Chapter 58. Sweet Revenge
As soon as the last of the four hit the ground, a clear imprint of the katana's hilt stamped into his forehead. Severus finally pulled off his mask. His expression was calm and relaxed once more, as if nothing had happened at all.
"Somehow that was all too easy, don't you think?" he said with a smile, shifting his gaze to Bella as she stepped out from behind a tree, looking gloomy.
"What are you going to do with them?"
"Are you worried about them? Do you really love your fiancé after all?" he asked, lightly tapping the katana against the forehead of the unconscious Rodolphus.
"Don't talk nonsense. I don't care whether you kill them all or not, but my lord still needs these two alive." Bella answered coldly. She stared at the brothers with irritation rising in her chest. Losing so easily to a wizard who hadn't even finished school, even if he was talented, was simply unforgivable. And these weren't just any Death Eaters; they were close to the Dark Lord, the kind you could count on one hand.
"I see. Well, that is not surprising. The Lestranges are a very rich family, and losing such deep pockets would be quite a shame."
"What do you want for their lives?"
"And you do not need the others, am I not right?"
"No. You can do whatever you want with them."
"Then." A merciless smirk flashed across Severus's face, and goosebumps prickled on Bella's skin at the sight of it. "I will take them, both of them. I just need test subjects for my potions. Nellie."
A house-elf in a plain white dress appeared beside him, eyeing him nervously, as if she wanted to sink into the ground.
"What can I do for Master?" she asked timidly, shrinking under Black's slightly surprised gaze.
"Here." He tossed her a small box. "Two wizards are lying nearby. Put them in the box. You know what to do next, then return home."
"Y-yes, Master!" She clutched the box and vanished instantly.
"Did you free your house-elf?"
"No. I just didn't want a half-naked house-elf flitting about in front of me, so I ordered her to learn to sew and make herself some clothes. Proper clothes, not scraps. You have to admit, this is much better." As he spoke, Severus kept rapping the younger Lestrange on the forehead, as if testing its sturdiness.
"I see. Perhaps you're right," Bella said, trying hard to pretend she hadn't noticed what he was doing.
Wow. Miss Black agreed with me. It must be going to snow today!
"Tch!"
"My little Bella, I hope you enjoyed the show?" Without a hint of fear, he stepped close and caught a lock of her dark hair between his fingers, looking straight into her eyes.
"You did not show all your strength, did you?" she asked bluntly, not reacting to his touch.
"Who knows? But if you become my wife, I will be willing to reveal some of my secrets to you."
"So I am worth only some secrets?"
His hand slid up to her cheek.
"No, of course not. You are worth much more," he whispered, drawing close to her plump, cherry-colored lips. "And as soon as I am sure you will not stick a dagger in my back, I will tell you the rest."
Bella still didn't react, unless you counted the wand she'd been prodding into his stomach for the past thirty seconds, or the hellish flame burning in her eyes. Severus ignored it all, keeping that playful smile as he stroked her cheek, slow and unhurried.
"Are you just going to keep staring at me?"
"Are you that impatient?"
You already know the answer. Why ask such stupid questions? Bella snorted, a little irritated and clearly ready for a kiss, but he simply let her go. He did it so abruptly that she blinked, bewilderment flickering across her face.
"I don't want to. Too boring," Severus chuckled, shifting his gaze to the two bodies. "You know, those two wanted to kill me. If I simply let them go unpunished, they won't understand. They might even call me soft."
"What are you going to do with them?" Bella asked, suddenly alert, her eyes fixed on him.
"I have an idea." He grinned and winked at her. A stream of flame burst from his wand, wrapping the two figures on the ground from head to toe. Bella froze. When the fire vanished, her cheeks flushed pink, and she quickly looked away from the two naked wizards as if the sight had burned her eyes.
"W-what did you...?"
"Mm-hm. Sky-high self-esteem, but such tiny equipment in their pants."
"Why did you strip them?!"
"Hm. It's punishment. Tell me, do your fountains have pointed spikes?" Severus asked casually. For a moment, Bella looked genuinely baffled.
"I think so, yes. But why do you need that?"
"Oh, how innocent you are about such things, my little Bella."
"Don't call me little Bella!"
"You don't like it?"
