Bellatrix flung her rucksack from the luggage belt directly onto her back, glaring at a man whose torso had gotten in the way of its smooth trajectory.
"Stupid bloody men with their stupid bloody bodies." She muttered to herself as she stormed towards the exit, stomping past the young customs inspectors before they even had a chance to consider whether they wanted to stop her for questioning.
The agent scanned the arrivals hall, fully aware that the man standing with an old brown suede jacket and a scribbled "Anderson" sign held between his hands was her intended driver. She strolled up to him and with a disinterested "I won't be needing a lift" continued to stroll straight past him and through the exit doors.
As soon as the mottled sunshine hit Bellatrix's skin she let her rucksack drop down to the floor and pulled a packet of cigarettes from the side pocket. Leaning against a blackened signpost, she lit her cigarette and stared towards the sky, squinting slightly as she adjusted to the light.
Andromeda had lived in Berlin for nearly three decades and this was Bellatrix's third visit. The two sisters had never had an easy relationship. Bellatrix often reflected on the fact that trauma in formative years tended to magnetise siblings; it had forged a inescapable bond with Narcissa and mined a cavern with Andy. Either way, she was going to have to once again sit through an uncomfortable reunion with her younger sister if she had any hope of inserting herself into whatever disaster was inevitably brewing in Russia.
Bellatrix had last visited her sister shortly before she was arrested nearly fifteen years ago. She could feel the net tightening and had found herself on her sister's doorstep, as moody and sullen as always. Andromeda had spotted it straight away, the look in those black eyes that sparked fear in the pit of her stomach. It was the look of someone whose luck was finally up, and it was a look she'd never expected to see in those particular eyes.
Shortly after the visit Bellatrix had been swarmed when she landed at Heathrow airport. It was a discreet affair; she was smoking a cigarette at the exit when two figures stood either side of her, shoulder to shoulder. They didn't need to say anything for Bellatrix to understand she'd reached the final page of her chapter.
Surprisingly, Andy hadn't moved apartments. The address she was given by the agency was the same one she'd turned up at all those years ago. Deciding she could probably do without a refamiliarisation of the metro network, she hailed a taxi and stomped out her cigarette.
"Back again so soon, Bella?"
Bellatrix rolled her eyes at her sisters greeting, not waiting for an invite and instead pushing her way into the bright apartment.
"Teddy - go play with those in your bedroom for now sweetie, I'll call you for lunch in a bit." Andy shouted towards the lounge, Bellatrix eyeing her with confusion as a small blur of human darted, hands full, down a corridor to her left.
"Care to explain?!" Bellatrix turned around to face her sister, a raised eyebrow and a look of completely unfounded authority etched on her features.
"No. I do not." Andy held her gaze firmly, motioning for her to continue on into the kitchen.
"Well unless your uterus has somehow aged at half the pace your face has, there's some other explana-"
"I said no. And take your bag off, it's scratching the walls."
Bellatrix once again raised an eyebrow at her sister, ignoring the request and stepping into the kitchen. She threw her bag down onto the sofa, picking up a toy tractor and inspecting it whilst her sister moved to tidy the various items scattered across the floor into a large box in the corner of the room.
"I'd heard the British prison system had become lax lately, but letting their high security prisoners out for a weekend break seems a bit much. Don't tell me - you tunnelled your way out with a spoon?" The middle Black sibling walked over to where Bellatrix was now leisurely splayed out over the white sofa, arms crossed as she frowned down at her sister.
"Would you believe me if I told you I'm actually a secret agent, here to pick your brains about my dearest husband so he doesn't end up doing anything unpleasant to the other secret agent I've been fucking even though she's largely insufferably bossy and rolls her eyes at me a lot?"
Bellatrix grinned as Andy closed her eyes and let out a calming breath.
"Why is it that I literally do not doubt any of what you've just said. Why are you like this?!"
"I love you too, sis."
"Right. We can discuss this later. For now, you can take the bedroom down the hall to your left - you smell like an ashtray and you look like she haven't slept in a week. I'm giving Teddy his lunch and then I'll get his dad to pick him up." Bellatrix opened her mouth to ask questions, but Andy cut her off. "I'll entertain your insanity Bella, but you are not bringing that into my family's life. Stay in the room until he's gone."
Suddenly feeling uncharacteristically quiet, the dark haired woman grabbed her rucksack and stalked down the hallway.
