This story is based on characters and developed from some situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
Chapter 4
Would the Real Bella Please Stand Up.
6th July. Day 9 continued.
The Ministry owl flew into the repaired dining room of the Manor, just as the family of three finished their lunch. The lady of the house sighed, guessing it was either news which her husband had to take to their house guest, or a message from the Minister, wanting her idiot husband to advise him. There was only one Owl in Ministry leathers a year, that arrived for her as lady of the house. The tradition that the family invitation to the Annual Ministry Ball, was sent to the lady of the house, and that was not due for several months yet. Mail from that place the rest of the year was for her husband, but if it was anything less than another emergency calling of the Wizangamot, it was the height of ill manners to send it when it was likely to arrive at this time.
"Now Narcissa." Her husband replied. "It will only be from Fudge, wanting advice again."
He reached out for the owl, offering his hand as a perch, but missed as it swerved in midair to deliberately avoid him, it swooped to land on, then skitter across the highly polished table. It scrambled it's way to Narcissa, stopped before her and stuck out it's leg towards her. She looked at the owl non nonplussed, she couldn't remember the last time she received unexpected correspondence from the Ministry, certainly not official owls like this one.
The owl continued to stand on one leg staring at her, as if saying "Look I just bring the thing, take it for goodness' sake."
Composing herself, she untied the parchment and opened it, the owl took off and flew out of the window.
Showing no interest at all in the letter his wife had received. It would be of no immediate importance, Lucius stood. "Well I must go, I have things to do, I shall see you later."
He left via the Floo, his departure went unnoticed by his son, who was watching his mother, who had also not noticed her Husband leave. She was engrossed in reading, digesting the content of the letter she held in her hand. It was neither an invitation, nor was it news she would ever have expected. After the events of the last couple of days, not to mention the burden of the last few weeks since their house guest had taken over much of the ground floor, it was news that gave her a glimmer of hope. It could be a potential way out of this place, if it came to that. It told her that the Lord of her family of birth had been reinstated last night. She knew that if he knew about this, then he would, this morning, have been putting his life back into order. She could do nothing until she knew he had done that, she hoped he was well enough after what he had endured. Narcissa picked up the paper, that had arrived late this morning, examined every page, until she found it, the story that told her that her cousin was definitely free, he was the Lord Black, as he should be, but she also knew she would need to act fast, her cousin would not appreciate delay in this, she wondered where exactly he was.
The room at the Wizarding Hospital was silent for a moment, Sirius statement took some digesting.
"I think we had better get old Bonesy here for this." Tonks grinned cheekily, a little surprised at Sirius first statement since the memory block had been removed. "I am not sure how, but I think this is going to cause an even bigger stir than our arresting the Rat and I don't think she will want to miss this. Mum always said you never did anything by half, she wasn't kidding. Just to make sure Sirius, you aren't pulling my leg are you?"
"No, Nymphy, I am not kidding, she is my wife." He said.
The Healer nodded. "I kind of think that is true, it is the most unexpected thing I have ever heard from any patient when a memory charm has been lifted."
Tonks chuckled. "Blimey Sirius, that's both kept and ruined your reputation cousin. Failing to prank us all with what you said, yet your statement being the most remarkable uttered on release of the binding, I am so proud of the example you have set for my generation." She said grinning at him, then sent a Patronus message.
A few minutes later, while the healer was checking Sirius to ensure that there was no unexpected damage from removing the block, the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement walked in, once again accompanied by Kingsley. "I might have guessed you would cause chaos here as well Sirius." She grinned. "Right, what's going on."
Tonks explained to her boss what had happened, reporting it in the professional manner expected of an Auror, with Sirius adding a comment or two, to punctuate the report, and to tease her. Amelia was trying not to crack a smile at his antics, especially during the way he described Dumbledore. It was at that point that all three Aurors almost burst into laughter, the whole performance causing great amusement to the healer.
When it came to what he had said after the block on his memory had been removed, Amelia looked at Sirius her eyebrows raised. "Bella?" She asked.
"Yep, Bella, Bellatrix, you know, the one that is my cousin as well as my wife." He replied.
"But, Sirius, she is in Azkaban, the cell next to the one you escaped from I believe. Her husband is in one on the opposite side of the castle." She responded. "She was a death eater, one of the worst, married Rodolphus Lestrange."
"No, that wouldn't be Bella, she loathed the Lestranges, but as I couldn't remember being married to her, I wonder if this is linked to that somehow." Sirius pondered.
"Perhaps, but even so, she is in Azkaban, she has a life sentence, Sirius." Amelia said gently.
Sirius was about to reply, but the Healer spoke first. "Er, excuse me, but if you mean Bellatrix Lestrange, then she isn't in Azkaban, she has been in the secure long term care ward here, for at least the last decade, not sure she was ever in that place."
"What!" Amelia and Kingsley both exclaimed.
"I was treating her this morning, before I came here to see to Lord Black, not that she responds much at all. She has barely said a word in all that time, she has a memory block on her, like the one Sirius had, but it affected her mind badly, probably when it was applied. I would say that she is lost in herself, as a result of it, it can happen to people sometimes." The healer told them, then a look of comprehension hit her. "If she had a block and you had a block, if they were linked, then my removing yours will have removed hers as well. If that has happened, then it is entirely possible, even very likely, that she will have regained her sanity."
"That is all very well." Amelia said. "But, according to Ministry records, she is still in Azkaban, not been near the hospital since she was convicted. Any time such a high risk prisoner would be moved, we would be informed, so we could decide if extra security would be needed to supplement the Duty Aurors from the prison. That said, I have absolutely no reason to believe you are deliberately lying to me, you would have nothing to gain from doing so. Assuming you are right for a moment, have you ever identified who applied the charm on her, is it the same person who did the one on Sirius."
"No, we never looked at that for the one on her, but the one on Lord Black was applied by Dumbledore. The other thing about Azkaban and healers you need to remember is that we are never told the names of the prisoners when we check them, just in case they did something to a family member. So when we go there all the records refer to the prisoner number, not the name. I presume that the Governor has a way of converting that to the appropriate records, after we leave." The healer replied.
