Chapter 17: The Window BrokenChapter Text
Hermione shivered and pulled her coat a little tighter. Tonight was a particularly cold night, well below freezing. She was already setting up at the pool while waiting for Bellatrix to arrive. The dagger, the fond and, of course, the script for the ritual. Still, it was rather curious that Bellatrix wasn't there yet: usually she was there waiting as soon as the pool activated.
Hermione had to admit she was nervous. The both of them had put in so much work the past couple of weeks and, honestly, it was starting to hurt Hermione to see Bellatrix so actively and enthusiastically driven to crack the secret of the Fae Mirror, all the while oblivious to the fate hanging over her head. There had been times that Hermione simply wanted to scream and reveal everything, but knew that doing so would change nothing until all the rules set could be broken. But no, the Fae Mirror was still the key to everything and figuring out how to actually change fate would be step 2.
They were only up against the tides of Cause and Effect and the general laws of the universe' progression of time. Both Insignificant things, really… Hermione snorted and rolled her eyes.
Still no Trix. Hermione took a moment to reflect on how they got to this point.
After expanding their proof of concept with some solid experimentation, Hermione had managed to MacGyver together a completely new blood ritual from about twenty existing ones. Cadence and wording was important, but even more important were intentions and desires behind the words. That was why their first real attempt at breaching the Fae Mirror had failed: the words of their first attempt were discordant with the intentions. Granted, Hermione had always been more of a theoretical writer than a creative one… which is where Trix came in handy. Together they managed to streamline it and Hermione was grateful for it. She was feeling a bit out of her depth, even though Bellatrix told her that she had done great work already and that every writer worth their salt improved on first versions of a work with a second, third or even fourth pass.
Their second attempt at a breach failed because Bellatrix had underestimated just how much magic the Fae Mirror would demand. Though redirecting the flow of magic through the lay-lines worked perfectly, the reserves just weren't enough to simulate a third person. A frustrated Bellatrix went back to the drawing board, talked with Antonin Dolohov on her side more and tried to figure out ways to make the magical flow purer and more plentiful, but simply couldn't figure out where she had gone wrong. She delved into deep theoretical material to a point where the talk about 'void zones', 'flow currents', 'activity spikes' and 'Zero-point magicals' was starting to make Hermione's head spin. Until Hermione asked to see the notes of her calculations and while Arithmancy was one of Hermione's favourite subjects, it quickly became clear to her that Bellatrix had a grasp on the magical nature of reality far beyond her own. That is, until Hermione noticed that Bellatrix had made an error in her primary calculations which were a supposition for all her future calculations, undoubtedly because of her enthusiasm, Bellatrix had placed a dot at the wrong decimal and had missed this completely as she kept working. This incorrect value had worked its way through the entire work and Bellatrix never found it because she was consistently looking for fault in the wrong place.
When Hermione had told her, Bellatrix had turned bright red and avoided looking her in the eye for the rest of their conversation. It showed a side of Bellatrix Hermione had rarely seen: gone was the confidence, the arrogance, the self-assurance. Bellatrix was demure, timid, apologetic and embarrassed, constantly cursing herself and apologizing to Hermione for wasting so much of their time.
It was really rather cute. Until Hermione realized that Bellatrix' confidence had been completely shattered and was as much in need of a pep-talk as she had been when she had botched up the first version of the ritual. Of course, it was right back to work soon enough.
Today would be the third attempt. If the law of threes held up, tonight might be the night. What wonders would they see? Would it even work? Would they finally be able to see each other face to face? She could only hope.
Still no Trix. She wasn't usually this late. Hermione wondered what could be keeping her.
Her answer came when a panting Bellatrix came running into the clearing and collapsed next to the log. "Sorry, sorry," Bellatrix caught in between laboured breaths. "I just wanted to do a last check-up on one of the lodestones. I wasn't sure I had buried it with the positive end pointing in the right direction. But it was. I'm completely convinced it will work now."
"No worries," said Hermione. "Take a moment to catch your breath. We still have plenty of time. And we need to rehearse the words and the cadence anyway."
"Good," smiled Bellatrix, her eyes drifting away slightly. She seemed distracted. Hermione couldn't help but pick up on that immediately. It was the way her eyes darted around, unfocused. There was obviously something on her mind. Their ritual would require utmost concentration and focus if it was to work. But, more importantly, if there was something on Bellatrix' mind, something must be worrying her.
"Trix?" she asked. "What's wrong?"
By now there was an understanding between the two of them. Trust. They felt they could share their thoughts and woes. Even so, Bellatrix rather hesitantly shook her head. "It's just..." she sighed. "I had a fight with Andie earlier this evening and... I said some things to her I shouldn't have. Things I regret saying."
Hermione could tell that it was really bothering Trix. "I'm sorry," said Hermione. "What was it about?"
"She caught me studying our rite," replied Bellatrix with pursed lips. "Gave me a lecture about the dark nature of blood magic."
"Well..." replied Hermione, biting her lip. "She's not wrong..."
"Not you too!" Bellatrix snorted. "I'll... I'll make it up to her later. I'll buy her some of those bonbons she likes. Take her out to Hogsmeade. I promise I won't let it distract me."
"Good," said Hermione. "I never had any siblings, but I understand well enough that you need to take good care of them."
Bellatrix chuckled. "Spoken like an only child! Honestly, siblings can be a piece of piss at the best of times, but… Look, let's just begin, alright?" she asked. Hermione agreed. Together they rehearsed the rhymes and the wand movements for about half an hour until they both felt they had gotten it just right. "Remember," said Hermione. "Where I say past, you must say 'future'. I noticed that bit threw you off a bit earlier."
"I'll keep that in mind, " said Bellatrix. "About the words. Who is which?"
A fair question. "I don't think it's either of us," said Hermione.
"Or it could be both of us," Bellatrix suggested.
"We're both sacred and damned?" Hermione asked.
"Think about it. Neither of us is in the best state at the moment," said Bellatrix. "I got a loveless marriage hanging over my head and you're recovering from a war. But we are both still alive regardless and we both still hope."
