A subtle ringing sound rang above the door of the café where Hermione was poring over various books for her Potions thesis and, at the sound, raised her head briefly to see a plump man in a suit leaving the café into the afternoon hustle and bustle of central London. She had sat down directly facing the door, so she woulnd't miss anyone entering the café, or rather, so she wouldn't miss three very specific witches who would be entering this café in exactly an hour, where Ginny had scheduled their first meeting for the four women.
Shaking her head, she thought back to yesterday evening when Ginny, Draco and Harry had presented her with their three candidates for this crazy bet. Even though they had declared several times yesterday that they weren't joking with her and that indeed these three women had agreed to go out with her, Hermione still had some doubts about it.
She still hadn't completely rejected her original theory that her three candidates were by no means Minerva McGonagall and Narcissa and Bellatrix Black and that her friends had actually made a fool of her, and so part of her was already prepared for the far more realistic possibility of three completely different women from the ones her friends had announced walking through the door in 45 minutes.
If Hermione was wrong and the three most sought-after bachelorettes in the wizarding world would actually be sitting here in front of her later, her second theory would come into play, namely that her friends had found some way to persuade these women to take part in this charade. For both variants, Hermione had already come up with a plan on how the rest of the procedure would go, even if she assumed that her friends and especially Ginny already had a very concrete idea of how the next three weeks should go.
The three of them hadn't said too much last night about how these dates would go and only hinted that Hermione and the three women would be informed in good time how to proceed. Either way, Hermione hadn't lost sight of her actual goal of continuing to write her thesis without her laptop and it was exactly this goal that she would aim for, no matter which women would soon take a seat at her table.
Nevertheless, she had to admit to herself that the idea of soon having the announced three women in close proximity to her made her incredibly nervous. All three of them intimidated her immensely in their own way and she wanted nothing less than to sit between them like a frightened mouse and stare shyly into her teacup. That's why she arrived more than an hour early at the meeting point set by Ginny, of which by now there was now only half an hour left.
She wanted to be in the unfamiliar place first so that she could choose a spot in peace and absorb the space so that she could have absolute control over it. By the time the women would be here, she would have made the room hers and it would be the women who came to her, not the other way around. Just the idea of entering a room where the three women in question would stare at her until she reached their table was horrifying.
When she had pre-played this version in her head, she had stumbled and fallen every time because she couldn't avoid the three pairs of eyes trained on her, and the version in which she had been paying attention to her path so she wouldn't trip and fall had only made her feel like a little mouse again, avoiding the gaze of three cats in order to run straight into their claws.
She had already averted both of these horror scenarios and was extremely glad that she had come up with this idea, which had contributed significantly to calming her down. If she couldn't control the whole situation, she at least wanted to feel like she could control the circumstances of it that were in her power. But since she didn't want to spend an hour tensely fixating the front door of the café, she had brought a few books of her current specialist literature with her as a distraction and spread them out on the table like a wall around her, with a pad of paper lying directly in front of her and a ballpoint pen in her hand to take important notes every now and then. This way she had also used the waiting time wisely, killing two birds with one stone.
So far so good, Granger. You control the room, you control your thesis and you will control the course of this sleaze show. She exhaled deeply as she said this to herself like a mantra, when the doorbell rang again and she opened her eyes in shock. A woman with two children in tow entered the café and Hermione let out a breath that she had obviously been holding in her panic.
So much for control, Granger. She rolled her eyes at herself and her overreaction and took a sip of her green tea, hoping the warm drink would calm her down. She had consciously decided against coffee, which would have only made her more restless, but she still wanted to stay focused when she had already brought work with her. A glance at her watch told her that there were only 15 minutes left until the agreed time.
Pull yourself together, Granger, you can't lose your nerve right now. She focused all her concentration on the last paragraph she had read and forced herself to write down at least a few keywords for each sentence. Even if she couldn't really use this paragraph for her thesis, at least she had an active distraction.
Write, Granger, just write. You're incredibly busy doing incredibly important things and whoever walks through that door in the next few minutes will have to stand behind this incredibly important work. This is still my life and I decide who or what is the priority in it.
She jumped again when the doorbell rang again and she looked up in a panic, only to see the woman with the two children leaving the cafe again, each of them holding a plastic cup of takeaway drinks.
