A Trophy Father's Trophy Son || Bells

‘School is a waste of time. Why even bother trying to do well on my N.E.W.T.S. when there is something so much more...enticing out there,’ Bellatrix thought as she made her way across the snow-covered courtyard. A young boy followed her, a prospective beater for next year’s quidditch team that had been asking her questions all afternoon about how to get on the team. ‘Does the Dark Lord really care about academics? Absolutely not.’ The chatter of the little boy filled her ears for a moment and Bells put her hand up to silence him, eliciting an almost immediate response from the younger boy, ”If you want to get on the team, you’d better learn how to control the word vomit that you’re spewing, nitwit.” It was cruel, she would admit, but Bellatrix Black had never been one to candy-coat the truth.

She picked up her pace again, only to find that she was still being persued by the chatty young gentleman. For someone that had moments before been plagued by utter annoyance, Bellatrix took the sudden hand around her waist in great stride, yelping only slightly, and then easing into the person’s fingertips as they guided her. She could think of few people that would dare touch her in such a manner, and seeing as one of them were dead, it left either one of her sisters or Rodolphus Lestrange. And - based on the size of the hands - it had to be Rod. The young Quidditch player that had been walking beside her immediately looked up, giving them both a look of confusion, but Bells put on her best half-smirk and the boy trotted off in the opposite direction. Just it time, it seemed, as her Betrothed was pulling her in another direction entirely. ”Rodolphus-” She managed to say before she was pulled into an alcove and nearly pressed up against the side of the small corridor.

Nearly pinned against the side of the wall, she now had a chance to admire the face of her captor. It was indeed Rodolphus, something that neither surprised her, nor made her nervous, ”Hello, darling.”

The words felt strange coming from Rodolphus’ mouth. Strange enough to make Bells stop and listen before she decided to give her reply. A few long seconds passed between them as she stared off into the distance, weighing her options. ”If it’s a talk you need, I’m afraid you’ve come to the wrong place. I’ve heard Rabastan’s recently come into his voice, however-” Bellatrix wouldn’t admit it to anyone, but she had been publicly humiliated by Rodolphus’ actions over the past couple of months. More than that, she had been making progress in accepting what was about to happen between them...learning to deal with the idea and create a situation that would have been beneficial for the both of them. All the while battling rumors about her father’s mysterious death, her cheating husband-to-be, and her off-their-rocker sisters. Merlin, this was shaping up to be one hell of a seventh year. She looked up into his eyes, seeing the sincerity and raising both of her eyebrows. He was smiling at her...something she hadn’t seen since they were children and she briefly recalled the kiss they had shared a few months back born out of both their passion for destruction. They weren’t so different in the end. Bells tapped her forefinger against his lips and sighed, ”Where would you like to start?”

Bellatrix felt every muscle in her back seize when he spoke about understanding what she was going through. No one had dared approach her about the root of her torture lately. In fact, everyone that she encountered was perfectly fine with pretending that none of it had ever happened. But she wasn’t...she couldn’t.

Cygnus Black - her darling father that raised her to be the atrocity that she was - had been brutally murdered under the moonlight in the foothills of Hogwarts. Rumors had been swirling about him ever since, calling him a con man...neck deep in fraud and debt, threatening to ruin the Black family name. And she was the one who had to take over the family and make something of their name. Zeke - the man that she had poured so much of herself into - had gone off and gotten himself killed in the line of duty. Riddle had told her not to worry, he had died fighting for the cause and everyone would remember him as one of the foremost heroes of the regime, but Bellatrix could feel everyone forgetting about him already. The Quidditch team had been functioning with a reserve chaser that actually did well, much to her dismay. Even Riddle had replaced him as his ‘third-hand man.’

She tried to keep her face stone cold and impassable, she tried with all of her might. But the more that she thought about it, the harder it became to keep herself intact. They both felt so fresh still, so near to the front of her thoughts at every moment in time. And it was so frustrating for her. Reaching up, she pinched the bridge of her nose with her free hand, the first showing of weakness that she had exhibited since it all had happened. Her other hand remained in his and for a moment, she did nothing but give it a squeeze. Rodolphus might have been the one person that she was willing to show her faults to at this point because, after everything that they had been through, he was still the one by her side. He was still the one that she would be sharing her family with in a matter of months.

”Listen-” Bells attempted to ram the thoughts out of her head by looking up suddenly, but instead found herself face to face with Rodolphus’ eyes where strange sadness had settled. A fresh sting of emotion flooded her veins and she cursed her lack of control. The Dark Lord would not be pleased if he knew that she was still emotionally compromised from her losses, ”I haven’t exactly been the bell of the ball and-” Merlin, was she actually going to apologize too? Immediately her nose tilted up in disgust. No, that was probably as close as Rodolphus was going to get from Bells, and for her, this was something. Not everyone could get her to admit that she was being a tosser.

Turning slightly to the left, her profile was now to Rodolphus. Seeing her straight on would mean that he would identify more signs of emotion on her face, and that would not do, ”And there’s things that are more important than childish rumors and tarnished reputations around Hogwarts, right?” Her hand still in his, she leaned forward and placed her head on his shoulder, grateful for someone to lean on after years and years of using herself as a crutch.