Amelia nodded. "I had forgotten that, we considered it with the duty Aurors at one time, but it was not implemented. However, the system is in place for the healers, so you would not have known that there were apparently two people with the same name, one there, the other here, even if treating them both on the same day. Nor would you necessarily know what each prisoner looked like, or was supposed to look like. Well that explains why it was never queried, and how such a situation is feasible within the current system, but not how we appear to have two Bellatrix Lestranges, one in the Prison and one here. Of course if that is true we shall need to ensure which is the one responsible for the crimes, and which isn't, so that we can be sure the right one is being held. It would appear that this could be another fine mess, that Dumbledore has got us into."
They were interrupted by an urgent knock on the door, it opened before anyone could respond and a porter put his head round the door to look straight at the healer. "You are needed in the secure ward, Lestrange is talking." The porter told her, she nodded and he left.
Kingsley looked at Amelia. "If Albus is involved in all this, then anything could be true."
She nodded to her colleague, tilted her head to one side in her characteristic way when she quickly considered a puzzle. "Mind if we come with you up to the ward?" She asked the healer.
"Not at all, I can see how important it is to try to resolve this." Came the reply. "Follow me!"
The excitement of activity in the secure long term care ward, almost matched that which had electrified the staff at the ministry, that morning. It almost reached that level, but not quite, as professional decorum and training asserted itself amongst the staff, a few minutes after that initial response. They had patients to care for after all, not just the potentially dangerous one that had shocked all of them this afternoon. That cause of all the excitement was, the sudden recovery to awareness of the notorious Bellatrix Lestrange, who had never spoken a coherent sentence since she had arrived, until now.
The fact that her first words had partially been a threat, indicated she may still not be entirely sane. Her secondary claims to be married to her cousin, the reportedly freshly released Sirius Black tended to confirm the initial supposition rather than repudiate them. Her claims that Dumbledore had a hidden agenda that had led him to placing the memory charm on her, the one that may have caused her condition and that had apparently spontaneously broken a few moments ago was close to the final straw. Combine all that with her claims that the Chief Warlock had placed her with the Lestranges' was sufficient to all, but, clinch the deal. The healers at this point felt she was still very likely to be aboard the express train to loony land and that all that had been lost in the last decade, was her voice. She sealed the deal by claiming that the real Mrs Lestrange had taken Polyjuice before each raid she had been on, so that the captive Bella would appear to be committing the tortures and murders. As far as the healers present were concerned this was, as one of them put it, a case of "Ding, Ding loony land central, everyone off."
Barely had this admittedly very rough, and unsubstantiated beyond initial observations, diagnosis been made, than Sirius Black, Aurors Tonks and Shacklebolt along with Amelia Bones arrived in the corridor along with the healer who had looked after Bellatrix that morning. When most of them looked back on the events, they would say that it was at this point in the unprecedented events of the afternoon on the ward, that things began to get just a tiny bit strange.
As soon as the five of them had spoken to the healers who had been present when Bella had revived, they decided a way forward and a message was sent to Azkaban. A few minutes later Amelia and Auror Shacklebolt left for the prison from where, the healers had understood from Dumbledore, this Bellatrix had been brought. The Ministry however having not been informed of any transfer, had understood she was still in her cell on the prison island, so they were going to discover who was there under that name, and how a switch had been made, if it had at all. Black and Auror Tonks remained in a visitors room on the ward, while Pensieve memories of both Sirius and Bellatrix were withdrawn separately, under controlled conditions. The Bellatrix here had been told, briefly, what was going on, but being the subjects of the investigation, neither Sirius nor Bellatrix could see each other, not just yet, they had no contact with the other while the memories were retrieved. They awaited the return of the Auror and his boss, not necessarily patiently. They had not even had a glimpse of each other yet, since their memories were restored. Both were desperate to be reunited with the other, but had been told they must wait, which was easier for Sirius with Tonks to talk with, while Bella simply had the Healers, who she blamed for not releasing her memory block earlier.
Amelia and Kingsley arrived at the secure Floo connection in the office of the governor of the prison of Azkaban. This was the only Floo connection on the island and although communication was possible from anywhere else on the network, travel to or from it was only possible between it and a heavily protected room deep in the department of mysteries. This was the main route in for newly convicted prisoners, who were stunned before being taken through it. Few convicts would willingly step in, knowing where they were headed, so they were given no choice in the matter and those transporting them were able to do so with minimum fuss.
The small number of DMLE staff posted at the prison also used this route to get to their shift every day, rather than have any of them stay on the island, to do otherwise would render them senseless due to the effects of the Dementors. Everyone in the DMLE would, at various points in their career, be assigned a term on the Azkaban staff. There was a strict shift pattern for the human staff who, apart from the governor, would only serve for a maximum of a year before being transferred to other duties. The shift pattern gave them a week off in every four as well as two days off a week, such were the precautions necessary to minimise the effects of exposure to the Dementors. Long serving staff in the department would serve more than once on the island, during their career. Amelia herself had served there a number of times, though the last few she had not worked the night shifts, being guardian for Susan.
The governor herself was one of a very few staff members in the history of the department, who had chosen to stay on this assignment, preferring to work on the island rather than out in the field, she had now worked at the prison for twenty years of her career. She would retire in a few months time and was responsible for the few pictures of flowers on the desk and around the room, real ones would not survive proximity to the Dementors for more than a few seconds.
The Governors' office was, they knew, a real contrast to the dark oppression of the castle itself and the only part the spectral guards of Azkaban would not visit, though their effects had so permeated the fabric of the building, that they could still be felt. This room was the hub for the humans on duty on the island, it had warmly decorated yellow walls with pictures of land marks from across Britain hung on them. The window was, like those of the ministry and at Saint Mungos, charmed to show a different view than would otherwise be seen. In this instance, to show a rocky shore bathed in bright sunlight beneath a blue sky speckled with rich flecks of white Cirrus cloud. The reality was that the castle seemed to grow from a barren, rocky island, in an often tempestuous, white topped, slate grey sea, miles off shore from the mainland of Britain. The comfortable room held a sofa as well as desk, filing cabinets, dining table, and the usual ministry issue chairs, for the human staff to use during meal breaks, there was an oven against one wall. Staff lockers were lined along the wall next to the fireplace, some open, ready for use when needed. A shelf full of books above the filing cabinet, was next to a notice board showing the staff rota and leave charts as well as a book that contained a list of prisoners and cell numbers.
