Rita sat down by her desk, one of the very few places not covered with various pieces of trash. Her advisors have sent her new material to write about. Of course, lately, her job hasn’t been much about writing, rather about covering stuff up. The minister was willing to pay her quite the sum if she’d be oh so kind as to drown out some noise. So that’s exactly what she’s been doing.
She probably wouldn’t be this willing to help the old hag, but with all these drugs running through her system, she couldn’t care less about doing what she loves.
With a flick of her wand, she summons the first letter. She’s feeling really drowsy, as she opens the light envelope with information.
Struggling to read the title, she reaches for her glasses, potentionally smearing some of her mascara in the process. She yawned and adjusted her glasses to try reading it again.
MASS BREAKOUT FROM AZKABAN
She blinked, twice, staring at it, reading it. Over, and over, and over again. Someone broke out? From Azkaban? A shiver traveled over her spine, all the way to her pelvis. Well wasn’t this thrilling. The first interesting story in months.
Her whole mood changed, just like it always did when she encountered some fresh, juicy gossip to write about back in her school years. Nobody, with the one tiny exception called Sirius Black, has ever broken out of Azkaban.
Rita was ecstatic. Even with all the potions and pills wearing her down, she could feel the burning sensation of a solid story.
Her eyes glazed along the lines of the paper, collecting everything they could, as if somebody was going to swoop in any minute to confiscate it.
Though, her smile quickly faded when she learned who the escapees were. Or, more precisely, who was among them.
Bellatrix Druella Black.
15 years. She’s been in azkaban for 15 years. And now she was out again.
Her stomach felt as if it was being squished from the inside.
She hadn’t seen her in 15 years.
A sound of glass shattering shook her from her thoughts. It came from her bedroom. She didn’t hesitate, and readied her wand. She might be done with life, but she wasn’t done with living just yet.
She contemplated using her voice to see what was going on, but decided against it.
Her hand reached for the handle of the door, and proceeded to slightly open it. Wind was pouring in like a wave of water, cooling the room down to an unpleasant temperature.
She scanned the room frantically, while slowly entering. Aside from the broken window pieces spread all over her pink-ish carpet, nothing’s changed.
Something, presumably a gush of wind, smashed the door closed.
She didn’t twitch at the loud bang sound it made. The drugs always did an extraordinary job at numbing down her sensory reflexes.
The room was quiet again, peaceful even. The only audible sounds were coming from outside the window, probably from a different alley, as they weren’t decipherable.
She started lowering her wand, slowly, not letting down her guard for even just one second. Her body forcibly relaxed. Her regular visits to all sorts of people had taught her how to do that, and over time, it became a habit.
A wand introduced itself to the back of her neck, holding firmly at the spot it picked. She let out a scoff, not knowing if from disbelief, or from the unresolved hatred still left for the person standing behind her.
“I have a front door, Trixie.”
Not moving the wand, her guest spoke up.
“Oh, dear me. Didn’t notice.” she said. The pitch of her voice feeling like an angel’s violin to Rita’s ears. It didn’t matter how long they’d been apart. She’d always crumble when she heard Bellatrix speak.
She moved her chin down, slowly turning around to face her.
Her eyes were met with another pair.
Bella’s eyes were fixed on her. Grey, dazzling eyes. She had dark circles under her eyes, but her gaze wasn’t tired in the slightest. She had a determined look painted on her face.
Even through all this armour and walls she built up to protect herself, Rita could still read her like an open book.
Except for one thing. One thing she wasn’t sure of.
Would she be able to kill her?
Rita scanned Bella. She was focusing as hard as she could, but she couldn’t find anything. No signs of care in her expression, or her body language. She’d attempt legilimency if she was sober, but she wasn’t, so that wasn’t an option.
Reviewing her options, she decided to go for Plan B.
She moved her foot blindly behind her, searching for shattered glass behind her. Her eyes were glued to Bellatrix’s face, not daring to move.
Sharp pain hit her almost instantly, even the drugs couldn’t save her from this.
“Ouch, for fuck’s sake!” she yelped.
And it worked gracefully. For a split second, when she was standing on the glass shards, Bella’s armour dropped. She let concern appear in her eyes, and oh, what a terrible mistake that was on her part.
Rita looked at her injured foot, and took out her wand. It surprised her when Bella reacted by strenghtening the position of her own wand.
“Seriously? You and I both know that you won’t use that on me. You love me too much, Trixie.” she said, chuckling when she did.
Bella didn’t budge, Her wand still ready to fire.
If she wasn’t meeting her after she’d spent an unholy amount of time in the worst prison known to man, she’d probably find it hillarious that Bellatrix was this serious right now. Oh well.
She ignored her. A simple Episkey healed her small glass wound. Then, with one more flick of her wand, she fixed the broken window entirely.
Bella, didn’t move, of course, but she didn’t dare fire either.
Rita looked back at her companion, who was still wearing the same fierce lok from before.
Scoffing, she spoke up again. “If you expect me to apologise, honeypie, then I’m sorry to disappoint you.”
A mocking sad expression creeped upon her face. It was possible that she was having way too much fun with this.
On the other hand, her girlfriend smiled devilishly.
“Of course not. I must say, it was quite the shock to find private information about my family in a Daily Prophet article,” she said, before apparating closer to Rita, now presing her against the wall. “but, realizing it was you who did it, I was pretty impressed, mon vilain.”
With that, she leaned in, her lips pressing in on hers. Rita couldn’t help but smile into the kiss, her brain finally taking in what Bella had said.