InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "steve rogers is a tool."

Bellatrix Lestrange (dark_of_winter) wrote in beyondthepages,
@ 2010-04-01 07:26:00

Entry tags:

!dropped, 2023 09, albus severus potter, ashley legard, bellatrix lestrange, ginny potter, lily luna potter, natasha beckett

RP: Insanity's Return
Characters: Bellatrix, Rodolphus, Beckett // Ashley, Lily Luna, Ginny, Albus Severus
Time/Date: During the Feast, September 1, 2023
Location: Great Hall, Lestrange Hall
Warnings/Rating: R for batshit insanity and student injury?
Summary: Bella comes back and is kind of confused
Status: Dropped

It was strange. There was a blink. A flash. There was a streak of green light, and then the scene changed with nothing between then and now. Bellatrix had been in the middle of a heated battle, actively dueling two young witches, and then she was flashed to the same place, but the scene had changed completely. Even the ceiling was different.

She looked around, heard the first shriek, and spun. She saw a flash of red hair, not unlike the witch she’d been dueling with, and she unthinkingly flashed an attack in that direction, a purplish line of light flying from her wand and striking the seated child. She didn’t pay much attention after that, entirely too concerned with finding a way out.

The screams began in earnest then, and she smiled even as she started to head toward the door. Whatever was going on, whatever had gone wrong, she had to get out. Get out and regroup.

She saw by the door two grown men in Auror robes heading toward her, and she laughed. Aurors, really? Because they stood a chance. Bellatrix’s wand flashed, sparks and lines of light flying from it. Some were deflected. Some missed completely. Some struck but didn’t slow the men down. A few of theirs hit her as well, though she deflected several of them. They moved toward one another before she bulled through them, her wand moving, spells constant. Had she had more time and less concern, she would have played, dragged this out, enjoyed it.

She felt something cold striking her middle and growled before she countered the spell, wasting precious seconds as she fought her way out. There were other spells pelting her back like so many annoying raindrops, but she shook those off until she fought her way to the door. Bolting across the entrance hall, she was aware of one of the men behind her. Turning, she threw a series of curses at him even as she moved backward, always toward the door. He stumbled, fell, and she struck him again. She didn’t kill him, though she thought she should have.

Hearing commotion from the Great Hall, entirely too aware she had next to no time, she turned and sprinted out the door. Across the grounds, to the gate, past the barrier until she was free of the anti-apparation barrier. She popped immediately to the only place she could think of (and as she belatedly realized, the first place they’d come looking). No matter. Rodolphus would stop them.

And explain to her exactly what the hell was going on.

Finding herself at the front door rather than her room as she’d intended, Bellatrix scowled. Reaching out for the knob, she felt the unwelcome prickle of wards. Wards, keeping her out of her house? She didn’t think so. In a fit of rage, of fury, she began to throw spells at the wards protecting the house while bellowing her husband’s name.

Whatever was going on, this was not making her any happier.

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Great Hall: Ginny, open

bat_bogeys
2010-04-01 06:33 pm UTC (link)

Ginny had been laughing, listening to Ari retelling a story, listening to Randy grimbling about Tristan already costing them points, and then she'd heard the scream, even over the clamor of the Hall.

Her motherly instinct had kicked in in time for her to see the spell strike her daughter. A scream tore from her own throat as she vaulted over the table, barreling down the narrow aisle, already made smaller by craning necks and students leaning back to watch the fleeing witch, but Ginny's only thought was her daughter and oh Merlin please don't be dead.

Her wand was out, but Bellatrix wasn't her concern. Arriving by the too-still form of her daughter, Ginny crouched down. "Wake up, baby, please," she whispered, fingers trembling, fumbling at Lily's throat, seeking a pulse, oblivious to the chaos.

"Someone tell Harry," she called when she found the fluttery beat beneath Lily's pale skin.

She was alive, but Ginny didn't know what was wrong, what spell had struck her. She ached to chase after Bella, but Lily needed her, here.

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Re: Great Hall: Ginny, Al, open

al_a_kazam
2010-04-01 10:39 pm UTC (link)

Al tore his attention away from his house mates as Libra shrieked, nearly falling from her seat as she tried to back away from whatever had suddenly caught her eye.

He barely had a chance to notice Greengrass stuffing the younger girl under the table and supposedly out of some sort of danger when the spells began to fly. Al ducked, completely thrown off by the mayhem. He tried to keep his bearings, though, and immediately turned his attention to the Gryffindor table as he scrambled away from his own table.

