A/N: This is my first (and probably last) story, so please don't be too mean. Forgive my mistakes, English is not my first language (lucky I have an excuse :P). OpheliaBlack made me upload this so you should blame her. Her punishment is that her name is mentioned here, in the A/N of this weak attempt of a story :D I also want to thank her for her help, for coming up with the title among other things. Anyway, I'll let you waste your time now. Please review before you click on the little red x in the upper right corner, you would make my day :)

Disclaimer: Everything that sounds familiar belongs to the Queen of Words, aka J. K. Rowling.

She was sitting on the ground, leaning to a tree with her wand in her hand. The boys were sleeping in the tent, it was her time to guard. Suddenly she heard a noise from somewhere behind where she was sitting. She carefully stood up, her heart racing in her chest, pointing her wand at the direction, looking for any movement. Even if someone was there, they wouldn't be able to see her because of the enchantments she's put on. After standing there for a few minutes, she sat back down in front of the tree. But before she could properly accomodate herself, someone suddenly grabbed her, covering her mouth with their hand. She was dragged away before she felt herself being apparated from the forest. Her heart was beating so fast that she was sure her captor could hear it too. Who could this be? She thought. However, she got her answer soon after they arrived into a familiar bedroom. Her captor let go of her and now she could see her; pale skin, unruly black hair, dark eyes with a mad burning fire in them.

"Bellatrix, you almost scared me to death, why did you have to do this?" The younger witch asked, her voice raised, still panting from the fear she had felt only a minute ago.

"Why so unfriendly, Muddy, aren't you happy to see me again?" The woman asked with a childish tone, pouting.

Hermione simply rolled her eyes in annoyance before replying. "Don't ever do this again, Bella, I mean it."

"Or what?" The black haired woman asked, approaching the girl like a predator approached its prey. The truth wasn't very far from that actually. "Does ickle Mudbaby want to punish me for scaring her?" She added before cackling.

The brunette just shook her head before looking up to the Death Eater, waiting for her to make the first move. Bellatrix didn't disappoint, she smirked before closing the distance between them and crushed her lips to Hermione's. The younger witch responded eagerly to the kiss, parting her lips to allow entry to the woman's tongue. They both fought for dominance and Bella pushed her lover on the bed, crawling on top of her. They kissed passionately for a few minutes, tongues moving against each other, mouths sucking and biting, drawing blood. The older witch broke the kiss and moved her lips to the girl's neck, covering it in kisses, sucking on her pulse point, scratching the soft skin with her sharp teeth.

/ ~ / ~ / ~ /

Hermione found herself sitting in the sand, staring into nothing as the waves of the water were hitting the shore. She heard a voice coming from the ocean, a voice of a woman calling her. She saw black hair, brown eyes and blood red lips. Then the waves washed away the face of her lover and she couldn't hear her voice anymore. She looked back to the house where her friends were, unaware of her being alone out there, unaware of the feelings she had for their enemy. There was a time when the person she loved was Ron, when she hoped that he returned her feelings and that one day they would marry and have children. That was before she started to have feelings for the female Death Eater. If anybody found out, they would think she was insane. Maybe they would be right, but she really did love Bellatrix. She didn't doubt that the feeling was mutual. She knew that when they were captured, the black haired woman only feigned to torture her. She didn't feel any pain from the Cruciatus Curse, but pretended she did for both their sakes.

/ ~ / ~ / ~ /

She looked up into the mirror and saw Bellatrix Lestrange's eyes staring back at her. It was the day when they would break into the woman's vault in Gringotts, the day when she had to become her. It was strange and confusing, being her, the one she loved, looking into her eyes only to realise that they were her own eyes. She wondered how Bella would react when she'd learn about what happened. Would she be mad at her? Would she hate her? Would she go so far that she'd torture her the next time they see each other, or worse, kill her? She hoped none of that would happen and that the older witch would forgive her. It wasn't like she had a choice anyway. What could she say? 'Sorry Harry, Ron, I can't do this because I'm in love with Bellatrix Lestrange, the most insane and sadistic Death Eater of all and I don't want her to be angry at me.' Sure they would understand. She snorted at the image before grabbing the woman's wand that caused so much pain and exited the room.

/ ~ / ~ / ~ /

She approached the dark hooded figure before her. It was dark, the moon was the only light outside. When she stopped right in front of her, suddenly she felt a sharp pain in her cheek as Bellatrix had slapped her hard, knocking her head to the side. She covered her face with her hand, still feeling it sting.

