Hey guys, new story. I don't know how it's going to work though I swear that next one will not have an OC, which mine usually do. I like OCs okay? She's not going to be a Mary Sue, don't worry. Though if you catch glimpses of it, TELL ME.

He held his newborn daughter in his arms. She was so small, so beautiful, so fascinating. He couldn't take his eyes off her. Truthfully, when he'd married Bellatrix he hadn't expected it to be a happy marriage, and it wasn't. The woman was cold, crazy and uncaring, the only thing she cared about was making the Dark Lord happy. He also followed him willingly, though he was more wary of the power. He'd give anything for his master but he knew that Bella's fascination was unhealthy, not that his was particularly healthy, but still. Rodolphus had refused to have children at first (Rabastan could marry and have children to continue the bloodline) because he knew this would happen. He would love the child - how could he not?- and Bella would only see the profit she could get from it, she would give their child to the Dark Lord, like she was doing now.

He sighed and smiled at his daughter. Annabelle Cassiopeia Lestrange was his little girl. She had been born with her mother's thick curls and his silvery grey eyes which resembled the Malfoys'. Anna looked up at him and gurgled, producing soft laughing noises through her tiny lips. He held her to his chest and moved his weight from one leg to the other, humming a soft song and coaxing his daughter to sleep. Magic thrummed in the room, magic from both father and daughter. Her magic was strong as it was, what with Lestrange and Black blood in her (not to mention other bloodlines mixed in from many generations), and it was of grey nature, neither dark or light. Bella hadn't been happy with that, but through the distaste in her eyes he had seem something akin to fondness. Maybe she felt something but he knew that it only went so far, if Lord Voldemort asked her to kill Annabelle, she would do it and smile for him. It made Rodolphus nauseous to think about it.

He sighed and walked to the crib at the end of the room. He put the small bundle in and placed the protective enchantments around the cot.

He couldn't take this. It was his daughter, his flesh and blood, his little girl, his baby. Bellatrix had just offered the baby and, of course, Voldemort had accepted. It was a simple ceremony really. Voldemort would pour a tiny amount of his magic into Annabelle's core - his magic would become whole quickly enough - and she would absorb it. Her magic was so little right now, with only three days, that it would be taken over by the dark magic. The magic would turn dark, would grow quickly and she would forever be drawn to the Dark Lord. That combined with the fact that Bella and he, of all people, would raise her would make her the Dark Lord's most loyal and most powerful follower. Bella and him were very loyal, they would go to all lengths for him - it was what kept their marriage together - but giving up his child was going a bit far. Even if she did become the Dark Lord's greatest weapon he could just discard her at a moment's notice, it was too risky. He could not allow that. He had to protect her from everything, no matter what. His mistakes no longer influenced just himself, but her too, he couldn't let anything bad happen to her.

Rodolphus aparated to Headquarters and strode to the Dark Lord's meeting room. He knew he was there, the dark mark of the inner circle gave them such a strong connection that he knew what his master was feeling and where his master was at all times.

Calming his heart rate and controlling his breath he knocked on the door. It opened, revealing Lucius Malfoy and, sitting in the throne at the back, his Lord.

"Rodolphus." Lucius said, smiling at his brother-in-law.

Rodolphus strode past Lucius, ignoring the astounded look shot at him, and knelt before his master. He knew what he was about to ask was insane and suicidal, he could just hope that his Lord would reward his long and faithful service. "My Lord." He started, making sure to word everything as respectfully as he could. "I come to you as faithful a servant as I have always and will always be. Please, might I have the honor of speaking with you privately?" He kept his eyes on the floor and his head bowed.

He could feel Voldemort's interest through his mark.

"Leave us, Lucius." His master ordered at last, amusement colouring his voice.

Lucius bowed and left the room, presumably to stand outside the door as a guard.

"Stand."

Rodolphus obeyed.

"You seem afraid Rodolphus, you seem worried." The man's red eyes made such a contrast with his porcelain face and his ebony hair that they burned into him. A cold smile graced his features as he beckoned him closer. "What is so important that you must speak with me in private?"

Rodolphus walked closer and kneeled at his feet. He kept his head up and looked at his master with a strange surge of Gryffindor courage that left him feeling strange. Was that what it felt like to do something even knowing that is was completely daft? "It's my daughter, my Lord. She will be your greatest follower, even greater than Bellatrix and I, and you know that you are our world."

