HELLO MY LOVELIES! Minor setback on time. Death in the family. ANYWAY, I'm back and I'm here to stay! This is the chapter of truth! Get ready for a wild ride!

- Several weeks later -

"Oh, Bella, I'm so glad that we finally get to spend some time together. You know I've missed you terribly."

The two sisters sat across one another in the sitting room of Black Manor— The older tucked into a rather deep, black armchair while the younger sat perched on the edge of a decorative, dove-wing white ottoman, legs crossed tightly.

"I'm guessing they released Draco from the nuthouse then?" Bellatrix spoke as she examined her exquisitely painted nails. A slight smirk spread across her lips.

Narcissa's face turned a flustered shade of red. "It was not a- a nuthouse!" the blonde stammered. "He simply required some… therapy."

"So…" the brunette raised a single brow, her eyes darting to meet her sister's, the smirk on her face only growing wider, "the restraints, sedation, and memory spells were just part of his therapy?"

Narcissa pursed her lips and was silent.

Bella clicked her nails together and flashed an amusingly skeptical grin. "I don't know, sis. Sounds like a nuthouse to me".

"Well… it was your fault he ended up there in the first place!" the blonde spat. Her hand moved to cover her heart for a brief moment, as she was surprised by her own outburst. She was so accustomed to keeping those types of thoughts locked far away from where her lips could reach.

To Narcissa's surprise, there was no rebuttal. Her elder sister simply flashed a second grin and returned to her nails— and yet even with the tension between them being seemingly low, it felt to the blonde that the temperature in the room had increased rather quickly, and with nothing left to say she began to feel antsy.

Just in the nick of time, Hermione backed into the swinging door that lead to the kitchen, entering the room with a tray of tea in her hands.

"Tea time!" she spoke cheerily, quickly pecking Bellatrix on the head before taking her seat in the green armchair between the two sisters.

She placed the tray on the glass table before them and turned it so each cup sat in front of its intended consumer— Asphodel root for Bella (a flower associated with death and sacred to the Greek goddess, Persephone), Mandrake leaves for Narcissa (a magical plant containing medicinal properties), and a little something from home for Hermione.

Relief washed over the two sisters but as the silence grew longer their patience grew shorter.

"What is that you're drinking, dear?" Narcissa asked, hesitantly breaking the silence between them as she peeked over the top of Hermione's cup.

Hermione smiled shyly at the blonde's sudden interest. "Oh, it's just some earl grey I brought from back home."

"…I see." Narcissa pursed her lips and stiffened, working to hold back a nasty comment about muggles. She gazed quickly at Bella and caught her snaring back. Clearly she could read her thoughts like an open book. With this notion she sunk further into her chair, deciding it best she not speak unless she was called upon.

The awkward silence resumed. What was there to talk about? Two witches, the same and yet so different all at once, held a very dark secret of which the third did not know… but Hermione was smart, they all knew it, and with this somehow deafening silence she had the opportunity to study the older women. She knew Bellatrix was hiding something from her. She was no fool, she had known for weeks, but it was only now that she realized Narcissa had been let it on whatever it was. She felt a twinge of jealousy and pain in her chest but she shoved that feeling aside.

One way or another, today was the day she would learn what truth the Black sisters had to hide…

It seemed that the only relaxed witch in the room was Bellatrix, but it was merely an act she had put on for she was far from it. Her stomach was in knots. She wasn't sure she had never been this nervous before. Not even as a child when she'd lie awake at night listening to her sisters' screams of agony drowning in the shouting of her own mother… and the crack of the whip…

She shook the thought of her haunted past from her head and focused solely on the present, briefing herself on the current situation in her own mind. Here she was in a room with the only two women she'd ever love. One knew her secret… the other (she hoped) remained blissfully unaware. Would she ever tell Hermione? She'd have to notice at some point… when she started to show… but was this really the time to discuss the matter?

No. She couldn't. She couldn't possibly… At least for now she was safe. There was no way her tight-lipped sister was going to spill the beans and though Hermione was smart this was a situation nearly indecipherable without the right information… and Hermione had never known of what Voldemort's intentions for Bellatrix had been.

