Only after making sure that Rodolphus hadn't noticed her did Bellatrix take out her wand to apparate to her lord's manor. She wasn't very sure about whether he would be there; she had never visited her Lord in his manor at this time of day before, and therefore didn't know if he would be somewhere else. She decided to go to the Malfoy Manor, where her sister Narcissa was sure to be, if she didn't find her Lord in his own house. Bellatrix never enjoyed visiting her sister at the Malfoy Manor, because of Cissa's husband; she had never liked Lucius. However, anywhere away from Rodolphus seemed like a better alternate to her at the moment.

After taking a quick glance behind her, she apparated and soon found herself in the middle of a long road made of stone, which was obvious to be quite old. She knew she had to follow the road to reach the Dark Lord's manor, which appeared to be at the middle of nowhere. There were no other buildings near, and Bellatrix could remember herself feeling extremely uncomfortable walking there in the middle of the night, going to her Lord, back when she was new to the Deatheaters. But it had become a habit by now, and she almost liked the loneliness and the dark aura of that place. But she had never come here at daylight, so she felt really weird, walking there, and hearing to some random birds from the few trees at the sides of the road.

After a few minutes, she was in front of the huge gates of the Dark Lord's manor, so she simply lifted her left forearm, which had the Dark Mark on it, for the gates to open and allow her in; only marked Deatheaters could pass through the gates, and that only when the Dark Lord himself was inside. Bellatrix felt instant relief when the gets opened, allowing her to come into the manor's gardens; it meant that her lord was there.

She crossed the gardens and soon she was outside of the huge front doors. She tried to push them, but, unlike last night, they were locked. She growled in frustration and knocked, waiting for someone to open. She waited for a couple of minutes, shifting her weight from one foot to another, until the doors opened, and she came face to face with Wormtail.

"B-Bellatrix?" he asked and blinked, obviously not expecting to see her. "What are you doing here?"

Bellatrix raised an eyebrow.

"I was about to ask you the same thing, Wormtail," she said coolly. "What are you doing in the Dark Lord's manor?"

"Oh, I… Umm…I'm helping out, I-"

"Don't worry, I got it. You're here instead of a house elf. Makes sense," Bellatrix smirked and pushed him aside to walk in.

"Hey! The Dark Lord himself told me to come here, I can provide information, and I-"

"Cook, clean, and do housework. Once again, makes sense," Bellatrix sneered, enjoying watching the look of hurt across the short man's face.

"Hey!" Wormtail exclaimed once she started walking down the hall to get to the living room. "You can't just come here without the Dark Lord's invitation, he wasn't expecting you to come today! You can't-"

"Was he expecting someone else?" Bellatrix asked, turning around to look at Wormtail.

"Well, Lucius would come to inform him about that whole thing with the guy your husband messed up keeping imprisoned," Wormtail said with a grin, obviously thinking that his words had hurt Bellatrix.

"Well, I'm obviously not Lucius," Bellatrix said in a mocking tone, making the triumphant look on Pettigrew's face disappear, "but I do think the Dark Lord won't be displeased to have me around instead of you," she added with a smirk, and turned her back to the shocked man and climbed up the stairs to her lord's study room.

She pushed the door lightly and entered, but was surprised to see that the room was empty. She took a quick look around, but the Dark Lord wasn't there. "My Lord?" she asked quietly, not expecting to get an answer.

"Yes, Bella?" she heard a familiar voice from behind her and quickly turn around and saw lord Voldemort looking at her with a slight smirk crossing his thin lips. She instantly fell on her knees and looked down. "My Lord," she murmured, unaware of what to say. Why was she there in first place? He hadn't summoned her, probably she would get punished for showing up for absolutely no reason…

He walked around her and stood behind his huge wooden desk, his smirk never leaving his face. "May I ask you the reason of your visit?" he asked in a low voice that made Bellatrix shiver. His voice had always had a huge impact on her, and especially after last night's events… Then, a single thought crept up in her mind. Did the Dark Lord think that she had come here because she wanted more?

"I… My Lord… Well…" she stuttered, unable to find the proper words to say something.

"Bellatrix, I would like you to look at me while talking to me," she heard him say, and immediately turned around to look straight into his eyes, never leaving her kneeling position. The fact that his eyes pierced through her like that didn't help things at all, and now she couldn't say anything.

"Master," she managed to speak after some moments of awkward silence, "I just… I just didn't want to stay with Rodolphus…" she said, lowering her eyes to the floor.

"And why so, Bella?" he asked, sending shivers down her spine. She always felt that when he called her by her pet name.

"I just… Well… He got really annoying," she said finally, not daring to look up at him. She tried her best to keep her mind closed; she didn't want him to know anything of the conversation she had had with her husband.

"And what would you do if you didn't find me here, Bella? I believe you had no idea about whether I would be here or not, am I correct?"

"I would go to my sister's home, my lord," she replied quietly.

"However, it turned out that I am here, and you won't have to face Lucius, whom you so dislike," Voldemort said, while sitting down on his armchair behind the desk.

Bellatrix simply nodded.

"May I ask why Rodolphus annoyed you so much?" Voldemort asked once again.

Bellatrix looked up at him, struggling to find something to tell him. Eventually, she decided to tell him the truth; or, at least, a part of it.

"Well, he proposed that we do something that I find extremely weird and annoying, my lord," she said, hoping that he wouldn't ask what this was.

"And, what was it that he proposed that you found so absurd?" Voldemort insisted, making Bellatrix look down once more.

"He… He proposed that we go to his parents' old house, at France, for a week… off," she said, unable to hide the disgust in her voice. "The two of us," she added, and she heard Voldemort chuckle.

"So, Rodolphus has decided to go for vacation with his dear wife?" he asked mockingly, making Bellatrix blush from anger and embarrassment.

