A week has gone by since the meeting at Hogwarts. Cass was able to reproduce the movement in her toe everyday since and the therapist was pleased with her progress no matter how small. Bella had spent every minute helping Cass with her rehabilitation and also her homework even if they both thought it was ridiculous. When nighttime rolled around, they would snuggle in Cass's bed until she eventually passed out only to be woken up by her mother rejoining her at some point during the night. Not once did she ask where Hermione was because Cass was smart enough to infer that things didn't go her way at the meeting. "What did I do to piss mum off enough not to believe me? I didn't think I was that untrustworthy growing up. I mean sure I was a bit of an asshole but that's part of the Black charm," Bella caught Cass talking to Penny one day while she had been going downstairs to fetch their lunch. "If she just watched the memory, she would see."
"Sweetheart," Bella interrupted the moment, "this isn't on you. Do not for a moment think that you did something wrong here. They will all see."
Cass didn't know what that meant but she knew her mummy would take care of everything, "will she be back for my birthday?"
"It's not every year a witch turns 18. That's up to you. Minnie and Sam?" She looked at her daughter to see if she had made amends with her girlfriend yet. Cass perked up at the mention of her girlfriend, "they will be coming back for your birthday and then home for the holidays a week later."
"I don't know about mum yet."
Bella nodded, "you still have a month to decide. Don't rush into anything you may regret one day." She helped her daughter into her wheelchair and pushed her over to the little table they had set up in Cass's room.
"Burgers?"
"Well I didn't make them. Twiggy has perfected the big Mac since you were in my uterus. Try it. Tastes just like a trip to McDonald's."
"Ew do you have to talk about me being inside of your stomach while I'm trying to eat," Cass looked disgusted.
"That's how it happened, kitten. Don't know what to tell you there," she cackled. "Go on. Try it."
Cass took a big bite because even if it didn't taste like her favorite fast food, it was still a burger so she knew she'd like it, "twiggy is a genius. She needs a raise."
"She'll be happy to hear that you approve," Bella took a bite of her own burger.
Their lunch was very much enjoyable with pleasant conversation surrounding a few burgers. Another trait the Black girls had in common was that they could eat and eat well. Half way through their seconds an unexpected visitor stopped by, "Auntie Bella? You up here?"
"What's Teddy doing here?" Cass asked with her mouthful.
Bella shrugged, "no idea. Up here Teddy! Cass's room."
They heard eager footsteps running up the grand staircase, "two of my favorite people," he let himself into the room. "Oh! Burgers!"
"Help yourself. Twiggy always makes too much," Bella pushed a chair out for her nephew. Apparently the Black appetite was passed onto Nymphadora and subsequently Teddy. He immediately helped himself getting lost in conversation with Cass. "Don't think that I'm not happy to see you but did you come here for a reason, Teddy?"
"Oh!" He swallowed his bite, "a work request. Harry sent me."
"I don't work for the DMLE anymore, I've been retired for years."
"A case consult I think," Teddy shrugged. "As the new official guy on the force and your favorite nephew, I was tasked with coming to beg for your assistance."
"I'm not in the business of helping out the ministry right now."
"What's the case?"
Teddy turned to Cass and the to Bella, "I'm not sure I should say."
"I'm not a kid anymore," Cass rolled her eyes.
"I know. Almost 18… I need to know what you want for your birthday. Still, I'm not sure I should talk about the case."
"Might as well Teddy because once you leave I'll just ask mummy and she'll tell me everything."
Bella was laughing, "she's not wrong. Go on. Enlighten us. What does Harry require my assistance with?"
"Well," Teddy put the last bite of his burger into his mouth, "a missing person's case. Kind of high profile. Got the interest of the ministry that's for sure."
"Who's missing?"
"Ron Weasley."
Bella's face lacked any emotion. Cass's mouth hung open for only a second before she regained her composure and spoke, "well I hate to say serves him right but if the shoe fits."
"So Ron went missing. When did the report come in?"
"He's been missing for five days."
Bella shrugged, "maybe he just got tired of living his pathetic existence and did everyone a favor. What does Harry want me for?"
"He said you are the best at finding people. Even people who don't want to be found."
"Playing to mummy's ego is the perfect plan."
Bella crossed her arms, "normally I would agree but answer me this Teddy… why the fuck would I want to find Ron Weasley?"
"No idea. I'm not too keen on finding him either," he laughed, "but a job is a job and I have bills to pay. He left a note saying he needed a break from everything. Feel guilty over the trouble he caused."
