Hi guys, sorry again for the long wait. If I'm honest I can't see updates coming much quicker than they are right now any time in the near future. But please be reassured that I am always thinking about this story and the direction that I want to take it in. I appreciate all of you that stick with me, as frustrating as it must be, and also those of you that are just finding this story.
I wanted to sort of get across the internal battle that is going on inside Hermione in this chapter. As much as I would love to just have the two of them get on and get together straight away, because I cannot wait to write those parts, it kind of needs to be more complicated than that. I also wanted to try and beef out Bellatrix's character a little; I truly don't believe that she was always 'bad', I don't think many people are naturally. I wanted to try and explore some of the circumstances and choices, made both by Bellatrix and for her by others, that lead her to become what she was. But anyway, I hope you enjoy the new update :)
KSR: Thank you so much for your review, I absolutely love writing their back and forths. They are so fun and I hope that idea of underlying sexual tension came across even though at the moment it is disguised as academic rivalry.
Waterproof: I am so glad you stuck with the story despite the gaps, I hope that is still the case.
PityThoseWhoLiveWithoutLove-95: I love thinking about Bellatrix when she was young. I just imagine her to be so cock sure but flirty.
Darkshadow-lord: Hopefully this chapter will live up to your expectations.
Disclaimer: I own nothing. All characters and settings belong to JK Rowling.
Hermione found herself in her last lesson of Wednesday afternoon; Transfiguration. She had been looking forward to it all week; it had always been her favourite class and Minerva Mcgonagall was her favourite professor by far. But now the class had the added appeal that a certain black haired witch would more than likely be there too. Most people chose Transfiguration for their NEWTs, didn't they? Then again, Bellatrix wasn't like most people was she? She had shown up in Charms but had sat in the back corner, completely ignoring Hermione while picking her nails and looking entirely bored. And of course she had been in Defence Against the Dark Arts; in this class she had been like a force of nature, so unlike the passive version of herself from the Charms lesson. They had been revising and perfecting non-verbal defensive spells but it was quite apparent that Bellatrix did not need any practice what so ever. Professor Jigger called her up to help him with his demonstration; she was able to throw off every single one of his attacks without even changing her facial expression never mind opening her mouth to utter a counter-curse. Hermione found herself equal parts amazed at the dark haired witch's skills and terrified at the true potential that lay within her. Bellatrix had at least spoken to her in this lesson though. It was clear that Jigger treated her as more of an assistant in the class rather than another student so a few times the dark haired witch had made her way over to correct Hermione's stance or suggest a more appropriate wand position. All week Hermione had found herself looking for glimpses of untamed dark curls, hoping to see more of how the girl interacted and reacted to the world around her. She was filled with a weird sense of excited apprehension as she sat watching the classroom fill up and realised the only seat left was the one next to her.
"Good afternoon seventh years. Stop your conversations now thank you, I am ready to begin." Mcgonagall's voice cut through her thoughts and doused her tenuous hope in ice cold water. "Make sure all of your equipment is out on the desk by the time I have finished taking the register."
Hermione glanced once more towards the open classroom door hoping to find a certain silhouette filling the empty space but she was met with a totally unobscured view of the corridor beyond. With a sigh she turned back around and began rifling through her bag to retrieve her wand, parchment, quill and ink.
"Bagman, Ludovic." Professor Mcgonagall called.
A handsome sandy haired Slytherin answered her with a grumbled "Here Professor." He was much more interested in trying the flirt with the Hufflepuff girl sat next to him who, unfortunately for him, didn't look at all interested.
"Black, Bellatrix." Mcgonagall moved on with only a raise of her eyebrow in Ludo Bagman's direction that effectively silenced the boy. Hermione felt her heart start beating a little faster as her eyes scanned around the room again looking for any sign of the girl. "Ah, no of course." The professor spoke up as if she had just remembered something. "Cattermole, Reginald."
