddle shook his head and said,
"My Legilimency didn't work in a coma. I think my mind was moving just a little too slowly for all of that."
"I see." Bellatrix nodded. She and Mr Riddle sat in comfortable silence for a long moment then, until at last he said,
"You know, I'm invited to that wedding. Titus Malfoy and Aster Greengrass. It's next weekend, isn't it? I'll be there. I never pass up an opportunity to socialise with the Sacred Twenty-Eight."
"Oh!" Bellatrix smiled. "Well, I'm sure you'll be very busy… socialising… but perhaps you might, erm… perhaps you might save me a dance."
"I was going to ask the same of you," Mr Riddle told Bellatrix. He stared seriously at her and said, "I'd be honoured."
"Mr Riddle?"
Bellatrix whirled around to see a tall, pretty witch with blonde waves. She wore deep emerald robes and an elegant hat, and she held a notebook and a quill.
"You've just come from my house, I take it," Mr Riddle nodded, and Bellatrix realised the witch was an Auror.
"Excuse me," Bellatrix said, and she slid past the Auror. She made her way across the ward, walking over to Mr Grought. She checked his schedule for Decalcification Syrup, but he wasn't due yet. Bellatrix warmed Mr Grought's blankets and cast a Water-Making Spell into his glass. She checked his temperature, finding it normal, and murmured to the ancient man,
"You're doing well, Mr Grought."
"Thank you, girl," said Mr Grought. Bellatrix walked away from the bed and glanced over to where the pretty Auror was still talking with Mr Riddle. She was scribbling things in her notebook, and Mr Riddle gazed confidently up at her. Suddenly the Auror vibrated, her quill stilling on her notebook. Then she started writing again, and Bellatrix scowled. She'd just been Confounded! Bellatrix's mouth fell open as she realised Mr Riddle had cast a Confundus Charm upon the Auror. She was amazed then to see the Auror nod and turn and walk away, toward Healer Comstock. The two of them spoke for a moment, and Mr Riddle found Bellatrix's eyes. He beckoned to her with one finger, and Bellatrix hurried over.
"The Aurors found quite a Flobberworm infestation at my house," he said softly. "Of course, they think it was completely idiotic of me to try and suffocate the worms, and they find it difficult to believe that a skilled potioneer like me would botch the poison in the cellar of my own home. But they find it less difficult to believe now that their colleague has been convinced that the entire thing was just an incident of rare stupidity on my part."
Bellatrix grinned and nodded. "So they'll let you go home."
"If Healer Comstock is true to his word," Mr Riddle confirmed. Right on cue, Healer Comstock came walking over and said firmly,
"Mr Riddle, you're in good health now. The Auror confirmed that there was no foul play in the accident that brought you here. We'll get your discharge papers in order, and you can be on your way."
"Thank you, Healer," said Mr Riddle. Bellatrix watched the Healer turn to go, and she gestured.
"Getting your papers in order is actually my job," she shrugged. "I'll be back, and then you can leave."
He nodded, but his eyes looked almost sorrowful. He pursed his lips and said quietly,
"You've given me excellent care."
"I've done my best," Bellatrix told him. "I've tried."
"I look forward to writing letters," Mr Riddle told Bellatrix, "and to dancing at the wedding."
"Just one dance," Bellatrix whispered, her eyes welling. "You'll save me one dance. I'll go get those papers in order now."
Dear Miss Black,
I am fully recovered at home. The Flobberworms are gone. As I'm sure you're aware, Flobberworms are one of the only living creatures which can be Summoned. So I Summoned them.
You are the only one, aside from Rickard Avery (whom I told after I got home) who knows what my true intent was with the Suffocation Draught. I hope I can trust you to keep my secrets. If I can, know that there is a place for you among those I consider friends.
I must confess that I miss hearing you speak to me whilst I sleep in blissful quiet. Believe it or not, Miss Black, I did find everything you said very interesting. And once I woke, I found a lovely young witch taking care of me. What wonder!
We will dance, Miss Black. One dance. No. Two, if you'll indulge me.
Lord Voldemort
Author's Note: Please do review! Thanks so much for reading.