Chapter 10: Under the Cover of Night

Mudblood.

Damn mudblood.

She had enticed him. He could not be blamed for it. His head continued to swim in the darkness as he walked up the front steps of Malfoy Manor. Luckily she would never remember and he would think it was a delusional dream after the amount of alcohol he'd consumed. He swung open the front door and removed his cloak and left it on the rack near the entrance.

"Home so soon?" The sarcasm dripped from her dark lips as she swayed in front of him, leaning against the sitting room door frame.

"Go home," Lucius barked. Stumbling, he cleared his throat loudly as he headed for the main staircase.

"Jesus, you'll never make it up those stairs." She put down the green lap blanket that she had been keeping warm with in the other room. "Should I call Narcissa, have her come down here and help you up?" Lucius turned to Bellatrix in his drunken haze, angry.

"You may be my wife's sister but that will not stop me from bodily removing you from my property. I said 'go home', didn't I?" Her cackle of insolence was enough to set him going for her. She backed into the sitting room as he moved rather lightly for a drunk man.

"I doubt you could do anything to me in this position. You're pathetic." She paused by the sidebar and poured two fingers of scotch into two glasses. "Here, more alcohol is exactly what you need." Bella handed him the glass and took a swig from her own. Lucius sat in the large arm chair by the fire place and placed the glass on the table beside him. "I decided to wait around for you tonight. See how you were after a visit to that trash bin of pub you seem to favor."

"Oh dear sister, why do you care what I do?" Grabbing a sofa pillow, he adjusted it behind his aching head.

"Perhaps I've gained a conscience, Lucius." They both laughed at this, her shrill giggle slipping from between her wide, dark lips. "You were with that ridiculous barmaid again, weren't you?"

"What does it matter?" His entire body was sore from his head down his spine and his head was swimming with alcohol and images of his mouth pressed against the mudblood's. He had other things to do than bicker with Bellatrix.

"You're married to my dear sister. It matters very much to her, I'm sure!"

"Give it a rest. We both know that you care nothing for Narcissa's feelings in the matter. You're merely jealous. Can't stand to have me giving all my time and attention to another?"

"Well if you must know, yes! It was different when its different girls every night, but the same one? I think you're getting too attached." Her voice was getting emotional. He heard the cracking of held back tears in her throat and he couldn't help but sigh. He knew that this would happen sooner or later; that tell-tale day when Bellatrix wouldn't be able to keep herself disinterested in the situation.

"How much longer do you think this interrogation will take?"

"This isn't an interrogation Lucius," Bellatrix whined.

"Just come out with it then. What do you want from me?" His voice was exasperated and she sensed this. At his invitation to be straight she inched towards him, placing her drink on a nearby table. Lucius picked his up, the two fingers of scotch. He figured that with how much liquor he'd had, only more could be a good thing. He sung his white-blond head back and swallowed the generous amount.

"You know what I want." Bella looked down at her feet, unable to look him in the eye. This was so out of character for Bellatrix that Lucius knew that it must be a sincere emotion. He rose from his chair, his head swimming for only a second before clearing again. He slowly made his way toward her.

"Do I?" He asked, his body so close to hers, he could feel her shaking. He took a tendril of her hair and placed it gently behind her ear. She pushed her head into his hand, reminding his of a cat.

The idea of this typically repulsed Lucius, who knew that he could find sex from many other waiting and willing women than his sister-in-law. Yet tonight the idea intrigued him. He had kissed the mudblood. Perhaps by using the body of one of the most pureblooded women around he could purge his sins, so to speak.

Lucius pulled her close, both hands on the curve of her hips. She was rather tiny in his hands. Bella moaned and pushed her body up against his, barely breathing as she raised her face to him. He could smell the liquor that she had just drank melding with his own breath. Lucius, lost in the moment himself, ran his hands up and down her spine enjoying how she arched her back, pressing herself more fully into him.

Leaning down slowly, he could feel her breath catch. He smiled at the odd serenity of the moment. As she sighed he pressed his lips to hers. With his mouth to hers, with their bodies pressed against each other he tried to stop his mind. He could feel Bellatrix holding onto him. He could feel her arms wrapped around his neck so tight it was amazing he could breathe at all. He knew that in his arms was his wife's sister. Lucius knew that if he wanted to he could take her to his bed. Yet, he hesitated. He knew with logical thinking that it was Bella in his arms but in his mind it was Granger as it had been just over an hour ago.

