"I cheated myself,
Like I knew I would,
I told you I was trouble,
You know that I'm no good"
- You Know I'm No Good by Amy Winehouse
Hermione was exhausted. Emotionally, not physically. Work was intense with the upcoming elections for the new Minister of Magic and her paperwork was piling up by the day. To make matters worse, her relationship with Ron was starting to feel like they were just roommates. Entering their shared flat in muggle London, Hermione shouted "Ron?! I'm home. How about we go out for dinner tonight? I don't think I can coo-". The young woman's voice hitched upon eyeing the parchment on the kitchen table.
Meet me at the Three Broomsticks when you get in.
We need to talk.
-R
Snatching her cloak, Hermione exited their home and disapparated. Landing in a huff, Hermione strode to the entrance of the familiar pub. She knew Ron enjoyed coming here after a hectic day at work. The memories from their school days eased Hermione's mind a bit. Spotting the familiar red hair in a corner, Hermione requested a butterbeer before heading over to the table. Sliding into the booth across from him, Hermione took notice of the several glasses of what seems to be firewhisky. The young woman was instantly worried for her husband, Ron never drank so much considering how fast he gets drunk. Something was bothering him. Reaching out her hand to comfort him Hermione asked "Ron, sweetie, Is everything alri-" The intoxicated man looked up into the eyes of the woman he loved. Hermione froze, she's never seen his gaze so intense before. In a slightly slurred voice Ron asked "So, I heard you had a visitor today at the Ministry. How was your day with her?" Hermione felt as if someone magically hexed her to vomit slugs, her stomach rolled and bile rose in the back of her throat. 'How could he possibly know that she visited me today?!' Variations of that one thought ran through Hermione's head at rapid speed. She didn't really know what to say. Withdrawing her hand from his, Hermione sat back in the booth hoping to put some distance between them. Ron didn't seem to care either way. He wasn't done with his ramblings.
"You know, I remembered when we married. When you said that there'll be none of her no more. What happened to that, Mione?" Ron was bitter. He knew his wife used to be in a relationship with the head of the house of Black. Everyone in the British Wizarding community knew. Hermione closed her eyes and took a deep breath in an attempt to form proper thoughts. She had never planned for Ron to find out about her affair with Bellatrix this way. She was going to tell him. She swears it. The timing was just never there, but she also cared deeply for him and feared destroying things between them. He was her fella, her guy. She had warned him to the best of her ability prior to their relationship and he knew what would possibly happen once they married.
"I told you I was trouble, Ronald. You didn't even try to listen. You thought that marriage would change me. That you would be enough! And now look how we are now. You'd come home and go straight to the pub with your friends. You stayed out late. Weeks passing before you were home again. Do you know how many nights I spent alone in our bed, Ronald?" Hermione was getting aggravated. The ginger boy was trying to imply that this was all on her. But it wasn't she knew that it wasn't he had his faults too. "I tried at first, but you knew before all this, how I led my life. Our relationship was fun, convenient at best. Best friends turned sweethearts. Sure, you're a little rough around the edges but your family loved me and mine loved yours. It made sense that we'd get this far. But I didn't count on this happening. Us drifting apart."
Ron was silently listening to every word his wife spoke. His alcohol addled mind however, refused to understand any of it. He was hurt and was tired of hurting. He wanted her to hurt too. "No. Mione. We had a deal and you broke that! For what? A good shag at night? What the fuck do you take me for. Some kind of idiot? You think I never noticed all those marks on your body during our baths together? Or when we'd go to sleep at night and your nightgown exposed the marks on your thighs?! I've known for a while, Mione. But I chose to ignore it because I knew that you chose ME over her. But when I caught wind of her visiting your office today, that was going too far." He'd gotten angry by this point. All those glasses of firewhiskey driving the anger to its boiling point. Hermione on the other hand, had ordered herself a glass of firewhiskey as well. She was frustrated but not particularly angry. A part of her knew that this conversation was approaching. She's just upset that it was happening so publically.
He was right, however. She never did make any effort to hide any of the hickeys, love bites, or marks from her love sessions with Bellatrix. She'd been very open about them and so she would hold no frustration in Ron's anger towards them. At first, she'd done it, subconsciously perhaps, to get the boy jealous. In retrospect, the mindset was terribly juvenile. But it hard hurt, foolishly enough when he ignored them. There were moments when she saw him notice a mark here and there. She'd watch as his jaws would set as if he was grinding his teeth in silent anger but when no verbal response followed, it hurt her. During their moments of love making, if she can call it that, guilt would tear at her heart whenever she climaxed.
