The three left work a few minutes early so they would have time to stop in at the Ministry. They still needed Skeeter's address and didn't know where else to get it without being obvious. The woman had enough enemies not to publicize it and Severus obviously didn't know it since he hadn't provided it the previous day.
They went directly to the Minister's office. Kereston called for them to come in when Bellatrix tapped at the door. Once inside with the door shut, she flicked her wand around the room, casting a charm of silence so they would not be overheard.
"We need Skeeter's address. Don't worry, we have made arrangements to avoid getting caught and we shall be extremely careful. Have you heard from Severus what she's doing? As Grindelwald's man is aware, I assume you are as well." Bellatrix knew that where Zabini was, Grindelwald would be no more than a millimeter away. She didn't see Gellert keeping secrets from the Minister, considering their friendship was close.
Kereston's expression was tight with concern as she nodded. "Yes. I have seen the power of what happens when she bends her words the way she does. It is ugly and I don't believe we fully understand the repercussions. I can get you the address. I'll just pop into Auror Headquarters where all the files are kept on wizarding residents. Wait here."
The small blonde hurried from the room. This broke Bella's anti-eavesdropping charm, but that didn't matter now as anything private that needed saying by either side had been said.
Now that it was finally about to happen, she allowed herself to feel the expected rush of anticipation. She'd wanted Skeeter from the moment that article in the Daily Prophet about her and bloody Voldemort was published. Due to the direct order from the Minister not to kill her at the time, it had been a slow simmer in the back of Bellatrix's mind.
For the first time in far too long she was actually about to unleash on someone who had it coming! There were many people she wouldn't mind unleashing on, but to avoid being imprisoned again, she had to hold herself back...most of the time.
Not this evening, though, and she was nearly high with the anticipation of it. The best was yet to come. The three waited for Kereston to return in a silence thick with the eagerness they were all feeling. The men had missed their play time just as much as Bellatrix and the night would be a sweet one.
Kereston returned in less than ten minutes, silently handing Bellatrix a sheet of paper.
"Thank you," Bellatrix said, and the three left. "Let's go home first and tell Lyra where we'll be," she said once they were out in the hall.
Rabastan and Rodolphus nodded, and they Apparated to Raven's Nest. Lyra was in the library and they briefed her on the fact they would not be having dinner until late because the powers that be had asked them to torture and kill Rita Skeeter.
Lyra's eyes widened in shock and Bellatrix spared them the questions that were sure to follow by giving her a quick rundown of what Severus had told them the previous day.
"Have Harold keep three plates warm for us," she concluded. "We shall be home late and we'll likely be hungry." She grinned, feeling her anticipation rising to a pleasantly heady level. "Extreme magical exertion does that to one."
"Make that four plates," Rodolphus said.
"Yes, very well," Lyra said a little weakly, obviously struggling to process the unusual information she'd just been given. "Umm… Be careful and please don't get caught out. That would be extra stupid after all you've been through."
"Obviously," Bellatrix drawled. She tossed Rabastan and Rodolphus their invisibility cloaks. "Let's get this party started, boys. Grab my sleeves and I'll Side-Along Apparate so we all arrive together."
She decided to use the new raven wand just in case the other could possibly be traced. When they stood outside Skeeter's flat, she knocked, planning to Apparate them all away if Skeeter wasn't alone. That way it would merely appear to be a prank of the sort that children or disgruntled readers might play. Fortune was on their side, though, because she was alone. Perhaps Rita Skeeter had no friends.
When she opened the door, they could see a small table set for one in the front room. It appeared Rita was having roast chicken and potatoes. Bellatrix smirked as the woman peered through her glasses out at the stoop, down the stairs and into the street with a perplexed frown.
"Hello?" she called, stepping outside to see if a note had been stuck on the door. The three Lestranges used this opportunity to slip silently inside.
Finally Rita gave a shrug and headed back into the flat. As soon as she closed the door, Rabastan cast a locking charm on it at the same time that Rodolphus hit Skeeter with a hard stunner. Bellatrix placed a charm of silencing on the room because it simply would not do for Skeeter's neighbors to hear her screaming. The three had this routine down because they'd used it not only in the service of their former Dark Lord but when questioning and ending someone for Shadow Ops.
As the three flung their cloaks of invisibility to the floor, Bellatrix kicked Skeeter hard in the ribs as Rod struck her in the chest with another stunner.
"Get her wand, Rabastan," Bellatrix commanded.
Aiming her new raven wand at Skeeter, she hissed, "Crucio." Though she spoke softly, Bellatrix put all the hatred and venom she had for the woman into the spell. Skeeter sobbed in agony in the first second as she writhed on the floor.
"I don't feel comfortable touching her. She's icky. You do it, Bella," Rabastan protested.
"I'm busy right now," Bellatrix pointed out. "Just do it."
"For fuck's sake," Rodolphus growled. "Accio Rita Skeeter's wand!" As he spoke, he extended his free hand and Rita's wand sailed out of her pocket and into his open palm.
Bellatrix smiled and aimed her wand at Rita's right eyeball. "Crucio," she breathed and Skeeter howled.
"You know, her voice is unpleasant," Rabastan observed. "I bet she doesn't sing well at all. Say, do you think she has anything good to drink around here?"
Bellatrix kicked Skeeter in the side."Well? My brother-in-law wants a drink. Where is your whisky?"
