** Just a quick note to say thank you to everyone who has taken the time to read this pic, follow along and review. It means a lot to me.**
The two days since her phone call with the bookshop owner were the two longest days of her life as far as she could remember. That probably wasn't entirely true but Bellatrix couldn't remember a time when she had been more excited for an event. The pacing started again and she walked back and forth in front of her closet trying to decide what to wear. Frustration had set in about twenty minutes prior, she stormed over to the intercom and pushed the button for Dora's room. "Dora! Get up here. I require your assistance," she said to the speaker.
"Be right up," she heard her niece through the speaker and then heard loud footsteps coming up the stairs. Within seconds, the pink haired girl was in her bedroom looking around at the various clothing options that were lying around the room. "Everything okay Aunt Bella?"
Bella whipped her head around, glaring at her niece, "does it look okay?" She sighed and shook her head. "Stop it, stop it, stop it," she silently scolded herself, trying to remain in control. "I can't decide what to wear." Bella relented after a minute of composing herself. "It seems I need your help," she mumbled the last part.
Dora walked over and started sorting through the various skirts and corsets, "wear to what exactly?"
"Hermione," Bella bit her bottom lip, "she asked me to go pick out a Christmas with her for the bookshop and I don't know what to wear."
Dora laughed slightly, "I don't think any of this is appropriate for a tree lot. It is snowing out there, Aunt Bella." She walked into the walk-in closet and had a look around. "Have you never been to pick out a tree before?" She asked and heard her aunt grumble in response. She found a pair of skinny black jeans and a white knit sweater and exited the closet with a pair of heeled boots. "Definitely these jeans and this sweater. Oh!" She snapped her fingers going back into the closet and coming out with a long black leather coat and black scarf. "And the coat and scarf. I'm not sure these boots are the best but you don't have any other options. Unless you want to borrow a pair of my work boots," she looked at her aunt expecting a response.
"No," she shook her head and grabbed the pile of clothing, "I don't think work boots suit me. I'll make due with this. Thank you," a sheepish blush fell on the older woman's cheeks. Bellatrix had been on many dates in her younger days but a love life had been a scarce occurrence for her during her adult life so far. "She's still with her girlfriend."
"Oh?" Dora was surprised that her Aunt was opening up.
"At least for now. She's on a work trip and won't be back for a few weeks." Bella started pacing again after depositing the clothes on her bed. "I suppose that makes me and Hermione friends of sorts." Bella chanced a glance at her niece, "tell me. Do friends hold hands?"
Dora smiled, "well friends who fancy each other do. Especially when one of the friends is planning on dumping her current girlfriend for the other friend." She walked over and pulled her aunt over to sit on the love seat in the corner of the room. "Just be yourself. The two of you have so much in common. Don't overthink it. Just go help her find a tree and maybe go be nerds together and read books after."
"I do like her Dora." Bella admitted. "Everything stays quiet when I'm around her."
The time on the clock hanging above the cashier's desk read 4:45pm. The English Rose had already been closed for a half hour to the patrons with a sign reading: Closing Early for Holiday Cheer.
"Look, Ginny." Hermione was staring at her best friend, willing her to understand, "you can't just keep showing up here expecting to meet Bella." The red head just laughed. "If anything ever happens between us, trust me that I'll introduce the two of you."
Ginny was sitting on the purple chair in the window of the shop looking out into the street. "Come on. Just one look. Then I'll even go down the fire escape and she'll never know I was here." A small novella landed against the side of Ginny's head. "Oh come on. It was a funny joke. Don't tell me you are still too sensitive for me to make jokes about it. That's not going to work out for me." She rubbed her temple where the book collided. "Okay. Fine. I'll go. But seriously this is the last time I'm leaving before I get a chance to see her." Ginny started to get up and leave when they both caught a glimpse of the curly haired woman crossing the street after leaving the salon. "Damn… she is fine."
"Oh shit." Hermione ran over to look at herself in the mirror. I haven't even changed yet. "You need to go. Not one word to her on your way out. Got it?"
A soft knock on the door and a jiggle of the door handle pulled the women out of their conversation and back to the present, "locked me in here. That's going to look good." Ginny laughed.
Hermione groaned, "you aren't helping. Get your coat on." The shop owner threw the puffer jacket at her friend and went to open the door. "Hi," she said when she saw Bella standing on the other side. "You are early."
"I'm sorry?" The older woman's voice turned up in a question. "I was in the area and thought I'd come browse if you weren't ready but," Bella pointed to the sign on the door, "it seems the shop is closed." Her eyes narrowed only slightly when the red head appeared next to Hermione.
