Hello, lovely people!
I can't believe so much time has passed since I've last updated, but I do have some good news - I have spent several passed weeks writing, so the chapter's will come a bit more often as of now, and the story will move quite significantly forward!
My biggest thanx goes to Love. Fiction. 2022 , iRedeem and Bloody Vyvyan - your reviews made my day and I sincerely hope you're gonna enjoy this chapter as well.
I wish you all the absolute best for the next year!
She heard screams everywhere. She felt the magic swirling in the air and she was well aware of the spells being cast everywhere around them. The chaos was so big that no one even managed to properly notice her.
Rabastan was lying on the ground, grimacing in pain, when his eyes noticed his wife and widened with shock. Caroline had no intention of being caught in this, whatever it was, and she knew she had only precious seconds until she would be noticed, so she just crouched by her husband and took his arm.
"Hold tight," she said through gritted teeth as she pulled her own magic and apparated them both back home.
Once they were at Lestrange Manor, she quickly called Wixie to assist her, as her husband didn't really seem fit to walk. Upon a few instructions, the house elf snapped her fingers and levitated Rabastan to their bedroom.
Caroline followed them, while carefully assessing Rabastan's emotions. His shields were down, and there was nothing preventing her from analysing her husband's mind or anything that would give any resistance.
Once in their room, Caroline sent Wixie away with a remark that she would call her soon. She sat on the edge of the bed Rabastan was laying on and a worry hit her. She didn't just drag him out of a routine mission. This was a battle. Battle at the fucking Ministry of Magic.
She was well aware the others were still there. She wasn't sure who exactly, but she was sure at least her in-laws were definitely there.
"You should have left me there," Rabastan spoke for the first time. "The mission wasn't over." Worry. Fear. She didn't even need her Legillimancy in order to decipher these emotions in his voice.
"There was a battle in every corner, Rabastan, it's pure luck I apparated to you when I did. I bet the aurors were on their way, if not there already. You would go straight to Azkaban."
She tried to explain and watched him twitch at the mention of the prison. But her husband didn't seem relieved at all. If something, she could feel his fear even more strongly now.
"He'll punish me for not staying till the end. The mission wasn't over."
Now she understood. He was afraid of the Dark Lord. She placed her hand on Rabastan's cheek and sent a bit of calmness his way. She could deal with the Dark Lord later. Right now, she was happy her partner ended up in their bed rather than somewhere else. She didn't want to be alone again, and Rabastan in Azkaban again was not something she would let happen if she had the chance to stop it.
"I can take the blame if he asks. Besides, you can't serve him from Azkaban, you know," she said and her heart twitched a bit as he took her hand to his.
"Sometimes," he started, looking at her, "sometimes I think that Merlin himself blessed me for ending up with someone like you." Not sure what she should say to that, she kissed him softly on the lips and then called her house elf, requiring some potions.
He didn't suffer any visible life-threatening injuries, but she was sure he was hexed many times and was exhausted. She let him rest alone a bit and went to her lab giving Wixie instructions to keep an eye on him. She was sure the Dark Lord would call him soon or later and she wanted him to get some rest before facing him.
She wasn't wrong. Less than an hour had passed, before Wixie came to inform her that Rabastan was getting out of bed. Caroline took a deep breath and headed towards the bedroom. She made her decision. The time was up. It was now or never.
She entered the room and watched as her husband was quickly changing, putting his black robe back on and looking much better than he did an hour ago.
He raised his sight and their eyes met.
"The Dark Lord is summoning me. I have to go," he declared and his voice was as solid as a rock.
But his wife has already made up her mind. "I am coming with you," she said, making sure not a hint of nervousness made it into her voice.
Rabastan froze in the middle of movement and his expression became blank. "No. Don't even think about it. You're staying here."
"I'm coming with you, Rabastan."
"No. You are not."
"I've made my decision."
"And I've made mine. You're not coming. And don't forget you can't get there without me."
Caroline stood higher than she had in a long time, when she faced her husband and looked him in the eye.
"Rabastan. We already had this discussion. It is inevitable, whether you want it or not." She could feel how torn Rabastan was. She felt his emotions.
As he didn't seem to say anything to that, she continued. "Now is the time. He would ask about how you got away anyway. The opportunity is basically offering itself."
She had him. She felt it the moment he made up his mind. They stared at each other for what felt like a minute before he finally agreed aloud.
"Alright," he started and Caroline knew that even though he agreed to it, he wasn't happy about it. "But listen to me, Caroline, and listen carefully. He is the most powerful wizard alive. I know you are good. But do NOT underestimate him. You are not a better legilimens than he is. Do you understand? You have to go in there 100% focused and give out your absolute best. Do you get it?" He eyed her with intensity that she wasn't used to.
Worry. Frustration. Fear. His emotions weren't hard to pick up.
"I understand." With that, she raised her mental shields up, solid as rock and covered them with different sorts of emotions and thoughts. Just the way she practised for the past several weeks.
Rabastan eyed her outfit one more time, before nodding approvingly, taking her hand and guiding her out of the manor to apparate them to his master. Caroline noticed he touched his forearm several times, as the summoning from the Dark Lord was becoming more and more urgent.
Before apparating them, he looked her in the eyes and used the bond they shared. "Just please be careful."
The sole desperation in that thought made Caroline shiver. She looked back at him, and although she knew she didn't have to say it aloud, she had done so.
"I will be. I love you." And with that, he apparated them both away.
They walked in silence, side by side, as her husband led her to meet the most dangerous man in the Wizarding world.
She could do it. She knew it. She just needed to focus. And hope, that the Dark Lord wouldn't notice her defences, hidden between the thoughts and pictures she has prepared in her mind.
She knew they were close just by the way Rabastan's mind reacted. She felt how he got more and more tense with each step.
