Bellatrix became gradually aware that she was laying flat on her back in a dark place, more because of the stillness of her body and the quiet than any real consciousness of her surroundings. When that came, she shot straight up and to her feet—or, that would have been what happened, if her legs hadn't immediately buckled under her and sent her sprawling to the floor. Pain shot through what seemed like every inch of her body, but she didn't cry out. She felt around for her wand, but found that she was barely dressed, much less armed.

"Accio wand," she hissed, holding her hand out and waiting for that familiar snap of the wood hitting her palm. What she got was the rattling of a box somewhere north of her head. Several muttered curses later, she managed to get to her feet, leaning heavily on the bed to make up for her complete lack of strength. Her eyes had begun to adjust, and just as her gaze had locked on the long, thin box on the bedside table, it hit her: she was in Malfoy Manor.

Where she was not was Godric's Hollow.

Bella had opened her mouth to shout for a house elf when the door creaked open. "What's happened?" She remembered being in the thick of the battle, but there was a point when things went fuzzy around the edges. "How did I get here?" She sagged more onto the bed, despite herself.

"Bella, you shouldn't get up just yet." It was Narcissa's voice: soothing, but cool and in command, not unlike their mother. "You're at the manor. Lucius brought you here. You were injured and you've been in a healing trance. Rodolphus will come as soon as he can, but he's had to arrange things." She came to stand by the bed, not offering Bella her hand just yet. "Lie down again, and let us talk, and I'll tell you what I've heard. You're going to take some time to recover from your injuries."

Bella automatically bristled at her sister's tone, but the information was far more important right now than any desire to prove she was perfectly capable of mustering reserves of energy to get back into the fight. She had a mission, and despite her rather murky memory of much of the fighting, she knew she hadn't accomplished it—and she did not accept failure lightly.

"Is it over, then?" It was obvious now that she'd been there longer than a few minutes. With a sigh, she slid back onto the bed, but didn't lie down immediately. Instead, she reached for the box, hissing lowly at the pull in her abdomen when she stretched, but ignoring it otherwise. Only when she had her wand in hand did she follow Narcissa's instructions. Mostly. She pushed the pillows up enough that she could recline without being entirely flat on her back again.

"What's there to arrange?" She looked down to see that her fingertip was already resting just below the steadily-pulsing tattoo on her wrist, as if she could check her husband's heartbeat by feel the same way she could her own.

Narcissa waited for Bella to do as she was bid. "A number of things. Rodolphus is fine and Rabastan is fine, but their father has died. And you're injured. All of which will be suspicious in the eyes of the outside world. I know you pay no heed to what the world thinks, but you will do the Dark Lord no good by betraying yourself and two others. So you should remain here until you're fit and we'll put a story about to excuse your absence while Rabastan and Rodolphus cover for their father's demise."

"Corvus Lestrange is dead?" Bella snorted a laugh before she could stop herself. She had respected him for Rodolphus's sake, but it was no real secret that she'd never liked the man. "That explains the arrangements, at least." She waved a hand at the rest. "Who cares that I'm absent? Absent from what? Has someone been looking for me, then?"

The Dark Lord would be wanting to speak with her, when the dust settled, if her partner hadn't managed to complete their task in her stead. She dug her fingernails into the sensitive flesh of her wrist, and it drew her focus nicely away from the ache in her belly and the dread in her thoughts. "Lucius is all right, then?"

"Lucius took superficial injuries, not unlike Rodolphus. There were a number of deaths and arrests. Mostly ours, I'm afraid." Narcissa wrinkled her nose in distaste at those who had foolishly permitted themselves to be caught by the DMLE.

Bella cursed and twisted her wand restlessly in her free hand. "Useless, then. I knew—" she started, and then cut herself off, clamping her jaw shut. She'd never question the Dark Lord's orders, and these she'd taken on just as eagerly as the rest, but when she'd seen the group that had been gathered at the Potters' house....

Risky. That was what their mission had been. And for what? A couple of baby upstarts who happened to associate with her turncoat cousin?

"You didn't answer my question. What's this absence thing, then? Have the Aurors come around already?" It would make sense for her to be at Rodolphus's side when the news of his father's death became public, at the very least. Weak or not, she could find the strength to stay on her feet if it was necessary.

Narcissa was parceling out the news slowly so Bella would have time to take it in, piece by piece. "Rodolphus is managing for his father to be 'abroad' with his mother. He will have an accident, or die a natural death, coinciding with their return from France. But there were enough arrests--and deaths--that there will be more searches and other incursions. We're all preparing against that. Bella, our uncle is dead, too--and if I understand matters correctly, the Ministry recovered his remains. You and I will be under particular suspicion for that. And your injuries were worse than you may think. Rodolphus and I have agreed it would be wise to put about that you miscarried of an early pregnancy. It will give a reason for your absence from the--" she curled her lip "--celebrations of the rabble."

