"Again."
"CRUCIO!" Bellatrix was sweating. She was exhausted. She felt like a sponge squeezed dry. But she cast the Cruciatus Curse again, for her master had commanded that she become an expert in torture.
Geraldine Timmons, the Mudblood they had kidnapped, writhed on the floor, flopping about like a fish. She shrieked in terror, her voice hoarse from so much screaming over the last hour. Her fingertips clawed at the concrete, her nails long worn down. Her body contorted until Bellatrix thought her spine would snap. The red web of the Cruciatus Curse snared around her body and filled the dungeon with a scarlet glow.
"Stop," said Voldemort, and Bellatrix snapped up her wand and looked to him for further direction. Geraldine moaned from beside her, rolling onto her back and going still. Voldemort smirked at Bellatrix and hissed out one word, his eyes narrowed. "Kill."
"Master." Bellatrix bowed her head and aimed her wand at Geraldine Timmons. "Avada Kedavra!"
There was a violent green flash of jade light, so bright in the dark dungeon that it seemed like a firework had gone off. Bellatrix watched as Geraldine's body jolted and then went as still as ever, lifeless as a doll.
"Move on to this one over here," said Voldemort, and Bellatrix crossed the dungeon to where a Muggle man was chained to the wall. He held up his hands and shook his head wildly.
"N-No, please," he whispered, weak from having been denied food and water for days. He licked his dry lips and insisted, "I've got a family."
"Well, I'm sure they'll miss you," Bellatrix said sourly. She stalked around the Muggle's body and gave him a hard kick to the ribs. "What are you called?"
"George… George Williamson." The man said his name steadily. "My name is George Williamson. I don't know who you are, whether you're from the government or some sort of terrorist -"
"Silencio!" Bellatrix huffed. She flicked her eyes to Voldemort and complained, "This one talks too much."
"Take off the Silencing Spell, Bella; I want to hear him scream." Voldemort crossed his arms in his billowing robes. Bellatrix bowed her head obediently and aimed her wand at the Muggle.
"Finite Incantatem… CRUCIO!"
Her torture exploded forth from her wand and snapped roughly around the Muggle's body. He screamed wildly, his voice echoing off the stone walls of the dungeon. He wriggled and thrashed against his chains, floundering as he tried to find purchase through the immense pain. His voice cried out again, and he began to claw at his own head as though there was immense pressure within his skull.
"Does it hurt?" Bellatrix taunted. "Poor little baby."
"Focus, Bella," Voldemort commanded, and she nodded. She took a deep, steadying breath and felt her wand crackle in her hand. She was losing her power, she thought. She was so tired. She'd been doing this for hours. It was absolutely draining, what she was doing right now. But she would always do it for her master, for the Dark wizard she adored more than anything. So she adjusted the stance of her legs, one foot front of the other with her knees slightly bent, and she held one arm up in an arc as she aimed her wand more determinedly.
"CRUCIO!" She reinforced the spell, and the Muggle on the ground squawked ungracefully and knocked his head hard onto the stone floor.
Bellatrix knew that Abraxas Malfoy was upstairs, that he was aware of what was happening in his dungeon. He was loyal to Voldemort, too, though not half so loyal as Bellatrix was. Nobody was as loyal as Bellatrix. She was and always would be the one nearest to him, most devoted to him. No one would ever take her place at his side. She would see to that.
"You worthless bastard!" Bellatrix screamed as the red glow of the Cruciatus Curse snapped and flared around the Muggle. "You witless little worm! Feel the strength of my magic now, you useless piece of -"
"Bellatrix," hummed Voldemort, and when she flicked her eyes to him, he tipped his head and warned her, "You'll lose your hold if you're lecturing the beast. Focus."
"Yes, Master." Bellatrix cleared her throat and held the spell again. The Muggle on the ground (George? She couldn't remember his name) jerked and twitched and caterwauled like a baby. Bellatrix felt so dizzy she could hardly stand. She started to feel nauseated, and she finally pulled her wand back, breaking the spell. She staggered a few steps and nearly dropped her wand, whispering,
"Oh, My Lord. I don't know how much more I have in me."
"You've done enough for today," he said gently. He aimed his wand at the Muggle and flicked a quick movement as he muttered, "Avada Kedavra."
With a blast of green light, the Muggle was summarily killed, and Voldemort said softly to Bellatrix,
"Just Vanish the corpses and then come here."
"Master. Corpus Evanesco. Corpus Evanesco." She aimed her wand from the Muggle to the Mudblood, and the chains that had been holding them fell heavily with a clank as the bodies disappeared into the ether. Bellatrix stepped up to Voldemort and genuflected, falling to one knee and murmuring, "I'll get better at this. I'll become what you want me to be."
"Bella." He pulled at her elbow, willing her to stand, and she heaved herself up. She was still so dizzy, so weak, and as she stared up into his glittering black eyes, she wondered if he thought she was as useless as the Muggle. But he licked his lips and said, "You're already what I want you to be."
She couldn't breathe then. She blinked through the tears that formed in her eyes, and she whispered,
"All I want to do, ever, is to make you proud, Master."
"You do," he said firmly. "I'm very proud of you."
A tear boiled over Bellatrix's eye, and she swiped roughly at it. "I'll acquire some fresh meat and I'll practise again tomorrow, once I've got my strength back up. I promise."
"I know," he said. "You always make me happy, Bellatrix. Know that much, will you?"
He shocked her then by reaching for her jaw and urging her up onto her tiptoes. Her breath hitched in her chest as he lowered himself down and touched his lips very gently to hers. She moaned quietly, astonished that he'd actually kissed her. He did it again, harder this time, and she gasped as he buried his fingers into her curls and squeezed. He pressed her face against his and kissed her again, so firmly that Bellatrix lost herself. She moved her body as close to his as she could. She clutched at the front of his robes, and then her hands migrated to his face. He grunted, as though he quite liked the feel of her touch on his cheeks. Her fingers contracted, gripping him more firmly, and the next time he kissed her, he pushed his tongue into her mouth. He suckled her lip and then bit a little, and Bellatrix groaned onto him. Finally, he pulled back, his face visibly flushed even in the dim light of the lanterns in the dungeon. He nodded and told Bellatrix,
"You are lovely in the red glow of a Cruciatus. In the green glow of a Killing Curse. In this lamplight. You are already what I want you to be."
He drew away from her then, whirling on one food and striding briskly towards the stairs. He called over his shoulder,
"We'll practise again tomorrow."
Author's Note: Thanks for reading and reviewing. :)