However, she was not prepared for what - or more precisely who - was waiting in the main hall. Sitting on a chair that resembled a throne, with the scariest snake Carol has ever seen, sat a man with snake-like eyes, and complexion so pale he was almost white.
But his appearance was only the second thing she noticed. Firstly, she felt the anger. He was furious. His presence and his magic magnified the strength of the emotions Caroline felt.
They hadn't made even three steps into the room, when Rabastan collided with the floor screaming with pain. Carol quickly turned her head to the man on the throne, only to see him standing in front of it, with eyes full of hate, and wand pointing towards her husband.
That one second showed Caroline what Rabastan meant. Why did he feared the Dark Lord so much. She put even more of her magic into her shields and defences, as she quickly calculated.
It pained her to see her husband like that, but she knew she needed to be smart about it.
Taking one more breath, she put on her cold face mask and walked two steps towards the feared dark wizard. He was so focused on torturing her husband that he didn't pay any attention to her approaching.
"How dare you leave the mission like such a coward? How dare you not follow my orders? How dare you? I thought you were loyal, Lestrange! I should kill you right away!"
Caroline had to use all her strength, not to let Rabastan's screams get to her heart.
She approached the Dark Lord with two more steps, before she dropped into a deep bow.
"My lord," she said with as steady voice as she could manage, "it was my fault."
Caroline had her head bowed, but she noticed the screaming stopped. There was a dead silence in the room.
She felt Voldemort's mind, she felt the power. And she felt it, as he approached her.
"And who are you?" he hissed. Caroline wanted to take a deep breath before she answered, but he voiced another command. "Look at me."
She braced herself, as she knew what was about to come, and did as he asked.
She felt his magic collide with hers in the very moment she looked into his eyes.
His strength was shocking even for her. After a long time, she met someone who could match her abilities. But she came prepared, she had weeks to prepare for this. He did not.
He was pushing through her thoughts and memories, but he only saw what she wanted him to see. She showed him the memory of finding Rabastan earlier that day and taking him home against his wishes. Then she showed more. She let him think he was navigating her memories, while showing him what he wanted to see.
Her work with Umbridge. What she's done to Avery. She showed him her memories pointing to her lack of abilities with a wand. And she showed him her abilities with mind magic.
She felt his interest rise up. He pushed for more. He wanted to know more. He wanted to know how good she was.
He has seen her at work. He has seen some of her moments with Rabastan. She showed him her thoughts saying she wanted to join his cause. She let him feel her eagerness. He started to push more and more, aggressively pushing himself further into her mind, until he encountered her shields.
Caroline didn't know how much time passed, but she was sure she held her ground for some time, when he finally broke through them.
She put on some resistance but he was aggressive and had no trouble deflecting it. That was when he saw the terrible memory she herself dreamed so many times about. The one from that dreadful day in Diagon Alley, when Death eaters attacked it. Where Mulciber used the cruciatus curse on her up to the part when she lost her consciousness.
He pushed even further and found a memory of her sharing bed with Severus some years ago. Then the Dark Lord finally withdrew from her mind. Only after that did she notice that she was kneeling on the ground.
The silence lasted for what felt like eternity. And then, out of sudden, the Dark Lord laughed.
He laughed with what sounded like a madman's laugh and turned towards Rabastan, who was standing a few metres from them, with a wary expression.
"Rabastan!" he started and her husband straightened himself a bit. "How could you fail to mention how gifted your wife was?"
Caroline prayed silently for Rabastan to hold his ground.
"My lord," he started, visibly still in pain from the cruciatus he encountered, "I did not know whether you would have some use for her, my lord. Her lack of abilities was always well known, and I did not want for you to be disgraced by her, my lord."
Caroline didn't let a single emotion be shown on her face, but deep inside, she felt relieved. She couldn't sense a lie in Rabastan's statement, and since they share such a bond, she doubted the Dark Lord could.
"Yes, I can see why you'd think that. But that's up to me to decide. She has a great gift, your wife," he said and Caroline felt a new emotion, one she hasn't felt from the wizard yet. He was pleased.
The Dark Lord turned to her, interest playing in his eyes.
"A rare gift, indeed. One I myself poses."
Caroline instinctively bowed her head again.
"And you would like to offer your services to me?"
Caroline raised her head and looked him straight to his eyes. "It would be my greatest honour."
"Yes, I can see that." The Dark Lord smiled. "It would be my pleasure."
Then, his smile faded and he turned to Rabastan. "Unfortunately, I cannot grant you a warm welcome to my services today. As you may have heard, the mission failed. The ministry of magic now knows that I have returned and Potter managed to escape yet once again. I have already punished your husband, but he was not the only one who failed. I have to deal with that first. Several of my followers are back in Azkaban, and today was full of mistakes and that cannot be taken slightly. We need to regroup and come with different tactics. You two take three days off. Rabastan will teach you our ways. I'll call him once I deal with this mess and then I will welcome you into my service."
Rabastan didn't say a word but bowed his head instead and Caroline followed him.
"Leave," the Dark Lord's voice was almost a hiss. Caroline and Rabastan turned and headed out, only to hear him shout: "Send Bellatrix in!"
As they left the room, they met their sister-in-law, heading inside with terrified looks, looking absolutely terrible. Rabastan nodded at her, but she didn't care. Caroline felt the fear from her. Her punishment for the failed mission was yet ahead of her.
But Caroline didn't really care. As the door closed behind them and Rabastan took her hand, there was only one thought in her mind.
It worked.
The Dark Lord swallowed it all. He believed the shields he crushed were the real ones, and that the memory of her affair with Severus was the one she so desperately tried to hide. He had no idea that the true shields guarding her deepest secrets were hidden much deeper.
He believed her to be capable, but not more capable than him.
It worked.