"You don't know anything, Hermione.'
Bellatrix had her eyes fixed on Hermione, watching her every move. Hermione's chin shook with pain, and she knelt, burying her face in her lap, hiding her face in shame. Tears welled up in her deep brown eyes. She had reached her breaking point. She sobbed and sobbed. The pain and misery surrounded her, haunting her. The memories of her and Ron, her and Harry, made her heart swell with anger and regret, but Bellatrix brought her in, like a drug. She was literally Hermione's heroine. The addiction was strong and powerful. But, Hermione didn't see it as all bad. Bellatrix, in her eyes, wasn't all bad.
While Hermione was deep in thought and almost swimming in her tears, she hadn't noticed that Bellatrix had picked Hermione up, and sat her in her lap, long nails slowly tracing circles along her shoulder, trying to calm her down. When she did see that Bellatrix had done such an act, she rested her head on Bella's shoulder, nuzzling right under her chin. Hermione silently played with Bellatrix's long curly locks with her fingers, eyes studying each hair. Bellatrix continued to let her fingers dance along Hermione's back, occasionally she would gently play with Hermione's hair as well. The two sat there for a while, just feeling the hopelessness that surrounded them. This was very out of character for Bellatrix, Hermione thought. She went through different possibilities and came up with one, which is, maybe she wasn't with Bellatrix and it was polyjuice potion and some stranger was hidden underneath, but Bella's voice was strong, and hadn't changed. Maybe Hermione was right, maybe she wasn't all bad. Maybe Bellatrix was so desperate for love that she grabbed onto any love Voldemort offered, and maybe he only offered it to her if she did evil things. Hermione hadn't unlocked that secret yet, and wasn't about to try to, as she felt safe in the arms of Bellatrix.
Bella didn't know why she was doing this. Her heart sank into her stomach when she found Hermione sobbing. She felt as if it was her duty to take care of Hermione. The day in the Ministry of Magic, Hermione's eyes held deep emotions that Bella could easily see. Lust, love, longing, hopelessness, fear… Bellatrix knew how Hermione felt, as Bellatrix felt this way about Voldemort for so many years before hand. As if she were a slave to her feelings, to her emotions. If Voldemort was going into the dark, she wouldn't think twice about following him, no matter what the darkness held. Hermione was in the same situation, Bellatrix knew everyone thought of her as this evil, wicked witch, which, she would admit she was. Bellatrix found joy in torturing people for Voldemort. The control and power she gained as she saw the sanity leaving her victims eyes. But, the feeling she had now, caring for Hermione, beat the feeling of torturing people any day. The pain Bellatrix felt was almost unbearable. She longed to see Voldemort once more. She longed for his love. Still holding onto Hermione, tightly, she reached for her black silk bag attached to her clothing, and found a small bottle of gin. A small smirk came across her face as she knew the pain she felt was going to leave, very, very, soon.