Unapologetic

Bellatrix cried until there were no more tears, at least for the moment. Her rage-fueled adrenaline had faded, leaving her tired and drained. Reluctantly, she stepped back from the protective shelter of Rodolphus's arms and smiled to see a similar look of regret on his face. Being close to him always made things better. They were so connected, so in sync, literally two halves of a whole, and through this unwanted trauma they were perhaps growing even closer. Threading her fingers through his, she stood shoulder to shoulder with him as she turned to face her parents.

"Well," she said, tone overly brisk to overcompensate for the uncomfortable moment through which they all suffered. "Do we all still get that glass of wine?"

"Of course," Druella said, giving Bellatrix a warm smile, as if the dining room wasn't in shambles around them.

"I think we can eat in the kitchen today. It will be more comfortable than the library. Of course you all are staying for dinner," Druella continued, her tone now as brisk as Bellatrix's had been only a moment ago.

Bellatrix nodded. "We do need to fill you in on the latest, after all."

Her parents were not going to yell at her for wrecking their dining room, and she was going to not wreck the rest of the manor. There was a truce. Bellatrix had made her point, and expressed herself in classic Bellatrix style. Her parents now knew what had happened, and hopefully they felt dreadful for not knowing. If not, at least Bellatrix felt a little better.

Cygnus led the way into the kitchen and explained to a cowering Orb that they would be having dinner in the kitchen. The elf must have heard their little family chat earlier, considering she hadn't come in with the wine, Bellatrix thought with an amused smirk.

Orb hastened to bring in dining room chairs and arrange them around the large stone table that stood in the center of the brightly lit kitchen. When they were all seated, she then served everyone a glass of wine before returning her attention to the large wood stove against the far wall. The kitchen was large though not as vast as the one at Grimmauld place.

Thinking of Grimmauld Place made Bellatrix remember that she wanted to speak with Regulus and Kreacher soon. She needed to ask what Voldemort had done to them that night after he'd compelled her, Rod, and Rabastan. Whatever it was, it certainly hadn't kept Regulus from wanting to destroy his Horcrux. It would seem that for some reason the Dark Lord had not compelled Regulus and Kreacher to worship him, but why? He'd kept the Lestranges alive and compelled them to serve as a reminder to him that he could trust no one, so why leave Kreacher and Regulus aware of what he was?

"So Delphini is attacking the schools now," Rabastan asked, glancing curiously at Cygnus Black.

"So the paper says," Cygnus replied.

"Does it say what she wanted," Rabastan asked and Cygnus shook his head.

"That's why we were hoping you lot were more in the know."

"We are more in the know with this new Ministry than with the old one, but we've been working at Azkaban all day and other than the Head Auror asking for a progress report at lunch and giving us our schedule, we've had no word," Bellatrix told her parents.

"We can assume if the news affected us they'd have written," Rodolphus said with a shrug. "If she attacked the schools, though, there could be a few reasons. Attacking children is a great scare tactic for the children as well as their parents. If they close the schools, she could also be overthrowing standard education as we know it. She could also be making herself known to a younger generation to gain new malleable followers."

"All good thoughts," Cygnus complimented Rodolphus. Bellatrix smiled, leaning contentedly back in her chair as she sipped at her wine. This almost felt normal.

"Hey, Voldemort just obsessed over Hogwarts. If Delphini did go after both schools, at least she's being fair," Rabastan observed with a chuckle.

"This morning we were briefed, along with all the Aurors, on everything the Ministry knows when it comes to Delphini," Bellatrix told her parents. She then proceeded to repeat everything Romeo and Gellert had shared. As they had not said to keep silent on the matter, she didn't think it was expected. It seemed this new Ministry approved of the public having a solid understanding of the danger they stood against.

As Bellatrix spoke, Orb silently served dinner. It consisted of veal with onions and mushrooms, and tender baby potatoes on the side.

"I was grateful to the former Ministry for releasing the three of you from Azkaban, even if they did make you work for them and keep yourselves hidden. Still, this new Ministry does feel more stable," Druella said.

