The sun had long set, and all the students were hungry for a welcoming feast, Hermine included. She knew the minute she entered the hall she would be stared at and a part of her wanted to go straight to bed. When they approached the great hall, Hermione hesitated and when Harry noticed he turned to her.

"If you do it now then the worst is over, and they'll have something new to stare at by the end of the week" He smiled and walked shoulder to shoulder with Hermione as they followed behind Ron and some other people from their year.

As soon as they sat down, Hermione started to hear whispers growing around the hall, she kept herself turned inwards and sparked a conversation with those on her table, pretending not to hear everyone else. It didn't take long for the whispers to settle before the presence of someone new flared them up again. People on the Gryffindor table were turning to look at the entrance and she could see Harry and Ron staring also. She concentrated on the wood of the great hall's tables; she knew who had just entered.

"Rumours can't be true if she's been allowed back then" A voice nearby hissed.

"Still wouldn't want to test her patience anyway" Another voice replied.

Hermione was determined to just keep her head down until she could leave, then she would go straight to the Gryffindor common room to bed. She imagined what Bellatrix would look like as she walked in, what if she looked different, what if she had cut her hair or changed her lipstick. Then she wondered if her perfume was the same. Dumbledores voice shoved those thoughts away as the feast finally began. It seemed to last for such a long time, as though she were holding her breath, trying not to make herself known. She didn't really think she would go unnoticed by Bellatrix, but the effort to be hard to spot made her feel better for some reason. As things were wrapping up she hurried her friends to leave, luckily, they were understanding and followed her back with haste.

Bellatrix turned and watched Hermione speed walk from the hall, her friends in tow. Her hair had been dragged back off of her face in a low ponytail and she looked bone tired. Hermione had kept her head low as she walked, as though she were trying to make herself invisible. Hermione had always walked with her head high or in a book and over the years Bella had noticed that Hermione would always be beaming on the first day back. Bellatrix recalled that it used to annoy her to see others that joyful, but now her heart ached to see Hermione that way. She stood to leave herself, ignoring the looks she got from most of the people around her. She hadn't a clue how she would make this right with Hermione.

Over the next few days, the mood of Hogwarts seemed to have settled and people were becoming brave, people whom Hermione had never met before were stopping her in the hall to wish her well. Some asked her about the rumour that Bellatrix had murdered her father, to which Hermione did not reply. She was so grateful to have Harry and Ron by her side, telling people to get lost and mind their own business, even the Weasley twins shoved a few nosy students out of her path. It made her feel so much less alone and yet also like a bit of a circus act, she just wanted things to be normal. She tried her best to make them that way, by going to lessons and answering questions, but there seemed to be a new drain on her energy. The amount of time she could tolerate being around others had decreased significantly and she grew snappy with people. Most didn't seem too phased, until she crossed paths with none other than Frederick Dolohov. It was a case of poor timing really; it was the end of the day on a Friday and Hermione had just spent a lesson speaking about unhealable curses. It had turned her into a ticking time bomb. She also happened to be in the lower part of the school, which is where many Slytherin students were roaming at this time of day. She had walked into the corridor and made eye contact with him immediately. His face had settled into a scowl as he watched her across the corridor. She walked a little, but he refused to avert his gaze, instead he took a few steps forward until he was in her path and then puffed his chest.

"Are you going to get your creepy little face out of the way or not" Hermione snapped at him and subtly brought her wand into her hand.

"Who exactly do you think you're talking to, filth" Dolohov pushed even further forward towards Hermione.

Hermione gripped her wand and prepared herself, she would strike first if she had to. Before she could, a hand came out from no where and shoved the side of Dolohov's head hard with its palm so that he fell to the ground.

Bellatrix stood over Dolohov and said nothing, she just stared at him with a scarily serious expression.

