Chapter 3
This was it. The Dark Lord had finally lost his mind. Or what was left of it. Or something. Bellatrix walked back to her room in a daze. What the heck was he thinking?! There was no way this would work. She would need so much time, which means he didn't have any field plans for her. Doesn't he trust her? Doesn't he want her? Yes, of course. Otherwise he would have left her alone instead of changing her private plans. "Great job Bellatrix!" She yelled at herself as she neared her bedroom door, "Great bloody job!" She flew open the door to find her husband still dirty from the mission and sleeping on her bed. She made a disgusted face, levitated him off the bed and out the door, and then dropped him unceremoniously on his face before locking him out.
"ZILL!" she screamed. There was a small pop and before the house-elf could speak she barked her orders, "I want my bed cleaned now. New sheets, covers, pillows, everything. I want it done by the time I emerge from the bath. Go!" There was another small pop and she was left alone.
Bellatrix walked into the adjoined room and began to prepare for her bath.
Luna was alone in the dark, just sitting in her corner, when she noticed a yellow glow to her left. "That's strange…" she said, her words bouncing around the open space, "it's so steady…" Luna stood and began walking toward the glow. As she got closer, she noticed that it wasn't yellow, but a bright green light shining through the cracks around a door. "Very strange…" she said, however nothing could stop her from reaching out, turning the handle, and pushing the door wide open. The light intensified to a blinding blue, forcing Luna to shut her eyes and turn away, before it adjusted and she could look around.
The room she was in now looked like a fancy version of the Ravenclaw prefect bathrooms: There was a tub in the center of the floor that was large enough to fit three people, a beautifully framed wall-mirror above a porcelain double sink, several windows along one wall to let in the moon light, a glowing fireplace, and a cabinet filled with all types of bath and beauty potions. On the small table by the door, to her right, Luna saw a stack of bath towels and took full advantage of the situation.
The warm water burned against her body at first, but once she had adjusted to it, the bath felt like the most wonderful thing in the world. The soaps made her feel so clean and they smelled so good that she forgot about the dungeon and the mansion, if only for a little while. Luna was relaxed, for the first time in a long time, she finally could breathe freely.
As much as she loved the bath, she had to get out before the water got too cold. Luna dried off with the plush towels and put on the blue robe. She walked over to sit by the windows when she saw the note on the windowsill. "When you're ready, come have dinner with me. The dining room is through the door to the left of the fire place." The handwriting was beautiful cursive, a woman's. Luna stood there, wondering what she was going to wear to dinner, before deciding that going in the robe was nicer than putting back her rags on. Once she was warm enough, she went to the mentioned door and stepped into the dining room.
The dining room was silver, black, and green just as a Slytherin house was expected to be. The table was just big enough to seat four, yet only set for two with candles and beautiful silver dinnerware. At the far end of the table, facing the bathroom door, sat Bellatrix Lestrange. She rose as Luna entered to room and walked to pull out the chair for her.
The sight took Luna's breath away. Bellatrix was dressed in a silky forest green business top with long flared pants and black leather closed-toed heels. Her hair was tamed but still flowing long, framing her face, which was highlighted with the most professional looking natural make-up, or beauty potions, returning the dark witch to her pre-Azkaban splendor. Luna stood in the doorway for some time just staring at the elegance waiting for her at the table.
Bellatrix smirked, knowing exactly what the young blonde was doing. "Luna?" She called, forcing the witch's eyes back up to her own. "Would you like to sit down?" Her voice was careful and seductive, fully aware of the effect it was having on the Ravenclaw.
Coming to her senses, Luna moved over to the table and took the seat Bellatrix had readied. Bellatrix herself strutted back to where she had been waiting and reclaimed her spot. "I hope you enjoyed your bath." A small smile toward the girl, "Was it too hot? You look a little flush." Luna shook her head and cast her eyes down to the empty plate, not wanting to admit why she was so red. "Did you like the room? I had it re-done so that you would feel more comfortable." Bellatrix again smirked but quickly hid it as Luna looked up and across the table at her.
"Yes, it was perfect. Thank you." She held her gaze on Bellatrix, but it was locked on the small open area at the top of the shirt rather than on her eyes. The skin that shown through was smooth and tempting, dipping into the shadows of the shirt which covered just enough bust to be decent.
"Zill should be here with the food in a few moments. Before then, however, I would like to talk to you more about your mother." The young girls eyes shot back up to meet Bellatrix's, full of questions. "Since I have been out and about, I made it a personal goal to find out as much about you as I could, for reasons I'm sure you can guess." A sweet grin, "I discovered that she was indeed a pureblood and that she was incredibly talented in school. However eccentric she may have been." She took out her want and tapped the glass in-front of her, making a deep red wine appear and taking a sip before continuing, "Your father is wrong; you look far better than she did. Well, now that you're clean you do. It was hard to tell with the way you were in the cells."
As Bellatrix took another sip from her glass, Luna watched her lips, wondering where this was going and if she would ever get to taste… A pop was heard in the corner of the room and Zill walked up to the table with plates of all types of foods and began to fill the plates in front of each witch. Silence until the house-elf completed her task and left.
"Enjoy the food." Bellatrix put away her wand and began to eat off her own plate as Luna slowly moved to pick up her fork. This could work. Bellatrix thought back to her encounter with the Dark Lord a few days prior.
