Chapter 7
It's a week before the wedding now and preparations are being finalized. How they put a wedding together so fast, Hermione will never know. It still hasn't sunk in that she'll be getting married. It's all so surreal. They've found her dress, it's the most tolerable of all of the styles and it's white with gold accents. The more the days creep by, Hermione finds herself in Bella's library more and more. Bella still stays by her side constantly and has for the past week. It's nice to have company that you can speak freely around. There's no tense formalities as Hermione tries to gauge if she's somehow offended anyone.
Yet another visit from the Weasleys has just ended and Hermione finds herself exhausted. Bella insisted that the city isn't safe enough anymore and that the Weasleys will just have to visit them for the wedding preparations. Though, Hermione senses that part of it is Bella just wanting to mess with the Weasleys. Every time there are preparations, Bella stays quiet.
"I'm going to miss staying here when I get married," Hermione says, sitting down on the couch in the library.
"Why, pet, this place is so cold. It's no place for anyone who doesn't want the life drained from them."
"I don't mean staying here, it's more that I'm going to miss you." Hermione says.
"I'm flattered, pet, but you can't just live with my husband and I all your life, no matter how much I'd love that. Besides, I promise you'd regret not marrying."
"How do you know? You're miserable." Hermione is a bit more defensive than she should be.
"You're right, my marriage is hardly an example of domestic bliss. But however much I'd love to remarry, this time for love, I would never do that to Rodolphus. vampires tend to stay stuck in marriages to other vampires," Bella is sitting beside Hermione and leaning on the arm of the couch. These have been Hermione's favorite times staying here with Bella, the moments when her guard is down and she's almost relaxed. The younger girl picks up a book she'd been reading and stretches out on the couch, laying her head in the other woman's lap. Bella strokes Hermione's hair as she reads.
Hermione and Bella both jump at the sound of a slamming door somewhere in the manor. They had been dozing on the couch. Bella stands.
"Sounds like Rod is home, you stay here, I'll go tell him I'm here." Bella walks off, leaving Hermione alone for the first time in a week. She decides to continue reading, seeing as there's not much else she can do.
A few minutes pass and she hears footsteps heading toward the library. Bella walks in but Rodolphus is nowhere to be seen.
"He's only here long enough to get paperwork from his office. He'll be leaving in a few minutes." The look of relief on Bella's face doesn't go unnoticed. The door slams again and this time Bella sighs as if letting out a breath she's been holding this whole time.
...
The next four days blur by, all that's left is food preparation and decorating for the wedding. Most of which Hermione can't participate in from the Lestrange manor. Not much has been happening. The two of them have been trying to keep busy with games and reading and baking. Bella has never been one to cook and watching her struggle was almost endearing. Bella continues to feed from Hermione every other day since she can't hunt. Hermione doesn't mind it at all, which is something she tried to hide from Bella, but of course Bella found out.
There's a knock at the door and both of them make their way to the parlor. Bella is about to answer the door but turns back to Hermione.
"Come here, pet." She says. Hermione listens, making her way over to Bella.
"You may like that being there, but I don't think your future in-laws will." She pulls Hermione closer and licks her bite wound, healing it. Hermione's face is beet red when Bella opens the door and she tries her hardest not to look flustered.
The whole Weasley family is there besides Ron. They all look incredibly solemn.
"We were going to send a messenger, but we thought you'd rather have the news from us," Mrs. Weasley says, stepping into the foyer, "Ronald was found dead this morning, it was another animal attack." The tears is Mrs. Weasley's eyes made Hermione feel for her. Bella turns on her best host voice and offers tea to the Weasleys but they politely decline. Saying they need to cancel wedding plans. Ginny pulls Bella to the side, whispering to her as Hermione talks with the rest of the family. The whole ordeal is a blur and before Hermione knows it, the whole family has left.
Nearly as soon as the door closes, Bella's demeanor changes, "Those fucking snakes!" She yells. Hermione is startled by the sudden outburst.
"Bella, what are you talking about?" She asks, suddenly understanding why people tell her she's dangerous. The wild look in her eye is almost murderous. Instead of reacting in fear and backing away, Hermione steps closer, wanting to calm Bella down. Calming her down isn't hard, she just wraps her arms around her waist and pulls her into a hug. The contact confuses Bella long enough to realize how worked up she is. Typically, she's the one initiating any contact, it's a nice change. A chuckle leaves Bella's lips, vibrating in her chest, Hermione feels it as Bella pulls away to look at her.
"You're very cute, pet. Thank you for calming me down." Bella says, there's still an angry edge to her voice. "Your friend just told me some interesting news about that family. They were going to hand you over to a vampire in exchange for the whole family becoming vampires."
"So if this vampire wants me, why did it kill Ron?"
"Well, it seems that there are two sides fighting over you. I did find it odd that a family of such status would let their son marry someone so below them, no offense of course." Bella says, "However, this means that the town is much more dangerous than we thought, and I'm going to have to find a witch."
