As Harold led their guests in, Bellatrix's eyes widened in surprise. Two of the four she knew, at least a little, and they were the last two people she expected to see walking into their parlor with an Auror and a goblin. She, Rod, and Rabastan had met Gellert Grindelwald around two thousand when Kreacher began working with him and his partner Blaise Zabini on enchanted items for their shop. Their first project with the Black elf had been a concept of Kreacher's: pillows that granted the sleeper an uninterrupted eight hours of sleep.
"Hi!" Kereston greeted, springing to her feet at sight of them. "We thought you were sent from the Ministry to fix whatever mental tampering was done to the Lestranges, but you're obviously here about something else. What's up?" The little blonde's expression went from pleasantly surprised to concerned about whatever may have brought them here.
For her part, Bellatrix wasn't worried, at least not about the new arrivals, because they, themselves, did not look worried. All four appeared relaxed. She was more concerned about whatever was done to her, Rod, and Rabastan's heads in the late seventies and by whom.
"It's alright, Little Bit," the Auror spoke up reassuringly, directing a fond smile to Kereston. "I was given the order to bring a trusted Healer to the Lestranges and oversee the process. Considering you'll be Minister tomorrow, I decided to stop off at Grimmauld and run the order by you, to see what you wanted done. These three were there, going over a few details with Kreacher and Regulus. As Grindelwald is a Healer, I asked him if he'd check the Lestranges over if you were good with that... You know, in case some information comes out that you may not want one of the St. Mungo's Healers to be aware of."
Apparently, at least some of the current Aurors were willing to work with goblins and elves... and Acromantulas to entirely restructure the government. Bellatrix wondered how many. In her experience Aurors weren't, as a rule, the most cooperative or open to change. This particular one seemed average and basically nondescript, so there had to be more to him than met the eye.
"Actually, yes, Greg, that's great," Kereston said, giving the Auror an appreciative smile as she sank back into her chair.
"Considering the St. Mungo's Healers have to deal day in and day out with our Longbottom leftovers, I doubt they'd try very hard to help us anyway," Bellatrix said, unable to suppress a cackle at the memory of breaking the stupid blood traitors.
"I really didn't want to include you in this new endeavor of ours," Kereston told her with a frown. "So please stop trying to remind me of what shining models of kindness and stability that the three of you most definitely aren't! Right now, I am really tempted to question Regulus and Kreacher's good judgment."
Bellatrix tossed her head and smiled at the little blonde. "Right... Sorry."
"What's the goblin doing here, then?" Rabastan wanted to know. "Did he bring dinner?"
The goblin in question scowled. "I thought he could fetch the Curse-Breaker if the three of you are willing to work with us, because the Curse-Breaker is also a goblin," the Auror Greg replied calmly.
"Well, that works out, because we did agree," Bellatrix said.
The goblin turned to Kereston, dark scowl fading slightly. "Shall I go for the Curse-Breaker, then?"
"Yes," Kereston nodded. The little blonde was beginning to look mildly harried. "Thank you, Griphook." He Apparated away with a crack.
Griphook was a familiar name. Perhaps they'd dealt with the goblin at the bank, Bellatrix mused, sliding Rodolphus a sidelong glance. They all looked alike to her anyway.
"So shall we turn our attention to restoring your memories," Grindelwald asked, and the three Lestranges nodded nearly as one. He nodded back briskly. "Good. So who's first then?"
"Ladies first. I'll do it," Bellatrix spoke up, ready to get this over with so that she could stop worrying. The feeling of dread and impending doom in the pit of her stomach was growing, and causing her to feel upset and agitated in a way that made her want to scream. She didn't like these sorts of feelings. They were unpleasant and foreign. She had felt miserable in Azkaban, but that was a different sort of emotion entirely.
In Azkaban, it had been all about despair. This feeling that gripped her right now was more of an alert, active, bad feeling, and she hated it! The three Lestranges were formidable magic practitioners, and if they liked, they mucked about with the heads of others. Others did not dare to try doing it to them, so the sooner they had answers about exactly what was done to them against their will, the better. Bellatrix was glad that it was Grindelwald attending to the situation rather than some Healer she knew nothing about from St. Mungo's. Granted, she didn't know much about him either, but he was trusted by Regulus and Kreacher and that meant something. He was also apparently in on this new takeover or uprising or government restructuring.
