Murder Most Horrid

Chapter 10: Case closed

Once again, Bellatrix found herself staring at the front door of Andromeda's house. And once again, she was admiring the wonderful paintjob on the door's surface and the quality of the knocker.

Merlin, what was wrong with her?! Why was she so afraid to face her own sister?! Again! Hell, she knew she had to tell her family about Hermione. It was only a matter of time before they'd find out anyway and there was no real reason not to tell them. She had elected to tell Andromeda first, but once again found herself having cold feet. Sweet Merlin, why was she so worried?

After taking a deep breath, Bellatrix grabbed hold of the knocker and gave it a good banging. 'Time to face the music, bite the wand and stop being a bloody schoolgirl, Bella!' she admonished herself. Really, it couldn't be that bad, now could it?

"Bella!" smiled Andy as she opened the door and found her older sister standing on the welcome mat. She was quickly let in, offered a cup of tea and engaged in some small-talk, but, honestly, Bellatrix couldn't really get excited about 'the price of milk these days'. After taking a sip from her tea, Bellatrix let out a sigh.

"Is something wrong, Bella?" Andy asked with some concern. "You're being so quiet."

Bellatrix pursed her lips and put down her cup. Better to get it over with. "Andy," she started. "Look, I'll just come out and say it. Andy, I've fallen for someone. I..." she chuckled at the absurdity of it all. "I'm in love."

Silence.

Complete and utter silence.

'Say something, Andy. Please just say something,' Bellatrix bit her lip.

Her sister just looked at her, as if she was trying to decide if Bellatrix was joking or not, but soon enough her lips curled up and formed a smile brighter than a thousand suns. "Finally," she whispered. "FINALLY!"

Bellatrix suddenly found herself being glomped by her little sister, being very happy that she had put down her cup of tea beforehand.

"Merlin, I'm so happy for you!" Andy broke the hug, took her hands and looked her in the eye. "Alright, alright, how long have you known her? Where did you meet? Do I know her? Is she pretty? What's her name? Can I meet her? Have you gone on a date? Where did you go on a date? Did you kiss her? Does she love you back?"

Bellatrix thought for a moment. "A couple of weeks, at work, no, very pretty, Hermione, not at the moment, yes, Leaky Cauldron, yes and definitely yes."

"Hermione," said Andy, letting the name roll over the tongue. "Such a pretty name. Come on, I want to hear details, lady! Everything upon everything, and I do mean everything. Leave nothing out!"

Bellatrix nodded. "First... there's something you must know about her."

"What?" Andy spoke with a serious edge. "Oh, here's where you tell me she's a one-legged blind midget with a mullet, right?"

The dark witch blinked once. Twice. "How did you make that leap of logic?"

"Who can tell?" Andy laughed. "Come on. Share."

"Alright, first of all, she's definitely not a midget with a mullet. But... this is... something you might be a little angry about," Bellatrix said. Truth be told, when they were younger, Bellatrix had given Andromeda nothing less than hell over Ted. Like Bellatrix, Andromeda had no intention of marrying the husband their father had picked out for her, but unlike Bellatrix, Andromeda fled from her family because she had already met someone she loved. At the time, Bellatrix had done her best to support her little sister and to help her find a place to live; she'd gone through all of it before, after all. Bellatrix had even gotten Andromeda her first job as a receptionist for a police post in Diagon Alley so she could support herself.

Ted, however, had been a different matter alltogether. Bellatrix never considered Ted to be good enough for Andy and had made no effort to hide this. Old prejudices died hard, after all, and the truth of the matter was that, despite all the obvious good things he had done for Andy, despite the obvious love and devotion he had for her, Bellatrix could never consider him good enough for Andy purely and alone for being Muggle-born. Though the dark witch's opinion Ted had slowly but surely changed over time, Andy had been less than happy with Bellatrix's constant belligerence towards Ted at the time.

"Try me," Andy challenged.

"Hermione is..." Bellatrix sighed for a moment. "She's Muggle-born."

Andy remained silent for a moment, but then threw her head back and let out a hearty laugh. "Oh, the irony! The irony! Why would I be angry about that, Bella?"

