Chapter 3
When Hermione woke up the next morning feeling fairly rested, she sat up before looking around her suite. Blaise slowly woke up on the opposite side of the bed. “We should go down for breakfast, you need to start eating regular meals again. You will have to start slowly after not eating enough for the last year.”
Hermione got up and threw on her dressing gown before making her way down to the kitchen. Leda and Telmo were already sitting at the small family table looking like they hardly slept at all. She walked over to embrace them, letting them hold her for as long as they need to know that she is there and safe. Telmo looked her over with a critical eye as if trying to run diagnostics on her. “You are looking better rested than before. I am glad that you got some sleep.” Blaise chuckled at the statement that couldn't have been more incorrect. “She did once she took a calming draught and dreamless sleep at midnight.” Hermione shot him a glare, not believing that they need to know just how traumatized she is. Leda shot her an unimpressed glare to stop her from making a scathing remark towards Blaise. “Let's sit down and enjoy the meal that Cena prepared for your first breakfast at home. You are nothing but skin and bone Aurora.”
Over the meal they discussed what had been happening in Italy over the last year. “They are eager to have you back in the country Aurora. While Voldemort never got a strong foothold here, there were a few old families with strong ties to England that attempted to increase his influence. The whole ministry was fairly lost without the guidance of magic. They need the Bellarosa family to guide them in the right direction, and they are receiving plenty of requests for aid from other countries that had more support for Voldemort's ideals. That is partially why they are so desperate to have you back. Although none were as affected as Britain during the war, many European countries need help to stabilize.” Hermione nods along, she can feel that the magic in Italy is stable and thriving. Just being back in the country will stop the progression of Voldemort's radicalism. It would be a task to help other countries cultivate magical acceptance for all beings. They would have to review all previous laws and policies for any bias or marginalization.
“What time do I need to report to the ministry? I also need to stop by the vault for my family wand.”
Blaise snapped his head up to look at her in surprise, not about her going to the ministry but about her wand. Hermione had always been adamant that she would not retrieve the wand of her birthright until she had finished her schooling and had settled in her family responsibilities. “We have to floo to the ministry in two hours. I thought you were going to wait before retrieving your wand?”
“Waiting had always been my plan, but then the war happened.” she pulls Bellatrix's wand from her wrist holster. “ The wand that chose me at Ollivanders was snapped by Greyback before we were brought to Malfoy Manor. When we escaped, we had Bellatrix's wand in our possession. Harry had also lost his wand during the hunt. Even though this wand does not respond to me very well, it would not work for harry at all. Harry having a wand that worked for him was more important.”
When Hermione finished speaking she was staring at the table in front of her tracing the pattern of the wood grain. The rest of the occupants of the table were all silent as they processed her words in horror. The fact that she was using the wand that had tortured her terrified her family. She cleared her throat before looking up. “I believe it is time that i get dressed for my visit to the ministry.”
Hermione rose from the table and started to make her way back to her suite. As she walked, she passed the portraits of previous generations of her family. All of them bowed their heads as she passed out of respect for the current head of the Bellarosa family. Just before she arrived at the entrance of her wing, she came to a stop before a portrait that contained two people that were smiling at her with all of their love. She could only give them a weak smile in return. “Aurora, we are relieved that you are home safe. You have done right by magic and have opened the door for true balance to be restored.'' She looked at both of her parents in their portrait, and was once again reminded of everything that Voldemort destroyed. She had only ever known her parents through a magical portrait, she couldn't remember how they smelled or how their arms felt when they wrapped around her. “Thank you, the people responsible for your deaths either died or were arrested after the battle of Hogwarts. With Voldemort and his followers dealt with except for a few, they won't be able to tear apart any more families. There are a lot of Orphans, but hopefully there won't be anymore because of a war that they had no part in.” Her parents looked at her with pride.” Go get ready to claim your Birthright. You will need to be strong for a little while longer my Bella Bambina, you won't be alone much longer.” Hermione looked at her father oddly, wondering what he knew about what was to come. When she gets to her Suite, she makes her way into her closet and just stares at the clothes around her. She settles on a grey pants suit with a gold blouse and matching heels. As she dresses she realizes that her clothes no longer fit. She calls Holly since she is not confident enough in her tailoring charms and asks her for her help. When they are finished her clothes fit her smaller frame as perfectly as when she first bought them. She makes her way into the en-suite to pin her curls into a button to keep it out of her face, and applies some light makeup so she no longer resembles an inferi. When she is finished, she puts Bellatrix's wand in her arm holster and makes her way to the entrance hall to floo with Blaise to the ministry. She meets Blaze before the Hearth where he is dressed in a crisp black suit. After looking her over he gives her a nod. “ make sure to keep your Shields up until we get to The Minister's office, do you have the family ring?” At Hermione's positive response he gestures for her to open the floo connection to the ministry. She takes out her wand to readjust the wards that allow blood relatives to access the manor by floo.