If she was being honest, and Bellatrix always was with herself, the fact that Grindelwald was in on this new situation did make her feel better. He had the right values and priorities, even if he hadn't actively practiced them since being freed from Nurmengard in the late nineties. A Dark wizard from Germany whom the Lestranges had never met worked with the Zabinis and some others to free Grindelwald. He replaced Grindelwald with an elderly ailing decoy that the Dark Lord had later killed, believing him to be Gellert. It seemed there were a good number of Dark wizards unwilling to follow Lord Voldemort who had wanted an ace in the hole against him in case Potter failed.
Potter had somehow managed to succeed, though, so Grindelwald was home free with no particular dues to pay. When in town, he co-ran his shop in Knockturn Alley that sold the enchanted items made by himself and his...partner, Blaise Zabini. He stood beside Grindelwald now, expression bored and impassive. To Bellatrix, Zabini was uninterested and uninteresting. Apparently Grindelwald saw something in him, so perhaps still waters ran deep after all.
Gellert came to stand in front of Bellatrix, blue eyes narrowing in concentration as he studied her.
"How are you going to do it," she asked, hearing the tension in her voice.
"I am already doing it," Grindelwald replied. Alright, that was impressive. She felt nothing and there wasn't a wand in sight, so he was doing whatever it was with pure Grindelmight. Bellatrix sat waiting and watching his face as he worked. Seconds passed and she was just relaxing back into the blood-colored satin cushions when his eyes widened in surprise and his expression grew concerned.
Before she could ask what the matter was, he was telling her. "Well, I must admit, this is different and unexpected," he murmured. His German accent thickened slightly as he focused deeply on his task. "Not only was a harsh and violent form of compulsion used on your mind, but it goes even deeper than that, I am afraid. It appears that your perception of reality was also altered."
He frowned and shifted slightly, unhappy with his own explanation. "That is, it was altered to such a degree on the mental and emotional level that your perception of your own values could have changed as much as your memories."
"Well, hell," Rabastan said. "That isn't sounding at all warm and fuzzy."
Grindelwald smiled drily, gaze flicking momentarily to the youngest Lestrange. "Not at all," he agreed.
"What does it mean, exactly," Bellatrix asked, frowning.
Grindelwald shook his head, blonde curls falling across his slender shoulders. "I am afraid that is personal. It is something you will have to discover for yourself as the memories return to you. It could manifest as an opinion that you believed that is not truly yours, or an action that you believed you wanted to take that you would not feel the same about now that I have restored your mind to its natural state."
"I don't feel anything different," Bellatrix said. "Am I supposed to?"
Grindelwald nodded. "In time. I have never worked on something quite like this before, but I should think your mind needs time to adjust and process. In the meantime, I can continue with the next Lestrange... Who's up?"
"I'll do it," Rodolphus said, and Grindelwald shifted a few steps to stand in front of Bellatrix's husband.
Bellatrix opened her mouth to assure Roddy that it wouldn't hurt, and that's when it happened. It all started rushing back in a sudden horrifying burst of information and devastating emotions. It didn't build up naturally as it would have done when it all actually happened in nineteen seventy-nine. Insead it returned all at once as memories often did, rather than the slow unfolding of natural events.
Bellatrix felt as though she'd been hit with a ton of bricks made up entirely of emotional upset. Her breath was coming in short bursts; her head lowered, and she drew in on herself, arms coming up to cross defensively over her chest. "Oh gods," she murmured, head beginning to shake side to side in horrified denial.
"I remember it all now... At least I think I do..." If that wasn't all of it, she really couldn't take any more at present.
"Gods, I remember how Uncle Orion died! Roddy, do you remember?"
Rodolphus blinked, shaking his head. "No... Not really. Fighting for the Dark Lord, I assumed. Sometimes we lose some of the best ones fighting the good fight for what matters. It just makes us want to fight the blood traitor bastards and Muggles all the harder, though."
Bellatrix made a low sound of distress as her mind struggled against the new information that was just restored. "No. That isn't what happened at all."
Rodolphus turned to her. "Oh? What happened then?"
He reached for her hand, tugging it gently off of her other arm, where it was clutching tightly. Gripping her husband's far larger hand hard in hers, Bellatrix squeezed her eyes closed against the horrifying revelations, but that didn't help because they were in her mind, and she could no longer close an eye to that. She never had, had she? NO. None of them had. He had made them forget!