Author's Note: I thought I was going to get this chapter out a bit earlier than this... I had it halfway written out about two days after I had posted the previous chapter, but alas... my mind wandered to another story. And then another. And then another. And yet again to a new story altogether. It gets a bit hectic jumping back and forth between writing several stories at once... I don't suggest it, unless your mind already jumps to several things at once! I guess when you study psychology and music at the same time, your mind tends to adjust to several ideas coming at you at one time. I apologise for leaving you lot with such a 'truly evil cliffhanger' (I had to use your words Michi the Mischievous... I really liked how you put it!) but to let you all know that chapter was rewritten so many times and every single outcome would have caused the cliffhanger. I just picked what I thought was the best way to bring in our favourite Death-Eater! I know... enough with the notes and onto the chapter!
Hermione Apparates into a clearing just outside of a small forest in Wales late at night. Not really knowing where she would find Bellatrix had really caused her to think about what she was doing. 'What if Minerva is right and this is all just an utterly mad idea of mine?' The brunette thinks to herself as she walks about the clearing, confused on where to even start her search. 'What if she was lying the whole time about Bellatrix's location? I mean I should have been able to detect if she was lying or not... Minerva was always such a horrible liar after all. But with everything that I have been through... especially with her being part of that doctor's scheme... I guess I didn't know the old hag as well as I thought I did.'
The young woman hears a branch snap a few metres off to her right causing her to turn quickly about and stare into the dark abyss of the forest. Hermione strains her eyesight against the dark curtain of the midnight sky, a rain-ladden cloud had obscured the soft moonlight that she had previously been using as a way to lighten her path. "Lumos." The brunette mutters, causing her momentary blindness at the sudden harsh glow that surrounded her.
The raven-haired witch saw her chance within that brief moment that the younger woman was incapacitated. Emerging from the inky shadows of the foliage around her, Bellatrix raises her wand and cautiously approaches Hermione. "Well, well Mudblood. Didn't your parents ever teach you that it was dangerous to travel by yourself?" The older witch's demeanour and voice working well together, hiding her emotions perfectly. She had learned early in life from her dear father, no one should ever know the truth of your feelings, lest they use them against you. There were too many unknowns for Bellatrix's liking... how did Hermione find her? Who else knew about where she was? And would there be others following the last member of the Golden Trio?
Hermione's breath hitched in her throat as she heard the dulcet tones of the woman who has been the centre of her thoughts ever since she had met her. Fearing to turn around and face the raven-haired witch, the brunette tries to calm her hyper-active breathing. "Bellatrix... I was hoping I would find you."
"Why is that? Trying your hand at the Auror business now that you have gotten better?" The former Death-Eater smirks but feels her heart rip at the low blow she has dealt the younger witch. 'You are doing this to keep yourself alive, Bellatrix. Give it some more time before you let your own emotions show. She will reveal her own intent soon enough.'
"How did you know I was ever hurt?" Hermione asks as she slowly turns to face the witch who she was now at the mercy of.
'Bloody hell...' Bellatrix mentally berates herself for letting that knowledge slip from her mouth. "I heard rumours that you were in St. Mungo's... don't think just because I am out here in the middle of nowhere that I don't receive information about the wizarding world. Like I know both your little friends died during the last battle and before the Dark-Lord was destroyed you had the ceiling cave in on you. So tell me Mudblood, how did it feel to see your little friend Potter and that Weasel fellow die? Did you cry? Were you all beside yourself in grief? Did you wish that the whole second level had fell on you, crushing you so you could be with your little mates in the beyond? Tell me, Granger, I want to know."
The brunette smiles as she turns around to face the dark-haired witch. "So, you really want to know how it felt after they died?" Hermione's smile became even wider when she saw that the once unshakeable Bellatrix Lestrange's wand hand faltered just slightly. It was just a minor slip. Just a few centimetres, but the younger witch saw it and realised that the older woman was merely trying to see what she was there for and was not going to harm her. "It was the most freeing thing I had ever been witness to. I had waited so long for one of those gits to actually die that I would have even bet you that they would have never lasted. Hell, they would have never lasted if it weren't for me."
