Hermione's Four Hearts 5

“Alright Cissa tell us what they were thinking.”Bellatrix said as she took a seat on an arm chair and put her feet on the coffee table. She huffed when Andromeda pushed her feet to the floor. Debating whether to put them back or not Bellatrix decided against it. She had used magic to clean her boots but it never got everything so it would be wise to keep them on the floor. Especially considering the various situations she was involved in while wearing them. Bellatrix was just happy that Narcissa had time to pack her a bag as well before they escaped. Bellatrix liked wearing clean clothes. Well she did now. Narcissa told her she would sometimes go weeks without changing her outfit. Interest in her personal hygiene was just another thing she needed to thank Hermione for. She did make a note to take a bath after they finished talking. Like with her boots magic didn’t completely clean her body and thoughts of not knowing when she last took a bath made her skin feel itchy.

“What are you talking about?”Fleur asked as she took a seat on one end of the couch with Andromeda taking a seat on the other end and Narcissa taking the other arm chair.

“I’m talking about the fact that my baby sister is the greatest legillimens that Britain has ever known.”Bellatrix told her.

“I’m not surprised you kept up with your craft.”Andromeda said.

“Well it was easy to practice with everyone always ignoring me.”Narcissa had used every opportunity she got to strengthen her skills.

“Wait does that mean you know a lot more than you admitted about what is going on on the Dark Lord’s side?”Fleur asked.

“Of course I do. I probably know more than he does.”Narcissa always made sure she knew what was going on around her.

“Why didn’t you tell the Order that?”Fleur wondered why Narcissa lied.

“Because Hermione doesn’t trust them.”Narcissa didn’t trust them either.”I fully plan on telling her everything but we haven’t had a chance to talk.”

“That makes sense.”Andromeda was happy that Narcissa withheld the information from the others.

“That being said tell us what they were thinking during the meeting.”Bellatrix wanted to know who they would have problems with.

“First I think Fleur you should know that Bill has been using a love potion on you since the day he moved in.”Narcissa moved her hand to her wand when Fleur jumped up from her seat.

“That bastard. I’m going to kill him!”Fleur was going to make it painful.

Andromeda stood up and pushed Fleur back on the couch.”You will likely get more than one chance to do just that but right now we need you to be calm. If you go off ill prepared and get hurt you will be of no use to Hermione.”

“That’s true based on their thoughts Hermione is going to need our help.”Narcissa said.

Fleur took a deep breath.”You are right. I can’t go after him right now. Plus if I wait maybe Hermione can help me plan my revenge.”

“She will likely come up with something diabolical.”Retaking her seat Andromeda predicted that Hermione was likely going to take extreme measures to make Bill pay for what he did.

“If anything this just proves what a poor wizard the man is. He can’t even make a proper love potion.”Bellatrix wouldn’t trust a Weasley to stir her tea let alone make a proper potion.

“He bought the potion.”Narcissa told her.

“Love potions don’t work on Veela. Actually all potions that are made for humans don’t work on us. We just don’t advertise it to others to prevent them from inventing ones that can harm us.”Fleur was only telling the sisters because she trusted them and knew they wouldn’t misuse the information.

“Alright now we know that Bill is an idiot what else can you tell us Cissa?”Bellatrix asked.

“Molly is very set on getting Hermione’s titles. She was thinking about having her other son Percy try and court her as it’s obvious Hermione isn’t interested in Ron.”Narcissa was unsurprised when both Bellatrix and Andromeda growled at the same time. There was a reason people assumed they were twins and it wasn’t just because they looked so much alike.

“That bitch.”Andromeda wasn’t going to let Molly get away with thinking that she had a right to Hermione.

“Yes well I feel her plan isn’t going to come to fruition because Percy is one of the Dark Lord’s followers.”Narcissa was pretty sure Percy wouldn’t be interested in a muggleborn.

”I bet she is in denial about it too.”Bellatrix figured Molly knew all about her son’s alliance.

“I didn’t pick up any information about him from her other than his name. I knew about Percy from living at the manor.”Narcissa had never met the boy but his name was brought up a couple times.

“I wonder if Hermione knows.”Fleur said.

“Probably. I mean she knows more about what is going on with both sides of this war than anyone else. She was the one who figured out the horcruxes and exposed Dumbledore.”Andromeda was extremely proud of Hermione for discrediting the old man.

