FIC: Hubris (Bellatrix, Narcissa, Rodolphus - PG13)
Title: Hubris
Authoress: alyxbradford
Characters: Bellatrix, Narcissa, Rodolphus
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 1441
Genre: AU, from my Vittoria Timeline
Notes: Written for the 5 June challenge at 30_hath - I should try to be strong.
Snippet: "It's different when it's your own child, isn't it?"
"It's different when it's your own child, isn't it?" Narcissa's spring-sky eyes had frozen hard, two wintry lakes fixated on her sister, and she couldn't keep vitriol from her voice, remembering all of Bellatrix's taunts and boasts, all the times Bella had praised the bravery and fortitude of her own children while mocking Narcissa for fretting over hers. Narcissa knew the old myths; excessive pride made the palms of gods itch to slap down. Perhaps Bellatrix's preternatural good fortune had lapsed.
How many times had Bellatrix vowed, so certainly, so unflinchingly, that she would consider it a noble sacrifice if any of her get should fall in service to their Lord? How often had she needled Narcissa's constant worrying, her occasional histrionics?
At the least, no one could accuse Bellatrix of hypocrisy. She sat, perfectly still, her face blank of emotion. It was an odd expression to see in her, who so shamelessly displayed her every whim and feeling to the world, and who generally kept in constant motion. But her face was smooth and quiet, a dusky mask hiding al the terror and sorrow held in check below the surface. She did not cry, or scream, or rave, and if Fate had truly chosen to claim one of her children in recompense for her own gasconade, she would find a way to cope.
"You might have been more careful," Narcissa went on, in her frosty voice. "You might not have thought yourself and your family so invulnerable, so inviolate. I never have. Did you think no one would ever be bold enough to test you?" Bellatrix's chin had a stony set; she would not implore Narcissa to stop berating her. Possibly she considered the tongue-lashing further punishment for her pride. "What were you thinking, Bella? Letting the little girls go into Hogsmeade on their own? Without even Rigel or Rakshasa to protect them? I would never let Cordelia wander alone, not with all this insurgent activity we've had recently." Narcissa drew a breath for further chastisement, but she saw something on Bellatrix's features flinch.
The malice slid out of her then, and compassion won over. For all of Bellatrix's arrogance, she was a woman, a mother, and Narcissa's sister. She was terrified for one of her babies, a feeling Narcissa could empathise with entirely too well. And, despite all her mocking when Narcissa had conniptions over nothing, when something actually had happened, when Hadrian had been injured, Bellatrix had been there, a pillar for Narcissa's weakness, a focus point for her sanity, a hand to hold. Suddenly Narcissa felt guilty for her harsh condemnation. Bellatrix needed more than that now, and deserved better.
Moving to sit beside Bella, Narcissa let the frost thaw and draped one pale arm around her sister's shoulders. "We'll find her," she said softly. "They won't hurt her. Meissa is far too valuable a prisoner for them to harm."
"I would," Bellatrix said, in a deadened voice. "If it were me. I'd make an example, to scare them. A child's no good to keep. A child doesn't know anything, and so can't be made to talk. So why keep it about?"
"That isn't how they-"
"They're desperate," Bellatrix said vehemently, anguish leaking through in her tone. "They might do anything."
Pursing her pale lips, Narcissa tried to find something comforting to say, but was unable to come up with any satisfying platitudes. Bellatrix was right; the rebels had been getting bolder and more violent of late. Meissa might not be as safe as they would hope. She was only a little girl, only seven years old, but she was the little girl of two of the most powerful figures in Britain, two of the Dark Lord's favourites.
The sisters sat in silence for a long while, Narcissa searching for anything that might give hope, Bellatrix consumed by the most abject sorrow. Some of her thoughts were selfish, blame and guilt. She should never have let Alcyone, Rhea, and Meissa travel alone. None of the three of them had combat skills, and even Alcyone, the oldest of them, was only eleven. 'I was always warned...' she thought dismally, 'about feeling too secure, about considering us so powerful that no one would dare...'
Self-blame was something to focus on other than what fates her sweet-faced daughter might be meeting. Bellatrix knew; Bellatrix had delivered such sentences to others. She had given her opponents no reason to deal differently with her. But somehow she had never imagined such a harrowing reversal of the situation.
When the door opened, Bellatrix and Narcissa both stood. Rodolphus Lestrange entered, looking more Inferius than man, his pale face drawn with worry. "As soon as I heard-" he began weakly, his voice bereft of its customary surety and command.
Bellatrix crossed the room with just a few long strides and was immediately folded into her husband's embrace. Narcissa saw that his eyes had the same lifeless shock as Bella's. He held her tightly, hands clasped around her back and his face pressed into her hair, the only capitulation to grief they would allow themselves.
Nestling into Rodolphus' shoulder, Bellatrix felt tears welling and choking her breath for the first time; she refused to give vent to them, though, refused to let that weakness through. "We'll find her," Rodolphus whispered. "And then we will make her captors regret that they saw fit to touch our daughter."
Bellatrix straightened, lifting her head from his shoulder. "We should alert Him. He will want to know."
