AN: For those wondering- I did not remove any material, but I put the chapters that were cut in half together and deleted an AN chapter. If you guys feel there is missing material, let me know.

Chapter 15: Late October

"So… You wanted to talk?"

"Yeah…" Hermione scrutinized the older woman. "What made you decide to finally talk to me?"

Bellatrix ground her teeth together, the unpleasant tension in her body making Kiki shift in her arms. "Don't."

Hermione's eyes widened with the sudden realization. She went to see a soul healer. She had listened to reason. Bella probably stayed away to protect her family from her tempers. 'Oh my God...'

"Thank you."

Bellatrix snorted, she didn't enjoy it. She looked down at her daughter's face and pushed a stray lock of hair from her face. But hopefully it would be worth it. Bellatrix was actually quite confident in the results of that muggle therapy, she rarely ever heard the voices anymore. She had even gone into a muggle crowd and the voices were just whispers. Her squib 'psychiatrist' had said that when they were really bad she could use her spell. It wouldn't affect the 'drugs' she was taking but complement them.

"So what was it you wanted to talk about?"

"Kissara's school."

"What about it?"

Hermione threaded her fingers through her hair and started explaining to the older woman about the bullying and their daughter's dropping grades due to difficulties understanding her teacher, even though her teacher always made sure to write the instructions down for Kiki. Hermione knew grades weren't really important at that stage, but it was concrete proof of Kissara's troubles.

"…And I want to put her through lip reading and speech therapy. From there she should be able to communicate just fine with people who don't sign. And I was also wondering if you had any ideas about how to stop the bullying without violence." Hermione finished.

Bellatrix, who had remained quiet throughout Hermione's long explanation, finally voiced her first question; "And why haven't you put her in speech therapy yet?"

The young mother looked at the floor and muttered, "I can't afford it."

The pureblood waved her hand dismissively. "I'll pay for it."

Hermione looked up at her. "We could split the cost…"

"Don't bother. In fact, anything she wants to do, any clubs, sport, etcetera… Or if she ever needs something beyond what you can afford, feel free to withdraw from my account. In fact I'll let Gringotts know that you can freely withdraw from my account. I will, of course, check the records, but I trust you."

Hermione blushed; "Thank you." She did want to help with all the costs, but didn't think arguing over it was worth the trouble. If Bellatrix wanted to pay for anything more than the essentials, which Hermione had been paying for from the start, she could.

"Now, as for the bullying, I would have thought the 'Golden girl' could have figured that out."

Hermione shook her head. "I was also bullied when I was younger. I never did figure out how to stop them. My association with Harry is what stopped my harassment."

Bellatrix actually looked surprised at that statement. Then she grinned wickedly, "Then leave that up to me."

"Bella…" Hermione warned, "No threatening, no violence."

The dark witch just smirked and kissed Kissara's forehead. Keeping her eyes turned to the sleeping child, Bellatrix mentioned, "I should probably put her back in bed."

Hermione checked the time: 10:30. "Yeah, and I should probably start getting ready for bed too."

"This early?"

"Mmmm..." Hermione got up and folded her blanket, putting it on the back of the couch afterwards then picked up her mug, leaving her book on the coffee table. "Why did you bring Kiki down?"

Bellatrix shrugged, she saw no harm in telling the truth. "Insurance, had the voices come out, it would've been easier to lock them back up with her here. She does need her sleep, but she needs her mommy too."

Hermione smiled at the last comment and headed towards the kitchen. Bellatrix followed her with their still-sleeping child. Hermione decided to ignore her as she took her prescription sleeping pills out of the cupboard. They gave her an hour or two more hours of sleep at night, a slight reprieve from her nightmares. She had started taking them earlier this summer since she had wanted to be able to keep up with an energetic Kissara (and sometimes Bellatrix) all day.

"So… You take drugs too?" She had recognized the container these drugs seemed to come in.

Hermione looked at Bellatrix, surprised. "You went to see a psychiatrist, not a soul healer?"

Bellatrix bared her teeth at that, but elaborated a little. "They do help keep the voices at bay. Tastes like shit though."

Hermione looked at Bellatrix, confused. Until it dawned on her; Bellatrix had been taking her pills dry, and probably chewed them too. She burst out laughing and it was now Bella's turn to look confused, and a little insulted.

