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I'm on at the same time as someone! Woo!
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LeeAnn walked up to the building, remembering the past month; she had been separated from the others in Hogsmeade and had gotten lost in the vast areas of countryside beyond the village. She examined the house: it was large, like a mansion. Or a manor. She remembered reading about a manor like this. She tried to remember the name. She couldn't. The place didn't look welcoming;covered with dust. Still if they have food. She knocked on the door.
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((For purposes of resurrecting Felicitas, I'm gonna assume that the manor is Lestrange manor. Given that that's the only manor we've mentioned so far, I figure it's not too much of a leap.))
//Felicitas//
Felicitas was sick and tired of walking. She'd been walking for ages, after a raging storm had separated her from the rest of the group. Bloody rotten luck.
The girl crested a hill and was very much surprised to see a small, familiar figure at the bottom, approaching a massive and rather decayed looking house. Or mansion, or something. Felicitas squinted, then grinned as she recognized the figure.
"LeeAnn!" she called, starting down the hill.
LeeAnn turned at the sound of her name. Felicitas skidded to a halt in front of her, grinning. "Fancy meeting you here," the blue-haired girl said with a broad grin. "Where are we?"
"No idea," LeeAnn replied. "I was just about to go 'n' see if there's any food there." She jerked her head in the direction of the manor.
"Doesn't look friendly at all," Felicitas remarked. "But I suppose it's worth a shot…"
The two girls started forward, only to be flung suddenly backwards a few steps later.
//Bellatrix//
The Dark Lord had, after a few days, gotten over his fury, though Pansy and Scorpius still cowered whenever they chanced to see him. Draco and Bellatrix, rather more used to the Dark Lord's temper, recovered much more quickly.
Which only gave Bellatrix another reason to worry; her master had returned to his sulking, brooding moods, becoming once more unnaturally quiet and level-headed. She almost considered provoking him intentionally to try to snap him out of it, but common sense had convinced her otherwise. Bellatrix did, however, take full advantage of his alarming lack of hostility to stay as close to him as possible, and enjoyed the opportunity greatly.
He was even civil enough to eat lunch with her occasionally (and she had been shocked to discover that he was almost as fond of tomatoes as he was of snakes).
Bellatrix was dreading the inevitable return to normality, knowing she would be punished severely for failing to curb her sarcasm and cheek.
Today, however, she was certain, would not be the day he snapped back to his normal self. They were in one of the parlours; the only room in the house that had been completely cleared of dust, in fact. He was pacing, tossing an apple up and down. Bellatrix sat, her eyes following his every move.
"I rather fancy getting another snake," he said suddenly.
"Mm?" the Death Eater's lips twitched.
"A python of some sort, perhaps."
"Why not a basilisk?" she asked dryly. "May as well go full-out."
"No, too much trouble. Too easy for someone to be killed by accident."
"And since when do you care about a little thing like that?" Bellatrix injected as much innocence into the question as she could manage.
The Dark Lord snorted. "Far too few people to risk it," he replied.
"Oh, no, you're right," Bellatrix said with a nod. "Someone could be hurt."
He swiveled his head to smirk at her. "Indeed." He sighed. "I do like the idea of a python, though. 'Course it'd have to be made venomous. Constriction doesn't have quite the appropriate degree of threat."
"Mm…" Bellatrix didn't bother to hide her smirk.
"Or perhaps a black mamba. Not nearly as large, but it's so venomous that that hardly matters…"
Bellatrix never got the chance to reply; the half-second spasm of pain flashed through her head, indicating (yet another) security breach. She swore.
"What is it?"
The Death Eater closed her eyes and concentrated. Two foggy shapes- girls- swam into view, picking themselves up slowly. "Two girls," she said. "Scorpius' age or thereabouts, from the look of it. Shall I kill them?"
Her master sighed, debating. "No. Bring them in, throw then in the basement cells. Different cells, mind you." He grinned suddenly. "If nothing else you can play with them a little."
Bellatrix beamed. "Thank you, my lord." She bowed swiftly, then bent her protective spells and Apperated to the edge of the grounds.
The two girls stared up at her, and she smiled her best angelic smile. "Hello, dumplings. Welcome to my lovely home."
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((Hi, Chloe! I'm glad that someone else has joined back up.
Also, how old are LeAnn and Felicitas?))
//Wolfbar//
Glancing out a window on the second floor, Wolfbar's initial reaction was More people?
Just outside the grounds- not through the gates- were two small figures, and another that he recognized as Bellatrix, though then again, it was hard not to recognize her. All that he could see of the two smaller ones were two heads of hair, one blond and the other… blue.
Surprisingly enough, they didn't seem to be writhing in pain or screaming in terror. Nor was Bellatrix even holding a wand up menacingly, as far as Wolfbar could see. Was that reception saved especially for Bellatrix's relatives?
And if not some distant Lestrange kindred, who were these two visitors? He heartily doubted that they were a couple of lost Muggles- bumbling creatures that they were, Bellatrix had probably put up some sort of protective enchantment against their coming even within a mile of the manor.
They probably weren't some of the shorter Death Eaters, either. For one thing, if Malfoy had been the only one to respond to the call, it was unlikely that anyone else would. And for another, something told Wolfbar that a Death Eater with hair the colour of blueberries would not be so terribly intimidating.
//Scorpius//
After a few days of hiding out in his bedroom, Scorpius finally felt courageous enough to venture out. With luck, no one would randomly decide it would be fun to set a wand on him.
He went out the back door, and was taking a walk around the manor to get some fresh air, mainly at his mother's urging. As he passed the entrance, it briefly set upon him to try and escape- the gate was even cracked a fraction of an inch!- but then he glanced out through the wrought-iron gate and gulped.
There were two girls outside, confronted by Bellatrix- he vaguely remembered them from Hogwarts. And being around when unexpected visitors showed up again didn't seem like a very bright idea to Scorpius at the moment.
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((Felicitas is 11, not sure about LeeAnn.))
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//Felicitas//
Pushing herself to her feet, Felicitas glanced up at the speaker.