"I guess wine would do in a pinch," Rabastan said generously. "She looks too fluffy to be the whisky drinking type."
"Right top kitchen cabinet," Skeeter gasped on a sob. "What...what do you monsters want," she managed to ask after several ragged gasps.
"Where are the glasses?" Rabastan called from the kitchen just off the large front room in which they held their little gathering.
"The shelf just under the one with the bottle," she replied, struggling to rise from the floor.
"Thanks," Rabastan said cheerfully and Bellatrix watched as Skeeter rose up onto her knees, pushing disheveled blonde hair out of her face with one trembling hand.
Bellatrix allowed her a moment to collect herself before ruining it all with another hard stunner that sent her sprawling back onto the gleaming marble floor tiles once again. "Wasn't that a fun exercise in futility," she asked brightly as she cackled. "Don't worry, you shall have worse things to trouble yourself over very soon."
Skeeter's mouth opened in silent horror as her eyes widened. It appeared that she was finally beginning to process what was happening to her and exactly who was involved.
"Want a drink, you two?" Rabastan called.
"You better not have touched a cabinet or anything else with your hands," Bellatrix said darkly. "They'll be looking for fingerprints."
"Of course not, that's what my wand is for! Relax, Sis. I didn't suddenly become stupid," he grumbled. "Now do you want a fucking drink or not?"
"Not at the moment," Bellatrix said. She was high enough on what they were about to do and getting higher by the minute on the adrenaline that the hunt gave them all.
"Same here," Rodolphus agreed. Though he outwardly appeared calmer, the glitter in his dark eyes said to anyone who knew what to look for that he was as excited as Bellatrix.
"I only wanted a little one to take the edge off the day," Rabastan said, wandering back with a small snifter in one hand. "I bet Skeeter wishes she had a good stiff drink right now," he added with a cackle.
"I suppose it would be polite of us to give her something to take the edge off," Bellatrix said. "My brother-in-law is very thoughtful," she told Rita, prodding the blonde's ribs with the toe of her pointed black boot. "Crucio!"
This time Rita choked, rolling onto her side and curling in on herself.
"Oh...I forgot," Bellatrix murmured, lowering her wand thoughtfully to her side. "That only takes the edge off for us, not so much for the one receiving the Crucio."
Rodolphus nodded just as sagely. "There is that."
"Please!" Skeeter sobbed. "Please just stop, I'll do anything! Anything you want!"
Rodolphus gave a low chuckle as Bellatrix's lips spread into a rictus grin. "Oh, you'll do that anyway before we're done," he promised calmly and Skeeter shivered.
"That article you wrote about me was disgusting," Bellatrix hissed between gritted teeth. "Crucio!" She screamed the word this time and Skeeter fainted from the pain.
"Easy, Bella," Rod warned tightly.
Bellatrix sighed. "Yes, yes. You're right."
Staring at Skeeter's supine form on the floor, she considered how to proceed next, as just rolling with her emotions would end things before the job was properly done. As she considered, Rodolphus cast a watering charm that they'd learned in Herbology at Skeeter's face to bring her around. After a few seconds, the blonde began to splutter and wipe at her face.
"We do hope you're feeling refreshed," Rodolphus said almost pleasantly and Bellatrix smirked.
"Yeah," Rabastan chimed in. "That's always our goal, after all."
"I thought it was to kill and torture," Skeeter retorted.
"You're either brave or stupid," Bellatrix observed with a chuckle. "I'm going to guess both."
Rod nodded. "I agree."
"For my part, I don't give a shit," Rabastan said.
"Alright. Time to get started," Bellatrix said, fixing Skeeter with a studied glare. "We want to know what you're doing and who you are doing it for."
Skeeter blinked stupidly up at her. "What?"
"Who is asking you to write about me, Albus Dumbledore, Severus Snape, Gellert Grindelwald... You'd better think carefully and answer honestly," she warned in conclusion.
Skeeter blinked. "I don't know what you're talking about. If you want to know my sources, I don't give those out."
"Wrong answer," Bellatrix called as her wand flashed out in front of Rita Skeeter's eyes, and she bent to lean into her face.
"Cru-ci-o," she whispered, and Rita's back arched in pain as she screamed. Her eyes were wide and streaming with tears, and her mouth was an O as she gasped and screamed in turns as Bellatrix continued to whisper.
"Cru-ci-o, cru-ci-o, cru-ci-o."
Systematically she hit Skeeter with the curse and then gave her ten seconds or so to catch her breath before hitting her again. Admittedly, it was getting boring, but the point was to wear Skeeter down so that she'd be begging to talk.
"Let's get her into the bath now," she said, straightening and turning to Rodolphus.
Flicking his wand at Rita, he lifted her into the air as Bella led the way in search of the bathroom. It couldn't be that difficult to find in such a small flat. It was just off the bedroom and messier than she'd expected, towels and makeup containers everywhere.
"Right in here," she called, moving out of the small doorway to allow Rodolphus to enter with Skeeter floating ahead of him and Rabastan trailing behind. With a flick of her wand, Bellatrix began to fill the tub with cold water.
"You gonna add some bubble bath," Rabastan asked curiously, pointing at the array of pink bottles lined up on a shelf above the bath.
Bellatrix considered for a moment before shaking her head decisively. "No. She doesn't deserve to die in anything she likes."