Frustrated, Hermione looked back at her notes and continued writing, one hand buried behind her neck as she often did when she was working tensely, when she heard the waitress's footsteps approaching her. A quick glance at her almost empty teacup told her that she could actually use another drink, but since her watch said there were only five minutes left, she didn't want to appear rude and order without the women: "No, thanks. I'm still waiting for someone."
She looked up with a friendly smile, compensating the waitress for making an unnecessary trip to her table, and froze in mid-motion as she looked into emerald green eyes that looked kindly down at her.
"While I am fully aware that I am not the only one who has the honor of appearing here today, I hope that the decision has not already been made before I have even had a chance to prove myself?"
"Professor McGonagall…" Hermione gasped in surprise. How was that possible? Why hadn't she heard the front door ring? Surely the witch couldn't have apparated right into this room, after all, this was the Muggle world? Had the woman sneaked in here in her cat form and only transformed back right in front of Hermione's table? But even as a cat, she would have had to come through the door and ring the bell, which had obviously worked shortly before when the woman and her children had left the café. The woman with her children! Hermione wanted to slap her hand on her forehead as she realized her own stupidity. The headmistress had obviously come in just as the door was being held open by the small family.
The black-haired witch raised an eyebrow at the address: "Quite formal for a first date, Miss Granger, especially since we have actually known each other for many years."
At the words "first date," Hermione's pulse in her neck began to pound at a rapid pace and her throat suddenly felt dry. She swallowed, hoping to give her vocal cords enough fluid to get more than a croak out of her throat. Assuming her brain wasn't failing her due to a premature blackout anyway and she didn't have to worry about it because she couldn't utter a clear sentence in front of the tall Scottish woman she saw in Muggle clothing for the first time.
Fuck, why didn't I prepare for this?! Hermione scolded herself as she ran her gaze over her former Transfiguration teacher's body. Black ankle boots peeked out from under elegant black trousers, showcasing the older woman's long, slender legs. A loose-fitting green blouse covered her upper body and even though Minerva McGonagall had by no means chosen skin-tight clothing for this meeting, Hermione had only ever seen her in loose robes and cloaks and this outfit showed her much more than she had ever seen of the headmistress's body. And damn, she liked what she saw.
The green blouse was the same color as her eyes and made them sparkle even more, especially since they weren't hidden behind her usual glasses. The only thing about her that was typical McGonagall was her characteristic bun with which she usually tamed her black hair, but today it also seemed to be much looser than Hermione knew it to be. A few slightly wavy strands had even come loose and framed the older woman's face, which gave Hermione a knowing smile after she was done with her obvious inspection of the older woman.
She blushed brightly as she realized she had been caught staring, but before she could find the right words to distract from her faux pas, Minerva beat her to it with a smile and gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze: "No need to be ashamed, Hermione. At least now I know I'm still in the race. Can I sit with you and your books?"
The specific question finally broke Hermione out of her trance and she began frantically closing the books around her and clearing the table space on Minerva's side: "Yes, of course, Professor, I'm sorry, I was too absorbed in my work and..."
Minerva interrupted her as she took a seat to her former student's left: "I see, old habits die hard. However, I hope that over the course of these three weeks you will manage to call me by my first name, otherwise I will have to assume that you are interested in me for the wrong reasons."
When Hermione's eyebrows furrowed in question, she added, "If all you care about is living out a schoolgirl fantasy..."
Hermione almost knocked over her teacup in shock when she interrupted Minerva in a panic: "Jesus Christ, no, that's not what I meant, Professor..."
Hearing her title once again, Minerva raised her eyebrows meaningfully, but Hermione brushed aside her non-verbal objections: "Before we begin these dates, I would like to make a proposal to all of you, at least once we are complete..."
The rest of the sentence stuck in Hermione's throat when the front door suddenly rang, drawing all her attention to the new guest. Since her original theory that the candidates were not the three women her friends had announced had burst like a bubble with the appearance of Minerva McGonagall, she now had to reckon with having to face the Black sisters too, which sent her into panic mode all over again.
Her heart stopped for a second, only to beat even faster as Narcissa Black entered the café and walked towards the table where she had spotted the two women with a confidence as if she owned the whole place. The woman looked like she had just come straight from a fashion show and the way she was moving, she could have easily been on a catwalk.
Hermione swallowed, hoping to get rid of the big lump that had formed in her throat, as the elegant blonde, wearing her long hair in a loose ponytail, headed straight for her. The form-fitting light gray pencil skirt that reached her knees seemed to cling to her legs as it didn't slip with every perfectly placed step the older witch took in her black pumps.
