I know its been a while so I'm just going to save all my apologies and explanations until after you've read the latest chapter. Like always, anything that is trademarked isn't mine and everything that isn't is. Have fun and enjoy!
P.S. This chapter has the same content as originally posted I have only added to my afterword as something has come up that i see fit to address in such an emergency-ish manner.
The last few days Harry and Hermione had been avoiding their respective Weasley's as much as they could without rousing their suspicions that something was different. Every moment Harry spent with Ginny was increasingly dull. He was so keenly aware of his feelings for her slipping away he could've measured it in the falling sands of one of the house point counters. If she could tell she never did say anything but he had a feeling a storm was brewing on the horizon and it was only matter of time before it came full bear on him. Hermione wasn't faring much better , while the first night they had slept together she had slept peacefully the second night she cried for hours until she fell into a fitful sleep. The third day had been spent much like her first year, running to the loo to cry out her frustrations, and much like first year Ron had no clue. On the fourth day she had grown tired of crying about her charade and became numb to her betrayal of her boyfriend.
With a huff Hermione toppled over the arm of the couch in the headgirl's room her head falling into Harry's lap. Setting down the book on runes he had been reading he ran his hand through her hair and smiled down at her, a rare act anywhere outside their new sanctum. Here they didn't feel like they had to keep up any fronts and freely joked and smiled with each other.
"What are you smiling at?" she asked with mock outrage as she turned in his lap so she could look up at him.
"Nothing." he replied still smiling, his finger tracing a pattern on her forehead.
Hermione sighed contentedly as she recognized the trail, it was something she was quickly becoming acquainted with, the rune for love. Harry had taken up reading all of her old rune textbooks in his spare time and seemed to be picking up their meanings at a surprising rate even if he had yet to show any interest in the actual application of them.
Interlocking their fingers she brought his hand to her lips and kissed it. While they hadn't shagged since that first night they had taken to small, intimate gestures when no one was around and sleeping in the same bed during the night. They had already questioned why Ron had yet to ask where Harry was sleeping seeing as he never went into the boy's dorm, but it would seem that the red-head assumed he had different sleeping quarters after the incident in the Great Hall. Outside of the headgirl's room they maintained an air of normalcy, the only differences were when they sat together they'd position their feet so they were almost touching and walking down the corridors they'd brush their hands against each others.
"So what has you all huffy today?" Harry asked using his free hand to play with her hair.
"A couple of third years in Ravenclaw decided it would be funny to fill their first year's dorms with suds. I just happened to be patrolling in the area when I saw a few of them outside their commons entrance trying to clean themselves up. They told me what the upperclassmen did so I went in and banished it all. No one wanted to tell me who did it so I just gave all the third years four nights of detention with Mr. Filch. They tried to argue about it but there wasn't anything they could do without giving away who had cast the spells."
"Sounds like even the Ravenclaws do pranks. That kind of surprises me actually, thought they would find it a bit beneath them."
"That was before last year." Hermione whispered like the weight of the words would bring their world crashing down around them.
Harry grew quiet looking at the empty fireplace as he absentmindedly ran his fingers along Hermione's cheeks. After a few moments fighting the feelings of sadness and despair he looked down so see her looking up at him with a look of concern and a spark of mischief.
"I'm alright. Whats that look for?" He asked trying not to let the negative emotions overwhelm him.
"I banished the suds into their trunks and seeing as the suds completely filled the first years rooms from top to bottom they're under considerable pressure being packed into that small amount of space. They're probably going to explode as soon as someone opens them." She said with a grin.
Harry's mouth twitched as he tried his best to give her a stern look but ended up snorting trying to hold in his laughter. His snort caused Hermione to start giggling and in turn broke his resolve and he found himself dissolving into uncontrollable laughter as well.
"I can't believe my ears, you counter pranked a group of Ravenclaws." Harry chocked out between breaths.
"What else was I going to do, detention would only make them try harder not to get caught next time so I gave them a little taste of their own medicine."
"Trying to justify it?" he said cocking his eyebrow at her. "You could've just said you thought they deserved it."
Hermione ducked her head to hide her blush from being caught so squarely in her reasoning. It was something Ron would have just said 'You're impossible to understand'. She felt happy knowing that there indeed was someone who understood her so well and that they had found each other even if the circumstances were questionable from the conventional moral standpoint.
