Masquerade: The Veneer of Thalia and Melpomene
Chapter 33: The Truth Appears at Last
Truth is everybody is going to hurt you: you just gotta find the ones worth suffering for
-Bob Marley-
Hermione needed to see Bellatrix the next day. Even though it wasn't on the appointed schedule she just had to. She dreaded to, but she needed to, because she felt that if she didn't see her she would...she would...she didn't know, she just really wanted to see the other. She didn't even know what she would do once she got there. She utterly had no plans, just had gotten up from bed, dressed, and apparated here. And now she was dawdling on the doorstep. Her palms were sweaty and nerves played a solo performance in her stomach. Her dream from last night ran constantly in her head, bringing with it a tinge of arousal each time, and she unconsciously ran a thumb over where she had hidden her hickey with a charm spell.
This is a bad idea, the rational part of her mind told her. It's only going to lead to embarrassment for you.
But Hermione had to address this attraction (yes, she had accepted she was attracted to the older woman, and that it wasn't the soul spell's fault, having spent the early hours of the morning alternating between refusal and acceptance of this before she finally decided to suck it up and face the truth) between them because she needed to know what course of action the two of them would take in regards with it. She couldn't just make a decision without Bellatrix's consent. It was her life too.
Swallowing down the lump in her throat, she pushed the door open and went in. Immediately she was aware of a certain commotion. "What's going on here?" she demanded, making her presence known. Loud crashing noises were coming from upstairs and there were two frazzled aurors standing outside the doors.
"She's gone on a rampage again," answered the one.
"And Shivers has gone in to stop her."
Those words froze Hermione's breath in her chest. No, not Shivers. He was looking for any excuse to hurt Bellatrix. She pushed past the aurors and into Bellatrix's bedroom. There she found that luckily not too much damage had been done. Bellatrix was merely sitting in her chair, bound to it stiffly, while Shivers was pacing in front of her, yelling. "And what's got you riled up this time?"
Bellatrix's attention towards him could be described as ignorant and she was staring off to the side, lost in her thoughts. When Hermione came in her eyes flicked over to her, stopping Shivers rant as he turned to see who it was that was interrupting him.
"Miss Granger," he said, not looking happy at all to see her.
"Shivers, you are dismissed," Hermione coldly said, without even letting him fill her in on what happened.
His mouth fell open in shock at this but she shook her head and he closed his mouth, bowed his head and left. Hermione made sure to close the door behind him and placed some silencing charms on it, before undoing the binding spell on the older witch. Bellatrix rubbed her wrists but didn't get up or say anything. She was surprisingly quiet. "I'm not even going to ask what got you upset this time, because I figure I already know. It's the same thing that's got me... all messed up." Hermione started, sucking in a huge breath. She knew it was now or never with this.
She tried to catch Bellatrix's eye but the other witch was not having it. And that was when Hermione noticed the bruises on Bellatrix's neck, although bite marks might be more accurate. They were dark and angry, coming in clusters. "Did Shivers do that to you?" Hermione let out a horrified whisper. "What spell did he use on you? Or did he bite you himself?" Bellatrix didn't say anything still, so Hermione turned to rush out the door to accost Shivers when Bellatrix barked out "stop!"
Hermione paused and turned back to Bellatrix who had gotten out of her seat in panic. She froze now, in a pose where one hand was outstretched, slowly lowering it down when she realized what she had done. "It wasn't him," she said gruffly, shifting her eyes off of Hermione's face when she felt she had been looking too long.
"Then who did that? I'm sure you can't have done such a thing in your sleep, to yourself!"
"That's not important right now. Look, I've stopped my temper tantrum, so why don't you go on home now," Bellatrix made a shooing motion, her tone ugly, or at least trying to be, because for some reason it lacked her usual vitriol. She almost seemed defeated.
"I'm not going to go home, because I need to talk to you about something. About this thing we have going on between us."
"No, we are not going there-" Bellatrix's eyes flashed in panic.
"Oh, we are so going there!" Hermione stomped her foot. "And don't you dare try to ignore this, because this is way too huge of an issue to do that. It's not something we can destroy. This elephant in the room is sitting on us, and suffocating us, and we will die, if we don't get it off our chests!" Hermione paused and took a breath here, realizing she had been talking very loudly and passionately. "Well, not literally die, but figuratively."
"An elephant in the room?" Bellatrix's eyes widened and she looked around and Hermione wanted to slap herself. She forgot such expressions weren't used by wizardkind. And she didn't feel like explaining it a second time when there were more important things to talk about.
"Not an actual elephant- just, please work with me for once. I'm begging you to. We need to address the fact that we...have mutual feelings of attraction for one...another." Hermione's voice got quieter at this and her cheeks heated up.
Bellatrix's response was a haughty smirk. "Me? A pureblood? Having feelings for the muggleborn? What utter rubbish! Why its such rubbish that you should discard your vacuous disillusionment's into the trash, where they belong!"
