The Woman in the Attic
In a tough spot, Hermione accepts an unsavory job in order to make ends meet. There, she comes across the mysterious and oft called mad, Bellatrix Lestrange. Together the two of them work towards defeating a sinister force that is set on destroying the world but not without falling for each other first. Victorian Era AU with magic.
A/N: So I've been reading a lot of Charlotte Bronte books and they inspired me to write this Victorian-like dark and twisted tale. I hope you enjoy. I'll be updating this series the first Wednesday of every month because I plan on making the chapters thick.
Prologue
Rodolphus had brought home another whore tonight.
She could hear the whore's raucous laughter as it echoed off of the halls of the mansion, high pitched and obnoxious. No doubt she was clinging onto his arm and lapping up his words like a drunk lapped up alcohol.
Sickening.
Revolting.
How insipid was this girl? She was only an one time thing; there was no way he was going to ever recall her name after this and he was most certainly going to dump her back into whatever hovel he had picked her up from, or put her back into her pathetic excuse of a town. That is, unless he was deciding on keeping himself entertained with her for a couple days more; she did have the voice for it, loud and likely to give out wonderful screams. Then the girl was even stupider for trying to charm her way to his side. As if he would ever consider such trash worthy of his attention. Soon the girl would find out the hard way what kind of attention the man dished out best for those girl's he found.
They were all adolescent and naive, enamored by this charming young and good looking man who suddenly paid interest to them. Most of them had no idea he was married, and those that did shrugged it off, hoping to replace his wife in his heart and in his eyes. As if one fuck could change all that! He wasn't married to his wife for love but for money. And no one knew it better than she did. And no one certainly knew her husband's sick and twisted vices better than she did, although she wished she didn't. That was why she felt pity for this young girl because she knew what was going to happen next.
Rodolphus no doubt had probably already fucked the young girl and was going to take her to his 'fun' room. There she would find that the charming young man was nothing but a deranged monster who enjoyed harming others. But it would already be too late for her. She was a nobody, or someone who had ventured to this locale from a far away small town, and had no relatives or friends to complain once she went missing. He always made sure to pick carefully. After all, if the truth ever came out it would cause quite a scandal, not that his wife would ever tell. Oh no, if she did it would bring upon her ruin too.
His aforementioned wife was right now sitting in the lounge, a cup of warm tea in her hand and legs crossed at the knee in an unladylike manner as she peered into the dark coals of the fireplace, the remains matching her black cold eyes. The fire had long gone out as she had waited for her husband and his fresh whore to finish their amorous activities. Now that she heard them leaving the room she left the armchair she had been sitting in and went out into the hallway to join them. They were walking arm in arm just like she had predicted, laughing gaily. The woman, a blonde with big breasts that were practically falling out of her hastily redone dress was all eyes for Rodolphus as he went on about a funny hunting trip he had gone on with his brother Rabastan and some other elite men.
"And then that smarmy git fell off his horse, causing us to lose our prey."
"What a terrible thing!" the woman gasped, covering her mouth in shock.
"Yes, well-" Rodolpus paused when he caught a glimpse of who was standing in the hallway before him. The blonde on his arm also quieted down when she saw the other woman in the hallway. But instead of having the decency to look ashamed of being caught with the husband, she straightened her back up, pushing her massive breasts out, and smiled tightly.
"Bellatrix, dear. I thought you went to bed," Rodolphus said, letting go quickly of the blonde's arm and going to straighten the crooked front of his shirt.
"I'm afraid I was unable to sleep. I see you've brought a guest over," she calmly raised a hand and waggled her fingers at the girl in front of her. The blonde didn't wave back, only looked at Rodolphus who was now ignoring her as he peered at this wife disdainfully.
"Yes. She's quite the lively one. She wants to work here. I was giving her a tour."
Bellatrix hummed. He used that excuse every time but it was more for the sake of the girl than for his wife. Bellatrix already knew what he was going to do with them. Rodolphus would certainly love her pained cries when the time came.
"I hope you haven't forgotten your manners? The woman looks famished. Perhaps I can give her something to eat before you continue on with your activities." She arched a brow at this, causing the blonde to look in question at Rodolpus who merely shrugged.
"If you wish. I will be in my study attending to some business." With that he swept away, leaving the two women in the hallway. The blonde felt incredibly uncomfortable now. She had thought the wife had caught onto them but it seemed the woman hadn't. She had been prepared to taunt the fact that her husband had wanted her, to protect her actions, but there didn't seem to be a need for that.
"What is your name?" Bellatrix asked pleasantly.
