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Tweak says, "DEPRESSION OF CRACK SAUCE"

Bellatrix Lestrange (sw_bellatrix) wrote in strugglewithin,
@ 2008-10-25 20:38:00

Entry tags:

*complete, bellatrix lestrange, july 1997, melinda bobbin, nymphadora lupin

RP: A stroll down a familiar road
Date: Saturday Afternoon, 25 July 1997
Characters: Bellatrix Lestrange, ?
Location: Diagon Alley.
Status: Public
Summary: Bellatrix is bored. And antsy. And bored. It's not generally a healthy thing for those around her. Fortunately a little polyjuice gives her an excuse to go roaming.
Completion: Complete

Bored, bored, bored.

She was tired of looking at the same walls, at the same dreary landscapes. Even sneaking up on Wormtail and making him jump and squeal had lost its appeal. And since her Lord had ordered her to stop toughening up the recruits through liberal use of her favorite curse, she had nothing useful to do until his Glorious Plan was set into motion.

It was fortunate that her beloved Rodolphus had laid in a supply of polyjuice and a selection of hair samples. Selecting a blonde hair and travel flask, she was soon on her way to do a little scouting and a little shopping as Pleione Schwarz.

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tough_tonks
2008-10-25 10:31 pm UTC (link)

The day off work, a rarity truth be told, and Tonks didn't entirely know what to do with herself. Between business for the Order, being a new wife, and holding down a full time job, this was the first true day off she could remember having in a very, very long time. Still, part of her was determined to enjoy it. Shopping for a few things for she and Remus' small, but respectable, house hold seemed like a wise idea.

She didn't wear her Auror's robes, for once, but her preferred slightly punk styled clothing. Her old, favourite, ripped but servicable Weird Sisters teeshirt covered her upper half. She had the sleeves rolled all the way up as the day was hot for mid summer and a part of her dreamt about getting some sort of actual sun, not just metamorphing herself into a tan. A pair of ripped cut off jean shorts clad her hips and her lithe legs were bare down to calf-high purple socks and comfortable, black combat boots. It was the most at ease she'd been in a long time.

And, of course, there was the one last accessory that fit her every outfit these days -- her wedding ring. She hadn't taken it off since their marriage last month. To this day she found herself looking at it in a touch of wonder every now and then. Between a day off, shopping, and the ring on her finger, Tonks found herself smiling inspite of everything.

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sw_bellatrix
2008-10-25 10:52 pm UTC (link)

Bellatrix had wandered long enough that she'd had to take a second dose of polyjuice, but she was enjoying seeing the sights once more. The doomsayers and the protection charms salespeople were so droll and amusing. Even more so were the fools that spent their coins on those useless trinkets. As if a twisted bit of leather and metal could hope to stop her Lord or even the least of his Death Eaters.

She had picked up a few interesting trinkets in Knockturn and was now heading to the less dingy parts of Diagon. She wanted to pick out something pretty to surprise her Dolph with - maybe something lacy and silken.

Rounding a corner on her way to an upper end lingerie store she remembered, she spotted a terribly vulgar splash of color. She scowled. it was that stain up on the honor of the House of Black. She'd made a point of what had become of her family members, even the blacksheep.

Wait. Was that a ring on the girl's finger? Could it be hope that the halfbreed had attempted to redeem herself by finding a proper husband? Not that those dreadful clothes gave her much hope in the matter.

Bellatrix summoned a sweet smile and slipped through the Saturday crowd so as to end up nearly colliding with the girl. "Oh," she said, taking care to hold a touch of a germanic accent in her voice, "I apologize, miss."

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tough_tonks
2008-10-25 11:01 pm UTC (link)

Of course, Tonks couldn't simply almost collide into someone. She managed to not actually run into the pale, unfamiliar looking woman, but the shock of -nearly- running into someone sent the Auror reeling backwards. She managed to trip over her own two feet in the process and soon all lithe, bare limbs and pink hair. "Bloody hell." She growled out, ass bottom on the ground now and a few of the crowd just staring before shuffling on in their activities. Somewhere down the alley, a child was giggling mercilessly.

"It... it's alright. Chances are I'd have tripped whether you were there or not. Least this way it looks like it wasn't all my fault." Tonks offered the unfamiliar woman a slightly embarrassed smile, but she had become so accustomed to her own clutziness that she really wasn't bothered by it any longer. Within a few moments she pulled herself athletically back to her feet, beaming smile matching the energy in her steps.

"You didn't drop anything, did you? Sorry again, luv, I really didn't see you at all."

