Author's Note: I decided to try something a bit new with this one-shot. Of course it is a Bellamione story, in essence. (I absolutely adore that pairing! Light and Dark! Yin and Yang! I could just go on!) I won't give away any part of the plot here... you just have to read and find out! I would love and treasure the feedback!

Slinking shadows mire the once beautiful visage of Hogwarts castle, creating a fun-house mirror distortion of the once grand edifice. Hermione nears the large gate that surrounds the castle and peers into the darkness that envelopes the area.

Raising her wand in the same motion as she had seen her ex-professors', the gate swings open silently on its hinges. Treading quietly through the portal that was once closed with wrought iron, Hermione makes her way across the grounds. A cackling laughter echoes softly in the distance, close to the entrance of the monolithic building. Stealing glances towards the haunting melody, the brunette's movement hastens. Desiring that familiar sounds never die from her ears.

Shuddering wood groans back into its fitted moors, as Hermione had closed the door. Familiar and unfamiliar images cross her vision, as phantasmal shadows waltz across barren stone walls. Steeling herself against wood, the brunette ventures away from hard comfort of the wooden door only when the short staccatos of heels lead her towards the Great Hall.

Silent as a whisper, Hermione closes the door to the Great Hall. With both doors safely closed behind, she feels that maybe... just maybe, this is not a sound idea. Shaking the feeling of foreboding out of her thoughts, like one would to free themselves from cobwebs, Hermione finds her voice. "I know your here. I can sense you."

A cackle, like the tinkling of glass, comes as a reply.

When the brunette thinks nothing more shall come, the hauntingly whimsical voice of her prey answers from the dark depths of the shadows. "If you're searching, learn to see honesty is all you need. Have you been honest with yourself, Mudblood?"

Hermione stifles a gasp, when the next refrain imparts from poisoned ruby lips. "I don't think you have." The voice whispers sinfully close to the brunette's ear.

The staccato of high-heeled boots leave from behind the younger witch, marching towards her line of sight. "Nor have you been honest with her."

The smirking figure stands in front of Hermione. The brunette's mouth runs desert dry from fear and want. Gulping the emotions down, like bitter medicine, the younger woman straightens her posture. A look of defiance shows brightly against dulled backdrop. "You have no right to speak to me that way. You know nothing of what..."

Laughter drowns out Hermione's retort. Manical yet beautiful against the unworldly silence. "But, I do... You try to hide your conspiracies so, but..." A soft tongue darts between the lips like rubies. "Who has the key?" The raven-haired witch takes a bow, like a player on the stage. "And who does not?" Bellatrix's eyes roam the lithe figure in front of her. "You say that I know nothing, but I know everything my dear."

Eyes never breaking free from the trances the other has each locked, the buxom Death-Eater saunters forward. "Every single thought that burns in that lovely head of yours is etched into my skin. Every time you hurt I feel it a thousand times more."

The raven-haired Death-Eater lightly plays her hand up and down Hermione's left forearm. "Forever touching... caressing these scars. You think of me often... Do you not? They are what bind our hearts. Forever tainted by that fateful night."

Her resolve slipping, like grains of sand from the top half of the hour-glass, as feather light touches caress more firmly. "I-I do... I do think of you often. How could I not? I'll admit... each day without thoughts of you become an arduous task to partake. I'm only alive whilst I think of you. That is why I had to find you again... I haven't felt the same since I last saw you."

A smile crosses Bellatrix's face. Not the normal smile that causes most to run away in fear, but a kind, gentle smile. The kind only saved for the younger witch in front of her. "Of course, love... That is why you can't stay away. You need me in your life."

As she speaks, Bellatrix closes the distance between her and Hermione. Her warm breath dancing across the brunette's cheek. "You can never escape me. I am forever within you. I am the dream that haunts you even while you lay awake. I am here..." The dark witch places her hand over Hermione's chest, where her heart is. "I will always be there."

Ruby lips brush against pale. A slippery tongue insistently seeks entrance, and is granted after a short reprieve. Hermione leans into the kiss, hoping against hope that it would never end as she grips the raven-haired witch's hips tighter. Both pulled flush against one another, nothing dared to come between. The urgency was palpable. The quiet night air was thick with it.

Hands pull upon cloth, trying clusmily to claim warm flesh. The need for air began to stifle Hermione's movements. The light-headed feeling growing steady, forcing her to break away from her favoured poison. Gulping at the air, the dizziness and unease grew stronger causing edges of her vision to blur.

The feel of someone shaking her, makes the brunette jerk away as new surroundings break through previous ones. "Hermione... Hermione, my love. Wake up! You're safe now. It was just a dream... I am here now." The worry laced spectacularly with the comfort in the rise and fall of Narcissa's voice. The slight crescendos and decrescendos of her articulation soothed the brunette, but only slightly as she allowed herself the embrace of the youngest Black sibling. "It was just another dream, my love. No more tears... nothing is going to harm you... not while I'm around." Cissy states soothingly as she runs her pale hand through wavy brown.

Hermione finds her voice, "You're right. It was only just a dream."

Glancing down at the silver scars that etched words of hate, the younger witch only thought of feelings of love and longing for the woman who caused the damage on her otherwise flawless skin.

A woman who held the key to her heart, but was forever lost in the land of the living. Hermione often thought to tarry in the land of dreams. Staying forever with the woman she longed to be with. But only to be awakened by the woman who is but a vague reminder of the one she wishes she had.

The one who owned her heart.

Author's Note 2: I will admit... a few of the words that Bellatrix speaks is from the song called Anteroom of Death by Tarja Turunen. I was having a bit of trouble getting this one-shot out (yet another plot bunny that decided to keep me from finishing my other stories!) But once I listened to that song, everything came bursting forth. I had found my muse!