"He will kill you Bella, you do know that right?" Andy leant back in her chair, the soft cushions curving around her shape. She eyed her sister in a curious manner, taking a sip of tea. "As soon as he lays eyes on you, you're done. He turned you over to the police as a curtesy you realise? He could have had you buried six feet under with far less planning."
"He threw me to the filth because he's a fucking coward who couldn't deal with the fact I was leaving. There was nothing courteous about it."
Bellatrix stood behind the marbled grey kitchen counter, leaning forward with both forearms resting on the cool surface. She picked angrily at a none existent mark on the marble, unwilling to fully catch her sister's gaze.
"I still don't understand... why then? Why decide to walk away after a decade of being 'Bellatrix Lestrange'?!"
"I was never a Lestrange, if you recall. Always a Black."
"You know what I mean." Andy rolled her eyes.
"Cissy. She married Lucius. I was free."
"So what, you felt like that was one too many marriages in the family so you simply must abandon your own...?"
"You know what I mean." Bellatrix glowered at her sister.
"For god's sake, just say it."
"Urgh, why are you so insufferable?! Aren't people meant to become less annoying with age?!"
The sisters held a combative silence until Bellatrix finally stood up straight and stormed over to the sofa, throwing herself down and ignoring the tut from her sister as her boots came to rest on the coffee table.
"You know why I married him, everyone did but the fool himself. We needed protection and money and power, and that's what we got."
"You wanted the power Bella. Cissy and I were content enough with a roof over our heads. You are the one who wanted to build us into a dynasty."
"Oh yeah, I recall you complaining so much about the parties and the money and the cars. All those private flights to Paris - how cruel of me to subject you to that."
Andy's lips thinned slightly as the sarcasm oozed off her sister.
"You know what I mean. Yes, we were and will always be grateful that you protected us. But please don't pretend like your motivations were entirely altruistic. You might have hated him, but you loved the power he gave you."
"That rat wouldn't know power if it bit him in the balls. I built that business up. I expanded our reach, our client base. He just slept with a lot of hookers and spent all of his dad's money on wine."
"Okay. Fine. We're not getting anywhere here, clearly. What do you actually need from me Bella?"
"I need to know everything you've heard about the Lestrange company over the last 15 years." Bellatrix sat up straight, fixing her sister with a steady gaze.
"Oh, so just a small ask then? Definitely nothing that could get my brains blown out. Sure." Andy almost laughed, the simultaneous ludicrousness of the situation balance against the sheer predictability of her sister being somehow quite amusing.
"Oh stop being dramatic. I know you're still in touch with Cissy - which by the way, is also apparently common knowledge to half the world's intelligence agencies, which is probably not so ideal for you. Lucius still has more than a few fingers in those pies, and Cissy was never one to choose blissful ignorance."
"I know you're not exactly familiar with sisterly chit chat, but it may surprise you to know that I don't tend to interrogate Cissy about her knowledge of local criminal networks when we meet up for a long weekend." Feeling somewhat crowded by the intense gaze her sister was regarding her with, Andy walked over to the sink and began washing up the small pile of dishes that Teddy's recent visit had culminated in.
Bellatrix didn't deign Andy's response worthy of a reply, so instead continued to track her movements around the kitchen, comfortable in the uncomfortable silence.
Bellatrix had had moderate success with getting mildly valuable information out of Andy. It had taken all of her power to resist rugby tackling her to the ground and forcing the information out of her like they had when they were kids, much to Cissy's constant disproval.
As she stalked around the city she pulled her coat tighter around her body, the cold spring night air easily seeping under her clothing and settling in her bones.
To her infinite annoyance Bellatrix could not shake the thought of Hermione from her mind. She knew the agent would be in Russia by now. Maybe she'd still be in Moscow, or maybe she'd have already started making her way to Rostov. Regardless, and much to her own personal defeat, Bellatrix felt a distracting and constant need to seek the agent out.
She contemplated messaging her but didn't fancy the multiple other agents privy to the network to see. She could phone, but there was still the same issue.
Scowling at her thoughts, she dipped into the glowing doorway of a nearby bar.
"I don't want to speak to you." Bellatrix continued to stare at her drink, rotating her wrist slightly to watch the liquid swish around the sides of the glass.
"Oh sorry, I thought you spoke German. I'm Ben - can I buy you another drink?" The man replied, misinterpreting the intent of the statement.