Rodolphus nodded. "You handle that, mia cara. Once we know how He will want us to proceed, we can reach the others for assistance. In the meantime, I will contact Severus and get Ras and Rigel and Sha out of school." He paused a moment, then looked at Narcissa. "If you might... consider bringing Cordelia over? I think-"
"Yes," Bellatrix cut in. "The little ones... they could use the company."
"Of course," Narcissa said, touched by a pang of pity for the younger Black-Lestrange children, particularly Meissa's twin, Orion, whom she had last seen bravely restraining tears.
"I'll see if Rabastan's wife will bring hers over as well," Rodolphus continued. He touched Bellatrix's cheek, meeting her eyes. "We will close ranks. And then we will strike out in full force, and our enemies will see what it is to arouse the anger of our families." As Bellatrix nodded, Rodolphus was glad to see a spark of fury ignite behind her eyes; maudlin despair was not her way, and didn't suit her. Once the initial shock and terror passed, they would both just be mad, and ready to seek revenge.
Rodolphus kissed her briefly, then left to contact Severus Snape. Bellatrix took a deep breath, running both hands through her hair, then went to the nearest mirror to make sure she was presentable for her Lord.
Behind her, Narcissa folded her hands and said quietly, "There is... that is, there might be someone else to go to for assistance." When Bellatrix made no reply or inquiry, she went on, "You won't like to hear it, but I thought it would bear mentioning. I didn't want to say anything in front of Rodolphus, but-"
Bellatrix turned slowly, meeting her sister's eyes with the piercing intensity she always took on when the two of them were sharing a thought. "You cannot be serious," she said, voice low and barely controlled.
"It is an avenue you should at least consider. She might be able to-"
"You cannot," Bellatrix repeated, "be serious."
Frowning slightly, Narcissa said, "That daughter of hers -- yes, Bellatrix, I acknowledged her, and you may never hear me do so again, but hear it now, because it may help you -- that daughter of hers is with the rebels, or at least has contacts among them. She might be convinced to persuade on your behalf." A little sigh of resignation escaped her. "Family is family, Bellatrix. And the ties of blood are stronger than--"
"She is dead, Narcissa," Bellatrix hissed. "And has been. For years. No, not dead, she was never born. You know--"
"What I know," Narcissa replied, not raising her voice a decibel but still managing to cut Bellatrix off, "is that your seven-year-old daughter is missing, and that you ought explore every possibility to see her safely returned."
Bellatrix's mouth turned stubbornly. "Not that one."
Narcissa looked down at her hands, and though her voice was hardly above a whisper, it struck like an arrow. "Your pride has already gotten Meissa kidnapped. Are you going to let it get her killed as well?"
Authoress: alyxbradford
Characters: Bellatrix, Narcissa, Rodolphus
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 1441
Genre: AU, from my Vittoria Timeline
Notes: Written for the 5 June challenge at 30_hath - I should try to be strong.
Snippet: "It's different when it's your own child, isn't it?"
"It's different when it's your own child, isn't it?" Narcissa's spring-sky eyes had frozen hard, two wintry lakes fixated on her sister, and she couldn't keep vitriol from her voice, remembering all of Bellatrix's taunts and boasts, all the times Bella had praised the bravery and fortitude of her own children while mocking Narcissa for fretting over hers. Narcissa knew the old myths; excessive pride made the palms of gods itch to slap down. Perhaps Bellatrix's preternatural good fortune had lapsed.
How many times had Bellatrix vowed, so certainly, so unflinchingly, that she would consider it a noble sacrifice if any of her get should fall in service to their Lord? How often had she needled Narcissa's constant worrying, her occasional histrionics?
At the least, no one could accuse Bellatrix of hypocrisy. She sat, perfectly still, her face blank of emotion. It was an odd expression to see in her, who so shamelessly displayed her every whim and feeling to the world, and who generally kept in constant motion. But her face was smooth and quiet, a dusky mask hiding al the terror and sorrow held in check below the surface. She did not cry, or scream, or rave, and if Fate had truly chosen to claim one of her children in recompense for her own gasconade, she would find a way to cope.
"You might have been more careful," Narcissa went on, in her frosty voice. "You might not have thought yourself and your family so invulnerable, so inviolate. I never have. Did you think no one would ever be bold enough to test you?" Bellatrix's chin had a stony set; she would not implore Narcissa to stop berating her. Possibly she considered the tongue-lashing further punishment for her pride. "What were you thinking, Bella? Letting the little girls go into Hogsmeade on their own? Without even Rigel or Rakshasa to protect them? I would never let Cordelia wander alone, not with all this insurgent activity we've had recently." Narcissa drew a breath for further chastisement, but she saw something on Bellatrix's features flinch.
The malice slid out of her then, and compassion won over. For all of Bellatrix's arrogance, she was a woman, a mother, and Narcissa's sister. She was terrified for one of her babies, a feeling Narcissa could empathise with entirely too well. And, despite all her mocking when Narcissa had conniptions over nothing, when something actually had happened, when Hadrian had been injured, Bellatrix had been there, a pillar for Narcissa's weakness, a focus point for her sanity, a hand to hold. Suddenly Narcissa felt guilty for her harsh condemnation. Bellatrix needed more than that now, and deserved better.
