A/N: I asked my beta (as I always do cuz im insecure like that) if she liked the chapter. Her reply: hell to the yeah!

she's a precious, that one ;)

Hermione threw the Daily Prophet back onto her table and fumed. Voldemort was on the move again, killing innocent muggles just because. She saw the news yesterday at home when she turned on the TV to scroll through channels, but she stopped when the reporter announced a house explosion and today there was an article about Voldemort and these deaths.

She was getting sick of it. But at the same time, she wished she could have a look at him. There must be so much trauma hidden in that pale, snake like skull.

The soul healer sighed and sipped her morning coffee. It was a rather busy day ahead of her and Dean, the other Auror, didn't come today so Ron didn't even have time for their morning chat. It was alright, though. At least she had time to read few notes about Fenrir, her first patient of the day. He was rather repulsive to the girl. He looked like he wanted to devour her. He also made crude comments on more than one occasion. Well, she would get to the bottom of it. The fact that he was a werewolf surely didn't help his animalistic nature. At least she had managed to get him a steady supply of Wolfsbane potion.

It was funny how his crude comments and leering made her skin crawl while Bellatrix's similar behavior appealed to her. But unlike Fenrir, Bellatrix wasn't crude. She surely looked like she wanted to devour Hermione right on the table, but it just felt different.

There was a certain irony to the fact that Fenrir was her first patient of the day while Bellatrix the last. They were so similar in so many ways and yet so different. Plus, Bellatrix was insanely attractive, Fenrir not so much.

Ugh, it's nearly time. I better put my oversized jumper on, we wouldn't want a repetition of last time. She thought and dressed up. Her skin hugging hoodie and V-neck Tshirt wouldn't make it without a comment and some howling.

She was tired from the day she'd had and exhausted from the news weighing on her. Any new information about Voldemort always alerted her. She was grateful that Harry didn't have access to newspapers. Although she was still due to meet with him again.

Well, she just had Bellatrix to see now and then she would go home and treat herself with a lovely bath full of bubbles and essential oils. She really needed that.

Ron escorted the criminal to her office right on time and Hermione tried to compose herself. Of course, Bellatrix saw right through her. "Why are you brooding today, pet?" the raven haired woman asked after they exchanged pleasantries.

"I'm not," Hermione mumbled. Surely she was hiding her mood just fine if none of the other patients noticed. And it wasn't because they weren't paying attention to her. Bellatrix could just read her like an open book and that was bad.

"Is it the Potter kid? Is he still giving you a hard time?!" she hissed and narrowed her eyes.

"No, Bellatrix, I haven't seen Harry since the last time."

"So?"

"How are you today?" she asked instead, trying to change the subject to why she was actually here. The older woman scoffed. Wrong move. "Fine, if you want to waste yet another session with my problems then by all means," she said, waiting for Bellatrix's reaction. The woman in question only raised her eyebrows, silently telling her to continue. Well, it's not like I expected anything else. "Voldemort is on the move again and no one can find him. He's started to kill innocent people again and I know no one can do anything about it. It's frustrating! What if my parents were the next ones in the wrong place at the wrong time? Thank god I don't really have friends so I don't need to worry about them, but I do have my mum and dad, even if they're far away from England."

"He's not killing innocent bystanders, Hermione."

"Yes, he is. I am watching the muggle news and I am reading the Daily Prophet. All the events always intertwine."

"Right, because Rita is such a reliable source, hmm?"

"She's not, but is it a coincidence that there were unexplainable deaths among muggles and the next day you read he did something?"

"It's not a coincidence at all," Bellatrix replied with a smirk. "But the wizarding world is way too easy to manipulate. And he knows that. Half of the time he wasn't even present on the crime scene, he didn't commit them. He just lets Skeeter know that he did so catching him gets a little complicated when he claims he was at a place he didn't step a foot on," she finished with wink.

"Oh," Hermione only said. That would make sense. "So he's actually looking at muggle news and claiming to be responsible for the crimes to screw with our aurors?"

"Basically," Bellatrix shrugged. "Where do you usually go out, little bird?"

"Hmmm?" the soul healer asked, mind absent.

"Well I answered your question, I deserve a treat," she gave her a toothy grin.

"Right. I don't really go out that much," the young woman sighed. "As I said, I don't have many friends and I don't really have time for parties either."

"You're a pure little bird, aren't you."

"Ehm, no?" she blushed despite trying not to. "I just don't have time. Two schools, studies, forcing my parents to leave England…"

"Imperius?" she smirked.

"What? No! I simply talked to them," Hermione replied with a shocked expression.

"Why did you send them away?"

"Same reason as before, I don't want them to get hurt. I'm not taking any chances. Plus, they are happy in Australia, at least their letters say so."

"I still think Imperius would do the trick without all that hassle," she grinned.

"So I could share a cell with you, Bellatrix?" she chuckled. "It's one of the unforgivables, you know."

