Bad Romance

Chapter 84

Chapter 84: Meeting the Criminally Strange Parents

Bellatrix blinked. Then she smiled. Then she gave a cackle of pleased amusement. No one had ever expressed an interest in her autograph before. This little fucker had to be deranged! This was a quality she could respect, were he not probably dating her daughter.

"I suppose you're the boyfriend," she said suspiciously.

'Yes, ma'am. I'm Cassius Winterhaven." Deranged but polite, Bellatrix observed. Interesting.

"Well, Winterhaven, Lyra isn't here. She's gone to take a goblin Curse-Breaker to my sister's manor. As it probably isn't safe to leave him there, she is waiting for him to break a curse, then she is returning here with him so he may recover in peace."

"A goblin Curse-Breaker! I'm missing all the good stuff," Cassius declared. He leaned forward eagerly, cheeks flushed in excitement or perhaps from the heat of the fire, Bellatrix couldn't be certain.

Bellatrix sighed. "Oh yes, things are just thrills around here," she said drily. "You are aware of Delphini, are you not?"

Cassius nodded, then hastily put a finger to his lips in a hushing gesture, eyes wide. "She could have the Floo networks hexed to notify her when her name is spoken... Like He Who Must Not Be Named had some hex placed on his name, or so legend says. You were in his inner circle, though, was there any truth to that?"

Bellatrix shrugged. "No bloody idea."

"Lyra said she's been teaching the Aurors about Auras for combative magic."

Bellatrix nodded. "It's interesting but not really for us. Her father and I, that is," she clarified with a little shrug.

Cassius grinned. "Auric work can be useful to add another dimension to spellwork, but you lot are so badass you can easily survive without it."

Bellatrix felt one corner of her mouth twitch. She liked the kid, so the fact he was most probably going to die soon was almost unfortunate. "Rodolphus will probably kill you, you know," she said with a chuckle.

"I do hope not," Cassius said sincerely. "Did Lyra tell you of my many impressive abilities? I am a most excellent catch for her, you know."

Bellatrix frowned. "If it's something perverted, we don't talk about that. In our minds, our child is pure, and if you say it is otherwise, I might have to kill you myself."

Cassius smiled, but he drew back a little. "If anyone could make a Killing Curse work through the fire, it's you, Mrs. Lestrange."

"Bloody right," Bellatrix said.

"And, of course, it's not perverted," Cassius said, returning to his abilities. "I developed a few useful skills working magical security, is all. But about Lyra...is she being safe," he asked, switching topics.

The sudden worry on his face made Bellatrix like him a little more. He cared for Lyra, else they would not be a couple, but the fact that his care showed...well, she liked that a lot. "Of course she is. We take very good care of her, and she is always with family or Aurors."

He sighed in relief, and gave her a smile. "That's good to know. She said as much, but I wanted to hear it from you, because I still worry. Perhaps it's just that I miss her. We've never been apart this long."

"You went to school together like Rod and I?" Bellatrix said, and he nodded. "That's touching and I can relate. He'll still probably kill you, though."

As if talk of killing had summoned him, Rodolphus entered the library. "I'm finally full and ready to go be bored at Azkaban...who's that in the fire?" Strolling forward to stand at Bellatrix's side, he peered suspiciously at Cassius.