Waking a house

Julia was back at the house early next morning. She had decided to wake the house and start preparing it for the first official meeting with the Grey Spiders that would take place the same night. She had told her parents that she would be gone the whole day, and to her relief they hadn't bothered to ask why. Her mother had of course reminded her that she had a lunch meeting with another young man that wanted to court her. She wasn't that eager about it, but she knew she had to.

She entered the house, and just like the evening before, the house was silent as the grave. The curtains hung in front of the large windows just like before and she couldn't wait to simply tare them down form their hangings. But first, she headed for the library. She had decided to get this over with so that she could get to work with at least some of the rooms today.

The library was just like she left it the day before. It was dark and a bit gloomy, something she wanted to do something about later. She walked up to the huge fireplace and found that a heap with wood already lay in it. She took a last glance around the room before she lit the fireplace, and within seconds, the fire was growing and spread a calming light in the room. She just stared into it. Wondering what was supposed to happen, when she felt something tingle inside of her. It started in her heart and spread through her whole body until her whole body glowed. The light spread and became brighter and brighter, until all she could see was white light around her. It lasted for about a minute before it started to dim down, and soon, she found herself panting on the floor, her eyes shut and breathing irregular.

"What the hell was that?" She muttered and started to breath more regular, trying to focus on the room again. What she saw made her gasp.

The library was no way near the same place than it had been a few minutes ago. The dusty, dark room was now completely dust free and the curtains that had been blocking the sun from shining in were now open, making the room bright and welcoming.

She nearly jumped out of her skin when someone spoke behind her. "Hello my dear lady, who may you be?"

She turned around to see who had spoken, but no one was in the room with her.

"I am here my dear."

Her eyes travelled up to the large painting hanging on the wall before her. An old man with brown eyes and a slight smile on his lips looked down at her.

"My name is Julia Zabini Prince, and you?"

The man pushed his glasses further up on his nose before answering.

"My name is John Christopher Potter. If I may ask, how come a Zabini managed to wake the house when only a Potter can enter?"

Julia wasn't sure what she was supposed to answer the man, or rather, the painting. The truth? She wanted to, because maybe this was one of her closer relatives, and she really would like to get to know him, who ever he was.

"That would be because I am a Potter sir. I am James Potters second child."

The man in the painting, John, narrowed his eyes. "My son had two sons, not a girl. I may have been old when he was born, but I know his name was Harry James Potter."

Julia nodded. "Yes but you see, I am Harry Potter. Or at least I was before the Zabini's adopted me. And for me being a girl... that is for protection."

The man in the painting studied her, and nodded. "I believe you. You have this honesty in your eyes that amaze me."

Julia blushed somewhat. "Thank you. So, you are my grandfather then?"

The man nodded. "Yes my dear, I am. I don't have the pleasure to meet you as Harry, but I am sure that you were the same then as you are now."

Julia nodded slowly. "I am trying at least."

After an half an hour talking to her grandfathers painting, she exited the library and studied the other changes in the house. It looked nothing like before. The hose was..alive. She could feel it in the walls, the furniture and in the air. She had never experienced something like it before. It was as if magic was everywhere, making the whole house feel homey and welcoming.

She headed towards the kitchen. Her grandfather had told her that the house elves belonging to the house would have arrived to that location when the house had awoken. She decided to visit them first to see how many of them there were. She wasn't too sure that she wanted elves in the first place, and felt a bit uneasy about the whole thing.

Upon entering the kitchen, she was overwhelmed by the little elves gathering around her feet's, all of them talking at the same time.

"If you all could be quiet, I think this would be much easier." She said in a demanding voice, and the room became silent in an instant. Now, the elves were looking at her with hue bright eyes, all waiting for her to speak again.

"That is better. Now then, who is the head elf here?" She studied them, and when no one spoke, she turned to the one standing closest to her.

"What's your name?" She asked the elf.

"I is Twinkly mistress." The elf bowed deep before standing straight again.

"Nice to meet you Twinkly. Who is the head elf here, presuming you have one?"

The elf shook her head. "No mistress, no head elf. He died years ago mistress. You have to choose new one for us."

Julia nodded. "Okay, I will do that later. Now, I would like you all to help me clean the house. I have no idea how long it has been since anyone lived in here, but the house needs cleaning. The curtains must be washed, and the carpets cleaned. We need to focus on the bedrooms and the dining hall first, as we will have guests tonight. We need to re-stock the kitchen and clean the windows. I don't care who are doing what, all that matters is that it gets done."

When she stopped speaking, the elves hurried off right away. She felt a bit sad about needing to give others orders, but she also knew that elves needed their owner to give them tasks, or they turned out like Dobby.

She decided to start in the entrance hall, so she headed that way, passing a few elves here and there, already working like they never done anything else.

The first thing she did was tearing down the curtains. She decided that there would be nothing in the windows at all form now on, so she told the elves to burn them. She studied the room happily. The sun shone right in and made the whole hall bathing in light. This was much better. She cast a cleaning charm on the carpets and on the floor. Then, she polished the floor by hand, not knowing any charm for it, and liking the body work. She hadn't been allowed to do that in ages.

When lunchtime rolled around, she cleaned herself up and left for the Leaky Cauldron, were she would be meeting her lunch date. She arrived five minutes early and headed for the bar to get something to drink while she waited. When Tom handed her her drink,someone walked up beside her.

"If it isn't Julia Prince. Waiting for someone?"

She gave her new companion a mock glare. "Draco Malfoy, you scared the shit out of me. Don't do that again please. And yes, as a matter of fact, I am."

Draco gave her a confident smile. "And who might that be? Bet he is handsome."

She laughed. "Actually, I have no idea. I don't even know his name to be truthful."

The young man beside her laughed. "I am glad to inform you that I do know who's your date."

He pointed at himself and she raised an eyebrow.

"I had no idea you had a thing for me Mr Malfoy."

Draco took her drink out of her hand an offered her his left arm. "Oh, but I do, Julia, I do."

Julia grabbed a hold of his arm and thanked Tom before exiting the pub. No one saw the man sitting in the corner, looking all but pleased.

Lunch was a lovely affair. They ate at a muggle restaurant in central London and after that, they strolled around for a bit in one of the parks. She told Draco about the cleaning up she was doing in the Potter Estate, and asked him if he would be present at tonight little gathering. He said that he would, and that he was not so little curious about what was going on. She told him that he had to wait to find out.

They parted outside the Leaky Cauldron, and Julia made her way to a boutique selling dresses, browsing there for a while before buying a lavender coloured formfitting dress. She just couldn't resist. Typical girls!

After the little shopping trip, she got back to the Potter Estate and marvelled over what a good job the elves had done. One of the elf's informed her that the master suit had been prepared for he to use, so she made her way up to the second floor and gasped at the change in the room. The last time she had been here, the covers and curtains had been done in dark green, a nice colour, but a bit dark for her liking. Now, almost everything that had been green were creamy white, and she loved it. The study had been cleared from her fathers personal things, and she made a mental note to ask the elves were his things had been stored. She wanted to look through them later.

The elves had done a really good work. The dining room was spotless and the huge table had been polished and a vase with flowers had been placed in the middle. Everything was prepared for tonight and the arrival of her guests. She had no idea how many they would be coming, but she was sure that they would fit just nicely around the table after all.

"Don't worry dear, you will do just fine."

Julia froze. She had never heard that voice before, but she knew who it belonged to anyway. There was no mistaking.

Hi everyone. I am so sorry for my lack of updates, and I have ni excuse really. I hope that you liked this chapter and that you can spare som of your time to write me a review. That would be really great.

Take care

Sara