"Really Black, all of this for a Mud-"

Before Dolohov could finish the word, Bellatrix put her boot on his chest and applied pressure. "I suggest you rethink your vocabulary from now on Dolohov, or I'm going to put you in a deep dark pit, just like your rat of a father". As Dolohov gasped a little, Bellatrix let out a little chuckle before removing her foot to allow Dolohov to scramble away. Bellatrix turned to where Hermione was standing, she was staring down at where Dolohov had been. Hermione looked up and Bellatrix looked her in the eyes. She had no time to speak or move before Hermione shifted her gaze to look past Bellatrix and kept walking without a word. She passed by so closely, that Bellatrix could have reached out and touched her, but she didn't. Instead she turned to go back to her dormitory and was met by Albus Dumbledore standing with his arms behind his back.

"I think you ought to come with me Miss Black" He said it calmly and led the way to his office.

Bellatrix looked around her at the sea of students that had gathered to the commotion, most of them looked at her wide eyed. When she moved to follow Dumbledore, students were shifting quickly out of her path, as though the mere proximity would burn them or something. She stared straight ahead and ignored them.

"Miss Black, please take a seat" Dumbledore motioned to a chair opposite his desk and circled round to his own seat as he spoke.

Bellatrix sat and said nothing, she couldn't exactly apologise for something she had meant.

"You know that kind of behaviour isn't acceptable" Dumbledore said softly "I think I can gather why it happened, but that isn't an excuse."

"So, what he was going to say is acceptable" Bellatrix rose her voice a little as the anger in her sprung immediately into action.

"His behaviour wasn't acceptable either and will be dealt with accordingly, but that is for teachers to handle and not fellow students. Especially not with violence" Dumbledore leaned forward onto his desk and looked her deep in the eyes.

"You know Bellatrix, I do know what it is like to feel that angry as you do, angry enough to hurt" Dumbledore smiled sadly.

Bellatrix looked at him and narrowed her eyes slightly, she was not in the mood for faked empathy. "forgive me if I don't immediately take you for the violent type, Professor."

"You know Miss Black, when I was a young man, only a bit older than you are now, I had a fire in me just like you have. It made me smart and quick, it made me want to excel. It burned so strong back then that when people would, slow me down or, hold me up I would grow angry at them. I thought it was a part of being a driven young wizard to put everything else on hold to strive for something greater." Dumbledore looked down at his hands as he rubbed at his rings. "That is until I met another driven young wizard. This other wizard had a fire, like I did, and one day it got the better of both of us." Dumbledore raised his gaze back up to Bellatrix and bowed his head as he spoke "We fought, furiously, we both felt the other was trying to sabotage our plans. It got so heated that we began to duel right in the doorway of my home, and we were so blinded by rage that a stray curse from our fight hit and killed Ariana, my younger sister."

Bellatrix's eyes widened; she'd never heard of any others in the dumbledore family.

Dumbledore continued "So, when I left my home, I insisted it was the other young wizard who had killed young Ariana and I planned to make him answer for it. But, after a time of growing older, I realised that it didn't matter who's curse it had been, it had been my anger that took her away. It was a long time ago now, but I still think of my sister often and who she would have become, if she'd only had the chance.

"I'm sorry about your sister Professor" Bellatrix said quietly, ashamed of herself for doubting his sincerity.

"I don't tell you this to make you feel sorry, I thought you may wish to know why I did what I did to cover up what happened to your father. Because you remind me so much of myself as a young wizard and I know that you can choose the right path still. Your intentions are good, and I know you are acting out of love, but your anger will get the best of you again if you do not keep it in check."

Bellatrix nodded "I understand Professor, I just… I don't want her to ever have to hear that word again."

Dumbledore sighed "My dear, I am sorry to say that you cannot protect her from a word etched into her skin. All that you can do is show her that there is so much more power in love, than there is in hate. Maybe then, the word itself may lose some of its sting perhaps" He gave her another smile, which was less sad this time.

