The Empress of Magic

Chapter 55 : Innocent or Guilty..?..

As soon as they stepped foot into the Ministry, Celestia could practically feel the atmosphere in the building shift....

Had the situation been different, she might have actually found it comical how all conversations eased and people seemed to automatically turn their heads towards them..

The white-haired witch did not need anyone telling her these people loathed her family and her, because she could see it by the looks on their faces as they passed them......

Cold...

Empty......

Angry......

Disgusted......

Those emotions were the most common she saw, and their thoughts were no better....

All of them believed the Lestranges were guilty of all charges, that they killed innocents and were also at fault for torturing a pair that had a child of their own into insanity..........

But they didn't know the whole truth to everything... and even if it was too late for Barty Crouch Jr, who had died of illness while Imprisoned, Celestia refused to see her parents and uncle go through the same fate when she had just gotten them back.

Regulus saw the subtle unease in his Girlfriend's eyes, the stares not bothering him all too much since he had grown up with adults looking at him in a mixture of wariness and disgust, so he took her hand in his, interlacing their fingers ever so gently, and gave it a light squeeze.

She turned her head to him, her Bi-colored eyes meeting his grey ones. ,, Ignore their stares......... " He told her, most of his body shielding hers. ,, ... You're stronger than all of these judgmental prigs put together, mon ange. ( my angel ) Don't let their silly beliefs get to you."

Celestia felt grateful to have him stand by her side at such hard times....

No matter how bad the situation may be, or how down she felt, Regulus' presence always calmed her down and reassured her that she wasn't alone in this.

She gave his hand a squeeze back, and looked ahead, this time more at ease...

,, Do you know who will be overseeing the trial ?" Narcissa asked, falling in step with her Great-Uncle and husband, Xavier being the one to walk closest to the twins, Celestia and Regulus if you didn't count Tom.

Arcturus gave a nod. ,, Yaxley was.. generous enough to inform me that Amelia Bones will be overseeing the trial.. She was quite insistent, and from what I've heard she argued a good bit with the Minister so he would appoint her to the task."

,, Lady Bones....?...... She's little Susan's aunt, is she not ?" The woman asked, recognizing the family name thanks to the sweet Hufflepuff girl her Goddaughter had befriended and brought home with last break.

She had heard a few things about Amelia, mostly from other Pure-bloods, who found it either scandalous or mildly interesting that a woman from a family consisting of mostly half-bloods had reached such a high position within the Ministry, but even then she must have a lot of skill and wit to rise through the ranks so quickly, and Narcissa respected that.

,, Indeed." said Lucius, eyes briefly trailing to Draco, who was walking closely behind Celestia and Regulus, still not all too comfortable with accepting Fred and George into the family, not to mention Tom, who he had only met today and was already scared of. Aelius had kept mostly to himself, walking beside Tom and keeping quiet to not bring further attention to them, so Draco kept away from him as well.

,, The Bones Heiress must have told her aunt a bit more details after keeping in contact with Celestia and Regulus...... She was extremely furious when she heard the Minister had his eyes on Crouch to oversee the trial." He recalled, having seen her anger first-hand when he passed by her office one day.