Her initial impression was that this was not someone she'd want to meet in a dark alley- dark clothes, dark hair, rather gaunt, smiling the smile of an axe murder right before he chops off your head, that sort of thing. Her second impression was that, if this was her house, there probably wouldn't be much food available given the wasted state of the owner.
She tried anyway. "Uh… You wouldn't happen to have any food to… spare…" Felicitas trailed off as the woman's eyebrow arched dramatically.
"Food?" She said it as if unfamiliar with the word.
"Um… yes."
"Well, can't help you there," the woman said cheerily. "I've recently been informed that I am, in fact, dead, so what do I need food for?"
"Oh." Felicitas blinked.
Then, abruptly, the woman flicked her wand out of her sleeve and made a quick, sweeping gesture. Felicitas and LeeAnn found themselves a moment later, hanging upside down.
"Wha-?"
"Bellatrix Lestrange," said the woman brightly. "Pleased to make your acquaintance." Another flick of her wand and they started to float in the direction of the manor. "I do apologize for the poor accommodations…"
"What accommodations?" LeeAnn asked, apparently less effected by the blood rushing to her head than Felicitas was.
"Well, you know…" Bellatrix sighed. "The dust, the grime, the rats, the utter lack of sunlight… Hardly better than Azkaban, really, though there aren't any Dementors." An evil gleam appeared suddenly in her eye. "Don't you worry about that though, my sweeties. I'll more than make up for the lack of soul-sucking spectres."
With a cackle she snatched at their wrists and Apperated into a dank basement. Felicitas could make out rusted bars in the gloom.
Bellatrix whipped her wand easily through the air. Felicitas was slammed into a cell, the door of which clanged shut behind her. She looked up to see LeeAnn being thrown into a nearly identical cell a few meters away.
"Why are you doing this?" Felicitas whimpered, staring up at Bellatrix.
The Death Eater smirked. "I'm a Death Eater, darling. It's what I do. Oh, and-" she broke off with another flick of her wand. Felicitas' and LeeAnn's wands soared into her free hand.
She smiled once more, almost pleasantly, at Felicitas. Then, "Crucio!"
Felicitas screamed…
…and screamed…
…and screamed…
…and…
//Dark Lord//
He heard the screams emanating from three stories below as clearly as if they were in the same room. A slow smile crept over his face.
Ordinarily he would've just told her to kill them both. Then again…
Why not let her have her fun?
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((I'm thinking of joining back up again; I'm a little less busy and see an opening for my charrie; would that be OK with you?))
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((But of course.))
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((LeeAnn's 11))
LeeAnn watched in horrified silence as Bellitrix tortured Felicitas. She was next, she knew it. She waited for her brain to supply a reason why Bellitrix was alive. None came. So instead she started blaming herself. Why did I have to go to this house? Why did I run away in the first place? I'm so stupid. All thoughts were driven from her head when Bellitrix pointed her wand at LeeAnn and the screaming began.
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Belinda heard the gut-wrenching screams from the top floor of the house, where she had been sprawled in front of a dust-covered window practicing the Cruciatus curse on any insects unlucky enough to fly by. She sighed and rose to her feet, siphoning the dust away with her wand.
Having really nothing better to do she headed down the stairs, wondering who was being tortured this time.
She eventually found Bellatrix in the lowest basement, with two girls huddled in the dank cells. Belinda noted absently that Bellatrix did, in fact, look like a small child playing with a puppy as she tortured one of the girls.
Eventually the Death Eater lifted the curse, leaving her victim panting, sprawled on the floor.
"Who're they?" asked Belinda curiously. Bellatrix glanced up, lighting her wand as she did so. White light flared in the small, damp room.
"No idea," replied Bellatrix. "They just showed up."
Belinda paused, staring at the girl in the nearest cell. Recognition stirred vaguely in the back of her mind.
Noticing this, Bellatrix asked quietly, "You know them?"
"By face," Belinda replied disinterestedly. "From Hogwarts. They're both first-years, I think."
The Death Eater frowned and turned towards the blue-haired girl. "Then why are they here?"
"D'you think I know?" asked Belinda scathingly.
"Well?" Bellatrix tapped her wand sharply against the bars of the girl's cell and raised an eyebrow.
"W-w-w-w-we r-ran aw-w-way," managed the girl. "I-I-I-" Her wide eyes turned towards Belinda, pleading. "Y-y-y-you…"
Bellatrix snorted. "You stutter even worse than Wolfbar does." Then, glancing towards Belinda she said mildly, "You've never tried on a human before…?"
"Are you offering?" Belinda knew instinctively she was talking about the Cruciatus, and a small thrill ran up her spine. "Thought you didn't like to share your… toys."
"I can make an allowance for the sake of teaching," Bellatrix said cooly, gliding forward and coming to a halt behind Belinda. "You know the spell."
If the girls hadn't looked absolutely terrified before, they looked it now. The blonde was actually hyperventilating.
Belinda raised her wand and whispered, "Crucio."
The blue-haired girl let out a shriek followed by a whimper. Belinda scowled; Bellatrix touched her shoulder gently.
"You have to mean it, Belinda," the Death Eater whispered. "You have to really want to cause pain…"
Mean it, I have to mean it, thought Belinda. "Crucio!"
The girl screamed…
…and screamed…
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((You do like that line, I see, the screaming one.
@ Lena: Please, go ahead. 🙂
Belinda is becoming downright sadistic.
And… I was going to post but my aunt's friend is here so I need to go be social. *pouts*..))
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((Well, given that Bellatrix is the one who's been teaching her the dark arts…
And yes, I like the screaming line. What of it?))
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((Little or nothing of it, actually.))
//Wolfbar//
Oliver burst into Wolfbar's room without bothering to knock. His eyes were wide with either terror or disbelief, or a frightening hybrid of the two. "You will not believe what I just saw!"
Wolfbar's initial reaction was surprise that Oliver would be willing to tell him anything- the two young men were not exactly fraternity brothers- but Oliver looked as though he'd just seen a devil. Not altogether impossible, though, Wolfbar thought to himself, considering whose house they were in. "Do tell, I'm dying for curiosity."
"Two girls," said Oliver, his voice taut with restrained fury, "from Hogwarts. First years. Wandered onto the property and the mad witch-" he still almost never said Bellatrix's name- "is downstairs torturing them."
