Return To Brenna Manor
July 31st, 1987
Belle walked into the great hallway of Brenna Manor, both of her smartly dressed children's hands in her's. Minerva followed closely behind. Belle listened eagerly for her footsteps. She liked knowing she wasn't alone.
It was frigid and uncomfortably dark as they followed the Brenna family's new house elf through the hallway made of blue polished stones Belle kept her eyes lowered. She didn't want to see the hallways she had left behind.
Greeting them in the hallway, opposite each other, were her parent's portraits. Her mother and father were locked in a permanent stare. Belle kept her head down, not looking at them. Even the floor sent Belle into uncomfortable memories. The cold blue tile just reminded her of the tiny girl who would desperately search for places to hide from her family.
She glanced just enough to see that the portraits had each been changed to reflect the sons in their current state, with their wives and children. All of her brothers had wives and varying broods of children.
Logan's picture was covered in a see-through black shroud. He was alone in his picture, but the portrait's dark eyes briefly met Belle's. His head shook disapprovingly before looking away from her.
"Mummy, who's that?" Jack asked pointing up at a lonely picture of a little girl with similar dark eyes looking towards the floor. The little girl had long dark hair falling around a Peter Pan collared chartreuse dress. She was very pale with tiny freckles dancing across her nose.
"That's me baby." Belle revealed barely recognizing the little girl as they locked eyes. The picture had been done when Belle was barely eleven, before she'd left for school.
"Why do you look sad?" Sammy asked pulling on her own curly pigtail and putting it in her mouth. Belle had been trying to break Sammy's habit of chewing her hair, but in moments of tension it presented itself.
Her daughter was not wrong in her observation. Upon her own inspection, Belle saw that her portrait was quite the image of depression. It weakly smiled at her and Belle acknowledged the broken child painted before her.
Belle reached down and pulled Sammy's hair out of her mouth, "Not here baby girl."
"But why are you sad?" Sammy asked again pointing. She wiped her face where the hair had just been.
"Mind your mother Samantha." Minerva insisted sternly as they kept walking.
"You were very pretty mummy." Sammy insisted next as she flopped behind Belle. The children's footsteps were sounding heavier with every step they took.
"Thank you baby, but do me a deep favor. Don't speak anymore, like we discussed." Belle had tried to teach her children proper manors, but she was not a practitioner of rigidity. Her children were not the kind of children who stood still and looked pretty. They were happy and they openly voiced their opinions about everything.
"Remember Belle, these people are no one now." Minerva whispered into Belle's ear, "They have no power over you."
They were led to what Belle remembered as her father's office. It was full of people, all of her remaining brothers and their wives it seemed.
Belle remembered the room being larger. It had been one of the few warmer rooms. The shamrock green wallpaper was still pasted upon the walls and the bright gold fireplace in the corner still emitted heat. Belle could swear the room might only be warm now because of the upwards of thirty people in the confined room.
The chopped heads of two headed Augury birds were displayed above the fireplace. Belle watched her son's eyes linger upon the heads. He squeezed her hand tighter. Belle knew he loved her birds and he must have been horrified by the sight of such dignified creatures being treated with disrespect.
Each of her brothers looked a slight bit more aged, but she knew them all and wondered if they saw a change in her as well. She'd dressed in one of her finest outfits to confront them, and she was sure her mother would later comment on its' frivolity. It was a long black gown with a deep blue corset. Upon her head she wore a hat with her beloved Patronus front and center, the mighty vulture.
Her father sat in the middle of the room in a large ornate chair. He was unchanged from her childhood, maybe less gray hair, but he had been an old man upon her birth. He and Belle did not share much in appearance. He wore a dark suit for this occasion. He held a glass of what she suspected to be a very dark beer.
"Dear sister Belle!" Constantine, her third eldest brother greeted. He was standing beside her father with his hand rested upon the back of one of the rubies encrusted in the chair. He was still quite a tall man, but he had become stouter in age. "You have not changed a bit."
"I hope I have changed." Belle answered in the strongest voice she could utter, "But not enough that you will challenge that it is in fact me."
"I see we were mistaken, of course it is you." Constantine put his hand to his chest.
