A/N: Hey guys! Long time, huh? How's everyone holding up during this pandemic? Surreal, isn't it?! I hope you're all taking great care of yourselves! Please, enjoy!

Tell me what you want, what you like,

It's okay, I'm a little curious too

Tell me if it's wrong, if it's right

I don't care, I can keep a secret,

Can you?

Cool For The Summer; Demi Lovato

"So, would anyone here like to tell me what they know about the Arts of Legilimency and Occlumency?" Bellatrix said as she paced in front of the students. This week she was doing lectures and demonstrations on occlumency. It was always a good trick to teach a magical being. Squibs, although unable to perform legilimency were very capable of occluding their mind, why not give them the opportunity to learn? It was well into the afternoon and with this being her final lecture of the day, the dark witch tried not to let her irritation at the headmistress' absence get to her. Yet again, Bella was taken for some fool and easily forgotten. Looking between the raised hands, the soft opening of her class door alerted her to another party joining them. Without turning to address the late individual, Bellatrix smirked and said "It's nice of you to finally join us, Headmistress. I just hope we aren't taking you away from such busy work you have."

No one in the class dared to actually react to the remark, despite her friendly and calming demeanor, most were silently terrified of the headmistress. Hermione always found it a bit funny, if not annoying when they took it too far. Some of the students were much older than herself, the fear was not needed. Bellatrix however, that woman thrived on the fear of others. Muttering a few expletives under her breath, Hermione grabbed a seat to the left of Bellatrix's desk and summoned a pen and pad to start her evaluation. "Do try and ignore me, everyone. As many of you know, this week is the Professors' evaluation week and so, I'll be watching Professor Black's lecture today. Please treat today's lesson like any other."

"Okay, now that Headmistress Granger is finally here, let's continue! You there, the ginger with the funny looking glasses" said student squeaked in fear at being called on after obviously not raising their hand. Hearing how the woman described the student made Hermione chuckle. "Answer the question" Bella smirked watching as the student started sweating and shaking like a leaf. It was nothing personal but she would have liked to get the show on the road and didn't enjoy having wallflowers for students.

"Ah, yes. Legil-Legilimency is the act of magically navigating through a person's mind and correctly interpreting one's findings." The student answers. Bella smirks, impressed by that near textbook definition. Hermione tried to hide the slight grimace at the lack of information given. She would've given all the information she knew on the topic. Bella's voice brought her back to focus however, as she continues, "A person who practises this art is known as a Legilimens. Muggles might call this "mind-reading"; the naive beings that they are. It is much more complex than just reading a person's surface thoughts." The dark woman rolls her eyes mockingly and shakes her head in fake pity. Of course, it's no secret how the Black Family feels towards Muggles so the comment surprises no one. "The opposite of Legilimency is Occlumency, which is used to shield one's mind from the invasion and influence of a Legilimens."

Sitting atop her desk, legs crossed, Hermione tries to avoid looking at the muscles in the woman's thighs as they flex in that position. She should be focusing on her teaching, not her body. "You there, what's your name again?" A student from the back of the class raises their head suddenly, looking like a deer caught in the headlights. Bella's smirk grew, that's what they get for trying to sleep in her class. "U-um it's Sarah Belby, M-m-miss"

"Am I a bore to you, Sarah?" She asks with a tilt of the head.

Hermione couldn't stop herself from clenching her thighs at Bellatrix's reprimanding tone, as slight as it was. The remnants of her dreams were resurfacing and it wasn't a good thing. Not at this moment. If she wasn't a skilled Occlumens, this lecture would've been terrible for her to observe. Her mind screaming out her desires would have done her in. "N-no ma'-"

"Then why were you sleeping? Ah- don't answer that. I don't actually care. Come girl, tell us about Occlumency."

