Belladonna

A fragrant breeze caressed the grass stalks around them, carrying a scent of wildflowers and pollen. The sun’s lazy heat swathed her, flushing her skin.

Scraped knees knocked together, Hermione’s and Fred’s. Twin books lay in their laps. Fred was nose-deep in his copy, squinting his eyes and nibbling on his bottom lip.

She shouldn’t have found it as endearing as she did. He was Ron’s brother, after all, and she was only helping him revise. Nothing more, nothing less.

His arm grazed her shoulder, setting it ablaze with a buzzing touch, jump-starting her heart.

Hermione’s shoulders tingled under his heavy arm. Michael Myers’ theme blasted throughout the cinema, and Fred pushed his cowboy hat up in rapt attention. The cheap costume did him no favours in the daylight, but here, in the shadowed seats …

Things were different. 

Fred’s freckled nose crinkled, his squeak whistling past Hermione’s ears in tandem with a jump scare, eliciting a flurry of giggles from her. He sounded so … goofy. Like a scared hedgehog.

“… Fred?”

“Hermione?”

Her chest warmed, goopy and soft around stuttered breaths. 

“I think I’ve become alarmingly fond of ordinary things with you.”

“Really?”

Her watch wasn’t between the cushions, nor buried in a coat pocket. Not under their bed, nor table. She’d checked. Twice.

By the sly smirk playing on his lips, Fred, however, knew where to look.

Still, pride strung her tight given she'd vowed at least a day’s silence after his latest prank. 

Inhale. Exhale. 

Fred giggled.

Inhale. Exhale.

Hermione resigned. “Fine.”

“Finally!”

A battalion of kisses littered her face, and she sighed fondly, stepping begrudgingly into his embrace.

“D'you know where –”

There was a bump in his pocket. She reached in, palming … her watch.

Hermione did not find Fred attractive. Not with his doltish grin and cinnamon eyes. She hated his shaggy hair and how his uniform had never seen an iron. She despised the sparks crackling around his fingertips whenever he’d plummet into some mischief. She abhorred him, actually.

Especially now, watching him hang upside down from a branch, a rescued Crookshanks in his arms. His shirt had ridden up his stomach, skimming over the freckles dotting his lean chest. 

An insufferable smile split his face in two. He nodded at her cheeks. “Love that shade of red, ‘Mione.”

UPDATED! CHAPTER 4 of [Swan Song] by @belladxxnna

25K words│COMPLETED│NSFW AHEAD

UPDATED! CHAPTER 3 of [Swan Song] by @belladxxnna

11k words│WIP│Pre-Written; Updates every Sunday!

CHAPTER SNIPPET: His skin prickled with every revealed patch of skin – although he couldn’t tell if it was from the chill or the sweltering heat between them as he ran his tongue up the curve of her neck, greedily swallowing every bead of blood. And as Tom pressed himself closer – impervious to her hisses, deaf to everything but her thrilled cries – his chest seized with panic. Because it was not enough. Not anywhere near enough. He needed more. Her flavour needed to be richer. Closer. Deeper. He could feast on every moan and still be ravenous. Not until she was devoured – whole, tainted – would he be close enough for the hunger to still.

Read HERE!

Swan Song by @belladxxnna

11k words│WIP│Pre-Written; Updates every Sunday!

Once a year on an uncharted island, the pure-blood elite convene within Malfoy’s garish halls – a congregation of ancient names draped in silk and sin. They call it tradition – Beltane – though its rites reek of vanity and decay.

For Tom Marvolo Riddle, the invitation was no indulgence but an opening gambit. Beneath perfumed rot lay what he sought – Salazar Slytherin’s locket, wrested from his inheritance by a vixen’s hands.

He came to reclaim a relic.

However, when her eyes met his – dark, bold, and edged with secrecy – Tom found himself ensnared in something far more deadly than he had ever anticipated. As the first of many bodies dropped, he knew he would have to find the killer before time ran out – or become the next name on their list.

[NOIR] [THRILLER] [MURDER MYSTERY] [UPDATES EVERY SUNDAY]

Ravenous: Chapter 8 "An Object in Motion"

rating: E | wip

"Tom Riddle exuded charm, bewitching those around him with languid proficiency. His every action, every word, and every breath was practised to perfection. The swoop of his hair, the smooth, lulling laughter—every detail he unveiled was arduously manicured to cater to those around him. Even his posture was synthetically straight. It infuriated her. His fictitious kindness. His fabricated, forged, fraudulent hoax of an act—

Ravenous: Chapter 7 "The Viper's Court"

rating: E | wip

"The hushed murmurs of the student body were nothing but distant static to her ears. Hermione’s bones shuddered, her body prickling. She couldn’t feel the seat below her, couldn’t feel her legs. Numbness weaved itself between her every tissue.

He was watching.

"Her skin tingled, burning where she felt his scalding stare on her. Hermione’s fists tightened around the coarse fabric of her robes, hidden beneath the table.

Hermione Granger's moodboard in Ravenous

Ravenous by @belladxxnna

27k words│WIP

When Hermione was sixteen, she was convinced that her quick wit and competence would be enough to bring safety to those who couldn’t fight for it themselves.

Now, she couldn’t guarantee it for herself.