Author's Note: Here is the next chapter. Thank you to all the readers. Also thank you to all those who have added the story on their favourite/following lists, and those who reviewed.

I don't own Harry Potter.

Good day to all!

CHAPTER 4

MALFOY MANOR, WHILTSHIRE, ENGLAND

Lord Voldemort stared at the lifeless body of his loyal follower. He wore an expressionless mask like a true Slytherin, but on the inside a whirlwind of questions swirled in his mind. Bellatrix had been one of his most loyal servants; always trying to please him. He was also aware of her true intentions towards him, one of lust and love but he never reciprocated them. To him, Bellatrix was just a source of mass chaos and destruction. If the woman would not have been so adept in the dark arts and her torture methods, he would have discarded her years ago.

But Lord Voldemort would be lying to himself if he said he wasn't disappointed in her. Ever since he gained back his sanity, he realized how many mistakes he had made and one of them was giving Bellatrix way too much leash resulting in the downfall of the Longbottom family. He realized that if he wanted to win this war, bloodshed was not the path to be chosen. The healers have already said that Azkaban had done irreversible damage to Bellatrix's already insane personality, there was no chance for the mad woman to get healed and lead a normal life.

So now he Dark Lord found himself not bothered by her demise at all. But his reaction would have definitely been different had he not got his wits back. Sure Bellatrix had been one of his powerful weapons, but since her escape from Azkaban, she had become a huge liability in his eyes. And now when she's finally out of his way, he kept wondering how his former protégé die?

One thing was crystal clear that Bellatrix was one of the finest duellists in his ranks. Who actually had the nerve and power to kill such a formidable witch?

Out of the corner of his eyes he observed the rest of the occupants of the room. Severus' face was as expressionless as ever, Barty a scowl on his face while the Malfoy's looked relieved. Rodolphus unsurprisingly was happy with his wife's demise and Rabastan surprisingly fuming in anger. With a deep breath he finally asked in a calm voice, startling the others out of their stupor

"What happened?"

For several tense moments neither the Malfoys nor Rodolphus spoke. With as much courage as he could muster, Rodolphus finally said, "The family magic reacted violently when Lady Black cast Bella out of the family, my Lord. Instead of just leaving her body or in worst case scenario leaving Bella a squib, , it seemed the family magic punished her for trying to harm Lady Black and other members of the Black Family." He spoke in a firm voice and for a moment was pleased that his words didn't just stumble out of his mouth.

Voldemort's eyebrows were furrowed making his scowl deepen. Family Magic was a fickle thing and certainly not to be messed with; it had the power to assess the member of the family on its own. It was one of the most powerful pieces of magic and not even he could fight against it. Also in this case Family Magic passed it's judgement, which meant Bellatrix must have done something incredibly stupid or insane despite being warned. The thought of facing the Black Family Magic made him shudder. However, if Cassiopeia wanted to cast Bellatrix out why didn't she do it sooner? Why did she wait so many years to become the head of the family? Surely it wasn't an irrational decision on her part, was it?

He knew Cassiopeia Black was a very practical woman. Although he had never met her personally for she had graduated Hogwarts before him he knew Cassiopeia want as prejudiced as the other pureblood. He had heard several times when Cassiopeia helped other students regardless of their house or blood status. On the outside his fellow classmates thought that he didn't like Cassiopeia much ,but inside he had been quite impressed by the pureblood witch, especially how she handled the scandal where she announce she didn't want to marry and create her own career. She had been one the finest Runic masters in the country but had abruptly disappeared about 17 years ago. And then she had sent him a letter this morning, wanting to meet him personally and discussing something important. Which brought him to the present question- Why the sudden appearance as Lady Black and what was she up to now?

His train of thoughts were abruptly halted when Lucius asked

"My lord?"

"What did Bellatrix do to provoke Cassiopeia and to be punished by the family magic, Lucius?" He asked his follower and friend looking him straight in the eye.

"Mt lord, I think you are misunderstood. Madam Black isn't Lady Black." He said clearing all the confusions. The furrow of his Lord's eyebrow deepened further but thankfully Narcissa took charge to tell everything that happened at the meeting.

"My Lord it has come to our attention that I have a niece, Elara Azalea Black. She is Lady Black and head of the family now. She claimed the lordship shortly after her 17th birthday and that was the reason the meeting was called." Narcissa said with a smile on her face. She had taken an instant liking to her niece, especially after she so selflessly helped Draco.

"I did not know that Sirius Black had a daughter."

"My Lord, she id Regulus' daughter not Sirius'."

His eyebrows shot up as his eyes widened, " A bastard..."

"Not a bastard, my Lord. Apparently Regulus married shortly after his 6th year. Grandfather Arcturus and aunt Cassiopeia knew about the marriage and Azalea's pregnancy."

Slowly and patiently Narcissa told the Dark Lord about Regulus and azalea's marriage. She told him about the massacre in Diagon Alley that led to Azalea's death and how Arcturus wanted his great granddaughter safe from all the ruckus of the war. Then she proceeded to tell what happened at the meeting and how Bellatrix was a constant nuisance despite being warned not to insult Lady Black's late mother.