The two senior Aurors were welcomed on arrival by the familiar figure of the current warden, a plump down to earth, matronly figure, who ran the Prison on behalf of the Ministry, and had done for a number of years. She could be very strict when needed, but preferred to get along with her ever-changing rotation of staff, particularly taking any who were there for the first time under her wing. She was well respected by all she worked with, and ran the prison efficiently.
"Amelia, my dear, it is good to see you, I hope Susan is well, please give her my love." The governor greeted them. "And you Kingsley, it's been quite a while since either of you have been here. From your message, I understand you have a mystery to resolve. I assure you Mrs. Lestrange is still securely held here, though as you know we don't see them once they are in those cells. She takes the food everyday though and once a month she is checked by healers, none of them have reported anything unusual, though of course they have no idea who is who in here."
"Don't worry Hyacinth, to get to the bottom of this we just need to interview both her and her Husband with Veritaserum. It could prevent a miscarriage of justice, you see the woman you have here may be Bellatrix Lestrange, but if our information is correct, she isn't and was never Bellatrix Black, so we are looking at a possible impersonation rather than an escape." Amelia reassured her colleague, who had never really recovered from the shock of Sirius escaping.
"I am glad of that, I understand Sirius was acquitted yesterday, well tell him I still want to clip his ear for causing all that trouble." Hyacinth smiled then indicated the door which led out to the prison. "The Dementors have brought the Lestranges separately to the interview rooms ready for you. Neither of them know the other is there of course, though as this is the first time they have been brought out of their cells, they will probably be curious as to what is going on. Anyway, lets go, so you can find out what is going on, with luck."
She led them out of the office and down the corridor to the pair of interview rooms, they had been placed between the only pleasant part of the castle and the area containing the cells. The Aurors would not be crossing to that side this time, but the rooms were still oppressive, thanks to the Dementors on the far side of them. Only the Governors' office was far enough away to be relatively free of the effect of them, the only respite from the oppressiveness of the prison for the human staff, who welcomed it during their on duty breaks.
There were areas of the castle that were no longer used, parts which had once been accessible for prisoners, in the time before Dementors had been employed to patrol the cells. For those who could stand it, the building offered quite some interest and surprised many with some of the carved features and evidence of pride in the work by the builders. Amelia knew that there were two large halls, now abandoned, which had once served as canteens. One had served for Female prisoners, the other for Male, the kitchen that had served the canteens was where prisoner meals were still prepared, though from the size of the larders, Pantry and Buttery, the meals prepared these days in them, were nothing like the ones served in the past. The Dementors avoided the place, the fires that heated the ovens made them uncomfortable, so there effects were lesser there than round the cells, which had made it an area Amelia had thoroughly explored. There were other architectural features visible to those who wanted to look, many were unusual in a castle. Unlike most castles which were built to make it easy for the occupants to defend, Azkaban had been built for a very different purpose. It had been built as a prison, to keep its occupants contained within, so whilst it was built with an eye to defence from the outside, that was not its primary purpose, it had also been constructed to prevent those within from getting out. Amelia had been one of those to have taken an interest in the features of the castle, while she had been on duty here, she had explored many of its areas that were ignored by many, so knew the prison well, though not as well as Hyacinth did of course.
Reaching the end of the corridor, they were met by three of the duty Aurors, one at each of the heavy timber doors that was there. Two of the heavy, studded doors, led to the Interview rooms, while the third, which was between the other two led to the cells, though Amelia knew the two Lestranges would have been brought through other doors on the prison side of the rooms. She nodded to the first Auror, who opened the first door, for them. They entered the plain room that simply contained some wooden chairs and a table, which almost completely divided the space. A bedraggled, figure, in filthy clothes, sat at the table opposite them, the door to the prison which she had been brought from, behind her. The figure was hunched over, hands clasped on the table, head resting on them, a shock of grimy unkempt, but clearly long blonde hair spilling around to pool on the table. They could see that she was dirty from head to foot and unlike her reputation, apparently a broken woman. The years since her sentencing, of living in what was a medieval cell on plain rations and water, had clearly taken its toll on her.
Taking in the sight, the Governor, who was one of the few to have faced the woman this was supposed to be during the last war, was first to speak. "That is most certainly not Bellatrix Lestrange." She turned to the guard. "You are certain this woman was brought from the correct cell?"
The Auror had joined their ranks only a few years before, he had been a child during the last war so had no idea what Bellatrix looked like, but nodded. "I am positive Ma'am, that person was the only one in the cell assigned to Bellatrix Lestrange."
The woman at the table cackled harshly. "That is the blood traitor whore that I claimed to be, and who I was arrested as." She raised her head to glare at those who had entered the room, she began laughing again. "It has taken you all long enough to realise it, I suppose that is to be expected though when your sort run things."
Amelia took the witches cackling as an opportunity to move swiftly across the room, and administer two drops of Veritaserum on the woman's' tongue from a vial in her hand. The cackling of the woman turned in to spluttering as she tried to spit the liquid out. "What have you given me?" She demanded.
Soon the witches eyes glazed over, Amelia grinned, enough of the Veritaserum had been adsorbed through her tongue to be effective, she doubted such a simple opportunity would present itself again. "What is your real name?" Asked the head of the department.
"Lysandra Lestrange." Came the dull reply.
"What name was your family one?" Amelia asked.
"Malfoy!" The woman answered.
"Lucius Malfoy's sister?" Amelia asked for clarification, the Malfoy sibling had supposedly died years before and been buried in the grounds of Malfoy Manor.
"Yes, that is me. My death was faked, so I could serve my master as he required. I attended my own funeral, the coffin contained a Muggle, who had died in my brothers care at the Manor." Lysandra sniggered.
"What was your task?" Amelia asked.