Slowly he pulled away from her. He removed his hands from the bunches of hair he had taken in his fists. She sighed, swaying in his arms. Lucius separated himself from her warm body and moved slowly to the side. He didn't spare her a glance as he walked away.

Bellatrix watched his retreating back and felt the cooling burn of Lucius' lips on her own. She smiled though a few stray tears inched out of her dark and luminous eyes. This behavior was so typical of him, she thought. Everyone thought he was so brave and cold, incapable of true emotion. Some might even think that his walking away was proof of just that. Yet Bellatrix knew the real Lucius, she thought, and the real Lucius was the one who had kissed her and couldn't continue because it was all too much. Bellatrix comforted herself with that singular thought again and again as she wrapped the green lap blanked around herself once more and re-lit the fire. He would be back, she thought, it was just a matter of time.

IIII

She awoke with a clear head in her own bed. The sun had slowly begun to inch its way through the crisp, cotton blue curtains. She sat up and wondered how she had gotten there. Her last memory had been that she had sat on her sofa with a pot of tea and had wondered what to do on a lonely Saturday night.

In the haze of it all, she didn't remember doing anything after that. She hadn't consumed any alcohol, she should at least remember getting into bed, should she not? She stood up slowly to go to the washroom. The white tiles felt like ice to her naked feet. Had she stayed home all night? Gone to bed early? She must have. She washed her face unceremoniously and patted it dry with the dark brown towel that hung on the rack beside her and felt her stomach growl.

Food.

Hermione walked into the kitchen, and turned on the gas burner, setting the kettle full of water on to boil.

Toast.

Eggs. She felt like a big breakfast. She walked to the refrigerator and opened the door.

Bacon, she thought. Definitely bacon. Her stomach growled again brutally, reminding herself to make it quick.

Hermione liked to cook and could do it rather well. It was quite a bit like potions and she had always excelled in that at school. So with her natural talent she began to cook up a storm without even having to think. It was like conducting music. Take the screaming kettle off the burner and begin to brew the tea. Place the skillet with a dab of butter on it, letting it heat to a sizzle, drop in two eggs. She did it all, not really mulling over any of it; it was a second nature to her. She took a freshly brewed cup of tea and began to sip it as she watched the bacon sizzle closely. The smells floating around her made her feel intoxicated and she couldn't wait until she could devour it all.

Devour.

Odd. That word stuck out as it whizzed past in her mind. Devour.

Hermione took the metal spatula and flipped the eggs over, careful not to break the yokes. She liked to soak up the yokes with her toast. Sean had taught her that. Sean had taught her a lot of things, she reminded herself, and not all of them were good. She looked back in shame at the night when he had gotten so drunk he had tried to take advantage of her in the snow. She would never in her mind, be able to forgive herself for letting that happen. Of course, she should go easy on herself. He had stunned her! Thank god Eve had come along. If she hadn't, who knew where she'd be.

Eve. Something about Eve last night. She had wanted to go to the bar to thank her for helping her that night. Apparently she hadn't gone. Hermione smirked at the fact that she probably couldn't get the nerve up to go. It would have been too weird, she thought. But really, she did remember feeling quite adamant about going. She had convinced herself that maybe out of all of this badness she would finally make a friend. She'd been so lonely recently. So why hadn't she gone to see her?

She scooped up the eggs and bacon onto her round plate. Placing the buttered toast cut into triangles around it she headed for the dining room table. Tucking in to the fantastic breakfast she let her mind wrap around the previous night. She couldn't remember anything while she'd been awake, excluding that portion where she'd sat on the sofa and contemplated seeing Eve. She'd had a strange dream though.

Someone had pointed a wand in her face in the darkness then turned their back and disappeared.

Peculiar dream, she thought.

Hermione tasted the bacon and commended herself on a job well done. She'd think about it more later. Right now, she merely wanted to enjoy a good breakfast on a late Sunday morning.