No teasin'
You waited long enough.
Go deep,
Imma throw it at ya'
Can't catch it.
Don't hold back,
You know I like it rough.
Know I'm feelin' ya' huh.
Know you liking it, huh.

So why you standing over there with ya' clothes on,
Baby strip down for me, go on take'em off.
Don't worry baby,
Imma meet you halfway,
Cause I know you wanna see me.

No heels,
No shirt,
No skirt,
All I'm in is just skin.
No jeans,
Take'em off,
Wanna feel your skin.
You a beast, oh.
You know that I like that.
Come on baby,
All I wanna see you in is just skin.

All in baby,
Don't hold nothing back.
Wanna take control,
Nothing wrong with that.
Say you liking how I feel,
Ain't gotta tell me that.
Just put your skin baby on my skin.

~ Rihanna, Skin~

-x-

The Dark Lord's most faithful follower is sitting in an armchair, immersed in her thoughts. Her fingers are strumming softly on the oak desk she is leaning on, her dark hair cascading over her shoulder and falling between her breasts. Her frown indicates something troubles her, but her slightly pouty lips show it is not a subject of irritation, just of contemplation.

A silent shadow arrives from a corner of the room and stops at her right. "Bella…" The voice of Narcissa Malfoy comes to her ears and she feels a hand resting on her back. "You seem to be miles away. Is something on your mind?" Bellatrix looks up at her sister and sighs.

"Yes, there is, Cissy. But I don't know if I should tell you, it might put you in a rage and I don't need that right now."

"Listen, you're free to tell me Bella. I won't get furious and if I do I'll keep it for myself and not bother you. What's worrying you?"

"It's very peculiar… but I find that I am more and more drawn to our prisoner's company. I've never felt as much need to be in someone's presence in a long, long time."

Narcissa brings her hand to her mouth. "Don't tell me you're falling for the girl, Bella!"

Bellatrix shakes her head and leans back in her chair. "No, don't make such hasty conclusions, sister. I just said I appreciate her more than I would have thought… I think… I may be starting to respect her, not what she is, but who she is."

"You need to pull those awful, awful ideas out of your mind Bella. Respect her, and then what? You can't respect the ones you're trying to eradicate."

Bellatrix rises from her seat. "It's not nice to berate your own sister Narcissa. I do as I deem fit."

"Well you deem wrong." Narcissa grumbles between her teeth. Bellatrix doesn't hear her. She has already left the room.

xXx

The memory of what happened last night keeps coming back in my head. It had all been sweet and tender, for a moment. The dream didn't last long. I was brought back into my cell, with no supplementary favour treatment. But for the first time since my capture, I don't want to leave that much.

I want to investigate what has developed between me and Bellatrix. I need to understand why it has turned out this way between us, went from pure mutual loathing to a form of understanding, and maybe some fondness. I don't feel as miserable anymore, I found some hope in this thorny situation.

I stand up and pace around the shady room, my legs are starting to get numb. After a few minutes, I hear a shifting noise at my left: Bellatrix is half-laying half-sitting on the last stair, in a somewhat cat-like position. Her eyes even sparkle in a feline kind of way. She gives me a smile that shows a lot of her teeth, before nimbly standing up and walking up to me.

"What we're you thinking about?" She asks, smiling.

"You…" Having her so near almost makes my heart flutter.

"Lovely subject." She leans down to kiss me, being a few inches taller than I am. I answer her kiss eagerly; it's what I've been thinking about all morning. She pulls back.

I look up at her, very serious. "Bellatrix, can I ask… what does this mean to you exactly?"

"What does what mean?"

"Does it mean something… the kisses we share, how you made love to me last night… this?" I ask taking her hand and kissing it.

She removes her hand from mine.

"There's nothing to talk about. I think you're a very attractive girl, I fucked you, we had a pleasant time, end of." Her eyebrows are raised and she doesn't seem to be joking.

"So you're saying you just manipulated me by playing nice, only to get into my pants?" I ask, livid.

