The strange stream of well timed updates continues. It is a little odd, but here we go. Where someone is killed, something goes wrong and Tom is a little confused and does not like the feeling at all.
As two figures stood silently under the creaking branches of the yew tree, the darkness covered them almost as effectively as their black cloaks. Bellatrix focused on the impressive Victorian Era country estate in front of her, but the man beside her stared at the pocket watch clenched tightly in his pale hand.
"Five minutes," Tom whispered quietly and carefully so that they would not be heard. Clicking it shut, he turned to his companion. "Antonin and your uncle will have the wards down at exactly ten to one."
She murmured a wordless reply seemingly without much interest. Tom scowled. Bellatrix seemingly had the inability to take matters seriously. He often wondered if she realised the consequences of her actions at all.
From the very beginning of their plans, she had insisted relentlessly that they both participate in this mission. He thought it was foolish and reckless to risk themselves in such a way. Yes, it required some skill that some of their allies did not possess, but it was still utterly senseless. He knew that the contacts they possessed meant, if either were caught or perished, there would be chaos and all their plans would come to nought.
Yet, she insisted.
While he loathed the thought, he had eventually relented, but not without a compromise: There would be at least two others who would assist them. He knew that irked her, no doubt she wanted the glory to herself, but she had finally agreed.
The rest of the plans went along smoothly.
After all, both wanted to be the ones to kill Avery. Tiberius Avery was a boy who Tom remembered from his school days. Little Avery may not have not been as skilled as Tom nor was he from the aristocracy (his family wealth was from trade), but he harnessed whatever gifts he had been born with and made it quite clear, both inside and outside school that, no half blood would ever give him any orders.
The man had never been punished for his defiance. Tonight he would be.
He did not know why Bellatrix wanted to do the murdering: Perhaps she just liked killing or maybe she knew the importance of assassinating one of Grindelwald's most faithful and the British Treasurer.
It did not matter. He had abandoned trying to conclude what went on in the crazy and terrifying mind that was Bellatrix Lestrange.
"Time." Bellatrix barked softly to his right as she turned to him sharply.
He would have liked nothing more than to slap her for her indigenous behaviour but instead he replied with a quiet answer, "One minute."
Silently they both mentally counted down. His eyes focused down on the clock as the second hand moved around the face. Bellatrix lent in to observe so that she rubbed against him and he could smell the strong musky scent of her perfume.
It was not at all unpleasant.
Until, finally, the hand ticked over to the next minute.
Two pairs of dark eyes met.
"Now." They both whispered. They shared a curt nod then they were off, silently and swiftly darting through the shadows almost in a race against each other as they headed for the door.
It was a little more than an hour later when Tom and Bellarix found themselves in a considerably different position.
Tom's eyes were unusually bright and his grin unusually large underneath his hood while the trail of his cloak was coated in blood.
He was in a better state than Bellatrix.
She had shunned her hood and the moonlight flittered over her wild tresses of black hair as blood trickled down her face and neck.
Her eyes met his. They shone with such passion and fire. He did not break his gaze from hers. He was not sure why he found the sight so arousing. Most likely he just imagined it was her blood that coated her body. Maybe if he bit her neck hard enough.
It took considerable effort, but he looked back at the house behind them that had finally fallen silent after the previous screams. Somehow his eyes met hers again.
"We should go," he replied softly, but there was a throaty rasp of longing that he could not ignore. "It is not safe here."
Bellatrix grinned and flicked her hair behind her shoulders exposing more of her elegant swan like neck. "I know just where to go."
He was slightly apprehensive, but another part of his body was doing his thinking for him as she grabbed his arm and they side along apparated. In a whip like crack, his vision cleared and his eyes now found themselves focusing on a larger and more ancient home.
Shaking his head, Tom tutted. "What are we doing here, Bellatrix? This is folly. If your husband were to-"
Evidently she was not listening to him as she cut him off with a searing kiss. He could taste blood in her mouth and his arousal heightened. It was difficult, but he managed to control himself.
Pulling her off him, he held her back and stared into her eyes. "What do you think you are doing?" he snapped like how you would scold a toddler. "Do you want to get caught? I do not care about how you view your husband, but the consequences of being caught are more serious than the end of your marriage."
Bellatrix was not upset or daunted. "I am well aware of that," she replied with considerable confidence and swagger. "He is not here. His father is very sick. They do not think he will recover. That means plenty of wine and lots of tears. He will not return home tonight."
"I suppose," he replied cautiously as she tried to tug him along.
"Come on Tom," she hissed seductively into his ear. "Don't you want to soil me in his bed? I know you do."
He would not fight any longer. Without any fuss, he allowed her to lead him upstairs as he tried to convince himself it was not folly.
The bed was certainly bigger and more comfortable than his own as he lay spread out in the middle of crumpled sheets. Eyes half closed, Bellatrix planted kiss after kiss along his stomach trying to entice him into a second round.
She had already won the battle and he was well and truly enticed, though he would hold out a little longer. He wanted to beat down her pride a little and make her beg, at least, if his lower body did not give him away first.
"Tom," she moaned against his skin. Her tongue was daring and wet, sliding along the top of his pelvis and to the very end of each of thigh. "Come on Tom."
With one shaky breath he conceded defeat. Before she could even react, with a sequel from Bella, he flipped her so he was pinned to the bed. He was about to plunge into her when several things happened at once.
He heard the bedroom door open and, despite the distractions he faced, he turned his head to find Rodolphus Lestrange staring at him.
It took him only one glance at the furious look in his eyes and the hand gripping his wand for Tom to leap off Bellatrix and roll onto the floor on the other side of the bed. More thankful than he had ever been for his use of wandless magic, he summoned his wand into his hand and found his feet, still as naked as the day he was born.
He had other matters to deal with.
"You!" Rodolphus roared and sent a curse at him.
Tom was not worried. With ease he reflected curse after curse while he stood his ground. His eyes never left Lestrange, not even to consider where Bellatrix had moved. He considered duelling Lestrange, he knew he could win, but at what cost? The damage had been done.
Deflecting one final curse, he spun on his heel and disapparanted leaving Lestrange Manor and the Lestranges behind.
Breathing heavily, he appeared home, his face paler than usual.
He was safe, unharmed and there was no evidence to link anything to him other than what Lestrange had seen. He could name him as having relations with a pureblood and he could be imprisoned for that (or at least someone attempting and failing to take him), but he was fairly confident Lestrange would not embarrass himself by admitting he was being cheated of his wife by an old half blood.
No, he was sure he was fairly safe on this topic.
Only Bellatrix would be in for any serious trouble considering what she had already told her husband.
Then why was he feeling so guilty?
Why did he actually care?