"What?"

"You're not supposed to chew them! You're supposed to drink them with water. Here, watch." Hermione demonstrated with her own medication.

"Oh." That made a lot more sense to the pureblood.

Hermione only smirked as she finished turning off the lights downstairs. Both women then headed up to Kissara's room. Bellatrix pulled the covers back. Kissara woke up just as Bella set her down. She hadn't seen her momma in a while so she smiled and made the effort to rip herself out of sleep's grasp to sit up and hug her momma, smiling over her momma's shoulder to her mommy, who smiled back. Laying the child back down, Bellatrix signed; 'I love you'

Kissara touched her hand to her momma's. 'I love you too.'

It took Bellatrix considerable effort not to cry. It was the first time they had exchanged those words. She just smiled and leaned down to kiss the girl's forehead. Bellatrix looked up as she felt a hand on her shoulder, Hermione didn't seem to notice that she had casually touched the dark witch's shoulder as she repeated the same process with the child.

With the girl tucked in, they both left the room and said their goodbyes before Bellatrix disapparated.

A of couple days later…

There was a sombre mood in the Granger house. Hermione and Kissara were clearing their supper dishes and Kiki was still teary-eyed after telling her mommy what had happened at school that day. The girl was just giving her plate to her mommy when Bellatrix apparated into the hallway.

Taking advantage of the fact that Kissara hadn't spotted her, she walked behind the girl, picked her up and twirled her around. The child first let out a surprised noise then squealed in delight when she realized who was there. Bellatrix swung her daughter around to sit on her hip and said to Hermione: "I'm kidnapping her for a little while."

Without waiting for a reply, Bellatrix headed for the backdoor. Outside, she set Kissara down and they raced to the treehouse, their footsteps crunching on the leaves below.

Hermione shook her head, smiling. What still confused her was how a woman who claimed not to work out could carry a 45-pound child for long periods of time.

About an hour later, Hermione was sitting in the kitchen, going over the registration papers for Kiki's speech therapy, when Bellatrix walked in, without Kiki. Bellatrix just winked at Hermione's inquisitive look before sitting across from her and looking at the papers in front of them. Neither felt it necessary to speak as they went through the papers, Hermione occasionally telling Bellatrix when the forms needed both parents' signatures. Once done, Bellatrix and Hermione got up: Kissara should start next week. Bellatrix bid Hermione an early goodbye, she had a late appointment with her psychiatrist, then headed to the backyard where she waved goodbye to Kiki.

'You're not staying for bedtime?' The girl answered, disappointed.

'No, sorry. I have to go somewhere.'

The girl went down the tree she was climbing and ran to give her momma a hug.

'You'll be back soon. Right, Star?' The girl had not enjoyed Bella's month-long absence.

Bella pointed to herself, put her index finger to her lips then brings her flat palm to her fist. 'I promise'

The girl nodded as Bellatrix disapparated.

A little later, Kissara headed inside to join her mommy for their evening run. And, Hermione noted, Kissara looked like she was feeling much better.

The next day…

Hermione went to pick up Kissara from the bus stop with Bellatrix. The young mother was stunned. Instead of hanging her head with tears in her eyes, Kissara had her head held high and a ghost of a smile on her lips. The girl walked to her mothers and smiled up at them before bouncing towards the house.

A stunned Hermione looked at Bellatrix. "What did you do?"

Bellatrix smirked and tapped Hermione lightly on the hip. "Confidence is key."

October 30th

It was Saturday and Hermione was just putting the breakfast dishes in the sink when she spotted Bellatrix standing in the front yard, looking at the muggle Halloween decorations with an odd expression on her face. Laughing, she turned to Kissara. 'Go get dressed. I'll meet you in the front yard.'

The girls nodded enthusiastically and ran upstairs, whilst her already-dressed mother headed outside. Today they were going to finish decorating the yard. As she stepped out, she addressed the other woman;

"We've put up a few decorations since you were last here."

"What is this?" The pureblood looked around, disgusted at the scattered plastic body parts (bought at Teddy's insistence), and sent a confused look at the foam headstones.

