Hiraeth

Aria, Ron, and Hermione drew their wands out and threw themselves into the panicking crowd. Ron quickly used a sonorous charm and shouted, "Everyone who knows how to apparate, please apparate out of the venue, and all the underage kids, please side along apparate with the adults."

The guests started sprinting and disapparating from the venue. Aria saw cloaked and masked figures appear in the crowd. While Aria and Hermione fought against the death eaters using offensive spells, Ron was protecting them using protective enchantments and defensive spells. They worked together to distract the cloaked figures, giving the guests enough time to escape. When Hermione saw that most of the guests had left, she took Aria and Ron's hands and apparated away from the burrow.

"Where are we?" Ron enquired.

Aria looked around her surroundings, noting that they looked to be in a muggle area.

"Tottenham Court Road," panted Hermione as she started walking away from the crowd of people. "Walk fast; we need to find a place to change our clothes."

Aria and Ron followed Hermione through the dark streets as people ogled at them. Aria pulled out a tiny purse from her dress pocket and pulled out her invisibility cloak from it. The purse was a gift from Fred, it had undetectable extension charms. While Hermione's purse contained all of their stuff, Aria mainly used the purse to safekeep the most valuable stuff she had, like her cloak, her parents photos,the map, money, her firebolt, and the two-way mirror, along with all the letters Sirius wrote to her. Aria gave her cloak to Hermione so that she could change her clothes under the invisibility cloak. Ron and Hermione changed from their dress robes into jeans and sweatshirts. Aria quickly covered herself with the invisibility cloak.

"Do you think everyone left safely?" aria asked.

"I am sure they are safe. We did our best. Most of the order is at the venue, so they must have been alright." Hermione whispered.

"She is right. It's you they are after. If we stayed there for some more time, they would have recognised that you are Aria Potter, even though you are currently a blonde." Ron said looking around.

"Come on, guys, we have to leave this place. Aria, stay near us; don't go far away." Hermione said knowing that her best friend gets easily distracted when they are in a new place.

Aria nodded her head even though Hermione couldn't see her and started following Ron and Hermione as they moved back to the main road.

"Why did you apparate us to Tottenham Court Road?" Ron asked curiously.

"I have no idea why this place popped into my head suddenly. I used to come here with my parents when I was a kid. Anyway, I think we would be safer in the muggle world; it's not like they can search us here. If you haven't noticed, the muggle world is bigger and more crowded than the wizarding world."

"Do you have any idea where we are staying?" Ron asked just as some drunk men started wolf whistling at Hermione.

"no idea. I am thinking of taking a page out of Aria's book and just going with the flow. We could maybe stay in a muggle hotel for today."

Ron looked sceptical of Hermione's plan.

"what? It's not like we can book a room at the leaky cauldron, can we? We can't go to your house; they might check at my parents house. While Grimmauld Place is safer, Snape can get there."

One of the drunk men started coming towards them. "Fancy a drink, darling? Ditch the ginger and come with us," he asked Hermione.

Aria wanted to punch the guy in the face, but she couldn't punch him, so she did the second-best thing she could think of. She tripped him and watched as his friends started laughing at him as he tried to find out why he tripped.

Hermione smiled, knowing that Aria had tripped the guy and led them towards a night cafe.

The cafe was thankfully empty. They sat in the cafe. Hermione glanced at her surroundings frequently.

They sat in silence for a minute before Ron got twitchy and asked, "Do you think everyone in the order managed to stay safe?"

"I don't know Ron. This is not the order's first rodeo with the death eaters, and I am sure they are safe. We should just be glad that Voldemort wasn't the one who attacked the burrow," Hermione said, knowing that Ron is worried about his family.

"Don't worry, I'll mirror call Fred and George later." Aria whispered so that only Ron and Hermione could hear her.

Ron smiled gratefully in Aria's direction.

A waitress finally arrived to take their order.

"Two cappuccinos, please," Hermione requested.

Aria tapped Hermione's thigh softly, requesting that she order something for her.

"And a strawberry milkshake for takeaway, please," Hermione said, smiling at the waitress.

A pair of burly workers entered the cafe. For some reason, Aria started feeling uncomfortable; all her senses were screaming danger to her.

Aria tapped on Ron's hand and signalled in the direction of two men from under the table.

The waitress finally brought their order and went to take the order at the next booth.

While the waiter and the two men were not looking, Hermione slipped the milkshake to Aria.

