"Fourteen years?"
Hermione groaned, measuring out another scoopful of dried toad skin. They had spent all of Monday night talking. Bellatrix had accepted most of what Hermione said, grimacing at some parts, cursing at others, looking borderline excited now and then. Hermione had left out most names and dates, in a half-hearted attempt to follow some of the laws regarding time-travel. She had reluctantly decided to admit that Voldemort had been defeated, but refused flat-out to tell Bellatrix how.
The hardest part was telling Bellatrix about her role in all of this. She took it far better than Hermione had expected, until Hermione told her about the Longbottoms.
"I tortured them to insanity?" Bellatrix had asked, her look one of horror and astonishment.
Hermione had nodded, unnerved by Bellatrix's expression. "Yes," she said carefully.
"And I was caught?"
Hermione nodded.
"That means…" what little color there was in Bellatrix's face drained, "Azkaban."
Hermione fully understood. The Dementors were terrifying in small doses, and were known to cause full insanity to those who had long-term exposure. Hermione suspected that this was what Bellatrix feared the most, and spent many hours over the next few days reassuring her that they would change all of that.
That was on Monday. It was Friday, and Hermione was beginning to lose patience. "Yes," she shot an irritated look at Bellatrix, "You were in Azkaban for fourteen years. But it's not so bad, really." She winced as soon as the words came out of her mouth. Not so bad? She scolded herself internally, then straightened as the Potions Master turned his head their way.
Professor Slughorn stepped over to their cauldron, beaming into the lemon yellow mixture with pride. "Beautiful coloring," he praised.
Hermione smiled politely as he walked away, and then gasped in frustration as Bellatrix grabbed the arm holding the scoop. Dried toad spilled all over the desk.
"Fourteen years!" Bellatrix hissed, "I can't survive that!"
Hermione rolled her eyes, "Haven't you been paying attention?" she asked through gritted teeth, "We're not going to let you go to Azkaban." With quick, jerky movements, she managed to get most of the dried toad back into her scoop. "Are you done with the ginger?"
While the lesson plans weren't exactly the same (with the exception of her History of Magic class, which seemed almost word-for-word identical) the rest of the sixth years had more or less caught up to Hermione. She was beginning to enjoy her lessons more, now that she was really learning again.
Bellatrix looked down at the untouched ginger root that Hermione had given her to dice at the beginning of class. "Well…"
Hermione's eye twitched. "Why don't you go pick out a rat for us to test this on?" She gently slid the ginger towards her, and began to dice it into precise squares.
Bellatrix nodded distractedly, and wandered over to the cages that lined the back wall. Hundreds of glossy rats clambered over each other, trying to get to the top of the cage. From her seat, Hermione could see that some careless student had left the door propped open.
She returned to dicing the ginger, and then finished the recipe, stirring in the last of the ginger and watching it turn a brilliant vermillion as Bellatrix settled down with a particularly shiny rat.
"This one's a warrior," she said fondly, stroking the dark head, "he nearly bit another one's ear off trying to escape."
Hermione almost commented that biting, in her opinion, was hardly the mark of a warrior, but decided that it didn't really matter.
"Are you ready?" she asked Bellatrix as she scooped some up with a small spoon. Professor Slughorn spotted them, and hurried over to watch.
Bellatrix nodded, and then pried open the rat's jaws.
Hermione had a hard time getting a spoonful into his mouth. He squirmed, squeaked, and twisted so much that he knocked two spoonfuls onto Bellatrix's robes.
"Sorry!" Hermione muttered as a fourth one splashed over Bellatrix's hands. She heard a few students laugh, and suspected that they might be attracting attention. He was now whirling his tail around like a propeller, as if attempting to fly out from Bellatrix's grasp.
Bellatrix said nothing, but scooted the rat down so that she could pin him between her knees. His eyes bulged in his head, and the horrible squeaking stopped. His body slowly stopped moving.
Seizing the opportunity, Hermione darted in with the spoon, sloshing its contents down the rat's tiny throat.
It was as if someone had dumped a bag of grey powder over him, only the powder grew thicker, into a shiny glaze that spread out from beneath Bellatrix's hands to encompass his whole body. He jerked, opened his mouth to squeak, and froze.
There was a moment's silence in which Bellatrix and Hermione looked at each other over the rat's rigid body, and then-
"Wonderful!" Professor Slughorn, stepping around to take the rat from Bellatrix's hands, "Completely turned to stone!"
Hermione straightened and set down the spoon as Slughorn continued.
