Despite the looming Delphini threat, Bellatrix woke in better spirits. Her improved mood only lasted as long as it took her and Rod to get dressed and make their way down to the breakfast table, however. Rabastan was already there with the morning addition of the Daily Prophet spread out before him. "What's up? Any Delphini news," Rodolphus asked his brother as he seated himself at the head of the table. Bellatrix tried not to stiffen in concern as she slid into the chair to Rodolphus's right. Surely the girl hadn't had time to cause another newsworthy issue yet!
"Not exactly," Rabastan said carefully. His glance was nervous as he lifted his head from the paper to regard his brother and sister-in-law before hastily glancing away.
Before he could clarify, Harold approached to pour two cups of coffee for Bellatrix and Rodolphus, politely asking for their breakfast order. "Just eggs and toast for me," Bellatrix told the elf.
"Same for me," Rodolphus said. "Only add sausage, beans, and fried bread to mine as well...oh, and extra eggs...and mushrooms."
Harold bowed and departed, leaving Bella and Rod to turn their attention back to Rabastan.
"Well, it isn't so much Delphini as Rita Skeeter," Rabastan said carefully. Shrugging, he pushed the paper across the table toward Rod. Snatching it up, Rodolphus read quickly, then moved to crumple the paper in his fists. "It's nothing," he told Bellatrix a bit too quickly for her liking.
"Let's just see it then," she said, and snatched it from his hands. He resisted, and the paper tore. "Rodolphus! Give it to me."
"Fine, but please promise not to get worked up again. I don't like it when you get all upset," he complained. "We have real concerns and this is rubbish."
"Whatever, Rodolphus," Bellatrix snapped, straightening the paper to the page Rabastan had opened it to. The headline screamed at her. and she felt her blood pressure rising.
BELLATRIX LESTRANGE'S DAUGHTER WITH VOLDEMORT COMES TO VISIT HER IN AZKABAN!
It was then that Bellatrix decided to take care of Rita Skeeter for her stupid lies. She'd just told the one that was going to get her killed. Furious, Bellatrix read the article that snarkily spoke of a family reunion between two of the most evil women in the wizarding world.
"Come on, Bella, you promised," Rodolphus said.
"Did I," Bellatrix asked calmly. "That's interesting, because I thought I only said whatever, Rodolphus."
"Yeah, but that meant you promised," Rodolphus persisted.
"It's time for that woman to get what's coming to her," Bellatrix said. "But don't worry. We'll go to the Ministry first. That is obviously more important. While I may not have promised, I can prioritize."
Rodolphus frowned, but as Harold arrived with their breakfast just then, he turned his attention to his food after casting Bellatrix a baleful glance that said he'd be continuing this discussion later. Bellatrix finished her own far smaller breakfast quickly and taking her coffee with her, she left the dining room and headed for the library.
"What are you doing, dearest?" Rodolphus called after her.
"Writing a letter in the library," she called over her shoulder without pausing. "Don't worry, I'm not leaving to kill bloody Skeeter now."
As she entered the library, she could hear Rhadamanthus coming down the stairs from the second floor and idly wondered how much breakfast the spider could eat. As she seated herself at the desk with her cup of coffee, she decided that she was vaguely curious about what Harold thought of the giant spider. He hadn't seemed to think much when Rhadamanthus came home with them last night, but then again, the plague doctor mask the elf wore did hide his expressions. Ah well, thanks to the Lestranges the elf had a very interesting life, which was more than most elves could say.
Kreacher probably had the most interesting life of any elf, but most elves weren't at all on Kreacher's level, for good or ill. The thought of Kreacher reminded her that she'd intended to call at Grimmauld Place days ago, but there was always something more pressing that needed attending to. She still had a few memory holes that she was hoping her cousin and his elf could fill in. Hopefully Gellert had attended to Kreacher and Regulus's minds concerning whatever Voldemort had done to them. After everything with Delphini the previous day, she'd quite forgotten to ask Gellert about it when he was helping with the wards.
For now, there were more pressing matters that required attending to, so Kreacher and Regulus were put on the back burner of her mind once again. Snatching a quill from the beak of an ornate quill holder shaped like a raven that sat on the desk, Bellatrix drew a piece of parchment toward her and began to write her letter to the Daily Prophet.
She began by threatening, politely, to sue if the letter was not printed at once. She then recounted everything about what Voldemort had done to them when they'd all attempted to take him down. She then stated clearly that Delphini was not her daughter, and that indeed she had never had, nor wished to have, any sort of physical relationship with the Dark Lord, who had been more of a god than a man to her. She concluded with the fact that Nagini was Delphini's mother, and that she doubted the child had been made the ordinary way because Voldemort was never normal in anything. She cited her proof in the fact the girl was a Maledictus. She then signed her name to the letter and went to the attic where they kept a few ravens for delivering mail.