"How could you do this? The Dark Lord killed everybody in his sight, I only managed to escape!"

"I'm s-sorry, Bella, but I h-had to do it," she said as she choked back a sob.

"You almost got me killed and this is all you can say?" The older witch screamed.

Hermione couldn't hold back her sobs anymore, she fell to the ground and let her tears stream down her face. Bellatrix watched her for a few seconds before softening a bit and kneeling down beside her, pulling her into her arms. After the younger witch stopped shaking, she looked up to meet the eyes of her lover, tears still present in her eyes. The raven haired witch wiped them away with her thumb before placing a gentle kiss on her lips while caressing her face. She didn't say she was sorry, this was her way of apologising. She pulled the brunette up and smiled at her. It was very rare that she genuinely smiled so Hermione knew that she meant it. She told Bella what had happened after they escaped from Gringotts and that they were going to Hogwarts. Then the older woman told her that Voldemort had told them that they were not to leave Malfoy Manor unless he said otherwise. At that the girl got worried that he might find out but Bellatrix managed to convince her that he wouldn't.

/ ~ / ~ / ~ /

She was in the Great Hall, fighting against none other than Bellatrix, alongside with Ginny and Luna. They weren't even close to being a match for the older witch, she was far more skilled than the three of them together. Although it was a very dangerous situation considering that Hermione and Bella were lovers, they not only had to focus on not hurting each other but also on not being discovered by anyone. A green jet of light missed Ginny by an inch and suddenly Mrs. Weasley appeared, pushing them aside, taking over the fight. They fought fiercely, even the red haired woman who has never looked more determined before. Both women were fighting to kill. Bellatrix taunted the other witch, laughed at her, infuriating her even more. Then it all slowed down, the raven haired witch's smile froze, the killing curse hit her chest and everything else became a blur.

/ ~ / ~ / ~ /

She was staring at the wall while Harry and Ron were talking to the healer outside her room. The tears were silently streaming down her face, she didn't even notice them anymore. She's been crying every day since it happened. All she could see was that face, that black hair, those brown eyes, those red lips. She was sure they were very soft, that's how she always imagined they would feel. She didn't look up when she heard them talking, she didn't listen to what they were saying. She didn't care about anything anymore.

"Any progress?" Asked Harry.

"A little," the healer answered. "She's been having more and more bright moments but we still haven't managed to explain to her that those are just hallucinations. As soon as we start talking about Lestrange, she starts screaming and crying that it's not true and we're just lying to her," he added.

Harry sighed and Ron shook his head. Every week they visited Hermione and every week the healer told them the same thing. They were starting to lose the hope that one day they would get their friend back. When she was having one of her bright moments, they could talk to her, tell her what was happening outside the walls of the hospital, tell her how they missed her. Other times she wouldn't even look at them, wouldn't show any sign of noticing their presence. The worst was when she was having a fit, screaming at them to let her out to find Bellatrix, throwing everything she could lift at the door. Sometimes Ron still mentioned how he hated that the brunette had to fall in love with Bellatrix of all people. Harry stopped trying to explain to him that things didn't work that way long ago. Of course he wasn't happy about the situation either, he hated Bellatrix just as much as Ron did, maybe even more. But she was dead and that cost their friend's sanity.

They entered her room and Harry looked at Hermione who was staring into nothing, lost in her own mind like she's always been in the last few years. He noticed her tears and leaned down to wipe them away. It broke his heart to see her like this when once she was the brightest witch of her age and the smartest third of the Golden Trio. She was damaged goods, probably beyond repair. She lost her mind because of a woman who never loved her. They hugged her goodbye and told her they would visit her the same time next week. She didn't even look at them when they left.

/ ~ / ~ / ~ /

"Hello, Miss Granger! Miss Granger!" She looked up to see the healer entering. He was a middle aged man with short dark hair and brown eyes. He visited her every day since the day of her arrival to check on her. "How are you feeling today, Miss Granger?" He asked that question every day and the answer was always the same.

"I'm fine," replied Hermione Granger with a monotone voice without looking into the man's eyes. In a week it would be the third year anniversary of the Battle of Hogwarts, three years that the war ended, three years that the girl who was once the know-it-all Gryffindor lost her mind. Three years have gone since the reason why she spent those years in St. Mungo's Hospital first appeared. The hallucinations about her. Bellatrix Lestrange.