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“Haven’t seen you around here,” someone behind her said.
Hermione’s tail instantly puffed up and a thin line of fur from the top of her neck to the base of her back raised in a body length mohawk. The startled young woman jumped around, sharp nails extended, pointed ears pressed flat against her skull. She hadn’t been caught unawares since before…the polyjuice tragedy.
However, Hermione wasn’t the only one startled. Bellatrix had simply seen a young slender figure with lovely bushy brown hair crouched in the shadows. She certainly hadn’t been expecting features more feline than human upon closer inspection, and stepped back in her surprise.
The two stared at each other, eyes wide, until a moment later Bellatrix gathered herself brusquely and marched towards Hermione.
“And what the bloody hell are you, pretty little thing?” she asked, her pointed nails reaching towards Hermione’s flicking ears.
Hermione was still in quite a state but she had loud enough instincts to realize she was already cornered by danger and needed to get out of there fast. Bellatrix was too distracted by the combination of cat fur and human hair that made up the gorgeous amber locks she was reaching for to notice Hermione’s eyes find an escape route. Just as her fingertips touched the silky cat ears, Hermione’s reflexes took her beneath Bellatrix’s arm and around the alley’s corner.
The dark witch was a quick draw though and blasted a spell that struck the brick’s edge just behind the fleeing creature. Any bystander would’ve thought Bellatrix missed her chance and Hermione escaped her fate. Luck was on both the witches’ sides though. Hermione may have gotten away unscathed but her tail had caught just a spark of the spell cast and that would be enough for Bellatrix to find her quarry over and over again until the chase ended with one victor.