Hermione knelt slowly in front of the door and tried to look under the crack.

She could see a person pacing up and down and swearing in anger.

Now the witch pressed her ear to the pale wood.

"By Merlin! Crap! That's all I need!"

It was her friend's voice, dissolved and shrill it came from the room.

Hermione reached into her pocket and grabbed the handle of her wand.

A moment later, she picked up the doorknob and slowly pushed the gate open.

Time stopped.

The eldest Black sister stood in the middle of the room, her wand in one hand, a sheet in the other.

One could only guess what was going on in her now chalky white head.

But it was even easier to look at Bella's feet, where a small body lay.

Hermione closed the door behind her and gulped.

"Is that her?"
Bellatrix nodded, shaking, almost unable to stand.

"Trix, what have you done?"

But before the latter could answer, she fell to her knees, wordless and with stress marks on her neck, she looked at the lifeless body.

"I - I didn't mean to -"
"What did you do?"
"Shh - they can hear you!"

"What did you do?" Murmured the fake Selwyn now.

Before Bellatrix realized it, Hermione pulled the wand from her hand and hid it behind her back.

In this moment, she couldn´t judge her temper.

"I - I've been practicing a spell that - that he taught me, and it hasn't worked yet - ever -"
"You've been practicing the death curse? In this house?"

Her friend nodded impassively.

Her face was pale, steadily fixed on the dead house-elf.

"I was just trying to catch a spider, but it came in at the wrong time, and suddenly - suddenly it worked!"

"Damn! How could you be so stupid! What if Andy or Cissy had walked in the door?"

Now Bella was silent, the sheet still in one hand.

"Can a witch come to Azkaban for this?" Now, a single tear flowed down her cheek, "I can't do this to my family! I mean, they need me -"
"Not if no one finds out." Hermione snatched a scrap of cloth from her friend's hand.

"What do you mean?"
"You may be a spelling genius and know the curses I wouldn't even say out loud. But I've done enough research and reading that I'm sure it doesn't look good for you."
"That means -"
"It means that this was an accident, you are not to blame, and your family would suffer even more if we don't do something about it."
"So what are you going to do?" Now Bellatrix gained renewed conviction.

"You take one side of the sheet, I'll take the other, no one will know anything, understand?"
"Understood."

"See, this is one of my favorite poems." Bellatrix pointed a fingertip at a page of the purple book and held it under her friend's nose.

Hermione put one of Bertie Bott's beans in her mouth and screwed up her face in response.

"Earwax!"

Narcissa and Andromeda held their bellies laughing.

"How much longer is this train going to run?" The youngest Black sister tilted her head.

"Not much longer."

Hermione could hardly believe it.

Already arrived at the Blacks' estate, she was once again sitting in the now steaming locomotive next to her friend.

All this had happened in that short time in the black manor. She could hardly believe that.

Something else was strange to her, how was she supposed to return normal after all that had happened?

How to attend classes?

One thing she knew, with Bellatrix Black, not one, but not one day was normal.

As the conductor called through the train, the friends hoisted their luggage into the carriages and crossed the gates of Hogwarts.

Arriving in the Great Hall, Professor Dumbledore wore a pink cloak and spread his hands. He looked worried, the usually joyous laughter missing from his lips.

"My dear students, I hope you all had a restful Christmas. Unfortunately, as you may already know, attacks on Muggles and Muggleborns have increased greatly."
A murmur went around the hall.

Hermione sought Bella's gaze. However, she had turned away and continued eating her pudding.

"But there is no need to worry. Hogwarts is the most secure building there is and we have increased security."

This time an office in the heart of London was torched. Three people lost their lives in the hellish flames, and seven others are being treated in hospital with second and third-degree burns-.

All this horror she could glean from the Daily Prophet.

As before, the dark mark was drawn in the sky.

A sudden thunderstorm and numerous flashes of lightning on the hall ceiling startled Hermione out of her thoughts.
The seat next to her was empty, with no sign of her friend.

But this did not surprise her at all.

Fake Selwyn trotted back to her dormitory and made her notes for magical history.

She remembered the words of her headmaster and got a queasy feeling in the pit of her stomach.

The people responsible for this horror were hiding in a small town called Little Hangleton. She knew and feared them all too well.
Especially him.

Hermione slammed her book shut and reached for her friend's gift.

She flipped open the small paper bookmark and immersed herself in her reading.

She was alone, heard the swaying of the lake water.

The footsteps hit the stone floor and echoed off the dungeon walls.

The student sat up, still with her eyes fixed on the pages of the book.

"Trix, there you are! There's my homework on the table. You're welcome to -"
"It's me." A voice rougher than Bella's, eyes were softer and not so shadowed.

"Andy, what -? I thought you were at Ted's."
"I was, but I had to come - you should know something."
Now Andromeda Black stepped into the middle of the room and flopped down on the desk chair.

"Is there anything I can help you with? Is it about Tonks?"

She shook her head, "I - I didn't want you - you have to know, I value you very much as a friend and I love Bella -"
"Andromeda, what do you mean?"
"I saw you, together -"
Hermione slammed her book shut again, "What do you know about it?"