Bellatrix shrugged. "Well, you know... you and Ted..."

"That was over twenty years ago, you silly billy!" Andy laughed and shook her sister by the shoulder. "If anything, letting a Muggle-born into your heart shows how much you've changed since then. Now, no more stalling. I want to know everything about this Hermione."

And so Bellatrix obliged. She told her sister almost everything that had happened: the murder at Hogwarts, first meeting Hermione, putting the clues together, that crazy yet wonderful night they spent together, solving the crime and Hermione being admitted to St. Mungo's. Of course, she had to omit plenty of details for the sake of privacy and professionalism, but she told what she could. Andy listened to it all intently and was full of sympathy for Bellatrix's young lover. Still, there was room for a barb.

"Hm," Andy grinned slightly. "Addicted to insoma and involved in a man's death. And how was Ted not good enough for me again?"

"I know, I know," Bellatrix rubbed her temples.

"Heh," Andy chuckled. "Next thing you'll tell me that she's a Gryffindor too."

Bellatrix coughed. "Welllll..."

Andy blinked. "Oh, you've gone completely off your rocker now, Bella!"

Bellatrix crossed her arms. "Wait, you're okay with her being decades younger than I am and being addicted to an addictive substance, but you draw the line at her being a Gryffindor?"

"Slytherins should have some standards, Bella," Andy raised her chin in an imperious Black fashion, but the twinkle in her eyes told another story.

Bellatrix settled herself on the sofa for a moment. "But Hermione, Andy... I want this. More than anything, I want this to work."

"Don't you dare mess this up or I'll personally feed you to the nearest dragon!" Andy narrowed her eyes. "This is your big chance, so grab it with both hands and... OH! We are leaving someone out!"

Without giving Bellatrix a chance to protect, Andy rushed to the fireplace, tossed green powder into the fire, yelled 'Malfoy manor', jumped inside and, less than ten seconds later, came rushing out of the fireplace again while dragging a rather befuddled looking Narcissa by the arm while the blonde witch had her hairbrush still in hand. Certainly, Andy worked fast.

"Andy, what... why did you drag me here? What's going on?!" Cissy demanded.

"BELLA'S IN LOVE!"

"What?!" Narcissa blinked. "Since when?!"

"Bella's in love with a nineteen year old Muggle-born girl who's in Gryffindor and was suspect in a murder case!"

"UH?!"

Bellatrix sighed heavily. So much for breaking the news carefully to their youngest and more-than-a-little-prejudiced sister.

"Come on!" Andy grabbed Bella's wrist with her free hand and dragged both her sisters along. "We must celebrate! The Black Sisters are going to paint the town red."

And paint the town red they did. Memories had gotten a little hazy after they hit the first pub. In fact there was quite a large gap in her memory, leading from the moment they had entered the door of the pub, to what Bellatrix concluded could be the next morning.

The dark witch had woken up from the sound of a groan. Just as she was wondering where it had come from, she realized that it was, in fact, her own. Immediately, her head felt like it had been split open by a heavy battle-axe, her tongue felt like an old leather bludger while her dry throat screamed in agony. Where on Earth was she?

After carefully opening her eyes to a squint, she found herself lying on a rug in front of the fireplace in Andy's living room. How she got there, she had absolutely no idea.

There were snippets of memories from last night. Most prominent were a drinking contest between Andy and a goblin, Narcissa dancing on a table at some point, thankfully fully clothed and... oh Merlin, the songs... not the bawdy songs the three of them had been regaling the other pubgoers with when they had gotten so terribly drunk all inhibitions were gone. To her everlasting disgrace, the lyrics were etched in her mind.

"Moose, Moose, I want a moose
I've never had anything quite like a moose
I've had lots of others, my life has been loose
But I've never had anything quite like a moose

Now gorilla are fine for a Saturday night
But lions and tigers they put up a fight
And its just not the same when you slam their caboose
Like the feeling you get when you hump on a moose."

Oh, Merlin. Why... WHY?! Where did Narcissa even learn that deplorably raunchy song? Of all the Black sisters, it had always been Narcissa whom was considered to be the most prim and proper. How wrong they were.

