Brenna Manor
September 2nd, 1996
She and Ed had been traveling for a few weeks now. Their world was officially at war. Everything had become absolutely topsy turvy.
Their search for Jack was exceptionally hindered by Ed's status as a muggle, he couldn't blend in the Wizarding world. Belle worried every day he could be killed if he were exposed. She'd get him somewhere safe to stay and hide. She begged Ed one night to consider just going to America on his own. He'd be safe there, and she could continue the search for Jack. He refused. He insisted he could do his best. He would go into muggle communities, and police stations, checking to see if they had seen or found a young man with dark hair and eyes.
She visited multiple Wizarding communities. She'd fly through every community, pub and store, just listening for any whisper of her son. There had been little to no news at all. It seemed everyone was missing or grieving lost family. No one was quite willing to help a mother find her son when they themselves were in similar crisis.
During the darkness of the time, they did find a slight bit of comfort hearing their daughter's voice every time there was a Potterwatch broadcast. They knew she was alive and that she was at least, somewhat, safe. She went under the very appropriate moniker, Rebel, but Belle would know her daughter's voice anywhere. There had been three real shows so far. They'd listen in every night around midnight to hear if there would be a broadcast.
Tonight they were laying in bed by the radio in their room at a very shady inn, scanning for the show. Belle whispered the password which had been revealed the last episode. Ed was almost fully asleep, not really paying attention and mostly just trying to stay awake.
"Now on your several trips around this beautiful country of ours, you have returned with a great many answers." Lee said, sounding wistful. They had apparently caught the show right after the introduction. "Several of which will answer questions our listeners are dying to know the truth about. Let's begin with the obvious one pressing on all of our minds, why won't you go out with me Rebel?"
Ed groaned like he always did when Lee made passes at her on air.
"I'm sure you are the only one wondering that River." Sammy's voice sounded annoyed and strained. Lee's codename was River and unlike normal, Sammy didn't sound playful. She instead had the voice she always utilized when she had to do the dishes or whenever her father questioned her about her dating life.
"Serves him right." Ed chuckled in response. He sat up a bit more and crossed his arms.
"But if you must know, it's because I've left my heart behind at Hogwarts." Sammy responded with a sliver of sarcasm etching her voice. Belle chuckled along now, she knew she was just referencing what Lee had said about her on the air before. She had a slight suspicion that there could be an ounce of truth to it.
"Oh, ha-ha very funny." Lee sounded perturbed, really hammering in that Sammy and Lee were at some kind of odds. Before this broadcast she'd turned him down on the air, but never so brutally.
"Speaking of Hogwarts, I want wish a very hearty hello to any students who may have just started back to Hogwarts yesterday. I hope you are all wishing that slimy wanker of a headmaster, a horrible year from me."
They listened to the rest of Sammy's first report. It was about how Harry Potter had infiltrated the Ministry and rescued muggle borns. Belle's eyes widened realizing her daughter must have been very close to the action to have been able to report on it.
"Your final report Rebel, before we give Royal the floor, pertains to one of our favorite sports. It's hard to believe that we may all share a commonality with the Head Death Eater." Lee directed into the next report. They referred to You-Know-Who as the Head Death Eater.
"I do hope you are joking River." Sammy continued, still sounding a bit grated, and maybe a touch tired. Her voice was cracking a small bit.
"No I'm not, I mean according to your very own reports, The Head Death Eater is actually a Quidditch fan."
"According to my reports, he is more a fan of what Quidditch represents. Unity and popularity. It seems the Death Eaters and the Ministry are weeding out any professional players of muggle born status and replacing them with players of their own preferred blood." Sammy's words made Belle pause momentarily.
She'd often pondered why Hilda would have chosen Jack of all people to groom and exploit. He was a fine looking boy, but nothing a fully grown woman would look twice at. However, his skills in Quidditch could be considered valuable if what Sammy said was true. Jack had always been an amazing player, absolutely amazing. He was the best Keeper at Hogwarts, there was no doubt or even a thread of bias. Both Lee and Minerva had expressed they wished he had been a Gryffindor for his athleticism alone.
