OK, I will be leaving the femslash for now, and I will instead concentrate on the story. Who knows, there might be more later on ;-)
For now, on with the story!
It had been two weeks since Hermione had begun living with Bellatrix Lestrange at her home, and initially it seemed that all they would do would be to have bed sessions once a day and the rest, Hermionie would be shut in a room, kept away from society; as she had initially thought. However, she realised that even though Bellatrix was a Death Eater, she was still human, still capable of love. Bellatrix allowed her to roam the house while she was out, and even though she was unable to leave the house, the manor was large enough to provide Hermionie with access to all sorts of rooms. She was even more amazed at the fact that Bellatrix had not forbade her from eating when she felt like it, rather she was free to enter the pantry at any time she liked, like now.
"Good morning Mistress Hermione," said Claire, the Lestrange house elf. Hermione turned and saw that Claire was dressed in a very flattering white dress. Of all the dresses that Hermione had seen her wear, this was the most beautiful.
"Good morning to you too, Claire" Hermione replied. She went to collect a bowl for some cereal when Claire stopped her.
"No, no, Mistress," she said; "I will serve you your cereal. What would you like?"
"Erm, Weet Bix then please, Claire," Hermione said, and she moved towards the dining room. She was taken aback by how every morning since she arrived at Lestrange Manor Claire had served her breakfast, and the question on her mind was too burning to ignore. As Claire poured milk onto her cereal, Hermione decided to ask her. "Claire, I take it you are a free elf," Claire stood abruptly and looked at Hermione, not sure where she was going to go with this train of thought. "And I was just wondering, why do you serve the Lestrange family; specifically Bella?"
Claire considered the question before sitting down on top of the table next to Hermione. "A few years before Mistress Bellatrix was sent to Azkaban, she stopped some wizards who were attacking me. My master had freed me as a dying wish by giving me a dress of his own design and I had packed my things and left the house. No sooner had I left the safety of the garden when I was attacked by my late master's nephews. They believed that I belonged to them and cast an anti-disapparation jinx on me. They intended to take me and make me their servant. When I refused they started cursing me with such force that I passed out. When I came to, the wizards were dead, and a witch was cradling me in her arms. She brought me to this manor and cared for me, she nursed me back to health. When I was well enough to walk, she told me to go, as I was a free elf; I had no business serving another family. I disagreed. I told her that she saved my life, and that I owed her mine. If she was as kind to me as my former master was, then I would willingly stay here and serve her. If she was able to put a roof over my head and keep me safe, then I would keep her family safe under this roof." As she finished she grabbed a tea towel and started to cry into it.
"I'm sorry, Claire," apologised Hermione. "I didn't realise Bellatrix was so..."
"So kind," Claire finished. "Don't misunderstand, Mistress Bellatrix saved my life. No other wizard or witch has ever shown compassion like that to me before my late master. I serve her because I love her, as she loves me." And with that, Claire got up and went to complete her daily chores. This left Hermione to contemplate Claire's words over a bowl of cereal.
'Who knew Bella could do something so compassionate,' she thought to herself between bites. 'Come to think of it, she hasn't properly been able to hurt me due to my love of pain.' Then it hit her; this was the whole point, both her and Bellatrix needed someone to complete them, like yin and yang, light and dark. She thought about this last part, light and dark. 'In the world today, who is really pure light or pure dark? Harry proved he has some darkness in his heart, while Bella's seems to hold nothing but light. Maybe this war can be solved and there can be peace.' As she finished eating her cereal and washed the bowl in the sink she decided on the day's events. She would attempt to try and mentally find Harry, look in his heart and see what he was planning. To do that, she would need the Lestrange library.
6 hours later...
"Mistress Hermione, are you OK?" Claire asked as Hermione awoke from her trance. She had been studying the Dark Arts books Bellatrix had in her library, hoping to find an astral projection spell, and once she found it she had been in the same trance for 3 hours.
"Huh," Hermione replied groggily, "yeah, I'm alright."
"Would you like a drink?" the house elf inquired.
"Sure, a cup of tea will be lovely, Claire." She really appreciated what the house elf was doing all the more now she knew the full story.
