Bad Romance

Chapter 15

Chapter 15: Unapologetic

Bellatrix cried until there were no more tears, at least for the moment. Her rage-fueled adrenaline had faded, leaving her tired and drained. Reluctantly, she stepped back from the protective shelter of Rodolphus's arms and smiled to see a similar look of regret on his face. Being close to him always made things better. They were so connected, so in sync, literally two halves of a whole, and through this unwanted trauma they were perhaps growing even closer. Threading her fingers through his, she stood shoulder to shoulder with him as she turned to face her parents.

"Well," she said, tone overly brisk to overcompensate for the uncomfortable moment through which they all suffered. "Do we all still get that glass of wine?"

"Of course," Druella said, giving Bellatrix a warm smile, as if the dining room wasn't in shambles around them.

"I think we can eat in the kitchen today. It will be more comfortable than the library. Of course you all are staying for dinner," Druella continued, her tone now as brisk as Bellatrix's had been only a moment ago.

Bellatrix nodded. "We do need to fill you in on the latest, after all."

Her parents were not going to yell at her for wrecking their dining room, and she was going to not wreck the rest of the manor. There was a truce. Bellatrix had made her point, and expressed herself in classic Bellatrix style. Her parents now knew what had happened, and hopefully they felt dreadful for not knowing. If not, at least Bellatrix felt a little better.

Cygnus led the way into the kitchen and explained to a cowering Orb that they would be having dinner in the kitchen. The elf must have heard their little family chat earlier, considering she hadn't come in with the wine, Bellatrix thought with an amused smirk.

Orb hastened to bring in dining room chairs and arrange them around the large stone table that stood in the center of the brightly lit kitchen. When they were all seated, she then served everyone a glass of wine before returning her attention to the large wood stove against the far wall. The kitchen was large though not as vast as the one at Grimmauld place.

Thinking of Grimmauld Place made Bellatrix remember that she wanted to speak with Regulus and Kreacher soon. She needed to ask what Voldemort had done to them that night after he'd compelled her, Rod, and Rabastan. Whatever it was, it certainly hadn't kept Regulus from wanting to destroy his Horcrux. It would seem that for some reason the Dark Lord had not compelled Regulus and Kreacher to worship him, but why? He'd kept the Lestranges alive and compelled them to serve as a reminder to him that he could trust no one, so why leave Kreacher and Regulus aware of what he was?

"So Delphini is attacking the schools now," Rabastan asked, glancing curiously at Cygnus Black.

"So the paper says," Cygnus replied.

"Does it say what she wanted," Rabastan asked and Cygnus shook his head.

"That's why we were hoping you lot were more in the know."

"We are more in the know with this new Ministry than with the old one, but we've been working at Azkaban all day and other than the Head Auror asking for a progress report at lunch and giving us our schedule, we've had no word," Bellatrix told her parents.

"We can assume if the news affected us they'd have written," Rodolphus said with a shrug. "If she attacked the schools, though, there could be a few reasons. Attacking children is a great scare tactic for the children as well as their parents. If they close the schools, she could also be overthrowing standard education as we know it. She could also be making herself known to a younger generation to gain new malleable followers."

"All good thoughts," Cygnus complimented Rodolphus. Bellatrix smiled, leaning contentedly back in her chair as she sipped at her wine. This almost felt normal.