The light in her dark

6. Secure

I've forgotten to add this into chapters, but everyone is fed and we're going to pretend there's a bathroom in the cell or something. 

-Two days later, Hermione's perspective-

"Mudblood." A toneless voice calls, the unmistakable nails of Bellatrix digging into my arms. In the past week, I've felt her scratching all my scars, her fingernails digging into my face, her nails piercing my skin, and now, I know just how sharp her nails are, and exactly what they feel like. That is why they are unmistakable to me.

My eyes flicker open and I look up into the older witches eyes. Her cold, mysterious, emotionless, brown almost black eyes. "Y-yes?" I ask. She had healed me, but pain still fills my body, as well as fear.

The feeling of her nails in my arm disappears as she pulls them away and stands up. "Get up."
I swallow and turn to sit, flinching slightly. After a minute, I try to stand up, immediately falling down and groaning in pain, my head going fuzzy. "I-I c-can't."
There's silence for a moment and I close my eyes, expecting pain for some odd reason, but instead, there's just an annoyed sigh. "Open your eyes." She orders.

I do so and look up at her.
Just as I do so, she kneels down, right next to me. Her arm wraps around my waist and she stands up, pulling me along with her.

A little hiss of pain escapes my lips but I try to not let anything else go noticed.

Instead of mocking me like she usually does, her grip around my waist tightens, making it seem like she's being protective of me, like she cares.

I quickly shake the thought away. Just the mere thought of Bellatrix being kind is a fantasy, even a little smile. Now that I think of it, I don't believe I've ever seen her smile, unless it was her cruel smirk or taunting laugh. It's always evil, never the tiniest hint of sanity, unless she's like she is now, emotionless, cold. Then there's nothing. No hint of thoughts, no words spoken, no cruel harsh laugh or smirk, and her personality seems to vanish.

When I finally escape my thoughts, I realize we are out of the cellar and walking somewhere.
"W-where are y-you taking m-me?" I ask in fear.

"Relax, muddy." She says tonelessly. "You're going to take a shower."
"A-a w-what?"
"Do you not know what a shower is?" She scoffs. 

"I-I d-do b-but why?"
"Because you're filthy and so are your friends." She growls. "Now shut up."
I nod and continue walking with her, even though she's doing most of the work. It surprises me that a woman this skinny can carry most of my bodyweight. I've always known her as strong, but somehow, I still find it a surprise. I probably weigh more than she does honestly, no matter the age and height difference. I take a moment and take a deep breath, accidentally breathing in her scent from being so near her. Surprisingly, she smells pretty nice. She smells of a combination of cinnamon, ash, and cherry. Normally, that doesn't sound like the best combination, but she makes it work somehow. Oh Merlin, what's wrong with me? This past week, she's the only thing I think about, it's torture! Somehow, she's carved herself into my brain, and I can't get her out, no matter how hard I try. It's as if she herself is quite literally in my head.

Within moments, we're in front of a door. Bellatrix slowly opens it and I look around as we walk in. We end up in a beautiful room, with fancy furniture, a black, green, and silver color scheme, and a pretty decent sized bed. She has a bookshelf in the corner with all sorts of books, a closet, of course, a little table next to her bed, a desk close to the bookcase, and a single window that looks out to the garden.

The older witches arm moves away from my waist until all contact is gone, resulting in me stumbling a bit, but then gaining control.

I look up, into her eyes. "N-now what?"
She motions towards a door, no words being exchanged.

I nod and walk towards the door, opening it and walking in. Once inside, and realizing it's a bathroom, I close the door and think for a moment. Why am I here again? Right. Shower. As I start to strip down, I think back to walking up here. I step into the shower and turn the water on, flinching at the water on my skin and my bruises. My mind starts to wander again as I wash myself off. Her grip on my waist seemed so natural, and I felt so secure in that moment, like nothing mattered. I may not have noticed it, but I felt so comfortable in her embrace, even felt loved for a few moments.

But of course none of that is true, she'd never be kind to someone like me unless her lord required it. Then again, why would he ask her to be kind to us? It makes absolutely no sense, maybe she made it up? No. Someone else gave her the news of him asking for us to be relieved of torture. Her attitude also makes it obvious she doesn't care for this type of treatment. Well, there goes that thought and hope.

Finally, after being lost in my thoughts for many minutes, I finish and walk out, grabbing a towel and drying myself off. Only then do I realize something.
"B-bellatrix?"
"Yes?" Comes a cold voice from the other side of the door.

"W-what do I-I wear?" I pray to not wear my old, dirty, and blood covered clothes. Anything would be better than that. 

Well, almost everything.

"Hmm..." She thinks for a moment before there's a pop sound from behind me.

I jump and turn around, looking at a pile of clothes.

"That."
"T-thanks."

I completely dry myself off and start putting on the clothes slowly, making sure I don't irritate my bruised skin. Once finished, I walk out of the bathroom and into her room.

Bellatrix is on her bed, leaning against the headboard, and reading. As soon as she feels my presence, she turns her head and scans me over, making my cheeks go hot. "Hm. Not bad." She marks her spot in the book she's reading before putting it on the desk next to her, standing up, and making her way to the door, motioning for me to follow.

I updated guys :D. Welp, this was kinda fun to write honestly. My brain is absolutely dead from all my homework, so let me know if I made any spelling or grammar mistakes. What Bella's room looks like, and how she smells, is my opinion, so it may not be the same as how you guys may think it. If that's the case, you can easily imagine something else, so it's not a huge deal. Anyways, I hope y'all have a good day/night and daily reminder that I'm always here for you if you want to talk/rant about something.