Masquerade Act Two: When the Masks Fall
The Twenty Second Dance: Revelation and Argumentation
A/N: The conversations might get a bit confusing in this one. So for reading purposes, when I refer to Hermione know that it really is Bellatrix in her. And when I refer to Bellatrix it is really Hermione. It's complicated at times. Trust me, even I got confused while writing this.
The truth will set you free, but first it will make you miserable. James A. Garfield
A/N: Finally got out of my writers slump. The rest of the chapters should be released fairly quickly.
Ron was roughly revived from the confines of unconsciousness by a spell. "What-what's going on?" he groaned out, squinting his eyes in the bright lights of the room.
Hermione's spell had been the one to wake him up. "Wakey wakey, weasel, we haven't got all day here to explain this to you," came her voice, not in the least bit nice. Was he hearing this right? Why was Hermione being so nasty to him? The facts of what had happened prior to him passing out came into his head and he let out a sad groan. Right, Hermione wasn't Hermione.
"Just because the truth has come out does not mean you can be mean to my friends now!" Bellatrix's voice shrilled out.
"Whatever," Hermione rolled her eyes and leaned against the fire place. "Just get on with telling these idiots about what really is going on before they attack us again."
"Fine," Bellatrix sighed. "And their not idiots." Hermione rolled her eyes at this but didn't comment. "Are you okay now Ron?"
Ron curled his lips at being addressed that way by the witch. Even though he knew it was Hermione inside there he couldn't help the revulsion. She saw his facial expression and her face dropped a bit but she took a deep breath and squared her back. "I don't know if you will be able to believe me, but for your sake and for my sake you will have to." She started the tale, her eyes roving over her friends.
Harry shot her a reassuring smile. "Go on Hermione."
Luna too gave a reassuring look. Ron couldn't look into Hermione's eyes. They were all wrong. They were dark and black, not the light hazel he was used to.
"When me and Bellatrix died, we got sent to this after life place. I cannot speak too much on it, because to do so would cause me pain. But in this place, we did not have memories of our past life, so we kind of ended up working together," Bellatrix cringed as she admitted to this.
"What?" the accusation ripped out from between Ron's lips before he could help it. "How could you work with that monster? She tortured you! Killed our friends and many more wizards and witches!"
Bellatrix winced at this. "I know. But as I stated I did not have my memories of my past and so...it just sort of worked out that way." The dark haired witch looked very ashamed in this moment, and this emotion was so out of place on her face that the three friends felt it was not genuine. They were used to her laughing evilly or cracking a wide smile. This switch was really messing with their minds and feelings and they did not like it. Not one bit.
Harry on his part could not wrap his mind around how he should be directing his hate to the soul in Hermione's body, yet it was focused on the dark witch in front of him which was really Hermione. It made his head and heart ache. And he knew Ron was having the same issue although he was not working as hard as Harry was to rein in his emotions. Harry couldn't tell what was running through Luna's mind. Her face only looked mildly shocked, like last time when she had known something was off about Hermione.
How had he not noticed it before? The so called best friend of Hermione and he hadn't been able to detect anything wrong with her other than she seemed to have a sharper temper. Bellatrix was a sneaky bitch. How had she fit into Hermione's character? He hated to think about how she could have gotten this good. It meant that they must have spent a lot of time together to get this- no, he was not going there right now because it would only make him angrier.
"Anyways," Bellatrix cleared her voice and patted down the front of her skirt in an attempt to get the conversation under her control once more. "In the end, we managed to escape on the condition that we would kill Voldemort."
"So...he's alive then?" Harry breathed out, loathing to have to believe this.
Bellatrix's face was grim as she tightly nodded her head. "Yes. And we were revived in order to kill him."
"But...how...he can't be back alive." All of Harry's hard work...all the pain he had gone through...all the torments and in the end it meant nothing. Nothing. His gaze drifted down to the floor, the swirl of the carpet mocking him.
A wild cackle came from Hermione. She was twirling her wand in amusement between her fingers. "You have Hermione to thank for that. Someone was doing something she shouldn't have."
"Oh, bugger off!" Bellatrix snapped at Hermione. "If you hadn't let him into the house in the first place then none of this would have happened!"
"Oh, so now this is my fault?" Hermione had a dangerous look in her eyes but it didn't stop Bellatrix from turning on her.
"You were the one who fell for his trap in the first place!"
Luna and Harry exchanged a confused look with one another. What were the two bickering about?
"Don't you dare put this blame on me. If it hadn't been for me then you would have never found out the truth about the hotel in the first place!" Hermione snapped back, her teeth bared and wand spinning rapidly in her hand. Her body was tensed. Bellatrix's body too was tensed but she threw her hands up in the air. "I don't have time for this right now-we don't have time for this."
"You're only saying that because you don't have anything else to say to me. I've won the argument." Hermione stuck out her tongue in victory.
"I am not done with you," Bellatrix threatened. "We will be continuing this later." Then she turned back to her friends, fixing them with an apologetic grin. "Before I was so rudely interrupted-" A derisive snort from Hermione at this. Bellatrix's brow merely twitched to show her irritation before she continued on, "that is pretty much the basic version of why we are here. As for the reason we are stuck in the wrong bodies, I can only assume that we were put in the wrong bodies upon coming back to life as a sort of mistake or something." Bellatrix spread out her hands in conclusion of her speech.
"What a wonderful story. I would applaud but my hands are constrained," Luna said apologetically.
"So the both of you are here to kill Voldemort..." Harry ventured to say. "No offense, but why should we trust Bellatrix? She served the dark lord. Won't she back stab us?"
Bellatrix let out a huge sigh, looking like it pained her to admit these next words. "I know this might be an issue for us...but I trust her."
This admission did not sit well with Ron. "Hermione, have you finally lost it? You're trusting her? An crazed, deranged, monstrous Death Eater?"
Hermione let out an angry "hey!" at this but it went largely ignored by Ron.
"Look Ron, I don't have much of a choice, do I?" Bellatrix put her hands on her hips. "Those were the conditions to come back to life and we cannot do anything against them."
"And I would appreciate it if you kept your insults to yourself, slime!" Hermione added, her eyes dark in anger. "I'm not the same witch I used to be, so be assured that I am not here to hurt anyone but Voldemort."
"I find that bullocks coming from her!"
"I have to admit I agree," Harry said with a sad little smile. "She was his loyalest. What's to say that she won't turn her back on you when it comes time to kill him?"
Before Bellatrix could respond, Hermione snapped back with a response. "Do you know why I'm going to kill him Potter?" She leered down at him, stalking over in front of him. Her actions were edgy, caged, predatory. Now that the farce was up he could see how different her mannerisms were from his best friend's. And for some reason it was scarier seeing it on his friend. "Because I saw the gates of hell." She leaned into his face. "And my loyalty for that man does not extend to eternal damnation. So I've come to right the wrongs I've done."
