Teddy never realized how difficult side by side apparation was until he had to do it holding his unconscious aunt. She was already a petite person and they stuck her with a featherlight charm but there was still a lot of concentrating that had to happen so neither of them got splinched. Andy had left the estate first to wait for them in case there were any accidents on their quick travel home. He had seen Bella angry before but this was new territory for Teddy. The last time he could remember her this upset was when Hermione was in the hospital but he was young and it was nothing compared to what he witnessed in that basement. Students in his class at Hogwarts called her Mad Bellatrix Lestrange behind his back and he always hexed them for it. The guilt was beginning to set in and when they landed in front of his grandma she could read it on his face. "I didn't mean to hit her that hard." He looked down at his aunt in his arms. Somehow she looked at peace and distressed at the same time. "I just couldn't let her kill him. If she had gone that far, she might never come back to us."

Andy felt a pain in her heart for her grandson, "you did the right thing, son. If she'd have killed him, she would be locked away for the rest of her life. She can come back from this."

"How are you so positive?"

Andy brushed some of the hair from Bella's face, "because I need her to be okay. Let's get her to bed. Put her in my room. She's staying with me until I decide she can be trusted alone,"

Teddy laughed, "she's going to love that."

Andy shushed his laughter but smiled at him, "well when you torture someone to the brink of death, you don't get as many free will choices as the rest of us." She followed him into the house, straight to her bedroom.

Teddy took her straight into Andy's bedroom, properly tucking her under the covers, "what happens now?"

"You can go if you want. I'll stay here with her, then in the morning after she wakes up I'll go strong arm Hermione into doing what I want."

"If you want to go talk to her now I can sit with Aunt Bella."

Andy looked over at the clock, "it's late. Though I guess I shouldn't be too considerate of her needs. You can go home though. I don't think Bella will be waking up anytime soon."

"I can't leave her after what I did," Teddy looked very upset thinking about hurting his aunt.

"You did what you had to do. She'll understand."

"What if she doesn't forgive me?"

Andy thought he sounded like he was five years old all over again, "sweetheart, Auntie Bella loves you more than life itself. She won't be mad at you. Not even for a second. Tell you what, we will both stay here tonight and in the morning we will call the soul healer then I'll go see Hermione. You can stay with Bella after she wakes up. How does that sound?"

"As long as she doesn't try to hex me…"

"I'll kill her if she tries."

True to her word, Andy woke up around 8am the next morning. Bella was still out of it. She ran a quick diagnostic on her and nothing seemed out of the ordinary so she left her under Teddy's watch and tore out of her bedroom. She marched straight to Bella's room to look for the vial of Minnie's memories knowing that she had it somewhere. She couldn't find it at first until she went into Bella's walk-in closet. On the wall across from where she kept her clothes, were dozens of glowing vials. "What in the world?" She walked over closer to examine the little labels of the bottles. They were specific dates on each one which she found strange. Next to the vials lay a little journal. When she opened it up, there was a short blurb about what memory each date corresponded with. She couldn't move past the one she had viewed 21 years ago. It was the vial that contained her daughter's death. Her breath caught in her throat allowing herself a moment to feel her grief before finding the one that corresponded to the memory from Minnie. "Here is it," she gently palmed the small glass before closing the journal and leaving Bella's memories at peace.

She took off straight to the guest bedroom that Kathrine had been occupying, flinging open the door without knocking, "good morning starshine, the earth says hello," she waved her empty hand and the curtains flew open.

"Merlin, Andy," Hermione opened an eye, shielding herself from the sun, "what time is it?"

"Memory viewing time sweetheart. Get up and get dressed."

"Andy," Hermione sighed, sitting up in her bed with her covers wrapped around her waist, "we've been over this. Whatever happened happened and I'm not watching it."

"Yes," Andy gave her a look, "you told me that and it was a good enough answer until your wife almost killed someone last night. So now you don't have a choice. You are watching these memories even if I have to hold your eyelids open and pour the vial directly into your eyeballs. Do not tempt me."

"Bella what?" Whatever trace of sleep Hermione had left in her body was immediately gone.