"Oh, stop looking for meanings and reasons everywhere, you're not at school! I acted the way I acted with you because that's how I wanted to act. I think, for your own sake, you'd better enjoy the fact I am being generous with you. Or do you prefer to go back to how it was before? I thought we were making progress here, that you had understood your place. Besides, I don't need to 'play nice' to claim you, I do whatever I want in this house."

I turn my back to her. She's such a bitch and I fell right into her trap. I hate myself!

"Go away." I tell her, my fists clenched.

"What?" Her voice is threatening and low.

"Leave me alone!" I clench and unclench my fists, trying to control my anger.

She grabs my arm hard enough to bruise and turns me toward her.

"I think you're forgetting who I am." Her eyes are shooting daggers.

"Don't worry, I'm not. You're either someone very fucked up or a very bad liar. I saw truth in your eyes yesterday when you made love to me. My feeling is that there is more to it than what you would like to give away!"

"And what if there is, it's a mistake. You don't belong here and you can be nothing more to me than a good fuck. It's how it's supposed to be and it's how it will stay." She accentuates every word to drive the point home.

"Fine! I won't ask anything about the feelings that could still exist in your heart of stone anymore. I'll let you deal with your own stupidity." I quickly go the farther away from her I can in this reduced space and sit on the floor, ignoring her presence.

"Who do you think you are? Aren't you forgetting who is in state of power here?"

"It's you, always you, Bellatrix. Go ahead, do what you want, but it doesn't concern me anymore."

"I'll make you regret your nerve."

"If you wish." I'm still not looking at her. I try to stay brave but in reality, I'm terrified. I don't know how excessively she can react and to what extreme she can actually go. Something tells me, though, that I can allow myself more slackness than before with her.

She hasn't yet moved.

"Well… I'm waiting… Aren't you going to produce a crucio or anything?"

I don't know if it's the best idea to taunt her but I can't stop myself. I think I'm becoming a little too foolhardy.

I still hear her breathing and I know she's angry but she isn't doing anything at all. It's so unlike her that I need to look back. She's just standing there looking at me. Her hands are on her sides, her wand outstretched, but she doesn't look like she's planning on using it.

"Bella?"

A single tear falls from the corner of her eye.

"Bella?" I stand up and am irresistibly drawn to her. As weird as it is, I don't like seeing her in pain.

"I… I don't feel like it."

The fact she doesn't feel like torturing me appears to be enough to upset her.

"I've never felt incapable of anything before, but I just can't hurt you now."

She looks directly into my eyes, her own are shining from pent-up emotion.

"Have you considered that it's for the reason I've told you before? There is more to it than what we thought; we may have begun to feel… something for each other." I am surprised at how confident my voice sounds, I want her to admit she feels the same, it's vital for me to have this assurance.

"Hermione… I don't know. It's so… unlikely. Falling in love is a foreign notion to me. It's not something I thought I'd experience again. I fear this type of things has become awkward for me. I don't know if I'm brave enough to do this."

"I do. And it's as awkward for me as it is for you. We are supposed to be enemies. It's the most confusing thing that has ever happened to me. It would be better to blame it on the fact I've gone mad, but I know that's not it."

Bellatrix chuckles at that.

"And I thought I was already mad." She caresses the back of my hand with her finger.

"Bella?"

"Yes?"

"Would you spend the night with me?"

"It would be my pleasure." She smiles softly and I have no doubt believing it is the most beautiful sight on this earth.

Xxx

A wand waves with a short flick to produce a bed from a piece of wood that is lying on the floor. A body is gently pushed towards the mattress and settles itself on it. Another body joins the first and clothes are peeled of the two. The second figure sits astride the first uninhibitedly. Chests are pushed against one another as hands settle on hips. Lips crash together as brown hair are grasped in passion. Bodies link in a timeless embrace, covered in a sheen of sweat. Body parts connect in a blind moment of desire. The bonding dance is repeated again and again during the hours of darkness, until both souls, satiated, let themselves fade into the night.

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TBC… Please review…