The Dark Corners of the Earth
Chapter 20 – Miss You
27th of February 2004 – Turku, Finland – Granger Residence
It was odd just how fulfilling it was to simply spend time at home with her parents playing a board game around the coffee table. Outside, it was still snowing in the darkness of the evening, while the roaring fire in the fireplace and the dimmed lights gave the entire living room a cozy presence. Next to her on the sofa, sleeping while having lain her head on her lap, was her little sister. It was just past her bedtime, though because the game was coming to an end, their dad had allowed her to stay up late just a little.
The game itself was Risk, which hit Hermione as being quite ironic. She, her father and her mother were vying for world domination by strategically placing armies and planning ahead. It wasn't unlike what she was doing in the real world; manipulating nations by use of clever tactics. She just hoped she'd do better in real life than she did on the board; aside from some minor holdings in Africa, her mum had pretty much wiped her right off the map.
Still, she wouldn't consider this time wasted; she'd be donning her 'Samantha Morris' persona and leaving for Japan tomorrow to start negotiations in the deepest of secrets. Her plan was to force the heads of state of the Alliance members to the negotiating table by upsetting the balance of power between the Union and the Alliance. Australia leaving the Alliance was an unforeseen fortuitous happenstance which had shook them up, but it wasn't enough. For her plan to work, one of the neutral nations had to join the Walpurgis Union.
The US was off the table. The wizarding US were staunch isolationists and, even though they had signed a non-aggression pact with the Union, them joining the Union was unlikely. Canada was much the same. India was having too much internal strife to be a reliable ally, and Hermione feared civil war in that nation if she pressed the issue. Many other neutrals were simply too small to be of use.
That left Japan.
It was the prefect candidate, really. Japan was a country with a rich cultural history which was far more accepting of the supernatural than most modern muggle societies; a lot of Japanese wizards were 'out' to their non-magical families. As such, the ideals of the Walpurgis Union were appealing to them.
Another reason was the interesting history of the Japanese wizarding world, which had never been part of the Meji restoration of 1868. As such, the Japanese wizarding world still had the political system of the Edo period, a feudal shogunate which was run by wizarding Daimyo under a Shogun serving as a supreme leader. The top-down feudal system of this magical shogunate was quite in line with the way the political system of the Walpurgis Union work.
Of all the neutral nations, Japan was thus the most likely candidate to execute her plan. If Japan were to join the Walpurgis Union and gave up their neutrality, it would make a lot of Alliance Ministries very, very nervous. It was then when Hermione would give them the irresistible offer for a peace-treaty.
"And there goes your last army, sweetie," sounded Emma Granger as she swept the piece off the board with a grin. "Don't worry. I'll allow you to live out the rest of your days under house arrest."
"Huh?" said Hermione as she was being torn back to reality as saw that her position on the board had been thoroughly decimated. "Oh, bother!"
"Yep," said Jack Granger as he got up and stretched. "Your mum wiped the floor with us, puppet."
Her father patted her on the shoulder while picking up the groggy Ophelia as she stirred in her lap. "Come on, then," said her father. "Time to put this little lady to bed."
Ophelia was tired enough to have no energy left to protest and allowed herself to be carried away to her bedroom downstairs. Hermione sat back while her mother gathered the pieces and the board to put it away. "Sweetie, you were miles away tonight."
"I know," Hermione said while rubbing her temples. She was more tired than she thought, both physically and mentally. The young witch had been doing exhaustive research on Japanese customs and culture, as well as preparing negotiating tactics. Worst thing yet, she was going in alone without any aides to negate the risk of leaks. "At lot is depending on me."
Her mother took her hand while she sat next to her on the sofa, eyes brimming with concern. "You're just one woman, Hermione," said Emma. "You can't carry the weight of the world on your shoulders."
"Hm," said Hermione with a brief smile. "When I've made peace, I can retire from the diplomacy game and write my memoirs."
That made her mother giggle. "Oh, sweetie, considering you're the paramour of a world leader, I don't think you'll be out of the fire for long. How is Bellatrix doing, by the way?"
"She's fine," said Hermione. "Though a bit cross that I'll be gone for an indeterminate amount of weeks."