Bella's mind was preoccupied as well. She'd been sneaking glances at Granger in her peripheral ever since the headmistress entered her room. Barely sparing her a proper glance, she knew it was driving the woman silently mad. She also couldn't help but notice how the young woman looked at her through the lecture. Sure, it's an evaluation and so she has to watch her movements and what not, but not like this. Hermione was thinking about something else and Bellatrix wanted to find out what.

"Occlumency is the ability to make one's mind blank and empty — in order to prevent Legilimens from perceiving their emotions and thoughts."

Bellatrix was brought back to the present when she heard Hermione's voice input "More advanced Occlumency involves suppressing only the thoughts, emotions, and memories that would contradict whatever it is an Occlumens wishes a Legilimens to believe, producing a "faux" layer of mentality that can totally throw off the perspective of one who uses Legilimency into thinking that the said layer being the legitimate one whilst its bona fide counterpart lies deeper within; hence, it is not obvious that Occlumency is being used even if the person is lying." The students all looked at their headmistress with rapt interest for her every word. Bella tsked and hopped off her desk to stroll closer to the woman.

"Why thank you for teaching my lecture, Headmistress. Shall I continue now or do you feel the need to take over for me, since you know so much?" Hermione glared at the older woman

before shaking her head in disagreement indicating for the older woman to continue.

"The Headmistress is correct. Although useful, Occlumency is not well researched nor studied and so there comes great obstacles in deciphering the legitimacy of a person's thoughts. Not many practice it and even fewer can master it. It requires a great deal of willpower, as with resisting the Imperius Curse, as well as a high degree of mental and emotional discipline. For instance, if I didn't choose to, I could hear every single one of you all's thoughts without much effort." She cackles at the gasps and ashen faces of students.

A couple hands shot up within the class. Many wanted to see it demonstrated. Bella didn't really want to look into any of the students' minds. Hermione was looking on, the pen still moving on her notepad. 'She must have charmed the pen to move with her thoughts, tricky and difficult magic' Bella thought. She was a bit impressed but from what she's heard of the Golden Girl, the surprise was to be expected. That's when the idea came to her. Hermione felt a sudden wave of wariness come over her as she watched Professor Black smile widely to the class.

Turning towards the headmistress, Bella asked "would you like to partake in this demonstration with me, headmistress? Considering I'm a world renown Occlumens, I'd say that I should be the Legilimens and you the Occlumens in this situation?"

Bellatrix was excited now. This was the perfect excuse to see what's been on this woman's mind since she entered her classroom. Hermione chuckled lowly so only she and the professor could hear. It wasn't public knowledge but Hermione herself was also a renowned Occlumens. She wouldn't have survived her final years at Hogwarts if she didn't become one. Trained by the greatest wizard alive, Albus Dumbledore himself, her skill stood among some of the best. Namely, Severus Snape and the very same Bellatrix Black.

Seeing this as an opportunity to play around with the dark woman's ego, she accepted the offer. This should be easier than anything else, Hermione's just gonna throw some false memories at the woman while keeping her emotional state blank. She jumps at the sudden cackle ringing throughout the classroom.

Bellatrix was excited! She'd gotten Hermione right where she wanted her. "Okay! So, class, what would you like me to look for within our lovely headmistress' head? No, I will not check anyone's grades for them either. Be creative! I wanna have fun here as well, you know." Bella watched with unrestrained glee as her students spoke among themselves about what they wanted to know about their headmistress.

So, the students settled on the memory of a young seemingly normal muggle born learning that she was a witch and choosing to attend Hogwarts. The details of the memory were not completely known, for reasons she never really brought herself to fully ask, even now as an adult, she recalls having Minerva McGonagall deliver the news to her. She remembers asking other muggle borns what their reactions to receiving the acceptance letter was like and couldn't miss the slight detail of their notice not coming with its own witch or wizard to explain things. It was no wonder the young woman was so informed upon boarding the Hogwarts Express that very first day.

