a few rounds in the p.r. circuit
The camera pans across the full ministry canteen and slowly zooms in on another Auror who isn’t wearing their robes in accordance with uniform regulations. The crew kind of expects it at this point.
Auror Bellatrix Lestrange’s black hair cascades down the back of her open front robes, revealing a dress that exposes a little too much skin than what’s probably appropriate for the ministry or the audience. The cameraperson makes a conscious effort to film only her shoulders and above.
“Ickle Harry? My darling cousin and the Minister?” She laughs until she’s breathless, turning heads all around the room. “Isn’t Harry so funny? Like a small kneazle, he is.”
She takes a look at the food available and frowns. “Walk with me,” she says. They exit the canteen and follow Bellatrix all the way to the ministry atrium. She snaps her fingers twice at another Auror, and they seem to take that as a cue for something and rush off.
“Harry and I didn’t get along for ages,” she stretches the word ‘ages’ until she’s hissing it like a snake. “All that tosh about almost killing and mentally destroying his little friend’s parents and blah blah- whatever. It’s all water off a kelpie’s back. We’re doing so much better now!”
-
The camera cuts to Pansy filing her nails. “Lestrange?” She looks up and slowly smiles. It’s chilling. “Harry despises her.”
-
Bellatrix crosses her arms and stands tall, back straight. It seems they’ll be waiting here a while, so the crew spreads out. She continues, “You see when our Minister was elected and changed all of Wizarding England for the better, trials from the war were re-done. It’s how you have people like Cousin Sirius and me free again. We were pardoned.”
There’s a slight commotion at the wand checkpoint in the background of the shot, just over Bellatrix’s shoulder. The scene definitely looks like it could use some intervening, but she shrugs and says, “I’m on lunch break.”
“Besides,” she grins, “my skill set is entirely reserved for the protection of the Minister. I am part of the elite few that watch over the Minister nearly always. Designated solely for the Minister’s Auror Detail,” she finishes with a flourish of her hand.
-
The camera cuts to Pansy once again. She’s accepting an owl, untying a ribbon from its leg and resizing the small parcel it’s holding. Whatever’s in it smells absolutely amazing and has a few crew members asking about their own lunch break.
Pansy nods. “Harry did actually assign her to the Minister’s security detail. He calls it M.A.D. for short—because they all are,” she snorts. “Lestrange is quite good at duelling. Not to mention, she’s a total psychopath and completely head over heels for the Minister. So if anyone is going to keep the (beep) safe, it’s her.”
She takes a large mouth full of her meal, a chicken dish (maybe?), and chews thoughtfully before swallowing. “You know what? Harry probably did it maliciously. He probably figured Lestrange would annoy the (beep) out of the Minister and sent her there to get her off his back.”
-
The Auror that Bellatrix snapped at earlier returns holding a bag from a high-end restaurant off Vertic Alley. She accepts it without a thank you and shoos them away. They immediately tend to the commotion at the wand checkpoint.
“Anyway,” she walks back towards the lifts, and they all pile in, assumedly to return to Level One. “A bunch of us were pardoned and made friendly with the masses again—that took a few rounds in the P.R. circuit, let me tell you, the Daily Prophet can be vicious—“
The crew, who has taken to crowding as close together as possible to avoid accidentally touching Ms Lestrange, look dubious at the idea of anyone or anything being more vicious than her.
“But the Minister truly went out of the way to get Sirius pardoned. It was a tough sell, after all. The Potters were just so beloved, weren’t they? Just so endeared by the public for saving them all.” How Bellatrix emphasised certain words made the crew feel slightly queasy and distinctly unsettled; more than a few glances were exchanged.
“And this was well before Harrykins became an Auror, right? So, why would our Minister jeopardise a newly claimed position by fighting for a nationally hated group of wixen—and specifically, Sirius Black—when the only thing to claim any benefit from his innocence and release is a young boy with one foot out of Hogwarts and an allegedly abusive muggle family waiting for him at home?”
Her grin is bloodthirsty and mean, but a crew member gulps and bravely asks, “Is it because of what he did..?”
Bellatrix nods, encouraging the crew member to keep speaking, to finish the question. Apparently she loves the drama of it all.
The crew member looks pale. “W-when he was a baby. Is it because of that? Because Head Auror Harry Potter defeated You-Know-Who?”
The lift dings and the crew jumps. Bellatrix sashays out and waves her wand to close the lift doors, but not before adding, “What our darling Harry doesn’t know is that the Minister has had eyes on him for quite a while. Harry has always been rather special, you see.” She spits special with a harsh bitterness.
The lift doors close, and the quiet that settles after her departure is jarring.
The crew takes a lunch break. However, the mood is unusually sombre.