Bellatrix found it hard to move so she just gave up and let out another groan. The rug was comfortable enough right now. From the corner of her eye, she could see Andy lying face down on the sofa, her face mushed into one of the cushions. Narcissa in the meantime, had rather uncomfortably folded herself onto a lazy chair with her legs sticking out from over the side. Both seemed fast asleep. More memories of songs came to mind. More horrible, horrible songs.

"Four and twenty virgins
Came down from Inverness,
And when the ball was over
There were four and twenty less."

Bellatrix tried to push herself up, but alcohol induced vertigo took its toll. The dark witch decided she was far more comfortable just lying on the floor. It was then that Bellatrix had remembered her solo effort. It was a song she had been taught by a police constable from Liverpool she had met during a national law enforcement ball some some years ago, after getting very comfortable with her in one of the broom closets after a few drinks and some excessive flirting.

"If all the young ladies were birds in their nests,
I'd be an egg and lie under their breasts.

If lassies were wine glasses, and filled with rum,
A rub round the lips would make them all hum.

If all them young lassies were kittens with fur,
I'd give them all a good reason to purr.

I wish all the ladies were little white flowers,
And I'd a bee and suck them for hours.

I wish all young lasses were like wine in a glass,
Then I'd get so drunk, I'd fall on my arse."

Another wave of embarrassment hit her after the memories of that lesbian themed tavern song returned to her mind, complete with appreciative applaud and... oh, Merlin. A stage-drive. She'd done a stage-dive! The dark witch truly hoped nobody she knew had seen it. Seriously, what would her mother have said if she had seen her behaving like that?

It was then that the front door opened and a far too cheerful Ted Tonks entered the front door to his house, having just returned from the nightshift of whatever job he was working these days. "Morning, darling," he called out, way too loud. "Just got back from... blimey, what happened to you lot?!"

"NotsoloudTed," Bellatrix groaned as the headache intensified with every word spoken.

"Bella's in love!" shouted Andy from the couch before falling asleep again, letting out a loud yet feminine snore.

"Yay me..." groaned Bellatrix before smooshing her cheek into the rug.

"Right, uhm," said Ted. "I suppose I should leave you alone then."

"Just let us wallow in our misery," Cissy called from her chair.

To add insult to injury, the ever so thoughtful Ted closed the door just a little too loudly for their sensibilities.

"Oh, Merlin..." Bellatrix moaned. "What would mother say?"

"She'd express disappointment, rage, sorrow... and then would ask for the details," Cissy replied. "In that order."

In fact, she could almost hear her mother stern voice at that very moment. 'Bellatrix Druella Black!' her mother would have said. 'How dare you stain your honor by lowering yourself to the depths of depravity. Most unbecoming of a young lady of your position! You are acting like a mudblood!'

Bellatrix snorted. As if Hermione would ever sing a raunchy lesbian themed tavern song and follow it up with a stage-dive. Although she had to admit that was a rather sexy mental image.

"Oooooh, I'm never drinking again," Bellatrix groaned.

"Liar."

During the fourth week of her treatment, the worst was behind her and Hermione was mostly back to her old self. However, the past three weeks had been so exhausting she spent most of her days sleeping. During her daily visit, Bellatrix sat with her Hermione, holding her hand as she slept. Most days, she slept through visiting hours, and today was no different.

'Sleeping beauty', Bellatrix thought as she watched Hermione. Though she slept most of the day, Hermione was eating properly again, color had returned to her cheeks and those lips... those rosy soft lips were so tempting. Feeling much like a teenager ready to steal her first kiss in during a secret liaison behind the broom-shed, Bellatrix leaned in for a brush of lips while stroking Hermione's hair. Her lips felt and tasted as wonderfully as before and her hair was just as soft as she remembered it.

"What did you do to me, hm?" Bellatrix whispered to the girl. "What kind of spell have you cast on me, Hermione Granger?"

In her life, Bellatrix had been with many women in but had been limited to short, passionate encounters. She had never found that one special person. Truth be told, she had given up on that many years ago and settled for fun yet meaningless sexual encounters, even thought she secretly yearned for more. Then, all of a sudden, Hermione Granger came along. And Bellatrix never wanted to let her go.