Hermione was actually pleased to hear that. "Ready?" she asked, apprehension creeping into her voice as she was both excited and frightened for what they were about to do.
"Ready!" Bellatrix confirmed with grim determination.
The ritual started with acute timing. Both girls took their daggers and slid it across the palm of their hands. By now, they had done it so often that they had gotten used to the pain. Putting the dagger aside, they held their hands above the pool and let droplets of blood fall into the magical waters, the colour changing from blue into deep red. While holding their wands in the other and making the required wand movements, the two girls chanted in unison.
"Blood of the present
Blood of the past
Blood of the sacred
Blood of the damned
Blood of the lover
Blood of the loved
Blood of the false
Blood of the true
Blood of the wicked
Blood of the wise
We give of ourselves
We give of our lives
Grant us a glimpse,
Carry us off to paradise."
When the chant was done, silence overcame the clearing. This was utter silence, as if all sounds from the forest and the denizens of the night were being blocked out. For a moment, Hermione was unsure if it had actually worked, but was confronted with the fact that it had soon enough.
Blood rites drained life, magic and essence and earlier attempts had certainly done so. There'd been times where she'd been so drained that she had slept half the day away. Of course, all these things replenished with time and rest so there were no worries there. But this attempt? This attempt drained a lot. A lot to a point that Hermione fell to her knees and fought to keep herself awake. A glance down the pool showed that Bellatrix was in a similar state. Okay, that certainly meant that on their next try, they'd both have to be very well rested.
Then. It happened.
A blinding flash of red light overcame Hermione, to a point where she could see no more. She felt no ground underneath her feet as her body was suddenly thrust forward. For a moment, Hermione felt like her body was being shoved through a narrow tube and her tissues being stretched beyond what should be their limits. Whatever had happened, though, it did not last long enough for her to actually feel any sort of pain until she she was rather roughly expunged from whatever magical process she had started and deposited on the ground.
The warm ground.
Even with her eyes closed, she could feel the light of the sun on her skin. Something had happened. She had been transported... somewhere else.
When she opened her eyes, she was blinded by daylight. She scrambled to her feet, used her hand to protect her eyes and, when they adjusted to the sudden influx of light, Hermione gasped at what she saw. She was standing at the edge of a large landmass, stretching as far as the eye could see. Above her was a bright blue sky, but she could see no sun or clouds. Large floating rocks, landmasses in themselves, floated freely in the air far above and around them. Hermione counted five... no seven... more…
She took note of her immediate surroundings. Hermione had been deposited on a rocky plateau overlooking what seemed to be a tranquil savanna with a large forest in the distance. She gasped when she realized she was standing uncomfortably close to the literal edge of the world, with a sharp drop-off into an endless bright void stretching to infinity in every direction. Apparently this landmass was another one of those floating rocks. She quickly backed away a little.
What also struck her were the colours. Vibrant green, powerful red, bright brown... in fact, every colour had an unnatural shade of bright vibrancy to it, as if this strange world was a Pixar film come to life. Hermione turned around and saw near her a rift through which she could still see the Forbidden Forest. Next to the rift lay her wand as well as her thermos flask of tea and all her books and notes. It seemed all her supplies had been brought along for the ride as well well.
"Oh wow," she whispered. "We actually did it..."
"Hermie!" sounded from the other side of the plateau. Hermione gasped, realizing that Trix was here. Thankfully, Bellatrix had been deposited quite near her. "Over here!"
Hermione froze when she saw Trix waving at her. She had never seen her friend by daylight: Trix was paler than she had expected, her curly hair dancing around her as her face was adorned with a happy and genuine smile. The girl rushed forward until she stood a few meters away from each other.
Trix was a few inches shorter than her, looking at her with heavy-lidded eyes. Her landing had not been a great one as there was a bloodied scratch on her chin. But that nothing a little healing potion couldn't help with: they'd still have to heal their hands too, after all.
"We did it," Bellatrix laughed. "We really did it!"
Without a further word, the two girls rushed to each other. They had been friends for months and this was the first time they met face to face. It was Trix who made the first move and took her in a firm embrace, one Hermione quickly returned. Clutching onto each other, Trix giggled in elation.
Hermione closed her eyes and simply enjoyed the sensation. "You're so beautiful," Hermione found herself whispering before she even realized what exactly she had just said.
A few moments later, both young witches were sat on a fallen log overlooking the magical and alien landscape below, taking in the majestic sight in silence. A flying creature passed by in the distance, which looked to be a cross between a pterodactyl and a dragonfly, as impossible as that sounded. But for all the unique splendour of this magical realm, Hermione found herself almost unable to tear her eyes off Bellatrix.
Bellatrix, for her part, was beyond excited, eyes roving across the valley. "Hermie," Bellatrix chuckled. "We're actually the first witches to ever set foot in this place. Do you realize that we get to name the things we see and discover?"
Bellatrix rose to her feet. "I name this plateau 'Black's Landing'! For a Black quite literally landed here. On her chin."
Hermione raised an eyebrow. "Shouldn't it be named 'Black's Faceplant', then?"
Her friend sat back down, but not before giving her somewhat of a glare. "Shut up!" she muttered, yet the twinkle in her eye was undeniable.
"There were times when I wondered if you were actually real," said Hermione. "There were times I thought you were a figment."
Bellatrix seemed contemplative for a moment. "Same," she replied. "I never realized how much I needed companionship until I met you. Tell you what, though..."
"Hm?"
"I'm glad you're real," smiled Bellatrix.
"Absolutely," Hermione replied. Above them, the sky was as bright as ever. Try as she might, she could not spot a single cloud. No sun. No cloud. Were there even weather patterns in this realm? Was there even a day-night cycle? So many questions.
"Oh, damn!" Bellatrix cursed and picked up a notebook. "We should be documenting all of this! This is all new discovery! We should take detailed notes of what we see and what we encounter."
"Well," said Hermione. "We did document the ritual and our journey to it. That's a good start."