Belle decided she needed to start checking out Quidditch tryouts and teams. Maybe she'd find him at one of those. They couldn't be terribly hard to monitor. Advertisements for Quidditch team tryouts were all over the Daily Prophet. She could easily monitor the situation.
"Thank you my little lion." Belle said as the radio program ended.
"I wish she could hear us." Ed admitted looking out the window.
"I wish she had a safer activity, but she may have just pointed us into the right direction." Belle tacked on as she turned off the radio.
"Are you really surprised she turned out how she did?" Ed asked, crawling fully under the covers. The circles under his eyes were really dark now.
"No." She shook her head before pulling up her covers, "She's always been a bit willing to run into trouble. That's why she was set on fire last year. I don't know where she gets it from."
"She gets it from you I think." Ed mentioned with a sleepy and listless laugh.
"Of course she doesn't." Belle shook her head but remembered a night she had been a bit brave and idiotic herself. "Then again, maybe she does a little bit."
July 17th, 1972
Belle had never done anything so idiotic in her life. She second guessed herself several times as she flew the journey to her family home in the Scottish town of Gaelbohn. It would be worth it. She would be set for life if she had those birds. Money would never be an issue and she could someday use them to start her own business.
She soared over the abandoned castle that was barely a few miles from her own home and aviary. She saw the sun was beginning to set now. It was feeling more and more real that she could truly pull this off.
All she'd need to do would be fly into the aviary while everyone was asleep, grab her two favorite birds, and get them into her bag which she'd charmed with an extension charm. She'd swipe a few things they'd need and then she could be on her way. She could still catch her flight and be on her way to the safety of America.
She had decided internally to rescue both Brownie and Biscuit so they could remain together as mates. She hadn't been allowed to actually name them that, but she had named them all the same. They were both born upon her third birthday and they'd been her responsibility to tend to. They had often been her only source of company during the lonely winters when her brothers attended Hogwarts. She hadn't seen them in nearly two years, but her parents treasured any healthy birds. Belle doubted they'd have been sold or disposed of. Those birds had been modified to live exceptionally long lives and produce thousands of feathers a year.
Belle flew closer to her childhood home and saw the towers of the old manor from a distance. The dark stones had not changed at all and it only loomed darker as the sun set further. She flew closely over the old dirt path and over the entrance gate. The gate, which at one point had been used to imprison her there, still had the tall iron spikes her mother said were used to keep the dark fae from entering.
She perched herself in one of the bare gray trees near the front door. She'd always wanted to climb these trees, but her mother said it was unladylike. As it grew later into the night, the lights came on in her family home. She could see inside the sitting room where several of her older brothers who still lived at home, were spending the evening with her elderly father.
There was Eamon and Fergus in the corner playing Wizard's chess on the old and worn board. She'd seen Eamon flip the board multiple times out of spite at nearly all the brothers his junior who had beaten him. Kyle and Logan were sitting across from their father, in what seemed to be a very deep discussion.
Lastly, there was Ian, reading alone in a corner. Belle tried to make out what book he was reading. He was the quietest of the brothers, and tended to keep to himself in his studies. Her parents had encouraged his education of course. In her mother's last letter, it seemed he was betrothed to a pureblood girl from the Avery family. Which had disgusted Belle slightly, they were, after all, first cousins with the Avery family.
Seeing Ian did bring a bit of curiosity to her mother's whereabouts. She wasn't resting in the front room.
Belle decided to abandon her perch in the tree and flew around to another side of the manor. The side of which her mother's room sat was the same side where Belle's childhood room was. The light was on there as well.
Her mother was sitting at her vanity, their old house elf, Olga was combing her mother's long black hair. Her dark brown eyes were downcast and her hands were crossed upon her lap.
Belle was often told she was the spitting image of her mother and she couldn't help but agree somewhat. That wouldn't be the case for long, after tonight Belle was changing her hair and sewing herself a whole new wardrobe.
