A couple of days had passed with no word from Hermione. Bellatrix thought she would see Hermione when she went in to her sessions to see Luna, but she didn't. It was difficult to walk passed Hermione's office and not say hi. Hermione never gave her rules for the break. She didn't tell Bellatrix tell her that she couldn't communicate with her.

'Space means space, no communication' Bellatrix thought to herself as she left the ministry.

Narcissa often did that to Bellatrix, told her she needed space, the only exception? No communication. Narcissa always made that clear, and if the rules were broken...Bellatrix shook the thoughts from her head.

She knew that Narcissa was no one to cross and her experience with Hermione had showed her that she too, was a force to be reckoned with.

Once she had arrived home, she spent most of her time prowling through the long rows of books in her library. She wasn't sure what she was looking for, however, this seemed like the place to be, it felt right.

Keeping a calm exterior was all well and good, but inside she was frantic. Her mind was reeling and she felt like she had given Hermione mixed signals since the beginning. Then again, Bellatrix wasn't one to do things that she felt obligated to do, she did things because she wanted to do them, even if she was only giving. Surely Hermione was intelligent and intuitive enough to know that...but then again...Bellatrix knew that she was an enigma to begin with, but this was something she had to fix and make even more clear for the younger witch.

'I should take Mione to my childhood home...so she can understand me better, understand how I grew up, where I grew up...why I am so reluctant to...move to that step...' Bellatrix said to herself as she pulled a small book from the shelf. She opened it.

She needed to fix this, but understood that this would take some time and that Hermione would come to her when she was ready.

'This book ought to help...' She said as she settled into her favorite chair in front of the fire place.

She began to read, losing herself in the pages and pages of information.

Hermione had thrown herself into her work. She didn't want to think about anything. Self medicating was the only thing that was keeping her sane. She had been writing on her feelings, trying to figure out how to go about this whole thing. She wanted to spend alot of time with Bellatrix, she wanted to learn more. It seemed that the older witch clearly had some reservations about letting her all the way in, after all she had made that part very, very clear when this started.

She tried not to think about all the intimate moments they had, had. Writing them down was all she could do to keep it all under control. Hermione realized that it was lust driven at first...pure lust and she had moved too fast. However, Bellatrix never said no...never said stop, and she had even allowed Hermione to touch her, take small steps towards something larger.

Bellatrix was an enigma...utterly perplexing and alluring all at once. She needed answers...but she was the one who had asked for the space. Time...she needed time to work out her thoughts before she drove herself crazy. The space really wasn't because she wanted to be away from Bellatrix, but rather because she needed to figure out how to slow herself down.

'What if...she is only doing this to please me...what if she really doesn't want to...but is only doing this to please me?' Hermione thought to herself as she stared out the window.

'But then again...what if she does it to please me, and thinks she might as well enjoy it so she continues...what if it is forced?' She continued to think.

'Bella isn't the type to do things that she feels obligated to do...she does things because she wants to...' She continued to think, writing furiously.

She put her pen down three hours later, laying her head down exhausted. Her head was throbbing and her hand was swollen and angry.

'Sleep...I need to sleep' Hermione said to herself as she turned off the lights and climbed into bed.

She stared into the darkness, sleep slowly closing in on her.

TBC...