Tucked into the skirt was a cream-colored blouse that was probably more expensive than all the clothes in Hermione's closet combined, but definitely more expensive than the jeans and plain blue blouse Hermione was wearing at that moment. The woman really lived up to her title of "ice queen" with this outfit and Hermione had to force herself to tear her gaze away from the blonde's long legs that had stopped right in front of her and to look into the piercing blue eyes with which the older woman fixated on her. "Hermione," she breathed as she leaned in to kiss the brown-haired witch once on her left cheek and then her right cheek before saying, just a hand's width away, "Nice to see you."
The appearance of the youngest Black sister, as well as the fact of how close she was to Hermione at that moment - so close that the younger witch could smell her expensive perfume and had to suppress the impulse to bury her nose in the blonde woman's neck - led to another blackout in Hermione's brain. The only sentence that seemed to echo in Hermione's head like in an empty church at that moment was: God, she smells so good. She smells so good. She smells so good. Narcissa smiled at Hermione's speechlessness: "Is the seat next to you still free?"
Again, the specific question finally helped her out of her state of shock: "Yes, of course, Miss Black, please sit down, sorry, I was elsewhere..."
The blonde clicked her tongue in disapproval: "Even though I'm the youngest of your three admirers, you still manage to make me feel old, Hermione, thank you very much." Her voice had become a touch cooler as she took a seat to Hermione's right and greeted Minerva with a brief nod of her head: "Minerva." The Scottish woman smiled politely and replied just as briefly: "Narcissa."
Hermione was grateful that the blue eyes, which suddenly seemed much cooler to her, were not directed at her for a brief moment, so that she could compose herself to answer Narcissa appropriately, even though her brain was still circling around the word "admirers.", that had made her shudder.
She cleared her throat, straightened up and looked back into ice-cold blue eyes: "I assure you, Miss Black, this has nothing to do with your age. I have already indicated to Professor McGonagall that I deliberately wish to address you in this way before our dates begin, because I have a proposal to make to you, which I do not wish to explain until we are complete."
Narcissa looked at her in disbelief and looked questioningly at Minerva, as if she could explain the younger witch's behavior to her. The black-haired woman simply shrugged and smiled with a quick glance at the brown-haired woman between them, "Hermione always has a plan, Narcissa, and whatever she's going to suggest, she thought it through carefully beforehand, be assured."
Relieved and grateful, Hermione looked into the headmistress's warm eyes and felt a little tension slip away from her at the older woman's trust in her. Narcissa seemed at least somewhat mollified for the moment as she leaned back and waved to the waitress, indicating that she wanted to order. "Shouldn't we wait until we're all present before ordering?" Hermione interjected.
"Oh darling, the first lesson regarding Bellatrix Black you need to learn is that my eldest sister is always late," Narcissa explained, rolling her eyes, clearly expressing her disapproval of her sister's behavior. Hermione didn't know what to say to that, especially because her thoughts had come to an abrupt halt at the pet name "darling" that the blonde had called her and she was now desperately trying to soothe the horde of butterflies that were currently in a wild panic fluttering around in her stomach. Narcissa seemed to know exactly what she had triggered in the younger witch as she fixed her with her blue eyes, grinning.
"She didn't have this bad habit when she was at school," Minerva interjected, frowning at this information.
Narcissa smiled knowingly as she turned her attention to Minerva. "My sister's tardiness is not a habit, Minerva, it depends on the occasion for which she has to appear. In this situation, she will not miss the opportunity to make an appearance to make sure she is the center of everyone's attention. Her's too." She nodded towards the waitress who had just come to her table to take their order.
After Hermione ordered another cup of green tea, Minerva a cup of black tea and Narcissa a cappuccino and a glass of still water and the waitress made her way back to the counter, Hermione began to put away the rest of her books, which were still scattered on the table, to make room for the drinks they ordered.
Narcissa watched her carefully and suddenly placed a surprisingly warm hand on Hermione's as she was about to pull the last book towards herself. She stared at the youngest Black sister in surprise. "I would like to give you some better insight if you'll let me."
The blonde's eyes lit up excitedly and even though Hermione didn't understand how to fit the comment into their previous conversation, her gaze automatically went to Narcissa's cleavage as her thoughts took a very inappropriate direction.