"I like Bellatrix," said her mother. "But she does come across as a little possessive."
Hermione chuckled in response, rubbing her temples as she lay her head back on the back cushion of the sofa. "Possessive? She's that and more. She's rude, impulsive, often infuriating and... I love her," replied Hermione, startling herself by saying it. "I'm stark-raving mad for loving her, but I can't help it. I'm going to miss her terribly."
"My girl has found her foil," said Emma with a smirk. "If my impression of her is correct, she'll want to spend some time with you before you leave tomorrow morning. But do try to get some sleep tonight regardless after rolling around underneath the sheets."
It took Hermione a few seconds to wrap her mind around what her mum... her mum... had just said to her. "Mum!" Hermione protested while feeling blood rush to her cheeks.
"Oh come now," spoke her mother, before laughing at her own pun. "You're both adults in love who are not going to be seeing each other for a bit. And don't tell me otherwise, hm? The few times that Bellatrix was staying at our house in your room? I could hear you two, you know?"
Eyes growing wide, Hermione wished she could dig a hole in the ground and jump in it. Her mother was right, though; if she knew Bellatrix, she'd be waiting for her in bed with two glasses of the most expensive champagne and scented candles while clad in black lace.
Just as Hermione was to open her mouth to retort, her father came up the stairs holding a certain little yawning girl now dressed in unicorn pajamas. "Well," said Jack Granger. "A certain someone wants to say goodbye."
"Oh, come here, you," Hermione smiled warmly while she took her little sister in an embrace.
"Hermione?" Ophelia spoke with a quivering lip while looking up at her with big brown sad eyes. "Why can't you visit?"
"Your sister is going on an important mission," said Hermione. "If I succeed, a lot of people won't get hurt anymore. Now, I really hate it that I can't come and visit you. But when I come back, I promise I'll take you to the zoo."
"Will they have tigers?" Ophelia asked hopefully.
"I'm sure of it," said Hermione as their father took her again after another quick hug. When her father had carried her little sister down the stairs again, she turned to her mother. "I have to do this, mum."
"I know, sweetie," said her mother as she took her in an embrace. "I just worry about you. You've been working so hard."
"I'll be fine, mum."
28th of February 2004 – St. Petersburg, Russia – Bellatrix's office.
This was one of those moments where Bellatrix was just so endearing to Hermione. Bellatrix's quill was hovering over the Letter of Marque which would officially declare Hermione – or, rather, Samantha Morris – as Bellatrix's personal representative with executive powers in diplomatic affairs. On her face was a pout which wouldn't look out of place on a particularly cheeky six-year old.
"If I sign this," Bellatrix spoke with a tiny voice. "You're leaving... for over a month."
"It's for a good cause," Hermione tried sounding as diplomatic as possible. "Besides, it might not even take that long."
"Or it might take longer," Bellatrix sighed. "I don't want you to go!"
At this point, the young witch's mood hovered between being touched and being frustrated. "Look, Bella," said Hermione. "If there's one thing you still have to learn about being a world leader, is that sometimes you have to make sacrifices."
"I'm a Dark Lady," Bellatrix hissed. "I get whatever I want!"
"Not this time," Hermione spoke with a twinkle in her eye. "I am going to Japan. It's for all our benefits. Now sign it."
"But..."
"SIGN IT!" Hermione pressed. Honestly, Bella could be so childish even at the best of times.
Bellatrix muttered something under her breath, of which Hermione could only make out the word 'bossy'. With more than a little reluctance, Bellatrix put her quill to the paper and signed it, magically binding it with her seal of office. She sat back in her chair and pouted even harder as Hermione took the Letter of Marque from her desk. The dark witch ran a hand through her curly hair and let out a defeated sigh.
"Bella," Hermione spoke with a soft voice, having thought of just the thing to cheer up her dark beloved. "I'm expected to be in Japan by this evening. That means I've got half a day to kill. I want to take my lady out on the town."
Immediately, the dark witch perked up a bit, offering her an amused look. "Oh?" she grinned broadly, like a young girl about receive a present on her birthday would.
