Author's Note: First off I would like to thank everyone, as always, who have followed and reviewed this story. All your support has been really appreciated. I really don't have much more to say, so here's the chapter!
Hermione had to orientate herself after the sudden Dissapparation from the cave in Wales to a small wooded area behind Black Manor. It appeared their was no one there, but both women knew how the Aurors worked. That worked perfectly in their favour for Aurors were similar in mannerisms to Death-Eaters, but lacked the subtlety in walking.
Moments passed in silence as both Hermione and Bellatrix waited, huddled closely to one another as they waited for anything to betray the presence of others. The wait wasn't in vain. The snapping of a twig near the side of the estate quickly grabbed the attention of both witches, both clutching their wands and waiting with bated breath for the violator of the silence to appear. Seconds later, a figure steps out of the gloom that was cast by the mansion and the brunette hears a gruff voice mutter 'Lumos.'
Bellatrix strains to see the face in the glow from the tip of the person's wand. "It's Savage." She mutters mostly to herself. The older woman stands up and starts to walk in the direction of the Auror.
"Bella, wait... he'll call the others!" Hermione warns in a raised whisper to the raven-haired witch as she strides out of the safety of the clump of trees they were hiding in.
"Relax Hermione, Savage is on our side." Bellatrix states as she continues walking towards the wizard. The younger woman tentatively follows the older witch, her wand still tightly clutched in her hand.
"Who's there?" The wizard calls out in a low voice, his wand pointed towards the group of trees. The soft glow from the tip of his wand casting eerie shadows across his face.
"Lower you wand, Savage. If I wanted you dead... you would be." Bellatrix snarls. Her threat causes Hermione to shudder involuntarily. The brunette made a mental note to never get on the beautiful raven-haired witch's bad side.
He lowers his wand as he softly mutters 'Nox.' "Madame Lestrange. We have been expecting you. I didn't think you would have brought company though." His eyes linger momentarily on the younger witch as he openly scrutinises her.
Bellatrix snorts at his reply. "It's Black... Do you honestly think I would keep his last name after he died? I never wanted it in the first place and now that I am rid of him, I am rid of that horrid name." He lowers his head slightly in understanding and fear, causing the older witch to smirk. "And who I have with me is no concern of yours. What I need from you however is the names of all the Aurors with you now."
He looks at her in confusion momentarily only to be replaced by a smirk of his own. "I made sure that we had only special people with us whenever it was my turn for watch. Right now it is: Proudfoot, Dawlish, myself, and four new Aurors that I never had to deal with before until tonight. Those four will not last five minutes. I will go and tell Dawlish and Proudfoot you hear... they will be happy for some action. One of those new gits actually sicked his lunch back up on Dawlish's shoes when we first Apparated out here earlier."
Bellatrix cackles softly. "Then I shall leave him to Dawlish... I suspect our friend would like to receive payment for his shoes. They remember the plan we had devised before?"
"Yes they do Miss Black." Savage says with a grin.
"Good..." The raven-haired witch hands the wizard her wand, which he stuffs in his left robe pocket. Turning to the younger witch, the older woman smiles. "Now give him your wand, love."
Hermione looks at the former Death-Eater then to the Auror who had his hand out, expectantly awaiting that she relinquish her wand. Seeing the hesitancy in the eyes of the brunette, the older woman leans closer to the younger witch. "Trust me, my darling, you will get it back." Bellatrix whispers, causing Hermione to smile and place her wand in the waiting hand of Savage.
"Now will you tell me what it is we are going to do?" Hermione asks as she stares at the dark witch beside her.
Smiling at the brunette, Bellatrix nods her head. "I guess now would be a good time to let you in on the plan... it's simple love, we pretend that Savage here captured the both of us. Those two other louts will lower their guard and that's when Proudfoot and Dawlish will strike. If that doesn't work, we get our wands back from Savage here and we join the fight. Now come on and let's get started, before the others stumble upon us out in the open."
Savage instructs both witches to place their hands behind their back as he waves his wand and loosely binds their hands. Then he decides to use a few Glamour Charms on them. "To ensure no one gets suspicious." The wizard states when the younger woman asks him the purpose of the Charms.
