A/N: As always, thank you immensely for investing your time in reading and reviewing this story! You guys are amazing!
CARPE NOCTEM / THE ANCIENT OCCLUMENCY / CH. 7
As soon as the blond witch stepped out of Hermione's room, she hurried away in the naïve hope to catch her sister before it was too late. She rushed through the dark manor, passing the whispering portraits until she reached Bella's door.
Luckily enough, her sister still possessed a strong backbone to wait and let Narcissa speak before she'd slam the door close and leave this bloody place for good.
She was facing a huge window, gazing at saturnine clouds when a familiar presence washed over her. "Wondering why I'm still here?" she started sharply. "I just wanted to take one last look at your treacherous—"
"You can't leave," Narcissa cut her off, glancing over at Bellatrix's packed belongings.
The older witch turned around, utter animosity radiating from every inch of her face. "Oh really?" she whispered darkly. "Do you seriously dwell on the idea I'd stay here after everything you've done?" with her voice picking up the volume, she went on. "To watch you destroy our status just because your brat is infatuated with some filthy half-blood and you can't say a BLOODY no to him?" Bellatrix paused for a while, letting her words sink in, but Narcissa only stood there, driving her mad with a lack of any signs of remorse.
"I thought you'd put an end to it. I really thought you'd come to your senses but, oh no, silly Bella..." Shaking her head, the woman took a few steps closer to her unmoving sister. "I see, I was mistaken. You're just like her!" she spat out with venom, her eyes full of resentment.
She waited for Narcissa to open her mouth, to get some sort of a response from her, but the marble face stayed unreadable, even though Bella desperately needed her to apologise. Or fight back—anything, really.
"FUCKING SAY SOMETHING!" she yelled, losing her patience, but got the same answer as before—silence accompanied solely by the dying echo of her own voice.
Knowing this wouldn't go anywhere, Bella only shook her head. "Fine, you know what? Have a nice life, Narcissa—or don't—I don't care anymore." She glanced at her but quickly looked away, trying to hide the pain that was creeping up her throat like acid, making it almost impossible to breathe.
"I want you to teach them Occlumency," the blonde said finally as Bella reached for her coat, laid on a nearby chair.
The dark witch slowly straightened her back and turned to face her sister. Another cold silence ensued, but then her lips moved, forming an almost unnoticeable smile. She raised an eyebrow, her smirk getting wider with each passing second until she suddenly burst into uncontrollable laughter.
Narcissa only folded her arms, patiently waiting for this dramatic act to be over. "Are you done?" she asked calmly when the other let out a long exhale.
This only added fuel to the fire, because her tranquillity was nagging Bellatrix's nerves to unbearable heights. "Yes, I am!" the dark witch yelled abruptly, disbelief and fury written all over her face. "I am done with YOU and your SON!"
Again, this outburst of emotions didn't have any effect on Narcissa. Her eyes stayed calm and focused, gazing firmly at her sister. "You can't leave. If you don't teach them, anyone can know," she reasoned. "We need you!"
Bellatrix ran her hands through the thick locks of her hair in complete frustration. "Don't you get it?! I don't care!"
"Yeah, you never do." Narcissa finally stepped inside, closing the door behind her. She came over to the chair, lifting Bella's coat, and sat down.
"If you have a desire to lecture someone, go to your son!" Bellatrix barked angrily. "I'm not a child!"
"Then stop acting like one," the blond one responded casually, smoothing down her robe.
Bellatrix almost jumped out of her skin. She had had enough of her sister's calmness while her own blood boiled with anger. "How dare you talk to me like that?!" she yelled, absolutely furious.
"How dare you think about leaving?" Narcissa replied, looking up.
"How dare I think..." Bellatrix repeated, stunned, backing away. "I'm out. OUT of here!"
Narcissa stood up, still holding the long coat in her hands. "Bella, surely you don't want to part ways like that. We're family!"
"Should have thought about that before you accepted the half-blood into your so-called family—the one I no longer have." Her eyes flared like a fire. She snatched her coat out of Narcissa's hands and took out her wand.
A heavy breath left the blond witch's lungs upon hearing those words. She was trying her best to stay in control and ignore them but the last statement had managed to break through her barriers. "Just hear me out. I'm not asking for anything else."
"My time is expensive, Narcissa, you know that very well." Bellatrix lifted her chin, locking her eyes with the blue oceans.