"Professor McGonagall, how lovely to see you again." Constantine interrupted looking back to Minerva. Minerva had dressed in her Scottish robes of bright emerald today to remind them that she was in fact an upstanding member of society.
"I wouldn't quite use lovely to describe our reunion Mr. Brenna." Minerva didn't smile just lifted her nose. "I had hoped never to see you again after you failed your Transfiguration OWLs."
Belle felt very much like laughing but kept quiet.
Her son's hand was sweaty in her palm. He was fidgeting with his feet.
Her daughter's eyes were darting around. She was making eye contact with each person as if wondering why they were staring back at her.
"You all must of course understand our motivations. We had not seen or heard from you in so many years." Constantine continued.
"Welcome home." Her brother Duncan exclaimed with the raise of a glass.
Several others raised glasses around them.
"I do not know why you all greet them so fondly, this is not Belle's home any longer." Her father's gruff voice snapped like firewood. His voice caused the room to go eerily silent.
"Do not speak so coarsely Balfore." Her mother begged in a mild tone. She sat beside her husband in a little rickety rocking chair. Her hands were in both pockets of her simple lime dress. She had changed significantly, weight now edged her face and wrinkles framed her dark brown eyes. "Our daughter has finally returned to us."
"No mother, father is correct to greet me in such a way. That is his normal custom with unwelcome visitors." Belle insisted sternly, pulling her children closer, "This is not my home any longer. I do not return in proper fashion."
Her mother's eyes danced along the children from behind the cage of the fascinator that adorned her head. Her attention changed to that of Belle, her eyes begging to meet. Belle refused such admiration and turned her eyes away.
"These must be the offspring?" Her father looked over his nose.
Belle lifted her children's hands as all of the eyes stared at them now, "My children."
"They resemble our family greatly." Her mother leaned forward in her chair. She seemed the most invested in their presence. Her eyes had yet to stop wandering to them. "What are your names and ages children?"
Neither Jack or Samantha said anything, just locked eyes with each other.
"Why don't they speak?" Her father barked.
Duncan asked with a cackling laugh, "What are we to expect from the mixture of magical and muggle blood? Mutes I assume."
"Do not comment about the children with such disrespect. They are unaware of their circumstances and it is not your occupation to fill their porous minds with bigotry." Minerva snapped to Duncan.
"Then why will they not speak for themselves?" Duncan asked, his eyebrows threateningly narrowing towards Minerva.
"Mum-mum-mummy told us not to speak." Samantha answered with a deep crack breaking through her soft childish voice.
A laugh resounded around the room. The children moved closer to Belle as the laughter continued.
"They are not mute, they are simply well behaved." Her brother, Ian chimed with an approving nod towards them.
"It's alright children, you can tell them your names." Belle insisted as she squeezed their hands.
Sammy's delicate shoulders pulled back making the red cap sleeves on her dress bunch, "I'm Sammy."
"That is a boy's name." Belle's father snapped back.
"My full name is Samantha Aithne Fyre." Sammy said taking her hand out of her mother's and putting them on her waist. "And Sammy is my name so it isn't a boy's name because I am a girl."
Before her father could argue with the child, Belle's mother interrupted him.
"Samantha is a lovely name." Belle's mother smiled at Sammy. "And what a beautiful Gaelic middle name. How old are you dear?"
"I'll be seven in a month." Sammy answered. "Jack will be eight in a week."
"What is your full name boy?" Her father asked harshly looking to Jack who's eyes were still lingering upon the Augury heads.
"Jack Edward Fyre." Jack answered strongly.
"A strong name indeed." Ian said with a smile. He again raised his glass of what looked to be wine.
"His middle name is after his father." Belle raised both of her eyebrows.
Glass went shattering around the room and one of the wives yelped. The glass in her father's hand had broke.
Samantha jumped and screamed at the sound of the shatter. Jack let go of his mother's hand and wrapped both of his arms around his sister. He wiped her tears as they fell.
"It's alright Sammy." Belle could hear Jack whisper.
"They may be well behaved, but see how they weep." Duncan chimed again. "Weak children."
"She's just been scared!" Jack now yelled at Duncan. He stepped in front of his sister. "Sammy is not weak!"
"Did I not moments ago instruct you to not comment on the children?" Minerva snapped stepping in front of Belle and the children, blocking them from Duncan.
