Training in America.
"Hi, auntie Bella," Selina smirked at her.
Bella put her hands on her hips, a mock glare on her face, " I thought you'd gone by now."
Selina pouted, " What? Leave my dear sweet auntie without a goodbye? No way."
Selina grabbed her aunt by the hand, and dragged her into the living room and on to the sofa. When the two women got comfortable they started talking.
" I'm leaving when I say my goodbyes," Selina said. Bella knew there was no talking her goddaughter out of this. The two women got comfortable, with Bella studying her goddaughter for a moment before she remembered her manners.
" Would you like some tea?"
" Love some, please." Selina smiled, then she got up and went to help Bellatrix make it. Bella, who was used to this, gave Selina the task of getting the basics and cut down on the time it took to make it. When they got back to the living room, they had two cups of steaming sweet tea. When they got comfortable again Bella started the conversation, " Like I said, I thought you'd gone. Dumbledore's got the whole ministry and the Order looking for you?"
Selina quirked a brow, " The Ministry? They've changed their attitude, last time I'd heard they were shredding Dumbledore's reputation to pieces, now their helping him."
Bellatrix nodded, remembering only too well the looks she received from various people in the Ministry due to her closeness to the Potters, but they were wrong if they believed that she was loyal to the former Boy who Lived, Bellatrix was loyal to Selina. One of the few people to believe that Voldemort had returned, Bella, unlike some members of the Order, had made the effort to hide her beliefs. Fudge, always the political animal, had made a mess of the whole situation. The repercussions were incredibly severe; the auror department was now downsized due to Fudge's paranoia, they hadn't had recruits from the Auror academy, and on top of that the Dark Lord was back and he wasn't going to give the Aurors a time and address where and when he'd strike next. That was all Fudge's fault. If the little coward didn't get his act together, and start providing for the war effort instead of fucking around, then he was going to be ousted. Bella wouldn't be sorry if that happened.
Bella's own relationship with Fudge was hardly cordial, he was afraid of her, he knew that she was more than capable of killing him whilst his best shot would barely get past her defences. It was the same with that toad like creature the little bastard kept near him, like a pet, although Bella was sure that was how Fudge viewed his henchwench, Dolores Umbridge. Umbridge, with her stance and views on those who weren't human but had human characteristics, like Centaurs and Merpeople, was well known, and because of that Bella could see a problem. Umbridge was giving the death eaters more angry followers, beings that would love nothing more than to see people like Fudge and Umbridge disappear, preferably in blood. Bella had always hated the toad, they'd attended Hogwarts together, and they'd become enemies. Umbridge had tried desperately to hex her one time, she'd felt that Bella, being a Black, should be in Slytherin, but unfortunately she'd picked on a Black who wasn't only highly intelligent but incredibly dangerous with a wand. The toad, not living up to her boasts of being powerful, ended up in the hospital wing for a fortnight. She may've gotten a detention, but Bella thought it was worth it. When they both went to work for the ministry, Umbridge had tried to get her fired a couple of times, but Amelia Bones wouldn't have it. Firing an Auror was for the Head of the DMLE, and Umbridge had no jurisdiction in that department, much to Bones' pleasure since the woman hated Umbridge as much as she did. It wouldn't have mattered, there were many Aurors that would've loved the toad to die.
At last, Bella replied to her goddaughter's remark, " Yeah, but Fudge wants to" be seen doing something,"" she said, making a crude but fairly accurate impression of Fudge's weak and pathetic tones. Selina, who'd met the Minister during her brother's eleventh birthday party, briefly, had sneered with disdain at the pathetic weakling, and now she laughed at the impression.
" Tell me auntie," Selina asked, getting control of herself again, " do you believe that Fudge will fight in the war, make an effort?"
