bella sees your italic caps and raises you a bold (mostdevoted) wrote in blurred_lines, @ 2009-06-08 00:17:00 |
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Entry tags: | ! [1980-06] june, aeneas nott, bellatrix lestrange (née black) |
Who: Aeneas Nott & Bellatrix Swan Lestrange
When: 7 June, 1980; twilight.
Where: library; Lestrange Manor
What: Aeneas has some unpleasant news for Bellatrix.
Rating: PG-13
Status: Completed Log.
While he understood that the others may have been uncomfortable with the situation at hand, Aeneas Nott felt little remorse as he searched Lestrange Manor for its mistress. Perhaps it was cold of him, to be even looking forward to the news he had to give his dear friend's wife, but after the display she had put on at dinner combined with her reluctance to help the Cause - to release women including her own sister-in-law? No, he felt no remorse. It had been a mistake in the first place to allow a woman into the Inner Circle. At least now the mistake would be rectified. Aeneas finally spied her in the library and stopped in the doorway. "A moment, Mrs. Lestrange?" he asked. Without waiting for an answer, he strode into the room, shutting the door with his wand and sitting down on the chair directly across from her. He crossed his legs and leaned back, as if he were just having a casual conversation with a friend. Bellatrix was in a particularly poor mood as she sat in the library, flipping idly through a text of curses as she worked to regain the knowledge that had been lost to her since the battle at Hogwarts. She had returned home from her sister's house only to find a dining room full of people who she had absolutely no interest in socialising with - most of whom were all but strangers to her and the last thing she wanted was to sit and pretend as if she cared of their troubles. Or that she had the slightest idea of what they were talking about any time the conversation went beyond the last two months. That, of course, was a concern that was quickly proven to be irrelevant at Graley's very public declaration of her condition and oh she was going to make him pay for that. It was hardly the concern of the lesser ranks, let alone those who were not even in the Dark Lord's service and that he had dared to expose her in such a way left her filled with such a powerful rage that it was exceedingly difficult to concentrate on the heavy text spread across her lap. Aeneas's entry into the one sanctuary she had found in the overly crowded house certainly did not help matters. She gave him no more than a glance before returning to her book and she replied with a cold, "I am busy." Aeneas raised his eyebrow at her, slowly stroking the end of his moustache with his fingers. "I gave you the courtesy of a request," he said slowly, making no indication that he would be moving from the chair anytime soon. "Something that was perhaps too generous of me, I now see." He frowned deeper, in apparent displeasure rather than the normal day-to-day frown he wore upon his face. "Are you, then, too busy for the Dark Lord's work? It appears so; your absence from our meeting after dinner was not overlooked." Bellatrix's eyes narrowed in irritation as it became apparent that Aeneas clearly did not intend to leave her in peace. She had more than enough of these old men and their notion that she should answer to them rather than the Dark Lord himself. Even if she did not exactly remember her promotion to the first tier, the honour of rising to the Inner Circle was one that still remained within her own memories. And she had learnt enough of her own deeds to know that it was a place she had more than earned. Simply because she did not remember did not mean the actions were not still her own. Why then, should she defer to them when she was the Dark Lord's greatest and most devoted servant? "I will do our Lord's bidding as I have always done," she snapped irritably. "I was not aware his will was that I subject myself to after dinner drinks and the humourless banter of company I did not wish for." "Put away your pride, Bellatrix," he called out, his voice ringing through the library. "The Lord's bidding, in case you may no longer remember, entails not only his direct orders but a responsibility for all those who support his Cause," he snarled back at her, his own annoyance at the woman - his former equal but thankfully no longer - rising considerably. "You can no longer delude yourself that you are privileged enough to answer only to Him - I think His demotion speaks clear enough on that." He narrowed his eyes at her, clearly enjoying the verbal lashing he was giving her - his enjoyment amplified because he knew it was true, that he was completely in the right. The Dark Lord's actions made that clear. The next part, however, he would enjoy more, if only for her words to him as of late. "And while we are on the topic of demotions," he drawled, savouring the moment, "I have come to inform you that from this point forward you are no longer part of the Inner Circle." He paused. And waited. Bellatrix's mood shifted from irritated to absolutely furious in a matter of seconds at Aeneas's audacity to lord her demotion over her. She was about to snap back at him, to point out that her sister, to whom she had been devoting her attentions over the last few days, was a supporter of the cause, as her newborn son undoubtedly would be as well. And while it was not the entirety of her reasons, it was at least all that she cared to reveal to this arrogant, self-important