"What else is new?" asked Wolfbar a bit coldly. "One would think that you'd have gotten used to this sort of thing by now."
"No, get this. Guess who's down there having the time of their life, helping Bellatrix out?"
"I really don't care, Oliver…" His mind was wandering.
"Belinda!" shouted Oliver. "Belinda. In the basement, torturing little eleven-year-old girls for the pure fun of it! That mad witch has brainwashed her!"
"Maybe she was always like that," suggested Wolfbar, not really caring that he sounded cruel, "and you just never noticed it." As an afterthought he added, "Boy."
"She's gotten to you too," muttered Oliver. He clenched his fists and all but ran out of the room, the door slamming behind him.
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//Belinda//
There was a curious thrill to it, Belinda noticed. A sort of high quite unlike anything she had ever experienced.
She grinned.
//Dark Lord//
Several hours later Bellatrix appeared once more. She glided into the library, where the Dark Lord had been bent over a two-century old scroll written in an archaic language, shot him a deranged, twisted smile, and vanished behind one of the large bookshelves.
The Dark Lord smirked. "Who are they?"
"Students," came the reply. "First-years, apparently. It would seem they ran away-" she laughed- "and got lost." She reemerged from between the shelves, an enormous, leather-bound book cradled in her arms.
"Loosing students left and right, that school," mused the Dark Lord. "First your little protégé, then Scorpius, now these two…"
Bellatrix smirked. "Standards and security slipping even more, if such a thing is possible."
"Such is life," he replied with mock sincerity. "And how is your pupil, incidentally?"
"Rather well, actually. Recovering nicely from her irrational terror. And showing a bit of a sadistic side."
"Who does that remind us of, I wonder?" the Dark Lord asked dryly. Bellatrix glared at him; he smiled innocently in return.
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POSTpostPOSTpoostPOSTpostPOST…
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((Impatient? You did go to Costa Rica, remember… 😉
No, but seriously, this vacation has been grueling. I'll be back on regularly on Thursday… thank God…
The computer here is s. l. o. w. and I
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((Okay, I'm here.))
Lillian didn't know how long she'd been walking. Ever since the storm that seperated her from the rest of the group, it seemed. And that had been DAYS. All in all, Lillian was wishing she was back at Hogwarts. Or better yet, back at home. Her real home. With her parents and younger sister and… she yawned. It was nighttime, and she was tired.
And then she saw a building up ahead. Hogwarts? Had she come back to Hogwarts? But even in her sleep-deprived state, she knew that the building was different, quite different than Hogwarts. It had a somewhat austere feeling, a feeling that she shouldn't go in… but Lillian was tired and hungry, and this was the first building she'd seen in days. She went in.
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((All right, my last post got cut off, the hotel computer was unbelievably slow. On a completely different topic, welcome back Lena, and now I'm back in NJ, so I'll post more tomorrow… As I'm sure is obvious from the tone of this post, I'm a) pressed for time, as I'm going to bed any minute, b) not feeling terribly intelligent, having driven for ten straight hours and c) far too exhausted to write anything decent, as it's 10:15 pm.
But I WILL post tomorrow. In fact, tomorrow I will ruthlessly abuse Internet-Microsoft-phone-bicycle privileges, having been away so long.))
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((I'm sorrry for the delay. Back now, though, so let's carry on.))
//Wolfbar//
The screaming was on and off for the next few days, sometimes louder, sometimes slightly muffled, but either way filled with pain. Wolfbar still didn't know the date, but he very much doubted that Belinda cared or even remembered their conversation of a few days ago.
The Dark Lord was spending more time in the basement, and routinely demanded things that Bellatrix had to sneak off to the Ministry to filch. Records of old Death Eaters, dates of their deaths, incarcerations, etc. Lists of Aurors, and Ministry officials, and Hogwarts staff. For the Dark Lord, of course, Bellatrix was only too honoured to take a break from torturing the two girls downstairs to relieve the Ministry of their paperwork.
Wolfbar, meanwhile, lay low in his room. His dreams were alternately of the nightmare variety, filled with screams- of who, he wasn't sure; sometimes it was his sister's, sometimes the first year girls who Bellatrix and Belinda were torturing, sometimes Drusilla, back in the Garden. On more than one occasion they had been his own.
When they weren't nightmares, they were filled with visions of success, of Wolfbar himself not being ridiculed by the Dark Lord, but being congratulated and even, by some stretch of the imagination, respected by him. In such dreams things like Drusilla's death and the Malfoys' fear didn't matter. Wolfbar would awaken and try to shake such dreams off, knowing how stupid they were, but, like the nightmares, they stayed with him all through his waking hours and then came back at full force when it was night again.
With nothing else to do, he continued plowing through The Riverside Shakespeare.
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//Bellatrix//
The days began to settle into an almost comfortable pattern; Bellatrix spent the large part of her time in the basement, torturing the girls. Occasionally Belinda helped; usually this was followed by a lesson of some kind in the upper regions of the house. And every so often the Dark Lord would send her on unobtrusive intelligence-gathering trips to the Ministry (with strict instructions to kill Potter if she came across him again).
All of which suited the Death Eater just fine, though she was starting to find the girls a little boring and repetitive.
Several weeks after the girls' arrival, the Dark Lord sent her to kill someone, an assignment she accepted with quiet glee. It had been far too long since she last killed someone (and Drusilla hardly counted, since that had been a mercy killing…) and Bellatrix wanted a new victim to torture anyway.
So, with explicit instructions not to toy with him too much lest help arrive, the Death Eater set out around midnight to murder an auror by the name of Patrick Macmillan.
She Apparated to the end of his street and strolled easily through the shadows, avoiding lamplight when possible. A sneer crept onto her features; he lived in some filthy Muggle district, and the very atmosphere made her skin crawl.
What minimal protective enchantments there were she broke through with hardly thought. She slid silently through the house into he bedroom.
He was asleep, drooling a little and snoring ever so faintly. Bellatrix awoke him with a brief Cruciatus and an innocent smile.
"Good morning, sunshine," she said sweetly.