Hermione couldn't help the feeling of disappointment that spread through her as she heard Professor Mcgonagall just move on passed Bellatrix's name. Any hope she had that the girl might turn up were now well and truly dashed. Hermione knew that she shouldn't be associating any positive emotions to Bellatrix; she was the woman who had hunted her friends as if they were animals, who had tortured Neville's parents into insanity, who had killed countless innocent people including her own niece and had vandalised Hermione's own body… or at least she would become that woman. Hermione knew that the best and most sensible thing to do would be to keep as far away from the other girl as humanly possible. But she just could not seem to stay away from her. If they were in classes together Hermione found her eyes drawn to the dark haired girl, watching the delicacy she seemed to possess when writing with her quill or using her wand. When Bellatrix wasn't around was when it was worse because Hermione found herself wondering where the girl might be and what she could be doing and who she might be doing it with. Oh Merlin, why… why did it matter? Why did it matter how Bellatrix held her wand when she knew the catastrophes she could create with it? Why did it matter what that deranged individual decided to do with her spare time? She wasn't deranged yet though was she? She was a school girl and quite the brilliant one at that. She was someone that Hermione could easily be friends with if she didn't know about the horror she would become. But she did know what she would become and for some reason, that it thoroughly scared her to dwell on, she just could not make that matter in her mind. After waking up in the middle of the night from nightmares that always involved Bellatrix, Malfoy manor and large, glassy, lifeless eyes staring emptily up at the heavens was when she would find herself lost in her darkest thoughts. She often wondered if she had developed some kind of bastardised form of Stockholm syndrome where she had become obsessed with the woman who held her captive, even if only in her own mind, night after night. And now day in and day out too.
"Ross, Hermione" Professor Mcgonagall's crisp voice made its way into the edges of her subconscious and called an abrupt halt to her inner monologue. She shook her head to clear it and looked at the older witch in confusion for a second, hoping she would give her some instruction on what she was supposed to do next. "Miss Ross, are you with us?"
"Oh sorry." Hermione flushed as a few of the other students stifled giggles and Ludo Bagman threw a flirty smirk over his shoulder that caused no reaction within her… unlike Bellatrix's that cause a distinct fluttering in the pit of her stomach. And why was her mind making that association? "He…here Professor."
Thankfully the rest of the lesson seemed to go without a hitch. Hermione managed to keep her mind off of Bellatrix long enough to not make a fool out of herself again and actually make some half decent notes on Understanding the key concepts of Untransfiguration. She even succeeded in pinching five points for Ravenclaw for being the only member of the class to be able to identify 'Vipera Evanesca' as the spell to vanish a conjured serpent. She could distinctly remember having heard Professor Snape use it to get rid of the snake that Draco had created during Duelling Club in their second year.
After class she took a rather circuitous route to Ravenclaw tower, having made it halfway to the portrait of the Fat Lady before realising her mistake and turning towards the teacher's quarters only to remember she had been moved in with the fellow members of her house the previous Monday. Once she finally made it to her room she quickly shed her school robes only to spend entirely too long deciding on an outfit to wear; she didn't really have that many clothes anyway. Professor Mcgonagall had taken her on a quick shopping trip to London the week previously but she had really only picked up the essentials, she didn't have anything nice. She couldn't fathom why she felt so much pressure to look good anyway, she was only going to the library to do homework. She had spent months in a forest covered in dirt and wearing the same outfits over and over again and somehow Ronald had managed to still find her attractive, although she assumed Bellatrix held higher standards than Ron Weasley. They were going to do homework. They were going to look up potions ingredients in the library. She did not need to look attractive. No, she didn't need to look attractive, but she wanted to. She wanted to look good for Bellatrix. Stop, she screamed at her racing mind, she had literally had one extended conversation with the girl during a potions lesson where Bellatrix had been pretty much forced to spend time with her. Why was she acting like some love sick puppy? This was the woman who had used the Cruciatus curse on her until she couldn't even stand on her own. It made no sense at all. She sighed as she settled on a pair of slim cut jeans and a grey, long sleeved, button neck t-shirt. It showed some skin but it didn't look like she was trying too hard, plus it had long sleeves that she could tug at nervously as was her habit. Hermione gave herself a final once over in the mirror, fixing an errant curl and grabbing her bag, before setting out for the library.