Moving to sit beside Bella, Narcissa let the frost thaw and draped one pale arm around her sister's shoulders. "We'll find her," she said softly. "They won't hurt her. Meissa is far too valuable a prisoner for them to harm."
"I would," Bellatrix said, in a deadened voice. "If it were me. I'd make an example, to scare them. A child's no good to keep. A child doesn't know anything, and so can't be made to talk. So why keep it about?"
"That isn't how they-"
"They're desperate," Bellatrix said vehemently, anguish leaking through in her tone. "They might do anything."
Pursing her pale lips, Narcissa tried to find something comforting to say, but was unable to come up with any satisfying platitudes. Bellatrix was right; the rebels had been getting bolder and more violent of late. Meissa might not be as safe as they would hope. She was only a little girl, only seven years old, but she was the little girl of two of the most powerful figures in Britain, two of the Dark Lord's favourites.
The sisters sat in silence for a long while, Narcissa searching for anything that might give hope, Bellatrix consumed by the most abject sorrow. Some of her thoughts were selfish, blame and guilt. She should never have let Alcyone, Rhea, and Meissa travel alone. None of the three of them had combat skills, and even Alcyone, the oldest of them, was only eleven. 'I was always warned...' she thought dismally, 'about feeling too secure, about considering us so powerful that no one would dare...'
Self-blame was something to focus on other than what fates her sweet-faced daughter might be meeting. Bellatrix knew; Bellatrix had delivered such sentences to others. She had given her opponents no reason to deal differently with her. But somehow she had never imagined such a harrowing reversal of the situation.
When the door opened, Bellatrix and Narcissa both stood. Rodolphus Lestrange entered, looking more Inferius than man, his pale face drawn with worry. "As soon as I heard-" he began weakly, his voice bereft of its customary surety and command.
Bellatrix crossed the room with just a few long strides and was immediately folded into her husband's embrace. Narcissa saw that his eyes had the same lifeless shock as Bella's. He held her tightly, hands clasped around her back and his face pressed into her hair, the only capitulation to grief they would allow themselves.
Nestling into Rodolphus' shoulder, Bellatrix felt tears welling and choking her breath for the first time; she refused to give vent to them, though, refused to let that weakness through. "We'll find her," Rodolphus whispered. "And then we will make her captors regret that they saw fit to touch our daughter."
Bellatrix straightened, lifting her head from his shoulder. "We should alert Him. He will want to know."
Rodolphus nodded. "You handle that, mia cara. Once we know how He will want us to proceed, we can reach the others for assistance. In the meantime, I will contact Severus and get Ras and Rigel and Sha out of school." He paused a moment, then looked at Narcissa. "If you might... consider bringing Cordelia over? I think-"
"Yes," Bellatrix cut in. "The little ones... they could use the company."
"Of course," Narcissa said, touched by a pang of pity for the younger Black-Lestrange children, particularly Meissa's twin, Orion, whom she had last seen bravely restraining tears.
"I'll see if Rabastan's wife will bring hers over as well," Rodolphus continued. He touched Bellatrix's cheek, meeting her eyes. "We will close ranks. And then we will strike out in full force, and our enemies will see what it is to arouse the anger of our families." As Bellatrix nodded, Rodolphus was glad to see a spark of fury ignite behind her eyes; maudlin despair was not her way, and didn't suit her. Once the initial shock and terror passed, they would both just be mad, and ready to seek revenge.
Rodolphus kissed her briefly, then left to contact Severus Snape. Bellatrix took a deep breath, running both hands through her hair, then went to the nearest mirror to make sure she was presentable for her Lord.
Behind her, Narcissa folded her hands and said quietly, "There is... that is, there might be someone else to go to for assistance." When Bellatrix made no reply or inquiry, she went on, "You won't like to hear it, but I thought it would bear mentioning. I didn't want to say anything in front of Rodolphus, but-"
Bellatrix turned slowly, meeting her sister's eyes with the piercing intensity she always took on when the two of them were sharing a thought. "You cannot be serious," she said, voice low and barely controlled.
"It is an avenue you should at least consider. She might be able to-"
"You cannot," Bellatrix repeated, "be serious."
Frowning slightly, Narcissa said, "That daughter of hers -- yes, Bellatrix, I acknowledged her, and you may never hear me do so again, but hear it now, because it may help you -- that daughter of hers is with the rebels, or at least has contacts among them. She might be convinced to persuade on your behalf." A little sigh of resignation escaped her. "Family is family, Bellatrix. And the ties of blood are stronger than--"
"She is dead, Narcissa," Bellatrix hissed. "And has been. For years. No, not dead, she was never born. You know--"
"What I know," Narcissa replied, not raising her voice a decibel but still managing to cut Bellatrix off, "is that your seven-year-old daughter is missing, and that you ought explore every possibility to see her safely returned."
Bellatrix's mouth turned stubbornly. "Not that one."
Narcissa looked down at her hands, and though her voice was hardly above a whisper, it struck like an arrow. "Your pride has already gotten Meissa kidnapped. Are you going to let it get her killed as well?"