"It's what Eleanore Snowbell would do," said Bellatrix as she started to scribble in the notebook. "Right, Black's Landing is here and... oh, bother, how do we know which direction is North? Fiddlesticks, I'll figure that out later. Oh, wait!"
From her perch, Hermione could see that Bellatrix was drawing a crude map. However, she was more interested in what Bellatrix had just said. "You know Eleanore Snowbell?" Hermione asked.
"Of course!" smiled Bellatrix, looking up from her notebook. As she talked, she fished one of the left-over lodestones from her bag and made it magically float in the air with a quick wordless spell. "I wanted to be just like her when I was just a little witchling. Going out to explore the world and getting in all matter of adventures, like the time she got herself embroiled in the yeti civil war when searching through the ruins of Shambhala in Tibet. Or documenting the runic tablets of the draugr at Greenland and being beset upon by the drowned dead."
That made Hermione chuckle: though she had read Snowbell's work a few times, she felt that the woman was exaggerating some of the more outlandish parts of her travels for the sake of exciting her readers, but Snowbell was undeniably a great explorer. By now, the floating lodestone had settled and pointed north. Curious, apparently there was a magnetic north in this Realm for the lodestone to work.
"What?" Bellatrix raised an eyebrow at Hermione's chuckle.
"Oh, nothing," Hermione replied. "I just love that you love Eleanore Snowbell."
"And why wouldn't I?!" Bellatrix raved. "She's everything a witch should be! Brave. Smart. Strong willed. Magically gifted. Adventurous!"
"In that case," said Hermione. "You'll be pleased to know that she's still active in 1998. Snowbell is trying to get an expedition to find old Hyperborea off the ground, but she's having some trouble finding financing. With the war just being over, expeditions to far lands aren't exactly considered a high priority right now."
"What a shame," pouted Bellatrix. "Adventure and exploration are important, especially after dark times. Still, I hope she gets the expedition going. She'd be what? 110 years old in 1998?"
"107," Hermione replied. "Not that you'd be able to tell. She looks and acts like a witch in her fifties."
Bellatrix shook her head. "I hope I'll be as sprite and active when I'm that age. Hermie? We need to explore this place. Set up an expedition of our own! Look at the world that's out there and imagine that we're going to be the first to see it! Adventure and glory is here, Hermione! And all we have to do is to reach out and grab it!"
Hermione had to admit that did sound alluring and more than a little exciting. Still, she had to remember she had an ulterior motive she was keeping from Bellatrix: she had to be saved from her future fate. Still, it seemed that these two things now coincided. They had already achieved the impossible: two witches 30 years apart in time were now in the same location... wherever or whatever it was. Was this what Achille Rosier had meant by 'breaking the cycle'? Did he know of this place or was he merely guessing himself?
"I agree, but we need to make preparations for that and we need to know more about how this world interacts with ours," said Hermione. "For example, it'll be 4:00 AM in about five minutes and I don't think we want to be trapped here. Not without supplies."
Bellatrix bit her lip. "You're right, of course," she said. "Eleanore Snowbell said it herself: 'An expedition that is poorly prepared is an expedition doomed to failure'. Wise words."
Hermione stood up and squeezed her friend's shoulder. "Trust me, I want to explore this world as much as you do."
"I want to do this right," Bellatrix smirked. "I want to explore this realm and discover its secrets... with you."
The way Bellatrix had spoken those words gave Hermione a tingling sensation in the pit of her stomach. Slowly, Bellatrix dared to reach over with her hand to slowly grasp Hermione's. Fingers intertwined and soft skin slid over soft skin. Hermione felt her heart jump, especially when Bellatrix gave her that deep and alluring look. Hermione almost went weak in the knees when Bellatrix slowly squeezed her hand.
If she was being brutally honest with herself, Andromeda had often wondered if she had ever actually been Slytherin material. Oh, she valued cunning and ambition well enough, but doubted she had what it took to actually do some of the things which needed to be done to be a true Slytherin at heart. For one, she always had her big sister who looked out for her. In the past, Bellatrix had made it known far and wide in Slytherin that anyone who would swindle, harm or negatively impact her in any way, would have to deal with her as well. And since Bellatrix was feared and respected throughout Slytherin House as well as the entire school, that claim held a lot of weight.
Thing is, Bella's respect had been earned through prowess, talent and the occasional act of violence. Andromeda herself was seemingly only respected because of who her big sister was. In that regard, perhaps Bella had been right: she had been standing in her big sister's shadow.
But right now, Andromeda was planning to return the favour. Though she might be a lesser witch than Bellatrix, Andromeda was far from stupid and realized quite well what Bellatrix's patterns were. Wearing an invisibility cloak borrowed from a friend in Ravenclaw, Andromeda was following Bellatrix after she had entered the Forbidden Forest.
Sometimes a little sister had to look out of her big sister. In fact, she already had: Andie had noticed Bellatrix talking to Antonin Dolohov from Ravenclaw a lot as of late so Andromeda did some sleuthing of her own. Dolohov was no Slytherin and thus surprisingly trusting and talkative when approached with the right questions. Apparently he and Bellatrix had been talking a lot about radio waves, magical signals and cadence, apparently to support some project Bellatrix was working on for Theory of Magic. Now Andromeda knew Bellatrix well enough to know that she didn't give a flying fuck about radio, so this must have had something to do with the blood ritual. Dolohov didn't seem to know any further details, so Andie surmised that he wasn't a participant.
That left only 'Hermione'.
Andromeda would discover who this 'Hermione' really was, where she lived and then would have some serious words with her: honestly, she knew blood rites were often still practised by pure-blood families, including her own, but that didn't make them any less dangerous. Many a cocky young wizard or witch still died of taking a blood ritual too far and draining themselves completely and she was damned before she'd let that happen to Bellatrix.
Andromeda kept a respectful distance: though she was wearing an invisibility cloak, she knew that Bellatrix was far from stupid and would likely notice she was being followed if she got too close. Cloaks only hid her from sight, after all, but it would not hide the cracking of fresh snow underneath her boots or the tracks she left.