While the idea of being trapped in 1969 was overwhelming and, in truth, out right terrifying; Hermione couldn't help but find a slight silver lining in it all. She had made it all the way to the library, through the corridors littered with people and not a one of them had even looked her way. No one had tried to stop her and start some ridiculous conversation that she had no interest in. No one had followed her, hiding behind pillars whenever she looked over her shoulder. No one had asked her to sign anything like she was some celebrity. Here in 1969 she was not Hermione Granger, destroyer of the Dark Lord, she was simply Hermione Ross of Ravenclaw and that gave her a strange sort of comfort. As she entered the library her eyes scanned the tables and rows of books, there were not many people in here and, as far as she could see, no Bellatrix. She was early though, as she always was, she looked around at the empty tables that she could claim as their work station and tried to think where would be best. Would Bellatrix want to be in an open area where she could watch people? Hermione had noticed how she liked to observe the others in the class and sneer subtly as they made mistakes. Or would she like to be in a dark corner? That seemed more her style really, more cloak and dagger, more clandestine. She spotted an empty desk that was just out of the way but was lit well enough to allow them to read and work efficiently. She dumped her things on it so people would know it was occupied and set out into the dimly lit shelves of books to find some starter material for when Bellatrix arrived.
She quickly located 'Potions, Herbs, Oils and Brews', 'The Herbal Alchemist's Handbook: A Grimoire of Philtres', 'Potion Opuscule' and 'Advanced Potion-making' before hurrying back to the desk she had chosen. She couldn't stop her eyes from doing a sweep of the area with the hope that Bellatrix might have arrived while she was rifling through the dusty tomes but still the girl was painfully absent. Sitting down she opened 'Potions, Herbs, Oils and Brews' to begin researching the uses and benefits of Peppermint, Professor Snape's notes in his copy of 'Advanced Potion-making' suggested adding it to the brew. She knew that it counteracted the more annoying side effects of the Elixir to Induce Euphoria but she didn't know why it did what it did, so that was what she had tasked herself with figuring out. She flicked through the pages until she found the information she was looking for and set about reading; without much conscious thought her right hand made notes on the properties of Peppermint and before she knew it she had a full side of parchment. Hermione checked her watch and was shocked to discover it was 6.45, Bellatrix was fifteen minutes late. She checked around her again to see if the dark haired witch was anywhere to be seen but still there was no sign of her, she couldn't help but feel disappointed. Trying to distract herself she switched books and began skimming through the pages of 'The Herbal Alchemist's Handbook' to see if she could identify a way to prolong the effects of the euphoria created by the potion. That would be sure to win her a few house points from old Slughorn if she could.
"Ahem" a quiet feminine voice interrupted her reading. She looked up sharply with a smile that quickly faded when she realised it was not Bellatrix as she had been hoping but a blondish Gryffindor stood in front of her. "Sorry to bother you when you're in the middle of something but are you finished with 'Advanced Potion-making'? It's the last one in the library and I need to check something for an essay. I left mine in my dorm."
Hermione sighed and fought to not roll her eyes, she wasn't exasperated with the girl so she quickly threw on a smile that she hoped didn't look too forced. She was just so annoyed that she had built this evening up all day just for it to be a massive let down. "Yeah, I'm done with it." Hermione said as she quickly glanced down at her watch, noting that it was now 7.15; if Bellatrix wasn't here yet she wasn't coming at all. "In fact I was just about to leave. And I always find 'Potions, Herbs, Oils and Brews' to be really useful for Slughorn's essays. You can take that too if you want?"
"I will take it actually, thanks." The girl said smiling warmly at Hermione before the look faltered slightly. "Wait, aren't you new? How many essays have you written for Slughorn?"
"Oh" Was all Hermione managed to utter as she felt her cheeks flush in slight panic. "Well, I'm an over achiever you see. I write essays for fun." Even she cringed at the lie.
The girl raised her eyebrows and appraised Hermione as though looking for some clarification that the brunette was indeed mad. "It takes all kinds I guess." She said with a shrug. "I'm Mafalda by the way, Mafalda Hopkirk. I'm in sixth year."
Hermione almost chocked on thin air at the revelation of the girl's name, it was only a matter of months ago that she had impersonated an older Mafalda in order to gain entrance into the Ministry of Magic. "It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Hermione Gr…Ross. Seventh year."
"Hermione…nice name." Mafalda said awkwardly as she tapped absent mindedly on the edge of the mahogany desk. "I better…you know…get back" she gestured over her shoulder to the table that her friends were still sat at.
"Of course." Hermione said, equally as awkwardly. "It was nice speaking to you Mafalda."
The Gryffindor smiled again and picked up all of the books that Hermione had been working from. "Nice speaking to you too."
