Annabelle

The next morning we boarded the train and went home for the Christmas holidays. I was rather silent and gloomy all the way, even though Aurora tried to find out the events of last evening from me, I just brushed it off, not wanting to scroll through everything in my head over and over again and talk about it now. I was too hurt, offended and, to be honest, ashamed. Therefore, I tried to ease this pain and drown out my thoughts with the anticipation of meeting with my father. And this, in turn, caused a feeling of anxiety for him and reawakened fear.

Sirius met us at the railway station. He was infinitely happy to see me, his only daughter, again. I rushed into his arms, and I immediately felt so warm and good at heart.

After everything that we had learned, what Snape had told me, I wanted to hug my father as soon as possible, to protect him as much as I could. I was very afraid for him.

"My girl, it's like you saw a ghost!" Sirius remarked jokingly, as always, and kissed the top of my head.

I shuddered at his words and hugged my father tighter:

"Don't joke like that!"

"Well, honey, that's enough. Let's go home, young ladies!"

Our house was located practically in the very center of London, at 12 Grimmauld Place. It belonged to my family for centuries, and my grandfather, at one time, cast all kinds of protective spells on it, because of which the house was not displayed either on Muggle maps or on magic. It cannot be seen by outsiders, nor can it be detected with the help of any magical artifacts and spells.

The entrance to the building has a porch with worn stone steps. The door has no keyhole or letterbox, but has a silver door knocker in the form of a writhing snake. On the inside, the door is equipped with metal locks and a chain.

We entered a long and gloomy corridor, a crystal chandelier gleamed dimly overhead, portraits hung on the walls in gold and silver frames. Both the chandelier and the candlesticks on the mahogany table are decorated in a serpentine style. At the end of the corridor was a door leading down a narrow stone staircase to the kitchen. A dark staircase leads upstairs. Above it, on decorative plates, were the severed heads of house elves, all of them with equally elongated stigma noses.

The sight is quite frightening and it terribly scared me as a child.

I remember that I cried and was afraid to leave my room, until, one day, dad carried me out into the corridor in his arms and I saw that he bewitched all this heads so that they turned into colored soap bubbles and burst into thousands of colorful droplets as soon as I kept my eyes on them for more than a few seconds. This spell worked until my eleventh birthday, until I went to Hogwarts, and only then my fear completely disappeared.

By the way, our house is full of all sorts of relics and other dark artifacts, because our family has long been famous for its love of dark magic. At first glance, these things can hardly be called dangerous, but that's the whole point of dark magic. For example, in the closet, on the top floor, among other things, you can find a purple robe, which not only beautifully emphasizes the color of your eyes, but can also suffocate you at the moment. Or the silver tweezers on the bathroom vanity upstairs, once bewitched by Uncle Regulus to bite the first person who touches them.

Someone could say that it is simply unthinkable to live in this house, just as it is impossible to bring up and raise children as sane and adequate individuals. Still, I would argue with them. I love this house very much.

"Welcome, Mistress Annabelle!" Kreacher greeted us and, after picking up our things, the house elf bowed before me. "Kreacher is delighted to serve the young mistress again!"

"Do not clown around, but move faster!" My father yelled at him. "Young ladies, make yourself comfortable, we will have dinner in an hour. Hurry, today is Christmas Eve!" he chuckled and went off to give orders to the elf, singing Christmas carols under his breath.

Ora and I went up to the third floor, there, opposite my room, was a guest room and Ora, whenever she came to visit me, spent the night there.

We opened the heavy oak doors and a warmth wafted from the room. Kreacher had already lit the fireplace to warm the room by nightfall. Bright flames gleamed on the purple curtains covering the windows, and the same color canopies over the soft featherbed. Near the fireplace stood a comfortable, typically English, high-backed armchair, and under the window, perched a small sofa covered entirely with velvet cushions embroidered with gold threads. On either side of the head of the bed, on the walls, hung old tapestries depicting medieval knights, their exploits, and ladies. And above the fireplace was a huge, oval-shaped mirror in a silver frame. Also, on the occasion of the holiday, a Christmas tree garland hung over the fireplace, creating an atmosphere and pleasantly smelling of fresh spruce.

"Welcome!" I chuckled cheerfully and rushed into the room ahead of Ora.

"I haven't been here for a long time, but everything is as before, as if waiting for my arrival," my friend broke into a smile and plopped down on the bed, immediately getting lost among the many velvet pillows with and without fringe.

"Yes, home, sweet home..." I lounged on the couch under the window, looking around one of the rooms of my native mansion with a smile.

They tell the truth that houses and walls are being treated, I immediately felt calmer, as soon as I crossed the threshold. Nevertheless, this is my fortress and here I was safe, as well as those who are dear to me.

Suddenly my thoughts were interrupted by a soft knock on the door.

"Mistress Walpurga is calling you to her place, Mistress Annabelle…" Kreacher grunted and immediately jumped out the door.

"Damn! Grandma will definitely kill me! I hoped so much to avoid this conversation…" I immediately understood everything and was seriously alarmed.

