Harold walked in then to announce dinner, and Lyra waved him over. "I'd like you to meet my man. His name is Cassius. Cas, this is Harold. He works for my family."
Harold peered at Cassius through the goggles on his plague mask. Bellatrix somehow got the feeling his expression was stoic, though, of course, not a bit of his face showed through the mask.
"So bloody badass," Cassius breathed. "You completely rule!"
Harold turned toward Bellatrix and Rodolphus as if uncertain as to how to react and Bellatrix grinned, shrugging. "Harold appreciates the sentiment," the elf said, turning back to Cassius with a slight bow.
"We'd better go eat before my dad gets truly grumpy. The man likes his food," Lyra said.
After bidding a farewell to each individual in the room, Cassius faded from the fire.
"At least he didn't blow kisses at Lyra," Rabastan said. "I'd have to kick his ass."
Lyra scowled over at her uncle as she rose from her chair. "I am not a baby and you are all being insane about the fact I had a life before coming here. My parents were shagging at sixteen, and this double standard is ridiculous! Now let's go eat."
"They most certainly were not," Druella gasped, eyes widening. Corvus shot her a confused look, and she glared, rising to place her hands on her slender hips. "Are you telling me that you were aware of our sixteen-year-old shagging, Corvus Lestrange?"
At that, Lyra gave a very Bellatrix-like cackle of glee from the doorway.
"I'm really hungry," Rodolphus said. Grasping Bellatrix's hand, he tugged her up from the sofa as he hastily rose himself.
"They were in my house," Corvus said, staring dumbly at Druella. "I thought everyone knew. It wasn't as if they asked permission. Bellatrix was in Rod's room almost every night of that Christmas break when they were sixteen. She was at breakfast nearly every morning, then she'd go back home for whatever you lot were doing that day."
Druella's mouth worked in silent shock.
"I knew they were going to get married. He'd already given her that raven skull necklace she still wears," Corvis said. "It hardly matters, Druella. She and Rod were thick as thieves anyway, and besides, they looked after Rabastan."
"Well, we'll see you all in the dining room whenever you decide to join us," Rodolphus said. Hand still in Bellatrix's, he walked toward the doorway of the library, but Lyra was blocking it and did not step aside.
"No," she told her father with a wicked grin. "This is too good. I'm sorry…almost."
"So you just allowed them to turn your manor into a sex den?" Druella squawked at Corvus.
"No, that was not how it happened, Druella," the elder Lestrange retorted, obviously struggling for patience. "Bellatrix was already there and already in his bed by the time we noticed. The deflowering, as it were, had already been done, and I knew they would marry someday, so what was the point of objecting?"
Rodolphus released Bellatrix's hand and stepped forward, scooping a squealing Lyra off her feet. Setting her down a few paces away from the door, he took Bellatrix's hand again and strode from the library.
Bellatrix grinned. "Were you embarrassed, then?"
"No. Just hungry."
Bellatrix grinned again.
"Well, maybe a little embarrassed," he admitted after a moment. "It isn't as if it's that big a deal anyway. What was I supposed to do, shag outside on the cold ground or wait until we're bloody married?"
A laugh rang out behind them but was hastily turned into a cough. Bellatrix turned to see Harold following at their heels. Rhadamanthus was nowhere in sight, which was odd when food was concerned, so the spider must have stayed behind for the drama.
"I wonder what they're saying now?" Bellatrix said as they entered the dining room.
"When Harold left, Mistress Bellatrix's mother was going on about parenting skills," Harold said. From the way the elf's voice shook slightly on the last few words, Bellatrix could tell that he was trying not to laugh again. "Rhadamanthus suggested it was her own skills that she perhaps should be questioning, considering it was her daughter slipping out of the house nightly."
Rodolphus let out a gleeful laugh as he pulled Bellatrix's chair out for her and settled into his own. "I love that spider!"
Before more could be said on the matter, everyone else at last filed in, settling around the table. Druella gave Bellatrix and Rodolphus a dark look, but Bellatrix spoke before her mother could. "Well, in other news, Grindelwald invited us to dinner tomorrow night at Regulus's."
"Why, because the Minister lives there," Druella asked, and Bellatrix gave Rodolphus a wicked grin. She'd learned the art of distracting her mother at a young age, and damn it, she still had it down to a bloody art!
"I hadn't considered that, actually," Bella replied honestly. "He and Regulus are also close friends. As he recently asked us to speak to Regulus on a personal matter, I assumed it may, in part, be about that."
"Is Regulus well, then," Cygnus asked. "So many dreadful things befell that family. And I truly believe he never recovered, the poor boy. He always seems so… I don't know, subdued?" Cygnus gestured expansively with his water glass, splashing a bit over the sleeve of his black robe.
"Cygnus," Druella gently chastised, dabbing at the damp spot with her napkin.
"His eyes are always so sad," Cygnus continued. "All of those horrors the poor lad went through seem to have broken him, and it's such a waste how he always stays so to himself."
"He has Kreacher," Rabastan observed with a casual shrug. "It's all he ever wanted anyway. He's fine, just a little lazy is all, and Grindelwald has us moving on that for him." He grinned. "We're his favorite thugs, you know," he bragged.
"That's nice, Dear," Druella said.
"Regulus just had so much potential," Corvus said. "I truly expected him to do more with himself."
Cygnus nodded. "All that rubbish with Voldemort just beat it out of him."
"Grindelwald is aware and it's being attended to," Bellatrix assured.
"I hope so," Cygnus said.
"I have been working on locating some of Mr. Grindelwald's former followers, and I expect news very soon," Druella said. "I will pass any information on to you, and you can pass it onto him," she told Bellatrix and Rodolphus, who nodded dutifully.
Thankfully the meal continued peacefully, as Bellatrix, Rodolphus, and Rabastan caught their parents up on current goings on, or at least those they could freely speak of. Then Lyra turned talk back to Cassius, but in such a way that Bellatrix found herself more intrigued than annoyed.
"Did Cassius have a chance to tell you how his locking ability compliments my Mind Ripping," she asked.
"He did not," Bellatrix said, openly interested.
Rodolphus managed to cover any interest he may be feeling with a dark scowl.
"When combining Legilimency and Occlumency with his locking ability, he can basically lock down the mind. Just, sort of, shut it down. It's rather brilliant!"
"So the person is alive but basically non-functioning," Druella asked and Lyra nodded happily.
"That's it."
It was then that Bellatrix realized that having Cassius around to protect Lyra might not be a dreadful idea.
"I worry about HIM living inside of Delphini and how that will all turn out. If he grows more dominant, how he may influence her and who shall be stronger in the end?" she admitted with a sigh. "I worry that he is angry that we escaped him, and his influences, and that we managed to save our child from him. He had to have intended us to carry his Horcrux in our child. Knowing that if we did ever regain our memories of that night, we still would never kill our child just to get rid of him. We've thwarted him more than once, and he won't forget it. He certainly won't forgive it! I fear for Lyra's safety any time I have a moment to worry, and if this ability of Cassius's can protect her, I won't object too strenuously to his presence," she said, glancing at Rod.
Admitting this twisted her heart and caused a lump to rise in her throat. She hated letting her baby go, even if only as a concept. She knew Lyra would still be here, but she would be sharing her attentions with Cassius once he arrived. They would no longer have her entirely to themselves, and she wasn't ready for that. It was preferable to Voldemort getting to her, though.
"I suppose you have a point," Rodolphus said reluctantly and Lyra smiled.