Chapter Text
Bellatrix Black was walking back to the Headmistress's Floo when she ran into just precisely the woman she had most hoped to see here at Hogwarts. She resisted the urge to drop the large stack of books in her arms in delight, instead peering around the edge.
“Miss Black!” Professor Granger said in surprise. “What are you doing back at Hogwarts?”
Bella attempted to smirk, which she thought was probably a poor attempt because her heart was literally doing backflips of delight in her chest. “Did you miss me?” she asked.
Granger raised an eyebrow, flustered as always. She took a moment to respond, and Bella allowed her to be uncomfortable, waiting to see what she'd come back with.
She still had no idea whether it was just discomfort about Bella’s person herself and her unwanted presence here, or understandably mixed feelings about being continuously confronted with a younger version of the woman who tortured her.
“You didn't answer my question, Miss Black,” Granger responded finally.
“I asked -” begged “- McGonagall to access the library, since all the Black libraries were seized by the Ministry. I'm doing some important research. She thought it suitable.”
Granger cleared her throat, clearly weighing whether she should take the bait. “Very good,” she said. “I wondered what you'd do after school.”
Bella bit down her disappointment. “Yes, well, you needn’t have worried. I thought maybe you'd be interested in…. Well, wouldyouwanttatutorme?”
“Tutor?” Granger frowned. “What do you mean?”
“You've been working on magical conjunctions. My subject is similar.” Bella held her breath.
“In what way?”
“Can I put these books down? Maybe in your office?” Bella turned toward the Gryffindor wing and Granger hemmed and hawed and finally followed her.
While they walked, Bella explained, “Well, your latest paper compiled 50 occurrences of unexpected conjunctions - don't think I missed my transport from an alternate universe on the list - and charted them against the solar and lunar cycle by discipline. You were missing a few things. You mentioned proximity to sacred sites, but you totally neglected ley lines.”
“Because they're a myth.”
“Ah, and on that we disagree. I'll show you.” She was giving up either her alter ego, or the opportunity to publish her anonymous rebuttal, but it was becoming tiresome not to receive any responses except in subsequent articles. Anyway, deprived of Granger’s daily presence in her life, Bella had fallen into what others might call a slump.
“I highly doubt that you'll be able to show me anything -” Granger cut off as Bella turned the wrong way, redirecting their path. “Where are we going, Bellatrix?”
“North Tower,” Bella said. “These fucking books,” she added as her boot caught a loose flagstone and she stumbled.
“I'll take a few,” Granger offered, and Bella turned to her.
She grinned as half the books were removed from her arms. Granger was standing so close, and she could look at her full-on! Her chest felt heavy and light at once. This will not be the last time, she vowed silently, and also, I love you, Hermione Granger. She examined Granger’s naked arms, which were flexing with the weight of the books.
Granger huffed and rolled her eyes.
“What? I'm not doing anything,” Bella said, continuing her examination.
Granger turned, tossing her words over her shoulder. “Now that you're no longer my student, we can call it what it is, can't we? You're leering.”
“It's called a tee shirt?” Bella asked, jogging to catch up. “I really like it.”
“Fantastic,” Granger grumbled. “Yes, they're worn for the purpose of being revealing.”
“That explains it!”
She caught a slight smile on Granger’s face. “I'm being sarcastic.”
“Strange,” Bella said. This may be the best day of my life. She swallowed at the pitiful thought. No, she'd show Granger ley lines and earn another appointment. She'd fight with everything she had for this.
She cleared her throat, trying to find a thread of conversation. Maybe it was a good opportunity to pummel Granger over the head with Anonymous’s private correspondence again? She still couldn't tell if Granger had figured her out. Anonymous was fun to write as, though, because as Anonymous she could be as rude and irreverent as she wished; and this new world was terribly conservative.
“You know, I don't care about employment,” she said to Granger. “It's not as if I am in actual need.” She thought of her decrepit lodging situation, a solitary cottage at the edge of the forest, and then pushed it from her mind. “My main complaint is boredom. You should publish more often.”
Granger kept her eyes ahead, but her neck flushed. Ah-hah.