"When are we going to tell them?" she found herself asking sobering the mood in the room.
"Eventually they'll confront us on it." Harry said quietly looking at a spot on the wall.
"I don't like hiding this Harry, it just feels wrong to keep it from everybody."
"I know."
"Then why don't we tell them? You aren't ashamed of us are you?" Hermione asked uncertainly. Her doubts about the genuineness of their relationship had been building since that night. She wondered if Harry was only staying with her out of a perceived obligation, or because he really had feelings for her. Her head was roughly removed from Harry's lap as he stood up abruptly striding over to the wall he had been staring at.
Hermione found her blood pounding in her ears as she stared at the back of her first friend in the wizarding world. Her heart plummeted as she braced herself to hear the words she had been fearing for several days. Time seemed to slow down as she watched Harry, eventually he spoke.
"You didn't believe me when I told you?" his voice so low she strained to hear it.
A moment passed, the tick of the clock was thunder in the silence.
"Its not that I don't believe you when you said that, its just that.... its just that could've been in the moment. I have to know its real Harry, I can't stand wondering if this these feelings are real." her voice matching his.
Silence, another peel of thunder.
"I'm not ashamed of being with you, I couldn't ever be ashamed of if. Even if we had been together in first year I wouldn't have been ashamed. Its just that I want my feelings for you to not be pressured for as long as they can be. You know what it was like for me in fourth year, you were part of it too. Skeeter and her damn articles, my entire existence under a microscope, everyone thinking I was an attention seeking prat, even Ron.
"Its going to be like that for you too now. Everything you do, every letter they get a hold of, every conversation someone overhears, what you have for breakfast. It will all be dissected and pinned up for the whole world to make every assumption but the correct ones. Could you stand the accusing eyes and mouths of our world when they learn about us if we haven't solidified ourselves, our relationship? Could you still develop something meaningful with me with everybody else condemning us every moment of the day?"
Hermione looked down at her lap feeling ashamed. While she felt and knew she was right to have her concerns, she had completely forgotten about the reality of their situation. It was she who had been caught up in the moment with her doubts. Thinking about what he had said about being able to make a relationship with the scrutiny of their entire world upon them she found that she couldn't definitely answer yes.
Standing up she went over to him and wrapped her arms around him breathing in his scent. The sound of his heart soothed her and she sighed contentedly.
"I'm sorry Harry, I wasn't thinking about everything else but I just had to know."
"I know." he said turning in her arms to face her. "Its alright."
They stood silently in the storm of ticks and tocks, finding peace in just holding each other.
"Its kind of strange having the roles reversed." Harry said with a hint of amusement.
"Yeah, it is." Hermione smiled.
"What are we going to do now?" he asked.
Hermione looked up at him foxily.
"Right now we're going to go to bed and let what happens happen. Tomorrow we'll talk about how we're going to do things."
Harry grinned and followed the bushy haired witch as she pulled him by the hand to 'their' room.
Looking to see if he was alone in the entrance hall Harry shrunk his bag and stuck it in his pocket before trudging out of the castle. The cool autumn air blew through his hair making it even more disheveled as he ignored the urge to shiver. Last night he and Hermione had shagged for the second time in their short and clandestine relationship, that morning he had been on top of the world.
That was until they had decided to go to the Great Hall for breakfast; that morning Ginny latched onto him and it had taken all he had not to shove her away. He had given her a half hearted kiss that she didn't seem to notice as she fretted over the placement exams that were being administered that day. Hermione didn't fare much better as Ron had taken up the task of feeding her breakfast. While it was a surprisingly romantic move it was ruined by him spilling half the food on her lap. Eventually she grew fed up with it and left mumbling something about studying and the headgirl's work not even being done on a Saturday. He had stayed at the table long past Ron and Ginny's departure waiting for most of the hall to clear so he could venture out and pass the day alone.
Making sure to avoid familiar haunts by the lake, he found a comfortable spot among a patch of boulders on the shoreline far from the eyes of the castle and pulled out one of Hermione's old rune books and resumed his reading. He didn't know why they captured his attention, he had never had any interest in the class itself nor did he have one currently, but interesting they were so he read on, drawing each rune in the air with his wand as he sounded them out to himself. About a fourth of the way through the tome, the hairs on the back of his neck stood and he couldn't shake the feeling that he wasn't alone. Slowly setting down his reading material, he scanned his surroundings, noticing nothing amiss. With the sudden crunch of rocks to his left he dove forward sending a spell in the direction of the sound, illicting a scream from whoever had been creeping up on him.
