Who: Bellatrix and Sirius What: Fighting, again When: Sunday afternoon, 4pm Where: Their special playground outside Thetford Rating: Oh, high. Language and violence. Status: Completed log
Bellatrix could not even summon the amusement that would usually come at the prospect of facing off with her cousin yet again, even with the knowledge of just what she had planned for him in her mind. She was furious. She was furious with Sirius for daring to lay his hands on her sister. She was furious with Narcissa for being so stupid as to get herself kidnapped, for betraying the Dark Lord and for not even having the decency to be appreciative of the lengths to which Bellatrix was now going to protect her. Perhaps it was not fair of her to expect so much from Narcissa but she was hardly the most rational of people at the best of times. When frustrated, much less so.
Everything about her body read impatience and annoyance as she stood in the middle of the playground, waiting for Sirius to arrive. One hand on her hip, she kept herself occupied with blasting curses to the makeshift fence that had been erected around the still-ruined playground since their last encounter. And for once she did not even intend to toy with him as she had admittedly grown fond of doing. No, she was going to find out exactly what he had done to Narcissa, everything he had learned from her and then she was going to destroy him.
Sirius knew this was, at the moment, quite possibly the stupidest thing he'd ever done. It was stupid enough, hunting Bellatrix down on his own, but with James arrested, and Remus and Lily and Peter in a panic, and Dorcas still hurt, and the whole bloody fucking issue with Regulus - not to mention the fact that Bellatrix probably wanted to string him up with his own intestines, after he'd taken Narcissa (which he had to include in his list of Why This Is A Terrible Idea) - this was an idea of stupidly shocking proportions. Unfortunately for Sirius, whenever he was at his most upset and confused, he went and did something like this.
He apparated to the still-ruined playground, feeling only a grim sense of accomplishment when he noted that the bloody seesaws were still missing, their post looking sad and lonely, and a little... well, creepy. And speaking of creepy - or, to be more precise, really freaking horrifying - there was Bellatrix, blasting away at something or other - bits of grass, the makeshift fence, lingering children - he didn't think she'd be too picky, really. Looking sour he sent a blasting hex at the fence, wanting to startle her even though he was sure she already knew he was there.
Bellatrix heard Sirius apparate in but it was only when his blasting hex hit the fence that she slowly turned and looked at him. If she had been startled, she certainly did not show it as the only expression she gave her cousin was a raised eyebrow. That was a bad sign. Bellatrix quiet and still was generally when she was at her most furious. So far beyond yelling and screaming (she had done quite a bit of that over the last two days) and throwing things that all she was left with was a quiet, murderous rage. And if that was not enough of a sign that this was not to be like their previous encounters, that she had no intentions of banter or proper duels or any of the protocol that she claimed to adhere to, then the curse she sent at Sirius in greeting would undoubtedly make that quite clear. A silent crucio flew out of her wand and the jet of red light streaked towards her cousin. It was only then that she finally spoke, with a shrill "What did you do to Narcissa?"
Sirius looked only the slightest bit worried, realising with a hint of alarm that Bellatrix wasn't being her usual self; no taunting, no show, no nothing. She was instead alarmingly quiet, and it almost caught him off guard when she sent something hurtling towards him. He threw up a hasty shield and the curse bounced off somewhere behind him, his expression torn between concern and blind anger. "Nothing," he snapped, sending a blasting curse at the ground in front of her this time, even as he itched to send something stronger. "Fuck off about it." He couldn't take the reminder of it all, not wanting to think about what he'd done.
Bellatrix quickly stepped back to avoid the blasting curse, even as bits of grass and ground flew up and hit her legs. She did not care. She hardly noticed through her fury. Her need to know what exactly happened to Narcissa was the only thing that kept her from levelling a killing curse at Sirius and putting an end to him once and for all. And it certainly did not help when he deflected her cruciatus, just prompting her to send another one flying at him. She had more than enough anger and rage to fuel a hundred of the unforgivables if need be. "No. How did you make her talk?" she demanded. Had she been thinking more rationally at the moment she would have realised that she was giving away her attempted cover of claiming that the memory charm had failed (not knowing that Narcissa had already done as much herself) but she was far past the point of reason.