"We've sort of been living a one-track life," said Hermione. "We do spend a lot of time together, but most of it is either around the Palace or in bed."
Quite expected, Bellatrix smirked at her. "And this a complaint?"
Hermione chuckled and reached over Bellatrix's oaken desk to tap the dark witch on the nose. "Definitely not. But I'd like us to spend some time together as a couple. I suppose that's a bit harder to do knowing who the both of us are. But I know just the thing."
"What do you have in mind?" Bellatrix asked, her curiosity obviously piqued.
Hermione said nothing, but strolled over to the tall windows of Bellatrix's office. Beyond the palace gardens, beyond the stretch of water, lay St. Petersburg. "There," she pointed. "Muggle St. Petersburg. I've seen it from the palace windows for almost a year, and for so long I've just been thinking to myself... that I want to go there. Artyom gave me this travel guide and there's some places I really want to so."
When she turned around, she saw that Bellatrix had blanched, looking even paler than she usually did. "Muggle St. Petersburg?" she hissed. "What's wrong with the wizarding quarters?"
"Oh, come now," Hermione offered an encouraging smile. "If you want wizards to have a place in the world, you've got to get to know the Muggle world as well. It's one of the reasons you are fighting this war to begin with."
"Makes sense… I suppose," Bellatrix rubbed her chin. Hermione sighed; wizards and witches tended to be so segregated. Even the Walpurgis Union, so focused on wanting to create their own destiny and wanting to reclaim their place in the world, had this tendency.
"You should listen to us Muggle-borns more often," said Hermione. "Believe it or not, sometimes we have good ideas."
Bellatrix grumbled for a bit. "I'm finding that out."
"It'll be fun," said Hermione. "We'll be away from the palace for a bit and… nobody will recognize us. We'll only need minor disguises and won't need to polyjuice ourselves"
To Hermione's slight surprise, the dark witch agreed. So, Hermione spent the next ten minutes transfiguring their clothing to something more appropriate to the Russian winter. Bellatrix stood tall in boots, warm trousers and a long fur coat, topped off with a Russian ushanka hat... all in black, of course. Hermione herself opted for a long fur coat, jeans and a woolly beanie hat pulled over the top of her ears.
"Really, you should wear trousers more often," said Hermione, not even in the slightest bit embarrassed about the lingering looks on Bella's bum now neatly packaged in lovely black trousers.
"The hat," Bellatrix winked. Hermione realized she must make quite a spectacle with most of her long brown hair spilling out from under her beanie. For whatever reason, Bella seemed to find it sexy.
St. Petersburg was just an apparation away. As Bella brought them into the city, they appeared at the mouth of an alleyway near a busy street. Bellatrix was understandably weary and did not seem to like the noisy cars or the local Muggles all that much from the way she saw glaring. Hermione quickly hooked her arm around Bellatrix and walked her to a more quiet spot before the dark witch could take out her wand.
The weather was quite pleasant; just a few degrees below zero, total lack of wind and light grey sky. The streets were covered with a layer of snow which blanketed the entire city. Bellatrix looked around nervously when Hermione checked the map to see where they were exactly. The young witch concluded they were only a short walk away from the Winter Palace.
Though Bellatrix remained somewhat jumpy, the dark witch relaxed somewhat when it became obvious that the Muggles weren't randomly attacking her or each other. Together, the two of them walked to the Palace Square. The massive Winter Palace came in sight; once the official residence of the Romanov Tsars, it now housed the State Hermitage Museum and its massive collection of treasures. Rectangular shaped and giving the impression of supreme opulence, it was built to reflect the might and power of Imperial Russia before the revolution of 1917.
"Did you know I almost lived there?" Bellatrix told her, startling Hermione.
"What?" she replied.
"It's true," said Bellatrix. "When we first took over the Russian Ministry and looked to expand our fledgling domain, we needed a proper center of government. The Winter Palace was our first choice."
"You wanted to take over one of the biggest tourist attractions in all of Russia and make it your private home?" Hermione blinked. "And what about all the art in the museum?"
"We were planning have a give-away," said Bellatrix. "We figured the Muggles would like them."
Hermione let out an annoyed grunt. "I bet the President would have loved that."
