Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to the one and only J.K. Rowling.

And the arms of the ocean, so sweet and so cold

And all this devotion, well, I never knew at all

And the crashes are heaven for a sinner released

And the arms of the ocean delivered me

(Never let me go – Florence and the Machine)

…

Thousands of eyes looked back at her from thousands of faces. Most of them were smiling, unaware of their fate. A name was written neatly next to every picture. Children, a husband or wife, an entire life was attached to each picture, but Bellatrix hadn't thought of any of that when she first received the list. All she had cared about were the letters next to each name. HB for Half-Blood, M for Mudblood. She almost laughed at the fact that there was a distinction. It wasn't like it had mattered to them. Anyone who wasn't a Pureblood was supposed to die. Anyone who was on that list.

Her eyes scanned the names. They were not sorted alphabetically or by age, but the danger they proposed to his cause. Dumbeldore was right at the top with a cross next to his name. Potter followed right after him. She breathed in sharply. Her fate lay in his hands now. Ironically. Her finger went further down the list. McGonagall, Mad Eye, mostly members of the Order. It was a couple of names before it appeared: Granger, Hermione, M. She traced the name with the tip of her finger, carefully, as if there was a spell connected to it that could fire off any moment. And there was, to her at least. She skimmed the list again and this time she actually laughed out loud at the fact that he hadn't placed Hermione right under Potter. How would history have turned out if it hadn't been for her? Potter might have been the chosen one, but he was reckless, way too emotional and hot-headed to see something like that through. And the Weasel, well, she wasn't exactly sure what he had been on board for, but Hermione had been the reason why a lot of their adventures had succeeded, that she knew. The great Dark Lord had underestimated her girl like he had so many people.

"Voldemort", she whispered the name. "Tom." That's how he introduced himself the first time she met him. Everyone had to refer to him as Lord, but it's Tom to you, he had said. He had talked to her like he had talked to the other men, like an equal, not a pretty good for nothing doll. At first she feared he was going to hit on her, but he didn't, never. Of course, by the time he first approached her, he already knew everything there was to know about her. Her talent for dueling, her thirst to prove herself, her preferences and relationships and her parents' dislike of them. He would use all of it to gain her and turn her into his best soldier. She had been nothing more than means to an end. She knew that now but back then he had made her feel valued, understood, welcomed and accepted. He possessed a lot of charm in the beginning. That got lost somewhere along the way.

She put the list back down on the pile of papers. They contained plans on how to rise to power, aims and tactics for raids, information about the Order, maps of important buildings they might need to break into at some point. If anyone thought the Death Eaters had been a bunch of lunatics running wild, they were foolish. Granted, there were a lot of douchebags among them, but the base consisted of some very misguided, but very intelligent people. She had thought about setting fire to all of this shit with one of the torches several times, but somehow she couldn't. It was as if she couldn't allow herself to forget what she had done.

She looked around the room. There were no windows, not even paintings only some runes left there by wizards and witches centuries ago. She had no idea what they meant. Runes had never been a favourite subject of hers. She much preferred actions over words.

There was no idea of time down here. There didn't need to be. One would only wait until the mark burned and know that it was safe to leave again. She traced the light lines on her wrist. Her mark would never burn again. Now she waited for Narcissa or Hermione to give her a sign, get her out of here. Hermione was the one she really wanted to appear here. She had no doubt that she could, if she wanted to. The fact that the girl had welcomed her back into her arms so easily made her feel strangely secure. It was a bit unnerving still. She wasn't one to trust easily and yet, somehow, she trusted her or at least she really wanted to. It wasn't logical, but when was love ever logical?

Love.

Earlier today, as she stripped in front of Hermione in more than one way and gave herself into her hands, the thought had occurred to her for the first time. She loved her. And maybe Hermione loved her, too. It was a surreal thought. It didn't seem possible for someone like her.