"This is Ginny. My very good friend since childhood. Ginny, Bella. Bella, Ginny." After making proper introductions, Bella's gaze softened. "I'll see you later Ginny." Hermione practically shoved Ginny off of the threshold and pulled Bella through. "I haven't gotten dressed yet. Would you like to come up? Or you can stay down here and browse."
"I think stay down here," Bella said looking over Hermione's shoulder. "There's a cat I see over there that I'd very much like to pet."
Hermione looked behind her and saw Crooks come waltzing down the last step and over to Bella's legs. He immediately rubbed up against her and started purring. "Seems like the feeling is mutual," she smiled. "I'll be down in a few minutes. Help yourself to whatever books you'd like." Hermione retreated and started walking up the stairs but yelled back down, "his name is Crooks by the way."
Bella bent down and scratched behind his ear, "nice to meet you Crooks." He meowed at her, "I am taking that as cat for 'it's nice to meet you, too.'" She walked over to the display table and picked up the book nearest to her and went over to the window seat and sat down. As soon as she opened the book, Crooks jumped onto her lap and started circling until he was comfortable enough to lay down on her. She immediately started petting the cat as she began reading.
Hermione had moved up the stairs at a quick pace and went straight to her closet. "Tree farm," she reminded herself as she pulled out a pair of light washed jeans, a black long sleeve T-shirt, a red and black flannel, and her pair of doc martens. "This will do. Oh!" She went back in for her black beanie. She quickly got dressed, sprayed herself with a touch of perfume, brushed her teeth and washed her hands. On her way out of her apartment, she threw her beanie on and grabbed her pea coat that was hanging at the top of the step. "Ready?" She asked as she was descending the staircase only stopping when she saw the sight of the older lady sitting by the window reading while petting her cat who made a home for himself on her lap. "He never warms up to anyone like that. You must have a special touch. Or a pocket full of kitty treats." Crooks popped his head up when he heard his owner's voice only to nestle back down in the warm lap he was occupying. "Crooks," she spoke softly to her cat as she came over to where they were seated, "maybe Bella didn't want you to use her as a loveseat."
Bella memorized the page number she was on and closed up the book, placing it on the windowsill. She reached down and scratched his ear, causing a content purr. "He's welcome to use me as a loveseat anytime he finds necessary." She looked up and smiled broadly at the shop owner. "You look nice," she said, taking in the simple yet elegant look of the younger woman.
Hermione blushed, "so do you." She reached out to pet her cat and he looked at her with a look of disbelief and snuggled in closer to Bella's stomach. "I was going to suggest we leave before it starts snowing harder but it seems like Crooks has other plans."
Bella looked down at her new friend and started to softly speak, "is it okay that your mum and I head out? I promise I'll come back and see you soon." Crooks looked up at her and meowed as if he understood her, hopped down off of her lap and trotted back upstairs. "Ready?" She looked at Hermione with a cheeky grin.
"It has to be magic. I have never gotten him to listen to me that well. I need to know the secret," she let out a small laugh as her companion got up. She noticed the book left behind on the windowsill. "You can grab that when we get back. If you are like me and I have a feeling you might be, you'll be thinking about that book until you finish it."
"Okay but I'm paying for it this time," Bella consented.
"We shall see," Hermione opened the door for Bella to exit, walking to the sidewalk in the freshly fallen snow. The sun was already setting and the streets were lined with lamps wrapped in Christmas lights. "It's a bit of a walk to the tree lot. We can take my car. It's parked just around the back." Bella nodded as they turned to head to the Kia. Snow was beginning to catch in her black curls and Hermione found herself drawn to the sight. "Thank you for coming with me. It's always easier to pick out trees when you have company."
"No problem at all," Bella said, opening the driver side door for Hermione which caused a blush. "Safety first, love." She pointed to the brunette's safety belt and winked before walking over to the passenger side. She fastened her seat belt and Hermione drove away from the store.
The short ride to the tree lot was mostly quiet, the two women just enjoying each other's company. When they walked onto the tree lot, Bella looked around at the rows and rows of trees. She was slightly impressed at the sight. The canopy was covered in thousands of twinkling white fairy lights and it looked magical with all the Christmas decorations around. "It's beautiful," she commented softly.
