Toujours Fidèle

"Something of the night about him"
-Ann Widdecombe on Michael Howard

"Think on it, Miss Black." The man gave a little bow and moved away to rejoin the Malfoys. Bellatrix stared at him as he whispered to Lucius; it was so unusual for a new wizard to break their circles, let alone be on such good terms with the Malfoys. She was disturbed when her fiancé walked over to her, placing a hand on her shoulder, pulling her towards him. Rodolphus bent his head down and whispered into her ear.

"Who was that?" His voice so close to her made her shudder.

"Who?"

"That man you were just talking to."

"Oh, just a friend of Lucius's. Lucius mentioned something about my research plans to him."

"What? You never mentioned anything about research."

"Didn't I? It must have slipped my mind. "

"Why on earth are you going to do research? You're not going to be like your sister, are you?"

Bellatrix spun round so she was facing Rodolphus.

"What?"

"Doing research, isn't that what Andromeda does in the Ministry? Quite ridiculous a woman, a Black of all people, having to work for a living; but then that's what happens when you associate with the lower classes. If you're planning to run off with a Mudblood too, I'd like to know before hand."

"Don't you dare mention that to me." Angrily Bella moved away but Rodolphus grabbed her arm, pulling Bellatrix closer to him.

"Don't you dare shout at me in public. Now, you can get those ideas of research out your head," Bella made to protest but Rodolphus placed a finger over her mouth, shushing her, "there's no need for you to work, I promise you, you'll have all the money you want."

"And what I am supposed to do all day? Knit?"

"You could spend time with me" Bella looked revolted, Rodolphus sighed, "even Muggles and Mudbloods manage that."

She ignored him. "I'm going to find Narcissa. If you simply can't survive without me, you know where I am."

"Yes, go, you'll please all of them," Rodolphus indicated towards a group of girls, staring hopefully at him, glaring at her. Everyone wanted to be held by a Pureblood wizard like Rodolphus.

Bellatrix pulled herself from Rodolphus's arms and stalked off. He wouldn't follow her and if he wanted to break off their engagement, all the better. He was the one who wanted to get married. She regretted ever accepting his proposal, but she couldn't let her parents down. They were despairing; rich pureblood men were few and far between and they'd already lost one good marriage because of Andromeda. She wasn't going to be another her.

Andromeda had been our parents' pride and joy; she was the perfect Black; she looked the part, she certainly acted it- scaring half Hogwarts into doing her every word, she had always believed in the ideas that defined our family, constantly reminding Narcissa and I of them, and if she wanted something there was nothing to be done to stop her. But somehow some filthy little Mudblood thought he could match up to her, to our family, felt he had a place in our society. It was a laughable thought, the boy knew nothing of what he talked about, but Andromeda fell for it all- proving she wasn't the Black she'd tricked us into thinking she was. She didn't think of the rest of us, whose reputation she damaged, who'd foolishly trusted her to behave respectably.

It was left to me to keep our family's name intact; my cousins were no help - Sirius, a Gryffindor, was as treacherous as Andromeda; Regulus was useful only as an observer, he had Slytherin cunning but wasn't strong enough to be any influence - and Narcissa was far too self-absorbed (she'd picked that up from Andromeda) to be trusted with our reputation. So I secured our family by making a connection with the Lestranges, agreeing to marry an admirer of mine, Rodolphus.

I could have done far worse than him; we normally got on well, he was rich, he wasn't the worst looking wizard, he had status- everything my family needed to secure our position that was at risk. When Andromeda had left my family was hit hard, it was an excuse for jealous wizards to try and take our position as one of the leading wizarding families. I wouldn't let that happen. And now I had the chance to avenge my family on the race that dirtied our schools, brought their Muggle views to people who didn't want to hear them, who would never understand what it meant to have our power, who stole my sister from me and Rodolphus was going to make it difficult for me. He had no right to intrude; he didn't have power over me. Except, he did; he'd seen my family at our weakest.

Rodolphus had been with the Blacks the day Andromeda left. It was Christmas day of all days that her sister had decided to leave, and, as was usual, her cousins, the Lestranges, Malfoys and Hopkirks were over for Christmas dinner, followed by the adults drinking themselves into Boxing Day. The younger wizards, exhausted (as well as Christmas dinner, most of them had been for tea at the Diggorys'), were relaxing in the sitting room.