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sw_bellatrix
2008-10-25 11:24 pm UTC (link)

It was quite difficult to hold a concerned expression on her borrowed face as the girl wallowed on the ground. That had to be a trait she was cursed with by the creature her mother wed. No Black was ever anything less that graceful. Even at his absolute worst, Sirius had moved with more pureblood flair.

"My packages are safe, miss. Are you certain you are not harmed?" She looked the girl up and down and managed not to sneer at her atrocious clothing. "Oh, I should call you 'missus', should I not?" She nodded at the ring on the girl's hand.

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tough_tonks
2008-10-25 11:38 pm UTC (link)

Tonks, though there was something in the back of her mind which told her something was off, kept a smile on her lips. She usually told herself to trust her instincts, but there was nothing strange about the woman other than a hint of hesitation and that could have simply been shyness. She shook off the thought, used her hand to dust off her bottom, and nodded to the blonde reassuringly.

"Fine, really. I'm used to it. Never been the most... Graceful of beings." And then the woman offered the question of Missus, and though it was not a term Tonks had really ever come to use, the inquiry certainly made her smile even wider. She even blushed, if just a bit, her blue eyes tilting down to the ring with that quiet look of pride. "Missus indeed. Sorry if... I... it's just... Fresh. Married last month, so..." Tonks was still the blushing bride, literally.

Finally, remembering her manners, Tonks offered her right hand towards the woman. Not the hand with the ring, of course, as it rested upon her left ring finger, the proper position with a supposed line to the heart. Her right hand was good for shaking, though! "Nymphadora Lupin. But everyone just calls me Tonks."

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sw_bellatrix
2008-10-25 11:51 pm UTC (link)

Lupin? Where had she heard that name before? Bellatrix's eyes widened and she drew herself up to her full height and was frustrated by this body's lack of inches. Her head tilted to the side and a rather dangerous glint lit in her blue eyes.

"Lupin?" she purred, any hint of Switzerland falling completely out of her voice, "Lupin, you say. That wouldn't be Remus Lupin, would it?" She ignored the offered hand and instead gave her wrist that little twist that caused her wand to fall into her palm.

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tough_tonks
2008-10-26 12:02 am UTC (link)

Tonks' smile slightly faltered, her brows furrowed as she watched the accent fall away and heard the slight tension in the woman's voice. She still didn't quite clue in to whom exactly stood across from her, her interactions with her aunt having been limited to say the least, but she very well got the idea that somehow she had insulted the woman. Tonks drew back, her hand falling to her side and body slipping a hint away from her, into the neutral territory of the street.

"Yes, Remus Lupin is my husband. He... he taught at Hogwarts for a bit. Quite good with most students but some... Parents had -issue- with him." Tonks makes no effort to hide the distaste in her voice at the fact people disliked Remus because of what he was, and should this woman be in that crowd, the pink haired metamorpmagus seemed quite ready to teach the blonde a thing or two about her husband and his worthiness of praise.

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sw_bellatrix
2008-10-26 12:09 am UTC (link)

Bellatrix threw back her head and laughed. It was a wild, mad sound and the crowd cowered away from her as if they sudden realized what exactly was in their midst.

"Oh, this is rich," she declared as she shrunk her packages and stuffed them into the pockets of her robes. "I had thought that Andromeda had brought the most shame to the House of Black by marrying that magicless thing. But now her daughter has dirty herself with a cur. Oh, there shall be a reckoning for this insult. I promise you that, ickle Nymphadora."

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tough_tonks
2008-10-26 12:15 am UTC (link)

The discomfort and righteous protectiveness of her husband suddenly fell away the moment Nymphadora realized who stood before her. She could curse herself for not having seen it earlier, but there wasn't time now. She whipped out her wand from her back pocket in a motion that was almost too quick to see, taking advantage of the few seconds Bellatrix gave her while getting her packages shrunk. Tonks' eyes were now utterly serious, the look of an Auror, and a formidable one at that.

"Bellatrix Black LeStrange. You might be blood, but you are also a wanted criminal. You can come with me peaceably or I will take you in by force." She might not have worn her ministers robes, but an Auror never truly took a day off and it's clear Tonks was ready to arrest Bellatrix on the spot. As for the possible fight to ensue, the crowd had begun to vanish from the street in fear of the possible show down. Maybe word would get back quick enough Tonks could get some back up, but she doubted it.

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sw_bellatrix
2008-10-26 12:23 am UTC (link)

"Is that any way to talk to your Auntie Bella?" She shook her wand at the cheeky girl as if waving a chiding finger.

"If you want me, ickle Mudblood, come and get me!" She flung an exploding hex into the cobbles at the girl's feet and grinned fiercely as stone shrapnel bounced off the shield spell that she'd cast on the heels of her first spell.

This was even more fun that shopping.