Over the next half hour, slowly the story of how a mindless Bellatrix had been delivered to them at there home. She did not know who by only that they shared a desire to destroy the Blacks with her master, who considered the family too powerful to be allowed to remain apparently sympathetic to pure blood ideals, but unmarked. Within days, she had married Rodolphus as her family had planned, though in secret, the one who had brought Bellatrix had taken care of the paperwork at the ministry. She and her husband, Rodolphus, had held Bellatrix captive in their cellar where they had taken hairs and nail clippings to add to Polyjuice potion that was supplied to them. They spread the word that Rodolphus had publicly claimed to have married Bellatrix, though she could not recall whose idea that had been. She had willingly and enthusiastically taken the Dark Mark, having gleefully tortured a muggle family to death. The day after she had received the mark, was the day they had faked her death, participating in her family announcing the death, her parents and brother knowing it was untrue, but needed to cover their participation in the raids. After the Burial, she and her husband had then worked as a team and begun to wreck the reputation of the real Bellatrix, though never questioning why her Master would want her too. She never asked, she could not even recall when it had been ordered, just knew it had been. Lysandra never left the house as herself and neither she, nor her husband accepted any social invitations from any, save those who knew what was going on. So far as she was concerned, it was all part of a plan her master had ordered.
For several years Lysandra had used the Polyjuice to impersonate Bellatrix, and she had gone on raids, murdered and tortured whilst pretending to be Bellatrix. Lestrange was proud to have tortured the Longbottoms to madness claiming that only she and her master had the skill to do it without killing the victim, bragging about the fact naturally. Asked about her capture, she suddenly confessed that being caught by Arthur Weasley, Remus Lupin and Dumbledore was her great shame. Dumbledore had found the true Bellatrix still in captivity, he had seemed to know she was there. He had not appeared surprised at all to find her, he was angry that she had survived long enough to be found, but with Weasley and the Werewolf upstairs dealing with the two Lestranges, he had hidden her again under a concealment charm, so the others would not see her. Lestrange did not know what had happened to the woman after that, she was not bothered, nor sympathetic.
With the bound Lysandra appearing to be Bellatrix, having taken the Potion the moment they had realised the house was under attack. Dumbledore, had sent Remus and Arthur ahead with Rodolphus to the Ministry cells, for questioning and trial. He had then started muttering under his breath as he swiftly prepared enough of their stock of Polyjuice, which he had known where to find, to last long enough for the interrogation and trial, he gave it to her in a flask. Using his Legilimancy skills to place a compulsion on her, so she would automatically use the potion regularly, for the next twenty-four hours and not be able to reveal her true identity. He had also placed a time limited notice me not charm on the flask, so only she could see it for the same length of time and none would notice her using it. Lysandra would remain Bellatrix while he had needed her to, he then took her to the Ministry himself.
Dumbledore had ensured that both her interview and the trial of both her self and her Husband went as quickly as possible. They confessed to their crimes freely, and he had ensured Veritaserum was not used, so that they would not reveal those truths that he did not want known. She drank the last of the Poly Juice just before the guards arrived in her cell at the Ministry to stun her and hid the flask in her clothes just as they unlocked the door to enter. She had been fully aware of the journey to Azkaban, it had been the only time she had been frightened, she was so helpless, she had wanted to fight, but she could not move. They lifted the spell just as she had been placed in her cell and the door was closed before Dumbledores' compulsion charm wore off.
Asked what she had done with the flask, she produced it from her clothing, Amelia conjured an evidence bag, Lysandra dropped the flask into it. The head of the DMLE sealed it and placed it in her own bag. The interview had been recorded and ended shortly after the Flask had been sealed. Lysandra watched as the Parchment record was sealed and Kingsley secured it, she saw them all leave the room the way they had come, before the guard entered, stunned her and opened the door behind her, he levitated her back to her cell.
The questioning of Rodolphus took a similar time as that of his wife, he confirmed her testimony, though he was able to confirm that Bellatrix, and the Polyjuice had been delivered via an agent of the Order of the Phoenix. Confirming to Amelia's satisfaction that Dumbledore was at the very least involved in the arrangements, even if it there was insufficient for it to be proved in court, or even that he had controlled the situation for his own benefit. It may not be the whole picture, but it was certainly another piece of the puzzle.
Amelia was furious about the actions of Dumbledore, she had never fully trusted the man, or his view of society being either dark or light. There was no doubt that since the collapse of the three Alliance families influence, it was a view that was gaining ground, an easy way to blame those who held a different view. It had polarised large parts of society along lines that had once been tempered by the Alliance, by the influence of the three families. It had helped to stagnate the community, so many were aligned along one side or the other, seeing the other as beyond the pale, so wrong in their views that they were not worth listening to. Neither light nor dark factions open to seeing the good both could bring, neither completely in the right, neither completely in the wrong. She had never really held such a view, but like the others who agreed with her, she had been silenced by the extremists loud voices, bludgeoning others into silence. She preferred to judge as she found and today seemed to be the day that any mythology of the headmaster, finally began unravel, at least she hoped it was the start of it. Amelia knew that in the absence of the Alliance, they would need to tread carefully, or risk exposing their whole society.
About an hour and a half after they had arrived, Amelia and Kingsley left the prison, exchanging the usual pleasantries with Hyacinth and those of their colleagues who were in the office. They arrived in the department of Mysteries, turned and immediately re-entered the fireplace and returned to St Mungo's and the long term secure ward, to the room where Tonks and Sirius were waiting.
Once they had explained what they had discovered to him, Sirius looked ready to murder a certain white haired wizard, however he had something more important to do first. He needed to see his wife, now he could remember her, and the person she really was. Amelia persuaded him that even after that, Dumbledore could wait. She pointed out that they needed absolute proof of what he had done to deal with him properly, patience was the best policy for the time being, so that he could not wriggle out of it when they did act. In the meantime, Amelia was quite happy to act if the Headmaster were to do anything untoward or illegal, even if it were to simply question him. Kingsley was beginning to lose faith in Dumbledore, a man he had always believed wanted the best for their society, but the discovery of the actions he had taken had left the Auror with serious doubts that that was true after all. At the very least, he knew he would be thinking long and hard about his dealings with the Headmaster outside work, he would also be getting himself checked for spells as soon as he could. He had decided that if any were present that he was unaware of, then they would be removed, and he would suggest that all members of the department at least, be checked on a regular basis.