Sirius deflected the second Cruciatus, but the force of it sent him staggering backwards, and he grit his teeth in annoyance. "I asked questions," he claimed, hurling a gorging hex at her bloody head, "and she answered. Easy enough for you?" He was angry at Ed and Fabian, angry had being put in a position he hadn't wanted to be in, angry that they'd had to use Narcissa, even if he knew she'd be their best bet, but he wasn't about to admit to their participation in it.
Neatly dodging the gouging hex, Bellatrix sent a hurling hex at Sirius to send him flying through the air. And then she followed it with yet another cruciatus. Some might question the logic of using the same tactic over and over again when it clearly was not working but Bellatrix figured he would not be able to block them all night. And well, she was not particularly in the mood to be creative. It was her favoured curse for a reason. "She would not so easily betray her family. She is not you," Bellatrix growled. As angry as she was with Narcissa, she did believe her sister's claims that they had to have used something to get her to talk.
Sirius was getting tired of deflecting the bloody Cruciatus, wanting nothing more than to just beat her into a damn bloody pulp. He itched again to throw aside his wand and snap her fucking neck, but that would end very badly indeed, for him. No, Narcissa would not just answer questions willingly, and even though he was sure Bellatrix knew that, the idea that Voldemort could kill Narcissa, if he wanted, without a second bloody thought, was enough for him to complate being truthful - just in case. It infuriated him, that he felt so guilty about this, but that was that and there was nothing he could do to stop it. "Veritaserum," he admitted, throwing a Sectumsempra at the same time, hoping she'd be so enraged that the curse would hit her.
So that was it. Veritaserum was at least the most palatable of the options of how Narcissa had been so compelled to betray their cause, even if Bellatrix steadfastly maintained that she would have swallowed her own tongue rather than speak under the influence of the truth serum. It was at least preferable to the idea that she had caved under torture or perhaps mere threats. But the knowledge still did nothing to soothe Bellatrix's temper. Nor was there any satisfaction that came at having pried the answer out of him. She was still furious and the shield that burst from her wand to deflect Sirius's attack sent his curse flying straight back at him. "You will pay for this," she growled. "You have no idea what it is you have done." And perhaps she might have been feeling a bit more creative than she gave herself credit for a moment earlier as she brought her wand around and sent a giant flaming dragon of fiendfyre at Sirius, only to pull it back the moment it snapped it's angry, flame-dripping jaws over her cousin's head. It was not to harm him, just to scare the ever living shite out of him and throw him off guard as she sent a fourth cruciatus at him as soon as the flaming beast had vanished.
If Bellatrix had intended to scare the ever living shite out of him, she certainly succeeded. He was busy deflecting his own curse when a fucking fiendfyre dragon was snapping it's jaws at him, and he tripped in panic and landed hard on the ground, trying to scramble away from the thing. He'd be dead the minute it touched him, he knew with startling clarity, and he was so caught on the fucking fire beast, that the fourth fucking cruciatus she sent hit him square in the chest. He nearly bit his own tongue off as agony ripped through him, body spasming on the ground.
That at least brought Bellatrix some measure of satisfaction, to see Sirius writhing in pain on the ground. Under her curse. She moved closer to him, still keeping her wand trained on him, still making him suffer until she was standing over him. Again there was the temptation to simply kill him and be done with him once and for all but she had bigger plans for him. Instead she knelt down by his side and neatly plucked his wand from his hand. Then the curse was finally lifted and no more than a second later her hand was around his arm and they had apparated away from the playground and into a doorless and windowless room under the guesthouse on the Manor grounds. "Sit," Bellatrix demanded as she pushed him towards a chair and folded her arms across her chest, wand still firmly in hand.