"Have you ever been to a tree lot?" Hermione asked offhand before looking over and taking in the sight of Bella's marveling. "It is beautiful," she added looking at the older woman who had snowflakes throughout her hair and was aglow from the fairy lights. "Come on," she said, reaching down grabbing Bella's hand. "It's even better when we get lost amongst the trees." She pulled the older woman behind her as they picked the third row to traverse first. It didn't take them long to find two perfect trees and take the tree tags up to the front for the owner to bag them. They were told the trees would be delivered by the afternoon tomorrow . "So," Hermione started to pull Bella back into the rows of trees after she handed her a warm cup of hot cocoa. "I'm guessing you're not the one who picks out the Christmas tree for your house."
"I am not," Bella confirmed. "When we were young, my parents always hired someone to get the trees and decorate them in the house." She stopped walking and closed her eyes trying to get the noise to stop and get the quiet back. She shook her head, an action not unnoticed by the brunette. "Now, my sister insists on picking out the tree. I've found it best not to argue when Andromeda has made up her mind." She looked over and saw the younger woman staring at her but just kept talking. "Do you think we should get one of these?" She said pointing to one of the wreaths. "You know, for the front door."
"Definitely," Hermione nodded in agreement and reached into the pile picking up one she thought was good before handing it out for Bella to look at and when she nodded her approval, they made their way back to the cashier. "So, do you spend the holidays with your family?" Hermione was leading the questioning as she was sure Andy had mentioned them living together but she was desperate to learn more.
"If you are asking if we all live together, the answer is we do." Bella smirked, "well except my youngest sister. She lives with her son."
They two walked back to the car and had decided to continue the conversation at Hermione's house stopping to pick up some food on the way home. They walked quietly into the shop and straight up to Hermione's apartment. They had agreed upon a curry for dinner and ate at the dinner table which hadn't been used since Hermione moved in. "The table is in mint condition, you know. It hasn't been used since I moved in. I usually just eat in front of the tv or in my book room." She said taking a bite of her food.
"I don't think I've ever taken dinner anywhere besides a table." Bella laughed. "Everyone was expected to be prim and proper around the family table as well. So you can thank my parents for my pristine table manners," she wink at the brunette as she took a bite of her food.
"Are you parents still around for me to thank one day?" Hermione noticed the immediate furrow in her dinner partner's brow. "You don't have to answer that. I shouldn't have inquired."
"No," Bella wiped her mouth, "it's fine and no. They passed some time ago." Before Hermione could open her mouth to offer condolences, the old woman held her hand out to stop her, "no condolences needed. The world is a much better place without them."
"I see," Hermione stated softly. Her own parents had died in a car accident right before her last year at Uni. She always felt a pang of emptiness when people spoke of their own parents. After they passed away, Hermione had spent a lot of time with her grandparents until she moved to London and started working for the blog. "But you are close with your sisters?"
"Very." The older woman smiled at her. "What about you? Do you have any siblings?"
Hermione smiled at the effort of the other woman taking an interest in her, "no. It's just me. Though that girl you met earlier, Ginny… she'd probably claim to be my sister if I let her. Her whole family has adopted me as their own." She laughed.
After dinner, Hermione cleared the takeaway containers and she told Bella to go on through to the living area and she'd be there in a minute. When she came into the room she stopped in her tracks, Bella was holding a picture of her parents. "Is this your mum and dad?" Hermione nodded in confirmation. "They look happy here." It was a photo of them on a sunny beach during a family holiday to Italy.
"We were happy." Hermione took the photo frame from Bella and put it back on the mante. "It's a story for another day." She looked over and offered the older woman a small, sad smile.
"Using my own words against me now. One day maybe we can share a story for a story." Bella looked at the clock on the wall, it was only a little past 8pm. "Have I overstayed my welcome? I don't want to jeopardize my chances of getting another invite." A look of worry took over her face.
"No, of course not. It's just a heavy subject and I'd rather spend my time with you in a good place." She reached over and brushed the hair away from the other woman's shoulder. An idea popped into Hermione's mind, "so do you want to stay up here and watch the Telly or…" she said as Bella raised an eyebrow waiting for the 'or' to drop, "do you want to go downstairs and help me sort through some of the donation books?"
"Is that even a question?" The older woman laughed and grabbed her hand practically pulling her down to the lower level of the bookshop. "Now, which ones can I sort?" She asked with a huge smile on her face.
The women sorted through books for a good couple of hours just talking and passing time. They both often got lost in special books that they came across in the donations. Hermione was never more content than she was sorting books with Bella and it seems like the most normal occurrence. "I sort through the donations once a week. Now that you've done it once, I can't possibly do it without you. You, Bella, are an excellent sorter." She looked over and the other woman was smiling back at her. Bella's smile was brighter than the night sky as she nodded enthusiastically. "Good, then we have a standing sorting date, Wednesday nights work for you?"
