An insecure and nervous smile appeared on Bellatrix's face. She put her legs on the ground and leaned back on the windowsill. Hermione observed her expectantly.
"So, uh…As I am stuck here in the mansion till the end of the week and I have nothing to entertain myself with, besides taunting my dear nephew and sister…I thought I could help you out. With Quidditch, that is. I was pretty good at school." Bellatrix blurted out in one breath, as if she wanted to get this done with as fast, as possible.
Hermione couldn't suppress a smile widening on her face and a glint in her eyes, so tempting was the idea. She couldn't formulate a coherent response, so she took a while to bring her thoughts together.
Bellatrix broke the silence once more.
"If you're worried, Draco would be disappointed, I'll talk to him. I think he's pretty shook after your fall anyway, so that shouldn't be a problem. If you would even consider my offer, that is …" Bellatrix was nervous and she couldn't lift up her gaze to look Hermione in the eyes. She wasn't used to offering help to anyone, except family, as she thought people wanted nothing to do with her and would never accept it, because of her past.
"Yes." Hermione blurted out, half because she couldn't decline such a tempting idea, half because she wanted Bellatrix to stop rambling.
"What?" The older witch finally looked at Hermione, confused. She thought she misheard.
"Yes, I'd love to...Miss Black. I'm sure Draco will be okay with this." She said, before she could stop herself, still smiling, like a complete idiot. Although she didn't want to go into details why she was so sure of it. Bellatrix discovering, that she was eavesdropping on her sister was the last thing she wanted.
"Oh, umm, good. We can start tomorrow, if you didn't have any other plans. And save those formalities for Cissy. I have too much of that at work already. Call me Bellatrix." Bellatrix took her glass back to her hands, just to be occupied with something. She couldn't remember the last time she felt so nervous and insecure. There was something intimidating about this girl.
Hermione laughed at that.
"Well, Bellatrix, I stayed for the night to practice with Draco more tomorrow, though I'll have to help him out with Herbology too." Hermione couldn't help but notice how easy, yet unusual it was, to call the older witch just by her name.
Bellatrix also smiled at how her name sounded from the girl. She couldn't remember the last time someone called her by her first name, except family.
"Right." Bellatrix put her glass back on the windowsill. "You should go sleep. Those trainings are draining and you've got it pretty rough today, for that matter."
"Yeah, don't even start. I'm sorry about that. I really need to go, if I want to be able to do anything tomorrow. Thank's a lot for the offer. It's very kind of you." Hermione felt her cheeks burn at the reminder of the earlier incident.
"It's okay. I'm glad you weren't hurt. Goodnight, Hermione." Bellatrix sit back at the windowsill.
"Aren't you going to bed too?"
"I'll go soon. I'm used to existing with few hours of sleep." The older witch smiled.
"Right. Goodnight, Miss…uh, Bellatrix." Hermione corrected herself in time and headed back to the door. It will still take some time, getting used to.
Bellatrix looked once more at the sky, when Hermione disappeared behind the kitchen door. She couldn't fathom what was it with this girl, that got her to do things, she never would've done, was it anyone else. Bellatrix couldn't help, but notice the similarity between them. Hermione was so determined to prove, whoever it was, wrong, as Bellatrix was all her life. She recalled how hard it always was and how this useless proving ruined her. And she certainly didn't want that for anyone else. That probably was the reason for her impulsive offer earlier. Though, was it everything there was? Bellatrix finished her glass of firewhiskey at once and headed towards her own bedroom. Tomorrow is a new day.
