Written for the lovely Jenny as a belated Birthday present. I hope you enjoy it love.

Warnings - Character Death/Mental Issues/Borderline Stockholm Syndrome.

Loss Of Control

She'll be coming to visit again soon. I think. I hope. Time goes differently now, I don't know if it's night or day. I don't know if it's Monday or Thursday. I don't know if it's May or November. I don't know how long I've been here for. I don't care any more. I've long since accepted that this is the life I will always lead. And... it's not so bad. I think, in her own way, she loves me.

I fought her at first. I bit, scratched, kicked, every thing and any thing I could think of to keep her away from me. She liked it I think, I think it's why she's kept me so long. She told me she'd break me, and I think she enjoyed every second of it. Not that I am broken. Far from it, in fact. She... I fell in love with her.

That's why I stopped fighting her.

xxxx

I hear footsteps in the room above me, and excitement courses through my veins. She's here. I kneel by the door, just the way I know she likes me too, and I await her with my head bowed. I hear the door creak, and I can feel her presence. She's so strong, so dominant. She's amazing.

She strokes my head before telling me to rise. I stand before her, my head still bowed. I long to look at her, to let my eyes roam over the perfection that is her, but I am not allowed, not until she gives me permission.

"Hermione."

"Yes, Mistress?"

"You may raise your head."

"Thank you, Mistress."

She looks beautiful. Her dark eyes are filled with lust and amusement as she stares at me. I can see specks of something else in her eyes, and while no one else would see it, I know it is love. She loves me. I know she does.

She leads me to the small sofa that sits in the middle of my room, and she sits down. I sit on the floor in front of her, and she pats me on the head in approval. I smile slightly. I love to please her, because when she is happy, I am happy. My life, my love, everything I am depends on her happiness.

"Happy Birthday, Hermione."

I look at her curiously. She is holding out a small package, and I am unsure of what to do. She has never fetched me a gift before. Her presence alone is gift enough for me, and she knows that.

"Mistress?"

"Take it, Hermione. It is a gift."

"Thank you, Mistress."

I take the package with shaking hands, and unwrap it carefully. I don't want to rip the paper. If she took the time to wrap it, then I must not be careless with it. Any time she spends on me is to be cherished.

A book. An old book of wizarding folklore.

A flash of rememberence to the life I led before she fetched me here rushes through my mind, but I push it away. I have no need for such thoughts.

"Thank you, Mistress, I love it."

"Hmm. I am... glad you like it, my pet. Perhaps you should thank me... properly."

She is being wonderful to me, today, perhaps it truly is my birthday. Either way, I am not stupid, and I will take advantage of any kindness she sees fit to bestow on me. As her harsh lips touch my own soft ones, flushes of pleasure cover my entire body.

xxxx

She allows me to lie with her afterwards. A rarity to be sure. She strokes my hair as we lay in the aftermath of wonderful pleasure. This is what I am here for. This... closeness, and the pleasure that comes before. This is why I no longer wish for escape.

She leans to the side, and my heart clenches. She is going to leave me again. My life comes in flashes of colour now, with long periods of black and white as I wait for her. She isn't leaving though. She is picking up the book. She is opening it, and she is reading it to me. She... she loves me. My eyes fall shut as her voice washes over me, and sleep claims me as its own.

xxxx

Bella stopped reading as Hermione's breathing evened out. She had fallen asleep. Careful not to wake her, Bella moved slowly from the bed, taking her time to get dressed.

Ten years it had been, since she had taken Hermione from the battle. She had been injured, badly, and had Bella left her, she would have surely died. Bella had felt a pull to the mudblood, and in a spur of the moment decision, had wished her away.

Of course, at first Hermione had fought her, and it had been fun. Somewhere in that time though, Bella had felt the shields around her heart weaken, and without warning, she found herself in love with her prey.

She kept Hermione in the basement of a long forgotten Black house, an elf providing food and water. Bella stayed away as long as she could, until the pull became too much. She would visit whenever that happened, would take out her anger on Hermione, her anger at the lack of control she was feeling.

Occasionally, on days such as today, she would be tender in her love making with the younger witch. Today, there had been a reason.

Bella was sick and tired of feeling out of control. She had tried every other way she could think of to stop herself from feeling such...things, for the young woman, but nothing worked.

Bella walked to the door, turning back and taking out her wand. She watched as Hermione stretched slightly, the small smile on her face disappearing as she slowly realised that Bella was no longer there.

As Hermione opened her soft brown eyes, Bella watched as a tear fell to a dewy cheek.

A flash of green light, and the reason for Bella's loss of control was no more.

Now she could live as she was supposed to. Alone.