However, a snort to her left and hearty laughter to her right quickly brought her back to reality as she met Minerva's not at all pleased look and Narcissa, still laughing, explained to her: "In Potions, darling. I have a more detailed copy of this book in my private library, which you are welcome to take a look at." She tapped the book underneath with the index finger of the hand that was still on Hermione's and looked meaningfully at the younger witch.
Hermione didn't know if one could die from blushing, but at that moment her head felt so unnaturally hot that she was afraid all brain fluid would evaporate at that moment. She hadn't been sitting here for twenty minutes with only two of the three candidates and she already felt like a naive schoolgirl who faints at the slightest sight of an attractive woman. In fact, she probably would if she had to take on all three of them.
Hermione had never wanted all the superficial women she had dated in her past back so much as in that moment. In their presence, Hermione at least still had access to her brain. With difficulty she managed to say, "Oh um, thank you Miss Black, that's very kind of you. Maybe I'll come back to that."
Before Narcissa could begin another ambiguous answer, at least judging by the mischievous glint in her eyes, another warm hand that had been put on Hermione's still free hand caught her attention. She looked up at Minerva, who smiled warmly at her: "Hermione, dear, you are of course always welcome to use the Hogwarts library for your studies, including the restricted section. My doors are open for you at any time and many people at Hogwarts would certainly be delighted to see you again."
What just happened here? Were the two witches competing to see who could provide Hermione with the larger library for her thesis? If the situation hadn't been so absurd, Hermione would have laughed out loud. At least it was easier for her to formulate an answer to Minerva and the thought of seeing Hagrid and her old professors again filled her with genuine joy: "Thank you Professor, that is very generous. I'll think about it."
Unsure of what to do with her hands, which were still trapped under one of the two older witches, Hermione was almost relieved to hear the doorbell ring. Almost relieved. While Minerva's appearance had certainly made her nervous and Narcissa's arrival had made her mouth water, it was nothing compared to the appearance of the eldest sister from the noble and most ancient House of Black.
The temperature in the entire room seemed to have just risen by a few degrees and Hermione squirmed uncomfortably in her chair as she tried to dispel the heat that had suddenly taken over her entire body at the sight of the dark witch. Bellatrix Black was dressed in black from head to toe. Why doesn't this surprise me?
Black biker boots, black tight-fitting leather pants, a black tank top that emphasized her full breasts, and a black leather jacket covered her body and still revealed everything the older witch wanted to express. Everything about her radiated power and dominance. An energy emanated from her that seemed to pulsate like sound waves through the room up to and into Hermione's body.
In contrast to her younger sister, Bellatrix did not approach her table directly, but seemed to prolong and enjoy the dramatic entrance a little longer as she stopped in the door and slowly took off her black sunglasses, which were almost exactly the same color as her black eyes, that they had previously hidden.
She leisurely folded her sunglasses and pinned them to the neckline of her tank top. Hermione couldn't help but follow the movement, which was exactly what the dark witch had wanted, as Hermione saw the diabolical grin that spread across her face. Her long dark curls, which fell freely and wildly over her shoulders, bounced slightly as Bellatrix started moving, never taking her eyes off the brown-haired witch for a second.
Like a predator fixating on its prey, Bellatrix came towards her until she stopped in front of the chair directly opposite Hermione's and grinned at the hands of the two older women that were still resting possessively on Hermione's. "Well, well, have you already started the foreplay without me?"
Hermione didn't dare even glance at the two women on either side of her, she was so taken by the dark witch in front of her. She just felt both women's grip tighten on her hands, which only seemed to amuse Bellatrix even more.
With a loose movement of her upper body, she let her arms fall back and the leather jacket slipped from her shoulders to reveal slim but muscular arms that Hermione would only be too happy to run her fingers over. Bellatrix carelessly threw the leather jacket over the back of the chair, but instead of sitting down, Hermione was shocked to see that she was walking past Narcissa and straight towards her.
Hermione's pulse raced as the dark witch came closer and stopped right in front of her. She looked up at her and met the gaze of black eyes that seemed to see right into her soul. She still couldn't move, her hands still trapped in the grip of the other two other women.
Bellatrix smirked as she leaned down and rested her arm on Hermione's backrest, giving her a very deep view of her cleavage. Hermione could see the hint of black lace clinging to the older woman's full breasts and she couldn't stop her thoughts as she wondered if the woman's panties were also black and contained the same warm wetness, which was now noticeable between Hermione's legs.
