There was a whirlwind of faces and figures accompanied by the static sound of distressed magic. Hermione heard the sparkling chorus despite the tinny screech of floating demands. Behind the cotton between her ears that whined and begged for her attention thumped the heavy pulse of the other, hungry and impatient.

The man before her in Ministry blacks also wished to hold her focus, if his glowing wand was any indication.

"What happened here?!"

She didn't answer.

Only Luna's hand tucked and firm within her own kept her mind anchored and steady. The man of Ministry appearance didn't deserve any of her answers.

She licked her lips.

Though other aurors clawed over benches, searching rubble for traces of the now missing council members, none dared approach to attempt an arrest, even as the Ministry man commanded they do so.

This fool was no Yaxley.

She turned away from him to the unmoving auror, the one who had allowed Andromeda's mutilation. She smiled.

"Tonks, take Andromeda home."

Tonks hesitated.

Hermione struck with a slight flare of her power, a whip like snap against Tonks flesh that made even the man before them flinch and stumble back.

Tonks yelped and sprung into action, gathering her mother within her arms before she twisted away with a loud echoing pop .

"Don't be mean," Luna whispered, stroking the wild locks of the child Potter who clung to her legs, facing away from the press of the crowd.

Hermione frowned, "Okay."

"You can't do that," the man barked, "That was a secured prisoner-"

"-that prisoner was mine." Hermione interrupted, "Umbridge had no business mutilating a member of the House of Black."

The man sputtered slightly and motioned at the lingering aurors at his back, aurors who gave no indication they'd noticed his act, "Do you know where you are Deserter Granger? It's only my patience keeping you from impriso-"

He gave a sudden violent wheeze, words lost to the hiss of air that left his lungs. His lips flapped erratically in the resulting silence as his eyes bulged, alarmed and glassy. The red flush that crawled up his neck was a splash of color, harsh and vibrant, against the pale slickness of his face. His entire being trembled as if strangled by an invisible force, before he collapsed onto his knees-a position Hermione relished-then pitched forward, face first against the ground.

But it wasn't Hermione that had forced his graceless bow.

The power that swept through the open entryway carried with it a chilling bite. Fog, low and thick, rolled along the floor, coating it in a blanket of sparkling frost. By the time the walls took on the same shiny coating, aurors were scrambling for their wands and footing but none dared draw once a section of the white fog solidified, taking on the shape of a single woman.

The savage grip of familiar magic licked across Hermione's skin. She could taste the possessive thrum it gave off, thick and cloying at the back of her throat, but it was not its touch that sped her heart. It was the sharp click and clack of dragon leather heels as they cut off all sound within the chamber.

Other than the floor-stuck man who gasped and gurgled.

"Goodbye, Hermione." Luna whispered, her melodic tone both awed and subdued. Before Hermione could tighten her hold, Luna slipped from her grip and merely ceased to be.

She'd somehow broken Hermione's sense of immediate reality, and she'd taken the abomination of child Potter with her.

Leaving Hermione to face the approaching Lady Malfoy alone.

In a slow calculated movement Narcissa stepped onto the collapsed man's back. Hermione thought his resulting yowl inspired something within her akin to the joy of music. By the slight lowering of Narcissa's gaze, she must have thought the same, and yet the rolling weight behind her dilated eyes remained focused entirely on Hermione.

She stepped off his back, leaving behind an visible footprint of frost and when she spoke , the fog that covered the floors and walls spilled from her mouth, embracing more of Hermione's space like dragonic plums.

"Deserter Granger. You've returned."

Beyond the thickening roll of fog, Hermione heard someone whimper.

"I am not a deserter," Hermione whispered, soft and raspy against the thudding pulse of Narcissa's heady magic, "I was trapped in a space beyond recognition."

Frost prickled along Hermione's brow, her sweat already frozen as twin tendrils of fog slipped past the flare of Narcissa's nostrils. Within the center of her gaze sparked an eerie glow, a mix of reds with hypnotic blue.

The other yearned and clawed at Hermione's chest and she was forced to swallow a low moan.

If Narcissa noticed her struggle, she gave no notice. Her nails, well manicured and sharp merely danced along the slides of her neck, "Is that so?"

Hermione heard movement through the thickness of the fog, but Narcissa's presence was an all-consuming demand for her absolute focus. Hermione hissed, warmed by her own instinctual obedience, her sensitivity to the ebb and flow of magical instruction somehow sharper, no longer impeded by her missing humanity.

Hermione knew, beyond words, that something inside Narcissa had been amplified by her absence, and it wanted to consume her.

But underneath even that was something else, something raw and aching.

"Cissa," Hermione husked as the tendrils of fog brushed across the flushed heat of her face, cooling her cheeks with their caress, "I would never leave you. Never ."

Narcissa's eyes fluttered, and Hermione spoke again in the resulting silence, "Umbridge kept me from you and her lies seek to poison our Lord's reign."

