A/N: You can skip this note if you'd rather get on with the story, but I thought I'd explain the two year gap in updating this. There's no good excuse, I just got discouraged by a few not-so-friendly messages. It made me doubt myself. But I would notice a few nicer comments here and there, and that helped me come back to this story. It's one I'm really keen on telling, so thank you. I've gone back and edited the previous chapters. Not much has changed in terms of plot. Fixed a ton of grammar/syntax errors (oops).

Also, I'm a little embarrassed to admit that I wrote a bunch of smut for this story to help me figure out where this is going. I'm not sure it'll end up making it in, but it was a helpful exercise. If it doesn't fit organically in later chapters, I'll add them as a collection of loosely related one-shots.

tl:dr - i'm back


Andromeda trotted down the stairs like she usually did when Tonks was training; heavily, like part of her soul had gone with her daughter. She brightened up marginally when she spotted Ted flurrying around in the kitchen, and even more when she caught sight of Hermione. Her little lion was in an animated discussion with Ofie and Auxley. Ofie was in the middle of a rejoinder that involved syllables too complex for Andromeda to even think about processing that early in the day, while Auxley was setting the table and nodding to Ofie's points.

This was by no means a rare occurrence, as there was always something Hermione could argue for hours about. However, it was the presence of her sisters that gave her pause, making her hover by the door to the kitchen and observe the scene in front of her for a moment. Narcissa and Bellatrix seemed to be wrapped up in Hermione's light, engrossed in her vibrant display of passion with similar looks of…admiration? adoration? It was too early to tell, but it was certainly clear that her sisters were listening to every word that came out of Hermione's mouth.

As she continued to watch her family interact from afar, Andromeda felt a nameless apprehension rise up in the back of her mind. It would be easy to dismiss the admiring gaze her sisters were giving Hermione as harmless, except that Bellatrix seemed a bit too invested in every little twitch on Hermione's face.

"It's rude to stare, mum," Tonk's voice broke Andromeda from her train of thought. Surprise took hold of the older which, who reacted quickly by turning around and flinging her arms out. Tonks dutifully endured the contracted hug despite the obvious exhaustion in her frame. The older witch released her daughter after a moment, quickly giving her a once-over.

"You look rough, nugget," Andromeda observed, her voice laced with a mother's worry and a healthy dose of empathy.

"Thanks," Tonks said flatly, the small upturned corners of her mouth betraying her amusement. Before her mother could reply, Tonks jutted her chin toward the scene in the kitchen that Andromeda was observing before.

"Don't think I'm the one you should be keeping your eye out on, though."

At the knowing tone of her usually light-hearted daughter, Andromeda stood a little straighter and leaned in to ask, "What do you mean? Is something going on?"

"Not yet."

Andromeda, now fully alert and with a creeping sense of unease, looked back into the kitchen and could not help but see the scene in a slightly different light. Both her sisters were still staring at Hermione, her precious little cub, with an intensity that seemed a little too attentive. Narcissa, her more reserved younger sister, looked at Hermione with a knowing smirk and a playful gaze. Andromeda furrowed her brow and tilted her head, she really didn't know what was going on there. That is, until she saw Narcissa turn to look instead at Bellatrix. It was then that Andromeda began to grasp what was transpiring.

The oldest Black sister was sitting, chin in hand, with an awe-inspired twinkle in her eye. Andromeda has seen her older sister smitten before, yes, but this was different somehow—she could tell just by looking at her that Bellatrix was entirely unaware of herself, which was rare for a witch who lived almost entirely in her own head.

Narcissa tilted her head and made eye contact with Andromeda from across the kitchen. As if sensing that her sister was beginning to understand what was transpiring, she looked back and forth quickly between Hermione and Bellatrix and then raised her eyebrow suggestively.

Andromeda looked back to Hermione, now emphasizing her points to Ofie with gestures and gesticulations. Her heart seemed to squeeze itself, as it always did when Hermione did something particularly adorable, which she almost always did. Andromeda resolved to put a stop to whatever was going on, immediately, to protect her cub. Just as she had made up her mind to talk to her sisters, Hermione suddenly swiveled and caught Bellatrix's eyes. A look flashed across her face for a moment before being replaced with a more polite, shy smile.

Andromeda knew that look. She had seen, lived it, experienced being on both ends of it— the adoring look of an admirer. Hermione blushed and turned back to respond to something Auxley said, and if not for that that minuscule moment between the witches, Andromeda would not have noticed the slight hitch in her voice as she did so.

This was going to be…tricky.