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tough_tonks
2008-10-26 12:36 am UTC (link)

Tonks stumbled back as the cobblestone beneath her blew up and outwards, several bits of shrapnel cutting at her bare limbs and even one against her cheeks, but it didn't blind her. Hell, it didn't even topple her. When push came to shove, Tonks had some bow learned to put her clumsiness behind her and kept tightly to her feet even as she had to leap back to avoid being knocked back enitrely. Her wand whipped around through the dust of broken stones and she cried her hex out onto the air.

"Stupefy!" She'd prefer to take the woman in unconscious but unharmed. After all, she was an Auror. They really were the good guys. But she had a sinking feeling a few stupefies weren't going to be enough to take her estranged Aunt down. Still, she had to try. Once her hex was off, she instinctively dove for a bit of cover, doing her best to make certain she was still conscious and on her feet to finish this fight, despite her aunt's greater years and experience than herself.

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sw_bellatrix
2008-10-26 02:13 pm UTC (link)

A silent Protego deflected the girl's feeble spell into a bystander. Despite wanting to linger to play, she could feel the beginning twinges of the polyjuice fading away. Her Lord would not be happy if she was spotted in Diagon before he gave the word. As it was, there would be only the bloodtraitor's spawn's word to say she had been here.

But there was time for a few more taunts and a spell or two.

"Is that all you have, little baby Nymphadora? You need to study up before we finish this dance." Another explosive hex destroyed a vender's stand and a blast of pure flame had the protective charms beyond it burning merrily.

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sweet_melinda
2008-10-27 07:03 pm UTC (link)

Melinda had been buying another so-called protective amulet - Mr. Weasley apparently thought it was a good idea if she kept going back for more, but since she got out of work for an hour or so, she wasn't going to complain.

She had just picked up a rather ugly looking brooch that apparently had protective qualities when she heard an absolutely manic, mad laugh. Turning, she frowned at the blonde in the middle of the street, cackling away. Honestly, didn't she know people were trying to shop?

Bloody hell - did she just pull a wand on the other witch?

Melinda's eyes widened and then she heard the Stupefy a moment before a burst of red light hit her. She had a moment to think 'Bugger, I hope nobody steals my purse' before she went unconscious.

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tough_tonks
2008-10-30 12:52 am UTC (link)

The sound off her spell going awry and across the street half shocked Tonks, but the brief cry of the civilian woman that it hit was even worse. Tonks couldn't really worry about a downed civilian, sadly. Fortunately, she'd just used a light stunning spell and not something more dangerous. She knew the woman would be alright, but that might change if she continued to let her death eater cousin roam free, so she had to take a different tactic.

It was a quick bit of thinking, but the wild spells Bellatrix was sending out, and the smooth deflection of Tonks' first attempt fueled an spell she'd been working on for a while now but never had the chance to showcase. It was, essentially, a shield. But it was made to encase instead of protect. She focused her eyes, wand flicking hard in Bellatrix' direction as she growled across the crowd, "Penitenio!" And suddenly a field of energy appeared -around- Bellatrix instead of hitting her at all. Inside the dome like shield, spells could bounce but not escape. Outside, things were as normal. Tonks had no clue how long she had to keep the charm up, but it seemed solid for now, even if it took a good bit of energy to maintain.

"Now, Bellatrix, you can come nicely or I will put you down where you stand." Tonks stated coldly, keeping her wand lofted in the woman's direction so the shield charm held solid. Tonks even took a few more steps in Bellatrix' direction, feeling suddenly confident that her spell was holding.

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sw_bellatrix
2008-10-30 05:59 pm UTC (link)

Bellatrix poked the shield wall with the tip of her wand. It would take quite a while to truly dismantle the damned thing and her polyjuice would surely be worn off by then. She glared at her so-called niece.

"You are just no fun at all, ickle Nymphadora. We shall have to continue this another time. Ta-ta!" With that, she blasted a hole through the top of the shield-bubble and Apparate away before it could self-correct.

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tough_tonks
2008-10-31 02:35 am UTC (link)

The weakest bit of the shield was, of course, the top arch, not really expecting anyone to exactly escape that way, the blast of the wand made it flicker out just long enough for Bellatrix' apparation to go through. Nymphadora cursed loud enough that she no doubt drew a few skeptical looks about a proper ministry worker using such language, but it was done. "Bloody hell. Bellatrix... wandering the square like some bloody innocent girl..." Tonks growled out the words as she paced in the direction of the fallen woman.

"How is she?" She looked across poor Melinda with worried, if rather distracted, eyes. She needed to get an owl off to the ministry as quickly as possible. "And does anyone have an owl? I will pay for it's services. This is ministry business." She clipped out, her usually teasing, light voice now utterly professional.

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