A/N:
So I exploded while prompt hunting, and now I want to evolve this into a multi-chapter fic. Set in modern times, but technically also Regency era because the wizarding world is behind in the times. As a bit of assumed background, Voldemort won the first war, since there was no prophecy, which means that the Potters never went into hiding, they were never killed on Halloween. I haven't decided yet who of the Order got killed off, but we'll see as the story unfolds.
This story does take place after Hogwarts, so Hermione is roughly 23 in this fic. I have kind of plotted out future chapters of this, and I'm hoping to write it like a smutty regency paperback, so you can definitely know where this is going to end up :3
Anyway, time for you to enjoy the fruits of my frantic writing at 3am on a work night.
Summary: Newly widowed Bellatrix, after moving in with her also widowed sister Narcissa, decides that picking on her sister's prized housekeeper would be a good idea. [And Bellatrix knew, in that moment, she was in danger.] Bellamione; VoldemortWins!AU; prophecy-free world
Words: 2246
Prompts:
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry (Challenges & Assignments)
Poke-pals:
-(restriction) no male characters
-(restriction) only three characters
-(color) Cerulean
-(occupation) Housekeeper
[January Monthly] Treat Yourself
Take a few minutes of peace and quiet to breathe and meditate
(au) Voldemort wins
[January] Pucker Up!
Ron Weasley: (au) Voldemort wins
[WINTER] SEASONAL CHALLENGES THREAD
Hot Tea Month
Licorice: Bellatrix Lestrange
Celebrate Your Name Week
Black Family
[QUARTERLY] NEONFAE'S NIBBLES
Cheese and Pesto Whirls
(character) Hermione Granger - 3
"The Witch's Housekeeper"
Narcissa couldn't help the sneer as her latest would-be suitor left the parlor. Her husband, the late Lord Malfoy, was dead from Dragon Pox not even three months before the vultures began their circling. Her son, the now Lord Malfoy, having recently married and taken up residence in their manor estate, graciously moved her into the dowager house out in the country, at the edge of the property, with a monthly stipend to give them all a bit more privacy. Narcissa would have complained more, had she not gotten to choose which Mudblood servants came with her. Her prized housekeeper, Hermione, was a treasure to have, and Narcissa would have fought tooth and nail to include the young twenty something in her moved household.
Hermione's services were indispensable, her experience, quick wit, and unflappable personality making her highly requested when new Mudblood servants were needing to be trained. The Malfoy family had acquired the Mudblood as a babe a few years after the Dark Lord's triumph in 1981 when he removed all obstacles to his reign including the then Headmaster of Hogwarts. From there, his swift victory over the blood traitors and Mudbloods then moved into conquering the muggles, one family at a time. Families that produced the Mudbloods were all taken and sold into servitude, and the Malfoys obtained the Granger family amongst several others.
The father and mother of the family unit had been teeth healers before they and their daughter were snatched from their beds. Under the Dark Lord's reign, many families were split up, but Narcissa thankfully insisted on whole family units. A few mind magics, and all of the muggles happily served their masters.
Narcissa had been a fair but stern mistress, and all of her servants adored her. They still had house-elves working for them, who were often in charge of anything needing magic to be done. The Mudblood servants, however, were in charge of the more menial labor jobs, such as laundry and general cleaning. Sometimes, nothing was better than old fashioned manual work, especially when a spell might be too harsh or too light with a surface.
With the Granger parents both being teeth healers, Narcissa decided early on for them to continue their work, but only on the muggles and Mudbloods in magical care. The health of a slave, after all, affected their work performance, and Narcissa only wanted the best. Soon, the Drs Granger came in high demand, and Narcissa preened at her foresight. This, of course, allowed Hermione to grow up loved, educated, and willing to do anything for the woman who kept her family in such a comfortable position. Once Hermione had ascended to the role of housekeeper, the Malfoy household had never run so smoothly.
It was such a pity the girl was a Mudblood. She would have made an excellent wife, or at least mistress, for the Malfoy heir. Alas, she would go wherever Narcissa did, and would make sure all needs at an accommodation were met.
