“Don’t even say it,” Bellatrix snarled, the tip of her wand jutting menacingly into Rabastan’s face. She’d always found him much more spineless than his brother and it irked her sometimes that he was now – technically – family. For a pureblood and a Black at that, family was the most important thing. They were who could be trusted no matter what.
(Unless she counted her traitor of a cousin. Which she didn’t.)
”Bella, face it, he’s gon-“ The younger Lestrange brother cut off mid-sentence as Bellatrix slapped him full in the face. Rage and hurt and despair burned inside her. The Dark Lord had vanished, days ago. Weeks. She remembered him leaving for Godric’s Hollow filled with certainty that he was cementing his place as ruler over wizardkind. Over mankind, eventually.
And now…
The wizarding world was awash with rumours of his demise and Bellatrix was in denial. Furious denial. Rodolphus claimed to understand but in truth no one could ever come close to understanding the devotion Bellatrix had to Voldemort. But Rodolphus had devotion of his own, to her, and it was most likely this that caused him to steadfastly go along with the plan she had devised.
It was risky, given that Aurors and Hitwizards were redoubling their efforts to round up the remaining Dark Lord’s supporters, but Bellatrix knew she had nothing left to lose.
She and the two Lestrange brothers were hidden, waiting in the shadows inside the abandoned Muggle church. It was two minutes to midnight and Crouch was late. She had chosen him especially for this mission not, as he thought, for his devotion to the cause and their master, but because he remained unsuspected. His father was so vehemently opposed to the Dark Arts that Barty Crouch Jr could still go anywhere he pleased without question. Who in their right mind would think that he had any Dark sympathies?
He was the perfect candidate for luring away a couple of Aurors without raising any alarms. But… he was also very young and inexperienced, and as the minutes ticked by Bellatrix began to have her doubts. At least Rabastan wouldn’t be trying to interject anymore – the red outline of her palm print still bloomed on his cheek.
The silence stretched on and Bella was already beginning to turn to Rodolphus, planning to send him out to see where Crouch was, when the heavy church doors swung open. She froze. They all froze.
“Sorry for all the cloak and dagger,” she heard Crouch say, his voice echoing off the stone as he walked. Two more pairs of feet accompanied him and Bella nodded silently to herself in approval and relief that he hadn’t fucked up the first stage. “But I’m sure you appreciate that especially now, we’ve got to be so careful. The Ministry isn’t yet safe.”
That was their cue.
With a swish, Rodolphus sealed the church doors and Rabastan ignited the candles near the altar, the flickering flames lending a haunting and ominous aura to the night. Bellatrix melted into view from behind a pillar and grinned in dark appreciation for the Aurors Crouch had managed to capture. Before they had a chance to raise them, she had their wands flying across the cavernous room with a clatter and a non-verbal Expelliarmus.
Crouch – eager to please – cast an Incarcerous and the two Aurors were lashed with tight bindings and forced to their knees.
“Longbottoms,” Bellatrix crooned. Their families were hardly in similar circles but the Pureblooded community was small and she knew their faces enough. “You brought us a matching set, Barty, how sweet.”
She circled the kneeling pair and dragged her wand across Frank’s cheek as she went. “They’ll do marvellously.” Without looking, Bella could tell Crouch was practically beaming with pride. She ignored him, ignored everyone except the witch and wizard bound before her. As she came full circle and stopped in front of them, she twirled her wand and offered a saccharine, benign smile. A false suggestion that cooperation meant a quick and easy end to this unpleasantness.
“Where is he?” It was a simple question and one that she was certain they knew the answer to. Voldemort wasn’t gone, wasn’t dead like the rumours said. He’d been captured, if anything, and the Ministry was hiding something. They knew where her master was, and she’d do anything to make them admit it.
The woman – Alice – frowned and made a muffled sound behind her gag. Bellatrix loosened it but was disappointed.
“We don’t know what you’re talking about, we don’t know anything.” She didn’t even sound scared, which was a real insult. Bella sighed, irritated but privately pleased. She preferred her games a little more challenging. A little more… bloodsport-y.
“Shame,” She tutted, and pointed her wand at Frank. “Maybe your tongue will loosen for his sake.” The Lestranges and Crouch smiled and crowded closer, the air in the church crackled with anticipation. Or maybe that was just her own electric excitement.
“Crucio!”