Upside Down

I love Bella too. Her character is so complex...and she's one of the only decent female characters in the series. You have Hermione: The Bookworm, Luna: The Lunatic, Molly: The Walking Uterus, and all the others who are wither flighty or slutty. I guess Tonks is pretty cool, too...

risotto - Oh no! You don't like Ruby? Tell me what you don't like about her, and maybe I can tone her down a bit. I want everyone who read this story to like it. But I know that sometimes it's just not possible. I'll do what I can to make you like her, but I'm afraid I can't change the character's integrity. Besides....I think she's awesome. I get to draw on my own culture and even a bit of my own personality in order to paint her up correctly...I'm sorry you don't like her...
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Hermione had to do some quick transfiguration in order to make room for the new occupants of her flat. She transfigured two of her side tables into new cots, and it took two trips to get both of the new occupants into them. Draco and Hermione Apparated Lucius back, carefully situating him on the bed, and then Draco and Narcissa Apparated Bellatrix, situating her into the cot gingerly. Then, Hermione retrieved Ruby and the two went to work.

Lucius required the most attention, so it was Hermione who cared for him. Magic and infection were never a good mix, so Hermione used Muggle peroxide to scrub his back clean. He grunted periodically, and squirmed slightly, but never woke. When the lacerations were clean, Hermione gently rubbed his back with an ointment that would fight off another infection. When he was stable, she gingerly covered the ugly gashes with a layer of gauze. She would have to get more soon, because between him and Draco, she was running low…

Ruby was in charge of Bellatrix. She was very gentle with the woman, because she was awake, and looked perfectly capable of striking out if Ruby caused her unnecessary pain. Ruby was slightly unnerved by the dark eyes watching her as she cleaned and dressed the on top.

“I need you to roll over so I can get the exit wound.” She said softly. Bellatrix sat silently for a moment, as if weighing her options, before carefully rolling over and baring her back to Ruby. Bellatrix nestled herself into the soft cot, wincing slightly as the pressure was transferred to her freshly dressed stomach.

“So….been a Death Eater long?” she asked. Bellatrix twisted her head to look at the American curiously, but then shrugged and rested her chin on her arms in front of her.

“Yes. Over thirty years.” She said. Ruby chuckled softly as she cleaned the wound.

“Really? You don’t look a day over twenty-five.” She said softly. Bellatrix puffed up visibly, positively affected by the compliment.

Bellatrix wasn’t ugly. Her dark hair was curly and fly-away, giving her a wind-swept appearance at all times. She kept it long, the weight of it taming parts somewhat. Her face had filled out much since her escape from Azkaban. She had high cheekbones, a patrician nose, and perfect bow-shaped lips. Her eyebrows were thick, but attractive, and went well with her dark black eyes. Her figure was slender, a narrow hour-glass, and her legs were long and shapely. Her skin was darker than her sister’s, giving her an almost Amazon appearance. She was beautiful, but dangerous.

Narcissa laughed gently, her attention away from her husband.

“It seems you have won yourself an ally in Bella. That’s not an easy thing to accomplish.” She said, impressed with the American’s perceptions. When Ruby was finished with Bellatrix’s back, she helped the woman roll back over, and settled her better into the cot.

“So….what happened?” Ruby asked, conjuring a chair to sit next to the dark witch. Bellatrix’s expression darkened, becoming a mix between sorrow and fury.

“First things first….” Bellatrix said, pouting lightly. “I haven’t had anything to eat in three days…” she started. Ruby jumped to her feet, startling the witch.

“I’ll get it!” she said, and dashed from the room. Bellatrix looked at her sister.

“Is…is she….you know….all there?” she asked, pointing at her head. Hermione found that question to be both insulting and hilarious. Bellatrix-Fucking-Lestrange was asking if Ruby was mentally stable!

“She is as much as you.” Hermione muttered. Bellatrix cocked her head, and gave a slightly mad smile.

“I’ll take that as a no, then, my Muggle-born heroine.” She said softly. Hermione looked decidedly uncomfortable, and Draco chuckled.

“Pay no attention to her. She’s mad.” He said softly, and turned Hermione’s head gently back to her task at hand, which consisted of getting Lucius Malfoy out of his bloody and filthy clothes. The situation was ironic, really. She was stripping down a fully-grown wizard (with the help of his wife) that had both insulted and tried to kill her and her friends. This was awkward to say the least. Although….the man wasn’t at all bad looking. Hermione had never thought that any of the Malfoys were ugly….on the outside.