The magic around Narcissa held her ever tighter as tension turned the slight bite of her nails across Hermione's skin into hooked claws.

Hermione relished the discomfort and had she the time, she would have drowned in her touch, even as slight as it was. Though her time in the void had been both far too long and too short, it's timeless nothing had made her nearly forget the ecstasy of touch.

She sucked in a raspy breath and tried to quench her own sudden pains as the other within howled out for the magic of those who belonged to her.

She cleared her throat and forced more words past the bitter tightness of craving, "I need you, Cissa. Help me, Big Sister ."

The snarl Narcissa released was so intense in it's ferocity that for one brief moment Hermione only saw Bellatrix in the sharpness of Narcissa's flashed teeth and the angle of her brow and jaw. Hermione watched, fascinated, as the tension left Narcissa's shoulders and a gaze more exasperated than seething locked with her own. Still, Narcissa's magic continued to beat at Hermione's skin, distracted but not pacified.

And yet Narcissa's tone, once reflective of only alien magic, now gave off curiosity. "Not even married yet, and already you seek to use my tactics against me?"

Cold lips slipped along the side of Hermione's neck and pressed against the frantic flutter of her pulse. Hermione could only gasp in response as Narcissa's hands slipped lower and tightened around her forearms.

"And what a strange feeling this is… this mixture of pride and rage." Narcissa mumbled, "And… this need to do what's been asked of me."

Hermione's vision blurred very briefly as she pondered her actions, giving life to the wickedness of the Black-blooded curse, when she was not related to them by the sanctity of their line. And yet, perhaps the magic that ultimately controlled them thought Hermione's fragile in-law state enough, betrothed though she may be. What did any of that mean?

She'd think about it later, after she survived.

Slowly the fog's thickness lessened and the plums that had once left Narcissa's mouth and nose eased until there was little left. Those concerned aurors hovered a bit closer, but made no move against the lady of the manor. Instead, they stood in a semi-circle as the once floored man began to recover. A shame that, if Hermione was honest.

As the man began to gather himself, face shiny with spit and tears, Lavender Brown broke from the auror collective a familiar face among the many robed puppets.

"Lady Malfoy?" Lavender said.

"Auror Brown, I am here on behalf of Inquisitor Bellatrix Black, our Lord's merciful Right Hand, as she attends to Her tasks and as such infused with all the power and deference that title commands."

Immediately, Hermione saw several aurors fall to one knee with heads bowed. Only two remained standing, Lavender-who had taken to holding her fist pressed right below her chest in a clear symbol of submission to Narcissa's authority-and the original man, whose face contorted in embarrassed anger.

Lavender flashed a look of irritation, "Captain?"

The look he returned to her was one of barely concealed loathing as he corrected his stance to mirror her own but he did not bow, instead he spat out a hissed "Quiet, mutt ."

Hermione did not like that.

Lavender exhaled slowly and other than the slight twitch in the space beneath her eyes there was no indication she'd been bothered by the statement. The other aurors, save a few who shot the back of their captain's head a withering glare, remained stationary.

"The Hunt is over." Narcissa said, though her gaze too lingered on the seething Captain before her attention turned to Lavender "Tell your Alpha to call back our Lord's faithful hounds. I will take Deserter Granger to Malfoy Manor where she will be secured until the time of her trial date before our Lord."

"Yes Inquisitor," Lavender bowed with a deep sweeping measure, her gaze steady on the stone floor, "should I also set up the Square?"

Memories assaulted Hermione's mind in the form of blurred humanoid shapes and splotches of red with a pale thumb held up as the only clear vision.

Then she blinked and they were gone.

"No." Narcissa said, and the tightness in Hermione's jaw lessened, "Our Lord will determine that decision."

"Ma'am," the Captain spat through gritted teeth, "Ministry Official Umbridge said-"

"Does Ministry Official Umbridge have the power of the Inquisitor?"

Lavender swallowed nervously and Hermione sucked in a breath. Narcissa's tone was far too casual, and even those on their knees felt the sudden shift in Narcissa's attention.

"Ma'am," the Captain stretched out that single word, "I have my orders from Official Umbridge, who is now missing along with several cabinet members of the House Affairs administration and Deserter Granger is responsible for-"

Narcissa twisted on the heels of her boots, Hermione forgotten in the whiplash of Narcissa's sudden aggression. She found herself snarling before she understood what she was snarling about, tugged along in the current of Narcissa's barely restrained need to rip and tear something apart.

"Captain, who wields the power that allows those within that cabinet to breath and wield their privilege? To eat like kings in their leisure and shit -"

"Malfoy," the Captain interrupted, "you are not -"

"Your Inquisitor is speaking, Captain!" Lavender suddenly roared, "You don't get to interrupt."

He turned to Lavender then, wand held firmly in hand, the tip sparking, "And you, mutt, don't get to talk to your betters. Your job, all of your jobs , is to be good little aurors and obey the Ministry while our Lord is absent!"

