It's not easy to explain, but . . .

Chapter 33

                                         Chapter 33: Then what happened?

"Needless to say, Bella and I did not find Pettigrew's worthless carcass at Malfoy Manor," finished Narcissa.  "We went to the Dark Lord's house and reported to him as soon as we finished sweeping the grounds."

* * *

Bella and Narcissa 'Side-Along Apparated' to the manor house and went silently in the door and made their way up the stairs to the parlor.  As Narcissa knocked on the door, she straightened up and lifted her chin, while Bella made a futile effort to make her hair a bit more presentable.

"Enter," came the command from within.

Opening the door, Narcissa walked into the room, but stopped, with her hand on the knob, her mouth dropping open as her eyes swept around the room, surveying the damaged furniture and smashed chandelier.  Voldemort was seated in his giant wing chair before the fire, watching the two Witches as they approached him and fell to their knees, heads bowed.

"Well?"

"We searched the house and grounds, Master.  He was not there," Bella answered, nose to the floor.

"No matter.  We will find him. . .Narcissa?"

"Yes, my Lord?" Cissa answered, raising her head a little, but still not looking at Voldemort directly.

"Had you seen or heard from Wormtail at all yesterday?"

"No, Master.  Lucius left after dinner, to come here, and the next person I saw in my house was Bella, when she woke me this morning."  Cissa answered, her voice trembling.  "But we checked the house and grounds, thoroughly, in case he had arrived un-noticed by me and hidden himself."

"I see," came the quiet response.  "I'm sorry to say, that was probably the last you, and Bella, will see of your husbands for quite some time.   I have received word from one of my sources in the Ministry, that all of my Death Eaters are now in Azkaban; their trials will be scheduled shortly.  Seems the Minister for Magic is in a bit of a pickle, and will, in all probability, be forced to resign this morning.  So, something good did came of our little fiasco, eh Bella?"

"Yes, Maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

Bella's screams echoed around the room and Voldemort finally had a way to vent his anger at the failure of his plan.  Narcissa could do nothing but remain on her knees, head bowed, until the Dark Lord was finished with her sister. She focused her mind solely on Lucius and Draco, in case the Dark Lord decided to see what, if anything, she knew about the nights events.  She made her thoughts a mixture of anxiety and anger, berating Lucius for not completing his mission and worse, being captured.  After, what seemed to be an excessively long time, Bella ceased screaming and collapsed on the floor, panting for breath.  Voldemort remained silent, watching the women before him with a smirk on his face.

"Now, about your husbands . . . I will get them out of that so called prison," Cissa looked up, hope in her eyes, then just as quickly, dropped her gaze, as Voldemort continued. "But, not for a while . . . let those fools think they have weakened me by capturing a few of my followers.  There are more in reserve, just waiting for word from me, to do my bidding."

Bella was struggling to right herself, but Cissa knew better than to reach over and assist her.  When Bella was finally upright and kneeling, the Dark Lord stood and walked over to the long trail of ash that had been his pet, Nagini.

"If Wormtail is alive, I want him found.  If he killed Nagini, he will die.  If he is already dead, I want to know at whose hand.  Perhaps there was a raid by the Aurors and he's also been taken prisoner.  Narcissa?"