“I never said I wasn’t mad, dear nephew….” Bella said. Ruby came back in a few moments later, a tray in her hands. She had made spaghetti for lunch, and there had been some left over. So she had warmed up a plateful for Bellatrix, and toasted up a couple pieces of sliced bread, buttered them, and put them on the tray. She had no idea what the woman preferred to drink, so she provided her with some dark cola. Spaghetti and cola…..yum…

“Food.” Ruby said, and helped settle the tray on Bella’s lap. She sat back down in her chair, and watched as Bellatrix curled a few of the noodles around the fork. She watched intently as she put the food in her mouth. Bellatrix was very aware of the American staring at her, and it made her uncomfortable. Strange….she had killed, tortured, and maimed people with great pleasure for years, and one little girl was making her want to squirm. The food wasn’t bad, though. The sauce probably wasn’t home-made…. She swallowed daintily, and then turned to Ruby.

“Is…is there any particular reason you’re staring at me while I eat?” she asked. Ruby looked like a child caught stealing cookies before supper, and blushed.

“I just wanted to see if you liked the food…” she said softly, leaning back into her chair.

“It’s acceptable…” Bellatrix said. The occupants of the room laughed when she sipped at the cola, sputtering and sneezing as the bubbles ticked her nose.

“What is it?!” she said, looking at the glass oddly.

“It’s soda.” Ruby said. Bellatrix mumbled something under her breath, and then went back to her food. Once she was finished, Ruby banished the tray into the kitchen with her wand.

“So….about what happened.” Bellatrix said, sitting up a little straighter to explain her story.

Bellatrix had met the information of her sister and nephew’s ‘demise’ with mixed feelings. She had been torn between her loyalty to the Dark Lord and her loyalty to her family. When she had heard that Narcissa had been ‘executed’ for interfering on her son’s behalf, she had become furious.

Bellatrix had always secretly envied her sisters for being able to have children. Even Andromeda, the blood-traitor, had a daughter. She couldn’t dote on Nymphadora, but she had always doted on Draco when she could. She had taught the boy a good majority of what he knew about the dark arts, and had even taught him Occlumency and Legilimency. And Narcissa was the only real sister she had left after Andromeda had betrayed the family and married that Muggleborn.

She had made the near-fatal mistake of questioning the Dark Lord’s orders. She and Lucius had gone together to beg the Dark Lord’s permission to retrieve the bodies of Draco and Narcissa, and had been met with firm dismissal. Bellatrix stood by, fuming silently, as Lucius begged the Dark Lord. Bellatrix’s fury had manifested when the Dark Lord called the two ‘worthless pieces of traitorous filth’ and she had jumped to her sister’s honor, fairly shocking Voldemort into temporary silence. When Bella was through blessing out the bastard for insulting her sister, he had merely regained his composure and smiled at them eerily.

“I’ll do you one better….I’ll let you join them.” He said cryptically.

Bellatrix had been disposed of first. Voldemort was more like a snake than anyone knew. When he dealt with Bella, he struck out quickly, knocking her onto her bottom behind the door. When she had tried to get herself back on her feet, she found he had already drawn the sword over the mantle, and had plunged it into her stomach, pinning her to the floor. He had then snapped at Lucius, who had been attempting to stun him. The stunners had been thrown off like water from a duck’s back.

The gash across his face had been caused by the spell that knocked him to the ground. Bellatrix hadn’t been able to see everything that happened, but she had seen the cane rise and fall countless times, heard it splinter, and watched as it bloodied quickly after that. Then, he had tossed the instrument aside, took their Marks from them, bid his servants a good day, warded the room against any wandering house-elves, and left them there to die. Bellatrix had been in and out of consciousness until the rescue party arrived.

“And that’s what happened…” she said, leaning back against her pillow. Hermione listened in horror, unable to process Voldemort turning against two people who had been so blindly loyal to him. But her mind worked quickly, and she saw the silver lining to this dark and ominous cloud. If they could get Kingsley to agree, Bellatrix would be the perfect person to train recruits of the Order. She knew Death Eater battle techniques, and secrets about their weaknesses that no one else could ever hope to guess. She was privy to more information than even Severus Snape had been.

Lucius was a mastermind with finances. He could help replenish the rapidly deflating funds of the Order, and help Bellatrix with the duelers.

Draco hadn’t really done anything other than take the Mark. That was punishable with a hefty fine. They couldn’t even accuse Bellatrix and Lucius of that anymore…the Dark Lord had taken their Marks before he left them to die.
It was an awkward position she found herself in, but one that could be vastly helpful. She made a silent plan to contact Kingsley once Malfoy Senior was awake and well enough to travel. In the meantime, she would have to pick Bellatrix for information and try to keep the woman from strangling her in her sleep.

