Breaking the Window

Chapter 40: Let Me Sleep!

Rain slashed across the panes of glass as Hermione sat in the library in the dead of night. Around her were gathered many books, journals, almanacs and articles from more recent magazines. Illuminated by a single light in the dark, Hermione sorted through the papers in the private section of the library, a tower which was normally behind lock and key but now available to her thanks to Bellatrix' father.

It really was a poorly organized, heinous mess. There was no system behind it she could identify and it was as if the Black family had just randomly thrown texts into the tower for hundreds of years with the intent to sort it all out 'one day'. Infuriating couldn't even begin to describe it.

Still, with her notebook in hand she had started this herculean task with her usual due diligence. In fact, she was so focused on her work that she never heard a second person enter the library until he was right upon her.

"Miss Granger?" sounded the voice of Cygnus Black. Immediately, books and papers went flying as the formerly concentrated Hermione let out a massive yelp. Looking up, she found the man looking to be well dressed for the time of night. Immediately, he held up his hands. "Apologies, miss Granger. I did not mean to startle you."

"It's alright, I… I… was too focused," Hermione shrugged.

Cygnus took a seat. "Forgive me for saying, but like me you seem to be quite accustomed to sleepless nights."

Hermione nodded. "Today has been an… interesting day. There's no way I could catch a wink of sleep, I'd wager."

"I'm surprised my daughter left you out of her sight," chuckled Cygnus.

"Bellatrix? Well," shrugged Hermione. "She can't exactly protest if she's asleep, now could she?"

"Quite," said Cygnus. "I have heard Andromeda has warmed towards you considerably. Yet you are still planning to aid her with our family motto?"

"Why not?" said Hermione. "I had already started anyway. Besides, it's fascinating to look into the history of a family as old as House Black."

"In any case," said Cygnus as he regarded the state of the bookstacks in the archival tower. "I do apologize for the state of our family archive. I assure you we do handle our official documents with far more care."

"It's fine," said Hermione while leafing through a scrapbook containing articles. "I think the best way to go about it is to start at the current decades and work my way back towards ancient times. I already found some interesting leads to follow."

One item of particular note was a scrapbook filled with articles which had been maintained by Bellatrix' mother. Naturally, it contained a lot of articles about Bellatrix' disappearance along with a few heartrending personal notes stating the hopes that Druella could use those articles to find her missing child. Hermione couldn't look at those notes for long without feeling constricting guilt. Later pages also had articles on Narcissa's wedding or Andromeda's rise to power.

The scrapbook lay open on a profile Witch Weekly did on Andromeda when she had just risen to the head of the household. At age 26, she was one of the youngest heads of the household the Most Noble and Ancient House of Black ever had. In the photograph, she looked fresh-faced and somewhat overwhelmed. Over the next decade, she would strive to modernize house Black, bring it into the future, much to the chagrin of more traditional elements in wizarding society who lamented the loss of a great house with a grand history.

"I was so proud of her that day," said Cygnus, obviously looking at the article too. "Our family had endured much. But when the first wizarding war ended, I felt it was a good time for a new beginning. And who better to herald in that new beginning than Andromeda? After Bellatrix' disappearance, we were all in need of a new beginning."

Hermione tented her hands together, looking at Cygnus intently. "If you don't mind me asking," started Hermione. "And if it's not too painful for you, of course, but what were those days like? Just after Bellatrix disappeared."

Cygnus fell quiet for a moment, staring off into the distance for a moment. "I remember the day when aurors first came by the manor," said Cygnus in a quiet tone. "By then Bellatrix had been missing for weeks and I was steeling myself for the worst. Still, one is never quite prepared for someone from the Ministry to drop by to tell you your daughter is most likely dead. Druella was overcome with grief and I was overcome with guilt. Though Druella held out hope against hope, I could only see a single outcome: my eldest daughter, my firstborn, had been murdered by the man I had selected for her in an attempt to escape her upcoming marriage. It… crushed me for a time. More than you could ever imagine."

Hermione didn't need to say a word: Cygnus' expression said enough. Before he had learned the truth, he had been convinced that he had been indirectly responsible for the murder of his daughter. Cygnus sat down for a moment, contemplating times past. "Bellatrix' disappearance was well publicised," replied Cygnus. "Hundreds of volunteers searched for weeks. Her body was never found, but the conclusion was obvious at the time, especially when it came out during the investigation that Bellatrix had been recruited to spy within Voldemort's ranks. That was a minor scandal in itself. There were always more questions than answers, which is likely why people were so intrigued by her disappearance."