"It's not embarrassing to admit that you have feelings! There's nothing wrong with being a bit more empathetic! So stop denying this!" Hermione clenched her fingers. She knew she was right. She had to be. Bellatrix hadn't outright confirmed it, but the fact that she had worked just as hard if not more to dismantle the soul spell, meant that she in part had felt what Hermione felt. And it was attraction. The fact that Bellatrix was also attracted to Hermione made the brunette feel less embarrassed and depressed by these forbidden feelings. "I only want to help us alleviate this conundrum we've fallen into, but you are being a stubborn old cow about this all!"
"There is nothing to solve," Bellatrix hissed, hands crossed over her chest. "You are delusional and Merlin knows why, you've had the foolish idea to fall in love with me. I know I'm good looking, and highly intelligent and skilled, so I can see why this happened." At this Bellatrix gave a cocky smirk before anger reigned supreme on her face. "But why you think I share a school girl crush with you is beyond me!"
Hermione's nostrils flared, her anger giving her confidence. "You can't keep denying this. It isn't an only me situation. This encompasses you whether or not you're being a giant baby about this all. And now I'm going to say this loud and clear because I want to do something about this situation that you refuse to acknowledge. Bellatrix Black, I am attracted to you-"
In panic, Bellatrix surged forward and clamped a hand around Hermione's mouth. The action so startled the brunette that she took a step back, letting her back hit the wall. "Would you shut up? Do you want the aurors to know all of your business?" she hissed, black eyes searching Hermione's face.
Hermione wanted to point out that she had cast a privacy spell on the door, but she couldn't with a hand over her mouth. This close up to the other woman, Hermione could smell her pine wood scent, tinged with a touch of cinnamon. It made her eyes want to flutter shut, made her want to breathe in more deeply, but she resisted the urge.
Bellatrix let out a sigh when she saw Hermione was compliant and let go, stationing her arm by Hermione's head instead, the brunette sucking in air happily only to have it stutter in her chest when she noticed how close the two of them were standing next to each other. Hermione's eyes were drawn to the bites on Bellatrix's neck and she wondered yet again how they had come to be.
The older witch's eyes were contemplative and hard, like she was coming to a hard decision. "And what would you do...about this whole situation if indeed I was to feel a speck of the same way for you as you do for me?" Her voice was soft, almost discouraged.
Bellatrix had been up all of the rest of the night, thinking. Whatever it was, she couldn't let her feelings continue to grow. There was no logical reason as to why she should want them to grow, would want to pursue the other. So if Hermione had a solution for this, then she was glad. She refused to believe on any level that Hermione could like her back, even if the evidence was plain as day.
"I...I don't know. That's why I wanted to talk to you," Hermione admitted. "If you like me-"
"Hypothetically," Bellatrix cut in, arching a brow and Hermione had to resist the urge to roll her eyes. "Fine, hypothetically speaking, the two of us like each other but we are in no position to act on these feelings. So the question remains, will we choose to suffer emotionally but do what society deems right, or will we disregard society and follow our hearts?"
"Hmm," Bellatrix commented and shifted her eyes to the side, thinking. "I think the answer is obvious. But what I don't understand is why now? Why have feelings now?" And why did I have such a dream? Hermione doesn't have the bruises on her neck like I do, so does that mean it's only me whose suffering from such dreams?
Another voice scoffed in her head. Of course she wouldn't have dreams like that. She's pure and not twisted like you!
Words from Bellatrix's dream echoed in her head, the voice of the speaker familiar but escaping her for now. She felt the voice had significance, could offer her a clue to this sudden issue, but why?
"Wait, what do you mean the answer is obvious?" Hermione asked. There was a part of her that knew the first choice was the smart choice, the choice she had to make. But she was hoping the second answer would be what Bellatrix choose no matter how foolish this wish was.
Oh Merlin, this attraction is worse than I thought. Hermione could actually imagine herself dating the other woman. Since when had it gotten this bad?
Bellatrix brought her eyes back to Hermione. "Are you kidding me?" her lips sneered up in a mocking look. "You're the brains of the group, I shouldn't have to spell this out for you. Just look at our position. I'm a death eater-"
"Ex-death eater," Hermione interjected.
"And you're the golden girl. I can't see a happy end for us, should we dare to go the route of the second way."
Hermione lowered her eyes in dejection, unable to meet the other's gaze and her words. Bellatrix was right. Hermione was silly for thinking such things. But being attracted to someone made a person act foolishly. They were blinded by their affections, by their love to the other. Love...the voice in the dream had called it love. But why...? It couldn't really be that serious, could it? This was just a silly crush. It had to be, created by the many hours and adventures the two had shared together. After all, the same had happened to her and Ron before. They had started off in mutual dislike of each other but as the years and journeys brought them closer they had gained feelings for each other.
But this is different, a voice in her head argued. It was never that serious between you and Ron.
Hermione bit her bottom lip, finding herself eyeing the marks on Bellatrix's neck once more. They looked really painful. Had she perchance...gotten it in a dream like Hermione had? The brunette was sure that Dorian had had something to do with the dream, the voice in that illusion suddenly adding up to be his. She could sense his magic at work for who else held counsel over her like the judges. All but one of the gifts had been unwrapped. Could these naughty dreams be his punishment? But what had been his goal in sending her such a dream? Making her uncomfortable? In her dream she had gotten that hickey and if Dorian had visited her...then did that mean he had also visited Bellatrix?