And the whole moment suddenly became too much. It was simply heartbreaking because they both felt the ghost of the past grasping at their skin like death. They were seventeen again, but this time it was Narcissa standing in Andromeda's shoes, tears threatening to fall down her marble cheeks.
"I've never thought this day would come." A sad smile fell upon her lips as she breathed the words out.
"Me neither," Bellatrix responded, gazing at the floor. "If that's all you had on your mind..." She waved at her suitcase, making it disappear in the midair.
Looking up, Narcissa tried to lure the tears back. She gulped, closing her eyes. "Now I understand what she meant."
Bella froze. She too remembered Andromeda's last words. One day, you'll understand. Her eyes found Narcissa's ones again. "Good. Now you can run after her and forget about me as well," she let out harshly, moving towards the door.
"Bella, stop!" Narcissa called after her, her voice trembling, breaking her sister's heart into million pieces.
"If you don't want to stay for me, stay for the girl!"
This made Bellatrix spun around abruptly, a horrible laugh drawing out of her throat. "Oh my! Why didn't you suggest that earlier!" she let out sarcastically as she clasped her hands together.
"She could help you." The blond witch ignored the mocking tone and took a few steps closer to her sister.
Bella buried her face in her palms before she glanced back at Narcissa, too stunned to say anything.
"Remember when," the blond one wasted no time, "remember when I told you I'd read her mind? I saw something peculiar, Bella," she went on urgently. "I think there's a possibility she could be—she could be a venor floccus."
Snorting, Bella licked her lips, shaking her head. "Goodness, Narcissa, that's really... something. Do you even know what a venor floccus is?" she asked sardonically, tilting her head.
"Of course I know!" Narcissa's tone was suddenly cold. "Can we just talk like normal adults for a change?"
"Exactly, adults!" the dark witch nodded. "And here you are with a goddamn fairytale for me to eat."
Narcissa's hand shot to her forehead. "Look, I know it may sound like an unlikely story, but I have a good reason to believe it!"
"Regale me, then." The dark witch threw her coat aside and folded her arms.
"All right." Narcissa came over to the window, facing Bella with her back. "As you probably know, a person's mind consists of five substances. Hopes, fears, feelings, opinions, and memories." She reached out, touching the cold glass, tracking the outline of the clouds. "Each of them gives off a different vibration, a sound..." She glanced at Bella, who was watching her with a frowning look.
"Today," Narcissa went on, using her hands expressively, "when she had lost control and started yelling at Draco, she was bursting with emotions—and you know how easy it is to slip into someone's mind in such a state... I wanted to know what she really felt and while I went through her mind, I slightly touched the memory area where I sensed something odd."
Bella nodded, the lines around her eyes slowly smoothing out.
"While her memories got around 17400 Hz, this particular area I sensed was spiralling much higher. I'd have missed it completely if it wasn't for a soft but very present vibration."
"What kind of vibration?" Bella asked as she slowly stepped away from the door, walking further into the room and sinking into the chair Narcissa had previously occupied.
"I am not sure because I had never encountered anything like that before and... I can't help thinking... it could be the sixth area," Narcissa finished, excitement bubbling in her blood.
Bella took a moment before opening her mouth.
"That's insane," she let out, finally shaking her head, "she's too young... not to mention a half-blood!"
"I can see your point because it's shocking, really," Narcissa nodded. "I couldn't believe it myself."
Bellatrix exhaled loudly, sinking deeper into the velvet chair, thinking.
"No, I refuse to believe it!" she let out after a while, standing up abruptly. "You have to start training from a very young age and maybe after thirty years of practice, you might catch a glimpse of something! This is just not possible!" Aggravated, she gestured with her hands, pacing back and forth.
"Yes, I'm perfectly aware of that," Narcissa agreed patiently, "but that's what makes it even more interesting... Bella, I don't think she knows what's happening."
"Oh, please!" The dark witch threw her hands in the air, frustrated. "She doesn't know? There's never been a single case of being a natural. Not one!"
"Then give me a better explanation!" Narcissa challenged her with a raised eyebrow. "As long as you don't have any, we must take this possibility into consideration."
"Fine, let's call the bloody girl a venor floccus," Bella theorised, steepling her hands. "Do you honestly think she'd be of any help when she doesn't have a clue? Even trained wizards cannot choose to see what they want."
"I know, but it's worth a try, don't you think?" Narcissa asked with a drop of hope in her eyes.
Bellatrix slowly approached her sister. "No, I don't think so. There's no way I'm asking for help from anyone of her kind."
