Ours to Catch Chapter 23

“You’re not supposed to be here.” Hermione said in as strong of a voice she could muster. She pointed her wand at the older woman, idling wondering if not only would she actually use her wand against the dark witch or if she should try to send a flare up to alert the others that death eaters were there. Hermione knew, even with as little as she knew the eldest Black sister, Bellatrix wouldn’t be at the Burrow unless she was sent by Voldemort. Hermione couldn’t imagine any of the Black sister’s willingly going to the Burrow if they could help it.

Bellatrix laughed, her maniacal laugh which made Hermione think that perhaps there were death eaters listening that she couldn’t see.

“Who wouldn’t want one of the elite Black sisters to grace their home?” Bellatrix said in a loud voice, nearly shouting, she was definitely putting on a show and Hermione wasn’t sure what her goal was. That’s what made her nervous. All three of the Black sisters were very much hard to read but Bellatrix, Bellatrix was on another level. She was entirely unpredictable. “Are you saying I’m not good enough for the likes of the ginger’s?” Bellatrix asked, nearly shrinking in anger.

Hermione gulped. Sending out a flare was starting to sound like a very good idea. But would anyone in the Burrow be able to see? She probably should have sent out some sparks when Bellatrix first showed up.

The crow cawed and gently pecked Bellatrix’s cheek. Hermione studied the dynamic between the two, trying to figure out if the crow as Bellatrix’s familiar or one of her sister’s. As far as Hermione was aware, none of the sisters were registered animagus’s; but she didn’t think the sisters would have registered in the first place so that didn’t mean much. She had been starting to think the crow was Bellatrix herself, but clearly, she was wrong.

“No fun.” Bellatrix said with a pout, “I don’t suppose you would be willing to just cross the border for me, would you pet?” Bellatrix asked with a faux niceness that Hermione knew not to trust; at least she didn’t think she should.

Was she still pretending for any death eaters that could hear them? Or was this the Bellatrix she had met when she was taken from the Ministry? Hermione was struggling to tell the difference between the different persona’s the woman had so obviously mastered.

Unfortunately, the decision was taken away from her.

Behind her, near another border of the Burrow but not quite the opposite side, a loud explosion with large sparks, nearly flames, exploded into the air. Hermione could just hear Harry’s voice, yelling they were all under attack.

Hermione turned back around towards Bellatrix, whether to ask what she was planning to do or to ask what she wanted Hermione for she didn’t know but she didn’t get the chance to ask either.

Bellatrix was already in front of her, the crow circling just above their heads, the older woman grabbed Hermione’s wrists, preventing Hermione from casting any spells as it would shoot straight down and do no good.

“Did you miss me muddy?” Bellatrix purred in a low tone, causing Hermione to blush from how close they were. “Figured out what’s going on yet?”

Hermione ignored the question and instead tried to look back towards where she knew the Burrow was. She couldn’t decide if yelling was worth anything, she couldn’t even decide if she was actually in danger or not. Which Bellatrix was she dealing with? Was she about to be captured and brought forth to Voldemort as some sort of gesture to prove Bellatrix was really on his side, all a ploy to help keep her cover?

“I’m going to take that as a ‘no’.” Bellatrix said as she moved to hold Hermione’s wrists with one hand, the other one going to wrap around Hermione to hold her close, “Lucky for us, there was a willing auror who is going to come help and get captured herself and ‘rescue’ her when we feel like it. I hope you don’t mind us taking over the rest of your holiday; although, it’s not like you have a choice.” Bellatrix harshly husked in her ear as Hermione heard several heavy footsteps run up to them.

“Let her go!” Ron yelled and Hermione was very thankful her back was facing him because she couldn’t stop her eyeroll even if she wanted to. Hermione was sure with Ron’s horrible memory of different spells and ability to actually cast anything, she was probably in more danger with him there even if Bellatrix really did mean her harm in any way.

“You dare tell me what to do! You filthy blood traitor!” Bellatrix shrieked so loud Hermione was sure her ears had to be harmed in. “What do you think you’re going to do? I’ve heard all about you, you couldn’t cast a lumos to save your life.”