"I've found some old newspaper articles," Hermione shook her head. "Gossip pages, mostly. It describes an internal war within the Black family right after Bellatrix disappeared."

"They'd be right," chuckled Cygnus. "When it came to the stages of grief, I skipped denial for the most part and headed straight into anger. It an open secret that I funded the Death Eaters. Naturally, I cut them off immediately. Oh, they came with apologies, excuses and, of course, threats, but I wouldn't budge. And I started butting heads with Orion more and more. He didn't know how to deal with the open defiance and for a time it seemed as if our two branches of the House of Black would split into separate houses. I refused to use my own fortune to secretly fund the very people that had murdered my daughter. Orion was not pleased with this."

"It said in the papers that you also cut off his branch of the family financially," said Hermione. "From the sound of it, House Black was headed towards a split."

Cygnus rubbed his chin for a moment. "That was, uhm, start of 1970, I think. Right after Andromeda had introduced Ted to us. Merlin, she was so afraid we were going to reject her. But, yes, it certainly escalated things between me and Orion. Orion demanded Andromeda be thrown out the family, her name stricken from all the records as punishment for being a blood traitor. I said no. Druella and I were unwilling to lose another daughter."

"That must not have gone over well," said Hermione. "Why was there never a split? I mean, there is a historical precedent for Malfoys had been divided into the Wiltshire-Malfoys and the Essex-Malfoys due to a nasty inheritance row until their family's reunification two hundred years later, after all."

Cygnus chuckled. "Interesting how you seem to know a fact that Lucius Malfoy has been trying to keep buried for as long as I've known him."

"It's something I like to rub in Draco's face ever so often," Hermione smirked.

"Point remains, Orion threatened to throw us all out of the family," Cygnus said. "Thing is, that suited us fine. The Manchester-Blacks have always been the financial engine of House Black. And all our assets were registered under our own name."

Hermione started to understand. The Manchester-Blacks, Trix' branch of the family, had continued their family tradition by enlarging their already vast fortune mainly through real-estate. Said branch of the family already owned a large chunk of the buildings in wizarding quarters in major cities in the UK, as well as holdings in mainland Europe and were always expanding. Cygnus and Orion Black were set on a collision course over Andromeda as her parents, understandably, didn't want to lose another daughter while Orion was actively attempting to exile her. As a result Cygnus threatened to split off from the family, potentially carving the Most Noble and Ancient House of Black in two. They would have become the Manchester-Blacks and the London-Blacks, considered separate bloodlines by law with their own holdings and properties.

"You'd split," said Hermione. "But you'd be taking about 90% of the entire Black family liquid and non-liquid assets with you."

Cygnus nodded with a smirk. "It's actually closer to 96%. When Orion realized this, he changed his tactic. That was when my conflict of Orion had escalated so far there could only be one outcome," said Cygnus, his face grim. "Until the last straw. Until Orion demanded that the contract with the Lestranges was to be upheld and that, since Rodolphus Lestrange's involvement in Bellatrix' murder was never proved, the contract would befall my now eldest daughter."

"Poor Andromeda," Hermione sighed. "But why would Orion Black want to uphold the contract in the first place?"

"You must understand, miss Granger," said Cygnus. "The first wizarding war hadn't started yet at that point and Voldemort stood for something which appealed to a lot of wizards and witches, especially pure-bloods. As for Orion's reasoning, well, it was purely a power play on his part. Legally, it was within his power to do so and it was his way of attempting to put me in my place, as it were."

"What did you do next?"

"I killed him," said Cygnus, rather matter of factly. Hermione felt her eyes grow wide and this apparently didn't go unnoticed as Cygnus held up one hand. "In a fully legitimate and legally sanctioned duel, of course. I challenged him for leadership of House Black, he contested and we agreed to a duel to the death. Thing is, he never quite realized just how badly he was about to be trounced. Not to brag, but I fought in a war while he was at home hunting grouse. Combine actual combat experience with knowing just about every dirty trick in the book to survive magical onslaught and you end up with a duel where Orion never even got a single spell off. Walburga never spoke to me again, of course, not that I blame her. And so I became the new head of House Black. First thing I did was to free my daughters from their contracts. Cissy ended up marrying her intended anyway, but that was her own choice. Second thing I did was to reinvite my brother and his daughter back to our family. Other than that, I mostly set the stage for Andromeda to take over."

Hermione cast her eyes downward, sighing heavily. "I'm sorry I've caused so much trouble for your family. I only ever had good intentions."