“What exactly happened with Dumbledore? I know that he lost his position as headmaster a month before we killed him but I didn’t pay attention to what happened.”Bellatrix was also still insane at the time and didn’t care about anything but the Dark Lord.

“I don’t think anyone but Hermione knows everything. She has told me about the main events but not the small things. Then again the topic pisses her off and she doesn’t like to talk about it.”Andromeda wished Hermione would tell her everything but had come to realize that some burdens Hermione had to bare alone.”It all started with the troll incident in her first year.”

“What troll incident?”Narcissa hadn’t been told about a troll.

“The Dark Lord had attached his soul to one of his followers who had gotten a job at Hogwarts. He released a troll in the school to use as a distraction so he could get past the magical creature that was guarding the resurrection stone.”Andromeda told them.

“I have a three questions. One the resurrection stone is real? Two why didn’t Dumbledore catch the man and three it being real where is the stone now?”Bellatrix asked.

“The reason that Dumbledore didn’t catch the man was that he to was trying to find the resurrection stone. It was his hope that the man would find it and he could steal it from him. Unfortunately for both men Hermione was suspicious of the professor and had been monitoring his movements. Those actions led her to where the resurrection stone was hidden. The thing that Dumbledore and the fake professor didn’t know was that the stone only reveals itself to someone pure of heart. So Hermione stayed hidden and watched as not only did the professor destroy the room looking for it but Dumbledore did as well. When they both gave up Hermione took the stone from it’s hiding place and has had it ever since.”Andromeda told them.

“Hermione has the resurrection stone?”Fleur was very surprised to hear that.

“Not only does she have the resurrection stone but she has the invisibility cloak as well.”Andromeda smiled when looks of understanding came to the three women’s faces.

“She has two thirds of the Deathly Hallows?”Narcissa always had thought the Deathly Hallows was a myth.

Andromeda nodded.”And she knows where the elder wand is.”

“Shit.”Bellatrix couldn’t imagine how powerful Hermione would be if she got the wand.

“I’m very glad that it’s Hermione who is in control of these things and not Dumbledore.”Fleur trusted Hermione to do the right thing.

“Get back to what happened with Dumbledore.”Narcissa wanted the full story.

“The next incident happened with the basilisk that was petrifying students.”Andromeda held up a hand to stop the questions.”It was released from the Chamber of Secrets because Lucius gave Ginny Weasley one of the Dark Lord’s horcruxes and the horcrux woke up the snake. That horcrux was made out of the Dark Lord’s personal diary. When the snake was released instead of taking care of the problem Dumbledore sent Harry and Ron to kill it.”

“Idiot. He was lucky they didn’t get killed instead.”Bellatrix was surprised the pair were still breathing.

“The only reason they didn’t is because Hermione saved them. She followed them because she knew that Dumbledore was giving them information. When she went down into the chamber where the snake lived she found Ron petrified and Harry curled up in a ball laying in a puddle of urine crying his eyes out.”Andromeda smiled when the others laughed.

“I wish I could have seen it.”Fleur would have loved to see Harry in such a position.

“Hermione shared the memory with me. I still have it at home. Once things settle down I’ll invite you over.”Andromeda had watched that memory numerous times.

“I want to see it to.”Bellatrix wanted to see the result of the pair’s failed heroics.

“So after she found those two she killed the snake and destroyed the diary. That is also when she found out about the horcruxes.”Andromeda told them.

“Why didn’t she tell anybody about them?”Narcissa would have thought that Hermione would have informed someone.

“She didn’t trust Dumbledore because he was pushing the narrative of Harry being the only one who could defeat the Dark Lord. He even gave Harry credit for killing the snake and outing the professor. She couldn’t turn to his allies because everyone worshiped him. Then Sirius escaped from Azkaban resulting in Hermione uncovering that Peter Pettigrew was very much alive and her finding out that Dumbledore had known the whole time. That’s when she knew she had to do something. So one night she broke into Dumbledore’s office and stole a bunch of glass vials that contained memories. The old bastard liked to collect them and they were each labeled so Hermione picked all the ones that would incriminate him and brought them to Minerva. Minerva viewed them and brought them to the rest of the Order. After seeing the evidence they had no other choice but force him out of Hogwarts and kick him out of the Order.”Andromeda explained.