The rest of the visit passed at a slow, graceless pace filled with tension and untold truths. Even the apparition home was silent and tense.

When they reached the house and their feet were firmly on the ground, both witches attempted a retreat to the solitude of the bedroom but upon finding each other standing before the same door… they fell into a sort of standstill. It was as if time itself had stopped and there was nothing they could do but stare at one another.

Hermione's jealous anger was boiling and she repressed the urge to cry. So many times she had questioned Bella's love for her and in the end it had been proven… but those memories never faded nor did the scars on her wrist, and she couldn't help but wonder if there was someone else.

Meanwhile, Bellatrix was sweating and her heart like a steam hammer in her chest. She wanted so badly to simply shove Hermione aside and lock herself away in the bedroom where she would no doubt cry… but she never cried. At a certain age her position of protection over her sisters from an abusive mother became more than clear and from that day forward she no longer cried. Even in the privacy of her own bed… she never allowed a welling tear to stray down her cheek. It was a sign of weakness… and Bellatrix was no weakling. She was a warrior.

Bellatrix opened her mouth to speak- she was unaware of what she intended to come out whether it be an apology, a nasty remark, or some form of testimony, but she was cut short by a sudden sharp pain in her stomach and the sensation of something warm running down her leg. She panicked, grabbing the doorknob and rushing to the master bathroom where she locked herself inside.

Hermione was close behind her but the door to the bathroom slammed in her face.

"Bella!" she cried. Her anger had dissolved in an instant when she saw the fear in the older witch's eyes. "What's wrong? Please! Tell me!" She pounded on the door, tears beginning to pool in her eyes.

On the other side of the door Bellatrix was rapidly removing her layers of clothing, dropping each one to the floor as carelessly as the next. In less than 30 seconds she was down to her bra and panties.

Her heart dropped to her stomach when she saw the drops of blood hit the floor. The most horrific thought rose to the forefront of her mind and she was surprised at the pain and immense emotion she felt from it.

…Had she lost the baby?

In an attempt to push away the thought that caused her so much confusing agony… she caught a glimpse of the wall calendar beside the sink. The date under the moving picture of a snake caught her eye and suddenly it all made sense.

"No…" she whispered to herself, and before she knew it she was back in the same place as she was a month ago- fear stricken, searching through the cabinets for a pregnancy test with Hermione on the other side of the door.

"Bella!" she called again. "Bella, you're scaring me!" The younger witch's voice faltered.

With the stick now in her hand, she managed to perform the test and when the tiny minus sign appeared… that was when she felt it. A single tear fell and traced her cheek.

She had never been pregnant after all… it was a false positive… she had simply missed her period… and a month later she got it on schedule…

Bellatrix couldn't hold it back anymore. She let out a loud sob and her head fell into her hands. How could she be so broken over the loss of a baby she never wanted? Not only did she never want to be a mother but to bear the child of a man she now despised… a man who betrayed her with a sick manipulation she thought only she was capable of… the thought made her ill. And yet… the loss of this baby… a baby that was never there… hit her like a ton of bricks and she could do nothing but break down.

It was at this time that Hermione had come to her senses enough to retrieve her wand and force the door open magically. It flung open and hit the wall hard, bouncing back from the force of the blow.

"Bella!" Hermione cried shrilly.

There she was, the strongest woman she knew… on the floor weeping- her clothes strewn across the floor amongst other things: a false pregnancy test and the smeared blood on the tile. Her only recognizable emotion was shear hysteria. What on earth had happened?

"Bella, my God! What happened? Are you alright?"

Hermione dropped her wand and knelt down beside her sobbing lover. She placed one arm around her balled-up form and nuzzled into her wild, black hair, leaving a small kiss on the side the older witch's head.

