A/N: I'm still alive, fear not. That is all.
That Shrub was a man who had died over twenty years ago was very quickly overshadowed by the news paper Bellatrix had received from Narcissa. Dumbledore having been killed within Hogwarts two days ago came as a shock to only one of the women at the kitchen table. Hermione, already feeling thinly spread, cried for over half an hour before she had even read past the headline, and Bellatrix spent a long while pinching the bridge of her nose in turmoil.
"Draco was supposed to do it. But I doubt he did. Cissy would have been here by now if he had."
Hermione had her arms folded on the table and her face hidden amongst them. When she looked up, her eyes were red.
"Then who did?"
"Severus vowed to Cissy that he would do it if Draco could not."
"How do you know?"
"I performed the vow."
Hermione sighed. The worst part of this was not that Dumbledore was dead, but that she just couldn't find it in herself to grieve. He had had a hand in what she was going through, she knew. The reason she really cried so much was that now he was gone, it would make it that much closer to game over for Harry and Ron. They would have to run, and fight, and survive long enough to try and win this war and she wasn't able to go with them. She had never felt so helpless.
She had been up all night hearing those footsteps in every natural creak and groan, and the blast mark on the wall in the hallway didn't help either. Unable to bear it any longer, she'd gotten up at dawn and sat alone in the shadows of the kitchen with her wand tightly in her hand, staring at the front door. It had stayed firmly shut, and when Bellatrix finally made her way down Hermione had given her such a shock as she'd turned around, the Gryffindor had nearly gotten hexed.
More than anything now, Hermione just wanted something to happen, anything, that could give her an excuse to make Bellatrix decide to leave this house behind.
No more than an hour later, her prayers were answered; and they were answered- as they frequently were- with a big 'fuck you' from the universe.
"Hermione,
The time finally came. It feels wrong going without you, and Ron's sure we're doomed to get ourselves killed without your help, but we finally left. Hogwarts is no longer safe without Dumbledore. I gave this letter to Hagrid to send for me so I'm sorry if it reached you late, but he has to be careful. I know you'll scold me for writing this down, but we're going after Horcrux's - if you don't know what those are, Bellatrix undoubtedly will. I'll let her explain. Until we can find them and destroy them, this war wont end.
Before we left, Shrub had an explosive out duel in the hallway with Minerva- he seemed to be winning but we didn't stick around- and then she just… disappeared. Minerva is no longer a teacher at Hogwarts- Snape's handing out week long detentions to anyone who asks about it- and Shrub just mutters about 'bad blood gone cold' if you bring it up with him. Ron reckons he saw him watching us from a window yesterday but I think he's just paranoid.
I hope you're okay. Merlin knows I'm still angry at the way they screwed you over, and I'll admit I'm still battling myself about Bellatrix. Hagrid said I should leave it be, that you had enough to deal with as it was and so did we. I know he's right.
Keep safe. And if you do happen to know where any Horcrux's are, Seamus and Dean said they'll slip you all their Galleons if you tell them. I should warn you, though- that's less than two between them both.
All our love, Harry and Ron."
"It's not like we can tell them to meet us in the Three Broomsticks, 'mione, in fact, I'm not sure there could even be an 'us' in that situation, I doubt they'd keep their cool if I showed up."
"Bella…" Hermione sighed. "We need to see them. I need to see them. Not just to warn them about Shrub, but explain to them what's going on with Minerva. They don't deserve not to know. They're my friends."
"They're on the run."
"Exactly. What if they go to Minerva for help and she tries a hostage technique?"
Bellatrix looked like she was being forced to choose between a short plank or a long fall. "Hermione, I know you want out of this house, and I'm working on it, but how would we even go about setting this up? They can't apparate without being traced, and we have no idea where they are."
"So, we'll send them a letter. Asking them to go somewhere obscure and to stay there for as long as it's safe. They can send the bird back with where exactly that is, and then we'll go to them."
Bellatrix was about to argue further when a knock at the door made Hermione bang her knees on the underside of the table standing up in alarm.
"I was wondering if the Dark Lord had been here."
Narcissa didn't even bother with the pleasantries she was so fond of drilling them on, the first real sign of the effect this whole situation was having on her.
Bellatrix just sighed in relief at the sight of her sister.
"Well, no Cissa, he hasn't, but then he doesn't usually stop by for breakfast so that's not unusual."
Narcissa moved into the house ad Hermione saw first hand how exhausted she looked.
"I'm aware of that, Bella, it's just… He's gone for the elder wand. I thought he would have taken you with him."