The first time it happened she had locked herself away in the bathroom and cried her heart out. They had been married for a couple years and she hadn't seen Bellatrix since they parted ways a week before the marriage. That day, she had ran into the woman in Hogsmeade when she was accompanying her sister on a shopping trip for Teddy. They had exchanged pleasantries and promised to meet up sometime to catch up. Neither women went into that situation thinking about their relationship prior. But that night as her and Ron made love, all Hermione thought of was Bellatrix. The image of the raven haired beauty burned in her mind as she reached ecstasy. The sound of Ron, growling her name had brought her back to the moment and Hermione was immediately sick. Ever since then, whenever they would have sex, only thoughts of Bellatrix were able to bring the young woman to climax. She hated how much she loved it. After a while, Ron was promoted and became an outstanding Auror. He was busier, away on duty for weeks on end, when he'd return he would either be too tired to spend much time with her or always at the Three Broomsticks with colleagues. Hermione started feeling lonely. By that time, she and Bellatrix had caught up with each other and started having weekly lunches together at various restaurants throughout both muggle and wizarding London. The emptiness she felt with Ron's absence in her life was refilled by Bellatrix and her companionship.
The day the two women had sex, they were at Hermione's flat having an early dinner with each other when Ron sent her his patronus notifying her that he was going to crash at Harry's for the night. She was upset. It'd been weeks since Ron had spent an actual night at their flat, taking into consideration that he was away for majority of the time. Hermione was upset that he didn't feel a need to come home to his wife after not seeing her in so long. Bellatrix had calmed her down that night and after a few glasses of wine, a touch between the two turned into a kiss on the cheek. That kiss on the cheek led to more kisses and touches and next thing Hermione knew, she had woken to sounds of Ron entering their home and Bellatrix's arms still wrapped around her. She had panicked the entire time while shoving a still sleepy Bellatrix towards her personal floo in the bedroom. The woman had made it out in time for Ron to enter the bedroom unsuspecting. What made matters worse was that Hermione couldn't recall any feeling of guilt immediately after the situation. It was a one time thing she had told herself. But eventually, the more nights Ron spent away, the more nights Bellatrix warmed her bed. Somewhere along the line, guilt and pleasure found a home in Hermione's heart and she had no idea whether she wanted to get rid of one or the other.
"Who truly stuck the knife in first, Ron?" Those few words seem to have angered the ginger boy beyond his limits since he stood abruptly and marched out of the pub. Hermione had watched him leave, never looking back. Her heart broke bit by bit as she watched as he disapparate into the night. A rogue tear streaked down her face as she wondered how did she allow things to get so messed up between. Downing her fourth glass of firewhiskey, Hermione donned her cloak and exited the bar. Without thinking she turned on the spot and apparated away.
Bellatrix had been sitting in her library when she heard the popping sound of someone apparating into the Black Manor. Deciding to see who it was, she exited the library just to be confronted with the appearance of one Hermione Granger-Weasley. Bellatrix was immediately filled with concern for the younger woman. Her hair was disheveled, she was still in her work clothes from earlier, and her face was red and puffy. 'She had been crying' Bellatrix noted. Grabbing the girl who seemed to no longer have much energy to stand, Bellatrix brought her to the library and cuddled the crying woman. Whispering a spell, Bellatrix rid Hermione of her cloak and shoes in hopes to make her more comfortable. Pointing her wand towards the fireplace in front of them, she increased the intensity of the flames to help warm up the cold body beneath her. Not asking questions, Bellatrix stroked the messy curly hair and whispered "It'll be alright, kitten. Don't worry, I'm here for you. I'll always be here for you. You're going to be okay, my love."
Bellatrix knew what occurred between the husband and wife. She always knew that it was an inevitability, but she also knew how much that scared her pet. Bellatrix promised herself that until that day came, she was going to always be there for Hermione, now that, that day has arrived, she was going to make sure Hermione wasn't alone. "It's going to be okay, Hermione. It'll be okay because I'll always be here for you. I love you, and we will get through this. Every step of the way, I will be by your side." Kissing the hair on Hermione's head, Bellatrix smiled sadly as she watched the young woman she fell in love with cry herself to sleep in her lap. Hugging her closer to her body, Bellatrix stared into the burning flames, with a sigh she closed her eyes. The day was finally over and she needed to prepare herself for what tomorrow would bring for her pet. This may have been the ending for some cases but it was definitely a new beginning for Bellatrix. One she looked forward to.
A/N: So, this was an idea that came to while I was writing my current Bellamione story and I just had to make it a one shot. Maybe if enough people want, I can possibly make it longer. But as of right now, I'm alright with keeping it how it is.
I hope you all enjoyed it. Feel free to check out The Only Exception (bellamione) if you haven't. This was fun to write down. I might do one shot fics based on songs here and there. Also, check out music by Amy Winehouse (may her soul rest in peace). Amazing vocalist and lyricist.