"Halloween decorations?" Hermione wasn't quite sure what Bellatrix meant by this. Considering Hogwarts always decorated the castle for Halloween, she had assumed the wizarding world, purebloods included, celebrated Halloween.

"I know that but what are they doing out here?" With that the pureblood sent a small bombarda towards a gravestone, sending foam flying up into the air and scattering the pieces around the yard. "What are they made of?" Before Hermione could reply, the older witch also sent a small jet of fire towards a leg.

"Bellatrix!" Hermione yelled, she quickly doused the flames, the yard was full of dried leaves.

The woman in question ignored her and picked up a piece of Styrofoam. Hermione grabbed a garbage bag and waved all the foam pieces into it, including the piece the other witch had picked up. "This is foam," she picked up the semi-melted/scorched leg and, before putting it in the garbage, tossed it back down, deciding it looked better now, "and this is plastic. What were you thinking?"

Bellatrix just shrugged. "Why do you have them in your yard?"

"Muggle children usually spend Halloween going from house to house collecting candy. The decorations and lights are to let them know that that house is handing out candy."

"Couldn't that be dangerous?"

Hermione shook her head, "Parents usually go out with their children."

A squeak alerted them to Kissara's presence. Both women turned to see their girl rushing out to greet her momma. The child collided with Bellatrix who returned to hug, she then snorted and turned Kiki's pumpkin shirt around. The older woman gave the younger a look that said 'she dressed herself, didn't she?'

Hermione just smiled and went to collect the shoes their daughter forgot to put on. Tossing them to Bellatrix, she went to get the rakes. The only thing left to do was to put the multi-coloured leaves in the decorative bags.

The odd little family spent the rest of the day raking up the leaves. Or rather Hermione and Kissara had raked the leaves whilst Bellatrix spent her time destroying their piles and trying to get Kiki to jump into the leaves. While at first Hermione had been greatly irritated, she had eventually given in and joined them. Consequently, they only finished filling up the scarecrow/pumpkin men around dusk, adding them to the already extensive amount of decorations in the front yard.

The mothers headed back downstairs after tucking in an exhausted girl. Their daughter was so tired after the long day, Bellatrix had to carry her to bed as Hermione put the girl's half-eaten plate in the refrigerator just in case Kiki woke up hungry in the night.

"I'm taking Kissara out for Halloween. You can come too." Bellatrix declared as she sat on the arm of the couch closest to the large window overlooking the front garden, twirling her hair around her figures in a childish manner, looking at Hermione.

Grabbing her book, Hermione went to sit on the couch opposite Bellatrix, tucking her legs under her. "She's going trick-or-treating with Teddy tomorrow."

"Trust me, she'll like this better."

Hermione looked up from her book and raised her eyebrows.

"And probably, so will you."

Hermione put her open book face down on her lap and leaned back, her expression saying something along the lines of 'really? Do tell.'

Bellatrix smirked. "I'm not telling, it's a surprise."

Hermione wasn't too impressed, but supposed it could be alright. "Could Teddy and Tonks come too?"

Bellatrix seemed to seriously consider the question. "I don't think so… I think it might… Well, Teddy isn't as explorative and… fearless as Kissara."

Hermione frowned. "What do you mean…fearless?"

"You'll see." And with that, the amused dark witch simultaneously plopped down on the couch and called a book over.

Hermione jumped up at the careless expression on Bellatrix's face. "What are you planning?" She asked forcefully. The other witch looked up surprised. "Some things I can let slide but if it could put her in danger…"

Bellatrix's mood darkened, she realized now how bad her statement had sounded but Hermione's lack of trust angered her, even worst – It hurt.

Hermione stepped back a little as Bellatrix closed her eyes to calm herself. After a few seconds, the witch's eyes snapped open and stared at her. Her eyes were almost black. Hermione moved back even more as the former Death Eater stalked towards her. She collided with the wall, Bellatrix slammed her hands on either side of her head, and leaned into her. The Gryffindor stiffened.

"Trust me." She growled into Hermione's ear.

And with that, the dark woman disapparated. Hermione sighed in relief and resignation. She headed to the couch to pick up their discarded books and put them back on the bookshelf, she didn't feel up to reading anymore. She doused the small fire in the fireplace and turned off the lights before heading up the stairs. She was about to close her bedroom door when she saw a blue light flickering in Kissara's bedroom.