Narcissa sat by the fireplace, fiddling with a necklace her aunt had bought her, Sirius beside her, sulking; Mafalda, Rabastan and Regulus were playing Gobstones in a corner; Bella lay on the floor laughing with Lucius (who was seated on a settee besides her) about a trick they'd played on some first year Mudbloods, and Andromeda, deeming herself too good for the ‘little ones', had left on a search for alcohol.

They carried on like this until they were disturbed by Bella's father, rushing into the room, shouting at Bella.

"Where is she?" He was followed by her mother and aunt, all who looked furious.

"Who? What on earth are you talking about?"

"Andromeda," her father answered, at the same time moving over to where Bella lay, and pulled her up, "Look at me." Bella did, it was never a good idea to disobey her father when he wasn't in the best of moods. "Where is she?" Bella glanced at Lucius, who gave her a little nod. She hated to tell on her sister, Andromeda would make her pay for it, and their parents were so strict about alcohol.

"She said she was getting something to drink, I don't know where she went though."

"Don't be ridiculous. I'm well aware she has a supply in her room, and she's not in the house." Her mother joined in. This was news to Bella; neither she nor Andromeda knew that their mother had any idea about the alcohol they'd taken from her father's study. She was just about to tell her parents she had no idea when Sirius jumped up, looking very pleased.

"She actually did it? She's gone?" Bella's, very surprised, mother nodded at him. "She went through with it!"

"Through with what?" snapped his mother.

"She got married," he said, then, smugly looking round the room at the annoyed faces of his family, grinned and continued, "to a Mudblood." He didn't get the response he was hoping for; instead he got slapped by his mother.

"We don't have time for your jokes, you lying brat." She screeched at him, then turned back to Bella. "Well, Bellatrix?" But Bella didn't answer. She wanted to think like her aunt but she remembered how Andromeda, while she was still at Hogwarts, would often spend time with a Mudblood, Tonks or something like that. Bella had been disgusted when she'd found out, and had tried to force her to promise never to see him again. She had hoped Andromeda had listened to her, but she didn't have much hold over her sister. If she wanted something she'd go to any lengths to get it, regardless of what other people thought.

"Tonks?" she asked, turning to her cousin who nodded, who looked rather surprised, as did everyone else in the room.

"Bellatrix? He's telling the truth?" Her father asked her, but she ignored him. She pushed past her parents and stalked out the room. Her father made to follow but was stopped by her mother, who whispered something to him then turned to Sirius, and started shouting again.

Bella made her way to the staircase, deciding how to contact her sister before anything got out, when she tripped over, falling into Rodolphus Lestrange who had been coming down the stairs. Horrified at her clumsiness, she started to get up, muttering apologies, but Rodolphus smiled and offered his hand.

"I do hope you'll accept my apologies, Bellatrix, I overheard about your sister."Bella sighed inwardly; it was probably too late to stop the news spreading if both the Malfoys and Lestranges knew. She was surprised Rodolphus had even stopped speak; if it had been her she would have disassociated herself with them as soon as possible. "Perhaps I could offer my assistance? I could help you find her, I know a few spells that would work, or I'm sure we could come up with a curse or two for this Mudblood?" Bella didn't need help with curses, she'd learnt plenty at Hogwarts, but it would be rude to say no, especially as if she kept Rodolphus happy he might keep quiet about the whole Andromeda affair. She nodded to him, and he followed her up to her room, although she had some doubts about whether it was proper to allow him in.

- - -

The Blacks managed to recover, although, while Bellatrix and Rodolphus became closer, the relationship with the Malfoys suffered- they had been rather cold with the Blacks since Christmas. Bellatrix's friendship with Lucius, in particular, was never the same again; she couldn't forgive him for ignoring her completely until she had fully regained her reputation. Andromeda never came back, though her marriage didn't get off to a perfect start- her husband spent what would have been their honeymoon in St Mungo's, where the healers tried to work out why any part of his body Andromeda touched started shrinking. But that wasn't enough revenge for Bella- she had waited almost a year to get proper revenge, and, regardless of what Rodolphus though, she would take the chance to remind people why the Black line had lasted so long, remind them the Black family were to be revered.