Hermione's mind whirled with new information-where was Voldemort? Where was her Lord?

Had the Hunt really started with it's Master because of her ?

What had Umbridge told Her?

"And it is the Ministry we will obey! Deserter Granger is under arrest to be held within Azkaban until Judgement at the Square by the Ministry ! To deny them is to deny our Lord and the empire they've built and those who disrespect Official Umbridge's orders will be held in treason, including you Malfoy! You're just a Hogwarts Board Member. You're no Death Eater and you're definitely not Bellatrix Black!"

He paused, if only to spit on the floor before Hermione's feet, "And Black isn't the Ministry."

His heavy breathing reigned in the resulting quiet, and despite his flustered look he appeared rather smug when the aurors around him lifted their bowed heads. Lavender had long dropped her stance to reveal her wand, but had yet to lift it toward him. Instead, with a flick of wrist, she quietly cleaned up the spit he'd left behind on the stone floor-an act of politeness, Hermione figured, since the rest of the floor was covered in rubble.

The Captain took the time to wipe his face with the back of his sleeve, still wheezing despite having recovered his breath, "Understood, mutt ?" He didn't wait on Lavender's answer, and instead motioned to the aurors behind him, "I don't know which one of you attacked me earlier, but I have some questions anyway. You and Deserter Granger can come down to interrogation-"

Narcissa interrupted him with a single delicate clap, her expression decidedly bored. "Quiet."

"Malfoy-!" He yelled, only for Narcissa to give a single two fingered flick up.

As one the auror contingent rose behind him. His mouth snapped shut, though not from any spell.

Maybe it was the reveal and point of every auror's wand in the room in his direction.

"Five seconds." Narcissa said, "then a ten second count before another five."

Hermione held her breath as Lavender counted, "One."

The unified cry of 'crucio' was deafening. The Captain's screams as he fell to the floor to bounce and writhe even more so. Hermione barely heard Lavender's methodical count over the screech and yet… when Narcissa slid behind her she still heard the words that came past her lips, clear and soothing against her ear despite the background madness.

"Swift discipline will lead to forgiveness. Pain will cleanse the blood that connects us all and erase our faults."

Hermione didn't realize she'd mouthed along to the mantra until Lavender was counting down the last three seconds of the Captain's ten second break.

Then the wailing started again.

"Yaxley will clean that up, he should do his job better or the scum start spewing nonsense."

Across from them, Lavender smiled, happy as she held her wand steady.

It was the last thing Hermione saw before she was twisting through reality.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"You're under house arrest until our Lord returns and you've had your trial. It won't take long, maybe a week or two at most. I've sent Draco and Lucius to deliver the message, though it may take them some time to find them."

Hermione followed Narcissa down one of the Manor's many hallways, the warmth of her hand held within Narcissa's cooler grip. She didn't mind, the touch was grounding and the chill chased away the Captain's wails.

She closed her eyes for a moment and saw him again, writhing in his agonies and felt herself slip just a little further into the pleasure of the other . When she opened them again she was before Narcissa's room, the door opened just a crack while Narcissa patiently held her hand and searched her gaze.

So soft Hermione almost missed it, Narcissa whispered, "Stay here, with me."

Hermione nodded and pushed away the memory.

With a gentle squeeze Narcissa released her hand and stepped into the room with Hermione behind her. Against the headboard slouched and dressed in a simple shift sat Andromeda, face pulled in a grimace. There was a fine tremble along Narcissa's arms as she approached the bedside table, where several potions sat menacingly within unlabeled vials.

Hermione stepped further into the room, only to pause when Flemming appeared with a simple robe.

"You won't be stepping into Mistress Cissy rooms looking like this, Mistress Granger."

And it was true that her clothing was tattered and torn, stained and ruined by her ordeal at Hogwarts and her trip through the void. In the past she might have felt guilty about stepping into a place as pristine as Narcissa's private chamber while so unclean but all she felt was the suckling pull of the other , pushing her toward the bed and the haven of magic collected there.

She quickly stripped, not shy about her nudity and took the offered robe with barely a glance at the elf who bundled her soiled clothing.

Narcissa silently motioned her closer, unbothered by the fact Hermione had left her robe open.

"I knew you'd come back," Andromeda croaked.

Gently, Hermione lowered herself onto the soft bedding, choked by her anger and the weight of her failure.

"Don't," Andromeda flinched, still in obvious pain from her mutilation. "You look like… like you think it's your fault-"

"-it was, wasn't it?" Hermione countered, before she spared a glance for Andromeda's hand. The cut looked clean but the missing finger was glaringly obvious. A mirror to Bill's own hand, though Andromeda's were smaller… softer.

Yet, where Bill's hand had looked healed, Andromeda's own was struck an angry swollen red. Hermione moved to hold it gently and noticed when Andromeda swallowed.

"Did that hurt?" Hermione asked.

"N-not really."

Andromeda was lying. She could tell in the quickened breath that left her slightly parted lips.

