Draco and Bellatrix

[Bellatrix Lestrange]

Family thread mark II

[Draco Malfoy]

Draco followed behind Bellatrix, silently, her agitation was obvious in her movements.

[Bellatrix Lestrange]

As soon as the door shut behind them, Bellatrix whirled around to face Draco, levelling a glare at him. She was furious, her wand already in hand, blood and magic and anger thrumming through her veins.

"So," she purred, her voice surprisingly quiet. "What happened?"

Frankly, he was in trouble whatever answer he gave, but it was still a question she wanted an answer to. He had refused. Refused. That simply didn't not happen; people just didn't refuse to follow orders.

[Draco Malfoy]

Draco eyed the wand then his Aunt, but he managed to (Malfoy to the core) keep his expression somewhat impassive "I did as you asked and hexed him... I don't know what you're angry for?"

[Bellatrix Lestrange]

"Don't you?" she hissed, her eyes blazing. That really wasn't a good answer. "Perhaps you should think a little harder. See if anything comes to mind."

Really, she was itching to curse him, her fingers adjusting her grip on her wand in preparation, but she held back. One last chance.

[Draco Malfoy]

Draco eyed her before responding slowly "Not... really. I hexed him, it was the first one that came to mind..."

[Bellatrix Lestrange]

Instantly, she flung a quick, sharp Crucio at him. Did he really not understand? Had he missed something? Had they been on different raids? Merlin help him if he was being deliberately obtuse...

"Now, has that refreshed your mind? What happened?" she persisted, moving closer to him.

[Draco Malfoy]

Draco doubled over from the pain, collapsing to the ground giving a loud grunt. Luckily she didn't hold it long as she went back to her questioning "Nothing! I did what you asked!"

[Bellatrix Lestrange]

"And yet, having supposedly done that, you still failed," she glared at him, her wand still trained on him. "Explain that!"

[Draco Malfoy]

The boy glared up at her trying to catch his breath and ignore the lingering tendrils of pain. "I didn't fail. I cast, just not what you wanted- how I was I supposed to know you meant only one curse?"

[Bellatrix Lestrange]

"You failed," she reminded him harshly. "You failed again. Last time, you were lucky that it ended correctly - Snape saved your neck. This time, you failed on your own. Do you have any idea what that means?"

[Draco Malfoy]

The boy didn't reply, instead he just eyed her warily.

[Bellatrix Lestrange]

She shook her head, dropping her arm so her wand wasn't pointing at him any more. "You can't keep failing. You won't keep being given chances to prove yourself."

[Draco Malfoy]

The boy glared "What if I don't want to prove myself."

[Bellatrix Lestrange]

"You don't have a choice about that," she responded flatly, giving him a calculating look, filing that comment away for safe-keeping. "You're in it now, you know how it works. Now, if you can manage to hold your tongue and show some improvement in the next while, I may be able to get another chance for you. However, I don't intend to waste my time on something pointless, nephew or not. Is that clear?"

[Draco Malfoy]

The boy looked away but didn't comment one way or another.

[Bellatrix Lestrange]

She glared at him still. "You will not fail again," she informed him - and it was more of a statement than a question or belief. She wasn't intending to allow him to fail again. Not a third time.

[Draco Malfoy]

He still didn't reply, his gaze was instead on the other side of the room.

[Bellatrix Lestrange]

She hissed, mostly to herself. His unresponsiveness was annoying - very annoying. Couldn't he even say a simple 'yes'? What was wrong with him?

"Answer me," she demanded, moving closer to grab and shake his shoulder to jerk him out of whatever trance he seemed to be in.

[Draco Malfoy]

He looked at her with a frown "What's there to say?"