** Author's note: just wanted to let everyone know that I'm still working on this story in between my other stories. Plus there's a story that's exclusive to AO3 and that gets updated as well so that's why there was a small delay between these chapters. I hope everyone is still enjoying this story. Let me know how you are finding it! Enjoy! **
The next few days at the Rose passed by in a blur as Hermione slowly recovered from her altercation with her now ex girlfriend. The cryptic text from Laura apologizing for the past two years didn't sit well with the bookshop owner. This was just part of their endless cycle. Laura would mess up badly, apologize and weasel her way back into Hermione's life. "Not this time," she promised herself as she got out of bed Wednesday morning and headed to the kitchen to start her day with a fresh hot cup of coffee and some toast. Hermione wasn't a stupid girl, she knew that this wasn't the last she would hear from Laura but she was content enough to not let it bring her down. She was done with the depression and abuse. It was time to move onto other things like a certain dark curly haired letter writer that she was absolutely crazy about. She had not seen Bella since Monday morning when the older lady announced that she had worn out her welcome and decided it was time to leave since Hermione was making her way around the apartment better. The brunette had decided that she was going to open up the shop again after her three day hiatus from work. Hermione would have been lying if she said that didn't miss the company that the dark haired woman provided her over the course of the two days. It all seemed a little too familiar and strange at the same time but Hermione was a slave to the butterflies swirling around her stomach any time she stopped to give a thought to her Red Queen.
The Christmas season is in full swing now with only a few days left until the holiday. Hermione was excited to get a fresh start in the new year. She didn't buy into the whole 'New Year, New Me' thing but this year she was feeling the effects of the sentiment. This year she would stop living in the past and focus on her future. She was determined that this year, she would finish her book, grow the English Rose's customer base and make time to enjoy her life. After getting ready for the day, she came down the stairs and into the shop to see that her grandfather had already opened up and he was sitting in the window chairs with his favorite patrons. "How are you feeling today, sunshine?" Henry asked, looking at his granddaughter. He had been worried about her when she asked to leave the shop closed for three days. It wasn't like her to ever be sick enough to not work but he didn't press the issue. He took it at face value and told his granddaughter to take as much time as she needed to feel better. Henry knew his granddaughter and realized that if she needed to talk to him then she would.
Hermione walked over and kissed him on the cheek, "I'm doing wonderful, papa." She looked out the window seeing the sunshine, a fresh blanket of snow and the myriad of Christmas lights adorning the store lined street. "It's a beautiful day out there. I'm starting to feel the Christmas magic."
"It's about time!" Henry laughed at the scrunched face the brunette was making, "I've been waiting for your holiday cheer to be infused in the shop. The tree is great but the smile you have during the holidays is enough to bring in the extra business."
Hermione blushed at her grandfather's compliment and waved him off, "oh stop." She said hello to the other patrons before walking outside to get the deliveries. She saw Dora outside the salon, smoking a cigarette and she waved. The pink haired girl took this as an invitation to come over for a chat because she pushed off the wall and made her way across the street, "hi Dora," she said when the other woman got into hearing range.
"Hey Alice," the other woman smirked at her, "you are looking better."
Hermione grimaced, "Bella told you?"
Tonks shook her head, "not really. She just said you had an accident and weren't feeling well. I hope everything is okay now?" She looked the girl up and down. "You seem to be in good spirits."
"I'm feeling much better," she turned around when she saw Dora staring into the shop window. Her grandfather had been staring at them. "Have you met my grandfather yet?"
"No," Dora said waving at the man in the window then quickly hiding her smoke behind her back giving him a cheeky grin.
"He won't care if you are smoking," Hermione laughed. "He was a smoker for many years until my grandma got sick." She saw the older woman shoot her a sad look. "That's a story for another time. How's Bella? I haven't seen her since Monday morning."
"Umm," Dora seemed lost in thought but elusive at the same time, "she's good. Been busy. I haven't really seen much of her." The pink-haired woman took one last drag then dropped her cigarette, putting it out with her foot, picking up the butt and throwing it in the trash, "she is a very busy woman." The girl laughed a deep laugh that reminded the brunette of her pen pal.
Hermione thought that reaction was odd. "Don't you live together?"
"Yeah," Dora sighed and shrugged, "she spends a few days a month with her other sister. You know that big fucking house where the ball was. She's due to come home on Friday. That might be why you haven't seen or heard from her. Aunt Narcissa runs a tight ship when Bella is over."
"A tight ship?" She hummed in consideration before adding, "and I thought your mum was a little overbearing," Hermione grumbled while kicking a small ball of snow.