"You don't have to hide this."

"Not hiding anything, Hermione." Andromeda said with a brittle twist of lips.

"She's in a lot of pain," Narcissa said. Andromeda had the nerve to pout as Narcissa continued talking, "The blade used in House Affairs was commissioned with a specific purpose in mind. The mutilation of a wand hand lowers the witch or wizard's proficiency for, what is generally, a short time until they are able to regain familiarity in the afflicted hand."

Hermione shifted a bit closer to Andromeda while Narcissa continued, eased by the gentle clank of potion glasses as Narcissa mixed the thickening liquids into a oblong ceramic cup. "It would be a quick process, but the blade is meant to inflict pain and recall terror. It drags out the moment of the… separation in the victim, inspiring a cycle of the feelings felt when the separation was done."

Hermione gnawed on her bottom lip to mask the sickening wave of anger that clawed through her guts. That was what had been done to Bill? What had been done to Andromeda?

"Umbridge brought it out from decommission and told our Lord that it would be used sparingly-"

"-she has a collection," Hermione interrupted, "a collection of fingers she's taken from our Lord's people."

Narcissa paused in her mixing before she carefully exhaled and continued, "Of course she does. The Ministry is generally a body that our Lord allows to act in Her best interest. They have to report on these things."

"Then they're lying on the reports. Pius has done nothing to curtail Umbridge's behavior. She hasn't even apologized officially for the disrespect she showed me at Bill's impromptu trial-"

Hermione's words stuttered to a halt as Andromeda violently jerked. She yanked her hand from Hermione's grasp and held onto it tightly. In a whip like movement Narcissa was there, prying Andromeda's hand away from her chest even as Andromeda stared at her with unseeing eyes.

"It's not real. It's over now, dear sister. It's not real." Narcissa rapidly uttered, tone low and hushed as Hermione helped her peel back the overheated hand.

"I'm burning, Cissa." Andromeda croaked, and Narcissa nodded despite the pained twitch behind her eyes.

"I know, Andy. I'm almost done."

Hermione tried to control her face as Narcissa handed her Andromeda's afflicted hand. She held it tenderly but in a way that she thought was also firm and watched the rapid emotion filter past Andromeda's eyes. Hermione could feel the curse of the blade, how it's alien magic squirmed beneath Andromeda's flesh, pinching and plucking at the sore muscle under her skin. She wanted to grasp it and tear it right out of Andromeda's hand, but when her magic gingerly brushed against the corruption it flared and clenched the muscle it held.

Andromeda's resulting cry of pain nearly drove Hermione to frenzy.

"Hermione!" Narcissa's magic slapped across Hermione's body like a physical whip, leaving everything within her stinging.

Hermione quickly wound her magic back as she wheezed in apology. "S-sorry, sorry!"

She wanted to draw back and reassess her reaction but Narcissa's command of, 'No. Stay.' kept Hermione in place on the bed.

Only when Narcissa resumed her work did Andromeda speak again despite her pain.

"Hermione, where did you go?"

Hermione leaned against Andromeda, head tucked against her shoulder, "I… don't know. Something horrible happened at Hogwarts."

"You weren't supposed to be there," Narcissa said.

"I know." Hermione replied.

"Draco told me he gave you the power to go."

Hermione nibbled on her sore bottom lip, "Please don't punish him for that."

Narcissa shook her head, "Our Lord is upset with him, our Lord is also upset with Parkinson. You should have asked Her first, she is your Head."

Hermione swallowed past the loud beat of her heart, "Cissa…"

"Hermione. Continue."

Hermione shivered at the press of magic that bade her to continue and she nodded, even if Narcissa couldn't properly see it. She felt…unstable. Burdened by the many failures of her ordeal and the trouble her little venture had caused. She wanted so badly to protect her people, but how…?

"Hermione," Narcissa's voice was a gentle lure, firm but no longer so harsh.

She swallowed the strangeness that plagued her mind and continued, "Umbridge had… Ginerva Weasley there. She seemed afflicted by the Imperius Curse."

Andromeda shifted a bit uncomfortably. Odd that.

"Umbridge staged an attack by the Order, I think. She meant to make it appear as if Ginerva and I had been recently talking."

"It's certainly what she told everyone." Narcissa mumbled.

"Did you believe her?"

Narcissa didn't hesitate. "No, don't be ridiculous."

Hermione lowered her head slightly, surprised by the overwhelming sensation of relief that swept over her, dizzying. Andromeda rumbled with a chuckle, as if she could sense the emotion sweep over her.

"Bella never doubted either," Narcissa said, "Nor did Lovegood. Even Parkinson was adamant that something was wrong and I've never seen Draco so passionate about someone's innocence."

"Maybe they wanted to avoid any trouble," Hermione whispered.

"Possibly," Narcissa confessed, "but you know that isn't the case."

"Hermione," Andromeda husked, "what happened after that, after Ginverva?"

"I tried to attack Umbridge."

