"What do you mean 'why didn't I let you know'?" asked Bellatrix, obviously irritated with her husband's questions.

Rodolphus sighed. "I mean, Bella, why didn't you tell me you were leaving? I was searching for you for hours!" he exclaimed, confused with his wife's sudden unwillingness to talk to him. Earlier that day, when they were having breakfast, she had been so warm, so gentle, so affectionate towards him… And then she had left the manor, without giving Rodolphus a clue of where she was going, and now, she was back home after three whole hours, and obviously her mood wasn't at its best.

"I didn't consider it to be necessary," Bellatrix replied flatly, and quickly apparated to the third floor, directly out of the master bedroom. Apparently she wasn't in the mood to even walk upstairs.

Rodolphus immediately did the same, following Bellatrix inside the bedroom, determined to find out where she had gone, and why she was trying so hard to avoid him.

"Will you tell me where you went?" he asked as he watched her taking off her coat and leather boots.

"Does it matter?" she shrugged and walked over to the mirror to check on her appearance, obviously trying to seem indifferent.

"Yes, it does!" Rodolphus insisted, unable to take the thought that something that he wouldn't like had happened out of his mind.

"And why so?" Bellatrix asked, turning around to face him, allowing him to see the expression of something like anger spread across her face.

"Because," Rodolphus started, now worried, "we are married, Bella, and I would like to know where my wife goes when she leaves the house. Without telling anything to me," he added, unable to hide the bitterness in his voice.

"I was at my sister's house," Bellatrix said sharply, and sat down on the bed, her eyes leaving his and focusing on the mattress. "Happy?"

"Actually, no," Rodolphus replied. "I contacted Narcissa and she told me she had no idea of where you were."

"Really? And how did you do so?" Bellatrix insisted, still not looking at him.

"I went to the Malfoy manor, Bellatrix, and she was the only one there. Lucius had already left, and you most definitely weren't there," Rodolphus answered, sitting down on the bed, right next o her. "Bella," he started, now his voice smoother, calmer. "Bella, please, tell me where you went. I don't have any secrets from you, and I beg you to do so, too. Why are you insisting on not telling me?"

Bellatrix finally looked up and straight into his eyes, and he could now see the sadness in them. "I…" she started, but didn't say anything further.

"Yes?" Rodolphus asked, desperately wanting to find out where she had been, but at the same time feeling that maybe he wouldn't like the answer after all.

"I was with the Dark Lord…At his manor," she said finally, dropping her gaze to the floor, and slightly pulling away from her husband.

"With the Dark Lord?" Rodolphus repeated, shocked that he had called Bella again, after what he had done to her that night. "W-why?" he asked.

"Because he summoned me," Bellatrix replied quietly, as if asking him to forgive her for something terrible she had done.

"And what did he want?" Rodolphus wanted to know, fearing for the worst, and suddenly feeing the urge to wrap his arms around his wife and hold her in his embrace until that sadness left her beautiful eyes.

"He… He…" she said, but Rodolphus could see that she couldn't finish her sentence, and he understood.

"Oh Merlin," he whispered, and tried to hug her, but she didn't let him. "Bella, I'm so sorry…"

He saw her looking at him with confusion. "Why are you sorry?" she asked, and with that, he felt his heart break. He was the one who was responsible for all this, if it wasn't for him, his Bella wouldn't…

"Because it's my fault," he said, his voice cracking. "If I hadn't failed on my mission, you…"

Bellatrix didn't reply, and that only made Rodolphus feel even worse.

"Bella, I-"

"He didn't do anything," Bellatrix said suddenly, as if wanting to somehow comfort him.

"What do you mean?" Rodolphus asked, puzzled, though the guilt wouldn't leave his heart.

"He didn't do anything. Lucius came, and of course he didn't do anything in front of him. So he let me go," Bellatrix explained, as if talking to herself. "Lucius knows nothing about this, neither does anyone else," she continued, and her eyes met her husband's. "Rodolphus, please," she said in a barely audible voice, "don't tell anyone about this."

Rodolphus once again went to hug her, but she pulled away and got up. "Of course I won't-" he tried to comfort her, but was cut off.

"Thank you," Bellatrix said, her face now seeming completely emotionless, and Rodolphus could sense that she didn't want to talk about it. "And…Rod…" she continued, her tone flat and emotionless, "Tonight, at the meeting, please don't tell him anything about this. Just… don't ask any questions, don't talk about that incidence with the mudblood, and try to be done with this as quickly as possible. He's still very angry, Rod, and he will punish you."

Rodolphus nodded, unaware of what to say next, completely taken off-guard by Bella's sudden plead. He tried to smile and reassure her that everything would be alright, but, when he lifted his head to look at her, he realized she was already out of the room.