"And let me guess, mama Weasley doesn't buy it."
"Molly seems to be the most distraught about the whole thing. His wife said that he has been known to go on short trips now and then so she doesn't seem as worried."
"Must be a bit of a vacation for her," Cass said. "I'd hate to be tethered to a Weasley for the rest of my life."
"Well said kitten. What's in it for me if I help?"
"A paycheck."
"Inconsequential. I never received a paycheck at the ministry."
"Well," Teddy knew he needed to pull out the big guns. "This is the first case that I've been assigned to. It would mean a lot to me if I had your help and could solve this before Draco and Kate. They always seem one step ahead of me."
"Beating Kate? Why didn't you say so in the first place. I'll come by tomorrow. Operation: locate the red headed fuck begins tomorrow."
Bella went into the ministry with her head held high. She didn't particularly want to run into her wife but she also wasn't backing down from what she knew to be right. Hermione was acting like an idiot and Bella refused entertain the idea. She flooed to the main floo and took the lift up the the DMLE. Walking right into the suite, "so who missed me the most," she cackled as she made her way through the office. "Are you kidding me?" She walked right into her old office. "They gave it to you?"
"I'm as good a candidate as anyone else," Kate put the file she was looking at down onto the desk.
"Dragon!" She bellowed to her nephew who was still sitting at a cubicle opposite Teddy. "Why didn't you push for the promotion?"
"Don't make me say it…" he groaned from his chair.
"He knew I needed the money and he's a good guy. Cut him some slack."
"Hmm," Bella thought it over, "I suppose I can let this one slide."
"Thank Salazar," she heard Draco mumble as he walked into the office. "So Potter called you back in?"
"He sent Teddy. Guess after all these years he finally decided to use his brain."
"He is aware that you don't actually give a fuck what happens to Weasley right?" Kate was smirking.
"Apparently my distaste for Ronny boy hasn't deterred Potter from asking me to be a consultant on this case," she turned to look at Kate.
"Oh no… you do not get to come back and commandeer the office. That's not how this works."
Bella cackled, "I think that's exactly how this works. No bother… I could just pull up a seat and we can share."
"How very generous you've gotten."
"69 years young… some might say the best year of life." She laughed again, pulling up a chair to Kate's desk, propping her feet up. "So tell me what we know."
"Here you go," Harry walked in and dumped a file onto Bella's lap. "Thank you for this. I know you aren't Ron's biggest fan but you have a reputation with missing persons cases. I like to attribute that to your muggle books."
"Those books taught me a lot," she opened the file and began reading. "So he was last scene by George around noon six days ago. His mother is worried sick but his wife is not. Has George said anything? Any security cameras?"
"I don't think he's ever gone modern muggle tech."
"After the murder spree? Seems dumb but all right. No footage to review. What about other shop owners… have we questioned them?"
"Yes but you know people. Not the easiest people to get information from," Kate shrugged.
"Yes, send Bellatrix. She'll get the answers." She packed up the file. "Guess I better get to work. Teddy, I want you to come with me. Might as well teach my skills to someone since apparently none of you have found Weasley yet."
"Okay, Aunt Bella. I'm ready whenever you are."
Teddy and Bella set off for their afternoon of questioning which took them all over Diagon alley and even with the pressure Bella was putting on the shop owners, apparently nobody had seen anything. "Well this was a waste of time," Bella handed Teddy the file. They were sitting inside of the Leaky Cauldron having some lunch and discussing what they had learned from their outing. "So he wasn't seen anywhere around here but the girl at the Weasley shop did confirm that he left work around 8 when they had closed up for the evening. George was already gone for the day so he won't be a good resource. I wonder if there was any trouble at home."
"The fact that his wife isn't concerned is definitely a little concerning," Teddy added.
"We should question his wife. Bring her in. I can question her. His mother… we want to bring her in too but it's probably best if I don't question her."
"Should we report back to Harry?"
Bella rolled her eyes, throwing back her shot of fire whiskey, "I have to get back to Cass. You can feel free to fill Harry in since he is your boss. Tell him to arrange for Gertrude to come in this week for questioning. I'll be back around noon after her therapy."
"Are you not coming back because of Cass or are you afraid to see Aunt Hermione?"
"Me? Afraid of my wife? Absolutely not."
Teddy smiled, "whatever you say Auntie Bella. She knew you were coming in today."
