Bad Romance

Chapter 73

Chapter 73: 1 Corinthians 13

It was not Snape who arrived at Azkaban the next day at lunch with the three promised cloaks of invisibility. The Lestranges were having sandwiches in their office when one of the goblin guards showed the woman in.

"You're not Severus," Rodolphus observed before taking a large bite from his second sandwich.

The woman did rather look like Severus, though. She had dark hair like his, though hers was shot through with white. She also had a similar long hooked nose and thin face. Her build was tall and slim. She wore black pants and a fuzzy red sweater.

"I'm his Mother Eileen." Her voice was warm and soothing, and her smile was charmingly disarming. Bellatrix found herself smiling back. "He asked me to bring these three cloaks of invisibility to you because Albus didn't want him leaving Hogwarts in the middle of the day at this point in time," she explained. "He has dinner plans for the evening so coming at the same time as he did yesterday would present a scheduling jam. I have always wanted to get a look at Azkaban, so I was eager to offer to help out." She chuckled. "Until recently you didn't get in unless...you got in, and of course I didn't want to see it that badly!"

"Yes, we can imagine ," Bellatrix bit out.

Eileen flushed, eyes widening as if suddenly remembering who they actually were. "Yes...I can imagine you can. It must be dreadful working here," she added sympathetically.

"It is," Bella said at the same time as Rabastan said, "Nah, it's cool, we can torture prisoners."

Eileen blinked in shock but recovered quickly enough. "If they're here I'm sure they deserve it and hopefully it shall cut down on crime."

Bellatrix nodded. "Yes, that is the Minister's hope."

"Is it alright if I take some pictures," Eileen asked, dark eyes shining with an eager interest that Severus's cold gaze never showed.

"Sure," Rodolphus said with a shrug.

Eileen smiled gratefully, reaching into a shoulder bag to withdraw a large camera. "Oh, thank you so much! I brought my camera just in case! Here are the cloaks, by the way," she added, offering the three cloaks.

"Thanks," Bellatrix said, reaching to pluck them up.

"Would you like a tour," Rodolphus asked.

"Really? Well, if it's no trouble!" Eileen gushed, cheeks flushing slightly.

"We're finished with lunch, and need to make the rounds anyway," Rodolphus said. "It's no trouble at all."

"Well, thank you!" Eileen said.

Rodolphus grinned. "We'll even stop whenever you say so you can take pictures."

Bellatrix noted how polite he was being to the older woman, and realized how much he must miss his own mum. They spent the next hour wandering the entirety of Azkaban while Eileen Snape took pictures.

As they neared the end of the tour, she asked how they were handling things, and expressed how sorry she was that they went through what they did with Voldemort. The woman was shockingly kind and sincere. She'd raised Severus, after all, and the contrast was stark.

When she was ready to leave, she gave each of them a quick hug. "Thank you so much for showing me about and allowing me to take so many pictures. I shall treasure them forever," she said earnestly.

"It was fun," Bellatrix assured as the two men looked a charming mix of pleased and embarrassed.

"Be careful, all of you," Eileen admonished gravely. "It's just making me heartsick to know that man is still alive inside of anyone, even that dratted Delphini!" She swallowed, suddenly blinking back tears. "I thought Severus was finally free...I was so worried he'd get himself killed playing double agent for Albus. It was over and now this."