At Rodolphus' pause Tom Riddle looked him up and down, clearly curious about what this could be about. Rodolphus was obviously here to demand something of him. Perhaps demand was wrong, beg was more appropriate. Though the Lestranges had never asked for anything more than the honor of killing and torturing for him.

"Go on." He said.

"My wife and I do so much, as do all of our relatives." He began, licking his lips nervously. "We would do anything for you, truly, but if anything should happen to any of us while she is not yet of age, she, your ultimate servant, would be left at the mercy of ilk such as Dumbledore. You, my Lord, will never fall, while we can. If you could somehow secure our daughter for us we would be eternally grateful."

"Secure her?" Tom smiled cruelly. "It is true that I will never fall. Having her will always be useful, but if you fall the Ministry will put her somewhere out of our reach. Do you mean to make me your daughter's caretaker? Her godfather perhaps?"

Rodolphus bowed his head. "My Lord, it is an utter outrage that I should request such a thing from you, but, please, I beg of you. It would calm our fears for her future."

"Does Bella know you ask this of me?"

Rodolphus visibly flinched, much to his own chagrin. "My wife has not been in the right state of mind since giving birth, I am afraid that she would not register me telling her anything."

It was quiet for a long time, but the pureblood didn't raise his head. He waited with bated breath for his master to answer.

"Very well." Tom's silky voice broke through the tense silence. "I will name her my goddaughter at the ceremony tomorrow."

Rodolphus took a deep breath and let himself fall forwards, clutching his master's hand to his lips. "Thank you, my Lord. Thank you." He breathed and remained kneeling when Lord Voldemort took his hand away and stood.

"Now leave."

Rodolphus left so quickly one would think he had aparated right away.

His daughter was safe. She would not be cast aside, not if he named her his god-daughter. It's a binding magical contract, you couldn't break it if you don't want to lose your magic. His little Annie was safe. Relief flooded through him.

He had always believed that he wouldn't care about anyone. The only person he even came close to loving before was Rabastan, but he loved her. More than anything in this world.

"What?" Albus stood, looking at Severus. "What do you mean, Tom has a goddaughter?"

The rest of the Order looked at Severus with distrusting faces. They knew he was a Death Eater and even if Albus Dumbledore told them he was on their side, it was hard to believe. James and Sirius just kept to the background, if they said anything of what they were thinking the Headmaster would be very upset. Nobody wanted that. Ever.

"Bellatrix had a daughter. Some time ago she told him that she would give her child to him, to do as he wished." Severus sat down, keeping as calm as he could. "He was going to just make her magic stronger, make her his best follower. I don't know what happened, yesterday evening he just announced that she would be his goddaughter. It's more than slightly ridiculous, such a sudden change."

"When will this happen?"

"Tonight. In Lestrange Manor. All of the inner circle will be there; the Notts, the Malfoys, the Carrows, Rosier, Avery, Mulciber, Yaxley, Macnair, Travers, Jugson, Gibbon, Selwynn, Crabbe, Goyle, Rowle, Black, Crouch, Rookwood and Dolohov. No others are allowed in the Manor, they don't trust anyone else around their daughter."

Albus sat back down, thinking deeply. Just a child. She was just a baby. Ultimately innocent. But she wouldn't be that for long, she would grow as a member of the inner circle from the beginning. She would be unstoppable soon enough, and she would be blindly loyal to her parents' master. They needed to get that child away from there. They needed to take her somewhere where she would grow away from all of this, somewhere where nobody would find her, neither Death Eaters trying to get her back nor non-Death Eaters trying to get revenge.

"We will get that child tonight and I will place her somewhere safe." Albus finally said.

Again, James and Sirius stayed silent through the murmuring that erupted, but with difficulty. Lily was pregnant. James couldn't imagine how the Lestranges would react to loosing their only child. Sure, they were vicious, but they were parents. Still, what Albus says goes.

Annabelle's shrill cries filled the silence in the Lestranges' main ballroom. Eyes identical to hers were glued to her face as Rodolphus ran a hand through his brown hair. It was harder than he'd thought, watching the Dark Lord pour dark magic into his daughter. She was a quiet baby, she never made a sound, except when she was with him, and now she was screaming so loud her lungs could burst. Voldemort didn't even flinch at hearing her, though his inner circle did. They might do cruel things, but this was the newborn daughter of one of their comrades, some were even her relatives.