"Trouble?" chuckled Cygnus. "Miss Granger, it's not for me to say what would have happened if you hadn't done what you ended up doing. Knowing how that Lestrange boy turned out, my Bellatrix would have had a very unhappy life as best… and quite likely would have gone to an early grave at worst."

Hermione smiled, almost having to force it. "Did you know that Andromeda had me shadowed all my life?"

"For years I thought my poor daughters were living delusional fantasies," shrugged Cygnus. "Magic pools, girls from the future, time travel, blood rituals. It sounded as if Andromeda and Narcissa were hanging on to delusional hope just like Druella was. Until… September 19, 1979."

Hermione blinked. "My birthday?"

"Suddenly it didn't seem so far-fetched anymore," said Cygnus. "Our Ministry contacts were keeping an eye out for magical children with the given name 'Hermione'. When you were born, a lot of questions were answered. The day of birth fit perfectly too."

Hermione nodded. "Did you know about Andromeda having me shadowed all my life?"

"Know about it?" Cygnus shook his head. "I suggested it. There wasn't much else we could do and, well, it was certainly less… invasive than some of the other things Andromeda was considering."

Less invasive? Hermione shuddered to think what could be 'less invasive' than having her entire life shadowed and documented at every turn she made. It was probably for the best that she didn't ask. Something else was on her mind, though. "Were you waiting for Bellatrix to reappear?" she asked.

"You must understand that we didn't know if she ever would," said Cygnus. "If we should interfere at the right moment or simply let things run its course. It was maddening to a point, especially for Andromeda. To her you were always the unpredictable factor who played a major role in losing a beloved family member, and she had been acting accordingly."

"Until now," whispered Hermione.

"Andromeda can be a harsh woman, because of the role she has had in this family for almost two decades," said Cygnus, getting up from his chair. "Don't expect too much of an apology, such is not in her nature. But do expect to be treated much less harshly from now on."

Hermione chuckled. "That would be nice," she almost smiled.

"I will attempt to catch some sleep," said Cygnus. "I suggest you do the same. There will be a family outing to the Welsh dragon sanctuary tomorrow, after all."

"Hm," said Hermione, turning her gaze towards the stack of paper. "I will. I just have some things to sort through first."

Cygnus turned towards her again, a hint of a smile tugging on the corners of his mouth. "Miss Granger, those books aren't going anywhere and I am quite certain you will have plenty of time to spend in our library. More time than you will ever need."

That made Hermione frown. "What do you mean by that?"

The hint of a smile turned into a smile. "Miss Granger, I can see nobody in the world who could love Bella as much as you do. Besides, it seems that my Bella has 'claimed you', as it were."

Her breath now catching in her throat, Hermione's gaze met the elder wizard's. "W-what are you inferring exactly?"

A chuckle. "I'm not in the habit of spelling things out, miss Granger," said Cygnus. "You may infer from my words whatever you wish. But be honest, miss Granger… Hermione. Why are you really here at this time of night, in a darkened library by the light of a candle while my daughter sleeps in her bed alone, hm?"

Hermione's expression froze. What should she tell him? That the nonsense with Nymphadora's 'special' brownies had disrupted her already precarious sleep cycle? That she had woken up in the middle of the night unable to go back to sleep in a quiet room alone with her thoughts. Thoughts, flashes and nightmares which haunted her to the core of her being. Memories of war, torture, pain and fear. Reliving the battles in her head over and over again, reliving memories of sights and horrors no one her young age should have ever experiences. Wondering if her sacrifices meant something… anything. How she needed a distraction before her self-doubt and her anguish would drive her to roll up into a ball and drown in her own tears.

But finally, Hermione understood. Why else would Cygnus wander the halls of his mansion in the dead of night?

"Will it ever go away?" Hermione asked, her voice small.

Cygnus took a deep breath, reached out and gently lay his hand on hers. He looked her in the eye and gave his answer. "No."

She knew that would be the only answer, but that didn't make it any less crushing. Before she could stop herself, a sob escaped her.

"But," Cygnus was quick to say. "You can learn to live with it. I know that seems impossible now, but take it from someone with a certain amount of age: Time does help. I know it is hard, but do try to get some sleep. And think of my daughter, who will likely tear the mansion apart brick by brick if she finds you missing from her bed in the morning."

That made Hermione chuckle despite of herself.

"We find ways of being our own worst enemies," said Cygnus. "Don't we?"