Dora laughed, "well Bella is very loved and protected by her sisters. Looks like your grandfather is trying to get your attention," she pointed to the window where the man was waving for Hermione to come back inside. "Guess that's my cue to leave. I'll tell Bella you asked about her when she gets back on Friday. She did mention that she's dying to take you out on a date and that she's nervous about it." She saw a confused look on her friend's face. "Nervous about asking you and nervous about the date. It's all very cute if you ask me," she smirked then her face turned serious, "you didn't hear that from me though. My aunt would kill me if she knew I let that slip." Hermione pretended to pull a zipper over her lips. "See you around, Alice." Dora turned and ran back across the street and into the salon.
"Bye!" The brunette shouted after her before turning on her heel and heading back into the shop. "That was Dora," she announced coming back in before her grandfather had a chance to ask. "She works in the salon with her mother, Andromeda."
"So," Henry smiled, "you've met the neighbors."
"Dora is really nice. Andromeda and I didn't get off on the right foot. Remember Bella?" She asked moving behind the counter to start sorting the new arrivals. "The letter writer," she added when she saw the confused look on Henry's face which quickly turned into recollection, "that's her sister. Seems Andromeda thought i was going to hurt Bella and we haven't made amends yet."
"Oh, I see," Henry nodded, "if anyone has the capability of getting someone on their good side, it's you sunshine. People love you."
"We shall see," came the noncommittal response from the brunette as she piled up the new books.
—-
A tall lady with shoulder length hair was pacing the downstairs foyer with her arms crossed. She was mumbling to herself, checking her wrist watch obsessively looking at the time. She sighed and threw her hands up in the air. She marched over to the bottom of the stairs and called up, "let's go Bella. We are going to be late."
"No!" The muffled reply came hurtling down the stairs
"You don't have a choice. Get. Down. Here. Now." The woman enunciated her words.
"No!" Bella yelled back down the stairs. "I don't want to!"
"You are acting like a petulant child not a 41 almost 42 year old," she crossed her arms again. "There is no choice. This is the last session for the month then you are free to go back to Andy's house now get down here." She heard her sister scream and the shatter of glass and something was thrown against the wall.
"I hate it there,"Bella screamed as she started coming down the stairs. "They always treat me like a fucking insane criminal."
"Well," the taller woman shrugged, "if you didn't act like an insane criminal they wouldn't treat you like one."
"For you information Cissy," Bella came to stand in front of her looking up to meet her eyes in a menacing stare, "Laura had it coming and I'd have tortured her more if I thought I would've gotten away with it," the short woman rolled her eyes. "That fucking therapist is a mind reader."
"I guess you forgot about the hypnotherapist session this month."
"It may have slipped my mind," Bella shrugged. "I'll make a deal with you," she started to say when she saw her younger sister raise an eyebrow in curiosity. "I'll be on my best behavior during therapy today. Play by all the rules and be a good little patient, take all the right medicine…"
"If?"
"If," Bella raised her pointer finger, "you talk Andy into letting me have my cell phone back."
"Since when do you care so much about your phone?" Cissy asked. "I thought you hated it. Didn't you throw it at Andromeda's head?"
Bella shrugged, "only because she pissed me off. She also had it coming. She said I was harassing her at work so I told her that I'd show what harassment was. I walked down to the salon and threw my phone at her head. Honestly I thought she'd give it back by now. It's been months."
"Well," Narcissa added, "your therapists all agree that you should have minimal exposure to the internet."
"I don't care about the internet, Cissy. I just want to be able to call and text Hermione." Bella started pacing.
The younger woman smiled, "this girl must be someone very special. I haven't seen you this passionate about a girl in 20 years."
"I really like her, Cissy." Bella stopped and smiled, "I just want to be able to contact her more frequently. Can you talk to Andy, please?"
Narcissa rolled her eyes, "okay. I'll see what i can do if you are on your best behavior today."
"Scout's honor," Bella smirked.
"You weren't a scout," Narcissa scoffed.
"Just trust me then, love. Come on, let's go." Bella pulled on her sister's arm while walking over to get her coat and scarf.
Narcissa and Bella were in the car after her last long day at the treatment facility for the month. This had been the arrangement ever since she got out of the inpatient facility and started her outpatient treatments roughly six years ago. All of this dates back to roughly twenty years ago when Bella finally lost her shit. Bella did indeed kill her parents. This was not a farce made up to scare Hermione's ex girlfriend. Years of her own personal hell and abuse lead to that fateful night however the car ride to Andy's wasn't where Bella intended to rehash her old wounds. The memories were rehashed every month in outpatient and it wasn't where she wanted her mind wandering because it just antagonized the quiet and she wanted to keep the peaceful calm for as long as possible. There would be a time and a place for her to share her story but since Narcissa lived through it, it wasn't the time. The car ride was silent after they left the facility and Bella got bored. "I got my shrink to change my medication."
"Oh really why?" Cissy asked with feigned interest while keeping her eyes on the road.