The next morning Hermione woke up in a particularly terrible mood. Not only was she annoyed about last night but she had barely slept all night after having a series of feverish dreams that an older Bellatrix had featured in heavily. She heaved herself reluctantly out of bed and dressed in her school robes hastily before making her way down to the Great Hall. Her funk seemed to dissipate slightly after a few slices of toast and a goblet of orange juice but she was still absolutely seething. She allowed her eyes to flitter around the room when something caught her attention like a giant flashing beacon; a head of unruly black curls. After days of being reclusive and showing up to lessons as and when she felt like it, now here Bellatrix was sat, as bold as brass as if nothing had happened at all. The Slytherin was sat at her house table, on her own of course, reading a book with one elbow on its surface and her head propped up nonchalantly on her hand. Hermione didn't remember giving herself permission to get up or cross the room but before she knew it she was stood next to the other girl. Her face was obscured by her mass of dark hair and she hadn't even had the courtesy to look up at her as she approached.
"I hope you have a good excuse for leaving me hanging around in the library last night." Hermione demanded, her voice sounding much shriller than she would have wanted. The S;ytherin didn't look away from her book. "Hey, I'm talking to you, you could at least look at me." Still the girl did not move and Hermione found herself filled with an unfettered rage that she couldn't control. She lashed out and slapped the book the girl was holding out of her hand, it hit her half-finished bowl of cereal with a resounding thud and upended the contents into her lap.
"What the fuck?" The girl screeched as she stood up from the bench and attempted to wipe as much of the milk off her skirt as she could before she turned a murderous gaze on her attacker. Hermione's face paled as she took in the large, chocolate brown eyes and noticed the rounder more childlike form to the features of this girls face.
A gasp from the other side of the bench drew her attention to a platinum blonde girl, probably only in her second or third year. "Andromeda, you mustn't swear. It's unladylike."
"Really Narcissa?" Andromeda almost shouted back. "Some lunatic has just thrown my breakfast all over me but me using the word fuck is what has offended your sensibilities?"
"I'm so, so sorry." Hermione almost sobbed as she hastily pulled out her wand and cast Scourgify on Andromeda's skirt and the floor around her feet. "I don't know what came over me. I thought you were…"
"I was Bellatrix. Yeah, that happens a lot." Andromeda finished for her with a sigh. "Not the getting covered in my breakfast thing… the getting confused with Bellatrix part."
"I really am terribly sorry." Hermione babbled. "I was just…I was so angry. And I haven't slept well. And I'm….an idiot and so bloody stressed out….I…oh God"
Andromeda placed a calming hand on Hermione's arm in order to stop her rambling and obvious impending panic attach. "Look, it's ok. My skirt is clean now…no blood, no foul."
Hermione glanced at the girl with a look of shame set into her features. "No it's not ok, it's not. I should have kept my temper. I should have…"
"Nobody knows better than me how annoying Bella can be." Andromeda interrupted the bushy haired girl again as she sat back down gracefully and gestured for Hermione to join her. The older witch plopped down onto the bench next to the Slytherin looking like a crumpled mess, her face was flushed and she looked like she was about to cry. "Try not to let her get under your skin like this. She'll only see it as a conquest."
"Don't speak about Bella like that Andy." Narcissa spoke up again to reprimand her sister. "It isn't kind."
Andromeda chuckled; emitting a warm, comforting sound that seemed to light up her entire face. "Disagree with me then Cissy… you know as well as I do that Bella has a particular skill for pushing buttons. Was it not only yesterday that you were complaining to me about how much you hated her because of her constant teasing of your beloved Lucius" The dark haired witch said the boy's name with as much scorn as she could muster. Narcissa didn't seem to be able to contradict her older sister though so she simply made a sound of indignation and went back to her breakfast; Andromeda shook her head and smiled knowingly before continuing her conversation with Hermione. "So what has she done this time?"
"It's going to sound stupid when I say it now." The bushy haired witch said meekly as she picked nervously at her finger nails.
"It is never just one thing with Bellatrix, she picks and picks until one small action makes you snap. After a particularly heavy week of teasing from my sister I once hexed her hair pink for a week because she drank the last mouthful of my coffee one morning." Andromeda raised a mischievous eyebrow and smiled warmly at Hermione. "That was pretty stupid, but Merlin did it feel good."