Voldemort was surprised when he heard about Azalea's lineage. The Shafiq's were one the most important family in the history of Wizarding Britain, not to mention the fact they were descendants of both Salazar Slytherin and Rowena Ravenclaw. How had he not noticed the heiress of such prominent family before?

"The final blow was when Elara found out that Bella used to torture Draco on a regular basis and trying to make him submit to become a death eater." Narcissa stopped her charade."

"She abused Draco?"

"Yes, my Lord."

"And why didn't Draco tell about this to anyone?"

"She threatened him, my Lord." Narcissa spoke with rage in her eyes and nails digging in her palms. The Dark Lord too was furious. He had clearly mentioned it to Bellatrix when the question popped up that Draco will not be joining the ranks until he was prepared to do so himself. The bloody woman had dome the exact opposite as he ordered.

"He clearly needed the lessons and appropriate training so that he could be useful in future, my lord." Finally Rabastan exploded and all gazes landed on him.

"I clearly mentioned to keep little Malfoy out of this Rabastan, didn't I?" Voldemort's eyes bore into his.

"Clearly the little piece of shit was unworthy that is hwy you refused, my Lord. Bella was just trying to help him prove his true potential." Rabastan exclaimed.

"How dare you speak like that about my son!" Lucius shouted.

"You knew about the abuse." Narcissa all but whispered.

"Of course i knew about it. I helped her too." He spoke with a cocky smirk on his face.

"And look what that bitch did to Bella, my Bella. I'm going to kill that whore who caused Bella so much pain." He exploded in rage and in a blur of movement Rodolphus pulled out his wand and pinned his brother down at the feet of the Dark Lord.

"What the fuck do you think you are doing Rodolphus? Untie me now, I won't be ashamed in front of the Dark Lord." Rabastan spat at his brother.

"You have done enough things to be ashamed of, brother. Like sleeping with your brother's wife behind his back." All colour drained from Rabastan's face.

"Don't look at me like that brother. I've known about you and Bella for a while now. But I wanted to hear it myself from either one of you and today you have accepted that you loved my wife. However, it is not my place to punish you."

Turning to the Dark Lord Rodolphus continued, "The day we took the dark mark, we swore our allegiance to you my Lord. Therefore it is not my place to punish your follower." Voldemort was stunned with Rodolphus' loyalty towards him and was grateful for that. The other Lestrange brother was cackling madly making the others frown.

"The Dark Lord won't punish me brother. He will reward me after he sees how worthy we have made Draco for him. He will..."

Before more words could come out, Narcissa who had totally lost her temper punched him square in the face not even bothering to look at the others. Barty and Lucius moved quickly to grab her, not wanting her to be punished by Voldemort later. The said person just stopped them with a wave of his hand and let the Black woman take out her pent up and justified anger.

In reality, Voldemort was amused at Narcissa's antics. He considered her to be a good friend and seeing the calm woman lose her composure was endearing. At the display he concluded that he never wanted to be on her bad side.

"That will be enough Narcissa." He ordered and she stopped immediately.

"What do you suggest would be the appropriate punishment for your brother, Rodolphus?" he asked making the others look at him confusingly. He never asked for others opinions', but wanted to change the fact for those truly loyal to him.

"My Lord, Rabastan truly has been affected by his time in Azkaban. The healers have said too that there is little hope for my brother to live a normal life."

"I'm not insane." Rabastan spat while squirming and trying to free himself.

"You are to remain at the Yaxley's, Rabastan until i give you further orders. You will not be going on any missions or raids until I deem you fit enough to be back." Rabastan smirked at this. Of course he wouldn't be punished. The Dark Lord will soon announce him as his most loyal follower.

"However, I order Rodolphus to cast Rabastan out of the family for what he has done to you." Lucius was relieved o hear this; justice had been served. Rabasatn's face changed from mocking to thunderous to fear in moments as he writhed in pain when magic began to leave his body. He was conscious enough to face the Dark Lord though, "I worshipped the ground you walked on and this is how you reciprocate! I'll make sure you pay for what you have done and I'll take away everything you hold dear Voldemort. For when you think you are winning, I'll snatch away everything from you. I'll make sure you both pay." Rabastan roared at the top of his lungs and the rest of the inner circle quickly took their wands out.

The Dark Lord grabbed him by his hair entering his mind brutally and made sure to remove all information regarding his horcruxes. He would not have his insane ex-follower destroy his decades of planning. Rabastan fell to the floor unconscious and tired. For moments, Voldemort hissed in parseltongue making everyone shudder in terror. In one day he has lost two of his best pawns.

Breathing heavily he said, "Put him in the dungeons. He will be sent to Yaxley once he proves he is no more danger to us." Barty and Rodolphus took his body away.

"You may bury your sister as per ritual says, Narcissa."

"Yes, my Lord."

Before turning though he focused his attention to the spy/follower, "Severus, make sure what happened today does not reach the ears of Dumbledore or you know the consequences."

"Of course my Lord."

Voldemort quickly apparated to his manor and reached his study with long strides. He reread the letter addressed to him by Lady Black and responded in an affirmative way. Leaning back in his chair, he replayed the day's events and what all happened. To say that he wanted to know this Lady Black would be an understatement, he wanted to test her.

Lord Voldemort was definitely ready to meet Lady Black.

Author's note: Lord Voldemort meets the infamous Daughter of Black.

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