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Post by Bellatrix Black on Aug 31, 2008 0:12:42 GMT -5
Bellatrix left the school, Claudia Morley's student file from Hogwarts tucked under her arm. She had wanted to see right away what it said, if there was anything of note. But she knew it would be safer to do so at home. On her way she sent her patronus out to Lucius, to tell him of her success in snooping. Since he had been the one to let her in on this possible bit of information, he should have the option of finding out with her.
She arrived at home and shrugged off her cloak, tossing it onto the armchair in the corner of her bedroom. She took a quick look in the mirror and found her hair looked impeccable. She then returned downstairs and sat on the sofa in the living room, laying the file on the coffee table in front of her.
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Post by Lucius Malfoy on Aug 31, 2008 0:50:14 GMT -5
Lucius was at home, just finishing up a few plans for his wedding to Narcissa when he received the message. He smiled immediately at Bella's resourcefulness. He had known she would find the information they needed as soon as the opportunity arose. He apparated quickly and appeared at the outside of her apartment building.
Giving his name to the wizard at the front desk, he was given permission to go up in the lift. When he reached room 601, he used his wand to push the button to ring the doorbell.
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Post by Bellatrix Black on Sept 1, 2008 23:09:04 GMT -5
She hadn't been staring at the closed file when the doorbell rang. It startled her how quickly Lucius had responded, and she jumped a little. Laughing at herself, she rose and headed to answer the door.
It was Lucius, and Bellatrix beamed a satisfied smile at him. "I hope you weren't expecting me to take longer. You know how I get impatient and I simply couldn't wait to find out if it was all true." With a smug look on her face, she opened the door wider for him to enter. "It's in the living room," she directed.
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Post by Lucius Malfoy on Sept 1, 2008 23:22:48 GMT -5
Lucius chuckled. He knew all too well how persistent and impatient Bella could be. The phrase "like a dog with a bone" came to mind with her, but he would certainly never say it to her face. He knew she'd take that as an insult. The truth was, he admired her tenacity, a quality which even he at times lacked.
"Certainly not," he replied smoothly. "In fact, I'm almost surprised it took you as long as it did. I know how you are with these sorts of things. To say nothing of your distaste for the woman."
He moved elegantly past her into the apartment and looked around. "I haven't been here since you first moved in," he remarked. "I love what you've done with the place."
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Post by Bellatrix Black on Sept 1, 2008 23:32:12 GMT -5
"Well I don't see how I could have possibly moved any quicker." She was slightly put off by his remark, but knew he meant nothing by it. "The files are in Dumbledore's personal office. If I was caught snooping in there, I'd certainly be let go from my post with Rothschild. And I doubt the Dark Lord would appreciate that much." She followed him in to the living room and waited as he admired her decorating. "Thank you. I have to admit, Rodolphus had a hand in most of the things. These common areas," she gestured to the living room and kitchen, "I just don't see the point in it. But I know I must keep up appearances." The one room she had taken pride in decorating was her bedroom, and she spent most of her time at home in there.
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Post by Lucius Malfoy on Sept 2, 2008 22:54:38 GMT -5
Lucius smiled. "Ah, but you're very resourceful," he replied. "When you want something, I know full well you'll do just about anything to get it. I was quite confident that you'd find a way to get into his office undetected."
He walked over to the sofa and sat down, lounging back casually. If he was at anyone else's apartment, he would have expected to be offered some refreshments of some kind. But he knew better than to expect such things of Bella. To give him food or drink would be almost like she was serving him, and that was certainly something that Bellatrix would not stoop to doing. No matter; he didn't need anything, anyway.
"Well, then," he said. "Let's get down to business, shall we? Let's open up that file and see what we can find out about our mysterious Ms. Morley."
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Post by Bellatrix Black on Sept 2, 2008 23:09:19 GMT -5
"Yes, let's." She practically skipped over to the sofa and plopped down happily beside Lucius. The cushioned bounced with the weight of her. She didn't care if she looked childish in front of him. She had known him too long.
