Snuggling

***I do not own Harry Potter, J.K. Rowling does. AU, Bellatrix is more sane than most people think. If I get eenough reviews by next week I might add more chapters!***

It was a rare occasion. Neither Rodolphus nor Bellatrix had been sent out on a mission in the past 3 days and while getting caught up on laundry, research, and sleep had been able to keep them both busy for the past two days, both Bella and Rod had woken up realizing that they would have to engage one another for the first time in 4 months.

Rodolphus was already in the kitchen enjoying some scrambled eggs and toast when Bellatrix decided to emerge from the upper level of their small home.

"Morning love!" Rodolphus said cheerily to his still groggy wife.

Rodolphus had always been a morning person, while Bellatrix was a person who needed at least 2 cups of coffee before she could even think about functioning for the day. Rodolphus had seen Bella tired like this before, but she almost looked like she was sleeping while standing.

"Do you remember why I walked over here?" Bellatrix asked in a groggy state.

"No, you haven't spoken to me in a while, but I would assume that you came in here for some coffee... or at least something to eat, you still look like a skeleton from Azkaban. I'm truthfully beginning to worry that you're anorexic..."

Bellatrix stared at her husband blankly for a few minutes before turning around and mumbling something about going back to bed. She really was too tired to comprehend whatever Rodolphus had been going on about and had suddenly began to feel chilly, despite the warmth that the wood stove had been giving off since she had lit it before bed last night.

"I hope she's alright..." Rodolphus mused, "Even the Dark Lord isn't usually that pale."

Rodolphus contemplated this for a moment before he made his way upstairs to check on his wife. Bella rarely became ill, but when she did it always ended up being something unpleasant. Rodolphus periodically caught a cold, but Bellatrix somehow managed to catch the seasonal flu not once but twice within a four month span. As Rod approached the door to their bedroom, he could hear Bellatrix blowing her nose and coughing.

"Oh gods" Rod thought, "I hope this is just a stuffy nose, I don't think I can take her getting sick again. She always looks so pitiful when she's sick..."

Rodolphus opened that door to find Bellatrix lying in bed with a box of tissues on her nightstand and their muggle picture box on. The picture box had been in the house when they had moved in around three months ago. Bellatrix had been reluctant to leave the large manor that they had inhabited since their marriage, but once they had settled in to the new location, Bella had found a way to make it her own. The old manor could have easily been outfitted with protective spells, but Rodolphus found that it was easier to move to a new location and skip the multiple battles that would have surely followed if they had stayed.

"Bella?" Rod questioned while peeking his head through the open door, "are you ok lovey?"

Bellatrix turned her head to look at him. Her hair was a mess, she was pale and her nose and eyes had a red tint to them.

"Yup" Rod thought "She's sick..."

"Roddy?" Bella's voice cut through his thoughts, "Will you come and lay down with me? I'm cold..."

Rodolphus approached the bed and sat down beside his sickly looking wife. Bellatrix had put most of their comforters on the bed in the middle of November, but had taken the rest of them out the closet and wrapped them around herself.

"You look like a caterpillar" Rod commented with a smile.

"I feel ick." Bella said, moving so that her head was in his lap.

"Ick" Rod thought, "She has been using that word synonymously with sick since we were children. Just one of her quirks I guess." Rodolphus thought fondly.

When Bellatrix was a child, she had a fish that she had named Ick. When he died, Bella's mother had told her that Ick had become Ick and died rather than Ick had become sick and died. Once her mother had realized her mistake it was too late. Bella, being 4, did not see what was wrong and had been using ick in the place of sick ever since.

Rodolphus kicked of his shoes and moved under the many covers with his wife. She snuggled close to him, enjoying the sudden warmth from his body. He placed his arms around her waist and allowed her to drift off to sleep in his arms.

"Bella-boo..." Rodolphus thought, "We should snuggle like this more often."