"That's a conversation for after you view this memory because I can't talk to the Minister right now. I need to talk to Hermione Black, wife and mother."

The expression on Andy's face left no room for Hermione to argue. She knew there was something going on with Bella but she just chalked it up to her still being mad about everything. She almost killed last night? "Have you called the soul healer?"

"This first," she held up the glowing jar. "I'm waiting."

"I'm only in my underwear," Hermione looked embarrassed.

"It's nothing I haven't seen before, darling," when Hermione didn't move Andy rolled her eyes and turned around, "hurry please. Teddy is with Bella and we don't know how long she'll be unconscious."

"She's unconscious?" Andy sighed loudly, "all right. I'm moving."

Andy heard Hermione rustle the bed coverings, moving to the bathroom. A few minutes later she came out, "took you long enough. Can we view this here?"

"Top floor of the library," she grabbed the vial out of Andy's hand and led the way. "Can I ask one thing about Bella?"

"No." They walked in silence to the pensieve, "memory isn't going to view itself. Look I know that you don't want to view it and have to admit you were wrong but Bella needs you. Desperately. To be there for her right now so whatever pride you are battling push it aside for Bella."

Hermione exhaled slowly before dumping the memory into the basin, "here I go," she held her breath and submerged herself into Minnie's memory.

She was looking through Minnie's eyes. Sitting next to Sam she had been watching and cheering as the Quidditch match seemed to be coming to its end. She saw James catch the golden snitch. Minnie and Sam were jumping up and down cheering for the team's victory. Then her eye's found Cass who had been stalled in the air on her broom waving at them with a big smile on her face. Minnie was waving back before Hermione felt all the air leave the room when's he reached down to grab Sam's wrist. "LOOK OUT," she screamed too late as she watch Victoria cast a spell, a red force leaving her wand, striking Cass in the back. She watched as Cass's body plummeted to the ground below, "GINNY!!!" The red head looked up but it was too late. Cassiopeia hit the ground face up, laying motionless as teachers and team mates ran down to the field.

Hermione re-emerged from the water, "I'm an idiot."

"Took you long enough to get here but welcome," Andy patted her on the back before using her wand to collect the memory. "We will be needing this later when you go to the school and tell everyone what a fucking moron you were."

"Victoria could've killed her," Hermione was starting to get angry. "My baby almost died and nobody, myself included, even bothered to learn the truth."

"Why do you think the family has been divided for months?"

Hermione felt like all the wind had been knocked out of her. Her daughter had been assaulted and all this time she was ignoring the cries from Minnie and Bella. Cass went into both surgeries thinking that she couldn't be bothered to learn the truth. Bella and Minnie probably felt alone and abandoned. How could she be so stupid? She took the easy, political side and now everything was beyond fucked up. "I've failed as a mother," she didn't know why those were the words she chose to go with but she couldn't keep them in. "And a wife. I've created such a dissonance in our family that I've driven my wife to murder? Is that what you are telling me happened last night?"

"I don't think you've driven her persay but I'm also hard pressed to believe it didn't play a role. We have a lot to talk about, Hermione. Months and months worth of this shit needs to be sorted. Including what Teddy and I walked in on last night. Are you ready to listen as Hermione and not the Minister?" Hermione could only nod. "I'm going to need a verbal confirmation, darling."

"Yes. It's 8 months too late I feel but I'm here. Start at the beginning…"

Teddy sat on the bench under the window. He hadn't let his aunt out of his sight after waking up. He couldn't help but feel an immense amount of guilt for what went on last night. Not only the events that led up to him knocking her out but also the fact that he hadn't realized she had been suffering this whole time. He felt like the worst nephew because of it. "I should've seen this coming. I should've known," he wondered deep down if he had known and intervened earlier could he have stopped her. A small groan came from Andy's bed as the dark witch turned over for the first time since he placed her there. He looked over, her eyes were still closed, "she's going to hate me."

Another groan. This time he noted that it sounded painful, "aunt Bella?" He said it quietly. He knew even if she was beginning to wake there was no way she would have heard him. He wanted to approach her but he was scared, "Aunt Bella?" He asked a little louder this time.