"That didn't look good for you in the memory," Narcissa said, though she seemed more amused than upset.

"I wanted to break the curse, if I could." Hermione clarified with a sneer, "but she threw something at me. And I…"

Hermione paused, suddenly overwhelmed with great longing. Her lips moved without her conscious effort, and she knew whatever words came from her mouth were whispered with great reverence. "It was so quiet there. The Nothing. I did not exist, not as I do now with feelings and urges it… the silence was so suffocating and oblivion was everything."

Hermione hadn't noticed she'd moaned until Andromeda had laid her functional hand upon her leg in concern. "Hermione?"

She squirmed in a mixture of embarrassment and a need she couldn't explain. They hadn't been there with the silence and the horror of Lilyshanks. They hadn't been saturated in the magic of that space, nor lured to action by its song. It terrified her, the void, and still she wished to return-even after her delay there had caused such pain.

That thought was enough to ground her.

Hermione shuddered, "I'm here. I'm here."

Narcissa and Andromeda did not look convinced.

Hermione decided to press on, "Time doesn't flow there, it felt like a forever dream and… I don't understand how I got back here, really. Only that I was too late to stop this."

With the oblong cup in hand, Narcissa took her spot on the bed. She sat regally between Andromeda's legs and lifted the cup to her lips. To Andromeda's irritation, Narcissa did not intend to allow her to drink unassisted-probably because whatever was in that cup looked disgustingly thick.

"Fuck, Cissa."

"Language," Narcissa snapped.

Once the cup was finished Narcissa got comfortable, resting her back against Andromeda's chest as she took the cursed hand from Hermione's grip.

"Be a dear and hand me the blue bandages?"

Hermione stretched a hand toward the far table and with a simple twitch of her wrist levitated the bandages into Narcissa's possession. Though the witch raised a brow at Hermione's casual display of magic she said nothing as she set about the task of wrapping Andromeda's hand.

In the resulting silence, Hermione asked, "Where is Bellatrix?"

"With our Lord in Albania."

"A-albania?" Hermione stuttered.

"Yes, they went to look for you immediately after the Hogwarts attack when you did not answer Her summons." Narcissa said.

"But why?" Hermione asked.

"Why? Hermione, darling, they thought you… we thought you might be dead."

Hermione pressed closer to Andromeda, as if the warmth of her body might chase away the sudden chill that infused her. "I… I wasn't dead."

"Nymphadora… when you didn't appear at the summons she was struck by a frenzy. It… it was like-"

"Like the entire world had collapsed around her," Andromeda said with a hollow look.

"Oh, Andy I… I never meant-"

"It's alright, Hermione. I knew you weren't dead." Andromeda slurred.

"Andy?"

"Potion." Narcissa looked briefly pleased, before she frowned. "Let it kick it."

Hermione nodded as Andromeda's gaze grew hooded and her body began to slouch.

"When the Dark Lord was a wraith they traversed Albania. She believed that you might relocate there if you had truly died. Umbridge spread the rumor that you had deserted but… you belong to Her Hermione, and She would never let you go."

Something warm and heady blossomed in Hermione's chest, "A-and Bellatrix?"

"She… we were all sort of consumed by a need. Our Lord's yes, but also something else."

Something other, maybe.

"In life or in death, you have become an inescapable part of our dynamic. Bellatrix left to bring you home, whether in Albania or some Order headquarters."

"Merlin, Narcissa I-" Something akin to sorrow churned throughout her, teasing at the edge of emotional familiarity. It's flavor was different, a deep well that ached in the core of her being, as if the magic within her was strained with torment.

"Something has changed within you, hasn't it?"

"The place I was kept in took something from me. I feel things differently, deeply and intensely. I want to be frightened, Narcissa but all I feel is... hungry . I think it started back at Andromeda's house. The Order is dabbling in things too olde to handle and the olde that I… touched came to me at Hogwarts."

Narcissa shifted slightly in Andromeda's loose hold and drew Hermione closer. Their lips touched gently as power fluttered between them. In that kiss Hermione felt a great many things-desire, desperation, possession, and relief-but it was the hold of Narcissa's power that settled her mind. Steady. Unyielding. And just a touch wild.

The touch that felt reassuring. The touch that felt like Bellatrix.

"That changes little to me, and it will change little for her." Narcissa's hushed words were light across Hermione's lips uttered with the reverence of gospel. "You belong to us, and you've made us one but we aren't yet whole. When Bellatrix returns you will join us more officially."

Hermione panted as Narcissa stole her breath, using teeth to tug on her abused bottom lip. "Cissa… the trial."

Narcissa grumbled unhappily and pulled away, the eerie gleam back in the center of her gaze, "Oh yes. Of course."

"Cissa, there's more." Hermione gasped as Cissa drew her closer, tugging her slightly over Andromeda's slumbering body. "Our Lord must know about the Order."

"There's more than just Ms. Weasley?"

