Shades of Grey

New Beginnings

It was finally the day. The day that Bella had been patiently awaiting for the past three years. Today she would face Kingsley. Bellatrix let out a stuttering breath closing her eyes. A hand reached across and patted her on the knee.

"Everything is going to be fine, dear. You are ready." Minerva said in the most soothing voice. Bellatrix immediately relaxed. The older witch had become a mentor to her over the past three years and more importantly, she had become her first real friend other than her sisters of course. "Remember what I said Bellatrix. No matter the outcome, you always have a home and a position at Hogwarts if you so choose." She looked over at the older witch to see her smiling. "Ms. Granger got the same invitation from me yesterday."

"I'm not good with this kind of thing." Bella said clearly uncomfortable with her own emotions. "I don't have the words to tell you what your mentoring and friendship has meant to me, Minerva. I appreciate it more than I'll ever be able to say." Bella said offering a small, uncertain smile.

"No thanks will be necessary, my friend." Minerva said patting Bella's knee again.

Just then the door to Kingsley's office opened signaling it was time for the ladies to enter. An elf emerged from the doorway. "The minister will see you now." The two witches stood up and made their way over when the house elf cleared his throat. "The minister only wishes to see Ms. Black, ma'am." The elf said nervously towards Minerva.

Bellatrix looked like a deer caught in the headlights. Minerva put her hand on Bella's shoulder. "Listen to me Bella. You are ready. You know that you've done everything they have asked. Now go on then. Your witch is waiting for you back at Hogwarts. It's best not to keep her waiting, you know how her mind wanders." Bellatrix fixed her gazed into a hard stare, gave Minerva a nod and stepped into the office. The elf smiled at Minerva and pulled the door shut behind him.

Bella walked into the open room and sat down in the chair across the desk from where Kingsley sat. When she was seated he looked up at her. "Minister." Bella inclined her head towards the man across from her.

Kingsley nodded back. "Madam Black, nice to see you again."

"Very nice attempt." Bella rolled her eyes. "I almost believed you."

"Madam Black. I have here the reports from Minerva, your soul healer, your sisters, a few of your fellow teachers, a handful of your students, your nephew, the Longbottoms, the Grangers and even one here from your girlfriend." Kingsley help up an impressively thick file. "Let's not slip back into our old masks."

"Of course. Sorry. Old bad habits die hard. I can't say that I'm entirely comfortable here in this moment." Bella huffed out an exaggerated sigh. "Do I ever get to see any of those reports?"

"Typically, no. It's not the procedure. However, I feel like an exception could be made in this instance." Bella made quick work to retrieve the file but Kingsley pulled it out of her reach. "I'm going to give this to you on you way out. I want you to be able to sit down and absorb everything your friends have said about you."

Bella nodded and slumped back in her seat. "So where do we go from here, Minister? Am I free and clear? Am I to go to Azkaban?" She shuddered,

"No, Bellatrix. You will not be returning to prison. There are dozens of glowing recommendations here from your peers and colleagues as to why you should acquire your freedom." Bellatrix smiled for the first time. "There are however a few incidents we need to address." Her smile dropped. "There was an incident where you set your room on fire."

"That was like within the first month or two when my soul healer pissed me off. It doesn't even count as an incident. I was barely beginning. I apologized to Minerva after she helped me fix it. And I even apologized to the poor house elves that I frightened."