"I think the children may be more comfortable, if they meet their cousins." One of the wives suggested. She was a red haired woman, plumper than the rest. "There is a playroom just a few rooms away."
"Only if I or their mother accompany them." Minerva insisted giving a very distinct stink eye to every person in the room.
"We would like to confer with Belle alone anyway." Her father said strongly as his house elf cleaned the shattered glass upon the floor. "Better to discuss the real business at hand."
Minerva put her hand upon Belle's shoulder. "If you are comfortable?"
Belle nodded but reached into her pocket where she gripped her wand, "Yes, if it is business they wish to discuss. They are aware that Aurors do await outside of this building, if my children or I exit with even a scratch upon our beings, the Brenna family will be solely to blame."
Minerva smirked before grabbing the children's hands. Minerva knew all of that, but Belle wanted to remind the whole room.
"Mrs. Brenna." Minerva addressed the plump woman, "Please, lead the way."
Her children looked to her with questioning eyes. Jack still had his arms around Sammy.
The moment the door was closed behind them, Belle could feel her heart beating directly from her chest. She could hear it pounding in her ears.
"Belle, you are a disgrace to this family." Her father began and oddly enough the words made her want to laugh. She used to fear those words. Now they were comically exiting her father's mouth without hesitation. "You leave your family, you leave your whole world, for what?"
"A steady income, a husband who loves me and beautiful children." Belle answered without any thought to the delivery.
Ian chuckled a little, but only in a very soft tone.
"You will be silent Ian Brenna, no one asked for your unnecessary commentary." Her father barked at him. Everyone seemed quite afraid, but Belle momentarily wondered why. He was a man, like any other. He had seemed larger than life when she was younger, but not upon adult inspection, he was just a man.
"Was your life here really that unbearable Belle?"He turned his attention back to Belle, "From my understanding you had everything a young girl could ever need."
"A roof over her head." Constantine reminded.
Duncan chimed in, "Fine clothing."
"Family." Brogan her second eldest brother added.
"Plenty of prospects for a fine upstanding marriage." Alasdair the eldest reminded, "And you left that all behind. Now you are nothing more than a blood traitor."
Belle nodded and decided no response was a good response. She was a blood traitor, a proud one. The things she was so kindly reminded of sounded more like imprisonment.
"You left your mother with no daughter to tend to her needs." Her father continued his hand now touching the shoulder of Belle's mother. "Daughter's are placed on this earth to tend to their mothers."
"How would you feel if your children ran away never to be heard from again?" Duncan asked harshly.
"Concerned." Belle thought about her words now, "Concerned that my actions had driven her away. They owe me nothing, I brought them into this world, it is my job to tend to them. If they ever feel the way I did, it will have been my fault. My children are wonderful all on their own."
"They are abominations." Her father growled now.
"Because they are not the spawn of myself and someone of my own distant relation perhaps?" Belle turned to look around the room. "How many of my brothers are currently married to their own cousins?"
Several women in the room locked eyes with each other. Ian's wife, a woman with light sandy hair wrapped her arms around herself. Belle had seen Jessica Avery before, but never as Ian's wife. She gazed up at her husband with a deep desperation lurking behind her eyes.
"We do what we can to keep our family pure and clean." Constantine reminded again.
"My children are the kind of children who are healthy and happy, and full of lives that I never got to experience." Belle clapped back. "They will someday be exactly who they are meant to be. They will be well educated and will live without any kind of prejudice."
The room was silent, she assumed they were shocked that her voice had raised at all.
"They are the children of a wonderful man." Belle growled now, "A man who has sacrificed everything he ever knew for those children's wellbeing and for mine."
"He is a muggle." Her father snapped.
"He is a greater man than any person in this room." Belle pulled her shoulders back. "He loves me."
Her father growled again, "Love is weakness."
"No, it's strength." Belle could feel a weight lift from her chest. "And I was denied any kind of strength while I lived under this very roof."
"You asked to see myself and the children, now you've seen us" Belle stated, her voice louder than ever. "I am taking them home now if all the conversation has to offer is insults towards my beautiful family. I will however be keeping my birds."
"What makes you think this conversation lends itself to your claim upon them?" Her father scolded. "They are our birds that you stole."