Narcissa closed her eyes in frustration. She tried to reach for Bella's hands but the witch backed away.
"This burden you got, Bella, it's too much! I can see you getting more tired after every sleepless night. Maybe, if you found a way to..."
"Absolutely not," she let out stubbornly, thrusting her chin out like a defiant child.
"All right... if you don't have any desire to ask for her help, then don't," Narcissa started, her voice darkening. "She doesn't have to know, am I right? You'll teach her Occlumency in exchange for her thoughts. It would be a... simple transaction. Where's debt in that, tell me?" she finished manipulatively.
Bella raised her eyebrow, thinking.
"I know exactly what you're trying to do, my dear..." She shook her head but hesitated.
Narcissa didn't say anything, only let her face bloom with a smile.
After seconds of silence, the dark witch let out a deep breath. "Fine. I'll do an Occlumency act," she agreed finally despite the distaste lingering all over her face, "but I can't promise to behave myself."
"Of course," Narcissa rolled her eyes.
"And I'm still mad at you."
"So am I."
"You?! What for, may I ask?" Bellatrix asked, perplexion and anger mixing as one feeling.
"For staying because of your business rather than your family," the blond witch issued with a long searing look before she made her way out, quietly closing the door behind her.
A bushy-haired girl was sitting on the floor, her eyes unfocused, lost in a freshly made history.
She couldn't believe how easily Narcissa had manipulated her into staying. Even though it wasn't that long ago that she was crying her drained heart out for being treated miserably, for being done putting everyone else's needs before her own, there she was, with her suitcase still opened, ready to be unpacked again.
Knock. Knock.
Hermione came to herself upon hearing the dull sound. She glanced towards the noise, trying to decide whether to answer or fake her death. She longed for the second option but went with the first.
She stood up and reluctantly dragged herself to the door, expecting to see Draco's face to appear in front of her—and really, it was the blond boy standing there with an unusually serious expression, chewing on his lip.
"May I come in?"
Hermione put on a small smile as she let him past her. She closed the door, turning around to face her best friend.
Draco strolled to the middle of the room, nervously rubbing his hands together. "Granger... I don't know how to put this..."
"I do. You're sorry," she said simply, folding her arms.
He smiled softly, nodding. "That too, but there is something more important."
"An apology first!"
His smile grew wider and somehow warmer, making the girl blush because suddenly she remembered the possibility of him liking her—the possibility which squeezed her stomach in a very unpleasant way.
"I'm sorry!" he confessed sincerely. "I wasn't being fair and I really want to apologise for that. I was bloody selfish, not once asking whether this is what you want. I promise I'll get better!" he paused for a while but then went on spilling the beans in a hurry. "After the ball!"
Hermione let out a sigh of frustration, the colour leaving her face.
"You have to promise me you'll go!" Draco added urgently.
"Have to?" Raising an eyebrow, Hermione tilted her head.
"Oh, Merlin, I'm doing it again!" The boy covered his face with his palms. "But I promise you, this is the last, last time I want something from you." He emphasised the word, clasping his hands together as if praying.
"Yeah, the last time until the next time," Hermione shook her head. "I know you too well!" She took a few steps closer, reluctant to pursue this topic, but she didn't really see any other options. This could only go terribly wrong or—nowhere, actually, but she couldn't postpone it any longer.
"Fine," she started, "I'll go under one condition. You'll tell me why you want me there." A soft pink painted her cheeks again as she said that.
Draco's face froze for a moment, blushing even more than the girl in front of him—and that was the reaction Hermione feared the most, but if there really was something going on, she needed to stop it before it was too late.
"Oh," he breathed out, appearing all perturbed, "I.. you know… If I really need to choose my future wife," he started slowly, making Hermione's breath hitch in panic, "I need an approval from my best friend, don't I?" he let out, smiling, quite proud of the statement he had managed to produce.
Hermione exhaled audibly, relief travelling through her body like a wind during an unbearably hot summer. She smiled, nodding.
"I'll take that," very cowardly, she decided to believe him despite the obvious, "but we need to take a trip to Diagon Alley because I don't have a fancy dress at hand."
"Sure, me too, actually. Didn't really expect it would come so early," he said, worry painting his eyes dark.
Hermione couldn't help but felt really sorry. She couldn't imagine being forced to marry so early... with so limited options.
"What about my apology?" Draco interrupted her train of thoughts, an innocent expression planted on his face.
