February
"Changing you mind about wizards in general, Bella, or just about me?"
Of course she hasn't. She was simply in a real hurry to get to the Potions class and tired after yesterday's dueling practice and vexed after two days of abdominal cramps and not paying attention when cutting a corner. So yes, she basically walked into his arms, but Rodolphus still made her want to push him away and run.
"I'm sorry, Rodoplhus, I'm almost late for Potions."
His hands weren't wandering but he was holding onto her, ostensibly still helping her regain balance but not really having to anymore.
"Still nice of you to begin warming up to your fiancée, I suppose. About time, come to think of it."
She tried to shift her weight a bit, not enough to be rude but enough to send a clear signal, and he didn't budge a bit.
"Look, I really need to go."
It was just his thumb, brushing along her left bicep, and then he let her go.
"Eager to go make doe eyes at Miss Granger, are you? And here I thought you're coming to your senses, Bellatrix."
Still she wouldn't give him the satisfaction of changing the tone of her voice.
"I don't make doe eyes at anyone, not even you, so certainly not at Hermione. I just appreciate her being a much better potioneer than you, I'm getting better grades thanks to working with her this year."
There was a flash of an idea in his eyes and his smile turned even more predatory.
"Good, maybe you should brew yourself a love potion and take a big gulp, if it would help you be as nice to me as you should."
Yes, he even moved out of her way. For that moment. But the ghost of him awaiting her on her path through her life stuck to her mind for the whole Potions class.
****
"Changing your mind about wizards, Hermione, or is it something else between you and Bella?"
Andy's voice caught Hermione unprepared and her head whipped to her left as her mind scrambled for a reply, even if Andy's tone was more joking than suspicious. None came before Andy continued.
"Not judging you, I'm such a failure myself that you staring at my own sister like that would be small fry. But was it really you pining after her or something else?"
A simple question but with an answer that even Hermione's mind was still searching for. She couldn't stay silent, though, and honesty was a good idea anyway.
"Most of it, if not all of it, was feeling sorry for her, Andy. Saw her run into Rodolphus down there and while I couldn't hear anything at this distance, I can tell it wasn't nice."
Andy's smile went away as if switched off.
"I see. Okay, you and Bella would be a thousand times better than Rodolphus and Bella. You sure you don't swing both ways, Hermione?"
It's been a long day and a long week and Hermione was still getting some cramps and this was Andy.
"Fridge, you do, don't you?!? I know this look on you, Hermione, so why you never told me before? You don't have to play Miss Perfect around me! I can imagine you will have to find a proper husband – but it would've been nice to know! But no luck with you and Bella, I guess?"
It really irked Hermione that even an honest answer was this uncertain.
"I don't know. She's… different than I expected her to be… much better to be honest… and I guess you don't want me to comment on her looks… but there's a lot I have to process about this all. And I'm almost late for Potions, so I got to run. Talk about it later?"
****
"And I'm thinking brewing myself a love potion might not be the worst idea."
Bella's voice was thoughtful as she once again sat on Hermione's chair, left knee tucked under her chin, but the logic of her last sentence after describing her encounter with Rodolphus was so unexpected that Hermione replied the millisecond Bella's sentence ended.
"It *is* the worst idea!"
Bella's lip twisted into an amused grin and her brain was running a mile a minute, because even her crazy idea seemed worlds better than her planned future.
"Well yes, if we were also talking about me *drinking* that love potion. But what if somebody managed to slip some to Rodolphus?"
Hermione's eyebrows remained skeptical but she tilted her head in thought.
"I see. Got an object of his affections in mind already?"
Bella's smile turned a bit hesitant.
"There's a name I want to say - but if this was to happen, it'd be best if somebody spent a bit more time considering all the possible ramifications first."
Hermione rolled her eyes, almost theatrically, and smiled.
"Just spill the beans, Bellatrix."
"Alecto Carrow. She's pure-blood, not promised to anyone yet, a skilled duelist and shares his political views. And a sadist like he is and not smart enough to question why he might take interest in her despite our fathers' plans. Imagine they'd *both* take a sip!"
It was obvious Hermione was happily pretending to be taking the idea seriously and that alone sent Bella's heart fluttering. Hermione *wasn't* reminding her of what she must do, she *understood* Bella needed these outbursts to cope with her looming marriage. The idea could land someone in Azkaban if made reality, even Bella's memories of Hermione taking this seriously could make some Aurors inquisitive if something like this ever actually happened, but Bella saw no falsehood in Hermione's body language. She was as understanding as her sisters would be!
"Amazing for you and a mutual hell for those two, I imagine. A bit Dark, though."
