Chapter 9, I'm A Free Witch, Baby

Bellatrix was stunned. She was stunned for several long weeks as her mind struggled to process what they'd learned from the odd and infuriating Ministry interrogation after Sirius's escape. How could *he* have returned? They were still here! If he'd truly returned, he surely would've come for them, or so she, Rodolphus and Rabastan had assured one another time and time again over the past weeks. Weren't they his most loyal? "All of the others were so certain that he was gone," Bellatrix ranted for perhaps the ninety-fifth time as she paced up and down the length of her cell. "We were the only ones trying to find him!"

"What if those fuckers on the outside like Malfoy have lied about who continued to look for him, though," Rabastan squawked. He was still in his raven form.

"That is a thought," Bellatrix murmured, her mind latching hungrily onto the possibility. "If so we shall make them pay for their lies when we are out of here," she vowed darkly.

"The fact that we are in here while Malfoy is not should prove that lie," Rodolphus said. "The fact that we are in here should prove our loyalty to him." That was true! If they were only out of here and out in the world where they would have access to news of what was really happening! The officials were not lying. That was clear. But they could have gotten it wrong. They often did that, after all. It was nothing new. "If whatever this is, truly has to do with Sirius, it can't be about The Dark Lord," Rod reasoned. "Perhaps Black and whoever is involved with him in whatever this is, is somehow using The Dark Lord as a red herring." As it so often was, his tone was reasonable and comforting.

"Brilliant thought," Bellatrix said. In fact, it was so brilliant that it lifted the weight of despondent fear from her chest. Perhaps someone was stirring up trouble and trying to blame their lord. When he did return. he'd make them pay and the Lestranges would help!

"Besides, we've felt not a twitch from our Dark Marks," Rodolphus observed. "Surely by now, if he were back, he'd have called a general meeting, which should even set ours off."

Bellatrix brightened. "True!" Roddy was a genius! At least one of them was thinking. "I let this place get to me," she admitted with a sigh. "Again."

"Iss alright," Rodolphus drawled. "It happens to us all, Babe."

"One day we will be the fuck out of here," Rabastan croaked in his raven voice.

"And when we are, we shall find out what Sirius is doing and I will kill him," Bellatrix vowed darkly. "Of course he causes problems for us even when he isn't here anymore," she grumbled.

Eventually their heightened awareness over the entire thing returned to the old pervasive sense of lethargy that gripped everyone in this hell place. When the day the Lestranges had all long awaited finally came, it didn't at all start as they may have expected.

When the Dementors approached their cells, freedom was not what Bellatrix and the rest believed would be extended to them. Bellatrix rose when the thing hovered outside her door. She was ready to cast her raven Patronus when it did not move on past. Her heart pounded in her chest, as her mind quickly processed the horror of the situation and the thing's nearness. For the first time in this place, she truly believed the Dementor's kiss was a literal likelihood, because the tattered shrouded demon wasn't going away. Rod had fought one off before, though, so she could do the same! But before she could open her mouth to scream out the necessary *Expecto Patronum* she heard a rattling sound. The thing bent and shoved a huge ring of keys under her door.

"Hurry," it said. Its voice sounded like a wind tunnel, if such could hiss and wheeze. "Hurry and get yourself and your fellow Death Eaters out of here. You are all to Report to Malfoy Manor."

Bellatrix blinked. Had it just said...

"Bella?" Rod's questioning tone held incredulity. Bellatrix bent and hastily scooped the keys into her hand as her own door swung open. She wanted to dash through it! She truly did, but the Dementor was still out there. She was opening her mouth for the second time to cast her Patronus when the thing floated away without looking back. She blinked. Could it be? It appeared that it was.

Laughing wildly with joy at the freedom she'd just attained in such an insanely unexpected way, Bellatrix dashed out of her cell and directly next door to Rodolphus's. Her hands were shaking as she frantically searched for the key that would fit his cell door. Only after a few failed attempts with incorrect keys did she notice the number three three three on Rodolphus's cell door just under the lock. Glancing at the keys, she spotted numbers on the top of each key. She was then quickly able to find the key that sported the number three three three. Twisting the key in the lock, she flung Rod's door open before dashing to Rabastan's, located just beside his. "Hurry up and take your human form," she told her brother-in-law through the door. "We're getting out of here!" Even as she spoke, she could hardly believe the words. Though she'd always been certain to the very depths of her soul that their lord would free them, not knowing the precise method ensured that she wasn't prepared for whatever it would be. Therefore the entire thing felt surreal. Her hands were shaking as she located the key whose number matched the one on Rabastan's door. Flinging it open, she darted to the next door.

"Give us some of the keys," Rabastan said. "We can make a faster go of it if all three of us help. I want to get the fuck out of here yesterday! Fuck it, yesterday isn't fast enough."

Bellatrix nodded, and separating approximately a third of the keys, she tossed them to Rabastan, then did the same with Rodolphus. Roddy was so thin. Her heart lurched at the sight as she wondered how dreadful she must look. She wanted to throw her arms around him and just hold on, but they couldn't afford that yet.

"We need to stay in sight of one another," she said.

