Disclaimer: I do not own anything
Note: Sequel to "Feral." Hermione and the Black sisters experience the "Domesticated lifestyle"
Domesticated: It was an odd arrangement, maybe. As Bellatrix was the new matriarch of the family with Druella and Walpurga Black both dead (the circumstances of their deaths were quite mysterious), it left her and her sisters in charge of the Black Manor. Granted, none of them were too overjoyed at the prospect of going back into the home where they had been abused for almost two decades, but it was their property now and with their muggle-born lover, they would create their own memories and legacy here.
Domesticated 2: It wasn't so much as something that the three Black sisters hadn't experienced before. If anything, Hermione, the young muggle-born that more or less brought as much of a normal life for Bellatrix as anyone had in years was the only one who truly had never experienced any kind of domesticated living situation. All three Black sisters had been married previously. Whether they went by the example of Rodolphus Lestrange disregarding and verbally Bellatrix, Lucius Malfoy only using Narcissa as a means to an end to gain an heir or Andromeda having the fairly gentle and friendly living situation she had had with Ted Tonks, they claimed to have experienced a situation like this before. Hermione appeared offended by this statement, severely hoping she wasn't anything like Bellatrix's abusive husband or Narcissa's neglectful one.
Proposal: One proposal hadn't been better than the others. All three proposals were beautiful and heartwarming to Hermione. When Andromeda Black went down on one knee and presented a silver ring in the design of silver vines and leaves, four small rubies encrusted into each of its sides, one ruby rooted into one of the primary leaves on each side, Hermione almost had a heart attack; the euphoria of happiness took her in such a rush. Andromeda almost experienced the same when Hermione leaned down, hugged the pureblood and nodded, crying in acceptance.
Self-sufficient: Cooking was almost always done by the house elves in the Black Manor; for a time Hermione had quite happily done some cooking for Bellatrix at the beginning of their relationship, and later also for Narcissa. Andromeda, having been away from the manor the longest thanks to her being shunned from the Black family, was used to cooking herself. However, both Hermione and Andromeda came to the agreement that Bellatrix and Narcissa needed to become self-sufficient, simple as that. Both the oldest and the youngest sister of the Black family looked at each other, grimacing at their impending lessons.
Accidents: Naturally, when learning something new, there are sure to be accidents. Cooking was a good example of this for both Bellatrix and Narcissa. Oh, who was Hermione trying to fool? It was just a good example for Bellatrix. The food that was supposed to be for four people ended up in flames. As Hermione and Narcissa used a spell to extinguish the fire, Andromeda gave her older sister a dry look and the black haired witch gave a grunt of hidden embarrassment.
Pets: As Hermione made arrangements for children being made possible for her and her three future wives, via magic potions and serums and particular spells, she reasoned with her beloved witches that all children at some point needed to have pets. She promptly reprimanded Bellatrix for suggesting things like a spider, snake, crow, raven or bat.
Television: It was with great effort and ingenuity that Hermione, Andromeda, Ron, Harry, Ginny, Dean Thomas, Seamus, Lavender and Luna were able to hook up a plasma TV somehow in the Black Manor (seriously, how'd they manage to do that anyway?). Hermione then had proceeded to carry piles of DVDs into the manor with Harry and Tonks's help. Bellatrix and Narcissa had looked at each other, befuddled and lost at what these odd contraptions were. Hermione smirked at their lost looks and once her friends had taken off, wishing her luck, she took Bellatrix by the hand and Narcissa's hand in her other and led them towards the couch as Andromeda slid a DVD into the machine under the TV.
Proposal 2: When Narcissa purchased a delicate looking silver ring decorated with several clear small diamonds, implanted into a line around the ring's body, each diamond glistening, and held it out as an offering, Hermione couldn't help but hold her breath and stared in wonder as the youngest Black sister knelt to one knee. The muggle-born had sworn to herself after Andromeda had proposed to her, that she'd keep her strong, vulnerable emotions in check, but seeing Narcissa with an almost pleading expression and on one knee, offering the ring, pale hand almost shaking-obvious fear that Hermione would reject her, the young woman smiled, clasping her hands around Narcissa's fingers that held the ring and nodded, answering with appraisal and confirmation, unable to keep her tears at bay as she had hoped.
