Persephone watched closely, keeping her face impassive as she noticed Bells' jaw clench at the mention of her father. Persephone hadn't been lying about Gio starting to write back to her. Sure he was still upset about everything especially when she told him she was married. He was worried as big brother's always seemed to worry about their younger siblings. He didn't like that the family didn't know the bloke and that there hadn't been some big ceremony that went with it. He of all people knew how she was and it was a miracle she was married at all. Persephone was not a romantic by any stretch of the imagination, but it had just felt right to get married. Things just clicked into place and it was one of those things that you just 'knew' was supposed to happen. Besides was t a person supposed to marry their equal? No one else would be able to handle her and her work as well as he did. She had been surprised that he hadn't spilled the beans to the rest of the family as they were confused as to why I man was now living in her home with her.

"So you don't think it's appropriate to hold the same values he had instilled in you while he was living? He taught you much better than that as did your mother. Now are you planning on just sitting about like you have no sense? Are you actually a DiTraverso or had you been accidentally been swapped at the hospital without our knowledge?" She asked quirking an eyebrow as she pushed a little harder to provoke her further.

So often, her father had told her that she reminded him of this woman. She supposed there had been a time that the older woman and Isabella’s father had been close. However, even if her father was starting to write the woman again, it really hadn’t mattered all that much as that did not change what the woman did at all. For over half of a decade, this woman was absent from the young Slytherin’s life and she was done with trying to give excuses. Now, it seemed that the woman was here, trying to rekindle a relationship that to Isabella, was long gone.

“You wouldn’t know what they taught me, you weren’t bloody around,” Isabella stated, eyes narrowing slightly at the woman. “And that’s really none of your concern what I do now. You clearly haven’t cared for the past five or so years, why start now?” she continued, angry that the woman had the nerve to bring up her parents and what THEY would have taught her…and then to insult her, acting as if she wasn’t a true DiTraverso. At least Isabella hadn’t abandoned her family for years on end with broken promises of returning. Now, she really didn’t see the purpose in staying here any longer. “Is that all, professor, or are you done wasting my time?”

It killed Persephone to hear her niece speak to her with so much anger. She had never meant to leave home for so long. She had been training to become the best auror she could be to protect everyone, and she had failed. That alone was excruciating to think about, though she swept it aside for the time being. She could be upset later when she was on her own. It was not the time for such silliness. There was nothing she could do to change things in the past. She would give anything to get her brother, her sister-in-law, and nephews back. Persephone knew Bells would never believe that for a moment, and she wasn’t about to push that bit.

”Ouch… nice try. You’re not going to guilt me into begging you for forgiveness. I apologized and meant it. I’m just as upset as you are. I didn’t go to Russia for fun.” She paused knowing it was most likely useless for her to explain anything right then. ”I would like to move forward, but obviously you are going to make that impossible. And it is my concern what you do, if you haven’t noticed.” At least Persephone was getting more of a reaction this time, even if it was a bit more painful than she had initially anticipated. ”If you are going to address me as a professor you will respect me as such. So were you talking to your Aunt or your Head of House.” She asked her tone stern. Niece or not she wasn’t going to be disrespectful and get away with it.

Slowly, Isabella’s eyebrows narrowed further and further, trying to sort through this entire situation. The only reason she had come to the office was because the new Head of Slytherin was requesting her presence, for whatever reason. That had been odd in and of itself. However, had she known that it was her aunt, she would have rejected that immediately and went into bloody hiding from the pesky witch. “Petrov?” she asked, tapping her fingers against her arm. Where the hell had she retrieved a name like Petrov from, Isabella wondered as she waited for the response.

“Forgiveness?” Isabella asked, letting out a coarse laugh. “As if I can believe any apology that you utter. And I highly fucking doubt you’re as upset as I am,” Isabella snapped, offended by the words. It wasn’t like that witch had to walk in and see her family dead. Merlin, even after all of this, her aunt was still the one that she had thought of first when she entered that horrid scene before remembering that her aunt probably wouldn’t have even come for that. Then Isabella was proven correct when the woman skipped the funeral for whatever excuse she cooked up now.

“I’m talking to my aunt, the one who taught me to never take the word of anyone. The one who taught me that people weren’t to be trusted. I’m talking to my lovely blood relative who put her damn job above family,” Isabella snapped, glaring at the woman before her. “Thank you, auntie, for all of the wonderful life lessons you have taught me,” she finished sarcastically.

Persephone knew her niece was extremely observant and not shy when it came to saying what was on her mind. She had hoped that maybe they wouldn’t get into a conversation about her married name though she should have known better. Gio knew about the marriage but hadn’t told the family. She assumed it was because he wanted her to get hell for it from the family. Getting married was encouraged, marrying anyone without a wedding or family was just inexcusable. ”That’s my husband’s surname. You probably won’t get to meet your Uncle Nikolai until summer break. That is beside the point.” She moved her hands in front of her as if to dismiss that conversation entirely. They had bigger things to worry about.

”I’d calm down if I were you.” Persephone said easily as Bells began to sound off. She kept her eyes trained on her niece as she began to curse freely, not really bothered by it. Unfortunately the DiTraverso women were not just loud, but had quite the colorful vocabulary. Persephone would have hated to actually have to give her niece detention or dock points because of her disrespect. Thankfully Bells had clarified so there would be no need for that.

She took a deep breath as she listened. It felt like someone had just torn her heart right from her chest. Bells had every right to be upset and hurt. Bells didn’t know why Persephone was in Russia, and why she wasn’t able to make it to the funeral. It didn’t feel right to explain it right at that moment, knowing her niece was far too angry to be able to listen properly. ”Anything else?” She asked trying to keep her voice even.

