Sorry again this took so long, failing a degree took a lot of time and yano pandemic and such. I will try to provide more as I have written the ending already and am going to finish this. If I take too long please feel free to bully me.
The sound of screaming flooded into her ears, it was a familiar dream, but felt novel every time. Bellatrix's father was throwing curses at Andy, his face twisted with rage and his voice booming about filth and blood. Andy was crumpled before him, weeping for him to stop, before Narcissa stepped in to beg for him to spare her.
"Father stop, she's had enough I beg you let her rest"
His face darker further "Rest? I will let the mud lover rest forever in the dirt for what she has done to my name" He raised his wand "Now move".
Narcissa began to heavily shake, she had never defied our father and to my knowledge she never did again after that night. She had turned to Andy and whispered that she should run. By the time Narcissa was throw back by my father's curse, Andy was already in the fireplace and burning out of our house for the final time. The whole time I had stood near the doorway, Ted Tonks letter to my sister still gripped in my hand. I can still remember the feel of the paper and the scruffy swirls of his handwriting. That was usually where the dream stopped, with Narcissa out cold on the floor and me speechless. After that Narcissa spent several days unconscious in her bed, eventually she woke up, but the cissy I knew never really did. The new version of her was as obedient as before the incident, the difference was that now she was cold. She did not talk to me apart from small talk in the company of others and the loss of two sisters made me realise that they were all that I had in the first place.
Bellatrix was awake now and staring at the canopy above her bed, she had enjoyed a pleasant evening with Hermione and yet her brain would not allow her even a full day without throwing her mood off track. It was only a few hours prior that her and Hermione had left the library together after everyone had already left, holding hands and enjoying the quiet of the castle together. Now all she could focus on was the guilt swelling inside her, for what she had done in the past and what she may do in the future.
Hermione was tired from an evening of revision but in a pleasant comfortable way. Her and Bella had spent their time sat back to back, chatting when they knew they were alone but mostly working quietly with each other's company. They felt that sitting so close may look odd but being back to back, people may not even realise who they were or perhaps they may assume that Bellatrix and Hermione hadn't realised their proximity. So, this is the tactic they used during the day when it was hard to be alone. The only thing that posed a problem was when a Slytherin would walk pass and recognise them. Often, they'd try and get Bellatrix to join in with a bit of teasing, she would try to shrug them off mostly which was starting to concern Hermione a little bit. It wasn't that she liked Bellatrix joining in with Slytherins, but she was realistic enough to know what could happen if people discovered what was happening between them. Harry and Ron knew now and though they were fighting, at least Hermione could trust them not to tell anyone until they worked it out. This worry about what may happen next had creeped up after Bellatrix and her parted way to go to bed that evening. She was so preoccupied she almost walked straight past the two figures sat by the fire waiting for her in the common room.
"hey 'mione" Ron's voice made Hermione jump slightly and turn to him and Harry.
"Oh, uh, hi" Hermione lingered slightly, waiting for someone to say something else before she carried on to her bed.
Ron side eyed a sheepish looking Harry and raised his eyebrows expectantly.
Harry stared back wide eyed for a moment then finally spoke "hey…um, fancy sitting with us for a bit?" His face rose to meet Hermione's eyes.
Hermione recognised his expression immediately, he was ashamed. She'd been too preoccupied to think about what had happened between them. Seeing his face stirred a shame in her as well, he was angry and making accusations about Bella, but he only did it because he cared about her. She moved and sat in the chair next to them.
"Look Hermione…about what I said the other day, I lost my temper seeing you and Black together. Its just she's treated you a particular way since you started Hogwarts for no good reason and I know I don't know everything about you two, it just felt like she was pushing things to another level in terms of mind games." Harry stared at his feet to wait for her reply.
"I know you only did it because you care for me Harry, and I admit I was quick to anger too, I think I just feel um.. strongly about her… so I just reacted". Hermione felt as sheepish as Harry looked now.
"Well, I see that now and well me and Bla..Bellatrix" Harry corrected himself quickly "we spoke at Quidditch practice and she said about how she feels differently now, we made peace I guess"
Hermione eyebrows raised, she assumed it would take work to get Harry to come around, even after what he did to Bellatrix. She was also a little confused as to why Bellatrix hadn't mentioned it, they'd been together a couple of times after that practise session. "well, I suppose we can put this all behind us then?"
Harry relaxed into a smile "yeah that sounds good."
"Thank Merlin" Ron sighed "You two will turn my hair grey at this rate" he teased.
The initial awkwardness melted surely away as they spoke a little about other things, before swiftly going to bed. Hermione would have to remember to ask Bella about why she hadn't mentioned her practise with Harry.
As the Golden trio fell soundly to sleep, there was others in the castle still wide awake. The air in the tunnels beneath Hogwarts were musky with the lingering of moisture and decay. Dumbledore's shoes were throwing water across the bottom of his robes, making him damp and cold, but it didn't matter. He couldn't believe he has been so empty-headed, even at his age he could sometimes fall into the boyish habits he had always tried to shake off. He got so consumed with a task and trusted his own capabilities too much that occasionally he forgot to think things through. The cursed ring was on his desk and was moments away from poisoning him irreversibly, if Snape hadn't of interrupted and convinced him to think of other methods, his fate would have been sealed. After a few weeks of research, they had finally thought of the obvious, a basilisk fang, something laying in excess under the castle floors. The search for the rest of Voldemort's horcruxes was a slow process that had only gotten more desperate in the time since the large number of escapees from Azkaban. How they managed it not even Dumbledore could fathom. Finally, he reached the great gaping jaws of the dead snake, all teeth present bar one. He plucked them all. Though he couldn't imagine Voldemort would be capable of making a large amount of Horcruxes, there was no telling how many there were. Dumbledore gazed down at the fang in his hand and thought of Harry, he was probably sound asleep, completely unaware of the danger that lived within him. Another puzzle Dumbledore couldn't quite figure out, there seemed only two options for the boy, death or a life of risk. The fondness that Dumbledore felt for the boy made the former option harder and harder to consider, he hoped that destroying the rest of the horcruxes and never allowing it to be know what lurked around Harry's soul, may allow him to live. Was it doable? For the ability for Voldemort to return to remain for as long as Harry lived. What if Dumbledore was dead and gone when it happened? What if things were even worse than the times that claimed the lives of so many friends and loved ones, Harrys parents included? Thinking of such things would have to wait, there was too much to get out the way, and too little time to do it.
By the time Dumbledore was back into his living quarters he was exhausted, yet as he climbed into bed, he couldn't help but run through what he had to do once more. Close to the bottom of his list of things that needed to be done was keeping an eye on Bellatrix Black. She was a smart girl and it was hard for him not to notice how much time she now spent with Hermione Granger. Such a sudden and drastic change was intriguing. The optimist in him liked to think that it was the start of a real change from Bellatrix despite her circumstances, but since her fathers escape and her early mornings to the owlery, he couldn't be certain of her intentions. Like many great teachers, he could recognise raw talent and Bellatrix reminded him awfully of himself, she was smart and eager to learn but beyond academia there was a raw power in her that was almost visible when she performed magic. Her rage and her magic often went hand in hand, when he had first realised this, he had wanted nothing more than to help her control it, but there are certain families that even he couldn't involve himself with. The Black family had connections everywhere and despite the head of the family's incarceration, they could make his position as headmaster more vulnerable than even he could tolerate. He rolled over and continued to think a little while longer before finally succumbing to sleep.