Before Hermione can say anything, a very angry Rodolphus slams the door open. "YOU'VE BEEN HIDING HER HERE THIS ENTIRE TIME!?" He booms.
"Welcome home, love." Bella says, her voice dripping with sarcasm.
"You vile woman, you've ruined my chances at ruling alongside Tom, you're lucky I don't kill you both right now. But I need the girl alive and I'll let you live if you let me take her with no trouble."
"Ah ah ah, love. You know I'm much more powerful than you. I'd hate to take your head off in front of the girl, but I will if you don't get out of here." The mixture of anger and calm in her voice is terrifying to Hermione. Rodolphus doesn't have time to make his decision because Bella lunges and actually rips his head off. There's no blood, just a scream.
"Help me get the body, pet, we need to burn it," Bella says, as casually as if she'd been asking for help serving tea.
"Y-you just killed him," Hermione says, shaking.
"He would've done much worse to you had I not. Don't worry about it, his existence was miserable anyway." Despite Bella's comforting tone, Hermione wants nothing more than to run away. This woman is crazy, she shows no remorse for killing another living being.
"I want to go to Andy's," Hermione blurts out, not really thinking.
"Fine, let me burn the body, then we'll go."
"I can ride in a carriage on my own, thank you." Bella calls the carriage over and Hermione climbs in, just wanting to get out of there.
The carriage ride is silent as Hermione tries to stop her hands from shaking. She just wants to get lost in some books and not think about what just happened, or any of this.
When she makes it to the Tonks' house, she says her hellos and then beelines for the library. Somewhere she can hide from the outside world. It's not long before she hears Bella arrive. The conversation starts at a normal volume, hard for Hermione to hear through the walls, especially since she's not trying. It gradually gets louder and she tries to tune it out as much as possible. Andy seems to be furious at Bella.
There's a knock at the library door and Hermione stands, trying to regain her composure, just now realizing she had tears rolling down her face. Andy comes in with Bella following sheepishly behind her.
"Hermione," Bella begins, "I'm sorry I scared you, I didn't take you into consideration and for that I'm sorry. I hope you can forgive me and not fear me for what I did." Despite the fact that it was likely Andy made her apologize, she sounded sincere.
Hermione can't think of a way to respond, she just looks back and forth between the two sisters, hoping something would come to mind, a clever snipe or even a thank you, but Hermione can't trust herself to speak without letting out a strange squeaking noise. So instead, she just nods. She immediately regrets it as she watches Bella's face fall. Something about making the older woman sad hurts Hermione. But she can't help that she's scared. If Bella can do that, without thinking, to her husband. Why wouldn't she do it to a mortal who's quickly becoming more trouble than she's worth.
"Give her time, Bella." Andy whispers, leading her out of the library.
...
Hermione wakes up in Andy's house, she's confused for half a second before she remembers what happened. She almost regrets not accepting Bella's apology, there's no scent of sandalwood in her sheets or even the slightest hint that she'd been here at all. But she also remembers the apathy in Bella's voice when she killed him, like she felt absolutely no remorse for taking a life. But, Bella was protecting her, maybe she did overreact. That and Bella did apologize. Hermione mulls it over while she gets dressed, deciding to go to the Lestrange manor and set things right with Bella.
Breakfast is quiet, Andy and Hermione exchange small talk but conversation doesn't flow easily. Hermione finishes her breakfast, and asks for a carriage.
"Why do you need a carriage?" Andy asks, wanting to make sure she knew where the girl was.
"I wanted to go see Bella, I might have overreacted, she was trying to protect me."
"You don't need to explain yourself to her, she lets her temper get the better of her much too often, not to mention, she's not home anyway."
"Where has she gone?" Hermione asks, suddenly concerned for her.
"She thought she could go find the vampires who want to hurt you, thought maybe she'll be able to beat them. She's a powerful vampire but she often pushes her own limits a bit too far. She won't be a match for an army of others. Let's just hope she's smart about it."
"What an idiot," Hermione says, Andy chuckles as Hermione goes and once again shuts herself in the library. Andy can't help but notice the girl isn't the least bit torn up over her fiancé's death, but appearances must be kept up. So Andy heads out shopping.
...
"Why do I have to wear this? We weren't even married." Hermione complains, looking down at the black dress.
"Because, you may not have liked him, but to the world, you were madly in love. You have to wear it to keep suspicion down. You won't be expected to marry for the next two years, but when you can marry again, you'll have your pick of the men, as long as you mourn properly that is." Hermione hates the idea of wearing black constantly but if it means she won't have to deal with suitors for the next two years, she'll definitely do it.
The overwhelming amount of sympathy letters sit unopened on her desk, all of the stationery is scented with sweet, floral smells but none of them can compare to the scent of sandalwood that she craves now. The idea of spending an indefinite amount of time alone, even if it is in Andy's warm and welcoming home, is depressing to her.