…

The fruit was sweet in her mouth with a small sour sting. She savoured the taste for a moment before she swallowed. She popped the next fruit in her mouth. Bellatrix was lying on the bed on her back with her feed in the air. She had had a glass of wine to calm her nerves and was now indulging on a bowl of cherries. She was not short of food down here. The caves had been stocked with more than enough supplies. All was magically altered to last a life time. Magic was a beautiful thing.

Crack.

The familiar sound of Apparition made Bellatrix get up and draw out her wand. She headed around the corner, keeping close to the wall. Technically she knew it couldn't be an intruder so soon, but one could become paranoid down here. Carefully she lurked around the corner into the living room.

There she was. Her lioness. Her heart skipped a beat.

She let her wand hang loosely at her side. "You're here."

"I am." The girl shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the other.

The air was thick with tension and unspoken words. There were so many things they wanted to say, but did not know how to. And maybe that didn't matter right now because the way they looked at each other conveyed all the words. Before the moment became unbearable, Hermione's lips were on her's. Hard. Her arm snuck around her waist and held her. Tight. Hermione backed her up against the nearest wall and deepened the kiss. She felt like she was about to suffocate and if she did, she would not have minded. When air became an unfortunate necessity, they parted and rested against each other.

"I wasn't sure you would come" Bellatrix said.

"Neither was I" said Hermione.

It almost made her heart freeze over and she made to turn away, but the girl gripped her arms, holding her in place.

"But I'm here now. I am here, Bella." As if the girl could read her thoughts she added "And I won't leave."

Suspicion and doubt, however, were old friends of Bellatrix'. "You say that now. Let's see how much your word is worth, when shit gets rough."

"Like it hasn't already."

Bellatrix cackled, all too familiar. "You think it's been rough this far? Then what will you do when the Aurors come and interrogate you for hours?" She pressed herself closer to Hermione and started to reverse their roles. "What will you do when you have to see me in Azkaban chained to the wall like an animal?" Now she trapped Hermione against the wall, her wand caressing the girl's side in deceiving softness. "And above all", she whispered close to her ear, "what will you do when your beloved friends and family learn that their sweet, innocent bookworm is fucking the enemy?"

Hermione gripped her jaw roughly, to her surprise, forcing her to look her straight in the eyes. "I am not afraid, Bellatrix and you won't scare me out of this, no matter how hard you try." She was being pushed aside, gently but firmly, and Hermione made to sit down on the couch.

Bellatrix was left bewildered for a second. Hermione seemed rather unimpressed by her taunting. It irritated and impressed her at the same time.

"Besides", the Gryffindor said, "we don't even know yet, whether Harry will tell someone."

Bellatrix snorted. "Oh please, I'll suck Merlin's saggy balls if he doesn't."

"I'll hold you to it, honey", Hermione smirked.

Honey. Her heart fluttered.

Hermione seemed transfixed on something in the room and Bellatrix followed her gaze. She smiled. The girl had noticed the runes, of course she had. She watched as Hermione got up to the wall and traced the old signs with her fingers.

"You can read them, can't you?"

Hermione nodded. She looked at Bellatrix and studied her intensely for a while. "You hated Runes."

"Awfully boring." She yawned dramatically.

"I'm not surprised", Hermione laughed. She got cozy on the couch again while Bellatrix sat down on a big rug on the floor.

"What was your favourite subject, then?", she asked.

"Care of Magical Creatures."

"Really? That is surprising."

"Didn't think me capable of caring for someone, did you?" If the girl only knew how much she could care. She could care so goddamn much for someone who was worth it. She'd go into war all over again, burn the fucking world down for that one person. If they only showed her they cared just as much. But who would do such a thing for her?

"I did not say that", Hermione said. "But I thought you might find it beneath you to get your hands dirty."

"Oh, my hands have been plenty dirty." Bellatrix added that raspyness to her voice that turned any woman into a puddle and leaned back on her hands to watch the effect.

Blushing cheeks and fire lighting in hazel eyes. Lovely.

The girl snaked up her leg with her foot, pushing her coat aside.

"What exactly are you doing, Missy? Didn't you say we needed to talk first?"