"I told her I wanted to have an orgasm." Bella smirked at the disgusted look on her sister's face. "Don't give me that face. It's been two years since I achieved an orgasm, Cissy. It wasn't much of a bother but now believe me when I say… I'm ready to have an orgasm again."
"I really didn't need to be made aware of this," Cissy turned briefly to look at her sister.
"Two years!" Bella said a little louder.
"Well then," Cissy turned back to the road, "congratulations on your upcoming release." That made her older sister start belly laughing.
When her laughter died down, she started thinking, "Dr. Goldwyn seems to think it's a good idea if I tell Hermione about my past." She heard her sister make an inquiring noise so she figured she'd best continue her train of thought, "I mean she's not wrong but I don't want to scare her off. I mean 'hey I'm Bella. I set my house on fire, killing my parents and almost killing my sister and my baby nephew. Wanna go out?' does really seem like a great pick up line."
"Does she know anything?" Narcissa asked and saw her sister shake her head no out of the corner of her eye. "Maybe start small and work your way up to the alleged murder. I'm guessing she doesn't know your last name then or else she'd be able to find this stuff out with a simple Google search."
"That hasn't come up yet. We've been going on an air of mystery so I've been able to work out how to actually work all this into a conversation without scaring the absolute piss out of her. Currently I have no fucking clue how to start that conversation with Hermione." Bella sighed, looking out of the window at the falling snow. "I just hope she still likes me when it all comes out."
"I agree with Dr. Goldwyn." Narcissa gave her sister a small smile. "The girl might have a better reaction if you don't keep it to yourself for too long. I think it would be worse if the two of you developed strong feelings for each other and then she found out."
"Okay but how do I bring it up without scaring her off?" Bella sounded frustrated. "I mean to be fair we haven't even been on a date yet."
"I couldn't tell you, Bella." The younger woman shrugged. "It's not going to be easy but if you care for the girl as much as I think you do then you'll find a way."
Bella was sitting on the stairs in Andy's home listening to her two younger sisters argue. At some point, her niece had joined her to listen in as well. The argument had been going on for well over 30 minutes and Bella was about to join in when her niece reached out and grabbed her hand, lacing their fingers together and squeezed.
"Just give her the damn phone back," the youngest sister sounded exasperated. "Turn the data off if you must. I want to be able to text her and not have to jump through hoops to talk to my sister."
"Oh," she heard the other woman scoff, "so this is all about you and has nothing to do with that bookshop owner."
"Who?" Came the ambivalent reply, "I never met the girl how should I know. This is about me being able to contact my sister and not having to go through you to do so. Plus, her nephew wants to text her. He misses her."
"The two of you are more than welcome to come over anytime."
"That's not the point and you know it…"
Bella sighed. She hated when they fought over her. It's not like she didn't have feelings. Sure, they were buried deep down and caused her a lot of problems but she just wanted to live her life as normal as possible and yes, that included texting a certain taboo bookshop owner. She let out a quiet growl getting more frustrated as her sisters got louder. She was rocking back and forth slightly when she felt Dora squeeze her hand harder grounding her to that moment. She leaned over and whispered, "I saw Alice the other day. She looked much better. Walking around and even getting the book orders from out front." Just the mere mention of the girl made Bella's calm exponentially. "She said she missed you."
Dark curly hair flashed and she whipped her head around to look in her niece's eyes for signs of jest, "truly?" Dora smiled and nodded enthusiastically. "She misses me?"
"Yes," sure Hermione didn't say those exact words but Dora could read between the lines. It was clear that she fancied her aunt and the pink haired girl was bound and determined to see her aunt find her own happiness in life.
Bella stopped moving and it was as if a calming magic had been applied. Her grip relaxed and a smile crossed her face, "I missed her, too."
"I know," came the quiet reply.
"Fine!" Andy sighed loudly, "she can have the damn phone but if this leads to another outburst, that's it."
"Just give her a chance," Narcissa replied, "she's really trying. She even got her medication updated. Stop treating her like a criminal. She's your sister."
Bella looked over at her niece with a cheeky grin, "good thing your mum hasn't found out about Laura." She squeezed Dora's hand one last time before getting up and walking down the stairs towards the now quiet kitchen.
Dora remained on the stairs listening intently to see how the rest of the conversation played out when Bella got herself involved. "Here Bella," she heard her mother say while opening what sounded like a kitchen drawer, "I'm going to turn it back on for you. No data. Calls and texts only."
"Dr. Goldwyn did say it's good for me to have friends and people to talk to." Bella tried her best to sound as innocent as possible in the moment and it made her niece chuckle.
"Did Dr. Goldwyn have anything to say about romance?"
She heard Bella humming and Dora knew that she was doing her 'pretend to think' face, "I can't recall."