Once the letter was on its way, she returned to the dining room where Rodolphus was just polishing off the last of his eggs with a bit of fried bread. Rhadamanthus, for his part, was happily shoveling eggs, sausage, and fried bread into his mouth. He was only half way through a huge platter, so Bellatrix poured herself another cup of coffee.
"I wrote a letter to the bloody Daily Prophet, giving them the real facts," she told the two Lestrange men before either could ask. "Word will likely get out sooner than later now that we're walking free, so I thought it was wise that the masses understand why."
"Good idea," Rodolphus said with a nod.
When they arrived at the Ministry half an hour later, Bellatrix told the Minister what she had done and why.
Kereston nodded. "That's good. Thank you. It makes my load a bit lighter if I don't have to handle everything, and people will eventually see you out and about so it's good that they know you're not as guilty as they thought. I already intended to have an official pardon issued to the three of you for the crimes for which you were imprisoned, due to your being under compulsion at the time."
Because she was not stupid, Bellatrix only thanked the Minister rather than saying that they'd likely have committed enough of those crimes either way. They certainly hadn't been innocent before the Dark Lord twisted their minds, after all. They may not have been innocent, but it didn't mean they'd serve someone like him once they discovered who he truly was, though. Casting your lot with a leader who cared nothing for you, his own soul, or anything that he professed to hold dear was dangerous and pointless.
"I also want it known that if Rita Skeeter goes missing..." Bellatrix broke off, giving the little Minister a meaningful glance. "Regulus cleans the streets of criminals, and you aren't locking him away for it, so I'm just...helping him out one time."
"I really wish I could object." The voice spoke from behind her, and Bellatrix turned to see Albus Dumbledore standing in the doorway of the Minister's office, looking drawn and haggard.
Bellatrix blinked. Had he just said he would look the other way if she killed Skeeter? Did he think she was joking?
Of course the new Minister was darker than most, and being close friends with two vampires who killed criminals on the sly for their sustenance, she knew how to overlook justified crime. Dumbledore, though.
"Oh, yes, she did write that book about you," Bellatrix suddenly recalled. Giving Dumbledore a grin, she added, "You're not looking bad at all for a dead man."
"I was just going to say he didn't look well, but you just gave me a new perspective, Bella," Rabastan said. "I mean, he may not look well, but he certainly does look quite alive."
Rodolphus grinned in amusement at his brother's antics.
"Yes, Ms. Skeeter did write a book of lies about me. Well, ninety-five percent of it was lies, and the other five percent regarding my family was none of her business. Can you imagine how much that rubbish about my nonexistent friendship with Gellert Grindelwald has ruined my good name?" Indignant fire practically seemed to shoot from the old man's eyes, and Bellatrix was a little impressed. She'd never seen Dumbledore good and fired up before, and it made him slightly more interesting.
"Because of that dreadful selfish woman, people believe me evil, dark, and twisted over something I did not do and would not have done! Anyone who knows me at all knows I could not possibly appreciate someone like Gellert Grindelwald. His values are misguided at best, and the way he carried them out was reckless and immature to say the least."
"Don't kill Skeeter," Kereston told Bellatrix with a tired sigh.
"Can I at least torture her?" Bellatrix demanded, feeling her own annoyance rising. "It isn't like I wouldn't be making the world a better place if I at least make her stop writing garbage."
"Why don't you start by suing her to teach her a lesson?" Kereston suggested, reaching up to clutch dramatically at her own head. "I mean, it's what a civilized person would do, and that's the role you three are playing these days, if you recall."
"Well, Dumbledore is pretending to be dead, so he can't sue her. Does he not deserve justice in this matter as well," Bellatrix asked, obviously grasping at straws by this point. She still very much needed to hear Skeeter's screams of pain and sobs of apology, though.
"Actually no," Kereston replied. "Dumbledore has returned to Hogwarts so that I will know the school is being properly guarded during these trying times. As a result, the fact he isn't really dead is rather old news." She gave Bellatrix and Albus a bright smile. "The two of you can sue her together if you like."
Bellatrix shook her head and gave a short laugh. She'd never in a million years have believed she and Dumbledore would be doing anything together. The old Headmaster perked up, though, and nodded at the Minister. "I think that's a lovely idea, Miss Boxwood. Rita Skeeter needs to be held responsible for her hateful and inconsiderate actions."