Alecto snorted at the mention of her brotherâs tendency toward chaotic violence, trying to imagine him going out with Bellatrix on violent recruiting missions. The image just made her laugh, and she shook her head. âHe may have a natural inclination toward violence, but Iâm sure thereâs many others you could choose from who could give you better results. He doesnât have the finesse for it.â As if she was any better. Neither of them had the social graces that most people seemed to have at least some small inkling toward, but that was alright by her. Alecto didnât need to be friends with the world. âMm. It could even bring you closer, if you allowed it.â
Her years in St. Mungoâs were far from fond ones, and Alectoâs gaze became a bit distant as she thought on them. Amycus never knew how she could stand to work in the same place that had been claustrophobic to the twins, refused to even step in the place, but there was a level of detachment that sheâd come to adapt to make her work bearable. Though the rest of the hospital was a bright, sanitary white, Alecto had gotten curtains for her office and kept it dark at all times, casting shadows that hid the color in blacks and greys and the orange that flickered from her candleâs light. Her office was a sanctuary, and how she survived. âIt certainly wasnât the most fun way to spend my youth,â she agreed, eyes coming back into focus slowly. âbut there was nothing I could do about it. Not when Amycus and I were so sick.â She glanced over at Bellatrix, lips twitching at the mention of Evans. âDid I tell you I took Evans on as an apprentice? Her first day under me I had her brew a poison, fed it to a rat, and let her watch it die while she failed to create the antidote in time. She may be talented, but she can no longer say she is any better than you and I. Not when her poison was the one that killed the thing.â
Alecto was almost offended that Bellatrix would even suggest she would spread that moment of weakness aroundâshe was hardly the kindest person, but those in her good graces had a loyalty that no one else had the privilege of seeing. Severus was another matter entirely, one that Alecto had yet to find time to pursue. How had he healed Rodolphusâ wounds when she couldnât? It was driving her to madness, and she spoke before she could stop herself: âHe is⊠inconspicuous, I suppose. Iâm not sure how he knew how to heal what I could not. Itâs curious.â But that wasnât the point of this discussion, was it? Bellatrix was distraught by the sudden change of feelings she hadnât seen coming, and as she went on it became more and more apparent that her friend didnât know where to go from here, or whether the change in heart would make or break her marriage. Alecto would be lying if she said she had much, if any, romantic experience, but she could theorize with the best of them, and she spoke only when she reached a conclusion.Â
âI will not lie and say he will obviously return your affections, Bella. Eight years is a long time, and it would be an injustice to you if I didnât factor in the negatives.â She paused. âItâs very possible he has been pushed too far, but itâs equally possible that he will be ecstatic that his patience was met with the same affection toward him that heâs felt for you throughout your marriage. Thereâs plenty of ways to discern whether or not youâre telling the truth, so if he has doubts you can be subjected to those methods.â Her eyes grew a bit hard, jaw tightening. âAnd if he is pushed too far and no longer reciprocates, then he is a fool and I would not hesitate to put him down myself.â
Alecto and Amycus had always had a relationship that was difficult to understand from the outside - but then, Bellatrix supposed her relationship with Narcissa was like that. People found it easy to demonise her and say she didnât care for a soul in the world, but Bellatrix would do anything that Narcissa asked of her. She loved her sister, and she loved Regulus. She had loved Andromeda and Sirius, but they chose filth over family and so she had removed them from her heart. âSometimes finesse isnât what you need. We destroyed a London street together recently, I needed a loud and obvious distraction for the aurors while I retrieved some evidence,â Bellatrix looked down at the Black family ring that they had successfully retrieved. âI might allow it.â
âI suppose not,â Bellatrix murmured, her tone taking on one that might be mistaken for sympathy if she were anyone but Bellatrix Lestrange. Her musing over Alectoâs shitty childhood were stopped in their tracks at the mention of Lily Evans and her head snapped upwards. âNo you didnât. Little mudblood Evans has a dark streak so it seems - creating her own poisons, casting blood magic. No longer Gryffindorâs golden girl....I wonder if Potter knows just how filthy his girlfriend is, not only her blood but the stains upon her soul. What Iâd give to tell him - to see his expression twists as he realises precisely what heâs dating. Pure, utter filth - and filth that has a superiority complex. She believes she has the moral upper-hand, well, evidently not,â Bellatrix said with a smirk. âDo you plan to continue taking her down a path of darkness?â
Bellatrix reached for a jug of sangria that the house elves had brought out to top her glass up, filling up Alectoâs as well. âSeverus told me the spells he used, I can show you when we get home if we find a subject. Iâve never heard them before, I wonder where he found them. Heâs....difficult, and I still believe that half-bloods should not be allowed amongst our ranks. But he is clever,â Bellatrix conceded, almost as if it pained her. But Severus was not the focal point of their conversation, it was Rodolphus. It had always been Rodolphus - that was why she had dragged Alecto all the way to France, was it not?
Alectoâs words were measured, unbiased - that was what Bellatrix had been seeking, she supposed. Someone who would tell her how it was - that it was very plausible that Rodolphus was past the point of hoping for the return of affections. But there were little things that nobody else saw - like the way his eyes seemed to melt as he looked at her, the way he had pleaded with her to keep her necklace on, how he had looked when he realised that Bellatrix had saved him. And then his confession of love. Surely she hadnât pushed him too far. âThat would be a confrontation I should enjoy to see if it wouldnât be so painful to these newfound feelings that make my heart ache. I donât like feeling things. It feels wrong.â