"Hmmm, I'll bring a blanket up with me, it's quite cold in here," Claire said as she turned to leave.
"No Claire, there's no need for that. I may just go upstairs for a nap," Hermione urged.
"Very well, I'll take the tea to your room then." Claire bowed and left for the kitchen.
Hermione turned to pick up the books, and decided to try something new. 'Wingardium Leviosa,' she thought, pointing her hand at one of the books on the floor. The book slowly rose before settling back on the floor. "OK then," she spoke the spell aloud, although in no more than a whisper. The book started to slowly rise once more, but it didn't fall. Hermione was able to pick up more books using the spell, and soon she had six books hovering around her. She didn't even notice a certain witch creep up behind her.
"Wandless magic, now that's good even for you Miney!" Bellatrix laughed, startling Hermione so she lost concentration and let the books drop. "Let me see you do it again," she urged, and Hermione complied whispering the spell with the first book, levitating it and placing it back on its shelf, then mentally saying the spell with the next book. "Wow Miney, how did you learn that?" Bellatrix asked, clearly impressed.
"I guess I had to learn how to use magic without my wand," Hermione said, with a rather unhappy look on her face. She moved towards Bellatrix and started to cry. Bellatrix was stunned, and as she didn't know what had caused the emotional breakdown she gave Hermione a hug; not a sexual hug but more akin to that of a mother.
"C'mon Miney," she soothed, stroking her brown hair as they walked down the hallway towards their bedroom; "tell me what's wrong."
As they sat on the bed Hermione started to tell Bellatrix her story, how she broke Harry's wand, how he took hers for his own use, and how she had to borrow wands to be able to use magic. As she finished and dried her eyes, a wave of clarity washed over Bellatrix; changing her ideals forever. Here next to her was a Muggle-born witch. According to the Ministry, Muggle-borns should not have magic, and must have used stolen wands to perform magic. Yet how can that be if her new friend Hermionie could perform magic without the aid of a wand. It didn't seem to make sense, moreover it seemed that Hermione had a lot more latent magical energy than she realised.
"Miney," she said quietly, "what are your opinions on Harry Potter?"
At the mention of the name, Hermione's body shivered from the memories of her former friend. "I believe," she said, "that he has been made famous due to defeating You-Know-Who, and yet his magical abilities are less than impressive. Yes he is able to complete tasks and missions designed for wizards and witches far beyond his capability, but he has only survived and beaten them purely on nerve, tenacity, luck or a combination of the three. I believe that if he did not have his magical protection, he would fall quickly.
Bellatrix pondered this last comment, before asking the next question. "What are your opinions on the Dark Lord?"
"He is driven by purpose, a desire to eradicate and rule over all those who are beneath him, yet his hypocrisy is that he had a Muggle father, and he discarded his father's name for reasons unknown to me. Everyone believes Him to be pure evil, but I don't think so."
Pondering this notion, Bellatrix asked her friend one more question: "Why is the Dark Lord not pure evil?"
"For the same reason you are not pure evil," Hermione solemnly replied looking deep into Bellatrix's eyes. "You were known to most as a Death Eater, a murderer, and yet you are able to show compassion, kindness and most importantly, love. You love Claire, and she loves you." Hermione grabbed the back of Bella's head. "Just like I do, Bella." And with that, the two started to kiss. They were too distracted they didn't notice a small pop by the bedside.
"I could come back later, Mistresses," Claire said timidly as she looked at her snogging mistresses.
"Nonsense, Claire," Hermione said, "Come here, you're just as important to this family as I am!" Claire looked uncharacteristically nervous as she looked at Bellatrix, who appeared deep in thought.
"Well, Claire," Bella finally said, "this family hug isn't going to last forever;" and with that the overjoyed house elf jumped into the open arms of her two mistresses. The hug lasted for over a minute as the love and tenderness radiated around the room. "I'm sorry Hermione," she spoke softly, genuinely.
"What are you sorry about?" Hermione asked, "You haven't done anything wrong."
"No, this was when I was torturing you about the sword, you told the truth, and I didn't believe you. I'm truly sorry."
"I forgive you, Bella," Hermione said as she lovingly stroked her lover's cheek. "Now, let me tell you what I found out about Harry Potter today."