Chapter 1

The beginning of the school year was always interesting, if nothing else. There was excitement and joy in the air. The students were happy to see their friends again for the first time in quite a while in most cases. This was especially true for the muggle borne students or the students living with muggle relatives. For this reason, the train ride to Hogwarts could become quite stressful for the prefects. Hermine was on her way to meet the other prefect and the newly appointed head boy or girl. Quite a few people had been sure that this honor would be hers this year. The older Weasley twins had even taken bets and as far as Hermine knew she had been the one with the best odds, followed closely by one Bellatrix Black and since the young half-blood was still just wearing the same badge she had been wearing for two years now … well, quite a few people would be disappointed, especially the other members of Ravenclaw.

While walking down the train she observed the other students. Suddenly a door right in front of her opened an a clearly intoxicated student fell out of the compartment. Hermione rolled her eyes and looked inside. When thinking of the devils…

"Mr. and Mr. Weasley, you would not happen to know what this poor individual is suffering from?" Her voice was full of sarcasm, making very sure to convey that she was quite aware of the student's status and the Weasleys roll in it. She had been able to smell the compartment the second she had entered the wagon.

"Nope!", squeaked one of the twins while trying not to let the smoke out of his lungs. Hermione had no idea whether it was Fred or George. It was not as if she did not care enough to try and keep the two apart. In fact, she even considered them friends. Well, almost. She was friendly with them. That was as close as she came to people outside of her family. It was just simply impossible to tell those two apart.

"He must have eaten something wrong before we departed," the other twin supplied, while the first one tried and failed to exhale inconspicuously. "It's nothing you have to worry about!"

Hermione had schooled her face into an unreadable expression, but it was very difficult to keep it that way. Slightly panicked looks were exchanged between the inhabitants of the compartment. In addition to the twins there was also another Gryffindor present, a bountiful girl with dark skin and hair. She looked the most uncomfortable. The Weasleys knew Hermione well enough to realize that she would most likely not start busting their balls over some harmless pre-school fun. The female Gryffindor did not have that knowledge. For all she knew Hermione was a total stickler when it came to the rules. After all that was the image Hermione tried very hard to project. It was just not even remotely true.

"Very well," sighed Hermione while running her left hand through her hair. She had put it into a messy bun. Her locks were not as bushy as they used to. They were actually quite manageable now. She had almost been able to convince herself of this. Oh well, at least her hair did not fall that often into her eyes anymore. "Just make sure he is somewhat presentable when the other prefects are making their rounds. Some of them will not be as willfully oblivious as I am right now."

The twins relaxed immediately. "Absolutely, the health and safety of our fellow students is always our primary concern," assured Fred. At least Hermione assumed that it was Fred. She had not actual evidence to back up that assumption. She simply had flipped a coin in her head. But she had to laugh when she heard that. The twins chuckled as well. Angelina, that was the name of the beauty keeping those troublemakers' company, wasn't it, slowly began to realize that she was not in trouble.

"Great!" Hermione exclaimed and continued her way down the train. She had worked quite hard in order to become a prefect, but she had absolutely no interest in being one. Or at least in having the responsibilities of one. She very much liked the privileges that came with the badge. A privet room, a generous bathroom and nobody looked gave her grief when she was out and about during the night. Not that she really needed that third one. During her first three years at Hogwarts she had become very familiar with the old castle and its secrets and even better at evading trouble. Well, at least trouble she was not actively looking for. But as a prefect she no longer had to hide when she was spending her nights in the library. So, no more disruptions during her study sessions. That alone worth it.

While Hermione turned, she could see Fred's eyes flickering down to her breasts and his grin turned into a very happy bright smile. Not because of her breasts, even though they were quite the sight to behold in the formfitting white button-up shirt she was wearing below her open school robes. At least in Hermione's own totally unbiased opinion. No, Fred was far more interested in the badge she was still wearing. Still being the operative word here. Apparently, the rumors were true, and the twins had been taking bets. If his smile was any indication the twins just made quite a bit of money. Good for them.