*
Several hours later Bellatrix returned to her own home, her forearms soaked in blood and a wicked grin on her face. She breezed through the manor, found the Dark Lord, and shot him an enormous grin before kneeling to kiss the hem of his robes.
"You had fun, I take it," he murmured, glancing down at her with a slightly bemused expression.
"Very much so, my lord," she said.
"Though I assume you weren't very… subtle." He eyed the blood on her sleeves.
"He didn't have enough protection around his house to keep a Muggle out," she said with the slightest of smirks. "I made it look like a Muggle killing. Stab wounds, and what not."
"Inflicted while he was alive, no doubt," the Dark Lord smirked in turn.
"Only for purposes of authenticity," she grinned. "Of course."
"Of course."
"Goodnight, my lord," she said softly, and left, not expecting an answer.
As the door shut behind her, her master said softly, "Goodnight."
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((Oh yes, comfortable. Gosh yes.
In hope that the the Hogwarts posters will return, Albus' POV.))
//Albus//
Albus threw down the paper and snarled. Another interview with his father. Ever since the Dementer attack a few months ago, he'd been more of a celebrity than ever; an alleged sighting of Bellatrix Lestrange a few weeks back only emphasized this.
Normally he wouldn't have minded; he loved his father and supported everything he did, et cetera, et cetera. But what with all this going on- possible break-ins at the Ministry, Dementers, disappearing students- Harry seemed to have very little time for everything else. Christmas break was approaching- just a few more weeks- and Harry had already made it clear that James and Albus were staying at Hogwarts for break. Albus had protested vehemently- "Where giant Dementers drop in every now and then? No!"- but Harry had replied that it was the safest place in times like this. Which explains all the disappearances, of course, Albus thought sarcastically.
In addition to all that, Albus was quite certain that his father had been lying that day at King's Cross, so many months ago, when he said that the Sorting Hat took one's opinion into account. Albus had been wishing harder than he ever had that he'd be in Gryffindor, and he got landed in Hufflepuff. The house for the dimwits, the ones that didn't have the skills or intellect to be put anywhere else. Even Slytherin would've been better than Hufflepuff.
He glowered at the picture of his father plastered onto the front page of the Daily Prophet. "Hypocrite," he muttered, repeating what James had often said, not actually knowing what it meant but hoping it was really, really bad.
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Lol. I like that. 🙂
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I think I'll be coming back to have someone there.
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((Sorry, I have writer's block)).
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((Thanks, Lena. 🙂 Where is Lilllian right now?
@ Ima: It's okay; that happens.
@ TNO (umlaut): That was rather funny, by the way.))
//Draco//
Draco was leafing through a pile of records for old Death Eaters, at his aunt's request. The nice kind of request that, if declined, would be followed up by a Cruciatas curse.
He recognized quite a few of the names, people that he remembered his father Lucius talking to and about. Some were dead, others in Azkaban. Very, very few had escaped imprisonment or death. He involuntarily shuddered, thankful that his father had been able to back the Malfoys out before they ended up like so many other "loyal" servants of the Dark Lord. Then, thinking about what would probably befall all those who had backed out and not responded to the call a few weeks ago, he decided to also be thankful that he had.
He was supposed to be sorting the papers into piles- alive and in Azkaban, alive and free, and dead. So far the last pile was the biggest.
The work did not require a lot of attention- a glance at each sheet, a flick of the wrist- and Draco, much as he tried to be solely absorbed in the incarceration date of Kristov Parker or which auror had killed Morton Salve, he found his mind wandering. What would become of Scorpius and Pansy when the Dark Lord returned to full power? No matter how… honourable… it might be, he especially didn't want his son involved in this, didn't want him being used as an expendable spy or assassin like he'd been.
On the other hand–and Draco hated himself for thinking this–it was somewhat exhilarating to be doing this sort of thing again.
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//Bellatrix//
She ran into Wolfbar along the way; he'd been skulking in the hall, with, she noticed with some amusement, the Riverside Shakespeare tucked under his arm, when she came around the corner. His eyes enlarged comically as he took in the blood on her sleeves; the Death Eater grinned at him. "Lovely evening, isn't it?" she said, and whipped around the corner before he could respond.
//Draco//
It was nearly midnight by the time Draco had sorted through all the paperwork. He leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes, wondering vaguely how long it would be before the Dark Lord ordered them to break the remaining 'faithful' Death Eaters out of Azkaban.
He also wondered if the Dark Lord would go so far as to lead the operation himself. He had in the past, or so Draco had heard. But then, there had been a lot more Death Eaters to break out the last time.
Now there were only two; Avery, who apparently had chosen to go to Azkaban rather than try to squirm out of it once more, and Rabastan, which was really only to be expected.
Draco sighed heavily. For all he knew this was a pointless exercise and the Dark Lord had no intentions of breaking into Azkaban. The two remaining Death Eaters would hardly be in a state to be of any use, after all…
He decided not to worry about it, and went to bed.
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((Phoo, the first part got cut. D: A lot.))
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((Could you summarize without the… iffy content or language or whatever the Administrators cut it for, or is it not necessary?
Another thing, would it be all right to turn Albus a bit… evil and twisted/on Voldy's side/traitorous? Just because we no one else is posting from Hogwarts, and I'd be glad to if only Al was a bit more interesting to write about…))
//Wolfbar//
After a few petrified seconds, Wolfbar proceeded hastily along the corridor, having decided that it would much infinitely better for his mental health not to wonder why Bellatrix had looked as though she'd just had a hand in some sort of mass murder. It was a concept he had far too much ease accepting.
His last thought before drifting off to sleep was to wonder if it would be possible to find a Petruchio willing to tame Bellatrix.*
//Albus//
Albus had never cut classes before, at the old Muggle school he'd been sent to before Hogwarts, and he doubted that first year at a wizarding academy was a good time to start. If his parents found out, they'd be furious. Of course, at this point pleasing Harry and Ginny wasn't top on his list of priorities.