Hermione shut the kitchen door behind her and released a breath, she didn't know, she was holding. Goodness, she couldn't be brave enough to even dream about what just happened. The subject of her several years' obsession just offered to train her. Hermione pinched herself for good measure, to be sure this is not a dream. She started to slowly go up the stairs, whispering "Lumos" one more time and trying to fathom what just happened. She fell on the bed, once she reached her bedroom and stared at the ceiling. Well, life was definitely taking a turn, Hermione thought. Spending more time with Bellatrix was definitely a tempting idea, but also an intimidating one. Bellatrix was of course captivating, but she was an enigma. Hermione thought she knew a lot about the witch, due to years of collecting materials and reading everything, related to her. But today all her illusions shuttered. She wasn't that scary or intimidating, as the newspapers often described her, but definitely had an authoritative presence. For some reason Hermione thought, that the vulnerable side of Bellatrix, she saw today, was a rare occasion. She always had a look, that screamed SELF-CONFIDENCE. But she was just a person, so there had to be more underneath that public mask. Stealing a glance at the wall clock, Hermione thought it was definitely time to get some sleep, if she wanted to be able to do anything tomorrow. With that thought she wrapped herself in a blanket and drifted to sleep.
Hermione's body was probably too much filled with excitement, because her eyes snapped open with the first rays of sunlight. Despite having just a few hours of sleep, she felt full of energy, though it was probably pure excitement and adrenaline rushing through her body from anticipation. Hermione got up from the bed, stretched and trudged into the bathroom. When the morning routine was over, she put back on her own cloths and took a glance in the mirror. Her hair, still wet from the shower, was a bushy mess, but she knew she could do nothing about it before it dries. And even after – it would not look much better. She used to be very upset about her hair situation in the childhood, but got used to it with years passing. Now she considered it her personal peculiarity. Hermione took a deep breath and stepped out of the room. The Manor was silent. Draco was probably still asleep, he wasn't an early bird, as Hermione knew. So she decided to go to the kitchen and have her morning glass of water. She went down the stairs, as quietly as possible, and opened the kitchen door. Two pairs of eyes focused on her.
"Good morning, Miss Granger. Have you slept well?" Narcissa greeted her, sipping her morning tea.
"Morning." Muttered Bellatrix, taking a sip of her drink, was it coffee?
"Good morning. Yes, thank you." Hermione tugged her sleeve awkwardly, slowly reaching the cupboard to pour herself a glass of water. She was surprised the witches were at the kitchen and not the dining room.
"Tea? Coffee?" Narcissa wrinkled her nose in distaste on the second word and Bellatrix rolled her eyes at that.
"Tea sounds great, thank you." Hermione finished her glass of water.
"Take a sit. I'll ask Tinky to make something for breakfast. Any preferences?"
"Uhh, no I think. I'll have anything. Thank you." Hermione took a sit in front of Bellatrix, who was still sipping her coffee, now she was certain it was, coffee, judging by the smell. The older witch had a new Daily Prophet in her hands, eyes quickly scanning the article. Hermione took in the morning appearance of both witches. Narcissa looked perfect, as always, with her hair in a bun, black skirt ending just under her knees and white atlas shirt. Hermione would only dress like that for a job interview or something, but everything about the woman screamed ELEGANCE and NOBILITY, so it was her usual dressing, Hermione supposed. Bellatrix looked less dressed up. She was wearing black trousers and black adjoining long sleeve top with the higher buttons unbuttoned and her hair was a mess, which reminded Hermione of herself and she smiled a bit.
"See something funny, snitch?" Bellatrix looked up from the article.
Hermione's smile only widened at the nickname.
"No, nothing, sorry." She tried to suppress the widening smile.
Bellatrix narrowed her eyes and studied the girl closer.
"And Narcissa says my hair is a bush…" She commented, taking in Hermione's hair situation.
This time Hermione couldn't resist a laugh.
"Bellatrix! That's rude!" Narcissa came back from wherever she was probably instructing Tinky.
Hermione laughed even harder at that and Bellatrix snorted, her eyes drifting back to the article.
"it's okay Mrs. Malfoy. I actually find it funny myself. I used to be offended by that, when I was a child, but now I consider it my unique peculiarity." Hermione answered just in time, when Narcissa placed a cup of tea in front of her.
Bellatrix looked once more at the girl and the corners of her lips twitched slightly, forming a half-smile. Hermione started sipping her tea in comfortable silence, when Mrs. Malfoy joined them at the table. Not a minute later, the kitchen door sprung open Draco stepped inside, reaching for a glass to drink some water. He was wearing a sport suit and his checks were slightly red.