Bellatrix continued to stroke her young lover's impossibly soft hair. However, when she tried to withdraw, she noticed her fingers had been caught in Hermione's bushy brown hair. After a month without even a minute amount of hair-care, Hermione's long wavy brown hair was full of tangles. Bellatrix did her best to try to free her fingers without waking Hermione, but never stood a chance.

"Ow, ow," Hermione grimaced as her eyes fluttered open just as Bellatrix freed her hand. Trying her best to look innocent, Bellatrix smiled at the young witch. "Hi," Hermione whispered right before letting out a yawn. The girl was happy to see her, that much was obvious.

"Hi yourself," Bellatrix smirked. "How are you feeling?"

"Better than I've felt in a long time," said Hermione. "Just very, very tired."

"You're almost through, pet," said Bellatrix. "I told you you were strong."

"I'd almost forgotten what sleep feels like," Hermione replied. "Sleep is so nice. I could sleep forever."

Bellatrix smiled at her. "Silly girl."

"You," Hermione smiled weakly. "You didn't have to do this, you know?"

"Do what?"

"Be there for me," said Hermione.

"Of course I have to," said Bellatrix. "I don't know much about all this relationship stuff, but I'm not entirely clueless."

"Do we have one?"

"Do we have what?"

"A relationship, of course!"

"After all this, we'd bloody well better have," Bellatrix and Hermione laughed together for a moment.

"Hmmmm, so sleepy..." Hermione whispered, her eyelids heavy.

Just then, there was a knock on the door; Miriam Strout entered the room. "Ah, miss Granger, you are awake. That's good, there's visitors for you."

The dark witch half expected more friends from Hogwarts, but instead two people entered whom she had never seen before. However, Hermione, certainly had.

"Mum! Dad!" Hermione tried to sit up in bed, but was too exhausted to do so. She got about halfway up before falling down to the bed again.

'Uh-oh', Bellatrix gulped as the worried parents rushed to their child, stepping away to make room for them. However, having the folks in the room meant she would be walking on eggshells.

By now, most people in their immediate circle knew that Bellatrix and Hermione were 'an item', as it were. And reactions had certainly been mixed. Potter had accepted it without question, while the Weasel-boy had needed some prodding and Andromeda had been utterly ecstatic about it. However, the Malfoy front was less happy about the whole thing. Though Cissy had been quietly encouraging her, Lucius was apparently considering banning her from their manor. She had expected the relationship with her favorite nephew Draco to take a bit of a dent, but as it turned out, Draco was rather amused by the whole development. The lad had sheepishly told her it was probably not a good idea to keep calling Hermione Muddy the Mudblood from then on. Something Bellatrix confirmed in a friendly but firm fashion.

Then there was the matter of Hermione's parents. Apparently, same-sex relationships were somewhat of an issue in the Muggle world, and the fact that Bellatrix was quite a bit older than Hermione wouldn't help either. Hermione was not ashamed of anything, but would rather break the news to her parents in a well-prepared and diplomatic manner, preferably on familiar ground.

Though the cheeky Bellatrix was half-tempted to out them then and there, this was hardly an ideal situation and Hermione certainly wouldn't thank her for it. Instead, she decided to creep out of the door without being noticed while Hermione's parents were fussing over her.

"Excuse me, are you a friend of our daughter?"

'Bollocks, I've been spotted.' The dark witch turned around, wishing she had taken some more this morning to comb her rebellious curly hair. It was Hermione's mother whom had asked the question, while sitting next to the bed.

'Oh hi, I'm Bellatrix and I've been shagging your daughter!' was the first response which came to her mind as she felt like the proverbial log on the train-track. Thankfully, Hermione answered for her. "This is Bellatrix Black, from the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. She's been visiting me almost every day."

"Thank you for looking after her," spoke Hermione's father. "We've only just found out that she had been admitted to the hospital."

This was a cue for Bellatrix to sigh and facepalm. "Balls," Bellatrix cursed. "Of course the idiot clerks of the Department never informed you, they always forget about Muggle relatives. And nobody at Hogwarts bothered either, I suppose. Absolute morons, they can't do anything right!" She'd have to go and yell at those pillocks tomorrow.