When she finishes, she reaches into the enameled urn beside the Hearth to grab a pinch of the green powder before she steps into the fireplace and drops the floo powder. Clearly stating “Italian Ministry of Magic” .
When the spinning stops she siphons off the soot before looking around the main hall of the ministry. Unlike the British Ministry, its Italian counterpart was bright with light marble floors in columns that surround the ground Hall but open to a courtyard with a statue of trivia with her arms spread open, holding the words “with balance, magic will thrive”. At trivia's feet is a garden filled with magical Blooms of many different varieties. They make their way to the lift That will take them to The Minister's office. When the lift comes to a gentle stop and the door is open they make their way to the desk of The Minister's assistant. “ We have an appointment with the minister.” The young woman looks up to meet Blaise's eyes after he spoke. “ I will let him know that you're here.” With that Hermione and Blaise make their way over to the chairs adjacent from The Minister's door. Blaise leans over to speak to Hermione quietly. “Wait until you make eye contact with the minister before dropping your Shields, it will answer a few of his questions before he has to ask.” Hermione nods back at him before responding quietly “ like how I survived a war without anyone knowing who I really was.” Blaise Size before nodding his agreement. As soon as his head stilled, the Minister's assistant approached them to bring them into his office. When she opens the door, they are greeted by an older man with tan skin and salt and pepper hair. He had kind eyes and a nice smile as he stood to meet them. He made his way around the desk to greet them properly. Hermione dropped her shields as she made eye contact with him. As being the head of the Bellarosa family takes precedence over the heir of the Zabini family, the minister makes his way over to greet Hermione first . Hermione Lends her hand as the minister bends over her knuckles.” Lady Bellarosa, we are relieved that you have returned home to us safely. Before we proceed with our meeting, we will make her way to the chamber's to verify your identity by Magic.” Hermione makes eye contact with him before replying. “ Thank you, minister. I understand the requirements to prove my identity and I'm grateful to be home when so many were not as lucky.” The minister smiled before moving to shake Blaise's hand. After the greetings are finished the minister guides them to the lift to bring them to the Chamber of trivia or a small selection of wizengamot members are waiting for them in the circular room. The ten people waiting for them stood as Hermione made her way to the altar in the centre of the room. When she reached the centre platform, a shimmering wall raised around the border of the room to keep the other members separated and prevent any interference. as she steps up to the altar, she places her family ring in the centre before grabbing the athame And making a small cut on the palm of your hand. As her blood made contact with the altar, a wind swept through the room as the blood moved around the table forming the Sigil of the Bellarosa family. When the blood reached the family ring Hermione spoke the words she'd never known before. “ I, Aurora Hermione Bellarosa by Blood and by Magic that I am the head of the Bellarosa family, successor to Titus Bellarosa”. As she spoke the words, her blood on the table turned gold before slowly starting to disappear into the altar. When all the blood was gone, the wind stopped and the air cooled. Hermione reached out to reclaim her family ring from the centre. As she put it on, the wards surrounding the chamber dropped, and the minister made his way down to join her. “As proven by Magic herself, the identity of Lady Aurora Bellarosa has been verified and her status as the head of the family has been secured. By the vow taken during your briefing of the situation, her alternate identity and role in the war against Voldemort will be confidential until she herself decides to announce it. Thank you for your time and we will see each other soon”. With the clear dismissal everyone stood to exit the chamber, and Blaise moved to join Hermione and the minister.
They start to make their way back to The Minister's office. When they are ensconced inside Hermione pulls out her wand to add some privacy charms so there is no chance of them being overheard. After she sat down in the sitting area off to the side of The Minister's desk, the other two people in the room moved to join her. “ I am sure you understand, Minister, that there are many aspects of the war and the build-up to it that I will not be able to share”.
“I understand lady Bellarosa, if I ask a question then just tell me that you were unable to answer it fully. Now, we are sure that Voldemort is unable to return this time?”