She followed Bellatrix through the forest and watched as Bellatrix started to dig near the roots of a large oak. Whatever she found there, Bellatrix seemed pleased and reburied the object without taking it.
Curious.
After this, Bellatrix took a sprint which momentarily startled Andromeda. Had she been discovered? It didn't seem so as Bellatrix didn't run towards her or headed back to the school, but rather headed deeper into the forest.
She followed suit, sprinting herself until she saw her sister coming to a stop in the distance. Andromeda swiftly found a good perch behind a fallen tree to watch her from a distance and came across a most curious sight: her sister was sat on the root of a dead tree in the middle of a clearing, peering down into a pool of water which bathed the clearing in a bluish glow. Powerful magic was at play her, as she felt the power radiating through the air.
"Sorry, sorry," Bellatrix spoke to the pool in between laboured breaths. "I just wanted to do a last check-up on one of the lodestones. I wasn't sure I had buried it with the positive end pointing in the right direction. But it was. I'm completely convinced it will work now."
What the... who was Bellatrix talking too? Was there someone else here?
"No worries," sounded the voice of a young woman. "Take a moment to catch your breath. We still have plenty of time. And we need to rehearse the words and the cadence anyway."
How odd. The voice unmistakably came from the pool. Though she would like to, Andromeda wouldn't dare to get closer for fear of being discovered. If she would, not only would Bella give her one hell of a bollocking, but there was no doubt in her mind that she would lose any hope to actually help her sister.
"Good," replied Bellatrix and even from her, Andromeda could hear in her voice that she was feeling a little bit down.
"Trix?" asked the young woman. "What's wrong?"
Bella shook her head. "It's just..." she sighed. "I had a fight with Andie earlier this evening and... I said some things to her I shouldn't have. Things I regret saying."
"I'm sorry," replied the young woman. "What was it about?"
"She caught me studying our rite," replied Bellatrix with pursed lips. "Gave me a lecture about the dark nature of blood magic."
"Well..." said the young woman from the pool. "She's not wrong..."
"Not you too!" Bellatrix snorted. "I'll... I'll make it up to her later. I'll buy her some of those bonbons she likes. Take her out to Hogsmeade. I promise I won't let it distract me."
That made Andromeda smile. Oh, Bella might act tough and aloof at times, making it seem as if nothing in the world could bother her, but Andromeda knew better. She was the one who had stroked Bella's curly hair when she had her head in her lap while bawling her eyes out after her engagement to Rodolphus Lestrange had just been announced. Poor Bella had been inconsolable. Though she hid it well, Andromeda knew she could be just as fragile as anyone else, if not moreso.
But through it all, Andromeda knew beyond the shadow of a doubt that Bella loved her. And Cissy too. The three of them had an unbreakable bond.
"Good," said the young woman. "I never had any siblings, but I understand well enough that you need to take good care of them."
This young woman in the pool had to be Hermione. For someone to put a smile like that on Bella's face... she hadn't seen that smile since, well, Bella had been involved with Evelyn. Though Bellatrix had put a brave face on at the time, telling everyone that she had always known their relationship would come to an end, Andromeda knew better. After Evelyn married her now-husband... as a proper pure-blood witch was wont to do... Bellatrix had been devastated and had refused to eat for two weeks.
No. That smile she had on her face right now told Andromeda enough. Bella was in love. Shit, that would make this so much harder.
When they performed their ritual, Andromeda was glad she had decided to follow Bellatrix today: the rite looked to be a complicated one and most deaths occurred when a complicated blood rite drained more life from a witch than she was prepared for. Being alone in those cases, could be a death sentence. So if something went wrong, Andromeda could step in and help catch some of the drain herself to keep Bella alive if need be.
Bella only. Family first. Family only. 'Hermione' would be on her own.
Suddenly, a flash of light blinded her, causing her to grimace slightly through the sheer intensity of it all. When she looked back at the pool, Bella... Bella was gone!
Andromeda blinked and frantically looked around the clearing only to see no sign of Bella. Panic gripped her by the throat: had Bella just blinked herself right out of existence?!
"Bella?" Andromeda called out. To hell with stealth right now. "BELLA?!"
She was about to rush into the clearing when another flash blinded her. And, right as if she had never left, Bella was sitting on the log again, a massive smile plastered on her face. "Hermie!" her sister exclaimed while Andromeda dove back behind the fallen log. "That was amazing! I'm so glad to have shared that with you."
"Right on time too," sounded Hermione from the pool. Andromeda didn't dare to take a closer look, though she would very much like to see this Hermione's face. She kept herself hidden while Hermione continued on. "We made it back at almost exactly 4:00 AM."
"Huh," Bellatrix bit her lip. "And yet the pool is still here."
"Right," replied Hermione. "Could we have altered the pool's magic?"
"No," said Bellatrix as she looked to the sky. "The moon's still in the same place. What about on your end?"
"Uhm..." sounded Hermione. "I'm sorry, but I didn't pay attention to it."
"I just bet..." said Bellatrix with a grin. "It will close in half an hour. The time we were in the Realm doesn't appear to have passed at all in our world. I think time works differently there. Let's measure it and make sure."
"Interesting," replied Hermione from the pool.
And so they did. Bellatrix and Hermione chatted together for about half an hour while Andromeda watched. They chatted like old friends would: about family, about hopes and dreams, about school... but mostly they talked about some strange place they had apparently just been to and how they were going to explore it.
Curious.
One thing which did stand out to Andromeda was that Hermione certainly didn't seem unkind. Of course, that didn't mean anything in itself. A popular saying in Slytherin was 'the bigger the smile, the sharper the knife', after all. Kindness could be a manipulative means to an end. Of course, Bellatrix would know this. And for someone from outside the family to earn Bella's trust in the way that she had... was not only extraordinary but also very telling.
Then again, they were performing blood rites.
Ah, she just didn't know what to think right now.