Ron took a sip of his coffee and grimaced. "How are we going to pay for the drinks?" Ron asked.

"I took out all my building society savings." said Hermione as she reached for the beaded bag.

The two men made identical movements. Aria, who was observing the two men, pulled out her wand. Ron, understanding what was going on, lunged across the table, pushing Hermione sideways.

The force of the spell shattered the wall. Aria, having the advantage of being invisible, stunned the men. Hermione petrified them while Ron stunned the waitress so that she wouldn't go around screaming about magic. By the end of the fight, most of the cafe was in need of heavy repairs.

The three of them went near the death eaters, who were lying on the ground.

"I think I saw one of them on the day Dumbledore died." Aria muttered.

"That's Dolohov," Ron said, recognising the man from the wanted posters. "I think the other guy is Thorfinn Rowle."

"How do you think they found us?" Hermione asked, finding it unbelievable that two death eaters found them in the muggle world when they hardly knew how the muggle world worked. "What are we going to do now? Are we being tracked?" Hermione asked hysterically.

Aria, being the only one with any idea what to do in situations like this, asked Ron to close the door and draw the curtains.

"What are we going to do with them? kill them?" Ron asked.

Aria shook her head. "They are currently more useful to us alive than dead. It would be very suspicious if they ended up dead. We will obliviate their memories; maybe make it look like they came for muggle baiting while they were drunk?"

Hermione nodded her head and went into the kitchen. She brought some beer bottles and gave them to Aria. Ron looked at Hermione strangely.

"what? They do not have alcohol in their bodies. We need to make sure our plan is foolproof." said Hermione.

Aria took the bottles and used the spell she learned from Madam Pomfrey, which helps in giving potions to an unconscious person. She charmed the alcohol directly into their stomachs.

Ron charmed the men into a magical sleep. "I heard from Charlie that it's easier to do memory related spells when the person is asleep."

Hermione, the only one who knew the theory of the memory spell, erased their memory and modified it so that they believed that they were here for muggle baiting but were too drunk and slept off.

Aria took care of the waitress, compelling her to go home and forget everything she saw that was related to magic, and Ron started cleaning the cafe.

while they were heaving the Death Eaters back into the booth. Aria had a brilliant idea they could use to spy on the dark side.

"Hermione, can you give me one of those stitch cameras the twins created?" Aria asked, looking a bit excited at the thought of spying on the dark lord that doesn't involve her opening her mind to Voldemort.

Hermione quickly took one of the snitches and gave it to them. Aria took the snitch, cast a strong disillusionment charm and a feather light charm on it and glued the snitch to their clothes, ensuring that they didn't feel the snitch on them.

"Should I stick another snitch on the other death eater as well?" Ron asked.

Aria nodded her head as Hermione passed another snitch to Ron.

"How do you think they found us?" Aria asked.

"Do you think they found a way to track us?" Hermione asked.

"i don't have an idea, Hermione. Do you think there are tracking spells on us? Maybe they could have used the trace?"

"They can't trace breaks at seventeen, that's wizarding law."

"seeing that the death eaters are in charge of the wizarding law. I don't think they care much about the law. if breaking the law means they can catch me." Aria said.

"Well, if they want to reactivate the trace, they have to come near you. I don't think they managed to activate the trace on you." Ron said with utmost conviction that the trace hasn't been activated.

Aria felt troubled at the thought of her leading her best friends to the death eaters.

Seeing the expression on Aria's face and knowing her very well, Hermione quickly replied. "Don't even think about it. We are not splitting up. We promised  always and Forever with you. We are sticking with you through thick and thin. We are going to win this war together."

"Fine," Aria grumbled, not happy that her best friends were getting into danger because of her.

"We need a safe place to stay today so we can think about our next step." said Ron.

"What about Grimmauld Place?" I know Snape knows about the place, but it has better protection compared to a muggle hotel. seeing that we don't know how they are tracking us. I think it's better if we stay in a magical place." Aria said even though she is feeling dread at the thought of entering the place, Sirius despised and spent his last days feeling imprisoned at his own place. remembering all the fond memories she has of Sirius in that dreaded place.

"I think it's better if we go there." "I heard dad mention that Moody placed some jinxes against Snape at that place."

Hermione finally agreed with Ron and Aria after some protest. Aria unlocked the door, turned towards the death eaters, and placed a time delayed counter charm of the sleeping charm. feeling glad that she is friends with Fred and George, who are good at nifty charms like these.

