A/N: I didn't realise how ridiculously short this was until I came to put it up - I have just been writing continuously with the occasional line break, and then cutting it up when I come to post it. So sorry, but you'll see why it was necessary :)

Chapter Nine

Bellatrix stayed asleep. Hermione had been taken aback more than she cared to admit to herself by the response the woman had given to her final question. The sadness she had not allowed herself to feel about her friends now seeped into her, dragging her down. She wasn't sure what she had expected… Maybe she'd known. Maybe she'd needed to know. It disturbed her how much it affected her. She had not considered herself to live a sheltered life, having known more death and suffering in her teenage years than could be considered ordinary. But now she realised she had been lucky. She'd never suffered, not truly.

Her heart hurt for Bellatrix. The evil woman who had never uttered a single nice word or performed a single nice action in her presence. She felt unstable. She had spent too much time alone with her thoughts. But it wasn't just that – there was some emotion that she just couldn't put her finger on.

She hoped beyond hope that the woman didn't wake up any time soon. She couldn't face her. She sat back on the bed now, facing the door and willing Narcissa to come in. Only eight hours had passed. She could be here for much, much longer still. She needed to get a hold of her emotions or she would be in trouble.

She reached for another potion to revive herself, hoping there was no way of overdosing on this stuff. But as she replaced the empty bottle, she heard a distant noise. Her breath caught in her throat… Narcissa was here already.

"Bellatrix!" She said loudly, without thinking. "Narcissa is here!"

Bellatrix was shocked out of sleep and she jumped, looking around as if she didn't remember where she was, her cheeks flushed and her eyes blinking.

She was silent for a second, just listening. The sounds of people approaching got louder. People. Something wasn't right.

"Is it-" Hermione started, but Bellatrix shook her head violently.

"Shut. Up." She hissed.

They listened again. The voices were all male. It wasn't Narcissa.

"Unbind me. Now!" Bellatrix said, trying to lift herself from the seat and failing miserably. Hermione shook her head.

"No!" She said fearfully, suddenly feeling unable to breathe.

"You can't fight them alone. You know I can. Let me go if you want to live!"

"I can't!"

"You fucking idiot! Let me go now or we will both fucking die!"

They heard the voices grow louder… Feet pounded down the corridor. She flicked her wand and the ropes fell away.

"Give me that!" Bellatrix said, her eyes wide and wild, shooting forward to grab the wand from Hermione's hand. Hermione snatched her arm away. Then she heard a hand on the door and she pushed it into the other woman's hand without another thought.

She whipped around, but she didn't get to see their attacker…

Everything went black.