My Last Forever

"They don't like me any more."

Bellatrix looked around them and slowly sat next to her. They were in their garden and even though it was summer, it was already dark outside. She couldn't spot the moon, but millions of stars were visible. The fire few meters away of them allowed her to see moving clouds. Hermione was looking into the direction of the campfire, but not exactly at it. She focused her gaze on the tree behind it; the olive tree. It normally couldn't grow here, but a little bit of magic and younger woman's skill did the work.

"I can't hear them, touch them. Often, I am even unable to see them. They don't want me any more." As if by the touch of a magic wand, one of the bats sitting on the tree flew away into the darkness.

"You miss them, don't you?"

"They were my friends." She looked in her eyes. Even in the dark, Bellatrix could see the colours of them. She smiled. "For a long time I only spend time with them and now... It just feels weird."

The last few days had been hard on both of them; Hermione was learning how to live and Bellatrix was doing her best to teach her. After the ritual, when Hermione recovered, she had felt so lost. Bellatrix was talking so quietly; sometimes she couldn't hear her. And her head was so empty without all these noises. She even felt like Bellatrix was lying to her, saying that she couldn't be speaking louder because if so - she would be screaming.

It was both nice and scary to see all these things during the day; so many colours, shadows, flashes, reflections, shapes and movements. Hermione was almost certain that her eyes were too slow to record all of it. But it was nice, mostly.

"Do you... perhaps regret it?" She looked at her, slowly studying her face. Bellatrix looked... uncertain, afraid of her answer.

Yes, there were things she had lost, but she would easily trade them for that one thing she got; the ability to feel. It felt so ideal, so perfect and lovely when she touched Bellatrix; she could feel how hot her skin was and after a while she could feel the skin on her finger become hotter; the movement of her muscles whenever her lover touched or even looked at her; the warm feeling when usually impatient, incomprehensible and reacting to everything with anger Bellatrix calmly, softly, with love took her time with her to teach her how grab things again. And she was so patient with her, even when Hermione kept making mistakes, being unable to adjust her strength - or rather lack of it. The feeling when she went out, and it was windy; all the hair on her body lifted, her lips tightened into a narrow line, and her arms crossed over her chest, trying to keep as warm as possible.

Oh, how she loved having the ability to feel again.

"No." She answered simply, smiling at her. "It made me be closer with you than ever before," she gently placed her hand on her arm and sweetly kissed her.

"Come home, love." She stood up, not even trying to hide her smile. "Tomorrow is going to be hard, so we might rest well for it at least."

Bellatrix offered her her arm, and Hermione took it with a short laugh. It was a nice gesture yes, but she didn't want to admit it also helped her with walking as her body still wasn't the same after the ritual. And her lover wouldn't admit she knew about it.

When Hermione decided for it, she knew she had been going to give up a lot of things that came with being a vampire; one thing she, however, was never going to give up on was her clothing; she insisted on wearing typical for her kind clothes. And Bellatrix didn't really mind it; since she looked so good in it. But now - during the conversation with her sisters - she deeply wished she would change it too.

"So she is... her?" Narcissa asked, the mockery heard in her tone. She was dressed in a rather - for her - ordinary evening gown. The elegant black material perfectly accentuated her figure, while her jewellery and perfectly pinned hair added to her charm. It was a deep contrast to Hermione's old - Bellatrix was guessing a thousand years old - red shirt, on which the woman decided to wear something like a corset. It was something that she and Bellatrix had in common; just Bellatrix's one was far more elegant.

"Yes, dear sister. This is the woman I have been telling you two about."

"Don't mind her, Bella, we're just surprised to see her now, right, Cissy?" If Hermione still got her hearing, she would have heard as Andy's leg kicked Narcissa's under the table. "You've been speaking of her for so long, but we only got to meet her today." She smiled.

"Oh, it is not Bellatrix's fault. I was ill." Hermione smiled weakly," therefore unable to meet anyone outside few people." She could feel the burning gaze of the youngest sister on her choker.

"How ill?" Her voice was full of suspicion.

"Just ill, Narcissa, drop it." Bellatrix sighed in annoyance. "We're not here to talk about my wife's illness."

That was when the storm begun, and it gave Hermione the perfect opportunity to study three sisters. Her Bellatrix was hot; like fire, full of impulses and anger, full of screams and yells, full of arrogance and cruelty. And then there was Narcissa; she was colder than ice. For a moment, she even thought she might be a vampire because she didn't even remember herself being that cool. Her gaze resembled the winter chill, her voice a blade of ice, and her stoic posture sent shivers down the spine. Somewhere in the middle, there was Andromeda who somehow managed to find herself neutral on that spectrum. No, she wasn't cold as Narcissa or hot like Bellatrix, but her... blandness didn't make her any less scary. She was the Black, after all; the feeling of superiority was radiating from her.