"Morning." He greeted everyone, finishing a glass of water at once.
"How was your morning run?" Narcissa turned to look at him.
"It's bloody cold out there. Gonna take a shower. Also, I'm starving. Be right back." With that he went through the kitchen door.
Hermione was confused. She never thought Draco to be the type for morning jogging, considering it was always hard for him to get up early for the classes in Hogwarts.
"Draco! I need a word with you!" Bellatrix quickly stood up and followed the boy out of the kitchen.
Was she about to ask him if she was okay with Bellatrix stepping into the trainer's shoes, Hermione thought. At that moment Narcissa also stood up and followed them, leaving a confused Hermione alone at the kitchen table.
"What is it, auntie?" Draco stopped at the bathroom door.
"I'll be teaching Granger Quidditch from now on." Bellatrix decided there was no point in wandering around the subject, so she went straight to the point.
"Oh, thank God. I wanted to ask you to do it, because after yesterday, I'm not sure, I'm quite ready to take responsibility for somebody's life." He sighed relieved.
Bellatrix eyes widened slightly. She didn't think it would be that easy, but it was good news.
"Bella, I wanted to ask you something." Narcissa approached her son and sister, completely unaware of what they were talking about before. "Draco and me discussed it yesterday and came to conclusion, that he is not experienced enough to take the responsibility for Ms. Granger's life, while training her. So I wanted to ask, if you'd maybe be so kind to help her out. I understand, if you don't want to, but I thought you'll have nothing to do here all this week and …"
Draco and Bellatrix could hardly suppress a laugh.
"Rambling, Cissy." Bellatrix burst out laughing and Draco followed.
Narcissa's eyes widened with confusion, but confusion quickly changed into annoyance.
"Did I say something funny?" She scowled at both of them.
"Well, I just offered the same myself, but you were so determined to beg me, that I couldn't bring myself to stop your rambling." Bellatrix finally caught her breath.
"Oh, bugger. That was something." Draco leaned back at the door, catching his breath.
"I hate you." Narcissa retorted and elbowed her sister.
"I love you too, Cissy." Bellatrix laughed and hugged her sister.
"Right. I'll leave you two to it then." With that being said, Draco closed the bathroom door behind him.
Bellatrix sighed and looked at Cissy, who was staring at her with a rather amused smile on her face.
"What is it, sister?" Bellatrix was rather annoyed about that knowing look, Narcissa gave her.
"Nothing. Just..why are you suddenly care about this girl? I thought it would take me ages and at least 3 bottles of firewhiskey to convince you to train her."
Bellatrix scoffed. "I don't care, Cissy. I'll just die out of boredom here, till the end of the week, if I don't find something to entertain myself with. Though the offer with 3 bottles is still on a table, I hope?"
"No, it's not, since you already agreed. You can tell yourself whatever you want, but I know there's more behind it." Narcissa didn't look convinced at the slightest.
"Well, maybe, just maybe, I see a bit of myself in her." Bellatrix gave up.
"I see it too. But not just that." Cissy winked at her sister and hurried back in the general direction of the kitchen. "You've always been a sucker for a pretty face, Bella!" She added, quietly, giggling on the way.
"I..WHAT? CISSY!" Bellatrix hurried after her sister, shouting. She caught up with her just in front of the kitchen door. "Do shut up!" She hissed and elbowed her still giggling sister. "This is ridiculous. Not a word! And I mean it, Cissy!" She threatened.
Hermione was still sitting at the table, finishing her cup of tea, when two witches returned.
"Well, snitch, welcome to my training club." Bellatrix sighed, leaning at the kitchen counter and folding her arms on the chest.
Hermione choked on her tea.
"Was that so simple?"
Narcissa cocked an eyebrow and scoffed. "You could say so." Something wasn't right though. "Wait, you knew?"
It was Bella's turn to smile knowingly.
"Knew what?" Hermione had to play dumb.
"That she was going to talk to Draco about training you instead of him." Narcissa added, rolling her eyes.