Peeking over the edge of a rock he had taken cover behind he recognized who he had shot at.
"Hello Daphne." He said standing and pocketing his wand.
"What the bloody hell is wrong with you, Potter?" She screeched at him, her eyes blazing with anger.
He shrugged.
"I'm a bit jumpy. That'll teach you to sneak up on me next time." He smiled at her as he retook his seat. Pulling out his book he continued reading as if he hadn't almost just killed her.
"I wasn't sneaking up on you, you idiot. I was just walking not expecting to get blown up by Harry bloody Potter."
Harry hummed in acknowledgment but didn't comment further.
Looking back to where his spell had passed her Daphne noticed what had once been one large boulder was now many considerably smaller ones. Shakily she dusted off her robes before taking a seat next to the powerful wizard. Silence passed between them as she listened to the waves lazily lapping the shore and the occasional turn of a page by her companion. Sighing she pulled her knees to her chin and looked over to Harry watching him read. Eventually he returned her gaze.
"Yes?" he asked with a hint of amusement.
"Just wondering what brings you all the way out here. I would've thought that you'd be spending time with your friends or girlfriend not hiding away from the world."
"And what does the world know of me?" he said frowning down at the book in his lap.
"Probably not nearly as much as it should and thinks it knows more than it does." she replied looking out at the water.
Harry didn't respond instead staring at the pages before him as if they were a window to another place.
"You still haven't answered my question."
"I just wanted to be away from them, from everybody." His voice dropping to a whisper.
Daphne suddenly felt incredibly uncomfortable, like she was intruding on his moment of solitude.
"So what are you doing all the way down here, 'hiding away from the world', as you put it?" He asked smirking at her.
"I just like coming down here, its peaceful. Theres no one here expecting me to behave a certain way or forcing me to uphold the family's honor. I can relax and think for myself." She answered ignoring his sarcasm.
"It is peaceful." He said closing his book and leaning back on his arms.
Daphne was painfully aware how close their hands were, she could almost feel the heat from his. Barely suppressing the strange urge to just reach out and take his hand in hers, she started kicking pebbles into the water watching the ripples they made. After some time Harry joined her and they turned it into a game of who could kick their's further. Soon the unspoken rules broke down and they just started kicking in as many as the smooth rocks as they could. Eventually they ran out of stones in the immediate area around their feet and they passed into a companionable silence.
In a move that surprised Daphne, Harry wrapped his hand around hers. She felt her heart jump into her throat but she couldn't find the will to remove it from his grasp. Looking over at him she found him looking at her strangely. She watched his lips as they slowly came to hers, her mind screamed at her to move but it was like she didn't have any control of herself. Instead of pulling away she leaned in deepening their kiss. Neither of them knew how long they stayed that way, their lips locked together, warm breath on each others cheek.
Tentatively they drew apart; Harry, averting his gaze to the now rock-less trench at the base of their perch, and Daphne, blushing furiously at a tree off in the opposite direction, their hands still intertwined.
"I'm sorry." Harry said quietly. "I- I shouldn't have done that."
"Damn right you shouldn't have!" Daphne said ripping her hand away from Harry's funneling her embarrassment into righteous indignation.
Getting her anger under control she peered at Harry out of the corner of her eye and felt her heart breaking. Instead of a strong, dark lord slayer he was small and withdrawn, like a lost first year. Kneeling in front of him she lifted his chin and offered him a smile.
"I'm sorry for yelling at you, I was just embarrassed." she apologized.
"But you do have a girlfriend Harry, you can't just go kissing me or any other girl. Most barely feel comfortable with their boyfriends having any kind of prolonged touching with another girl."
He grunted in response tearing his eyes from his knees to meet hers.
"Now, I am flattered that you would've even considered kissing such a lowly Slytherin as I, but you have to think of your relationship with ... whatsherface."
Harry snorted in amusement and cracked a watery smile.
"Thats better." Daphne said, retaking her seat keeping her hands in her lap this time.
"Don't know for how much longer." He said quietly.