But despite Andromeda's and Bellatrix's look, for Hermione, Narcissa was the blackest of them all. Yes, for sure, there were sisters.

"We met at Potter's house. Years ago." She snapped at Andy. Hermione blinked a few times, trying to be back in conversation.

"That boy you were meant to kill?" Narcissa smiled, and it held everything but happiness. "You failed that mission. Did she kill him for you?" She slowly turned her head in the youngest woman direction. She saw as Hermione tried to pour herself a cup of tea but firstly - she lifted the teapot too light and then too rapidly, causing the liquid to spill on the table.

Both sisters were quite surprised to see Bellatrix who patiently took Hermione's hand in hers and, once again, lifted the teapot. Then, casually cleaned the table with a spell.

"Oh, no." Hermione drank her tea and smiled, proudly, "I was protecting him."

Now, Andromeda didn't even hide the fact that she had to grab Narcissa's hand. "We do not understand." She empathized and looked at her sister in the way that said 'behave'

But the younger didn't seem to mind her; she quickly stood up, having knocked her hand away, and she turned down the collar of the shirt Bellatrix was wearing; she didn't even have time to protest. She blinked a few times and had to sit down.

"What the fuck, Bellatrix?!" To her surprise, it was Andromeda who stood up, demanding something, anything.

"It's not what it looks like!" She put her hands in front of herself as if it could save her. Hermione tried to fix the collar, but quickly took her hand away due to the gaze of the sisters.

"You were bitten by a fucking vampire and- and it is not what it looks like?" Narcissa just laughed. Now, the ice in her eyes wasn't just cold – it turned into a snow storm, ready to freeze everything and everyone in her way.

"It was all in the sexual manner." Hermione hadn't really missed the feeling of blushing, and oh, how she wished for it to disappear now. "It's a long story-"

"We have time."

"I was a vampire when we met, and during our relationship I have bitten her to feed. All with consent." She managed to say and flinched at the memory. She loved the pleasure which came with biting someone, but that moment hadn't been a pleasant one; she had nearly died trying to protect Bellatrix from another vampire.

"You are involved with a vampire?" Now, the clear surprise on the blond woman's face turned into disgust. "Mother was right, calling you a failure."

"Was?"

Bellatrix turned her eyes away and bite the inside of her cheek. She wouldn't show her just how much she was hurt by her. "I found a way to preforme the ritual." She took Hermione's hand in hers and placed them on the table.

"She deserves so much, someone's who is proud to be with her, to challange her, to be there for her, to complete her. Bellatrix deserved to be loved the way I couldn't love her as a vampire." She smiled sadly, but the love for the woman could be heard in her voice. "But I was too slefish to just let her go" She smiled, showing off her fangs. They were now shorter but still could be visible. 

"There is no such ritual" Andy snorted as if it was something obvious.

"Oh. You really don't know anything." Bellatrix looked at them as the realisation hit her. The ritual was only known to the head of the house, which they passed along to their successor.

"Once upon a time, there was a man called Tom Riddle." She cleared her throat. "He was known to travel and one day he met a woman more beautiful than the moon. The woman, Nagini, knowing the man was a wizard, tried to stay away from him, scared he might trick her into loving him. Not giving up, Tom brought her flowers every day and prayed to the moon that the woman could one day be his. And one day, Nagini kissed him, proud of herself that she taught him not how to possess, but how to love. When this finally happened, the moon decided to mock Riddle, showing him that his beloved was a vampire. Devastated, the man created a ritual to allow her to be transformed back into a human being." She licked her lips. "You know him as Lord Voldemort, the greatest necromancer of our time."

"There has to be something more." Narcissa slowly stated, "something had to be given or taken."

"It is a fact that vampire's soul goes to Coldharbour and Nagini's soul did too after the ritual." She slowly shifted her gaze, unable to meet anyone's eyes. "Tom had to split his soul into two pieces; one for him and one for his lover."

"And did you?" Hermione's eyes winded in surprise; she wasn't informed about that part of the ritual. Now, all the attention was on her.

Bellatrix smiled at her and stroke her cheek in an affectionate way, "Hermione, you offered me your own life, body and soul, simply because you loved me. It is the least I could do to show you how grateful I am for your love." She tightened her fingers around hers. "And how much I love you." She slightly tilted her head and gently kissed her.