Finally, the two girls said their goodbyes and Andromeda could hear the sense of disappointment and longing in both their voices. Typical, really: both obviously in love with each other and both either to stubborn or to ignorant to admit it to the other.
Once Bellatrix had left the clearing and was once again on her way to Hogwarts to spend the rest of the night in bed, Andromeda shivered as she found out just how well and truly cold it was tonight. After rubbing herself a bit for warmth, she slowly crept towards the pool and found it to be... a completely mundane and utterly normal pool of water nestled amid the roots of a dead tree. After roving her wand over it, she found absolutely no sign of magic. Curious. Considering the magic she had felt, that should have left at least a bit of residue.
But now? Nothing.
This absolutely warranted further investigation. For now, she would not confront Bella. Not just yet. But she vowed to keep her big sister safe, even from herself.
Chapter 18: SafariChapter Text
It was the last Friday before Christmas break, and the last school day of the year. Both in 1998 and 1968, the students of Hogwarts were excited for having some time for themselves or simply spending it with their families over the holidays. But in both time-lines, two girls were very much excited for a very different reason.
Today, right before both girls would leave before their perspective family homes the next morning, would be the start of a very special adventure. Preparing for it had taken a few more days than, Bellatrix at least, would have liked. Aside from the need of gathering the supplies required for a prolonged stay in what had been dubbed the Fae Realm, Hermione insisted... much to Bellatrix's chargin... that they needed to do more tests to confirm their initial findings. The blood rite had a repeatable result, which was gratifying, but of more concern was that the flow of time in the Fae Realm appeared to be different than in their own world. Passage of time in the Fae Realm was barely noticeable when compared with their own world, if at all. For every hour spent in the Fae Realm, the time passed in their own world was negligible. If Hermione's calculations were correct... and they always were... they could stay in the Fae Realm for weeks on end and emerge maybe a few minutes after they left in the real world.
Satisfied, their expedition could begin and Bellatrix and Hermione divided their duties to gather supplies. While Bellatrix would handle logistical and scientific equipment, Hermione was in charge of the other supplies. Here is where Hermione had to admit that she didn't have all that much money to spend: most of her small stipend went towards renting the room, after all.
So Bellatrix buried a literal treasure chest for her: a wooden box the size of shoe-box filled to the brim with galleons which was more than enough for what Hermione had in mind. The ease with which Bellatrix had given her the equivalent of a credit card with no limit along had startled her a bit: she had plenty left after buying all the supplies and even felt a bit guilty about investing some of the excess money into a new pair of walking boots. It was easy to forget just how obscenely rich Bellatrix' family was: for her friend this was nothing but pocket change and she didn't even to want any of it back.
"I'm excited!" said Bellatrix on the other side of the pool. Hermione couldn't really make it out, but noticed her friend was dressed differently and was wearing some sort of hat. Hermione put the dagger down and prepared the now painstakingly memorized ritual chant in her head. Next to her were all the boxes of supplies set next to the pool, ready for transport. "Aren't you?!"
"Heh, I am," chuckled Hermione. And that much was true. There was something special and magical about setting foot in a strange new land. Suddenly, Bellatrix' head snapped to one side.
"Something wrong?" asked Hermione.
"Nah," said Bellatrix after scanning the woods for a moment. "Thought I heard something. Let's just get too it."
As the previous days, the girls met up at the pool and performed their ritual. Blood was shed, chants were done and, like before, they ended up on the brightly lit Black plateau.
After applying some healing unguent to her palm, the first thing Hermione spotted was that Trix had donned a very different attire. Though she had an inkling when looking into the pool earlier, she couldn't quite make it out in the dark until she stepped into the daylight of this Fae Realm. Bellatrix looked as if she had stepped off the set of a 1920's silent safari film: a brown jodhpurs, snug around the calf and flared at the hip, above high dark leather boots. A cotton blouse with a lighter shade of grayish-brown was closed up with oversized buttons while a curly mane of black hair cascaded over her shoulders from underneath a white pith helmet. Hermione had never seen Bellatrix outside of a dress and soon realized that her friend had caught her staring. Trix, for her part, didn't seem to mind.
"Like what you see?" Bellatrix chuckled, giving her a bit of a wink while putting her hands on her hips.
"Uhm," Hermione looked away. "Sorry, Trix. I... I was just surprised to see you wear anything else than black," she muttered, hoping her excuse would work.
"Hah," replied Bellatrix. "I followed the example of Eleanore Snowbell. This is the kind of attire she would wear on an expedition with this kind of climate."
Of course, Hermione was dressed for the occasion as well. Her new walking boots were only an accessory to a more modern exploration attire: a blue cotton shirt and brown trousers. Rather than a pith helmet, Hermione had opted for a far simpler white beanie with a visor knitted on to keep the sun out of her eyes.
"You look great, Hermie," replied Trix, a compliment which set Hermione's heart aflutter. "Come, let's go set up base camp."
In the muggle world, an expedition of this kind could never be completed by two people alone, but magic was a great help. An entire campsite with months worth of supplies could simply be carried in two enchanted backpacks to offset the bulk and weight. Hermione was first to show her bounty: with one yank on the strings of her backpack, she produced an entire pallet of food and water. A collection of square five litre bottles stacked up, enough to last them for two months if need me.
"Whoa," Bellatrix blinked and approached the pallet, placing her hand on the clear bottles. "Wait, this isn't glass?"
"It's plastic," said Hermione. "Clear, thin plastic. Easier to carry, less likely to break and see that little faucet over there at the bottom? You don't even need to pour it. Just fill a cup and drink."
"This is... strange."
"What were you expecting?" Hermione asked.
"Barrels," replied Bellatrix. "Wooden barrels. But I have to admit these seem a mite handier."
"Well," Hermione joked. "If you can stand to be around muggle-bottled water..."
"Muggles created these?!" Bellatrix turned to her. For a moment, she thought Bellatrix was angry at the thought of having to deal with something made by muggles, but she seemed more intrigued than anything. "Well, at least that's the water taken care of. So what about the food?"