Hermione's eyes widened in shock and she covered her mouth with her hand to stifle her stunned laugh. "What did Bellatrix do?"
"Oh, nothing much. Called me a few colourful names but that was about it." Andromeda replied, waving off Hermione's concern. "It got her out of going to one of our family's dull balls so she was pretty happy about it really. I, of course, still had to go so she saw that as my punishment."
"Bellatrix was supposed to meet me in the library last night to do a homework project we had been assigned by Slughorn. She didn't turn up and I had to do all of the work myself." Hermione finally enlightened the younger witch.
"Hmmm… that's odd." Andromeda said pensively. "Bellatrix can be insufferable at times with her attitude towards things but one thing she does take seriously is her studies. Narcissa, have you seen Bella this morning?"
"No." Narcissa said in a small voice laced with worry. "I went in to her room this morning to see if she was coming down for breakfast but she wasn't there and her bed was already made."
Andromeda groaned and brushed some of her hair out of her eyes, as Hermione looked at her more closely she realised that the girl's hair was much lighter than Bellatrix's. It was more of a deep, chestnut brown rather than the raven black of her older sister's tresses and looked much neater and more cared for. "This happens a lot." The Slytherin informed the bushy haired girl. "Bellatrix has a tendency to get caught up in things and lose all track of time. She can be missing for days at a time."
"What do you mean by 'get caught up in things'"? Hermione asked sceptically, wondering if the things that Bellatrix was caught up with might be of the dark and dangerous nature, maybe even Death Eater related. Had she been embroiled in that depravity from this early on in her life?
"How many classes do you share with my sister?" Andromeda countered, seeming to totally ignore Hermione's question.
Hermione frowned but answered the younger girl none the less. "Well we have Charms, Defence Against the Dark Arts and Potions together. She should be in Transfiguration too but she didn't turn up yesterday."
"That is to be expected." Andromeda replied with a resigned nod. "Do you have History of Magic together at all?"
"No." Hermione said while shaking her head. "That isn't a subject that I continued on to N.E.W.T level."
"If you were in History of Magic you would find that she rarely attends that class either." Andromeda revealed as she began reaching for her school bag from under the table.
"But how does she get away with that?" Hermione probed, now even more intrigued by the black haired witch.
Narcissa piped up again from across the table when she felt that her oldest sister needed defending. "She doesn't get away with it. The Professors are well aware of where she is."
At Hermione's questioning look Andromeda decided she needed to elaborate on Narcissa's comment. "As infuriating as Bellatrix can be, she is equally as exceptional. So exceptional in fact that she has surpassed many of her peers, meaning that she gets bored in her classes. And a bored Bellatrix is very, very hard work. Many of the Professors have agreed to let her do extra research on her own. They say it is for her benefit but really I believe it is to get her out of their hair. I can't really blame them."
Hermione couldn't help but smile gently at this new piece of information. "So, Bellatrix isn't just skipping lessons then?"
"Most definitely not." Andromeda confirmed lightly. "She prizes her education more than anything else. She believes education will be her route out of the ridiculous life our parents have planned for her."
"Andie." Narcissa spoke with a warning tone. "Is it wise to spread too much of Bellatrix's business? We don't even know this girl."
"Oh don't be so naïve Cissy." Andromeda chastised her younger sister. "We're purebloods; it is hardly a secret that all women like us are committed into marriages we have very little choice in. It has been this way for centuries."
"Yes, I'm already well aware of the old pureblood custom of arranged marriages." Hermione agreed with Andromeda, finding it very hard to keep to tone of disapproval out of her voice.
"But you are right Cissy. I'm not about to divulge any of Bella's secrets." The darker haired witch said as she looked at Hermione warily now. "My sister will have a good reason for missing your… study date yesterday evening. And I'm sure she will enlighten you with that reason once I chase her out of whatever hole she is currently hiding in." With that Andromeda stood up and threw her bag on to her shoulder, she carefully stepped over the bench she had been sitting on and turned to look at the other girl. "It was lovely to meet you…"
"Hermione." Hermione supplied. "And it wasn't a date… with Bella last night. We were really only doing homework."
"Yes, people tend to get as worked up as you did over only doing homework. But either way, hopefully next time we meet you can refrain from throwing my breakfast in my lap." Andromeda said with a mischievous smile that was not a million miles away from one that had been seen gracing her older sister's face.