Ron let out an ugly laugh. "A bit too late for that you old hag." Hermione leaned back at this, shooting the red head a scary glare. "Don't tempt me to go back on my word."
"Let's not get distracted here," Bellatrix put up her hands in a stopping motion, eager to not let a fight break out. "We need to get things cleared up and make a plan on how to take Voldemort down."
"You want us to help?" Luna queried.
"Yes. I admit I am not the best person for the job...Harry, you've done this twice before. Can you please do it another time?" Watching Bellatrix's body pleading for his help was odd. Something he never thought would have happened.
"I don't know Hermione. That's a lot of pressure. And I won't have the ability to come back to life if he strikes me down. No super secret special magical move this time." Harry could already feel the pressure of having to fight Voldemort come down on him, weighing his shoulders and his heart.
Before the conversation could expand any further a tremendous bang slammed open the door to their hotel room. Everyone who was in the bedroom froze, their words dying on their tongues. Hermione was the first to speak. "What the bloody hell was that?"
Harry and Ron's eyes opened in instant realization as they verbalized the same conclusion. "Oh hell, the charm!"
"What charm?" Bellatrix craned her neck at Harry.
"There's a charm, a charm the ministry placed on Death Eaters. If one enters the city then they appear to the aurors. It's how we've managed to catch so many," Harry hastened to explain as the thud of shoes came closer.
"And you didn't think to tell us this before?" Hermione snarled out, her hands fisting. "Their going to kill her!" she gesticulated at Bellatrix who stood rooted to the floor in fear.
"It slipped our minds, because we were too busy trying to understand the bombshell you dropped on us!" Ron retorted, his voice rising in pitch. At that moment eight aurors strode into the hotel suite, wands at the ready.
"Bellatrix Lestrange, hold where you are! You are coming with us, wanted for many accounts of murder and destruction! Now, drop your wand, and hands where we can see them." One held out their wand to her, while one secured the entrance to the room and another went to Ron's side to help unbind him. The last two went up to Harry and Luna and carefully undid the magic holding them back.
Bellatrix dropped her wand as instructed and held her hands up.
"Looks like we got a kidnapping of some sort." The head auror strode into the room at this, hands on his belt, looking smug to have gotten everything under control so quickly. He stood carefully behind the auror that had his wands focused on Bellatrix who was now bending to her knees, as forced to be their wand. "Miss Granger," he started, after glancing the room over. "Good to see you awake and alive. Can you tell me what's going on?"
"How the hell is this bitch alive?" The auror containing Bellatrix asked, jabbing his wand at the dark haired witch. "I saw her die in battle."
"Wait, let me explain things-" Harry began but was cut off by Hermione's much louder words.
"Like hell I'm going to prison! My body can't stand another trip to Azkaban!" Hermione growled out and pushed past the frozen figure of Bellatrix. The aurors now took wary notice of her. "Miss Granger," one of them said, his bald head gleaming in the room lights. He was the one of the last to stride into the room, having been doing checks on the other rooms to ensure they were clear. His eyes opened in joy at seeing her. "I did not know you were here-"
"Stupefy!" Her spell flew past the others and hit him right in the nose and he crumpled to the floor.
"She's been Imperioed!" shouted out the one by Harry but Hermione was quicker. With a twist of her wrist he was down for the count. Still, she was outnumbered and surrounded. "Secure Granger. I've got Bellatrix!" The head auror cried out, binding Bellatrix's limbs together in a binding spell. His partner sent a spell at Hermione's back while the one who was next to Luna, hit one at her front.
"Stop this!" Harry shouted out, freed now and coming up to his feet, he fumbled with his wand. He put up a protego and blocked the spell from hitting Hermione in her chest. It bounced off and hit the woman auror in the leg instead. She took a step back to the wall and Harry positioned himself in front of her, to block her from doing anything more. "What's going on here?" she questioned, not willing to fight the great Harry Potter.
Luna merely sat in her seat and examined the carpet beneath her feet. Even though she was now untied.
Hermione turned on her heel to intercept the spell aimed at her back but she needn't have worried. Ron had been released of the binding spell and grabbed his wand, binding the auror who had helped him and knocking the spell sent at Hermione out of the air. It hit the floor with a sizzle. Hermione caught his eye and he gave her a grim smile.
The auror who had been outside the hotel hallway guarding the place from unwanted visitors, came in at this, wondering what the heck was going on. Hermione lifted her wand and sent a spell over the head aurors head. The man ducked, not realizing that his friend was behind him. The other man's face crumpled in as the stupefy knocked him out flat onto his back.
"The hell is going on here? Have they all been Imperioed?" The head auror changed positions, pointing his wand to every which side of him, wary for their attack. Luna was still sitting in her seat, not in the least bit interested in the fighting going on around her.
"We are not here to hurt you. And we are not Imperioed." Ron spoke up. "Everyone, let us put down our wands and have a nice discussion."
The head auror was skeptical, but they weren't acting like they were Imperioed. If they had been then then they would have been more robotic. And this was the Golden Trio! He was certain they wouldn't be so easily captured by such a spell. There had to be a reason why they were in such a situation.
"Very well," he muttered under his mustache and dropped his wand. He nodded his head to the female auror. "Put down your wand, Stef." She didn't look too happy to be doing this but she followed orders.
"Good," Harry said and even Hermione dropped her wand as well, knowing in this situation she had to act Hermione like and Hermione would have followed rules. "We are all disarmed now."
"Then can you tell me what's going on?" The head auror demanded. He couldn't keep his eyes off of Bellatrix Lestrange, on her knees, arms pinned behind her back due to the binding spell. He still couldn't believe she was alive. And what was up with Hermione being awake? Last he had heard the golden girl was stuck in a coma. Now that he wasn't in the heat of battle his mind had time to ponder the quandaries in front of him.
"It's a bit of a long story," Ron said, not in the least bit looking like he wanted to recount it.
"We'd like to speak to the minister of magic," Harry spoke up. "It's kind of an emergency."
The head auror knew better than to argue with the boy who lived. "I'll need an owl."
The golden trio and Bellatrix found themselves sitting in Kingsley's office. The man's face was a mask of shock. He didn't even attempt to hide it. "I don't believe this."
"Yes, yes," Hermione waved her hand in the air and rolled her eyes. "I get that. You've only said it about five million times. You're beginning to sound like a broken record, minister." This was said with an added smirk.
"You're Bellatrix...and you're Hermione." The minister pointed a finger at each girl in turn. They were seated in two chairs in front of him, Harry and Ron standing behind them, ready to draw out their wands if they had to. There was no question that they didn't trust Bellatrix- well Hermione technically, because Bellatrix was in her body and- Harry let out a sigh. Oh boy, was this going to get confusing at some point.