Beaming excitedly, Bellatrix flipped open the cover of the stolen file. The top page was Claudia's seventh year N.E.W.T.S. scores. Claudia had received a few good marks, which made Bellatrix sneer. Anything positive about the woman was an instant disappointment. Bellatrix shuffled through the pages, looking for Claudia's entrance forms. "Here," she shoved a handful of pages to Lucius to look through.
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Post by Lucius Malfoy on Sept 3, 2008 22:03:45 GMT -5
Lucius rifled through the papers that Bella had thrust into his hands. He scanned through, noticing a few disciplinary notes, including one for attempting (and failing) to use an Unforgivable curse on a younger student who had called her a name. Still there was nothing particularly unusual. Until he got to the last page. "Oh... here's something," he said with a smile. "Bella, listen to this. It seems that Ms. Morley is actually Ms. Feigenbaum. Her files were all changed to Morley, because she got married in her seventh year--before graduation. Her husband was a former professor, named Isaac Morley, who was sacked for his inappropriate relationship with a student--Claudia!"
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Post by Bellatrix Black on Sept 3, 2008 22:30:48 GMT -5
"Feigenbaum? What an ugly name." She turned her nose up at the sound of it. Bellatrix hadn't heard this name before, so it either belonged to a pureblooded family outside of the UK, or Claudia really wasn't a pureblood like she had been claiming to be. And considering the rumors Lucius had mentioned, it was looking as though Claudia was a liar.
Another thought occurred to her just then. "Where's her husband now?" She couldn't recall hearing Claudia mention an Isaac Morley. Not that anything Claudia ever said to her was noteworthy.
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Post by Lucius Malfoy on Sept 3, 2008 22:38:28 GMT -5
Lucius smiled. "Well, that part of the rumor I've heard. I can't prove it, obviously... it's just a rumor at this point. But what I've heard is that her husband died mysteriously a year after their marriage. That would have been just after she graduated Hogwarts. The death was ruled an accident, but of course, there were whispers..."
He chuckled and leaned back to look at Bellatrix. "I also understand that she still lives on his family's estate in Scotland."
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Post by Bellatrix Black on Sept 3, 2008 23:05:54 GMT -5
She continued to look over her stack of papers for anything more that could be useful. But the conversation had just turned to a more interesting tone."Dead...hmmm. That certainly sounds like Claudia. I'm sure that's the only reason she was allowed to become a Death Eater, her love of killing." Bellatrix rolled her eyes and shook her head. She was disgusted that Claudia was so highly favored in the Dark Lord's ranks. But Bellatrix would fix that soon enough.
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Post by Lucius Malfoy on Sept 3, 2008 23:20:37 GMT -5
Lucius chuckled. "Yes, her brutality is well known. Yet she also manages to maintain a certain level of discretion. It makes her a good hired killer, even if she is a loathsome witch who can't be trusted. I imagine that is why she is allowed to stay around. Since the woman clearly has no conscious, I would suppose that could come in handy at times. Still, I'm sure there are more suitable candidates for such a job." He smiled and handed her the papers he had in his hands. "Feigenbaum... doesn't sound like any wizarding family I've ever heard of..."
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Post by Bellatrix Black on Sept 3, 2008 23:50:49 GMT -5
"Me either," she commented while continuing her search. "They've not been invited to any of our family's parties if they are purebloods. And you've seen how big those affairs-" Bellatrix stopped speaking suddenly. She pulled a single sheet of parchment out of the stack and stared at it a while, reading over its information. "Her admission forms! It says her mum's name is Mariam Bettencourt. That name sounds familiar," she added the last part to herself. "It looks as though her mum was a squib."
Bellatrix read further on until a wide smile spread across her wickedly beautiful face. "'Father:'" she read aloud, "'Arvid Feigenbaum. Magical background: muggle.' Oh, this is excellent. Neither of her parents had any powers at all. She's a filthy mudblood!" Bellatrix looked up at Lucius excitedly, taking in his response to the news.
