Dark Desires

Chapter 11

Hermione had been avoiding Bellatrix all day. She sat outside on the balcony the whole night, thinking, too sad and defiant to return to her bed. When she did fall asleep, it was in the plastic chair and at sunrise.
She woke at noon, her back, as well as her heart, aching. Bellatrix was nowhere to be found, to Hermione's great relief. She'd had enough of the witch for a lifetime.

The breakfast at the hotel was long devoured, so Hermione had to make do of an apple she found in her bag. Now she sat at the bench by the pond, holding a pen and scribbling carefully on a piece of parchment.

Dear Harry,
I have made a terrible mistake. You will be furious when you hear about it, I expect no less. All I ask is that you take a moment to consider my side of this situation.
You are no doubt searching for me back home. You won't find me. I have run away. I can't tell you where I am and I beg you not to come looking for me. I have no control over the situation anymore and I am starting to doubt if I'll ever make it out alive. You see, I have rescued Bellatrix Lestrange, we are now in hiding.
Please, understand, or at least, listen. I regret what I did. I believed that perhaps I could help her, chase the darkness out from within her, because I know she's not just evil. But I am starting to doubt myself.
Do not worry about me, I am fine. And please don't speak of this to Ron yet, he'll never be able to forgive me.
I am sorry.

Sincerely yours, Hermione

She finished writing, and sat for a long time staring at the intricate ink scribbles. Ever since last night, a question had been haunting her. Was there even a tiny possibility that the good in Bellatrix could conquer the bad? Hermione was beginning to doubt. A sudden impulse to run away hit her. She could leave, right now, if she wanted to, just pack her bag and leave through the gate without ever saying a word. She could go back to her life with Ron. Explain her journey with an emergency family visit to Australia.
But then again: Ron. Boring, dull Ron with his ginger hair, the polar opposite of Bellatrix.

No, she would stay.

She would post the letter through normal, muggle post methods. Addressed to Grimmauld Place, that was likely the place they were staying. And then she would await an answer. Meanwhile, she had to figure out how to tackle the former deatheater...

The clock was nearing five in the afternoon when Hermione finally decided to make her way to the reception and send the letter.
It was a tough decision to send the letter, and Hermione had just about worked up her courage to do so when she entered the hotel and saw that the reception was empty. On the desk, a sign was precariously balanced on top of two books. "Gone to the village, back in a couple of hours." Couple of hours?! Hermione groaned. Well, there wasn't anything else to do but wait. So she went up to their room.

Hermione realised much too late that she was knocking on her own room, in case Bellatrix would be there. But there came no reply, and understandably so, the room was void of any raven haired witch. A small part of her became worried. Bellatrix had been gone all day and who knew what she was up to. Petulantly, the girl brushed off her worry, dug through her bag and found one of the books she was currently reading. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy. She wrapped herself up in a blanket at the balcony, opened the book, and escaped the real world and its time limitations.

}•••{

A scream thundered in Hermione's ears. She had long heard pumping music from below, but she had blocked out the sounds in favour of Anna and Vronski's romance. Now, it became impossible to ignore as the sound of a cackling laughter roared in the night's quietness. Hermione suspected there was some sort of festivity going on in the bar by the reception. This festivity had been going on for some time now, but these last minutes the volume had turned quite the notches up. The bookworm finally closed her book and decided to go downstairs to see what the fuss was all about.

Hermione descended the last steps, strode across the hall and rounded the corner into the bar room. Surprisingly enough, the room was filled to the brim of people Hermione had never seen before. Surely these couldn't all be guests at the small hotel? She had to sneak carefully through the massive crowd to see what people were looking at.

The people had gathered around a table, wooing and clapping for something Hermione couldn't see yet. As she pushed through the last layer of people, her eyes finally laid eyes upon the main attraction of the evening. Bellatrix was dancing on top of the table, her eyes swimming in alcohol and her breasts protruding from the flimsy, black dress.

And why, of course, she was wasted.