Tonks had already told Sirius that she would stand by him and Harry, even before Sirius had reinstated her mother into the family, while they had been at Gringotts that morning. He had welcomed her and her father into it officially when Sirius had accepted his Lordship ring, they were now protected by the Black's once more. While Kingsley and Amelia had been at Azkaban, he had asked Tonks to fetch them, so that he could, at last acknowledge them and dispel the story of the disowning of them. Andromeda and Ted arrived within minutes, somewhat surprised at the turn of events. They were reluctant at first to accept Sirius was safe, they had not seen the report in the Prophet announcing his innocence, so were cautious at first, but once they saw the order from the Wizangamot, they relaxed, glad to be acknowledged openly as part of the family again. Both of them took the news of what they were doing in the secure ward quite well, considering. Andromeda convinced she had a vague memory of the wedding, but nothing clear. The healer explained that they expected a lot of people would regain memories, after they had removed the Block on Sirius. They both had to leave to return to work, Tonks had caught them between appointments at their office, before Kingsley and Amelia returned, but they were both looking forward to when they could spend time with their extended family once more.
With Sirius calmed, the four made their way down the corridor to the room where Bella was waiting, it was time for Husband and Wife to be reunited.
"Look what can I do to convince you, I am Bellatrix Black, I am married to my cousin Sirius, there's no law against it. In fact, it is relatively common in the Black's and numerous other families, unless things have changed in the last few years. That said and although our marriage was arranged by our parents, we were in love, I have never been married to that idiot Lestrange, I would rather face a Hungarian Horntail than even look at that repulsive excuse for a Wizard." The raised voice could be heard down the corridor.
Sirius grinned. "I think, that Bella is getting a tad worked up. A bit like she did after James decided that it was a good idea to mess with the trifle at our wedding."
Amelia looked at him. "Don't remind me, both Lily and Bella both having a go at him at the same time, that was a sight to see. It was one of the few times, that I really felt sorry for him after one of his pranks. I know it was imaginative, but he did push the wrong buttons on them both at the time. Did that bridesmaid ever recover by the way?"
"I doubt it, I am not sure she would want to see any of us again after that to be honest. Bella did tell me that she was supposed to be emigrating soon afterwards in any case, I never heard if she did or not though." Sirius grinned again as they reached the door, Bellatrix was still yelling at the healers. "Shall we?" He asked them innocently.
Tonks was dubious, Kingsley looked amused, Amelia laughed. "After you Sirius! You know I was not a Gryffindor and I have never been suicidal, so we shall follow you in. Her aim was the best in the department, you are the least likely to be harmed, but just in case she does decide to throw something, better that you get hit first, than us."
"Why thanks Amelia, I love you too." Sirius grinned. "But I take your point, though I did learn to duck as a natural reaction you know." He quickly, but silently, pushed open the door before Amelia could react.
He stepped in, took a couple of steps into the room, the others followed him, unnoticed by those already in the room. The sight that met them was of a thin, healthy and elegant, but frustrated woman sat on the bed, arguing with a group of healers. She was dressed in a standard white hospital gown, wore no make up, but it was clear the healers had taken care of her during her years here, all signs of her period of captivity gone, or at least not obvious. Contrary to the popular image of her dark wild bushy hair, it was arranged neatly, clean and hung below her shoulders loosely, but brushed and shiny. She appeared almost as Sirius remembered her, he marvelled that despite her ordeal, she appeared little changed, perhaps not as strong physically and a little older in appearance. He knew she had been given potions to slow the deterioration of her muscles, since she had arrived here, but had not expected her to still be as sexy as she was, not after what she had been through. He was glad for her, he knew she would not have liked to have it any other way. She was in some ways in better shape than he was, but he did wonder about her mental state, had she been aware of all that had happened to her? Had that sharp mind that had gone along with her sharp appearance, been aware of what was going on around her? Had she been affected by the enforced confinement the memory charm had forced on her? He knew there may well be some after effects to her, but judging by how she was holding her own in the argument she was having, the woman he had fallen in love with, and been denied for so long, was still there.
"For crying out loud, I know Amelia has gone to Azkaban to check what is going on, it has been almost two hours since you told me that, I understand that completely. Why does it take so many of you to keep repeating that to me? Why won't one of you go find out if she is back yet? I am hardly going to run away when you tell my husband is down the corridor and all I want to do is see him. Well after all these years of not being together, truthfully that is not all I want from him, but I promise we will not do that here. Other than that I want to see our Godson, if that is at all possible, if he even knows we are his Godparents." Bella insisted, at the concerned healers before her, one of whom tried to calm her.
"Just be patient,,,!" The unfortunate Healer tried to placate, but was interrupted by a glare from Bellatrix.
"If you know what is good for you, you will not continue with that sentence." She growled. "I have been a patient here for years, unable to do anything to put matters right. Not to mention, it would appear that not one of you thought to check for the memory block, or what effects it might have had on me, except one of you who it seems the rest of you ignored. Now make yourself useful, stop pestering me and either run along to see what is going on, or fetch my Husband now."
Sirius decided that the Healers had suffered enough, besides he wanted his wife in his arms, not to mention he wanted to discover. "Er, Bell, I'm behind you." He called cheerily, trying not to laugh at the typical behaviour of his wife, not getting her way for no good reason that she could see.
The woman who had been at the centre of the healers' attention, span her head round, her dark hair spiralling about her head. "Sirius" She yelled, as her face broke into an expression of mixed joy and lust, ran across the room and leapt on him.
She wrapped her legs round him as he caught her, their lips met passionately, and they made up for over a decade of enforced separation.
The healer who had accompanied them sent her colleagues away, much to their relief, leaving her and the three Aurors remaining with the couple. Amelia took a seat further in the room, indicating that her colleagues and the healer should do the same. "We might as well be comfortable while we wait for them to realise we are here, it could take quite a while before they do."
Tonks looked at her boss grinning. "So, Boss, spill the beans, what exactly did James do to the bridesmaid with the trifle, then?" She asked with a twinkle in her eye.
"We promised to never tell, only Sirius or Bella can tell you." Her superior replied. "Mind you it wouldn't surprise me if Sirius wasn't right about that Bridesmaid."