The memory was a simple one. A favorite, and so structuring her shield to allow it to be detected easily by Bellatrix would be of no issue to Hermione. Writing the memory down, scene by scene, she hands it to a student near the front of the class. Withdrawing her wand, she silently places the tip to her temple and withdraws a copy of the memory as well. Despite being a mere lecture, the headmistress would like a thorough demonstration and without the use of veritaserum, they've got to verify the legitimacy somehow.

"Alright! Is everyone prepared? You there, got the written memory right? How about you with the freckles? Got the memory strand for the pensieve? Okay, let's do this Headmistress." Hermione watched as Bellatrix strutted towards her as if she was stalking prey. On second thought, that was exactly what she was doing. Hermione took a deep breath and exhaled clearing her mind of all thoughts Bellatrix.

"Ready, pet?" The other woman whispered as she led her wand to the Headmistress' temple. Conjuring her mind's defenses, Hermione exhaled another breath and closed her eyes. "Legilimens" the professor whispered as she was thrusted into the woman's head.

Appearing in an open field, an ethereal of Bellatrix materialized in front of the entrance of a garden maze. Before her stood hedges meters tall, that seemed to twist and turn in various directions. What caught the woman's interest however was the looming castle that appeared to sit at the center of the maze. Compared to the greenery around her, Bellatrix noted how the outer frame was not made of wood or stone but instead iron. Hermione had created her own iron fortress in order to guard her mind. Bellatrix felt a rush run through her ethereal form at the idea of what the young woman could possibly be hiding to have built such strong defenses. Looking left and right, Bella noticed that the maze in front of her had no actual opening. 'You know Granger, for this to work, you do have to let me in. Unless you'd like me to force my w—' As if hearing her thoughts, the hedge in front of Bellatrix lowered, offering enough room for her to slip in.

Once beyond the entrance, Bellatrix followed the single pathway to an opening that spiraled off into five different sections. None of the pathways, the woman noted were labeled and so she huffed in annoyance knowing that Hermione was purposefully making this difficult for her. The young witch was fully aware of Bellatrix's presence and was going to have as much fun as she possibly could within the only place she felt the safest.

Wanting to take whichever pathway that would lead her to the iron fortress, Bella stuck to the one in the middle deducing that whatever memories were in the maze itself held very little importance to the girl and that the one she was in search of would be located within the castle along with even more important memories and thoughts Bellatrix was looking forward to catching a peek of.

Making quick work of the twists and turns along the path, Bellatrix hardly spared a second glance at the many memories that came rushing out at her from the hedges themselves. Almost as if Hermione was conjuring them up in order to deter her from getting to where she was needed. Picking up speed into a light jog, Bellatrix sped through the maze wanting to get the games out of the way. As fun as it was being in the young woman's head, this was a demonstration after all and she needed to be in and out as quickly as possible.

Coming to an abrupt stop in front of solid iron doors, Bellatrix giggled and jokingly knocked on them waiting to be let in. To her surprise, the doors did not open but instead evaporated as if they were just an illusion. Rushing past it, Bellatrix sauntered past doors with actual labels on them. Some were labeled 'My first day at primary school', 'My first crush', 'My House Sorting', and such. Turning a corner, there was one door that automatically swung open as she approached. Reading the label, it was the memory she came in search for. 'My Hogwarts Acceptance'.

Bellatrix stood outside what appeared to be a quaint muggle town home. There, waiting, seemed to be one Professor Mcgonagall at its entrance. Seconds later, a bushy haired child opened the door, eyes wide as saucers at the strange lady wearing a witch's hat. Kneeling, Minerva smiled at the young Hermione and introduced herself "Hello there, Hermione. Are your parents home?" Bellatrix chuckled as a look of confusion passed over the muggle-born's face. "How do you know my name?" Minerva stood up straighter as Hermione's father approached the two at the door. "Hello, but who are you?"

