Dark Waters Require Warmth

Chapter 6 - Transparency

Their first day out at sea was as calm as it could get. Everyone made sure to set up all of the things that would be needed over the trip, including a small satellite dish. Hermione used the day to start looking over her plans that she had created before being accepted. She was asked to set out two plans, both being daily schedules ranging for a month each, spelling out what she would want to accomplish.

Her first month would include tagging at least 4 different sharks, all different breeds, and tracking them for the rest of the month.

The second month would include doing some more diving to check out some habitats and see if there are any clear signs of destruction or non-regeneration of the habitats.

Hermione was adding to her notes in her room when she heard a low knock on her door. "Come in!"

"Hello Hermione, would you like to have lunch with us out on the deck?" Narcissa asked calmly.

"Sure! Just let me add a couple more notes and I'll be right out."

"Oh and could you please try to get Bella out of her room too? She could use the sun." Narcissa chuckled and left without waiting for Hermione to respond. 'Well this will be fun...'

Hermione finished up her notes for the month, just so she could be ahead of schedule and placed her notebook down on her desk. She left the comfort of her room after grabbing a dark blue baseball hat with Oxford on it to shield her from the sun. She headed next door and knocked, muttering a low "Bellatrix?" She heard what she thought was grumbling and an irritated "Enter" so she opened the door. Bellatrix was lying cuddled up in her bed, her dark curls a complete mess on her pillow, and rubbing her eyes from the new intrusion of light. She started out asking "What do you wa-" and then glanced at Hermione in shock to see it was her. "Oh hello... what do you need, Hermione?" She tried to sit up a bit and fix her composure.

"Everyone is going to be eating lunch out on the deck, and Nar- I was wondering if you'd like to join us?" Hermione fidgeted with her hands a bit and waited for an answer.

"Well if you're going to be there, I can't say no, can I?" Bellatrix chuckled and threw her covers off and stood up quickly. She was wearing her usual favorite, a band tee and her underwear, and when she realized she wasn't expecting company, she glanced over at Hermione who gasped quietly and turned away.

"Sorry pet, I didn't realize I would have guests, so I took a cat nap in my most comfortable outfit." She threw on some black jeans and her black doc martens and walked up behind Hermione, who stood with her back towards Bellatrix in the doorway.

"Should we head upstairs? Or would you prefer wasting some more time?" She whispered in Hermione's ear, making her jump a bit and force out, "No we should go!" They left the hallway and headed up to go have lunch.

Tonks had made some quick sandwiches, already knowing who liked what, and who had what allergies, just to be prepared for the next two months of meals.

"Ah, so glad you two could join us on this wonderful afternoon." Andromeda said as she picked up a plate with a turkey sandwich and handed it to Hermione. Tonks handed Bellatrix a paper wrapped roast beef sandwich and sneaked her a cigarette without Andy seeing.

They all started eating together, sitting on the secured picnic table. Narcissa decided to start the conversation, "So Hermione, what do you have planned for this week?"

"Well I'm hoping to be able to tag at least one shark to start up some of the tracking!"

"That sounds perfect. Am I going to be able to join you in the water anytime soon? I would love to take a dip and see some sea life." Narcissa asked since she was a trained diver, and the boat's main ecologist.