The worth of some cloth II

With great haste, she allowed the mark to portkey her to her Lord, bowing as soon as she felt her feet touch the ground.

"My Lord, you call for me."

"Rise Bellatrix, it seems there is something you should be telling me."

"What would-?"

Bellatrix raises her head and sees the hateful rat-like bastard snickering beside her Lord again. Unbeknownst to her, Pettigrew had caught information about her from a low-ranked Death Eater who caught her sneaking around Knockturn Alley and bribing smugglers to smuggle a baby. Sadly the baby could no longer be traced as the smugglers were quite accomplished in their field of expertise, and no amount of threatening or more bribery could crack those old veterans of the Black Market.

'That bastard, what did he tell the Dark Lord now?'

"Now Bellatrix. This is not like you. Speak. What have you done, and do not point fingers or try to fool me."

"M-my Lord. I dare not deceive you!"

Bellatrix bowed once more, kneeling on the ground in repentance and fear towards her Lord. Voldemort begun to chuckle mockingly.

"You cannot deceive me, don't overestimate yourself. But you have disobeyed me, and I want you to tell me how exactly you disobeyed me. I may even forgive you if you tell me obediently."

Bellatrix clenched her teeth and balled her hands into fists until her nails dug deep enough to draw blood. She rose to her feet and began to reason out with her Lord.

"My Lord! It is not as it seems! Whatever Pettigrew told you-!"

"SILENCE!"

Bellatrix bit her lip, afraid to further anger the Dark Lord. His menacing red eyes glowed in displeasure and irritation.

"Give me my cup Bellatrix."

Bellatrix's eyes widened in indignation, for she cannot believe that her Lord would doubt her like this. Her heart clenched thinking that she was about to be abandoned.

"My Lord I-"

"DID I TELL YOU TO SPEAK?!

Bellatrix's jaws shut close, frightened to even mutter a single syllable more.

"I do not repeat myself, Bellatrix. Now."

Bellatrix strengthened her will and forced her voice to come out.

"I do not have it with me right now my Lord. But I shall get it for you at once if you would allow me."

Voldemort's eyes pierced through her. For a second Bellatrix had believed that the Dark Lord had seen through her, but seconds later he nodded his head, and she knew she was safe. Temporarily.

Bellatrix could see it in his eyes that he wanted to kill her, and she was only alive because she had his cup, and only she could get it back. Bellatrix also knew that as soon as she parts with the cup, her family members would be in danger; for when the Dark Lord is truly angered, he punishes those around you as he finds amusement in you bathing in the scorn of those close to you. The truly. . . Slytherin way to punish someone.

"Very well make haste."

"Thank you, my Lord."

Bellatrix flooed to Gringotts and took Hufflepuff's cup. But instead of flooing back to the Death Eater Headquarters, she immediately went to Malfoy Manor. Bellatrix knew her father, Aunt Walburga, Granduncle Arcturus, and Grandfather Pollux were all temporarily safe in their ancestral home as the house was under a fidelius [1]. Only Cissy was unsafe.

Flooing to Malfoy Manor, she ran to her sister's room and carefully but adamantly woke her up and told her to flee. Lucius had woken up from being alerted by an elf of an univited guest, and rushed to where all the ruckus was happening. He stood outside his wife's door as he overheard a familiar voice speaking to his wife.

'The Dark Lord is now after their lives? How could this be?'

Lucius barges into the room and firmly asks Bellatrix to tell him everything that was happening, but she refused stating that there wasn't enough time as the Dark Lord would notice something off soon.

"For how long?" Lucius almost screams at Bellatrix to which she answers "As long as it takes. Don't let her return!" Lucius clicks his tongue and racks his mind for a temporary solution. His eyes light up having thought of one and he turned on his heel sprinting away.

"Where are you going!" Shouts a worried Bellatrix, tears in her eyes from all the emotions that are currently ransacking through her head.

"Calling my father!" Running to the fireplace, he calls his father who immediately answered. Abraxas, who was currently in France on a mission to recruit allies, had felt that there was something wrong since his son never fire talks him as he claims the soot gives him blackheads, so he rushed to answer his call.

"Father! Please take Narcissa away, please hide her and don't let the Dark Lord follow your tracks!"

Abraxas' eyebrows scrunch together in confusion and displeasure at the urgency and plea that was painted all over his son's face and laced into his voice.

"What is going on son?"