Just in time to see Lily falls.

"Lils!" he yelled, panicking as he shoved past other students to drop to his knees by his mother and sister. "Is she...?"

He couldn't get the words out. His expression twisted slightly as he pulled his wand out, starting to stand again and look back toward where the dark woman had escaped.

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Re: Great Hall: Ginny, Al, open

bat_bogeys
2010-04-01 10:48 pm UTC (link)

"Stay," Ginny ordered him as he stood up. "She's breathing," she assured him, but that was all she knew. "Send a patronus to your father, if you can," Ginny directed as she brushed her hand over her daughter's hair.

Glancing to the front of the hall, she saw Ashley moving toward them, and she eased Lily off the bench, fighting the urge to sob. The deadweight that was her daughter was still, limp in her arms.

Not dead, but not awake either. Breathing, but so very still. Cradling Lily against herself, she gazed up at her son.

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Re: Great Hall: Ginny, Al, open

al_a_kazam
2010-04-01 11:48 pm UTC (link)

Al didn't know if he could. He'd been taught, of course -- it was important to know in case anyone was every in trouble and he needed to get help fast. But... he'd never had to do it while his sister was cradled half-lifeless and everywhere around him was chaos.

Focusing, Al pulling into place an image of going to a Qudditch match with the family. He wasn't as devoted as Jamie, but it had been a fun family event.

He had trouble pulling it into focus at first, but at last it snapped enough for his patronus to summon. The small field mouse stayed just long enough for Al to be sure he'd really summoned it before sending it to his father with the message that LilyLu had been injured.

"What else?" he murmured, moving closer and biting his lip.

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Great Hall: Ginny, Al, Ashley, open

pages_of_ash
2010-04-01 11:59 pm UTC (link)

"We should get 'er upstairs, out of this mess," Ashley murmured as she joined them in time to hear Al's question.

Flicking her wand, she gently levitated Lily and offered Ginny a hand up. "We will set 'er right," the healer murmured as she reached out to draw the lightened girl against herself, heading for the door.

There were other injuries she'd seen, and she knew Ariana and the other professors would sort them out and bring the ones who needed her upstairs.

This, though, looked far more critical. Gesturing for Al to join them, reasoning he would anyway, Ashley continued on.

Ginny reached out for her son's hand, brown eyes fixed on her daughter as she numbly followed Ashley.

Harry should be here, she thought again. If Al's patronus hadn't gotten to him, she'd try one of her own, if she could.

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Lestrange Manor: Beckett

unsavory_wishes
2010-04-01 08:26 pm UTC (link)

Beckett had stopped by to deposit the latest books on the kitchen floor (she really didn't see why walking all the way to the library was necessary, and the kitchen was more obvious to anyone who wanted to eat and stay alive).

After her chore was done, she had taken it upon herself to tour the household (excluding the study where Lestrange was at work) for anything of interest. Tiny bobbles, new toys. A forgotten letter abandoned on a table, whispering words meant for another's ears at a different date.

The words were unimportant and didn't shine with a spark of the creative, so she moved on.

In the sitting room was where she found herself at last, near to the front entrance.

And then she heard the ruckus, heard the wards singing with held back intrusion.

Lestrange had a visitor.

Officially, the house was in her name now. So it was only right she go to the door. Wouldn't want a nosy Auror finding that the lord of the house still lived.

Beckett didn't hurry, though. not even when she heard the raging and the screams. She simply plucked her wand from her sleeve and moved to press herself against the wall, leaning her head back against it and waiting for a moment of silence.

"Have you come to call for blood or tea, or perhaps somewhere in between?" she asked, curious.

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Lestrange Hall: Beckett, Bellatrix

dark_of_winter
2010-04-01 08:59 pm UTC (link)

Bella froze, wand elevated, lips parted. "Who. The fuck. Are you?" She called through the door. If Rodolophus had brought one of his whores into their home, their bed, there would be words.

Likely not many before she killed him, but there would be words, indeed.

"This is my home," she called, firing another spell at the wards for good measure. "Where is Rodolphus?" Had they been ousted, somehow? Was this part of whatever sick, twisted thing was happening to her?

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Re: Lestrange Hall: Beckett, Bellatrix

unsavory_wishes
2010-04-01 10:30 pm UTC (link)

"The book seller, the middleman, sometimes the maid," Beckett tipped her head to one side as she counted her identities on her fingers. She finished the list by silently mouthing words before she ran out of fingers.