"Yes." Bellatrix let out a tired sigh. "I know, this is the weirdest thing in the world. But given the circumstances-"
"You want my protection?" Kingsley guessed, running a hand over his face. So the Hermione he had thought was the girl he knew was really the sadistic witch known as Bellatrix. He didn't know how he should feel. He had let that thing into his office. He had hugged it!
Bellatrix nodded her head. "I know it's not ideal to ask this much of you, but I cannot go around in this body and expect to be safe."
"You know that is impossible, unless you change your appearance by drinking a polyjuice potion. The public hates her immensely." He shot a look at Hermione's body. The brunette's gaze was outside his window, watching the snow drift down. She gave of an aura of indifference. He turned his attention back on the dark witch listening to him.
"There's more," she stated and the minister held back a groan. Just great. Just what he needed. "It's about Voldemort."
Even better. He knew it was going to be shitty day when he couldn't find his lucky hat. "And what about him."
"He's back." Bellatrix quickly went about filling in the minister of magic on the issue. His face got paler and more grim with each sentence. "This is a matter for the order of the Phoenix. We need to get in touch with them. We need to be able to formulate a plan to take down Voldemort once more," he said resignedly, standing up from his seat.
"I have all the info needed to get to him. Just say the word and I can hand it over to you."
"That's good, because it might seem like we have to send you back into undercover."
"What? No, I can't. He's terrible! I have to hurt others! I cannot do that anymore! I've already seen and done-" Bellatrix looked nearly ready to jump out her seat, her hands clawing the armrests and body leaning forward. She had been hoping that once she found her friends she could stay with them.
"Calm down," Kingsley stuck out a hand. "Only for a day or two more. I promise you I will utilize the order members as quickly as possible. We don't want Voldemort back any more than you do. You do realize it will take some time to...convince them, before we can even have them formulate plans."
"Well bugger," Bellatrix leaned back into her seat with a great big sigh. "I forgot all about that." He was right. She supposed it was better to go back to Voldemort and maintain her cover.
"I will owl them by tonight. Can you stay?"
"No, I should leave, if you plan on me staying undercover. Voldemort will be expecting me back in his castle by tonight. I will have to report to him. He's sent me over to kill Hermione because she's alive but little does he know I stand by his side the whole time." She let out a dark chuckle at this, standing up.
"Hermione...be safe," Harry said. "I promise we will help you." His heart was torn on seeing his friend go back anywhere near Voldemort's proximity but there didn't seem to be much of an option.
"Yea," Ron nodded his head. "Sorry about not believing you about all this stuff before. It's just crazy," he ruffled the back of his head, looking down with shame and guilt in his eyes.
"Ack, if you guys are going to be all cringe-y, then get another room," Hermione said, wrinkling up her nose, her attention now back in this room.
Bellatrix rolled her eyes at this, clearly not going to waste any time arguing with her. "Alright, I'll be heading back to Voldemort. But it was nice...to see you guys." She cast a slightly sad smile at Ron and Harry. "I'd love to hug you both but..." She gestured to her body and both guys had to agree. Hugging Bellatrix would be too weird and something neither of them wanted to cross off their bucket list. Casting one last look at her friends she disappeared with a pop.
"I suppose we should take off the charm on Bellatrix's name. That way she won't be attacked each time she comes to report to us," Kingsley suggested. "Why don't you get to work on that Ron? And in the meantime I'll be working on getting the Order together."
"And what about me?" Harry asked as Ron nodded his head and left, eager to be out of any room that contained Bellatrix.
Kingsley rubbed his hands together and cast a meaningful look at Harry and then Hermione. Harry got the message and he didn't like it. There was no way he was going to be the over glorified babysitter for Bellatrix. "Surely there must be someone else than me." There was a slight whine to his voice.
"Mr. Potter you are very qualified for the job. And frankly I wouldn't trust her in anyone elses hands than yours right now." This was largely only true because anyone else would more than likely snap and kill her.
The compliment did not work to soothe Harry's disgruntlement. "She killed my uncle. I have no desire to be any closer to her than needed." He tried to say this as calmly as possible, the words sticking in his throat. The memory still stung.
"He had it coming to him," sneered the brunette, now getting up from her chair. "And I appreciate the offer of having my own celebrity bodyguard but I think I can handle myself just fine."
"It wasn't an offer, so sit down Miss Granger- I mean Miss Lestrange," Kingsley corrected himself, flustered by the body switch as well.
"It's just Black now. I suppose Rodolphus is good and dead?" She didn't wait for a confirmation before she continued on. "Ah, yes. Terrible bloke. Surely won't be missed."
"Miss Black," Kingsley stipulated, "you will not be going anywhere without the presence of Mister Potter here. Despite your outward appearance you are still a wanted criminal, one capable of much chaos and trouble. Until we get this situation sorted out, you will continue to listen to his orders as he will be in charge of your well-being. You will not purposefully bring harm to Granger's body. Is that understood?"
"As if I would ever want to hurt itty bitty little Hwermione," Hermione said in a baby voice. "She's my best fweind."
Harry did not like the way she was mocking his friend. But he kept his mouth shut. There was nothing to be gained in exchanging words with her, or in trying to shut her down. She would merely retort and the vicious cycle would start and remain sustained.
"Glad that's settled then," Kingsley said eager to be done talking with her. He had thought she would be harder to convince but she seemed surprisingly well behaved. All the accounts he had heard of her made her out to be some reckless human being with no regard to others, insulting them, hurting them, and generally being nasty. But here she was being...somewhat manageable. He wondered if it was an act or something to gain their trust and then betray them and get back to her lord so he could help them. Only time would tell.
Hermione had told him that both of the girls would have to work together in order to kill Voldemort so they could stay alive, but would Bellatrix's loyalty to her dark lord really end over something like that? Yet again, only time would tell. For now he had to tread carefully.
"Harry, take her back to one of the special safe houses that the ministry has set up." Harry nodded his head in acceptance of the order. He held out a hand to Hermione, flinching a little as the girl took his hand roughly, crushing it between her fingers.
"Oh goody, I get to be locked up in a glass cage. You'll keep me entertained, won't you?" Hermione peered in towards Harry and the black haired boy took a step back, hating how unsafe and unsettled the dark witch trapped in his friend's body could make him feel in one simple gesture.
He swallowed deeply as a response, cleared his throat, and took a step towards her to regain his composure. "If you behave yourself then I might be inclined to talk to you."