Nails clawed along her naked spine and Hermione had to resist arching into the touch, "There's so much She must know… I… I've brought back the Boy."

Narcissa paused her casual exploration and Hermione caught her breath in the resulting lack of stimulation.

"The Boy?"

"Yes," Hermione said, "Harry Potter is alive.

And Luna has him."

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Narcissa kept Hermione mostly contained within the walls of her private chamber, noting that Hermione's cooperation with the arrest was imperative. She had nothing to hide nor to fear when it came to judgement from their Lord, and so she shouldn't skitter from place to place like a restless Pettigrew. Narcissa forbade her from speaking with Luna, claiming she'd sent her and Tonks away on Inquisitor business. Hermione figured Narcissa had bid them to shelter somewhere, at least until she could properly present her findings to Voldemort.

Beyond Narcissa's bedroom there still dwelled the march of Her people, officials that had business with Lucius or spoke to him as a proxy for Severus. If the Ministry came calling to demand Hermione answer for the crimes Umbridge touted, she wasn't aware of it.

Mobs did not storm the Manor, the crucio'd Captain did not demand their blood, but Commander Yaxley stopped by briefly, providing conversation in Narcissa's connected den during afternoon tea.

"Pius is annoying me because Umbridge is annoying him. He's asked me to ask you to consider at least allowing Andromeda to go through Azkaban exit processing."

Hermione sipped her tea quietly, knowing the storm that rolled beneath her skin was half inspired by Narcissa's own ire.

"You should let Pius know that I'm extremely displeased and that this request is in violation of proper protocol, since Andromeda Tonks was not a Ministry mandated prisoner to be processed in the first place. We are not obligated to cover up the mistakes of his incompetent Ministry. Andromeda Tonks will recover from her unjust sentence at Malfoy Manor."

Yaxley nodded and tapped on the table, his tea untouched and already chilled by the lick of Nacrissa's ambient magic. "I have a list of the aurors who followed Umbridge's arrest order. Seems she had a specific list of persons she went after."

"Our Lord gave the Tonks rehabilitation rights to me and the fact that I was told Andromeda was not there-the fact that Umbridge ," Narcissa snarled out her name with all the abhorrence afforded her, "hid her from me and made the world think that she, too, had deserted-"

Hermione was surprised by the care Yaxley showed her, by the gentle press of his hand against her wrist, "I've already given my permission for the Inquisitor to view the list of names. I've also approved Lady Granger's house arrest."

Narcissa took a steadying breath and gave Yaxley's hand a pat, "Thank you, Yaxley. You've always been so terribly efficient."

"Had our Lord not mobilized Her Huntsmen I would have found out much sooner about the deception. Pius is playing it off as a folly of miscommunication and missing paperwork and Umbridge is playing the part of an innocent party."

"She is not innocent," Hermione whispered, "She attacked Andromeda specifically because she knew it would hurt those who discredited her at our Lord's rebirth ceremony."

Narcissa's grip tightened around her cup briefly, before she set it down. "I believe Andromeda might have brutally healed her that evening with wandless magic."

"Brutally and healed aren't words I want to hear in the same sentence," Yaxley muttered. "But I believe you do have a point, Lady Granger. There were several others arrested on her command."

Hermione leaned forward, "Who?"

"Minerva McGonagall, Ginvera Weasley, and Neville Longbottom-Ol' Lucy released him earlier when he found out about that. They tried to also capture Luna Lovegood and Nymphadora Tonks, but Luna is Marked and former-auror Tonks fell ill soon after your supposed departure. Lavender Brown is one of mine and Greyback would have ripped any of those idiots to shreds if they had touched her."

"Those are all former members of the Order." Hermione said.

"Exactly." Yaxley confirmed.

"W-what's going to happen to Ms. Weasley and Headmistress McGonagall?"

Yaxley rubbed at the stubble across his chin, "Umbridge says she has claim to them, said she captured them herself."

"She cast the control curse on Ginerva Weasley and used her to lure me into the Hogwarts library."

Yaxley sat up a little straighter, "Lady Malfoy told me a bit about that, the things you saw and experienced."

Hermione gave Narcissa a spare glance.

"He's my ally, which has made him yours." Narcissa said.

Hermione didn't question her.

"Got a barrister yet?" Yaxley asked.

"Ms. Susan Bones is on retainer for the Black Family."

Hermione shook her head in surprise, familiarity striking her at the sound of that name. Susan? Susan was alive?

"That's a good one, she's great. Does good work for her family line."

"She would have made Amelia proud," Narcissa said somberly.

Hermione swallowed harshly, "Does Ginerva have a barrister? Is Headmistress McGonagall still in custody?"

Yaxley glanced at the far wall, his gaze avoidant. "Ms. Weasley does not have representation, she confessed to Order activity with Minerva McGonagall-"

"No!" Hermione barked with sudden ferocity, slamming her tea cup against the table so hard it cracked down the center. Narcissa gave off a 'tsk' beside her, a sound barely heard beneath the rush of blood in her ears. "She's lying, Umbridge is trying to destroy the lives we've rebuilt and-"

"Lady Granger," Yaxley's interrupt was gentle, not patronizing, "Minerva admitted to housing Ginerva Weasley, to hiding her presence from our Lord at Ginerva Weasley's request."