Her only response was another groan, "turn off the sun."

He quickly drew her curtains and lit a few candles to make her waking up transition easier for her. She had been unconscious for almost 13 hours. "I'm sorry."

"You got one hell of a stupefy, kid," she rubbed the knot on the back of her head where she hit the ground. "Did I? Is he?"

"He's not dead. Probably also still unconscious and chained to the wall but not dead. Did I hurt you?"

Bella groaned, turning one her back before propping herself up against the headboard, "nothing I didn't deserve. How did you find me?"

Teddy went through the events of the night including how his grandma used her patronus to see where she was going up until he tucked her into bed, "the only thing I don't understand is who were you talking to auntie? It really seemed like someone else was in the room."

"Oh she's here."

"Who?"

Bella's eyes fell to the corner of the room where Bellatrix had been standing, watching the whole exchange, "my former self."

"Lestrange?" She nodded. "Is she still here?"

"If I say no that will make me sound less crazy."

"Tell me the truth, Aunt Bella. I don't think you are crazy."

"She's right over there," Bella pointed to where Bellatrix was flicking her off. "Doubt you can see her. Doubt anyone can see her except maybe Luna or Crazy Sybil. Oh god, Crazy Bella. That's what they will call me now."

"If anyone calls you that I'll kill them," he got up, walked the short distance and sat down next to Bella. "Are you mad at me for hitting you with that spell?"

"I'd be mad if you didn't do it," she relaxed her head on his shoulder. "Where's your granny? I can't imagine she'll be as nice about all of this as you are being."

"She went to go force Aunt Mione to watch the memory," he didn't really want to talk about Hermione unsure if it would set Bella off again.

"Ha," she laughed, "good luck to her. We've only been working on that for months. Gave up a long time ago."

"I think she said something like she'll watch it or I'll pour it into her eyes."

Bella cackled, "the slytherin really sneaks out of her at the most appropriate times." She looked over to see Bellatrix still standing in the corner, pacing. "I think I should call my soul healer."

"Granny mentioned something about getting you some medicine. Will it make her disappear?"

"That's the hope," she cast her eyes away, "I think she's getting worried about that. Let's wait for Andy to call. She's always been the responsible one."

After few moments of silence passed, "sure you aren't mad at me?"

"Teddy," she grabbed his hand, "I could never be mad at you. You did exactly what you had to do and I'm proud of you. Most people wouldn't be brave enough to face me in that situation."

"It helped that you didn't know I was there," he laughed, "hufflepuffs aren't necessarily brave."

"Any chance you think I'll get out of this without going back to Azkaban?"

"Well," he gave a nervous laugh, "I think that's what grandma went to work on."

"So she's been having a slow psychotic breakdown, meeting with Bellatrix and torturing Ron for months."

"Precisely."

"How long?"

Andy shrugged, "I'm not entirely sure. Luna pointed out her odd behavior at Jack's funeral and I'm embarrassed to say I didn't start picking up on it until around her birthday but didn't think much of it. Last night I heard her talking to herself and that's when we found her."

"Do you think Ron's been there since he went missing?"

"Reset your train of thought here, Hermione. This isn't about him. We don't give a fuck how long that pathetic excuse for a man has been there. He's not the focus here. This is about your wife and daughters. He's still alive, that's all that matters."

"Who has she been talking to?"

Andy shrugged, "not sure but if I had to take a guess I'm thinking it's a ghost of her former self. I haven't gotten a chance to talk to her yet. Like I said, she was still out cold when I woke you up."

"I think I need to enact my own apology tour," Hermione was chewing on her bottom lip. "Should I call her soul healer first? I remember her mentioning potions that she used to be on back when this all started."

"Yes, I'm going to call her."

"And what are we going to do about the thing I'm not supposed to be worried about?"

Andy shrugged, "not really my concern right now. Though, I know we just can't let him go. Bella will be sent to trial and will must likely end up back in prison. We will need to decide between the four of us."

