Chapter 3: Delectatio
During Hermione's stay with Leta, the Death Eater was regularly summoned to Headquarters for updates. About every two weeks, she would feel her mark burning, and tell Hermione she had to go out. She always warded her apartment securely, and was confident the girl wouldn't be able to get out, especially not without a wand.
The first time Leta had been summoned, was three weeks after she had taken in the young witch.
"I'm going out. I don't know yet when I'll be back exactly, but tomorrow I'll have returned," Leta informed Hermione, who was reading in the library.
She looked up, frowning, "Oh, ok. Where are you going?"
Leta merely smirked, but didn't answer: she knew the girl would figure it out. She left the apartment, put up the wards again, and walked to the alley, where she vanished.
At Headquarters, several Death Eaters stood around the sitting room that led to the throne room, talking among each other, waiting for their turn to talk to the Dark Lord – some were there to ask for their new task, some were there because they had questions about orders they had been given, and some were there simply to socialize with friends. Those waiting generally hadn't been summoned by the Dark Lord, and thus could wait.
Leta entered, and as she walked through the room, she greeted her colleagues and friends when she passed them. She locked eyes with Bellatrix, and she hoped this meeting wouldn't take too long, as it had been a long time since she had caught up with the woman, and she'd like to do so tonight.
She entered the throne room through the door at the other end of the sitting room.
"Good evening, my Lord."
"Leta. How is your charge?"
"Well. She has started on the reading I imposed her – the books you advised with Hestia – after a short bout of rebellion, which I quenched with the Crawling Curse. I have also been giving her a few introductory exercises to Occlumency. She has been very inquisitive about the reading material, and seems rather invested in the subject, now that she is actively studying it," she summarised.
"Good," the Dark Lord nodded.
He asked a couple of follow-up questions, asked to expand upon a few details, and about the agenda she had planned out, but soon enough, he was satisfied with the information acquired.
"You will continue this way. I will summon you regularly for updates."
"Of course, my Lord."
"You may go."
"Thank you, my Lord. Good night."
Leta bowed respectfully, then turned on her heels and returned to the sitting room. As soon as she entered, Bellatrix stepped away from her conversation partners to meet her.
"Good evening, Leta," she greeted, leaning forward for a hug.
"Bella," Leta returned the greeting as she hugged the woman back.
"How have you been?"
"Good. Let's get out of here."
The glint in Bellatrix' eyes indicated she had similar intentions. "Let's."
Outside, they apparated to a wizarding bar they frequented. The two women were left alone by anyone but their server, as Bellatrix was very recognisable to anyone. They preferred it this way.
Sipping their drinks, they talked about things that had happened in their lives since they had met last. Bellatrix was again complaining about her husband, as usual, and Leta distracted her with tales of things she had done and seen on her business trips.
When both were more than a bit tipsy, around two in the morning, they decided to leave. Sexual tension had risen along with their alcohol consumption, and at this point, they wanted to go find a private spot.
Arm-in-arm, they apparated, Leta leading them, as she had drunk less than her companion. They managed to arrive in Leta's alley in one piece, and once there, Bellatrix attacked the other woman with her lips on her neck. Leta sunk her hands in Bella's wild curls, moaning her enjoyment.
"Come, let's go inside, it's warmer there."
Leta took Bellatrix by the hand and tugged her along. At the door, as Leta dismantled the wards, Bella was behind her, kissing and biting her neck, distracting her, though she eventually managed to open the door. Leta knew Hermione was in the apartment, but couldn't bring herself to care; she was too drunk to. She was lucid enough to shush at Bellatrix, however, who giggled at that.
"Right, the mudblood's here," her whisper was quite loud.
After Leta had put the wards in place again, they got to Leta's room, where she cast a modified silencing spell, so they wouldn't wake her temporary housemate—she knew the both of them enough to be aware that it was needed.
The next morning, both Bellatrix and Leta were woken simultaneously by a surprised shriek. The two women immediately, instinctively, grabbed their wands and pointed to the door, where the sound had come from, only vaguely aware of their naked state.