Abraxas questions his son but was discontent of his answer.

"There is not much time, I will tell you when things have settled."

With a nod, Abraxas cut off the fire and Lucius proceeded to Tergeo his soot covered face clean.

"Hold on, I need to get Draco." Lucius almost stormed off to his newborn son's room but was stopped by Bellatrix.

"He's no longer here!" Lucius' head whips to Bellatrix, anger, confusion, and disbelief most prominent on his face. "I will explain everything later! Please! Please! Just bring my sister to safety first! And you can't go with her! The Dark Lord will track you through the mark."

Lucius swears in his mind that he is going to kill this crazy witch for suddenly storming into his house and creating all this chaos!

"Just what is going on sister." Narcissa weekly makes her way into the room, her eyes glaring accusingly at the two making a ruckus in the house just after she gave birth. She knew that she still shouldn't be up and about, but everything had been so chaotic, how couldn't she?

Lucius looked at his wife who still looked very tired and uttered a silent apology in his mind. With a swish of his wand, he cast a stupefy on his wife (catching her safely in his arms) and with another swish he was directing all of her memories of Draco into a crystal vial. After most of her memories had been copied, he tapped his wand on her forehead.

"Obliviate."

"Why did you do that?" Bellatrix glared at Lucius, confused with his actions.

"You yourself said she mustn't return! And with our child currently missing, why wouldn't she die trying to find him! But I am not letting her permanently forget about our child. So shut up for now, and make sure you have a good explanation for all of this." Lucius had glared her down, making her feel like she was nothing but an insolent child in front of him. In her mind, Bellatrix applauded Lucius for having such a quick brain.

Just at that moment. Abraxas appeared through the floo and confusedly took an unconscious Narcissa into his arms before rushing back to the floo and getting a handful of floo powder from the decorative pouch sitting on the table stand beside the fireplace. He turned around to glare daggers at his son as well at the sister of his daughter-in-law who definitely had something to do with this sudden chaos.

"You both better have a good explanation for this. Manoir de Malfoy!"

Releasing the powder from his hand, green fire rose from the bottom of the fireplace, consuming them in less than a second. On the other side of the floo, in France, Abraxas cut off the connection between the two Manors; making sure that no one could trace where they had gone / come from.

"Now." Lucius turned in place and stared Bellatrix down. "What is going on?"

Bellatrix gulped and summarized everything she could in one breath. "Yesterday, the Dark Lord had given a select few of us the mission to kill every baby whilst they are still in the womb. I couldn't do it so I paid someone to smuggle him away from here where the Dark Lord couldn't reach him. But somehow, he found out that I disobeyed him, and I could tell that he was about to kill me. But he couldn't. He asked for his cup back, something he told me to keep safe several years back, and I knew that was the only thing keeping me and my family safe. Everyone else in my family is temporarily safe since no one will be able to find out where our Mansion is. That is why I came here, to beg my sister to escape somewhere the Dark Lord can't find her."

Lucius scanned her eyes. "That is why you didn't say anything when I called father. Because he doesn't have the mark." Bellatrix nodded her head, and reached for something inside the pocket of her robes.

"This is the cup. I don't know why he treasures it so much, but you can use it against him. Please take it. You have to protect your son. When he returns, you have to be there for him. I am not able to bare children and there is no longer any way I can escape the Dark Lord's scorn. I have gone against him too many times."

Bellatrix tried to shove the cup in Lucius' hands, but he shook his head and pushed it back towards her.

"If that is all, then the Dark Lord had also given me an item."

Bellatrix shoved the cup into his hands once more.

"Good, but I can no longer keep the cup hidden with me. Please. He will find me at any moment!"

Lucius hesitated for a split second but nodded his head seeing the cunning and intelligence that rarely appeared in the Slytherin's eyes. He was sure that Bellatrix knew what she was doing.

"And please remember, I am the only one at fault. You know nothing."

Lucius raised an eyebrow at Bellatrix but nodded again in understanding. Taking the cup, he rushed to the dungeons hidden below his house where he stashed it among other dark items. He tried to dismiss the distinct crack that sounded from behind him as he needed to do things in order or they were all dead. The room where he rushed to had been enchanted to hide magical items whenever the ministry decides to pay an unscheduled visit complete with a search warrant. Lucius is proud to say, that ever since the Renaissance, when this room was built by his ancestor, the ministry hadn't found a spec of dark items in Malfoy Manor.