Memories: Hermione and her three lovers sat at their table, Draco, Tonks, Lupin and their little son Teddy joining them for dinner. Hermione bites into some of the salmon that Andromeda helped Bellatrix prepare. It doesn't taste bad at all, but she recalls her mother making something similar and the reminder that she could never return to her memory charmed parents run through her mind as tears start to fall as she grieved her loss. All three Black sisters immediately noticed and were at their witch's side soon.
Pies: Hermione never wanted her suffering to be noticed, ever. But when it became obvious that she was in pain finally, she confessed that she missed her parents, missed everything about them and all the fun they had together. In her weeping mumblings, Hermione mentioned her mother making her favorite type of pie; raspberry. The next morning, when Hermione had woken up in her and her lovers' bed, she noticed that she was alone. Bellatrix, Andromeda and Narcissa were not there. She went downstairs into the main dining room and found the three Black sisters setting up the table, and to Hermione's further shock, saw a large, beautiful looking pie in the middle of the table. Hermione slowly came over and smiled as they all sat down and Hermione took a slice of the pie and bit into it, she almost cried. While it was a surprisingly good pie, but not the greatest, she immediately tasted raspberry. Overcome with emotion, the young witch got up and hugged her lovers, gathering them up in an embrace.
Memories 2: Knowing how alone it felt not having loving parents was something all three Black sisters were unfortunately very familiar with. As a result, they could only imagine what not having parents at all was like for Hermione. That had been when they all and Andromeda's daughter Tonks made up their minds. The four of them went to Scotland where the Grangers were hiking and found them. Perhaps they didn't have the best way of transporting the Grangers (grabbing both of them and apparated them off to the Black Manor where Hermione was) but they brought both Jean Granger and Daniel Granger to the manor, almost giving their muggle-born lover a heart attack. That was when the three of them, Hermione and Lupin worked on the potions and spells to retrieve Hermione's parents' memories.
Reunion: Memories now regained Daniel and Jean Granger cried out, tears streaming from their eyes as they lunged, taking hold of their daughter in their arms, as she cried into her mother's neck, her parents' buried their faces into her bushy brown hair, tears dropping into the strands. Daniel wept, "Daughter." As he and his wife hugged Hermione tighter as Andromeda, Narcissa and Tonks watched on with smiles on their faces and Bellatrix watched also with a hesitant smile of her own.
Arrangement: More living arrangements were made. Hermione was just so happy to see her parents again, and that they had their memories restored. She sat on the sofa in the main room of the Black Manor, her mother sitting on her left side and her father sitting on the right, both parents refusing to let their daughter out of their hold. Hermione assured them both that she was safe and happy with Bellatrix, Andromeda and Narcissa and she would come by to see the Grangers soon.
Recreation: Therapists had reasoned that if Bellatrix had something other to do besides sit and stew, then the pureblood might not be as violent. This was why Hermione and Bellatrix's sisters were quite pleased when the mentally unstable witch took up drawing, painting and writing. Thankfully the resulting paintings, poems and stories weren't too morbid.
Labor: When Hermione had come up with the idea that they should plant flowers in the yard and around the manor, Bellatrix had dismissed and stated that the elves could do it. Hermione however, made it clear that if Bellatrix wanted to change then she had to be more kind to the House elves-and do some work herself, suggesting that the four of them and maybe some friends plant to flower seeds themselves. Bellatrix tried to hold back her appalled countenance at the thought.
Garden: Planting the seeds of roses, lilies, violets, irises, bluebells, orchids, tulips and lilacs in the garden of the Black Manor with Narcissa and Andromeda was one of the more soothing and productive activities Hermione found herself doing. Andromeda had half been hesitant to tell Hermione what kind of flowers they were going to plant, hoping to surprise her lover with a bouquet when it came time for their anniversary, but Narcissa had pointed out that Hermione might not appreciate it if they didn't include her in something the muggle-born would clearly enjoy doing.