man who she only ever remembered loathing. And then he continued speaking. And Bellatrix's world stopped. She sat in stunned silence, frozen to her chair. no longer part of the Inner Circle No longer a part of those the Dark Lord kept in his counsel. No longer to be honoured by his presence. It was the one thing that had consoled her as she had been dismissed to the rank of second tier, that she would still be allowed her place at His side. And now... No. It was not possible. The Dark Lord knew her to be his most devoted servant. He would not, could not cast her aside like this. This was nothing more than the deceit and trickery of old men who had never appreciated her talents, her great contributions to the cause. Who put their own foolish notions of what a woman should be ahead of their work. They were the prideful ones. And then breaking the silence that was hanging between them, she sprung out of her chair. The book in her lap fell to the floor with a heavy thud and Bellatrix turned on Aeneas, her wand clenched in her shaking hand as she pointed it at him, barely, barely resisting the urge to cast the cruciatus on him for his treachery. "You lie," she snapped venomously. Aeneas picked his wand up lazily from where it lay next to him and twirled it in his fingers. She may have been acting rather foolishly (so much like a woman) since her memory loss, but he believed she was not stupid enough to actually curse him. He was still ready, of course, to counter any spell she may send his way, but he did not think it would be necessary. "I would not lie, Bellatrix," hissed Aeneas. "Do not insult me so." He let his arm drop to the side, his body language still relaxed even as his words indicated anger but he did not let his attention drift. "Nor do I ever joke, so you may cease your accusations. Your constant and deliberate refusal to assist Atticus and myself at the Foundation Centre as well as your absence tonight - far from being simply 'after dinner drinks' and 'humourless banter' - have lead to this and the fault is no one's but your own." Yes, she knew enough not to curse a member of the Inner Circle (now her superior, she thought bitterly) but whether she was truly able to restrain herself, her fury, still remained to be seen. The denial that she had so easily embraced was gone but that did not mean she was going to accept the responsibility of her own actions. Nor could she direct her anger towards the Dark Lord, even if she knew the decision to do such a thing was his alone. That was a blasphemy she was not capable of. No, her anger remained firmly upon Aeneas, for being the one to bring her such news (did she not even deserve the consideration of hearing it from their Lord Himself? Or Rodolphus, as her mentor? Husband was something she still could not comprehend.) And for the role he had surely played in this, the false counsel he had given their Lord. "My sister needed me. Another supporter of this cause, or have you somehow forgotten that she gave birth that very day?" she replied, still shaking with rage with her wand trained squarely at Aeneas's chest. Not that she was going to explain why Narcissa had needed her, that the birth of her son was not without its costs. Not to this man. Nor would she breathe a word of the other reason for her refusal to assist - the disconcerting uncertainty over her own abilities that plagued the normally so confident woman. Not in battle, her belief in her strength as a duellist was unwavering, but with her ability to take down wards of her own creation. Even the mere possibility of failure, of displaying such a weakness before Atticus and Aeneas was a humiliation she could not bear. No, her true reasons would be her knowledge alone. Instead she, as she had been doing so frequently since her injury, lashed out with anger borne of sheer defensiveness. "I had thought you would have been more than capable of handling the situation yourselves," she sneered. "Clearly I was mistaken. Is this how you compensate for your own failure, then?" Aeneas was tiring of her talk. The excuses she gave meant nothing to him, for he knew they were only that - excuses. He scoffed, "You seem to have a selective memory, Bellatrix, in addition to its faults. It saddens me to hear you know so little of what it going on - were you even aware there was a battle at all? Did you not know that your own sister-in-law escaped?" He raised his eyebrows at her, feigning an actual questioning look. "Atticus and I were quite successful handling the situation of the wards. There was no failure on our part. Do not think that your petty excuses will put you back into His favour. Lucius' son is a blessing, as we all well know, but if you believe these womanly duties are more important than your obligations to the Dark Lord, then perhaps you should rethink your pledge to him." His tone was playful, now, with a slight edge to it - enough that one likely could not quite tell if he was serious or simply insulting. "I am sure the Dark Lord would be more than all right with you stepping back to take your place as a mother and a lady in society." Everything he had said, his laughable (in her mind) claims that the battle had been in any way a success, his jabs at the state of her memory, it was all forgotten at his final insult. Positively seething, she remained frozen for a moment as she fought to control her temper, to control the impulse to strike him down for daring to suggest that she might be better suited among the weak and simpering society women. He was