"Attention students! Miss Black and Miss Grier have successfully turned their rat to stone. Now, when brewed correctly, a simple non-verbal spell from the drinker should undo the results, however," he withdrew a vial of clear liquid, "as he is incapable of doing any spells, we shall have to administer an antidote." He squeezed a few drops into the rat's open mouth.
Instantly, the stone began to recede, quickly revealing the black fur. In mere seconds the rat was writhing again, his protests highly audible.
"Ten points to Slytherin!" said Professor Slughorn, "And remember, next class we will learn how to brew the antidote." The class began to rustle as each student began to gather his or her things, and Professor Slughorn had to yell in order to be heard, "For homework, I want a sheet of parchment from each of you, discussing the different ingredients needed when brewing this potion for humans."
"Fourteen years."
Hermione heard Bellatrix mumble something under her breath as they walked back from their Friday evening lesson with Professor McGonagall. "Are you still worried about Azkaban?" she asked.
"No," said Bellatrix quickly.
Hermione opened her mouth, thinking to offer more encouragement.
"Let's become Animagis." Bellatrix said casually.
Hermione stared at her, openmouthed. "No!" she said.
"Why not?" Bellatrix sounded calm, "I've been looking over the spell, one of father's books contains it, and I think it would be simple enough." At Hermione's look she added a quick, "For us!"
"Absolutely not."
"Hermione! Oh, come on, we can do this. It would be amazing!" her face brightened as she grew more excited, "Imagine flying through the night, or swimming in the lake. Maybe we'd run through the forests as a pair of deer, or-"
"Or be eaten by a toad because we've become beetles," said Hermione, thinking of Rita Skeeter.
"We're not going to become beetles," Bellatrix absentmindedly grabbed Hermione's hand, "We're too beautiful for that."
They were almost to the dungeons now, and Bellatrix stopped. The torches flickered around them, glinting off the suits of armor.
"What's holding you back?" Bellatrix asked, her voice a soft whisper.
About a thousand things ran through Hermione's head, but the first to come out was: "It's against the rules."
Bellatrix groaned, "We've already broken about a thousand school rules," she said.
"Exactly," said Hermione, "We've broken a thousand school rules. This is different, this is beyond Hogwarts." She squeezed Bellatrix's hand, facing her, "We could get into actual trouble if someone found out."
Bellatrix stamped impatiently, "Who cares?" she half shouted.
A Slytherin Prefect strolled past them. He gave the pair a curious look, his eyes lingering on their joined hands, and then caught the glare that Bellatrix had given him.
"Evening," he muttered, turning red.
Hermione watched him walk away, pulling lightly on Bellatrix's hand as the dark haired witch scowled at his retreating back.
"Bella, we can't," Hermione said in a pleading tone, "Besides, becoming an Animagus takes very advanced magic. It would be years before-"
Bellatrix cut her off with a wave of her hand. "Not years, 'Mione," she smiled, "We're the most brilliant witches of our time-" she talked through Hermione's protests, "we could have it mastered in a week."
Hermione chewed her bottom lip, "At least a month. I'm not agreeing to anything!" she said as Bellatrix's face lit up. "I still think that it would be incredibly dangerous."
"But think," Bellatrix said, her eyes flashing excitedly, "how easy it would be to spy on Lord Voldemort and his followers if we were."
"I suppose." Hermione said slowly. "That still doesn't mean that I want to."
"We'll see," said Bellatrix as a smug smile stretched across her face. She tightened her grip on Hermione's hand and started towards the common room.
Hermione allowed herself to be led down the passageway, a soft smile on her lips.
If she thought the subject had been dropped though, she was very wrong.
Bellatrix picked up the conversation the next morning, plopping down on Hermione's bed long before the other girls in their dormitory woke. She managed to keep the conversation going through a hasty breakfast, lunch, and an afternoon of studying in the library.
"-and think of how easy it would be to keep tabs on your future friends!"
The sun was slipping lower and lower through the glass of the Library windows. Hermione wrote the final line of her Defense Against the Dark Arts homework, and let the ink dry as she looked up at Bellatrix. "I'll take a look at it," she said. It was clear that Bellatrix was never going to give up.
"Really?" Bellatrix's eyes grew large as she leaned over a book she had been pretending to read.
"Yes," Hermione said in a defeated tone, "I'm not promising anything, but I'll look at it."
"Excellent!" As Bellatrix leapt to her feet, she knocked over a stack of books. A half dozen students glowered at her, but Bellatrix didn't appear to notice.
