Chapter Text
It was always going to be difficult for her. She knew this the moment she decided to look into one of the major families involved with the war. All of it in hopes of finding a story, or better yet the answers to long forgotten questions. Regardless it wasn’t like she wasn’t going to take the chance to look through the property. Old families like this one always had something to hide.
She only had herself to blame as she remained hesitating at the front gates. The iron fence doing little to intimidate her in comparison to the possible truth she could find within those walls. She had been warned that the property might not allow her to get much further than the front gates, but Rita had a suspicion that that wouldn’t be the case for her. There was hardly a place she couldn’t find her way into, but her suspicions here were more akin to a hopeful spark.
A feeling that was hiding deep in her chest, behind walls she had built so high to keep herself safe. The possibility of knowing she was important or just an experience to have in a fleeting moment. Useful until her flaws killed whatever connection there had been. If she was important as she had once been made to feel.
In other words, knowing if she could walk through the gates would answer a few questions and open the door to so many more.
So, with her head held high and mouth pressed closed, she pushed the gate open. It creaked loudly as it moved and Rita let out a breath. Her eyes felt heavy and her hands began to shake as she continued on pushing the iron bars, letting the gate open up further. It was then that Rita could truly take a breath, because this proved something to her.
Rita Skeeter had meant something. As small as that something might have been. It was still important enough to be spared whatever horrid curses they had placed on the property.
The walk up from the gates wasn’t much of a long one, but it was just enough to enlarge the building in front of her, using perspective to present it as a much bigger building than it actually was.
The Lestrange manor was still a rather imposing structure. Large and grandiose, less in its size and more in its decorations and details. It’s no surprise that it was often referred to as a palace. Although if you asked Rita, it shouldn't be allowed to be referred to in such a way unless there was a large garden that held exotic creatures. A true sign of wealth and elegance.
Palace or not, Rita still found herself stopping right at its large doors. The stone arched way seemed as though it was going to collapse in on itself and the heavy wooden door looked far too old to be of much use, but all that could easily be overlooked. Favored as she might be there was still a likely possibility that the door was cursed.
One could practically feel the dark magic that was pouring out the very windows. It seeped through the walls and curled up at her feet. A warning to keep her from taking a step forward.
Knowing what she knew, there was no doubt that Bellatrix was the creator of many of their protections , but who was to say the Lestrange brothers hadn’t taken some extra precautions. She wouldn’t put it past them. The Lestrange's had always been a suspicious bunch, it was really no surprise why Bellatrix got along with them so well.
She took a step forward, hand extended and immediately shrieked when her hand was shocked by the wood. Rather tame for a warning, but Rita wasn’t sure if she would want to risk it again to see if it was just a fluke.
Damn it all, if she was going to die because of some stupid curses placed by a pair of lunatics, she might as well die with a good story to tell.
Face scrunched up with determination, Rita began to face the front side of the building, to find what, she wasn’t all that sure. But standing around was definitely not going to help her, so she moved. Stepping around, she pushed and pulled at one of the windows with little luck. Although thinking about it now, it was rather stupid to think they would be left open. She might have been spending too much time observing muggles if she thought that had any chance of working. Paranoia had no cure.
Still she tried. She walked in circles and tried close to every muggle attempt to get in before going back to more traditional means. Every spell she used was simply absorbed by the building. Said a lot about her skill with wand work if the building was simply absorbing her magic.
In the end, it was rather pointless.
There was no secret way in, and it was rather idiotic to think there would be one. It wasn’t common to see amongst prestigious wizarding families, but this was Bellatrix Black.
If the psychotic woman was anything, it was prepared.
Rita found it quite hard to believe that she would live somewhere that didn't have an alternative entrance. Especially taking into consideration how easily Rita had been able to open the gate. Bellatrix had planned something. She always had something running in her mind.
“You gotta look closely at it angel. It’s all about perspective.”
Rita closed her eyes and sighed. It had been weeks. Why did she insist on making herself known at all times?
“Small little things like you won't even get noticed. Perfect for sneaking around.”
She couldn’t help but scoff. Of course, now she remembers that small little detail Bellatrix had once insisted was completely insignificant.
She took a step back and changed her focus. Bellatrix was intelligent as she was mad, and Bellatrix would have been mad enough to prepare for even the unlikeliest of circumstances.