“I've always found your writing to be absolutely titillating. You're wasted at Hogwarts.” Maybe if we become collaborators, I could edit you? Would Granger take editorial advice? And you'll read my writing. Bella yearned for that most of all. Even if Granger only tolerated her and, in the worst moments, treated her as a problem… well, at least she still had Anonymous. Whether she was truly anonymous or not was irrelevant.
They'd reached the tower and walked side-by-side up the spiral staircase to the top. There were some tables and chairs up here, bathed in mid-afternoon light, and Bella deposited the heavy armful on the closest. “Alright!” she said, clapping her hands. “Has anyone actually shown you ley lines, or did you just try yourself?”
“I came up here,” Granger said softly, her look vague. “Before my seventh year. The castle was still broken.” She swallowed, coming back to Bella. “This is the conjunction of four ley lines. This very tower.”
“Correct.”
“The Founders thought it would be used for powerful magic. The tallest tower, left unclaimed by deliberate intent. Instead it's used for storage. Isn't that proof enough?” Granger's tone was unfamiliar to Bella. She was used to the professor teaching, or berating, and sometimes expressing discomfort. This sounded like a real question, and it made Bella breathless.
“Let me just show you,” Bella managed. “I came here, too. Starting in fifth year. I did a cleansing ritual here every month.” She swallowed. “Now that I'm here in 2007, I don't need to do that anymore.”
Granger tipped her head, but didn't press.
“Right. Close your eyes. Is it alright if I cast on you?”
Eyes closed, the professor nodded.
Bella recalled the incantation, practicing the wand movement once before casting. Granger shivered as the white-blue light slid over her body, and Bella thought to herself that she'd never seen anything more beautiful. You saved me. You saved me. I love you.
“Open your eyes.”
Bella couldn't see the lines, but she watched Granger trace them with her eyes, drinking in her every slight expression.
“I see them.”
“Can you see how that line goes almost exactly north?” Bella felt Granger's look deeply, and she smiled, pointing. She recalled it very precisely. If Granger was another student she'd have grabbed her arm to turn her, but Bella could not touch Granger. She didn't want to. Being this close was enough for her, would always be enough. “And it's stronger than the others? It's a conduit.”
“I see.”
“So they definitely exist,” Bella said. “But I think your objection isn't that. You're wondering whether they're relevant, not whether they exist.”
“Finite,” Hermione said, touching her hand to her own shoulder. “Yes,” she said softly. “You're right.” She looked at Bella searchingly, and Bella returned the look. “Bellatrix, I do feel responsible for you. But I've come to accept that I can't fix this.”
“You already did,” Bella said quickly. “You fixed it. I'm not sure if I ever thanked you for that.”
Granger frowned. “I suppose that's a way of thinking about it.”
“That's what you did.” Bella swallowed. “Please. Agree to work with me. On my project. That's all.” All I want in this world.
Granger stepped back and Bella did, too. She nibbled her lip and then said, “I don't think it would be appropriate.”
“I'll stop tormenting you,” Bella promised. “It was just a silly game.” I wanted your attention. Any kind of attention at all. “And it's not unknown to undertake postgraduate studies. I'm not ready to publish, yet. I want this to be my life. Please.”
“Let me think about it. Can I write to you?”
“Yeah,” Bella said, her chest loosening. “Of course.”
Granger took a deep breath. “And I'm guessing Anonymous will stop writing to me if I agree to this?”
Bella smirked. She couldn't help herself, and winked. “Not if you don't want her to.”
Granger laughed, which unleashed an answering cackle from Bella that echoed down the stairwell and along the empty corridors. It was freeing and disappointing at the same time, but it was inevitable. Anonymous was a persona Bella had produced for the purpose of challenging Granger on more equal ground while she was a student. She was a student no longer.
When Bella pushed open the Headmistress's door with the toe of her boot, McGonagall said, “Quite the victorious grin, Bellatrix. Did you find what you were looking for today?”
“Mayhaps I did,” Bella responded, balancing the books in her arms. “What's it to you?”
McGonagall’s eyes twinkled in response. “Simply glad to see you happy, dear,” she responded, moving to the Floo and grabbing a handful. “Ready?”
Bella nodded and stepped through to a decrepit cottage, a dark and endless forest, and the brightness of her own hope.