"Bella…" she whispered softly. "Tell me what happened…"

Bellatrix was blubbering… confused by her own emotions and afraid to speak, but when she looked into Hermione's eyes she saw how much love was there. How it poured from her soul… It wasn't that she now simply had no choice but to tell her… it was that she wanted to. The poor girl deserved it. She deserved to know the truth. That she had been lied to and that Bella had hidden from her when she should have just come to her from the start… and so she did. She told her everything. From Voldemort's torturous promise to the first scene in the bathroom where she found out what she thought had been his plan… through telling Cissy and how much she now realized that her fear of telling Hermione had been out of a fear of losing her.

"I never wanted to be a mother…" Bellatrix choked out. "Not just because of the damage my mother has caused me… but I mean… look at me." She gestured to herself. "I'm not mother material. For God's sake I tried to kill you. I've killed a lot of people and in cold blood. To be entirely honest I don't regret it… in fact it was fun..." She stared off for a moment with that familiar fire in her eyes but shook it off when Hermione's breath by her ear brought her back to reality.

"What I'm trying to say is… I can't take care of a child… I'm nothing but a monster and everyone as well as you knows it."

Hermione had tears in her eyes. She thought back to all of the things that Bellatrix had done in the past… all the pain she'd caused others and all the while with a vicious and playful smile. She was no doubt insane, but it was clear to Hermione that she was not born that way. From what she had gathered and the few memories Bella had shared with her… she saw what the older witch once was and why she had become the monster everyone thought her to be. She raised her sisters. Protected them from a mother who never loved a one of them… She had seen the way she was with her sister. Sure their relationship was… inappropriate… but their sisterly love and closeness was very easy to recognize. Bellatrix was not born a criminal. She was pushed into insanity by the weight of responsibility that she took on at such a young age. Who did she have to go to when she needed someone? She was the eldest… her younger sisters came to her. She had no one.

Bellatrix's insecurities were suddenly so clear to Hermione and though she had seen past her delusional madness and into her heart many times… she only now truly understood. And more than anything she understood why Bellatrix had gone to her sister before coming to her.

The younger witch reached up to tuck a lock of black, curly hair behind the older witch's ear and she kissed her cheek, kissing away her tears. "You would make a wonderful mother…" she whispered, tears now streaming down her own cheeks.

Bellatrix gazed into Hermione's eyes with a look of wonder, surprise, and absolutely heart-melting gratitude all bundled together. She had no words, but the look on her face was enough to push Hermione into speaking her mind on this new idea. The young witch took a deep breath, clearing her mind of all other thoughts but her love for Bellatrix before opening her mouth.

"Bella…" she spoke quietly. Her voice cracked slightly. She was nervous but she knew what she was doing. "You really wanted this baby, didn't you?"

Bellatrix hid her face behind her hair again. "I-I don't know why I did…" She forced the words from her lips. "I certainly didn't want his child… But… I… I did want the baby."

Hermione took one last deep breath… this was the moment that could change her life forever, but she was ready.

"If you really want a baby… if it means that much to you… I could… I could use my magic… and it could be our baby…" The young witch blushed deeply and moved to cover her face. She stopped herself though. She wanted to look strong so Bellatrix knew she really meant it. So she knew this was something that she wanted, whether she was ready or not.

"There's a spell for that?"

Hermione laughed lightly and a bit awkwardly. "Well… when you read as many books as I do…"

Bella sniffled and Hermione handed her a tissue. She blew her nose and smiled up at the young woman she had come to love.

"Do you really think you're ready for that kind of commitment?" Bellatrix asked, slightly sarcastic and honestly still shocked by the offer and unsure if it was even seriously on the table.

Hermione took Bella's hands and looked deep into her eyes. "I've done a lot of thinking... about us," she said, "and I know we've been through a lot of rough spots… and maybe this isn't the right time. I mean… we're in the midst of a war and we both know we're not on the same side… but regardless of our upbringings and our beliefs I want to be with you for as long as my heart can love. I… I'm ready for this. If you are."

Tears began to well up in Bellatrix's eyes again. She leaned in and kissed the younger witch with as much love as her heart could give. "I'm ready," she spoke strongly after a minute. "Perform the spell."

Will Hermione and Bellatrix go through with it? Will they find out what Voldemort truly has planned? Find out in the coming chapters! Reviews are lovely thank you :D