"I guess I should go talk to Bella," Hermione didn't make any moves to leave.

"It only works if you actually leave the library. She's hurt but she loves you. Don't let your guilt stop you. Plus, Minnie will be far worse to face than Bella."

"Merlin, you are right," she actually started walking towards the door, "you are calling the soul healer."

"As soon as you leave, I'll give her a floo call. Hopefully if I stress the importance she'll provide the medication without seeing her first."

"It's worth a try," Hermione tried reaching deep inside her for every last ounce of bravery she had stored up over the years, making her way to Andy's room. She hasn't been in there since before everything happened. "Here goes nothing," she knocked on the door, "can I come in?"

"Come in."

She heard the muffle voice of her nephew from behind the door. Hermione set her face and pushed the door open. "Hey Teddy, could I have a few minutes alone with your Aunt Bella?"

Teddy looked at Bella waiting for her signal. When she gave a slight nod, he got up, "I guess that's fine." He walked over toward Hermione, stopped and whispered, "be gentle with her. I'd hate to have to crucio you."

Hermione chuckled but it was uneasy as she knew he wasn't fully joking, "she's not on trial with me." She whispered back and waited for him to leave. "Bella?" She wasn't looking at her but staring off into the corner of the room. "Can we talk?"

Oh look muddy is here to make everything all better. Start packing your bags, do they let you take pictures into Azkaban now?

Bella was fighting with herself not to respond to her other self. She knew it was a hallucination and she vowed to never let Hermione see this side of her.

"Bella?" When the dark witch finally turned to look at her wife she continued, "is she here with us?"

Muddy already knows. See you are in for it now, Black. Kiss your freedom goodbye.

"It's okay if she's here. I'm just here to talk to you." She walked over to the bed next to Bella, "can I sit?" She pointed to the edge of the bed where she had been sleeping.

"Sit," Bella scooted over slightly and patted the bed next to her.

Hermione took the invitation, sliding under the covers so she could rest against the headboard next to her wife, "so I fucked up."

Bella scoffed, "8 months, two surgeries and countless begging and the best you came up with was that you fucked up?"

"I was going to start this with an apology but I think we are so far past what an apology can do here to help the situation." Hermione finally glanced over at the other woman, noting how tired she had looked. Beautiful as always but so tired, "I'm sorry Bella. I'm sorry for everything I put you and the girls through. It was not my intention to cause any of you pain. I realize now that by trying to find a quick solution and go along with the accident that I was so wrong that it's not even a little bit funny. I'm not even sure why I did what I did other than I let McGonagall make the call and that was stupid of me. I would be surprised if Minnie never forgave me. I'm hoping that with our 22 years together that maybe I'll be able to get your forgiveness. I know I don't deserve it but I am asking for it."

For fuck's sake, of course she doesn't fucking deserve it. She caused a shit show of pain and anguish. You can't possibly be entertaining the notion of forgiving this mudblood.

"I understand why you did it but you still did it."

"And I will be eternally unforgiving of myself. That memory was horrible. The fact that you and Minnie and I think some others have been walking around know what actually happened while the rest of us were just brushing it under the rug is uncalled for. I'm going to go to the school and speak with the headmistress. She and Ginny have to watch that memory."

"They should've watched it that day when we were called to her office. You remember? That day you decided taking no side was the best choice," she couldn't keep the bitter tone out of her voice. "You are probably better off just sending me to jail."

"Nobody is going to jail, Bella," Hermione's heart kept breaking. "I'm going to apologize to the girls. Then you, me, Andy and Teddy are going to decide what to do about well," her eyes shifted to the corner of the room she knew Bellatrix was occupying.

"You think you have any right in that decision?"

"As a wife and mother? No. As the Minister? Yes. I've been a terrible partner and I get that and I'm not excusing whatever it is you've done. Andy wouldn't tell me everything but I do know that under no circumstances do you belong back in Azkaban."

Bella scoffed, "I don't deserve any kindness but I would rather you kill me before deciding to send me back there. Just let me see my girl graduate then I don't care what happens to me."

