Obsession

Chapter 12

Bellatrix paused with Rodolphus' blue flannel pyjamas in her hands.

She shouldn't have cared. She had the Dark Lord now. Lord Voldemort had carefully wiped Rodolphus's mind of the passion he'd had with Bellatrix. She was packing up a leather suitcase for him, which would be sent over to Edwina Fawley's flat. Tonight, Rodolphus would hold Edwina in his arms to comfort her. Bellatrix would go back to the Dark Lord's suite at Malfoy Manor, where he would undoubtedly hold her. So she shouldn't have cared.

But these were the pyjamas Rodolphus had worn on their wedding night, so she cared.

Bellatrix brought the flannel to her face and breathed in. They were freshly laundered, but she could still sense him on the pyjamas. She shut her eyes and remembered him, nervous as a lamb going to the slaughter. His lips had shaken against hers as he'd murmured, "I'm sorry if it's terrible." It hadn't been terrible, of course. He'd been warm and kind to her, and they'd fallen asleep together, blissful and exhausted.

Bellatrix dragged her finger over the pearlescent button on the front of the pyjamas, remembering the way her own hands had shaken as she'd stripped it off him that night. Children, they'd been, though it hadn't been so very long ago. They'd had breakfast together the next morning - oatmeal and cantaloupe and scalding hot tea. Rodolphus had given Bellatrix a little bleary-eyed smile that had told her everything, but still, he'd assured her, "I love you more than anything, Bella."

She shoved the pyjamas into the leather suitcase, trying and failing to will away the tears in her eyes. She shouldn't care. He was gone from her, that silly boy. He'd damned himself when he'd strangled Bellatrix in a fit of jealous rage. He was lucky he wasn't dead, that Bellatrix had convinced Voldemort that Rodolphus had value as a mind-wiped soldier.

Bellatrix went into Rodolphus' bathroom and took out a little leather bag from his vanity drawer. She filled it with his wooden toothbrush and jar of paste, his tortoiseshell comb, and his heavy steel razor. He could do most of it with magic, of course, but Rodolphus liked the ritual of combing and cleaning and shaving. So Bellatrix put the toiletries into the suitcase along with the pyjamas and underwear and two changes of clothes. She latched the suitcase shut and wrapped her fingers around its handle, and as she strode out of Rodolphus's rooms, she barked,

"Coopy!"

The House-Elf appeared out of thin air with a crack. He was young for a House-Elf, still bright-eyed and overeager. Bellatrix shoved the suitcase at Coopy, nearly knocking him over, and she snapped,

"Have this sent to the flat of Edwina Fawley. It's for Master Dolph."

Coopy grinned. "Yes, Madam Bellatrix. Yes, yes. Coopy will send it straight away! Master Dolph won't have to wait any-"

"Go." Bellatrix put her hands on her hips. She stomped away from the House-Elf and went into her own rooms, quickly tossing a short, tight black nightgown and a fresh change of clothes into her own suitcase. She Summoned her own travel bag of toiletries that she kept ready for overnight missions, and she Disapparated straight out of her own rooms.

As she strolled up toward Malfoy Manor, clutching her suitcase in her hands and staring at the impressive house, her boots came to a stop. The spring night was unseasonably pleasant and still, and for a long moment, Bellatrix just stood. Suddenly a memory rushed straight back to her, playing behind the eyelids that fluttered shut.

'They withered?' Rodolphus seemed heartbroken. Bellatrix giggled a little as she looked down at the wad of ruined roses in her fist.

'It doesn't matter,' she said, far more kindly than usual. 'It's the thought that counts.'