"I will try to control myself in future." Hermione replied, returning the smile as she watched Andromeda stroll away gracefully.
Hermione had been rather subdued for the rest of the day, despite Andromeda's assurances that she held no grudge the bushy haired witch couldn't help but feel awful for her actions during breakfast. What made her feel worse was the parallel it drew to the very incident that had brought her here, to the past, in the first place. Hadn't that been due to her inability to control her temper too? And despite the great personal risk Mcgonagall had taken to help show her the error of her ways, evidently she had learned nothing at all from it. Currently she was sulking on her bed in her, thankfully empty, dorm room. She knew that allowing her mind time to roam was not such a good idea these days; it often took her to dark places but she was nothing if not a glutton for punishment. Immediately after the war she and the boys had been encouraged to attend sessions with a psychiatrist of sorts, or the wizard equivalent anyway, at St Mungo's. Healer Macmillan had been kind and gentle, she had not put any pressure on Hermione to talk about things she didn't feel comfortable with; at times she just allowed her to sit there and not talk at all. But Hermione had quickly decided that whatever help the woman could offer her she was not quite ready to receive, she needed more time to mull it over and try to rationalise it for herself before she would be able to view anything through somebody else's perspective. She had every intention of going back to speak to Healer Macmillan at some point but, well, now she was here and that chance was gone. One thing that the woman said had stuck in the bushy haired witch's head though; she had told Hermione that no matter how normal she felt right now it was almost impossible to be touched by so much loss and destruction and hope to come out unscathed. She had expected that the effects of her traumatic year would manifest themselves as stress or anxiety; she thought that maybe she had got away with just the nightmares. Sometimes she wondered whether at any point she may just begin to uncontrollably cry at ridiculous things with no explanation like you see people do in movies when they are dealing with problems. But never in her wildest dreams did she imagine that her post traumatic stress would lead to her becoming an overly aggressive lunatic that attacked innocent people. Her fight or flight switch was firmly positioned at fight and it was certainly on a hair trigger. Hermione wondered if she should speak to Mcgonagall about what she was experiencing, maybe she could suggest some way to help her.
Hermione's attention was caught when the door to her dorm room began to swing open slowly with a creek. She only shared her dorm with two other girls, but being studious Ravenclaws they spent most of their time reading or doing homework in the common room. This meant that, much to the bushy haired witch's preference, she found she was able to gain plenty of peace and quiet in there. She craned her head around to look at the door to see which of the other girls it was returning, but the doorway was strangely empty. Instantly Hermione was on high alert and her eyes began scanning the room, she caught sight of a tell-tale ripple in the air. Quicker than she had time to catch up with her own actions she had leapt off the bed with her wand in her hand and she had cast a wordless finite incantatem. Her mind had not had chance to gather its equilibrium when she found herself almost nose to nose with a now fully visible Bellatrix Black.
"Fuck." Bellatrix breathed, breaking the stalemate. "Well that was impressive ErmRoss."
"Don't you dare." Hermione roared as she took a step away from the other girl and sat down on the edge of the bed, dropping her head into her hands. "You don't get to forget about me and be a complete arse and then make fun of me too."
"Make fun of you?" Bellatrix asked as she narrowed her eyes and appraised the bushy haired witch.
Still with her head in her hands Hermione replied. "Yes calling me ErmRoss all of the time. I want it to stop!"
"You're being ridiculous." Bellatrix said patronisingly, which was completely the wrong move.
Hermione's head snapped back up, her eyes alight with something undecipherable. "I know the opinions that you true purebloods hold. Just because you view yourself as superior does not mean that you get to bastardise my name and mock my heritage."
"Hold on there Ross." The darker haired witch snapped defensively. "What exactly is it that you think you know about me as a true pureblood."
"Oh I know plenty." Hermione replied furiously as she stood up to face Bellatrix full on. "I know that you think you are better than everybody else just because you were born with the silver spoon. I know that you do not see any value in those that you deem lesser and you would trample all over of them to get where you want. I know that you would even go as far as to stab your own family in the back if they were to go against you."
