Rat's next question took Bella's mind off carnal thoughts of Rod, and returned it to its current state of perpetual annoyance. "Have you any idea, Mrs. Lestrange, why this young woman, calling herself Delphini, would claim to be your daughter and the child of your former Dark Lord?"
"No idea," Bellatrix drawled. "For attention or notoriety? It's not my problem. Can't you lot do anything the simple way? Give her a blood test, and you'll see she's lying."
Mr. Rat nodded thoughtfully. "We'd love to do just that, Mrs. Lestrange, but you see we're unable to capture her. We're hoping you're interested in assisting us with that. Are you willing?"
"Sure." Bellatrix shrugged. Then her mouth spread into that familiar manic smile that had been the last thing many a wizard, or Muggle, had seen just before they screamed their last. "I'm also more than happy to put her to the question. As many questions as you'd like, in fact. The more questions the better!" Her wand itched to hurt someone. It didn't blot out the mental torture she had just endured, but it could still be rather soothing.
At last Mr. Rat looked a little nervous, causing Bella's smile to grow as her mood improved ever so slightly. "Well, Mrs. Lestrange, you've passed our test," he informed her, expression becoming almost pleasant as he forced a smile. "That panel there on the wall that you were inquiring about earlier is an emotion scanner, and your emotions accurately reflected what you were saying, clearly indicating you spoke the truth. You have no romantic interest in the man who was known as Lord Voldemort, and you did not have a child with him," he informed her.
"You don't say!" Bellatrix crowed as she stood. "You know there is a very good truth potion for that sort of thing," she told Rat scathingly. "It's called Veritaserum. Perhaps you've heard of it."
Rat smiled. "Indeed, but it wouldn't have been beyond Voldemort to teach his followers a way around that, and we didn't want to take any chances. This mood scanner was made for us by Mr. Blaise Zabini with research assistance from his friend and our consultant, Mrs. Millicent Bulstrode Adler."
"Well, good for you lot, learning to be better prepared and all that," Bellatrix drawled, half meaning it. "For the record, though, I don't know how to get around Veritaserum. Now may I go?" she demanded.
"One more thing," Mr. Rat said almost regretfully. "We just need to do one final test to ensure that your memories weren't altered or removed in any way. We now know that you believe you are speaking the truth, but someone could've removed your memories for security, to keep this Delphini safe."
Bellatrix snarled, "Hurry up with it then."
Mr. Rat approached her, and she sat back down in the chair. He drew his wand from the right sleeve of his Ministry robe which caused her eyes to narrow in mistrust. "What are you doing, Rat?"
"I am performing a charm upon your mind that will detect anything having ever been done to your memories. It will not harm you. It will only tell us if anything was ever done to your memories."
Bellatrix wanted to rail against this stupidity, but her heart began to race instead as an unpleasant and foreign anxiety began to flood her. What if something had been done? What if the Dark Lord had... "He was so unkind in the end," she said between sudden rapid breaths. "So unkind to those who were always so loyal… And his eyes were wrong…worse than empty and cold…when he was angry and got into your personal space, you just wanted to back up."
If that had unsettled her, a thing she'd not allowed herself to ever think about now it was all over, what would him touching her have done? God, if he had and she had to remember that... One hand came to her chest as she felt her entire body shaking. "I want Rod," she demanded. "Now!"
Her slender fingers wrapped around the solid cold weight of the raven skull she wore about her neck. It was the Lestrange family symbol, and she'd worn it with pride from the day Rod had given it to her in their fourth year at Hogwarts to show the world she was his. She didn't want to be here having a mild panic attack and trying not to fucking cry! She didn't like this foreign feeling of near hysterical upset. Shit, she caused this in others, she didn't feel it! She was the reason for it!
It was perhaps logical to be afraid that the Dark Lord had forced her to do something and then altered her memories if there was a girl out there calling herself their child, but somehow her reaction felt like more than even this could warrant. As if someone were digging at something painful and horrifying...as if the foundations of Bellatrix were being shaken in a way that may truly cost her sanity.
"I want to kill someone or, at the very least, torture someone, or fuck my husband senseless! I don't want to do this!"
"It's over, Mrs. Lestrange. We're finished. Nothing was done to your mind in the nineteen-nineties so Delphini is not your daughter." Mr. Rat said.
Bellatrix let out a sigh of relief.
"Something was done to your mind in the late seventies, though, something quite drastic. It was a harsh and dangerous form of compulsion, from the look of it."
Bellatrix's heart began to race again as her face drained of color. "Why?"
Mr. Rat shook his head. "The spell doesn't tell us that. There are spells to undo this and allow you to remember, but I am no expert in such. If I even attempted it I would likely do more damage than was already done, and we don't want that. There are Healers who can help, and we'll get you one, I promise," Mr. Rat concluded, almost kindly.
For some reason the stupid kindness coming from him made things worse, and Bellatrix found herself blinking back tears of anxiety rather than sadness. "I won't go to St. Mungo's with the bloody crazies!"
He shook his head. "That shouldn't be necessary, Mrs. Lestrange. We can send someone to your home if you'd like."
Bellatrix nodded numbly, wishing all of this would just go away, but also wanting to know what had been done to her head and why.
"We only need to question your husband now, and then the two of you are free to resume your normal evening activities."
Standing, she rushed for the door, flinging it open and heading into the main office. Rod was slumped in a chair in the corner of the room looking bored, but he stood when Bella burst in. "You alright, babe" he asked, hands reaching for her shoulders. As he saw her face, he gave the man behind her a hard cold look. "Why is my wife upset?" he growled at Rat.
Bellatrix shook her head. "Just let him question you so we can go home. I'll explain it then." At least Rod would know that they weren't in any legal trouble if they were free to go home, and that was all she could handle saying at present.
"She's fine, Mr. Lestrange," Rat's voice said from behind Bella. "She just wants to go home, I think, and the sooner you come with me and answer a few questions, the sooner that can happen, so please cooperate."
Rod still looked concerned, eyes still on Bella's face. "Yeah," he asked, and she nodded. She gave him a brief hug almost hard enough to crack his ribs. "Just hurry."
Rod followed the man into the back, and Bellatrix slumped into the chair he'd vacated, curious if they'd ask her husband if he'd shagged the Dark Lord as well.