Behind Hermione the Gryffindors went to pick up their fallen comrade. Angelina did not appreciate this close call with trouble, if the hushed yet still very angry voice was any indication to go by. But if she did not want to be in trouble she was most definitely in the wrong compartment. Probably in the wrong school, to be honest. The twins laughed her concerns off. Of course, they would.

While Hermione continued her way, she could see the boy-who-lived just a few compartments down. He was accompanied by the younger Weasley twins. No surprise there. Since those three had started their education at Hogwarts they had been almost inseparably, and they seemed to be very intended to take the title of greatest troublemakers from the older Weasley twins. Well, to be fair, they did not so much make trouble as they were running right into it. Nevertheless, if Hermione was taking her prefect duties even a bit more seriously, she would keep a very close eye on them. But she didn't and so she reasoned that they were not in her house, so they were not her problem.

Potter was reading the Prophet. Most likely another article about the disastrous conclusion of the Quidditch World Cup. Hermione herself had not attended the final game or any other game for that matter. Her grandmother had organized some tickets for the family. She still had some excellent connections in the ministry from her time as the Head-Auror. But since she knew that Hermione had absolutely no interest in Quidditch whatsoever she had instead sent her granddaughter to a small dueling competition, knowing that that was Hermione's passion. When the family had returned from the final game, they all had expressed a regret to not join Hermione. Funny what a death eater riot will do to someone's vacation. Now they were all screaming about His mark in the sky. Typical. People had been insured, the entire camping area had been burned down and a muggle family had been terrorized, but were they looking for the culprits? Of course not. The scary firework was far more important. She knew why, of course. Voldemort's reign of terror was still fresh in the mind of the people. Some former death eaters getting drunk and "having some fun" was one thing. Terrible and troubling, for sure. But since most of them had been able to avoid Azkaban because of their connections, they were largely tolerated as long as they did not go too far. Nobody was killed, not even the muggles. At least that was the unofficial position of the minister. But painting the Dark Mark in the sky was going over the line. Hypocrites.

Hermione gave Potter a greeting not which was returned by the younger wizard. The two of them always had somewhat of an understanding, despite the fact that they barley interacted. But they had both lost their parents to Voldemort's insanity, so they shared a bond. A tragic and dark bond, absolutely. But a connection none the less. This was also the reason why Hermione kept looking out for the Longbottom boy. Technically his parents were still alive, but not really. They had not raised him; he could not even have a real conversation with them. When she thought about that Hermione was glad that her parents were dead. And then she always felt horrible for thinking that. Which is why she avoided thinking about Longbottom. Ronald Weasley said something that made Potter grin and prompted his twin sister to hit him quite forcefully. One would think that he of all people would know better than to enrage Ginevra, but he was a very slow learner.

Hermione grinned, shook her head and kept on walking. After another couple of minutes, she finally arrived at the compartment she had been summoned to. She entered it and knew immediately that the older Weasley twins would be ecstatic. Bellatrix Black was not wearing the head girl badge either. Black's head whipped around when she entered the compartment, her grey eyes shooting to Hermione's chest. When she saw that Hermione was not wearing a new badge either she visibly relaxed.

Hermione gave her a lopsided smile while she sat down. "No, need to look so happy, Black," she drawled. "You place way too much value in status symbols." Bellatrix barred her heath and spat: "It is not about that. It is about recognizing excellence. MY excellence to be precise." Hermione only grinned.

"I don't think it is just about that," said a calm voice behind them. Cedric Diggory entered the by now full compartment, his new head boy badge on his chest. "After all, both of you have better grades than me. It must be about more than academic achievements."

He was quite obviously trying to keep the peace. For a second it looked as if Bellatrix would say something hurtful or at least try to argue, but then she just gave a curt nod. Hermione said nothing as well. She did not care about the whole subject all that much. Cedric smiled and started to do his duty as head boy, namely explaining the prefect's tasks. Hermione zoned out immediately and so did Bellatrix, if her expression was anything to go by. They had barley listened to the speech when it had been given to them for the first time, two years ago. Know they were both in der their final year and knew what was expected of them.