A part of Isabella was tired of being angry at this woman, but then a larger part of her was holding onto the anger. She had to keep reminding herself that this woman did not keep her word and she failed to visit them. She put her work over her family and that just was not okay no matter how Isabella looked at it. The woman cared more about whatever it was she did and she had to live with the consequences of that action. The Slytherin snorted at the woman’s response, not really sure what to believe. “Lucky me,” she stated, rolling her eyes. As if she wanted to meet whoever it was that her aunt convinced to partake in this ruse. She wanted to say more on that, but she wouldn’t waste her time on that conversation until the summer.

“Threatening me now?” Isabella asked, amused. She was being bloody calm and she didn’t need some stranger telling her otherwise, feeling her anger rising even more. “I’m calm,” she replied, narrowing her eyes at the professor. It was almost tempting to just walk out and go find something else to do. She wondered if she could drop whatever class it was that her aunt would be teaching.

“Yeah, why the hell are you here? I don’t mean at the school. Why are you even back from your precious Russia?” she asked, biting her tongue from saying anything further about how it took the death of her family to drag her back.

Persephone quirked an eyebrow at her niece knowing that the conversation of her marriage was far from over, and that it was only a matter of time before she brought it up again. There was no way she was going to let that go. If she were anything like Gio she was sure the young Slytherin would lay into her eventually about her getting married while out of the country without telling the family, or even writing for most of her trip. Persephone had definitely messed up and it felt like it would be the death of her to convince Bells that she had a good reason to stay away.

”Change your tone or I’ll do it for you.” Persephone replied calmly as she looked over her niece. This was difficult on everyone. The young Slytherin had lost her family, but so had the professor. The professor lost her only brother and most of his family, then within a couple of days watched as her husband almost died right before her eyes. They both had been through, but she just didn’t have the energy for that talk at the moment.

When Bells spoke again she almost changed her mind about saying her exact reason why she wasn’t around. ”My precious Russia? Yes because I was vacationing the whole time I was there. I wanted to come back sooner. Unfortunately it would not be safe for me to talk to you about it right now. You’ll have to wait until summer.” She promised trying to convey that she really couldn’t say too much but was willing to answer any question she had once they were home.

It really hadn’t been all that long since her family had perished and seeing her long lost aunt was like someone was pouring salt on her open wound. She hadn’t talked to anyone really and now, she was just getting frustrated over something that she really didn’t believe concerned her aunt anymore. Nope, the more she sat here, the more she realized she was better off on her own at school.

“If you wanted to come home, you bloody would have so don’t stand there and lie. Or do, since that’s your talent. But since your work is so much more important than family, don’t be surprised when family doesn’t choose you back, Auntie.” Isabella was standing now, her jaw clenching tightly and wishing that she had just ignored this invite to the Head of Slytherin’s office. “Now, it was absolutely thrilling to meet you, Professor Petrov,” she stressed, taking a step back towards the door. “If you have nothing else, I really have shit to do…like brushing my hair or going to the bathroom or something,” she deadpanned, stressing that really anything was better than staying here with this woman.

Persephone was definitely starting to lose what little bit of self-control she had left. She had anticipated this to be bad, but it was more frustrating that it wouldn’t be safe to explain everything to her right in that moment. While she knew Hogwarts was one of the safest places known to the wizarding world she was still suspicious of everything. She guessed that was just left over from all the work she was doing in Russia. Most of her details were undercover which made her exceptionally cautious with anything she said as it was important to be very discreet during those kinds of cases.

Her jaw clenched as she listened ready to just blurt out everything that needed to be said but keeping it to herself. The pain ripping through her chest seemed to manifest physically as now she was truly feeling it. Persephone had spent almost half of her life dedicated to protecting her family, and mankind in general. She already felt like a failure that she couldn’t even keep her brother and his family safe. Every single day she thought about how if she had only been home they would all still be alive. That was a regret she would always have to live with. Some days she wanted to just curl up in a corner and breakdown, but that wasn’t an option. She didn’t cry and she sure as hell had to be the strong one now. ”You are dismissed, Miss DiTraverso.” She replied simply changing back to her professional persona knowing if she didn’t things would get out of control and she couldn’t afford that right at that moment.

It would be so much easier to ignore the fact that her family was murdered, dead and never coming back if her father’s sister wasn’t here. Isabella’s plan was to ignore anyone and everyone, pushing everyone away while she forced her thoughts to be distracted with whatever she could find. It had been difficult pushing Evan and Cecilia away, but she had managed mostly…even if they were irritatingly trying to convince her that they should stay in her life. So far, she had become almost mechanized, moving about unknowingly. Really, she couldn’t even remember what she ate for breakfast anymore, watching the days tick by slowly while she stayed by herself. A part of her felt that this was how things would be from now on, living by herself knowing that everyone was going to be taken from her eventually. Now, her aunt ruined things as it would be rather difficult to just ignore her at all times. For all she knew, her aunt would probably work with Cecilia and Evan to get them to keep pushing themselves into her life.

Isabella briefly wondered if she’d be able to talk to the Headmistress about taking her aunt off from being the Slytherin Head as CLEARLY that was a conflict of interest. That was a thing, wasn’t it? “Pleasure meeting you, Professor. You have a good year,” she stated, stepping out of the office feeling like it couldn’t have been quickly enough. There was absolutely no way she was going to respond to a meeting with this professor or the Head of Slytherin again, much preferring any detention that would come from it.