Black's House for Little Witches

34

A/N: I added too much plot to a self-indulgent fluff piece and now it's a struggle to write, oops. If you're still here, I hope you enjoy. :)

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Ted was coming over for lunch the next day. Narcissa telling her at breakfast that day shouldn't have been suspicious, but Hermione had the feeling tomorrow wasn't an ordinary lunch. She just couldn't place why.

It had been almost a week since she'd dropped the harshest and furthest she'd even done before. She hadn't experienced any drops like that over the course of the week, though she did fluctuate in and out of headspace a lot more easily. And she was slowly moving past the embarrassment of seeing the proof of her headspace.

She didn't think that had anything to do with the weird feeling she had in regards to Ted coming over. She just couldn't explain why something felt off.

Maybe it had to do with the fact it was only Ted? But that shouldn't have been weird. Harry and Neville had been over without Ted, why shouldn't Andy get to have a friend over to her own home? Maybe it had something to do with the fact Bellatrix took Andy outside for a flying session, and she'd left Hermione alone about it. That did seem a little strange.

When Narcissa entered the observatory, Hermione couldn't take the suspension anymore. "Am I in trouble?" she blurted out.

Narcissa froze in her step, a bewildered expression on her face. "Did you break a rule?" she calmly asked after gathering herself once more. "Did you break anything? Or hurt yourself?"

Hermione's brows knitted together as thought. "No, not that I know of," she answered. "But, Bella took Andy to fly, and neither of them pestered me about it."

Narcissi's eyes widened. After a moment, she released an aggrieved sigh and pinched the bridge of her nose. She held up a hand as Hermione started to speak. "I'm not upset with you, darling," she assured. "I just thought this would go a little differently."

"Thought what would?"

Narcissa held a hand out. "Come, cherié, let's go find Bellatrix. There's something we wanted to talk to you about."

Hermione slowly set her book aside and stood up. "Are you sure I'm not in trouble?"

"No, little love. I promise you are not in trouble."

Hermione still wasn't entirely sure about that, but she followed Narcissa out to the garden anyway. Bellatrix and Andromeda were flying around the property as suspected. The older woman must have spotted them as she signaled to Andy, and they descended back to the ground.

"What in Merlin's name were you two doing?" Narcissa asked in disbelief as she took in Andromeda covered in mud. As Hermione looked around, there were mud splats all over the garden, too.

"Evasive maneuvers!" Andromeda enthusiastically replied, earning an eye roll from Narcissa.

"Go take a shower. You're absolutely filthy." Andromeda gave a salute and then ran back towards the manor. As she did, Narcissa turned back to Bellatrix. "Evasive maneuvers?"

Bellatrix shrugged, unbothered by the exasperated look she received from her sister. "We were working on her mobility on a broom."

"And that involved mud."

"Well, we needed something for her to dodge."

"At least you didn't destroy my plants," Narcissa sighed heavily and shook her head. "You both will be cleaning up the grounds, though. Before that, though, we need to have a talk with Hermione."

Bellatrix straightened, and a serious expression crossed her face. "Ah, right. We should do that."

Bellatrix cleaned herself off with a handful of spells, and then they went back into the manor. The older woman led them not to the parlor or observatory, but to what had to have been her own personal study. A large, beautifully crafted walnut desk sat in the room, and several large bookcases were filled with books, grimoires, and tomes.