Hermione's head laid in her hands. Her elbows rested heavily over the oak dining table. Andy and Bella had decided it would be a good idea to go to the pub for a drink. Hermione and Narcissa were also invited, the latter of which being the only one with the sense to elegantly decline the invitation. Hermione was glad that the sisters were all getting along once more, but Bella was enough of a handful while drunk by herself. Adding an inebriated Andy to the mix only made for a bigger mess.
The trio originally began their night at The Leaky Cauldron, but only lasted a couple of hours before Bella's loudness disturbed the other patrons. Hermione had quickly decided she would need to be the designated apparater. It would not have been that bad if she hadn't spilt her fire whiskey over multiple people while rather animatedly retelling a story.
Now the three witches were back at Black Manor, which is where Hermione and Bella lived permanently. It had taken time for the brunette to get used to. The estate was… simply put… massive. While her parents were well off, it was in more of an upper middle class kind of way. Don't get her wrong, it was nice- just a lot.
Currently, the eldest and middle Black sisters were reenacting a story from one of the more entertaining moments of their childhood. Was that bad in and of itself? Not particularly, however, they were currently arguing over an oh so crucial detail.
"IT WAS BLACK!" Bella yelled for the umpteenth time. If they were not on private property, Hermione might worry about a noise complaint.
"SILVER," Andy argued. The it in question was the color of a vase that exploded during Narcissa's first bout of accidental magic.
"BLACK!"
"SILVER!"
"BLACK!"
"S *hiccup* ILVER!" Andy's hand was on her chest. Hermione instinctually grabbed the trash bin she had hidden underneath the table, ready for whomever might be sick.
"S *hiccup* ILVER!" Bella mocked, cackling as soon as she got the words out. Being just as drunk as her sister did make the little impression rather convincing. Her arms were wrapped around her stomach as her feet stomped on the floor repeatedly. The act only lasted so long, with Bella losing balance and catching herself on the wall.
"Sop mocking me!" Andy ordered. She was now leaning against the opposite end of the table from Hermione for support.
"Sop mocking me!" Bella replied, causing her laughter to only renew and increase in pitch.
"BELLA!"
"BELLA!"
Even with her being the sober one, Hermione could not manage to most fast enough in order to prevent the next set of events from happening.
Andy's wand was in hand, though clutched sloppily. It didn't follow a pattern, she only shot it out, yelling, "You're such a child!"
Bella, eyes closed out of entertainment, only laughed. "You're uch a-" were the only words she got out before a blue spell hit her in the forehead. She tried to grab onto the wall for support, but tripped over her feet and fell passed it.
Hermione was froze in her spot. She was half out of her chair, arm outstretched. Andy had fallen to the floor from the force of her movement. She stood up sloppily, grasping at the table to help her up.
"What? Nothing to ay?" When Andy fully stood up, albeit with a sway, she looked around with an annoyed look on her face. "B *hiccup* ella? Where ya o?"
By this time Hermione had already run up to her girlfriend. She knelt on the floor looking into Bella's dazed eyes. The eldest witch's head was going around in a slight circular motion. Suddenly, she became alert to her surroundings and launched up. Hermione supported Bella's back when the movement made her sway.
"Bella, are you ok?" Hermione questioned, concerned. She had no clue what spell had jus hit the black haired witch. There was no pattern, no words, no indication as to what it could have been.
Andy was frozen in her spot, with the exception of her head; it was looking between her wand and her sister. It didn't take long for her drunken mind to put two and two together.
After a minute of this Bella finally moved again. She looked at different parts of her body, sloppily holding out her arms and kicking the toes of her boots together. The other two witches were completely and utterly still as she did this, even Andy had seemed to sober up enough to stop swaying.
Bella looked at Hermione and the brunette's eyes widened. Bella had large tears in her eyes, which worried her girl friend considerably; the woman never cried.
