The Lestranges spent a few more hours in the Zabini family library chatting with Blaise and Gellert. Most of the time, they forgot that Gellert was The Legend Grindelwald. He was just an amusing person with whom they had discourse on everything from Dark magic to Regulus not living up to his potential. Gellert complained that Black was too depressive and unmotivated. As such, he wasn't participating in the fight against Delphini nearly enough for Grindelwald's liking and he flat out asked the Lestranges to prod Regulus to do more.
Bellatrix wasn't aware that Regulus was being such a wet blanket, but Shadow Ops kept them busy so they didn't see Regulus and Kreacher daily, sometimes not even weekly. She knew he'd never quite been the same after Voldemort, but who was? Gellert was a rather close friend of his, though, so if he was concerned about her cousin, Bellatrix supposed she should be concerned as well. She promised to address the matter with him and Grindelwald seemed happy with that.
"He figured out Voldemort's bloody Horcrux," he said fervently. "He's a bloody genius and I need him doing more."
Rabastan grinned. "Sure thing, Boss. The more he does, the less we have to do, after all."
"Dream on," Blaise said with a smirk.
"I try," Rabastan said.
When they got home it was rather late. Lyra, Harold, and even Rhadamanthus were already asleep, so they quietly took themselves to bed as well.
The next day the goblin Curse-Breaker paid them a home visit in the evening just after dinner. Bellatrix appreciated that Grindelwald kept his word, and so quickly.
"It's most definitely a curse," the goblin said, staring in fascination at the Dark Mark on Rabastan's arm. "It's seemingly dead...inactivated due to Voldemort being dead, but if he escapes her body or finds a way to grow stronger within it, this ugly tattoo could present a problem."
"Then let's get it off us, shall we?" Rabastan suggested.
"I take my payment first," the Curse-Breaker said.
He named a sum for the three of them that made Bellatrix choke. Still, it would be worth anything to get rid of the marks once and for all.
"For that bloody price, there better not even be a scar left," she declared.
"No scar shall remain, I assure you. Your arms shall be as smooth and flawless as they were before you swore your allegiance to a madman."
"Obviously we were not aware at the time," Bellatrix informed through gritted teeth. The goblin shrugged as though he couldn't care less. "We were told that these marks cannot be removed, so are you entirely certain the attempt shall not get us or you killed," Bellatrix asked.
"Voldemort was wrong about many things, and many things are believed to be impossible by those who lack proper knowledge," the Curse-Breaker said. "He likely was unaware of the abilities of goblins when it comes to curse breaking. Something tells me he wasn't the sort to educate himself about races he incorrectly considered to be lesser."
Bellatrix and Rodolphus nodded in unison, exchanging a quick smile when they both noticed they'd done so.
"That's true," Rodolphus said. "He was certainly overconfident, among other things."
"He likely set wards in place against a wizard using typical means to remove a tattoo or unwanted mark, and assumed if he knew of no other way, neither would you," the goblin said. "Though this curse has a few complexities to it, I've seen worse."
Satisfied that lifting this curse would apparently not get them killed, Rodolphus nodded and stood. "I'll go get your payment," he said, and Apparated from the library. Though they kept the bulk of their gold in Gringotts, Bellatrix and Rodolphus kept an emergency stash in a secret compartment in a bedroom wall.
"Is it going to hurt," Rabastan asked.
"Yes," the goblin replied, face impassive. "For a curse as complex as this one it shall likely hurt very much. But you won't feel a thing."
Rabastan grinned. "Well, that's alright then. Especially considering you're about to make a small fortune."
The goblin was indeed about to make a small fortune, but Bellatrix knew he would earn it. His skills were extremely rare and specialized and curse lifting literally was painful. For whatever reason, many people didn't enjoy pain, so that had to make the work more of a chore. While the price was a shock initially, she'd adjusted to the fairness of it.
Rabastan, Bellatrix, and the goblin Curse-Breaker sat in silence for the rest of the two minutes that it took Rod to collect the payment from the bedroom wall and Apparate back down to the library.
"Here you are," he said, depositing two fistfuls of gold beside the goblin who was seated in an overstuffed armchair. The goblin nodded and scooped the gold into deep pockets in the suit jacket he wore. Goblins did have hideous fashion sense, Bellatrix thought.