"She wasn't waiting in the lobby with open arms so she clearly doesn't want to see me either," she already had another fire whiskey in front of her which she downed as well. "Maybe I'll make some time to visit her when I question Weasley's wife. No promises."
"I know you are pissed and rightfully so but we all know how short life is," he stopped the rebuttal he knew was coming, "even for us witches and wizards. We don't live forever and tomorrow isn't promised so maybe you can just try to talk to her. See how it goes."
"I just don't see the point if she won't even listen to her daughter," she sounded a little defeated. "You saw the memory."
"Maybe if you find Ron you can get him to admit that his daughter is a little shit," Teddy's suggestion wasn't far off. "Make them all view the memory as part of your commission."
"Not such a bad idea," she pointed at him with her shot glass still in her hand, "you are definitely cut out for this line of work. I'm proud of you, Teddy. But for now, I must be off. Cass is waiting for me. See you tomorrow and don't let those fuckers at the office boss you around because you are the new guy."
"Got it," he stood up, giving his Aunt a kiss on her cheek. "See you tomorrow."
Bella made her way back home and found her daughter in the library. Her wheelchair was next to the couch but it seemed that she had hoisted herself from her chair onto the couch with little to no help. Her arms were definitely getting a workout, "everything okay, kitten?"
"Just wanted a change of scenery. And I had finished all of my homework for the week." She showed her mother the book she had picked, "I could've just asked one of the elves to pick out a book for me but I'm quite capable."
"A Black through and through," she laughed, sitting down on the couch. She lifted Cass's feet and placed them across her lap.
"Do you think I can apparate with my wheelchair?"
Bella let out a genuine belly laugh, "I never met your cousin, Nymphadora but I'm almost certain that you picked up many traits from her."
"So that's a no?"
Bella shook her head, "probably best to avoid that one. Imagine what your mother would say if she caught wind of that one."
Cass put her bookmark in and let her head fall back against the arm of the couch, "I miss her a little."
"Me too, kid."
"But I'm still so mad at her."
Bella knew exactly what her daughter was feeling, "me too. It's weird without her here but at the same time just watch the damn memory." She squeezed a little too hard on Cass's foot that was resting in her lap and a twitch went through Cass's leg causing slight movement. Bella's hand flew off of her feet like she had been burnt, "did you feel that?!"
"I'm not sure. I think so. What was that?!"
"We need to call Dr. Hoffman in the morning. Maybe get you in for another MRI or to be scanned by the cats. This has to be a good sign. I'll call her first thing in the morning."
"How was work?"
"Don't worry about that. Tonight we celebrate," Bella smiled at her daughter.
"Mummy, we don't even know if this is a thing worth celebrating. Won't that jinx it or whatever."
"Absolutely not. Takeaway pizza?"
"Yes!" Cass never turned down takeaway.
"I'll go place the order. Be right back," Bella slid out from under Cass's feet leaving the library.
Cass pulled out her cellphone, sending a message to Hermione.
Cass (4:53pm): mummy was squeezing my foot and my leg twitched today. I don't know if you care but I wanted to let you know. We don't know what it means. We are going to call Dr. Hoffman in the morning.
She hadn't texted Hermione since Bella asked her not to come home. She won't pretend. Hermione's actions really hurt her and she was having a hard time letting it go. What did she do that would cause her own mother to side with someone else? She needed to know the exact moment her mom stopped trusting her. Maybe it was when she burnt down Hagrid's hut, or that whole Christmas tree thing when she was eight, oh and she did crash the car last year but those things were all forgivable. She felt her phone vibrate and she was almost afraid to open the text from her mom.
Hermione (4:57pm): That's wonderful news darling. Please let me know what the doctor says. I will try to catch your mother when she's at the ministry next so we can discuss it. I love you very much.
"If you loved me you have watched the memory by now," Cass threw her phone to the other side of the couch. She quickly wiped her tears away when she heard Bella coming back in the room.
"Okay an XL pizza with all of the meat they could squeeze on it. Not a vegetable in sight. I also ordered garlic bread, dessert and we have cans of coke downstairs." She went over when she saw Cass trying to get back into her wheelchair. "I know you are capable but I'm going to help you." She lifted Cass up, lowering her into the seat. "So what do you want to do tonight? We can watch some Telly, play a game, go outside for a while?"
"Can we go outback and practice some transfigurations? I really need to practice turning anything into a duck. They are doing species to species transformations right now and I can't really practice without help."