Bellatrix didn't bother to glance at Rodolphus when they both took out their wands to apparate straight to the Dark Lord's manor for the scheduled meeting. She knew that tonight, the main topic to discuss would be the filthy mudblood that had caused her husband to fall from grace in the ranks of the Deatheaters like that. She knew that every Deatheater would be laughing at Rodolphus, and she wouldn't be hesitant to do so too, if she didn't need his trust as a husband.

A few seconds later, both Bellatrix and Rodolphus were out of the huge gates of the Dark Lord's manor, which were barely visible in the dark of the night. They heard someone apparating a few meters away from them, and Bellatrix turned around to see that it was Dolohov. He quickly approached the gates, and when he realized the Lestrange couple's presence, he smirked slightly at Rodolphus. Bellatrix knew that her husband had never had the best relationships with the tall Deatheater.

"Lestrange," Dolohov smirked, but Bellatrix didn't give her husband time to answer. She realized that Dolohov probably wanted to mock Rodolphus for his failure, and she wasn't in the mood to argue.

"Dolohov," she said coolly, making the other Deatheater's eyes turn on her, and the annoying smirk on his face disappear.

"Bellatrix," he said, "I see that you've decided to show up with your husband… I wouldn't call that a wise choice, if you want my opinion," he commented, his eyes lingering questionably from Rodolphus to Bellatrix. Obviously, he had expected Bellatrix, being proud and beyond her husband, to show up alone and go stand to the right of lord Voldemort, without even glancing at Rodolphus.

"Well, I happen to not want your opinion, Dolohov," she hissed, before Rodolphus could say anything. "Now, if you please, let us go inside, because I believe you are well aware of the fact that the Dark Lord isn't satisfied when someone shows up late for a meeting," she added and passed through the gates, without looking at the two men behind her.

Soon, the three of them were in the meeting room, which was surfaced with a huge black wooden table and chairs with enough space for thirty people to sit, a stone fireplace with silver snakes sculptured around it, Voldemort's throne-like chair at the top of the table, and a huge chandelier hanging from the high ceiling.

Bellatrix realized that they were the last to arrive, since all the other Deatheaters were already there, some already seated and the others still deciding where to sit. Once they saw the Lestrange couple and Dolohov enter the room, they all turned their heads to their direction. Bellatrix could see their surprise at the fact that she stood next to her husband's side, and she could also see that Rodolphus seemed very awkward, but yet relieved that he at least had Bellatrix next to him. She struggled to hide her anger at all of them, for looking at her like that, but she still didn't leave Rodolphus's side. After all, she was somehow following her lord's orders. She actually didn't like that she had to lie like that, because being so affectionate towards her husband was something that annoyed her greatly, for she was never a loving, affectionate, obedient wife. However, she thought, her lord hadn't told her to be loving like that; he had only told her to fill him with guilt and make him believe that she was getting punished because of him, and therefore over-affectionate gestures weren't necessary. Good for me, she thought, yet she couldn't do anything now.

Without talking to anyone, she took a seat at the middle of the table, next to where Rodolphus sat, which made everyone look at her in surprise. In every meeting, Bellatrix Lestrange sat at the Dark Lord's right, along with Lucius Malfoy, who sometimes sat at his right when Bellatrix was absent or she had failed Voldemort.

All the murmurs ceased when the door suddenly opened and the Dark Lord entered the room, the hem of his robes flowing elegantly as he walked, his burning crimson eyes scanning the room to see if everyone was present. Bellatrix thought that his eyes lingered on her for a little longer, and she also thought that she saw something like surprise in them to find her sitting next to Rodolphus. But, after all, it could easily be just her imagination. She was grateful, though, that his eyes passed casually over Rodolphus, without stopping for a second, and she was even more grateful that he didn't make any comment on her husband. For now, a least.

Lord Voldemort took his seat on the throne-like chair, as he always did, and without even glancing at Bellatrix or Rodolphus, he started the meeting, by asking Lucius about the progress of gathering allies from the insides of the Ministry. Bellatrix was relieved that he hadn't said anything about Rodolphus's failure, but she was also slightly disappointed; she hadn't received even one glance from the Dark Lord, not even one tiny glance, after all that had happened…

During the meeting, she found it almost impossible to focus on what lord Voldemort and all the others were saying. She remained quiet, lost in her own thoughts, which were mostly about what she was going to do with Rodolphus and about her encounters with her master. She snapped out of her thoughts when the door opened again and a body came flying inside, as if hung upside down with an invisible chain. She immediately recognized the bruised, pathetic man; he was the mudblood, the mudblood that had escaped her husband. She felt Rodolphus stiffen next to her, as Voldemort spoke.