He'd been spending time in the library, the restricted section for the most part. Avoiding the librarian had proved quite simple- Madam Pince had recently had a heart attack, and a sort of "substitute," a young Hogwarts graduate called Vikki, had taken over. Her reinforcement of library policies was slightly more… lenient than Pince's had been. By sneaking in at night and staying until ungodly hours of the very early morning, he'd quietly studied old history texts, with the occasional spellbook. He wasn't quite sure what he was looking for- information about his father, perhaps?- but with only a bit of guilt he admitted to himself that he was certainly enjoying himself while doing it.
*((The Taming of the Shrew, W. Shakespeare))
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((It's certainly not the *worst* I've written for her Bella… Meh… moving along…
Re: Evil Albus: ZOMGDOWANT!!!!!111!!!11! /chatspeak. Er, yes, please. *bambi eyes*
Also, <3 for the TotS reference. I love TotS.))
//Draco//
"You killed someone, didn't you?" Draco asked tiredly the next morning as his aunt very nearly strutted into the kitchen.
"And you were up all night sorting through Ministry paperwork," she replied sweetly.
Draco sighed and returned to a blackened, rock-hard lump that had, five minutes ago, been a piece of bread. "May I ask who?"
Bellatrix shrugged. "Some auror. Where'd you get the coal?"
"It was supposed to be toast," Draco said dismally.
"Really?" His aunt peered closely at it. "Whatever did you do to it? Even I can cook better than that."
Draco scowled at the charred mess. "Perhaps it wouldn't have happened if you hadn't set me to the utterly pointless task of sorting papers until midnight."
"Everything's my fault, isn't it?" Bellatrix affected a sad, puppy-dog look which, given her hollowed cheekbones and sunken eyes, made her look positively demonic. "Besides, it wasn't utterly pointless."
"Lucky you," muttered Draco darkly, Vanishing the burnt toast and summoning a fresh piece from across the kitchen. He was suddenly very glad indeed that he had responded to the call.
Bellatrix smirked and swept to the opposite side of the room. "You, meanwhile, will be liberating Avery and my dear brother-in-law."
"Isn't the Dark Lord supposed to be the one giving orders?" Draco asked, turning back to his slowly toasting bread.
"The Dark Lord is allowed to delegate on occasion," she replied. "At the moment he is, um, detained."
"Detained? Arson, murder, or theft?"
Bellatrix snorted. "None of the above; he's recruiting. Up north, I believe. Far north."
"Ah." Well, it had to happen sometime. "Who's he blackmailing this time?"
"You're terribly negative, Draco dear," he could practically hear her smirking. "He doesn't *always* use blackmail. And besides that, I don't know. Didn't care to ask, and he didn't see fit to tell me."
"How very sad for you." He examined the second slice of toast, which was significantly less burned.
"Eh." Draco blinked and his aunt was at his elbow. Bellatrix shot him a quick, impish smile, snatched the toast, and darted out the door before he could retaliate.
Draco glared after her; she laughed as the door swung shut behind her.
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((I tried to decode the chatspeak and gave up, but I think I got the gist. What exactly did the "z" mean, though?))
//Wolfbar//
"Checkmate." Oliver smirked.
Wolfbar had spent the last hour or so playing Oliver at chess in the library, for want of little else to do. Or perhaps 'being pummeled' would be more accurate. Wolfbar still couldn't figure out what Oliver kept doing to checkmate him in four moves.
//(evil!)Albus//
Sitting on his dormitory bed, Albus lazily turned the page of the book that Vikki had let him check out. She hadn't seemed to care–notice, really–that the title was A History of Dark Wizards Through the Ages, or that the red tape on the ide read RESTRICTED: TO BE USED WITH PERMISSION ONLY.
He'd originally planned on skipping right to a few decades ago–it was a fairly recent book compared to most in the restricted section–to where Voldemort's story was chronicled. Again, he had no idea why, he just felt somehow drawn to that period of time. But he'd started reading the first chapter–about the Dark wizard Benedict Arnold back in the 1700s, and found it incredibly interesting. He suspected this didn't say much for his character, but secretly he found himself rooting for the bad guys–though the hero almost always triumphed in the end. Not to mention that all the villains had the best lines.
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((The "z" is completely meaningless and used purely for emphasis. It doesn't stand for anything.
Off Topic: In my HP Sims neighborhood (take, um, five, stupid game keeps asploding), my newly created Bellatrix met the Dark Lord for the first time, and got one of those thought bubbles with the hearts exploding out of it. Then she bowed (I didn't even know they could do that…). /randomness.))
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((Evil!Albus FTW, by the way.))
//Voldy//
The Dark Lord flicked lazily through the various papers Bellatrix had somehow managed to steal over the past few weeks. Honestly, he hadn't the slightest clue how she'd gotten her hands on some of it. A large percentage was top-security information, kept carefully secret by the Departments of Magical Law Enforcement.
Breaking and entering without detection was arguably the one skill that Bellatrix had developed further than the various methods of torture that she employed on anyone unlucky enough to get on her bad side. Yet another reason he couldn't just kill her and be done with it.
He scowled at a page listing the secret keepers of the Death Eaters who had 'reverted' back to the side of good. Scared silly, still, after nineteen years…?
The Dark Lord smiled evilly. "As well they should be," he muttered.
He let the page drop back onto the desk to be dealt with later. For now there was the more pressing matter of the distressing scarcity of people and creatures willing to turn towards the Dark… he couldn't imagine why…
Which left the two remaining faithful Death Eaters in Azkaban, if they were even in a condition that would be of any use… Hopefully Bellatrix and her theories were correct. If not…
Well. He'd think of something.
"Bella," he said softly, twitching his wand very slightly. A heartbeat later she appeared, sinking into a deep bow before her robes had the time to settle after the tumult of Apparition.
"My lord?" Her eyes flicked almost immediately up to his face.
"The two in Azkaban… They're in the caverns below, in the highest security cells…"
"Where I was," Bellatrix murmured with a grimace.
"Yes." He paused, studying her maddeningly blank face. "There will be a large number of Dementors around…"
The Death Eater bit her lip. He knew she hated Dementors; fighting alongside them had been the one thing she flatly refused to do.
Not that he blamed her…
"I'll manage," she said at last. "Though it would probably help to have someone… or several someones… who can cast Patronuses…?"