The dark witch could see she had made faux-pas as both parents seemed shocked at her outburst. "Hm, sorry," Bellatrix muttered under her breath. "Incompetence upsets me."

Bellatrix gave Hermione some time to catch up with her parents, treating the smiling girl to a surreptitious wink before leaving the room. Being the professional whom she was, she met up with the parents, whose names she learned were Jack and Emma Granger, after visiting hours to inform them what had happened. Strout was kind enough to let her use one of the hospital's consultation rooms. To her surprise, Bellatrix found that talking to worried Muggle-parents was much like talking to worried wizard-parents. She'd expected Jack and Emma to be colder towards Hermione, thinking back to Hermione's story about having to navigate Muggle-London on her own as a seven-year old, looking for food. However, they were anything but cold.

Bellatrix explained as much as she could; the supposed murder that wasn't a murder, the addiction, the eventual solving of the crime in question. Of course, she had to omit some details, including those of her budding relationship with their daughter. At the end of it, the parents were disturbed, but grateful.

"Don't take this the wrong way," said Jack Granger. "But I'm glad that the man who poisoned our little girl is dead."

"His death is not a great loss to the wizarding world," Bellatrix shook her head.

"I'm just so shocked that Hermione could be driven to taking a narcotic," said Emma.

"It happens to the best of people," Bellatrix replied. Diplomacy wasn't her strong suit, but she had let the parents do most of the talking.

"I'm just happy that there's so many people who care for Hermione and look out for her," said Emma as she looked at her husband.

'Lady, you have no idea,' Bellatrix bit down her comment. Hermione would tell them when they were good and ready. Hermione's parents thanked her warmly and left. She had found them surprisingly agreeable for Muggles. Perhaps that was a good since, of course, she'd be going to seeing plenty of them in the future.

It was actually quite a wonderful thing that Hermione's parents were so caring. Memories came flowing back of her own parents, from the days of her early childhood. All the three Black sisters had been utterly spoiled rotten, of course. In particular, she remembered a day at the beach. She must have been eight years old at the time. Young Bellatrix, Andy and Cissy, aged five and three perspectively, had already put on their bathing suits at home and, after a quick use of a portkey at the Black mansion, they arrived at their little used vacation villa in the South of France which had a gift from their mother's father after her parents' wedding.

They were ready and eager for a day at the beach. After their mother had applied a charm to their skin to prevent sunburn, her father had taken her aside. Cygnus Black had been a stern man, very set in his ways, but also a loving father to his three daughters. In truth, Bellatrix had been quite impatient to get to the water and her father had to hold her by the arm more than once.

"Bellatrix," her father had said after bending down on one knee and gently putting his hands on her shoulders. "Today I want to teach you the importance of duty. Do you understand?"

Bellatrix nodded in response.

"I'm afraid you can't go into the water just yet."

Bellatrix's face immediately transformed into a heavy pout. "But father," Bellatrix tried. "I want to go swimming! I'm finally old enough to swim in the sea. I waited for months."

"Now, Bellatrix," her father spoke softly, but sternly. "You have to realize that, sometimes, the needs of your family are more important than what you want for yourself. Do you understand this?"

Bellatrix adopted the Pout To End All Pouts and looked at her feet. "I think so."

"You are the eldest," said her father. "And thus it falls upon you to be responsible. It is your task, now and forever, to watch over and take care of your little sisters."

Bellatrix nodded in response. "Yes, father."

"Remember that we Blacks are special," said her father. "We are special even among wizards. We are the most pure, the most noble and the most powerful. But we still must protect our own. Do you understand, Bellatrix?"

"Yes, father," Bellatrix replied. "I am a Black. And Blacks can do anything!"

"Good girl," replied her father. "Now, how about a hug and a kiss from my little warrior, hm?"