"Don't worry, Anna! Besides, today is a holiday, I'm sure she won't scold you," Ora consoled.

"Yeah, you don't know my grandmother well..." I replied gloomily, I was already shaking all over from the upcoming conversation.

Well, what do I need it for? I already had enough of her when that ill-fated Howler came. I didn't do anything bad to Draco anymore, just like she said. Why open up old wounds again?

With a heavy heart, I left the room and climbed the stairs to my grandmother's bedroom. As I got closer, I heard a noise coming from her room and slowed down.

My father spoke to my grandmother in a raised voice. I wondered for a moment if I was doing the right thing by eavesdropping, but curiosity got the better of me, and besides, they were talking about me.

"She's had enough of her problems," my father's voice was heard. "The poor girl is already exhausted from the humiliation experienced because of your letter, mother!"

"She should have thought before doing something like that. It's her own fault and she deserves to be punished!" Grandma did not let up, insisting on her own.

Oh Merlin! She still decided to punish me for that incident with Draco? I started shaking with fear. Is she going to burn my name out of the family tapestry?

"And you shouldn't have placed a betrothal spell on the child!" Sirius fumed. "You see how she suffers with this brat! And this is, in your opinion, a worthy party? I've been silent for too long, mother. You didn't have the right to burden my girl with such a fate!"

"Don't you dare talk to me like that, Sirius! You are forgetting…" Walpurga interrupted her son.

"No, you are the one who forgets. You have always commanded us — me, Regulus, and now your own granddaughter. You constantly demanded the very best from us: excellent behavior, outstanding academic achievement, career achievement. But we just wanted to please you so that you finally notice us, the real ones. Did not treat us like her subordinates and did not pull our strings like puppets. Because of you, mother, Regulus went to serve the Dark Lord. And where is he now?"

"Shut up, rascal!" Grandmother shouted excitedly.

"Regulus is gone. I know that you would like heirs from your beloved son, but that's how did it happen..." father continued as if nothing had happened. "Now, I won't let you ruin Annabelle's life the same way."

"She is my granddaughter!"

"She is my daughter!" Sirius roared.

There was silence, it was difficult to understand what was going on in the room. I held my breath in anticipation, and when my father spoke again, I had to concentrate and strain my ears to make out his rather quiet voice.

"Otherwise we will leave this house. And you will lose everything, mother," he emphasized these words and repeated again. "If you do this to her, we will leave and you will stay on your own! You will rot in this damn house alone!"

Footsteps were heard and I bounced down the stairs, pretending that I had just now climbed. My father left the room blacker than a cloud, but meeting my eyes, he smiled softly and kissed the top of my head, caught up with me, and then went downstairs.

Taking a deep breath and gathering my courage, I went to the door and knocked.

"Come in!" Grandmother's worried voice was heard.

I went in after saying hello, but not daring to approach, remained standing at the door with a guilty look. I was afraid to meet my grandmother's eyes, so I looked around the room, just not to look at her.

This room was the darkest of all in the house, although the rays of the sun always fell through its windows, or the moon flooded the entire room with its light. Dark maroon, closer to brown, curtains never completely covered the windows, and gloomy tapestries depicting our ancestors, dark sorcerers, completely decorated the walls.

Grandmother sat in an armchair by the window, the light from the fire from fireplace faintly fell on her. Her face was visibly haggard since the last time we saw each other in the summer, and her cheeks were sunken. She almost always wore a black cap on her head, and her clothes were of the same gloomy tones. She did not recover from the death of Uncle Regulus, nor from the imminent death of her husband — my grandfather Orion, after the news of their missing son. And after the mention of him in the recent scandal with my father, she still couldn't pull herself together. Her condition and appearance really worried me.

"Annabelle, come closer!" she said in an imperious tone, finally, as if she had been deciding for a long time what to talk to me about, and I immediately obeyed. "Don't you want to say me something?"

"What to say?" It burst out of me.

"Do you realize that you have dishonored our noble and pureblood Black family with your antics?"

"I know, grandma, but..."

"Don't interrupt me, young lady!" Walpurga spoke authoritatively and in her own manner. "You have no idea how lucky you are to be born into a family like ours! And get engaged to the equally noble Malfoy family, with whom we have been related for centuries, continuing to carry the tradition of the purity of our magical blood! You should be grateful for our choice, because it was not so big. We are obliged to follow these laws so as not to defile our family and blood! And you still dare to be capricious, shame us and put us in an awkward position in front of your fiancé's family. Many families end their lineage unable to find a suitable party for themselves. And you were lucky enough to be engaged to such a beautiful and noble young man!"

I couldn't help but snort. But then I bit my tongue, noticing the granny's menacing look on myself.

"It's time for you to put aside your teenage whims, in a year you will become an adult, graduate from Hogwarts and, perhaps, another year later we will already play a wedding."

I stared at her, eyes wide. What? So soon? I thought that I had at least five more years of freedom in store. At least some, but still freedom!

