This wretched, cold manor | Bellatrix
bellatheloyalwarrior
This had never truly felt like home. It was his ancestors’ whose footsteps had echoed in these halls. Marriage–even one she considered as the best possible option for her as no other man had tried to understand her the way Rodolphus had–had been her concept of yet another prison. Of course, that had been before she’d suffered through a real one. Her younger self’s point of view was laughable. She’d had more freedom here than at her parents’ home. Rodolphus gifted that to her. She’d asked for a space of her own with excellent lighting,paint and canvas, to be seen as a person first and not a displayed prize. And she had given so little in return. If she’d been someone else, she imagined that someone would be reveling in this moment. She didn’t quite believe this was real. Rodolphus’ voice carried from elsewhere in the manor and she emerged from her room. She walked to the railing and studied him. There he was, at the bottom of the staircase, asking a question as if they’d returned from a trip to Paris. She chose to ignore his term of affection. “We’ll have to see if Narcissa or your relatives have our elves.There’s dust everywhere.” And she needed her wand. Well,a wand. She doubted the Ministry would give her’s back.
He entered her room, his presence only announced by the sound of his approaching footsteps. “Is there anything missing? I imagine this place must have been raided in our absence.” No matter. They still had a vault with a sizeable bank account. Luckily that had not changed. “We can replace things if need be.” Rodolphus looked at her, sadness and a sort of depravity in his eyes. He was tired from the ordeal in prison and fighting to live, but he was finally home.