"Why?"
"Sentiment." Narcissa said sarcastically. "I only thought to let you know because Draco tells me Minerva has also disappeared. Uncanny timing, don't you think?"
Bellatrix almost laughed. "No one knows where that wand is now, if she's daft enough to go for it and arrives at the same time the Dark Lord does, he'll only save us a lot of trouble."
Narcissa looked troubled. "I know. I know, you're right."
"Whilst you're here…" Bellatrix glanced up at the ceiling and cursed. "I can't believe I'm doing this… Could we borrow an owl? Specifically the little bastard that explodes into flames if intercepted."
Hermione immediately looked alarmed, and then elated.
"Wait, you'll really do it?"
A long-suffering sigh. "Apparently so."
Narcissa just looked between the two of them and then nodded hurriedly. "Of course. I'll send him when I get back. And before I go- I know you'll groan at me, but I had Lucius transfer some of your money from Gringotts to a wizarding bank in southern Spain. Thought it might come in useful."
"You know I loathe Lucius impersonating me. But thank you anyway, I suppose."
Hermione got up to hug the youngest Black sister goodbye, and then watched miserably as she left so soon after arriving. She was starting to like Narcissa Malfoy, she brought a touch of grounding reality with her wherever she went.
When Bellatrix turned around, Hermione's half smile didn't go unnoticed.
"I am going soft." She muttered. "I cannot believe I am agreeing to this. The Dark Lord would kill me if he ever knew, they'll probably try their damnedest when we get there." She looked ruefully at Hermione through her eye lashes.
"The Dark Lord seems pre-occupied and whilst Ronald has his moments, and Harry does try his best to make me wonder sometimes, neither of them are actually that stupid."
Bellatrix relented and Hermione looked about the kitchen.
"So, what are we going to do until then? I vote burn this place to the ground."
"Hm. Maybe on the way out. I think it's expected of me to explain Horcrux's to you before that."
Hermione, in fact, already loosely knew what a Horcrux was. She wasn't uninterested, however, and lit the fire in the living room before curling up on the end of the sofa closest to it and waiting intently.
To her surprise, Bellatrix sat next to her rather than across from her, and stayed there through her entire explanation.
"I didn't know you could make so many." Hermione said, quite shocked.
"Not many could. But to kill the Dark Lord, you must first destroy his Horcrux's. And that in itself is no easy task."
Hermione stared thoughtfully into the middle distance, the fire lighting her eyes up an even warmer brown than usual.
"And no one knows what they are?"
"Well…" Bellatrix looked uncomfortable.
Hermione knew, as much as she wanted to know, she was putting Bellatrix in a hell of a position.
Bellatrix caved anyway. "One of them was his diary. You already got that one. Next was the ring that Dumbledore destroyed. There's only four left now. I only know two of them. Nagini, and Helga Hufflepuff's cup. That's all I know."
"Can I ask a question that might sound a little abrupt?"
Bellatrix turned to look at the expectantly.
"What are you doing?" Hermione searched the older woman's face for something that might give her a hint.
"I'll let you know." Bellatrix said dryly after a few second's contemplation.
Hermione let it drop. The warmth was soporific, and she didn't want to push Bellatrix.
"I suppose until I work it out, I'm playing both sides. I don't want you to get hurt by my own side, and I don't much fancy my chances defecting. I really have no plan."
"Not very good at this, are you?"
Bellatrix was half offended until she caught sight of the grin on the other woman's face.
"If you're not careful, I'll confiscate your wand until you can be nice." The older witch warned, smiling too.
Hermione snorted. "Not if I get yours first."
"Try it, little witch."
Hermione lunged at the wand at other witch's waist, yelping as she was grappled away and thrown back onto her side of the sofa. She tried again, and this time almost managed to get a hold of it before Bellatrix bent her arm behind her back and forced her to lie on her side.
"Say mercy." Bellatrix teased with a smirk. She hadn't been this childish since she had pulled a similar stunt on Andromeda to steal her food in her fifth year.
Hermione struggled in vain and Bellatrix laughed.
"Argh, fine, mercy." Came a muffled response.
Bellatrix let go and burst into laughter as Hermione's head bobbed back up, her hair a complete mess.
"You can grow to dislike a person, you know." She mumbled, patting her hair down.
Bellatrix shrugged and pointed at something over her shoulder. The second her back was turned, her wand was gone from her side and Hermione's cheeks caught flame that she'd fallen for something so juvenile.
"Hey- give that back!"
