"Here, Miss Bellatrix. Just a little dropperful. Tastes like honey, Miss Bellatrix…"
She opened her mouth as Ronky drizzled some Anodyne Draught into her mouth. She felt a pleasant wash of sedation come over her, and the aching, sharp pain across her front faded at once. Bellatrix shut her eyes and could hear Ronky talking with Lord Voldemort.
"I can't bring a Healer here, nor can I take her to St Mungo's," said Voldemort rather sternly. "I need your House-Elf magic to treat her here, Ronky. How are her organs?"
"The organs are healing well, Master," Ronky replied, "but the incision would cause her much, much terrible, awful pain without the Anodyne Draught, sir. Ronky has sealed her torso as well as Ronky could, sir, but even with Essence of Dittany, it will take much time and much Anodyne Draught for her to heal until she has no pain."
"She needs to eat," Voldemort murmured. He shook Bellatrix's shoulder a little and asked her very gently, "Bellatrix, can you open your eyes and look at me?"
She tried, and when she blinked her eyes open, Voldemort was slowly sinking to sit on the edge of the bed, facing her. He smirked just a little and whispered,
"Strong girl." Then he turned to Ronky and commanded, "A good sturdy soup. Creamy potato with cheese, perhaps. Something to fill her up."
Right on cue, Bellatrix's stomach grumbled audibly, and she felt a little ache there. Ronky went dashing out of the room, banging into the threshold of the bedroom door in his haste. Voldemort took Bellatrix's hand and informed her,
"That was quite a lot of blood that I cleaned up from outside. Your body will have quite a lot to make anew. I'm sure you're exhausted, having lost all that blood."
"I'm all right, Master," Bellatrix said softly. Voldemort scoffed a little and reminded her,
"You were sliced open like a slaughtered pig."
Bellatrix winced at the memory. She felt the push of Voldemort's Legilimency then, knowing he was pressing to see her mind relive what had happened. She could see it all as though it had been five minutes earlier.
She'd landed on the rocky beach with a wizard clutching at her arm. She'd wrenched herself away from him, aiming her wand and readying a Killing Curse. But he'd thrown a Jelly-Legs Jinx at her, and Bellatrix had collapsed onto the ground and dropped her wand. She'd scrambled for it, but the wizard had thrown a Lightning Hex at her, which had jolted her with fire from the inside out, Bellatrix had eventually grabbed her wand and flown to her feet, aiming her wand again just as a Silencing Spell had socked her in the mouth. The wizard had gone flinging back against the rocks and had moaned in agony. Bellatrix had tried to speak, but the spell silencing her hadn't worn off yet. Suddenly the wizard had slashed his wand at her, yelling, "Diffindo!"
Bellatrix had shrieked then, cutting through the Silencing Charm as her stomach and intestines spilled through the deep gash that had been sliced into her body. Her hands had started shaking so fiercely at once that she could hardly use them to push her intestines and liver back inside, and she'd screamed through the ferocious pain that had seared and ripped at her. Her ears had been ringing and hot with agonising pain as she'd seen Ronky come sprinting across the lawn toward her. The little House-Elf's eyes had read fear, and he'd swished his fingers until Bellatrix had felt her organs go back inside the cavity of her body. She'd gripped her wand with a bloodied hand and had watched in horror as more blood spilled itself all over the rocks and grass. She'd taken a step forward and slipped on the blood, jabbing her wand through the air toward the wizard who had followed her here, the man who was lying back on the rocks where Ronky's magic had flung him.
"Av-Avada Kedavra!" Bellatrix had shrieked, her voice hoarse with the effort of yelling through her bleeding and pain. She collapsed onto her knees as her torn dress rippled around her in the breeze. The blinding flash of green light blasted forth from her wand and shot straight into the wizard who had followed her here. The wizard rocketed backward against the boulders and slammed his head onto a corner of a rock, but he was already dead as Bellatrix's Killing Curse wormed through him.
She fell forward onto her hands, dropping her wand again, and she collapsed onto her side. She was still bleeding, and the scarlet stain on the grass was spreading quickly. Bellatrix began to feel cold, to feel dizzy, and she was shaking so hard that she thought perhaps she was having a seizure.
"Hold on, Miss Bellatrix!" yelped Ronky, coming to run before her, standing in the pool of blood on the ground. He waved his arms a few times, and Bellatrix gasped as she felt her torso start to stitch itself up. She felt herself sealing up from her shoulder to her hip. She shut her eyes and tipped her head onto the lawn, sighing through the pain and seething a little, She said through clenched teeth,
"I am going to die."
"No, no, Miss Bellatrix! Ronky will not allow that. No, he won't! No, no. Ronky will take you inside and heal you, Miss Bellatrix."