"Why hello dear sister!" a voice called out from the hall, moments before Dobby the house-elf could appear and announce the also recently widowed Madam Lestrange. Since she had no heirs, she would never be Dowager, and the estate and the fortune now passed to Rabastan since Rodolphus died of Dragon Pox a month ago. With wanting to install his own family into the Lestrange family manor, Bellatrix was packed up and shipped off to the Malfoy Dowager house to live with her sister. She was supposed to have arrived yesterday, but something must have held her up.
"Bellatrix, you've arrived!" Narcissa stated in greeting, kissing her sister's cheeks when she drew close enough. "We expected you yesterday," she added, her unasked question hovering in the air between them.
"Oh, I had a slight detour. Came across a runaway Mudblood that needed to know their place. Took me to the prettiest little chateau that held other runaway Mudbloods before I was able to burn the building to the ground–"
"Bella, no!" Narcissa exclaimed in horror.
"Yes!" she replied with a large grin. She took a seat at the breakfast table and waved her sister to join her, before reaching for the juice and pouring herself a glass. She then began to fill up her plate with a few morsels to nibble on. Narcissa took a moment to compose herself before retaking her seat, handing off the suitor gifts to Winny for her to go through later.
"Thank you, Winny," Narcissa said, and Bellatrix let out a sharp laugh as the house-elf left the room.
"Cissa, you really should be harder on your servants. More would get done if they had a healthy dose of fear of you," she said, biting down hard on her toast and jam.
"Unlike your servants, mine respect me," Narcissa pointed out, nodding in thanks to Hermione as she brought out a fresh pot of tea. The blonde noticed her sister eyeing up her housekeeper meanly, and she glared at Bellatrix. "Bella, all of my servants are off limits. You are not to touch any of them. If any need disciplining, you will bring them to me and I will deal with it, understand?" Narcissa demanded. Bella scoffed.
"Please, you've always been more tender-hearted. It's why the Dark Lord never insisted on your presence at the revelries. Too soft with a delicate constitution," Bellatrix replied with a smirk at the glare on her younger sister's face. "But if you insist, I'll play nicely with your Mudbloods. One day you'll get tired of them." The unspoken threat hanging between them implied violence, and Narcissa looked forward to the day Bellatrix would remarry, in order to get her out of the house.
Bellatrix cackled as she sent another stinging hex spell chain at the Mudblood before her, relishing the sound of her stifled yelp. These low-lifes deserved all of the misery that came their way!
"Bella!" Narcissa snapped as she suddenly appeared in the doorway. With a wave of her wand, Bellatrix's spell chain ended, causing her to glare at her younger sister.
"Cissy, stop ruining my fun!" she replied back easily, but she faltered at Dowager Malfoy's glare.
"Hermione is indispensable as my housekeeper. She keeps the rest in line, and I never have to punish any of them for disobedience after they finish with her training. New Mudbloods from other families are even sent to her for training, and the rest of the ton benefits from her tutelage. Apologize to her! Now! She cannot be of use to me if you make her useless, and I refuse to lose her," Narcissa insisted, and under the force of her fury, Bellatrix acquiesced. "I think the best way to apologize to her is to gift her something. And to promise to never raise your wand against her again," Narcissa added. Bella scowled at her sister before turning her attention back to the Mudblood standing before them. The girl, who looked to be the same age as Bella's nephew, trembled slightly as she stood before them, her gaze locked ahead of her, and Bellatrix knew it was from the crucio earlier when she had ambushed the Mudblood in the kitchen.
What infuriated Bella the most wasn't the fact that she was being brought to task by her sister about mistreating her housekeeper, but the fact that said Mudblood housekeeper didn't even give her the reactions she was looking for.
"I apologize for mistreating you for no reason, Miss Granger," Bellatrix spat. Her eyes lit upon the host of gifts on the breakfast table that suitors had left for the Madam Lestrange, and Bella snatched one up off of the table and handed it to the Mudblood. It was a cerulean jeweled hair clip, spelled to keep even the most unruly curls tamed. Meant for Bellatrix and her patented curly Black family hair, Bellatrix found a vindictive glee as she stared at the ugly unflattering white maid's cap the Mudblood wore. "Here is a gift of my esteem, that I feel you would get great use of!" She cackled again, but faltered when the Mudblood continued to indifferently stand there in the face of her blatant insult. Bella ignored Cissa's small words of warning, so focused was she on the Mudblood's next words.