Bellatrix held it out to her and then snatched it away when she made a grab for it.
"Give me that-" She tried to reach for it again and Bellatrix transferred it to her other hand and held it at arms length, until it dangled over the opposite end of the sofa.
"Oh my god, will you just- give it back!" Hermione couldn't help but laugh as she tried to clamber around the witch to reach it. Bellatrix leaned back more and more into the corner of the sofa to stop her from getting past, and the wand got gradually further away.
Hermione drew back as her route was cut off and reached along the woman's arm from in front of her instead.
"You are- Just- Goddamnit-" Bellatrix just looked smugly down at the carpet as Hermione slowly became more and more precariously balanced over her knees as she edged forward.
"You know, just one small movement and you'd be on the floor." Bellatrix said casually.
"You wouldn't." Hermione muttered as she grappled with the woman's elbow. By now, her torso was stretched as far as she could make it go diagonally across the other woman, and she was still not quite tall enough to reach.
With one last effort she made a grab for it, and caught the end. "Ha!"
She tried to pull it from he other woman's grip and found her supporting hand starting to slip.
"Bella if you snap my wand…" She trailed off threateningly.
The Death Eater smirked again and let go suddenly, watching as Hermione suddenly collapsed with the force in an awkward heap on her lap.
"Thank you." Hermione said sarcastically. She wasn't really annoyed though, and she smiled even as she narrowed her eyes at the witch.
"You're welcome."
Bellatrix's eyes watched her intently as she tried to find somewhere that wasn't Bellatrix's lap to put her hands down and push herself up.
Hermione finally got a grip on the back of the sofa and then paused. "What? Why are you looking at me like that?"
Bellatrix just smiled and glanced down at herself as if she were unsure.
"What?" The word rippled with laughter.
"Nothing."
Hermione stared at her intently. "Tell me."
Bellatrix avoided looking at her directly. "Just… Nice to see you laugh, is all. Sue me."
"Oh." Hermione dropped her own gaze. She supposed it had been a while.
When she looked back up Bellatrix was still gazing at her and Hermione felt butterflies start to shuffle around in the pit of her stomach as their eyes met. Bellatrix's face was close enough that Hermione could see the reflection of the fire in her pupils and the soft flecks of gold around her iris. Unconsciously she glanced down the Death Eater's lips, which quirked very slightly up at one corner. Her heart almost stopped when Bellatrix leaned towards her and for a second, it did stop when their lips brushed. The fire snapped quietly in the background and Hermione closed her eyes, not sure if this was real or she was fast asleep on the sofa having inappropriate dreams.
She felt a warm hand close around one side of her jaw and decided that if it was a dream, she was quite happy to stay asleep.
She let herself be led and leaned in further, taking every second to remember how soft Bellatrix's lips felt against her own, and how inexplicably gentle Bellatrix was. They pulled away for a few moments and Bellatrix's eyes were back on her face, searchingly.
Hermione didn't know where the situation might have gone, as right at that second there was a loud thud against the kitchen window.
Hermione looked slightly on edge but Bellatrix just sighed. "I really hate that bird." She murmured.
She stayed for a few seconds more before tugging Hermione to one side and then pulling her up to follow her to the kitchen. Hermione followed quietly, still wondering if that had really happened.
In the kitchen, Bellatrix unlatched the window and let in the owl that Hermione recognised as the one she'd used to send letters to Hagrid.
"You'd better write that letter." Bellatrix suggested, passing her the quill, the minute ink pot and the roll of parchment from the pouch hanging from the owl's leg.
"Oh. Right. Yeah." Hermione blushed, as she looked up at the woman and quickly sat down to scribble her letter.
Once she was done, she rolled the parchment back up, handed it back to Bellatrix who dutifully shrank it down and tied it back to the owl, and both women watched it disappear back out of the window.
Hermione, who's lips were still vaguely tingling along with the fuzz in her mind was unsure of what to say next.
Bellatrix looked at her from the corner of her eye. "Are you alright?"
"Yeah." Hermione said honestly.
"Do you want a drink?"
"Yeah." She repeated. Unless it's going to give me blood poisoning. I know what you're like."
Bellatrix smiled. "I'll see what else there is."
-X-
When the owl came back it looked as though it would rather take a swift death than face another journey.
"Merlin's balls, where have you been?" Bellatrix asked it, pulling the letter from its leg and soothing down its ruffled feathers. It was covered in dried salt, and it fell from the bird in fine shafts onto the table. It tottered away, too tired to beg for a treat, and used every last scrap of energy it had left to flutter up on to the curtain pole and hunker down to sleep.