"My Lord, I told him that he is stupid, and there is absolutely no way that we will do such thing," she rushed to say, trying to somehow defend herself. "I would never leave your side, master, you know that!"

"Yes, Bella, I know that," Voldemort answered, and Bellatrix noticed that he looked sincere, so she instantly felt relieved.

"But do tell me," the Dark Lord continued, now sounding more curious than mocking, "what made him think that he could just take you and leave for… vacation?"

Bellatrix sighed and rolled her eyes, suddenly feeling much more confident with talking to her master. "He told me that he wanted to… escape from the events of the last couple of days, and spend some time alone with me," she said.

Voldemort raised an eyebrow. "So, he thought that he is forgiven, just like that? He thought that he could come to me, tell me that he wants the week off, take his wife and go to vacation, completely ignoring the fact that his worthless life could come to an end because he simply failed at the simplest of tasks…" he said, mostly talking to himself. "Maybe I should have killed him in first place," he said after a few seconds of silence. "But then, I ought to acknowledge the fact that your …persuasion, my Bella, was what made me change my mind…"

Bellatrix blushed at his words, feeling beyond excited to hear him talk like that about her.

"However," he added, "I believe I ought to punish him for his failure… He can't just get away like that… I have decided to spare his life, but he must be punished. And that will happen tonight, at the meeting. Just so you know, Bella," he added with an evil smirk, that made Bellatrix shiver, but she couldn't feel sorry for her husband. She would save her acting skills for the meeting.

"But, do tell me, Bella," Voldemort said suddenly. "How did your dear husband react to the… incidents of last night?"

Bellatrix gasped. What was she going to tell him now? "Master… He…" she had no idea of what to say. In all of a sudden, she felt completely vulnerable. However, she decided to tell him the truth. She knew she wouldn't get away with lies, no one ever did with the Dark Lord.

"My Lord, he thinks that… He thinks that you…" she started, but she found herself unable to finish her words.

"Don't tell me that he thinks that I raped you," Voldemort said with a smirk, and saw Bellatrix nod in embarrassment.

Bellatrix heard a low laugh come from him, and dared to look up and meet his eyes, which were now glowing with amusement.

"Things are much more amusing than I thought they were," she heard him say, and she looked at him with confusion. What was he saying?

"My Lord?" she wondered quietly, but he looked down at her, still smirking.

"This is such a great punishment for him, don't you think, my Bella?" he asked, and stood up, walking closer to her.

"Master, I don't know what you mean," she replied in a trembling voice, unaware of whether her Lord was playing with her feelings or being serious.

"Feeling that all that happened to his beloved wife is his entire fault, that he was the one who made his wife 'sacrifice' for him… But being unable to do a thing to help things out…" Now he was standing so close to Bellatrix, that she thought she would forget how to breathe properly.

"Rise, Bella," he commanded in a silky voice and she obliged, quickly standing up and looking straight into his burning eyes.

"You may tell Rodolphus whatever you want, as long as he feels responsible… But of course, this doesn't mean that he will get away with his punishment tonight… Make sure that he will be at the meeting, Bella. I trust you can do this?"

Bellatrix nodded, and she could feel the passion burning inside her once more.

"Good," he breathed, and then crashed his lips on hers, unable to hold back any longer. Bellatrix responded immediately, wrapping her hands around his neck and pulling him closer to her. To her surprise, he allowed her to do so, and kissed her back even harder, wrapping his arms around her waist. She moaned against his mouth, completely lost in her passion.

In all of a sudden, he pushed her away, making her crash aginst the wall, and fixed his eyes on the door, which suddenly opened. Lucius Malfoy ran in the room but stopped, after his eyes saw Bellatrix.

"My Lord," she said bowing his head and then turned his gaze to Bellatrix. "Bellatrix?" he questioned, obviously not expecting to find her there.

"Lucius," Bellatrix responded coldly, after fixing her hair slightly, and then bowed to Voldemort. "My Lord, I should be leaving now," she said quietly, and waited for his permission to leave.

"Yes, Bella, I think so, too," he said in his usual cold voice, no evidence of the previous events showing in his face or voice, and Bellatrix turned around and left the room without even glancing at Lucius, after murmuring a quick "thank you, my lord".

Voldemort sat on his armchair behind the desk and waited for Lucius to speak. The blond man bowed low and then asked, before hesitating: "My Lord, may I ask what Bellatrix was doing here? Did she have information about that Mudblood, who-"

"It's not any of your business, Lucius," Voldemort hissed, silencing Lucius. He was already angry with his servant for popping in without any warning.

While Lucius was speaking, he was barely paying any attention. His mind was once again full of images of Bellatrix; her beautiful, warm body against his, moving with him, her soft lips kissing his neck, her small, fragile arms wrapped around him… She was all he had been thinking during the whole day, and he hadn't been able to take the events of last night out of his head. But he had always been an expert at hiding his thoughts and emotions, and therefore there was no way Bellatrix or anyone else would realize that his encounter with Bella had affected him so much. There was no way he would let Bellatrix realize the effect that night had had on him. And probably he shouldn't allow himself realize that, either.

"And I suppose you have tracked the mudblood down?" he asked, when he noticed that Lucius had stopped talking.

"Yes, my lord," he said with pride in his voice.

"Good. I want you to capture him and bring him at the meeting tonight. If you fail me, then the consequences will be... unpleasant. Just how it is going to be for mr. Lestrange, who dared to dissapoint Lord Voldemort."

"Of course, my lord."

A.N/ Lucius is such a *censored* …. He showed up right at the perfect moment… :/ Oh well, what can we do?

Hope you liked the chapter, guys! Next one will be the meeting :)

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