No! Sirius' mind insisted, but he was in no position to try to grab his wand back, only knowing that he'd fucked up horribly. How the hell had this happened? Relief flooded through him when she lifted the curse, but before he could even process a thought he felt the tug of apparation and a moment later they were somewhere else entirely, and bloody fucking hell this was bad. He managed to keep his balance as she pushed him towards a chair (was this some kind of fucking interrogation room?) even as his still-aching body protested, but he turned to glare at her in disbelief when she instructed him to sit. She had both wands, yes, but she looked as though she expected him to sit quietly and behave himself, and that was the last thing he planned on doing right now. He didn't know where the fuck he was, but he sure as hell knew she had the upper hand, and he wanted to do whatever he could to remedy that.
He reached out quickly before she could move away, grabbing her upper arm with more force than necessary, and he spun her around and shoved her at the wall, reaching for the wand in her hand as he pinned her with his weight. His free hand grabbed at her throat, though - for now - he resisted the overwhelming urge to squeeze the life right the fuck out of her. "Give me my wand," he snarled, pressing her painfully against the wall.
One of these days Bellatrix truly needed to learn that most people were not inclined to obey her commands simply because she ordered them about. Even after she had cast the cruciatus on them. Although she was of the firm belief that her world would be a far better place if they did. Either way, while she should have expected it, she was caught off guard by Sirius shoving her up against the wall and had to bite her tongue to keep from letting out a startled cry of pain at the force of the impact. Had she been more in the mood for banter, she likely would have offered some commentary about the rather sexual way he had her pressed up against the wall (at least in her own mind, but then that was a decidedly strange place...) but she was too angry to be amused by his little show of defiance.
"No," she snarled as she snatched her wand hand away from his and shoved the tip of it into his side. "Let me go or I will kill you," she said, looking up to meet his eyes. She was quite serious, despite her intentions of keeping him alive, his hand wrapped around her throat changed things. And they both knew she could cast a killing curse more quickly than he could strangle her to death.
Like Sirius was going to willingly back off, unarmed, while she had both their wands. He had no doubt that she would try to kill him, either right this moment or as soon as he acquiesced, and he had no fucking intention of letting that happened. "I said," he ground out, "give me my wand." He grabbed her wrist, reflexes honed by years of Quidditch, and twisted it as hard as he could, pulling it back at such a sharp angle that he felt it crack sickeningly beneath his palm. He thought perhaps he should feel guilty, but he only felt grim satisfaction, full aware of just how much he wanted to hurt her. He let go of her broken wrist and yanked his wand from her loosed grip, shoving it painfully into her throat. "Don't make me break anything else," he warned angrily.
Bellatrix let out a snarl of pain as she felt the bones in her wrist snap and for a moment her focus was torn from her desire to kill to the throbbing pain running up and down her arm. But just for a moment. Then reflex kicked in and she lashed out against him, bringing her knee up to deliver a sharp, solid blow to his balls as she reached for where she had stashed his wand in her pocket and drew it out. "I said no," she snarled back. Unfortunately for Sirius, she had long since learned to cast with both hands and while she was not quite as adept with her left as her right, it would have to do for the moment. If by some chance her knee was not enough to drive him away, the silent blasting curse she sent at him hopefully would be and she quickly followed it with an expelliarmus for good measure.
Sirius only had a moment to gloat over her obvious pain, seeing as she promptly kneed him in the balls. He dropped like a ton of bricks, grabbing at himself as agony shot through his groin and stomach, fighting back the urge to be sick. Not that he had much time to focus, as she threw a blasting curse at him, and he only just had enough time to roll out of its way; the expelliarmus hit its target, however, and he snarled as her wand went soaring out of his hand, still down on the ground, still wanting to gnaw his own lip off in pain. This was as bad as the fucking Cruciatus. "You bitch," he spat out.
"I warned you," she pointed out, although she was content to let him lie on the floor for another moment or two as she summoned her wand into her hand and tucked Sirius's away once again. Much better. She cast a quick healing charm on her wrist - not enough render it usable and she would still have to have it properly reset later, but at least enough to mitigate the pain so she was not distracted from the task at hand. And then, back to Sirius.