"As long as it's not about Quidditch, I'll be fine," Hermione ground out and with that both disappeared in a crack. Kingsley only hoped he had made the right choice in sending Potter to be Bellatrix's guard dog. Potter is a competent boy, he would be able to handle her, and he knows better than to act on old grudges, the minister reasoned and set about writing down letters to be sent to the Order.
"Bellatrix, you are back. Do you bring me good news?" Voldemort stretched his thin lips into a smile and glided over to where Bellatrix and Rookwood stood. Bellatrix had left the accompanying Death Eater knocked out in an alley while she had gone after Hermione. Then she had collected him once it was time to head back. She had made sure to cast an oblivate to ensure he would not snitch on her. He seemed to think that he tripped and hit his head pretty hard, knocking himself out for a good portion of the trip. A lame false memory, but the best the golden girl could do. She knew that Bellatrix's body held more power in it, but she did not want to risk using it.
"And why not?" Dorian's voice, hissed in her head. "You could be great. Do many things that you could not do in your old body."
Bellatrix merely shut her eyes to ignore the thoughts. Now was not the time for her to get into a moral argument with the judge. "My lord," she curtsied, her curls falling into her face as she reopened her eyes. Snapping back up she brushed them out to the side of her face. "I went to St. Mugo's but it appears the girl is not there."
"What do you mean?" Voldemort's smile dropped from his lips and anger flared in his red eyes.
Bellatrix hastened to explain, not willing to taste another crucio at his wand. They hurt worse than when she had been cursed by the real Bellatrix. "It seems she orchestrated her own escape. The hospital have no clue as to where she could have gone. The only option is that she is in the clutches of the ministry as we speak, running to them for help. And if that is the case then the only way to get to her is to infiltrate the government."
With a snarl, Voldemort circled his wand above his head and Bellatrix ducked out of the way of his spell. Rookwood was not as quick and he took the brunt of the spell, smacking back hard into the wall. He let out a groan as he slide down to the floor in a heap. "She could be spilling our very secrets to the ministry as we speak!" Voldemort let out another roar and Bellatrix laid herself flat on the floor as his spell lit the ceiling on fire. "You are useless to me!" With that he turned on his heel and left.
Bellatrix could only wonder what the dark lord had in store now.
The safe house that Harry was instructed to take Hermione to was a small apartment. It had a cream colored bathroom, tacky decorated kitchen, a hallway with a couch and a bedroom with not much else. Harry entirely hated it. It was too small, too cramped, and the brunette's caged energy was rubbing off on him, suffocating him under it.
"Will you quit it?" he snapped at her when she had made her tenth complete circle around the circumference of the apartment. Ever since they had arrived the woman had been all energy and no rest. She had gone through all the cabinets, tossing out the food in them, which Harry had to clean up with his wand. She had tinkered with any and all gadgets and gizmos lying around, breaking them and forcing Harry to fix those he could and throw out the useless ones. She had run a bath and then drained it for no other reason than to watch the water swirl around the drain. Toilet paper rolls had been flung around the whole apartment, covering the carpet and furniture with gauzy thin paper.
This was all done in the mere thirty minutes they had arrived and the witch had gotten bored so she had taken to walking around, sighing in exasperation. If she wanted to annoy Harry it was working. "Can you bloody not sit still?"
"I'm bored. What do you want me to do? Run around and crucio people?" She paused in her movements to give him an odd look.
"I'm not saying you should do that-"
"Then good, because I won't." She took back to pacing and Harry settled down on the bed he was sitting on, trying to get comfortable and to keep his legs from jiggling. "Can't you read a book or something? Or at least go back to acting like Hermione? It's too weird having her act out of character like this," Harry grumbled, taking off his glasses and rubbing them on his shirt.
"If I had my wand, then perhaps I could entertain myself with casting some harmless spells," Hermione pointedly said, shooting Harry a glare. He had taken her wand prior to arriving here. It looked like those idiots didn't trust her with a wand. But given how she hadn't killed anyone in the past two weeks she had been around ought to be enough proof to trust her. "And no, I do not wish to impersonate Hermione any longer. Being in her body is abhorrent enough as it was."
"Hermione is the brightest witch of her age. You would do well to hold your tongue when you say such things about her, you pureblood fanatic," Harry could not hold back from protecting his friend this time.
"Sure, sure. You hold her high up on a pedestal, but you don't know the real her," Hermione sneered. This gave Harry pause. He turned to face the witch, who had come to a stop in her constant pacing to pick up one of the clocks Harry had repaired and taken to fiddling with it.
"What do you mean?" His curiosity leaked through his voice despite him trying to be nonchalant about it.
"Is Potty interested?" Hermione picked up her eyes to give him a smug look. "Does he know not as much as he thought he did about his little friend?" In truth Hermione did not have anything on the real Hermione, but it was fun to put little seeds of doubt in Harry's head. Ah, she would never grow tired of being a sneaky little snake. It came with her chosen house. Once a Slytherin, always a Slytherin.
He frowned at being found out. "I'm sure it's nothing. You are just making things up."
Hermione smiled all knowingly but did not respond to that. The clock in her hands gave a sad last tick as it fell apart once more. She dropped the pieces to the ground and kicked them aside. Harry let out a sigh and span his wand around to clean up the pieces.
He wondered if the Order had convened yet and couldn't help the stab of resentment at being left out of their plans. Being left out of things had been a pet peeve for Harry ever since he was a young boy. He blamed it on Dumbledore, really. The man had started the whole thing by never telling him anything about his prophecy.
With a sigh he decided he might as well get started on reading a book. It looked like this would be taking a while.
"The Order really has downsized in the past couple of years," Hermione said with a cocky grin as she settled down at the front of the table next to where Bellatrix was already seated. Kingsley had decided that the Order members needed real life proof in order to be convinced that the two girls had really switched places. And while Harry was glad he was going to be privy to the order's plans, he was reluctant about letting the dark witch hear this. She could always turn against them and give her lord the knowledge. Then it surely would be over; the Order would be wiped out for good. Already it had suffered too many causalities.
Molly, Arthur, Billy, George, Ron, McGonagall, and Kingsley were seated around the table, watching Bellatrix with weary eyes. But they really should have been distrustful of Hermione.
"And you say that Hermione switched bodies with Bellatrix?" Arthur asked, rubbing the stem of his nose.
The minister answered. "Yes. It has been unfortunately confirmed."
"But I spoke to Hermione not so long ago." McGonagall was not convinced. "How did it happen?"
"There is no way that vile child killing witch could have been locked up in Hermione's body. There's no way she could be alive." Molly too was in disbelief despite the proof right in front of her eyes. "I would know, I killed her."