Hermione rolled her eyes. "Accepted."
"Yes!" His fist shot in the air. "And now to the important stuff!" he chirped, quickly jumping aside when Hermione grabbed a quill from her nightstand and hurled it in his direction.
"What have I done?" he asked, perplexed.
"Excuse me? The apology wasn't important?! Goodness, do I have to teach you everything?"
"Speaking about teaching," Draco grabbed the opportunity, quite relieved he was spared from making up an intro, "there's something I need to tell you."
"What's going on?" Hermione asked, a strange feeling growing inside her stomach.
"Well," he chuckled anxiously, "remember my aunt?"
"Oh, no, not really," she replied sardonically, "oh wait, isn't she the one who keeps insulting me anytime she's given a chance? Dark shining hair, big eyes?"
Wait, what? Hermione's brain was a little confused by the description.
"Exactly!" Draco's arms shot in the air, index fingers pointing at Hermione. "Guess what?! She's going to teach us Occlumency!" The boy smiled, his excitement a little too forced.
"What?!" Hermione yelped, her eyes growing wide. "Why?"
"I'm not sure, but... Merlin, it doesn't matter! It's Occlumency!" He looked at her as if she'd gone crazy.
"It does to me! Hello?! She hates me immensely! Why...?" Hermione objected, running a hand through her hair.
"Don't worry! She's past that stage!" Draco tried for a wider smile but Hermione's look stopped him immediately.
"It's been probably an hour since she told me to get out!" The girl pointed out with risen eyebrows.
"Well, that's a lot of time to make up your mind," Draco said, pursing his lips as he shrugged.
Hermione shot him a funny look. "Yeah, she seems like the type."
"I know she can be... eh, too much sometimes," Draco confessed, "but I can assure you, she's insanely good with a wand!"
"That's exactly why I'm afraid. She'll kill me at the first opportunity!" Hermione responded, throwing a hand into the air.
"No, she won't! Granger, what happened to your desire to learn anything, anytime?" Draco asked, trying to attack her soft spot.
"I don't know, maybe I value my life too much?" she answered, rolling her shoulders, cynicism lacing her words. She was pacing back and forth when she stopped abruptly, her eyes growing even wider.
"Draco!"
"What?" He flinched at the urgency.
"Tell me this didn't spring up in your head! Tell me you didn't ask her for this!" She asked with terror in her eyes.
"I'd hardly dare," he confessed, shaking his head, "actually, it was her idea to... let's say, make up for her behaviour."
Hermione's eyebrows shot up. "What? She wants to apologise?"
"I wouldn't say apologise... she never..."
"Yeah, either you understand or you don't," Hermione repeated Narcissa's words from their previous conversation. "Like sister, like sister."
"Sorry?" Draco frowned, not really following.
"Nothing. I just... I'm wondering what's changed their mind. I mean, your aunt's and your mother's... isn't it odd?"
"Maybe, but come on, Granger! It's Occlumency! What could possibly go wrong?"
"Come on, Draco! I don't want to be late!" Hermione urged her friend to move.
She was standing on the doorstep of his room, nervously shifting from one foot to the other. It was the very next day after that ridiculous fiasco—and just as Narcissa had persuaded the girl to stay, so had Draco agreed on lessons of Occlumency to be taught by his beloved aunt. Hermione still didn't understand what it was about this family that even the slightest of emotions coming from them would get her to do exactly what they wanted her to.
Damn Draco for making her sign her death warrant! Literally.
"Calm down! Aunt Bella told us to be there at seven." He rolled his eyes, still lying across his bed, playing with a golden snitch.
"So?"
"Hello?! It's six thirty! The exact amount of time it's going to take us to get there is three and a half minutes," Draco responded patiently, studying the left wing of the ball.
Hermione let out a shaky breath, keeping her mouth closed—only for a second.
"Are you—?" She started, leaning against the door when Draco interrupted her.
"Yes, I'm absolutely positive she said you are welcomed to join in."
"No, no! She couldn't possibly have said 'welcomed'! Tell me what her exact words were!" Hermione urged, nervously rubbing her hands together whilst Draco didn't move an inch. She couldn't understand how he managed to stay so calm.
"Merlin! I can't even remember what I was doing five minutes ago." He looked at her, seeing her all upside down because his head was hanging from the bed.
"You were trying to open that box and then—" Hermione started, pointing at the wooden container resting on his bed, but he waved her musing off.