"Let's get started, shall we?" As he spoke, the goblin reached for Rabastan's arm without standing, as their armchairs were side by side. "Of course you should remain very still no matter how much I scream and writhe, else we shall need to start over and I do charge double for that," he warned.
Rabastan smirked. "That's what she said."
The goblin smiled then closed his eyes, placing his palms on Rabastan's forearm. It may have been her imagination, considering the fact that she knew what was being done and how difficult it was, but to Bellatrix the air seemed to thicken, becoming tense and nearly elastic. Sitting stiffly on the edge of her seat, she found herself holding her breath. The Curse-Breaker's face was blank, his eyes unfocused as he worked with whatever magic was in the mark on Rabastan's arm.
When the goblin's body suddenly stiffened and arched away from Rabastan, Bellatrix started. The scream that issued from the Curse-Breaker's mouth was raw and full of agony. Rabastan, Rodolphus, and Bellatrix exchanged horrified glances, hoping the bloke wasn't about to die!
Gasping and shaking, the goblin collapsed into his chair, huddling in on himself. "Mother...fucker!" he snarled.
"You alright," Rabastan asked hastily.
"Do I fucking look alright?" the goblin demanded, shivering as he curled in on himself.
"Right, but are you going to die? What do you need us to do?" Rabastan pressed.
"I told you earlier that I'm not going to die! I was, however, incorrect as to just how difficult this curse would be to remove," the goblin said. Though his words came out tart and clipped, he was still shivering and looked utterly miserable.
"Did you manage to remove it, though," Rabastan asked, and the goblin nodded weakly. "Yeah. The fucker is gone."
"Let's see your arm, Rabastan," Bellatrix said to her brother-in-law.
Rabastan presented his arm. His robe sleeve was pushed up to reveal smooth flawless skin.
"It's really gone!" Rodolphus breathed, leaning over Bella's shoulder to gaze upon the marvel of his brother's arm.
"Bloody right it is," the goblin retorted weakly. "That did me in, though. It'll be tomorrow before I can remove the next one, then I'll do the final one the day after that. I'll be staying here tonight and probably until I've finished."
"You expect us to take care of you?" Bellatrix demanded. The goblin gave a short laugh.
"Bloody right I do. Just be happy I'm not charging you more gold. I certainly would've charged more had I had any idea it would wipe me out this much, but I stand by my original price quotes because I am an honest businessman."
Bellatrix sighed and rang for Harold. The elf Apparated in right away, causing her to suspect that he was hovering just outside the library door. She couldn't blame him for being curious, but they'd sent everyone out of the room earlier just in case anything backfired while the marks were being removed. "Our guest shall be staying the night and perhaps even for a few days, so we'll need you to ready a room for him and then Apparate him into it as he is feeling rather weak. Please attend to anything he may need."
"That will only be tea and hot soup, then I just need to rest," the goblin said.
"Very good," Harold said, bowing and heading from the room.
Bellatrix could hear him speaking quietly to someone in the hall, then Lyra and Rhadamanthus hurried in to admire Rabastan's arm.
"Are you quite certain you will be alright," Lyra asked the Curse-Breaker, un-Lestrange-like concern on her face. "If you'd like I can call for a Healer."
He shook his head tiredly. "No, I shall be fully recovered by tomorrow. It just took a lot out of me. This has happened before but rarely, and only after I removed too many curses in a single day."
As promised, he was in top form the next morning, and removed Rodolphus's Dark Mark before they left to work at Azkaban. The Curse-Breaker would remain at Raven's Nest, resting up and readying himself to remove Bellatrix's mark the next day. She found herself eager to be rid of it. The day at Azkaban was uneventful, for which she was grateful, considering the general shitstorm lately.
They decided to stop off at 12 Grimmauld before heading home to avoid entertaining the Curse-Breaker. They had promised Grindelwald to speak to Regulus about being more productive and this seemed like a good time to do it. Fortunately, Regulus and Kreacher were home. After sharing the exciting news and showing off Rodolphus and Rabastan's clean arms, Bellatrix got right to the reason for this visit.
They were seated in the library and Bella waited impatiently for one of the four elves to serve tea. Even after so long, it was still weird having tea while Kreacher and Regulus couldn't drink it, but nothing could be done for that. At least they weren't having cups of blood instead, she thought with an inner shudder. Though the sight of blood could be pleasing, watching her cousin and his elf slurping it from tea cups would've been disgusting.