"Well, we might have had a productive night, right, snitch?" Bellatrix teased with an amused smile on her face.
Hermione choked once more on the remaining of her tea.
"You could say so, I guess." She replied, catching her breath.
Narcissa was dumbstruck and gave Bellatrix, who rolled her eyes in response, a questioning look.
"Chill, Cissy. I might have robbed your cellar for a bottle of firewhiskey at night and Hermione caught me in the kitchen."
"How do you even…? Oh, never mind, I'm sure you can smell alcohol from miles away. Will have to hide other bottles somewhere else. As the matter of fact, I have business to attend, so I'll leave you to it. The breakfast should be here soon." She looked at Hermione. "Feel yourself at home, Miss Granger. If you need something, I think Draco is not going anywhere, so just ask him." She returned her gaze to Bellatrix. "Bella, behave yourself." Her sister rolled her eyes, and put her hand on her heart, as if she was dramatically giving an oath. With that the blondie left.
"Well, what did my dear nephew teach you yesterday? I just want to know what is the magnitude of the disaster." Bellatrix sat at the table in front of Hermione.
"Well, I knew the rules of the game before yesterday. I read everything I could, related to the topic. He decided it would be wise to start with, Accioing the broom and teaching me to hop on it in the process. It didn't go well at first, but I managed it after a couple of tries. Then he taught me how to control the broom, or rather feel it, as he put it. And I spent the rest of the time flying around, until…well, you know the rest." Hermione blushed again, recalling all the embarrassment from yesterday.
"Right. Well, that's something. Have you chosen the role, that you want to play, already?"
"Yeah, I'd like to try being a seeker." Hermione answered shyly, standing up to wash her and Bella's cup. This earned her a rather confused look from Bellatrix.
"You do realize Cissy has house elves for that, right?" The older witch cocked an eyebrow.
"I know, but they are busy with the breakfast, and I like to help, when I can." Hermione answered, putting clean cups on their place.
"Seeker. Right. That's good. I was a seeker, actually. Gonna teach you all the nasty tricks then." Bellatrix was thoughtful for a moment, but a rather amused smile appeared on her face.
"Oh, really? I thought more between beater and chaser." Hermione sat back at the table just in time, when Tinky appeared with a plate in her hands.
"Breakfast for Miss Granger." The elf put it on the table in front of Hermione.
There was a sandwich and a few fried eggs with bacon.
"Can Tinky do something else for Miss Black and Miss Granger?"
"No, Tinky. You're free to go." Bellatrix waved him off.
"Thank you, Tinky. It smells delicious." Hermione thanked the elf, who disappeared with a pop.
"Have you had breakfast already?" She asked, noticing the older witch didn't ask for anything for herself.
"I'm not a breakfast person. Coffee usually serves me good. Bon appetite, by the way." The older witch answered, staring at the garden behind the window. "Actually, I'll go prepare everything for our training. Come to the backyard, when you finish your breakfast. I'll be there." With that the older witch left Hermione eating in silence.
When the breakfast was finished, she washed the plate, not wanting to give Tinky extra work, and hurried to the backyard. What Hermione saw, when she stepped outside, left her breathless. There was a whole Quidditch arena on the backyard, it looked nothing like yesterday. She noticed Bellatrix not far away, casting something with her wand. There were two automatic machines? Throwing bludgers in several directions from time to time. A few brooms were flying around on their own. From the looks of it, Bellatrix was putting some final touches.
"Oh, you're here. Good." The older witch turned around and noticed Hermione approaching.
To say the least, the girl looked terrified. "Well, I thought it would be good to simulate a real Quidditch game as much as possible. Don't worry though, I changed the bludgers' structure, so they would hit you like a pillow, that shouldn't hurt. I enchanted the brooms to fly around you, something like real players.I took some time to find my old broom, you'll use it, cause the extra ones my sister has in stock are just awful." With that being said she gave it to Hermione.
"Wow! You..you did all this by yourself in what…15 minutes?" Hermione looked around and thought her eyes were deceiving her.