"Oh, I remember that drunkard," said Bellatrix. "I went to announce myself as the new ruler of magical Russia as is proper and... Merlin, what was his name again?"
"Boris Yeltsin."
"Yes, that's the one," said Bellatrix. "He would have traded the Winter Palace for a bottle of vodka, I'd wager. Not like Putin. Heh, he actually tried to stand up to me. That ended with him cowering underneath his desk when I accosted him with the simplest of spells. He sees things our way now, that cooperation is mutually beneficial. If he hadn't, we would have found a president who would."
Hermione preferred not to think about that; the Walpurgis Union was far from a democratic entity and the manipulation of Muggle governments still didn't sit well with her.
"Regardless, Antonin recommended we'd look for something else," continued Bellatrix. "And that's how we ended up taking Buyan island for ourselves. It had been abandoned for several decades and needed to be renovated, but it's far more defensible and enjoys prestige in the wizarding world," said Bellatrix. "Besides, our palace is nicer than the Winter Palace."
"On that, I agree," said Hermione. Though she would liked to have visited a museum, Bella already looked bored simply walking past the building. Instead, they decided to go for a walk in the nearby park. There were plenty of people there enjoying a day out and the first thing Hermione did was to look for a quick bite to eat. Now, Artyom had warned her about dodgy food stands, so she looked out for more reputable looking vendors. She found one in the form of a vendor working from a large and clean looking van.
She ordered two Chiburekki, a half-moon shaped fried turnover with a filling of minced meat and onions and two bottles of Kvass, a local drink. The two of them sat slightly cuddled up together on a bench to eat their food. The air was cold, but shared warmth was the best warmth, Hermione found.
"It occurs to me that I've never actually asked what you think of our plans? You fought against us and you are with us now. That gives you a unique perspective," Bellatrix asked.
Hermione had to think for a moment. "Torn," she replied honestly. "I've always been torn, I guess. I've told myself that I want this peace for everybody, but… I like the idea of wizards and Muggles coming together. When I was still with the Alliance, I believed the propaganda. I honestly thought you were like the Death Eaters, planning to enslave humanity and wipe out the Muggle-borns. Now that I'm actually here, it's more… nuanced."
"But do you support it?"
"Yes and no," said Hermione. "I've always thought that the wizarding world was too insular, to separate from the rest of humanity. I like that the Walpurgis Union wants to bring both worlds closer together, but I'm not too crazy about your methods. It's focused too much on control and manipulation. Also, very few of the people at the top actually interact with Muggles or understand the Muggle world. That includes you."
"I'm here now, aren't I?" Bellatrix huffed.
"Only because I twisted your arm!" Hermione shot back. "But it's worse in the Phoenix Alliance. They want complete and utter separation to a point that they prefer Muggle-borns to disassociate from their own families. I only supported them because I thought you were worse. Snape does have a point when he says Muggles can be dangerous. Bigotry can be a powerful thing, but there are so many good, intelligent and warm people among the Muggles too!"
"We're not fools. If they try anything, we'll crush them like bugs!" Bellatrix raised her chin imperiously.
"You can't be serious!" Hermione gasped until she saw the grin spread across the dark witch's beautiful face.
"We've got a lot of aces up our sleeves," replied Bellatrix.
"I believe that," said Hermione. "But I urge you to get to know the Muggle world. You'll be surprised to learn that wizards and the rest of humanity are very much alike."
Bellatrix carefully drew her wand and decided to have a little fun. As a woman was passing by, Bellatrix kept her wand to her side and with the tiniest of flicks, a glob of snow shot up from the ground and hit the woman in the back of the head. The woman turned around and shouted some Russian expletives at nobody in particular before continuing on her way.
"Oh, very mature," Hermione rolled her eyes before taking a careful sip of her kvass.
"It's fun."
"It's juvenile."
"Come, try it."
"No."
"Stick-in-the-mud."
"No."
"You'll love it!"
"No!"
