Thank you so much for all of your follows, favourites and reviews so far! I love every single one of them and appreciate them so much. I really enjoyed writing this chapter and am super excited for what's coming so please do read, enjoy and please do leave a review if you have a minute!
Thanks!
The Purple Black
Bellatrix Lestrange arrived in the main entry hall of Lestrange Manor, sighing in pleasure as the warmth of the manor greeted her whilst she took off her cloak. She threw it at the house elf that immediately appeared to greet her, barely acknowledging the creatures existence as she looked to the mirror to get the remaining snow off of her dark locks. She had just spent the last few hours in Hogsmeade, having met with her now Third Year niece she had decided it was best to go to a secluded part of the village outside of any watching eyes rather than sit in the warmth of the Hogs Head like she had wanted to. Suddenly the witches attention was diverted, she could hear voices in the main sitting room. The witch frowned as she soon went to discover who her husband was attending to. As she entered the room all conversation stopped as Bellatrix soon felt an anger inside of her like no other.
"What are you doing here?" Bellatrix spat.
The man sat opposite her husband stood from his seat, he was tall and strapping with a thin black moustache, a forced smile upon his lips as he looked to the witch. "Long time no see, Bellatrix?"
"Long time no see?" Bellatrix looked disgusted at the man. "Long time no see, Macnair?"
"Bellatrix." Rodolphus spoke warningly.
"I should be going." Macnair said to Rodolphus, though his gaze never left Bellatrix. "I'll come back soon."
"You will not!" Bellatrix yelled. "I do not want you anywhere near this manor, you traitorous—"
"Traitorous?" Macnair laughed "Really Bella, what makes me anymore traitorous than yourself?"
"You—"
"Well you escaped persecution, you didn't announce your loyalty—"
"Macnair." Rodolphus spoke firmly, keeping his eyes firmly trained on Bellatrix as he merely hoped that she kept her wand in its holster.
"But I didn't denounce him! Not like you did!" Bellatrix hissed.
"Perhaps, but you didn't claim to be his either." Macnair smirked. "Does it really matter now, Bellatrix? He is g—"
"Hold your tongue, Macnair." Rodolphus snapped, walking over to his wife and taking her hand in his own. It was a gesture that could be misconceived as loving, though in truth he simply did it so that his wife no longer had her wand hand free.
"I—"
"Leave." Bellatrix hissed at him, clenching her teeth as she forced herself not to pull away from her husband. The man looked at the couple, hesitating for a small moment before with a slight nod he left the room. His steps could be heard echoing down the corridor, neither witch or wizard moved until they heard the echo of the large front door shut behind him. "What was he doing here?" Bellatrix whispered in her fury.
"He came to see me, Bella." Rodolphus sighed, letting go of the witches hand as he walked over to his liquor cabinet.
"Why?" Bellatrix narrowed her eyes at the man.
"He simply wanted to see me, nothing more." Rodolphus said as he took a sip of firewhiskey. "How is Nymphadora?" Bellatrix couldn't help but scoff, it was clear that Rodolphus was trying to change the subject as he definitely did not care for the welfare of Miss Nymphadora Tonks.
"Fine . . ." Bellatrix said as she sat down "I invited her to stay for Christmas."
"You what?" Rodolphus looked to her as if she had just been told he had to snog a troll.
"I invited Nymphadora to stay for Christmas." Bellatrix repeated. "She never goes home for the holidays and I've never had her for more than a few hours, I thought it could be a perfect opportunity."
"A perfect opportunity?" Rodolphus repeated, dumfounded.
"Yes." Bellatrix nodded.
Rodolphus paused for a moment, struggling to think of anything to say to his wife "What about her parents? I can hardly believe this is something you have gotten permission to do."
"They think she's staying at Hogwarts for Christmas." Bellatrix shrugged with a small smirk. "Dora's going to walk out of the platform and I'm going to meet her on the other side, no-one will see me there—well, no-one that matters."
"You're going to meet her on the Muggle side of the platform?" Rodolphus wrinkled his nose in disgust.
"Yes, it is necessary." Bellatrix stood, walking over to her husband and taking the drink from his hand. She watched him carefully as she drained the last dregs from the cup. "Trust me, Rodolphus. We won't leave the manor, it's not like anyone we don't want to see her is going to. This is the perfect opportunity to ensure she is on our side, prepare her for the Dark Lords return."
"So I have to put up with a teenage half-blood in my own home? Brilliant." Rodolphus mumbled.
"It will be worth it." Bellatrix purred, kissing the mans cheek as he wrapped an arm around her waist "I promise."