When Hermione finally got to her room, her breathes were fast and she couldn't seem to slow them down. She sank down to the ground next to her bed and replayed what had happened in her head. Bellatrix's foot on Dolohov's chest, her chuckle as she pushed harder. When she looked at them, all she could think about was Cygnus Black standing over her as she squirmed on the floor. She knew she was safe, that it was all over, but she still felt as though there was a boot on her own chest that she couldn't remove no matter how deeply she puffed in air. Bellatrix slipped into the shape of Cygnus with such ease that Hermione couldn't understand how she had fallen in love with her, someone capable of torturing and killing. The reality was that Bellatrix had been torturing her far before Cygnus Black got hold of her, name calling, hexes and rumours. Their first kiss had come after nearly being maimed, yet Hermione had still fallen in love, and it hadn't gone away despite everything that had happened. In a desperate effort to get out of her head, Hermione grabbed a nearby book and opened it to the first page. She forced herself to read the first line over and over again until she could focus enough to move the next line, and the next. That was where she spent the rest of her evening; sat reading and ignoring the fact that her life existed beyond the pages.

The next morning Bellatrix walked with purpose, she had mulled over Dumbledore's words again and again until she finally accepted what she had to do. She thought about the way Hermione hadn't looked at her, but through her, she never wanted to feel that ever again. She knew there could be no more taking her temper out on others, no matter what she had done, and she could no longer hide herself. It was time to be honest, and be what she truly was, which was repentant. As she finished that thought she reached the edge of the quidditch pitch where the Gryffindor team was playing and waited. When their practise had finished, she flagged down Harry and followed till she could tap his shoulder.

Harry was smiling as he turned but as he realised who was there his smile vanished. "What could you possibly want, Black"

Bellatrix let out the breath she was holding and tried to ignore that other students were peering curiously at the pair nearby. "Pot… Harry, listen, I know this might not mean a lot to you after everything I did. But I'm sorry, for everything."

Harry's eyes were serious and dark, but his brow furrowed for a brief second in confusion "You're sorry for sending me and Hermione off to die"

"It was actually just meant to be you" Bellatrix saw Harry scoff

"That's so much better yeah" Harry laughed emptily at his sarcastic reply.

"What I mean is, I knew my father was after you and what he was capable of. So, instead of sitting around waiting for Hermione to get caught in the crossfire. I decided to sacrifice you with a ready made plan for my father." Bellatrix gripped her hands together in shame.

"And that's why you killed him then, because he messed up your plan and took Hermione" Harry said it quietly.

"I didn't really think much about it, I saw Hermione on the ground, what he did and so I just…did it" Bellatrix looked around briefly to see if anyone was listening before continuing "I assume Sirius told you."

"Sirius decided it was only fair that Hermione knew first, she told me"

Bellatrix nodded a little bit shaken; Hermione knew what she had done. She shook off the thoughts that rushed in. "I just need you to know that I am sorry, I didn't think there was any other way to keep Hermione safe whilst she was always with you."

Harry stared hard at her face, gauging her sincerity. "If your plan had worked, and Hermione wasn't taken, would you still of come clean or would you have left me to die?"

Bellatrix hesitated for a moment, "I honestly don't know" Bellatrix could feel that familiar sickness of guilt as she came clean.

"You must really hate me" Harry said plainly, not taking his eyes off her for a second.

"That's the thing, I didn't…and I don't" Bellatrix took a deep breath. "It was never about you Harry, it was about Hermione and my father".

"You really didn't think that Dumbledore could have kept Hermione safe" Harry seemed annoyed at the idea of Bellatrix doubting Dumbledore.

"You may know Dumbledore well, but I knew my father better. You know he escaped from Azkaban and how horribly he hurt Hermione, but I know the things he did all those years previous. To me and my sisters, to other people, to those in power to get his way. Dumbledore didn't stop him back then, no one did." Bellatrix looked at the ground "the only reason they managed to imprison him in the end was because he never accounted for a smart young witch figuring out what was going on in time to catch him red-handed."

Harry thought about Bellatrix's words and said nothing.

"But" Bellatrix continued "it isn't an excuse by any means to do that to you just to try and keep Hermione safe without blowing up my life. It was selfish and it was cowardly." She stepped to leave "and, I'm glad you were unharmed Harry, I truly am" She gave a small and sorry smile.

Harry nodded "I don't think I can forgive you, not after Hermione" he was struggling to know what to say, and how to feel.

"I understand" Bellatrix smiled again and then walked away back towards the castle and felt a bit lighter.