She looked at him quizzically.
"What do you mean, trouble in paradise?"
He looked at her through his bangs.
"Sorry."
"I don't know what it is, I'm just not attracted to her anymore. I was before I... disappeared and I kept on thinking when it was all over we'd be together and happy. But something happened out there, something that changed me. I don't know if its for better or worse, I just know that I'm not the same person that I used to be. Part of me is still trying to be what everyone wants me to be and the other part just wants me to be who I am." Harry said watching the giant squid play with some students on the far side of the lake.
To say that Daphne was in shock would be an understatement. Harry Potter, the boy-who-lived, and a Gryffindor to boot, was confiding in a Slytherin that he barely knew. A year and a half ago she would have told anyone that told her she'd be listening to the secrets of the Golden Boy that they had taken one too many bludgers to the head.
"So why don't you break up with her?"
Harry sighed, fingering the cover of his book.
"Its not so simple as that."
"What do you mean? How hard can it be? I mean, everyone knows that shes your best mate's sister, and that'll make things awkward, but if he can't get past after all you've been through together it makes one wonder how important your friendship is." She explained.
Harry fell quiet once again leaving Daphne to process what she had learned. Was he holding onto a girl he didn't love anymore just to keep his best friend happy? There were rumors about his life before he showed up at Hogwarts, about how muggle relatives treated him like rubbish and he was lower than dirt. Ironically that was the reverse of the most conservative pureblood ideology. And if the rumors were true it would make sense why he would go to such lengths to keep the few people he considered as friends happy even at his own detriment. The Weasley boy didn't have the best reputation of sticking by Harry either, only a blind, deaf, and dumb person would've missed his jealousy at Harry's name coming out of the Goblet of Fire back in fourth year. His attitude didn't change until after he saw that the tournament could have killed him did he reconcile, and like a good friend Harry had taken him back. Personally, Daphne would have made him beg on his hands and knees for forgiveness, but she guessed that's what separated him from all other wizards.
"Its just not that simple." Harry whispered, reiterating his point as if he was waiting for her to ask a particular question.
Not knowing what he was looking for she squeezed his hand and stood up stretching.
"Well as fun as this has been, its lunch time and I'm famished."
Looking behind her she noticed Harry hadn't moved, but was eying her warily. She paused confused then something clicked in her head.
"Don't worry, I'm not going to tell anyone what happened here. What happens at the rocks stays at the rocks." She reassured him with a smile. "So you coming?"
Returning her smile he hopped up excitedly, tucking his book back into his bag and swinging it over his shoulder.
"You know, we really do need to come up with a better name for it than 'The Rocks'." He said as they walked back up to the castle.
"I'm sure we'll find something eventually." Daphne replied bumping him with her hip before running ahead of him leaving him to give chase.
It has recently come to my attention that I am losing readers because they believe this to be a miss filed story, let me start by assuring you that it is indeed, a Harry and Bellatrix story. You may be wondering what Hermione has to do with it, or even Daphne, and your confusion at these actions mirrors Harry's own confusion at this tulmultious time. Bellatrix will come so be patient with me, enjoy the read, and give things time to develop. Personally i hate it when a character drastically changes personality across teh span of a paragraph without knowing what led them to become so radicaly different and I am sharing that with you by writing this the way I am. So please don't lose heart if you want to see Harry and Bellatrix. And I'm sorry to all those who came back expecting another chapter.
I know its been an incredibly long time since I have updated and I'd like to offer my sincerest apologies to my loyal readers, those who subscribed, and anyone who has stopped by looking for a good read. Real life hit me hard the past couple of months, that combined with other stories and multiple complete overhauls of the story line for Sands of Change have set back that latest chapter. I would've posted a message about how the story wasn't abandoned but personally I despise it when an author does that and makes their subscribers get excited for another chapter only for them to discover its a dud.
I also have another story I've been working on so if you like my writing drop me a message and I may see it fit to also drop my Oubliette onto for you.
If you haven't guessed by the way I'm making this story twister than a swizzle straw I like to keep the readers on their toes and guessing where things are headed. So please, post some reviews for me and feel free to debate on whats going to happen and how. I also have my wife driving me to post up a new chapter every week and a half so you should expect another chapter up by next Wednesday, the 15th of July, at the latest. Until next time, Doom West.