Author's Notes: Written for XxXRegretXxX's 61 Themes Competition, in which each fic centres around a particular theme in literature.

Theme: Quest for Power

And yes darlings, I actually wrote a story where Bellatrix is a Death Eater with NO romantic attachment to Voldemort. Throw a party, this isn't going to happen often.

)O(

Bellatrix enjoyed being sent on missions with Rodolphus Lestrange.

She didn't enjoy it because she liked his company – in fact, she quite loathed Rodolphus as a person. But she loved toying with him. She held a certain power over the man, and she knew it. Such was the power of one night sharing a bed, of just a taste of what she could give him. Bellatrix had slept with Rodolphus months ago, on a whim, and while he had been quite a good bedfellow, it had been the power over him that had captured Bellatrix's imagination when she had lain with him.

She had had more than her fair share of men before, and no small number of them had begged her to do various things to them, but never had a man pleaded with her with such intensity as Rodolphus had for release when she had made love to him. She teased him, as she so often did with men, and when she denied him his climax, forcing him to teeter on the edge of pleasure, he had pleaded with an intensity she had never seen before. Bellatrix had refused him, just to see what would happen, and the fury with which Rodolphus reacted when she slid off of him was explosive. If she hadn't taken the time beforehand to bind him to the bed, Bellatrix would have feared for her safety. As it was, he shouted, ordered her to get back into bed and finish the job properly, threatened and ordered, and finally begged. She had refused, all the while intoxicated by how much she was affecting him.

Since then, she had teased Rodolphus with the knowledge that she had invoked such passion from the normally stoic man. Any time their paths crossed – at Death Eater gatherings, at high-society parties, Bellatrix would shoot Rodolphus provocative glances, just to let him know that she still remembered the power she had wielded over him.

And now, slipping through the streets of London by cover of night, she could feel the power again. Rodolphus refused to look at her, as though if he allowed himself a glimpse, he might lose control completely and fuck here there, against the alley wall, all sense of decency lost.

Or he might beg her.

There was a sound in an adjoining alley, and Bellatrix froze, as did Rodolphus.

"Aurors," he breathed, and Bellatrix hissed her agreement, already scanning their surroundings for a hiding place. There was a gap between two buildings, barely wide enough for the two of them, but concealed wonderfully from the sight of the back road.

Bellatrix grabbed his wrist, hearing his sharp intake of breath at contact, and dragged him in, pressing her body against his in the gap. Rodolphus snarled softly. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Hiding, idiot," Bellatrix breathed. She shifted, under the pretense of moving into a more comfortable position in their tight surroundings, but really just using it as an excuse to tease Rodolphus. Her breasts were pressed hard against him, and her hips brushed his every time she shifted her weight. It was near impossible to see Rodolphus in the faint moonlight, but she thought he looked strained, tense.

The noise in the nearby alley signaled that the aurors were getting closer. Bellatrix's breathing was heavy, and she let her breast heave, knowing that Rodolphus was aching to put his hands up, to touch her…

Bellatrix shifted again, and felt the bulge at the front of Rodolphus's trousers. She hissed softly. "Eager?"

"Damnit, Bellatrix…"

She moved her hand to rest lightly against the bulge, and Rodolphus groaned, low in her ear. "What are you doing?"

"I'm touching you," she whispered in his ear. "And if you beg me, I'll do more…"

"You want me to beg you?" Rodolphus's voice was a strained hiss. "Aurors not a hundred feet away, and you want me to beg you?"

"Yes." Bellatrix pressed just a little against the bulge. "Tell me what you want me to do to you, tell me how much you want it. Tell me what you'd do to get it…"

"You're crazy, you know that, Bella?" Even as he said it, Rodolphus was rubbing himself against Bellatrix's hand. She could smell his desire in the air, almost taste it.

"Beg," she ordered, lifting her hand. Rodolphus groaned, a wordless plea for her hand to return.

"Please, Bella, please," he whispered, and she could tell how it stung him to have to beg a woman for pleasure. "Touch me…"

"That's right…" Bellatrix loved that, she loved hearing him beg her. There was a faint tingling between her own thighs, but she was enjoying this too much for it to take her attention. "Tell me what you'd do to have me touch you."

"Anything, Bella," whispered Rodolphus. His hands went up to her hair, knotted in it and held her face so that she was looking straight into his eyes. In the moonlight, his face looked almost haunted. Could desire haunt a man?

"If you asked, I'd throw myself in front of those aurors," he told her. "I'd do anything you wanted, Bella. Please, please…"

Bellatrix let her hands rest on his tented trousers once again. She undid them slowly, never fumbling, never breaking eye contact, until she had him in her hand. Rodolphus's head went back, and his lips parted in a silent moan, coupled with a smile of something like triumph.

He thought, Bellatrix knew even as she stroked him, that her decision to acquiesce, the fact that she was the one pleasuring him and not vice versa meant that he had power over her. He thought it meant that he had forced her to want to pleasure him.

Oh, how very wrong he was.

He came silently, but forcefully, his face contorting with pleasure as sticky liquid dripped over Bellatrix's hands. She gave him a final squeeze, then let him go, looking up at him with her own triumphant smile. In the time that it had taken to pleasure Rodolphus, the aurors had already passed them by.

She could tell that she hadn't satisfied his desires. She had only intensified them, which suited her just fine. After all, as long as he wanted her, he was in her power. Which was exactly what she wanted.

"Merlin, Bella…" Rodolphus managed.

Bellatrix only smirked. "I plan to hold you to your promises, you know, Rod."

"You're a bitch, Bella."

"You only say that because I can control you."

)O(

Fin