JK Rowling owns it all.
A/N: Hello once more, fellow HP fans!!!! I'm back once more with all my Bella/Hermione craziness. This is a sequel to my most popular story on here, "The Heir," and takes place exactly after the first one ended. If you haven't read it, I highly, highly suggest you do in order to understand this. Well that's all, now, on with the show!! Err... story!
"That little bitch!" Neville growled slamming his cup down making Hermione turn away from the sorting.
"What's wrong?" Hermione whispered.
Neville turned and glared at her, and Hermione cowered under his furious gaze.
"That little cunt actually getting the chance to raise a daughter, after she took away the family of so many. Dumbledore was right to take you away from her in the beginning, saved you a life time of horrors."
Hermione glared at him. She hated that Neville hated Bellatrix still after all these years. She knew he had reason to, but Hermione had tried over and over to get him to realize she was not the horrid, evil woman he made her out to be. And every time he had mentioned something about her, she had to remind herself that he did not know the whole truth about why Bellatrix had tortured his parents the way she did.
No, she had never let him in on that particular secret, she wouldn't be able to bare seeing one of her good friends thoughts about his father, the man he idolized washed away in a horrid tale of rape and torture.
So most of the time she grinned and bared what he had said, and turned the other cheek.
"She was cleared of all charges, Neville."
He scoffed, "yeah, only because Dumbledore needed to do something for the 'second hero of the wizarding world'. I guarantee you if she had not of killed Voldemort, she wouldn't have been cleared of anything!"
Hermione could see Headmaster Mcgonnigall looking over at them and their loud conversation, so Hermione gave Neville a glare,
"you regally want to start your first ever day teaching getting yelled at? If not, then may I kindly ask you to shut up!" And with a 'humph', Hermione went back to watching the sorting, occasionally glancing over at Astoria and smiling.
Once the sorting had been complete, Mcgonnigall stood up and cleared her throat loudly.
"Welcome back, and to all you new students, welcome, to what I am sure is going to be another grand and thought provoking year. I am sure you are all starving, so please enjoy the feast. Thank you."
And as soon as she had sat back down, the tables were covered in foods of all different kinds. Even though this would mark Hermione's twelfth welcoming feast, it still amazed her.
She began to eat and engage in conversations with Processor Flitwick, all while keeping a close eye on Neville, who was giving Astoria the coldest look Hermione had ever seen.
fortunately for her, Astoria was so enthraled in the feast and talking to a Slytherin third year by the name of Katerina Farm, she didn't notice the glowering look she was receiving.
Hermione smiled at the young girl and then continued to eat her meal.
Later, after the meal had been clean and the desert had been wiped out, Mcgonnigall stood up and cleared her throat.
"Now that we've all had our fill of food, I have a few announcements I would like to say. First off, after Professor Sprouts long and splendid career, she has decided that last year was to be her year of retirement. The new Herboligy professor, one of my own students while he was here and a remarkable herboligist, is Professor Neville Longbottom."
Hermione clapped along side all the other teachers, and the applause was particularly loud from the Gryffindor table.
Neville stood up and gave a large grin and a wave, hiding his tears before sitting back down at the table, and Hermione rubbed the small of his back.
She looked towards the Slytherin table and while the applause there was by no means avoided, Hermione did catch a fleeting glance of hatred from Astoria towards him, and Hermione had to swallow the fear in her throat.
"Bella must have told her it was Neville's fault she was in Azkiban," Hermione thought to herself looking between the two, who seemed hell bent on ignoring one another faces.
By no means was it actually Nevilles faut that Bella had been sent there, but, as Neville told her once, it was his memories as a child that sent her there, and Bella, never being one to forgive and forget, had placed all the blame on him.
"And please note, first years," Mcgonnigall continued, "that the forbidden forest is off limits to all students."
Her eyes moved over to the Gryffindor table, and Hermione couldn't help but hold back a laughter, knowing why. She, Ron, and Hermione had broken a school record, if what Hagrid and Mcgonnigall told them, that Ron, Harry, and Hermione's time in the forbidden Forest added up to them being in the forbidden forest more times then any other student in over a hundred years. Since word got out that Professor Weasly, their strict Transfiguration and house leader had been in the forest more times , it seemed all Gryffindor are determined to break the record.