"We do," Hermione replied as Cygnus got up and bid her a good night. Certainly, it was good advice, but… she was feeling too tense to go back to Bellatrix' room, even if being cuddled by her girlfriend with Zipper snoozing in between sound very alluring.

Hermione was never one to take sage advice: she was far too stubborn for that. Not when there is almost one more article to read, one more scrapbook to study or one more lead to follow.

Fact remained that Hermione had spent far more time in the library than she should have. The end result was that Hermione found herself running a gauntlet through the hallways of Catterborough Woodhouse while stomping like a clydesdale, swaying dangerously and having trouble keeping her eyes open. God, what time was it even?

Damn Nymphadora and her stupid weed. Her entire sleep cycle was destroyed now. Though Hermione often had trouble sleeping, there was a breaking point where the fatigue hit her all at once. She was currently well past said breaking point, groaning as a particularly tired zombie ever so often as she tried to navigate the maze-like corridors of the house through bleary eyes. Just a few hours or so in bed would fix that, if she could ever find it, of course.

She was reasonably sure she was headed in the right direction, knowing that if she'd fall over she was likely to fall asleep immediately and would have to suffer the embarrassment of being found sleeping on the carpet in the morning.

With stamping feet, she rounded about the corner, her eyes now closed. Almost immediately, she bumped into something. A yelp later, she lashed out a hand to steady herself against the wall. "I'm so sorry," whispered Hermione, hoarse from fatigue. "C-could you point me to Bellatrix' room, please? I'm… not quite sure where I am at the moment."

No response.

"Hello?"

She opened her eyes, only to groan when she realized that she had first apologized profusely and later asked for directions to a taxidermied bear.

She sighed and resumed her tired trek. After more aimless wandering, she finally came to a bit of the house she recognized enough to know she was near Bellatrix' bedroom and let out a sigh of relief when she finally stumbled into the common room. The door to Bellatrix' room was in sight.

Hermione shuffled into the darkened room, past the snoozing wasp in his hutch and directly towards the bed where Bellatrix lay sleeping under the duvet. It seemed that Bellatrix hadn't woken up while she had slipped out to go the library. The young witch rather awkwardly kicked her shoes off and, after yawning, decided not to bother with removing her garmetns and let herself fall onto the bed.

That incredibly soft, welcoming bed.

Hermione struggled to roll herself underneath the duvet and lay on her back with her head on the pillow. By some miracle, Bellatrix hadn't woken up from the minor earthquake on the other side of the mattress. However, Bellatrix did seem to be aware of something happening on some sub-conscious level.

Hermione felt an arm surround her waist, something warm pressing against her side and a leg hooking around hers. Hermione struggled to open her eyes to see a peaceful Bellatrix neatly snuggled up against her, her head resting near her shoulder. Some very kissable lips where tempting close.

'I can see nobody in the world who could love Bella as much as you do.'

Those words ran through her mind when her lips touched Trix' lips. Soft. Tempting. Delicious lips.

With Hermione withdrew, there was a slight murmur of protest. Bellatrix shifted slightly, tightening her hold and moving a hand over Hermione's belly to end up resting on her left breast.

Bliss. Utter bliss.

Still, after forcing herself to stay awake for an entire trek through the house, sleep didn't come as quickly as she would have liked. It took an indeterminate amount of time for Hermione to finally start drifting off towards dreamlands.

Her eyes closed for a final time that night.

And she was gone.

"WAKEY WAKEY!"

The moment Hermione's eyes flew open, only for her retinas to be seared as if by the light of a thermonuclear blast outside as Bellatrix merrily opened the curtains. Hermione let out a yelp and stuffed her head underneath the pillow.

"Wake up, lazybones! You had more than enough time to sleep!" shouted Bellatrix. Adding to the unwelcome noise was a now roused wasp as Zipper was merrily buzzing around the room waiting to be let out the door.

Rather futily, Hermione tried to roll herself into the duvet to shield herself from the light and the cold air, only for Bellatrix to cruelly rip her protection from her.

"Noooooooooo…." Hermione muffled wails sounded through the pillow as she now lay bare to the elements.

"You slept in your clothes?" Bellatrix scoffed. "Lazy, lazy, lazy. UP UP!"

"GO AWWWAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYY!" Hermione wailed, only to be met with a quick slap to the bum.

"Come on! Dragon sanctuary! Time for bath, food and getting underway!"

"I wanna sllllllleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeepppppppppppp!"

"No!"

Cruel as Bellatrix could be, she did not even hear Hermione's wails for mercy over her own excitement. Not even when she ripped the duvet from the bed and started to yank away Hermione's pillows.