"Mione!" Bella suddenly wailed, tears dripping down her face. "Andy spelled me!" She then climbed into Hermione's lap and pushed her face into her girlfriend's buoyant curls. Hermione, unsure of how to react to the random act of, for lack of a better word, affection, lightly wrapped her arms around Bella's back. Andy watched on with wide eyes before hurriedly running to the sink.
"That's w-what you g-g-get!" Bella said, still balling her eyes out. She was twisted around awkwardly, glaring at her sister. Hermione closed her eyes, wishing she could do the same with her ears, when the sound of retching reached her ears.
Hermione was at a loss. She, for once, had absolutely no idea as to how to find a solution. If she knew the spell then she could come up with a counter curse. She wasn't an adept enough healer to simply fix the problem that way. Everything was just… a mess. She looked from Bella to Andy, the woman having finally finished throwing up, and stared. Andy stared back before clumsily finding a seat at the table. She put her head in her hands and groaned loudly.
"What did you do?" Hermione could only find enough voice to whisper. She doubted Andy would have an answer, but voicing the question made the pit in her stomach smaller by the slightest bit.
Andy shrugged. "I dunno. Haven't een her like this ince she was a kid."
Hermione could tell that speaking made Andy feel worse so she kept silent while thinking of an answer to their problem.
Bella looked up and pulled away from Hermione, just enough to take the brunette's face in both of her hands. "D-do you still l-love me?"
Hermione was taken aback. "Why wouldn't I?" She asked, clearly confused.
"B-because I'm a-a kid again." After the witch managed to get her words out, she only proceeded to cry harder.
Hermione mirrored Bella's previous action and put her hands on her girlfriend's cheeks. "Bella, love, we will fix this. We can go to St. Mungos-"
"NO!" Bella screamed while shaking her head.
"They have the best healers," Hermione tried to reason.
"I DON'T LIKE HOSPITALS!"
Hermione was starting to get annoyed. All she wanted to do was yell, but she knew that would only make the situation worse. She took a deep breath before asking, "What do you expect me to do then?"
"We can ry Cissy. Ees a ood healer," Andy groaned from the table.
"Cissy," Bella said excitedly. She pulled back from Hermione and was clapping her hands. "I wanna see Cissy," she repeated while taking Hermione's arm and trying to pull her to the door. After the movement caused her to sway she whined, "Mione, I don't eel good."
Hermione rolled her eyes. "That's what happens when you drink as much as you have," she replied matter of factly.
"I want Cissy," Bella said again. She leaned her body into Hermione's for support, who had to basically carry the other woman's weight.
"OK, fine, I'll take you there. We just need to get to the fire place." Hermione tried to pull Bella towards the living area but only met resistance.
"I WANT THE KNIGHT BUS," Bella screamed into Hermione's ear. The younger witch would have jumped if she was not supporting her girlfriend's weight.
"Knight bus," Andy mumbled while throwing her fist up in support. Her forehead was now resting on the dining table.
"Not helping," Hermione ground out.
"Knight bus. Knight bus! KNIGHT BUS," Bella demanded once again.
"FINE," Hermione yelled back, matched Bella's tone.
"Imma just tay here," Andy said. Hermione would have argued, but it would have been more trouble than it was worth. She didn't want to deal with Andy getting sick again, which would almost certainly happen with the way the knight bus was driven.
Bella tugged more incessantly at Hermione's arm. "Let's gooooo already."
Hermione let herself be pulled out of the house. Personally, she had never used to knight bus before, but she understood the gist of how it worked. Her wand! While Bella was swinging her arms around over her head, Hermione turned back to the manor in order to get the valuable instrument.
"NOOOO!" Bella yelled before barreling into her from behind. Hermione was tackled into the shrubs, but luckily managed to throw out her hands just in time to protect her face.
After wrestling Bella off of her, Hermione yelled, "Bloody hell, Bella, what the fu-"
"DON'T SAY BAD WORDS!" The elder witch screamed back, more than matching her girlfriend's tone. She looked at the ground, bottom lip quivering slightly. "Don't go back. I don wanna be alone."