"Shawn Greggory, age 32, Ministry employee, Mudblood," he hissed, not bothering to hide the disgust in his voice as he spat the last word. "Mr. Greggory, who had so kindly accepted to join us here tonight, had been contacting one of my servants, and gathering information about us."

Everyone in the room gasped, for they all knew that the Mudblood had valuable information about the Deatheaters, but no one knew that there was a traitor among them, a traitor who had been giving away these valuable information to the man who was now struggling to break free from the invisible chains that were holding him in the air. With a lazy flick of Voldemort's wand, the man fell on the stone floor with a loud bang, pathetically bracing himself to ease the pain he obviously felt.

There were small laughs and chuckles from around the room, but Bellatrix wasn't in the mood to laugh at the man's lame attempts to stand on his feet. She watched Rodolphus with the corner of her eye, and she could see that he knew the time for his punishment, or whatever the Dark Lord was planning for him, had come.

"Rodolphus," Voldemort hissed softly, and Bellatrix saw her husband lift his head up hesitantly to look into her master's burning eyes. "I suppose you recognize our guest, do you not?" he asked, his voice threateningly calm.

Rodolphus nodded slightly, and Bellatrix knew that everyone's eyes were now focused on her husband.

"Of course you do," Voldemort acknowledged with a quiet hiss, "since, I had thought that you were worthy of my trust to keep this filthy excuse of a man imprisoned. And, if I am correct, you had sworn that you would meet my expectations and you wouldn't fail me… Aren't I right?" he asked, his red eyes glowing, focused on Rodolphus, who now seemed scared for his life. "And yet," Voldemort continued, "what happened? What happened, Mr. Lestrange?"

Rodolphus opened his mouth to speak, but no sound came out. Bellatrix refused to look at him, and preferred to keep her eyes focused on her lord, even though his full attention was now on her husband, whose hand was shaking under the table. How pathetically weak, Bellatrix thought, angry Rodolphus's lack of confidence and courage.

"What happened, Rodolphus?" Voldemort insisted, ignoring Shawn Greggory's small groans of pain.

"I… I failed you, master," Rodolphus said finally, and Bellatrix fought the urge to roll her eyes.

"Exactly," Voldemort said softly. "You failed me. Could you tell us why, Rodolphus?"

Rodolphus didn't say anything, and Bellatrix felt like she was going to punch him in the face. Say something, you ignorant fool!

"Did you think that a task that lord Voldemort has given you is not worth your full attention?" Voldemort wondered, his voice becoming quieter, more like a venomous hiss in every word. "Or, perhaps, you had other things in mind? Say, if your dear wife will share your bed as you wish, just for this time?" he asked, and Bellatrix's cheeks flushed with color. Luckily, no one commented or even made a sound at that.

"It's a pity you have failed me, Rodolphus…Pity, really…" And then, without any warning, he raised his wand and aimed straight to Rodolphus's chest. "Crucio," he hissed, and everyone watched as the Deatheater fell off his chair with a scream of pain, and writhed on the floor in pain and agony, unable to stop the cries of pain. Everyone remained silent as Rodolphus's punishment went on. Finally, after a minute that lasted like hours, Voldemort lifted the curse. "Regretting being so careless, Lestrange?" he asked softly, but didn't wait for an answer. "Crucio," he hissed again, and more screams filled the room.

Bellatrix kept her eyes on the surface of the table, patiently waiting for the torture to end. She knew her husband deserved this, and much more, for failing the Dark Lord like that. Voldemort stopped the curse again, and fixed his eyes on Rodolphus's trembling form, who was gasping for air and grasping desperately on the stone floor. It was obvious that this time, the curse had been very strong. "Tell me, Rodolphus," Voldemort hissed, "will you fail me again?"

Rodolphus inhaled deeply, trying to get some air in his lungs. "N-no, master," he said in a weak voice, his throat sore from the screaming.

"Good," Voldemort said, and then hit him with another cruciatus, something that Rodolphus obviously hadn't predicted.

Fool, Bellatrix thought. After a few minutes, and after Rodolphus's punishment was finally over, Voldemort ordered everyone to leave the room, for the meeting was over. "No, not you, Bellatrix," he hissed, once Bellatrix stood up and bent forward to help Rodolphus stand up. "You will stay, along with your husband."

A.N/ I'm sorry this took so long to update, but I was so busy...Once again, I want to thank everyone who supports me by adding this to their alerts and favorites, and special thanks to those who took the time and left a review :) It's really great to have some feedback :) I hope you liked this chapter! Next one will be up sooner!