"I did". Hermione's voice sounded dry. "We have done some talking, haven't we? And it would be an awful shame to let this", she traced the rim of her stockings," go to waste."

"Well, in that case …" and Bellatrix opened her coat and let it slide off her shoulders. She was about to get up, but Hermione's foot pressed right on her chest and stopped her.

"Remember what you asked of me earlier?"

She did and she had meant it. But it meant to trust, to open up and be vulnerable. She wanted to do all of that, but it made her terribly nervous, if not scared.

"That's exactly what I'm going to do, so you just lay back" and Hermione pushed her torso back down to the ground. The witch straddled her and rested her hand on her cheek, her thumb caressing her bottom lip. Now Bellatrix was the one blushing because she looked up at pure desire and she knew in that moment Hermione was imagining everything she was going to do to her. She could not help but tremble slightly, whether from desire or fear or both she did not know. Hermione bent down and kissed her jawline up to her ear and whispered "I won't hurt you, Bella" and she wondered how on earth this witch knew just what to say and she pulled her to her by her hair for a deep kiss that spoke of delightful surrender. Lingerie, as gorgeous as it was, became a disturbance and vanished with a quick spell.

Hermione moved down her body with countless kisses as if to make sure not to miss a single spot on her skin and the dark witch winded underneath her like a true Slytherin. She arched off the bed as the young witch caressed the curve of her waist with her tongue. It had been decades since someone had loved her so attentive. The gentleness with which Hermione handled her sent her body and mind into long forgotten heights; she could barely stand it. She was brought out of sweet bliss when the attack of kisses suddenly stopped and Bellatrix had to open her eyes to see if, maybe, she had just been dreaming.

The witch was looking at her scars. Apparently, she had forgotten to heal some of them. Even though she was the one lying down, Bellatrix managed to look down on the girl, haughtily, proposing a challenge to love her, all of her. The witch accepted it in the most unexpected way because never ever had someone placed kisses on her scars, one by one. The act spoke of so much devotion and acceptance it choked Bellatrix' throat and watered her eyes.

The witch drove her tongue up her thighs, stopping every now and then to bite down on soft flesh. She did it with a combination of gentleness and firmness that only she could perform, Bellatrix was sure. And when the witch got close to her goal, her hands flew up to her face to cover unbearable anticipation because what was about to happen was so much more intimate than any form of fucking could ever be. When the witch pressed the flat of her tongue on that spot, she lost it and anticipation was released with a primal moan. Her sounds were nothing like they were the other night. They were high and soft and yet tortured and anyone who thought they didn't fit her, didn't know her. Shaking hips met firm strokes, hands reached out searching and finding their match to hold onto as pleasure ripped her apart.

Another set of clothes was shed, cores pressed together and Bellatrix held onto her lover for dear life. She fisted her hair with one hand and digged the nails of the other into young skin, marking territory. And all the while the witch shook her in every way possible there was only one thought screaming in her head.

I love you. Goddamn it, I love you.

If she could have sewed every cell of her body to Hermione's she would have.

When waves subsided and heartbeats went back to a normal pace, she looked up to the woman above her and then, in that moment, something changed between them. For the first time Bellatrix truly let her see her. Her face was wide open. There was no arrogance, no villain, just Bellatrix. And Hermione knew then that the dark witch could also take her dominance, her rawness and devotion when she needed her to. And Bellatrix knew that the young witch could also take her submissiveness, her vulnerability and weakness when she needed her to.

They fell in love with every bit of the other.

A/N: Originally this chapter was going to be a lot longer, but I couldn't bear to ruin this moment with the more difficult times that lie ahead, so I left it at that. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I loved writing it.

GryphonLu: The only character whose sexual orientation we know for sure is Dumbeldore and you know, I always go by "queer until proven straight", so … ;) Obviously, I take great freedom with Hermione's character here, but oh well. But I totally get it. I was so excited when I found all of these wonderful Bellamione stories. Especially since that is a quite peculiar pairing ;)