"Stop right there." Bellatrix thundered as she took a small step closer to Hermione until their chests were almost touching. Her eyes were filled with a rage and she looked more like a Death Eater than the fairer girl had seen her since she got here. It was terrifying to behold the way her delicate, beautiful features could morph so easily into something so hard. "Some things you may be right about and I won't deny it. I think I am better than everybody else because I try twice as hard as anybody in this school. Nothing, when it comes to my education, has been handed to me because of the family I was born in to and I will not apologise for having ambition and drive and being prepared to leave those behind who cannot keep up. But you go too far when you talk about my family."
Hermione burst out a laugh that bordered on hysterical. "What a double standard. I'm not allowed to pass comment on your family but it is fine for you to belittle mine."
"What have I done to belittle your family, Ross?" Bellatrix asked incredulously, her anger seeming to have morphed into frustration as she spoke. "I called you ErmRoss to try and break the ice with you. I saw you outside of the potions classroom earlier this week and you looked terrified and all tense. I wanted to make you feel more comfortable. I was mocking you not your family."
"Am I seriously supposed to believe that you were putting yourself out to make me feel more comfortable?" Hermione shook her head and stepped away from the other girl, putting some distance between them so that she didn't hit her.
"When I spoke to you in that potions lesson I was sure that you were different than everybody else in this school." Bellatrix said in a small voice as her eyes wandered to the small window on the other side of the room. "From the first day I walked through the front doors of Hogwarts I have been judged because of my last name and I seriously thought that I had found someone who wouldn't do that. But how wrong I was; because here you stand telling me that I couldn't possibly have thought about anyone else because I am a Black."
"Tha…that's not what I meant." Hermione stuttered tripping over herself as she tried to think of what to say next. That had been exactly what she meant hadn't it? She couldn't believe that Bellatrix could have actually done something nice because she was well….Bellatrix. But she didn't even know this Bellatrix, she knew Bellatrix LeStrange. "You don't even know me, why would you do something for me?"
"Because I wanted to know you." The black haired witch replied in a voice flushed with emotion. "I saw something in you. You cared about what Slughorn was saying, you knew about the history of the potion, you challenged me. Nobody here does that, everybody just ambles through their days not thinking about life outside of these damned castle walls."
"Well maybe I don't want to challenge you. Did you ever think of that? Maybe I just want to have an easy life." Hermione felt awful as soon as the words were out of her mouth. The things that Bellatrix just said slowly began to sink in. She wanted a friend and she had seen someone who might actually be on par with her and had reached out for it. Hermione knew how rare it must be for the girl to do that and in return she had lashed out at her. Maybe the girl didn't really know the perfect way to go about endearing herself to people but at least she was trying, surely that should be respected. If more people had tried to give Bellatrix a chance and tried to be a friend and a support for her perhaps life would have turned out differently. One residing memory from her awful night at Malfoy Manner was Bellatrix's anger at everything; she had filled Hermione's body with that anger. This was the first time that she began to try to understand that emotion, how could the black haired witch not be angry when she spent her entire life being ostracised. She wasn't like their peers and, from what she had seen in classes, most of them avoided her like the plague. Andromeda had suggested that the teachers couldn't even seem to take to Bellatrix and her family refused to recognise her drive and intelligence because she was a woman. It didn't seem fair.
"I spoke to Andromeda. She told me that she had met you this morning while you were looking for me; she said you were angry about last night. She likes you by the way, she said you seemed sweet." Bellatrix said carefully as she looked back at Hermione. "I came to apologise about not meeting you in the library, I was working on something for History of Magic and I got engrossed in the research. I do that sometimes. I lost all track of time, in fact I only realised what had happened when Andie came to find me this morning. I had worked all through the night without even realising it. But I did find time to put this together." She reached into a pocket in her robes and pulled out a scroll of parchment, she unrolled it before handing it to the other girl. "Hopefully you find it useful."
Hermione scanned the neat handwriting and read the title at the top of the page; How to prolong the effects of the 'Elixir to Induce Euphoria'. This was the very thing that Hermione had wanted to research last night, before she got too pissed off the carry on working that is. She knew it would be possible somehow to make the feeling of euphoria created by the potion to last longer and the other girl seemed to have cracked it. "Bellatrix…" she breathed softly as she looked up from the parchment but the girl had already disappeared.
Thank you so much for reading. As always please review, it is so incredibly helpful to hear what things you are liking and not liking. I have so many plot ideas running through my head and the comments from you guys always seem to point towards the best ones to follow through. You can PM whenever with comment, questions or criticisms. Everything is appreciated.