"Letting goblins in, though," Cygnus asked, giving his wife a look of open skepticism. "Can we truly trust them?"

Rabastan nodded. "I know! I was wondering the same thing!"

"They have Grindelwald, though," Druella said. "And that's a definite plus to my mind."

"You lot are already rather in the know," Bellatrix commented, and her mother shrugged.

"Regulus has been keeping us updated over the past few weeks." She gave Bellatrix a slight frown. "That is extremely kind of him considering the three of you haven't bothered to come around in months! Just like the old days, and yet you still want to be upset with us for not being aware of...things we still probably should have." Druella's annoyance faded even as she spoke, giving way to upset as her lower lip trembled on her final words.

"Fine, Mother," Bellatrix bit out. "I take your bloody point." She viciously stabbed a piece of veal with her fork as though killing the baby cow all over again.

"We don't really blame you, Mum," Rodolphus told Druella, giving his mother-in-law an apologetic smile. "We don't blame any of the parents. It's just...that it happened, and it's going to take a bit of working through."

Druella and Cygnus both nodded. "If there is anything we can do," Cygnus said. "Anything at all, please know that we are here."

Bellatrix knew her parents were trying, but she didn't know what to say that wouldn't be fake. She was still upset that no one had noticed that something wasn't right with the three of them. She knew she'd just have to work it out on her own time.

"Just try to notice if someone buggers our brains again, would you?" she requested drily, then drained her glass of wine.

"Do you believe this Delphini will make an attempt to do so," Druella asked carefully, and Bellatrix shrugged.

"Who knows? The Minister believes Delphini is interested in us, though. She's going to get us bodyguards, but she did not say when that was happening. We are well guarded at Azkaban, though, and the Minister believes Delphini may come there to speak to us if she discovers we're now in charge of the place."

"They put you permanently in charge of Azkaban," Druella asked incredulously. "How dreadful! You had to spend enough undeserved time there!"

Bellatrix shrugged. "Yes, but we know the place and what would make it better. Plus, we get to torture prisoners," she said, not bothering to hide her gleeful smile. The torturing of prisoners had definitely been the highlight of her day.

"We did have enough criminal caliber fun back in the day before Voldemort had at our heads, if we're being honest," Rabastan spoke up thoughtfully. "So our years in Azkaban weren't completely undeserved."

"Really," Bellatrix asked, turning on her brother-in-law. "You're suddenly interested in taking responsibility for your actions?"

Rabastan grinned, lifting his hands in a placating gesture and shaking his head. "Of course not! You know me! I'm just speaking from the point of view of society...because I'm a well-rounded, open minded chap."

Bellatrix shook her head in dismissal. "Right. Well, we paid our debt to society by attempting to kill Voldemort first so to hell with that."

"True," Rodolphus agreed.

"I know," Rabastan said. "I was just playing devil's whatever, because I want to rise in the ranks and not always be working at bloody Azkaban."

Druella chuckled. "A man with aspirations. Very good." Turning back to Bellatrix, the amusement left her face as her expression grew concerned. "If Delphini does come to speak to you at Azkaban, are you protected?"

Bellatrix nodded, then shrugged. "Goblins, Acromantulas, other Aurors...us... We are quite vicious, after all. Not that it did us any good against him... So yes, we should be fine, but honestly we can't be sure. If we feel too threatened, we'll just Apparate away," she decided.

Not ones to run from a fight, they weren't foolishly brave Gryffindor types either. Considering what had already been done to them, they weren't willing to risk the same a second time. One's own will was a precious thing and losing it obviously did things to one's sanity. They were living proof of that.

Rodolphus nodded in agreement. "We will not underestimate her as we did her father," he told Druella. "We will be careful and put our safety first. Though it was reasonable to believe six of us could take him out with the Killing Curse, we now know that overconfidence can get us killed, as it did Orion."

They all exchanged a silent look of sorrow for the fallen Black. The rest of dinner was spent speculating about Delphini. When it was over, they promised to return soon. Bellatrix did not apologize for trashing the dining room because...she wasn't sorry.