After all of that was done Hermione and Bellatrix were the last ones to leave, while the other prefects were already doing their rounds. Suddenly Bellatrix leaped to her feet.

"You can pretend all you want, but I know for certain that you would have taken the position of head girl without hesitation, too," hissed the young witch, her unruly black curls falling in her face, making her look somewhat unhinge.

"Of course, I would have," Hermione agreed. "Who wouldn't? It is quite the honor and would look great on my resume. But that is the extend of my interest in the position. I don't actually want to be head girl. I can barely tolerate all the prefect responsibilities. Can you honestly tell me it is any different for you?"

There was a short moment of silence. Bellatrix had apparently expected a different reaction. Hermione was not sure why. The Slytherin and the Ravenclaw knew each other quite well after all. They most certainly were not friend's, barley even friendly. They were rivals and had been since they stared at Hogwarts. But the nature of their rivalry had improved as time went on.

"No," Bellatrix admitted finally. „But I really hoped I would get the position anyway."

She looked somewhat deflated. Hermione was honestly confused.

"Why?", she asked and stood up as well. "It is just Dumbledore's personal opinion and you have never cared about that before."

"That is not entirely true. Sure, his personal believes, especially his political believes, are … somewhat naïve, let's just leave it at that. Not need to start a debate over this right now. But he is one of the greatest wizards of our time. I would not ignore is magical expertise."

"But the head girl or boy position is entirely based on personal believes," Hermione retorted. "Even Diggory just admitted that. If it were just about magical capabilities one of us would definitely have gotten it."

Hermione did not add that she was fairly confident, that she would have gotten it. She is the brightest witch of her age after all. Or so people keep telling her. But brining that up would not help the situation. She had learned long ago when she could taunt Bellatrix and when it was better to just shut up. When they were surrounded by the other students taunting was alright. Bellatrix even expected it as part of the stupid house rivalry. But when they were alone it was better to stick to light teasing. In these somewhat personal situations Bellatrix allowed herself to be just a little bit vulnerable and she would see it as a betrayal if Hermione would push too far. Since the Ravenclaw had put quite a bit of effort into normalizing their relationship she did not want to endanger it. It had been very difficult to get even just a little bit closer to Bellatrix. Apart from that it was never smart to underestimate Bellatrix. She would go to great length in order to spite someone and to even greater length to prove herself.

"Yeah," mumbled Bellatrix. Her voice was barely audible. "But my aunt really expected it from me."

Oh, so more pureblood nonsense. Walburga Black was after all not known for rational thinking. She despised Albus Dumbledore with every fiber of her being and considered his opinion to be absolutely worthless, but she still expected her niece to become head girl. Walburga Black herself could probably not even explain why. She probably did not even connect those two thoughts in her own mind. Even if one were to point that out to her, she would still want Bellatrix to become head girl because she was a Black and Blacks were superior to everyone else. Hermione did not envy Bellatrix's position, especially since the oldest of the Black sister always had to compete against Hermione, which was never easy, unless it was flying brooms. Fuck those things.

Hermione and Bellatrix went on their round together in silence, but it was a comfortable silence. They completely ignored the other students and what they were up to, Bellatrix did not even bully any first years, something she used to enjoy very much, but she had slowly stopped over the years. Very slowly. Even last year one very unluck first year and caught her ire. But not now. After a while Bellatrix started a conversation about an article about transfiguration, she had read just a few days ago. Hermione immediately knew what she was talking about and they simply enjoyed the conversation with the only other student in Hogwarts who could truly challenge them, both mentally and intellectually.

