You

Closing the door to the bathroom, Bella let out an ever suffering sigh.

Something happened with Rodolphus. He had stormed out of the barbecue and made a spectacle of himself and now everyone’s left, Bella doesn’t want to go home.

She knows they’ll fight, she knows he won’t be happy and loving and he won’t be Rodolphus.

He switches sometimes. Between the Rodolphus she loves and the man who kidnapped her.

Sometimes she’d say to herself they’re the same person, you’re being delusional.

Bella thought it was best for her sanity if she didn’t listen to that voice.

Because Rodolphus wasn’t like that. He was good, he was a good man and she loved him.

Bellatrix leaned her hands against the sink and stared at her wedding ring.

For better or worse.

She’d deal with the worse to get to the better. Isn’t that what marriage was?

Once Hermione came around, he’d be happier, she knew it.

So would she.

Hermione would fix this. She always fixed things. She made everything better.

Bella remembered the nights they shared, just talking for hours. How the bookworm looked heavy lidded from drink, sleep and truth. How they told each other everything.

She remembered when Hermione started getting distant.

Right after she told Bella she loved her.

A loud bang made Bellatrix startle. She moved to unlock the door and head down the hallway to her sister’s room.

“Andy?” She opened the door, the large double bed was undisturbed although the amount of pink in the room made her sick.

The sound of muffled sobbing made Bella’s head turn, the en-suite door was ajar.

Gently, she pushed it open and the sight that greeted her would be one she’d remember for the rest of her life.

Andy was gently running water over a large open cut on her wrist. There were several others that scattered the expanse of her arm and Bellatrix felt her heart stop beating.

Her baby sister.

“Andy?”

Andromeda gasped, pulling her arm away from the tap and staring at Bellatrix who approached gingerly, turning the tap off for her

“Oh Andy,”

That was all it took for Andromeda’s sobbing to come back full force.

Bellatrix pulled her in for a hug, holding her close as if she might disappear,

The thought played in her head on repeat. My baby sister. My baby sister. My baby sister.

The older woman shed a few tears into Andy’s hair. Shaken.

Andromeda was trembling by the time she pulled away, eyes red and puffy.

Gently, Bellatrix pulled her into the bedroom to sit on the ugly pink bed and hold her hands.

There was a few seconds of silence and Bella waited patiently for Andy to speak.

“I had an affair.” Her voice was quiet, trembling. Her shoulders hunched and ashamed.

“I had an affair and he’s dead.” A son burst from her chest. “Remus is dead.”

Bellatrix felt overwhelming guilt fill her. Sure she wasn’t the one who killed him, but seeing her Andy cry over something Rodolphus did made her so heartbreakingly sad.

Her husband had made Andy resort to this.

“And now, I feel like a stranger in my own home. I can’t even look at Ted, I feel like shit and H-“ she broke off. “Hermione.”

More wails burst from her lips and if Bella’s heart stopped earlier, that kick started it to move a mile a minute.

“What about her?” Bella forced herself to sound indifferent.

“She-she went missing the day we had an argument.” Andy looked at her with wide eyes, whispering. “And it was bad, Bella.”

“What happened?”

“Hermione said that-that she thought Ron and Remus had been murdered. That she was going to find evidence. I told her she was- oh Bella I told her she was crazy. That no one would believe her and now,”

Andy sobbed. “Now I think she’s right.”

Bellatrix was fucked. At this point two people had figured them out, Harry Potter, Ginny Weasley, but now her own sister.

At this point she would go to jail again if it meant her sister stopped hurting.

She wanted to turn herself in, to bring Remus back from the dead, to-

To let Hermione go.

“I’m a horrible person, aren’t I?” Andy sniffled.

“Of course not, you’re good. Andy you are good.” Bellatrix meant it. From the bottom of her heart.

Andromeda was good.

Narcissa was good.

Delphi was good.

And she would go to the moon and back to spare them.

As she held her sobbing sister she wondered how she got here.

Marrying a prolific heir to the house of the Lestranges was supposed to save her sisters.

Not do this.

Not break their spirits, hearts and souls.

And if she wasn’t with Rodolphus for him or her sisters. What was she there for?

Herself?

Was she truly that selfish? Andromeda was hurting herself over something she and her husband did and she would let it happen just to keep him.

“It wasn’t supposed to be like this.” Bellatrix whispered, lost in Andromeda’s sobs.

-

The thumping of stairs made Hermione stand up.

It was earlier than she expected. Rodolphus and Bellatrix were going to Andy’s barbecue and wouldn’t be back for another hour.

Bella’s frazzled appearance made Hermione both disappointed and relieved.