"Also, our care taker, Mr Filch, had asked me to remind you that no magic is to be used in the corridors between classes. And that the list of school rules, which now consists of 395, can be found in his office. Those wishing to sign up for Quidditch tryouts must hand their names in to Madam Hooch by the end of this week. Now that that is out of the way, go to your dormitories, get a good nights rest, and once more, enjoy your year at Hogwarts. Off to bed now."
With a loud scraping of chairs, and prefects shouting instructions to the first years, Hermione missed Astoria in the crowd, wanting nothing more then to say hell and welcome to her.
"You'll see her tomorrow," she reminded herself with a sigh as she too made her way up to her quarters.
With a happy sigh, she flopped down on her bed and turned over to face her photos on her bed stand. She picked up her wedding photo of her and Ron, with Fred as Rons best man and Ginny as Hermione's maid of honor.
She smiled at it, gently rubbing the photo with one finger before kissing the photo and putting that too back on the night stand.
She looked at the other pictures and smiled at them as well.
The muggle picture of the Grangers beaming up at her, and the other one she had looked at so often.
When Harry had moved into Grimmuald Place, he had asked Ron and Hermione to move some of that stuff out. Hermione, while cleaning out the attack had found boxes of old photos and memorabilia. Along with that, an old picture in a very old frame, of Bellatrix on her graduation day, her hair smooth and shin, her black eyes glistening in the sun, her black graduation robes fitting her slim frame perfectly, and her smile was beautiful and truly happy.
She picked it up and let out a shaky breath, the tears in her eyes building.
She hadn't talked to her in eleven years, never having the chance to tell her how much she missed her sometimes, or how much she wanted to just sit down and talk with her.
Yes she loved Amiella, but Bella. She was like her own little secret, and she hated that Bella had ignored her all these years. Hermione didn't even think that she knew she had a grandmother. She had said that she couldn't bare to be around her knowing she would never get the chance to raise her, but, Hermione thought to herself bitterly putting the picture frame back down, that was still no reason to cut her out of her life completely. It had been eleven years, she had to have been over it by now.
With a swish of her wand and a heavy sigh, the lights went out, and the last words Hermione thought before drifting off to sleep was, "she could have at least owled."
Meanwhile, in Nevilles room, no sleep was coming easy for this wizard. He had been pacing back and fourth since he had gotten to the room, chewing on a feather quill.
"Stupid bitch! She doesn't deserve the chance to be happy!"
Neville let out a frustrated yell and kicked his desk so hard that it left him jumping up and down in pain for several minutes.
"I hate her! I hate her, I hate her, I hate her!"
Throwing the chair across the room did no good either, seeing as how it automatically fixed itself and placed itself back at the desk.
"Won't anything break in this stupid office besides my foot!" he yelled out collapsing on the bed.
He let out a huffy breath and took a deep breath trying to calm his frazzled nerves.
He didn't care whether Hermione was her daughter or not. Yes he was sick and tired of putting up with her defending that horrid cunt all the time, but she was brainwashed, along with all the other idiots who thought a woman like that meant to do good.
Neville on the other hand knew the truth. He knew that she had been aiming for Hermione but instead hit Voldemort, then just lied and covered it up so that it looked like she had meant to hit him, and there by get out of her sentence.
"It's not fair," he grumbled," tears beginning to leak from his eyes, "My parents are practically dead, and that bitch gets to be one!"
He let out another growl before throwing the quill he had been chewing on across the room.
He took several deep breaths trying to calm himself, and closed his eyes.
"Just relax, Neville, everything will be okay."
But for over an hour he tossed and turned, not being able to get the picture of Bellatrix, raising a child, happy, giving her daughter the happiness he had never gotten, it wasn't right... wasn't fair.
He quickly sat up and chuckled as a most devious and horrid plan came to light for Neville.
"I know how to get the bitch back," he thought gleefully, finally laying his head down and feeling tired for the first time tonight, "I'm gonna make her daughters life hell, just like that horrid slut made mine."