Slowly they sun disappeared behind the mountains as the came closer to Hogwarts. It was a reminder that their time together would inevitably come to an end. Bellatrix hated that. She would never admit that to anyone, she was almost not capable of admitting that to herself, but she had missed Hermione. It was ridiculous. Bellatrix was the scion of her House, the Most Noble and Ancient House of Black and she had spent almost her entire summer thinking about a damn half-blood. Well, that was not really true. She had read quite a bit ahead, had practiced magic behind the powerful wards of their home and they had been at the Quidditch World Cup. But when she had not been busy, she had missed the Ravenclaw.

For a moment Bellatrix had been afraid that her short outburst after the meeting would end the conversation before it even began. But Hermione was as calm as always and would not be deterred by the famous Black temper. When they were walking around an discussing the merits of McGonagall's new methods, Bellatrix was genuinely happy. The article their teacher had written had been very advanced, and they would most likely not even discuss it during their N.E.W.T. courses, which was a shame. So, there was very little, that could bring Bellatrix down during the train ride. Not even Rodolphus's angry face when they walk past his compartment could dampen her mood. A few years ago, when Bellatrix and Hermione had first started talking to another in more than just taunting, he had tried to stop that, but her fiancé had learned the hard way, that Bellatrix did not belong to him. Yet.

There it was. That thought brought the dread back and it settled in her stomach like a rock. For the first time in quite a while Bellatrix became aware of her surroundings. The train ride to Hogwarts was almost over. She did not want it to be over, because that would mean that her last year in school would begin. Then it would go on and finally it would end. She did not want it to end. She wanted it to go on and on and on. Because she dreaded what would come afterwards.

Luckily Hermione noticed the change in Bellatrix and did something she would only do in the most desperate of situations: She asked about Quidditch.

"Hey, I meant to ask you, were you at the Quidditch World Cup?"

Bellatrix was surprised and could not answer for a second. Hermione did not care about Quidditch. It was one of the very few subjects the two of them would not talk about. That, their parents and Bellatrix's family situation. About everything else they could talk or rather have a discussion. Bellatrix Black and Hermione Granger did not simply talk. But if the Ravenclaw was broaching the subject Bellatrix would take advantage of it.

"Yes, we were actually. It was great. I mean, sure it was incredibly one sited, but we had so much fun. They had Veela there! And we had the best seats. But those players…! I mean the Irish ones. Krum carried his team to the finals, sure and he is one of the best, but the entire Irish team is amazing, not just their seeker. Especially those beaters. They demolished Krum! You should have seen him afterwards, he was done, just done!"

Hermione smiled a little bit and Bellatrix had to grin even harder. The Slytherin was a beater herself and she would return as the captain of her house's team this year. That was a position she was actually proud of. Not that her aunt appreciated this one. The daughter of a noble line should not play Quidditch, it was not appropriate for a lady. But that did not matter know. She rambled one about the match and Hermione indulged her.

"Very impressive," the Ravenclaw finally interjected. "I did not think your aunt would get you tickets."

"Oh, no, she absolutely did not", confirmed Bellatrix. "And she really did not want us to go, but we were invited by the Malfoys, so she had to accept."

"Well, that was very nice of them," Hermione commented. The way she said it made clear that she expected some sort of catch. And there was one of course.

"Yeah, well … it was in order to celebrate the engagement of Lucius and Cissy," Bellatrix admitted quietly.

"Lucius Malfoy. The little annoyance in fourth grade?"

"Yeah," confirmed Bellatrix quietly.

"And your sister Narcissa."

"Yeah."

"Who is also in fourth grade?"

"Yeah."

Bellatrix's voice was pained. She knew where this would lead. She used to think it normal. After all, she had been engaged since she was twelve. Now that thought made her dizzy.

"Both of them are fourteen years old," stated Hermione. Her voice was cold. Bellatrix almost flinched. It took all her self-control to appear calm.

"Yeah," she finally chocked out.

"Fucking Purebloods," the Ravenclaw hissed. This time Bellatrix did actually flinch. She wanted to say something, anything to justify the situation. She had the arguments, straight from the mouth of her aunt. There had been a time when Bellatrix would have screamed them at Hermione. She would have proclaimed the superiority auf the Pureblood over all other beings. She would have defended their way of live. But now those words never left her mouth. She could not say for sure when she had stopped believing them, but she had and now all she had left was that hollow feeling in her chest.