"Now sit," she instructed again, but this time she did not give him any option in the matter as she flicked her wand and lifted him off the ground before dropping him heavily in the chair. And then ropes were brought forth to curl around him, binding him tightly to the chair. Only once he was secure did Bellatrix step towards him, wand still raised. "I wonder... have you ever learnt occlumency?" she asked, the slightest bit of her twisted playfulness coming back now that she had him secured.
"I really fucking hate that," Sirius snapped, having had his share of being manhandled through the air. "And watch my balls." Not the most... eloquent of statements, but they fucking hurt. He glared at Bellatrix as he struggled against the ropes, even though he knew it was futile; she was crazy, but she wasn't stupid. And speaking of not being stupid... He froze when she mentioned occlumency, knowing full well how little he knew about it, but he didn't want her knowing that. "Of course I have," he claimed, sneering at her.
"We shall see," she replied. Although her talents with legilimency paled in comparison to the Dark Lord's, she was still confident in her ability to break through whatever defences Sirius managed to present. And if, by some means, he had managed to become an accomplished occlumens over the years, as unlikely as that seemed to be, well there were still other ways to pry the information she wanted from him.
Standing at the side of the chair, Bellatrix jabbed her wand under Sirius's chin, pushing his head back as she murmured "legilimens," and forced her way into his mind. Where others may have been more artful in their search, carefully peeling through layer after layer of information, Bellatrix tore through Sirius's memories, shoving aside one thing after another in her determined search for thoughts of Narcissa and just what they had done to her out on the cliffs. There. Bellatrix seized on the thought and dragged it into the forefront of Sirius's mind so she could see for herself what had happened.
"Don't touch me," Sirius growled, trying to yank his head away, but he couldn't at the angle he was in, especially with nowhere else to fucking go. Having never been the subject of legilimency, he was unprepared for the sudden feeling of Bellatrix in his fucking brain and he struggled harder, trying to close his mind, to wipe it blank, but it felt like she was peeling through his head like a fucking onion. The memory of stunning Narcissa on the cliffs came rushing back, even as he tried to force it to go away, the entire thing laid out clear for Bellatrix to see. "Stop!" he shouted, twisting at his ropes, even as the memory played itself out, of his hesitancy, of James' reassurance, of the way James had stunned her and he'd caught her, of the two of them apparating her away.
Bellatrix just shoved her wand further up into the soft flesh under Sirius's chin as he struggled, not wanting anything to distract her from this infuriating scene. James's involvement was hardly a surprise, although Sirius's hesitancy was and if she had been a more reasonable woman, she might have even given him credit for his reluctance. Instead she simply blamed him for knowing Narcissa was not to be touched and doing so anyway. And then the scene continued, into a house... a safehouse she noted, where her other two favourite cousins were waiting. She watched as they drugged her while she was still unconscious, as they forced her to name names, as they questioned her about catering of all things and through it all, Bellatrix's fury continued to build until it was at the point that Sirius could undoubtedly feel it leeching back into his mind through the connection between them. And they were not done yet. Her own involvement in the Hogsmeade attacks would hardly have been news to the men, but Narcissa's little speech about the senseless barbarism of the attacks left Bellatrix snarling in anger and it was only the desire to see this little scene through to it's end that kept her focused. Somewhat.
Sirius wanted to rip his own head off, as he gave away the entire fucking thing, as he gave away Ed and Fabian's involvement, as he gave away the fucking safehouse, feeling himself a traitor. He knew immediately how Narcissa must have felt, the blind horror at giving away the people on your side and not being able to stop it. He could feel Bellatrix' control slipping a little, however, and he wanted to use that to his advantage, to push something else to the forefront of his mind in order to get her the fuck out of his important memories. Something that'd startled the fuck out of her- an idea came to mind as though she'd dug for it herself, and he thought hard about a particularly enthusiastic shag he'd had, with a shockingly... voluptuous blonde (Mindy? Missy?) who had done this spectacular spinning movement while she'd been riding him. He focused solely on that, pushing aside the memory of Narcissa in the safe house, expression grimly satisfied. Maybe that'd get her the fuck out of his mind. And he had many more, if need be.
