I can't believe I suggested this! Hermione thought to herself. Bellatrix had gone to make sure their dorm mates were sound asleep, and Hermione secretly hoped that one of them would wake up and come downstairs so that she didn't actually have to follow through with this. It was stupid and impulsive!
"I've begun to think like Harry and Ron." She grumbled to herself.
"Who are Harry and Ron?"
Hermione spun around as Bellatrix returned to the common room, carrying a small handbag. "Cousins," Hermione said quickly, "they're my cousins."
A strange look crossed Bellatrix's face as she set the bag down on an end table and pulled her and Hermione's cloaks from it. Wordlessly, she held out Hermione's, her eyes thoughtful.
"Maybe we shouldn't do this." Hermione blurted. "Let's just stay here. We can just wait until the next weekend, or the Holiday! You can get it then, and we could-"
"Don't be ridiculous." said Bellatrix coolly, "We're doing this tonight."
Grabbing her cloak, Hermione eyed the magic bag with interest, "Is that big enough to hold everything?"
A small smirk crossed Bellatrix's face "We could fit the entire library in here if we wanted to." She looked up at Hermione, "Were there any other books you wanted to pick up? While we're at it we might as well-"
"No." Said Hermione firmly, "We're only going to get the spell book. We can go back once the shop if open if we decide to get anything else."
A pout formed on Bellatrix's lips, "Are you sure?"
"Yes." Hermione fastened her cloak, ignoring the exaggerated sigh that came from her friend.
"Fine." Bellatrix fastened her cloak and grabbed the bag, removing two candles from it before tucking it into a cloak pocket. "Here, light this." She said, passing one to Hermione.
It was a long white candle with silver writing down the side in a language Hermione didn't recognize. "Why can't we just use lumos?" she asked.
"You'll see. Just light it." Bellatrix smiled with satisfaction as Hermione took the candle and lit it, looking skeptically back at Bellatrix when nothing extraordinary happened.
"Is that it?" Hermione looked skeptically back at Bellatrix. "Why isn't yours lighting?" she asked as Bellatrix tapped her wand on the wick of her own candle.
Bellatrix grinned. "It did."
At Hermione's confused expression she pulled her over to a window and pointed at the glass. "You can't see your candle, can you?" She asked with a knowing look.
Hermione shook her head, the girls were slightly outlined from the dying fire, but other than that the glass was dark. "How-"
"Old Black family recipe." said Bellatrix with a trace of pride, "Only the person who lit the candle can see its light. For everyone else it's dark." She walked over to the common room entrance, "This way we won't accidentally give ourselves away."
The walk through the castle was eerie. The portraits were mostly sleeping, and those who weren't muttered something about it being past bedtime. Bellatrix walked carelessly behind Hermione, who had never realized how much she took the invisibility cloak for granted. She was convinced that every creak was Filch, forgetting entirely that he wasn't here yet.
It was a huge relief to her when they finally reached to One-Eyed Witch statue. "Is that it?" Bellatrix asked, a faint edge of disbelief in her voice. Hermione nodded distractedly as she stood in front of it, trying to remember what Harry had said about opening it.
"What do we do now?" Bellatrix asked, looking annoyed when Hermione shushed her.
"Harry said there was a password or something." She mused to herself, forgetting for a moment that Bellatrix was standing next to her. "He said it was…" She glared at the one eyed witch's face, as if the answer was written on her forehead.
Bellatrix waited for what seemed like forever, her patience rapidly dwindling. She opened her mouth to ask if Hermione actually knew what she was doing when Hermione gave an excited shout.
"Dissendium!"She said, grinning triumphantly at a surprised Bellatrix when the witch's hump opened to reveal a secret passageway. She automatically climbed into the statue, feeling Bellatrix press up behind her.
There was a short slide before the two girls entered into a narrow, dark tunnel.
"You were right." Bellatrix said, looking around her with interest.
"You sound surprised." Hermione said with a small laugh, before taking the lead.
They made their way along the passage, neither girl saying much. Every now and then they would stop to clear a cobweb or walk carefully around a particularly slick patch of ground. Once in a while they would exchange a comment or two. For the most part the walk went quickly.
Finally they reached the end of the passage. Hermione pushed aside a few boxes as they came up into a small, dark room and moved out of the way so that Bellatrix could come in.
"Where are we?" The dark-haired witch asked as she looked around.
"Honeydukes. We're in the cellar." Hermione said smiling at the grin that had spread across Bellatrix's face.
"This is amazing!" Bellatrix looked at the hole they had just come through, and then back at Hermione, "Do you realize what we could do! We never have to be confined to the castle again!"
Hermione shook her head, "No, we're using this tonight only. We can't do this again." She covered the hole and stepped over to the rickety stairs that led to the ground level. "We shouldn't even be doing this tonight." She said guiltily, "It's just that you seemed upset and-" she trailed off.
Bellatrix walked over to her, "No problem." She flashed a smile, "We'll only use it in dire circumstances." She chuckled to herself as she headed up the stairs.
Sighing, Hermione followed.
They emerged into a storeroom, and Bellatrix quickly crossed to one of the rain splattered windows. "Perfect." She said. "There's a clear path to Tomes and Scrolls. If there's an alarm system we'll have a quick escape. Better blow out our candles, it looks like the rain's coming down pretty hard."
"Alarm system?" asked Hermione worriedly after she blew hers out.
Bellatrix laughed, grabbing Hermione's candle and tossing it into a cloak pocket, along with her own. "Did you think this was going to be as easy as whispering Alohomora over a locked door?"
Hermione colored, making Bellatrix laugh harder. "Well, it's not. Just be prepared for anything."
