Chapter 36¼

The Flaw in the Plan – Part 1

"I don't need your help," growled Lord Voldemort as Bellatrix Lestrange was deferentially assisting him to his feet. He roughly pushed her aside and strode swiftly towards the unmoving body of Harry Potter. Then, pausing, he decided that, instead of ascertaining that the boy is dead himself, which would have saved him a lot of bother in the near future, he would send someone else to do it for him whilst he took this chance to resolve the outstanding issue of Bellatrix's ridiculously overt shows of affection.

"You," Voldemort gestured towards Narcissa Malfoy. "Examine him," he commanded. He felt that he could trust her testament. After all, he had been exceptionally beneficent to her family: he had appropriated their manor for his Death Eater meetings, taken and broken her husband's wand, and would have succeeded in forcing her precious son into committing a murder had that meddlesome Snape not interfered. That kind of special treatment could only have been indicative of his disproportionate goodwill.

As Narcissa approached and crouched down to inspect the boy, the Dark Lord turned to face his most dedicated follower. "Bella, I love you," he said softly and Bellatrix turned bright red with tears welling up in her eyes, "is what I would say if I was a sparkly gay vampire who looked exactly the same as Cedric Diggory. But I'm not. So I want to make it very clear that it would never work out between us. You are my most loyal and valuable servant, but that's the extent of this relationship. Are we clear?"

"Yes, my lord," Bellatrix muffled a sob and bowed reverentially before taking a step back to meld into the circle of Death Eaters. Satisfied that she had taken it so well, Voldemort returned his attention to Harry Potter, who still lay motionless on the muddy ground.

Narcissa rose and, slowly turning her head, announced with affected conviction, "Dead."