"They were my birds, my birthright, if I remember correctly." Belle felt her mouth break into a smirk, "And if you wanted them so badly, why not claim them sooner? My business obviously drew attention."
Her mother's eyes became downcast
"If you think the Ministry had a field day with putting half of your sons in Askaban, wait till I tell them what I witnessed as a child, for years." Belle smirked, "I don't think they will believe everyone's little Imperious curse bullshit claim, if I tell them that You-Know-Who was a frequent dinner guest."
Everyone in the room became eerily silent. It was like no one dared to breathe in the stagnant room.
"Also I believe Kyle will be given the Dementor's kiss if the knowledge his actions were personally motivated reaches the Ministry." Belle put her hands on her hips, "Glenn would be next, considering I was tortured by the damn man from the time I could barely walk."
Her mother grasped her hand to her mouth, her whole body was shaking as she cried out in a small meager whimper.
"Quiet woman." Her father griped towards her mother. "And cease that incessant shaking."
Her mother nodded her head, placing her hands back into her pockets.
"So if you don't want your family disgraced any further, I'd drop your battle against my birds, then let us leave without any greater consequence." Belle said tightening her grip around her wand's hilt. She strode backwards towards the door.
"And who's to say they will believe you over us?" Her father called meekly. "You are still of our blood!"
"I'd let them give me Veriteserum. I'd spill plenty of hidden Brenna secrets." Belle kept her eyes on everyone in the room. They were staring at her in a semi circle as she put her hand upon the doorknob. "But the only truth I really need is the fact I'm not a Brenna anymore, I'm a Fyre."
She opened the door and strode out. She realized as the door closed behind her, she didn't know where the children were. There was still silence from the room she had just exited, and it would diminish her fine display if she entered the room to ask.
"Belle!" Her mother called as she followed out the door. Belle had never seen her in such a fluster. Her cheeks were red and her eyes were puffy. "Please. A single word."
Belle stopped to look at her mother. Her hands were shaking violently.
"I must find the children." Belle insisted hastily.
"I understand. No one will follow you I promise." Her mother reached into her pocket and handed Belle an envelope. "This is for the children."
Belle opened the envelope, inside was a stack of Galleons.
"For the birthdays and Christmases I have missed." Her mother smiled hesitantly. Her dark eyes met her's. "If it is appropriate I would like to send them more at Holidays."
Belle nodded, "As long as that is the only contact they receive."
Her mother nodded her head, "I swear. This is nothing more than me doing my duty as their grandmother."
Belle crossed her arms, "Then you may."
"The children will be found in the left side room, by the kitchen." Her mother advised.
"Goodbye mother." Belle nodded.
She didn't look back as she strode off to find her children. She planned to leave and never return.
June 5th, 2015
Belle transformed into a human after flying through the gates of the manor she had once hoped never to see again. It had changed greatly since her last visit.
The manor was covered in flowers and vines. It was quite a contrast really. Belle had never seen the manor so dilapidated. Augurey birds flew around the manor, overrunning it with their nests in each of the trees.
Belle walked up the path, very nervous, but less so than when she had brought her children. She learned that her mother was now the sole proprietor. No one else lived upon the sprawling property. It didn't make her any less fearful, but the dilapidated state of the exterior did add to reassurance she was safe.
Belle picked up the door knocker which was slightly off of it's hinges.
A small house elf peaked her head out from the large double door. It was the same one she'd seen when she'd last been on the property. This was quite out of character, considering her family normally beheaded them after twenty years of service.
"Mistress Belle?" The little elf squeaked out.
"Yes, I'm here to see my mother." Belle answered.
The elf snapped her fingers and the door opened. "She's expecting you."
"I'm sure she is." Belle nodded as she stepped inside. The tile was the same, but the greeting hallway was not. The portraits on the walls had been removed, instead leaving dusty outlines. It seemed everything in the manor was dusty and quite unkempt. It smelled of mold and mildew
There was a gaping hole in the ceiling where light shone in quite gloriously. It caught the dust particles like sparkles in the air. Belle stepped into it, she'd never seen the manor so brightly lit before.
"That happened the day your father died." Her mother's voice sounded through the hallway. Belle turned her head to greet the woman. She was now slumped over a cane as she hobbled down the hallway. She wore simple robes of green paisley and a flower covered hat.