"Well…" Bellatrix rubbed the back of her head shyly. "I guess being the head auror gives you certain experience."
"In Quidditch?" Hermione cocked one eyebrow.
"I was rather fond of it at school, so I might have invented how to simulate a Quidditch match at home to train on holidays…." Bellatrix confessed.
"You're unbelievable." Hermione said before she could stop herself. Was that blush on the older witch's cheeks?
"Right, um, thank you, I guess." Bellatrix was obviously uncomfortable with receiving compliments. "Let's get to the point. You take the broom and go there." She pointed at the center of the field. "I'll be here, with my broom nearby, just in case. As soon as you get comfortable, if you can say so, with avoiding bludgers and other brooms, I'll let the snitch out. Okay?"
"Yeah, let's try." Hermione obliged and went to the center of the field, Bellatrix following her every move with an intense look.
Hermione put the broom on the ground and took a few steps back, just to practice summoning and straddling it in the process once more. She got lucky today and succeeded from the first try. Just when she was several feet above the ground, a bludger missed her by the hair and Hermione understood she had no time to compose herself and rushed forward avoiding another bludger. She tried flying to one gate and then another, avoiding bludgers and other brooms and was rather satisfied with herself. Turning 180 yet again, she hasn't noticed Bellatrix changing the bludgers timing and trajectory. Being completely unaware, she got a bludger straight to her chest, just when she turned around. It wasn't painful, but it took her by surprise and stoke with such a force, that knocked her off the broom. Hermione felt a slight déjà vu and a moment of panic, falling from her broom yet again. But it quickly passed and she wasn't so scared, as the last time. She knew Bellatrix wouldn't let her hurt herself, so she just closed her eyes and gave up to the moment. The next thing she saw, when she opened her eyes again, was Bellatrix's amused smile, which could be barely seen because of the sun, and her stretched hand.
"Never let your guard down." The older witch said, helping Hermione to her feet, holding her hand a bit longer, than was needed.
"I guess that's the next lesson I have to learn." Hermione shook the snow off her clothes.
"Thank you, by the way. That landing could've crashed all my bones." She looked gratefully at the older witch, who just shrugged.
"That's what I'm here for, after all. Let's try again, but keep a close eye on bludgers, you never know how the beater is going to act and where next bludger would go."
"Yeah, I just wasn't expecting it, but that's the whole point, I guess." Hermione smiled shyly.
She took the broom one more time and went to the center of the field. Another 15 minutes went fine, Hermione gathered all the concentration, she could, and was successfully avoiding all the bladgers. She turned 180 one more time and saw the familiar blonde head. That second was enough for Hermione to let her guard down and the next bludger hit her square in the back. She turned upside down on her broom, but didn't let it go. Hermione was hanging in the air like that for a few moments, when she heard someone shouting. It was hard to recognize the words, when blood started rushing to her head.
"Let it go!" She finally heard Black shouting.
Let it go? Let what go? Is she talking about the broom? So Hermione did let it go and started falling yet again. This time she landed in somebody's strong arms. When Hermione opened her eyes, she experienced yet another déjà vu. Same wild black curls, same pale skin and smiling red lips. She lifted her gaze a bit and locked her eyes with the older witch.
"This is becoming some sort of tradition, don't you think, snitch?" Bellatrix teased, lowering the younger witch to stand on the ground.
But Hermione found the bravery, she didn't know she possessed.
"Well, you could've let me fall on the ground with a cushion charm like last time." She teased back.
"Guess I just happened to stand right below your falling trajectory." Black shrugged.
That was when Hermione noticed Draco slowly approaching them with a cocked eyebrow and an amused smile on his face.
"You seem to get along with my aunt just well, Granger. That's a rare case." He smiled at Bellatrix, who scowled in response.
"Well, she certainly is good at saving my clumsy ass." Hermione smiled.
"Yeah, I can see that." His smile became even wider and Bellatrix shot him a deadly look.
"Actually, I came to find you." He turned his gaze to his aunt. "An owl just brought this for you." He gave her a letter with a Hogwarts seal on it.