“I’m impressed she broke into his office.”Bellatrix had tried to do it a few times and failed each time.

“You brought up Sirius. How did Hermione become close enough to him that he adopted her and made her his heir over Harry who is his godson?”Narcissa couldn’t figure that part out.

“When Sirius broke out of Azkaban the first thing he did was go to Hogwarts to check on Harry. When he found the boy Harry started screaming and bringing attention to both of them. Sirius had been in prison for over a decade and his body and magic were weak. When others started approaching them he tried to flee via magic. His magic being so weak it didn’t work so he took off running on foot but before he could get very far someone grabbed him from behind and knocked out.”Andromeda told them.

“It was Hermione who did it wasn’t it?”Fleur knew it was Hermione.

“It was Hermione.”Andromeda confirmed.”When he came to he was lying on a bed in a comfortable looking apartment. Not knowing what going on he got out of bed and made his way over to the couch where there was a tray of food and drinks laid out for him on a coffee table. He was starving so he wasted no time eating and drinking everything. Once he finished Hermione entered the room and told him that she had saved him and had taken him to the room of requirement. Initially Sirius was very afraid because he didn’t know Hermione and wasn’t sure why she was helping him. She explained to him that she knew all about him and that she had proof of his innocence. When he asked her what her proof was she showed him an old map that he and his friends made while they were at Hogwarts that showed where every person was in the castle.”

“That would have been handy to have.”Bellatrix wished she had that map when she was at school.

“When he looked at the map it showed Peter in the castle. So the pair made a plan. They would let Sirius rest for a few days and regain his strength. While he was resting Hermione got him a wand, some new clothes and supplies. Once they were ready they ambushed Peter and found out that he was an anigamus. He had been hiding as Ron’s pet rat the whole time.”Andromeda still couldn’t believe that no one noticed it.

“The Weasleys really are pitiful excuses for magic users.”Narcissa said.

“Hermione and Sirius actually got in a fight with Ron over it. He refused to give them his rat.”Andromeda shook her head at the boy’s stupidity.”In the end Hermione hexed Ron and Sirius petrified Peter. Lupin heard the commotion and a fight broke out with Peter returning to his human form and escaping. Dumbledore tried to have Sirius arrested again but both Hermione and Lupin stopped him. That spurred Hermione into exposing Dumbledore. After that Sirius and Hermione kept in touch through letters and visits and became really close. Sirius told me that Hermione was the child he always wanted. I even heard her call him dad a few times.”

“And he was never close to Harry?”Bellatrix was happy that her cousin got a chance to be close to Hermione. He deserved a bit of happiness after being falsely convicted of a crime he didn’t commit.

“He tried but he just couldn’t stand the boy. Sirius was more than willing to forgive him for trying to turn him in but the first conversation they had after that Harry asked him to buy him a really expensive broom. Sirius asked Harry why he didn’t buy himself the broom and Harry told him it was Sirius’ responsibility as his godfather to financially support him. From that conversation on Sirius’ opinion of Harry worsened. It also pushed him closer to Hermione. The first time he saw her picture on the Black family tapestry he cried.”Andromeda liked the relationship Hermione had with Sirius. The pair were good for each other.

“Did he know that you and Hermione were together?”Fleur asked.

“He did and when he found out he threatened me with unimaginable torture and death if I ever hurt her.”Andromeda smiled thinking about how stern her usually laid back cousin was while threatening her.

“Let’s get back on topic. We have dealt with the Weasleys what did the other Order members think?”Bellatrix wanted to get back on topic because she wanted to take a bath and sit with Hermione.

“Minerva was mostly concerned with Hermione’s health. When it came to us she was wary but she trusted Hermione’s judgement so she is willing to give us a chance.”Narcissa told her.

“Minerva considers Hermione her own child. She also trusts no one as much as she does Hermione. There is no way she will betray us.”Andromeda wasn’t worried about Minerva.

“Kingsley is very displeased. It’s his plan to talk to some others about punishing us. His biggest worry was how to overrule Hermione’s decision. It seems that he sees her as an obstacle that he would like to remove from his path. He just hasn’t figured out how to do it yet.”Narcissa thought that the man would need to be watched.