The eldest Black sister leaned further forward until her lips brushed Hermione's ear and the witch's warm breath sent a pleasant shiver down her spine: "Hello, little witch. Mmm, I actually like that you can't move your hands right now."
„Bella!"
"Take it easy, Cissy, I'll behave," laughed Bellatrix as she straightened up again, gently stroked Hermione's hair, returned to her chair and, not very elegantly, sat down on it, a smile still in her dark eyes. She smiled at her little sister with a warmth that Hermione wouldn't have expected of her before she turned to the headmistress of Hogwarts and jerked her head in her direction, almost provocatively. "McGonagall."
"Bellatrix," the green-eyed Scottish woman greeted her coolly.
"So, here are your drinks," the waitress interrupted the greetings and turned her attention to Bellatrix after she had provided the other women with their drinks, "and what can I get you?" She pushed a strand of hair behind her ear sheepishly and smiled brightly at the dark witch. Bellatrix, however, seemed oblivious to the impact she was having on the waitress and rattled off her order: "A cup of coffee, black, a Coke Zero, with ice, and a water, medium. Thank you, honey." The waitress eagerly wrote everything down and disappeared back towards the counter.
"Seriously, Bella? Three drinks?"
"You should really know me by now, dear sister."
Narcissa just rolled her eyes and took a sip of her water, her other hand still resting on Hermione's, who had been watching the sisters' exchange with fascination. The two were so different that it was hard to believe they were sisters. Bellatrix dark, wild and untamed, Narcissa blonde, controlled and composed. The two of them were like fire and water and yet both radiated a dominance that triggered in Hermione the need to want to be completely subordinate to both of them, to satisfy them and to be of service to them. Wait a minute, where did that suddenly come from? Hermione shook her head and closed her eyes for a moment to shield herself from the external stimuli that bombarded her. That almost sounds like the beginning of a bad joke: three hot witches come into a café... and Hermione Granger, the brains of the Golden Trio and the most brilliant witch of her time, becomes a bundle of nerves of hormones. Ginny is right, I really need to get properly lai...
"Hermione?" Minerva's gentle voice and a warm hand on her cheek pulled her out of her thoughts. She opened her eyes and met the Scottish witch's worried gaze.
"Are you okay, my dear?" Minerva's concern for her warmed her heart.
"I'm okay," she confirmed with a nod, "just a little overwhelmed."
Minerva nodded understandingly, gently stroked her cheek with her thumb and withdrew her hand. A glass of water entered Hermione's field of vision and her gaze went to Narcissa, who handed her her glass of water: "Here darling, have a sip of water."
She gratefully accepted the glass, took a sip of the cool liquid and felt herself slowly beginning to calm down. She cleared her throat, raised her gaze and met Bellatrix's dark eyes. The witch sucked on an ice cube of her coke and didn't take her eyes off the brunette for a second. The waitress must have brought her drinks when Hermione had closed her eyes for a moment.
As if spellbound, Hermione stared at the sensual lips of the dark witch, who skillfully freed the ice cube from the coke that stuck to it. With a soft pop, Bellatrix took the ice cube out of her mouth and, after taking a quick look around the almost empty café and making sure no one was looking at them, let it float towards Hermione until it stopped in front of her face.
Hermione looked confused at the ice cube in front of her and then at Bellatrix, who looked at her seriously and whispered, "Do you trust me, little witch?" Hermione simply nodded and Bellatrix smiled contentedly, twirling her fingers in an elegant semicircle and the ice cube followed her movement, as it floated around Hermione and clung to her neck. Hermione sucked in a startled breath as the cold of the ice cube hit her overheated skin.
"Bella, what are you doing?"
"Feng Fu," Bellatrix whispered, her eyes still on Hermione.
„Excuse me?" Narcissa asked again.
Bellatrix rolled her eyes as she glanced briefly at her sister, only to immediately make eye contact with Hermione again and explained: "The Feng Fu point is at the back of the neck. Stimulating it with an ice cube helps with relaxation, strengthens the nervous system and relieves many other ailments. We'll just have to wait a while and add a few ice cubes if necessary, but there are still enough floating around in my Coke which should be enough. How are you feeling, little witch?"