"Mmhmm," she heard the noncommittal reply of her mother. "Just don't make me regret this."
"Scout's honor."
"Bella, you weren't a scout." Andy said half heartedly.
"Funny," Bella laughed, "guess you'll have to trust me."
"Well," Cissy spoke, "I have to be off. Text me when the warden turns your phone back on. I'll see you soon." Dora heard her Aunt kiss Bella and head out of the door but not before Bella shot back, "I'll let you know when everything finally releases," and she heard her Aunt Cissy fake gag and Bella cackled at the response. Dora then heard Bella thank her mum for the phone and footsteps as she approached her.
"When what finally releases?" Dora asked with a raised eyebrow.
"You don't want to know, kid." Bella laughed as she ruffled pink hair moving around the girl as she headed up to her floor.
It wasn't until the mid afternoon when Bella finally awoke the next day. Extreme tiredness usually overtook her after her treatment week and the change in medication didn't help matters. That morning however has been the first time in a while she woke up refreshed and ready to start her day. She meant to check in with a certain brunette the previous night but sleep overtook her as soon as she laid down in her bed and she was a slave to the night. She thought about her Alice for a while and wondered as her mind began to race picturing the woman behind her closed eyes feeling her excitement build, "hmm" she thought as slid her hand down her front stopping to lightly pinch her erect nipples before sliding past her abdomen and into the front of her knickers. She moved past her patch of well kept dark hair and through her folds. She was horny, the feelings were there but when she touched herself for the first time in a while, nothing had sparked. She sighed, disappointed. "I guess not yet," she removed her hand when realized her medication hadn't kicked in. "Soon," she sat up and grabbed her phone wondering if her sister had reactivated it yet. She had already memorized Hermione's number so she quickly turned the phone on and made the new contact.
1:24pm
Hello Alice.
1:27pm
Dora?
1:28pm
No. Not quite. It's Bella. Finally got a phone.
1:30pm
Bella! Hi. :) I'm so happy to hear from you. I thought you were against technology.
1:32pm
I suppose I still am but it's about time I'm able to contact you properly. I love writing you letters and hearing your voice on the phone but something about texting offers instant gratification. My sources tell me that you missed me while I was away.
1:33pm
Tell Dora that she's not wrong there. I did miss you. Where have you been? She said something about going to stay with your other sister?
1:34pm
Yeah. Don't worry about that. I go once a month for a week. It's not important right now.
Bella was waiting for a response when she saw the three dots appear at the bottom of her phone come and go a few times before she decided to just get on with it. She didn't want to talk about her past. She was only worried about her present and future and she hoped that Hermione would be a main character in her story from here on out.
1:40pm
I want to take you out on a proper date. Are you available tomorrow?
1:42pm
I could be available for a date. :) What's the occasion?
1:44pm
No occasion. I just really really want to take you out, properly. But if you need an occasion then my birthday is actually tomorrow so it would be an added bonus to be able to spend the day with a special lady.
1:45pm
Your birthday is on Christmas Eve?
1:46pm
Yes.
1:47pm
I would love to spend your birthday with you. Don't take this the wrong way or as me declining your invitation but don't you have any Christmas traditions with your family that you have to attend tomorrow?
1:50pm
I'd rather spend my birthday with you if that's what you would like. If you have an engagement with Henry or your friends I understand. No worries.
1:52pm
No. No. I'll be seeing them on Christmas Day but yes, I'd love to spend your birthday with you, tomorrow. What did you have in mind?
1:54pm
It's a surprise, love. I'll pick you up at 4?
1:55pm
It's a date. :)
Bella said her goodbyes to Hermione and put her phone away after shooting a quick message to Narcissa telling her about her phone and her date tomorrow. Her sister seemed surprisingly supportive of her budding romance and Bella appreciated the sentiments. She assured her youngest sister that she would be over at some point on Christmas Day to celebrate with her and her nephew. "Fuck," Bella said out loud while wiping her hand down her face. "I actually have to plan a date now." She chewed her bottom lip between her teeth and she thought. "Dora!" She snapped her fingers and went over to the intercom. "Dora, I need you. It's an emergency."
Her niece responded back through the box, "what is it Aunty?"
"I'm taking Hermione out tomorrow and I haven't planned a date in years. Help!" She heard Dora laughing then a rush of footsteps and a knock at her bedroom door. "Come in," she called as her niece came in.
"I'm so happy for you," the young woman announced as she came over and embraced her aunt tightly. "Hermione is amazing and the two of you don't know how lucky the two of you are to have found each other." She pulled her aunt over to the love seat by the window and started to ask questions about Hermione to get a sense of what she might be interested in as far as dates go.
Bella sat looking out the window at the falling snow thinking as her niece started to chatter about different date options. She knew in her heart that she was about to have the happiest birthday she's had in a very long time.