Pizza: Muggle foods were things that Bellatrix and Narcissa had never had the chance to taste before, given the expectations of them during Voldemort's time, and because of their controlling parents, but Hermione would be damned if she wasn't going to have the two of her pureblood lovers try pizza of all muggle staples at least once. Even as Bellatrix stiffly bit into the pointed edge of her very first cheese pizza slice, Hermione smirked, already seeing the oldest Black sister's eyes widen and she bit harder into her slice, eating faster. When the pureblood realized Hermione was looking at her with a cocky expression on her face, the dark haired witch turned away, growling, but refused to stop eating the pizza.
Tradition: Discussion for a possible masked ball in the future, uniting the purebloods, muggle-borns, and half-bloods together in a coalition of peace ran throughout the Black Manor. Narcissa and Bellatrix were uncomfortable with the idea of muggle-borns and half-bloods running all over their manor until Hermione gave them a strict look and pointed out that the two of them and Andromeda were already breaking several traditions by taking a muggle-born as their wife. That promptly got both sisters to shut up.
Anxiety: Bellatrix never was too honest about her feelings unless they were made aggressively known. Hate, rage and prejudice had always been expressed easily for her, even if it had all been used as a mask for her insecurities and fears. She wasn't used to not being able to shield her anxiety from the outside world. She knew Hermione had accepted both of her sisters' proposals; there was no logical reason to think that she wouldn't accept Bellatrix's. Still, when the pureblood even thought about pleading for her lover's hand in marriage, her heart sped far faster than ever before, she shook and she wanted to smash all the fine china and delicate glass in the Black Manor to protect herself from the oncoming raging fear.
Proposal 3: Bellatrix could feel heat throughout her body at what she was about to do. She slowly, shakily kneeled to one knee, the fingers of her left hand gripping the ring she had gotten for Hermione, tailored specifically in a way that was unique. She kneeled before her lover and even before she brought the ring into view, she heard Hermione gasp and met the muggle-born's eyes, almost smiling when she saw the look of hope in the brunette's brown eyes. Almost forgetting her anxiety, Bellatrix lifted the ring, allowing Hermione to behold the silver band, in the shape of small wings with a silver raven's head; the wings pressed together as one side of the ring, the beak of the raven's head the other half of the ring, between the joined wings and the raven's beak was a large, dark, gleaming oval shaped sapphire that was the bluest sapphire the pureblood had ever seen. Bellatrix offered the ring, heart pounding as she didn't dare even hope.
Bliss: Hermione stared down at the oldest Black sister. She told herself that she would stop crying. She was so sure that she wouldn't be surprised after Andromeda and Narcissa gave their proposals, but now, seeing Bellatrix, who honestly…..Hermione had been hoping would want to be her wife even more than she had been hoping Andromeda and Narcissa would actually propose was more than she ever could have dreamed. She couldn't even stay on her feet. She lunged forwards and jumped on Bellatrix, pouncing her as they both fell back against the grass, Hermione on top of Bellatrix, kissing the dark witch and weeping in happiness.
Domesticated 3: Bellatrix was pleased to find that domesticated living the second time around wasn't nearly as bad as the last time. She would feel the bubbling burn and welling of jealousy and possessiveness every now and then when it seemed that either of her sisters were getting closer to Hermione than she herself was but whenever she saw the three rings on Hermione's left ring finger, one stacked on the other, and saw the ring she had given for her proposal, its large sapphire flickering in the candlelight of the manor at the base of Hermione's finger, Bellatrix allowed herself a grin as the satisfied thrill of knowing that Hermione was hers sang through her system like a lightning bolt.
Home: Hermione owled her parents in the muggle world, telling them how happy she was and owled her friends, informing them that she had found her home. The Black Manor had been a residence of terror for centuries; now that the three Black sisters had reunited, Hermione was the fiancé to all three of them, they were supporting the alliance of a new witch and wizarding world, and peace had come to the four of them, the Black Manor was finally a home.