"Ah, Mister Granger I presume?" the man nodded hesitatingly while the older witch continued. "My name is Minerva McGonagall with news about your daughter, Hermione Granger. Is there any way I could come inside and have a talk with you and your wife?" Still confused. Mister Granger nodded his head and stepped aside for the woman to enter. "Sure thing, come in and have a seat while my wife brings out some tea." Bellatrix at this point was bored. 'So what if the little swot received her Hogwarts letter by McGonagall, was there anything truly special about that?' Turning around, Bellatrix exited the memory in search of something more interesting.

Back into the hallway, Bellatrix watched as the door to that memory swung shut with a force to make the whole fortress shake. Not really caring, the woman made her way deeper in search not for memories but more so the young witch's thoughts and fantasies. Cackling softly, she brushed off the vine like tendrils that started appearing the further she went, as if Hermione herself was trying to extract her from the building. 'Don't worry kitten. Just a little peek. Bella promises not to tell your dirty little secrets'

Floor by floor, Bellatrix glanced around in no particular fashion. She wasn't really sure what she'd stumble across but one thing she did know was that for Granger to have such a complex system in place to guard her mind, there surely are some things she's trying to desperately hide. Oh, how Bella wanted to know what those things were. Once again, vines found themselves wound around her legs in a tight grip as the woman approached an arched doorway. On first glance, one could tell that it was different from all the other doors in this fortress. It was made out of the same iron that produced the foundation for the fortress. This door also had no handle or keyhole, so there was no actual telling how to get in. Hermione either made it so or her mind took it upon itself to seal whatever it is behind this door. Shrugging, Bellatrix simply took a deep breath and pushed herself forward through the door. A bit of mental strain on her part since the door would just not budge. At this point the vines grew thorns and tightened their hold on her legs and were making their way up her body. Giving one more big push, Bella cackled as she made it past the mental barrier and entered the room.

Gasping, Bellatrix stood, speechless at what she was seeing before her eyes. This made absolutely no sense to her right now. 'Was this a nightmare of hers? Is that me?!' Before she was able to fully comprehend all that was happening in front of her, Bellatrix felt herself painfully thrusted out of the young woman's mind.

The students observing the interaction between their professor and Headmistress jumped as they watched the older woman suddenly fly back into the wall across the room. They watched as the Headmistress turned red and grasped her wand tightly. "I told you to leave, Bellatrix. Why did I even trust you to view that memory and nothing else?! I should obliviate you for what you saw."

Hearing gasps, Hermione was brought back to her surroundings. Remembering that this was supposed to be a demonstration for Black's class, the young woman sighed and placed her wand back into its holster. Gathering her things she turned to the class and said "Sorry about that, everyone. It seems this demonstration didn't go as planned. As you can see, some people can use this ability to violate your privacy even if you give them consent. Not everyone is capable of detecting highly skilled legilimens. If I wasn't skilled myself, I wouldn't have felt Miss Black overstepping boundaries as I allowed her to view the given memory for this demonstration. Seeing as I responded a bit too harshly and lashed out while she was unaware, I'll go ahead and dismiss this lecture a bit early. Have a good rest of your day, students. Can someone stay behind and notify Miss Black of a mandatory meeting with me tomorrow once she's recovered."

Not waiting for a response, Hermione exited the lecture hall. Rubbing at her temples, Hermione groaned as she felt a headache come on. She had only half a mind to postpone this evening's Board Meeting. If only for her own sanity. Sure, Bellatrix wasn't on the Board but there were three other Blacks who were and the young woman just couldn't be bothered at the moment. 'A warm bath, a hearty dinner and wine would be amazing right now', Hermione thought to herself as she made it to her office.

A/N:So, I didn't like this chapter but that's okay. I'm experimenting pretty early with the idea of legilimency and its intricacies. I have ideas involving it further into the story and this chapter was sort of practice for that. I hope you guys liked it, either way. I promise I have not abandoned any of my stories. Thank you to the dedicated readers and the new ones as well. I look forward to getting the next chapter to you guys as soon as possible. I'll also be updating the tags as needed.