Looking over the wall her eyes immediately went to its imperfections. All the walls, the windows, the near rotting door that clearly was in need of repair, and right there was exactly what she needed. A small space, the spreading between a door and its frame. Honest mistake really, any other person wouldn't have noticed it. Not Bellatrix, she would've pointed it out if it really mattered to her. But in this instance Rita could confidently say that that was not the case.
“Never knew, yet, always so aware, huh, Bella.”
Oh, how easily she could hear her voice leaning close to whisper her praise,
“That’s my girl.”
The words curled around her, wrapped her and brought a sense of warmth that she forgot existed. Once she had lived for those words, once she would’ve done close to anything to hear those three words whispered against the skin of her neck. The warmth of her breath and the touch of her skin. She remembered it all.
But she couldn’t trick herself in to believeing they were actually her words. So much of her was missing from her memory. There wasn’t enough of her voice. It was still missing the roughness of it, she still didn’t feel the breath against her skin. There was still so much that she was missing.
The echo of her words only made her long for her more.
This was meant to be healing for her, not meant to break her.
With a sigh Rita pushed away her thoughts. Tucked them deep in the recesses of her mind as she slowly let herself take the form of what she needed.
Small, unnoticeable, and easy to ignore. The small shape of an insect that one could overlook. A green little beetle from what she could tell, not that she had much time to wonder what her appearance was usually, but knowing the basics of the species.
The last thing she needed was to be found in a place she shouldn’t be and be taken in and analyzed. It would end her career and she refused to let a childish mistake she made years ago be the reason she can no longer write.
In her defense though, they shouldn’t have made it so easy to turn into an animagus. With how easy it was to obtain the information she was sure that even a third year student would be able to complete the transformation if they had any reading or comprehension skills.
It was rather easy to go past those heavy doors in her small form. It didn’t mean she didn’t feel the magic that tried to reach her. She could feel the edges of it calling towards her trying to pull her in by any means necessary.
She slipped through easily, crawled up the walls and looked through the windows and found herself in awe as she realized that the estate was much more grandiose than what it appeared from the outside.
Bellatrix always had expensive tastes.
So at the expense of setting off some unexpected curses Rita transformed back into a human. Pushed off the feeling of cobwebs from her clothing and looked around the corner of the hall expecting to find someone. An elf, maybe hear the screams of a trapped muggle.
Rita wasn’t stupid, she did know what Bella had done to that poor couple. Left their poor baby practically an orphan.
Bellatrix’s cruelty held no bounds. It was one of the things she had come to like about the mad woman. Her inability to hold back, to give as hard as she got. It’s the reason they matched as well as they had growing up.
Every step she took left her confused as to where she should go next. There was no pattern to the rooms. It looked more like a giant maze than a place to live. Unless they Lestrange's missed the chaos of the Hogwarts castles, which she really doubted.
She was going in circles, a left and a right and right and a left and she was still seeing the same rooms over and over again.
“I refuse to believe that you didn’t go out of your way to reorganize this whole place according to your tastes Bellatrix. We all know you ruled this house with an iron fist.”
She always had a part to play, a role she needed to commit to to ensure that she would always come out on top.
So the question was, where did the real Bellatrix Black hide?”
And on the next turn Rita stopped because it couldn’t be.
A door, single one, black wood with delicate white carving all around its frame. The brass handle was already discolored because of how long it’s been since someone last took care of it. Rita knew this door, but what was it doing here?
It was a strange sight, seeing it there. Alone on an empty wall. Not even a fire to light it’s beautiful work.
“Did you recreate it, Bellatrix?”
No, she couldn’t have, but there it was in front of her.
Hand on the wood she pushed it open, the door handle never worked, and to her surprise it opened easily.
The sight of her old study had her frozen at the door.
She hadn’t seen this place since before she left Hogwarts. The room of requirements.
She recreated it.
It was amazing, the detail, exactly like it had been when she was in school.
“And one day I’ll get you this exact room, down to the scorch marks on the floor. Do you think we’ll be able to recreate it?”
Went to the desk, immediately searching under the table finding the small latch that once would have hidden her most private of thoughts, only to find a single journal in place of an assortment of letters.
“You didn’t think it was all about you, did you angel? You’re too smart to think this was only for you.”
Opening the cover she found exactly the name she was expecting but more than that she found a note;
Angel,
We always knew it would come to this. You’re looking for answers and me never being able to give them to you. If you found this then I guess you’ve finally found the answers you were searching for.
I do hope my words will be enough to satisfy you.
Your beloved Bellatrix