What is mightier the promise of a god or the ire of a goddess?
Bellatrix grew more beautiful and powerful with time, stronger and more determined than ever. Bellatrix's time at Hogwarts was nearing its end when the growing whispers of war and a Dark Lord finally proved to be of any consequence for the young Black. She had no use for moral wars over something as insignificant as blood. Mudbloods were dirty and animals, it was a fact, not an ideology to prove. Bellatrix compared to the other purebloods did not cling desperately to this concept, for it was not the only thing that made her superior. It was much more deeply ingrained than blood, it was in her magic in her very soul. The essence of what made her a Black is something of much more stature than the typical blood supremacy.
She was a goddess that, she knew. She was the best that, she knew. She was powerful, that, she knew. She was always right that she knew. Everybody was below her (to different extents) that, she knew.
She didn't need something as trivial as a war to prove her right. These things didn't need to be constantly reinforced and certainly didn't need to ruin her festive attitude. She would be finishing Hogwarts the next year, and she required people to change their state of constant worry. One night after walking back to her dorm, Rodolphus somebody she had considered to be one of the few non-blacks worth her time and one of the fewer men she could bear to be in her presence, came to speak to her of a great man. A man like no other, an extraordinary man: no that wasn't the right word, for the young impressionable Rodolphus to him calling him a mere man was disgraceful, a god was the more appropriate terminology. He came to her and gushed about the beauty, the elegance, the MAGIC of this individual. For the first time in her life Bellatrix saw Rodolphus worship someone other than her (and worship him more at that) she could not let this be.
Contrary to popular opinion, Bella did not have an infatuation with the mere idea of this illustrious dark lord but was disgusted by his mere existence. What silly man thwarted her Rodo's beautiful perception. Who had caused her number one soldier to be led astray in his unwavering faith? As Rodolpus spent more and more of his time gushing about“ his lord“ and less time adoring her, she was more and more pushed towards finding this deplorable man and ending this incredibly stupid farce herself.
She would have to remind Rodo and all those around her who spent more and more of their time talking and speculating about this mysterious figure that the true deity was already walking amongst them since it had seemed that people were quick to forget that a fire as important as her NEVER stopped burning. Since people were seemingly too distracted to remember that her very presence was a rupture to the norms their brains had created. They seemed to forget that she was the real marvel.
As time passed she was no longer unbothered by this new personality who had seemed to appear out of the dark, she was no longer just merely disgusted she was furious. It was not just a simple man who was going to ruin all the hard work she had put in during the last decade of her life towards forcing people to not disregard her for the simple fact that she was a woman she had forced them to come to terms with the fact that she was better than them because she was a witch. Muggles were deplorable creatures, but if there was one thing she could give them, it was their recognition (even centuries after the Salem trials) that witches were more dangerous and that they were the ones to be truly wary of. A wizard was a small thing compared to a determined witch.
All these elements are what pushed her to order Rodo to set up a meeting between her and this mature that everybody seemed so enthralled by. Upon seeing the promise of destruction in her eyes Rodolphus knew better than to argue (he was a brave man, but he was still a Slytherin, and they were known for their self-preservation, and he wasn’t entirely suicidal yet). So, without complaint, he organized a meeting between the two most powerful entities in his world: no the universe period. For the night before New Year’s Eve.
Ever since the date of the meeting was set Bellatrix was already sure of how it would go. He would turn out to be another mediocre man with small ambitions who wouldn’t even spare her the time of day once he saw that she was a woman. Upon seeing her determination, he would tell her one or two sentences about the importance of pureblood women (to further the lineage of the sacred blood of course, not anything of true consequence) and that would have been his ultimate demise. It was a sure fate, not the first time and certainly not the last she would have been undermined and rapidly dismissed but at least she would have gotten rid of what was the greatest headache in her recent life.
As the end of December neared Rodolphus's mood seemed to fluctuate beyond happiness and excitement to morbid fear and anxiety. He would switch beyond singing the praise of this dark lord and warning her (he tried that two times, the third time he was about to mention something of the like, her reaction was so visceral he was reminded of whom he was speaking to).
The night of the 30th of December arrived, and the greatly anticipated meeting arrived. At 7:30 sharp Rodolphous found himself at the door of Black Mansion waiting for Bellatrix. His foot was anxiously tapping on the hard ground, it seemed as though his entire body was shaking. To those only accustomed to the usually very stoic Lestrange they would have believed he was ill. Sick enough to be on his deathbed. The whirlwind of emotion that plagued his life the last month hit him stronger than ever. After 15 minutes, his star came down the stairs to join him outside the grande house. The usual authority and power that was associated with her were stronger than he'd ever seen before. Had it been any other night in any other circumstances, he would have dropped to his knees due to the overwhelming and sheer energy this goddess of a woman is.
Upon seeing this look on his face Bellatrix let out a malicious grim her idea of this meeting was already predesigned in her head she was glad the Lestrange heir remembered who she was. It would make his separation from this fool easier; it would make it easier for him to go back to orbiting around the brightest star and entity of his life. At 8 pm the portkey a simple pendant with a snake engraved on the top of it transported the pair to an elegant dimly lit house in what seemed to be a southern part of France (if her memory was serving her correctly it was in the general area of the Noir estate in which her grandfather Pollux resided with his wife Irma).
After entering Rodolphus expertly manoeuvred them down the hallways letting her know that this wasn't his first escapade here. At the end of this maze-like hallway was a (surprisingly bright for the late hour) drawing room. From the corner of her eye, Bella could see a tall man standing with his back to them gazing out of the window. Coughing to signify their arrival, Rodolphus quickly bowed his head as a sign of respect and submission This small movement enraged her even more and her disappointment in her betrothed was at an all-time high. Her fury towards the strange more poignant than ever for transforming Rodo into another mindless servant. The man turned quickly revealing striking reddish-black eyes and … a surprisingly handsome face.
The man greeted Rodolphus and quickly turned his attention to the nearly growling girl. He stood there for a moment, captured by the magic that seemed to twirl viciously and uncontrollably around her. He then introduced himself to her as Lord Voldemort and told her that he had heard several things about her and was delighted to meet her finally. For the first time in her life, Bela was left speechless. From the get-go, this meeting was going very differently from all the scenarios she had conjured up in her head. Instead of the immediate attack approach that she had earlier decided on. The situation quickly spiralled out of her control she decided to change tactics. Instead of unleashing the all-out fire that lived within her soul and characterized her very being she decided to manipulate the beauty and the necessity of a flame to allure this strange man into her net.
“All bad things I hope she said in a slow tone”, she said.
“Positively appalling” he answered with a smirk.
The young girl paused and observed the aura and magic that encompassed this man. Voldemort looked at her magic, and together they observed how their essences interacted with each other. They didn’t know it then but the magics' society as a whole paused during those seconds.
The universe forewarned them all of what would happen.