"Your enjoying this too much, Savage." Bellatrix says with a growl. She wasn't mad at him, it was just every precious second that went by could mean one step closer to them getting found out by the two men who weren't in the loop. "Are you quite done?"
"Yes... sorry, I was enjoying it a bit too much. But, we need to make sure it is as believable as we can. They may be a bit dim, but they are still Aurors."
Bellatrix simply nods her head. "Allright let's do this."
Savage pushes the two witches out in front of him as they pretend to struggle against their bindings. All three know they need to make this as believable as possible, or else face a very nasty battle. Either way Bellatrix didn't care. If it had been just her without the knowledge of someone out in this world caring for her, the dark witch would have stormed the front gate of her home and not thought about it. Win or lose she would have loved the battle. But now, she had someone else to think of besides herself.
As the trio make there way towards the front of the manor, the wizard starts to push them harder in the back causing Hermione to stumble slightly. "What the fuck do you think you are doing?" The brunette seethes.
"We have to make it look real." The Auror murmurs to the younger woman. When he knows they are within earshot of the others from his group, Savage raises his voice. "Oi, how about one of you louts give me a hand here!"
The raven-haired witch uses that as a cue. Thrashing about against her binds, she curses the man thoroughly. "You half-bloods are all the same! Bloody bastards that never did a damn thing but sit back while everyone else did all the work! If the Dark-Lord was still here, you would be as dead as the rest of this lot." She stares at the two men in front of her that came into view when the Auror had called out.
Hermione stares at the two men. She had seen Dawlish and Proudfoot before, but these two men in front of her had to be the ones that Savage said were new. 'It seems that the Ministry is hiring anyone from the looks of these two.' She muses to herself as she feels Savage's wand press into her back further. They reminded her of the Snatchers that Voldemort had used while he was in power. Dirty, unkempt clothing and hair. As well as a slight stale air of someone who hasn't bathed in a few weeks, permeate into her senses as she has to swallow the bile that rises in the back of her throat when the two Aurors walk closer to her.
The tallest of the two, with long greasy brown hair and a wonky right eyes looks at Savage. "How in bloody hell did you manage to catch Lestrange?" His voice betrayed his awe, though his posture subdued it.
"She was sneaking through the trees out back..." Their partner in this scheme says as he roughly grabs the dark-haired witch by the shoulder and pushes her to the ground. "I think she is a bit off her game. Lestrange didn't even know I was behind her until I stunned her." Savage says with a grin.
"Who's the other witch?" The shorter podgier man with red-hair and pock-marks on his face asks. His eyes, Hermione noticed, were a grey colour irises and bloodshot in the whites. 'Possibly the man who threw up on Dawlish's shoes?' The younger woman thinks to herself with a smirk.
"I know who she is!" The taller one states as he moves closer. His sebaceous nose almost touching her face. The brunette has to keep her stomach from lurching again as his hot rancid breath invaded her airways. "She's the one who followed around with Harry Potter." He looks back to his ginger colleague and smiles. "Word is she went mad after the battle. Must have been that knock to the head that finally did her in. The way I heard it, she went completely mental while in St. Mungo's. Her doctor, the poor bastard, didn't stand a chance. He went to check on her to see if she came round yet and the bitch pulled out her wand and killed 'em out right. Used one of that bastard Snape's spells on 'em, she did. How did you catch her?"
Savage was pulled out of his silent communication with the two other men that had came up behind the other two wizards. "She was who Lestrange was sneaking up behind when I found her in the forest. You wouldn't believe how lucky I feel now that I found these two!"
Suddenly the two nameless wizards slump forward with a groan. Behind them Hermione finally saw the two Aurors that had been privy to the plan all along.
"I was wondering when you two would show up!" Bellatrix says with a sigh as she quickly cuts through her ropes with the knife she always kept on her. "I thought if I had to hear those two gits any longer, I would die of their stupidity!" Once her hands were free she cuts the bindings from Hermione's wrists.
"At least you didn't have to smell their breath!" The brunette says as she tosses the ropes that had bound her hands on the ground. She smiles as the raven-haired witch hands her back her wand. Their hands grazing ever so slightly during the hand off, causing sparks to set aflame from her fingertips towards her heart. She knew that she needed to get the raven-haired goddess alone soon. Hermione just didn't know when they could be alone or what else Bella had in store.