Chapter 73: 1 Corinthians 13
It was not Snape who arrived at Azkaban the next day at lunch with the three promised cloaks of invisibility. The Lestranges were having sandwiches in their office when one of the goblin guards showed the woman in.
"You're not Severus," Rodolphus observed before taking a large bite from his second sandwich.
The woman did rather look like Severus, though. She had dark hair like his, though hers was shot through with white. She also had a similar long hooked nose and thin face. Her build was tall and slim. She wore black pants and a fuzzy red sweater.
"I'm his Mother Eileen." Her voice was warm and soothing, and her smile was charmingly disarming. Bellatrix found herself smiling back. "He asked me to bring these three cloaks of invisibility to you because Albus didn't want him leaving Hogwarts in the middle of the day at this point in time," she explained. "He has dinner plans for the evening so coming at the same time as he did yesterday would present a scheduling jam. I have always wanted to get a look at Azkaban, so I was eager to offer to help out." She chuckled. "Until recently you didn't get in unless...you got in, and of course I didn't want to see it that badly!"
"Yes, we can imagine ," Bellatrix bit out.
Eileen flushed, eyes widening as if suddenly remembering who they actually were. "Yes...I can imagine you can. It must be dreadful working here," she added sympathetically.
"It is," Bella said at the same time as Rabastan said, "Nah, it's cool, we can torture prisoners."
Eileen blinked in shock but recovered quickly enough. "If they're here I'm sure they deserve it and hopefully it shall cut down on crime."
Bellatrix nodded. "Yes, that is the Minister's hope."
"Is it alright if I take some pictures," Eileen asked, dark eyes shining with an eager interest that Severus's cold gaze never showed.
"Sure," Rodolphus said with a shrug.
Eileen smiled gratefully, reaching into a shoulder bag to withdraw a large camera. "Oh, thank you so much! I brought my camera just in case! Here are the cloaks, by the way," she added, offering the three cloaks.
"Thanks," Bellatrix said, reaching to pluck them up.
"Would you like a tour," Rodolphus asked.
"Really? Well, if it's no trouble!" Eileen gushed, cheeks flushing slightly.
"We're finished with lunch, and need to make the rounds anyway," Rodolphus said. "It's no trouble at all."
"Well, thank you!" Eileen said.
Rodolphus grinned. "We'll even stop whenever you say so you can take pictures."
Bellatrix noted how polite he was being to the older woman, and realized how much he must miss his own mum. They spent the next hour wandering the entirety of Azkaban while Eileen Snape took pictures.
As they neared the end of the tour, she asked how they were handling things, and expressed how sorry she was that they went through what they did with Voldemort. The woman was shockingly kind and sincere. She'd raised Severus, after all, and the contrast was stark.
When she was ready to leave, she gave each of them a quick hug. "Thank you so much for showing me about and allowing me to take so many pictures. I shall treasure them forever," she said earnestly.
"It was fun," Bellatrix assured as the two men looked a charming mix of pleased and embarrassed.
"Be careful, all of you," Eileen admonished gravely. "It's just making me heartsick to know that man is still alive inside of anyone, even that dratted Delphini!" She swallowed, suddenly blinking back tears. "I thought Severus was finally free...I was so worried he'd get himself killed playing double agent for Albus. It was over and now this."
"It certainly isn't fun, that's for sure," Bellatrix agreed grimly. "We never really had time to deal with the aftermath of Voldemort due to working constantly and now a lot of things are coming up."
Eileen gave her a sympathetic nod. "I shan't insult you by telling you that I can imagine. We all go through our own trials, and yours is particularly unique. You have your husband, though, so you hold onto him and don't allow her to kill him. You all stick together at all times. It seems to have worked for you thus far."
Eileen's lip trembled as she spoke. Bellatrix felt her heart going out to the older woman, suddenly realizing that her husband must be dead. The thought of there being no more Rod caused her to feel worse than empty, quite beyond miserable. "I'm so sorry," she said, reaching to lightly touch the other woman's arm.
"Thank you, dear," Eileen said, giving her a grateful smile. "Tobias died when Severus was six. That is why he served as double agent...for revenge."
Bellatrix blinked in confusion. "Revenge?"
Eileen nodded, wiping at her eyes with a sleeve. "Voldemort killed him. I had a dreadful cold and Tobias went to the nearest potions shop to pick up a few things for me, and he happened to be there. He killed my Tobias for being a Muggle in a wizarding shop. Just like that he killed him, and he never did any harm to anyone. Severus and I had to go live with my father after that. He and I were always fighting so poor Severus was miserable."