"It's actually far better straight from the warm tap," Regulus told her, a smirk playing around his lips. "I can read minds, remember," he said, snickering at Bellatrix's startled expression.
She scowled. "Well, perhaps you can tell us why we're bloody here then," she suggested.
"I don't try to read your mind, Bella," Regulus chided almost gently. "That would be rude. It's just that when some thoughts are particularly vivid, I can't help but see them."
"What aren't you doing for Grindelwald that he wants you to do?" she demanded and it was Regulus's turn to look startled.
"I don't know."
She sighed, regarding Regulus thoughtfully. He was of average height with a slight build, neatly combed shoulder length black hair and deep blue eyes. His face was as youthful as it had been when he'd first become a Death Eater back in nineteen-seventy-nine. Sometimes looking at him could really bring the past back home.
"He feels you aren't living up to your potential," she said. "You know, you started off with such a bright shiny future, and you haven't done anything particularly remarkable of late."
Regulus shook his head. "It isn't like that. It doesn't work like that and Gellert Grindelwald of all people should know! One doesn't just suddenly do brilliant things. They must be inspired, often by circumstance. I was inspired by Voldemort for good or ill, motivated by his actions in various ways. Likewise, Gellert was inspired by his need to be out from underneath the Muggle thumb."
"Well, I think he expects you to be inspired by the need to get rid of Delphini," Rabastan suggested drily. "He also seems to think you're depressed?"
Rodolphus arched his brows at Regulus who shrugged. "I have my moments of regretting the past."
"Far too many of them, if anyone asks Kreacher," the elf muttered morosely.
Bellatrix smirked and sipped her tea. Kreacher was never one to hold back and she was sincerely glad that all the hell they'd gone through hadn't changed him.
"Gellert wants Kreacher to come into the Department of Mysteries a few evenings a week and check some of the items for anything they may have missed, so perhaps I'll go along with him," Regulus mused and Bellatrix smiled.
"I'm sure Gellert would like that."
They visited for a bit longer then went home, arriving just in time for dinner. As it turned out, the Curse-Breaker was not in need of entertainment, preferring to eat in morose silence… or perhaps that scowl was just a normal expression for a goblin. While they ate, Lyra chattered about her day at the Ministry where she continued teaching the Aurors about Auras. Obviously some of them had more of an aptitude than Bella, Rod, and Rabastan, else Lyra wouldn't need to keep going to teach them. Bellatrix wasn't particularly envious, as the process of working with Auras felt rather tedious and likely something more attune to Healers or strong psychics.
After dinner, everyone retired to the library to read and the evening was spent pleasantly and quietly. The next morning, Bellatrix woke excited to have her Dark Mark gone. As she dressed, she scowled down at it, glad to know that very soon, she would never have to see it again. Perhaps with it gone, the unwanted memories could fade as well. After breakfast the Curse-Breaker reached for her arm while they were all still seated around the table.
"Let's get this done, Mrs. Lestrange," he said.
Bellatrix nodded, pushing up the sleeve of her dress. The goblin's hands were warm on her skin. Trying to relax, she drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly. It felt as though the goblin's palms were pulling at her skin as if trying to unstick from it, but when she glanced down, his hands hadn't lifted from her arm in the slightest. In spite of this the sensation of tugging on her skin grew more intense. Though odd, it wasn't at all painful. With a now familiar scream of agony, the Curse-Breaker arched back into his own chair before collapsing into it in a heap.
Bellatrix glanced down to see the creamy skin of her arm unblemished and unmarked. "Wow," she said, letting out a little laugh.
Though she'd seen Rodolphus and Rabastan's arms perfectly free of the Dark Mark, having her own gone was somehow a bit of a surprise. She'd believed it would happen, but knowing she no longer had it was freeing in a way she'd never expected. Once someone was marked, they were marked for life and everyone knew it. Or so they'd believed. They were tied to the Dark Lord, and he could find them forever. He had a claim on them forever. They were his property. This was understood among the Death Eaters more and more as time had gone by in his service. Now she was free, though... completely free!
"Thank you," she said, turning to the goblin with a warm smile. At one point, being marked was an honor, then it had become a tracker, and now she was simply fully herself again.
"You have a gift, and we are fortunate to benefit," Lyra said, giving the Curse-Breaker a warm smile.
"Right, and now I just want to lie down," the goblin muttered darkly. Harold stood and hastily moved to attend to the Curse-Breaker while everyone else headed to work.