Bellatrix was in the midst of watching Edgar apply the memory charm to Narcissa (she was going to kill him) when suddenly she was distracted by the sight of Sirius. Naked. With a rather grotequely proportioned blonde woman. Sirius got his wish as Bellatrix abruptly pulled herself from his mind, utterly disgusted. But if he thought it was enough to make her withdraw quietly and leave him be, he was about to face a quite rude awakening. Fury still consumed her senses at what she had seen and the cruciatus fell all too easily from her lips as she channelled every last bit of her rage into the curse. She wanted to make him suffer. For what he had done, for what his friends had done, for what her own sister had done, willingly or not.
Sirius was beyond relieved to have Bellatrix the fuck out of his head, but once again his relief was short lived as the Cruciatus hit him hard, the curse slamming into him with far more intensity than it had on the playground, and he couldn't keep himself from shouting in agony, body twisting and pulling at the robes binding him to the chair, his entire body consumed with pain as it radiated from his head all the way down to his feet, and he was going to fucking die.
As tempting as it was to just keep the curse on him until every last bit of her rage had been exhausted (which might very well kill Sirius, or at least drive him to the point of madness) she knew there was still work to be done. Not even the sound of him actually crying out in pain was enough to satisfy her. No, she was going to rip out every last bit of information that he knew about the Order, so that he could know what it was like to be forced to betray your friends. Not to mention that they needed to know who else would know the names of the Death Eaters in return. There was at least some degree of practicality in her mind even if it was quite overshadowed by the desire to make Sirius suffer as much as humanly possible, both physically and mentally.
She finally relented in her curse and before Sirius could even have the chance to recover she was back in his mind. Pain was the overwhelming thought at the forefront of his mind as she pushed her way back in and that did give her some vague sense of satisfaction at seeing the agony he was feeling. She lingered for a moment, just enjoying the knowledge of his suffering before she moved further into his mind, this time in search of names. James, Remus, Edgar, Fabian, Gideon... these were all people she knew. She wanted the ones she did not, the ones who somehow managed to overcome their Gryffindor rashness to maintain their cover.
Sirius struggled both physically and mentally, trying in vain to get her out, to protect his friends and the Order members, to stop her from getting their names, but she was too strong in his mind, her horrible claws in deep, and the names came easily, unable to stop them now that she was focused and determined again. They all came spilling out, the ones she hadn't already known: Lily, Peter, Moody, Stu, Benjy, Caradoc, Marly, Emmeline, Calypso, Dig, Alice, Frank, Dumbledore, and, though it fucking killed him, Dorcas. "You bitch," he ground out, fingers flexing convulsively, wanting to be anywhere but here.
A few of them were names she had known, or at least suspected, others were downright surprising and some were people she was not quite sure she knew. But she would soon enough, now that she had their names. She noted with mild interest the particular degree of protectiveness that his mind held for the irritating Meadowes girl and that was a bit of information filed away in her own mind for later use, although she would have to mention to Ben that he had done quite the number to her by the looks of it.
At least mostly satisfied with the information he had given up (and with the knowledge that she would be able to do this again should she think of anything else to pry from his mind) she instead turned to a more idle perusal of his thoughts, looking for anything else that might catch her interest. How much he hated his mother - boring. How much he hated her - predictable. Another naked blonde woman - disgusting. Wait. Backing up, she went back to his loathing of her and pulled through his memories until she had retrieved the fight at Hogsmeade. This time the memory was not for her benefit, but for his as she forcibly reminded him of just how much he had enjoyed casting the cruciatus. Although there was some benefit to her, beyond her own twisted amusement, as it also allowed her to see his thoughts and fears. That he was too much like his family. That he was, beneath the Gryffindor exterior, still a Black.