"I speak German. I just don't want to speak it with you. Go away."
The man frowned, glancing at the bar woman who was watching the exchange in amusement. He made an incredulous face before storming back towards his group of laughing friends.
It wasn't as though Bellatrix had dressed for the occasion. She remained in her tight black jeans, her boots, and the most expensive woollen coat she'd been able to find when she'd been handed a clothing allowance for the deployment.
She went to dig a packet of cigarettes out of the inside pocket, glancing up at the woman behind the bar and winking as she motioned to light it up inside, not feeling particularly fond of the idea of stepping back out into the cold to smoke.
The bar woman raised her eyebrow and slowly shook her head.
"No smoking." She tapped on a sign near the cash register.
"Even if I ask really nicely?"
"Even then." The bar woman was smiling now, glad to have some entertainment during what had been a very quiet shift.
"Do you have a back room I can use? My hands are going to freeze if I have to go outside, and I do a lot of important things with my hands." Bellatrix smirked, her voice laced with mock sincerity.
"It depends." She shrugged nonchalantly.
"On what?" Bellatrix leaning backwards in her seat, like a tiger lazily contemplating its prey.
"If you'll let me steal a cig."
"That, I can manage." She laughed, jumping down from the bar stool and walking around to the side door the younger woman was gesturing towards.
After manoeuvring around towers of cans and bottles stacked high against the corridor the two women eventually found themselves sitting in a cramped store room, the bar woman - whose name Bellatrix had since learned to be Mia - propping open a dusty window.
"Won't your boss mind?"
"I am the boss - it's my bar."
Bellatrix couldn't help but raise her eyebrows in surprised approval.
"Now, cigarette please."
"Okay okay - hey, if you're the boss then you won't mind me having one of these, right?"
Bellatrix smirked as she grabbed a beer from a nearby crate.
"I have a feeling that you're not so interested in my answer." Mia took a drag from the cigarette, tilting her head upwards slightly as she directed the smoke towards the window. "Go ahead.".
The two women sat in comfortable silence, Bellatrix scanning the store room for any other enjoyable things she could try.
"So, you're gay?"
Bellatrix nearly choked on her beer, holding the can out to the side to prevent it spilling down her coat.
"What?"
"Sorry, I didn't mean to offend you or anything...?" Mia looked confused, clearly worried that she'd said the wrong thing. "I just figured, what with the guy at the bar and well, the outfit and general vibe."
Bellatrix scowled at the overly familiar way in which the German woman spoke with her, immediately feeling the once relaxed atmosphere sharpen.
"I'm not trying to hit on you or anything, don't worry. I was just curious. Forget about it."
Mia stubbed her cigarette out on the window frame, flicking it out of the small gap and onto the pavement outside. She stood up, brushing a tiny fleck of ash from her jeans.
Much to her annoyance, Bellatrix remained stuck in the same position, her lips slightly parted but no words coming out.
The truth was that she hadn't really ever thought about it too much, and she'd definitely never been asked so directly. Sure, the prison psychologists had always jabbered on about who she liked to fuck and why she'd seemingly avoided relationships. Well, apart from the whole husband thing. Which in of itself was a huge part of why she'd probably never entertained grand self reflections around her sexuality - she'd been a bit too busy trying not to get killed by a thousand and one different threats. And then the small matter of a twelve year imprisonment, most of which was spent in seclusion or sharing a cell with various banshee-esque creatures.
"I guess so."
Mia turned around at the sound of the non-committal words, stopping in the doorway to regard the raven haired woman who was still perched on a stack of crates.
"You guess so, huh?" Mia grinned, clearly both relieved at having evaded an awkward conversation and happy that her gaydar had once again been spot on.
"Are you?" Bellatrix had no idea why she felt a twinge of awkwardness creep into her muscles. It felt strange to be speaking about such an irrelevant thing in such a casual setting. It made her feel weak, despite there being no rational reason.
"A bit, sure."
Bellatrix had no bloody clue what that meant, but decided it made her feel old, which was something that made her scowl.
"Jeez, even for an English person you frown a hell of a lot. And that's coming from a German." Mia laughed as she offered her hand out to her, pulling her up from the crate and guiding her back through to the bar.
"You're not coming in. You can sleep outside for all I care." Andy hissed through a crack in the door, the safety chain stretched as Bellatrix tried to enter into the apartment.