And with that thought in his head, he too drifted off to sleep.
"Hundreds of students were shipped off to Hogwarts today, as they have been over a thousand years."
Bella paid no never mind to the radio as she sat in the hot bath water, soaking in the warm bubbles and foam, trying to get her mind off of this afternoons events.
She had Narcissa drop Astoria at the station, not wanting to be mobbed or recognized by those who didn't quite understand she isn't the super hero in tights and cape they make her out to be.
They had said their good byes over putting out the flames from breakfast, but it still pained every inch of her to let her daughter go, not to see her until December.
She had thought about home schooling her, she was certainly intelligent enough to teach it, but she decided with a heavy heart the day Astoria got her letter, she had to let her go sometime.
Bella had raised her well. She was obedient, loving and loyal to her family and friends, kind to those who deserved kindness, and intelligent where it counted.
But most of all, and Bella made sure of this, every day, she made sure that child knew that Bella loved her.
Bella had been ecstatic when she found out she was having another girl. She knew it would never replace what she could of had with Filia, but a child all of her own, raised the way she wanted to raise it, with no input from those wretched blood traitors... it was a start.
Sinking lower into the hot bath, she felt her muscles relax and she let out a long breath of relief. Until she heard the next words out of the radios speakers.
"And one last little bit of school related news before we continue on with the witching hour; all music, all night, limited commercials only on NEWT-FM; Professor Sprout, the long time Herboligy professor and leader of those puffin' Hufflepuffs, retired at the end of the semester last year. She was replaced Neville Longbottom, a Gryffindor will replace her as Herboligist professor-"
Bella had never let out a scream as loud as she had at the exact moment. She grabbed the radio and shook it.
"No! It's not true! Tell me it's not true!"
"-and long time Professor Astoria, the long time Astrology professor and fellow Hufflepuff has replaced her as head of Hufflepuff house. Now on to the newest hit music in your area!" the radio continued.
Bella let out another scream and threw the wireless radio down, smashing it.
She quickly got up and ran out of the bathroom to her living room where she knew today Daily Prophet lay.
"No, no, no, no!" she shrieked once more, tears beginning to fall down her face as she rushed through the Prophet, looking for the School section.
She at last found it and began scanning, and sure enough, there it was, in black and white, a tiny article no bigger then five inches down and three inches across, with a little picture of both Sprout and Neville smiling at the camera.
"Fuck!" Bella screamed, throwing the paper down, collapsing to the ground, beginning to sob.
She hated him, every square inch of the disgusting blood traitor. It was his fault she had spend fourteen years in that hell hole.
And now, she thought to herself with a violent shudder, he's going to be teaching the thing who meant more to her then her own life.
For one moment, she thought of appirating down to Hogwarts, grabbing her daughter, and finally completing the thing she had wanted to do for over twenty five years.
But she knew she couldn't. Not yet, anyway, and not with ...her there, at any rate. She hadn't seen or heard from Filia in over six years since she saw her on her wedding day, and even then she stood in the back row and said not one word to her.
She found it almost ironic in a way that the one thing she had wanted more then anything was to be with her daughter, and now that she finally had the chance to, she took it for granted.
"But," she reminded herself firmly, "you promised yourself that you wouldn't see her, that it would be too painful, knowing what had been held at bay for so long, and there was nothing you could do."
Bella let out a sigh and stood up, wiping the tears away.
"Come on, Bella!" she told herself, "that little spineless excuse of a man would never dare dream of hurting or abusing a child, especially mine. And if he does, she would not rest until she spit on his grave."
With that thought comforting her, she made her way up to her bedroom and with a flick of her wand, was dressed down into nothing but a teddy.
She climbed under her comforter, hugging Rodolphus's pillow to her close, still salvaging some scent from it.
"I miss you so much," she said softly, burying her face in it, a tear drop staining the fabric.
She hugged it closer to her chest before lying her head down on her own pillow, and fell asleep, dreaming of the man she had missed more then anything.
It's my 20th birthday this Saturday, and you know what I want from you all? Lots of reviews on my new story. Digital cake and ice cream to all who review!