Hermione could not restrain the cold fury that ran through her veins at this. "You were the fucking bitch who did this to me!" She was out of her seat and hands clawed, ready to choke the life out of the woman. Bellatrix was out of her seat the second after her, pulling her back as she screamed and thrashed. Her arms wrapped around Hermione's elbows and pinned them to her sides. Molly was too shocked by Hermione's out of character behavior to even move in reaction to the hands lunging at her throat. All of them, seemed to have a slow time following this.
When they had been first called to a meeting of the order, they had been surprised. They had officially disbanded after the defeat of Voldemort, but here was Kingsley calling them back together on what he claimed was an emergency. They came to the meeting, only to stare right into the pale, yet undead face of Bellatrix Lestrange. Before anyone of them could so much as fire off a spell at her, the prime minister had stopped them and calmed them down, saying there was something she had to tell them, that only she could explain. They had been furious and confused. Why should they listen to the evillest magic wielder in the world after Voldemort? They thought the situation couldn't get weirder, but it did. She claimed to be Hermione, trapped in the wrong body. Naturally everyone was in disbelief and so Hermione's actual body had been called in. Thus, this meeting.
Only Harry and Ron had their wands out, watching the scene before them. They eyed each other, not wanting to hit their friend with a spell. It may not be her inside anymore but it was still her body.
"Let me go! Let me go! That bitch ruined my reputation! Killed by a mere house witch, a mere house witch. Merlin!" Hermione struggled in the dark witch's hands, but Bellatrix had more strength in her body then the young girl did and so Hermione was not going anywhere any time soon.
"Calm down! Do you want to get hexed? I said, calm down!"
Hermione let out a shriek at Bellatrix's request and doubled over. She stayed like that for a while, her breaths heavy and drawn out as she tried to relax. She straightened up a bit when some time had passed, glaring at the redheaded witch through her now tangled brown hair.
"So...it's true..." McGonagall was the first to speak. Her face was aghast and paler than usual.
"How is she alive?" Molly said, a touch of anger in her voice. "How dare she take over Hermione's body!"
"We need to fix this. She'll poison Hermione's body!" Arthur added.
"I don't think that will be possible," Bellatrix spoke up. She nodded at Ron and Harry for the two boys to put down their wands. Hermione was no longer squirming in her hold. "There's only one way that the spell can be reversed and it is if we defeat Voldemort."
"If we what?" The other cries of exclamation were drowned out under Hermione's question. "I'll tell you about it more later," Bellatrix said quietly, urging Hermione to not question this right now.
"And why-"
"Just shut up and listen, okay." Bellatrix cleared her throat before speaking up in a voice as loud and clear as she could make it to the rest of the people present here. They steadily looked on at her, eyes worried and dark. "I hate to be the bearer of bad news but Voldemort has risen for a third time. And it is mine and Bellatrix's duty to bring him back down. The exact details of the story are long and many, so I will spare you from boredom and have you know that the spell that was cast killed us both. During the battle of Hogwarts Bellatrix found me and joined her soul with mine in a soul spell. So that when Molly killed her," as this there was a hiss from Hermione and muttered swear words, something about the house witch and shoving a foot up her ass, "it also caused me to die."
"Hermione, I'm so sorry, I never meant to do that-!" Molly rose from her seat in shock but Bellatrix nodded her head for her to sit back down. "It is not your fault Mrs. Weasley. None us knew at the time. So I have no hard feelings."
Molly reluctantly sat back down at this, her eyes still portraying the guilt she felt at having a hand in causing Hermione's death. The girl continued on with her explanation. "We both went into an afterlife and wanted to escape it. We fought the forces keeping us trapped there-"
"You two worked together to escape?" George asked, incredulously.
Bellatrix shook her head at this. "We had no memories of who we were, so naturally we did not feel any hesitancy in working together. Bellatrix was in fact the one who sought me out for my help. And she in fact, kind of saved me from that place. If I hadn't been found by her then I wouldn't be standing in front of you like this."
"That is...odd," Arthur commented, unsure how else to phrase it. The dark witch was capable of helping others? But if it was like Hermione claimed then perhaps the lack of memories on Bellatrix's part had made her more humane. And now she had her memories back, so why was she still helping Hermione? "And now why are the two of you still working together?"
Bellatrix let out a little irritated sigh. She was trying to get to that but people kept interrupting her.
"If all of you idiots could shut up and let her finish her story then perhaps all your questions would be answered," Hermione snarled from where she was still gripped in Bellatrix's strong hold, sensing the others irritation. "Just putting out a thought, if none of you have had it yet."
Bellatrix decided to use this opening that Hermione had created for her and quickly spoke before anyone could retort to the brunette's harsh words. "But Voldemort's arrival in this world was the real reason why we were reanimated back to life by the superior forces at power there." Bellatrix's ending words could barely be heard over the murmurs of outrage and disbelief. Once they had mainly died down, thanks to the efforts of Kingsley to silence them with his wand, the members began to direct their queries.
"Is this true?" Molly asked Harry, the boy caught off guard by her questioning. "Have you sensed him?" People were used to relying on Harry to be directly linked to the evil wizard but that connection was long dead. Bellatrix tried to push away the small tinge of irritation at how the members were trusting Harry to know something about Voldemort when she clearly was the one who knew in this situation. Still, she didn't say anything.
"I- my connection with the dark lord disappeared when I finished him off," he slowly said, carefully picking his words in case Hermione flew into a rage over the defeat of Voldemort. When the witch stood where she was with a blank look on her face he let out a small breath of relief. "So we only have Hermione's words."
This line of questioning ended and a new one began, this one directed at the soul stuck in Bellatrix's body.
"What superior forces?" Arthur asked only for Bellatrix to shake her head at him. "I cannot tell you. Magic prevents me from speaking too much on this issue. If I do, then I will choke."
Two and two flashed in Harry's head. "Blimey, that's what happened at the hospital when Bellatrix tried to talk to us about Voldemort!"
"I'm glad you can put two and two together without someone holding your hand Potter," Hermione said maliciously, looking up. She was calm now, and Bellatrix chanced to let her go, hoping her temperament would stick. Hermione shot her a dark look and took a step away from her, clearly not too happy to be manhandled like that.
"Bellatrix shut up. You are not helping with this situation at all," Bellatrix ground out and Hermione rolled her eyes, looking like she wanted to retort but then thought better of it and shut her mouth.
McGonagall and Kingsley exchanged surprised glances at this. The evil, dark witch was listening to Hermione? To a mudblood? Just what exactly had happened in that afterlife that both girls seemed to share an entirely new relationship from the one they had entered it with?
"As I was saying, the both of us are here to rid the world of Voldemort once more. But we cannot do it alone. We need the Order's help. Right now I've been working as a spy. I have access to Voldemort's new place of residence. I can tell you what his next plans are and how many Death Eaters he currently has. All I need is a highly trained and dependable task force to take him down along with the rest of his minions before he can get too powerful again."