.

.

.

.

Breakfast was an interesting affair. Ofie and Auxley took their breakfast to the sunlit patio on account of the limited space in the breakfast nook. Hermione watched them go with a pout; she hadn't truly gotten anywhere in their debate. She had been distracted while trying to formulate her closing argument—and the reason was sitting right next to her. She wanted to sneak another glance at older witch, but she had already been caught once today. Hermione felt her cheeks warm just thinking about that split second of eye contact—Bellatrix had to have already been looking at her for some time. The thought made her smile.

"Care to clue us in on the joke, 'Mione?" Narcissa asked suddenly, breaking Hermione's daydream.

Finding herself as the center of several inquisitive stares, Hermione floundered for a millisecond before quickly recovering.

"I was just remembering how absolutely tossed you all got last night," she said.

Ted, mid-sip of his coveted breakfast tea, snorted into his cup. Narcissa and Tonks, sitting on either side of him were caught in the unfortunate splash radius.

"Oi, sounds like I missed out on some action," said Tonks with a smirk, carelessly wiping the liquid from the side of her face. Narcissa, on the other hand, primly dabbed at her face with a napkin, her lips pressed in a tight line.

"Yes, we definitely saw some action last night," Narcissa said.

Hermione immediately took great interest in the food on her plate and cutting everything into neat squares. She couldn't tell if Narcissa meant for the innuendo, but she couldn't help recalling the feeling, however brief, of their lips meeting in the dark. She was sure that her face was approaching an unsettling shade of red, and honestly, she was over the whole thing.

"Hermione and your aunt Bella may even see some more of it today," continue Narcissa, nonplussed as she resumed buttering her toast. Tonks wrinkled her brow and looked to Hermione for explanation.

"She's referring to our field trip today," Hermione supplied.

"Field trip? Where? Why?" Tonks asked in quick succession.

Hermione explained everything that had transpired that night - well, not everything. Hermione wasn't sure how Tonks would take hearing that her recently estranged aunt had put the moves on her. For the most part, everyone else at the table remained quiet while Hermione unpacked the reason for last night's sudden reunion. When she got to the part about her parents, she felt her throat close up, as if she, like Bellatrix, were also bound by fidelius. Andromeda reached over and wrapped her arm around her shoulders, squeezing slightly before relaxing her grip. On the other side of Hermione, Bellatrix hesitantly reached out and placed her hand on her forearm. Hermione powered through and explained the fact-finding mission to Tonks, who watched this all unfold with an uncharacteristic level of focus.

"I have to say, 'Mione, this is spectacularly…" Tonks drifted off, searching for the right word. Hermione was expecting a synonym along the lines of brave, but instead, she got, "bloody mental."

"Thanks, I know its a risk worth-wait, what?" Hermione began and the stopped herself as she registered what Tonks had actually said.

"Its bloody stupid and I can't believe no one is trying to stop you. Can't you all see how dangerous this is? Returning to that place?" Tonks lefther question open-ended and looked around the table, daring anyone to reply.

"This is actually the first I'm hearing of it," Andromeda said, her eyebrows knitting in concern.

"I just suggested it this morning," said Bellatrix, "I ran it by Cissy beforehand."

"And you didn't think to run it by Hermione's guardians?" Ted spoke up, surprising his in-laws with the unusual levity of his tone. "I understand your heart is in the right place, but perhaps this is something we should discuss, as a family, before any decisions are made."

"There's no need for a discussion! This is mad!" Tonks erupted, her hair bursting into a flaming violet shade of messy curls.

"T," Hermione started, ignoring the comments of the occupants, "I get that you're looking out for me, but I don't think 'dangerous' is a word I'd use to describe my hometown. Honestly, I'm surprised at your reaction- you, of all people should understand what this means to me."

"Hermione," Tonks began, softer this time, "I'm telling you this precisely because I understand what this means - you're not going to like what you find there. It's different than the Chatsworth you remember. Even the air there is different."

"I'm not a frightened little first year anymore. I don't need you to protect me," Hermione said hotly, feeling tears prick the corners of her vision. She hated that her body though tears were an appropriate accessory for anger. Still, she was proud of the way her voice did not crack, only wavering on the last syllable.

Hermione and Tonks looked at each other from opposite ends of the breakfast table. The room was quiet, tense. Ted cleared his throat, clearly uncomfortable with the early morning spectacle. All three Black sisters were assessing the situation in their own way. Bellatrix was watching Tonks carefully, taking note of how the auror-in-training was gripping her fork in her right hand so tightly that her knuckles were going white. She also saw the bags underneath the young witch's eyes, earned no doubt by countless nights of randomly scheduled training.