"Sharing a cell," the raven haired woman purred, "I didn't even think of that! Now that would be fun," she wiggled her eyebrows.

"Surely," the girl nodded, laughing.

"Thinking about it, you didn't visit me! You should stop by and see where I live," she smiled widely, an untrained eye might actually buy the act. All Hermione saw was a spider luring the fly into its parlor. Predator hunting its prey. It gave her goosebumps.

"Maybe one day," she swallowed.

"Oh don't play coy," Bellatrix breathed out, voice an octave lower than usual. "I'll show you my cell. I'll be nice, I promise!" she finished in a high-pitched tone, reminding Hermione of a child. Yep, goosebumps all over now.

"Thank you for the offer, Bellatrix. I'll keep it in mind," she forced a smile. Technically there was nothing wrong with visiting a patient in their cell, but she had a strange feeling about this particular cell.

Bellatrix leaned back, clearly satisfied with this answer. At least for now. "So pet, why do you think no one can catch Tom?"

"Well, if they could, he would already be here, wouldn't he?"

"You're forgetting one important detail," she smirked.

"Which is?"

"I'm here."

"You turned yourself in willingly. There was no other way they would have caught you if you didn't let them."

"Oh Merlin, I knew you were smart, but fuck," she moaned. "Your intellect is killing me, pet."

Hermione blushed. Hard. She turned crimson red, almost the same shade as the prisoner's sinful lipstick. That woman shouldn't moan like that. It should be banned, forbidden! It was doing things to Hermione's insides that she would rather not address.

"I – ehm, I," she stumbled and tried again after clearing her throat. "Thank you? I just don't see how you being here would help. He's not going to turn himself in."

Bellatrix chuckled. "He most likely won't!" she cackled. "But I know his whereabouts, I know everything you need to catch him."

"And you would tell me…"

"For your answers, yes."

"I don't know, Madame Black. I am supposed to be helping you, not interrogating you."

"Well, Miss Granger, we will get to know each other. Isn't that part of your 'heal-me plan'?" she winked.

"No, you will get to know me. I will only know where Voldemort is."

"Whoops," Bellatrix faked a gasp. "That is however my condition."

"Sounds a little unfair to me. You'll help me catch a very high-profile criminal in exchange for my favorite color? What do you gain from that?"

"You don't need to worry about that. Do we have a deal then?" Bellatrix smiled widely again.

What would she want to know? WHY would she want to know anything about me? Well, I guess I'll find out. It's for the greater good.

"How many people know these things?"

"Not many, you will hardly find someone else," she scoffed.

"It's not that, Bellatrix. I just don't want you to get hurt. If not many people know then he will suspect you which puts you in danger."

The criminal laughed at that. "You're so fucking adorable," she said. "First of all, Tom most likely already forgot about my existence. I mean, how long have I been here? Ten years? Twelve? Second of all, I can take care of myself. And you, for that matter. Which reminds me, don't say what I tell you directly to anyone. Send an unregistered owl with an anonymous tip. I can protect you from here only so much."

Hermione swallowed again. She really needed to start bringing water and stop drinking so much coffee before sessions with Bellatrix.

"And before you start to question it, I do know about his current whereabouts."

"Fine, fine," she relented. "I'll use the public owlery. Do you promise that he won't come after you?"

"He won't, my sweet," the criminal purred. "That would put you in danger too and we can't have that, can we?" she said barely above a whisper.

The soul healer blushed. Again. She also added purring on the list of sounds that should be forbidden. Okay, focus. "So, those dead muggles. Not innocent bystanders then?" she asked. She had to start somewhere and this was as good start as any.

"No, you do know his main domain is smuggling magical items to muggles and selling them for enormous amounts of gold, right?"

"WHAT?!"

Bellatrix chuckled and took a breath to elaborate, but the door of Hermione's office opened and Ron peaked in: "The session was supposed to finish five minutes ago, 'Mione so I just thought that I'd take the madwoman back to her cell and we could grab dinner after you're done? I know this amazing place in –"

"Ronald, not now!" she scolded him with an angry glare.

"Right, sorry. I'll let you finish then," he apologized and closed the door behind him again. When Hermione turned to look at Bellatrix and apologize she was met with the deadliest stare she'd ever seen.

Fuck.

"I'm really sorry about that. It won't happen again. I'll tell him not to interrupt my sessions no matter what."

This is precisely why there was supposed to be a bloody room for that! Her office was not suitable.

"Bellatrix?" she asked unsurely.

"Is he your fucking boyfriend?!" she barked with so much venom that a freezing cold ran down the girl's spine.

"No, nothing like that," she replied right away. "He's just a friend, I guess."

"I thought you didn't have any," the older woman said through gritted teeth.

"I don't. We've met here and we drink a cup of tea or coffee in the morning when he has a shift. It's nothing."

