Disclaimer: I'm not J.K. Rowling, so I don't own Harry Potter.

~*~*~Chapter Four: Appointment with the Minister~*~*~

Larisa woke up on August twelfth, and suddenly remembered what the day was. Quickly, she got up and got dressed into a long, pink sundress and pulled on a white sweater, then slipped on shiny black ballet flats. She draped her bangs over her red eye, and put on her favorite earrings. She walked around her room, then grabbed the flask that held all of the proof Larisa needed to prove Bellatrix was innocent.

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Larisa darted after Lucius as they walked through the Atrium of the Ministry of Magic. They arrived at the security desk, and Larisa presented her wand for inspection. The security wizard looked slightly startled by Larisa's face, and even more startled when he looked Larisa's wand over.

"E-elder?" He said nervously, looking at Larisa fearfully.

"What? What's wrong with that?" Larisa asked calmly.

"Wand of Elder, never prosper...Unless...What's your name?"

"Larisa Helena Rei..." Larisa said, arching an eyebrow.

"Did you say Rei?" The security wizard asked nervously. Larisa nodded, he went pale, and handed her wand back to her, then turned to look at Lucius's wand. Larisa started to wonder what the wizard meant about a wand of elder never prospering, except for her.

"In May, 1980, the last will be born..." A misty voice said quietly. Larisa looked around wildly, trying to find out who said that. She tugged on Lucius's sleeve.

"What is it?" He asked, looking down at her.

"Did you hear that voice? It said something about the last being born in May, 1980..." Larisa asked him very quietly. Lucius looked quite alarmed.

"Larisa...When were you born?" He asked, also very quietly, trying to keep his voice calm.

"May sixteenth, 1980..." Larisa whispered, shock taking hold of her. She set her hand on the counter, trying to steady herself.

"Well, come on. We're meeting Fudge down near the courtrooms." Lucius said quickly, setting his hand on Larisa's shoulder and steering her away. Larisa's mind whirled around. Nobody else had heard the voice, but the wizard looked alarmed at hearing her name, and the voice was talking about her birthday...Larisa shook her head, trying to forget. She had more important things to worry about, like how she was going to prove that Bellatrix was innocent. Larisa felt the memory in her pocket, and she pulled it out and turned it over in her hands absentmindedly. They turned down a hallway, and they saw the Minister of Magic walking out of a courtroom, followed by a woman in a fluffy pink sweater, which made Larisa recoil slightly. She stopped and stared at Larisa for a minute, and Larisa noted that this woman looked like an overlarge toad. Larisa hastily covered her right eye with her bangs, but the Minister and the woman came walking over to them. The Minister and Lucius greeted each other, but the woman continued to stare at Larisa. Larisa started to feel a little uncomfortable and looked down at her feet, when the woman spoke to Fudge.

"I didn't know Lucius had a daughter." She said in a sickeningly sweet voice that made Larisa wince a little.

"I'm not his daughter." Larisa said quietly, and the woman looked at her.

"Well then, who's daughter are you?" She asked. Larisa felt a huge dislike for her.

"Sophia and Borislav Rei." She said silently, uncovering her eye. The woman took a step backwards.

"Borislav is in-"

"Azkaban, I know." Larisa hissed. She didn't like talking about that, because then people would expect her to be upset, when she was quite thrilled. Fudge turned to look at her.

"Larisa, you're here today because of...?" He asked.

"I'm here to prove Bellatrix Lestrange's innocence, and I have proof that she was under the Imperius Curse." Larisa said clearly. The woman recoiled.

"L-lestrange?" She asked fearfully. Larisa turned to look at her.

"Don't see why people are afraid of her, Bella's really nice. She sa-" Larisa began to say, when she saw the woman staring angrily at her. Larisa clamped her jaw shut and looked back down at her feet.

"Dolores, I will see y-" He stopped short and looked down the hallway. Larisa looked, too, and saw Harry and Mr. Weasley staring back at them. Larisa waved to Harry.

"How'd the trial go?" She called.

"Cleared of all charges!" Harry called back, a wide grin on his face. Larisa gave him the thumbs up. The toad woman looked extremely angry, and shuffled away.

"My office, then, Lucius, Larisa?" Fudge asked. Lucius nodded, and they began to walk away, Larisa walking behind them. They walked into a lift, and they were silent as they went down. They got out and walked down the hallway, and entered Fudge's office, and they all sat down. Larisa held the memory tight in her hand, waiting. "Larisa?" Fudge asked. Larisa took a breath. It was time to put her plan into action.

"I have proof that Bellatrix Lestrange didn't commit the crime she did." Larisa said, holding onto the memory tightly. Fudge closed his eyes and shook his head.

"Miss Rei, dear, obviously y-" He began to say.

"But sir, I have pro-"

"Miss Rei, please do not interrupt me!" Fudge barked. Larisa tilted her head to the side, but didn't say anything else. "As I was saying, Miss Rei, Mrs. Lestrange was tried and convicted by the Wizengamot, and she was guilty."

"That's because you didn't bother to listen to her claims about being under the Imperius Curse." Larisa snapped.

"Larisa, don't let you temper take control...Remember what you did to Sophia when your temper ran away?" Lucius said, trying to calm Larisa down.

"Well, Sophia, deserved what she got." Larisa snapped, putting a disgusted tone on her mother's name. She did try to get her temper under control, though. Things got pretty ugly when her temper ran away.

"Sophia Rei?" Fudge asked. "Potter mentioned her name when he claimed that he saw He-who-must-not-be-named returned."

"Voldemort?" Larisa asked, and Fudge and Lucius flinched.

"Please don't say the name." Fudge begged. Something about blackmail began to zoom through her head, but she ignored it. She had to prove her point.

"Alright. But, I have edvi-"

"Miss Rei, Mrs. Lestrange was TRIED and CONVICTED by the-"

"It's rude to interrupt, sir." Larisa said in an innocent tone.

"You obviously aren't seeing my point, Miss-"

"No, I'm not."

"What happened to 'it's rude to interrupt, sir'?" Fudge asked, glaring at her.

"You interrupt, I interrupt." Larisa said flatly. "Now, for your point, you had her tried without any evidence."

"She was at the scene of the crime, we caught her in the act."

"While she was under the influence of the Imperius Curse." Larisa said clearly. Fudge looked as though he was trying to find a loophole in what she had just said.

"She was still a Death Eater." He said triumphantly.

"Under the Imperius Curse." Larisa said flatly, looking at her nails. Fudge glared at her.

"Well, she was still tried and convicted by the W-"

"Would you just look at the proof I have?" Larisa begged, starting to feel nervous. Fudge frowned, and shook his head.

"No, Mrs. Lestrange was tried and convicted, and we will not be releasing her." Fudge snapped. Larisa felt her heart drop into her stomach, and the little color that was in her face drained out.

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Larisa walked through the front door of Malfoy Manor, still dazed. Narcissa came into the hallway and looked at her.

"How did it go?" She asked. Larisa looked at her with a pained expression in her eyes, and without saying anything, she raced upstairs to the third floor, down the hallway, and into her room, where she slammed the door shut and flung herself down onto her bed, sobbing.

Just goes to show how hard-headed Fudge is...And what about that voice, hmmm? Read, Review, and take the poll. Livelifetothefullest4e OUT.