Hermione stood in the doorway, clearly shocked and scared, staring widely at them. As soon as Leta saw who had shrieked, she flopped back down on the mattress with a sigh, lowering her wand. She also pushed down Bella's wand, which was still pointed at the girl.
"What the hell, Hermione," Leta groaned. She rubbed her eyes. When there was no answer, she looked back to where the girl stood.
Bellatrix now also lay back down after putting her wand back on the bedside table, leaning against the headboard. Annoyed by the lack of explanation, she raised an eyebrow. "Well? What is it, mudblood?"
"I—um, I'll do it myself. No worries." Having overcome the first reaction of shock, Hermione was now bright red and looked down. "Sorry." She turned and vanished in the direction of the kitchen.
"What time is it?" Leta asked distractedly, mostly talking to herself. She checked the clock on her nightstand, and was wide awake again. "Damn it!"
She went to get up, but Bellatrix pulled her back down, and lay on top of her so she couldn't leave. "We can have another round…" she suggestively raised an eyebrow, before leaning down closer to kiss Leta, and starting to explore her body with her hands.
With a reluctant groan, Leta broke the kiss, "I can't, Bella. I have things to do."
She sighed, "Yeah, what, educating the mudblood? It can wait." The woman continued kissing down Leta's neck.
"No, it can't," Leta firmly replied, pulling away, "I have an agenda I need to follow, and we were supposed to start today's lessons two hours ago." She pushed the woman off, and got up.
When she returned from the bathroom, Bellatrix still lay on the bed, in a rather enticing position.
"Can I watch?"
"Watch what?" Leta started to apply her dark red lipstick.
"Your lessons. I want to know how badly she's butchering the Dark Arts."
"She isn't, actually; she quite proficient, from what I've seen so far. And I'd rather you not watch, I don't think she'd be happy to have you around."
"Why ever not?" Bella innocently asked.
Leta turned and looked at her pointedly.
"I only tortured her for a bit," she said as though to defend herself.
Leta didn't budge.
Bellatrix sighed dramatically, and finally got up. "Fine, fine." She cast a quick cleaning spell, and put on her clothes.
Leta watched her through the mirror while putting on her mascara, enjoying the view.
They walked to the front door together, and Leta took down the wards, so the door could be opened.
Bella leaned in, and kissed her deeply.
"Have fun with your little mudblood," she said when they separated.
Leta smirked, "Oh, I will."
Bella smirked back, and left, calling out, "Until next time!"
Leta closed the door, and turned towards the kitchen, where she saw Hermione, who sat in clear view of the front door and had likely seen them say goodbye, especially judging by the girl's blushing, downturned face.
"Good morning," Leta greeted, grabbing herself a cup, grounds and water, which she quickly and efficiently made herself coffee from magically. She then started to make herself French toast. "Want some?" she asked, gesturing to her pan.
Hermione had half-heartedly returned the greeting, and now mumbled a quiet, "No."
Leta sat down at the table with her plate, and looked at the girl. "Are you okay?"
"Yes, sure. It was just an unexpected morning."
"Right, sorry about that." She was not the slightest bit sorry; she was more amused than anything. Though she could understand that Hermione wasn't exactly comfortable with Bellatrix being near, since she had been tortured by the woman, the last time she had seen her. "Why was it, now, that you walked in on us?"
"I wanted some coffee, but couldn't wandlessly heat the water. I called for you, but when you didn't reply, I went to your room to knock, to which you still didn't answer, so I opened the door."
"Ah," Leta made a mental note to close the door magically, in the future, "Want some coffee still?"
"No, thanks."
Leta summoned the ingredients, too lazy to get up, and made another cup anyway. She didn't miss Hermione's smile when she accepted the cup. "Thank you."
Leta simply nodded in acknowledgment.
Soon after, they went to work. Nothing more was said about the somewhat embarrassing incident of that morning. If anything, really, it had helped Hermione see that Leta, and even Bellatrix, were human too, and also subject to sexual desires.