Her raven curls were missed and her long black dress had stains at the knees, as if she’d been kneeling in the grass.

Hermione stumbled a step back as Bellatrix resolutely approached the glass door and pressed a hand against it.

“Do you remember January 16th?”

Hermione did. Vividly.

The desperation in Bellatrix’s eyes made her nervous and she wished she didn’t.

“You told me you loved me.” Bellatrix mumbled, Hermione could barely hear her.

“You told me you wanted me. You said that if Rodolphus wasn’t in the picture, you would’ve asked me out.”

The bookworm swallowed nervously. She regretted that now. She regretted all the times she got drunk with Bellatrix but she regretted that time the most.

Because it was true. She was in love with Bellatrix.

It was hopelessly naive.

“Did you mean it?” Bellatrix asked quietly, “Did you mean it or were you just drunk? I need you to tell me.”

Hermione glanced over the older woman’s face. So ethereal and untouchable marred with desperation and sorrow.

Once upon a time Hermione would’ve done anything to help her, to chase away the storm and be her sunlight.

Now was different.

“It hardly matters.” She stated as coldly as she could. Her heart hurt as she saw Bella’s face crumple in sadness and she cursed herself for it. After everything she did, Hermione still felt bad.

Hermione watched as Bellatrix slowly pulled herself together. She rested her forehead against the glass as her shoulders shook for a moment and Hermione half thought she was crying.

Until Bellatrix looked up, determination clear on her face.

“I’m going to let you go.”

The bookworm’s mouth went dry. Surely her ears were playing tricks on her.

“What?”

“I’m going to let you go.” Bellatrix repeated, stronger.

“You need to leave the country, state, whatever. Just don’t ever come back or contact anyone because he will find you.”

Hermione watched in awe as Bellatrix turned and began to rummage through the drawers of that damned desk Rodolphus loved.

“My hu- Rodolphus has been to jail before and he would rather die than go again. He believes he loves you but that won’t stop yourself from becoming Ron 2.0”

Flinching at the name, Hermione gingerly approached the wall of the cage, placing her hands against it.

“You’re- you’re being serious?”

“Yes.” Bella met her eyes. “You are good Hermione. I’ll be damned if I let him ruin you too.”

“Too? Bellatrix what-“ Hermione watched her pull out a shiny keyring filled with keys and felt her heart thudding in excitement. Was she dreaming? “Not that I’m complaining but-“

“Rodolphus is a bad man. A bad, bad man and I’m sorry it took me so long to realize this but you need to go. France, wherever. I’ll take care of him.”

Bellatrix’s hands shook so badly it took 5 tries to get the key in the lock.

Hermione watched as Bellatrix’s free hand came to wipe her eyes, hidden behind a curtain of black curls.

“Come with me.” She blurted.

“What?” Bellatrix’s eyes snapped to hers.

“To France. Come with me.” Hermione’s brain was at war with her mouth but her mouth moved a lot faster. “You don’t want to be with him. If you come with me, we’ll both be safe.”

Bella brought her hand to her mouth, shaking her head. “I can’t. I can’t leave him, Delphi, Andy, Cissa, my whole life is here.”

“So was mine and you’re asking me to leave.” Hermione snapped before softening. “I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I let something happen to you.”

“I’m just as at fault as he is. You know that Hermione. I’m the reason you’re in there.”

“You’re not like him, Bella. You’re good.”

-

Rodolphus opened the door to the bakery. After his conversation with that Penny girl, he needed to have a talk with Hermione.”

-

“You regret what you did, you’re trying to be better. That makes you good.”

Bellatrix had tears streaming down her cheeks, no longer trying to hide it.

“Rodolphus could kill you for this, and I appreciate it so much, but I can’t let you do that alone.”

“What about Delphi?”

“We can take her with us. Hermione smiled gently. “I love kids.”

-

Trudging to the basement door, he heard muffled voices. He frowned.

-

Bellatrix looked as if she was considering it, truly considering it. Hermione was hopeful before-

“I can’t.” Bellatrix sniffled. “I can’t. There’s too much here. I’m in too deep.”

The sound of the door unlocking made Hermione look to where Bellatrix held the key.

She was frozen in place, staring at the stairs.

Bellatrix wasn’t the one who unlocked the door.

-

As Rodolphus descended the stairs, he eyed the two women.

They both looked flush, Bellatrix was crying and that certainly didn’t mean Hermione had been behaving.

It would only make the conversation harder for her.

They were a distance apart, Bellatrix’s hand in the pocket of her dress and Hermione had stumbled back and landed on the floor.

Rodolphus narrowed his eyes.

“Go upstairs, Bella.”

His wife snapped to attention.

“I have to speak with Hermione.”