Oh fuck, Hermione drew in a shallow breath as a sudden bolt of arousal hit her, shooting down straight into her crotch. She needed to steady herself, latching onto the dark witch's extended arm, glad that the wall was against her back. Her knees felt weak at the sudden conclusion she had come to. Bellatrix had avoided explaining where the marks had come from...meaning she had had to gotten them from a dream like Hermione did. Fuck, she was dreaming about me too. And it looks that whatever it was, it was certainly a lot more fucking dirty than my dream.
Hermione felt like her skin was on fire as her mind wandered to what it was exactly that she did in the older woman's dream. Had Hermione been the one to leave those marks?
"What's wrong?" Bellatrix asked, taken off guard by Hermione's hard grip on her arm. Her fingers were shaking. Why? "It's never good when you shut up for more than ten seconds at a time."
Hermione had been so wrapped up in her thoughts that she had forgotten where she was right now. She met Bellatrix's eyes at this, feeling like she was seeing the woman in a whole different light. She wants me, possibly more than I want her. And she's being so considerate...for my feelings, for my future. She's changed a lot.
Without thinking about it, Hermione reached out with her free hand and touched one of the marks of Bellatrix's neck. The older woman startled at this, watching Hermione's soft slow motions with a wary gaze but she didn't say anything or pull back yet. Hermione felt a touch of possessiveness hit her. Those were her marks, even if she hadn't actually made them. And they were tattooed up and down the raven haired woman's skin, branding hers as Hermione's.
"Did these hurt?" she asked gently, in a half whisper. She wanted to leave marks on the others skin in real life.
"Of course not," Bellatrix let out a small haughty snort. But her eyes had half lidded as the other continued to trace over the marks, the brunette moving from one to the other. The tingles were back for the both of them, and after their dreams they now had deeper meaning; they brought forth a strong urge to turn these touches into something more substantial that involved heat and gasped moans.
They were both quiet, for too long. Bellatrix was the first to shake herself out of this weird spell they had fallen under, that had detracted their conversation. She pushed Hermione's hand away but she didn't move away. Hermione frowned; she wouldn't mind mapping out the rest of other's neck. "Look, this is dangerous," Bellatrix said, her voice a bit shaky. "We can't-you shouldn't be doing that. We need to give up on all this."
"I know who did that to you," Hermione burst out, catching Bellatrix off guard with that comment.
"What?" the woman's head reared back, panic flashing in her eyes. But Hermione wouldn't let her escape. She tugged the other back roughly by her shoulder, anchoring onto her outstretched arm. Did Hermione know about the dream-? But no, that wasn't possible.
"Dorian," Hermione whispered and suddenly everything made sense. The voice in the dream-the sudden attraction. Bellatrix let a dark chuckle slip from her lips. Of course, leave it to that bastard to do this to them. His was the only gift they hadn't been able to figure out. He was going to make them suffer with these damnable feelings, probably getting a good laugh out of this because he knew just how kindly the world would take to them acting upon their feelings.
Bellatrix wondered how deep he had installed these feelings in them. Maybe it was only a surface attraction? A temporary thing? But no, he had expressed multiple times about wanting to make them suffer for all of eternity. So these feelings wouldn't be leaving any time soon.
A slow clap started in her head. She knew it was Dorian before he even spoke. "You finally figured it out. It only took you an eternity and a dirty dream to do so."
Bellatrix wanted to spit venom at him but before she could, her words choked up due to her sudden flash of anger, he continued on. "Now now, before you yell my ears off, I want to point something out. You said that you don't know how long these feelings might last, and that is a legit concern. However, did you think to suppose that perhaps I made a way to get out of this? Every gift has an off switch, a requirement to be rid of it."
Bellatrix would have doubted his words if only she wasn't desperate for a way to repair this situation. I knew I couldn't be attracted to Hermione! I knew it! Bloody Dorian and his tricks! She had certainly never fancied a woman before and she was sure Hermione was straight too. Falling for each other was as out of character for the both of them as could be. Bloody Dorian. She couldn't stop cursing his name.
Out of all the judges she really hated him. If she could kill him she would. Never before had she despised anyone this much, not even the muggleborns.
"I'm a big romantic, and I do so love muggle fairy tales-"
Get on with it! Bellatrix snarled at him.
He tsked, hurt at this. "No need to be so rude-"
Oh, there is all the need! Bellatrix hissed at him. She would be spitting venom if she could.
"I didn't know the thought of love sickened you so. Then I guess the next step of what you have to do will be murder on your soul."
What's the next step? Bellatrix didn't like where this was going at all. Does Hermione know about this too?
"No, I haven't told her yet. I figured you could have the honor of doing so. For the next part, you two have to kiss and just like in the fairy tales the magic will become undone!" His voice was thick with humor.
...are you shitting me? Bellatrix paled at this. She must have been too silent for too long, and looked really stressed out because Hermione noticed. "Are you okay?" she asked in concern. "You've been quiet for more than ten seconds and that's usually a bad sign," she threw back Bellatrix's own words at the older woman but Bellatrix didn't have the strength to muster a smile.
