When Grindelwald and the others left, Bellatrix realized that she was now stuck with her feelings...which were currently fearful. With no more wards to put up or future plans to make about work and such, she had nothing else to think about other than the fact that she had, in essence, stabbed the Dark Lord today.
Letting out a breath, she turned to Rodolphus, who was giving Harold his instructions for the evening meal.
"I screwed up...you know, with the stabbing him bit, didn't I," she asked apologetically.
Rodolphus shook his head, slipping an arm around Bellatrix's waist and drawing her close. "I don't see how. You had an instinct to act and went with it. It was what the Ministry wanted, else they wouldn't have had us waiting there at Azkaban for the girl to show. Of course they were hoping we'd kill her, but the extenuating circumstances seem to be understood even by Grindelwald, so we're good."
Bellatrix leaned into his touch, snuggling her head against his shoulder and drawing comfort from his solid, familiar presence. "But it was him in there, speaking through her mouth. He won't take that slight lightly, and you know it."
Rodolphus gave a small nod. "Likely not, but what else were we supposed to do? At this point, I doubt any move we made when it came to him could've been right. Besides...he has bigger fish to fry at present. He has Grindelwald and even Dumbledore to worry about so he won't have time to fret over us."
Bellatrix wasn't so sure. "We tried to kill him twice, though. He brought up that point today, so it isn't as if he's forgotten or anything," she said drily. "He knows we tried to kill him, and now we remember that he knows. He could've made us forget again, but enough people are aware now, and it wouldn't have lasted." She reached toward the spot on her arm where the dormant Dark Mark lurked, then dropped her hand before it could make contact. "I'd like to speak to Grindelwald in the morning about getting our Dark Marks off. If anyone can make that happen it's his Machiavellian ass."
"Good idea," Rodolphus said approvingly.
"So do we get to relax with a pre-dinner drink or is that no longer an option due to us needing to always be alert in case he... or...she comes after us? While we're on the subject, how are we going to think of him...her now? Are they trans or something?" Rabastan wondered, sounding too light hearted for Bellatrix's liking.
"Stop taking this seriously and you could end up dead, Rabastan," Bellatrix warned peevishly.
"Once again, she's right," Rodolphus told his younger brother.
"Fine, fine, no fun until the bitch is dead. It is as I thought, but you can't blame a bloke for just fucking checking to be certain."
Until she was dead...until he was dead...one in the same... Like that old prophecy said, both had to die? Though Bellatrix couldn't decide which sounded right to her. Both could, and very much should, die. "He really doesn't want to die," she complained, as the three wandered into the parlor with Rhadamanthus following like a good guard. "Do you think he believes in hell or something? If so, he could be rightfully afraid to go there."
"There ought to be a hell made for him specifically," Rabastan said, flopping down into an armchair near the fire.
"There are worse wizards, you know," Rodolphus remarked as he settled onto the love seat with Bellatrix. "Only a few, though. Herpo and Ekrizdis right off the top of my head."
"Well, Voldemort would've invented Horcruxes and Dementors if he could've, so he's just as bad," Rabastan said and Bellatrix nodded in agreement.
"It isn't even really about being bad, if you ask me," she grumbled. "We're bad. We don't mind killing Muggles or giving gits a good torture to teach them a thing or two, but Herpo, or the Dark Lord, or anyone else similar...they're just twisted. Like something went wrong in their brains from birth and they have no loyalty for anyone at all, perhaps not even themselves."
"You don't think Voldemort is loyal to himself," Rabastan asked, giving Bellatrix a look of surprise.
"Not truly. He split his soul, for Merlin's sake! That isn't a very loyal or self-loving act."
Rabastan nodded. "There is that."
Harold came in then to announce dinner was served. The three rose silently as one and walked into the dining room. The meal was mostly eaten in silence. A glass-like fragile tension hung over the room, ready to shatter at the first sign of a surprising interruption from the outside. Though they remained undisturbed, Bellatrix's thoughts made it difficult to relax. Mostly unformed, they were full of uncertainty concerning the Dark Lord's moves and those of Delphini. Would they differ, and if they disagreed, who would win? It seemed Delphini believed she was in control. Was she correct?