Sighing, she headed towards the door, but realized Kiki wasn't awake. The blue fairy was just flying around the room. Pointing her wand at it, she immobilized and dimmed the fairy's light, setting it down on the bookshelf. Hermione pulled the covers up to Kiki's chin, brushed her black curls away from her face and kissed her before heading to bed.

Perhaps she should give Bellatrix's idea a chance. She'd owl Tonks in the morning.

Hermione and Kiki were finishing up their early supper. Kiki could barely hold still, her mommy having to remind her to eat. She was excited; her momma was taking them out for Halloween. She had been excited to pass Halloween with Teddy but Kiki hadn't seen momma much lately, only a couple of days in the past month. Her mommy didn't seem too pleased though. Kiki would wonder why, but her excitement was overwhelming.

Hermione was worried. She trusted Bellatrix to keep their daughter safe, but what kind of outing would be too scary for a six year old but ok for a 'fearless' four year old? She hoped it wasn't a haunted house, Kiki probably wouldn't be scared by the 'monsters' but Hermione didn't want to expose her to that much gore and violence.

Hermione heard Bellatrix apparate into the hallway. She was dressed more elegantly than her usual comfortable black dress, yet the clothes were still practical. The dark witch walked up behind Kissara, Hermione tilted her head slightly, hoping Bellatrix wouldn't scare Kiki. She saw her pull out a small stuffy, a black cat-like thing and brushed its nose against the back of Kiki's neck, the girl jumped but her surprised face quickly morphed into a smile as she realized who was there. Standing up on her chair, the girl stretched out her arms to be picked up. Her momma obliged, but only for a moment, motioning for the girl to eat. Satisfied, Kissara settled back down to eat with her new stuffy on her lap.

"Have you eaten?"

Bellatrix just nodded before going into the living room, she was nervous about tonight, but there was no point in showing it. She knew both the Gryffindor and their daughter would enjoy themselves. She set two dresses down on the couch; this event was too fancy for Hermione's muggle clothing. The larger dress was a comfortable one, form fitting at the top and flaring at the bottom, it was red with gold trim. She had no idea what colours the younger witch preferred but she figured she couldn't go wrong with Gryffindor colours. The smaller dress was pink and green, Kissara's favourite colours; she always wore at least one of those colours and was 'princess' style.

"Why did you get her a Tailypo stuffy?"

Bellatrix turned around; "Why not?"

Hermione walked closer to the dark woman, urgently whispering as if Kissara could hear her; "I don't want her believing that Tailypos are safe to be around."

Bellatrix frowned and shook off whispers. "Look," She started off harshly, but stopped herself; she wouldn't get them out of the house that way. Rolling her eyes, she continued in a more diplomatic tone, "Perhaps the stories only have a grain of truth. How much of the material written about you is truth?"

Hermione pinched her lips and nodded, not having a reply to that. Although, all the literature she had read on Tailypos had nothing good to say- she had to trust Bellatrix's actions, for Kissara's sake. "So where are we going?" She looked across the hall to check on Kissara, who was watching the tense women. 'Finish eating'

"As I said, it's a surprise." Before Hermione could retort, Bellatrix added; "You should finish eating too, unless you hate it this will be a long night."

Sensing this would only lead to an argument, a potentially dangerous argument, the muggle-born let it slide and went to finish her supper.

Hermione stood back and watched Kiki jump up and down enthusiastically at the sight of her new dress. Bellatrix looked satisfied with the child's reaction as she helped her into the dress.

"You should put yours on." Hermione looked between the red dress and her girl. The Gryffindor was surprised to see the older woman tenderly braid Kissara's hair, she hadn't really thought that Bellatrix could do that considering the state of the older woman's hair. Walking over and closing her eyes, the Gryffindor brushed her fingers over the dress. She supposed she needed to start trusting Bellatrix, every time she saw the older woman interact with Kissara she found trust came easier, but the woman had a tendency to do things without asking and worse fly into fits. Though the control Bellatrix has had on her anger last night and today did not go unnoticed. In that moment, Hermione realized how much she missed her parents, her father was always a good judge of character. She supposed she also missed speaking to Ginny, they had gotten closer since James' birth but then Hermione had pulled away after connecting with Bellatrix. She wouldn't be able to keep this a secret forever.