Cygnus Black was rather amused when sat at the breakfast table with his family. Indeed things were looking up. Andromeda's entire poise had changed; she sat up straighter, smiled more often and definitely stopped glaring at Hermione. In fact, it was as if a great weight had dropped from her shoulders. Though Andromeda wasn't forthcoming with the details, it was obvious that their exchange had changed something between the two of them.

Good.

He had come to see Hermione Granger as a kindred spirit of sorts. There were times when Hermione would become quiet and reserved, adopting a thousand yard stare off into the distance while she carried the weight of the world on her shoulders and injustice after injustice was piled on top of her. He'd seen that look many times before. He'd been in that position many times before.

Hell, he'd been her age when he went off to the States to fight a war. He, Alphard and dozens of braves from the Montana-Blacks, the Topeka Witch Coven from Kansas, a wizarding society from Scranton, wizarding militias from Chicago, Boston and Memphis, along with dozens of witches and wizards from across the pond, all led by General Wayman Reynards. Of course, the wizarding world never had a standing army like the muggles had. Both sides of the war were rag-tag individuals who believed in a cause. 'General' was not so much an official title as it was a nickname.

Though he knew that the second wizarding war had its nasty moments, it was, in a way, incomparable to the war against Grindelwald. He would certainly not belittle Hermione's experiences, but neither would he deny that the war he took part in was an absolute meatgrinder. It had larger scope, larger armies and, subsequently, a lot more death. As time passed the fighting grew ever more intense, not all familiar faces returned to their campfires. Despite the bonds of brother- and sisterhood forged in fire, the losses weighed heavy on him and years later, at the end of the war, he came on a different man.

Jaded, cynical, angry, lost… drowning in sorrow and nightmares.

Until Bellatrix was born.

He looked up from his breakfast. Miss Granger was sat next to a rather bubbly and enthused Bellatrix while struggling to stay awake. Her eyes were red and bloodshot while her head lulled forward ever so often. For a moment, Cygnus worried that Hermione might drop her forehead right into her jam toast at any moment.

As he had expected, when it came to managing her time in the library, the poor girl had done so rather poorly yesterday. But she was young and she would learn just as he had.

Meanwhile, Bellatrix was ranting and raving about visiting the dragons, oblivious and insensitive to her girlfriend's plight. In time, she would learn as well. For now, she was filling their home with youthful exuberance quite adequately.

What an immense joy to have her back. Bellatrix had filled the manor with youthful exuberance, as did her two siblings. The three of them were absolute marvels and Cygnus had promised himself he would do anything to protect them. And when the aurors had come to him and Ella with the grim news that they considered Bellatrix to be dead, part of him died that night. Ella's wails of grief had cut him right through his very soul.

And yet, here she was. Almost as if nothing had happened, how thirty-three years had not passed. A second chance for everybody.

"Goodness," said Andromeda, regarding the whole spectacle from the head of the table. "Bella, what on Earth have you done to Hermione yesterday?! She looks completely legless!"

"I'm fine…" sounded the labored and, honestly rather pathetic and mournful voice of Hermione. To which Andromeda raised an eyebrow in concern.

Concern. For a girl she had merely yesterday considered a potential dangerous enemy of the family she was sworn to lead and protect. It seemed that Andromeda too, had learned.

"I didn't do anything!" Bellatrix naturally protested. "I wish I had, mind you. Then Hermione would have a reason to look so completely shagged out."

Ted snorted from the other side of the table while Druella rolled her eyes. "Mon dieu, chouchou! Must you be so crass? At eight in the morning, even."

"Yes," Bellatrix grinned while Hermione let out a zombie-like moan while mumbling something unintelligible.

"Honestly, Bella," Andromeda sighed. "What happened to Hermione? She looks like Nymphadora when she's forced to get out of bed before noon!"

Ah, little Nymphadora. While it was fine to lack ambition… his older brother was a prime example of this, after all… Nymphadora took this to a whole other level. She generally lacked passion for anything which was not a driving machine, a muggle 'rock' band or the plants she enjoyed smoking. Nymphadora was now 27 years old and didn't seem to have the will to move her life forward, which was somewhat concerning. Cygnus knew that Andromeda was worried as well, but didn't seem to be willing to do much either.

Nymphadora had been a rock for Ella since her birth and remained close to her grandmother. He had no doubt that Ella would have been a lot worse off without her presence. Aside from that, Nymphadora had a distinct lack of arrogance and ego-centrism many other children born in rich magical families suffered from. It was for those reasons that Cygnus had no doubt that Nymphadora would step up to the plate to act if needed and would eventually be a grand successor to Andromeda as Head of House Black. She just needed a little push.