Hermione pointed to a gathering of tins. "We've got a wide variety of tinned foods, ranging from fruits and vegetables to meats, beans and fish. Everything was hand-picked and balanced out for a completely healthy diet including all food groups. Even got some spicy chili in the mix. Enough to last us for two months, should we stay as long as that."
"We were only planning to stay for two weeks max," Bellatrix frowned.
"It's best to be prepared," said Hermione. "Imagine if the portals close all of a sudden and trap us here for a bit. We'll have plenty of supplies should that happen."
Bellatrix nodded in understanding and picked up one of the tins. "What's this? It says 'Spam'. Never heard of that."
"Oh, of course, she picked up one of those," Hermione rolled her eyes. "Those are only for dire emergencies," she said, snatching the tin out of Bellatrix's hands and replacing it with another filled with more appetising content.
"Hm," said Bellatrix, studying the label. "Pine-apple slices."
"Of course, plenty of teabags," said Hermione, pointing at a big wholesale box of mixed flavours. "Didn't forget those."
"Of course not!" Bellatrix spoke in approval. "Always English!"
"Now, this might be a bit controversial," Hermione said and pulled a 4 burner flat camping gas stove from the bag, along with a few propane tanks. Bellatrix looked on warily as Hermione demonstrated the device. Bellatrix looked on warily and in silence while Hermione hooked up the tank with a hose and startled Bellatrix by making the burner catch flame.
"That's... that's a muggle device!" Bellatrix raised her chin imperiously, looking at it as if it was an infectious leper and kept her distance.
"I'm a muggle-born girl," Hermione reminded Bellatrix after shutting down the burner. "What were you expecting? How were you planning to cook our food?"
"Well..." Bellatrix bit her lip and crossed her arms, offering Hermione somewhat of a glare. "A campfire cooking pot, obviously."
Hermione raised an eyebrow. "And have you actually ever cooked something over a campfire?"
"Well... no," Bellatrix pouted slightly.
"Trust me," said Hermione. "If you had, you'd be thanking me right now."
That didn't make Bellatrix any less wary, though she did seem to stand down somewhat. "Alright," Bellatrix said carefully. "I trust you."
From her tone of voice, Hermione surmised that she would be doing the cooking for the duration of their adventure. Still, that suited her more than fine: cooking on campfire was a complete nightmare so avoiding that was a major victory in itself. "Just keep in mind, propane is highly flammable and explosive. If this tank gets punctured or too hot, it'll basically be a bomb."
"Right," Bellatrix took involuntary step back. "How about I show you our home away from them, after you put that propane-thing back in the deepest, darkest part of your backpack."
By the time Hermione had repacked the supplies, Bellatrix stood proudly next to a pitched tent. Outwardly, it looked much like a normal run-of-the-mill canvas camping tent. Of course, when it came to wizarding tents, looks were definitely deceiving. Much larger on the inside, Hermione was quite happy to find a spacious expedition tent with all the comforts of home.
"Right," said Bellatrix. "My sisters and I have spent many a night in this tent. Let me give you the grand tour. First of all, look at that sunroof." Pointing above, Hermione could see that the largest part of the tent's roof was made from transparent canvas, letting the light from the sun pour into the tent. "It's amazing to watch the stars at night."
Bellatrix presented a dining area, which consisted of a table and three chairs and was located in a cozy nook near the back of the tent. Three lazy sofa-chairs were a platform lower around a coffee table and Hermione imagined the three Black sisters hanging around in those chairs chatting about the affairs of the day. More impressive was the office area where the expedition's essentials lay. Bellatrix was committed to document every aspect of their adventure, much like her hero Eleanore Snowbell would have done: there was a rather expensive model camera which, while resembling an old-timer model, had a rather large lens attached to the front. Two pairs of binoculars with equally large lenses lay next to it, along with a series of yet-to-be-filled travel logs and a magical cartography set: the map would draw itself in as they explored their surroundings, saving them both precious time.
Bellatrix had spared no expenses.
"Right," said Bellatrix as she pointed to another section of the tent. "You can put your clothes in the dresser over there and change behind the flap. The toilet is right at the back, right next to the shower. Don't worry, we won't have to use our drinking water: the tent is enchanted to convert rain-water... provided it even rains here. Still, we can always scourgify ourselves."
Which left the sleeping arrangements. The tent's bedroom was in the central part of the tent, right underneath the sunroof. It was a rather cozy looking big mattress, but she was rather startled by what lay on top of it.
A sleeping bag.
A single sleeping bag.
For two.
"Uhm," Hermione gulped. "Is that..."
"A sleeping bag, yes," said Bellatrix. "I suppose this tent fits a bed. Several, I'd wager, but that wouldn't be very rugged and outdoorsy, now would it? We always wanted our camping experience to be authentic."
"Right..." Hermione gulped. "So... where do I sleep, then?"
Bellatrix frowned. "In the sleeping bag."
"So... where you do sleep?"
"Also in the sleeping bag," Bellatrix raised an eyebrow. "Hermie, are you alright? Did you have a poor landing and hit yourself in the head?"
"No! I.. I... So... we're sleeping together then?" Hermione blurted out, instantly regretting her words and blushing profusely. "I... I mean..."
"You'll have to cook me dinner first," Bellatrix winked, a flirty joke which Hermione didn't quite appreciate at the moment. Or did she? God, what a mess. "Still, you don't have to worry about it. It barely fits me and my sisters, but seeing there's only two of us, it'll suit us fine."
At that moment, Hermione's mind was reeling: in a few hours, she'd be... in bed with Bellatrix... spending the night with her... very close... together... Immediately, she chastised her mind for going places she did not want it to go. To think about laying next to Bellatrix. Holding her. Being held by her. Her lips on hers. Her hands on her body, her skin, her cheek, her breasts. She fought to keep her breathing under control.
Bellatrix was her friend. Nothing less. Nothing more. She needed to get those unruly feelings of hers under control.
"Are you alright?" asked Bellatrix. "You seem a bit flustered."
"It's, uhm... I'm just still wearing my winter coat and it's far too hot for that," lied Hermione while unbuttoning her coat.