The Dark Lord smirked. "Given that it would be utter foolishness and possibly suicide to go without any chance of defenses…" He shrugged. "You can choose who to take. Have them back here by tomorrow evening."
She bowed once more. "Yes, my lord. I'll leave right away."
He nodded, and Bellatrix turned on her heel and vanished.
//Bellatrix//
Generally Bellatrix wasn't the type to plan ahead. She found that too much forethought lead to rigid schedules, which in turn lead to a general lack of flexibility. And flexibility, she had learned over the years, was key if one didn't want to be caught off guard.
An Azkaban breakout, though, that was a delicate operation. It would have to be quick, certainly, make a lot of noise wherever she wasn't, and Patronuses were a must. As many as possible.
After brief debate she decided to bring both Draco and Wolfbar- one could never be too careful in cases as delicate as these.
She set off in search of them, finding Draco rather quickly in one of the parlours where he was sitting with his family, all of whom looked rather worried and scared. Pansy jumped violently when she burst into the room.
"Hate to break up the little family gathering," Bellatrix said cooly, "but Draco- you're coming with me to Azkaban."
"Can't it wait?" he asked, looking a little desperate.
"No." Her nephew sighed and rose to his feet, planted a kiss on Scorpius' forehead and Pansy's cheek, and followed her out of the room.
"Know where Wolfbar is?" she asked lightly.
"He's coming too?" Surprise was evident in his voice.
Bellatrix snorted. "Just because I think he's an idiot doesn't mean I won't hesitate to use what talents he does have to my advantage. Probably in his room, sulking… Or whatever it is he gets up to in there…"
She Apperated to the hall outside his room and rapped on the door. A few seconds later it swung open to reveal Wolfbar, disheveled and looking very much like he had just woken up.
"What?" he asked irritably.
"Oh, don't be like that," Bellatrix said cheerfully, snatching at his wrist and beginning to drag him down the hall. "We're going on a little field trip."
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((Regarding evil!Albus: Yay!))
//Wolfbar//
"Wait, what?" Wolfbar blinked. "Can we have breakfast…?" A disgusted look was his only response.
"We're going to Azkaban," said Bellatrix shortly, and, still holding onto both Wolfbar and Draco's wrists, there was a small pop and they Disapparated.
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When Wolfbar opened his eyes, he was outside of Lestrange manor for the first time since the trip to Y'Galle and resisting the yrge to whoop with joy. Choosing not to dwell on the afteraffects of that paricular expedition, he looked around at his surroundings.There was an old fortress-like building, build atop the highest part of the craggy island. The sky was ominous, and the wind was blowing hard, messing up Wolfbar's hair further. Wolfbar observed vaguely that he hadn't had a haircut in several months.
"Why are we here?" he tried to ask, but the words were blown away on the wind. Bellatrix merely touched a hand to her ear and assumed a bemused expression. As this was probably the response he would have gotten whether or not she'd heard him, Wolfbar decided not to press the matter.
//Albus//
"You wanted to see me, Professor Longbottom?" Albus said as he walked into the Herbology greenhouse, coming in response to a letter he'd gotten earlier that day.
"Yes, Albus." Neville looked concerned. "You haven't been coming to classes much anymore. Have you been feeling all right?"
Albus shrugged. "Yeah. Fine." A pause. Then he figured I might as well be hanged for a hippogriff as for a pixie, and added, a bit coolly, "I just have had more interesting things to do than stare at a bunch of plants." Knowing that his parents would be hearing about this and wondering why this didn't upset him, he sauntered out of the Herbology classroom, leaving the old family friend staring.
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//Bellatrix//
After a brief moment of studying the fortress, Bellatrix turned to her two companions.
"Avery and Rabastan are currently thirty feet below us, surrounded by about five Dementors each and some of the most complex protective spells known to the Ministry. The moment we enter the fortress alarms will sound and guards- both human and Dementor- will be on us within thirty seconds."
Wolfbar opened his mouth as if to question, but the Death Eater silenced him with a look.
"You two are here largely for your Patronuses- as many as you can manage. I'll take care of any human guards." She grinned wolfishly. Then, sobering slightly, she added, "We're not sure what sort of condition the prisoners will be in… probably bad, if past experience is anything to go by." A quick shadow passed over her face.
"So, um," Wolfbar gulped, "Are we just going to… go?"
Bellatrix snorted. "Of course not. Give them… oh… forty seconds?"
"Them?" Draco arched an eyebrow.
His question was answered when several large, black… things… soared into view and slammed into the side of the fortress. Alarms began to shriek.
"Those," Bellatrix said disinterestedly. "That's our cue," she added, as Dementors began to swarm in the direction of the various "breaches".
She melted a hole in the wall- an action that was followed almost instantly with more shrieking- and led Draco and Wolfbar deeper into the depths of Azkaban.
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((Aargh, my *entire post* just got got deleted somehow. I have to retype it. This does not make me happy…))
//Wolfbar//
As they progressed deeper and deeper into Azkaban, Wolfbar tried to hold his breath. It smelled almost… dead. He looked straight ahead or down, trying to ignore the various shrieking sounds.
Finally Bellatrix held up a hand. "There." She pointed to to adjacent cells, and then at two human guards. "There are Dementors coming," she said quietly. "Deal with them as best you can." With that, she began shooting curses at the human guards. Dementors, three of them, glided into sight, and Wolfbar tried his best to summon a happy memory. It was somewhat difficult under the circumstances.
A weasel and an x ((what's Draco's Patronus?)) shot out of Wolfbar and Draco's wands and capered towards the Dementors. They were rather faint and wispy, but more substantial versions joined them before long… Wolfbar and Draco's cries of "Expecto Patronum!" mingled with Bellatrix's occasional shrieks of glee as she daned around the human guards on the other side of the hall. It was under control for a few minutes, until another alarm began going off somewhere and more Dementors materialized, having recognized the false alarm and realized where the real trouble was.
Wolfbar knew it wasn't going quite as planned when Bellatrix disposed of the human guards probably quicker than she would have liked, and tried to join Draco and Wolfbar in fending off the Dementors. This was difficult, seeing as she couldn't cast a Patronus. Draco looked as pale as though he were about to faint, and Wolfbar figured he wasn't much better.