Bellatrix did just that, a hug and a peck to the cheek. Then, thought staying nearby at a reasonable distance, her parents left them to play. While her sisters were having fun, Bellatrix stood vigil. Narcissa was making forms in the sand with a toy mold, while Andromeda was merrily collecting seashells. Whenever one of them got too close to the water, Bellatrix sprung to action and shoo'ed them back to land. When her parents returned, a prideful father relieved her of duty and took them all for icecream. The rest of the day the girls had free reign to play around in the sand and Bellatrix had finally gotten her chance to go for a swim in the sea. Her cousin Sirius had just been born, and Bellatrix remembered wishing he'd hurry along with growing up so that the three of them could have another playmate at the beach. They were all so innocent at the time, but it was simply nice to think that she had experienced what it was like to have a loving family, even if it didn't last.

Hermione still had hers. Bellatrix had to admit just a touch of jealousy in that regard. Still, she supposed it was nice to have met her in-laws at least.

Before leaving, she wanted to steal one look at Hermione through the window of the door to her room. While a nurse was checking up on her vitals, Hermione was once again sleeping peacefully.

Sleeping beauty indeed.

Sitting at her desk, she had just written up a report about the latest incident. The last month had been rather quiet for Magical Homicides and whenever there were no murders, the group was tasked to help out other sub-departments with their cases. Bellatrix had still been working on finding Mittens, however, as he had proven to be surprisingly elusive. However, now that that damnable kneazle had been found and all the forms had been filled out, Bellatrix was done with work.

She signed the last form with a flourish of her quill, leaned back in her chair and laid her boots on the table. "Ah, done! A full month of vacation starts right now."

"I think that's the first vacation you've taken ever," said Jensen as he leaned against her desk while eating an apple.

Bombur, the bombastic old wizard, was the first to speak up. "I do believe that today is the day miss Granger will be released from St. Mungo's."

"I do believe you're right," Bellatrix laughed.

"Hah!" chuckled Jimmy Richards. "I knew it!"

"Yes, Jimmy," Bellatrix crossed her arms. "You'd think the big calendar on my desk with the big red circle around today's date would be a bit of a clue. Then again, if you had spotted that, people might start mistaking you for an actual detective."

"Through my powers of Divination, I can see serious amounts of shagging in your near future," Petunia grinned, while Richards made kissy-face noises.

The dark witch rolled her eyes. "You're lucky I enjoy your company so much or I'd have crucio'd the hell out of you lot already."

"Class, please! Some class!" said Bombur. Right become belching.

Bellatrix shot her friends one last two-fingered salute before leaving for her holidays. She had arranged for a carriage to take her to St. Mungo's; after all what Hermione had gone through, the least she could do was to make sure she'd travel in style.

No more pain, no more hallucinations, no more constant sleep. Exactly one month after being checked in, she was due for release. Thankfully, this addiction would not leave a stain on Hermione's considerable academic achievements. All the grades she had gotten were still valid as the potion only affected her sleep cycle; all her achievements were still her own. She was certain Hermione had been gratified to hear that.

Her treatment wasn't over yet, however. Hermione still needed to build up a regular sleeping pattern again with the help of sleeping draughts for the foreseeable future.

Because Hermione needed rest more than anything, it was agreed upon that she could hand in her thesis at the start of the next year. Thankfully, she had dropped the idea of doing the five separate papers for a still insane, but a slightly more healthy two. Though Hermione was somewhat saddened that she wouldn't graduate with the rest of her class, the young witch realized that she was lucky not to be expelled. Bellatrix had offered her to let Hermione stay at her apartment for as long as she liked and the young witch had happily accepted. To Bellatrix, it was certainly better than having her stay at the Burrow; poor Hermione would never find any rest when constantly surrounded by Weasleys, after all.

Once the carriage stopped, she could already see Hermione waiting for her at the entrance of the hospital. She was looking much better; color had returned to her cheeks. She looked positively radiant in her yellow dress.

"Pet," Bellatrix whispered as the two witches embraced. "You look so much better."

"I feel much better," said Hermione.

"What's this?" asked Bellatrix when she noticed Hermione was holding a cat carrier.

"This is Crookshanks," Hermione replied. "Harry brought him over, along with all my other belongings I still had with Hogwarts. He'll be coming to live with us."

"Harry?" Bellatrix half-joked. "I'm not really liking that idea. The door to my bedroom is quite thin, after all. I'm planning to do all sort of delicious things with you in my... our bedroom. Delicious things that potentially have a high decibel count."