"Bella stop," Hermione grabbed her hand, "please. We will take care of this. Andy is on the phone with your soul healer. Once we get rid of her," she looked at Bellatrix again. "We can move onto what comes next."

If muddy thinks I'm leaving without a fight she's more delusional than the two of us combined.

"Good luck with that one, pet. She's not budging," Bella flicked off Bellatrix.

They sat quietly together for the first time in months. Bella let Hermione rest her head on her shoulder even though it seemed like the sentiment should be going the other way. Bella missed her so much. Clearly she needed the other woman to function like a normal person, "I've missed you."

Hermione threw her arm around Bella's middle and dove into her neck, "oh Bella I've missed you so much. I'm so sorry for everything. Especially last night… I was going to come home for Valentine's dinner but I couldn't face you. I regret not coming home. I wish I could've been there to help you."

"Nothing would've helped, pet. Some people are just too far gone to save."

"I don't believe that," Hermione sat up so she could look her wife in the eyes, "and I will remind you of it for the rest of my life if I have to."

"You always were too stubborn for your own good," Bella chuckled.

Hermione settled when Bella started scratching at her scalp, "are we going to be okay?"

"It takes more than a fight for me to give up 22 years of my life, Hermione." She felt the girl on top of her tense, "what is it?"

"I knew something was wrong with the amount of times you were calling me by my name. I should've tried to intervene."

"There would've been nothing you could've done," Bella held her tighter, "and my apologies for calling you by your name, pet."

She is a good little pet isn't she?

"I hope Andy comes back with those potions soon."

Hermione looked up seeing Bella's eyes trained to the corner, "hey look at me. I love you. For as long as you'll have me."

Bella's eyes lightened and a soft smile appeared, "forever then." And just like that the woman in the corner no longer mattered, in that moment Bella felt at ease for the first time in months.

Andy had come back around noon with a series of magical potions as well as a few recommended muggle medications for Bella to overcome her hallucinations. The soul healer did want to see Bella but Andy persisted that it was an emergency and they would set up an appointment soon. She recommended a couples appointment and when Hermione heard, she agreed to it without question. Whatever helps Bella recover is what Hermione wanted. It didn't matter what the ask was, she was willing to do it.

More than 48 hours had passed since Bella took her first dose of medication and most of that time was spent in and out of sleep. She remembered one of her only side effects from the potion was excessive sleepiness for the first few days. Honestly she would rather be unconscious than have to hear whatever slurs Bellatrix was throwing at her from in the corner. She never thought she would wake up feeling as refreshed as she did. After sleeping that long usually she felt worse. She was nervous to open her eyes, peeking only to see if she had company. When she didn't see anyone in the room, real or hallucination, she took that as her sign to go get a bath. "Twiggy?"

Her dutiful little elf popped into the room, "oh Mistress Bella, twiggy is so glad you are awake. How are you feeling? I do believe it's time for more potions."

"I'm going to take a bath I think."

"Should twiggy draw one for you?"

Bella smiled, "I can do it myself but thank you. Could you let Hermione know that I'm awake?" When the elf nodded relief washed over her knowing she didn't run off again, "and if it's not too much trouble, could you fix me some breakfast? I'm feeling quite hungry."

"Well you've missed a few meals, mistress. I'll bring it to you in the bath," but before Bella could tell her to wait the elf popped out of the room.

She quickly walked to the bathroom, waving her hand to fill the tub with hot water. Another wave of her hand added some scent and bubbles into the bath. "Might as well pamper myself before I have to answer to my sister," she got undressed and sunk down into the steaming hot water. A knock on the door followed by a soft call of her name alerted her that her wife had come in. "In the bath, pet…"

"May I come in?" She opened the door just a crack.

"You don't have to ask," Bella didn't open her eyes but she could hear the brunette come through the door.

"How are you feeling?"

"Like I slept for days. Is it strange to say almost normal? I don't know how I should be feeling."

Hermione hummed in response before casting a drying charm and sitting on the edge of the tub, "is she?"