Bellatrix handed the letter to Hermione, who looked apprehensively at it before taking it. It was nearly 5pm and she had been beginning to think it would be tomorrow before they heard back.
The response was written on the back of the same piece of parchment they had sent, and by the speed it was read, it was short.
"They said they're in the forest of dean, and to 'look for the trees'."
Bellatrix stared. "They want us to look for the trees in the forest of dean?"
Hermione shrugged. "It's what it says. The forest of dean is a big place but it's long and narrow. Maybe if we start at the top and go from there- there must be something about the trees that will help. They wouldn't have said it otherwise."
"And they know I'm coming?"
"Yeah, they know."
Bellatrix hummed and watched the other witch thoughtfully. "Tell me again why I agreed to this?"
Hermione opened her mouth to reply but then closed it again. She peeked up at Bellatrix through her eye lashes, hopefully, praying the woman wasn't angry with her.
Bellatrix chuckled at the display. "Mmm, that about sums it up. Come on then, if there's no stated time then we may as well get this over with."
Hermione rose from her chair and grasped the Death Eater's arm tightly, praying that the boys would be able to handle this like adults.
-X-
The forest was quiet and hazy in the evening air. Bellatrix looked oddly at home amongst so many shades of green and Hermione was set on examining each and every tree they passed looking for signs of her friends.
"Wy don't we just start shouting their names? I know Rome wasn't built in a day, but it was faster than this."
Hermione's eyes flickered up to her from the mossy tree she was inspecting and smirked. "You're not a very patient woman, are you?"
"What gave it away?" But the Death Eater was smiling too.
It was just past Six before Hermione finally cried out in triumph. "Bella, look!"
Bellatrix prowled around the trunk of the tree to see what the brunette was pointing at. Carved crudely into the bark, was a jagged arrow. Bellatrix hiked her brow and looked over her shoulder in the direction it pointed.
"Come on, let's go and see if there's more."
"Yeah," Bellatrix sighed to herself as Hermione hopped down from the roots and clambered around the foliage towards the arrow's direction. "This should play out just fine."
She shook her head and compared herself to a lemming as she followed the Gryffindor.
Hermione did find more, as it was, and they quickly found themselves following a trail which ended half an hour later in a clearing with a final arrow pointing straight down to the ground.
"I guess this is it." Hermione said, peering around. The sun was still yet to sink below the horizon, and the air was pleasantly warm compared to the sea chill in Ireland. The clearing looked like it might have been used for muggle camping, and the ground was a sandy brown and worn almost smooth with years of hiking boots. There were a few rebellious grassy spots near the edge with the marked tree, and Hermione sat down on one to wait.
After a few suspicious looks around, Bellatrix chose to lean against the tree, not wanting to be too off guard.
They waited. "You realise now that I'm out of that house you're not going to get me back in it?" Hermione said, after a while.
Bellatrix pulled a resigned face. "Why can I believe that?" She asked rhetorically.
"I mean it, I'll live in the forest before I go back to that place."
"You're going to live in the forest? What are you going to eat?" Bellatrix challenged good-naturedly.
"Berries…" Hermione muttered, realising immediately how stupid that sounded.
Bellatrix laughed loudly and poked the girl in the ribs with her foot. "Let me know how that goes."
A sound caught Hermione's attention and she looked up, expecting wildlife.
An there they stood; Ron slightly behind Harry, staring cautiously from Her to Bellatrix and back again.
"Ron! Harry!" Hermione launched herself up from the ground and ran at the both, almost clotheslining them on impact when she wrapped an arm around each of the boy's necks.
"Oh my god it feels like forever!"
Harry was grinning and even Ron looked a lot lighter than she thought he would be- she had braced herself for moodiness.
Bellatrix's lips twitched into an almost-smile.
Those fools sure do love each other.
"It's so good to see you, Hermione, it's been so weird without you." Harry patted her on the back.
"Yeah, and mum's all but adopted you, just as a warning- I think you might be the first non-Weasely to get a spoon on the family clock. 'Part from Harry, of course."
Hermione was welling up, it was so good to hear their voices again.
"It would be my honour to be made into a spoon." She assured him. "Come on, we have way too much to tell you."
The mention of we made Ron shuffle and Harry look over Hermione's shoulder to where Bellatrix stood watching them impassively. He swallowed at the sight. She was an overwhelmingly intimidating woman, even surrounded by ferns and moss. One he still hadn't forgiven.
"Don't worry about Bella, she wouldn't be here if she didn't want to be."