Hermione was startled out of her reverie by two tiny arms wrapping around her. She looked down into two concerned green-brown eyes. She put out her hands, palms down forearms crossed, and uncrossed them, then she made little circles around her head, palms facing Kissara. 'Don't worry,'

Kissara nodded but didn't seem satisfied, so Hermione took her shirt off and picked up her new dress. The now satisfied four-year-old now headed back to her momma, who had turned around, presumably to give Hermione some privacy, to get her new stuffy and bring it into her room.

Once dressed and ready to go, they headed out and Bellatrix scooped up an enthusiastic four-year-old and held out her arm for the Gryffindor. Hermione took the offered arm and felt the familiar tug at her navel that accompanied apparition. They landed heavily, the uneven forest ground made the younger witch stumble but the steadier older witch easily pulled her back up. Kissara was looking around, angling herself around her momma to try and see further.

They had landed in a forest- fairly deep in since none of the day's remaining sunlight made its way through the thick foliage. Yet, oddly enough, the forest wasn't dark, it seemed to…glow? Not obviously but enough for them to be able to see where they were going. Bellatrix had a large smile on her face, Hermione noticed the tenseness the dark witch almost always carried with her was gone, the forest seemed to have the same effect on her as her one on one time with Kiki. The dark witch put Kissara down and told her to make sure to always hold momma's hand. Then the dark-haired couple started to move out of Hermione's sight, but the young mother didn't even start to follow, lost in thought. She didn't stay there long though as Bellatrix noticed her absence and grabbed her hand to pull her along.

"You probably shouldn't let go either."

After about fifteen minutes, they came to a large clearing. Both Grangers stopped in their tracks, staring wide-eyed at the sight before them, Bellatrix was observing them, waiting for their reactions. In the clearing was the largest gathering of creatures Hermione had ever seen with a large range of different species. The bookworm couldn't name them all. Sure a few species were familiar to the witch; centaurs, goblins, house elves... There were a few hippogriffs lined up with some horses and a …griffin? Some of the species could pass for human, others were humanoid, some far from human and yet still others looked like animals. Some looked inviting, others menacing, a large, amazing, mish-mash of life. All were talking, singing, dancing, playing. It was a party, with beautiful music playing at a comfortable loudness.

Kissara squealed when she realized what this was and started to bounce when she spotted mini-versions of the creatures present. Hermione picked her up to keep her from running off and turned to Bellatrix; "What is this?"

"Halloween is a holiday for most creatures, a day to remember and honour the dead and to be grateful for what you have. This is the celebration that comes after worship." She nodded towards the squirming child. "You can let her run around, there are wards set up around the clearing. Trust me, they're powerful, no one can leave with a child that isn't theirs and if someone does not mean well, they are catapulted out of the area."

"Had experience with that, have you?"

Bellatrix just smirked. Playfully snorting, Hermione put Kissara down and turned her so they were face to face. The young mom knew it'd pointless trying to keep Kiki by her side when there were children to play with, so she just signed 'Be nice. Don't get frustrated if they can't understand you.'

Kiki nodded so hard her mommy thought her head would fall off before running to the nearest group of mini 'monsters' - colliding with a very surprised feathered and bird-like creature. At first, Hermione just watched her girl interact with the other children, and was stunned to see them sign to her. She heard the dark witch say;

"I only heard of this earlier this week, in their culture sign language is necessary as different creatures communicate and hear in different frequencies. It is different than the sign language you've taught her, I've asked a friend of mine if there are any books available to teach it. She gave me an address, would you like to come with me?"

"When are you planning to go?" Hermione's eyes were still fixed on the children, an adult with dark eyes and translucent skin had pulled out a ball and seemed to be teaching the kids a new game.

"Wednesday night."

"I would love to go, but Kissara's going to her uncle Harry's after, you wouldn't see her."

"That's alright."

Hermione finally broke her gaze away from the children playing ball to eye Bellatrix suspiciously, only to notice a large…werewolf?... Walking up to the dark witch.