All of them stood in a circle, outside the runes and spells, in their Death Eater uniforms. Even Bella was there, though she was staring at Annabelle as if seeing her for the first time. It always took great effort to give birth to magical children. It wasn't just them being born, it was completely new magical core beginning to function. It was the birth of new magic, something that mysterious in the way that it was sentient and not sentient.

The dark magic flowed around them, so strong it shone in a million colours and almost crushed the air out of their lungs. Pure magic of a caliber such as their Lord's was rare and volatile, it was dangerous. The air around them had so little oxygen that they could barely breathe and the only sounds around them were the Dark Lord's voice -he was chanting steadily in latin- and Annabelle's shrill wails. But all of a sudden it was all gone. Silence reigned, not even Annabelle screamed anymore, and the magic had all but disappeared. The only residue was a slight shimmering glow around the babe's skin.

Rodolphus let out a deep breath as the Dark Lord started talking, voice as unreadable as always. "I present to you, Annabelle Cassiopeia Lestrange, my goddaughter."

They clapped until he put up his hands. At that moment Rodolphus hurried forwards and lifted his mask. Annabelle's face was still covered in tears, but as soon as she saw him she laughed. A smile fought its way to his face and he picked her up, placing a small kiss on her head and supporting her neck carefully. He noticed Rabastan was beside him, looking at Anna with an expression much like his own. He cared for his niece, in his own gentle way. It was hard to coax emotional attachment out of his brother, but when it happened it ran deeper than anything else in his life.

Rodolphus lifted his little girl high in the air and she reached back down to him, giggling, and happiness surged through him. Until he looked at his wife, that was. She was just looking at the baby with a strange glint in her eyes, maybe she was just tired, he didn't know. She hadn't gotten past her depression and magic depletion yet so she was really still quite unpredictable.

"Congratulations, Rodolphus." Narcissa's voice sounded from behind him.

He turned, unable to keep the grin off his face. "She's fine, she's happy."

Narcissa reached out. "May I?"

"Me first, Narcissa." Without anyone noticing, Tom had gotten closer and he was looking at the baby with a strange glint in his eyes.

Rodolphus handed his daughter over to his master, trying to keep his hands from shaking, and stepped back to stand beside his brother. Rabastan placed a hand on the small of his back, showing his support. They might worship him, but they knew first hand how cruel he could be.

Tom held the baby at an arm's length. It was a small child, very fragile, but she looked at him without fear, just curiosity, as most babies were apt to do. They didn't know what fear was, weren't mentally developed enough to link something they saw to something they should be afraid of. He had to say, he hadn't seen a baby it quite a long time. He had forgotten how terribly annoying they were, but this one was his goddaughter. Admittedly, he didn't care about the child, but if he treated her in a certain manner she would be obedient not just out of fear. Fear would mean that she would choose someone else if they scared her more or promised to protect her. No, he would make sure that she would serve him because she wanted to, and for that a certain amount of affection would be necessary. Maybe not affection, just kindness... maybe not kindness, just not cruelty. He could do that, he supposed.

"She will be a pretty girl." He said, it was something he knew most people said to new parents even if it was meaningless, and handed her over to Narcissa. He saw the relief cloud Rodolphus' eyes. The man had shown more backbone than Tom had known he had. Not that he was a coward, he took on the most hardened of Aurors without batting an eye, but he had never requested anything of him. He never doubted the Lestranges' loyalty, but this child would be the key to keeping them in line. If ever the need arose.

Rodolphus loved his daughter, any person with eyes could see that, the question was, if forced to choose (however unlikely that was), would the man choose his master, or his daughter?

A loud crash broke through the tense silence as Regulus rushed in, opening the doors without looking to see if they would bump into anything.

"My Lord! The wards were breached. The Order-" Regulus stopped when Lord Voldemort turned to him, eyes glistening red.

"Then we must go and greet them." His cold voice echoed in the ballroom. "Bella, you are in no condition to fight. Take the child."

Bellatrix hesitantly grabbed her daughter, holding her at an awkward angle away from her robes, with an apprehensive look on her face. The little girl was silent as she kept her eyes on her father, a small hand still clenched in Rodolphus'. He pressed a kiss on his daughter's tiny fingers and turned to his wife.