Bellatrix stares at Hermione momentarily, trying to sense if the younger woman was lying or not. Not being able to confirm or deny the words that were spoken to her, the older witch tightens her grip on her wand. "If that is the case... then why in the bloody hell did you follow them like a bloody dog? Always the one who was doing the work but never got the recognition. The little Mudblood saviour that was treated like a pariah. The Dark-Lord knew you were the main opponent, not Potter. I bet that is why you are here now... to try and finish what he and that miserable old fool, Dumbledore had started. It won't work! You will never take me back to that damned gaol!" Bellatrix felt her heart break as the venomous accusations flew from her mouth. 'Maybe that is why she is here all along... maybe she was the one who caused all of those hallucinations to run through my mind.'
Hermione felt her own temper flair as the older woman threw accusations at her. "I would never do such a thing... why would I allow myself to continue such a task when I was forced into it by the old fool in the first place? I can tell you don't believe me... I wouldn't believe myself either if I were you. The only thing I can say is... I came here to see you. I detest the fact that everything I had to do in my life before the battle was forced upon me. Everything I did was a sham, only to keep my parents alive. But, they are not what matter now. Nothing is they way it was supposed to be now." The brunette's voice was a mere whisper by the time she had finished. Half of what she said was never meant to have left her mouth, but it did and there was no way she could ever take it back.
"What do you mean by now? You're hiding something from me, Granger. Never fear though... you can never hide anything from me for long." Hermione felt the warm tendrils of Bellatrix's mind invading her own after the older woman had spoke. Knowing that it would be detrimental to her own life if she refused, the brunette allowed the raven-haired witch to search through her memories.
Images, chaotic yet beautiful, flood the ex-Death- Eater's mind. Visions of herself with the younger witch in the throes of passion, as well as scenes of Hermione speaking with the Dark-Lord as if she were a Death-Eater as well. All visions she had seen before in her own mind, but others play out for her to see as well. The brunette laying in a hospital bed while Minerva and an unknown doctor were speaking out of hearing range from the witch. Then the next shows Hermione using one of Snape's favoured spells, cutting down the doctor before he could attack her. A smile creeps across Bellatrix's face when she sees the young witch sneaking through the corridors of St. Mungo's and in to the store rooms.
Seeming satisfied with her findings, the raven-haired woman stopped using Legilimency on Hermione and stared at the brunette, while lowering her wand. "What were those few images I saw? Has someone taken a fancy to me? Judging by the blush on your cheeks it seems I am correct. There are a few other things that I wish to know about what happened but I think they can wait until later. Right now I want to know how you knew where to find me. I saw glimpses of you talking with that old hag, Minerva. She seemed quite scared of you... I'm impressed. But, I don't think she was the one who told you where I was or she would have sent the whole Ministry down on my head."
"She only knew that you were hiding out in Wales, but she didn't know where. She had heard from some Aurors that you had made your way to this country. I had forced her to tell me that much... since she had tried to have my memory erased, I thought that was proper enough payback. But maybe I should have done the same thing to her as I did that doctor now that I think about it. After I left Hogwarts, I just pictured you in my head and was drawn to this place and here we are now." Hermione says as she looks at the older witch in front of her.
Bellatrix's nods her head in understanding, the young witch was telling her exactly what she had seen during her brief trip through Hermione's memories. The older witch felt her apprehension slipping away the more she watched the brunette, but did not allow her own feelings that she felt for the Gryffindor woman to show through. 'Not yet... I don't want to seem less than the woman she thinks I am. Which would happen if I confess myself to her right now. I need to gather as much information from her as possible. Someone who seemed to be always on the side of good, is now claiming she never wanted what happened in the first place. Maybe, I should have went further back into her memories to see what had caused her to work with that Potter boy and that blood-traitor Weasley, but I believe I will ask her later about that subject.' The raven-haired witch thinks to herself as she turns on her heels and walks towards the location of her hideout. "Follow me, Granger." She says, never turning around to see if the younger woman was actually obeying or not. "We have much to talk about, but first... I believe we should have a bit of something to eat. You do have food in that satchel of yours right?"
Walking a few paces behind the older woman, Hermione speaks up. "Yes, I do actually."
"Good, it's been a while since I have had a proper meal. I have been in hiding for quite some time. My mansion has been overrun by Aurors and I didn't have the chance to take any supplies before I had to leave it behind. But I believe my luck might be changing." Bellatrix turns around and smiles, a natural smile. The first real smile that Hermione had seen in weeks, if not months. And the younger witch thought it was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen.