mickume/harry_potter_tiny · Datasets at Hugging Face

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But it wasn’t her problem to solve. Appariation, however, was.
As it was, Bellatrix’s teaching paid off. Having practised enough, Hermione found herself not once or twice but three times perfectly finding herself exactly where she intended. Twycross praised her, and with it, Hermione felt the relief flood through her.
Even Ron managed to apparate! A bit further than intended, and Hermione had noticed some ginger hair left where he’d been standing, but it was still far more impressive than most of the other students.
After their lesson, she and a few others went to grab a glass of Butterbeer at the Three Broomsticks before Hermione left them to sit with Ginny and Bellatrix after lunch.
"Got your stuff," Ginny said, nodding to her bag. "I assumed that’s the bag you meant for me to bring here and not the other one that was filled with other books."
"Ohh...yes," she’d forgotten she’d placed the romance books there, buried underneath parchment and ink.
Bellatrix gave her an odd look, but if she had anything to say, she kept it to herself as she chewed the end of a liquorice wand. "How did the lesson go?" She asked as Hermione sat down.
"Good. Really good, actually. I did it perfectly."
Ginny laughed, punching Hermione in the shoulder. "Knew you had in you. I bet you outclassed all of them."
Hermione had. Though, she suspected it would not have been as well as Bellatrix.
"Thank you," she said as she looked at Bellatrix. "Your advice helped."
"You were too far in your own head. Once you snapped out of it, I knew you’d be fine," she said, looking relaxed, but as her eyes met Hermione’s, it was as though a spark passed between them.
It was easy to get lost in her eyes, to see the brief smile that passed and feel it warm through her before they both looked away from one another.
For the rest of the free time that day, Ginny, Bella and herself spent the time between studying and chatting. Hermione would have liked to believe that it was mostly the former but knew that a lot of their conversation had blended from one to the other. Still, as they made their way back to the castle, Hermione couldn’t help but find herself sharing more than a few glances with Bellatrix.
It was silly to let her heart rush in such a way. Not long ago, Ginny had unintentionally reminded her of the age gap between them, and Hermione had been adamant to herself that she would hold off until they were both graduates.
But...a part of her wanted to believe the glances were harmless. She’d glanced with other friends before. Surely, it didn’t mean that something else had to happen.
And yet, a part of her kept retracing how Bellatrix’s lips felt against her, how the woman’s hands held onto her.
She ached for them in a way that she wouldn’t dare vocalise...but that wasn’t to say that her dreams didn’t reminder her of them again and again.
The warmth of the day was hanging around in the evening when Harry remembered that he could use Felix Felis as a way to get the memory from Slughorn. Hermione had completely forgotten the potion and urged Harry to use it. Not moments after he'd down the drink, Hermione was flabbergasted as Harry advised that he’d felt like "visiting Hagrid’.
Hagrid had only, that morning, advised of the death of Aragoga, and if Hermione was honest, she had no desire to see an acromantula. Whilst her fear of spiders wasn’t quite as prominent as Ron’s, she found her curiosity did not outway her discomfort of seeing such a large spider. Especially given that it would be outside hours. Not to mention that she had prefect duties, something Ron was very eager to be a part of for once.
Not that she could blame him. The trick that Fred and George played on him when he was a baby really did seem to traumatise him, and she could understand how it would have long-lasting impacts on his adult life.
However, Bellatrix had some morbid curiosity when Hermione mentioned in a conversation about the acromantula.
"Their venom sells for a lot. It wouldn’t be difficult to set up a buyer, either. We could do it at Hogs Head the next weekend."
"Hogsmeade has been cancelled," Hermione reminded her. "And I doubt Hagrid would allow you to take the venom from his friend."
"You don’t know that. He thinks I’m quite the star pupil, I’ll have you know," Bellatrix teased as she wagged her eyebrows. It was so silly, and yet Hermione couldn’t help but find herself laughing before she caught Ginny’s eye.
Her friend was staring at her with an open mouth before she quickly closed it, returning to her homework.
It was a reminder to Hermione that she wasn’t meant to be having feelings for the witch––lest Dumbledore find out and lecture her about her sense of duty.
Still, when she caught Bellatrix’s eye again, the witch smiled as she returned to her homework.
Hermione had been thinking about their last kiss over and over and had come to find herself occasonally thinking about the future and what would happen after school.
Though, it was difficult to say what would actually happen. Earlier, she’d heard that the Montgomery sisters had been informed that their brother had been attacked and killed by a werewolf, Fenrir Greyback, whom Hermione knew was known to be particularly nasty. Most werewolves were often like Remus Lupin...people who were unfortunately bitten when they had been otherwise going about their lives. Most werewolves kept to themselves at the full moon, trying to keep out of harming anyone else, but Fenrir wasn’t like that.
He would intentionally allow himself to change in places where he was likely to attack others, specifically children. It was horrifying, as well as a sober reminder that there was an impending war around the corner and that her future with Bellatrix may be as participants in that war. But she didn't want to think about that.
Late nights, when she wasn’t fantasying about what after school would look like with Bella, she found herself fearing what would happen with Voldemort. Would he, somehow, find out about Bellatrix and try to ensnare her once more? Or would he simply not care?
Bellatrix had been, once, one of his most powerful followers. By far, his most loyal. As Hermione raised her eyes to look at Bella, she watched as the woman’s expression glared down at her homework, annoyed by having to complete the assignment. Most days, it was hard to imagine her being such a ruthless killer. But there were times when it wasn't.
Hermione tried to remind herself that most people were capable of great evil, if pushed hard enough.
"Dean and I broke up," Ginny said, breaking through Hermione’s thoughts.
There was a pause as both Bellatrix and Hermione looked at their friend.
"What happened?" Hermione asked.
"He was a git," Ginny said shortly before sighing. "I don’t know. To be honest, I think we both stopped liking each other as much as we had in the beginning. And with OWLs this year for me and him getting ready for NEWTs, we just didn’t have the time." She paused then. "Plus, he became really patronising. Always trying to help me like I was some invalid. I hated it."
Hermione nodded. "How do you feel?"
"Numb...but I’m sure I’ll cry later. Not because it was a mistake, but..."
"No, I get it," Hermione assured. "Well, we’re here for you if you need anything. I’ve got some honey-dukes chocolate upstairs. I can go get it, and we can split some if you like?"
"Oh..." Ginny said, "No, it’s okay––"
"Let’s go upstairs and eat the chocolate," Bellatrix said. "It’s getting crowded down here, anyway." She pointedly looked over to where, behind Ginny’s shoulder, Dean stood awkwardly with Seamus. The two were whispering with one another, but even from where Hermione stood, she could see how sad Dean appeared.
"Yeah," Ginny agreed, after glancing over her shoulder. "Maybe chocolate would be good a good idea."
They’d climbed on top of Bella’s bed, closing the curtain around them and placing a silencing charm so their words didn’t spill out to any would-be eavesdroppers. The other girls were presently downstairs, but it was good practice in case any of them decided to come up early.
Sitting together, Hermione, Ginny and Bella first listened to Ginny list all of Dean’s worst faults from the relationship before going into bad sexual encounters stories of their own.
Bellatrix relayed how Daphne was uninterested in doing anything, but more than happy to have things done to her, while Ginny advised that when Dean had tried to go down on her, all he’d managed was a few minutes before asking if "she’d come’ by that point.
They’d look to Hermione expectantly, wondering if she’d had any stories.
"I haven’t done much," Hermione said, feeling embarrassment warm her face.
"Yeah, but you’ve gone on a few dates," Ginny reminded. "What was Krum like?"
"He was sweet, actually. And he kissed well..." she said, trailing off. Kissing Krum hadn’t felt like kissing Bellatrix, but it wasn’t bad or even mediocre. Just...different.
"What about Cormac?" Bellatrix asked.
"Oh," there Hermione grimaced. "You both know about that, he tried to kiss me underneath the mistletoe at Slughorn’s Christmas party, and when I refused, he called me frigid and said that because I had acted desperate when trying to invite him, I owed him something, especially after I’d given him the cold shoulder."
Ginny had shaken her head, muttering the word wanker under her breath, but Bellatrix’s expression had turned cold.
"You didn’t tell me that. You only told me that he called you frigid."
"I suppose that was the part that bothered me the most at the time," Hermione admitted. If she was honest, the word had left a sharp imprint on her. Even remembering the way he’d spat the word felt like she was hearing it out loud all over again.
"He’s a liar," Ginny said. "You’re not like that, and you don’t owe anybody anything. Least of all him."
"I know I don’t owe anyone a kiss or more, even if I’ve been acting poorly," Hermione said.
"The rest of what he said was rubbish, too," Ginny assured. Hermione gave a weak smile, and before either Ginny or Bellatrix could open their mouth to argue with her, she quickly asked Ginny if she'd had any poor dates before Dean.
"Oh, yeah...I went to Hogsmeade with this Hufflepuff in my year. Leonard," she began before launching into an awkward first date. Hermione briefly recalled the first date, but it was a new story to Bellatrix, who laughed when Ginny got to the end and mentioned that when he’d gone for a kiss, she’d quickly side-stepped, accidentally causing him to trip over into a suit of armour. Which of course, summoned Filch.
It wasn’t long before Ginny was yawning, mentioning that she had to finish her Charms homework before class tomorrow––"Don’t worry," she assured when Hermione gave her an aghast look. "It’s done. I'm tidying up the conclusion before I hand it in."
"Oh...well...I can look over it in the morning if you like."
Ginny gave a short laugh, muttering that she was not her brother, before she broke off a piece of chocolate and left.
Ginny's departure left a silence. With it, Hermione became all the more aware of how close Bellatrix was to her, how good she looked leaning on the pillows, smiling as she set the chocolate aside.
"Come here," Bellatrix said.
"There?" Hermione asked.
"Yeah..." and she gestured for Hermione to come closer.
Hermione frowned, shifting on the bed, moving closer and then Bellatrix’s lips were on hers again. Quickly, Hermione found herself on her back, head on the pillows as Bellatrix climbed on top, kissing her gently at first, and then deeper, slowly until Hermione was grabbing at the witch’s waist, tugging her close.
She could feel her bare thigh, brushing against the cotton of Bellatrix’s robes, and a part of her wanted to slide the material up, to feel the woman’s skin against hers...
Bellatrix pulled away, smiling. "I’ve been wanting to do that since the other night," she said before leaning down and kissing her quickly again. "I like how you kiss."
"You do?" Hermione said, surprised. She didn’t think she was a bad kisser by any means. Bellatrix was blunt enough that she would have tried to teach her how to do it right. But that was different from I like how you kiss!
"I do," Bellatrix nodded, kissing her again.
It was easy to get lost in it. Bellatrix’s lips were soft, and a hand curled in Hermione’s hair, tugging it firmly enough that Hermione moaned into the woman’s mouth.
All those books she read, the witch magazines, the muggle and witch-alike novels...nothing could have prepared her for how wonderful this felt. Her mind was usually wild and busy, going from one thought to the next, but here, as Bellatrix kissed her, everything was quiet.
It was just them and Hermione could get lost in the feeling of her touch.
Boldy, Hermione reached beneath Bellatrix's robe, her hand on the woman's thigh. She could feel Bellatrix's tongue against her own and all she could think about was how nice that tongue would feel––
A door slammed.
Hermione squeaked, pulling away as she heard Lavender loudly complaining about Ron and how terrible of a boyfriend he was and that she was glad to have broken up with him.
"They can’t hear us," Bellatrix assured. "No one will know."
Hermione shook her head. She knew that, but kissing Bellatrix while the girls chatted around them was not something she found interesting. Maybe Daphne was different. Maybe she was an exhibitionist, and Hermione was just some––
Bellatrix’s hand covered her own. "Her voice is a mood killer anyway."
Hermione gave a soft laugh. It was a bit mean to make fun of Lavender that way, but somehow it was enough to open the door for them to talk again. Hermione spoke about divination in their third year, and Bellatrix laughed, talking about how she’d overheard Lavender asking if Centaurs-witch relationships were loudly frowned upon.
"She did not," Hermione gasped. "She must have a crush on Firenze, but..." Hermione made a face, and the both of them were giggling loudly with one another.
They chatted for a while after that, and then as Hermione’s eyes grew heavy, she couldn’t bare to go back to her own bed without finishing talking. And yet it seemed like one moment she was listening to Bellatrix talk about Care of Magical Creatures class, and then the next, Hermione awoke in the middle of the night with Bellatrix’s arm wrapped around her waist, holding her close. The witch had somehow managed to coax her beneath the blankets.
It’d been some time since Hermione had had any nightmares. But here, in Bellatrix’s arms, Hermione felt safe from them ever occurring again.
A part of her knew that she needed to climb back into her own bed, but she felt so tired that as she closed her eyes, that she could have sworn Bellatrix had pulled her closer. But as she settled on the pillow, Hermione fell asleep to the warm breath of the witch against her neck.
The next morning, Hermione woke up and climbed out of Bellatrix’s bed before the other girls in the dormitory awoke. Crookshanks, noticing a new warm spot, jumped up to where Hermione had been and curled himself against Bella.
Hermione felt herself soften, glimpsing something she hoped would be a future moment before she pulled her thoughts away. She was still in school, there was another year left before she would allow herself to consider those moments.
Getting dressed, she went downstairs and began breakfast. Shortly after she was there, both Ron and Harry joined.
"You look tired," Hermione commented. "Did you get what you needed?"
Harry beamed. "I did," he said, before explaining how the potion had lead him to coming across Professor Slughorn and managing to advise him of Aragog’s death. Like Bellatrix, Slughorn had known the price of the venom on the blackmarket and had been all too happy to come and have a few drinks with Hagrid.
Hermione didn’t hold back with how impressed she was by Harry’s charm and wit. "See, I told you that you could do it. All the potion does it make you your best self. You always had the capabilities to do that!"
Harry rolled his eyes, but before Hermione could assure him that that was how the potion worked, Harry informed her that Dumbledore had come back last night and he’d ended up exploring the memory.
A horcrux, Harry explained, was a dark magic to split the soul. Usually by murder.
Hermione didn’t think it was just as simple as murder. Likely an intent to murder with disregard and a specific ceremony was required at least, beforehand, to prepare the soul to be split. Still, she couldn’t imagine the complete disregard for self to cut one’s soul in half.
Harry then went on to explain that the next time Dumbledore went hunting for a horcrux, he would be able to join the headmaster.
"Harry, that’s incredible, but..." Hermione trailed off, watching as both Ginny and Bellatrix arrived. It didn’t matter what she had to say anyway as both Ron and Harry were deep in discussion into what working with Dumbledore would mean.
As the girls took their place, conversation drifted to the upcoming match with Ravenclaw.
After a few moments chatting, Ron seemed to notice that both Ginny and Dean were present at the table, but not sitting with each other. "You’re not going to go and snog your boyfriend?" Ron said, though his face screwed up as he spoke.
"No, as a matter of fact, I won’t," Ginny responded. "Not that it’s any of your business but we broke up."

But it wasn’t her problem to solve. Appariation, however, was.

As it was, Bellatrix’s teaching paid off. Having practised enough, Hermione found herself not once or twice but three times perfectly finding herself exactly where she intended. Twycross praised her, and with it, Hermione felt the relief flood through her.

Even Ron managed to apparate! A bit further than intended, and Hermione had noticed some ginger hair left where he’d been standing, but it was still far more impressive than most of the other students.

After their lesson, she and a few others went to grab a glass of Butterbeer at the Three Broomsticks before Hermione left them to sit with Ginny and Bellatrix after lunch.

"Got your stuff," Ginny said, nodding to her bag. "I assumed that’s the bag you meant for me to bring here and not the other one that was filled with other books."

"Ohh...yes," she’d forgotten she’d placed the romance books there, buried underneath parchment and ink.

Bellatrix gave her an odd look, but if she had anything to say, she kept it to herself as she chewed the end of a liquorice wand. "How did the lesson go?" She asked as Hermione sat down.

"Good. Really good, actually. I did it perfectly."

Ginny laughed, punching Hermione in the shoulder. "Knew you had in you. I bet you outclassed all of them."

Hermione had. Though, she suspected it would not have been as well as Bellatrix.

"Thank you," she said as she looked at Bellatrix. "Your advice helped."

"You were too far in your own head. Once you snapped out of it, I knew you’d be fine," she said, looking relaxed, but as her eyes met Hermione’s, it was as though a spark passed between them.

It was easy to get lost in her eyes, to see the brief smile that passed and feel it warm through her before they both looked away from one another.

For the rest of the free time that day, Ginny, Bella and herself spent the time between studying and chatting. Hermione would have liked to believe that it was mostly the former but knew that a lot of their conversation had blended from one to the other. Still, as they made their way back to the castle, Hermione couldn’t help but find herself sharing more than a few glances with Bellatrix.

It was silly to let her heart rush in such a way. Not long ago, Ginny had unintentionally reminded her of the age gap between them, and Hermione had been adamant to herself that she would hold off until they were both graduates.

But...a part of her wanted to believe the glances were harmless. She’d glanced with other friends before. Surely, it didn’t mean that something else had to happen.

And yet, a part of her kept retracing how Bellatrix’s lips felt against her, how the woman’s hands held onto her.

She ached for them in a way that she wouldn’t dare vocalise...but that wasn’t to say that her dreams didn’t reminder her of them again and again.

The warmth of the day was hanging around in the evening when Harry remembered that he could use Felix Felis as a way to get the memory from Slughorn. Hermione had completely forgotten the potion and urged Harry to use it. Not moments after he'd down the drink, Hermione was flabbergasted as Harry advised that he’d felt like "visiting Hagrid’.

Hagrid had only, that morning, advised of the death of Aragoga, and if Hermione was honest, she had no desire to see an acromantula. Whilst her fear of spiders wasn’t quite as prominent as Ron’s, she found her curiosity did not outway her discomfort of seeing such a large spider. Especially given that it would be outside hours. Not to mention that she had prefect duties, something Ron was very eager to be a part of for once.

Not that she could blame him. The trick that Fred and George played on him when he was a baby really did seem to traumatise him, and she could understand how it would have long-lasting impacts on his adult life.

However, Bellatrix had some morbid curiosity when Hermione mentioned in a conversation about the acromantula.

"Their venom sells for a lot. It wouldn’t be difficult to set up a buyer, either. We could do it at Hogs Head the next weekend."

"Hogsmeade has been cancelled," Hermione reminded her. "And I doubt Hagrid would allow you to take the venom from his friend."

"You don’t know that. He thinks I’m quite the star pupil, I’ll have you know," Bellatrix teased as she wagged her eyebrows. It was so silly, and yet Hermione couldn’t help but find herself laughing before she caught Ginny’s eye.

Her friend was staring at her with an open mouth before she quickly closed it, returning to her homework.

It was a reminder to Hermione that she wasn’t meant to be having feelings for the witch––lest Dumbledore find out and lecture her about her sense of duty.

Still, when she caught Bellatrix’s eye again, the witch smiled as she returned to her homework.

Hermione had been thinking about their last kiss over and over and had come to find herself occasonally thinking about the future and what would happen after school.

Though, it was difficult to say what would actually happen. Earlier, she’d heard that the Montgomery sisters had been informed that their brother had been attacked and killed by a werewolf, Fenrir Greyback, whom Hermione knew was known to be particularly nasty. Most werewolves were often like Remus Lupin...people who were unfortunately bitten when they had been otherwise going about their lives. Most werewolves kept to themselves at the full moon, trying to keep out of harming anyone else, but Fenrir wasn’t like that.

He would intentionally allow himself to change in places where he was likely to attack others, specifically children. It was horrifying, as well as a sober reminder that there was an impending war around the corner and that her future with Bellatrix may be as participants in that war. But she didn't want to think about that.

Late nights, when she wasn’t fantasying about what after school would look like with Bella, she found herself fearing what would happen with Voldemort. Would he, somehow, find out about Bellatrix and try to ensnare her once more? Or would he simply not care?

Bellatrix had been, once, one of his most powerful followers. By far, his most loyal. As Hermione raised her eyes to look at Bella, she watched as the woman’s expression glared down at her homework, annoyed by having to complete the assignment. Most days, it was hard to imagine her being such a ruthless killer. But there were times when it wasn't.

Hermione tried to remind herself that most people were capable of great evil, if pushed hard enough.

"Dean and I broke up," Ginny said, breaking through Hermione’s thoughts.

There was a pause as both Bellatrix and Hermione looked at their friend.

"What happened?" Hermione asked.

"He was a git," Ginny said shortly before sighing. "I don’t know. To be honest, I think we both stopped liking each other as much as we had in the beginning. And with OWLs this year for me and him getting ready for NEWTs, we just didn’t have the time." She paused then. "Plus, he became really patronising. Always trying to help me like I was some invalid. I hated it."

Hermione nodded. "How do you feel?"

"Numb...but I’m sure I’ll cry later. Not because it was a mistake, but..."

"No, I get it," Hermione assured. "Well, we’re here for you if you need anything. I’ve got some honey-dukes chocolate upstairs. I can go get it, and we can split some if you like?"

"Oh..." Ginny said, "No, it’s okay––"

"Let’s go upstairs and eat the chocolate," Bellatrix said. "It’s getting crowded down here, anyway." She pointedly looked over to where, behind Ginny’s shoulder, Dean stood awkwardly with Seamus. The two were whispering with one another, but even from where Hermione stood, she could see how sad Dean appeared.