"I'm not shitting you. It's real. You know me. I absolutely would do something like this," Dorian stated cheerfully.
It was like him to do something like this. So fuck him for it. "And the sooner you do it, the better," he prodded. "Now come on. Kiss already. It's just a simple peck. Anyone can do it. Don't be a baby about it."
But Bellatrix couldn't even bring up any anger at him currently. All she felt was a mixture of dread and elation running through her veins. She could kiss Hermione like she kissed her in the dream and there would be a reason for it. It would be justified, so surely that wasn't a bad thing. Bellatrix just had to tell her what it was Dorian had told her. This was going to be embarrassing, no doubt, which was why Hermione hadn't been informed; it was so Dorian could squeeze the most amusement out of his gift before it was broken.
Maybe I can tell her after the kiss. What if she hears the idea and is repulsed and doesn't give me a chance to go through with it? If I just go for it, then the spell will be broken and then I can tell Hermione.
"Bellatrix?" Hermione questioned as she watched the older woman's eyes flick back and forth madly almost as if she was debating something with herself.
The utterance of the older woman's name brought her out of her thoughts and she gave Hermione almost an apologetic look.
Why did she look like that? Had Hermione startled her too much with the revelation? Had Bellatrix somehow pieced it together that Hermione had had a naughty dream about her? Oh Merlin, if she has...that's downright shameful. Hermione couldn't bare the thought that the other knew. But she didn't have any visible hickeys, she had made sure to cover them up.
But that wasn't the case; Bella had something else on her mind. Bellatrix slowly, almost tentatively leaned in, her eyes focusing on one part of Hermione's face. Hermione's breath caught in her throat. Oh shit, is she-is she going to do what I think she is? Hermione's eyes tracked the path of Bellatrix's mouth and she found herself unable to move or to think. Their mouths were now several centimeters apart and Hermione could feel Bellatrix's warm breath ghosting over her lips. Her heart was beating like crazy and her grip tightened where it was holding onto Bellatrix's arm still.
She was caught between fear and excitement. "What are you doing?" she whispered, not sure if she was ready for this, wavering on the indecisive no matter how badly her body was ready for this.
"Just checking something," Bellatrix whispered back, and then she kissed Hermione.
The kiss went on for eternity; it only lasted a few seconds. It was chaste but better than any kiss Hermione had shared with Bellatrix in her dream. And it was because this was real. It was actually happening. Hermione's usually active mind shut down as her body took over. Her hands went up to curl in the other woman's hair, holding her steady as their lips melted together.
It felt like a part of Hermione had been fulfilled, like something had been missing before it finally came back to her. It felt right no matter how wrong it really was, but Hermione couldn't stop herself right now. Her eyes had fluttered shut and she breathed in Bellatrix's scent heavily, relinquishing this moment, conscripting everything to her memory so she could remember it forever.
But Bellatrix was already drawing away, before Hermione could even move her lips more. Hermione's eyes opened in reluctance and her hands slowly slide down to Bellatrix's shoulders. The older witch's eyes looked hard and sad at the same time.
Bellatrix had kissed Hermione like Dorian had told her to, but she didn't feel any spell resolving. In fact, her feelings had only intensified if that was possible. She had a strong feeling that Dorian had played her- played them. She swallowed down hard, feeling bad for taking advantage of the younger girl like this, by forcing a kiss on her. Hermione didn't look disgusted however, instead she was blushing and her eyes had gone glassy.
No, perhaps that was an even worse reaction than disgust. Because it meant Bellatrix had made the wrong move and dragged the both of them father down into this infernal abyss.
Red hot anger filled her as she thought of that damned judge. "Dorian," she hissed. That was it. The last straw. He was about to find out what awaited those who crossed a Black; who made a fool of her. "I'm going to kill him," she vowed and then she violently pulled herself free and left the room, slamming the door shut behind her.
As Hermione stood there, heat lingering in her cheeks and pooling in between her thighs, she thought that Bellatrix Black's kiss had no right feeling as soft and gentle as it had.
She raked her hands through her hair, letting out a heavy sigh when she realized that she was in too deep in this, and that there was no way she could give up on Bellatrix now. "Two options, huh," she laughed bitterly into the empty room as Bellatrix's howls began to sound from the downstairs. "There's only ever been one." She bit her lip and sank down to the floor, wrapping her arms around herself as if she could somehow shove these stupid feelings inside her and keep them trapped there.
She didn't know how long she sat there, but long enough that Bellatrix's screams of frustration and threats of death had finally died down. Only then did Hermione feel composed enough to go downstairs and seek out the dark haired woman. She was worried, what did they do now? Why had Bellatrix kissed her? Had she been checking her own feelings? And if so, what had the answer been? Given Bellatrix's utterance of Dorian's name and the proclamation that she would kill him, it hadn't been a savory conclusion. Which worried Hermione. Was she the only one that was delusional in this case, hoping to pursue something more with the older woman? Did she really have a hopeless school girl crush?
