Bella stares at him, hand lifting so that she may tap her pursed lips with the tip of one finger. A matrilineal bloodline. So his father is a disgrace to wizards, is that it? Or something more scandalous, perhaps? Interesting. Why, she's just about to inquire further when he continues on.

Rodolphus. "That slime sat with me just hours ago!" Congratulations, Severus, you've just guaranteed the poor idiot's life will now become nothing but misery by her hand.

Yes, her focus on what he says about his parents shifts that quickly, her interest waning as it's clear this is one avenue which will fail to yield her immediate results. For what? It's always good to sniff out a person's weakness so as to find the best place to stab them with a knife.

That he just so happened to find hers is inconsequential. Her indignation more than makes up for that momentary drop in her guard, and what indignation can't fix, her huff of laughter surely must. Twice in one night. Unheard of. "What authority is this?"

With a scowl--she shouldn't be amused right now!--she looks away and into the fire. "We'll need to kill him. The treacherous rat."