Narcissa watched Hermione, and the way she tilted her head back. Ostensibly, she wanted to appear as if she were haughtily regarding the other witch. But Narcissa knew from experience that the move was a rouse, a way of discretely willing the tears at the corners of her eyes to go back, or at least not to fall.

Andromeda looked back and forth at both of the young witches and felt a sense of déjà vu. As the middle child, she was often caught between rowes - Merlin knows she played intermediary between her polar opposite sisters more than every now and again. It was precisely why she knew that this fight wasn't so much a disagreement as it was a poor reaction to fear. Tonks, her often flippant eldest child, took very few things in life seriously. Being Hermione's protector, although a recent development, was one of them. And now, she was feeling helpless as Hermione announced her plans to return to a place that had been a source of pain for years. The worst kind of pain - the emotional kind, one couldn't be reducto-d away.

Hermione, on the other hand, wanted Tonks to be proud of her. After all, it wasn't everyday that she put her books down and faced whatever was plaguing her. Though she knew her cub to be brave, she also knew that it took a special kind of motivation for her to look into the unknown, as she was about to. In short, Andromeda knew, having played the part of both big and little sister, how the roles were different, and how each wanted to be seen by the other.

Andromeda continued to watch as the girls seemed to bite their tongues from lashing out further, obviously confused as to why the other was reacting the way they were. Hermione seemed to come to some conclusion in her head, as she nodded to herself and squared her shoulders.

"I'm going."

"Hermione-"

Ignoring the other girl, Hermione turned to Bellatrix and asked her, "Are you ready?"

Bellatrix looked at Hermione carefully, placing her tea cup back in its saucer before replying evenly, "Whenever you are."

"I'm ready now. Let's not waste daylight." Hermione pushed her plate away and stood from the table. "Please enjoy the rest of your meal. I hope you all have a lovely day."

Andromeda scoffed from where she was seated and stood up too, pulling her into a tight hug. "None of that polite nonsense, Hermione. We're a family, we don't do pleasantries. Be safe, come back at the first sight of trouble, send if you need me."

Upon being released from the matriarch's hold, Hermione looked around the table, locking eyes with Ted, who looked like he wanted to say something. It was Tonks who put her hand on his shoulder and shook her head. Ted settled for a wry smile that didn't meet his eyes, and a short nod.

Narcissa sipped her tea, eyeing the young witch cooly as she considered her words. She lifted a finely arched brow and said, "You two don't do anything I wouldn't."

"Cissy, that's horrible advice. You have shit instincts," Bellatrix said dryly as she rose to stand beside Hermione. The older witch extended her hand to Hermione and explained, "I'll apparate us to the edge of the wizarding part of Chatsworth."

Nodding, Hermione reached out and grasped Bellatrix's hand in her own, preparing herself for the twisting feeling in her gut. Her eyes remained shut, feet firmly on the ground as everything shifted and pulled and stretched.

Bellatrix cleared her throat. Hermione opened her eyes and took in the sights and sounds of the hidden wizarding world, just a few miles away from her childhood home. A young boy zipped down the street chasing a practice snitch. The bustling foot traffic of wizards and witches did not seem to deter him in his quest. Hermione watched him ride off until the road turned in the distance. To think that such a place existed the entire time, unbeknownst to her as she grew up...she shook her head to stop herself from traveling down that mental path. It would do her no good.

Instead, she looked at Bellatrix, drinking in her dark robes which draped her body just right, her hair pinned up save for some strands which framed her face. Her dark eyes gleamed as a smirk formed on her face, pointedly looking down at their hands. Which were still joined. Or rather, which Hermione still had not let go of.

Mortified, Hermione dropped the older witch's hand and turned her face to hide the blush she knew would be incoming. She heard Bellatrix's rich, throaty chuckle from beside her and knew, without having to look at the dark-haired witch, that she was smiling as she suggested, "Let's stock up on a few supplies before we head out. We'll need to cast a glamour, and bring some back-up charms just in case."

Hermione nodded, slowly turning back to look at Bellatrix again. She found the older witch still looking at her with an inexplicable expression, somewhere between amused and concerned. It dawned on Hermione just then that she was spending the day with her crush. Her inappropriate crush. Whom she couldn't stop blushing and making a fool of herself around. Hermione sighed, resigning herself to the fact that the day, which had seen her first real fight with her best friend, was bound to be awful.