Oh Merlin, I'm so fucked, she groaned internally and rubbed her forehead. She found the downstairs a mess as usual but didn't bother to clean it up this time. She followed Bellatrix's mutterings into one of the side rooms. There she found the woman had pushed all the furniture aside, drawn the curtains, and was rubbing out hexagons and pentagrams onto the floor using some red liquid cupped in her hand. Several candles were lit, placed in strategic points around the circle.
"Bellatrix, what are you doing?" Hermione asked, completely not expecting this scene.
"I'm going to summon that right bastard Dorian and kill him, with or without my wand!" Bellatrix snapped, engrossed in her work and not even picking up her head to look at the brunette. She shuffled off to one side of the circle on her haunches and began to draw more lines with her fingers, dipping them into the pool of red in her hand, and oh Merlin, that's her blood, Hermione realized. Bellatrix was dead serious.
Hermione wanted to ask if the circle would even work. What spells Bellatrix was planning to say to summon him, but all that came out was, "was the kiss really that bad?"
Hermione immediately wanted to hit herself for asking that, and in such a weak, vulnerable voice.
This got Bellatrix's attention. "What?" she picked her head up, arched brow up high enough to touch her hairline.
"Uh, I, forget I said anything," Hermione flustered, shaking her hands. "Anyways, I think we should talk before you do something rash-"
"I'm through with talking!" Bellatrix shot up to her feet, the circle now complete. She wiped her bloody hands on her dress smearing it in red. "All we ever do is talk and look where this has gotten us! Dorian, this is all Dorian's gift!"
"Dorian's gift?" Hermione whispered in horror and in that same instant everything came together in her mind like a violent collision, making her head throb in pain. Her hands flew up to her mouth. "He's been toying with our emotions?" She felt like she was going to be sick. Everything she had felt had been a lie?
"Yes. And he told me about it," Bellatrix pointed at her head. "He told me if I kissed you the spell would end but that bloody fucker was lying! And it didn't work. So I'm going to drag his arse back from the hotel and get him to remove this gift of his!"
So that was why Bellatrix had kissed Hermione. It was in order to remove the gift. Hermione felt a tinge of hurt at this. Why was Bellatrix so insistent on removing the attraction between the two of them? But as soon as Hermione felt the hurt she shoved it away. It was only manufactured hurt. Not real hurt. Because her feelings weren't genuine.
"Do you really think you can summon him? He's more powerful than the both of us-"
"We've beat him before. I'm not scared to try it again." Bellatrix was in an absolute frenzy right now, all spastic energy and roving eyes and anger that boiled just underneath the surface of her skin, barely controlled. Hermione wanted to calm her down but she didn't know how. Right now the woman was beyond rationale.
"You are absolutely arrogant. I like that," a suave voice said approvingly and the candles in the circle flickered before extinguishing, throwing the room into near dark. "But no one can summon me, but me." This was said in a harder tone and as the two woman looked, the candles lit once more and in the middle of the circle stood Dorian.
He was dressed to the tens, a red business suit on, black collar shirt open and hair slicked back, revealing his green eyes which sparkled with an inner light.
"You!" Bellatrix screeched and grabbing the nearest thing next to her, she flung it at his head. It passed harmlessly through, his image wavering slightly, before it crashed to the floor behind him. This didn't deter her, she only kept grabbing more things and throwing them at him as she screamed obscenities. Dorian merely laughed, as if the objects passing through him were tickling him. His laughter contrasted sharply with Bellatrix's seriousness and it only served to infuriate her more.
"Bellatrix stop!" Hermione pleaded, coming up to the woman to try and stop her. She had run out of things to hit Dorian with, the table on her left proving to be too heavy for her to lift. And as Hermione approached her she had an idea. "Your wand. Give me your wand!"
"No, Bellatrix stop that! Stop this!" Hermione placed her hands defensively over her pocket as Bellatrix lunged for it.
"Give me the wand so I can kill the git dead! So I can make him suffer tens of thousands of times what he has done to us! To me!"
"Bellatrix stop this! You can't even use magic, you'll get in trouble again!" Hermione cried out, struggling against the other. But the raven haired witch was too far gone for reason. They fought, stumbling halfway across the room before Hermione tripped over one of the candles and fell flat on her back, the older witch tumbling after her.
Looking down at her with mad eyes, hair flying all over the place, Bellatrix struck too close of a resemblance to that night at Malfoy manor and Hermione didn't like it. Some part of her, a part that she thought didn't exist, a part that was scared of getting hurt again at Bellatrix's hands, took over her body and she arched out a hand, catching the older witch in the nose. Bellatrix reared up with a hiss, clutching her bloody nose.
"I'm so sorry," Hermione squeaked out, sitting up. "It was...I was just afraid and you were on top of me and I just lashed out...and I didn't mean to. You were scaring me."
Bellatrix didn't say anything, just held onto her bleeding nose. She looked calm now, a sort of clarity where there had only been storm clouds in her eyes before. "It's okay," she said at last, her voice sounding a bit funny due to her nose. "I was out of control and..." She swallowed at this and got up, turning to glare at Dorian who stood where he still was, hand on his chin and handsome amused grin on his face.
"Quite a show ladies. You never fail to entertain. I must say, you two are shaping up to be my favorite mortals this century."