He just hoped that Andromeda wouldn't wait too long with giving Nymphadora said push.

Still, he had a family outing to look forward to. He and Ella would join Bellatrix, Hermione, Andromeda and Ted to go to the dragon sanctuary. Nymphadora would join them later in the day, having conceded to wake up at 11 today… early for her. Narcissa and Draco would already be there. Unfortunately Alphard and Morag were still on walkabout in Montana, away from everything. He had already received a note from his brother expressing wonderment and wrote that he and Morag would be returning home soon. Morag, however, was in the middle of nowhere and likely hadn't heard the news yet.

And Ella, darling Ella. He certainly understood a mother's need to make up for lost time, but he had managed to convince her of the fact that Bellatrix was seventeen years old and had a girlfriend… thus not likely to spend every waking moment with her mother. Though Druella had accepted this, she was still going to keep a close eye on Bella, both in person and through her scrying bowl… which was something Bellatrix was going to have to live with for the time being.

For a time it looked as if House Black could be dying out in this very generation, no thanks to Voldemort and his band of merry fools. But now? House Black was vibrant, full of life and looking towards the future again. Despite Hermione's current state, Cygnus was certain that Hermione would be happy to be here in time. He certainly had been dropping enough hints that Hermione should continue to get comfortable around Catterborough Woodhouse as Bellatrix would insist that she would come to live here. And, honestly, he could think of no better match for his stubborn, clever and willful eldest daughter. Both Bellatrix and Hermione were cut from the same cloth, as it were.

There was some buzzing near him. It seemed that Bella's odd pet had left her lap and was slowly sauntering over the table looking for something to eat. A giant wasp walking among the fine silverware was definitely a strange thing to see, though no less amusing. Cygnus used some tongs to pick up a few lumps of sugar to put on the flat of his hand. He held it out towards the wasp. For a moment, the wasp's antennae twitched a little and, with a crack, he teleported across the table. "Hello there, Zipper," he greeted. The wasp carefully took one of the lumps from his hand with his mandibles to snack on the sugar. As it didn't mind being touched while eating, Cygnus took a moment to pat the creature on the head while it took another lump.

A loud bang sounded from across the table, causing the wasp to start, jump up into the air and turn around towards the source of the noise while airborne. It seemed that poor Hermione had indeed fallen into her plate. With her cheek now covered with strawberry jam, the sleeping Hermione let out a slight feminine snore.

Hermione had forced herself to be somewhat awake and active by the use of the rather unholy combination of caffeine pills and Red Bull. With any luck, it'd keep her from collapsing from exhaustion until the evening. She'd love to say that this was an uncommon situation, but she'd be lying. Still, she was happy to be able to be somewhat active to see the dragons up close. Dragons, being cold-blooded creatures, weren't all that active in cold weather and some species even hibernated in winter. This meant humans could get relatively close to them so they could see these majestic creatures in their full glory.

The dragon she was watching now from the observation platform was old, scarred and the size of a tour-bus, with one broken horn and razor-sharp teeth. He didn't seem to be skittish around humans either. Bellatrix stood near the treat dispenser and had just put in some cash to make a pig carcass slide down the funnel. The dragon was eagerly waiting to scoop it up, tossed the pig in the air, caught it deftly and made a show out of crushing it in his mouth. When the meal was done, the dragon threw his head into the air and let out a massive cone of fire.

"Hah," chuckled Bellatrix. "That dragon has become even more of a show-man than he was back in the sixties. He was an old man then too."

"Dragons live for centuries," said Hermione as she leaned on the railing. "I wonder how old this one is."

"Three-hundred at least," said Bellatrix. "He was one of the first dragons born in the sanctuary hatchery after it opened."

"I'm surprised your mother left you out of her sight," said Hermione.

"Look closer," chuckled Bellatrix. "Over there, other side of the platform."

Indeed, Hermione turned slightly to see Druella looked at the two of them with a small pair of omniculars. Bellatrix held up her hand and waved a bit. "Yes, I suppose I'm going to have to put up with a smother for a bit. Not that I blame her, really."

"Not much that could happen," shrugged Hermione. "We're the only ones here. Because Andromeda made sure the public areas were closed off specifically for our visit. Opulence of wealth, I suppose."

