Obsession

Chapter 21

"And have you finalised the menu? The House-Elves will need enough lead time to do it properly for a group that large." Druella Black gave her daughter an inquisitive look, and Bellatrix opened the leather folio on the desk before her. She'd been granted a small office to use for wedding planning, where she'd been receiving vendors and the orchestra conductor and a little swarm of House-Elves. Today she was showing off all her plans to her mother.

"Well," Bellatrix said, hearing her voice shake a little, for all of this was starting to give her unexpected anxiety, "I gave Dobby the menu today. There will be fifteen House-Elves preparing and serving the meal. The first course will be poached oysters. Then a warm quail salad, medallions of fallow deer, and of course the cake. That, by the way, will be five square tiers in elegant white frosting. Nothing too gaudy. There will be a Champagne toast with Elf-made wines available. Dobby assures me that the House-Elves are up to the task."

"I'm sure they are, dear," Druella nodded. "The wretched little creatures are terribly good at food preparation. When's your final fitting with Twillfit and Tattings?"

"Just had it today." Bellatrix gulped hard. There were only a few days left before the wedding. Today, a team of three seamstress witches had come to Malfoy Manor bearing Bellatrix's elaborate gown to make final adjustments. It had been decided that, as a recently widowed witch who had already had a white wedding gown, Bellatrix would wear black. Her gown was a long-sleeved silk creation with a deep V neckline, shining black with silver and copper metallic embroidery and heavy crystal embellishments. She would also be wearing a cape - in matching embroidered black silk - that clasped at her neck and trailed heavily behind her. In lieu of a veil, she'd be wearing a tiara specially made for her by the German wizarding jewellers Gelden and Schmuck. Commissioned by the Dark Lord himself, it was an elegant sweep of rose gold adorned with teardrop black pearls and diamonds. As with her engagement ring, the tiara had the Dark Mark incorporated into the design.

"And the orchestra is prepared," Druella reminded Bellatrix. "The seating arrangement is finished. Your flowers will be Conjured the day of?"

"The Dark Lord wishes to make my bouquet himself," Bellatrix said, and then her stomach pulled a little as she remembered how inept poor Rodolphus had been with Conjuring flowers. Druella reached across the desk and squeezed at Bellatrix's hand. She felt the tremble in her eldest daughter's fingers, and then she reached into the little drawstring bag she'd brought. She pulled out a glass bottle and held it out to Bellatrix.

"It is entirely normal to be very nervous before a wedding, dear, as you well know," Druella said, "but when you're marrying the most important wizard in the world, the anxiety must be almost unbearable. I've brought you some Draught of Peace. A drop here and there wouldn't go amiss. Just enough to keep your wits about you."

"Thanks, Mummy." Bellatrix nodded and opened the bottle, using the glass dropper inside to put a bit of the potion on her tongue. She sighed and asked, "Have you heard from Andy?"

Druella pinched her lips and shook her head, her dark eyes welling suddenly. "No, Bella, and we shall not speak of Andromeda anymore. You just focus on your wedding, darling."

"All right. Well. I am sorry about... her. About what she's done. Tell Cissy I'll see her in a few days."

Druella rose from her chair and nodded, a little smile crossing her thin lips as she murmured, "We are so very, very proud of you, Bellatrix. Much of your life has been troubled. Angry. But I do think you have at last found a home for your soul. Do you know... your father and I were in school with him? We were in Slytherin with him; he was a few years older than us. Back when he was someone else."

"When he was Tom Riddle," Bellatrix nodded, the Draught of Peace starting to settle into her veins. Druella's cheeks coloured, and she seemed vaguely frightened as she whispered,