Political Relations Date: Friday, 12 December, 2001 Time: Evening Characters: Bellatrix Black and Draco Malfoy Location: Malfoy Manor
Thus far, things seemed to have been going well. Bellatrix, however, wasn't often one to celebrate early, not especially not when the person given a task had so emphatically expressed his sense of inadequacy. Despite this, hope lingered in the back of her mind that she was not about to hear some kind of fiasco was about to be leaked. After all, sometimes simply being around the appropriate person with the proper sort of expectations was all people needed to truly excel. It was rare, but it happened. Making a mental note to avoid voicing and of the conclusions she was likely to jump to the moment he began to speak, she didn't even bother summoning a cloak she as walked down the hall to the main fireplace in the entryway of her home.
Traveling to Malfoy Manor was beginning to take on a familiar feel. Part of her couldn't help but wonder what it would have been like to have seen Cissy married, to come here to see family as much as she'd come on business to see Lucius. Draco - well, Draco was family and business rolled into one. She'd always held something of a grudge against her mother for not having a son. It wasn't that she lacked male company, most of her associates had been men, but she couldn't help but wonder how it would have been to have a brother close to her own age. With Regulus and Draco now so disproportionately older, it seemed like a distorted reflection of the experience. Ludicrous as the thought was, she knew that if she'd had a brother, who had listened properly, there'd have been no end to the things they could have accomplished.
Stepping through the floo, she used the back of her hand to brush away a bit of ash from the fitted dark green satin of her sleeve. Since she'd initially been planning on spending the evening in, the robes she wore were a little less structured, a little more like something her sister would wear. It had been hard to keep track of Cissy lately. Perhaps after she met with Draco she'd have a chance to see his mother.
Trailing her fingertips along the side table that supported a tall vase of lilies, she waited for whichever elf to alert her nephew to her arrival.