"Sounds perfect," she got up and brought her final stack of sellable books over to Hermione. "I left a few out of there that I thought you'd like to read." She winked at the girl. "I've read them before and can assure you they are worth it." She squatted down facing the brunette, "I wanted to apologize about my behavior the other night. I shouldn't have had an attitude when 'The Laura' showed up. It wasn't your fault. You weren't expecting her. I guess I just really like you and I don't like to share." She leaned in closer so they were inches apart, "even if you aren't mine. Yet." She enunciated each word clearly. "I like you, Hermione." She wrinkled her nose with the sentiment as it wasn't fitting for what she was truly feeling for the other woman. "I'm not going to push anything because you are still involved but I want you to know that I intend to wait for you as long as it takes." She moved her mouth to the other girl's ear and whispered, "because I know you will be worth the wait." She felt the other girl shiver at her words causing a smirk to spread across her face. "I would traverse a thousand rickety fire escapes for you." She laughed deeply which caused the younger woman to grab her face and pull her back in front of her.
"Look," she looked into Bella's eyes, "I'm so sorry about that. Sorry isn't a strong enough word. I knew I had feelings for you since before the ball. I should've ended it with Laura way before then." She sighed as she stroked her fingers up and down Bella's cheeks, "I should've ended it when she didn't want me to move out here. We fight a lot. Bad fights. There's a lot of baggage there but that's a story for another day." She leaned in and kissed the part of Bella's cheek her thumb had just brushed. "I want to see what is between us because I've never felt this strong of an emotional pull to someone before and I'm pretty sure you feel the same way."
Bella rested her forehead against the brunette reaching up and grabbing her hands, lacing their fingers together. "I do. I felt the pull before I ever met you. Your letters, books and notes… I felt it." She sighed. "I feel it."
"I can't cheat on Laura." Hermione said quietly. "I want to be able to kiss you and kiss you the way I want to without a guilty conscience."
Bella nodded against her forehead, "then we wait." She pulled back and kissed Hermione on the forehead. "But I hope to still see you before she comes back. Two weeks is a long time to go without seeing you. You have a way of brightening up my days." Hermione nodded in agreement, "but for tonight. I think I have to go because I desperately want to kiss you." Bella smirked, "I want to kiss you so bad. So I'm going to go upstairs, grab that book, and head out of here before I say fuck it and give in." Bella stood up and let go of one of Hermione's hands. They made their way upstairs and the older woman collected the book on the windowsill. Hermione put another book in Bella's hand which caused her to laugh. "I'll never leave with just one book, Hmm?" Hermione walked Bella to the door where they said their good nights ending with a powerful hug. Bella pulled away first and turned to walk down the road but stopped. "I forgot," she walked back to the shop
door and handed her a small moleskine journal. "Read this if you want," she smiled, "it's only fair I share some of my poetry with you as well." Bella let go of the book, "goodnight Hermione."
"Goodnight," Hermione said as she clutched the little journal to her chest.
—
The trees were delivered around noon the next day. The delivery men even set them up for Hermione. It was a very generous service and she was only slightly embarrassed by the men upstairs setting up the base and her tree in the living room. She had spent an exaggerated amount of time meticulously arranging the strands of lights on the tree downstairs. Henry was sitting by the window sorting through a box of ornaments when he called out to his granddaughter, "I think the lights look good, sunshine."
Hermione sighed while rearranging the bottom lights for the fifth time, "I'm not sure. Let me plug them in." When she plugged them in, the white lights twinkled brightly. "Are there any bare spots?"
Henry smiled and shook his head, "no my love. She looks perfect. Plus you can't waste all your talents on this tree. Don't you have a tree upstairs to light up."
"Ugh," Hermione groaned. "Don't remind me."
The elder Granger took a bunch of ornaments out of the box and wiped them down. They were all various book themed ornaments that Emily collected over the years. Each of them had a special meaning to his wife and he was damned to forget anyone one of them. "Your grandma sure did love decorating the tree here. She made many of these ones herself," he handed a few of the bulbs to Hermione that were covered in ripped pages from her grandmother's favorite books. "She made new ones every year," he handed her one that was hand painted with the year 1991 on it and a mural of a children's book, "every year of your life she made an ornament based on your favorite book of that year." Hermione took the ornament and appreciated the sentiment. Of course she knew about the ornaments but was never around for the decorating of the tree so she never understood the impact of it. Wiping a tear from her eye her grandfather continued, "she sure did love you sunshine."
"I loved her too, papa. I hope grandma knew that."
"She did," he reassured her. "She did."