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Post by Lucius Malfoy on Sept 4, 2008 23:19:19 GMT -5
Lucius smiled broadly. "I knew it! That filthy liar! She's been playing us all for a fool... and that is unforgivable! How long did the witch think she could get away with such a charade?" He leaned forward and peered at Morley's admission papers. "So, tell me, Bella... what exactly do you have planned for the widow Morley? I do hope it's something juicy... I love to watch you scheme!"
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Post by Bellatrix Black on Sept 6, 2008 0:07:40 GMT -5
"Well clearly she's gone through a lot of trouble to hide this. I'm quite certain she would do whatever necessary to keep it hidden. And that," she said with a wicked grin as she turned to face Lucius straight on, "is what I'm counting on. Imagine the possibilities Lucius! We're already rising in the Dark Lord's favor. More quickly than his other new recruits. And what would happen if our dear Mrs Morley were to forgo a few choice assignments?" The corners of her lips curled upwards into a twisted grin.
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Post by Lucius Malfoy on Sept 6, 2008 0:21:12 GMT -5
Lucius smiled broadly. "Yes... That sounds perfect. If you use her desire to keep this secret hidden against her, you--and possibly the rest of us--could rise up in the Dark Lord's ranks at her expense!" Laughing, he thought about the possibilities. Morley would be literally eating out of Bella's hands... and when Bella was tired of their little game, she could just turn the b*tch in to Voldemort... It would certainly be satisfying to watch the woman squirm under his unforgiving gaze....
"A little blackmail never goes amiss," he determined.
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Post by Bellatrix Black on Sept 8, 2008 12:36:13 GMT -5
"I can't wait to watch her squirm!" Bellatrix bounced lightly on the couch, excitedly. She almost wanted to go to Claudia right then and start it all. It was going to be delicious.
She looked back at the papers and read the words again. It was all too easy. Even all the snooping around, in hind sight, was too easy. Claudia had really not done as well a job as she had thought in hiding her secret. The knowledge that she had outsmarted the infamous Claudia Morley was too good.
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Post by Lucius Malfoy on Sept 8, 2008 22:35:27 GMT -5
Lucius laughed at her excitement. "As soon as I heard those rumors, I knew I had to bring them to you, Bella. That woman is entirely too presumptuous to insinuate herself into the Dark Lord's inner circle the way she has, especially when she's hiding such a big secret! Imagine... wanting to kill muggleborns, when she's practically one herself! Does she really think she can elevate herself just by a few well-placed killings? Or does she just enjoy the killing?"
He really couldn't understand what could have motivated the woman. Surely she would have to know that she could not continue the shocking charade forever, and when she was found out the consequences were certain to be grave? Was she stupid or deluded? All he knew was that he couldn't wait to see her go up against Bellatrix... with Bella holding all the cards...
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Post by Bellatrix Black on Sept 8, 2008 22:44:01 GMT -5
"Well with the way she goes on about things- not to me, mind you, but I've overheard her at meetings and such- I doubt she cares much about who she kills. She seems to just like the bloodshed. Can you imagine? Taking a life without any purpose to it at all? She's absolutely monstrous! And now, she's our little monster." Bellatrix waved the papers at him with a large grin.
The mood shifted slightly and Bellatrix's face was more serious than before. "Did I ever tell you about my little run-in with her? In Hogsmeade? She seems to hate me as much as I loathe her. Not that I care about her liking me. It only makes this sweeter."
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Post by Lucius Malfoy on Sept 8, 2008 22:52:19 GMT -5
Lucius raised an eyebrow at her. "You had an encounter with her?" he repeated. "No, I don't believe I've heard this story... do tell. You didn't duel with her, did you? I've heard she can be quite a fierce duelist." He couldn't deny, the idea of the two beautiful women fighting each other had a certain... perverse... appeal to it.
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