“ We are, Harry would not have been successful and Voldemort were able to be reborn again”.
“ how many of his followers evaded capture after the battle?”
“ We are unsure of the total number as they were still sorting through the deceased, and their supporters that were not marked”.
“ When the Wanted list is released, our Auror and international departments will need a copy to ensure there is no one trying to avoid their fate by fleeing to Italy”.
“ we can pass it on to Kingsley”.
“ Thank you, now onto the next topic of discussion. We've received many requests for aid from numerous countries. There are some countries that were more heavily involved in the war than we were. We can have more senior members come here for a consultation as to not expose your identity and to ensure your safety. The most pressing is Britain and France.”
“I am glad that they are amenable to coming here as I don't like being that exposed at the moment. I agree to have Kingsley here after the trials followed by France and then the other countries that may need help. I will require a vow of confidentiality for anyone who seeks Aid, since we cannot be sure of their true Allegiance as of yet.”
“ That sounds very reasonable, is there anything you require at the moment or any other stipulations you may have?
“ I would like to wait for the trials and the funerals to be complete before I start taking meetings. I would also like to sit my newts, as I did not complete my education over the last year due to the circumstances. As much as I would like to return to Hogwarts for my final year, there are much more pressing issues at the moment.”
“ That is understandable. I can arrange for you to set your notes whenever you are ready.”
“ I'd like to sit for them two months after the final trial is complete, before I start meeting with foreign Ministries.”
The Minister's eyes widened with astonishment, not believing that anyone would ever be ready to sit four newt exams with only two months of study, but knowing better than to question her judgment he kept quiet.” I thank you for your time, Minister, but we have another appointment to keep. Send an owl should you require anything.”
Hermione stood from her chair before the men in the room rose to say their farewells. The minister bends over her hand again before shaking the hand offered by Blaise. “ We will talk soon, lady Bellarosa. Owl me anytime.” They exit The Minister's office and make their way towards the main entrance of the ministry that leads to the surrounding magical community.
Once outside they make their way down the street towards the Medici Bank, the Italian version of Gringotts. Walking through the Gilded doors, Hermione walks towards the head Goblin to request entry to her vault. “I would like to access the antechamber of the main Bellarosa vault”.
“Family ring please”. the Goblin look down his nose at the Bellarosa family ring before stepping down from the ornate desk.
“ follow me please”. leading them through the door behind his desk towards a real cart that will take them to the bowels of the bank where the vault is located. Once seated, the cart starts moving down words. After 10 minutes the car comes to a halt before a dark cave like path. Once they step into the dark cave it lights up to leave them down further towards the vault. They come to a stop before a cave where a sphinx exits to block their path.
“ What is extremely old and has been around for billions of years, get it returns each month new?”
Hermione Ponder this for a moment before the answer comes to her. “ the Moon”.
“ that is correct, you may pass”.
After the Sphinx steps aside they continue to make their way towards the vault. They come to a stop in front of a huge set of doors made out of the Bellarosa family crest.
“ Cut your palm and place your hand on the door, we will wait outside”.
Hermione does as the goblin told her and cast a small diffindo on her hand before placing it on the door. When her blood touched the door, the door started to open, allowing her entrance. Hermione looked back at Blaze who nodded encouragingly before she entered the vault. Looking around, she noticed a door to the side that was calling out to her. She approached the door and twisted the door handle. passing the threshold, she notices 1 boxes stacked on top of each other filling the entire room. She's drawn towards the back left corner of the room.
When she reached up, her fingers brushed a dusty gold box that she felt the need to pull down. She opened the box and inside laid a beautiful Elder wood wand with roses and Thorns carved to cover half of it. When she picked it up oh, it is not anything like she felt with her previous Vinewood wand. This one knows her and she knows it, it was made to be hers. She gives the wand a flick and beautiful gold stars start falling from the ceiling.
When she looks down into the box there is a letter peeking out under the golden velvet lining. She picked it up to read.
Aurora Hermione,
Now that the time has come to take up the mantle of the family, this one will help you on your journey. Trust your instincts and those around you for help and you will succeed. This wand is made of ancient Elder Wood with a phoenix feather core. You were reborn through the trials of war and this wand knows you. Never allow your goal to become more important than yourself. Trust your magic, it knows you better than you know yourself.
find your own balance child, and the rest will follow.