"Agreed," Rodolphus said. "We'll move to each cell block together." And they did, Bellatrix laughing wildly all the while. The experience of holding the keys, of being on the outside of a cell in this place, of being free, it was all more than heady. In less than five minutes, every prisoner was free. They gave the order to report to Malfoy Manor to each prisoner that was released, just as the Dementor had said.

How had The Dark Lord gotten Dementors to work for him? It was yet another grand demonstration of his power, Bellatrix thought in awe. He was a god. As the three Lestranges hurried to the edge of the island with the last few prisoners, the boat the final bunch had used floated back to rest on the shore nearly at their feet. They boarded, and as they did, Bellatrix felt a dream like quality grasping her mind. Once they were far enough away from the magic on the Island that stopped them apparating, Rodolphus snatched Rabastan's arm and Apparated the three of them to Malfoy Manor. Bellatrix didn't even bother to look around to see if the other prisoners had followed as Rodolphus banged on the door. She simply clung wordlessly to his arm, struggling to take in the fact that it was all over now that the initial adrenaline boost was subsiding. She knew they all should've been happy! Overjoyed to be free! Instead all three were just dazed.

"They're shocked. It only stands to reason that this would be the case after so much time in Azkaban." Was that Narcissa saying that? When had they been let in to the manor? Bellatrix blinked. Her sister's warm hands grasping hers felt odd, foreign and distant, but nonetheless she forced a smile before once more reaching to grasp Rod's arm. She hadn't touched him in so long, and even though his arm was stick thin, it was the only physical contact that felt familiar. Voices sounded distant and her vision blurred, or was it her mental processing? The sofa on which she, Rodolphus and Rabastan sat in a row together felt so soft and thus so unreal. They'd only had the cold ground for so long. Interesting, she couldn't remember sitting down.

Lucy Malfoy was pacing back and forth in front of them and bitching. At any rate, he appeared to be bitching. His mouth was moving and he had that pinched peevish expression on his face. She flicked a glance to Rodolphus and Rabastan. Both looked dull, Rodolphus's gaze vacant and Rabastan's on the floor. Bellatrix was certain that her own expression did not look anymore present than the two men's did, and she didn't care... couldn't care.

"Bath. May we have a..." She began and Narcissa hurried forward again from where ever she'd withdrawn when Lucy had begun his bitching.

"Of course," she said. "I've readied guest rooms for you. Rabastan's is right next door to yours and Rod's. If you'd all like to come along, I'll show you. Unless you're wanting to eat first," she added, flicking a glance to Rodolphus as she spoke. Roddy had always loved his food.

"We can bathe first if Bella wants," he said listlessly. Bellatrix knew he'd be overjoyed for the food once it was put before him, but she wanted the bath badly enough not to object.

"We'll rustle up some clothes for all of you as well while you're washing," Narcissa said. Bellatrix nodded, and still clutching Rodolphus's arm, rose to her feet. They followed Narcissa upstairs and into their rooms. As she'd promised Rabastan's was right next door to Bella and Rod's. As soon as he'd gone in and closed his door, the two hurried into theirs, giving a hasty thanks to Narcissa as they did.

When the door closed behind them, Bellatrix threw her arms around Rodolphus and hung on tight. "Rod," she breathed. It was beyond good touching him again. Apparently he agreed, as his mouth came down hard on hers. His hands roughly traveled over her body, bringing it to life against his own. Rod tore at her dreaded Azkaban uniform, and Bella took an instant to savor the fact that she'd never wear it again. The bath was forgotten in their need for one another. They stumbled across the room as one and fell onto the bed. The human contact with one another in particular was as necessary as the pleasure they experienced in their nearly mad love-making. Going for so long without the comfort and connection of human touch had been harmful in a unique way, and Bellatrix new it. She clung desperately to him even when it was over.

"I'm so thin and disgusting now," Rod finally groaned against her hair.

"And I look better," Bellatrix asked, giving a short incredulous laugh.

"Hell yes," Rodolphus pronounced emphatically.

Bellatrix laughed. "Flattery will get you everywhere, including into a bath with me. Come, let me wash you." Any excuse to touch him, not to stop touching him. He chuckled and slowly rose. Bellatrix followed suit, one hand still clinging to his arm.

"I wonder where he is," Rod mused as they headed across the room to the bath.

"I suppose we shall find out soon," Bella replied, bending to turn on the taps. "For now, though, I am going to enjoy this glorious bath. You don't think it's a dream, do you? We truly are out of there, yes?"

"If not, at least we're sharing dreams now, Babe," Rod said as he took her hand and stepped into the bath.

(Dear Reader,

It seems fitting to end this tale here with a bath to cleanse the Lestranges of the filth of Azkaban prison. If you'd like to read more Lestrange works, we have plenty uploaded on our account here!

To discover what comes next as well as how the Lestranges knew that Voldemort would return, their story continues in Bad Romance.

Or if you'd like everything from Rabastan's pov, including their discovery of Voldemort's new face, check out Rabastan Lestrange, the Life and Times of a Dark Wizard.

If you enjoy humor and what ifs, try Unlikely Allies, also Lestrange centric. And for more Lestrange laughs + more about that girl in Rabastan's dreams, check out Rod's story set 20 or so years in the future called Diary of a Mad Man.

Thank you for taking this horrific and at times hilarious Azkaban journey with us, and with the Lestranges. In their way, they really aren't that bad.)