Hermione couldn't believe what she had just heard, much less what the ice cube actually did to her. She stared at Bellatrix in disbelief and just whispered, "Better."
Bellatrix smiled genuinely pleased, clapped her hands and looked around: "Very nice. So how is all of this here supposed to work for the next three weeks? Weasley didn't give too much away when she told me about this bet."
The word "bet" seemed to be Hermione's cue, reminding her of her friends' crazy idea and the plans she had made about it, and giving her back a sense of control, especially since the ice cube on the back of her neck actually worked wonders and gave her a clarity she hadn't felt all afternoon.
She straightened up, cleared her throat and looked from one witch to the other, who were now all looking at her expectantly. "Professor McGonagall, Miss Black and Miss Black," she began, but was interrupted by Bellatrix.
"Woah little one, are we in court or why so formal?"
"Hermione wants it that way, Bellatrix, so I would suggest you keep your mouth shut and let her finish," Minerva came to Hermione's defense.
Bellatrix raised her hands placatingly and grinned lasciviously in Hermione's direction: "I'm flexible, little witch. If you like clear hierarchies, I would be happy to be Miss Black for you – or Mistress Black, if you prefer."
"Bella…" came her blonde sister's annoyed objection, but Bellatrix just smiled provocatively in her direction before turning her attention back to Hermione, who tried to ignore what the term "Mistress Black" and everything it implied did to her lower abdomen, and continued: "I have a proposal to make to all of you. After my friends developed the mistaken belief that I was investing too much time in my current thesis and not enough time in private entertainment, they made a bet that in the next three weeks I would have multiple dates with three witches of their choice," she looked around meaningfully, "to decide on one of them in the end.
I'm flattered that the three of you agreed to help them with this crazy idea, but I don't want to take up too much of your valuable time. What this means is that no matter how my friends lured, bribed, or persuaded you to get involved, you don't have to. We can either keep the appointments as short as possible or not have them take place at all, which in my opinion the three of them don't have to find out about. Neither your nor my time has to suffer unnecessarily because we follow Ginny, Harry and Draco's instructions to the letter. That would help us all."
The three women had listened in silence to what Hermione had to say.
Bellatrix was the first to speak: "We could also fast forward to the end where you choose me, little one, that would be a lot easier." She grinned confidently and sucked on another ice cube.
"Don't be so sure about that, Bella," Narcissa hissed, giving her sister a withering look.
"Really Cissy?" Bellatrix replied, almost bored. "When have you ever won against me?"
"This isn't about winning or losing, Bellatrix," Minerva reprimanded her threateningly. "If Hermione's affections are just a game for you, you'd better back out now and let those who are actually serious about her take over."
Bellatrix straightened, her dark eyes sparkling. "Oh, and you're serious about her, old cat? Can you even keep up with her?"
"You'd be surprised," the headmistress replied coolly and calmly, but the magic pulsing around her made it all too clear how close the Scottish woman was to losing her temper.
The scrape of a chair being pushed back interrupted the three arguing women and all eyes turned to Hermione, who had stood up, looking confusedly from one witch to another, shaking her head and, without another word, threw some money on the table, grabbed her bag and disappeared from the café before any of the three women could even react.
Notes:
Oh boy, I really was afraid of writing this chapter and the first appearance of our three ladies! 🙈 All three are extremely strong personalities who are used to being the center of attention and taking the lead. Giving all three of them their moment in the spotlight while highlighting their differences while Hermione tries to come to terms with the situation was really difficult for me.
Actually, Hermione wasn't supposed to suddenly storm out of the café in the end, but when the women started arguing, I just felt a kind of resignation from Hermione's point of view and at that moment I didn't see her or any of the three women as mediators. ️
I know Bella takes up quite a bit of space here. It doesn't mean that she will end up being the one, but I just imagine her as the most offensive of the three. By the way, the three drinks that Bella ordered were a small homage to Helena Bonham Carter, who likes to have several drinks in front of her in interviews, and there simply isn't anyone else that I could ever picture as Bella! 😍
God, this is going to be a power play with these three 😱 What have I gotten myself into? 😅 This first scene with all four of them has now turned out to be much longer than I had actually planned and was actually exhausting and overwhelming to write, simply because the ladies have a mind of their own and suddenly do things that I hadn't planned. They're already killing me, poor Hermione 😅
Let me know what you think of all this in the comments, I'd love to hear it! 😊