Ron, Aria, and Hermione finally apparated from the cafe to Grimmauld place, leaving behind two sleeping death eaters.

The trio landed near the park located near Grimmauld Place. They rushed towards the building, making sure that they weren't followed by anyone. Aria tapped the front door with her wand; the door opened, and they hurried over the threshold.

"Merlin! This place becomes more depressing every time I come here." said Aria, looking at all the cobwebs. 

As they entered the hallway, they heard Moody's voice whisper out of the darkness. "severus snape?"

"We're not Snape?" croaked Ron. The trio experienced the unpleasant feeling of the tongue tying curse.

As they continued going through the hallway, a figure emerged from the carpet. The trio screamed, and so did Mrs. Black, shouting expletives at the trio. They saw the grey figure gliding towards them. They stared as a zombie like Dumbledore approached them, pointing his finger at Aria. "No!" Aria shouted. "No! Snape was the one who killed you."

At the word killed the grey figure exploded into dust particles.

"merlin! That was awful. Do we have to go through that stupid thing every time someone enters the house? And what sort of defence is that, anyway? Did Moody suddenly expect Snape to show some remorse when he sees zombie Dumbledore and confess all his sins? Snape looked Dumbledore in the eyes and killed him without a single ounce of remorse. I don't think he is going to be fazed by zombie Dumbledore." Aria said trying to even out her breathing after the fright they had received.

Ron and Hermione grimaced as the grey dust started falling on them.

"Mudbloods, filth, stains of dishonor, taint of shame on the house of my fathers—" Walburga Black's portrait started shouting at them.

Aria finally reached the breaking point of her god awful shitty day. "Shut up!" bellowed Aria. "Shout at anyone again, and I will burn your portrait using muggle gasoline." The only stain in this house is your miserable, ugly portrait. I don't know what greatness you are talking about, when all that's left of the great ancient and noble house of Black is this old, decrepit building filled with cobwebs and pets. I have seen pigstys that look better than this dark, dreary hell hole. I am sure your ancestors are already weeping, seeing that all that's left of this family is a deranged, sycophantic mad woman obsessed with a half blood and another married to a malfoy with an arrogant, spoilt brat of a son who is a weak and pathetic little bootlicker. You disowned the rest of your family. Do you know who is inheriting all your family's titles and money? I am the one who is inheriting everything. You are just a miserable old portrait. Shout at anyone again. I will make this place a safehouse for the muggleborns and all the magical creatures." Ron and Hermione saw a hard glint in Aria's eyes and a cruel smirk on her face as she continued, "Or better yet, I will turn this place into a strip club and place a dancing pole in front of your portrait and make you watch muggles desecrating this place as you scream, and I will make sure nobody is able to hear your banshee like screams. Sirius would have loved to convert this place into a muggle strip club. I will make the rest of your days as a portrait miserable."

Walburga Black's portrait gaped at them, too stunned to speak. Aria closed the portrait's curtain with a flick of her wand.

Ron and Hermione gaped at her. "that was... that was awesome."

"Thanks, it feels good shouting at her portrait after all the time she made Sirius's life miserable." said Aria smiling at her best friends. "let's go! We have a dark lord to spy upon."

The trio climbed the stairs until they reached the third floor. They stood in front of Aria's bedroom, which Sirius spent all the summer before her fifth year decorating for her before her arrival. Aria stood transfixed in front of the door as she traced her name, which Sirius had carefully engraved into the holly wood plate. Aria clutched the door handle tightly as she opened the door. It looked just as she left it after her yule break during her 5th year, though a bit dustier. The room is surprisingly adorned with emerald green wallpaper. She smiles fondly, remembering all the times Sirius grumbled about how the room looks like a Slytherin's room, even though she used to protest that both of them are totally different shades. There was a queen sized bed located in the middle of the bed, which is drowning under a mountain of throw pillows, soft toys, and teddy bears that were bought by Sirius when he realised that she never had a single toy growing up at the Dursleys. The walls of the room were covered in various quidditch posters of her favourite quidditch teams, Puddlemore United, the team of her previous quidditch captain, and Holyhead Harpies, and photo frames filled mostly with the trio, a few pictures with her and Padfoot (dog) in a local park they sneaked out to, and pictures with Sirius and Remus she took using the disposable camera Hermione got for her 15th birthday. Everything in the room was mostly decorated by Sirius with the help of Hermione and the twins, seeing that Ron has no idea or interest in decorating  girls bedroom. According to Fred and George, who practically became Sirius' apparentices when they learned that Sirius was their hero, Padfoot. Fred and George used to sneak Padfoot (dog) out of the grimmauld place, take him shopping for her stuff, and buy everything Padfoot touched using Sirius' money.