Wolfbar was exhausted and felt half-dead, and knew that this was a battle they couldn't win. And then suddenly there was a great burst of light, and all the Dementors vanished. Wolfbar looked at Draco, but there was no way that he could have cast such a strong Patronus, feeble as he looked. He turned to Bellatrix. "I thought that-"
"I don't know how that happened." Bellatrix looked a bit shaken. "That shouldn't have been possible…" Her eyes widened, and she paused a second. "But never mind that." She grinned suddenly. "We have a jailbreak to lead."
((Was that okay? And sorry, Administrators, it was quite long…))
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//Bellatrix//
Curious though it was, Bellatrix recovered rapidly from the shock of having summoned a Patronus for the first time in well over forty years and moved right on into breaking through the enchantments surrounding the cells. The silvery shrike flitted around her shoulders as she did so.
She was vaguely aware of both Draco and Wolfbar staring at her, but she ignored them.
About five minutes later the cell doors gave way with a sharp crack and swung inwards to reveala hunched, grimy man in chains and ragged grey robes, and the corpse of what had formerly been a hunched, grimy man in chains.. Rabastan looked up slightly as the door banged on its hinges.
"Bella-" he croaked, and then doubled over in a coughing fit.
Bellatrix swore and conjured up a stretcher easily. The chains vanished and she gestured for Draco and Wolfbar to assist the formerly imprisoned Death Eater.
"Could've at least made an effort to stay alive," Bellatrix muttered with a dark glance at Avery's cell. Then, briskly, "Let's go. Less time we spend in this godforsaken place the better."
The shrike vanished as they returned to the surface and Apparated back to Lestrange manor.
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ARGH. I get so upset when that happens! Maybe you can copy your post after you write it, just in case.
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((A shrike, that's perfect.))
//Draco//
Draco had retired to his bedroom as soon as they returned that night, waving away Pansy and Scorpius' questions. He tried not to reflect to heavily on what had happened at Azkaban, not having the energy for deep thinking. He'd been there once before, but not in a situation like that. It gave him somehing of an idea of what his father had suffered through, and that was something he didn't want to dwell on.
Besides all that, he couldn't help but feel that the trip to Azkaban had been something of a fool's errand. They'd risked their own lives to bring one man to their cause? If he was even in a fit condition to serve the Dark Lord, it was unlikely that one extra person would make much of a difference. Then again, the Dark Lord had by extension ordered it, and Draco figured he'd be a lot better off not opposing the Dark Lord. With this in mind, he fell asleep.
//Albus//
Harry had showed up at the castle again today, for another meeting with the headmaster. As an afterthought, almost, he'd dropped into the dormitories to see James, and then Albus. The latter had patiently sat through lectures about manners, punctuality, the importantness of a good attitude. And the like. Now his father was grilling him on his emotions. "You don't mind not spending Christmas with us, do you, Al? That's not what all this is about?"
Albus glanced out the window. It was hardly the first week of December, and snowing lightly already. "No. I couldn't care less." A lie that became more true each day.
Harry pursed his lips. "Does this have anything to do with being put in Hufflepuff? Has James been teasing you? Remember what I said at King's-"
"Yes," said Albus impatiently, feeling his temper rising. "I remember what you said at King's Cross. Vividly. I have classes now. Bye!" He waved with emphasis and stalked out of the room. Staring at his son's retreating back, something that Albus' namesake had said years before floated back to Harry. You know, sometimes I think we Sort too soon.
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((Well, I needed a Patronus for her on the other RP, and I thought, "Hey, what better than a type of bird that is alternately known as the butcherbird?" and there you have it.))
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//Rabastan//
The newly liberated Death Eater was only vaguely aware of voices, and liquid of some kind being forced down his throat. He was slightly more cognizant of the light, and the subtle decrease in the pressure that had been encircling his chest for… well, for a while. He'd long since lost track of the days.
He could remember loud noises… and light… but there was something…
Rabastan opened his eyes and found himself staring up at the moth-eaten and dust-covered remnants of what had once been his own four-poster bed. A moment later he rolled his head around and saw his sister-in-law, leaning against the wall with her arms crossed and a self-satisfied smirk on her face.
"Am I dead?" he asked wearily. It seemed the most logical explanation, if he wasn't in Azkaban any more.
Which he very clearly wasn't.
"No. At least, not that I'm aware." Bellatrix grinned at him suddenly. "Because if you're dead then I'm dead and I don't think I'm dead."
Rabastan blinked hard. Her logic was even harder to follow than usual. Probably the Dementors had something to do with it.
"So… I'm home?"
"What's left of it." Bellatrix shrugged. "Which isn't much, really."
He was suddenly aware of nearly excruciating hunger. "Is there food?"
"Mm-hm. Can you walk?" She extended a hand and half-dragged him to his feet.
Rabastan swayed slightly but stayed upright, then followed his sister-in-law down to the kitchen on slightly unsteady feet.
"What happened?" he asked, leaning slightly against the wall as he walked.
"We, um, broke you out," she replied.
"Well, yes, I got that, but why? Why now?"
Bellatrix swiveled her head to grin at him. "The Dark Lord's back."
"Wha-? But that's great!" Rabastan grinned in turn. He'd thought he'd simply been hallucinating when the Mark reappeared. Bloody Dementors, messing with his head. "But how- I thought- Wasn't he-? Does the Ministry know? What are we- What's going to happen now? And-"
"All in good time, Rab," Bellatrix said dryly. "All in good time."
Rabastan pulled a face. "Patience is not one of my virtues…" he muttered.
His sister-in-law only laughed. "You have so few of them, Rab, I'd hardly worry about that one."
"Who's here?" he asked. "Can you tell me that at least?"
"Well, there's the Dark Lord, obviously," Bellatrix grinned as they entered the kitchen and began to rummage through the cupboards as she spoke. "Sit. And there's me, and Draco, and now you…"
"That's it?" Surely the three of them weren't the only Death Eaters still around…?