There was tense silence as each one of the members looked at each other, deliberating wordlessly what they should do. George was the first one to speak up, never one for taking any situation too seriously.
"Well, you have my support. I'm definitely not afraid to take Voldemort on again. And if you've got the info on him then I'm sure whatever plan gets concocted will work."
"Thank you for your support. It means a lot to me," Bellatrix smiled, relief palpable on her face.
The other members were more hard pressed to agree to the plans. "And what about her?" Molly barely kept back from spitting at Hermione. "I know we can trust you Hermione, but not her. She's his first in command. What's to say she won't backstab us. Why would she even want to help us kill him anyway? She's probably faking that she is on our side, only to drag us into a trap. Think about it, all of the Order members are out of hiding, and will be infiltrating and attacking Voldemort. This is the perfect chance to kill us all in one go, leaving the way open for him."
Hermione bared her teeth at the red haired woman and Bellatrix had to once more reach for the brunette's shoulders, fearful that Hermione would lunge for Molly's throat. But Hermione took a step forward then paused, her anger melting from off of her face. "Hmmm, a bit upset aren't we today? Mad that what you killed can't stay dead?" Hermione put a finger up to her mouth. "Or is this still about that red headed brat of yours that I killed? What was his name again?"
"You bitch!" Molly shot up from her seat, wand in her hand. Harry and Ron reached for their wands too but they were too slow.
"Stop this!" Bellatrix cried out, brandishing her own wand and using it to deflect the spell sent at Hermione. The amount of power in her deflection spell was so strong that it knocked the older woman off of her feet and to the floor. Arthur and George who were sitting next to her, jumped at the ensuing thud she caused.
"Molly, I'm so sorry!" Bellatrix squealed out when she saw what she had done. "It's just I forgot how powerful the spells are in this body," she explained as she approached. Arthur and George were already pulling her up, each by one arm. Molly's hair was bushy and she looked frazzled.
"I'm sorry," Bellatrix gasped one more time, her hands coming up to her mouth. Molly sat back in her chair, which Arthur had magicked to piece itself back together after Molly's fall had crushed it. "It's fine, my dear." Molly tried to shoot her an understanding look but she still looked a bit out of sorts as she used her wand to fix her hair. "I shouldn't have let her aggravate me like this."
Hermione merely laughed at this. "You fools never cease to amuse me."
"You say something like that to my wife again and I'll-"
"You'll what?" Hermione cut off Arthur's threat. She arched a brow, hands cocked on her hips. "This is Hermione's body. You sure you want to inflict hurt upon it?"
Arthur let out a disgruntled sigh but averted his eyes from her, deciding it wasn't worth his time to follow that statement up with a response. "Go on, Hermione, what else is there for us to know?"
"Well, I think I covered most of it. I simply need your backing and help to make some plans. I would prefer it to be completed as quickly as possible. I don't endeavor to remain in Voldemort's presence longer than I have too."
"Let us get to work then," Kingsley said, using his authority to draw the members of the order together. "Do you have any plans?"
"I still don't trust her," Molly sniffed as Bellatrix and Hermione came to sit down at the table again.
"Then don't. I don't give a bloody hoot what you think of me."
Ignoring Hermione's comment, McGonagall turned to Bellatrix. She couldn't keep back the small scowl that framed her lips whenever she looked at the dark haired woman. She knew it was Hermione inside, but appearances were deceiving and it took a lot of conscious effort on her part to ignore the small voice in the back of her head that told her to throw this woman into the prisons. She felt bad that her brightest student was stuck in such a position. She wouldn't wish this to happen upon anyone. What if they weren't able to switch back? Oh, Merlin. The horrors of having to live in a wanted criminals body for the rest of her life. It made McGonagall's head hurt thinking about it.
"Hermione, I must admit I agree with Molly. How can we...trust her?" The implications of Bellatrix's past and all she had done were clear in the undertone of that statement. Bellatrix shifted in her seat uncomfortably. "There is no way I can make you trust her. I know of what she has done, and while it hurts me that she was that kind of person, I have no other option." Hermione rolled her eyes at the words of the other. "The deal that was made involved the two of us working together to stop Voldemort. There is no way around this. If we do not stop him then...we'll die again." This sobered up the mood in the room.
"And I don't honestly care for any of your opinions on me. However, if your distrust gets in the way of me and Hermione killing Voldemort and then being able to switch bodies, then what I did during the wars-" will look tame to what I will do to you now, is what Hermione wanted to finish with but with a strong show of restraint she swallowed those words down. "-will only get repeated in the form of some other witch or wizard that Voldemort recruits to do his evil bidding. It is only a matter of time before he finds more people who are obsessed with blood purity and will want to continue what was started." Hermione crossed her arms over her chest and looked each member unwaveringly in the eye. "The only assurance I can give you that I am trustworthy will have to be based on Hermione's word. And if she trusts me, then I would advise the rest of you to do so too. She's not the brightest witch of her age for nothing."
Bellatrix shoot her an odd look, the compliment catching her off guard.
"What?" Hermione arched a brow, annoyed by the look given to her. "Don't let it get to your head."
"If that's the case...then I do sincerely wish to help you." McGonagall was the first to offer going out on a limb and trusting the dark witch. "I had often wished for you to find your way back onto the right path Bellatrix. On a path of redemption and I suppose now is as any a good time. But do not take this as my admission of me liking you. In fact, my dislike of you remains as strong as ever. But I will trust you because I know Hermione has endured some things in the afterlife and you helped her, so as show of my trust in her, I will place the same in you. Do not let us down," the last sentence was said sharply, the older witch's eyes hardening behind her glasses. "For if you do, then I personally guarantee I will make you suffer for what you've put everyone through during the years of your pitiful existence."
When the older witch finished her impassioned speech, she cleared her throat and took off her glasses to wipe them. The Order members were shocked, as was Bellatrix. They couldn't believe the fire in the headmistresses voice. McGonagall noted that they were all looking at her with their jaws slightly slackened and eyes wide. Only Hermione was unaffected. She was looking at her nails in boredom. "Is that the best speech you could come up with? Personally I'm offended. I would think given all I've done, I deserve a few swear words tossed in and name calling to be included."
Bellatrix shot Hermione a look and hissed under her breath, "behave," to which Hermione tsked but put her hand down and leaned back in her chair.
"Thank you, for your support," Bellatrix said, smiling warmly at her old professor.
McGonagall put her glasses back on and smiled back at her favorite student.
"I've already decided to give Hermione my help even before we called this meeting together," Kingsley added and Bellatrix nodded her head in thanks at this support. George commented as well, "Like I said before, I'm ready to help and kick some bald headed snake faced wizard ass."