To her horror, Bellatrix felt tears streaming down her own face as she clasped Eileen's hand in comfort. "He killed my uncle," she found herself saying. "And probably Roddy and Rabastan's mum, we still don't know." She gave a small broken laugh, shaking her head as she took her turn wiping at streaming eyes with a sleeve. "Hell, he's done enough so if we blame him for one murder he didn't commit, I hardly think it matters."
Eileen smiled, sniffing and wiping at her nose with a handkerchief that she produced from a sleeve of her red sweater. "Right you are."
They walked her out, and Rodolphus asked her to write to let them know she got home alright, giving her the Raven's Nest address.
She gave him a warm smile and promised to do so before thanking them again and taking her leave.
"I can't believe she was Snape's mum," Rabastan marveled. "Talk about vastly differing personalities! She seems all nurturing and shit, and somehow he still managed to be him!"
Bellatrix chuckled. "For sure." She sighed, pushing her hair back from her face. "Gods, I hate crying," she complained. "I hate it when things come up."
"Nothing needs to come up if we don't think about it," Rodolphus growled darkly as they walked back toward their office.
"Well, sometimes they do, Rod," she snapped back, glaring at him. "People can't just pretend that bad experiences don't affect them."
Rod scowled back mutinously. "Nothing needs to bother you when it's over. Just move on."
"We are impacted by life, Rod, and we can't move on without processing that!"
"Why not?" he demanded. "What is there to process? Gods, I hate it when you get like this!"
Bellatrix gritted her teeth and averted her gaze so as not to slap him. He was bottling, she silently reminded herself.
"If you get all into your feelings, I never know what you'll do," Rod continued, each complaint striking Bella's heart like a stone of condemnation. "Then I wonder when you'll finally tear your raven skull necklace off and throw it at me, and what will come after that? I don't know what you'll do. Do you?"
Letting out an explosive sigh, she stopped walking and turned to look at him. He stopped walking as well. "I know I won't throw my necklace, Rod. I only considered it when I was enraged that one single time over the Voldemort thing. You knew I was upset! And I didn't throw it, I didn't even take it off. I don't plan to, so I'll just swear to never do so right now. I swear to never take it off even if I am furious at you. You know I'll never leave you. Don't be ridiculous."
"I don't know that," he declared. "I don't know anything about what you'll do when you get so upset! You got all mad at me over something I didn't even do and I said I'd have done the same thing if... Never mind, I am not doing this again." He turned but did not move away.
"You're turning my issues around and making them about you," she snapped angrily.
"The hell I am! You made them about me first when you got mad over something that never even happened and never would've bloody happened."
"You don't understand," she said flatly, disappointed and unable to hide it. She and Rod always got one another on a level that no one else did.
"I understand that you are making yourself upset and creating bloody problems where there are none. And when the hell did you care what anyone else thought? That goes for Skeeter or anyone else. We never give a shit what idiots think and you know they're all idiots."
Bellatrix nodded. She knew he was right, but it didn't matter. "You are right. I don't care what anyone thinks, especially Skeeter. It's not that... It's more than that, and I don't know how to explain it, Rod." She gave her head a frustrated shake.
"Well, if you can't bloody explain it, and you don't understand it, just stop."
Taking a deep breath, Bellatrix did something she'd never done before. Letting the breath out slowly, she counted to ten. It had never been necessary, because she always knew exactly what she wanted to do even when angry in the past, but then she was never angry with Rod.
So she counted. When she got to ten it hit her. She knew what was wrong with Rod and turning to him, she slipped her arms around his waist, resting her head against his solid chest. "It's alright, Roddy. It isn't your fault... and it was never your fault. If I ever made you feel it was, I am sorry. We all made our mistakes equally."
His breath hitched as his arms tightened around her, drawing her hard against him. "But babe, I didn't take care of you! Apparently you didn't feel I..."
"I was upset and of course you did! Who do you think kept me from completely slipping over the edge during our time as prisoners here," she asked, blinking back tears as her throat tightened. "We're each other's rock, and that's something Voldemort, Skeeter, or most other people can never understand. Don't ever feel that you should've done more. You did perfectly."
His arms were trembling around her and when she lifted her face to his, she saw a hopeful pleading in his eyes that twisted her heart. "Are you sure?"
She nodded before kissing him hard. "I swear."
"Cool, can we get back to work now," Rabastan asked hopefully.
Chuckling, they turned to the younger Lestrange and spoke in unison. "Yes."