"I thank you, Lady Lestrange, for your generous gift. I shall treasure this piece greatly," the Mudblood said with a slight smile, giving a curtsy with her answer. Bella scoffed, but noticed with glee that the Mudblood clutched the box until she was white-knuckled, trying to hide her tremors from her mistress.
"Hermione, you may be dismissed for the day once your daily chores are done. Please make use of the pain potions from the pantry if you need one," Narcissa said, striding up to Bella and firmly looping their arms together. "Bella, you must come with me to see the seamstress. She has our dresses for Draco's Summer Solstice ball ready and we must go for a fitting." Bella gave her sister some grumbling, but agreed to go nonetheless. There may be useless prattle she would have to endure with the rest of the society wives as they were out and about, but this would give her time to plan out her next attack on the Mudblood. They were an abomination that needed to be wiped out, and Bella would not stand to have one fouling up her residence. Disregarding the fact that this Mudblood seemed to be one of her sister's prized possessions, Narcissa could always get another one to replace her. Those Muggle beasts seemed to breed like rabbits, after all.
Hours later, as the sun began to set and candles were lit, Bellatrix made her way down to the servants quarters to seek out the Mudblood housekeeper. She heard whispers from the rest of the staff that the little chit worked a full day, despite Cissa's instructions to rest, and Bella wished to reinforce the lesson that Mudbloods needed to listen to their betters.
A few turns more, and Bellatrix found herself in front of the Mudblood's open door. How should she proceed? Bursting into the room to announce herself and startle the girl? Sneak in and strike her with pain when she's least expecting it?
A feral grin spread over her lips. The one with pain would be most pleasing for Bella, so with her wand in hand, Bella crept forward into the room, her eyes sweeping the bare abode to find the little chit. She froze upon seeing the Mudblood curled up in the window.
The first thing Bella noticed was the voluminous curls spilling everywhere, only held in place off of her face and neck with the cerulean clip Bella had given her earlier. Her eyes then roamed down Cissa's housekeeper's curves, her clothed arms and legs long and shapely when not obscured by the day's dress. A book laid in her lap, and soft little sighs spilled from her lips as she read, turning the page to continue her novel. A slow tremble shot through her as she sat on the window ledge, but the Mudblood shifted and adjusted a pillow that she sat on before sinking back into her own comfort.
Bellatrix couldn't help but stare at the unconventional beauty before her, and in that time, the Mudblood shifted and spotted Bella out of the corner of her eye, immediately standing up, her book closed and set on the windowsill. The Mudblood curtsied and kept her head bowed when addressing Bella.
"What can I do to assist my lady?" she asked. Bellatrix noticed the fine tremor was back in the girl's hands, and she felt a smidgen of guilt hit her.
"You're wearing the hair clip," Bella pointed out dumbly, unable to think of what else to say, unwilling to go through with her original plans of cursing the girl until she couldn't scream any longer. The cerulean hair clip stood out amongst the housekeeper's chestnut curls, and Bellatrix felt something tighten in her chest at the sight.
"Oh, yes! It's a beautiful hair clip. I thank you again, my lady. You are most generous," she replied with a nod and a smile.
"Your cap is gone," Bellatrix pointed out again, and Hermione nodded.
"Yes, the men are all housed elsewhere, so we are able to let our hair down, so to speak, when it is our recreation time. The Lady Malfoy–my apologies, the Dowager Malfoy–has been very kind to us in making sure we have our own downtime, so long as the daily list of chores is completed. With enough staff on hand, the household runs smoothly, efficiently, and with ease," the girl–Hermione–replied. "We are so lucky to have her as our mistress."
Bellatrix swallowed thickly as her eyes traced the curve of Hermione's neck down to her bodice, which had been loosened for her comfort for the night, before running down the length of the woman before. She could just imagine those curls spread out on a pillow below her, those little sighs from earlier melting into breathy moans and–
Merlin, her husband couldn't have been dead for more than 4 weeks to make her pursuit of this girl more socially acceptable, could he?
Bellatrix knew, in that moment as she stared down her sister's precious Mudblood housekeeper, that she was in great danger. In the past, Bella had never been denied anything that she wanted. And Hermione was no exception.