Here's the next chapter! Very filler...
Disclaimer: I do not own nor will I ever own the Harry Potter series. But it relieves my sorrowed mind slightly to be able to say that I do own the plot and Ivy. :)
A short while later the young Black picked herself up off the floor and wiped at her puffy eyes. It made no sense to weep for what she no longer had. Although, truth be told, it was more for the information she had gained. Either way, today was the beginning of a new year for her, and by the looks of it, a new life as well. That being said, she decided to see just a bit of what this new life held, giving no thought to the fact that 1 o'clock in the morning usually isn't the best time for that sort of thing.
Walking along the threadbare carpet in the near pitch black darkness, she realized that lining the wall of the long hallway were old-fashioned gas lamps. Putting all of her concentration on the nearest one, the entire hall lit up faintly, the lamps sputtering to life after years of non use. Now able to see the hallway clearly, she realized just how ancient and decrepit it was. The wallpaper was peeling, the serpentine chandelier overhead was now dull and hanging with cobwebs, and the crooked portraits so resembling those in Malfoy Manor with their haughty gaze were blackened by age. The scene thrown into the flickering light of the lamps gave quite a haunting impression.
Farther down the corridor, she passed a pair of moth-eaten curtains and, not being able to see it in the dim light, tripped over an umbrella stand made of a severed troll's leg. The loud clatter caused the curtains beside it to draw back immediately, revealing a life-size portrait of an old woman, shrieking loudly and uncontrollably.
"Who dares to enter the noble and most ancient house of Black? Intruder, show yourself!" Startled, Ivy scrambled up onto her feet. "Ah, Bella dear, you've finally come to visit. My, how young you look! It must be those Black genes." If anything, this change from a banshee worthy shriek to this sickly sweet voice disturbed Ivy even more. "Well, aren't you going to say something, dear?"
All she could manage was, "Who are you?" Perhaps not the best approach, but she figured that Aunt Cissy's etiquette classes didn't really apply to pictures. The portrait seemed to disagree.
"Honestly Bellatrix, do you not remember your aunt?"
"Umm, I'm not Bellatrix. I'm her daughter."
The woman's eyes narrowed into a glare Ivy was all too familiar with, only, she was the one usually giving it. "That's impossible. I never heard about a child of hers, and if she had a daughter then I would know. I am, after all, her favorite aunt." Ivy remembered Aunt Cissy telling her that they only had one aunt; Walburga. Well that made more sense, considering how she couldn't see how this woman could possibly be anyone's favorite.
Walburga was watching the girl closely. There was something to the set of her small shoulders, the look in her eyes, those signature Black cheekbones, the very way she held herself, that didn't exactly scream pureblood, but whispered it faintly. Not to mention she was the doppelgänger of a young Bellatrix Black, minus the eyes. Even though she thought it was impossible, she knew what the girl said was true."What is your purpose here?"
"I don't have anywhere else to go."
Mrs. Black studied her carefully."KREACHER!" She shrieked.
Not a moment had passed when a wizened house-elf came bursting through the door at the end of the hall. She couldn't help but notice that his eyes were far less bright and far more cold than Dobby's. The dirty rags he wore upon his bony frame swished slightly as he came forward. "Yes, mistress?" He gave Ivy a slight glance before scurrying in front of the portrait. Walburga tore her eyes away from the young girl.
"This is Bellatrix's daughter. I want you to show her to her room and listen to anything she says."
"Of course, mistress. Kreacher lives to serve all in the noble house of Black." He said with a deep bow, his long nose practically touching the ground. As he pulled up, he turned to Ivy. "Come with me."
With a snap of his fingers her suitcases floated behind her following them as he led her silently down the hall and up the stairs. As they crept up the creaking steps, she gasped. "What are those?"
Kreacher smiled at the gruesome stuffed house-elf heads lined along the walls. "Those are my ancestors. Some day I will be up there as well." He said wistfully, as if he was proud at where he was eventually headed. Ivy shivered. This fanatical delusion scared her more than she cared to admit.
He led her through the second room on the right side of the second floor hall. "This was Miss Bella's room." He pushed open the wooden door and snapped his fingers, lighting up the silver chandelier. It was a large, elegant room, with a queen sized, four-poster bed covered in emerald green silk bedding. A bookshelf ran along one wall, filled with volumes on various magic. The floors were dark grey wood, the walls a light grey.
"May Kreacher ask your name?" The house-elf turned his bulbous eyes towards her as the suitcases settled on the floor. She smiled down at him.
"It's Ivy."
"Well, Miss Ivy then. If this room does not suit your fancy than Kreacher can show you another."
"No, it's beautiful. Thank you, Kreacher."
"If there's not anything I can do for you, then Kreacher will say good night." He bowed low to the floor again, causing a quite unsettling feeling in the girl's stomach.
"Good night, Kreacher." She waited until he closed the door before walking around the room. Her small, white hand trailed across the top of the large dresser and vanity table. She opened the doors to a closet filled with stunning gowns. Then, she noticed two doors on either side of the room. She went through one.
It opened onto another room, this one vastly different from her mother's. Red and gold was everywhere. On the bedding and on the banners covering the walls. There was also multiple non-moving posters of various motorcycles and bikini-clad girls (presumably muggle). Only one wizard picture was hanging on the wall. It held four laughing boys in Hogwarts robes, three of which were tall and extremely handsome, and the fourth short and pudgy. One in particular caught her eye. He had slightly long hair as black as her own. His silver eyes looked into her own. She knew somehow, that this was the boy whose room it had been.
She knew this place was different. It was the first place in the house that actually seemed welcoming and cozy. It was also somehow sacred in a way. It was a place that she felt she shouldn't disturb. She turned back to go into her own room. With one last glance she closed the door.