The familiar way she addressed the Death Eater didn't escape the boys either.
Hermione set off back across the clearing and with a look to one another, the boys followed uncertainly.
"Almost wish we had butter beers, it's picnicking weather." Harry said lightly, looking up at the sky.
"She prefers orange juice." Bellatrix mumbled in the background.
Hermione rolled her eyes. "Don't listen to her, she drinks ethanol. Anyway." Hermione moved on, seeing the difficulty Harry was already having trying to figure out this relationship.
"Shrub." She said, sitting back down, the two boys following suit. "We, uh. Well. We found his grave."
Ron frowned. "What do you mean, his grave?"
"It's a burial mound marked by a piece of stone to-"
Hermione swatted at Bellatrix, who had also given in and was now sitting, leaning back against the tree, without looking at her. "I mean just that; we found the grave of Louix Pendlebury Shrub IX in a graveyard in northern Ireland. Which means the world has managed to produce two people with a name like that, or..."
"Shrub isn't... Shrub." Harry finished. "Then who is he? So far he's actually been alright- if a bit odd."
"Get on." Ron said, immediately. "The bloke's weird. Always creeping around, watching us. And Professor McGonagall hates his guts."
The name made Hermione feel nauseous. "That's actually the other thing we have to tell you about. I know I gave some details in my letters, and I know Hagrid told you everything he told me, but it's sort of… escalated."
Harry looked doubtful. "You mean your situation has managed to go downhill?"
"Yeah. Just when you think you've hit rock bottom, you… well, find another layer of bloody rock." Hermione sighed.
"I killed her. At least I thought I did, I didn't mean to, but… Anyway, next thing we knew we got your letter saying she was back and walking around Hogwarts. We asked Severus about it and he also said that the night I supposedly killed her, she was in a governors meeting all night with him.
"What was Snape doing at a governors meeting?" Ron asked, suspiciously.
"Oh. Uh, he was standing in for Lu- Mr Malfoy. He was attacked… By Peacocks."
Bellatrix began to snigger into the back of her hand beside her and Hermione nudged her.
"It's not funny, Bella, Cissy nearly made us sleep in the garden."
"It's a good job I enjoy tormenting the man so much or we wouldn't have known Minerva was in that meeting." Bellatrix pointed out.
Harry was watching her intently. She was a far cry from what he had expected, and as much as he wanted to deny it, he could see how Hermione would get along with her.
"We looked into it and we came across a old transfiguration spell that allows you to create up to three carbon copies of a person- they're impossible to tell apart from the real thing, except they don't tend to be able to cope with free thought. They take a handful of views from the caster, and it's all they're really able to talk about, anything else, and they're not able to process real time responses outside of their pool of knowledge."
"That's messed up." Ron surmised. He was far quieter than he usually would have been having a discussion like this, and Hermione was fairly sure the sight of Bellatrix so close had subdued him whilst he re-assessed his situation. He got like this when he played a good game of chess.
"Anyway, long story short, I killed another one in Ireland and now we think there's one left, and then real thing."
"So… They're coming after you? Whilst she stays in Hogwarts where- where everyone can see her…" Realisation was dawning on Harry. "But how are they finding you?"
"That's a good question." Bellatrix said. "She found us far too quickly last time. Theres no way she could have known where we were. It's uncanny, I don't like it."
Hermione had to agree. The last thing she needed was to find out the old woman had a seer on her side.
"So Hogwarts really isn't safe. I mean, more than we thought." Ron said, drawing from all the courage he had and looking at Bellatrix for the first time as he spoke.
"No. Especially with Dumbledore gone. Find the remaining horcrux's and destroy them."
Harry's melancholy at hearing Dumbledore's name subsided quickly and his eyes flashed towards Bellatrix in alarm. The older witch was still leaning back against a tree with her eyes closed, but seemed to know there were eyes on her in the silence and held her hands up anyway.
"Don't worry about me, my life is already way out of control."
"Your life is out of control?" Hermione asked with a raised brow.
Bellatrix just smiled. "Taking myself out of the equation, what do you think will happen if the Dark Lord wins?"
"I'll be dead." Harry chipped in bluntly.
"Exactly. And if your side wins, Harry?"
"I'll be dead." Hermione answered miserably.
Bellatrix took a long breath and then opened her eyes, focusing them on Harry.
"So what's a witch to do? If I save Hermione and let you die, it would break her and she wouldn't forgive me, yet if I save you and in turn her poor heart, I'm condemning her to die- in which case I might not forgive myself, let alone the rest of you."
