"Ahh Bellatrix Black, fancy seeing you here" Frederick Dolohov's sharp face stared down at her from the top of the owlery stairs.
"Topping up on your signature scent of owl shit Dolohov?" Bellatrix hated Frederick Dolohov more than any other Slytherin, his slimy psychopath of a father was close to her own and she knew that little Freddy idolised every fucked-up thing that daddy did as a death eater.
His face twisted slightly at the insult before relaxing back into his smug little smirk "come now Black, me and you will likely be spending a lot of time together in the near future, you should learn to respect one of your own"
"One of my own?" She arched a brow at him, she didn't care to think what she might have in common with someone like him.
"don't play dumb now, my father says you're being quite useful." Dolohov took a step closer to her "I was starting to wonder why you were spending so much time lurking around that mudblood Granger, you must be quite the actress"
Bellatrix's stomach dropped and she clenched the wand in her pocket so tightly that she thought it may snap. "you know Freddy, daddy wouldn't like it much if you blew their whole plan with your big mouth now would they" she stepped to get into his pointy face "so I suggest you be a little more cautious, considering who's school we're currently standing in"
Dolohov's face paled as his rat-like eyes darted around the owlery, as if Dumbledore were about to reveal himself from around a corner. He turned back to face her and scowled "I would worry about yourself Black, I'd rather face my father than yours" with that he walked past her and down the stairs, pausing slightly to turn back and smirk at her before skulking out of sight.
Bellatrix had such an urge to curse him then and there, he knew about her getting closer to Hermione and clearly his slimy father had let him in on her father's plan. She had tried so hard to be careful but, in a school so big, it was impossible to completely hide what her and Hermione were doing. She knew eventually that people would catch on and that word would reach her family and when her father escaped, she knew that he would learn of it too. That's why she had to help her father; she could be close to Hermione without facing banishment from her family. She liked the idea of never speaking to her mother or father again, but reality was that she had nowhere to go. Even if she could manage to send her father back to Azkaban, the rest of his followers who avoided prison themselves would avenge him and would be more than happy to use Hermione in the punishment. The roots of the death eaters ran far and wide, even with their leader gone, they remained alive, ever eager to keep pure bloods on top the best they could.
Now that Dolohov was gone, Bellatrix drew out the letter from within her robe, addressed only to the Black family home. Aurors were watching for any sign of her father, but there was only so much they could do with vague letters that they didn't have the right blood to read if intercepted. The letter in her hand would likely be one of her last to him anyway, Christmas break has practically arrived and soon it would be done and over. Then she would just have to deal with the aftermath, Hermione would be upset she knew that, but she had Bellatrix and she had the Weasley boy so it would be manageable, she would move past losing Harry. Harry was all that they wanted, Bellatrix's father refused to elaborate on why, but she assumed it was revenge for leading to the loss of their "dark lord" both last year and when he was a baby. Her father was clear in his letters that he expected to go back to Azkaban sooner rather than later, that's why he had reached out to her for help. He needed her to discover where Harry Potter would be going to when he left Hogwarts for Christmas and how he would be getting there, they had lost trust in other sources close to Hogwarts over the years and for whatever reason her father thought Bellatrix would come through. She was smart and cunning and when they last saw each other she was far more hateful, so I suppose she could see why he gave her the task.
The original plan was for Bellatrix to lure Potter into the forbidden woods by some means to have him taken, but getting into the woods would be a challenge and a gang of death eaters waiting for two teenagers under Dumbledore's nose was a dumb idea. Bellatrix knew that Hermione and the Weasley boy would never let Potter go anywhere alone, Hermione would be caught in the crossfire and even though Dumbledore would likely intervene, the risk of Hermione being hurt or killed was too high to risk it. So, Bellatrix suggested a more subtle approach, wait for Christmas break and snatch him in the moments he was alone in Kings cross station. In order to plan she would talk with Hermione for hours, enjoying their time together and on the side, she would note what was said about Harry. Sometimes it was little things, like how he lived with Sirius Black now or how hot headed he was these days. At other times she spoke about his previous home, by the sounds of things his aunt and uncle had been neglectful and cruel, it made the guilt in Bellatrix flare up. To tame it she had to play the day he'd knocked her off her broom over and over again in her head, imagine his face twisted in rage firing towards her, the pain of the multiple fractures, the ridicule of her Slytherin peers and focus on that anger she felt. It was the only way to stomach what she had to do, force herself to keep hating him. Knowing what she did she suggested some details to her father that he seemed to like, the last part of the plan was simply to decide what part of Kings cross station to take Harry. Ron had to wait behind to rally up his many siblings to then meet his parents so he would remain near 9 and 3/4s. Hermione on the other hand mentioned how her parents always met her outside the station with their car, given that she lived in the Hampstead area meant that this was likely the west exit of the station. She had brought up before that Harry and Ron had never met her parents, which meant that Harry must meet Sirius at another exit. The only unknown was whereabouts Harry and Sirius met to take the journey home; it would determine where Harry would be snatched. Soon enough the letter was sent, and Bellatrix was heading back down the stairs, her throat tight and her palms sweaty.
