Moda
July 20th, 1972
The hidden city of Moda was more like a dream than anything Belle could have imagined. The entrance was hidden beneath a barn in a remote countryside farm. No one would have really suspected it was there. Belle honestly had a hard time finding it. Although it was underground, you could still see the sky when you looked up. Belle had learned on her flight from one of the other passengers that this was common with American Wizarding communities.
Now as she walked through the winding streets of Moda, she was absolutely enraptured.
Every window she passed had clothing that Belle couldn't have imagined in her wildest dreams. Large evening gowns modeled by mannequins that moved freely on their own. Children's clothing with large polka dots and butterfly patterns. Men's coats that burst into flames, but didn't affect the wearer.
All true sights to see indeed. She felt vastly underwhelming in her outfit for the moment. It was just a tee shirt and bell bottoms. Everyone around her was dressed in opulent extravagance, even just for what seemed like simple outings. One woman was wearing a gown made completely of what looked to be strung dragon scales. Another was wearing a tight pant suit with a gargantuan hat where a horse seemed to be resting.
Belle tried not to stop and stare too much. She was supposed to be arriving at her new place of residence and apprenticeship, Chateau Bianchi. She found the small store, tucked away up an alley of other small stores. Atop the stores seemed to be high apartment buildings.
She cautiously entered the store making the bell at the door ring. It was like a sea of racks, even down to the movement of the ocean. The clothing seemed to wave and move.
"Hello, welcome to Chateau Bianchi, we sell all sizes and are willing to do customizations." A woman stepped out from the racks. The young looking woman had bright bubble gum pink hair that seemed to be glued into long spikes upon her head. She was wearing floral bell bottom pants and a sort of green blousy dress atop it.
"I'm not here to buy anything-" Belle began and the woman's fingers began tapping on themselves, "Ingrid sent me."
"Oh good, I was wondering when you would arrive darling. I am Vivianne Bianchi" The woman held out her hand. Her eyes were framed by large circular glasses that held onto her face independent of frames. She spoke with a distinct accent, Belle couldn't place it. It certainly wasn't Scottish, British or even American. "But please, call me Vivi."
Belle shook her hand, "Belle Br-Greene. Belle Greene."
"It's alright, Bianchi isn't my real name either. I do relate a bit about your situation personally darling." Vivi laughed letting go of her hand. She crossed her arms, making her blousy dress flare a bit. "Ingrid said you are the perfect candidate to be my new assistant and protege. That you have some real talent."
Belle felt flattered, but didn't know if that was really true.
"Did you bring any sketches?"
Belle nodded in response looking down to her bag.
"Why don't I show you to your room, and then after you are settled we can look over your sketches?" Vivi put her hands on Belle's shoulders and took her above the store. It was a loft style room with a kitchen, restroom and a big bed. It was very messy, covered in fabrics and spools of thread everywhere. There were dress patterns and sketches pasted to the walls haphazardly.
"This is my space." She said before leading Belle up one last flight of stairs.
The floor plan in the room above Vivi's was almost the exact same. Except it was much cleaner with almost nothing aside from some old furniture. Belle was thrilled, there was even a tiny fire escape where she could set up her little aviary. She and Vivi walked out to it, it was the perfect size for her relatively small aviary that looked more like a large doghouse.
Vivi began blurting out a set of rules. "You will have Sundays and Mondays off, you can decorate however you like. If you have a raging party, I insist on being invited. For the first week, I'll help you cover the shop, but afterwards we will each take turns, so that the other can work on designs. To cover your rent I will only be paying you half salary, unfortunately."
Vivi backed up slightly as Belle reached into her bag and pulled out her aviary. She didn't want to waste a moment, the birds needed air.
"Of course, that all seems reasonable." Belle nodded as she pulled Biscuit out of the Aviary. She had little leashes on their ankles so they could exercise a little.
"Is that a modified Augury?" Vivi's eyes widened larger than her glasses. "We have Augury but they have dark greenish feathers."
Belle nodded, she knew that the common Augury was quite an ugly creature. Her family's Augury had bluish green feathers and were quite stately birds. She reached into her bag and pulled out Brownie.
"Their feathers are incredibly rare." Vivi said reaching her hand towards Brownie who hissed at her.
"She's not very friendly." Belle warned before touching Brownie's beak.
"Exceptionally expensive to come by." Vivi said taking her hand back, "You can make so many things with them. Once sewn properly it can look like any fabric."
"They are also ink and weather resistant." Belle reminded as she put a shield charm around the birds and stepped back inside with Vivi. "And if properly utilized you can create camouflage cloaks and adaptive clothing. They molt about twice a month, I'm hoping to sell some of the feathers at half the European price."
"I'll pay you full salary and no rent if you let me use some of their feathers." Vivi said reaching out a hand to her.
Belle shook her hand and regretted her decision to steal her birds a little less.
"Alright darling, let's look over those designs and then I'll let you get settled." Vivi insisted.