" No," Bella replied without having to think about it. " He's weak, he listens to the wrong people all the time, he accepts bribes, and now that the truths have been revealed, about Voldemort's return and that your the one to defeat him then he'll try his hardest to be seen with you, to" help " you," she made air quotes there. Sel snorted, Fudge wouldn't know what to do with her, he wouldn't tell her what end of the wand was which. As a Minister for magic on the side of Albus Dumbledore more of an issue. Fudge would be listening to Dumbledore, forgetting his paranoid and delusions about the old wizard trying to take over the Ministry, and what Dumbledore said, Fudge would do, like a puppet. After taking those bribes from death eaters, Fudge wouldn't know the difference.
Selina nodded, " I agree, Fudge will be listening to Dumbledore, and one of his priorities would be to make sure that I stay in the country, and being under their collective thumbs too. That's one of the reasons I need to leave the country, and not come back for a while."
Bella shook her head, the girl should be worrying about boys, friends and stuff like that. Stuff a normal teenage girl worried about, but no. With people like Voldemort, Dumbledore, and now Fudge, looking for her, hounding her, the girl didn't stand a chance.
" When are you leaving?" Bella asked, hoping she could spend quality time with Selina; since she went to a muggle school, the two girls hadn't had much social time together, and now this. Bella wanted to spend as much time as possible with her.
Selina knew what her aunt was thinking, " Don't worry, I'm not going yet. I'll be going the day after tomorrow.
Bella smirked, which was copied by Selina.
Bella woke up, her eyes tired. After a wild day shopping, laughing, going into the city, buying all sorts of clothes and accessories for Selina's journey. They bought all manner of clothes, gym clothes, new jumpers and boots. After picking London apart, the two women saw a movie at the cinema, followed by a night at a club. The two girls had attracted much attention, and they'd gotten quite drunk, but they had enough control to get back to the house.
Sitting up in bed, Bella clutched her head, and moaned, her head pounding and making her feel like she had an army of trolls and giants pounding her brain into dust.
" Oooohhhh!" she moaned, closing her eyes in pain. Staggering out of bed, she had to use her hands to guide herself out of the room, and look for Selina. When she got to the room her goddaughter slept in, she looked in, seeing the unkempt room. Selina was gone.
Bella's heart went cold. Selina had gone without saying goodbye. Heartbroken, Bella was about to leave. A beeping sound stopped her, and Bella swung round. On the bedside table was a mirror, and Bella's alcohol addled brain, saw that it was one of Selina's two way mirrors
" Selina Potter." Bella said clearly. At once the image changed from the reflection of a woman who looked as if she'd just spent a night at the bottom of a ride at an amusement park into the visage of her goddaughter. Bella narrowed her eyes; Selina was looking neat and tidy whilst her dear auntie was suffering from a hangover.
" Hi Auntie," Selina smirked at her, " you look like shit." She commented. Bella glowered at her, " Why didn't you say goodbye?"
Selina's smirk disappeared, " You were unconscious and barely made any sense when I tried to shake you awake, you kept muttering for some guy to shag you, make you pregnant, and that you were a fairy godmother, talk about weird fantasies."
Bella's glower evolved into a full blown glare, a growling sound was now coming from her throat. Hurriedly, Selina changed the subject, " OK, I did pour a good amount of hangover potion down your throat, so you can't complain. It took me the best part of the morning to do the same," she finished, closing her eyes and moaning. Bella smirked at her goddaughter, seeing she wasn't even over her own hangover yet, but she was recovering.
" When did you get to America?"
Selina opened her eyes, " I got here over an hour ago, I used a portkey of my own design, I'm in San Francisco, I've already checked myself into a hotel. I'll be looking for work in the next few days, then I'll put myself into another school."
" When will you be studying magic?" Bella asked.
Selina sighed, " I've only just arrived, I need to set my digs up and make contacts. I need a new apartment, I need to get food and make a living. I can't study magic straight away."
" Do you need money sent to you?" Bella asked at once, desperate to stay in contact with her goddaughter.