Trivia
Hermione could not believe what she was reading. The ones in this room were made by the mother of magic herself that are family descended from. From what she knew of wandlore, elder wood wands are traditionally unlucky if the Witch or Wizard is arrogant, but extremely powerful if it chooses an individual that will show it the proper respect. They find their place with the owners of Rowan wands who are extremely protective. Phoenix cores are the pickiest, hard to win, and perform the greatest range of magic. Although she is weary of owning an Elder Wand, she cannot deny that it suits her even better than her Vine wand. Her vine wand was attracted to the hidden facets of herself, but the Elder Wand knows her entirety. She gently folded the letter back into the wand box before putting it into her beaded bag. She slipped her new wand into her forearm holster, and Bellatrix's wand is put in her bag as well. exiting the room she looked around her Vault before making her way towards the room that houses some of their more guarded text to see if anything could help her in the coming year. With the enchantment on the book vault, she leaves her mind open as she thinks of her goals for the coming year while she looks. After a few moments there are several books stacking themselves on the table in the middle. She steps forward and notices multiple books about restoring the balance of magic and the final book was more about the Bellarosa family Magic. Information that traditionally would have been passed down by her father before she became the head of the house. seeing this book made of pain of longing move through her. Deciding to delve into her feelings more later, the books joined her wand box in her beaded bag. Walking out of the book room she started to contemplate if she should make her way to another part of the Vault or if she should just get ready to join Blaise to leave the bank. Ultimately deciding that she would come back at another date, she grabbed a self filling coin purse on her way out of the Vault. Joining Blaise and the head Goblin in the cave, they made their way into the car to take them back to the main floor.
“I will need to register a new wand for my accounts”.
Thankfully, goblins don't ask questions otherwise she would have outed her British involvement. When they reached the desk where they started, the goblin held out his hand to weigh her new wand. He nodded before handing it back to her with a clear dismissal she nodded at Blaze and then put her hand in his offered arm.
They reached the public floo Hall that is in the centre of the square to head back to the manor. When they arrived, Holly was waiting for them with two letters. One from Harry letting her know that they have dates for the funerals, and the other had the ministry emblem in the corner and the Shacklebolt coat of arms in the wax seal. she had a feeling that he was going to let her know about the impending trial for the Malfoys. She decided to open the letter from Harry to find out when she needed to return to Britain. When she finished reading it, she decided that she would return to London in a week so she would have time to mentally prepare for the funerals without having to worry about travel. She spent the next few minutes staring at Kingsley's letter while building her courage to read it. Her hands shook as she reached for it, ignoring the look that Blaise sent her way. When she finished she sighed. She had 3 weeks to mount a defense for Draco and his mother. She started to make plans before her thought process was interrupted.
“ What does that letter say to have your brain going that far down the rabbit hole?”
“ Kingsley just let me know when the trial for the Malfoys will be held”.
“ Aurora! Please tell me you aren't going to testify against him! I know he was a right git to you during school, but by Merlin he doesn't deserve to be in Azkaban.”
“I'm not planning to testify against him, Blaise. No one who saw him during sixth year can argue that he wasn't self-destructing. He saved Our Lives over the Easter holidays, he stopped Goyle from cursing me in the room of requirement. He doesn't deserve to go to Azkaban. Harry is also planning to testify in his favour. I was trying to compile a list of people who may testify on his behalf. I believe Luna will testify for him after the little information she shared during our Escape. I was also debating if you would testify about sixth year and his behavior after he was marked”.
Blaise looked at her with eyes full of love and gratefulness for not condemning his best mate to a life in Azkaban that he didn't deserve.
“Thank you Mia Ari. I will help in any way I can. His mother will also want to testify for him. I can send an owl to her about your plans. She will keep them confidential and help in any way to protect Draco”.
“ You're welcome Blaise, I love you and even if he wasn't your best mate I would still be trying to save him. the thought of him in Azkaban makes me angry”.
“ Do you know why it makes you angry?”
“ When you're raised with the Prejudice he was, it can take a life-changing event to start questioning it. I don't know when it happened for him but the thing that matters is that he did and tried to help in the only way he could.”
“ Are you sure that's the only reason Ari?”
“ I honestly don't know Blaise, the shields around my family magic have never been down around him. All I know is that his wand worked for me as well as my Vine one did, but Bellatrix's wand would not work for Harry at all so he needed to use Draco's more than I did”.
By the time she finished speaking she was talking barely above a whisper and Blaise could tell she was close to retreating into herself. “ Head up to your suite and get ready for bed. I'll sleep in your sitting-room tonight”.