"No!"
"Baby?"
"No!"
"Bunny?"
"No!"
"Kitten?"
"You're doing this on purpose to provoke me, aren't you?"
"Yes, kitten. You know, ears and a tail would suit you," Severus said calmly, dodging the nonverbal Stupefy Bella sent his way. Smiling and winking at her, he lowered his gaze to the two bodies. "All right, I should finish this. A conversation between two lovers next to two naked men isn't the most beautiful sight."
"Who here is in love?!"
"Why drag it out? I even wrote a plan for our life together, and mind you: I want a girl first, and a boy can be second."
"Maybe you should stop mocking me. You do understand I cannot seriously hurt you."
"And if you could?"
"You would not be talking anymore," Black spat, each word bitten off in an icy voice.
"My little maniac, that is exactly what I like about you," Severus said with a cheerful wink. Bella shot him a look so sharp it could have killed, and if looks could kill, he would have been dead since their first meeting.
Lowering his eyes to the two bodies, he lifted them with telekinesis. Then, taking the surprised Bella by the hand, he vanished with her.
A few seconds later, the four of them stepped out of the void onto the roof of the mansion next door to the one hosting the ball. Bella yanked her hand free at once and glared at him, as if ready to hex him on the spot.
"The traces of our fight in the park will be cleaned up by my people, so you don't need to worry about that," Severus said with an easy smile. He looked toward the Black mansion, then down at the two bodies, grinned, pointed his wand at them, and flicked it. Both disappeared.
"Where are they?" Black asked anxiously, trying to sense them with magic.
"One second." Severus made a few more casual wand movements purely for show, muttered something unintelligible, and a screen appeared before them. On it was an image of two fountains, with the Lestrange brothers hanging from them like Christmas ornaments.
Bella's eyes almost popped out of her head at the sight. This was far worse than death: disgrace for the whole family, right in front of nearly all of Britain's magical aristocracy. It was too cruel, even by her standards.
"And they call me insane," she muttered with a crooked smile, giving Severus a strange look. "You do realize they will never forget this. They will definitely seek revenge. The Lestranges have more than money, and they have connections."
"Are you worried about me?"
"Hmph. I do not care about you, even if you die, but the Dark Lord will not forgive this. You did not touch ordinary Death Eaters. You touched the ones close to him."
Kitten, you are thinking too narrowly.
"I'm going to shove my wand in your eye."
"Of course, kitten, of course." Severus dodged easily and shifted his gaze from her icy face back to the screen. People had already gathered around the fountains and were trying to pull the brothers down, but no spell worked. Wizards had to climb into the water and then up the ten-meter fountain itself, and even that was not easy, because the Lestranges were stuck too far down. "All right, kitten, it's already pretty late. How about a date next weekend?"
"Since when have we become so close?" Turning away, Bella waved a hand and headed for the edge of the roof. "I'm leaving. Don't annoy me anymore."
"You were assigned to watch me and, if possible, establish contact. So I'm offering you exactly that, just in a more pleasant setting. And I will answer some of your questions. Maybe I will even introduce you to my teacher. The Dark Lord is interested in who is behind me, isn't he?" At those words, Bella froze. "So what do you say, Saturday at eleven, at Gringotts? You can even tell Voldemort about it. I think he will happily send you on this dangerous mission himself, pick out a dress, and even do your makeup."
"I will think about it," she said, and without another word, she turned into a dark cloud and slipped through the barrier into the mansion grounds.
So she agrees. But I should think through a plan as well. Severus disappeared too, without any special effects.
On the Black estate, Walburga was raging. The day that should have included the announcement of Bellatrix's marriage to Rodolphus had been ruined. Worse than that, it was a catastrophe, a disgrace people would talk about for decades.
Regulus, suspecting exactly who could have ravaged the Lestrange brothers so viciously, and knowing who had a motive, tried to blend into the wall so he would not draw his mother's attention while she ranted and raved, chasing servants and workers through the house.
"Oh Merlin, I hope it was not him." "Please, let it be someone else."
When his mother let out a furious roar, Regulus, shedding a single tear, shuffled toward her on shaky legs, cursing him, the self-styled Archmage, and the culprit behind all this chaos.
//=================//