Hermione looked around the great hall for Bellatrix, she'd been meaning to ask her about her talk with Harry. She scanned the Slytherin table but gave up quickly, Bellatrix didn't seem to be around much in the early mornings. She shrugged it off, it wasn't urgent, she was just curious about why Bellatrix hadn't mentioned being civil with Harry. It seemed like something that Bellatrix would want to tell Hermione, since it showed that they could get along. Before long it was time for lessons to start so she would have to put it to the back of her head for now.
Surprisingly Hermione wasn't all that focused on her lessons, she had completed the next week or so of notes and assignments. She always did in the run up to Christmas, she couldn't stand the stress of getting all her work done, presents bought and bags packed. She had to pack her trunk to leave at home and her bags to stay at the Burrow. It had been decided that the trio would all go home to get their belongings in order and then meet the next day at the Burrow for the first week of the Christmas break, then Hermione would go back home for the second week for Christmas with her family. She was excited, but she also felt bad for Bellatrix, who was staying at Hogwarts over Christmas. Apparently, it was her mother's decision not to celebrate as a family without their father and though Bellatrix seemed content with this, the idea that she would be mostly alone saddened Hermione tremendously. It was a shame about the bad blood between Bella's family and pretty much every non-death eater in the wizarding world, or else Hermione may have asked about Bella coming to the Burrow. Perhaps one day she though,t as she packed up her bag to return to the common room.
Harry looked over at Hermione as she packed up her things, she seemed to be lost in thought. He was glad they'd made up in time for Christmas, but he was worried. Things between them were still rocky where Bellatrix was concerned, and he had something more to tell her. Sirius had asked to speak with Hermione. Harry hadn't exactly meant to tell him, but after what he did to Bellatrix, Sirius had checked in on him through the common room fireplace. At the time Sirius had seemed a lot more concerned about Harry making up with Hermione. It was as though Sirius hadn't remembered that when Harry said Bellatrix, he meant Bellatrix Black his cousin, daughter of one of the death eaters that had claimed the lives of many of his friends. Turns out he was a lot like Harry, in that he preferred to think things over alone for a while before talking it out with others. A few days ago, he did so, in the form of a letter that asked Harry if he would bring Hermione with him briefly when they met at the station for Christmas break, so that Sirius could have a word with Hermione in private before they all met at the Burrow. That was essentially all that the letter said, Harry thought about replying for more information, but he trusted Sirius and if he was honest, he still wasn't fully sure about Bellatrix.
"Hermione, hey" Harry ran to catch up with Hermione as she walked to the common room.
"hey Harry, you okay" Hermione looked over at Harry's face, he looked a little bit tense.
"yes thanks, I was just…wondering if you were all packed yet, I know you like to be ready early" he nudged her playfully.
Hermione laughed a little "you know me well, I have most of my things packed yes, but we are leaving on Saturday" She wagged her eyebrows a little at him.
"yeah you're right, I never used to do it earlier than the night before but, I suppose I have more stuff now" Harry chuckled softly "I think that's why Sirius refuses to meet me anywhere other than the exit of the station, so he doesn't have to help me cart my stuff through all the people"
Hermione laughed at that "yeah all the muggles having a stare at Hedwig doesn't seem fun either"
"yeah, the kids love it though. Besides, its' all worth it to get back to Molly's Christmas dinner" Harry pointed out.
"Mmmm and her desserts" Hermione thought about the Christmas puddings that Molly would make. She would never tell her own mum, but it was by far the best she'd ever tasted.
They chatted for a while about Christmas, how Sirius and Harry were going to see the Tonks's but were spending Christmas day at the Burrow. Hermione talked about her own family, and how she was already cooking up some lies for her extended family about "boarding school". Hermione felt like Harry had something to tell her that he was dancing around, but he didn't mention anything. She shrugged it off, she was more focussed on finding Bellatrix and enjoying some more time together since they wouldn't be seeing each other for a few weeks after Friday.