The hospital wing was dim, and Madam Pomfrey was not there.
On the pristine hospital bed sheets, the trace amount of disgust and irony previously carried by Bellatrix had completely faded away.
Her fingertips rested gently on her well-healed ankle.
Raising her gaze, her eyes locked onto the young girl, scanning her from head to toe.
Her tone was icy.
“Oh—you are right, I would never be so foolish as to drag my own House down into losing points just to catch dirt on you.”
After a brief silence, the corners of Bellatrix’s lips curled into a highly sarcastic arc.
Her tone abruptly turned sharp:
“However, this is still no excuse for you to trespass into the hospital wing late at night and appear by my bed.”
“Explain yourself, Winnier The Handmaiden…”
She leaned her upper body slightly forward, exuding a sense of oppression with no room for compromise.
“I need a reasonable explanation.”
“Explain why, during the late-night curfew, instead of resting in your own dormitory, you sneaked here and appeared before me.”
Every single word struck with weight, carrying an unquestionable dominance.
In her worldview, any unnatural closeness harbored malicious intentions.
Because she was Black, the eternally ancient, Pure-blood, and powerful Black.
Inevitably, there were some people with ulterior motives, and there were not a few of them, especially half-bloods like Isolde.
Isolde outside the curtain instantly froze in place, blinking helplessly.
Two lifetimes, a full two lifetimes.
Coming out tonight wasn’t in vain; she had successfully created the night with the most dialogue with Bellatrix Black.
From the tit-for-tat in the Dueling Arena today, to the deliberate closeness of forcibly taking her for medical treatment, to the confrontation of being alone in the middle of the night right now.
Isolde felt it was quite useful.
In her mind, she had rehearsed how she would get along with Bellatrix countless times.
During her free time, she practiced a gentle tone and a just-right smile repeatedly in front of the mirror.
She practiced countless gentle opening lines and envisioned countless scenarios to shorten the distance between them.
Yet all the lines she knew by heart and the meticulously carved expressions seemed to vanish under Bellatrix’s icy, sharp gaze.
Thousands of words blocked her throat, tossing and turning, finally leaving only a blank bewilderment.
What should she say next?
Why did she come to find Bellatrix?
Late at night like this…
She slightly clenched the fingers hanging by her sides, the dim and hazy night barely masking the embarrassment and helplessness all over her face.
She nervously pressed her lips together, her voice soft with a trace of an unnoticeable stutter:
“I… I just wanted to come and check on you, Bella.”
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt you during the day. Even though it was a duel, I should have controlled my strength. You weren’t very happy during the day, so I figured it must be my fault.”
“So, I wanted to come and see how you are doing.”
“If I had held back, you wouldn’t have had to sleep in this hospital wing either.”
Isolde didn’t say that she had thought of another sentence.
If I had held back, I wouldn’t have been able to come see you alone tonight.
As her voice fell, the air lapsed into a momentary stagnation.
Isolde’s heart was pounding, and to ease the awkwardness, she hurriedly raised her eyes.
Trying to break the rigid atmosphere: “Um, tonight’s moonlight is lovely, do you want to go out for a stroll together? Consider it getting some fresh air and clearing your mind.”
“Night wandering?”
Bellatrix low-voiced repeated these two words, her tone rising at the end.
It was almost marked with capital letters: absurd, disdainful.
Hearing what sounded like the most comical joke of the year, she stared at Isolde and slowly sat straight up.
“I am truly enlightened, Winnier The Handmaiden.”
She let out a soft laugh, the sarcasm in her tone unmasked, full of prejudice and disdain for half-blood wizards:
“An inferior half-blood lineage really cannot raise an ounce of rules and upbringing.”
“Hogwarts’ school rules are laid out in the open; curfew night-wandering is the most basic bottom line, and only you mixed-origin, shallow-rooted half-bloods would be so unbridled and reckless.”
“Wantonly violating school rules, disregarding House honor, lacking even the most basic sense of propriety and awe.”
“And not even afraid of losing points for Slytherin.”
Bellatrix held her chin up slightly, brimming with arrogance.
In her view, rule-breaking acts of willful and reckless night-wandering would only happen to fellows of humble birth who did not understand rules.
For example, those stupid lions.
Many of them have been caught more than once.
Bellatrix laughed out loud, “Do you think this is some commendable thing?”
Her tone grew fiercer, “Sneaking around for a night-wandering, risking getting caught, just to drag me along to waste the middle of the night wandering aimlessly?”
“Do you think that since you haven’t had points deducted yet, you want to try this extremely novel action?”
Isolde stood there dazedly.
She simply felt that Hogwarts late at night was exceptionally quiet, without the clamor of people crowding around during the day, and without others’ strange gazes. Enjoying the story? Read on at novelping(.)com.
Only the two of them, herself and Bellatrix.
Quietly and peacefully.
Perhaps they could chat for a few words.
Perhaps they could find a topic of conversation.
Although the timing right now wasn’t quite right.
Well, if she couldn’t ask her out this time, she could always ask her out next time…
Since they were already at Hogwarts, how could they not go night-wandering to see the school?
Seeing Isolde silent and speechless with lowered eyes, Bellatrix’s disgust deep down grew even stronger.
“Put away these absurd and boring thoughts of yours; Black has not an ounce of interest in accompanying you on a night-wandering.”
“I am Black, born of the most orthodox Pure-blood family, the most outstanding Slytherin, cherishing the honor of my family and House.”
“Defeating and provoking me during the day, acting falsely gentle and putting on a facade, and then coming over to pry into me late at night without keeping the rules.”
“Isolde Winnier, what on earth do you want to do?”
Bellatrix was genuinely curious, what on earth was inside this fellow’s head…
Slugs?
Flobberworms?
Or Billywigs?
Bellatrix locked her gaze onto her once again, anger and confusion intertwining in the depths of her eyes:
“You painstakingly plotted to get close to me, provoking me time and again, approaching me—what on earth is your hidden purpose?”
Then it was Isolde’s turn to be puzzled.
She looked at Bellatrix’s fair ankle, which had almost no scars left.
Leaning slightly forward, she reached out her fingertips.
The pads of her fingers were only one centimeter away from the skin she had struck herself.
Bellatrix was genuinely curious about what the other party wanted to do, so she remained still, maintaining her posture.
The disgust in her eyes deepened even further, until…
Isolde withdrew her hand just before Bellatrix intended to pull back her foot, saying in a somewhat dry voice: “Um, your foot looks almost healed.”
“I came to apologize, and I still have 5 Galleons on me, I can buy you some Honeydukes sweets…”
“Can you come out for a walk with me? I want to see how you are recovering…”
Bellatrix Black – Dazed Version:
To be honest, I now feel that I shouldn’t even bother arguing with Winnier for provoking me.
She is truly spelled out in capital letters: Stupid!