"Well, as far as the old crowd, yes," Bellatrix passed him a tray laden with food which was at complete odds to the barren nature of the kitchen. "But there's also Draco's family… His wife, and his son Scorpius… A couple of students, Belinda and Oliver. And there's Wolfbar, who's a bit of a prat, really. As to the remaining Death Eaters… well, there's not many, and Draco was the only one to respond to the call anyway. Those who didn't will be taken care of in due time."
Rabastan grinned again between mouthfuls.
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((Remind me how Bellatrix and Rabastan are related? I mean, I know they're in-laws, but I couldn't find who married whom or whatever in the books.))
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((Bellatrix married Rodolphus, who was Rabastan's (presumably elder) brother.))
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((writer's block, so be warned…))
//Pansy//
Mrs. Malfoy had developed a bit of a cleaning disorder. There wasn't much else to do with the time, and she'd always had a passion for it. Right now she was obsessively dusting the windowsills in the room that she and Draco shared.
"Mum?"
Pansy looked up. Scorpius was standing at the door. "Yes, darling?"
"Where were Dad and the others?"
Pansy sighed and traced something in the dust with her finger. "If I knew, dear, I'd tell you."
//Albus//
It was Saturday. Albus had finished all his homework, read the entire volume on the history of Dark wizards, and had little interest in the impending Quidditch match. But he thought it might be a good time to peruse the restricted section. Vikki wouldn't be there, anyhow; she had a bit of a thing for the seventh-year Ravenclaw Seeker and would undoubtedly be going to watch him play.
Once there, he scanned the shelves, as he always did, and saw a curious little book that he'd never noticed before. It was covered in black leather, and embellished on the front was the title Of Horcruxes and Other Dark Magicks.
Feeling a thrill race up his spine, he sat down in an armchair and began reading.
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((Ugh, me too…))
//Belinda//
For the first time in months, Belinda found herself wandering the halls of Lestrange manor with absolutely nothing to do.
She passed the kitchen and heard Bellatrix speaking to a voice she didn't recognize, and went in curiously.
Bellatrix glanced up as Belinda entered, as did the dirty-looking man at the table. He shot a questioning look at Bellatrix who smirked. "Rab, this is Belinda-" she waved a hand lazily in the girl's direction- "Belinda, this is Rabastan."
"Oh," Belinda supposed she could see the resemblance to the rare pictures she'd seen of the Death Eater. If she squinted. "It's, um, nice to meet you." 'Nice' probably wasn't the right word, of course, but, well…
Rabastan just grinned wolfishly. "A pleasure."
"Weren't you in Azkaban?" Belinda asked, crossing the room in search of food.
"Er, yes," he replied, "Until…?"
"Yesterday afternoon," Bellatrix finished, sounding bored.
So that's where they'd vanished too. Oliver had been convinced they were in London, killing everyone in sight.
Bellatrix, hearing this, snorted with amusement. "So he still doesn't much of an opinion of me, eh? Tell him I'm not one for mass murder-"
"-She prefers to play with her food one morsel at a time," Rabastan cut in.
Judging by the mild cry of pain which followed his statement, Bellatrix had hit him.
"I've noticed," Belinda muttered dryly. She grinned over her shoulder at the two Death Eaters. Bellatrix glared back for a second or two, then grinned as well.
"Perhaps, sweet," she said innocently. "Perhaps not."
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//Wolfbar//
Wolfbar and Oliver were playing chess again. ((but only because I'm having minor dofficulties thinking of anthing else for him to do… scowl.)) Having finally figured out how to stop, or at least delay, the four-move checkmate, the games were lasting considerably longer.
"Where were you yesterday?" Oliver asked as casually as possible, killing Wolfbar's last bishop.
"Well, for that, I really shouldn't tell you," Wolfbar grumbled under his breath, "but we were at Azkaban… breaking two blokes out. One was dead, of course, but still…"
Oliver blinked, obviously surprised by something, though whether the sheer brashness of the expedition or the fact that Bellatrix hadn't been running amok in London committing genocide Wolfbar wasn't entirely certain. "Azkaban? But how… I mean, did it work?"
Wolfbar shrugged. "Malfoy and I nearly died, I'm guessing Bellatrix got a nasty shock or two, we almost definitely alerted the Ministry to the existence of our little… organization… and for all our trouble we gained some bearded relative of Bellatrix's, who may or may not still be comatose." A pause. "So yeah, I guess it worked."
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((haha))
//Voldy//
It had taken very delicate planning to cover it up. Or at least, divert attention away from the Death Eaters and pin it purely on Bellatrix. There were still some flaws in the cover-up, but, generally, he thought it should work.
At least, for now. It didn't have to last long. Just another week or so.
The Dark Lord smirked. While it was… disappointing… that Avery had let himself die… Lestrange was in much better condition than he had been hoping. Starving and suffering from a nasty case of pneumonia, yes, but he had recovered rapidly from the illness once he'd been force-fed the cure and Bellatrix had food, no matter how bare the cupboards looked.
And as an added bonus, Bellatrix had suddenly regained the ability to cast Patrounuses. Why, they hadn't the slightest clue- the Dark Lord highly doubted that she regretted her crimes at all, let alone enough to repair her soul- but the information was useful nonetheless.
The Dark Lord sighed and ghosted upstairs to see if the new arrival was awake yet.
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//Wolfbar//
They started a new game, and Oliver, being white, moved first. "So why didn't she bring her little apprentice? Belinda?"
"There could be numerous reasons. Didn't want her getting hurt, maybe?" He moved the pawn in front of his king.
"Haha. I don't think that was it."
"Well, I really dunno, don't ask me to try and figure out what makes Bellatrix tick… that might not be so good for my head…" Wolfbar didn't really want to get too deep into the matter with Oliver. He decided to change the subject to something less precarious- whether or not Oliver thought that the Dark Lord would try to take the Ministry, for instance, or what actions Hogwarts might take.
Wolfbar realized he was getting a very bad idea of the words "less precarious."
//Albus//
Albus had plowed through the book on Horcruxes, but it hadn't answered all his questions. His father had mentioned the objects in passing, but Ginny had always shushed him- Albus' mother didn't like an awful lot of discussion about such things around her children. Mere months ago he might have agreed. Now he found himself smirking slightly.
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