Sirius struggled as she went through his other memories, the image of his wretch of a mother coming to his mind, Bellatrix herself, someone he thought was named Cynthia, and then- Hogsmeade? He realised what she was doing a split second before the memory was unfurling, and he panicked, fighting hard against her, his heart jumping up into his throat as she tapped into his worst fears, his most guarded secret, that beneath it all he was terrified he was one of them, that it was too tightly ingrained in him, that he'd never be free of it. And the memory of the Cruciatus was replaying over in his mind, the triumph and exhilaration, the surge of adrenaline he'd felt when he'd successfully cast the curse, how powerful and invincible it felt, how good it felt. It made him feel sick to his stomach, not only to have to live it again, but for it to be laid out in the open for Bellatrix's taking. "Get out of my head!" he exploded, yanking hard at his bindings, trying to pull his head from her grasp.
He could struggle all he wanted, it made little difference to Bellatrix. But she was finished - at least for the time being - and with one more cursory scan of his thoughts that were now heavily coloured by his fury, Bellatrix withdrew from his mind. While she still had more than her share of anger, it was now somewhat tempered by the rest of the information that she had pulled from his mind and she gave Sirius a satisfied little smirk as she looked down at him. "How does it feel to know that you have betrayed your friends? And that you will not even be able to warn them before they are found and slaughtered?"
"You'll never get them," Sirius growled, glaring up at her, his hatred of her written clearly all over his face. "You've already tried once and failed - spectacularly - and you won't succeed the next time you try something." He was adamant, but he was afraid, knowing all too well how many close calls they'd had before. It killed him, knowing he'd just given them all up, knowing what he'd just done, his stomach twisted in guilt and worry - and fear. "For all your fucking bravado, you won't win." He had to believe it - not to believe it would be the end of him.
"Ahh, but how much easier it will be to track them down, one by one and kill them in their sleep. And you have not been paying attention. We have all but won already. All that is left to do is quell your little rebellion and now that will be a simple matter, thanks to you. I even intend to allow you to help." Her smirk had curled into a rather ominous smile as she tapped her wand against his cheek. "The imperius is a fascinating curse. Not my favourite, but it certainly has its uses."
"You'll never stop us," Sirius snarled, fighting down his rising panic and trying his best to replace it with anger (not that that was difficult, at the moment.) His hated of Bellatrix so violent, so all-consuming in that moment that he was overwhelmed by it, nearly blinded by it, and he was so caught up in it that he almost missed what she'd said, his mind only snagging on the word Imperius. "What the fuck are you talking about?" he demanded, his stomach lurching again, trying not to look worried as he glared up at her. He shook his head violently as she tapped her wand against his cheek, fighting down the urge to try to tear it away with his teeth.
"You will see," Bellatrix replied, her voice startlingly calm as she took a step back and pointed her wand at him. "Imperio." It was, perhaps, the one thing that she thought might be more satisfying than seeing him dead. To have him completely under her control, to turn him into the very thing that he loathed. Not to mention seeing him destroy his friends as he became the picture of a perfect, pureblood son. The heir that he should have been. But first she waited, to ensure the curse had taken hold and that he would not be able to fight it off.
"Don't!" Sirius began, but the curse was on him less than a second later, and while he initially struggled, trying his best to fight it off, it sank itself into him and his felt his mind slowly going blank, a most pleasing, blissful feeling overtaking him. He gradually sank back in his chair, looking almost relaxed, the anger draining out of him, replaced with that pleased feeling of nothingness.
"Much better," Bellatrix declared as Sirius relaxed into his chair. And then she set to issuing her instructions, which was the part of this curse that she was not so skilled with. Not the force of will, but merely crafting appropriate instructions. In this case, however, it did not seem as if it would be quite so difficult as ultimately her instructions were for him to be like her. And so she remained silent as she mentally imposed her will onto him.