Belle nodded in a silent response.
"A dragon from a nearby nursery had escaped and kicked the ceiling in." Her mother smirked, "I had intended to fix it, but I think the manor looks better with a bit of light. Wouldn't you agree?"
"It's certainly changed here." Belle admonished.
"Come, I have tea prepared." Her mother shakily waved for her to follow her. Belle followed her to what had once been her father's study. It no longer bore the shamrock wallpaper, replaced by a floral pattern instead. The fireplace was gone, replaced by a window. The augury heads were no longer adorning the walls.
If Belle hadn't recognized the layout of the manor, she'd have sworn it was a different room. The large ornate chair was gone and a rocking chair sat in its' place beside a bookshelf. Belle recognized a few book titles, seeing as her daughter and son in law had contributed to a few of them.
Atop the shelf was nearly fifty images of who Belle knew to be her nieces and nephews. There were two frames with newspaper clippings instead of formal portraits. One that held the news of Jack's freedom with a portrait of him exiting the courtroom and another with Samantha on the day she was announced as Editor-In-Chief.
Belle took a seat across from her mother at a small coffee table laid out with tea and cakes.
"I was quite thrilled to receive your letter. I am always desperate to hear from my children. Considering I only have six sons left alive." Her mother said as she waved her wand to pour her tea. "Brogan was a Death Eater, he's now in Askaban. Duncan with his wife and four children fled to Australia when the second war began. I have not heard from them since."
"Eamon and Fergus, along with all of their sons and daughters are in Askaban." Her mother slowed in speaking. She put her tea pot down and Belle noticed her mother shove her hands into her pockets. Belle could tell she was going through her sons in birth order and knew she was skipping over Glenn.
"Hogan and his wife only had one son, Ivan, he runs an INN nearby. He's quite like you, very willing to deny his heritage. Kyle, well, he's in Askaban, along with his youngest, Bridget, something I am sure your daughter is well aware of."
Belle nodded and smirked a bit.
"And the rest of my sons are dead." Her mother revealed. "Their children are either mostly in Askaban or I do not know them anymore."
Belle nodded but felt anger boiling in her stomach, "I assume you know I'm not here just to discuss my brothers."
"I did not assume you were." Her mother shook her head. "How are the children?"
"They are well."
"I follow their lives as best I can." Her mother said with a slight tilt of her head towards her bookshelf. "Jack and his father are opening a record store I believe. Quite a feat, I didn't know Diagon Alley allowed Muggles to own their own businesses."
"They do now." Belle shrugged, Samantha and Hermione had fought to pass the law preventing it.
"I hope the best for them. I am very happy to see young Jack doing so well after his ordeal." Her mother raised her tea cup. "And Samantha has retired from her position. Was the life of a career woman not to her liking? I never missed an edition of the Daily Prophet."
"It was a life she felt rather pushed into." Belle revealed nervously sipping her tea, "She wants to be a writer now of her own accord."
"I assume her husband prefers her at home." Her mother observed. "Husbands typically do."
"Honestly, he's never expressed that." Belle laughed, "He was probably the most shocked when she announced her retirement. They've never been a typical couple."
"Good pure blood family she married into."
"That's not why she married him." Belle shook her head.
Her mother put down her tea cup, "I am sure it isn't."
"She married for love." Belle said as she placed her own tea cup down. "She takes after her mother in that regard."
"They have no children." Her mother said.
"My Samantha is pregnant actually." Belle revealed.
"I had no idea, it was not announced in the papers." Her mother smiled from ear to ear.
"She's kept it out of the papers. She wants it to be a private matter. She will always have just enough pull at the Prophet of course to announce it on her own time." Belle explained.
"Of course." Her mother raised her eyebrows. "What a blessing for your family!"
"We are all very excited. But she has a Blood Malediction, one I believe you are more than aware of." Belle said as calmly as possible.
Her mother's eyes shot to her own hands while her smile faded. She sat in complete silence.
"She worries she won't be able to hold her own baby." Belle continued before shaking her head.
"I wasn't able to hold mine." Her mother revealed through a small sob. "I always knew something was wrong with me."