Bella opened her eyes looking around, "no signs of anyone but us. The voices have been quiet but I remember last time they would come and go for a while before everything evened out. I wouldn't be surprised if Bellatrix makes herself known again. Especially when we are talking about Weasley."

"And at the school…" Hermione had studied muggle psychology for fun because it was interesting and when she was trying to find a cure for her parents, she had become desperate for anything. "Stress I'm guessing is one of your triggers and I did nothing but add stress to your life."

"You already apologized more than enough," Bella knew she was going to have to tell Hermione everything that happened in the basement before they went there but she couldn't bring herself to do it. Luckily, Twiggy popped in with her breakfast so at least for now she was safe from the conversation, "thanks. It smells delicious." Bella sat up while the house elf arranged a tray to rest over the tub, holding her food and drinks. Twiggy took her leave and Bella looked up at her wife, "join me? There's plenty to share."

"I don't know if I should. We've been through a lot. Something is telling me any naked activities should wait until we've met with the soul healer."

"We?" Bella asked, amused.

"Oh," Hermione's cheeks turned pink. "I sort of volunteered us for a few couples sessions."

Bella knew she had a point but she hadn't been with her in months. Still she could wait, they had only just started to reconnect, "there's still plenty of breakfast. You can keep your clothes on," she passed Hermione a fork.

The brunette took the fork before adding, "this in no way means that I don't want to get in there with you naked."

Bella cackled, "I know. One of us has to be the responsible one. I get it."

After her very late breakfast, Bella was finally ready to face Andy. She had asked Hermione and Teddy to give them a few minutes alone to clear some things up. When she walked into the library, Andy was sitting downstairs by the fireplace, "so how much do you hate me?" Bella sat down across from her with a serious expression on her face. She knew that the other night couldn't have been easy for her sister to see and she was prepared to ask for forgiveness if it came down to that.

"Hate you?" Andy laughed, "shouldn't I be asking you that? Bella, how long had you been seeing her and I had to idea until Lovegood pointed it out? Then I still managed to not see it. Maybe I didn't want to see it but still. I've been a shit sister."

"Better than Cissy. She's clueless. You saved me the other night, Andy. You and Teddy. I don't think thanks is enough to show my gratitude. And I'm not convinced that you didn't pour those memories into Hermione's eyes but whatever you did to get her watch it means a lot to me."

"So you aren't going to answer my question?" She saw Bella giving her a confused look. "How long has Bellatrix been visiting you?"

"Since before Jack's death. But I was only

hearing her until Cass's surgery. Then she started to appear. Ugly little thing, wasn't she?" Bella crossed her arms over her chest before looking over her shoulder to make sure she wasn't there. "She hasn't been here since I woke up. I'm surprised you got my healer to give you the potions."

Andy smirked, "I'm very convincing when I need to be."

"Should've known Luna would know," Bella rolled her eyes. "I don't even remember having a conversation with her at the wake."

"I think it was more so she saw you having a conversation with yourself."

"Ah," Bella couldn't argue that one away, "that did happen quite frequently I suppose. How long do you think I can hold this over Cissy's head? That she was too wrapped up in her own life that she didn't see me drowning? I'm thinking until I die."

"I plan to enact my status as favorite sister backdated to a few days ago."

Bella cackled, "there was never a competition. Just don't tell her that. You know she's sensitive about these things."

"So you and Hermione? Are you good?"

"We will be. Apparently we will be going to my soul healer together," she laughed. "I'm not throwing away 22 years for a mistake. Salazar knows I've made my fair share of mistakes over the years."

"70 must be your wise year. You sound very mature."

"It was bound to happen one of these days. How angry do you think Hermione will be when she sees Weasley?"

Andy shrugged, "she had no right to be upset. If she'd have been strong enough in the first place, none of the rest of that would've happened."

"I still vote we kill him," she saw the look on her sister's face. "What? Just because Bellatrix isn't here doesn't mean I've lost my sense of judgment. He's a waste of oxygen and his daughter tried to kill my daughter. Somebody besides Cass needs to suffer."

"Teddy, Hermione," Andy yelled, "get in here."

"Ready for us?" Teddy asked, pushing the heavy library doors open.