The heated anger that infused her fled, leaving her empty and painfully grey . She leaned back slowly, back against her chair, to stare unblinkingly at the ceiling.

"What else did she admit to?" Narcissa pressed Yaxley softly.

"She said she'd been in contact with them recently. That the Order was aware the Tonks' residence was compromised. They came to Hogwarts before our Lord's planned raid for shelter. She denied them entrance but Ginerva Weasley returned some weeks later, seeking sanctuary. McGonagall did not report her. She's been hosting her in the Shrieking Shack."

Narcissa placed a hand upon her arm in an act Hermione knew was meant to be comforting, but even the touch of skin against her touch-starved flesh did little to stave off the maw of disquiet that rolled through her being.

"What happened immediately after I was trapped?"

Yaxley looked at Narcissa for permission to continue and while that might have bothered Hermione before, she didn't mind much now.

He cleared his throat, having found what he needed to move forward, "Umbridge brought Weasley directly to the Dark Lord and demanded an audience within Her Ministry court. Those who were Marked were summoned. Pius was late."

Yaxley spun a tale for her, one in which Umbridge told her Lord a grand detailing of their encounter. Umbridge had provided memory evidenced, of which Yaxley thought appeared to be tampered.

"The Dark Lord was displeased with the Weasley girls' presence, and Weasley herself looked pretty ragged. Think Umbridge might have had her interrogated first and not very kindly either. She tried to summon you, Hermione, but when she got nothing…"

"That's when Bella started to panic," Narcissa murmured.

Yaxley nodded, "The Dark Lord demanded McGonagall's presence, asked how the Weasley girl managed to get in Hogwarts proper. Umbridge threatened to kill the Weasley girl and in exchange for her life McGonagall offered up her information. She wasn't tongue-tied."

Not like Andromeda had been.

"That's when she… said it, that the remains of the Order had been there. She said the Weasley girl came back later, not quite right but couldn't say more. They were waiting for the right time to reintroduce her to society-think the Order just got rid of her personally. She's tainted, somethin' ain't right with 'er."

Slowly Hermione shook her head and forced herself to focus. Something wasn't right with her? She sat up a bit straighter.

"Did McGonagall seem like an active part of the Order?"

"Oh, nah. She pretty much confessed to hiding the girl but nothing else. It was Umbridge that told the court she was an active member, based on Weasley's act against Hogwarts."

"Who believed her?"

"Lord Parkinson, Minister Thicknesse, Lord Nott, and Executioner Mcnair. All voted for the round up of other Order members for questioning and, if there was refusal, Azkaban."

"Did our Lord approve?" Hermione muttered.

"Our Lord… had left before Umbridge called the vote. She summoned the Hunt through Snape as a possessed proxy, then took her Right Hand and left for Albania."

Hermione frowned, "What drove Her from court?"

Yaxley paused for a moment, "McGonagall withheld important information from our Lord, and for that She placed her in Azkaban."

Hermione licked her bottom lip, "What was it? The information, can you say it?"

Narcissa gave Yaxley a sharp nod at Yaxley's look.

"Tell her, Corban."

"Granger. Hermione. Eh… dunno how else to say it but the Dark Lord left before the vote because McGonagall told Her she'd been in the presence of Harry Potter."

Hermione held her breath as Yaxley clenched his hands in anxious unrest.

"She hasn't been seen since."

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Hermione took Andromeda to the gardens and held her on a warm patch of grass. Bellatrix found them shortly thereafter, the wild intensity of her hair haloed by the high noon sun. Hermione watched her closely, with Andromeda potion-hazed against her chest.

As Bellatrix stalked closer with pitch-black pupils, Hermione admired the ripple of her muscle. She was dressed in the dark tones of her battle leathers, her steel-toed boots crunching the grass underfoot. Against her back sat a quiver of arrows, the bow already dropped carelessly to be devoured by a writhing rose vine.

Bellatrix had been dressed to accompany their Lord on a singular purpose, but the Hunt was over for now. Hermione had been found.

Hermione's breath quickened as Bellatrix magic called to her, a suckling vacuum of demands and crazed need. Sleepily Andromeda stirred against her, and Hermione traced idle patterns against her shackle-scared arms to keep them busy, least she…

...succumb to the madness that Bellatrix metaphysically pressed against her.

Closer and closer she drew, until she stood over her, a tower of erratic magic that sought to strangle her.

She opened her mouth to speak.

The most she could do was whimper.

Slowly, Bellatrix knelt beside her with a gaze that tore at Hermione's focus. The abnormal black pulled her deep within their depths, devouring the light of the afternoon sky. When Bellatrix's lips parted, the words that danced off the end of her tongue were sibilant in nature-a harsh hiss that crawled between Hermione's ears.