It was a reasonable day in central London as hoards of muggles wandered the streets going about their day to day business. They sped in and out of Kings Cross station, determined in the robotic fast paced way that only London commuters seem to have to hurry to the Underground, intent on reaching their homes after a long days work or coming out in lesser hoards to enjoy an evening in the nightlife of London. If it were any other place in the country few more may have gave disapproving or curious looks to the woman standing out of the way to the side of the main entrance of the station. Though most of her wardrobe contained elements of wizarding finery and a clear statement of wealth, along with the overall fashion, that seemed absurd to most muggles should they see it Bellatrix Lestrange had blended in as much as she could in her long black sleeved cloak. It was something she wore when being discreet was a necessity on some of her Death Eater escapades around populations of Muggles. Though truth be told, this was London and as any Londoner could tell you a man could possibly walk the streets in a tutu and tiara and the natives would barely bat an eye at them.
Nevertheless, Bellatrix would gladly see herself invisible, better yet not there at all, as she held back her look of intense disgust at the muggles. She could deal with Muggles, oh she had many a way of dealing with muggles, though none of her ways of dealing with them were suitable at all lest she want to get herself thrown into Azkaban or at the very least miss her meeting with Dora.
"S'cuse me love?" a man approached Bellatrix, jumping slightly as he saw what she could only assume to be her expression of shocked disgust that such scum would dare to speak to her. "Sorry, love. Don't mean to disturb yah thoughts but don't s'pose you know where the Shaw is do yah?"
Bellatrix blinked at the man a few times, unsure if she could speak to him without sorely offending him and being unable to use some of her favourite curses—or any for that matter—she struggled to think of what to say. "E— . . . Excuse me?"
"The Shaw?" The man repeated as if she was deaf "The theatre? I'm s'posed to be meeting a bird there—blind date—but I can't even find the bloody place. Know it's 'round 'ere somewhere though."
"I—" It was just as she closed her eyes and took a deep breath to calm her feelings of hatred and disgust that she heard the girl she had been waiting for, snapping her eyes open to look.
"Aunt Bella!" Dora called out, grinning broadly as she ran over to her Aunt.
"Dora." Bellatrix forced a smile through the bile in her throat. She couldn't help but be slightly amused at the sight of the girl despite her current feelings. Nymphadora Tonks, the nearing fourteen-year-old most certainly had made a better attempt to blend in with the muggles than she had, wearing a pair of stone washed blue denim jeans, a pair of trainers that had certainly once been pure white and a cream fluffy jumper with a small backpack slung over one shoulder. Though Bellatrix couldn't help but wonder if it was normal for muggle girls of her age to have two plats of bright pink hair.
"Wotcher." Dora grinned, then turned to the man still staring at her Aunt. "Who are you?"
"Billy." The man said automatically, staring at Bellatrix as if concerned for her mental health for a few moments before he shook his head and looked to the girl and grinning at her. "Sorry—Just askin' for directions love. Don't s'pose you know where The Shaw Theatre is, do yah? Your Aunt don't seem to."
"Oh!" Dora couldn't help but laugh slightly, not paying much attention to the hand Bellatrix had put on her arm to attempt to tug her away. "Yes! It's that way!" Dora pointed excitedly "Cross the road, just past The British Library—Dad took me there once."
"Thanks." The man called, though Bellatrix had already tugged Dora away from the man, making her way straight across the road and narrowly avoiding getting missed by a car as she swore under her breath.
"You really don't like Muggles, do you Aunt Bella?" Dora couldn't help but laugh slightly, though as she looked up at her Aunt she couldn't help but bit her lip to hold back anymore laughter at her expense.
"They're filth, I've told you this Nymphadora and you would do well to remember it." Bellatrix said automatically. "They are barbaric, disgusting simpletons."
Dora merely nodded, she had heard this lecture from her Aunt before and she knew better than to question it. In her opinion some of the things her Aunt had told her had begun to make perfect sense to her. It was true that she did have muggle relatives, though she had only really met her grandparents and her mother did seem extremely wary even around them. If her own mother acted the way she did around people who were supposed to be family then there must be something wrong with them, as Bellatrix had clearly pointed out to her.
"Come on." Bellatrix said, pulling the girl down a deserted street and quickly concealing themselves should any muggle wonder by. "Let's get you home and out of those muggle clothes—and I believe I need a long soak."
"Okay." Dora couldn't wipe the grin off of her face, she had never seen her Aunt's home, let alone stayed there and as Bellatrix gripped onto her arm tightly and disaparated with her in tow she barely cared about the horrible squeezing sensation of apparation. The moment they arrived the girl looked up eagerly to see where they were landed, it was then with a laugh of amusement from her Aunt her jaw dropped. "Wow." She had never seen a home so large, especially when she considered that she knew her Aunt only lived with her husband. The building before her was a grand manor, one that she couldn't even figure out how many people it could potentially house.