"Yeah," Ginny agreed, after glancing over her shoulder. "Maybe chocolate would be good a good idea."

They’d climbed on top of Bella’s bed, closing the curtain around them and placing a silencing charm so their words didn’t spill out to any would-be eavesdroppers. The other girls were presently downstairs, but it was good practice in case any of them decided to come up early.

Sitting together, Hermione, Ginny and Bella first listened to Ginny list all of Dean’s worst faults from the relationship before going into bad sexual encounters stories of their own.

Bellatrix relayed how Daphne was uninterested in doing anything, but more than happy to have things done to her, while Ginny advised that when Dean had tried to go down on her, all he’d managed was a few minutes before asking if "she’d come’ by that point.

They’d look to Hermione expectantly, wondering if she’d had any stories.

"I haven’t done much," Hermione said, feeling embarrassment warm her face.

"Yeah, but you’ve gone on a few dates," Ginny reminded. "What was Krum like?"

"He was sweet, actually. And he kissed well..." she said, trailing off. Kissing Krum hadn’t felt like kissing Bellatrix, but it wasn’t bad or even mediocre. Just...different.

"What about Cormac?" Bellatrix asked.

"Oh," there Hermione grimaced. "You both know about that, he tried to kiss me underneath the mistletoe at Slughorn’s Christmas party, and when I refused, he called me frigid and said that because I had acted desperate when trying to invite him, I owed him something, especially after I’d given him the cold shoulder."

Ginny had shaken her head, muttering the word wanker under her breath, but Bellatrix’s expression had turned cold.

"You didn’t tell me that. You only told me that he called you frigid."

"I suppose that was the part that bothered me the most at the time," Hermione admitted. If she was honest, the word had left a sharp imprint on her. Even remembering the way he’d spat the word felt like she was hearing it out loud all over again.

"He’s a liar," Ginny said. "You’re not like that, and you don’t owe anybody anything. Least of all him."

"I know I don’t owe anyone a kiss or more, even if I’ve been acting poorly," Hermione said.

"The rest of what he said was rubbish, too," Ginny assured. Hermione gave a weak smile, and before either Ginny or Bellatrix could open their mouth to argue with her, she quickly asked Ginny if she'd had any poor dates before Dean.

"Oh, yeah...I went to Hogsmeade with this Hufflepuff in my year. Leonard," she began before launching into an awkward first date. Hermione briefly recalled the first date, but it was a new story to Bellatrix, who laughed when Ginny got to the end and mentioned that when he’d gone for a kiss, she’d quickly side-stepped, accidentally causing him to trip over into a suit of armour. Which of course, summoned Filch.

It wasn’t long before Ginny was yawning, mentioning that she had to finish her Charms homework before class tomorrow––"Don’t worry," she assured when Hermione gave her an aghast look. "It’s done. I'm tidying up the conclusion before I hand it in."

"Oh...well...I can look over it in the morning if you like."

Ginny gave a short laugh, muttering that she was not her brother, before she broke off a piece of chocolate and left.

Ginny's departure left a silence. With it, Hermione became all the more aware of how close Bellatrix was to her, how good she looked leaning on the pillows, smiling as she set the chocolate aside.

"Come here," Bellatrix said.

"There?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah..." and she gestured for Hermione to come closer.

Hermione frowned, shifting on the bed, moving closer and then Bellatrix’s lips were on hers again. Quickly, Hermione found herself on her back, head on the pillows as Bellatrix climbed on top, kissing her gently at first, and then deeper, slowly until Hermione was grabbing at the witch’s waist, tugging her close.

She could feel her bare thigh, brushing against the cotton of Bellatrix’s robes, and a part of her wanted to slide the material up, to feel the woman’s skin against hers...

Bellatrix pulled away, smiling. "I’ve been wanting to do that since the other night," she said before leaning down and kissing her quickly again. "I like how you kiss."

"You do?" Hermione said, surprised. She didn’t think she was a bad kisser by any means. Bellatrix was blunt enough that she would have tried to teach her how to do it right. But that was different from I like how you kiss!

"I do," Bellatrix nodded, kissing her again.

It was easy to get lost in it. Bellatrix’s lips were soft, and a hand curled in Hermione’s hair, tugging it firmly enough that Hermione moaned into the woman’s mouth.