Just then, Hermione spotted a young man obviously making the moves on a couple of young girls. The girls were obviously not impressed, but the man kept following them. Hermione narrowed her eyes and drew her wand ever so slightly. She waited for the right movement to jiggle her wand and, when she did, the entire contents of a snow-covered tree came crashing down upon the startled young man. The girls giggled and the man swiftly withdrew from the park.
"Who lectured me on maturity again?" Bellatrix smirked at her.
"That was not a prank," lectured Hermione. "That was an intervention."
"Uh-huh. Right," Bellatrix grinned. "You loved doing that."
Hermione closed her eyes. The dark witch knew her well. "There... might... have been some enjoyment, sure, but..."
"Now you."
"No!"
"Come on."
"I really shouldn't."
"You know you want to."
And that started the prankfest, where Hermione and Bellatrix tried to outdo each other bombarding the other parkgoers with magical snowballs.
Man walking his dog. SMACK.
Lady with a pram. SMACK.
Couple feeding the ducks. SMACK. SMACK.
Pigeon. SMACK.
Two girls gossiping. SMACK.
Jogger. SMACK.
Policeman on patrol. SMACK. SMACK. SMACK. SMACK. SMACK.
By the time Hermione had decided that these pranks were harmless and victimless, she was laughing along with Bellatrix. "This is fun," said Bellatrix. "Rodolphus never did things with me. Well, other than demanding marital duties for the sake of offspring, that is."
"The more I learn about him, the less I like him," Hermione said.
"Let's just say that having blue balls was more or less a constant for him," Bellatrix muttered.
Hermione frowned. "I don't really want to talk about balls, blue or otherwise. How about we leave this park before people start to wonder why we're the only ones not covered with snow."
"Oh, poo," Bellatrix pouted.
There were some hours left in the day, so Hermione opted to buy tickets to a classical ballet venue at the nearest tourist booth. Again she paid with rubels Artyom had exchanged for her and got both her and Bellatrix a private booth at the Mikhailovsky which was only a short walk away from the park.
The show started just as they arrived and they took their seats in their private booth. Swan Lake was being performed and Hermione leaned on the side of the balcony to get a better view. Russian ballet performance was among the best in the world and it showed. The dancers were graceful beyond belief and the music itself was fantastic. However, it seemed Bellatrix had very different interests.
Hermione turned her eye. "What are you doing?"
Bellatrix looked to be in utter concentration, focused on the side of Hermione's head and squinting her eyes in the darkness. "Counting the freckles next to your eye."
"Why?" Hermione frowned, turning her head slightly.
"Ah, you moved!" sounded an annoyed Bellatrix. "Now I have to start all over again. Keep still."
As the ballet performance continued, more and more did the two lovers focus on each other instead of the stage. As much as Bellatrix would miss Hermione, the opposite was true as well. Hermione had come to share deep love with her dark witch and she would miss her terribly. Hermione reflected, for a moment, how easier her life could have been if she had not fallen for Bellatrix. And, also, just how dull it would have been.
21st of March 2004 – London, UK – 12 Grimmauld Place
"I'm home!" Harry yelled upstairs as he stepped into London home. After the war he had claimed the Black ancestral home for himself and, after a big clean-up and redecoration spree, he found it to be home.
"Ginny?" he called up as she put the groceries he had picked up from the store on the floor as he hung up his coat. There was no reply. After closing the door and carrying the groceries into the kitchen, he found a note lying on the kitchen counter. Ginny, of course, knowing him well, had left it right on the spot where he usually put down the groceries. His girlfriend had gone out shopping with Fleur. Harry let out a sigh; that meant he'd probably wouldn't see Ginny for the rest of the evening.
Truth be told, he wasn't entirely mournful about it. He stepped into the drawing room and plopped down on his favorite chair. The past weeks had been beyond hectic. Not only had the intelligence office been busy plugging up leaks Australia had left, but Snape had become increasingly paranoid as of late. The Union wasn't falling for his plans to lure them out and he continuously feared that there was a leak in his government. This kept the intelligence office busy doing raids and questioning random Ministry workers.
Harry brought a hand up to his forehead as he glanced to the side-table next to his chair. As usual, Kreacher had left the mail there for him to read. He went through the pile and tossed the paper on the coffee table for later. Bits of propaganda and advertisements found their way into the cozy fireplace until... he found a letter sent to him from international owl-post. He swiftly opened it and found it to be from his Australian friend Rollo.