Bellatrix tried to open her eyes, tried to answer, but everything was suddenly black and empty.
She blinked a few times, slowly, and stared at Lord Voldemort. He seemed to be marveling, having witnessed the entire event through Bellatrix's eyes. He just stared at her for a long moment, and he finally whispered,
"What a very good soldier you are, killing him with that injury."
"I had no choice, Master. He was trying to kill me. I could tell," Bellatrix said quietly. "He didn't have it in him to cast a Killing Curse, so he was trying to Sever me to death. I could tell; that man wanted me dead."
"Yes." Voldemort nodded and let out a shaking sigh. "And now we know that the Ministry's tactic of separating you from me, of breaking the Prophecy and defeating me, is to kill you. I will not let that happen, Bella."
"I'm so sorry that I got so gravely wounded, Master," Bellatrix hummed, but before Voldemort could answer her, Ronky came toddling back into the bedroom with a tray full of food. Voldemort turned and took the tray from Ronky, carefully placing it on the bed before him. Bellatrix smelled cheese and potato soup wafting at her from the bowl, and her stomach growled again. She shut her eyes and whispered,
"I'm hungry."
"Yes, I'll bet you are; it's been over a day since you've eaten anything," said Voldemort tightly. "Ronky, carefully prop her up so I can feed her."
"Feed me?" Bellatrix was shocked by that, and even more surprised when Ronky came over and began delicately arranging pillows behind Bellatrix's back. It ought to have hurt her torso to sit up, she reckoned, but the Anodyne Draught dulled the pain so that there were just little shooting stabs of it that she could mostly ignore. Bellatrix sat herset up as best she could, and Voldemort looked pleased. He muttered to Ronky,
"Go to Malfoy Manor. Speak with Abraxas Malfoy and get me a report on the status of the people who were at Irma Black's funeral. Also, a report on what's happening at the Ministry in the wake of all this. It's too dangerous to communicate by owl right now, and I can't go there. I need you to get as much information as you can for me, Ronky."
"Yes, Master." Ronky bowed low. "Ronky will get a very good deal of information from Mister Abraxas Malfoy about the people at the funeral and the happenings at the Ministry. Ronky will go straight away, sir."
With that, Ronky snapped his fingers and Disapparated, and Voldemort admitted to Bellatrix,
"You know, I am rather fond of that little creature. He does his job quite admirably, wouldn't you say?"
"He's a good little elf, Master." Bellatrix felt very sleepy all of a sudden, and she shut her eyes and tipped her head back against the pillow. Then she heard Voldemort's voice saying softly,
"Bella. Bellatrix…"
She blinked and was staring at the ceiling, but she sat up slowly again, wincing at the little twinge of pain in her stomach as she did. She stared at Voldemort and said apologetically,
"I'm sorry; this Anodyne Draught…"
"Don't apologise." He picked up the bowl of soup and flicked a finger, Banishing the tray to the bedside table. He nudged his body closer to Bellatrix and said, "You'll understand if I think you're a bit drowsy and shaky to be holding a scalding bowl of soup on your own just now."
"Oh. Of course, Master." Bellatrix stared down to her feet, where Maelstrom the kitten was batting at her toes. She smiled a little at him, and Voldemort followed her gaze. He scoffed softly and declared,
"That cat has not left you for hardly a moment."
"Kitten." Bellatrix flicked her eyes to Voldemort, feeling them burn. "He's just a kitten."
"Mmm-hmm. Soup time." Voldemort spooned some cheese and potato out of the bowl, and he brought the bowl beneath the spoon close to Bellatrix's mouth. Then, seeming to realise the soup was hot, he leaned forward and blew on the spoon a little. He finally brought the spoon to Bellatrix's mouth, and she parted her lips and let him slide it inside. She ate the bite of soup, relishing its delectable savoury flavour. Bellatrix's breath shook as she stared at Voldemort. He took the spoon back slowly, dipping it into the bowl of soup again and blowing on it once more.
There was something so oddly sensual about this, Bellatrix thought as she took another bite of buttery, delicious soup. There was something vaguely sexual about being spoon-fed by him. Why? Why was this making her wet between her legs? She squirmed a little where she sat and watched Voldemort's eyes flutter a little. He spooned more soup into her mouth, one spoonful after another until half the bowl was gone and Bellatrix was moaning softly.