“Yes, I can!” Ron yelled back, and Hermione had to bite back a sigh. He was kind of proving Bellatrix’s point that he wasn’t much of a duelist the longer he spent with her not doing anything and him only talking. Hermione knew Ron’s downfall was always going to be his ego; insulting his ability to do anything would always get him riled up and he wouldn’t be able to do anything.

“Keep calm Ron, she’s just trying to rile you to get’chya to mess up.” Tonks said as she walked up to stand next to Ron.

Behind Bellatrix’s back, she saw several other death eater’s walk up to her and Bellatrix and Hermione was very thankful to be in Bellatrix’s arms because the looks she was getting from the other death eaters made her feel they would have no problem hurting her.

“You got it from here?” Bellatrix asked in a low voice, obviously talking to her teammates.

“Yeah, we can handle them.” A gruff voice Hermione didn’t recognize replied.

Without a response, Hermione felt the telltale feeling of being apparated away. When they landed she lost her balance and if not for Bellatrix still holding onto her, she would have fallen. After a couple seconds, Bellatrix took off, a tight grip on Hermione’s hand had the Gryffindor following behind. It didn’t take long for Hermione to realize Bellatrix had taken them back to Black Manor.

At least Hermione knew she wasn’t about to be handed over to Voldemort but she was still uneasy about what Bellatrix wanted with her. As far as Hermione was aware, since Bellatrix was part of the inner circle, wouldn’t the other death eaters be looking forward to turning in the Golden Girl? Was Bellatrix about to get in trouble because Hermione wasn’t going to be turned in to the dark lord?

“Come along pet, we don’t have much time left before you’re due back.” Bellatrix said as her pace quickened. “Andy, are you back yet?” Bellatrix yelled into the hall.

On cue, the crow Hermione had long become familiar with flew into sight and transformed into Andy as the woman fell into perfect step with the pair. Hermione mentally cursed, she had been willing to bet the crow was Bellatrix. The dark witch probably didn’t want to risk going to Hogwarts where wards could likely realize one of the most wanted death eaters was in the castle; it was a wonder Harry never looked at his map to see if the crow was really a crow. Hermione had tried to do that herself, but the only time she could get access to the map and not get suspicious looks, the crow, or Andy, wasn’t with her.

“Of course I am, I just needed to check in with Nymphadora first.” Andy said, then turned her attention towards Hermione, “Hello dear, I hope you’re not too disappointed it was me and not one of my sisters.” Andy said with a smile, making Hermione think the woman knew what she was thinking. The sister’s were known for their legilimen’s skill, for all Hermione knew she probably had heard the teens thoughts.

“It doesn’t matter Andy, is your daughter ready?” Bellatrix asked as she let go of Hermione’s hand as they entered a study where Narcissa was waiting.

“She’s ready, she’ll be the perfect person for a rescue.” Andy said with a seriousness that made Hermione nervous. What exactly were they planning and why did Hermione get a bad feeling about it?

“I’ve got everything set up at Malfoy manor, I’ll be able to treat everything.” Narcissa said with a worried look Hermione wasn’t sure she was supposed to see.

“What are you planning?” Hermione asked with a nervous look.

“You haven’t figured it out yet?” Bellatrix asked with a confused look, making Hermione want to bite back that whatever she was supposed to figure out hadn’t been shared with her. With all the cryptic talk about prophecies and whatnot, Hermione was floundering around trying to just figure out a topic much less their actual message.

“How wonderful.” Narcissa said and Hermione wasn’t sure if the woman was being sarcastic or not.

“In all fairness, I wasn’t able to give her a book that had the right info in it, just background info.” Andy said, coming to Hermione’s defense. She had been trying to get the right books to Hermione but bringing books to Hogwarts and not get caught by the wards, teacher’s and even students was harder than she cared to admit.

“What was I supposed to figure out?” Hermione nervously asked, not sure if she should be worried or not.

Bellatrix grew a Cheshire grin, absolutely loving the opportunity to give Hermione the news herself. It was a lot more fun that way.

“My dear pet, you and I, as far as everyone else is concerned, are going to die tonight.” Bellatrix said then with a pop, she was gone.

Hermione’s mouth fell open as she looked towards the other two sisters, “What?” Hermione asked, utterly confused. At least there was one thing she learned about the Black family from the books she had been reading: they were never without drama.