If he wanted complete forgiveness, it would take time. Bells had more healing to do. But for now, this seemed like a peace offering. And she knew - with the oncoming storm - that it was smart to take what she could get while it was still being offered.

It was almost reassuring, having Rodolphus hold her like this. Bellatrix felt her equilibrium beginning to settle when she was with him. Thinking back to when they were children, Bells remembered a time when she thought that marrying him was going to be like marrying a prince. She used to tell her sisters how jealous they should be of her impending betrothal. Of course, all of that had changed the moment the permanent resonance of the situation had actually set in. In those moments, she had revolted against the idea...causing her to become bitter and spiteful to him. But somehow they always ended up like this: He held her emotions intact, even when it seemed as if the entire world was going to fall around her.

Separately, they were both forces to be reckoned with. Bells was strong and determined, twisted and unrealistically cruel. Rodolphus had the entire house - both male and female - at his beck and call. Danger bread more danger, she thought carefully.

Silence spread around them and the only sound was their breathing. Bella’s lips twitched slightly when she realized that Rod was smelling her hair, but the smile never quite made it to the edges of her mouth because the word marriage seemed to dig a dagger into her heart and she felt her body tense. She had almost forgotten that their impending union was just a few short months away. As soon as they were out of Hogwarts, they were to be bound together for the rest of their lives.

Her husband was not a shackle for her to wear, was he? Surely over the years, that had been exactly what she had imagined him to be, but right now, she couldn’t find it in her cold dark heart to say it to his face. Recalling the slightest bit of affection that she had felt when he had pressed his lips to her forehead, she couldn’t imagine that it was.

”Yes-” Bellatrix nuzzled her face slightly into the crook in Rod’s neck, making herself comfortable. It was strange letting her guard down in front of him like this, when she was so used to playing the dangerous siren in his presence. But Rod was the only one who knew just how much she was hurting: Zeke, her father, her sisters...they had all taken a toll on her, and although she hid behind her mask of destruction, the raven-haired Black needed someone. Sooner than later, it would be just them against the world.

She wrapped her arms around his back and locked them together, standing there with her betrothed, for once not worrying about who was going to come bursting through the door and see her, ”Bellatrix Lestrange.” She breathed the strange new name into the air. It had been ages since she had spoken it aloud, and now it sounded so foreign on her tongue, ”And how shall we start our new-found terms, Mr. Lestrange?” She asked, feeling a smile beginning to tug once again, ”Do we feign happy couple-dom for all to see?”

Bellatrix nodded along with his words, watching the way his eyes darted across her face, watching her carefully. She too felt observant: this seemed to be a new bridge for them to cross, a strange new alliance that they were forging that wasn’t entirely unwanted. In fact, the more that she thought about it, the more that she realized that this might have been what she needed all along.

She formed a firm line with her lips as she pursed them together, staring intently at her betrothed. Once such a dreaded fate awaited her, but now, she saw possibility. Rodolphus was a smart man - one who was very capable of being a companion worth her time. In all her wildest dreams, Bells would have never imagined that she would be so willing to give it up at this time in her life. She had imagined fighting it up to the wedding day - which was fast approaching. But here she was, allowing Rodolphus to cradle her as if she was his.

Ah if only Zeke could see her now. Bells could only imagine the sickening anger that he would feel watching them together. It seemed as if Zeke tried his hardest to keep them from one another, but it was inevitable. Rodolphus and Bellatrix: together, they were a force of nature. Another stab seemed to go through the cockles of her heart, knowing that this would indeed be the last time that she would allow herself to think of Zeke Maxwell. He was to be a banished thought from now on, someone that she refused to think upon. If anything, he was fuel to her flame of madness. Zeke was nothing more than a spark in the distance now. He had lit the fuse which had been leading up to this moment: The very moment that she chose to surrender herself to her fate. To Rodolphus Lestrange, to Tom Riddle, to destroying the very essence of the muggleborns with these very fingertips.

His touch on her face seemed to break her out of her own thoughts and instinctually she tensed. Bells listened to his words, trying to fathom a universe in which she thought this would happen. Rodolphus was surrendering to her - and she seemed to be yielding to him. Two glaciers that had met in the middle of the icy ocean, only to force one another down to create an abyss that was far deeper and more powerful than either one of them on their own. And the name - uttered yet again - seemed to stick this time. She was Bellatrix Lestrange, a woman who would once be feared by all, ”Perhaps we can learn to be...tolerant of one another.” She could already see the distant glimmer of possibility, ”You might even learn to stand in the same room with me without cringing, and I might learn not to raise my wand at you every time we’re in a spat.” She rolled her eyes.

Rodolphus leaned closer, a distant smirk present on his lips. There was a strange flutter of emotion from the pit of her stomach, something that she had recognized very distantly as want, ”I loath you, Lucifer,” She whispered back at him, taking his hand and biting the palm ever so slightly in a show of agreement, ”The wedding stands. We tell them nothing.” Those were her terms, it was what she wanted. Joram had been a minor fluke in the plan, but Rod was showing her allegiance now, and that was not to be ignored. They didn’t need to explain themselves, did they? Rod and Bells were the King and Queen of Slytherin these days - there was no need for explanation.