"Oh come on Andy, it's not even late! You wouldn't see your sister cast out onto the street, would you?!" Bellatrix slurred a little, one eye closed to try and keep the world from spinning quite as much.
"I swear to god if I get complaints from the neighbours I will actually sell your organs to traffickers."
"Oddly specific threat there sis..."
Andy rolled her eyes, shutting the door in her sisters face before sliding the safety chain off the latch and pulling her sister into the hallway by her sleeve.
"Take your shoes off. And drink some water." Andy walked off towards her bedroom, ignoring the way Bellatrix fell into the wall as she tried to remove her boots.
"Do not wake me up in the morning, and do not be sick anywhere. Goodnight."
Andy shut her door and angrily shoved her dressing gown onto the chair by her bed. She could hear Bellatrix shuffling about in the hallway but decided she was going to ignore the entire situation and instead closed her eyes and focused on her breathing.
A few minutes passed and she had just started to fall behind a curtain of sleep when she was rudely dragged into consciousness again by her ridiculous sister throwing herself onto the bed next to her, fully clothed but minus boots. She supposed she ought to be grateful for that small miracles.
"I think I'm gay."
With no conscious thought, Andy burst out laughing.
"What the hell?! Bella, wha-" Andy leant over to flick the bedside lamp on, sitting upright in bed and looking down at the mess of black hair and pale skin currently lying face down on the bed.
"Don't laugh!" Bellatrix sounded exactly the same as she had when they were kids, before they were able to understand how bad things were going to get and they still had the freedom to argue over toys.
"Okay, yes, sorry that was unfair of me... I just- it's just- I mean, Bella... you've literally been openly sleeping with women your entire life?!"
"Yes but that wasn't because I was gay!"
Bellatrix remained face down in the bed, absolutely refusing to acknowledge her sisters presence. Andy looked down on her, a rare hint of softness in her eyes.
"Okay, you're going to have to talk me through this Bella. I'm a bit lost. So you weren't gay, but now you are?"
"Urgh." Bellatrix let out a huff as she dramatically rolled herself over, her hair trailing over her face. She missed Hermione. How gross.
"I don't want to talk about it."
"You literally just threw yourself on my bed whilst I was trying to sleep...?"
Bellatrix glared at her sister. Why did she always have to be so pedantic.
"Have you just been doing something... gay, is that why you're suddenly drunk and existential?!"
"No!" Bellatrix looked outraged, which only served to make Andy even more amused.
"If you must know I was just having a quiet drink or two in a bar down the street."
"Okay, so...?"
"The owner said I seemed gay. Well, she basically said that."
Andy bit the corners of her mouth, trying to nod seriously along to her drunken sisters petulant ramblings.
"And you didn't think you seemed gay, is that what we're getting at here?"
Truth be told, this was the most entertaining conversation she'd had in a while. Whilst Teddy was the light of her life, she had to admit the conversations were not the most stimulating.
"Well I just hadn't thought about it! I've been busy." Bellatrix had her eyes shut, partially to block out the light, partially to avoid her gloating sister, and partially because she was mentally tracing the soft, sticky skin of a naked Hermione.
"Right."
The silence stretched out comfortably, Andy turning the light back off and settling back under her duvet. She'd decided her sister had probably taken enough teasing for one night.
"Does it make you feel weird?"
Andy would never have believed her sister could sound so soft if she hadn't heard it with her own ears.
"You being gay?"
Andy felt Bellatrix nod.
"Bella, you being gay is so far down the list of things that I even ponder in regards to you - I can't say I've ever even given it a second thought. We have always known, Cissy and I. We kind of just assumed you'd also caught up?! Clearly you probably needed a little more prompting in the self realisation department..."
"But I was married. Well, I still am married. To a man."
"The agreement you entered into with the Lestrange family had nothing to do with intimacy, or romance, or sex - whatever you want to call it. Everyone knew that but the idiot himself."
Silence once again settled over the room, momentarily interrupted when Bella unzipped her jeans and kicked them off the end of the bed.
"You are not sleeping in here, I've given you the guest room. Go there."
Bellatrix ignored her and carried on her silent contemplation. She eventually heard the soft breaths of her sister even out, a sound she hadn't heard for over a decade. Perhaps not since they were little kids, huddled under a blanket in the corner of a cold room.
