Beautiful Death

Christmas Dinner ~ 4

The dinner consisted of the adults talking to each other about purebloods, and the children chatting with each other out of politeness.

"Cissy, could you please pass me the napkin?" Bellatrix asked.

When Rodolphus heard that, he couldn't help himself. He thought it was pathetic for someone with a reputation like that to call her sister 'Cissy.'

"Cissy? Ha! What a childish nickname!" Rodolphus exclaimed, doubling over with laughter.

He noticed no one was laughing with him, and turned to see Bellatrix glaring at him, her eyes murderous. Narcissa was frowning at him. Druella had a raised eyebrow, and Reinhard shot him a disappointed look. He stopped laughing, and awkwardly continued eating his food. After a moment of silence, Narcissa quietly passed Bellatrix the napkin, who shot her a grateful look.

The family continued their small talk, and Bellatrix chatted with Rabastan, completely ignoring Rodolphus.

Rodolphus sighed, and turned to Sirius.

"Your cousin sure is moody," he commented.

Sirius laughed, "You can say that again." Rodolphus engulfed himself in a conversation with Sirius, because he knew Bellatrix would not want to talk to him at all. Narcissa and Andromeda just awkwardly sat in their seats. Eventually, they joined in Bellatrix and Rabastan's conversation. It seemed to be about snakes versus owls. Snakes were winning, since they were all Slytherins. Regulas just stared at everyone the whole time, not saying anything, ever the shy one.

When the night was finally over, Bellatrix, who seemed to have a lot more energy, waved goodbye to Rodolphus and Rabastan. The parents hugged each other. Uncle Orion and Aunt Walburga dragged Sirius and Regulas behind them, letting the other two families say their goodbyes.

"We'll see you soon," Druella told Adelia.

And finally, to Bellatrix's relief, the night was over.

Druella turned to her eldest daughter. "Why didn't you thank them for their gifts?" she demanded.

"I didn't notice," she replied.

Druella sighed, "Take a shower and go to sleep. You, Narcissa, and Andromeda may open your gifts tomorrow morning."

Bellatrix nodded her head, and walked upstairs. 

A man was sitting on her windowsill. She gasped.

"Shh! You don't want your parents to hear me!" Tom said.

Bellatrix's mouth was hanging open. She broke into a smile when she finally processed what was going on. Seeing her smile, Voldemort grinned back.

"What're you doing here?" Bellatrix asked.

"I figured you would get miserable," he replied, offering her a sympathetic look.

Bellatrix just sighed, and walked to where Tom was sitting. He had jumped off the windowsill and was now on the bed. 

She sat next to him. "There's nothing I can do about it. It's just the pureblood tradition."

"Can't you just divorce?" he asked.

Bellatrix stared at him for a bit, and Tom wondered if he said something wrong.

"You're a pureblood yourself, did you not know this will damage your reputation if you divorce? My parents would never allow it," she managed, bewildered by his bluntness.

Tom gulped. He shouldn't have said that. "I am a pureblood, but I am also an orphan. I never had parents to tell me what to do," he finally said. 

He felt bad for lying to her about being a pureblood, but it was the only way to keep his large following. At least the orphan part was true.

"Oh, I'm sorry for saying that, I was being inconsiderate," Bellatrix apologized.

"It's fine, you didn't know," he replied.

They sat in a peaceful silence, both enjoying the company of the other. Bellatrix put her head on Tom's shoulder. His heart skipped a beat, and he was rigid.

Worried she had offended him, she lifted her head to stare at him. "Sorry, I shouldn't have done that," she apologized for the second time that evening.

"You don't have to apologize to me, you did nothing wrong. I was just a bit nervous," he admitted, hoping not to be seen as weak.

Bellatrix blushed at this, "Don't be. If anything, I should be the nervous one."

And she put her head back on his shoulder, with him feeling more relaxed. It went on like this for what seemed like forever, before Druella interrupted them.

"Bellatrix!" she called, "Why aren't you taking a shower yet?! Did you not hear me when I told you to?"

"Sorry Mother, I was doing something! I'll take a shower right now!" she called back.

She gave Voldemort an apologetic look. "Sorry, but you have to go. I need to go shower and sleep, or my mom will get suspicious."

"I can just wait for you to finish," Tom blurted out, instantly regretting himself. He was becoming weak. Still, it meant hanging out with her longer.

Bellatrix blinked. "Well then, sure." She offered him a tiny smile.

She grabbed a set of silk pajamas from her closet and walked in the bathroom, closing the door behind her. She sighed and slumped against the closed door. If only she could marry him instead. 

After a refreshing bath, she stepped out of the bathroom. Tom was still sitting on the bed, waiting for her. 

"Do you want to stay the night?" she asked, regretting what she said. She didn't know how she was going to be able to sleep with his presence.

"Fine with me," he replied, almost instantly.

Bellatrix's cheeks flushed when she heard his answer. 

"I don't have any pajamas for you, but you could transfigure your clothes," she stated.

Tom did what she had suggested, and soon they were both in the bed, with a considerable amount of space in between them. Both felt very awkward. Finally, Bellatrix fell asleep, and unconsciously rolled over next to Tom. He instantly froze, an unfamiliar tingly feeling rising to the pit of his stomach once more. He sighed, and wrapped his arms around her, and finally fell asleep.

Neither noticed Andromeda, who had been spying on them during the whole exchange. She frowned, not recognizing that he was the Dark Lord.