Kingsley raised an eyebrow, puzzled. "Sorry to interrupt, but Amelia, how do you know all this now? If you had remembered that before, you would have known about Sirius being innocent and that Bellatrix would not have done all those things that she was accused of wouldn't you?"
"Good point Kingsley." Amelia replied puzzled. "I was a colleague of theirs, it was just before you came to us, Shack. They were inseparable, a formidable team, then suddenly they weren't, certainly it was a surprise, then it wasn't, but it was not something we should investigate, or, so we thought. Sirius stayed on in the department, Bella didn't. Looking back now it does seem odd that he wasn't upset about it, not even a little, but that didn't occur to me at the time. He just carried on as if nothing had changed. It was only weeks later word spread that she had married Rodolphus Lestrange then Sirius was arrested and imprisoned, so we didn't give it much thought. That doesn't explain why I couldn't remember their wedding until now though."
"Those memories returning, are certainly an effect of the removal of the Memory Block on Sirius, there could well be quite a number of people remembering things blocked by the spell used to apply it." The healer told Amelia, then turned as Tonks giggled, glancing up at the reunited couple.
"Well they are certainly making up for lost time now." The young Auror smiled, happy that at least some of her family was reuniting.
The two were still locked at the lips, their hands wandering freely, under their clothing.
Amelia looked at the couple. "We had better stop them before they go much further." She pointed her wand and water erupted from its tip, arced across the room and drenched the couple from head to toe.
"What the...?" spluttered Sirius as his lips parted from his wife's once the water flow had ceased.
"Sorry you two, but it was getting a little hot for young Tonks here to handle." Grinned Amelia.
"Hey!" The pink haired Auror objected.
Kingsley grinned. "Not to mention a potentially full education for her."
"Oi!" The youngest person present exclaimed.
"Not to mention she wouldn't want to see her aunt and uncle at it, Padfoot." A male voice from the doorway said.
Forgetting they were soaked Sirius and Bella's heads wiped round sending twin spirals of water droplets like myriad jewels flying from their hair to sprinkle the room and its occupants liberally. "Mooney!" They grinned and pulled their friend into a three-way hug.
"Geroff me," Remus yelled, struggling to get out of their grip. "You're getting me wet."
The three separated grinning as Remus cast a drying charm on them all.
"Would anyone care to tell me what's going on?" He asked still smiling. "Arthur Floo called me, told me you were free Padfoot, then suddenly I could remember things about you two I hadn't realised for years. Welcome back you old dog, you too Bella. Did Dumbledore finally tell everyone that I knew it wasn't you at those attacks, scent was all wrong. I kept trying, but somehow couldn't say anything about it. Turns out I had a spell on me to prevent it, only checked for it once I remembered about you two, had it removed by a healer on the way up here, seems there were a few other spells on me as well. Not to worry though, they are all gone now."
"The old coot knew?" Demanded Bella angrily. "If I get hold of him, I'll rip his bloody beard off, and that would be just for starters, the bastard stole our lives."
Bellatrix Black may not have been the vindictive, cruel person the world thought they knew, but that didn't mean she didn't want to cause a certain self professed leader of the light great pain in as many fun and imaginative ways as she could think of. It took quite a while to calm Bella down enough to tell her the whole story, at the end of which, Sirius, Remus and Bella were working on a Marauder style revenge, alongside the official one. What was becoming more and more apparent to them all, as more things were revealed, was that the headmaster was not what he seemed to be to the public. His façade was slipping, with them and soon it would with others, but they needed to tread with care, they needed to corner the snake steadily, without his notice, controlling any strike back he might make. The list of spells applied to Remus was added to the matters to be investigated and acted as a warning that anyone who had been in contact with Dumbledore needed checking for any that may have been applied to them. That was something the healer acted on, with them there and then. She discovered that the three Aurors each had spells they were unaware of on them, including a mild loyalty one aimed at Albus, which she also detected on herself. They surmised that many people may have that one, perhaps even applied when they attended Hogwarts.
"He seems desperate to control everything, this Greater Good he keeps mentioning has clouded his judgement, he is convinced he is right, which makes him dangerous." Amelia observed. "There are rumours he is reforming his Order of the Phoenix, his support club from last time. Through it he got more people killed, maimed and injured than needed to be, convinced them they were doing some good, despite a lack of training."
Remus, Tonks and Kingsley looked at each other and nodded, a gesture Amelia noticed.
"Don't tell me?" She questioned with a sigh.
"They meet on the ground floor of our London house." Sirius confessed. "These three are not the only members, though I have not rejoined, much to the Bearded Wonders frustration."
Tonks nodded. "I joined, I'm regretting it now though."
"Don't Niece!" Bella admonished her kindly. "It could be useful."
Kingsley nodded "Agreed, I have heard enough to know Dumbledore is not necessarily the way forward or best for us all. As I see it now, with what we have found out and seen, he is aiming for self glory."
Remus nodded. "You know I'm with you two and Harry I only joined to be able keep an eye on him, Albus has far too much of an interest in him for my liking. Anyway, it's too small a group to win a war without help, they are ill trained and too reactive to be effective."
Amelia looked at her Aurors "Is that your assessment of this group as well?"
They nodded, so she continued. "Fine, that being the case, what is the main task of the group?"
"At the moment, guarding Harry." Tonks replied. "Oh and watching the department of mysteries?"
"Really? Why does he want that watching?" Amelia asked surprised.
"He hasn't told us, just that there is something in their that must be guarded." Kingsley replied.
"It must be the Prophesy!" Bella conjectured.
"Of course." Sirius slapped his head, "The one about Harry, I should have known."
"Well only Harry could get it off the shelf unless others are named in it." Amelia offered.
Bella nodded. "Still I think it best that Harry hears it, if he hasn't already of course, where is he by the way?"
"He was raised by Lily's sister, hated every moment of course, he is there now, but I doubt he will be for much longer this summer." Remus answered.
"What? Let me guess Dumbledore." Bella said.