Thinking back on the day she saw Lupin transform, she could tell the basic shape was the same but she could make out three quick distinctions, this creature was about twice his size, had medium length dark brown fur and was a lot more muscular. Actually a quick peek around the clearing showed at least 5 different variations to this body plan.

When the creature got about five feet away, Bellatrix bowed, the bow was returned and the dark witch smiled and extended her hand. The creature took the offered hand and Bellatrix led it to Hermione. Motioning to the younger witch, she said;

"This is Hermione, the woman who took in my little girl. Hermione, this is Rosie, my friend."

Not entirely sure what to say, Hermione just nodded, but jumped when she heard a female voice inside her head. "It is nice to finally meet you," The dark witch was only amused by Hermione's surprise for a couple of seconds. "Bella speaks of you very often." Bellatrix must have been hearing Rosie's voice as well as she turned with her darkened eyes towards Rosie. Though Rosie just cocked her wolf-like head as if to say, 'What are you going to do about it?' Huffing, Bellatrix just somewhat playfully hit Rosie's shoulder. Rosie, on the other hand, looks at Hermione who swore she could see a smile on the wolf-like face. Rosie continued, "I saw you examining everyone, would you like me to bring you around?"

Hermione looked over at Kissara, who was still smiling and playing with the other children. She seemed to be much happier playing here than at school. Satisfied she turned back to Rosie, smiled and nodded. She would love to learn about these creatures.

Rosie took hold of Hermione's hand and started towards a white woman, literally white with white eyes, white hair, she was introduced and learned the woman was a banshee. Bellatrix hung back and observed Hermione and Rosie. They spend the next couple of hours doing more of the same, Rosie ultimately only introduced Hermione to a Drakaina, a Cynocephalus and an Alkonost. The reason for lack of introductions; Hermione never ending flow of questions.

Kiki looked around at her new friends, she wished she could go to school with them. They'd been playing ball for a while now, while fun, Kissara decided she'd had enough for now. She wanted to explore. Waving a temporary goodbye, she headed off towards the musicians. They were in the corner of the clearing on a raised platform so they had a clear view of everyone present. Sitting down next to a lizard-like humanoid, who was sliding a stick across a string attached to a bowl, and swinging her feet in the air, Kissara took in the rainbow of colours, many different species, and many different styles of dress. The fur, horns, feathers and scales of some of the creatures attract her attention the most. She knew what skin feels like, had an idea of what fur feels like (dogs) and feathers (Anyanka, her new feathered friend), scales should be different, and she certainly could see big differences between some horns, shape, colour, texture and wanted to know just what that meant.

The lizard man's tail was twitching, just next to her – it was tempting. Kiki was not sure how long she sat there watching the green and purple tail move back and forth, back and forth. Suddenly Kissara pounced on the tail, much like a cat would, using only its front paws. The lizard man jumped in his seat and looked down to find a little black headed child holding his tail. Setting his instrument down, he did notice that the child had frozen but didn't seem to notice her the laughter her behaviour had caused. He spotted a horrified looking woman, brown curls and red dress, she had her hands up covering her open mouth, another woman nearby, black curls, looked amused. He took a chance that and signalled that it was alright to whom he believed to be the girl's mothers. The black-haired woman smirked and turned the other around, speaking to her. As things calmed down and the music resumed, he picked the girl up and set her on his lap. She looked up at him with wide eyes and started rubbing the area around her heart with a closed fist; 'Sorry.' Smiling, he signed back 'It's alright'.

Stepping down of the raised platform with the child in his arms, he continued. 'It's ok to be curious. My name is Xasalamel, what is yours?'

The child perked up and replied, 'Kiki. Can I touch your face?'

Xasalamel couldn't help but smile, she must have noticed his ornaments, special scales which advertised his health and status. He had had 5 clutches himself and knew how curious children could be. He leaned his face into her little hands and pulled away once she seemed satisfied. Xasalamel decided to bring Kiki around the clearing. First he stopped in and introduced her to a Shalakzar demon and, laughing, the demon let the child touch the ram hornlike parallel crest on his head. Then the lizard-like man, a Gornoptide, brought her to see a Togruta, the montrals on her head were surprisingly very soft as they were hollow and used for echolocation. Xasalamel then found three different species: a Thanagarian with feathered wings, Kiki did as most children do-buried her face in the feathers, the Thanagarian laughed; a Hatuibwari, a dragon-like creature with bat-like wings, it was hard to see which one was more surprised, both him and the child had their eyes wide; finally, a dragon. Little known fact – happy dragons are like gigantic playful cats. Xasalamel smiled and left the child with the dragon, going back to the band.