Hermione snorted. "No, I meant Crookshanks."

The dark witch bent over and reached her hand towards the cat carrier. Almost immediately, a hiss came from the carrier, followed up by a clawed paw slashing against the metal grate.

"Sorry," Hermione offered an apologetic smile. "Crookshanks needs to get used to new people."

"Right," Bellatrix frowned, not having counted on his fifth wheel which suddenly appeared out of nowhere. "Considering the sheer amount of books you're bringing, I think I'll need to start looking for a bigger place to live pretty soon. And I'm actually going to have to clean now."

Both lovers stepped onto the carriage. The cat carrier was put on the opposite bench. Hermione's belongings from Hogwarts, mostly books contained in a Bottomless Suitcase, had been put in the back. "We'll just drop off your stuff and Crookshanks at my apartment and we'll head right to the Leaky Cauldron. Potter has organized a 'Glad you're well'-party for you. It's a follow-up to that 'Get well soon'-party, I understand. Only there'll be actual booze this time around."

Hermione shook her head before leaning against the dark witch. "That's so him. But I don't think I'm entitled to a party after all things I've put everybody through."

"Nonsense, pet," Bellatrix kissed the top of Hermione's head. "Besides, I've invited Draco."

Hermione's head snapped to one side. "You what?! Why?!"

"Hey, he's family," Bellatrix shrugged. "Don't worry, I'll make sure he'll behave."

"Bellatrix?"

"Hm, pet?"

"I don't remember much of what happened the past month, and perhaps for the best. But, I might have… said some things which I regret saying," Hermione said. "Done some things I regret doing."

"It's alright," Bellatrix shrugged.

"No, it's not alright," Hermione said. "I hurt you. I hurt my friends."

"I'm a grown woman, I can take it," said Bellatrix. "I blame the insoma, not you."

"My parents are still worried," said Hermione. "They want me to come home for a bit too. You don't mind, I hope."

"No," Bellatrix replied. "At least your parents care about you. Which is more than I can say about mine.

Hermione turned away to look out the windows. The carriage was plodding along, the Thestrals doing their job expertly. "I... I need to explain them why I did what I did. Why it made sense at the time and why I now know it was wrong. I need them to know it will never happen again."

"I get that," Bellatrix replied. It was all part of the healing process.

Hermione turned to her with a smile. A smile that made the dark witch's insides flutter. "And I want to tell them about us. That's a bit more scary."

It was odd, really. Bellatrix found something she never expected to find again. All these years she had thrown herself on her work in an attempt to flee from her own loneliness. And yes, while her work was fulfilling and validated her, she had come to realize that she hadn't really lived at all for the past two decades. She had a lot of time lost to make up for.

She looked at the pretty young witch next to her. The dark witch had no idea if she and Hermione were meant to be. But by Merlin's beard, she was going to do her utmost to make it work.

Bellatrix and Hermione shared a brief look before the young witch flowed into her arms. It was a wonderful feeling, her soft body against hers. Hermione's arms locked around her shoulders while Bellatrix clutched onto her waist. Their lips met and their ever deepening kiss gave expression to the passion which had been building up during a month of waiting. The dark witch so enjoyed her Hermione's smell, touch... taste. Exquisite.

Best thing about it yet: Hermione was just as passionate about it as Bellatrix was.

"Hermione?" Bellatrix said after she and the young witch broke their kiss. "You make me want to be a better person."

"Hm, that's funny," Hermione grinned. "Because you make me want to be a ruder person."

"Hah!" Bellatrix laughed. "We're quite a pair, aren't we?"

"I suppose we'll have to meet somewhere in the middle."

Yeah, 'no idea if she and Hermione were meant to be?!' Bugger that. They were meant to be. Bellatrix was certain of it.

And that's it, the conclusion of the first story-arc of Murder Most Horrid. There's two more to come. Considering the three parts of the story are successive and interconnected, I've decided not to post them as separate sequels, but to continue to post it all under this title. Murder Most Horrid will continue right here, next Saturday.

Thank you all for reading and I hope you will join me for the rest of the story. I hope you'll continue to enjoy.