Ron slumped onto her bed, causing a pile of dust to rise into the air. Hermione glared at Ron as she muttered a few cleaning spells.

Aria took Hermione's beaded bag from her hands and started searching for the spy snitch monitor. It took them a while to figure out how to use it as they tried to navigate through the instruction manual Fred and George kindly wrote for them. Aria mounted the monitor on the wall after enlarging the screen.

They saw on the screen as Dolohov and Rowle drunkenly entered the Malfoy manor, trying very hard not to stumble on their way to what the trio hoped would be a death eater meeting.

Dolohov and Rowle entered the meeting room as all the death eaters turned towards them and were staring at them.

"Ah, Dolohov and Rowle I hope your mission was successful." They heard Voldemort's raspy voice.

"my lord?" Dolohav and Rowle said at the same time, looking confused at their lord, and they immediately kneeled before Voldemort.

Aria started feeling a slight pain in her scar as Voldemort started getting annoyed and frustrated at Dolohov and Rowle.

Voldemort threw a cruciatus curse at both of the men.

"The  task I have kindly given to you as I thought you both were competent enough. But here you are kneeling before me looking drunk when I made you in charge of dealing with the trace."

The trio stared at each other, wondering what Voldemort meant by trace and if it was linked to how the death eaters found them at the cafe.

They saw Voldemort using legilimency on both men. The trio gulped in fear, hoping the obliviate worked properly.

They saw Voldemort getting enraged as he came out of his death eater's mind. Rowle and Dolohov collapsed on the floor in pain.

The dark lord sent another crucio at them, and they could also hear Bellatrix Lestrange's cackling in the background and asking for more.

"I specifically created a trace on my name, knowing that Aria Potter and her merry band of order members are the only ones stupid and dumb enough to say my name. Hoping to catch them and kill them. But here you both are getting outsmarted by a bunch of teenagers."

Aria snorted at that statement, remembering all the times Voldemort got outsmarted by a bunch of preteens and later teenagers as she tried to process the information she got, just as Ron and Hermione were staring at the screen in horror as they realised how Voldemort was able to track them.

"You both should be grateful that I am a merciful lord; otherwise, I would have broken your mind to obtain the memory and fed you to my dear Nagini. While your usefulness to my future plans is debatable, be glad knowing that I have no interest in ripping the memory out of you just to watch how furthur incompetent you both are." said Voldemort as he clearly dismissed the rest of the death eaters. Before Aria could command the snitch to follow Voldemort, he disapparated from the Malfoy manor.

They saw Bellatrix, Rodolphus, and Rabastan lestranges summoned through the dark mark. The trio was too out of their minds to command the snitch to follow at least one of them.

Just as Ron was about to speak, they saw a blue light emerge towards them and get solidified into a weasel patronus as they heard Arthur Weasley speak, "Family safe; do not reply, we are being watched."

They looked at each other as the patronus dissolved into nothingness.

"We need to inform them about the trace stuff," Ron said, panicking at the thought of his family accidentally saying the name and getting tracked down by the death eaters.

"I'll mirror call Fred and George; I am sure they are not as thoroughly watched as your parents." said Aria as she grabbed her communication mirror and called Fred and George.

Fred appeared on her screen. Aria enlarged the screen so Ron and Hermione could also see them.

"Thank Merlin, you three are alright," said Fred.

George, too, appeared on the screen.

"Are you guys being watched?" Hermione asked.

Fred scoffed at the statement as if the thought of the death eaters being able to spy on them was the most ridiculous thing they had ever heard. Aria thought it might be true, seeing that the twins had a very good sixth sense that told them when they were being watched, which they exploited a lot when they were trying to prank someone undetected.

"Why would the death eaters want to watch over two wizards that own a joke shop who didn't even complete their schooling when they could spend their time watching the old barmy best friend of Dumledore Doge and the rest of the cronies?"

"Too true, brother dearest," George replied. "The only time they might spy on us is if good old mouldy face finds out about the poo joke we used on our shopfront. "

The trio grimaced as they heard Fred and George calling Voldemort moldy face, but they were also glad they were not calling Voldemort.