"God dammit. What does that old fool want from me now?" Bellatrix took the letter with a dramatic sigh. She opened it, not wanting to delay whatever it was.
𝒟𝑒𝒶𝓇, 𝑀𝒾𝓈𝓈 𝐵𝓁𝒶𝒸𝓀,
𝐻𝑜𝓅𝑒 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝒹𝑜𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒻𝒾𝓃𝑒. 𝒜 𝒷𝒾𝓇𝒹 𝓌𝒽𝒾𝓈𝓅𝑒𝓇𝑒𝒹 𝓉𝑜 𝓂𝑒, 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝑜𝓃 𝓋𝒶𝒸𝒶𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃 𝓃𝑜𝓌 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒶𝓈 𝓂𝓊𝒸𝒽, 𝒶𝓈 𝐼 𝒹𝑜𝓃'𝓉 𝓌𝒶𝓃𝓉 𝓉𝑜 𝒹𝒾𝓈𝓉𝓊𝓇𝒷 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒶𝓉 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝓉𝒾𝓂𝑒, 𝐼'𝓂 𝒶𝒻𝓇𝒶𝒾𝒹, 𝐼 𝒽𝒶𝓋𝑒 𝒶 𝒻𝒶𝓋𝑜𝓇 𝓉𝑜 𝒶𝓈𝓀 𝑜𝒻 𝓎𝑜𝓊. 𝒲𝑒 𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝓅𝓇𝒶𝒸𝓉𝒾𝒸𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝓃𝑒𝓌 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒶𝓉 𝓈𝒸𝒽𝑜𝑜𝓁, 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓈𝑒𝑒, 𝒾𝓃𝓋𝒾𝓉𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓅𝓇𝑜𝒻𝑒𝓈𝓈𝒾𝑜𝓃𝒶𝓁𝓈 𝓉𝑜 𝓂𝒶𝓀𝑒 𝒶 𝓅𝑒𝓇𝒻𝑜𝓇𝓂𝒶𝓃𝒸𝑒 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝒾𝓇 𝑒𝓍𝓅𝑒𝓇𝓉𝒾𝓈𝑒 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝓈𝓉𝓊𝒹𝑒𝓃𝓉𝓈. 𝐼'𝓂 𝓈𝓊𝓇𝑒 𝓎𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝓅𝑜𝓈𝒾𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃 𝒶𝓈 𝒶 𝐻𝑒𝒶𝒹 𝒜𝓊𝓇𝑜𝓇 𝓂𝒾𝑔𝒽𝓉 𝒽𝒶𝓋𝑒 𝓈𝑜𝓂𝑒𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒻𝒶𝓈𝒸𝒾𝓃𝒶𝓉𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓉𝑜 𝓉𝑒𝒶𝒸𝒽 𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝓈𝓉𝓊𝒹𝑒𝓃𝓉𝓈. 𝒮𝑜 𝐼 𝓌𝒶𝓈 𝓌𝑜𝓃𝒹𝑒𝓇𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒾𝒻 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒸𝑜𝓊𝓁𝒹 𝒸𝑜𝓂𝑒 𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓇 𝑜𝓃 𝑀𝑜𝓃𝒹𝒶𝓎 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝓂𝒶𝓉𝓉𝑒𝓇? 𝒫𝓁𝑒𝒶𝓈𝑒 𝓁𝑒𝓉 𝓂𝑒 𝓀𝓃𝑜𝓌, 𝓅𝓇𝑒𝒻𝑒𝓇𝒶𝒷𝓁𝓎 𝒷𝑒𝒻𝑜𝓇𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓌𝑒𝑒𝓀𝑒𝓃𝒹, 𝓈𝑜 𝐼 𝒸𝒶𝓃 𝒶𝓇𝓇𝒶𝓃𝑔𝑒 𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓇𝓎𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑔.
𝒮𝒾𝓃𝒸𝑒𝓇𝑒𝓁𝓎 𝓎𝑜𝓊𝓇𝓈
𝒟𝓊𝓂𝒷𝓁𝑒𝒹𝑜𝓇𝑒
"Well, fuck."