Rollo apologized for the delay in sending him information, as Australia had been removed from the Alliance's floo network. His heart skipped a beat as he read further. The muggle Interpol had found something.
A family fitting the Grangers' description had been found living... in Finland of all places. The ages all checked out and they had even kept their own name. According to the report, they had recently immigrated to a city called Turku in Finland and even got a dental practice going. Interpol hadn't taken any action other than reporting back as they had found all their paperwork to be in order and the family had not been accused of any crimes. On the muggle side of things, nothing looked out of the order.
But on the wizard site of things, Harry was utterly perplexed. Not only was there no mention of a fourth member of the family, but... Finland? That was as deep in the heart of Wallie territory as it could get. Just what the hell was Hermione up to?
Harry put the letter down and started to pace. What could be Hermione's reasoning here? The Alliance wasn't the kindest place for a muggle-born child to be right now. Could that be the reason? Still, there were plenty of neutral countries to pick from.
Hiding her family in plain sight, perhaps?
It just didn't make sense. And where was Hermione herself?
The thing was, there was no way Harry could get to the Grangers. Entering Walpurgis Territory, as well known as he was, would be akin to painting a bull's eye on his back. The same would be for Hermione. Unless... she had made use of some diplomatic favors she had with the Union to keep her family safe? But why? And how did she know she could trust them to keep their word? And why didn't she try to contact him about it?
It didn't make sense. Nothing of it made sense.
Harry developed even more of a headache than he already had. Snape would never allow him to investigate this, so he'd have to keep this under the radar until he knew more. Some careful planning would be in order.
And not telling Ron. Definitely not telling Ron.
22nd of March 2004 – St. Petersburg, Russia – Buyan island wilds
One of the things about the UK Bellatrix didn't miss was the erratic and downright dreary weather. It seemed like weather in St. Petersburg was just more... storybook honest. Winters were cold and snowy, summers were warm and sunny. Currently, in early March, temperatures were well below zero, giving way to a beautiful snow-covered landscape with frozen lands. Soon enough, spring would come and the land would be green and vibrant once more.
The dark witch had left the palace to escape. It seemed like everybody wanted something from her today. Rookwood was bothering her about input on some educational program or whatnot; as if she knew anything about schooling children. Antonin had some troop deployments in mind, while Luna needed her approval to go ahead with a sensitive covert operation in The Hague. Meanwhile, Birgit had more concept art for her to look at and Maini had some budgetary concerns.
Honestly, these people couldn't breathe without her input. Who could have thought that being the Dark Lady of a magical Empire spanning dozens of nations would be so much bloody work?!
Technically, she should be keeping an eye on the Quidditch matches going on; three years ago, FIQA had decided to postpone the Quidditch World Cup indefinitely in light of the war. In response, Bellatrix founded the Walpurgis Quidditch Games for Walpurgis Nations with open invitations to neutral nations to compete. As to further spit in FIQA's face, she made it an annual event. So far, and despite the war, two successful championships have been held with a third now taking place. However, she wasn't really interested this year. No doubt they'd tell her who won and she'd hand the winning team the cup on their own soil like she had the last two years.
Honestly, she had other things on her mind.
She had found a large piece of shale at the edge of a steep cliff to sit on after using fiery magic to get rid of the ice and snow. Her breath condensed with every exhale. The sky was overcast with stark white clouds for as far as the eye could see. Far below her, the waves of the sea crashed against the rocks.
It was cold enough to be needing a fur-lined coat, mitts and earmuffs, but the dark witch felt like she really needed to get out for a bit.
Hermione.
She'd been gone for more than three weeks now, all alone in Japan.
And, by Merlin, it frightened Bellatrix just how much she was pining for the girl. She missed Hermione's laugh, she missed... that slight edge of barely masked frustration that crept in Hermione voice whenever she bombarded the girl with something the young witch found exasperating to deal with.