Hermione was quiet for a while. At first Bellatrix hoped she would start talking again. But then she suddenly was afraid of what they would talk about next. What had happened after the match. About the death eaters. They had never really talked about it but there was one thing Bellatrix was always aware of: their parents. More importantly, who they were and what had happened to them. Hermione's parents had both been murdered by death eaters. Bellatrix did not know the specifics, but as far as anyone knew it was a tragic story. Hermione's mother had been the offspring of a pureblood family. Not one of the sacred twenty-eight, but still well respected, at least for a Gryffindor family. She had married a mudbl… muggle-borne wizard and had a daughter. Then they had been murdered by death eaters in order to make an example. The father died protecting his wife and child. Hermione's mother had died with her child in her arms. Only the child had survived. It was a very familiar story. Potter and Hermione were not the only ones, it happened quite a lot during those times. Most of the time the children were not as lucky as those two.

Now, Hermione's parents had not been murdered by Bellatrix's and Bellatrix thanked every god and spirit that might or might not exist that that was the case. Bellatrix's story was different, but it also ended without parents. Hers were both in Azkaban. They had tortured the Longbottoms into insanity. Bellatrix still made sure to never cross the path of their son.

Bellatrix's thoughts spun out of control. She could not take it anymore and was about to excuse herself. She was not good with emotions, especially these kinds of emotions since they were relatively new. She sometimes missed being ignorant and blinded by pride.

"Well, I was at a small local dueling competition. And since I am 17, I could even compete."

Bellatrix was incredibly thankful for the change of topic. They were finally back on a subject they both enjoyed, dueling. They had both joined the dueling club in their first year at Hogwarts and had excelled. Their skill level had been very close, it still was today. But when Bellatrix had started playing Quidditch Hermione had been able to widen her lead, even though Bellatrix was still participating in the club. When they were in fifth grade Hermione had become the dueling-champion of Hogwarts, beating a Slytherin from the seventh grade. No one, not even Bellatrix, had been able to take that title from her since then and she would most likely leave Hogwarts undefeated.

"How did you do?", Bellatrix asked, genuinely curious.

"I won," Hermione stated calm. There was just a little bit of pride in her voice. "It was not easy. There were some pretty good duelists. I was disarmed a few times, lost some matches, but not a single set."

"I'm impressed," stated Bellatrix. She really was. There were always some decent combatants at these events, even at the small ones.

"Yeah, well, the competition was not that hard. Most were probably focused on the World Cup", Hermione tried to downplay her accomplishment. Bellatrix knew that Hermione hated bragging. She liked it, when her actions were lauded but she did not like talking about her successes herself. It was a very selective form of humility.

"Anyway," the Ravenclaw quickly said before Bellatrix could start teasing here about it. "We should probably head back to our compartments. We will be at the train station soon."

"Yes," Bellatrix agreed. She just managed to suppress a sigh. "We probably should. Talk to you again soon?"

She was very anxious right now. They usually spoke when they ran into each other. There had never been a plan to do so before. It just happened sometimes. Neither one had stated the intention to talk again. Would Hermione say something? Bellatrix hated showing weakness, but if this was to be her last year of freedom, she would make the best of it, even if it meant taking some chances. But she needn't have worried.

"Of course," Hermione smiled and looked her straight in the eyes. That always send a shiver down the spine of the Slytherin. Hermione's irises were so dark the appeared to be black. So black that one could not say with certainty where the pupils started. There were some specs of bright grey and even a little bit of gold on the outside of here irises, like stars being sucked into the void. One could get lost in those eyes, if one was not careful.

"I am looking forward to it," the Ravenclaw added, ripping Bellatrix out of her thoughts. "Until then."

With that she gave Bellatrix a short wave, more just a lifting of her hand, and walked off.

"Until then," mumbled Bellatrix. She was looking forward to it, too.