And then through the haze of disconnected thoughts, the words of the stranger clicked.

"Would you be the madam of the house?" Beckett asked, pushing away from the wall and gripping the handle of the door. "I would have had the wards lowered if I only knew you were back so soon..."

After only a moment's thought where a rational piece of her brain warned that the best plans of mice and men often fell to ruin in a green flash of a woman scorned, Becket brought down the ward on the door and flung the entry open wide.

"Welcome home," she breathed, lowering her head slightly while still keeping her eyes fixed on the other woman.

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Re: Lestrange Hall: Beckett, Bellatrix

dark_of_winter
2010-04-01 10:36 pm UTC (link)

She was tempted to kill the woman, whoever she was, and while Bellatrix did lift her wand as the door opened, she refrained.

For now.

"You answered neither question," she pointed out as she strode into the house. She could tell it was different, but couldn't pinpoint how. "I want your name, and to know where my husband is."

Dark eyes flashed around as she wondered why the commotion hadn't drawn Rodolphus. Had he put so very much trust into this stranger?

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Re: Lestrange Hall: Beckett, Bellatrix

unsavory_wishes
2010-04-01 11:16 pm UTC (link)

"Natasha Beckett," she replied obediently, gesturing toward the study as she spoke. "Your husband will be in his study. He doesn't come out for visitors, afraid they'll know he lives and ship him away to pay for old crimes."

He'd have it all sealed up the moment the wards went off, hidden from sight and out of mind. The lord of the house wouldn't wish to come out until he knew that things were well.

"You've been away for half for an age," Beckett mentioned, quirking an eyebrow as she closed the door and put down the wards again. "Shall I alert your husband that you have returned?"

Leaning back against the door and staring up toward the window high up on the same wall, Beckett blinked. "Should I expect more guests, Madam Lestrange? Or tell them all to go far away until another day?"

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Lestrange Hall: Beckett, Bellatrix

dark_of_winter
2010-04-01 11:25 pm UTC (link)

Half an age? Whose age, she wondered even as she strode down the hall to find her husband.

So the woman had a name; that didn't tell her how she'd come to be here. And Rodolphus in hiding?

For a terrifying moment, Bella feared her Dark Lord had fallen, but surely not. He'd simply vacated the hall and let it be ... filled with children acting as though nothing was wrong. That they weren't in the midst of a war.

"Rodolphus!" She demanded once more before turning her attention back to the woman. She flicked her wand casually, intending to simply bind her feet and hands; she didn't need a puppy following her about while she dragged the answers out of her husband.

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Re: Lestrange Hall: Beckett, Bellatrix, Rodolphus

careful_sanity
2010-04-04 04:52 am UTC (link)

Rodolphus knew the sound of the voice when he heard it, but at first he didn't believe his ears. And that annoyed him. He'd gone through too much effort to lose his hearing now.

It was ridiculous, the things age did to the body. He'd had to go so far as dying his hair lately to maintain any semblance of his younger self. It wasn't working well, but at least he had hair. He couldn't say the same about some of his colleagues.

That aside, Rodolphus was getting annoyed that Beckett hadn't gotten rid of whoever was about or come to inform him of his guest.

Straightening up and frowning only once more, Rodolphus unsealed the study and stepped out just in time to see Beckett wobble before falling heavily to the floor.

And then to see Bellatrix.

"M'dear, did you just kill the hired help?" It was the best he could manage through the shock.

Did this mean the Dark Lord had come back as well?

Rodolphus peered around Bellatrix, hoping for some sign. But the house appeared empty aside from the three of them.

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Lestrange Hall: Beckett, Bellatrix, Rodolphus

dark_of_winter
2010-04-04 04:58 am UTC (link)

"I did not kill her," she replied, her chin jutting up slightly as she regarded her husband. He'd gotten older, she could see that almost immediately, despite whatever he'd done to hide it.

If he was older ... "What the bloody red fuck is going on?" She demanded, dark eyes boring into his before she looked around. "And who was she? If she was someone you've taken to your bed ..." She let the threat trail off.

She didn't care what he did outside of the house. She was certain he had lovers, or at least women he fucked. But if he was bringing his little tramps into their house.

"I might've killed someone in my escape," she said a bit randomly, her eyes shifting past him to regard what she could see of the house. She wondered if it would make the paper, and then wondered if she cared.

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