Bella laughed, "I supposed maybe we can find some living creature outside to practice on. Have you gotten a human to armchair yet? That was one of Slughorn's best tricks. Well his only trick really."
"I think that's next semester. I also have to do smoke to daggers. Thought you might want to help with that one."
"Oh yes," Bella clapped, "let's start with that one tonight. One of my favorite tricks."
Cass's eyes lit up, "I knew you'd be excited for that one."
The pizza was delicious and Bella was more than impressed with Cass's ability to complete her transfiguration assignment. Smoke to daggers seemed like a piece of cake for Cass. "I wouldn't be surprised if you could master the art of being an animagus one day. You are very proficient with this type of magic," she never saw a happier look on Cass's face aside from complimenting her flying. They ended up retiring to Bella's bedroom for the evening because Cass always enjoyed it when she got to sleep in her mothers' bed. She let her daughter pick the movie again and of course it was another superhero movie though Bella would be lying if she said she didn't enjoy the movies. Action stories were so much better than those romance movies Hermione fancied. Before she knew it her daughter had drifted off to sleep snuggled up with Penny and her puffskein.
Elsewhere*
In a dark basement that had an old school dungeon feel, Ron Weasley was currently chained to a cement wall. The chains were thick and not budging. His head was hung as if he were sleeping. There were bruises along his body and a few cuts on his face but for the most part he remained intact just a little beaten up. "Bloody hell," his neck rolled back and forth uncomfortably as he tried without success to pull free from the chains. Really the chains weren't necessary since there was a large prison cage that took over the back half of the basement that he was housed in. Even if he could break free there was nowhere to go. He knew the bars had to be reinforced with magic. There was a series of loud footsteps up above him signaling his capture had come back. "It's your lucky day. I brought you food," the familiar voice called from the top of the stairs. "I'd hate for you to waste away down here. We are just getting started."
"Lestrange," he snarled when Bella made it to the bottom step.
"Now, Ronny. What have we talked about? It's Madam Lestrange, show your betters some respect. Or would you like me to take this nice soup and bread back home with me? I can feed it to Teddy's crup. He'll eat anything." She put the bowl and plate down on the floor just outside the prison cell. "I know. Chains and bars. Over kill right?" She waved her hand and the chains disappeared. Ron fell face first onto the concrete floor, "oops."
There was new blood when Ron pushed himself up. He split his lip when his face hit the ground, "what is the end game here?"
Bella hummed, pretending to think as she paced back and forth in front of his cell, "excellent question Ronny and to be perfectly honest I'm not sure. I haven't figured that much out yet. Torture, yes. Since we are friends I will just tell you now, you might die."
"Hermione will never forgive you."
"Oh that's where you are wrong. It's easier to ask for forgiveness than ask for permission. Just look at your idiot daughter. She just bats her eyelashes around and everybody believes she did nothing wrong."
"She didn't."
Bella started cackling, "do you know how many ways I can torture you? You must not have learned yet. No matter," she opened up the small latch at the bottom of the cell and when Ron went to run at it, magic shot him backwards hitting hard off of the wall. "Well that wasn't very smart. If you end up killing yourself that takes all of the fun out of this." She slid his rations into the cell, closing the hatch before he could have another moment of stupidity. "Eat up, Ronny. Can't have you wasting away. Like I said. More fun to be had." She turned around and started to leave before turning back, "oh yes. I forgot to tell you the good news. Guess who they put in charge of the search for you?"
"Oh no…"
"Oh yes. Me," she cackled. "Fools. They are all fools. I'm in charge of finding you." She was laughing then all of a sudden stopped, "if I do kill you, they will never find your body parts. It would do you well to respect your betters next time I come round. Best be getting back. I have to question your wife soon. Maybe she'll enjoy a stay in Azkaban…. Or maybe mommy dearest." She made her way to the step before her parting words, "next time I'm bringing my daggers. Something to look forward too."
Bella made her way out of the basement of the safe house she had stashed Ron in after the kidnapping. It was the easiest crime she had even committed. Now, he was tucked away at a remote Black house in the middle of the English countryside. She appeared back to the Manor and quietly made her way inside. It was well past midnight so as expected everyone was asleep. She quickly changed back into her bedclothes and slipped in besided Cass. Her daughter rustled in her sleep but didn't wake up this time. The dark witch went to bed easily as she had every night knowing she was fixing everything for her daughter.