Except when casting spells and eating, her mother's hands were always crossed or in her pockets. Never used, and quite unblemished. Her mother never did anything with her hands, not even hugged. She rarely held her children. She would kiss their foreheads if she wished to show even small affection, and that was a true rarity. Her mother rarely lifted a hand to do anything, almost ever. Any books her mother read were held up for her by magic. Any chore work was either done magically or by Olga. Olga normally did the extent of her mother's dressing and by extension, Olga had always dressed Belle.
Belle decided after watching her mother lay herself down in her fourposter bed, that this moment would be the last she'd see of that overbearing woman. She only felt a slight remorse as she watched her mother kiss her own fingers before pressing those same fingers to a picture beside her bed. The picture was one of Belle, as a little girl with high pigtails perched in her hair.
Belle wondered if it were really her that her mother would miss, or if it was the idea of her she would miss?
As her mother removed her fingers from the picture, Belle noticed her mother was shaking slightly. It wasn't a particularly cold evening, it was July after all. Why would her mother be shivering so much?
Belle flew back to her perch in the tree near the front lawn again. She waited another hour or so for the rest of her family to retire to their bedrooms. She wasn't quite sure why, but she found herself saying goodbye mentally to each of them. There were things she would miss of course.
She laughed remembering the day Fergus, Eamon and her second eldest brother Constantine tried teaching her to dance. They were all dreadful, but it was fun when they had clapped for her. She was bittersweet remembering how Kyle would make sure she always got a chocolate frog when he'd go into town, and how Logan always tried to scare her with ghost stories. Ian would always read with her and keep her company in his own quiet way.
There were a great many things she wouldn't miss, Glenn of course being the main one. She wouldn't miss the control, or the suppression of her true identity. There was most definitely the fact they were siding with an evil dark wizard. However, even she had to admit this was an unexpectedly bittersweet parting.
As she watched her last brother leave the sitting room for bed, she remembered her reason for her visit. She was here for her birds.
She flew back to the aviary and looked for her birds. She knew time would be of the essence, once she found them, she'd have to transform into her human form to put them into the aviary she'd transfigured in her bag. She would only have a matter of seconds, for fear of being seen. She spotted them both, near the back. Both much thinner than when they had been under her care. She wondered if they hadn't been fed properly.
Brownie still had a streak of brown running down her back. She was a bit more prone to biting people, but she'd never bit Belle. She'd bit Glenn on multiple occasions and Belle often gave Brownie an extra treat or two when she drew blood.
Biscuit still had the little black and white spots down his feathers. He was the tamer of the two. When Belle needed affectionate touch as a child, he would lean into her arms and let her hold him. Both birds were sleeping but awoke when Belle arrived.
They did not cry out, but bowed their heads, as if they recognized her. Even in her form as a bird amongst them, there was an understanding between them. Like they were the real family she had come to see.
Belle knew now was the time. She transformed into herself before gently taking the two birds and placing them inside her bag. She just needed to grab a bag of their food, and she would be good to go. She tip toed past a few birds and grabbed a few bags of food.
She wish she'd been more careful as one bag ripped and spilled everywhere. It awoke one of the bigger birds.
It was one of Eamon's responsibilities, he called him Goliath. An ugly big bird with only one working eye and gray streaks down his wings. It stared her down with it's large black eyes before emitting a loud screech that echoed through the grounds. All the birds awoke and began their earsplitting calls of danger.
Belle quickly stuffed the food in her bag and transformed. Her brothers would be Apparating into the barn at any second. She had to leave now. She flew out the window as fast as she could. She refused to look back and she beat her wings faster than she ever had before. She prayed she hadn't been spotted.
She didn't rest her pace until she was far from Gaelbohn. Her heart didn't stop beating until she was boarding her flight in the winged carriages. Her worries about being seen didn't subside, not even once.
She felt so stupid, she'd risked so much just for her two birds. What if she had been seen? McGonagall could be at risk. Ingrid could be at risk. Everyone who had ever helped her could be a target now. She vowed as she fell asleep over the Atlantic, that she would put these birds to good use. They would not have been procured in vain.
She also vowed that she would never, ever, be so reckless again.