It was truly an amazing first month living with Vivi. She learned the ways of the shop and Vivi's design style pretty quickly. Belle was learning new sewing technics every day and by the end of the second month Belle was selling her own designs in the shop.
Vivi advised Belle on a new hairstyle and Belle could barely recognize herself. She began dressing more how she'd always dreamed. Sewing and designing her own clothing. All in the dark colors she deeply desired. She began to feel a confidence growing in her own beauty. She only once wondered if this was what Cissy felt like when she looked in the mirror. Powerful and stunning was never a way Belle would have described herself before, but now she would.
The birds were adapting well. They seemed grateful, quickly gaining weight and molting at healthy points. Belle taught Vivi how to use the feathers properly. Vivi's business began to pick up increasingly as they used the feathers.
On her days off, Belle would transform and fly away for a couple of days. She would bring her birds along on her trips. They never strayed from her, even when she released their leashes. They had a restrained freedom she appreciated, and she was sure they did too.
She painted the landscapes she saw in different parts of America. Beautiful snow covered mountains and deep crescent canyons. One scene she observed on a beach in Florida truly captured her imagination.
She had her feet in the moving water as she painted the landscape she'd bewitched to sit before her. She painted the stars as they shone in the sky and reflected in the ocean. As the moon rose higher, she captured it's golden hue. The painting became a favorite and immediately upon returning to her apartment, she recreated the image in a larger scale on the ceiling.
By the time Christmas rolled around, they were selling her paintings in the store. They were very popular and sought after. Belle rarely mingled with the locals, spending much of her time either alone or just with Vivi. Except on New Years when Vivi invited Belle to her supposedly famous party. Belle mingled and spoke to several of the high class people who had bought her work and paintings. She'd never felt more incredible.
On New Years day she received a long distance owl from McGonagall.
Dear Belle,
It seems you have been making quite the splash, as the American's would say. Proud to hear from Ingrid that you are doing so incredibly well.
All is well here. No Brenna's have suspected your leaving. However, they did have a break in about six months ago. Know anything about it?
The latest batch of Aurors have graduated in record time. Unfortunately their excellent dedication to their studies has not deterred a few of them to asking why you will not write them back. Maybe, in the future, if things become safer I will let them contact you.
I hope to hear you are safe and well,
-Minerva McGonagall
Belle knew things weren't as well as McGonagall had tried to insinuate. Even in Moda, everyone knew about the war. They knew about the tragedies and the horrors. However in her return letter, she decided to not press her Professor further. She also said that she wouldn't mind correspondence in possibly a bit more time, it was too soon to tell her friends where she was.
At this moment in time, Belle was more than happy to leave the war where it was. She greatly hoped that there would never be a point in time where she would be mixed up in war herself.
December 25th, 1997
Belle had never had a nice Christmas in her childhood. Her Christmastimes with her children on the other hand, had been incredible. They always baked what seemed like a thousand cookies and watched every Christmas movie. They always spoiled their children with presents. Late on Christmas Eve after putting the gifts out, she and Ed would have a tradition of their own. They would listen to Christmas music and dance in the light of the silver moon as the snow fell. Christmas as a Fyre had normally been amazing.
Until the year before of course, every year had been wonderful. It had been a whole year now since Belle had seen her dear son. That had not been a Christmas of celebration. It had been a Christmas of devastation and heartache.
This year held a similar dread to the previous one. There was almost no celebration for the couple. They'd eaten take out food, searched another town for their son and worried for their children's safety.
Instead of dancing in the moonlight, Belle and Ed were held each other as they listened to a special Potterwatch broadcast. Samantha and Lee both sounded to be in terrific spirits for once. Things had seemed rather difficult for them both in the last few months. Samantha had seen things that any mother would dread. Dead bodies, dead children, devastation and families torn apart were some of the harsher things reported. Samantha had also supposedly been visiting someone who had access to Hogwarts, things weren't much better there either. Students were being tortured and taught how to perform dark magic on other students.
Tonight the broadcast was keeping things lighthearted and Christmas based.
They began speaking to their own families directly.
"To my parents," Belle noticed tears in Ed's eyes, she could tell he missed his children. "I want you to know I think of you every day. I can't wait for all of us to be reunited, and I mean all of us. Someone we all know was spotted in Hogsmead last night. I hope this information helps in your search. I love you both."
Belle prayed her searching wasn't for nothing. When she flew to Scotland the next day she found her journey fruitless again. Belle had flown to every Quidditch team she could find and seemed to be only one step behind her son. Every team she observed spoke of the different candidates they had interviewed. In any other circumstances she'd be proud of how they spoke about the curly haired keeper with real athletic talent. It seemed he and Hilda were visiting every tryout they could. He wasn't making teams, because of his young age most teams were concerned of his true commitment. She also suspected most teams didn't really want Death Eaters playing beside them so they were just looking for excuses.
If Jack weren't her son, she'd have given up months ago. She didn't like being on the run, she didn't like being in a war. She and Ed would have gone to America and found a way to stay safe instead. Instead, she pressed on, searching for her son.