You are Sirius Orion Black, the proud and dutiful eldest son of Orion and Walburga Black. Heir to the Black family name, a devout purist who believes wholeheartedly in the Dark Lord's great cause. You loathe Muggles, Mudbloods and blood traitors alike and believe that purebloods should take their rightful place as the leaders of wizarding society. You have been led astray by blood traitors but now you have come to see the error of your ways and you will reclaim your position as the Black family heir, behaving as the very picture of propriety. In a way that will make your mother proud.
And then she gave a slight flick of her wand and cast a memory charm to wipe the past week from his mind before sending the ropes binding him to the chair falling to the floor. She lowered her wand slightly but still kept it pointed at him, just in case this did not work.
Sirius looked unfocused as Bellatrix instructed him, her words settling in his mind, almost like puzzle pieces falling into place. When she was done he blinked a few times, momentarily distracted and it showed, and he shook his head a few times as though trying to clear his mind. When he finally focused his face settled into a bored, almost haughty expression, and he arched a brow as he glanced down at himself and at the ropes on the floor. Why was he down here, and why were there ropes around him? And why was he wearing denims? "What's going on?" he asked slowly, confused and not liking it.
Well now that was a question she likely should have anticipated, Bellatrix realised as she thought quickly to come up with something that did not end with 'and so I tortured you and put you under the imperius curse.' And that made her thing of another instruction that had been neglected but was clearly important if she was going to pull this off and she gave another silent push of her mind. You will respect and trust me as your eldest cousin and you will obey my instructions. Much easier if she could just order him about verbally instead of being forced to rely on commands issued through the curse.
"Your former housemates were holding you here," she explained quickly. "But I am going to take you back to my home and you will stay with Rodolphus and me for the time being. Until you have recovered from the ordeal that they put you through." It was almost enough to make her ill, being polite to him like this, but it would be worth it, she reminded herself as she switched her wand to her injured hand and held out her good one. Apparition, at least, she could manage with a half-healed wrist, she figured.
Sirius momentarily looked unfocused again, as the instructions came through, and when they'd settled in his mind he focused once more on Bellatrix, looking disgusted. "They what?" he asked, anger unfurling as he thought about his housemates, the blood traitors and the halfbloods - not to mention the halfbreed - the muggle sympathisers and mudbloods. How he'd ever spent so much time with them was beyond him, some kind of nightmare he felt he'd only recently woken up from. He took Bellatrix's hand without a second thought - as dutifully instructed - and stood, brushing absently at his denims. "What the hell did they use?" he asked angrily, his entire body aching as though he'd been hit with the bloody Cruciatus, but they weren't intelligent enough to use those sorts of tactics.
Really she should have thought this through a bit more. There were backstories and explanations and... oh hell, what did it matter, he was just going to do what she told him to anyway. But... actually there may be a plausible explanation to satisfy him after all. "Sirius," she began, her voice sympathetic in a way that made her want to vomit in her own mouth. "You do recall that you were friends with those blood traitors, yes? I do not know how they managed to convince you to betray your family, but you did. We were all very distressed when you ran away. But just recently we started speaking again and you expressed some doubts as to their Muggle loving ways. I can only presume that you must have indicated your intentions to return to the family which is why they were keeping you here. To prevent you from returning to us. I am afraid I do not know what they must have done to you as they fled as soon as I arrived. Now let us get you out of this place." Seriously, how she was managing to keep a straight face, let alone the contents of her stomach down, was a mystery.
With his hand in hers, she apparated the two of them to just outside the Manor itself, grateful that at the very least he would have no idea that he had already been on the property.
Sirius looked slightly confused as Bellatrix explained the situation to him, his memory feeling far too fleeting and uncertain - hazy, was the best word for it - but he took her word for it. It was Bellatrix, and he trusted her implicitly, no matter what had happened in the past. He still couldn't entirely understand why he had deflected, as it made no sense to him, but they'd clearly fucked with his mind so much right now, Merlin only knew what they'd done to him in the past. "Please," he said, sounding disgusted again at the thought of being here, after what had happened.