Bellatrix gave her a cheeky sideways grin. "House Black is a major benefactor to the sanctuary. This is just a small favour for them. Officially, the sanctuary is 'closed for emergency maintenance'. Nobody knows we're here and the place would be swamped with journos otherwise."

"I know. It's just… I don't like special treatment, Trix," Hermione pouted slightly.

"Learn to enjoy wealth and status, Hermie," Bellatrix winked. "Your name is attached to House Black now. Make use of the perks that'll give you."

"Funny," replied Hermione. "Your father said the same."

"My father is a wise man."

Just then, Zipper's head popped out. The wasp took one look at the dragon and swiftly ducked back into the bag, using his mandibles to pull the zipper closed again. Bellatrix patted the bag slightly for a moment to try to calm him down. "Poor thing, he's so scared of the dragons. I should have left him back at Catterborough Woodhouse."

"We should make our way to the cafe for a bite to eat," said Hermione. "Might let Zipper out for a bit too to calm down."

Bellatrix agreed and made their way through the platforms. The sanctuary, as it was, was built along the side of the mount where the dragon dens were hewn out. Parts of the dragon dens had one way glass so visitors could peek inside. Many of the current dens were occupied by hibernating dragons curled up against each other for warmth. Others had dragons awake but lazying about in their dens to avoid the cold weather. The hatchery, however, was active. Though dragons in the wild had a distinct mating season, several species of dragons at the sanctuary mated through-out the year due to the abundance of space and food. One such couple had recently hatched eggs.

The girls stopped at the one-way glass to see the three young whelps being actively running around, trying to fly by flapping their little wings and generally try to annoy their mother by running all over her. The father of the couple had just returned with the carcass of a cow and tossed it on the ground. Though the whelps rushed to the food, the father carefully pushed them away with his snout so that the mother could eat first.

Bellatrix and Hermione watched the little dragons play for a while until they got their turn to feast. "Three sisters," smiled Bellatrix. "With an unbreakable bond."

"They are cute, aren't they?" Hermione replied.

"Sights like this reminds one that life is worth living," said Bellatrix. "And how important family is."

Hermione nodded. "It'll be Christmas soon."

"Solstice," replied Bellatrix. "Have you decided yet if you want to celebrate it with us?"

"It's on different days, so I'd love to," said Hermione. "But I have to be with my parents on Christmas day. It… it might be the last Christmas at my childhood home."

Hermione didn't miss the less-than-subtle grin on Bellatrix' face. One of those cheeky 'I have a secret' type grins. "What?" asked Hermione.

"You'll see," Bellatrix winked.

"Fine, keep your secrets," said Hermione. "But if you invite me to join your family for Solstice, I think it's only fair I invite you to join our family for Christmas."

Bellatrix raised an eyebrow. "I dunno. Christmas just seems very violent to me."

"Violent?! How is Christmas violent?!"

"There's a bloke who brings you presents and as thanks, you nail him to a cross! How is that not violent?!" Bellatrix crossed her arms. "Rude too and I'd be more sympathetic to the bloke if he wouldn't fall for the same trick every year. Sounds very Hufflepuff to me."

Hermione blinked once. Twice. "Okay, first of all, Santa Claus and Jesus are not the same person. Second, we celebrate the birth of Christ, not his death. Third, neither Santa or Jesus are Hufflepuff! Just celebrate Christmas with us and you'll see for yourself."

"I dunno."

"There'll be turkey. And horror films in the evening, if I know my dad."

Bellatrix' eyes lit up. "Oooh! Count me in. Besides that, the live crucifixions at your church should be entertaining."

"Live… crucifixions…" Hermione mouthed.

"Hm!" Bellatrix nodded eagerly.

Hermione opened her mouth to say something, but then decided against it.

"Let's get to the cafe!" Bellatrix hooked her arms around her waist and pulled her towards the cafe where they found the rest of the family gathered. Drinks and snacks were ordered and chats were had while Zipper enjoyed being away from the dragons. Druella and Cygnus recounted a tale from Bellatrix' youth when she managed to get herself stuck in a pipe while chasing after a dragonfly. An embarrassed Bellatrix countered with a story where Cygnus accidentally set his office on fire due to falling asleep while smoking his pipe when doing paperwork. Achille sat back doing sketches while an unstoned Nymphadora lamented being unstoned. Andromeda and Ted enjoyed some cakes until Cygnus started rapping his fingers to the table. "Bella?" he asked. "I remember you being very into writing before your disappearance. Have you written anything new?"

"Qui!" Achille spoke up. "That is the right question!"