"Sure," said Bellatrix. "You can put it in the wardrobe I showed you."
Seizing the opportunity to flee this bit of the tent and put a bit of distance between her and Bellatrix to hide her deep shame. A few weeks back, she had felt similar shame when she had pleasured herself while thinking of Bellatrix... since that first time, however, it had become a nightly re-occurring flight into fantasy.
And, by Merlin, Hermione found herself hunkering for the real thing a lot more than she'd care to admit to.
The first hurdle to be overtaken during their grand adventure was actually getting down from Black Plateau into the plains below. But Bellatrix wouldn't let a six meter drop dampen her spirits. It is the very reason why she had brought plenty of magical rope. When she dropped the end of the rope, it automatically bound itself to the nearest structurally sound object that would hold her weight, in this case a large boulder, while she attached the other end of the rope to her pack. She then carefully lowered her down the side of the drop-off. After she landed on both feet, she looked up to see Hermione looking up at her warily.
"Come on down, it's perfectly safe," Bellatrix called up, and adjusted her travel pack.
"If you're sure," Hermione replied, biting the inside of her cheek. Breaking both her legs on the first day of the expedition would make for a poor end.
Bellatrix put her hands on her hips. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you've never used a magical rope before."
"Of course I have!' Hermione replied, more than a bit too quickly. "Many times before!"
"Uh-huh," Bellatrix raised an eyebrow. "Just attach it to your belt and let the rope do the work."
And so Bellatrix became witness to the epic struggle of Hermione trying to descend a cliff-side despite being aided by a magical rope which should make such an effort impossible to fail.
Yet Hermione managed to achieve the impossible, first by somehow managing to descend upside down while flailing all her limbs and then by unceremoniously plummeting down with a yelp when she had only two meters left to go. She landed on her back with grunt and, due to the size of her backpack, was unable to get up on her own. With a smirk, Bellatrix stood over her and extended her hand. "I see you've used magical ropes many times before," she giggled while Hermione narrowed her eyes before taking her hand.
"Oh, do shut up," Hermione replied while patting herself down a bit. Bellatrix gave the rope a few shakes, causing it to release itself, coil up and attach itself to her belt.
"Good thing you weren't holding the camera, though," said Bellatrix as she took the camera which hung from her neck and took a few snaps of the grasslands.
"So what's our strategy?" asked Hermione. "And I can't believe I didn't ask that before we actually went down that cliff."
"Well," said Bellatrix. "Eleanore Snowbell always has a base-camp when she starts out and as she explores the surrounding area she sets up forward camps along the route. But with only two people in the Black-Granger expedition, that doesn't make much sense, now does it? So I'm thinking of doing the opposite: we fully explore the surrounding area and look for suitable sites for camps. Then, when we're doing exploring one area and have decided where to head next, we move our entire base-camp forward."
"How do we find our way back?" Hermione asked.
"With these!" Bellatrix said, producing what looked to be a conch-shell on a stick. "Magical beacons. They're linked to our map and always show up. We can always find our way home using these."
She planted one of the beacons in the ground and it started glowing for a bit. Hermione did check her map and was seemingly pleased to see a red dot appear on it. Oh, Bellatrix certainly liked Hermione well enough, but for a Gryffindor, Hermione certainly was being overly cautious.
"How about we explore the grasslands first?" Hermione suggested. "Everything is in plain view and there's a few landmarks already. Should fill out our map quite nicely."
In front of them stretched the grasslands, a mostly flat area of land with some copses of trees dotted around them, reminiscent of a mix between the rolling hills of the midlands and the savannas of Africa. In the distance, they could see a thick forest before a mountain range much further back. Indeed, it would be a good place to start.
Bellatrix wrapped an arm around Hermione's shoulder and found the other girl stiffening under her touch. "Exciting, isn't it?!" Bellatrix raved, and she was excited. Exploring this strange new world was, perhaps, the biggest adventure of her life and she was sharing with her best and only friend she had ever had... who was from another time-line entirely. Nothing about this situation was in any way regular or normal, and the curly-haired witch loved every moment of it.
"Yeah," Hermione almost whispered. When Bellatrix was about to withdraw her arm, Hermione quickly grabbed her wrist, leaving her arm draped around Hermione's shoulders. Hermione's other arm wound its way around her waist. Ah, a moment of shared celebration.
"I named the plateau," said Bellatrix. "So it's only fair you get to name the grasslands."
Hermione turned her head towards her, her expression one of reserved joy. Bellatrix watched as Hermione let her eyes rove over the rolling plains. "Tranquillity," she finally spoke.
"Tranquillity," smiled Bellatrix, taking in the atmosphere. "Fitting. Shall we go?"
"Wait, before we go," Hermione put her hands on her head. "Trix... that hat. Honestly, that hat..."
"What?" Bellatrix instinctively raised her hands to the pith helmet. "What's wrong with it?"
"You honestly have no idea just how silly you look?" Hermione raised an eyebrow.
"But... Eleanore Snowbell always wears these," Bellatrix could hear the pout in her own voice.
Hermione shook her head. "In the twenties, Trix. She always wore those in the twenties."
Bellatrix was someone who never cared about what others thought of her: she knew she was more powerful, more clever and more capable than everyone who talked behind her back or even to her face: such things were born out of jealousy more often that not, and Bellatrix was far superior to all of them. But... Hermione? That was someone she trusted. Someone she cared for. And sure, they had had plenty of banter before, but this felt different.
Was this really happening? Was Hermione... making fun of her? And her childhood hero to boot?
It surprised her just how much it stung. Just how embarrassing it was. A twinge of anger welled up in the pit of her stomach.
Apparently, all that showed in her expression as Hermione's mocking grin softened into a gentle smile. "Here," she said, snatching the pith helmet from her head before she had a chance to respond.
"Hey!" Bellatrix protested, but Hermione quickly stepped out of reach, yanked her own hat off and put the pith helmet on her own head.