"Why didn't you tell me?" Belle asked hastily. "I know I was a child, but I would have understood this."
"I did not disclose my condition, because I myself was not made aware it was a curse." Her mother picked up her shaking hands. "Not until my granddaughters began their own shaking."
"How many?"
"Nearly all of them."
Belle's throat closed.
"My granddaughter, Orlaith, she swears by a tea made from the petals of the Moly herb." Her mother shakily wiped her eyes. "I am beyond help myself, but it did temporally help Orlaith after childbirth. My other granddaughters have also sworn by it."
"Moly?" Belle began laughing and shaking her head. "You jest?"
"No, why would that be anything to joke about?" Her mother pulled back her chin.
Belle smirked, "Samantha and her husband are very attached to that particular herb. They've exchanged it since childhood. To think a helper to their problems was under their noses."
"It does counter enchantments." Her mother smiled.
"Thank you." Belle breathed out the words softly.
"Living a life as the only woman in a home full of expectations and tradition was never easy." Her mother shook her head. "Being expected to bear and raise a dozen boys before being responsible for a little girl was a daunting task indeed."
Her mother reached for her own tea cup. Belle noticed her hands were shaking slightly, in an uncomfortably familiar way.
Belle nodded as she held up her tea cup to sip. "You must enlighten me."
"You are a mother. Have you have always wanted what is best for them?" Her mother asked.
"Of course." Belle said taking a sip of tea.
"And from what I am aware of your children, I am certain they have not always done what you would have preferred." Her mother said before putting the pot down and ignoring her own tea.
Belle laughed to herself, "No."
"No children really do." Her mother smiled a little, putting her hands back into her pockets.
"I have tried to give my children ample opportunity to make their own choices. Whether I agreed or not." Belle insisted moving in her seat.
"What a wonderful gift you were afforded." Her mother put down her tea cup. "I was forced by the world around me to raise my children in a specific way. In a way, I assumed that world would protect them."
Belle shifted slight, reminded of Narcissa's motivations.
Her mother nodded, "And I'm sorry, I did not, protect you or your brothers. I was sixteen when I married your father. I did not know the extent of my expectations."
Belle never thought those words would be uttered from her mother's mouth. She needed to know something before she could allow her mother to continue with her pity party.
"Mother," Belle started hesitantly, "Did you know about what Glenn was doing?"
Her mother bowed her head, "I wish I could feign ignorance, but I did have knowledge." Her hands were back out of her pockets now, shaking on her lap.
Belle put down her tea cup so she wouldn't drop it, "How can you say you wished you could have kept me or any of us safe, when you had the opportunity to help me?"
"When we found out what he had done, we sent him away, and we were told to trust him when he came back." Her mother looked her daughter in the eye, "It was how things were done."
Belle shook her head, "You didn't protect me. I had to protect myself. I had to escape on my own!"
"I know." Her mother nodded, "I was tough on you, I know that. I knew your leaving was inevitable. I could not escape, but I hoped that you could. I dreamed every day that you would have the strength I did not."
Belle's breath began to heighten, "You knew I would leave?"
"I prayed you would. Every day I prayed you would find a way to escape this horrible world." Her mother's hands shook even more, "And here you are, a strong talented witch with a strong family. It was all I could have ever wanted for you."
"I wanted my mother." Belle insisted to her mother. How dare she take credit for her success.
"I'm sorry my dear." She nodded and apologized again, "I wanted to be your mother."
"But you weren't." Belle felt tears leave her eyes. She looked down to her mother's shaking hand. She shook like Samantha did.
If Belle hadn't been pushed, she could very well have suffered the very fate her mother had.
Their eyes met and Belle felt an odd calmness she'd never known before.
"I can't ask to be in your life or even for a second chance, it's too late now." Her mother whispered.
Belle could not bring herself to forgive her mother. There was too much history now. There was too much pain as they stared into each other's eyes.
Belle stood up, "I must go. Thank you, for the tea and for your advice for Samantha."
Her mother nodded in response. No more words fell between them. Both women knew there was nothing more to say.
Belle left, her heart feeling lighter as she soared through the air. She felt an odd kind of relief as she flew over the mores she had once dreaded. Her wings beat against her chest as she flew to her real home, the one she had fashioned all on her own.