8 November 1981
Kensington, London
Lord Voldemort was holding his wand against the feathers of the brown owl, who was twitching where it sat. Bellatrix watched in wonder. She knew nothing of the spells or intense mental concentration it would take to track an owl. Surely she wasn't powerful enough to do such a thing. But Voldemort was powerful enough, she thought, for just about anything. He'd taught her Occlumency a few years back, so that if she were captured, she wouldn't reveal anything about his hideout or anything to personal, as he'd said then. What she knew now was far more personal, but in any case, he'd had no trouble at all teaching Bellatrix Occlumency, and he was a Legilimens. His mind, she knew, was incredibly powerful.
Now he touched his wand to the owl and tapped it a few times, and when he pulled it away, Bellatrix glanced down to her mother, who was Imperiused to sit with her eyes shut and in perfect silence, facing away from them. Her father was at work, she knew. The letter that had come from Andromeda was simple but significant.
Mum,
I wish you would accept my husband and daughter. If ever you loved me, accept that their Blood Status has no bearing on who they are. Who we are. Someday you'll see.
Andy
"She's here in London," Voldemort breathed. "This owl came from Shoreditch. I can see the flat in my head. Hoxton Street. I could Apparate there." He gave Bellatrix a wide-eyed look and backed away a little, and he said, "I'll meet you out front. Take off the Imperius Curse and alter her memory. Meet me out front."
Then he Vanished the owl and the letter, and Bellatrix nodded as he walked out the front door of the townhouse. Bellatrix aimed her wand at her mother and twisted it, whispering a Memory Replacement charm, and she began to carefully fill her mother's head with the idea that Bellatrix had come for tea, that they'd chatted a bit about Rodolphus' pesky girlfriend. She lowered her wand and took off the Imperius Curse, and she cleared her throat where she stood before her mother. Druella stood and said quietly,
"I am so very sorry, darling, that he's been unfaithful for so long and you're just now finding out. I don't blame you one bit for, you know, keeping your distance, as it were."
"I have more important work to do," Bellatrix said gravely. "I'm a soldier. That's what really matters in my life."
"Of course." Druella bowed her head and sighed. "Have you heard that Draco's saying two words at a time now? Mummy give! Daddy give!"
"Does he just demand that things be given to him?" Bellatrix grinned, and Druella smiled a bit as she good-naturedly demanded,
"Would he be Cissy's son if he were asking politely instead of throwing a tantrum, Bella?"
"Right you are," Bellatrix said with a little smile. She kissed her mother's forehead and whispered, "Got to go. See you later, Mum."
"Later, then, darling." Druella watched Bellatrix hurry toward the foyer and out the front door. Bellatrix pattered down the steps and out the front gate, and then she looked to her left to see Voldemort standing there in robes. Luckily, it was not a busy time of day on the sidewalk, though he did get one odd look from a passing Muggle woman. Bellatrix watched as he wandlessly Confounded the woman, who trembled as she walked. She wouldn't mind having seen the odd man in the robes now, Bellatrix knew. She approached Voldemort, who held out an arm and insisted,
"You must be ready to kill her."
"Oh, I'm ready, Master," Bellatrix insisted.
"And the daughter. Nymphadora," Voldemort posited, but Bellatrix shrugged.
"She's of no importance to me, My Lord."
"Then let's go," he said, and she took his arm as he Disapparated. There was a black, pinching whirling, and then they landed hard. Bellatrix looked round to see a red brick building before them. Voldemort appeared to be studying the building, and she realised he was using Legilimency to feel out the minds inside.
"There are two Muggles on the ground floor," he said, "and three Magical minds on the first floor. Nymphadora, Ted, and Andromeda Tonks."
"No one else is here with them?" Bellatrix asked quietly, and Voldemort shook his head, marveling.
"No one else is here. Foolish Dumbledore."
"It's just like Andy to insist they could go it alone," Bellatrix said. "How about I grab the girl and hold her hostage whilst you interrogate the elder two, Master?"
"Yes, we'll try that first," he nodded. "You may need to kill her to get anything out of them."
"Ready," Bellatrix said lightly. Voldemort strode up to the door and unlocked it with his wand, and then he charged up the stairs inside the building. Bellatrix followed him, holding her wand carefully. She trotted to keep up with the way he skipped steps, and then at the top of the landing, he unlocked the door leading to the upstairs flat and she scurried up beside him.
"Ted!" cried a voice. "They've come!"
"Expelliarmus!" called Bellatrix. "Expelliarmus!"
Two wands soared through the air toward her, and she snapped them each quickly, tossing the broken wands down onto the ground. A little girl came dashing out from a dimly-lit kitchen, her wild pink hair sprouting out oddly from her head, and her face suddenly sprouted into a frog's. A Metamorphagus. The girl was a Metamorphagus. How fascinating.
"Stupefy!" screamed Bellatrix, and the little Metamorphagus went flying roughly against the wallpaper.
"Nymphadora!" screamed Andromeda, who came rushing into the sitting room looking as lovely as ever. She eyed her sister and shook her head frantically. She was wandless; she'd been Disarmed. Voldemort shut and warded the door, and Bellatrix hurried over to where Nymphadora was, aiming her wand at Ted and Andromeda.
"What do you want of us?" Andromeda begged, and Ted stepped forward bravely.
"They want me. I'm the Mudblood, innit? Take me, then. Go on; take the sacrifice you want."
"I require information," Voldemort said, and Bellatrix could tell he was searching minds again. He narrowed his eyes at Andromeda and then Ted and flicked his gaze to Bellatrix.
"The Secret Keeper was Fabian Prewett, but he died. He went into battle with a few of our Death Eaters thinking he was going to die, and so he told our friend Ted here."
"You can't torture it out of me," said Ted, tipping his head up proudly.
"Ted, don't tell them!" cried Andromeda. "Don't tell them!"
"I won't," said Ted. "I'll never tell them."
"He doesn't have to," said Voldemort with a small, wicked smile. "I wouldn't be able to get it directly out of his mind with Legilimency, but I can see the memory of Fabian Prewett telling him when he was the Secret-Keeper. The Longbottoms are on King Street in Whalley. Burnham House."
Ted Tonks' eyes went very wide, and Andromeda let out a little shriek of horror.
"Kill them, Master!" Bellatrix cried. "Kill them now! Now that we know!"
"Do it!" he exclaimed, and she aimed her wand at the Metamorphagus girl on the ground.
"Avada Kedavra!"
"Avada Kedavra!" Voldemort cried, and explosion of green bursting from his wand. Ted Tonks crumpled, and Andromeda's blood-curdling scream could have woken the dead. Only, it didn't. She fell to her knees, and Bellatrix watched as another Killing Curse from Voldemort's wand hit her.
"Tattoo the sky, Bella!" Voldemort ordered, and Bellatrix aimed her wand skyward and screamed,
"Morsmordre!"
"Let's go," he said, "before they can move them. We need to go now. Now, to Whalley!"
Author's Note: Oh, no! They're inching closer to the Longbottoms! Once they eliminate them, most major impediments to Voldemort's rise to power will be gone. What will that mean for his relationship with Bellatrix?