right about one thing. The excuses were tiring, for her as well. But she would not give him the satisfaction of seeing her defeated, no matter how devastating his news. Nor did she need to explain herself to him, a view she would have been better served by in the first place. And so she slowly lowered her wand as she drew herself up to her full height, her head held high. "And give the likes of you the satisfaction? Never," she declared haughtily. "I will regain my place, Aeneas. My rightful place at our Lord's side. And my memory may have its flaws, but I will not forget this." Aeneas looked away - up and to the ceiling. He would not look up at her; he knew what she was trying to do. Neither, however, would he give her the satisfaction of letting her actions dictate his own. He remained seated. "You would do best to not forget this," he chided just as he would to any other Outer Circle Death Eater, deliberately taking her words wrong. "Lest you fail to learn from your mistake. Now sit down, for we are not finished here. There is still the matter of your mentee." Bellatrix knew full well how the power structure within the Death Eaters worked, she knew what her position relegated to the Outer Circle meant in terms of her interactions with Aeneas. That he was to be deferred to, obeyed. By her own memory, it had not been so long since she had risen to the rank of his equal, but that did not mean she did not still bristle at the order. "No," she replied flatly. Never mind that doing precisely that had been exactly what had brought her to this position in the first place. "I may have to defer to your orders in service to our Lord - for now - but I will not be told to sit in my own home." It was a ridiculous thing to put her foot down over but at the moment it seemed to be the one thing she still had some semblance of control over and she refused to bend to Aeneas's whim. Her one concession was to take a step back and lean against a small writing desk as she folded her arms across her chest, still stubbornly refusing to actually sit, but at least appearing ever so slightly less confrontational. "The Dark Lord has already spoken to me on the matter," she replied impatiently. "It is not your concern." Aeneas was growing tired of her insolence, and were he a silly girl he would have immediately rolled his eyes. Instead, he simply continued to frown, though the wrinkles on his forehead became more pronounced. "The education of the lower ranked Death Eaters is my concern, Bellatrix." Regardless of the truth in his words, Bellatrix simply did not care and her eyes narrowed in irritation. She wished for all the world that Aeneas would simply leave as she was quite done with this conversation, even if he clearly was not. She wished to be left alone. No, that was not entirely true. She wished to make the older man suffer but as that was clearly not a wise option, solitude seemed to be the safer choice, lest her volatile temper send her slipping further down the ranks. "And the Dark Lord has spoken to me on the matter," she repeated snappishly. "He has instructed me to find a new mentor for Barty and I will do so." "He has instructed you nearly a month ago, Bellatrix," Aeneas pointed out, not at all amused by her antics. He reached up to stroke his moustache, as calm as he could force himself to be. "Just one more of His orders you have failed, is it not? Very well, I can see you will not do even this simple task right - I will take the boy, and you will not have to explain to the Dark Lord that you were also unable to fulfill that request." The corner of his mouth twitched - perhaps on another face it would have been a smirk, but this was Aeneas Nott. He was being quite generous to Bellatrix now, and she would owe him for it. Even if he was right, that she had dallied far too long in finding a new mentor for Barty, that did not mean she did not bristle at Aeneas's claiming of her mentee. Let alone the assertion that she had failed. Was it surprising that she had been slow to relinquish the sign of her position in the first tier? It was not that she intended to defy the Dark Lord's order - she did not have it in her to consider the possibility - she had simply... not found any of these insufferable old men to be suitable by her standards. And now Barty, the boy she had trained and moulded into a proud servant of the Dark Lord (even if she did not actually remember doing so) was to be handed to this man of all of them? Her arms unfolded from her chest and she reached to grasp the edge of the desk, her fingers curling around the wood, nails pressed painfully into the underside as if she was attempting to dig clear through it. "Fine," she replied through a clenched jaw. She knew she did not have any choice but to relent on the matter and truly at this point she simply wanted Aeneas Nott out of her sight. She needed to break things. "You may leave now," she said, giving a haughty lift of her chin. Aeneas remained seated for a few moments, seemingly ignoring the woman as he inspected the arm of the chair he was sitting in. While somewhere in the back of his mind he understood that this was her home and she had ever right to kick him out of a room, he wanted to give her as little satisfaction as possible. After a bit longer, he finally looked up at her (to find her, unsurprisingly, glaring at him) and stated nonchalantly, "I think it is time I should be going." He stood and strode out of the room and once the door shut behind him, a small smile crossed Aeneas Nott's face. |