That was enough to make Bella want to jump to her feet again, but she disliked getting her sister's stern looks more than she disliked the news—which was saying something. She pressed her lips into a thin line that did nothing to hide the clench of her jaw. Her nostrils flared at the final piece of information.

"Your idea, I suppose." It was inconsequential, but Bella didn't appreciate being handled while she was unconscious. Only the knowledge that her husband had already approved the idea stayed her tongue. If he agreed, then it meant he saw something beyond a surface excuse; this was far too crucial for anything less. After a moment of silence, of staring down at the moon-shaped creases her nails were making in her skin, she could see it, too. "It excuses my absence. It makes anyone asking questions uncomfortable in the asking. Excuses any seemingly odd displays of emotion. Clever, little sister."

Narcissa accepted the compliment as her due. "But there is still one more piece of important news. They think the Dark Lord has fallen, Bella."

Pain and glares or not, Bella was on her feet again immediately, wand clutched so tightly in her hand that she might have broken it if she'd had any real strength in her grip. "No. No." Her voice was sharp, but not raised. She stumbled as she tried to pace away but did not fall. "No. The Dark Lord would not be taken down by that fool and his children."

He couldn't be gone. They needed him. She needed him.

Except her thoughts flashed back to that house full of people, to the mission, to her failure, and for a split second she was relieved. Because it had been stupid. Stupid targets when there was so much as stake. Stupid going on the offensive, practically bearing their necks to a group that barely even qualified as an organisation, much less anything deserving such attention from them. There were bigger, more important targets.

Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid. Her anger was such that she didn't even notice when she started hissing the word aloud.

Ignoring Bella's hiss of fury, Narcissa moved to lay her hand on Bella's arm, but not without giving Bella a clear chance to see what she meant to do. "Bellatrix," she said firmly. "I am sure the Dark Lord has planned against this moment. We must husband our resources until his return. But there is good news as well. Albus Dumbledore has vanished. So the blood traitor rabble and their filthy hangers-on are without guidance as well. Soon they will fall apart, and they can be picked off one by one. But carefully, so we can keep the remainder of our number while diminishing theirs."

Bellatrix's body was rigid under her sister's touch, and while she swayed a bit on her feet, she would have barely looked injured at all to an undiscerning eye. "Our remainder," she repeated, some of the bite returning to her tone. All of the true fury she pushed deep into herself, wrapping it around her healing wound and saving it for when she would need it—or she no longer had the self-possession to hold it. "You make it sound as if we've barely anyone left. Lestrange and Rosier Senior are hardly key losses." Maybe to some of the older set, but Bella knew better. On the subject of the Dark Lord, she was silent.

"I hardly know the inner workings of the organisation but I do know that the deaths and arrests are a matter of concern to Rodolphus and Lucius." Which, to Narcissa, was clearly the key thing. "They weren't the only ones, just the most senior. Someone killed Greyback as well, but he's not so much of a loss. And reports speak of several arrests, including Dolohov."

Bella cursed even more, but when she attempted to keep walking, away from that hand on her arm, she very nearly fell again. Enough, she told herself, and stalked back toward the bed with the last of her energy reserves. Rodolphus had enough on his mind already, and she wouldn't give him worries about her to add to the list, as much as she wanted to immediately apparate somewhere dark and—

She stopped the thought as quickly as it came, knowing it would lead to a place even more difficult to hold back than she'd already found tonight. "No more," she said, and while it was mostly to herself, she realised after it came out that she meant it for Narcissa, too. "No more." Bella rooted around in the drawer of the bedside table and came up with a sketchbook. She hadn't remembered that it was there, exactly, but had assumed it might be. She tended to leave them most everywhere, for when her hands got twitchy. She collapsed on the bed with it. "I'll rest until Rodolphus is back."

Narcissa inclined her head. It was a victory; time to retreat and tell Rodolphus what she'd won for him. "I'll send something to eat up on a tray. For you to eat when you feel ready." She didn't repeat herself on the subject of strength. She didn't have to.

Bella didn't look up from the sketchbook, but raised a hand to silently summon a quill from the writing desk on the other side of the room. "Yes, fine," she said, rather absently as the ink started to appear on the page without much real intent from her. "I'll be a good little girl and stay put." There was bitterness in the statement, but only a hint. The rest was safely clamped down with the rest.

Let Bella sulk. Let her have the last word even, so long as she did what was needed. Narcissa closed the door behind her and went to tell Rodolphus that his wife was awake.