Hermione threw her head back, hands on waist, and just sighed. She begged everything within her to stay patient. "OK, Bella, how about a deal?"
Bella looked at Hermione with a curious glint in her eyes. She crossed her hands behind her back while lightly twirling her skirt around. "I'm listening."
"If you sit right here," Hermione said while pointing at the edge of an elevated area of stone. It looked to be something that, as muggles put it, would create high curbside appeal, something that would elevate the landscape. "I give you a very special bear from when I was a child." Hermione tried not to smile when Bella's eyes widened considerably. Hermione took that as a yes at finished her short journey towards the front doors, moving quickly before Bella decided to play difficult again.
Hermione retrieved her wand, which was on the table by a snoring Andy. She got her a quick glass of water before accioing the old toy she had spoke of. It was one of the only things she still treasured from her childhood. After spending all of her savings on a vending machine, something her parents were quite cross with her for, she finally won the bear. She must have been four at the time.
Hermione apparated the bear to Bella while filling up her bag with a few nessecities. She was facing the house now, feet crossed, and looked rather pensive for someone that what dealing with… whatever curse that had been cast upon her. Hermione smiled, thinking about the journey that led them here. It was hard, ridiculously hard, but she wouldn't trade it for anything in the world.
Bella immediately perked up and smiled widely when Hermione left the manor. She hugged the bear before hopping up and running to her girlfriend.
Hermione summoned the bus, which only took about a minute to get to them. She would always be amazed by the transportation the witching world had. If she thought dealing with Bella before the knight bus was difficult, then her on it was indescribable. The first part of the ride involved the woman refusing to sit down. Any time the bus sped up or turned, she would follow the movement, causing her to constantly crash into stuff. It only stopped after she dropped the bear about half way through their ride.
After that Bella sat next to Hermione while leaning on her shoulder, complaining, "I don feel good. Is too fast."
Hermione would pat her leg and rub her shoulder, glad that she wasn't getting sick. She really should have just forced Bella into the floo, but the past was in the past.
Bella practically ran off the bus when they reached Narcissa's current home, a large victorian style house in wizarding London. Hermione rushed after her, thanking the unorthodox driver on the way out.
"CISSY! OPEN UP!" Bella started chanting before she even reached the front door. Once she got there the woman only began banging on the surface harshly.
Hermione flinched when the door opened, causing Bella to fall in. She caught herself on Narcissa, turning the movement into a hug. "Cissy! I issed you!" She startled giggling while Narcissa was glaring at Hermione.
"I thought I informed the two of you that I wanted to avoid the activities taking place this evening, or rather more accurately last night." Even though clearly annoyed, the witch moved aside while dragging her sister along.
Hermione muttered an apology, unsure of where to begin the story. Bella, having no sense of decorum, saved her from having to explain. "You shoulda been there, Cissy! We drank soooo much and then om
It hurt Hermione just to listen to Bella's little retelling of events, so she couldn't imagine how Narcissa felt. She just looked at the brunette and stared.
"Oh look at the bear Mione ave me!" Bella exclaimed while shoving the stuffed toy into her sister's face.
"Bellatrix!" Narcissa pulled the bear down and pulled Bella towards the living area. "Sit here. Mrs. Granger, make sure she doesn't move."
Narcissa disappeared before Hermione could even reply. The brunette put her head in her hands. It had taken so long for Narcissa to start addressing her by her first name, and now they were back to square one. When she came back she had a pepper up potion and her wand at the ready.
"Bellatrix, drink this!" She ordered. She seemed to have calmed down, but her voice still left little room for argument. Bella did as told while Narcissa said, "Now stay still." The witch started a long string of words. After about half a minute of this, a white, almost clear, string of magic came out of the woman's wand.
It lightly touched Bella's forehead and the woman's eyes shot open. Hermione knelt in front of her, prepared in the case that she fell again. She started to become worried when Bella didn't move for a few minutes, to the point that she actually jumped when her girlfriend's eyes finally focused on her.
"We will never speak of this."