It was this oversimplified view of things again and Bella had to fight the urge to roll her eyes.
"There would be nothing Dark about it. Just slightly illegal, though I'd say those two are so horrible that preventing them getting inflicted upon anyone else is actually a good deed."
Hermione, however, did roll her eyes.
"Technicalities again? Sure, the magic itself wouldn't be Dark by legal or scholarly definitions. And I certainly wouldn't mind Rodolphus having less energy to hurt other people. But what about Alecto? One would have to be a bit Dark to tie her to Rodolphus like that."
Sure, Hermione derailing Bella's fantasy was infuriating. But Bella still had enough presence of mind to remember how little Hermione knew about some people. Yes, she knew more than Bella expected. But Bella grew up among those people, met them a hundred times, listened to her Mother share gossip about them and more.
"Let me put it this way, Hermione... As far as I know, Alecto is fully aware that the Cruciatus Curse is legal to use on animals and has grown quite skilled at casting it as a result. And the only reason she isn't practicing on Muggles is her fear of getting caught. You don't have to verify this, because there's no chance in hell I'd be able to actually get a love potion past their defenses, but her dedication to blood purity and her skills are about her only good qualities."
Talking about the Cruciatus Curse was a risk Bella was aware of. She remembered Hermione experienced it herself, meaning Bella mentioning Alecto's affinity for it might be seen as manipulative by Hermione. But everything she said was true, at least as far as she knew, plus she expected Hermione to understand there was no point in being this manipulative when she was simply venting some internal pressure.
So Hermione's intensely evaluating stare surprised her and the question that followed shook her to her core.
"What if there was a recipe that was able to get even past Andromeda's defenses?"
Blood has drained from Bella's face.
"You're not going to tell me some is already influencing her, are you?!?"
The smile on Hermione's face luckily seemed friendly instead of predatory.
"Not to my knowledge, and you might find the antidote you've made for her somewhat lacking compared to what she uses herself now, but don't feel bad about it. I've been able to brew a Polyjuice potion when I was barely thirteen and having to hide working on it."
The reply, while infuriating again, took a lot of metaphorical weight off Bella's mind. And the hint that Hermione knew a recipe that could defeat most existing defenses was too strong a temptation. Asking meant tempting Fate and risking Hermione gaining too much leverage over her – but asking alone wasn't that bad, now was it?
"So what would it cost someone to obtain a love potion they might be able to slip to someone like Rodolphus?"
And she could almost see the cogwheels turning inside Hermione's head. That alone was nearly a proof Hermione could get her hands on such a potion, likely even brew it herself, but it didn't mean she'd be willing to sell it. Maybe it was a recipe based on Australian ingredients and so different it could bypass existing protections? Time was dragging on and then Hermione shocked Bella again.
"You take Andy's side whenever it comes to her love life, not your Father's."
The nerve!
"You want me to support her fling with that mudblood?!?"
But even as spoke, her mind recalled her training and began to refocus.
"You want to be able to blackmail me over this? Or is that an insurance against me arranging an accident happening to you?"
And her mind kept on analyzing the situation. The request made little sense if Hermione wanted power or money. Or sex, a part of her mind added. It would amount to nothing once Andy finally got an ounce of common sense back into her head – and even if Andy did do something stupid in the meantime, she'd get disowned and Bella would lose a lot of her influence. Sure, she remembered Hermione's plan for that eventuality was to push for Cissy and Bella being free to stay in touch with Andy, not some super-crazy idea about normalizing such relationships, but even that would cost Bella a lot. She wouldn't be of much use to Hermione in such a position. And Hermione wasn't saying anything, she was simply letting Bella think.
No, the best explanation was that Hermione was trying to strengthen Andy's friendship with her by securing Bella's support for Andy's dangerous and stupid fling. Andy would remember such loyalty, from both of them come to think of it, even long after that fling.
Thing was… Bella *really* didn't want to marry Rodolphus and the potion could be her best chance for getting rid of him. And if Andy really was to fall so low she'd do something to get herself disowned, supporting her the way they've already talked about might still leave Bella with more influence and independence than if she'd marry Rodolphus. And would this really mean betraying the ideals of purity if Bella remained in touch with Andy and tried to talk some sense into her?
But maybe Bella was simply being too paranoid. The novelty and rebellious nature of toying with a mudblood were likely to wear off pretty soon and then it would be just Bella having to support Andy dating say one of the Weasley brothers, who might be Muggle sympathizers but still purebloods. A problem too but certainly a lesser one. The cost of getting that potion was likely much lower than it seemed at first glance.
"But given my situation… I think that you'd have a deal if such a potion existed, Hermione."