The two continued to decorate the tree until the final ornament was hung and Hermione plugged it in deeming it complete. She excused herself up to her apartment to start stringing her lights while they weren't busy and while Henry was there to man the front desk if needed. About an hour into her upstairs decorating, Henry went downstairs to grab a few books for an online order when the door chimed. The dark hair letter writer had walked into the shop and smiled when she saw the decorated tree. She stepped closer to look at the intricate ornaments. Lightly touching the ones with different years painted on them. "Beautiful. Aren't they?" A voice she didn't recognize called out from the top of the steps to the lower level. Bella's head quickly snapped up and she backed up slightly from the tree. "Hi, I'm Henry, is there something we can do for you at the Rose?"
Bella's mind blanked and she stood there awkwardly looking at the man she came to know from writing him letters for the past five years. "Possibly." She responded by clearing her throat. "I,uh, came to see if Hermione needed any help setting up the trees."
"Oh you are friends with my granddaughter. The trees came at noon and she's been busy setting them up ever since." He walked over to the desk and put down the books for the online order, grabbing a small shipping box and printing out a label. "I'm sorry, what did you say your name was again?" He asked, looking at the woman.
"Oh," Bella looked at him then at the stairs leading up to Hermione's apartment then to the front door, "I didn't." She was currently planning her escape from the 'meeting the grandfather situation' when Henry was still looking at her expectantly so she sighed and held out her hand, "my name is Bella."
"Bella," he said, shaking her hand. "It's nice to meet any friend of Hermione's." He let go of her hand and back to the package. "She should be down within the next two hours." Bella's eyes widened and he laughed. "She's upstairs fixing the lights on her tree. Could take her forever. She's a bit… how should I say it… picky when it comes to things like that. Though, sunshine would just say it's part of being a Virgo." He shook his head. "Kids." He looked at the dark haired woman as if inspecting her and hummed. "You seem strangely familiar though. Do I know you from somewhere?"
"Well," Bella still tried to avoid the subject. "If you've been to the salon across the street… it's owned by my sister and I'm told we look a lot alike."
Henry laughed and pulled off his cap showing a shiny bald head. "No, it's probably not that."
Fuck it, Bella thought. "It could be that we wrote to each other every month for five years." Henry's jaw dropped and Bella had to bite her tongue to keep herself from telling him that he would catch bird shit. "Hi."
"So you are the peculiar requester," he abandoned his package and came over and pulled Bella into a surprising hug. He was easily 6 foot tall and towered over her short 5'2" frame.
When he let go of her she looked up at him and smiled, "guilty as charged."
"Five years," Henry laughed, which caught the woman by surprise. "Five years you kept your anonymity and what… my granddaughter outed your identity in how many months?" He finished putting the books in the box along with the packing slip and a few bookmarks and a flyer. Then he sealed up the box and put the packing label on it. "Hermione always has been a persistent one. She said she saw you the first night you picked up the books. I told her to leave well enough alone." He looked up and smiled, "but here you are so it all worked out for the best." He moved back behind Bella and put his coat on, "now, I have to take this package to the post before they close for the day. Hermione is upstairs as I said but can hear the door. Can you just stay for a while in case any customers show up? Just yell up for sunshine if you need any assistance."
"But I don't work here…" Bella stared at the man putting on his gloves.
"Nonsense," Henry said , "you know more about books than anyone I know. She's just right upstairs. You'll be fine." He opened the door, "it was lovely meeting you finally, Bella."
"Umm," Bella watched as he closed the door and took off down the street with his package. "Okay then." She went and sat on the stool behind the counter. "What the hell am I supposed to do now?" She thought out loud. "This is exactly why people need cell phones for emergencies like this."
An hour and 45 minutes later, Hermione came down the stairs, "Papa I think I finally have them just right," she was calling, then stopped dead in her tracks when she saw the dark haired beauty smiling at her from behind the counter. "Bella? Where's papa?"
"Hello to you too. I met Henry. Lovey chap." Bella smirked. "Seems he had to run," she looked at the clock on the computer, "almost two hours ago." She saw Hermione staring at her in wonderment. "Seems I work here now. I made five sales. Met some lovely patrons." Bella chuckled, "it also seems you really can't hear that door chime when you are transfixed by Christmas tree lights." Bella motioned for Hermione to come over behind the counter with her. "Here," she pointed to the computer, "can you see if I did these transactions right?"
Hermione moved to stand in front of the computer screen, "you really made five sales."
Her mouth dropped open looking at the perfectly completed sales when she felt Bella's finger lightly tap her bottom lip. "Bird shit, love."