Let me in.

Hermione opened, obedient and willing and found herself falling , tumbling down through the darkness of that gaze until red-points of power welcomed her home. Memory flowed easily, lifted and picked over, and from far away she heard someone moan.

Was it herself? Or had that been Andromeda?

Power plucked up that thought and threw it away and the memory of Hogwarts swept through her again. The vision played over and over, slowed down or sped up, examined and disregarded. Imprints of emotion, vivid and rich, pulsed through her in a thumping rhythm. A brutal fervor drummed through her blood, sharpened by the painful burn of her Mark, before that fire spiraled downward infusing her core with a frenzied mania.

Andromeda gave a sharp intake of breath, startled by Hermione's tightening grip. Some portion of Hermione felt sorry for doing so, but if she didn't do something, she'd rock and buck against the witch like a magic-high teenager.

Bellatrix knew just how to stir her, even as the Dark Lord assailed her thoughts.

Yesss… perfect.

Hermione felt the veil of magic lessen as it left behind an impression of pleasure. Hermione rumbled as Bellatrix pressed against her, matching the tempo of their shared panting. Curled on her side and clinging to her waist Andromeda also trembled, defenseless against the runoff of magic that also demanded her submission.

Hermione tried hard not to subjugate her further, but it was difficult not to instinctively fall into the pattern of control.

Against her lips Bellatrix husked in firewhisky tones, "You will prostrate yourself before our Lord in court when you are summoned and if the Hunt is called again, you will also ride."

Breathlessly Hermione agreed. Yes, oh yes, she would.

The Mark burned in tandem with the carving against her arm while Andromeda cooed against her waist.

"Leave me with my sister," Bellatrix croaked, her left eye bled through with red.

Hermione shifted slightly, and Bellatrix took her place.

"When I come to you later," Bellatrix called to her retreating back, "do not hide from me."

Hermione smiled a bit too widely and flashed the sky her perfect teeth. She took a breath moment to listen to Andromeda's gasping, as Bellatrix plunged through her potion-drugged mind.

She turned back to the Manor and relished the warmth of her devotion and the sun. "I won't."

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Bellatrix was ravenous and electrifying in her alien zeal. She was a bundle of energy, of restless magic without an outlet. Voldemort had possessed her in body and mind and upon Her departure, Bellatrix had become frenzied . Her otherness was so familiar that Hermione ached with a desire to merge their oddities into one. Whatever Voldemort had left behind in her betrothed had caused a mindlessness in Bellatrix that had made her truly frightening. A ferocious and demanding presence that hunted her throughout the manor with the heady lure of her wild overflowing magic-begging to be drained and used in dark unusual ways.

It exhilarated her in a way she couldn't explain, calling to a part of Hermione more magic and instinct than witch. Or maybe she'd misunderstood what it really meant to be a witch, frightened of the vibrant sensation of being Firstblooded.

A sensation so much stronger without the strength of her humanity to hold it back.

This is what it felt like to delve into the unknown and shed the ideals of the Muggle. She ran, not because of some innate terror, but because a driving drum song bid her to be chased beneath the swollen moon.

The spell-scarring across her back tingled with delight.

Bellatrix had told her not to hide and she wouldn't, but she'd said nothing about whether she could run.

The light of a familiar window flickered as Hermione laughed in mindless thrill to the slumbering night. She knew the lounging shadow in the window well, and wasn't surprised when the pale visage of Narcissa became illuminated by her bedroom's candle light.

Hermione would probably get a lesson in propriety tomorrow, but for now she was free.

Until Bellatrix caught her anyway.

And oh, how Bellatrix caught her. She'd leapt upon Hermione with snarls and had sunk her teeth deep within the flesh of her shoulder where the blade met her neck. Hermione's resulting screech of pain had melted into a delighted sound of aggression, and they'd rolled against the grass with hooked hands and flailing feet and-

She scarcely remembered their tussle, only knew that hips had pressed and rocked and rough touches had explored with pressure, spilling intense bliss across Hermione's form until their magic was so deeply entangled Hermione wasn't sure whether she was in overload or Bellatrix.

But when thoughts beyond touch returned and the need to reaffirm one another they were alive was satisfied they laid there, chuckling to the stars with only the blanket of their limbs to warm them.

Against Hermione's neck Bellatrix whispered a mantra of her name, pausing so often to bite at the raised flesh along Hermione's shoulder. Despite knowing those bites would scar, Hermione didn't stop her, she was pleased to be the balm that soothed her.

Moisture fell against Hermione's skin in dampness that covered her neck and shoulder. Bellatrix's grip tightened as she pressed ever harder against her. Hermione purred in silent acknowledgement, letting Bellatrix know that she was there as the slow passage of time froze the night around them.

Hermione closed her eyes and relinquished control to the moment. It made it easier to pretend the quiet of night would last forever.

In the morning the world could turn again.