"Ok, listen to us carefully, do not use the Dark Lord's name from now onwards. We spied on a death eater meeting and found that the Head Dick had placed some kind of curse on his "V" name and can find your location if you say his name," said Aria, looking a bit frustrated with her lack of ability to use a name.

Fred and George turned serious at that.

"Make sure you inform your family and the rest of the order about this," said Aria.

"Is that Aria's voice?" They heard Charlie's voice and saw him as he, along with Bill and Fleur, entered the room.

The trio waved hands. Charlie, Bill, and Fleur waved their hands back.

"How did you do that?" asked Charlie, wondering how they were talking to each other.

"We connected both the mirrors using a series of runes and spells so that if you say a code word, it will connect to the other mirror, and you can see stuff on the other side and talk to the people on the other side." Fred explained.

"Cool," said Charlie, smiling at the twins.

"That is very impressive " said Charlie.

"Thanks, but we didn't create them; we just improved and upgraded the older version." aid George.

"What are you guys talking about?" Charlie asked.

It was Hermione who explained the trace to Charlie and the newlyweds.

Bill looked thoughtful for a while, "I think I read about it somewhere. I think they used the same trace during the First War. I think that's the reason why people started calling him "He who must not be named." People were scared to say his name and activate the curse."

"Then why the hell is Dumbledore making us call his name and spouting bullshit about fearing a name and other stuff when he must have known about the trace, right? He should have also known that the trace might be activated again, right?" Ron shouted, feeling frustrated with Dumbledore's inability to give proper answers and information, endangering people's lives, and still expecting to fight a war and win it miraculously. "Do you know how many people are out there who are going to say the dark lord's name, thinking and trying to be brave like Dumbledore? All those people are going to get killed now because they are not powerful enough to defeat a horde of death eaters. Do you know how many times we have encouraged our classmates and friends to say his name and said to not fear just a name?" Ron shouted starting to feel the weight of their past actions, which in the past might have looked brave but might have led to the deaths of his schoolmates.

"We could use the DA coins to inform them of this trace." chimed in Fred. "Don't worry, Ron, we will help spread the word about the trace."

Just to distract everyone from the sombre mood, Aria asked, I thought you guys were leaving for France?" turning in Bill and Fleur's direction.

"We didn't think it was the right time to leave everyone here when there is a war going on," said Bill while Fleur nodded her head.

"Where are you guys staying?" Hermione asked.

"We are staying at the Shell Cottage; it was a wedding gift."

"Fred and George are staying here until I update the wards on their apartment and store, and Charlie is staying with us until he returns back to Romania to his beloved dragons."

"Speaking of Wards, Bill, do you know anything about the Wards on Grimmauld Place?" Aria asked.

"They are very powerful and dangerous, but you need the lordship ring to control the wards," Bill explained.

"Where do I get this ring?" Aria asked. She did remember Sirius once or twice talking about a ring, but she didn't have a clue where to find the ring. According to Sirius, he planned on giving her the ring on her 17th birthday.

"You need to go to Gringotts and meet your account manager." said Bill.

"I have an account manager?" Aria asked, looking incredulous and wondering why she had never met them.

"Yeah, every account has an account manager. Most of the smaller accounts are managed by a few low ranked goblins. while senior-ranked goblins manage single accounts of very rich families. Even we, the Weasleys, have bank managers Why are you so surprised that you, one of the richest people in this country, have a bank manager?" said Bill.

Yeah, every account is managed by a goblin. The goblins think we are not very good at managing our accounts. Though I never met our family bank manager. Apparently I am very inconsequential to him until I start earning my own money and stop leeching on my parents gold," said Ron, smiling as though it was the funniest thing he ever heard.

"Don't worry, Ronniekins, you aren't missing anything by not meeting him. He is just your regular old, barmy, cantankerous goblin, as they all are. Though he is slightly impressed with our business strategies." said Fred.

"He thinks we would have made great goblins," said George, grinning at the compliment given to them.

The trio shuddered at the thought of Fred and George as goblins.

"Then how come I never met my account manager?" Aria asked.

"Because you are, as Ron put it, inconsequential to the goblins as you are underage, have no say in the management of money, and cannot take any financial decisions. Meeting you, according to the goblins, would be an utter waste of their precious time, which they could be using to make more gold." said Bill as he explained the way of thinking of a goblin.