The dark witch leaned her head back against the tree and sighed, closing her eyes in the sun again.
"So if you have any thoughts on another way out, go ahead. I'm now taking suggestions."
Hermione watched her with soft eyes. Whilst she understood the strain this must be putting on Bellatrix personally, it was strange to hear it aloud. She always seemed so calm about everything.
Harry was looking thoughtful. "You could... go on the run? Find somewhere else to live?"
"Mmmm, and live out the rest of our lives constantly moving and looking over our shoulders in the knowledge that in the end we both betrayed all of our friends and family- none of whom we'll ever see again- to save ourselves."
Her tone wasn't lost on Harry and he went back to staring at the grass. Deep down he knew Bellatrix was likely far more intelligent than he was and if she hadn't thought of anything in weeks, he wasn't going to think of anything in minutes.
"So... that's it? You can win the battle against Minerva but there's no way out of the war?" He said, not for a second wanting to believe it had to be a case of him or Hermione.
"Of course there's a way out. I just can't quite believe I'm considering doing it."
Before Hermione could ask, something carried on the breeze made Bellatrix's eye's darken.
Whistling, dissonant, and high, and steady to the unmistakable tune of Double Trouble.
Something wicked this way comes.
The two women were on their feet in an instant, back to back, glaring out into the forest with their wands raised.
"Harry, Ron, get down, if you use magic we'll be even deeper in it." Hermione commanded.
The two boys, upon the sight of Bellatrix rearing to her full strength, were way ahead of her, scrambling to get behind a tree each.
The whistling stopped. The birds stopped, the wind stopped, and Hermione didn't dare breathe. For a second, she was blissfully aware of the peace and quiet before,
BANG!
A streak of red exploded from a shield Bellatrix erected just in time, the sparks of magic temporarily setting fire to the grass where they landed. Hermione's heart was in her mouth, but Minerva had revealed her location, and Bellatrix wasn't in the mood for dueller's niceties. She fired six spells in mesmerisingly quick succession, out into the trees where the attack had come from in a cone. One of them rebounded back, and swiping it aside like a butterfly, Bellatrix once again honed in on where it had come from.
Hermione, desperate to help in some way rather than just wait to be rescued again, began searching for some way to drive Minerva out.
She saw it.
A tree, wide and tall but rotted through and through which stood near to where Bellatrix was still assaulting. Hermione took aim.
"Bombarda Maxima!" She cried, her mind pulling a face as she remembered Umbridge shouting the same thing. The spell hit the tree dead on and it groaned and swayed. It took another moment, and then it began to fall almost in slow motion, dragging its punier brethren down with it in a clamour of snapping and crashing. Minerva was smoked out almost immediately, not wanting to be crushed or buried, she practically fell out into the clearing with a wild look on her face.
Harry and Ron watched helplessly.
The woman's left arm was bleeding heavily where Bellatrix's slicing hex had struck true, and she had a slight limp, probably from tripping on the undergrowth.
"Give it up, Minerva, you can't fight both of us." Bellatrix growled, her magic simmering below her skin.
But the woman was empty. Like some kind of clockwork figure, she raised he wand arm and began to fire off spells.
Bellatrix raised her shield and let them grind themselves into dust against it, waiting. When she heard the incantation to a powerful enough spell, Bellatrix expanded her wards viciously as they collided, sending the spell hurtling back at its caster. Minerva was already half way through the next hex, and she stumbled over her words as she tried to raise a shield instead- not fast enough.
The spells effects were not immediately obvious- the old woman stopped dead, and it seemed as though her ribs had caved in, like she had been punched with a huge, stone fist. She fell to the floor and Bellatrix cast her last green flash without the words.
Hermione knew what it had been when the woman immediately slumped motionless.
There was a long silence, and the boys Gingerly emerged from their hiding places.
"That's it- that's the last fake." Hermione said, mostly to herself.
"Bloody hell." Was all Ron could say.
Harry was staring at the dead woman. Every time he saw Bellatrix, he ended up watching her kill someone he loved.
"It's not really her." Hermione reassured, knowing what he was thinking. "It'll turn to ash in a minute."
Harry nodded. "I know. Just… Hard to see. Worse to know she sent it."
"Harry."
Everyone turned to look at Bellatrix, who hadn't even broken a sweat.
"Come." It was a demand that most people would never have followed from the Death Eater- or any Death Eater- but as she walked away into the forest, Harry, with an inexplicable look to Hermione and Ron, couldn't help but to follow her.