Kissara squealed with joy, her new playmate was wonderful with pretty soft purple scales and a very good wrestler. The dragon let her win a couple times before playfully pinning her down with a head the width of which was equal to Kiki's entire torso. The girl laughed and struggled to free herself before the dragon let her wriggle away. Kiki squealed again as a puff of nice smelling green smoke was blown into her face. Once the smoke cleared, Kissara saw a slightly bigger green dragon appear behind her new friend. The dragons seemed to communicate and the purple one nuzzled her before leaving with the green one.

In a great mood, the girl continued around the clearing and continued her observation of the creatures present. She was so happy her mommies decided to bring her here. Something caught her eye. A black blur on the edge of the clearing. She turned towards the forest, there went the blur again. The blur zigzagged at the edge and Kissara, curious, went towards it. When she started to get close, it always went a little farther away. Finally. When the lights were dimmer, Kissara saw two large feline glowing yellow eyes looking at her from under a bush. She knelt down and extended her hand towards the eyes, hoping that their owner would reveal itself, but something must have startled it and the eyes disappeared and the blur moved away.

Suddenly she was roughly grabbed from behind. She struggled against the grip, only to realize it was her momma, the energy around her momma was tense so Kiki started being as compliant as she could. Kissara was shifted to sit on her momma's hip and she saw the fear in her momma's dark brown eyes, she noticed that her momma was holding her mommy's hand very tightly. Then the pull of apparition brought them home.

Bellatrix had never been a great socializer, she always left that up to Cissy. No, Bellatrix loved to come to these things to learn and observe. It seemed Hermione had the same idea, yet she was much more outgoing in her curiosity. Taking advantage, the dark witch followed the Gryffindor around and only spoke occasionally, mostly to Rosie.

Around half past nine, Bellatrix was near the edge of the clearing when she saw someone she really did not want to see. She wished she could feel anger, wished she could beat his smug face to a pulp. Yet all she could feel was fear. He was standing behind the edge of the protective wards looking in at her. His eyes were glowing, he looked less human than he did while beating her, his skin eerily transparent. She still couldn't pinpoint what species he was. But soon it didn't matter as he did something understood by all creatures, he bared his teeth and she could see his sharp teeth very clearly. It looked like a smile, but it was one of the most threatening gestures, short of actually attacking. The bastard looked towards the mother of her child, then made a show of sweeping the clearing, looking. Then he looked back at Bellatrix, his expression seemingly saying; 'Where's your child?'

Panic set in. Bellatrix started looking around frantically for Kissara, then looked back thinking he might give her a clue as to where her she was, but he was already gone. The panicking witch quickly grabbed hold of Hermione and dragged her out of clearing to look for Kissara.

Hermione didn't fight it as the terror on Bellatrix's face told her everything she needed to know. They finally found Kissara kneeling near a bush. Hermione was instantly relieved, Kissara had probably only wandered off. But Bellatrix's panic only faded when they got to the house, then the dark witch's eyes blackened and she disapparated without saying goodnight.

Hermione collapsed into bed, it was 10 and she had decided Kissara wouldn't be attending school tomorrow; maybe she should give her to Bellatrix for the day. After all it was her idea to stay up this late and she should deal with the (really) cranky and tired Kiki. Shifting in bed, she decided that it was worth it and they'd probably go again next year, and bring Dora and Teddy along. She frowned, their abrupt departure did worry her. What had scared Bellatrix that much?

Bellatrix sat down exhausted. The remains of charred trees littered the ground. Her ears buzzed with whispers. She was angry at herself – for failing to properly address the situation. By their laws, she had every right to kill him, he was threatening them. He was threatening her child. Slamming her fists repeatedly on the ground, she growled in frustration. The Voices were getting louder, so many of them at the same time she couldn't fully understand what they were saying. They got louder and louder and louder until she couldn't take it anymore. She put her bloodied hands to her ears and let out a gut wrenching scream.