"Bella." He sounded a little choked them, and when she forced her eyes to his face, she saw that his cheeks had gone red. His ears were red. His lips were shaking. He wanted her. Bellatrix licked a drop of cheesy soup off her bottom lip and begged him,
"More, please. Master…"
"Mmmph." He looked tortured, as though doing this was causing him physical pain. Why was this act so arousing, Bellatrix wondered? Why did it turn the both of them on so profoundly for him to give her food? She didn't care much anymore; she just tasted the metal of the spoon in her mouth as he fed her, and she groaned. The cheese and potato were secondary now, somehow. It was delicious soup, but that was an accessory to the way Voldemort was staring at her and caring for her, drawing the spoon between her lips and holding the bowl in his shaking hand.
Suddenly she wanted to tell him something - something she knew she should never, ever tell him. She wanted to tell him that she loved him. Her mind was screaming it; the idea was pounding inside her head. She loved him. She shook her head wildly and insisted,
"I'm full. I'm… that's enough. Thank you."
Voldemort pulled the spoon away and put it into the bowl, which he set aside. He just sat there on the edge of the bed for a long moment, looking quite troubled, until at last he murmured,
"We are more than just a prophesied pair, you and I."
Bellatrix felt shock hit her as though she'd leaped into cold water. She blinked. He raised his eyes to her and nodded.
"I kissed you," he said, "because I thought I had to. But I liked it. Quite a lot. And I'd have liked it with or without a prophecy. And you have wanted me for a long while now."
"Yes, I have." Bellatrix's voice was barely audible to her own ears. Maelstrom came stomping up the bed with his tiny little paws, landing on Bellatrix's thighs and curling up into a ball there. She pet the kitten absentmindedly and studied Voldemort's face. He told her,
"We have become… we are… I like to sleep with you."
He pinched his lips, and Bellatrix just tried not to cry as she nodded and replied,
"I like to sleep with you, too, My Lord."
"I like to watch you paint. A few days ago, when you were painting your Cornish palm, and I was drinking white wine on the patio, I felt sincere happiness," Voldemort declared. He picked at the quilt that was atop Bellatrix and said, "I admire your courage in combat more than you know, but I never expected to so very deeply enjoy time spent alone with you."
"Oh." Bellatrix choked out the word. It was all she could say. She couldn't manage anything else. Voldemort carried on,
"Seeing that memory of you nearly dying made my stomach ache. I can't… it troubles me quite deeply, the notion of your death. I am attached to you… emotionally. I never… I have never been emotionally to another person before."
"Oh," Bellatrix said again, shaking a little. Voldemort stared at the quilt, apparently fascinated by the patchwork design, and he just kept talking.
"The prophecies instruct that, in order to be successful, I must keep you near and keep you mine. That I must crave you. All of that is easily done. All it requires is that I take you prisoner, claim you thoroughly, and find you attractive. But what has happened is something very much more than that. I had lemonade whilst you were sleeping."
That seemed like a very random thing for him to say, Bellatrix thought, until she realised the meaning behind it.
Her favourite drink was lemonade. He'd come back from the funeral and had seen what had happened to her, and he'd asked for her favourite drink.
Emotionally attached.
Suddenly Bellatrix's eyes welled very heavily, and she whispered rather frantically,
"I have to tell you… I'm sorry… I'm in love with you."
"You've already told me." Voldemort smirked a little, still looking down at the quilt. Bellatrix felt a spike of confusion. Voldemort sighed and slowly raised his eyes. "Sleeping under the Anodyne Draught just after your duel. I'd just come, and you fell back to sleep, and you told me. Twice. So I know already; don't worry."
"Oh." Bellatrix felt rather like that was all she could say today. She was bleeding little fool, she thought, abruptly embarrassed. She would never in a million years expect to be loved back by Lord Voldemort of all people, and so she was unsurprised when he insisted,
"I think if there is one person on this planet who could never love another, it's me. But I am… quite fond of you, and rather attached to you, in a way I did not anticipate being, and I should like to kiss you now."
"Oh." Bellatrix's whisper then was swallowed up as Voldemort moved nearer to her, cradling the back of her head in his hand and gently touching his lips to hers. She whimpered a little onto his mouth, wanting more, but he kept the kiss almost chaste in how easy it was. When he pulled away, he curled up half his mouth and whispered,
"My, but I do crave you. Shall I fetch a book and read to you for a while, Miss Black?"
She nodded, unable to speak, and watched him rise off the bed, pick up the tray with the bowl on it, and stalk out of her bedroom.
Author's Note: Interesting to see what went down through Bellatrix's POV, no? And who out there thinks Ronky is just the sweetest little elf in the world? He's off to Malfoy Manor… will he and Dobby become little House-Elf friends? :} As for Bellatrix and Voldemort, sure seems like this is bringing them closer than ever. What next? We'll get Abraxas' report, which should be interesting, and we'll also have a lemon coming up. How? Well, you'll have to wait and see. Mwah hahaha. Thanks so much for reading. Please do REVIEW!