"Maybe we shouldn't-"
"You're not backing out now." Bellatrix said firmly as she opened the window.
"Have you ever done this before?"
"Nope." Bellatrix swung out onto the wet grass. "Don't close the window." She cautioned as Hermione mimicked her actions, "Just in case."
"Are you sure you haven't done this before?"
"I've never broken into a public shop, no."
Hermione groaned. A single lamp shone weakly through the heavy rain as they made their way to the dark store. "At least it will wash away our footprints." said Bellatrix cheerily as she bounded the short distance to the shop door.
Hermione followed quickly behind, nearly bumping into Bellatrix as she stepped underneath the awning. Bellatrix threw back her hood and stepped close to the knob, drawing her wand as she bent over.
"Alohomora." she whispered. The lock clicked, and she straightened, casting a smile over her shoulder at Hermione.
"Are you ready?" Bellatrix asked, a dark glint of excitement in her eye.
Hermione couldn't help but smile back. "Yeah."
Bellatrix grinned and pushed the door open and stepped inside.
The moment her feet touched the inside of the shop a high scream erupted from the center of the store, shattering the glass from the windows and door.
"What's the name of the book." Hermione yelled, trying to keep the fear from her voice as the screaming grew louder.
"The Black Arts." said Bellatrix. She rolled her eyes at the shocked expression on Hermione's face, "It was written by my great-great-Grandmother, it's a compilation of the family's favorite spells." She pushed Hermione in the direction of a group of shelves, "Help me find it before someone comes!"
Hermione began searching, vaguely aware that Bellatrix was looking on the other side of the store. It felt like it had been hours before she found a large black leather volume with a gold B embossed of the side. Pulling it down she exhaled in relief as she read the cover: A Guide to the Black Arts, by Callisto Black.
"I found it!" She cried. Bellatrix was at her side in an instant, running her hands over the title.
"Perfect!" She whispered, taking the book and gently tucking it into her bag. She began walking purposefully to the door, but Hermione grabbed her arm before she could leave.
"What about payment?"
"Can't we just-" Bellatrix began, her eyes pleading as the noise became almost unbearable. Outside Hermione could hear faint voices calling to each other.
"It's bad enough that we broke in. We can't steal as well." Hermione yelled.
With a dramatic sigh Bellatrix yanked open the bag and pulled out a fat leather purse. "Satisfied?" She asked, tossing the bag to Hermione.
Hermione winced at the weight of the purse, and then dropped it carefully on the counter before joining Bellatrix at the door. She turned and muttered a quick anti-contamination spell, removing all trace of their existence from the shop.
They crept out, peering out through the rain. A group of lights was making its' way towards them.
"Ready to run?" Hermione asked.
"We could just confound them." Bellatrix suggested.
"Well, technically we're the ones in the wrong here." replied Hermione, "I would feel better if we didn't."
"Alright then, let's run." without warning Bellatrix took off in direction of Honeydukes. Hermione followed, praying that the pounding rain masked Bellatrix's laughter. She launched herself through the window and closed it tightly. She repeated the anti-contamination spell, and then followed Bellatrix to the cellar.
They were halfway to Hogwarts by the time Hermione's heart had stopped racing. Bellatrix led the way this time, her wand illuminating the passageway.
By the time they had emerged from the one eyed witch the only part of Hermione that was still affected by the incident was her hands, which shook ever so slightly as she relit her candle. "Do you think anyone followed us?" she whispered to an amused Bellatrix.
"No." Bellatrix chuckled lowly, "Let's get back to the common room, I'd like to take a look at this book before we go to bed."
They stepped softly through the dark castle; suddenly Bellatrix stopped short, all traces of mirth gone from her face. "Pringle."
Hermione listened, hearing a jingle of keys and the rasp of someone dragging their feet over the stone floor. She opened her mouth to say something, but was cut off by Bellatrix, who pushed her into the alcove behind a suit of armor, and then pressed in besides her.
It was a tight fit, and an awkward one. They had to blow out their candles so that they wouldn't accidentally catch each other on fire. Hermione braced one arm against the wall and grabbed on to the groove between the helmet and the back plate. Bellatrix balanced precariously besides her, wrapping an arm around Hermione's waist when she nearly fell.
"Is he gone?" asked Hermione worriedly, "Has he passed yet?"
"Shh." Bellatrix peered around the suit.
"I've heard really terrible things about him." Hermione whispered, Mrs. Weasley hated him. "I'd really hate to be caught out of bed by him."
"Shh!" Bellatrix hissed, more urgently this time.
The rattling grew louder, and Bellatrix drew her head back, inadvertently pressing it up against Hermione's. Apollyon Pringle came into view, his glaring eyes searching through the darkness. Hermione conjured up all the things Molly Weasley had told her about him. Suddenly Filch seemed like a pretty nice guy.
"Oh god, oh god, oh god." She repeated in a breathy whisper. She began to hyperventilate. Bellatrix tried hushing her again, with no results.
Pringle stiffened as he passed their suit, his head turned around, looking for the sound of the noise.
Bellatrix looked at Hermione, trying to figure out how to shut her up. Then she leaned forward, wrapped and arm around Hermione's neck and pressed her lips firmly against Hermione's.
Hermione stiffened in surprise, and then relaxed, opening her mouth a little to deepen the kiss. Every other thought evaporated, until the only thing she could focus on was kissing Bellatrix.
Pringle listened intently, and, hearing nothing, continued shuffling down the hallway.
A/N: Hey guys, I hope you liked this chapter. As always, please leave me a review and tell me what you think.
A HUGE thanks to everyone who has reviewed! You guys are awesome!