Bellatrix shoulders tensed up and Hermione could tell the other was getting angrier just listening to the man speak so Hermione stood up and placed a comforting hand on Bellatrix's shoulder. "It's going to be okay. Don't let him rile you up. He's trying to do it on purpose, to mess with us."
Bellatrix nodded her head, but it was going to be harder done than said. Just the sight of his smug grin was enough to make her go on a blood rage. Yet the hand on her shoulder helped immensely as did the guilt that she had almost hurt Hermione. She couldn't lose control of herself like that. She couldn't. She wouldn't let him win.
"Dorian, I think it is obvious why we called you here-"
"You didn't call me here," he clarified and Bellatrix grit her teeth. Stay calm. Stay calm, she reminded herself. Hermione's hand on her shoulder tightened and Bellatrix drew strength from that. "We want you to reverse the gift. You lied about the kiss breaking the spell so now you owe us the real truth. How do we break it?"
At this Dorian looked on at them as if they were telling him a joke, chuckling hard. Those chuckles died down when he saw their somber faces "Oh, wait, you're serious?"
"As serious as can be," Hermione affirmed. She didn't like Dorian anymore than Bellatrix did but she knew better than to scream at him. Right now their futures hung in his balance and they needed him to cooperate with them. They couldn't antagonize him, although it seemed he loved it when they did.
He gave out a loud guff, wiping away at some tears in his eyes. "Oh this is rich. The two brightest witches of the modern era and yet they are both so obtuse a rock looks like a genius next to them."
Hermione and Bellatrix were both equally offended by this but they didn't say anything, figuring they would let him continue on. They were getting real tired of his delays in getting to the truth.
"The real truth of the matter is...wait for it..." he smirked as he dragged the moment out.
"Get on with it!" Hermione hissed out before Bellatrix could, surprising the older woman with the vitriol in her voice.
"That this isn't my gift," Dorian concluded and watched gleefully as confusion erupted on the two woman's faces.
"What do you mean this isn't your gift?" Bellatrix demanded, removing her hand from her nose which had ceased bleeding.
"Whose is it? We've already gone through both Ibraham's and Gabriel's! Yours is the only one that remains!" Hermione added.
"Yes, while my gift does still remain, it's not this. It's the dreams that the both of you have about each other."
"The both of us...?" Bellatrix looked over at Hermione at this, who was blushing and looking straight ahead. Hermione also dreamed about her? But what? She didn't have any marks on her neck. Maybe it's because they're not on her neck, but elsewhere? A mischievous voice in her head suggested. Shut up! She growled at it.
"I haunt your realm of sleep."
"But why give us dreams such as these? What would they accomplish?" Hermione asked, trying to temper the furious blush in her cheeks. She couldn't believe Dorian had just put her on the spot like that.
"My dear Hermione, how you wound me by being this obtuse," Dorian placed a hand over his hurt heart. "My gift, unlike the other judges, is actually beneficial to you both."
"And how is that?" Bellatrix angrily demanded, moving some of her hair aside to show off her marks. "Are these helpful in any way? I think not!"
"And how can we trust that your gift isn't malignant? Out of all the judges you hated us the most! Wanted to see us suffer the most, and what better way than to make us have these forbidden feelings for each other!" Hermione's voice was rising in pitch and she had to bring herself down a few notches.
At this Dorian's face got serious. "Yes, that is true. And I know you absolutely have no trust in me because I am simply too much of a prankster for my own good. But you forget that while I am the judge for hell, and represent fire and brimstone and all that good shit, I also am responsible for carnal pleasures. Such as love and lust."
Hermione suddenly felt cold all over and her hand fell off of Bellatrix's shoulder. "What?" she whispered. Next to her Bellatrix's eyes had opened wide but she hadn't said anything.
"That means I have a sense for these things," he tapped the side of his nose all knowingly as he strode over to the side of the room and took a seat on top of the table there. He conjured an apple out of his pocket and looked it over, inspecting it for any bruises. "Ever since the both of you arrived in the hotel, I could tell that your hearts beat at the same rhythm. At first I couldn't tell why this was. Was it because of the soul spell, or because the two of you were finally able to meet properly for the first time without all that bullshit surrounding the two of you? This question followed me around, intrigued me. It was why I made the two of you dance that dance. It was made to draw the two of your emotions out more and what I saw that day confirmed the fact that the both of you felt something for each other. And I'm glad to see that now out of the afterlife your feelings have only grown in strength, although the two of you are still too blind to see them. Hence, I changed my gift at the last minute. It was going to be something horrific, like forcing the two of you into becoming succubi for the rest of your lives and having to drain the life away from your friends and family, causing emotional and physical anguish. I may be an asshole but when it comes to matters of love I take them very seriously. And what better love story is there than one of star crossed lovers, that suffer at every corner of their life for their love? It was too juicy to give up. Too tortuous." Dorian smiled sickeningly at this.
"Thus, the dreams, which are meant to help you realize those feelings. Only when the two of you consume your feelings then will you be free from my gift. So come, take a bite of the forbidden fruit." He took a giant bite of the apple in his hand, crunching loudly on it.