Before anyone could say any more, a Patronus swooped in and stopped in front of Remus, whispered its message then disappeared, Remus looked up. "Kingsley, Tonks, it would appear the old buzzard requires us to meet with him, he has a mission for us. If I were to guess, I would say we shall be collecting Harry and taking him to headquarters." His statement was confirmed as two more Patronus arrived, one stopping in front of each of the two Aurors.
Both confirmed, that they had received the same message from the headmaster.
Bella looked at Amelia. "How soon until I can go home, I want to be there and settled in to greet my godson whenever he arrives. I would bet good money that, that is the mission that Albus wants them to do for him. He wants his hands on Harry, spin him some line or other, so he keeps control of him."
"We must ensure neither of you will be lynched on sight by the public, I already haver a press conference organised for Sirius in the department, we shall spring you on them as well as a surprise. We also need to ensure the Ministers' office don't reduce this story to nothing, as they did this morning in the Prophet, it is under his control to a large extent, but there are ways round it. I have invited representatives from all the media outlets who can either publish or broadcast the news tomorrow, so by tomorrow lunchtime, only the most stubborn will know that neither of you are a danger." Amelia grinned. "We also need to get a move on to get the red tape done to put your life back together, Bella. Is the wand we hold yours, or the true Mrs. Lestranges, by the way?"
"Hers, I would think, I am not sure where mine is. As for the red tape and the press conference, very well, I suppose it's inevitable, can we do it all quite quickly, get it over with?" Bella sighed.
"Well before you go home we shall have either located your wand or you shall have a new one in your possession." Amelia assured her. "Kingsley, Tonks go with Remus, do as Dumbledore asks for now, I doubt he will fetch Harry before tomorrow to be honest. If he does send you to collect Harry, say nothing to the boy, let's see what happens, keep each other informed. Until we can prove otherwise, this is primarily family business, for the time being, but in the absence of the Alliance to protect Harry and his interests, the more we uncover about the headmaster the better. It may be interesting to find out what young Harry Has to say, Susan says the stories and rumours about his time a Hogwarts so far are worth hearing, even if half of them are not true. Even so, if you can ensure he becomes fully informed, it could prove beneficial to him."
Sirius nodded, understanding what Amelia had suggested regarding both his and the Potter legacy, two of the three families rejoined could at least partly restore the balanced society they once had. To do that they needed to ensure Harry was rescued, Sirius looked to his friend and his young cousin. "Please, would one of you make sure that I know when you get Harry back to the house, make it easier to get him away from the influence of the Bearded wonder. I shall have Kreacher prepare a proper room for him, but if you send any luggage ahead, I will tell him to put it where Molly intends Harry to sleep, until I have chance to speak with him."
Nodding their agreement, the three left to meet with Dumbledore.
Amelia looked at the healer. "Can these two leave now, or is there anything else that should be done before they leave."
"No, I think we are done, but Bella, Sirius, my family owe the Alliance much, if I can be of help to you, do not hesitate to contact me. I know the family head, my Aunt will not object if I offer help from the family too, She was always proud to be part of it, even if she has not been able to show it recently." She said.
"I appreciate it, and thanks for all you have done for both of us. We shall of course come to you, if we need to, Healer?" Sirius said, asking her name realising he had not given her chance to tell him earlier.
"Urquart, Sirius." She grinned.
Bella smiled. "I should have known, you remind me of her. I was aware of you when you were treating me even if I could not respond. I completely understand Minerva's position, we shall be glad to have your help and that of your family."
Amelia chuckled, she had not come across the healer before, but was glad she had proved trustworthy. She turned back to the couple. "Right lets get back to my office, looking at the time, we shall have to repeat what we did for Sirius this morning for you after the press conference Bella. When they see you both together, I think this might give them the story of the year so far. Unfortunately, with you included Bella, it means my plan for it all to go out tonight probably won't work, thanks to that damned agreement that the Minister made with the media to ensure the Prophet gets the story first. After that, then we shall get you home, hopefully prevent a lynch mob when you do go out."
"I doubt we would go anywhere, but home for the time being anyway." Bella said. " But, lets go get ready to face the mob."
They bid farewell to Healer Urquart, then followed Amelia to the Floo. They had barely half an hour to prepare, before they walked out of her office to face the assembled representatives of the press in the open area of the Auror office.
Amelia's secretary had given each of the journalists a copy of the prepared press release as they had arrived, it had been rewritten to include the news around Bella. Amelia had briefed the secretary quickly as she had passed through between Azkaban and St Mungos. Each journalist had read it in disbelief, then began the chatter of discussion between them. The moment that the door to the head of department office had opened, an uncharacteristic, for the media, hush fell over them.
Amelia led the way, followed by Lord Black, who paused and held the door open for the woman who followed him, Lady Black according to the document they had been given. The trio took seats facing the Journalists, who waited expectantly. They heard the door behind them close, they knew then that Amelia was going to allow no interruptions from outside those who had been invited. While it was unusual that a department head would call a news conference such as this, it was not unheard-of in this department. The last time it had been done though, was to announce the retirement of Amelia's predecessor. The moment they were all in their seats, Amelia stood to begin proceedings.
"Thank you for your attendance Ladies and Gentlemen. When I called this conference earlier today, it was to give you the full story of the Acquittal of Lord Black, as mentioned in this mornings delayed edition of the Daily Prophet. At the time I had no idea that we would be reporting on two stories to you, both of which are quite complex, so with the agreement of both Lord and Lady Black we have a court approved recording quill making a verbatim record of what is said. You will all receive a copy of it, as you leave. I also apologise, but as you may understand, we have needed to act quickly to get the red tape necessary to enable Lady Black to rebuild her life done before the various offices in the ministry close, which means we shall need to leave quickly after this statement. We have anticipated a number of questions you might have wanted to ask them, and they have provided a sheet with answers for you to take away with you as well. They have agreed that if you have further questions for them, if you leave them with the Aurors, they, or we, shall answer them, if necessary in writing, later this evening. The final piece of business before we begin the statement in full is that Lord and Lady Black have asked that I read the statement for them, if they wish to add anything they shall do so, but for ease of the recording for you all, I shall be the main speaker."