"We've just started talking about what to do about Weasley," Andy immediately noticed the discomfort on Hermione's face and instead of placating her she went in for the kill, "look sweetheart, if you'd have watched the memory months ago we wouldn't be discussing this."

"I know. I know. I'm not saying anything."

"I don't think we can just let him go," Teddy didn't want to jeopardize his career on the force but he also didn't want his aunt to go to Azkaban. "He will snitch Auntie Bella out the first chance he gets."

"Obviously," Bella rolled her eyes, "that's why I'm sticking with death. We have this wand. The other me knicked it from somewhere and I have no recollection of it. It's what we've been using for the unforgivables. I say we do him in and be done with it." She handed over the stolen wand to her sister who passed it to Hermione.

"Whether or not we do something to Ron doesn't address the fact that Victoria almost killed our daughter," three heads turned to look at her. "I know I'm late to the party but that girl needs to be punished for what she did."

"I would've chained the girl up in the basement but I didn't think child endangerment would help my case."

"Smart thinking," Andy agreed. "Always go for the man first. Especially ones as stupid as Ron. Never did have a working brain cell."

"So what do we do with him and how do we make sure Victoria gets what's coming to her?" Teddy looked a little nervous, "I really want to keep my job."

Hermione snapped her fingers, jumping up to her feet she started pacing, "what if there's another way…"

"Going to need a little more information, love."

She was pacing back and forth in front of the fireplace, tapping the stolen wand against her thigh. Andy leaned over to her sister, "married couples really do start looking alike."

"Maybe Lestrange is hanging out with Aunt Mione now," Teddy added his two sickles in.

"Shh," Bella quieted them down. "I think she's coming up with a plan that'll leave us all looking good. It's what she's known for. Saving everybody's asses. What's the plan, pet?"

"So we can't just let him go but we also can't kill him…"

Bella smirked, "that's up for debate."

"What if we altered his memories?l

"Obliviate him?"

"Not quite, Teddy," Hermione stopped pacing for a moment. "We wouldn't need to remove everything from his memory. Just adjust the memories from the basement and provide him with new memories. That way it can line up with the narrative you provide the DMLE when you find him wandering outside of London after being phone by the muggle police."

"Too bad he's not a beetle, we could've kept him hostage in a jar," Andy laughed. "Would we do this before or after you take the memories to the school?"

"Before," Bella said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "We can give him memories of leaving his family too ashamed to admit what his daughter had done. We have proof it was a thought out crime. Plus, he will look like a loser. It's a triple win for me and the girls. And," she looked at her wife, "now we can push the headmistresss to do something. A suitable punishment for attempted murder."

"I agree with all of that," Hermione learned her lesson the hard way. "So that means I'll have to wait to talk to the girls. I don't like that part."

"Can we leave the memories of the daggers?"

"I don't think I want to know what that means," Hermione started pacing again.

"Well I should be the one to perform the spell. Out of the four of us, I have the most experience with memory magic."

"Facts are facts, Hermione," Andy agreed with her sister. "Bella is the most experienced with this type of magic."

"Didn't Auntie Bella bring Pap Pap and Kitty's memories back?"

"Of course I did, kid. Not my first go at memory magic. So, it's settled, I'll give Ronny boy his new memories."

"The agreed upon memories that the four of us are going to craft now," Hermione gave her wife a look.

"Of course pet," Bella smirked, "wouldn't dream of doing anything else to the poor chap. He's been through enough."

"Great," Andy clapped her hands together. "Let's get this story straight so I can go order dinner. I'm thinking about curry tonight?"

"I could go for a curry," Teddy said as parchment and a quill floated into his hand.

Bella had been paying attention until she felt a prickle on the back of her neck. She cast her eyes sideways and was met by Bellatrix standing in the corner winking at her. Her other self had been listening in but she couldn't pinpoint the moment she stepped into the room. She was pulled back into the moment when she heard Hermione ask, "Bella are you with us?"

"Yeah," she shook her head. "I'm here. I think need to send Twiggy for my next bottle of potion."