"Grandfather," Bellatrix mumbled softly, her eyes gazing upon Arcturus as he was sitting behind the desk.
"Bellatrix," Arcturus responded. "Come, have a seat."
Bellatrix approached the chair across from Arcturus on the other side of the table. As she walked, she could feel the oppressive and the suffocative atmosphere in the room, and the dim lighting did nothing to improve the mood.
Though not really frightened, she was feeling a bit nervous. She had never seen her grandfather in this kind of mood.
She took her seat, her eyes continuously moving across the scattered parchments and the empty firewhisky bottle on the table.
"What is the situation?" Arcturus questioned, breaking the silence. "How is Lord Olario doing?"
"He has regained consciousness," she informed him.
"Oh?" Arcturus reacted, a hint of surprise in his voice. "Did the mediwitch not state that it would take at least two days for him to wake?"
"Yes," Bellatrix replied. "But it seems that because of his own powerful magic, he was able to recover more quickly. At least, this is what the mediwitch told us now."
"Apart from slight pain in his body and a bit of problem in carrying out movement of his body, he is fine," she said. "Even so, he should recover completely by today."
"If he is fine, it is good, then," Arcturus sighed. "Good! Very good!"
Bellatrix nodded.
"Is he... all right?" Arcturus asked, after a moment of silence, squinting his eyes. "I mean his mental state. What is going through his mind? How is he taking things?"
"He seems to be doing fine," Bellatrix replied. "We did not really talk about what happened in the Wizengamot and I did not try to deliberately bring up all these topics. I did not want to make him uncomfortable."
"But as far as I was able to observe, he was quite calm. He did not seem overly worried, tense, or anxious about anything," she added. "We even shared some jokes and laughs."
"Miss Bones was also with us, and Lord Olario spent much of the time trying to lighten her mood and help her forget the loss she has suffered," she said.
Arcturus nodded. Although Bellatrix had not been direct or had really said anything, he sensed the slight jealousy in her voice. She was obviously jealous of the growing closeness between Antonio Olario and Amelia Bones.
But he himself understood Antonio's behavior all too well and could not place any fault in it.
Amelia's father had died saving Antonio. Edmund Bones had taken a deadly spell meant for Lord Olario. Any normal person with even the slightest bit of morality would inevitably try to take care of his savior's remaining family. It was not surprising. And as far as he could tell, Lord Olario was a man of honour and self respect and thus his behaviour towards Miss. Bones was expected.
"And now that Lord Olario is awake," she said, "Lord Edmund Bones' funeral will most likely be held tomorrow."
Amelia's earlier stubbornness, her refusal to hold her father's funeral until Lord Olario woke, was another sign of their growing closeness. It was exactly what Arcturus had been contemplating moments ago.
"We too will be attending the funeral," he stated, and Bellatrix nodded in response. It was a given. Almost every Lord of the Wizengamot and their families were going to be present.
"Is something the matter, Grandfather?" Bellatrix questioned, her eyes roaming around the room. "You seem quite tense and worried."
She understood that whatever had happened in the Wizengamot had put the entirety of Wizarding Britain under stress. But her grandfather seemed more stressed than most, and she could intuitively tell that something else was the matter.
"Yes, I am worried," Arcturus finally responded with a deep and defeated sigh. "I am worried."
"Why?" Bellatrix questioned.
"I did not step up during the attack in the Wizengamot to support Lord Olario," he stated. "I am worried that he may not take this well. That he might hold this against me, and against the Black family."
Bellatrix was slightly surprised to hear this. She had not considered that it could be viewed in such a way.
"I do not think Lord Olario will think anything of this sort," Bellatrix said. "At least with me, his behavior was exactly as it has always been. There was no visible resentment inside him toward me. He was behaving normally, laughing, smiling and making jokes and all that."
Arcturus nodded, an expression of slight relief crossing his face. Relief for Bellatrix.
"That is good," he said. "But it does not resolve my worry. Your relationship and dynamics with him are different compared to the dynamics I share with him."
"When I speak in this manner, I do not mean to say that he will harbor active anger against us or seek revenge against me. What I mean is that in the future, if the need arises or a situation comes where we might require his help, he may not care to provide it, because I did not step up when he needed me."
"Do you understand what I am trying to say?" he asked, and Bellatrix nodded in response.
Now that her grandfather had framed the matter this way, it made much more sense to her. Surely, if the Black family ever needed help, Antonio would have no reason to assist them, while, on the other hand, he would have every reason to help the Bones family. She could not hold anything against Lord Olario for this. He would simply be doing the same that had been done to him.
At the very least, she was relieved that her own dynamics with him had not changed. If only she had been present in the Wizengamot, she surely would have jumped in to support Lord Olario. Even if it had meant death, she would have been ready.
"Bellatrix," Arcturus sighed. "I want you to do two things for me."
"What is it?" Bellatrix asked, slightly nervous about what her grandfather might ask her to do.
"First," he said, "I want you to find out if he harbors any resentment against us."
"I will try," she replied. It was not an overly complicated task.
"Secondly," Arcturus continued, "if Lord Olario does hold resentment and anger toward me, I want you to use the relationship you share with him to repair the bridge between us."
Bellatrix did not reply immediately. If Antonio actually held a grudge toward the Black family, then attempting something like this could also ruin her own relationship with him. That was a risk she was not willing to take lightly.
Even so, she nodded. Despite the danger, she would at least make an attempt. Arcturus smiled stiffly and nodded. It was the cue for Bellatrix's dismissal.
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