“I know that look, Granger. Those bushy little cogs are turning in your head…” Draco said. But Hermione ignored him. She slipped off her gloves and walked silently from the room, tossing the gloves into the trash bin as she went. Ruby looked at Draco, and frowned.

“What exactly just happened to her?” she asked. Draco grinned.

“That was Hermione Granger going into Gryffindor planning mode…” he said. Ruby seemed to contemplate this for a moment, before she shrugged, accepting the retort.

Narcissa took it upon herself to look after Lucius during the night. He slept soundly through the night, and the only sounds in the small room were of Bellatrix mumbling in her sleep.

This went on for well over a week. Hermione had to occasionally disappear to public places and family events to avoid suspicion, leaving Ruby to guard the ‘patients.’ Bellatrix was up and about almost immediately, never one to be down long. Bellatrix and Narcissa mostly stayed together, talking quietly about what Hermione might ask them to do. All of them owed Hermione a life-debt in some way. Although Narcissa and Bellatrix’s life-debt really went to Ruby, as she had been their caretaker.

Lucius’ physical condition was improving rapidly, but that seemed to have no effect on his desire to wake. When Narcissa wasn’t with Bellatrix, she was at his side, holding his hand and speaking in soft tones to him, pleading with him to wake up.

“Lucius….it’s Cissa. Wake up, Lucius. We need you. I need you.” She said softly, rubbing her thumb over his knuckles. Ruby walked silently over to her, and touched her shoulder gently. Narcissa looked up, her face tear-streaked.

“I was just about to show Bellatrix how to work the television. Do you want to come laugh at her?” she asked. Narcissa gave a half-hearted smile and nodded. She stood slowly, placing Lucius’ hand gently on the cot. She leaned down, and kissed his cheek gingerly before she and Ruby moved off into the main room.

As the two left, Draco emerged from the shadows, and took his mother’s place at his father’s side. He cleared his throat nervously; unsure of what he should say. He had asked Ruby to distract his mother, because he wanted some time alone with his father. But what to say…

“Hello, father.” He said softly. He felt like a jack-ass, talking to an unconscious man. “I never meant for any of this to happen. I wanted to make you proud, not have you killed. If I could have only been stronger….” He said, and his voice broke. A twitch of Lucius’ eyelids went unnoticed. “All I ever wanted was to make you proud. It’s so simple….but it was never enough. As soon as I started school I realized could never make you happy like I wanted to. Granger beat me in my studies….Potter beat me at Quidditch….and the test I was given to prove my loyalty and save my family….I couldn’t complete because I was too much of a coward.” By this time Draco was crying, tears streaming unchecked down his face as he bared his soul to his father.

“I wish we could do it all over again. I would study longer….play harder….I wouldn’t be weak. I know I’ve never told you this, father….but I do love you. And I never wondered if you loved me, even if you didn’t say it. You’re my best friend, and my confidant. I’m not ready to be Lord Malfoy yet. I don’t know what to do. I want you to be here to teach me. Please, father. Mother and I both need you. Stop being selfish and wake up….” He said softly. He leaned back in the chair and let the tears flow, an occasional sob escaping his lips.

Icy blue eyes rested unseen on Draco. They boy didn’t realize he had just heard everything. And he felt terrible. It wasn’t Draco’s fault. All of this was his own fault. He should have been more supportive of his son. But it was he who had taken the Mark during the first reign. It was he who had followed a half-blood blindly to try and rid the world of the impure magic. It was he who had damned his family to a life of fear.
He thought he had lost them. Without Draco or Narcissa, life would not have been worth living. But it seemed that the two were alive and well. But if that bandage across Draco’s throat told him anything, it was that the two didn’t come out untouched. He would have to know who had saved his family…who had saved him. He owed them a great deal.

“Stop that blubbering, boy, and fetch me a glass of water.” He said, hoping to snap his son out of his piteous crying state. He did. Draco’s eyes snapped open, and he looked down at his father with a mixture of relief and annoyance.

“Get your own water, old man, you’re not dead…” he said. Lucius reached out his hand, a small smile tugging at the sides of his mouth. Draco took his father’s hand, and held it firmly.

“No….I’m not. Now who do I owe for saving myself, my wife and my son?” he asked. Draco grinned suddenly, the irony of the situation not lost on him.

“Hermione Granger and her American cousin, Ruby Grangeford.” He said, watching his father’s face. His father was silent for a few moments, before sighing.

“Irony’s a bitch…”
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Yes it is, Lucius, yes it is...

Tell me what you think here, people. I just had Draco bare his soul to his father....that should be worth something....