"I see," the criminal replied coldly, tension still very much in place.

It's not even her business, dammit! "It's really nothing," Hermione clarified again. Why does it matter anyway? "He won't interrupt us again, I'll make sure of it."

Bellatrix didn't reply to that. She actually hasn't said a single word. Her jaw was working and her eyes were pitch black. Hermione scribbled down 'easy to anger' in her notepad, but she had no idea what she'd done. Maybe it was because he interrupted them? Would that make Bellatrix so angry? It was possible. Or was it because he called her a madwoman?

"So, I guess we're finished today?" she said, but it ended in a question. Dammit. She was in charge, she decided when their session was over. Why did she feel the need to make sure Bellatrix agreed? The woman didn't reply so Hermione just called for Ron to escort the criminal back to her cell. The soul healer wasn't happy about it, but Dean was sick and Ron was the only auror on the clock today.

Bellatrix left without a word and Hermione slumped in her chair. Well that was a disaster. She really needed to speak with Ron, he couldn't do this again.

There was a scream in the corridor and prisoners started to shout over each other. Hermione got up from her chair and went in the direction of the chaos to see what was happening. She surely didn't think she would find Ron being strangled by no other than Bellatrix. She used her chain to choke the life out of the boy. He was redder than usual and very much panicking.

"Bellatrix, let go of him!" Hermione shouted over the prisoners that were clearly having an amazing time. "Please don't make me use my wand! Let him go," she pleaded. The criminal didn't, it was as if she didn't even hear her, acknowledge her presence at all. And Ron was starting to turn blue. Hermione hated this. She hated to use a wand against someone that didn't have one, but if she didn't, Ron probably wouldn't make it. "Petrificus Totalus!" she aimed at the criminal and Bellatrix fell on the floor accompanied by the boy.

Okay, I haven't thought this through. Hermione kneeled next to them and helped him to get away from the smaller woman. "Where is your wand?" she asked when he stopped coughing and catching his breath.

"She unarmed me!"

"She doesn't have a wand, Ron."

"She's a fucking criminal, 'Mione! I had my wand and suddenly it flew out of my hand! Before I knew what was happening, she strangled me!" he pleaded while healing his sore neck with his wand that was in a hand's reach.

Hermione looked at the stunned body on the floor and pinched the root of her nose. "I'll take her back to her cell and then I'll grab you some water, okay?" she told him.

"No way, she's bloody dangerous," he replied and got up to help Hermione escort the chained woman.

"She doesn't have a wand," Hermione repeated.

"Wandless magic!" he exclaimed, wincing in pain.

"Don't you think that if she could do that, she wouldn't have been here for 14 years? I'll take her and you go to St. Mungo. Episkey can only do so much."

"And leave you here with all of them alone? I don't think so."

"Ron, I admire your courage, but you really need to get that checked. I'll be fine. YOU ALL WILL BE ON YOUR BEST BEHAVIOR NOW, WON'T YOU?" she shouted over the prison.

"Yes, sugar! Of course, love!" sounded from the cells. Well, and few "screw you".

"See, I'll be fine," she turned to him. "Go, Ronald. I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

He reluctantly nodded and went away, throwing one last nasty look at the woman on the floor. Hermione weighed her options. While she didn't think Bellatrix would hurt her, she didn't want to take her chances. She levitated her in her stunned form into the cell and only after she locked the door behind the criminal did she lifted the spell.

"Wandless magic, huh?" she asked casually. Clearly Bellatrix was truly here on her own volition.

"Why didn't you release me right there, pet?" Bellatrix pouted, hands gripping the bars.

"I just didn't want anyone else to get hurt," she shrugged. Myself included.

"You know I would never hurt you, right?" she looked with pleading eyes.

"You hurt Ron."

Bellatrix scoffed, all softness turned sour. "Enjoy your night out," she hissed and went to sit on her bed. Only now did Hermione notice the luxury of her cell. Bed with nice sheets, sink with a mirror, lipstick with eye pencil, books and quite a lot of space. There was also a curtain which probably hid a toilet, maybe even a shower. What the hell.

"You sent him to St. Mungo, dinner's cancelled," she replied calmly, noticing that small smile tugging at the corners of red lips. "And if you had just asked, I would have told you that I wasn't going to attend anyway."

"Obviously, because you're a lesbian."

"What?" she chuckled. "I surely am not," she blushed. Great job, Hermione. "I just don't want him like that."

"Yes, because you're a lesbian," Bellatrix rolled her eyes. "Can you leave now? I want to be alone."

"And here I thought you would be thrilled that I came to visit."

"Oh, you'll be visiting all the time now. I am not going to say a single word in your office ever again. If you want to know something, you very well should just come here. Now if you don't mind?" she said coldly and opened a book that was placed on her bed, dismissing the soul healer without further ado.

A/N: As always please feel free to join our lovely fb group: Bellamione Land!