Aria gaped at that. "But how am I supposed to make good financial decisions if I don't know how much money I have? Someone has to teach me what to buy and what not to buy. Do you know the first thing eleven year old me thought of buying after seeing all the money in my vault? A fucking solid gold cauldron."

Ron burst out laughing and fell out of the bed.

"Can you imagine Snape's face if eleven year-old, you pulled out a solid gold cauldron out of your bag. I am pretty sure he would have found a way to kill you or, worse, get you expelled. I think Malfoy's reaction would also be hilarious. I am sure he would be running to the owlery send a letter to his daddy saying, "Daddy! stupid pottah with her stupid scar got a gold cauldron. I want a gold cauldron, and I also want gold vials too. Let me shove it in stupid Pottah's face that I am richer than her and make her regret befriending that pauper Weasley with his pewter cauldron. How dare she befriend that pauper Weasley when I am prettier than him and richer than him." Ron imitated Draco's voice.

Everyone burst out laughing at Ron's imitation.

"So, what am I going to do now? Do I get a letter or something with my account manager's name and my financial details."Aria asked, coming back to the topic of her financial matters.

"No, according to the goblins, they are not your personal mailmen (or goblins). Apparently you should be wise and responsible enough to come to the goblins on your own and shouldn't require someone writing to tell you to take care of your finances." Bill explained calmly.

"But I didn't know anything until now."

"It's not their fault, according to them, you should have taken time by now to learn about financial management."

Aria wanted to say that she never had enough time between studying for exams and her yearly misadventures to just sit and think about her finances. Then again, she didn't think the goblins cared about her personal problems.

"What am I supposed to do now?" She finally asked.

"We could get you an appointment with your account manager."

"then what? Am I supposed to waltz through the diagon alley waving to the nearby death eaters." said Aria sassily.

"Or you guys come with me through the employee floo after you explain to your manager about your situation and ask permission floo." replied Bill.

"Will you please get me an appointment too?" Aria asked Bill for help, seeing that she has no idea how to get an appointment without sounding clueless and without accidentally offending an entire race that has control of her gold.

"Sure, I will talk to you again after talking with your manager." said Bill. The trio ended the mirror call after talking for some time.

"Until now, the war didn't seem very real; now it seems to be getting very real," said Hermione, wondering when will be the next time she will be seeing her parents again.

Aria hugged Hermione, and Ron joined them in the group hug. The trio slept together in Aria's room, hoping to chase away each other's nightmares.

Meanwhile, in Slytherin Manor:

Voldemort apparated directly into the Slytherin Manor's duelling rooms. He let out his frustration at being once again thwarted by a bunch of teenagers into breaking the glass items he had conjured using just his magic.

During the earlier days of his reign, he rarely had to vent his frustrations by destroying magically created objects. But these days, every time he encountered Potter, or like today, when he hadn't even met her, he ended up having to vent his frustrations by breaking things like an errant toddler who did not get his way.

Voldemort wished he could have taken his frustrations on Dolohov and Rowle, but he didn't want to see the memories, which ultimately have Potter rubbing it in his face about how she is better than his followers and how she is supposed to be his equal. looking at him defiantly with those intense emerald green eyes, which have no right to look so similar to his favourite killing curse. taunting him and consuming all his thoughts even during his sleep, though he doesn't remember anything other than Aria Potter's face and her smile, though in real life he never saw her smiling at him. Now a days, just using a killing curse is making him think of Aria Potter and her inability to die in his hands.

Voldemort finally left the duelling room and made his way to his study. As usual, the cold and empty manor made him feel a twinge in his chest. He planned on torturing Pettigrew for botching his ritual, causing him to feel twinges and aches in his chest randomly.

Voldemort finally summoned the Lestranges, hoping that he is not going to make the biggest mistake of his life.

His summons were answered within a minute as the Lestranges appeared in front of him. Bellatrix looked excited, showing more of her cleavage than she was showing during the meeting. He inwardly grimaced at the start of his reign. During the first war, he found her attraction to him amusing, but now all he could feel was irritation and annoyance. He didn't have time for Bellatrix's infatuation when all he wanted to do was gain Aria Potter's attention to kill Aria Potter. 

He let the Lestranges sit in front of him. He took out one of the many grimoires from the shelf, opened the particular page, and passed it to Rodolphus.

Rodolphus read the page and closed the book. Bellatrix curious tried to take the book, but Rodolphus gave it back to Voldemort.

Voldemort waited for Rodolphus to talk.