"Welcome to Lestrange Manor, Dora." Bellatrix smirked, waving her hand carelessly as the iron wrought gates swung open to admit them.
The girl couldn't help but look in wide eyed awe at the building as they walked up the pathway, she was sure the front garden alone could fit her entire home and gardens in, the closer she got the more impressive the building seemed and the inside even more so. She was used to seeing such grand interiors in Hogwarts, but never could she of guessed that people actually lived in homes like this—let alone her own Aunt. The girl jumped slightly as a house elf appeared in front of them, bowing its head before it stood and immediately caught Bellatrix's cloak as she threw it at her.
"Dinner will be ready in one hour, Mistress." The House Elf squeaked before with a nod from Bellatrix it disappeared again.
Dora had never seen a House Elf, though she knew only wealthy families tended to own them. The girl barely had a chance to take her surroundings in much more, distracted by a portrait of the woman currently stood beside her as she was beckoned towards the staircase. She hurried to follow her Aunt, unable to help herself as she guided her hand along the intricately carved bannister.
"You will be staying in the guest room closest to mine and Rodolphus' room." Bellatrix said as she strode ahead of the girl "It's not the largest guest room we have, though I thought you would prefer to be closer to myself—the largest is on the other side of the manor, I don't tend to usually want guests so close to my own private quarters."
"Okay." Dora said, undeniably overwhelmed by the grandeur of her Aunts home as she struggled to think of anything better to say as they walked the seemingly never ending hallways to her room.
"Your Uncle Rodolphus will be joining us for dinner, no doubt he's probably locked away in his study at the moment." Bellatrix spoke casually, pretending to be naïve of Dora's wonderment of her manor. "He's . . . interested to meet you."
"Really?" Dora asked, she had heard mention of her Uncle Rodolphus a few times but never heard a great deal about him. "He is?"
"Of course he is." Bellatrix laughed. "You're a very special young woman, Nymphadora. Though we do have to get you out of those clothes—I believe Rod may have a heart attack if he saw you dressed like that here."
Nymphadora went to speak though they had reached her room, she quickly followed her Aunt through the door. If this room was not the largest guest room then she couldn't imagine how big that must be, she could easily fit her own bedroom at home in this room at least three times over. She barely noticed as her Aunt took her bag from her and placed it on the four poster bed.
"You have your own en-suite of course, though the main bathroom is just across the hall, second door to your right." Bellatrix said as she began to take the things from Dora's bag, placing the girl's wand on her bed before wrinkling her nose at the muggle clothes Dora had packed for her return journey to Hogwarts at the end of the holidays.
"I—" Dora swallowed hard, determined not to make herself look like an idiot. "Aunt Bella?"
"Hmm?"
"You said I've got to get changed—but you only told me to bring that one outfit apart from what I'm wearing." Dora couldn't help but grin slightly as she thought "Are we going shopping?"
"No, silly." Bellatrix laughed slightly, walking over to the large solid dark oak wardrobe "Clothes shopping is terribly boring and I wouldn't put you through it—I hate it enough myself. I've already been for you." Dora followed her Aunt, amazed for the what seemed like the hundredth time that night as her Aunt riffled through the many fine dresses that already hung inside of it. "This will do for tonight." Bellatrix declared as she pulled a fine emerald green corseted dress, the likes of which Nymphadora Tonks had certainly never worn. "Though I'm not sure bright pink would go well with it." Bellatrix smirked.
"It's lovely." Dora said, immediately changing her hair to a shade to match her Aunts.
"Of course it is." Bellatrix said, laying it on the bed. "There's shoes in the bottom of the wardrobe. I'm going to find my husband." Bella sighed, winking at Dora as she walked to the door "I'll be back to get you for dinner—Oh and Dora?" Bellatrix stopped to look at the girl before she went to leave the room.
"Yes, Aunt Bella?" Dora said, tearing her gaze away from the dress to look at her Aunt, a look of seriousness replacing the amused glint in her Aunts eyes.
"Do not leave this room without my say so, do you understand?" Bellatrix said, smirking once the girl nodded obediently. "Good." With that Bellatrix left the child to change, her smirk still split across her features as she went in search of her husband. If she could impress her young niece with such simple things as her Lestrange Manor and clothes she was sure to find the rest of her plans fall easily in place.
Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed it, if so please do leave me a review and let me know your thoughts :)
The Purple Black