"I'll go get it right now," she said, "meet me in the boathouse after dinner?"
"It's going to take that long?" Hermione asked, her brow furrowing.
"No," Bellatrix said, "I have to spend dinner in the Hospital wing. It's nothing serious," she said hastily, noticing Hermione's alarmed expression, "just something my parents requested. I'll see you afterward."
She swooped down and pressed a quick kiss to Hermione's forehead. "I'll see you tonight."
Hermione watched her go. Why would her parents want her to go to the Hospital wing?
She gathered her things and headed down to dinner, where she found Andromeda pouring over her History of Magic book.
"Good evening," Hermione took the seat across from the middle Black sister
"Hello," Andromeda muttered.
Hermione helped herself to the rolls, potatoes, and lamb chops. "Is everything all right with Bellatrix?" she asked. She noted the guarded look in Andromeda's eyes as the younger girl looked up.
"As far as I know," Andromeda said. Her brow furrowed, "Why, did something happen?"
"No, no," Hermione reassured, "It's just-" she stopped herself, "she just told me that your parents wanted her to spend dinner in the Hospital wing."
"Oh," Andromeda's brow smoothed, "she's fine. It's just a check-up."
"A check up for what?" Hermione asked once she'd swallowed a mouth full of potatoes.
Andromeda appeared to be sizing her up. She let out a long sigh, considering. "During the break," she began, and was cut off.
"Andromeda!" Lucius Malfoy approached the younger girl, his smile bright. "Are you ready?"
Andromeda's eyes flicked between Hermione and Lucius. "Yes," she said finally, snapping her book shut.
"Good," Lucius beckoned to a group of three or four other Slytherins.
Andromeda stood, and offered a small smile to Hermione, "Bellatrix will be fine," she said.
Lucius put a hand in the middle of her back and led her away.
Hermione finished her dinner to the sound of the Gryffindors attempting to write a Sorting Hat song. It was, in Hermione's opinion, fantastic, though the rest of the Slytherins didn't appear to think so. There was something in it about Slytherins crawling from slimy drains. Hermione grinned from ear to ear when she noticed that the person leading the song was none other than a young Arthur Weasley.
At the head table, Dumbledore was bobbing his head.
Hermione grabbed her bag and hurried from the hall. Once she reached the portrait hole she burst into laughter. It took her several minutes to contain herself, but once she had, she made her way down the stone steps.
"Lumos" she whispered, exhaling in relief when she saw that she was alone.
She settled down on the dock, and pulled a textbook from her bag.
The next thing she knew, someone was shaking her awake. "Hermione!"
"Wha-?" Hermione slurred, sitting up. She was suddenly aware of how cold she was, and she pulled her robes tightly around herself, "I.."
"Fell asleep," Bellatrix said in amusement.
Hermione noticed a pain in her side, and glared at a sharp rock that sat where she had been sleeping on the dock. "Oh."
Bellatrix laughed, and sat down next to her.
"What time is it?" Hermione asked as she smoothed down her robes.
"After bedtime," said Bellatrix, "I'm sorry it's so late. It took longer than I thought."
"What did?"
"My time in the Hospital wing," Bellatrix said dismissively.
Hermione decided to ask again later. Her eyes focused on the book that Bellatrix had pulled out of her bag.
It was a long, slim volume, bound in what appeared to be gold leather. It had no title, and as Bellatrix flipped through it, Hermione noticed several different languages.
"Where did you get that?" she breathed.
Bellatrix smiled, "Father's library. He probably doesn't know that it exists, so he won't miss it." She set the book down.
Hermione looked uncertainly down at the picture of a man twisting into a boar. His face was contorted into a painful grimace. She could feel Bellatrix's eyes on her as she skimmed the spell. It was complicated, true, but as she continued to read she felt the familiar excitement that came whenever she was faced with a difficult spell.
"What do you think?" asked Bellatrix.
Hermione's eyes wandered up to her, and she noticed that the dark haired witch was watching her anxiously. Impulsively, Hermione leaned forward to kiss her.
Bellatrix made a noise of surprise, and snaked her arms around Hermione's neck. "Well?" she asked breathlessly after they'd come apart.
Hermione grinned, It could be fun, she admitted to herself. The way Bellatrix's eyes were shining made up her mind. She was going to do it. She opened her mouth to say it, but was cut off.
"What do we have here?" A gruff voice boomed across the boathouse.
Both girls stared in shock as Apollyon Pringle grinned maliciously down at them from the top of the stone steps.