InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "they be takin' mah bukkit!"

Lucius poured the drinks, as always.The ritual and the concentration were focusing and he preferred to have the moment to do so while Narcissa settled Draco.He handed the first one to Rabastan."I'd advise not watching the pensieve.Arlo is good at what he does."

Rabbit's mouth twisted. "Yeah, thanks. I don't need any more incentive to do something rash and unpleasant to him." Fencing Bellatrix in with gentle reminders of the benefits of cold revenge had been a nice reinforcement to himself as well; how efficient. "Thanks for everything you did for Rodolphus. Throughout."

"I only wish we could have done more," Narcissa said, reaching for her own drink. She had viewed the pensieve in the name of trying to ease what had been done to Rodolphus as best she could. She was not a healer, and certainly not one of the level of Arlo Mulciber. Bringing someone under their sway who was closer to Arlo's power and skill had become a high priority suddenly. "There are limits to what we can do, both in general and specifically without tipping our hand. What Rodolphus has paid so dearly to do must not be undone by our folly. Or my sister's, though that fuse is already lit, I fear."

"What I don't understand is how they've managed to keep from killing each other so far.None of them lack the malice, motivation, or methods to do so and it would make our job so much easier.I can only surmise that they assume that the Malfoys and Lestranges would pick off any survivors of an internecine war and have banded together out of fear of us."

It probably wasn't what he surmised, but it kept the topic of conversation away from recent events, it served Lucius' purpose.

Rabbit shrugged. "Maybe they're horcruxes so they can't off each other." More likely, three was a good number for a stalemate; any poorly considered assault one on another left both vulnerable to the third, and all three knew it. But it might just be that they'd contrived a wedge to drive in the middle, albeit bought with Rodolphus's pain. "The pressing question is going to be--" And he nodded to Narcissa. "Keeping Trixie from venting her spleen." And other people's.

"Which is going to require a lot of effort and, I think, not all of it mine," Narcissa said tightly. "The fact that I would destroy someone who did as much to Lucius in my own way, taking the time to ensure the utter destruction of my victim, isn't something that occurs to Bellatrix. She thinks all can be solved with strength and immediate violence."

Narcissa pressed her lips together momentarily, as if to hold in something untoward, before adding, "And we also have to consider what she's going to say to Mother. I think somehow we must arrange it so that we, all three together, control their impression of what has happened to Rodolphus. I don't want anyone in our family to think that Rodolphus has broken with the old men." Cygnus, after all, for all that he was unMarked, fancied himself one of the old men.

Lucius nodded.It was good to consider how to cover their tracks."If he needs time to recover, we give him time.Perhaps we can say that he exhausted himself caring for his wife and he needs a few days rest.If that makes the old men think they have made their point, then so much the better."

"That they let Rod live means that they aren't certain of him.If they have a hope for him and wish to punish him, they'll give Bella a task, and hope she gets caught.They're not above using her to get to him."

"Trixie, Mother, dealing with Father's death and running things now." Rabbit shrugged. "Rodolphus probably could use a holiday and all." For all his brother usually gave every impression of needing one about as much as some Muggle robot. More troubling was the idea of getting at Rodolphus through Bellatrix; Rabbit scratched at the back of his neck and pulled a face as he considered it. "That'll make a mess," he predicted. "Trixie getting done, I mean."

"Yes," Narcissa agreed coolly, "It will." If the Triad thought the Malfoys were also involved in whatever they suspected Rodolphus was up to, this would also be a means of striking at them. One for which Narcissa would never forgive them, but that meant little, for she was unMarked. "Perhaps, Rabastan, you should deal with my parents, for once, and I can talk to Priscilla. And we all three try to keep Bella from doing anything foolish."

Lucius agreed with the plan."I can speak to Bellatrix, then.I am most concerned that she may be convinced by her … proclivity for action to act against our interests at the prodding of the old men.'Don't let the old men goad or entice you into action at odds with Rod's plans' is a strong message, but not one that will hold the day indefinitely.We should look for opportunities for her to satisfy her desires that do not expose us to risk."

Rabbit pulled a bit of a face at Narcissa's suggestion, but it was mostly reflex; his mind was already turning over ways of approaching it, and it'd certainly be less painful that dealing with his own mother. He gave her a nod, accepting that bargain, and tipped another to her husband. "Rodolphus has her tidying up a few bits and pieces, following up on some possibilities we've shaken loose. But it's not going to be enough. Not right now." And nothing Rabbit had afoot would benefit from her setting fire to it. He pulled more of a face this time, and noted, "The Triad are so bloody timid right now, like they don't want to inconvenience any wiz--" He stopped mid-word, eyes briefly unfocused as he thought quickly through this sudden notion. And then suggested, "Let her burn down something Muggle?"

Narcissa pondered the idea for a moment before deciding it was acceptable for further consideration. "As long as it's not so splashy it comes back round to bite us with the old men." Which could be either a large massacre or something small but pointed like going after the family of some mudblood whom Bella despised.

Lucius nodded. "It could still get out of hand; we'll have to help her choose her targets.Perhaps we can aim her at Scotland or Ireland or some other place nobody pays attention to."

"Mm, not Wimbledon," Rabbit agreed, and pulled a bit of a face. Herding that cat was always hit and miss, but he wasn't going to say so out loud in front of her sister. What he did say was, "She's not stupid; she'll not get much satisfaction out of anything that lacks real bite." It was a delicate needle to thread. "Keep eyes and ears open and see what suggests itself?" he suggested.

While Narcissa would never have agreed with Rabbit openly, his sense of how to manipulate Bellatrix for her own good ran close to Narcissa's own. She had learned from her parents that the best way to do it was to present a fait accompli. "I think so. But sooner rather than later, because if we don't distract her quickly, she will move against the old men, and then we'll have a real problem."

For all that she was on his plate, Lucius knew better than to discount two of the three most effective managers of his sister-in-law. "Assuming," he added, "our arrangements don't resolve that issue first."