Bellatrix and Hermione just stood there, their minds and bodies churning in horror. This couldn't be real...this couldn't be. They were in love with each other and Dorian was using their feelings and building upon them if only for this own sick enjoyment.
"No, no, no!" Bellatrix screeched, not able to contain the lid on her emotions anymore. "You're fucking with us! Just playing games with our minds! There has to be more to your gift than just this! We would never fall in love with each other of our own free will!"
Dorian shrugged lackadaisically. "The fact that the both of you are in love is enough of a punishment for the two of you. If you don't believe me that's fine. You can blame this on my 'gift' if it makes you feel any better." He got up to his feet. "Now I have to be on my way. I have important matters to attend to." He threw the apple at their feet, it rolling to a stop in front of them. The bite mark on it was in the shape of a heart.
In disgust, Bellatrix stomped on it, splattering the fruit everywhere. When she looked up Dorian was gone. She felt despair crawl up her throat, her chest heaving up and down in an attempt to restrain herself. She wanted to burn this whole room down to the ground. She wanted to claw Dorian's eyes out with a rusty spoon. She wanted...she wanted...this to not be true.
She looked over at Hermione who had silent tears streaming down her face as she worked at her lip in worry. Hermione meet Bellatrix's frightened eyes. She had never seen the older woman this scared save for that one time when she was sentenced to hell. That was a good comparison for this. Hermione just felt like she had been subscribed to a fate in hell.
"Was...everything he said, true?" Hermione whispered, her voice thick with tears.
"It can't be...it can't be. He has to be fucking with us," Bellatrix said but her words sounded empty. "Using a love spell or potion or something."
Hermione looked down at the floor where the remains of the apple were, thinking. Then she shook her head. "I'm going to go home. I need...some space." She knew leaving Bellatrix alone while she was in such turmoil was a bad idea but she couldn't do it. She couldn't help the other when she herself was a mess.
Bellatrix's hand twitched, wishing she could tell Hermione to stay, but her words failed her so she nodded her head. Hermione left without another word.
Hermione wanted to tell someone. Needed to tell someone. This secret was weighing on her soul, crushing her under its significance. But who could she tell? Ron was out of the question. Harry? No, he wouldn't understand. Ginny? No, she could also react in disgust. Luna? Yes, Luna seemed like a safe choice. No one took the girl's words seriously so even if she told someone, everyone would be skeptical. Hermione decided she would owl the girl and ask her to listen to her problems. She hoped Luna would come. Hermione desperately needed a friend to lean on right now. What she was in was dangerous. And it was eating her alive.
She felt emotionally fried, physically exhausted, and mentally pained. She didn't know how much longer she could deal with this. She needed rest, respite from the world of the living. Sending out the owl, she changed into her pjs, entirely forgetting about Dorian's gift of dreams. She had drifted off to sleep as soon as she closed her eyes and found herself in a professor's quarters in Hogwarts. The room was decorated in green's and silver's and a merry fire crackled in the hearth. She was the only one there and she wondered why. Had she done something wrong?
Clutching the strap of her bag nervously, she took a seat in front of the desk. Miscellaneous jars lined the desk and there were scrolls laid out flat on the surface. Somewhere a clock ticked, the ticks slow and almost impossible to hear.
"Miss Granger," a voice called her name and Hermione jumped in her seat. Bellatrix strode into the room, wearing professorial robes, and closed the door behind herself. "Good of you to show up for your detention."
"Detention?" Hermione echoed. "What did I do wrong?"
"Don't play coy," Bellatrix said, approaching the chair Hermione was sitting in, circling around to her back and wrapping two manicured hands on her shoulders. She lowered her mouth to Hermione's ear. "What you did in class today was dangerous. It could get us in trouble. Then what would we do if the staff found out? Your reputation would be ruined and I would be jobless. You wouldn't like that would you?"
"No," Hermione admitted, small shivers going down her back at the proximity of Bellatrix's lips.
"If you wanted my attention all you had to do was ask," Bellatrix leaned away and Hermione missed her warmth right away.
"But you're always busy," she pouted out, as Bellatrix's hands slide down to her shirt front, toying with the tie, pulling it out of its proper place.
"Did Hermione miss me?" Bellatrix hummed playfully.
"You know I always do. I wish we could spend more time together."
"One day, when you graduate we can. But for now, we need to act smartly and carefully. So no more stunts like you pulled in class today, okay?" Bellatrix gave Hermione a kiss on the top of her head.
"Okay..." Hermione agreed reluctantly.
"But," at this Bellatrix popped the b. "I still need to punish you for misbehaving."
"Punish me?" Hermione shivered in anticipation. Somewhere in the room the clock ticked louder.
"Yes," Bellatrix urged and suddenly she was tugging Hermione up, and sweeping the things off of her desk haphazardly with one hand. They clattered to the floor. Hermione was pushed down on top of the desk, the wood cold on her face, Bellatrix instructing the girl to stretch out her arms and hold onto the desk edge in front of her. Bellatrix slide a leg in between Hermione's thighs, spreading them open farther as her hands roamed over Hermione's skirt clad backside. "I'm going to have to make sure you remember my words and that you won't be forgetting them anytime soon."