Bellatrix turned to Billy, the man having been silent the whole time. He looked to be brooding, rubbing his chin and deep in thought. "I will help, but only to prove to the witch that we Weasley's are not a brood to be looked down upon." His voice was gruff and there was no doubt he carried hatred for Bellatrix in his heart.
"Thank you," Bellatrix said.
It was Harry and Ron's turn next. The two boys exchanged a brief look with one another, already set on their decision. "We're definitely going to help you. It's been my duty before to kill Voldemort and now the torch has passed on to you. You supported me on my quest and I will do the same for you," Harry's face was grim as he said this. Hermione wanted his help to kill Voldemort but it clearly sounded like his time for fighting the man was over, and now it was her time to shine.
"And I'm always willing to fight by your side, 'Mione." Ron's answer was sweet and it made Bellatrix's heart melt. She knew the two of them had declared their love for one another during the battle of Hogwarts and that her death had pulled her away from being able to cement that declaration but not anymore. She was going to get their relationship back on track.
All that was left was for Molly and Arthur to answer. Everyone's attention turned to them. Arthur looked to still be contemplating, rubbing his hand on his chin. "I don't think I can ever trust her...after all she did to not only my family but to other wizarding families out there. However, I'd rather work with her and take down Voldemort than have him back around again. I'll be fighting on your side Hermione." He lifted his eyes to lock onto the dark witch's in front of him, cementing his decision.
Now it was down to Molly. The woman simply shook her head and Bellatrix felt her heart clench. It looked like she wouldn't have Ron's mom's support. "I'm sorry, Hermione, but I cannot. The wounds she left are still too raw. You'll have to go on without me." At that she stood up. "I'll be back at the Burrow if anyone needs me." And she disappeared.
"That concludes things for now," Kingsley said, clapping his massive hands together. "Naturally I'll be selecting some top notch aurors to accompany us to the fight if the need arises. Currently it stands that it will only be the Order who are privy to the knowledge of the dark lord's third rising." As it was the Order had shrunk in membership ever since the second war with Voldemort. "And since we're short on time, I dare say we should start planning our attacks right away."
"Right," Bellatrix said, sitting up straighter. "I should also mention that Voldemort has recently declared he wishes to break into Azkaban in order to retrieve the rest of his followers." This declaration had come early this morning, prompting the Death Eaters to brush up on their knowledge of the prison and on their offensive spells.
"Bloody hell, that's bad," Ron gasped out. "Another break out?"
Bellatrix nodded her head grimly. "We'll need to stop him before he gets to that point. But with my inside Intel it should be no issue."
The members all buckled down, ready for a long day of planning out different methods of attack. And when the sun had finally touched down over the horizon, only then did Bellatrix get up. Cracking her back she announced, "it's time for me to get back. I'll see you all soon."
"Wait, before you go," Hermione rushed to her feet so suddenly she startled everyone at the table, Harry and Ron reaching covertly for their wands. "I need to talk to you. Alone."
"That's not going to happen," Ron insisted. "We won't let Mione in a room alone with you."
"Ron, it's fine," Bellatrix said, giving him a level gaze. "There are some things that we need to discuss involving our body switch." Bellatrix had just remembered that she owed Hermione a full explanation. The other witch didn't know all the details concerning this and it wouldn't be fair to withhold the information, although, if Bellatrix wanted to be evil she could. As a form of revenge against the older woman never telling her things until the day of.
"Yes, a chat between girls," Hermione added nastily.
"Bell-Hermione, I don't think it's advisable to go into a room with just the two of you alone there," Kingsley said in agreement with Ron.
Bellatrix sighed in annoyance. "She's not going to kill me because this is her body. Or even hurt me for that matter. Because still, her own body."
"And I thought you were supposed to trust me," Hermione leered, hands on her hips. "Where's this so called trust of yours?"
She knew she got them when she saw their mildly shocked and guilty expressions. "It'll only be a moment," she cockily added and then grabbed Bellatrix by the elbow and marched her over to a room three doors down. "Cast a privacy spell," she instructed as Bellatrix was the only one with a wand on her out of the two of them.
Bellatrix tsked at being commanded around but did as was asked.
"Now spill," Hermione ordered impatiently, taking to sitting down on the armchair here and crossing her arms as her feet jittered.
"So, the judges talk to us in our heads and one of them just so happened to mention to me that this body switch happened to be a gift from Gabriel. And the only way to reverse it is to kill Voldemort."
"Are you sure it's true?"
"You don't trust me?" Bellatrix couldn't help but accuse with a bit of hurt. She was never one to keep secrets from the other. It was the older witch who did.
"It's not that I don't trust you. I don't trust the judges," Hermione clarified.
"I know their not exactly the best resources but their the only thing we've got to rely on. We do know they've given us gifts. Ibraham's was a gift that prevented us from talking about the hotel, and it seems Gabriel's is the body switch to ensure that we don't back out of killing Voldemort." Bellatrix didn't want to remind the other that the switch was mostly likely put in place to make sure the older witch didn't falter in her killing strike.
Hermione let out an angry growl. "I bloody hate them so much." There was no doubt she didn't.
"Well, that's all I have to fill you in on, so I'll be on my way," Bellatrix made to turn to the door when Hermione's next request stopped her. "Say, what happened in Dorian's dance hall?"
"Huh? Why do you ask that?" Bellatrix tried to ask nonchalantly although her heart had begun to speed up.
"Obviously I ask because I can't bloody remember anything that happened then. All I recall is last fighting Voldemort, then Dorian snatching me up and then coming to afterwards and finding myself wearing a dress that I wasn't wearing before and my wand missing."
Bellatrix's shrugged casually as she turned to face the other girl who was now on her feet, eyes demanding answers. "You had a spell cast on you."
"Bloody obviously. But what happened during the spell?" Hermione was getting more and more impatient by the minute at Bellatrix's inadequate answers.
Shit, what do I say? There was no way that she wanted to admit that they had damn nearly kissed! "Basically I had to find you, and undo the spell."
Hermione jerked her hand in an and-then motion, urging the girl to continue. Bellatrix swallowed deeply. "To break the spell we had to dance together." Then she looked away as memories of the dance, of the way they had been pressed close together, of their lips hovering inches away filled her mind. She could feel a blush grow on her face and she couldn't dare to hold eye contact with the other.
There was a beat of silence as the brunette digested this, feeling a bit weird at her how her old body was blushing. It never did that. "There's something you're not telling me." There was a rustle of fabric as she moved forwards until she was one or two inches away. "What are you not telling me?"
"Can't we just leave it how it is?" Bellatrix asked with a touch of panic now.
"No." Hermione was stubborn. "I want to know."