For the next hour, Amelia gave a detailed account of the stories of both Lord and Lady Black, although omitting any references to who else was involved outside Pettigrew and the Aurors. There were a number of details she either omitted or simply skimmed over, explaining that there were ongoing investigations taking place into the circumstances the two had found themselves in. As there could be charges laid against others unknown, she was only including what they could prove beyond doubt in this statement. The press pack listened closely, in uncharacteristic silence to what was said. They knew this was a major story, possibly the biggest since the death of the Potters or the disappearance of the baby of the Late Lord and Lady Ashmole. When she finished, both Sirius and Bella spoke briefly, outlining how they planned to rebuild their lives and what their recovery from their ordeals would entail. At the conclusion, Amelia began to lead the pair from the room, they heard the reporters quickly discussing something, then one of them called out.
"Amelia, Lord and Lady Black, one moment if you could please." The senior reporter from the Wireless Wizarding Network requested. "As the oldest journalist present, I have been asked, by my fellows here, to speak for us all. Our thanks for your unprecedented consideration in providing the transcripts and other documents, as well as agreeing to answering our questions later. In light of that we have just agreed between us, this story justifies being presented properly, as such we have agreed, and ask for your agreement, that we voluntarily embargo its release until the Evening Prophet tomorrow. This is the biggest story we have had to deliver for a very long time, each of us want to delay, so that we can arrange for it to be given the prominence it deserves in all publications and broadcasts. That shall take time to prepare properly, and we should like to be able to give it due attention, rather than rush it out. We are also guessing that we do not want the story suppressing by certain others with their own agenda, so we shall not be contacting them about it, or promoting the story in advance. It will, of course, give you longer to respond to any questions, which we ask. We also suggest that each question and the answer, be distributed to us all so that you are not constantly replying to the same question asked by each of us. It has been agreed that I compile both for distribution, if this arrangement suits you."
Amelia was quite surprised at the offer, it was unprecedented in her experience. She looked at Sirius and Bella, they both nodded. Bella turned to look to the reporters. "Thank you for your consideration, it is appreciated, and we quite agree to your proposals, we shall reply to your first set of questions this evening, leaving time for any supplementary ones to be sent. They can be sent to us via Amelia's office please, sealed if you wish, but they shall be sent to us unaltered, however we reserve the right not to answer any if it encroaches on the investigations, or if we do not have or wish to give an answer. We shall inform you of that in our answers though. Now if you will excuse us, we are short of time." The trio turned and left.
They revisited many of the departments that Sirius had been to that morning, this time for Bella, putting everything they could in place for her. Sirius was glad that there were one or two places they did not need to revisit, such as the Wizangamot office, but it was still another whirl wind tour of the Ministry. It seemed that when they checked, there were two wands in the evidence archive under the name Bellatrix Lestrange, both of which had been lodged at the time of the arrest of Lysandra Lestrange, under her false identity. For some reason neither had been identified by Ollivander, as was usual when wands were confiscated from those convicted. Bella had immediately recognised her wand, but the wand maker was sent for and arrived in minutes, confirming it was indeed her wand, the other he affirmed was the one bought for Lysandra before she attended Hogwarts. Once all they could do, was done, Sirius and Bella left the Ministry, Flooing directly to their rooms at Grimmauld Place, in order that they neatly avoided any attention from the Order or the Weasley's.
They arrived in the family dining room on the second floor, stepping out of the fire. A pop told them that a house elf had arrived, they turned to look at Kreacher, who bowed low.
"Welcome home my Lady, I am glad Master has brought you back." The Elf greeted Bella.
Bella smiled. "I am glad to be back and to see you Kreacher, we have both aged, but it does me good to see you healthy. I trust the prank is still running?"
"Oh yes My Lady, most still believe it is the truth. Master and I continue it in public for now at least." The Elf grinned. "The supposed split between Master and his family is accepted by all except those worthy to know the secret, mischief well and truly managed."
"Good, though when our Godson arrives, that may need to be abandoned." Bella observed. "Shame after it worked for so long, but we will need to ensure his safety."
Sirius nodded. "True enough, he will need a room with us, away from the others below, however it will be necessary that when his baggage is sent ahead it is placed in the room Molly Weasley has set for him. We need to play this carefully, until he can be warned. Remus and Tonks will let us know when he arrives, he is to be protected Kreacher, as family."
"Yes Master, of course." The Elf nodded, "I have prepared a meal for you since I knew you were coming, Lady Bella's' favourites, please sit and I shall serve you both here tonight. I shall of course prepare a meal in the proper dining room downstairs when the Lord Potter arrives. We shall need to adopt the old ways for that event, the way of the Alliance."
Sirius guided Bella to her seat before he took his own at the table and Kreacher placed the first course and glasses of wine in front of them. They discussed the events of the day, and possible reactions when the news broke. An Owl arrived with the batch of questions just as they completed their main course, they discussed them while they ate dessert, taking the parchment with them when they passed through the connecting door into the lounge for after dinner drinks in comfort. They were quite surprised that there were only one or two they would not be answering, they would write their answers while taking their drinks. No sooner had they settled on a sofa, finally able to relax, than a noise in the hall outside alerted them to the presence of someone on the landing.
"How many times must I tell that bloody woman she is not to come up here. Sorry my love, I shall deal with this then return to you, I shall not be long." Sirius said and stormed from the room.
Not wanting to alert the Order or the Weasleys to her presence, and knowing that no announcement had been made public about her freedom yet, Bella stayed out of sight listening as Sirius dealt with Molly Weasley, who she could hear arguing about being caught out, out of bounds. There were a couple of questions from the press, that she responded to, marking the ones they would not answer as agreed, while she waited for her husband to return. They would answer the rest together, send them back to the Ministry before they would retire, and they could spend the night together in their own bed for the first time in over a decade.
Authors Notes:
Many thanks for the Reads, Likes and Reviews so far, as always I look forward to reading any more you are kind enough to leave. The response so far to this story has been fantastic, I am most grateful to you all.
If you are enjoying this story, and if you haven't already, I hope you might have a look at some of my other stories too, although they are closer to Cannon in the Harry Potter world, I also have two one shots in the Downton Abbey Universe and a Sci Fi Novel in the Tripods universe if you fancy something different.
Until next time.
Best wishes. Tgfoy