Bellatrix didn't bother to voice these thoughts aloud because at present, no one could truly form an educated answer anyway. That and she guessed the men were having similar thoughts even if both liked to pretend to be emotionless and unconcerned. She didn't understand why this was such an important facade for them to maintain, but as they were clinging to it, she didn't have the energy to dissuade them of the luxury tonight.
Even the spider remained silent, obviously being socially apt enough to catch the drift of the mood. He stood at the table at Rodolphus's other side from where Bellatrix sat and tossed pieces of roast chicken into his mouth with a foreleg. The salad gave him a bit of pause, but after studying how the three humans used their forks, he wound the tip of a foreleg around the fork's handle and began to stab awkwardly at the salad. The movements were clumsy at first, but he got the hang of it quickly enough and soon his plate was empty. When dessert was served, he made short work of his strawberry cake, finishing it even faster than Rabastan, which was an accomplishment.
Due to expending so much magic on the rebuilding of the Azkaban wards, then placing them on their own manor, all three were exhausted and went directly to bed after dinner. Though the Aurors had helped them, the work had been constant and taxing. Rodolphus asked Harold to get Rhadamanthus settled in a guest room and bring the Acromantula anything he required.
"Feel free to ask Harold for anything you would like," Rodolphus told Rhadamanthus. The spider thanked him and followed Harold toward the guest wing.
Less than five minutes later, Bellatrix was asleep with her head on Rodolphus's chest. She wasn't sure which of them woke first, but the room was dark, and she was fully alert. She could tell by Rodolphus's breathing that he was awake as well. For several seconds, she listened, but heard nothing. No alarms had gone off so their new wards were still firmly in place.
"Did something wake us, do you think?" she whispered. "Did you hear anything?"
"I just had a bad dream that startled me, I suppose," Rodolphus replied. "Sorry if I woke you."
"What was it," Bellatrix asked unwisely. Sharing nightmare details then returning to sleep probably wasn't the best idea right now.
"Oh, he was just torturing us," Rodolphus replied, a shrug in his voice.
"Only that," Bellatrix said, grinning in spite of herself. "Good. At least he wasn't killing us." It could always be worse.
Turning fully to face her husband, Bellatrix wound her arms around his neck and kissed him hard. With a groan, Rodolphus responded hungrily. Flipping Bellatrix onto her back, he was inside of her in an instant. As his mouth ravaged hers, his body drove into her, insisting that hers respond in kind which it did. Her nails raked his back as she thrust upward, her body arching to meet his every movement. They slammed into one another, animal sounds escaping from both as their bed rocked. As always, his body made hers feel so incredible. Shocks of pleasure raced through her as she built toward her first orgasm. She was nearly there when their bedroom door burst open. The cry that escaped her was a startled shriek rather than the one of pleasure that had been building.
Rodolphus raised half off of Bellatrix's body to turn toward the door. He cast a silent spell of wandless magic to light the room, revealing Rhadamanthus standing in the doorway.
"What's the matter," Rodolphus asked their guard, his voice coming out breathless.
"I don't know," the spider replied. "That's what I came in to check...I feared from the sounds that you were under attack, but it appears that you're only mating, so forgive the interruption. I shall try to get back to sleep now."
"Sounds good," Rodolphus said, then chuckled. The spider was out of the room in an instant, using a foreleg to softly close the door behind him. For being the size of a horse, he moved quite fast, Bellatrix noted. Raising a fist she punched Rodolphus in the arm. "That was not funny!"
Rodolphus snickered again. "Kinda was."
Pushing at him until he was off of her, she flipped Rod over onto his back and climbed atop him. "I was not amused," she said, sliding herself onto his erection as she spoke. Gasping in pleasure, her head flung back as they once again began to move together.
"I don't like being interrupted," she managed as Rodolphus's hands came up to cup her breasts, skilled fingers lightly pinching and twisting her nipples. That was when she forgot to think at all, simply giving way to sensation. When a few hours later they at last fell back to sleep, neither had nightmares.