"Uh, my name is Reba, lady Lestrange." the blonde gave a slight curtsy as one should in the presence of near royalty and the dark haired woman in front of her smiled gently. She indicated with a nod of her head for Reba to follow her and the younger woman did.
"A pleasure to make your acquaintance Reba. I hope my husband has been treating you kindly. Sometimes he is so scattered brained that he will oft forget to provide guests with tea or a light snack. But no worries, I had my chefs prepare some food for us. I hope it is to your tastes."
"Uh, thank you, my grace," Reba stammered out. She had heard terrible things of the lady Lestrange. That she was mad, a nutter, horrid and vile and that she took pleasure in ruining people's lives. And those were some of the tamer rumors. Rodolphus himself had many a horror story of how the woman had attacked him in the middle of the night, scratching and clawing at him. That was after all how he received that scar on his face, a constant reminder that he was married to that awful woman. It was what had lead Reba to want to comfort the poor man. He had suffered so much at his wife's hands yet he still said he loved her so and was trying to get medicine and help for her.
That was why Reba was so surprised the older woman was acting so...cordial. She wasn't screaming, running around, gnashing her teeth or kicking holes in the walls. Perhaps she was in a pleasant mood? After all, certainly one couldn't be mad all the time.
Bellatrix lead the way into a giant dining hall. It was dark and lit only by candles hanging from torches on the walls. There were no windows anywhere and the only other door in the room lead to the kitchen where warm smells of food could be scented from.
"Please, take a seat," Bellatrix indicated to the chair on the opposite end of the long gray stone table. Already plates and utensils had been laid out on a tablecloth of green and silver. Bellatrix took the seat on the other end and immediately two waiters came from the kitchen door and brought the meal out along with a tumbler of whiskey. An odd choice for a woman, Reba thought but soon her attention was on the delicious meal in front of her. It was pheasant covered in fig sauce. She had never seen or even smelt such delicious foods. She couldn't believe her good fortune. Here she was eating such finery even though she had just helped Lady Lestrange's husband cheat on her.
Reba felt a stab of guilt. Perhaps the man had been over-exaggerating the horribleness of his wife. But she pushed the guilt away and took to digging into the meal, her manners forgotten as she disappeared into the experience of eating such rich juicy goods. She had already gotten halfway into the meal when she remembered with a burst of shame where she was and how she was acting. She hastily wiped away the sauce at her mouth and turned a worried gaze to the lady at the head of the table. Would she declare her a pig? Kick her out? But the older woman was merely looking at her over her drink as she swirled it around, the ice clinking. She had left her own dish untouched.
"I'm sorry, your grace. I forgot where I was..." Reba hastily tried to explain her rude actions but the woman raised a hand to silence her.
"I do not take offense. It is good to see you enjoying your meal." Her lips curled up into a lazy smile. "I have to say, however, that I apologize for what will happen next."
"For what...will happen next?" Reba asked, suddenly feeling very hot and cold all over. Her skin broke out in a sweat and her breathing rate increased. She let her knife and fork clatter to the table top.
"Yes."
"I...can't...I can't...breathe," Reba wheezed out, her hands coming to her throat. What she had thought was a fearful reaction to the lady's words was quickly turning out to be something else. Her chest wouldn't rise and her vision was going fuzzy. What was happening to her? She pushed away the chair to try and get up, to run and get help, but her legs weren't working and she doubled over, her face hitting the plate of food. She clawed at the table, trying to pick her body up right but she didn't have any strength. What was wrong with her?
"You stupid girl," she heard Bellatrix sneer. "As if I would let you get away with Rodolphus. You should be grateful this is your fate and not another one. I'm sparing you."
Reba tried to respond but her legs finally gave out and she toppled backwards to the floor, the plate of food coming down with her. She finally knew what had happened to her. She'd been poisoned. The cutlery clattered onto the floor next to her and as her eyes closed for the final time, the last thought that ran through her head was that Bellatrix really was crazy.
Bellatrix merely sat and watched the girl before her die. Really, she was doing her a favor. Rodolphus would be mad when he found out what had happened but he couldn't truly hurt her. She began to grin widely to herself, knocking the whiskey back in one gulp and slamming the glass on table, and before long a laugh erupted from her throat followed by more and more until she had thrown her head back, her shrill bellows of amusements echoing around the dining hall. Gradually the laughs calmed down and her eyes began to leak tears as her mouth did an upside smile. With an angry sob she knocked the glass off the table, it shattering on the floor, and she set her elbows on the table and sobbed into her hands.
He had driven her to do this. If she hadn't been truly crazy before, he was going to make her.