"Well I'm not going to tell you. You didn't tell me everything about yourself, so I don't see why I can't do the same," Bellatrix refused to give in. She glared defiantly at Hermione, daring her to dispute this. She couldn't.
"Fine then. Be like that." The brunette stalked over to the door, and Bellatrix chalked it up to her victory over the other, when she felt a hand dart into her robes pocket.
"Hey!" she cried angrily, hand racing to catch her wand's handle but she was too slow. Hermione grabbed her by one shoulder and placed the wand tip to the dark haired woman's temple. With a horrified realization that the soul inside Hermione's body was trained in Legilimency, she feared the worst and pushed at the hold on her. Hermione stumbled back, frowning.
"How dare you!" Bellatrix's huffed, scandalized. "You tried to invade my privacy!"
"I only did it because someone here wouldn't tell me what I wanted to know!"
"So is that what you do? You invade people's minds because they don't want to tell you things?"
"It's because you were withholding information that concerns me! I couldn't give a rat's ass if it was about someone else," Hermione cried out, her hands curling on the wand in her grip. Bellatrix hadn't made an effort to reach for it.
"Oh, so I see how it is," Bellatrix said coldly, sniffing.
"That's how it's always been," Hermione grumbled out, the sudden coolness of Bellatrix's tone catching her off guard and making her anger falter. "And besides, your stupid body doesn't have that magical ability yet, so I couldn't even do anything." She handed over the wand to her, letting it lie on the flat of her palm as a sort of peace offering, Bellatrix snatching it up angrily. Hermione had vowed not to hurt the other, yet she just had, even if it hadn't been physically.
"Then it's a good thing this is all just business between us," was the chilly reply that made Hermione wince.
"I'll be going," Hermione added awkwardly and unnecessarily, because she didn't know what else to say and Merlin be damned she would not cave and make an apology if Bellatrix didn't apologize first for being this infuriating and not telling her what it was she wanted to know. This could have all been avoided if the other had just chosen to speak!
Then Hermione awkwardly made her way to the door, swinging it open. Bellatrix was silent as she watched the other go, anger boiling in her veins. She was working her jaw and thinking over things. Just as Hermione exited the doorway, Bellatrix came to a conclusion. "I didn't want to tell you anything so I could spare you from embarrassment. But during the dance you tried to kiss me."
When Hermione spun around with a 'what?' sputtering forth from her lips, Bellatrix used her wand and slammed the door shut on the other's face. Hermione stood there dumbfounded for a moment as her cheeks flared red. That wasn't-what? She had tried to kiss her? Why? What sort of spell had she been under?
Hermione shook her head to dispel the redness in her cheeks. Why did she even care? She wasn't some school girl to be worrying about a kiss that had never even happened. But even as she tried to drive the thoughts out of her head, she kept repeating Bellatrix's words over and over again, and wondering how exactly the scene had played out. She knew they had danced together, and that somehow this had lead to them almost joining lips. She badly wished she could remember the scene just so she could know how badly she had embarrassed herself.
Merlin, kissing her? Hermione's face flushed another shade redder and she had to wait in the hallway a moment so that her face could cool down and the scandalous thoughts could leave her head. It wouldn't do for the Order members to see her so flustered. Curse the younger girl's complexion for turning red so easily. When she felt composed enough, she walked back to the table where the Order members were still sitting around, apparently waiting for the two witches to finish.
"What?" Hermione barked in annoyance, the spat with Bellatrix fueling her snappish attitude. She especially found it annoying the way Ron looked at her. "See something you like?"
The boy flushed at this, because it was after all Hermione's body and the way she had brazenly gestured to it had sparked his teenage imagination. He tried to distract himself with a question. "Where's Hermione?"
"Probably having a good cry or something," Hermione shrugged casually and when she saw Harry and Ron's eyes narrow in suspicion she added, "Over the fortune of being in a body of such high blood status."
"Filth," Ron muttered before he strode past Hermione and went to go check up on the real Hermione.
Hermione merely shrugged again and sat down, going about humming loudly to herself out of tune on purpose to incite the others while tapping on the table tops. She was irked and she was going to get others on the same level of annoyance as her. It seemed she had already gotten to McGonagall because the woman was glaring at her over the frames of her glasses.
Bellatrix was still in the room, trying to calm herself down by looking out the window at the view there. The grassy fields didn't help to calm her down as they reminded her way too much of the fields she had seen outside the hotel windows. Would she ever look at fields the same way?
She snorted bitterly and heaved a deep sigh when a knock came on her door. "Bellatrix, I swear if that's you-"
"Hermione it's me," Ron's muffled voice came in through the closed door and Bellatrix tried not to sigh in irritation. She wasn't in the mood for company but perhaps Ron could make it better. She opened the door with her wand and let him in.
"Uh, hey. You're not crying." He seemed a touch bewildered and disappointed as he noted this. Like he wanted her to be crying so he could comfort her.
"No. I'm not," she noted curtly.
"Are you okay?" he asked, taking in her rigid stance.
"I'm fine...it's just that everything is stressing me out. Things aren't how they were supposed to be. I was supposed to not die, I was meant to be by your side. Our relationship is suffering because of this. I want to be able to hold your hand and hug you." She could feel a dam break at being denied contact with her boyfriend and soon she really would be crying.
"It's fine. Things will work out," Ron assured although he didn't look at all reassuring. His face was twisted up in a scowl. "Sorry, it's just hard hearing you say all those things about us being in a relationship when you're...her."
Bellatrix's lips thinned humorlessly. "Maybe I should just put a paper bag over my head then whenever I walk around you." Ron hadn't made the situation better. Now he made her feel worse.
"No, don't do that." At least he had the common decency to pretend he didn't want her to do it, but she had seen the glimmer in his eye that meant he had actually considered it for a second or two as a good idea.
Bellatrix sighed. "I think it's time I should go. It's been long enough."
"Right." Ron seemed a little saddened by her sudden desire to end their talk. He had planned more to say but being face to face with the dark witch was making it harder for him to say. The two of them then left back to the room with the members.
"Alright, I'm all settled and will now be leaving. See you soon."
She disappeared and all the remaining members rose to their feet. "Best everyone get's their sleep tonight. Tomorrow is a big day," Kingsley said and Hermione, who had remained seated, picked up her hand, waving it in the air like a little school kid. "And what will I be doing for the night? I don't have anywhere to stay."
Kingsley eyed Harry and the boy couldn't keep the groan in his mouth from coming out. "I already baby sat her once. Can't someone else do it?"
But when he saw the unwavering facial expression on the prime minster's face he sighed and accepted his fate.
Hermione let out a wild whoop at his pain. "I hope you can sleep through loud noises, Potter." Her ominous words did nothing to lift his mood.
It was going to be a long night.