When he had first developed feelings for the girl, she had been both terrified and disgusted at herself. The old trappings of her upbringing as well as perceived notions of societal pressure had taken its toll on her. It had taken Bellatrix some time to realize that she was the one who made the rules now and that she could do whatever she wanted to do. Eager to escape another cage of her own making, she had never regretted the decision to pursue Hermione romantically.
In fact, it made her realize a great many things.
In her hands was a piece of parchment and a quill. After taking off her mitts and taking a deep breath, she put the quill to the parchment and started writing. 'Dear Andromeda...' The quill slid over the parchment as she simply let the words come flowing. About her day, about Hermione, about her feelings, about her regrets. She wrote her sisters often, but never received a reply. Bellatrix couldn't blame them, but... hoped that if she were persistent enough, they would at least... acknowledge her. To be honest, she really didn't know what she was expecting.
The heavy sound of claws landing on stone accompanied with the ground shaking announced the presence of an old friend. Bellatrix felt a smile creep across her features and put down the parchment when the large head of her draconic friend craned over her shoulder. Always eager for a pat on the nose, the dragon sought out some company.
"Are you lonely?" Bellatrix asked the dragon, of course not expecting an answer.
The dragon settled on the stone, folding his wings in and laying his head near Bellatrix. The puffs of heated air coming from the dragon's nostrils produced jets of steam with every heavy breath.
"Yeah, I know what that's like," Bellatrix replied. The dragon looked a bit thinner than usual, which wasn't surprising. Now that it was winter, there was no livestock out in pastures and he would would have to fly further out into the mainland to hunt woodland creatures which offered less meat on the whole. Bellatrix had thought about offering him some food from the palace kitchens, but had nixed that idea; he might be used to being near her, but if he'd get even cozier with humans, he might start considering the palace staff to be a viable food source.
The dragon looked at her and, even though she thought it was ridiculous, she could swear that she could read a message in his intelligent eyes. 'You miss your mate?'
Dragons indeed mated for life. Perhaps he had picked up on her mannerisms? Hermione. Her mate for life? It was an oddly appealing idea. Bellatrix knew quite well the pain of loveless marriages and unrequited love, but now that she found not only love but also the wonders of someone loving her in return, it was not something she ever wanted to let go of.
"Well," Bellatrix told the dragon. "You can help me write this letter, hm? It's to one of my sisters. This is what I put down so far."
As she recited what she had written, she could only conclude that her draconic friend was indeed a good listener.
22nd of March 2004 – St. Petersburg, Russia – Buyan island, Luna's office
Luna's job entailed far more than simply ferreting out the machinations of cosmic god-creatures. There were more mundane tasks to oversee as the Union's spymaster, as she was reminded of while putting the finishing touches on a covert operation to sneak an agent into high levels of Dutch wizarding government. She put down her quill when she heard a frantic tapping on the window. Sitting on the windowsill was an owl from the palace's owlry. Unbeknownst to most, all owls were trained to bring all correspondence with destinations outside of the Walpurgis Union to the intelligence office first. And if the message was from Bellatrix, to bring it to Luna personally.
Luna left her plan for what it was and headed over to the window to accept the message. After giving the owl a walnut, the beast flew off. The letter now in hand, she immediately recognized Bellatrix's distinct calligraphy as she had addressed the message to 'Andromeda Tonks'.
She broke the seal and read the letter. Only three sentences in, she closed her eyes and sighed. Yet another letter which could not be sent.
Not only was Bellatrix unwittingly sending state secrets to someone with known ties to the Old Order of the Phoenix, but Hermione was mentioned in the letter. Oh, not by name, of course, since Bellatrix wasn't that foolish but to Luna Hermione was very much identifiable from the writing.
Luna stepped over to a small magically secured safe underneath her desk and opened it. In the safe were a few sensitive documents on the bottom and a big stack of unsent letters addressed to Narcissa Malfoy and Andromeda Tonks. All of which contained information too sensitive to actually send. She put the latest letter on top of the pile and closed the safe.
Bellatrix had been sending a lot of letters out recently, but only a few had actually been safe to send out. Luna had intercepted all the others. Oh, should Bellatrix find out, there'd be serious hell to pay. Until then, she would do her best to protect Bellatrix from herself.