Retribution || Rodolphus & Narcissa & Niklaus
Classes had resumed and a sense of normalcy had returned to the castle in the wake of the orphanage attack. Teenagers were very predictable in that way: tensions, doubt and suspicion had run high for a couple of days - then it was back to the usual pubescent melodrama. Rodolphus, as usual, felt he was above all that. When he had a grudge, he held it. He wouldn't forget. If he was to be bad, he was to be bad with purpose.
Niklaus and he had decided that they'd wait until Friday evening to execute their plan. It was an optimum time, as students usually congregated in their common-rooms to socialise before the weekend - leaving the corridors relatively empty. Though the two boys were both more than capable of dealing with an unfortunate by-stander stumbling in onto the scene, it was one less hassle they could do without, as there already seemed to be a million other ways in which their scheme could unravel completely.
During dinner, Rodolphus had communicated through a series of whispers to Niklaus that he'd snatch Narcissa, their target, once dessert was finished. As the last of the treacle tart was scraped off the plates, Rodolphus made his way down the length of the Slytherin table to where the sixth years were seated. He only had to narrow his eyes slightly for a space to be made quickly for him on the bench. He sat down beside Narcissa, as others around them stood up to leave and return to the common-rooms, and whispered,
"Cissa, I need to talk to you. It's urgent. It's about Bella."