" No," Selina replied, " but if I need anything I'll let you know. I'd better go, I'll stay in touch."
The mirror went black and changed back into Bella's own reflection. Sadly, Bella took the mirror and went back to her bedroom to sleep off the worst of the hangover.
At the hotel she was staying at, Selina was eating her five star meal with relish. She'd spent the whole day looking for both work, schools, and of course somewhere new to live at. Selina had found a new flat, and bought it using her Potter allowance that had been changed into dollars. The money she'd made from her heists in Brighton, the " Cat ' she called herself, had managed to steal $16, 000 worth of jewellery, and Selina had had the goblins change it for her. She now had a bank account with the local Gringotts branch in the magical community, here in San Francisco. She'd bought a flat in the San Francisco equivalent of Diagon Alley, and she was going to move in tomorrow after the basic furniture had been put in.
This meal was her last in the hotel, and she was savoring.
Selina may have told the magical world back home that she hated it, but the art of disguise was how to hide in plain sight. She was using that philosophy for this one. The world was a big place, and she knew that Dumbledore would use every contact he had around the world to search for her. The one problem was that Bella was her best known supporter, but Bellatrix could look after herself.
In front of her was a list of things she needed to do, at the top of her list was to find people who could teach her magic, but fortunately in America there was a wide variety of people she could meet and interact with. The second part of the list detailed non magical training; she needed to keep up her marital arts and athletic training.
It would be tricky, but she'd be able to do it.
Her new home was large and spacious. It was a dimensionally expanded flat, which was a common thing in the magical world, it alleviated the issues of homelessness that afflicted the mundane world by a massive degree, meaning space was no object. Selina had spent a week looking for new furniture and things to spruce the place up, the flat had two entrances, which was lucky, one faced the muggle side of the barrier containing the magical street, whilst the other, logically, faced the magical side. She used a mix of magical and non magical again. Considering the styles Selina was hard pressed to note the differences, here in Magical America the mixing of magic and non magic was common, and they used a magical form of electricity. Selina made a mental note to study as much techno instead magic as physically possible.
Selina was just finishing the painting of her flat, and once she was finished with her work, she took the time to admire what she'd done. The living room now had a midnight blue feel, the furniture was ornately carved and with beautiful but not overzealously stuffed armchairs and sofa. The floor was a varnished wood, emphasis on the cosy feeling now coming from the room, and there were now soft rugs of deep purple on the floor. There was a book shelf along the wall, just waiting to be filled with texts. The gymnasium was almost finished, it had a treadmill, a rowing machine and all the weight lifting supplies needed to keep her in shape. There was even a holographic feature, if Selina wanted to practice dueling of any variety then she could, just by setting the hologram. She'd practiced the feature already, and sent the Goblins a thank you letter for recommending the place.
As the months passed Selina was able to juggle a life of public education, working in a bar in the Magical Street, where she attracted her fair share of attention. During the night, she attended a college studying magic. Selina had studied magic for a long time, studying potions, charms and transfiguration. But in America she hadn't expected to study Wiccan magic, but now she was and was instantly amazed that people in Britain were so blind and ignorant about what there was in the world.
Techno-magic, a creation in the late 1970s, was a boon to magical development. Magic and technology had never been compatible, but an American wizard had found a way of combing magic and technology together. In the past all attempts had failed because they kept trying to protect muggle technology from magic itself, but then Armando Raven, the wizard in question, had hit upon the idea of using magic to power the technology, and he'd studied the ambient magic. It was delicate work, but his work inspired others. Armando had created the foundations of a new magical science.
Techno-magic wasn't the only art Selina studied during her time in America, she went on courses for dueling, studying many techniques. The duelers were wary of working with someone who didn't and couldn't use a wand, but Selina blew that out of the water when they saw her abilities. Selina was used to it very quickly, wandless magic in America was more common because the Americans promoted it more than they did in Britain.