"I wasn't really asking, you know." He finally rolled over, standing up. "Stop worrying so much!"
The poor girl ran her hand through her hair. "I just don't want to show up there if she doesn't—" Hermione didn't have a chance to finish because Draco interrupted her for the third time.
"Enough of this! All right, I'll try to remember..."He put his finger to the left corner of his mouth, frowning as if thinking hard. "She said something like... 'Please, Draco! I really want Miss Granger to come! If she doesn't, don't bother showing up yourself'."
"That's not funny!" Hermione lunged for him, trying to hit his shoulder, but only stumbled upon the crumpled carpet, falling straight into Draco's arms.
Before any of them had a chance to say something, there was rich laughter coming from the open door. "You two idiots are perfect for each other!" Blaise was leaning against the door, observing the scene in front of his eyes.
Draco quickly helped Hermione to regain her lost balance, his pale cheeks blooming with a soft pink colour. "What are you doing here, wanker?!" he snapped at the dark boy.
"Oh, pardon me!" Blaise let out mockingly. "I didn't want to interrupt this little bonding time!"
"You're not interrupting anything!" Hermione quickly cleared things up, feeling a rush of blood coming to her face. She smoothed her shirt, gulping audibly.
"Don't be so flushed, Granger! I won't tell anyone." He winked, laughing.
"Stop talking rubbish, Zabini! I think I asked you what you were doing in my room."
"First of all, I'm not in your room, I'm in the corridor," he pointed casually, picking a piece of lint off of his robe, "and secondly, I'm joining you for Occlumency."
"Oh, bloody hell!" Draco rolled his eyes in annoyance. "And here I was thinking I won't see your ugly face any more than necessary."
"I'd be careful with the word ugly." Blaise bared his white teeth. "Unlike you, I got a girlfriend." He shot Hermione a quick look, going on. "Granger, tell me, is it true they had to organise a dance because he's not able to find himself a girl? That not even a mudblood like you would want him?"
"Draco, no!" Hermione threw herself at the boy to stop him from punching an openly laughing Blaise.
"Get out, you bloody prick! Or I swear I'll—!" Draco, completely red, tried to fight Hermione, but she was holding onto him with all her might.
"I'm shaking," Zabini put on an act of shivering. "I'll leave you two alone, to finish... well, whatever you were doing." He winked again as he disappeared, taking his taunting smile with him.
"Let go of me, Granger! I'm gonna pull his bloody oedipal soul out of him!" Draco thundered resentfully.
Hermione unhooked her arms from him and stepped aside.
The boy turned his back to her, throwing the golden snitch away.
"Draco..." Hermione tried carefully, but he held out his hand.
"Let it be..." He shook his head, breathing hard. She wanted to say something to calm him down but the words got stuck inside her throat for an obvious reason.
"Come on, we better get going," he said suddenly, still trying to get his anger under control, "or else Aunt Bella kills me before I have a chance to kill the tosser."
Hermione's eyes widened, her stomach twisting slightly. For a second she'd completely forgotten about the whole Occlumency thing and under different circumstances, she'd freak out about the time, but recent events had slightly affected her verbal ability.
"Right... Let's go." She agreed nervously, walking out of the room, trying to stop herself from asking whether they were late.
They walked in silence, one floor up, passing shiny ebony pillars. Hermione was looking down, the dark green carpet one big blur before her gaze. She was too worried about the lesson to be able to perceive the unnecessarily expensive... well, everything around her.
Her brain was busy trying to recall every book she'd read regarding Occlumency. Every definition, every single detail, because she didn't want to appear unprepared even though, surely, the woman couldn't expect them to know everything from the very beginning...
Merlin, she'd never even dreamt about having an opportunity to acquire the skill and suddenly, despite all the anxiety, there was a spark of excitement rising inside her stomach, slowly outgrowing her fear. That was until Draco's steps fell silent.
"We're here," he announced, looking at Hermione, traces of anger still visible on his frowned forehead.
"Oh.." Hermione let out, snapping out of her trance, her stomach making a tiny backflip. They were standing in front of a simple but elegant door, both a little hesitant to enter.
"It's going to be all right, don't worry, okay?" Draco tried to calm Hermione down, smiling reassuringly.
The girl returned the smile, nodding, feeling more nervous than before any test at Hogwarts.
"Okay..." Draco let out, pushing the door open, prompting Hermione to enter first.