All those books she read, the witch magazines, the muggle and witch-alike novels...nothing could have prepared her for how wonderful this felt. Her mind was usually wild and busy, going from one thought to the next, but here, as Bellatrix kissed her, everything was quiet.

It was just them and Hermione could get lost in the feeling of her touch.

Boldy, Hermione reached beneath Bellatrix's robe, her hand on the woman's thigh. She could feel Bellatrix's tongue against her own and all she could think about was how nice that tongue would feel––

A door slammed.

Hermione squeaked, pulling away as she heard Lavender loudly complaining about Ron and how terrible of a boyfriend he was and that she was glad to have broken up with him.

"They can’t hear us," Bellatrix assured. "No one will know."

Hermione shook her head. She knew that, but kissing Bellatrix while the girls chatted around them was not something she found interesting. Maybe Daphne was different. Maybe she was an exhibitionist, and Hermione was just some––

Bellatrix’s hand covered her own. "Her voice is a mood killer anyway."

Hermione gave a soft laugh. It was a bit mean to make fun of Lavender that way, but somehow it was enough to open the door for them to talk again. Hermione spoke about divination in their third year, and Bellatrix laughed, talking about how she’d overheard Lavender asking if Centaurs-witch relationships were loudly frowned upon.

"She did not," Hermione gasped. "She must have a crush on Firenze, but..." Hermione made a face, and the both of them were giggling loudly with one another.

They chatted for a while after that, and then as Hermione’s eyes grew heavy, she couldn’t bare to go back to her own bed without finishing talking. And yet it seemed like one moment she was listening to Bellatrix talk about Care of Magical Creatures class, and then the next, Hermione awoke in the middle of the night with Bellatrix’s arm wrapped around her waist, holding her close. The witch had somehow managed to coax her beneath the blankets.

It’d been some time since Hermione had had any nightmares. But here, in Bellatrix’s arms, Hermione felt safe from them ever occurring again.

A part of her knew that she needed to climb back into her own bed, but she felt so tired that as she closed her eyes, that she could have sworn Bellatrix had pulled her closer. But as she settled on the pillow, Hermione fell asleep to the warm breath of the witch against her neck.

The next morning, Hermione woke up and climbed out of Bellatrix’s bed before the other girls in the dormitory awoke. Crookshanks, noticing a new warm spot, jumped up to where Hermione had been and curled himself against Bella.

Hermione felt herself soften, glimpsing something she hoped would be a future moment before she pulled her thoughts away. She was still in school, there was another year left before she would allow herself to consider those moments.

Getting dressed, she went downstairs and began breakfast. Shortly after she was there, both Ron and Harry joined.

"You look tired," Hermione commented. "Did you get what you needed?"

Harry beamed. "I did," he said, before explaining how the potion had lead him to coming across Professor Slughorn and managing to advise him of Aragog’s death. Like Bellatrix, Slughorn had known the price of the venom on the blackmarket and had been all too happy to come and have a few drinks with Hagrid.

Hermione didn’t hold back with how impressed she was by Harry’s charm and wit. "See, I told you that you could do it. All the potion does it make you your best self. You always had the capabilities to do that!"

Harry rolled his eyes, but before Hermione could assure him that that was how the potion worked, Harry informed her that Dumbledore had come back last night and he’d ended up exploring the memory.

A horcrux, Harry explained, was a dark magic to split the soul. Usually by murder.

Hermione didn’t think it was just as simple as murder. Likely an intent to murder with disregard and a specific ceremony was required at least, beforehand, to prepare the soul to be split. Still, she couldn’t imagine the complete disregard for self to cut one’s soul in half.

Harry then went on to explain that the next time Dumbledore went hunting for a horcrux, he would be able to join the headmaster.

"Harry, that’s incredible, but..." Hermione trailed off, watching as both Ginny and Bellatrix arrived. It didn’t matter what she had to say anyway as both Ron and Harry were deep in discussion into what working with Dumbledore would mean.

As the girls took their place, conversation drifted to the upcoming match with Ravenclaw.

After a few moments chatting, Ron seemed to notice that both Ginny and Dean were present at the table, but not sitting with each other. "You’re not going to go and snog your boyfriend?" Ron said, though his face screwed up as he spoke.

"No, as a matter of fact, I won’t," Ginny responded. "Not that it’s any of your business but we broke up."