"I won't," Hermione promised, her heart pounding in her chest in excitement. She wanted to turn her head to look back at Bella but the older woman pressed Hermione's head down onto the desk top.
"Stay put," she warned, lowering her head to nip Hermione reprimandingly on the ear while her free hand began to rub up and down Hermione's thighs in slow motions, reaching up to her underwear but never touching her where she really needed it. Tingles followed her touch and Hermione let out a whisper. This slowness was part of the punishment so she didn't beg Bellatrix to go faster. But Hermione couldn't stop her legs from spreading further, wordlessly trying to get Bellatrix to do her job.
"Hmm, someone's impatient," she murmured, this time her pointer finger moving up and tracing the bottom of the brunette's underwear, teasingly snapping the material over Hermione's most sensitive spot. Hermione could already feel herself getting wet in anticipation of what those fingers could do. A frustrated gasp left her mouth but still she didn't beg for it. It wouldn't accomplish anything.
Instead she let Bellatrix continue her infuriatingly languid pace, getting increasingly aroused as now Bellatrix took to placing feather light kisses on the brunette's neck, sucking softly at the spot under her jaw. Hermione arched up into those kisses but Bellatrix's hand on the back of her head forced her back down again.
"I told you to stay put," Bellatrix growled into Hermione's ear, this time nibbling on it. Goosebumps erupted on the brunette's skin at the touch of teeth and she let out a small groan. "I'm trying," she whined. "But you're not making it easy."
"I'm not?" Bellatrix huffed in amusement. It was at that moment that she decided she'd teased Hermione enough and pulled down her panties, before roughly entering her. Lighting raced up Hermione's back at the sudden touch and she couldn't help but arch upwards with a cry on her lips. Bellatrix pushed her back down and held her there, Hermione's hands scrabbling on the wooden surface as pleasure began to fill her body. It came in waves, rolling over her from head to toe and she rocked her hips as the dark haired witch thrust into her aggressively.
"More," she begged between ragged breaths, closing her eyes as a sharp spike of pleasure coiled in her stomach, tightening and tightening. "I want...to kiss you." The clocks ticks began to grow louder and closer together, almost as if this clock was about to reach climax right along with Hermione.
Bellatrix complied and flipped Hermione over, never ceasing her ministrations. As soon as Hermione was on her back, she grabbed Bellatrix by the front of her robes and kissed her hard, savagely, teeth clacking together. She could taste blood but she didn't care. She sucked the others tongue into her mouth, wanting to taste her, have as much of her inside her as she could. But her kisses were getting sloppier as she reached the cliff before climax, her lower muscles tensing up in preparation of release.
"Bellatrix," she groaned into the dark haired witch's mouth. The clocks ticks were almost indiscernible from one another, colliding into one noise.
"Hermione," Bellatrix panted and the use of her name drew the brunette over the edge. She let out a loud cry and screwed her eyes tight as her walls contracted around Bellatrix's fingers and she came all over them, hard. She could feel it dripping down her legs. The whole experience left her breathless.
And then the clock exploded. A giant boom woke up Hermione and she let out a scream as she sat up in bed. Disoriented in the dark of the room she saw a person standing by her window, having just slammed it shut.
"Who the fuck-" Hermione hopped out of bed, snatching the wand off of her night stand and held it up in front of herself.
"It's only me Hermione," came a dreamy voice.
"Luna?" Hermione used her wand to flick on the lights and indeed the blonde haired girl was standing there, an owl with a note perched in between it's beak.
"My owl was trying to reach you but you wouldn't open up your window, so I hope you don't mind but I came to open it for you." Luna took the note away from her owl and handed it to Hermione who was still too much in shock to react much to this. Hermione took it but didn't read it. Now the ticks in her dream made more sense. It had been the owl trying to get in this whole time.
"So...are you going to help me?" she asked as Luna stood there smiling pleasantly. She didn't know how to feel about having the girl show up in her room in the middle of the night. How had she even gotten in?
"Of course. I assume you want to talk to me about something involving Bellatrix."
"How did you know?"
"You were calling out her name in your sleep. Was it a bad dream?"
Oh Merlin, the dream! Hermione's arousal had flown out the window because of her fright at having a stranger in her room, but now that she thought about it, her body was hot all over and there was a wetness down below that signified how much she liked that dream. Fuck, that dream was even worse than the last one! Dorian! She had been spread out on the desk so brazenly, ready for Bellatrix to take her. And take her she had. Hermione sucked her bottom lip into her mouth, somehow magically able to taste Bellatrix on herself. Her stomach coiled dangerously.
She needed to be alone or else she was afraid Luna would see how turned on she was. "Uh thanks for your concern Luna. I'll see you later so we can talk about this."
Luna nodded her head. "Yes, Hermione. Good night." And then she left with her owl. Hermione could barely wait until the girl was out before she ran to her bathroom and stripped from all her clothes. Turning the spray to the coldest it could get, she jumped in. There was no way she was going to succumb to this dream. That would be like letting Dorian win.
A/N: They finally had their first real kiss. Woo!
Additionally, the third act is coming to an end soon, but I will be pursuing a fourth act which will be more romance and action heavy. I've got yet another plot twist coming up. I so do love those.