“Kingsley wants to be in charge. He always tries to take control of the meetings and assign people missions. Some take him seriously but the majority do not.”Fleur had seen Kingsley’s frustration when people wouldn’t listen to him.

“It’s mostly the old timers and the weak members that hate Hermione that follow him. None of them like that the fact that she is getting all the praise and recognition. Everyone else is grateful that she is taking the risks so they don’t have to.”Andromeda said.

“What is Hermione’s plan after she wins war?”Bellatrix had no doubt that Hermione would win.

“She is going to step in as minster and reconstruct the entire government. Everything is going to change even the way the house elves are treated.”Andromeda was in full support of Hermione’s plan for the ministry.

“Do you think that people are going to fight her for the role?”Narcissa would of course support Hermione’s ambition she just wanted to know what kind of fight they would have on their hands.

“People will definitely fight her for the role. I go to every order meeting and am exposed to the public. Many people have plans to step in when the war is over. Some of them have support but I don’t think anyone will take it from Hermione.”Andromeda knew there would be a battle fought but Hermione had enough people on her side to stomp out any competition.

“Amelia was on Hermione’s side until she told them we would be pardoned. She wasn’t pleased that Hermione was telling them what to do. She didn’t feel Hermione earned the right to have authority over them or anyone else. She will likely side with Kingsley.”Narcissa told them.

“That is not surprising. She herself had a role of authority in the ministry until the Dark Lord took over. She wouldn’t like someone as young as Hermione telling her what to do.”Andromeda said.

“Lupin on the other hand has great affection for Hermione.”Narcissa quickly added when she saw the scowls on the other’s face.”It’s not romantic. He thinks of her as his favorite niece. His loyalty to her is largely based on the fact that Sirius was his closest friend and she was his daughter. He feels guilty that she has been put in the role she is in. That being said he fully supports us being pardoned because apparently Sirius told him his ultimate wish was for his family to be reunited.”

“Lupin is a decent man. He has always been kind to me and never disregarded my opinion like the others are known to do.”Fleur liked Lupin. He was honorable.

“They don’t listen to you because you are a magical creature. That being something that Hermione is going to fix when she steps up as minster.”Andromeda knew Hermione was going to make things better for a lot of people.

“I look forward to it.”Fleur fully believed that Hermione would change things for her and her people.

“How is she going to do that? Actually first will you tell me what the hell she was doing all alone in the woods?”Bellatrix couldn’t figure out why Hermione didn’t have protection with her.

“I honestly don’t know what she was doing in the woods. The last message I got from her personally said she was following a lead and wouldn’t be able to contact me for a few days. The next communication I got about what she was doing was when I got word from Dora that she rescued a bunch of people from Malfoy manor and that she was still there.”Andromeda suddenly realized something.”And now I know that the reason she didn’t save herself as well was because she hadn’t removed the horcrux from you yet.”

“You think Hermione chose to stay knowing she would be tortured just to save Bella and myself?”Narcissa asked.

“That sounds exactly like something Hermione would do.”Fleur was positive that was the reason Hermione stayed.

“What a brave crazy girl.”Bellatrix was thankful Hermione saved her but thought it was stupid of her to put herself through so much pain.

“You were both with the Dark Lord for the past three weeks did you hear anything about any horcruxes being destroyed?”Andromeda wanted to know if Hermione actually found any.

Narcissa shook her head.”Not for sure but he has been acting more erratic lately.”

“I think one was destroyed about a two weeks ago. At the time the Dark Lord was just as angry as he was when we escaped. I remember because he let me torture some of his follows. He raged and screamed the entire time.”Bellatrix told them.

“That means she might have found another one. That one and Bella means that she has destroyed four. So three left.”Andromeda wondered which one Hermione found.

“You know what the horcruxes are?”Fleur didn’t think anyone but Hermione knew.

Andromeda nodded.”All but one. That one I assume was Bella.”

“I think I might of hid one for him.”Bellatrix was almost positive she did.

“Where did you hide it?”Fleur wondered where Bellatrix influenced by a horcrux living inside her would hide a horcrux.

“The Lestrange vault. At least I’m pretty sure the cup he gave me was a horcrux. I just know he was adamant about it being well protected and that I wasn’t allowed to tell anyone what it was.”Bellatrix had felt honored that the Dark Lord trusted her with something so important.