He felt a bit unsteady still, after they'd apparated, but he felt relief to see that they were outside of the Lestrange Manor. He itched to get out of these ridiculous clothes and to get some sleep, wanting to shake the haze off of himself and actually be able to properly focus once more. "Thank you," he said, frowning even though they were safely back.
"It will be all right," Bellatrix assured him as she released his hand and switched her wand back before opening the door and leading the way through the massive house. "I will have the elves bring you some more suitable clothes and dinner. You are, of course, free to roam the house as you wish, but do not go outside without me, lest your former friends attempt to take you again." That instruction she decided to reinforce with another silent command - he was not to leave the house without her - and while ordinarily the last thing she would want was someone like Sirius roaming her house, beyond the fact that he was, for all intents and purposes, on their side now, as odd as that seemed, there were layers upon layers of wards even within the house protecting various rooms from prying eyes.
Sirius nodded vaguely, happy enough with the idea of new clothes and dinner. He didn't particularly fancy the idea of staying in the house and not being able to go outside on his own, but as Bellatrix sent him his instructions, and as his expression went temporarily unfocused once more, he realised that made perfect sense. They'd already grabbed him once, he thought, feeling the same wave of fury take over him, who was to say they wouldn't try again? And he was safer in the house, for the time being. They would figure it out. "Thanks," he said again, pushing irritably at his too-long hair.
"I am simply pleased to have you back among us," she said, forcing a smile to her face as she opened the doors to one of the Manor's opulent guest suites and gestured for him to enter. "Make yourself at home. And if there is anything that you require, the elves will see to it, of course. I will inform them that they are to obey your commands as they would my own." With a few limitations, but he hardly needed to know that. She made a rather deliberate show of hesitating for a moment, as if she considered the topic she was about to broach rather awkward when really she was greatly looking forward to this part. "Do you still have your journal with you?"
"I am pleased to be back," Sirius agreed, sounding as relieved as he looked. He nodded as she mentioned the elves, pleased with that at least (although he was hardly surprised), and he was glancing around a little when her question about the journal caught his attention. He looked over at her, wondering why she seemed hesitant. "I believe so," he said, reaching into his pocket to find the shrunken journal. "Yes, it's in my pocket. Why?" he asked curiously.
"It is simply... Well certainly you can understand that after some of your... behaviour over the past years, there are some in society who may be reluctant to welcome you back with open arms. Naturally you will have my support and anyone who dares to question your loyalty will be forced to deal with me but I believe it may go a long way to making amends if you were to offer some sort of... expression of your regained allegiances. I am hardly suggesting that you apologise, as you are still a Black, but I am certain you will be able to come up with something suitable." She was, admittedly, rather curious to see just what this incarnation of Sirius Black might come up with and provided it was a very public display of his newfound purist beliefs, she was more than willing to leave it in his hands. Now that they were out of his true control at any rate.
Sirius didn't look entirely pleased at the prospect of having to make public amends, but he was well aware of just how serious his transgression had been; it would go a long way, especially with those he had slighted, to offer some sort of public statement. Not an apology, as Bellatrix had been entirely correct - he was a Black, and Blacks did not apologise - but there was something to be said for acknowledging his wrongs, and attempting to make them right. And he had some choice words for his former friends, the unworthy filth who'd blinded him and brainwashed him and, evidently, tortured him, when the other options had not been enough. "I will be able to come up with something more than suitable," he agreed, nodding confidently.
"Good," Bellatrix replied as she gave an approving nod of her own. "Then I will leave you to rest. If you feel up to it, I hope to see you at breakfast in the morning." She turned to leave, stopping only to give one last instruction for the night. Make your former friends miserable. Potter, Lupin, Meadowes... make them understand the full depth of your anger for what they did to you. Vaguely wondering just how long it would take him to realise he did not have his wand (she would return it to him in due time) Bellatrix pulled the doors shut and made her way to her own study, feeling quite pleased with herself.