"I must say I'm a little disappointed," Blaise's voice echoed through the air when Draco too stepped in, closing the door behind him. A room bigger than the training one at Hogwarts greeted their stiff faces, consisting of nothing but a couple of windows, lit torches, and Zabini. Bellatrix was nowhere to be seen.
"So must've been your mother when you were born." Draco, not the one to miss a good opportunity, struck back immediately.
Before Blaise could retort with something pungent, Hermione cut in, shooting both of them an indignant look. "Would you two just stop? Merlin, you're almost adults and here you are acting like kindergarteners!"
Both boys looked at her with a surprised expression, having not really expected her to mix in. Blaise opened his mouth, ready to say something, but a creaking sound of the door opening distracted him.
Hermione's breath hitched because the dark figure of Bellatrix Lestrange had just stepped in, walking with her head held high, paying them as much attention as the dead fly on the window sill.
The girl couldn't understand how it was possible for one woman to radiate so much authority just by her mere presence. It was probably the confidence which she wore boldly without any drop of uncertainty or the aura of danger threatening to let the hell loose anytime she moved. And maybe it was both of it combined.
Hermione watched her stride to the middle of the room, where she finally decided to grant them some attention. She took a moment to quickly look at each of them up and down, her gaze lingering a little longer on Hermione.
The dark witch lifted her chin, conceit fanning out from every inch of her face. She parted her lips, pausing as if deciding whether to throw the girl out or not—at least that's how Hermione felt inside her twisting stomach.
"All right," a cold haunting voice resonated through space as she averted her gaze, letting Hermione mentally sigh in relief, "I suppose you know why we're here. The Ministry of Magic granted you a permission to use the spells until midnight so let's not waste the time. You'll misuse too much of it on your poor attempts anyway, so no more talking. You'll learn in the process. Draco," she addressed her nephew in the same icy tone, "I taught you the spell. Let's show your friends how it's done. You can choose whoever you want."
Bellatrix, sensing the energy in the room, knew exactly whom he'd pick, leaving her with an innocent excuse to get the partner she wanted.
"Zabini, my friend, let's have a look at your thoughts!" Draco smirked, giving him a single up-down eyebrow flash. For a split second, Blaise's face illustrated something very close to fear but it quickly disappeared behind a mask of determination.
"Fine, that leaves us two together." Bellatrix stepped closer, locking her dark coal eyes with Hermione's cinnamon ones. The girl gulped, quickly shooting Draco a look signalising nothing else but a pure cry for help, but the blond boy was too preoccupied with the vision of humiliating Zabini.
"What is it?" the dark witch asked innocently, watching Hermione back away and taking immense pleasure in seeing her so scared.
"Nothing," the girl replied quickly, trying to regain her composure.
"Good." Bellatrix narrowed her eyes, drawing out her wand. "On the count of three!"
"Wait!" Hermione panicked, holding her hands out. "I'm sorry, but you didn't tell me what to do."
Bellatrix smirked. Of course, she didn't, that was the whole purpose of this little show.
"Never heard of improvisation? I just want to know what you're capable of."
Hermione opened her mouth to protest but was stopped by silver light hitting the wall behind her back. She flinched, quickly stepping aside. It was Draco and Blaise fighting after not even mere seconds of being left alone.
"You take that back!" Blaise yelled, completely red, in his face. Draco, on the other hand, was laughing openly, easily blocking another one of Zabini's spells.
Hermione's widened eyes shot in Bellatrix's direction and her mouth fell open. The dark witch was just standing there, watching the pair with amusement, not really keen on stepping in.
The girl, on the contrary, was filled with worry, wanting to stop them before they'd break each other's bones.
"Don't be such a spoilsport!" Bellatrix snorted upon seeing her expression.
Hermione, ignoring the remark, was ready to mix in when Zabini's spell went flying straight at Bellatrix, who blocked it with the speed of lightning, her smile no longer there.
There was a moment of silence. Draco and Blaise both looked terrified.
"Out! Both of you!" she barked, not really as mad as she pretended to be. This just came in handy and she'd be a fool not to take the opportunity.
"I'm so sorry, Ma'am!" Blaise stuttered, looking as sincere as never before. Bellatrix almost lost it. She found the whole effect she had on the kids too amusing.
"I never ask twice!" She warned in a whisper, her head nodding towards the exit, and neither Draco nor Blaise was in need of negotiating any further. They slowly moved towards the door, closely followed by Hermione.
"No, not you, deary." The girl turned around, only to see Bellatrix was looking directly at her. "You stay right here."