“I don’t know if it was but Bellatrix had bragged about the Dark Lord entrusting her with something important many times.”Narcissa agreed with Bellatrix. The cup was a horcrux.

“It wouldn’t be Helga Hufflepuff’s cup would it?”Andromeda asked.

“Yes it would.”Bellatrix remembered the Dark Lord telling her what the cup was.

“Then you my dear sister have a horcrux.”Andromeda knew it was one of them.

“We just have to get it out of the Lestrange vault.”Fleur said.

“Hermione owns the vault. All she has to do is go to the bank and get it.”Narcissa told them.

“That is true but Hermione is considered undesirable number one right now. She can’t just walk through the front door.”Andromeda wished that she could get it herself. She would have to talk to Hermione about granting her access to her estates including her vaults. 

“I think we should wait to plan anything until Hermione wakes up. She will want to have a say in what happens.”Fleur knew that Hermione wouldn’t be pleased if they made decisions without her.

“She probably already has a plan.”Narcissa figured Hermione already knew about the cup being in the vault and had made a plan to get it.

“True she probably made three or four plans while she was eating her soup.”Andromeda agreed.

“Hermione is an exceptional witch. I’m surprised that you didn’t make your claim public awhile ago Andy.”Narcissa would have taken out an ad in the newspaper to let everyone know Hermione was hers.

“I didn’t want to deal with the backlash that would come because of our age difference and the fact that Hermione was technically underage when we started dating. Even though she used a time turner and is physically two years older than her natural age.”Andromeda didn’t say anything because she didn’t want to hear the comments.

“Well I personally don’t care what people think. Once Hermione agrees to be in a relationship with me I’m telling everyone.”Bellatrix wanted it to be well known that Hermione was hers.

“I also will not hide my claim.”Veela were proud creatures and loved to show off their chosen mate. Fleur was going to parade Hermione out in front of others every chance she got to show them Hermione chose her.

“I need to speak to Hermione about including you all in our relationship before you tell anyone.”Andromeda was very curious to find out how Hermione would react. 

“I think she will react favorably.”Narcissa said.

“I forgot to ask what Hermione was thinking about all this Cissa?”Bellatrix should have asked that a while ago.

“I don’t know.”Seeing their looks of confusion Narcissa shrugged.”I tried to get into her mind at the manor but even after four days of torture her mental walls held strong. I can’t get past them.”

“Well that’s frustrating.”Bellatrix would have liked to know Hermione’s unfiltered thoughts.

“It’s likely better you don’t know what she is thinking.”Fleur would rather Hermione tell her her thoughts than knowing them without Hermione’s permission.

“Probably and now that we know what everyone else was thinking I would like to take a bath. Where exactly can I do that and do you have the products I need to use to get clean?”Bellatrix asked Fleur.

“I’ll show you.”Fleur stood up and led Bellatrix up the stairs.”I will let you use my personal bath because it has the products you will need to clean yourself.”

“Thank you. I used magic earlier but I don’t feel completely clean and as I can’t remember the last time I took a bath I think it would be a good idea to take one.”Bellatrix said as she followed Fleur into a bedroom then into a bathroom. It was a large room with a tub big enough to fit six people.

“This is how you use the faucets.”Fleur demonstrated the levers.

Bellatrix tested the temperature.”I think I got it.

“Everything you need is in the cabinet including towels.”Fleur told her.

“Thank you.”Bellatrix said.

“You’re welcome.”Fleur replied as she made her way out of the room. She wanted to check on Hermione and make sure she was doing alright. The girl hadn’t been far from her thoughts ever since she met her at Hogwarts all those years ago. Fleur knew Hermione was special when she realized Hermione wasn’t affected by her thrall. Then there was the way Hermione treated her like a regular person. It didn’t matter to Hermione that Fleur had creature blood. Hermione didn’t actually care what kind of blood anyone had. She gave everyone a chance. It was up to you what you did with it. Fleur had used her chance to speak to Hermione at every opportunity. That led to Hermione trusting Fleur so much that she chose to seek her out while she was badly injured and couldn’t protect herself or the two women she had saved. Knowing that Hermione put such faith in her touched Fleur deeply and now that she had permission from Andromeda to pursue Hermione romantically she was going to do everything in her power to convince Hermione to be with her. Based on recent events Fleur didn’t think it would be to hard.