"Keep her safe, Bella. I know you're not... feeling well but -"

"I know what I have to do, Rodolphus." Bellatrix snapped. "Now go and get rid of the filth on our grounds!"

Rodolphus looked like he was about to object when many loud steps approached the room. Shouts were heard as Dumbledore's followers ran towards them.

"If you brought that Mudblood into my house, old man, you'll regret it!" Rodolphus yelled. They knew where they were anyway. "Bella, leave."

For once, Bellatrix did as she was told, hurrying to the back to the ballroom and exiting through a small door. It closed behind her just as the doors burst open again, revealing a furious James Potter.

So the fight began.

It was difficult to see who was fighting who, what with the different coloured spells flying through the room. The screams and shouts resonated, helped by the acoustics of the ballroom, and deafened them. Nobody saw Dumbledore slipping away until Voldemort yelled something foul and followed him, trying to kill him at all cost. But where he went, his inner circle followed, determined to make sure no filthy being got a lucky shot across, and the Order followed his inner circle

None of his inner circle died, mainly because Lestrange Manor had protective enchantments over its guests, though a few Order members did fall. It wasn't long before they got to the foyer, where Bellatrix was dueling with Marlene McKinnon. She was holding her daughter against her hip, awkwardness momentarily forgotten, and doing her best, but she hadn't recovered completely and she was being driven back as her magic became less and less potent with her growing exhaustion.

Dumbledore wasted no time in helping Marlene and, after a few spells, he was holding the baby. Annabelle was crying as she looked at her mother, unconscious on the ground. Rodolphus shouted out, trying to get to his daughter, but it was impossible, there were too many people around him, shouting curses, hexes and jinxes. Tom tried to get to the child, she was his goddaughter dammit, but Dumbledore had already left, disaparated, and his followers left with him.

For a long while all that was heard was Rodolphus' pained cries and Rabastan's whispered comforts as he tried to calm his brother.
Tom was furious.

Albus held the sleeping girl in his arms. He had had to stun her to make her stop crying; she hadn't stopped since he had taken her from her mother's arms, as if knowing that it wasn't supposed to happen. He put down the baby in front of St Joseph's Orphanage for Boys and Girls and grabbed a small note from his pocket. 'Her name is Anna, she's four days old', the note said. Sighing, he put it on the girl's chest and rang the doorbell. Then he aparated to Headquarters.

As soon as he was gone, the door opened, revealing a woman in her mid-thirties. She looked around, trying to find the source of the sound, but only looked down after a few seconds of turning her head. With a gasp she picked up the small bundle and read the note. She shook her head. Poor little child, what would become of her?

Rodolphus sat and stared at the floor, paying no mind to the fact that he, his wife, his brother and Barty were about to be shipped off to Azkaban. At any other time, Barty would have annoyed him, yelling like this, but he couldn't bring himself to care. Rabastan was scared, he could tell, but Bella was shouting and insulting and proud. That was good. Since they had taken Annie he had been furious and in pain, both of them had started to cross the vague lines they'd put up for themselves. Everyone needed limits, but only if there was something you cared about. Losing that made people do strange things. As terrible as it sounded, losing Annie had united them. Bella had been strong and kept him going. He knew she cared about their daughter, he knew now because while they didn't necessarily love each other, they were married and they had a child. They created her together, and she was gone. That thought sparked up a flame inside him, hotter than fiendfyre. But the thought of the Dark Lord's downfall put it out again.

They had gone looking for him, desperately, violently. Hoping against hope to find a trace of him, a clue, anything. It was impossible for him to have died, it just could not be. They couldn't lose both their daughter and their master, they just couldn't. It was something that just couldn't happen, not in their minds. So they went to visit the Longbottoms for a friendly chat. Filthy blood-traitors that they were. Truth be told, they had gotten a bit carried away.

"The Dark Lord will rise again, Crouch! Throw us into Azkaban, we will wait! He will rise again and will come for us, he will reward us beyond any of his other supporters! We alone were faithful! We alone gave him everything! We alone tried to find him!" Bella shouted, and Rodolphus had to fight the urge to nod.

These disgusting pieces of filth were not worthy of his attention, so he didn't look at any of them, not even when they carted him away to the dementors, or when they snapped his wand. If he had looked he would have seen Albus Dumbledore looking at him with something akin to pity in his eyes.