"Well, I've been working on some," said Bellatrix when she fished her notebook out of her bag. "Not much quiet time so they're all a little rough. But I have one that's almost done."

Bellatrix flipped to a page in her notebook and Hermione could see that the story on that page had a lot of scratched out sentences and alterations, as well as notes in the liner. Bellatrix, as usual, was a consummate perfectionist.

"I call this one, 'The Slide'.

Marjorie Brundle was a simple woman. She worked hard during the week and enjoying taking her young son to the park on the weekends. Together they would enjoy a picnic and, afterwards, she would watch her son as he enjoyed the playground with the other children. It was a particularly quiet day at the park, with them being the only people there. Not that Marjorie complained all that much, since her son could enjoy the playground on his own and he wouldn't have to wait in line for the trampoline.

After enjoying the swing-set and jumping around on the trampoline, her son made his way to the slide. The slide itself was at the top of a wooden play-fort and was a tall closed tube going down to the ground in two sets of loops. The boy ran up the stairs, jumped onto the slide and Marjorie smiled as she watched her son emerge at the bottom with a whoop. Of course, he ran right up the stairs for a second go. And a third. However, at the fourth go something was off.

The boy rushed down the slide. But didn't emerge from the other end.

Marjorie let out a sigh. This wasn't the first time her son had tried to pull a prank by stopping himself halfway down the slide. She made her way over to the mouth of the slide, bent down and yelled. 'Alright, Jack, fun's over. Come on down, I know you're up there'.

No answer.

'Jack?'

Still no answer.

Fine, if her son wanted to play that game, she would simply make her way up the fort, enter the slide and emerge at the bottom with her giggling son in her lap. And Marjorie did just that. Rather awkwardly, she sat down and pushed herself forward. She made the first loop. And the second. And… a third?

This was odd. Not only was she now headed towards a fourth loop, but she was actually gaining speed. Her heart pounded in her chest as her mind started realize that something was very, very off. The mouth of the slide should have been in sight long ago, but instead she was still gaining speed as the slide moved up, down, right, left with seemingly no end to it.

'Jack?! JACK?!' she shouted, her voice echoing through the endless tube. Finally, she came to a halt as the incline of the tube tapered off and she lost all her momentum. All she could do was to stare into the endless darkness ahead.

With some effort she managed to turn herself forward into the tube to lay on her chest and started the arduous task of dragging herself forward. 'Jack?!' she shouted again. 'Shout if you can hear me!'.

Nothing.

With increasing panic, Marjorie continued to drag herself forward while screaming her son's name. Until she heard something in the distance. Marjorie strained to hear what it was, only to realize that it came not in front of her, but behind her. The sound of limbs pounding against the metal of the tube came ever closer. But it couldn't be her son. Something was coming up behind her. Fast. Large. And the moment it let out a shriek which reverberated through the entire tube, Marjorie let out a yelp and started to drag herself forward as fast as she could.

Her heart pounded in her chest and she strained her entire body to frantically stay ahead of whatever it was that was behind her, but one thing was clear: it was gaining on her faster than she could drag herself forward. The sounds, the pounding, the screams were coming over closer. Crying in fear and panic, she almost rejoiced when she finally saw light ahead. With renewed purpose, she pushed herself forward and dragged herself into the dim light.

Whatever it was behind her stopped at the mouth of the slide, letting out a disappointed light growl before withdrawing back into the darkness.

Marjorie let out a sigh of relief.

'Mum?' sounded behind her. Marjorie quickly hugged her son to her chest. The boy had a cut above his brow, but seemed otherwise unharmed. She was overjoyed… until she realized where she was.

The mouth of the slide was encased in a stone wall… surrounded by three other stone walks. The dank smell of mildew overcame her as she realized that the dim light came from bio-luminescent lichen on the walls. She and her son were trapped in a tiny room barely big enough to hold two people and they were trapped.

The growls grew ever more eager as it started to sink in that the only way out of this room, was to go to back up the slide."

"Nasty," Cygnus rubbed his chin.

"Mon dieu, Chouchou!" Druella pouted. "Why don't you write about something nice?"

Bellatrix shrugged. "It's just… something I came up with after breakfast. It's… not very good…"

"Bollocks to that," exclaimed Nymphadora. "I'm never going down a slide again!"

"Practise makes perfect, Cherie," chuckled her oncle.

Bellatrix smirked at Hermione. "Maybe your Christmas celebrations will give me more inspiration."

Christmas horror by Bellatrix. Well, that would make her popular with her dad, at least.