"This is how silly you look," said Hermione, doing a brief curtsy bow with the pith helmet on her head. Bellatrix couldn't help but giggle at the oversized white hat above the brown tresses of Hermione's long mane.
Giggles turned into laughter. "Merlin," Bellatrix snorted. "You look like you have a tit on your head!"
Hermione stepped forward and put the beanie-hat on Bellatrix's head and adjusted it for good measure, pulling the visor down to shield her eyes. "There," said Hermione. "I'm fine with wearing the silly hat for now."
And so started their grand adventure, wandering away from the plateau and finally starting to explore this strange new land with its bright colours, clear sky and floating islands above.
After an hour of walking, they came across a shallow lake about forty feet in diameter and, judging from the many footprints, it saw a lot of traffic from the local fauna. More striking, however, was a large field of red poppy-like flowers north of the lake. The colour red was almost painfully bright, much like all other colours in this strange realm. Hermione took an interest in the flowers, as Bellatrix knew she would: her friend had a keen interest in herbology, after all.
"Look! Wildlife!" Bellatrix proclaimed as from over the hill approached a small herd of creatures. She counted fifteen of them while they calmly approached the lake for a bit of a drink. The creatures were decidedly odd: from a distance they resembled horses, but on their long snout they had short rounded beaks. They had strong, muscular shoulders and long front legs, but their back haunches and hips were decidedly smaller and shorter. One of them, the largest, sported a large set of horns while the rest had none. There were five more adults and the rest were calves. Bellatrix and Hermione watched them come surprisingly close when they sifted their beaks through the water or grazed a little near the water's edge.
"They're not afraid of us," said Bellatrix.
"Why would they be, Trix?" Hermione replied. "They've never seen humans before."
Bellatrix took her camera and got in a good position to snap a few pictures. "We need to give them a name too."
"Hm, whose turn is it?" Hermione muttered. "Let's see, you named our entry point, I named the grasslands, you named mountain range in the distance, I named the lake... your turn."
"Hm," Bellatrix put a finger to her lips. "That's a tough one. Beak-horse... Borse? No, that sounds wrong. Hippoduck? They do look like someone took parts of a duck, a horse and a gorilla and smashed it all together. Dipporilla?"
"Well, you think about it some more," said Hermione. "I'm going to take some samples of those flowers over there. I suppose I get to name those."
After Hermione left to fetch her samples, Bellatrix hunched to her knees to get a few more pictures and watched the creatures enjoy their drink- and bath time. They really didn't seem to mind her at all, though she did keep an eye out for the horned one. Curiously, though, it seemed like they weren't interested in the flower field to the north. The creatures were undoubtedly plant-eaters and those flowers seemed like an easy meal... so why weren't they going for it?
Her train of thought were interrupted when one of the calves turned out to be a bit more curious than the others and sauntered over to her. At first it seemed a bit wary, but when Bellatrix plucked out some long stems of grass and held it out for it to eat, the small creature came so close she could touch it.
"Hello there. Do you like to be named a 'borse'?" Bellatrix greeted as the tiny creature started eating out of her hand. She gently patted and rubbed the creature's head and it let out a purring bray in appreciation. So far, the rest of the herd didn't seem to mind. What did puzzle Bellatrix, however, was that the horned one was chasing away one of the calves from near the field of flowers.
"Hey, Hermie!" Bellatrix called out. "Come pet this little one!"
No answer.
"Hermie?" Bellatrix called out again.
Silence.
"Hermie?!"
Now concerned, Bellatrix rose to her feet and scanned her surroundings, letting out gasp of breath when she saw Hermione lying prone on her stomach, having fallen into the field of flowers. Immediately, the curly-haired which sprinted towards her. "Hermie!" she shouted. "What's wrong?!"
When she got nearer, she skidded to a halt when still a few meters away from Hermione. From her vantage point, she could see there were sun-bleached piles of bones lying among the flowers. Duck-billed piles of bones. Above the flowers itself was a fine haze of white dust in the air: spores, she realized. Well... that explained why the borses didn't want to be anywhere near this field.
"Heeeeelllpppp," sounded the tired and drawn-out voice of Hermione, as if it had taken every bit of effort left in her body to actually speak that single word.
"I'm coming, Hermie!" Bellatrix yelled back, but knew that she'd be doomed to end up on the ground right next to Hermione if she wasn't careful. Shit, shit, what to do?! Shit!
An idea came to her. After drawing her wand, she quickly applied the bubblehead charm to her face and rushed in to help her friend. She had to be quick: go in, grab Hermione and drag her out as quickly as she could muster. The moment she entered the field, she could feel the spores stinging her skin and her eyes, causing her to hiss in pain. Though the bubble-head charm did help, it only delayed the effect of the spores. She already felt her arms grow heavy and her mind started to fog up with fatigue. Still, she grit her teeth in grim determination, grabbed Hermione by the belt and started dragging her out of the field of flowers.
Dead weight was a good way to describe Hermione right now: she was completely incapable of moving on her own and Bellatrix wasn't as strong as she had wanted to be in this situation. Dragging Hermione and her pack out of the field took much longer than she would have liked. After making sure her friend's body was completely out of the field and rolling her towards the lake, Bellatrix staggered over to the water to dip her face into the lake to get the spores off her exposed skin. Almost immediately, she felt much better.
Clutching Hermione to her chest, she splashed water in her friend's face and put her canteen against her lips. That should get the spores out of her mouth. Hermione's breathing started to get even again and it didn't take long for her eyes to flutter open. "Feeling better?" Bellatrix asked.
"Hm, thanks, Trix," Hermione took a few deep breaths. "I... I don't think I can move just yet."
Bellatrix sighed in relief. "That was close. I guess this realm is more dangerous than we first thought."
"Have to be... more careful..." Hermione struggled to speak. "... didn't... pay... attention... Saw the bones... too late."
"Rest a bit," Bellatrix said while still holding on to her.
For her part, Hermione nestled her head against her chest while being held. "I... I like... where I am... right now..."
Bellatrix frowned. She wondered if Hermione might still be a bit delirious.