Rodolphus finally said, "It is a very useful ritual, my lord." trying not to look so confused about why his lord is showing him the ritual, which is usually used by gay couples or infertile couples to have children. The ritual usually involves a surrogate drinking a potion with the blood of both partners. though the potion was sometimes not stable and could have some mixed results. The ritual and potion used are both outlawed, along with many others, as they are now considered dark magic as they involve blood and are banned in Britain.

"I want Bellatrix to drink the potion, as we are closer to our victory in Britain. I thought it would be the right time to have an heir, though I am immortal and I have no need for an heir." said Voldemort, though he would never say that he wanted to just rub it in Potter's face that the blood of her beloved godfather's line would be running in his child's veins and would also have the added bonus of his child being related to Potter through her grandmother Dorea Potter nee Black. (A/N: I know it's not canon. But seeing that you are reading a Tomarry fanfiction, deal with the facts that we fanfiction writers had thrown Canon out of the Hogwarts astronomical tower and is dead to us just like Dumbledore is.) 

Voldemort hoped that his future child would look similar to that side of the family (A/N: Aria looks very similar to her grandmother, but no one mentions that because nobody wants to compare their saviour, the light of their lives, to a member of that dangerous Black family, even though said member is her grandmother). and not after Bellatrix, who is just as sane as he is even before her stay in Azkaban and looks like she just escaped from a high-security asylum, though in her defence she did escape from Azkaban.

Bellatrix had been his final resort. While Narcissa Malfoy would have been a better option, he knew that Narcissa's loyalty remained only to her family, and she would have used his future heir as a bargaining tool against Lucius and Draco's incompetence. He was sure that Narcissa would endanger his unborn child if it protected her family. All the Blacks are a tad bit insane. Narcissa is very good at covering up her insanity to look just like a simple minded housewife. He was sure that Narcissa was crazy enough to go against him if it meant protecting her precious son. So Bellatrix was his final option, as he has no interest in the muggle loving Andromeda Tonks, even though she has a metamorphmagus as a daughter. While crazy, he at least knows that Bellatrix's loyalty lies only to him, not even to her husband.

"my lord?" Bellatrix shrieked, looking as if they had just declared muggle baiting Britain's national sport.

Voldemort inwardly grimaced at Bellatrix's shrill voice, already starting to regret his decision.

"Yes, Bellatrix, as a reward for your undying loyalty towards me, I am granting you the reward of bearing my heir."

Bellatrix looked ready to climb onto the table, crawl towards her lord, and have her way with him.

Looking at Bellatrix's expression, Voldemort quickly added, "You will be drinking the bearer potion, and we will be doing the ritual that will make you carry my heir."

Bellatrix looked a tad bit disappointed at that but said, "My lord, the potion is not very stable; we could do it the usual way."

(Trigger warning: Voldemort is going to casually think about suicide as he unknowingly simps for Aria.)

Voldemort inwardly sneered at her response. No, bellatrix, I have already decided on using the potion. You will not question your lord, and you will also be staying at the Slytherin manor and will no longer be participating in the raids. I do not want you to endanger my future heir's life. Rodolphus and Rabastan will be taking care of your needs." Now Voldemort no longer has to worry about Bellatrix causing harm to Aria Potter. What was Bellatrix thinking when she killed Sirius Black? Does she not understand how much emotional pain she caused Aria Potter that day? He could still feel the pain Aria Potter went through that day through their bond. Voldemort vowed to himself not to feel such pain again. Does Bellatrix not understand that if Aria Potter was a lesser human and not his equal, she could have committed suicide just to not feel all the pain she experienced? Aria Potter was truly a queen of Gryffindor. It is as if she is the personification of all those ridiculous qualities Gryffindor favoured. Then again, what was he expecting from his equal? Just as Voldemort was about to continue his inner monologue about Aria Potter. He was interrupted by Bellatrix's whines about it not being fair.

Having had enough of Bellatrix for today. He left the trio, making Rodolphus and Rabastan in charge of keeping Bellatrix in line. While he has a soft spot for the Lestrange brothers, he is not that fond of them to deal with Bellatrix.

Voldemort thought it would be better to start staying in Malfoy Manor as it would lead to him spending less time in Bellatrix's presence, which is always a plus in his mind, but it would also make Malfoys very miserable. Watching the Malfoys squirm in their own manor is a very entertaining idea.

Voldemort went to sleep, hoping to finally catch Aria Potter (and her heart).