"Yes, young lady. There is no point in looking at me like that! There are fewer and fewer pureblood wizards every year, so we need heirs. And marriage and, even more so, motherhood, will bring you to reason and cool your ardor."

"But grandma! It's too early for me to think about it!"

"But you will stop thinking about all sorts of nonsense, you will begin to behave as a representative of such a family as ours should, and you will finally feel bound by obligations. You know what the betrothal spell carries. You have no right to harm your fiance. As well as publicly insulting him, taking courtship from another."

I swallowed, lowering my eyes in shame. What a nightmare, how does she know about Cormac?

"I heard he's a Gryffindor?" Grandmother asked in disgust.

I was silent, quickly thinking of what to answer. She will definitely kill me if she finds out the truth.

"What Gryffindor, grandma? Who do you take me for? So that I, Black, a true Slytherin, would fall for some Gryffindor? Why do you believe such insulting rumors about me? Yes, it's my fault that I put the spell on Draco. I won't hurt him again, I promise. But to believe in this? Grandmother, you think too badly of me and it offends me!" I blurted out my exculpatory tirade in one breath, trying to make each of my word sounded as convincing and truthful as possible.

I was ashamed that I had to deceive her, but there was no other way. Grandmother looked at me intently, apparently trying to determine if I was lying.

"Well, alright, Annabelle, if you say so," she finally managed. "But mark my word, you will be married soon and nothing will change that. Therefore, start behaving as you should, otherwise the next shame will be the last for you in our family and you will go around the world."

"Excuse me, mistress, it's time for the table!" To my happiness and surprise, the appearance of Kreacher saved me from further moralizing.

"Well, it's time! Help me get up!" she ordered the elf, and he obediently jumped up to my grandmother.

We went down to the first floor, to the dining room, where dad and Ora were already waiting for us. My cheeks were still burning from this conversation, and inside I was pounding. But it was already easier from the realization that my grandmother would not expel me from the family (at least not yet) and punish me as she wanted. Apparently, the conversation with my father had a strong effect on her and she reconsidered her decision.

I sat down at the table next to my father, calming down, and then I was only surprised by the magnificent decoration of the room.

Under the ceiling to a huge chandelier stretched garlands of holly, sprinkled with snow, from which now and then small crystal snowflakes fell. They did not reach the table, as they immediately evaporated into the air. An elongated mahogany table was bursting with all sorts of festive dishes. Kreacher did his best, I have to give him credit! The center of the table was occupied by a Christmas wreath with red candles burning in it, adding a special light to the room, in addition to the fireplace located at the end of the dining room.

Over the fireplace hung two crossed silver blades, caked with the blood of the enemy. Grandmother wouldn't let Kreacher clean them off, as it reminded us of the valiant deeds of our ancestors. Next to it was a huge sideboard, made of the same mahogany as the table. It was full of silver goblets encrusted with precious stones, from which they drank wine back in the Middle Ages; precious flasks, in which, without a doubt, there were remnants of some terrible potions, and, however, it was quite difficult to guess their composition even till this day; all kinds of cones, silver dishes and trays, porcelain service and other things.

*

After finishing our festive dinner, Ora and I went up to her room and, making sure that no one would eavesdrop, we closed the door behind us. I told her about the overheard conversation between my dad and my grandmother.

"Wow! He's very worried about you... But, Anna... Haven't you changed your mind about telling your father?" Ora asked me as she sat comfortably on the bed and I sat down in a chair by the fireplace.

"No. We need the help of seniors and not only Snape. Besides, I have to warn him of the danger if Draco fails..." I sighed heavily, trying not to imagine what would happen.

"Have you talked to him since that quarrel?"

"Are you kidding me? I was ordered not to spin under his feet," I twisted the moralizing from Bellatrix, which I received in a letter recently.

"Perhaps you should ask him what the task is. At least try… Maybe we could help him or…" Ora suggested.

"That's what he'll tell me! No! I don't even want to talk to him!" I interrupted and folded my arms over my chest, pouting. "The light has come together like a wedge on him, or what? Grandmother sleeps and sees how to play my wedding as soon as possible! I'm so lucky! Fate connected with the heir of a pure-blooded and noble family…" I drawled sarcastically and grunted. "Yes! I'm sick of this already! What's the point of being a pureblood? There are too few of us left, so what now? To marry the first one who came across, if only to preserve the purity of blood? I don't want that!"

"Hush, Anna!" My friend looked at me in a slightly bewildered way. "You don't joke with statements like that. If your grandmother heard this..."

I fell silent, only now realizing what I said and covered my mouth with my hand, glancing at the door in fear. It seemed I didn't have enough problems to be called a blood traitor now.

"You're right, Ora. But I'm already so tired of everyone teaching me how I should behave and what to do in my status as a bride…" I sighed sadly. "And then there are other problems..." I bit my lip and looked worriedly at my friend, she was sitting with a confused look, which is why I jumped up and sat down next to her, hugging Ora by the shoulders. "Sorry, I shouldn't just talk about myself. Your situation is, of course, much worse than mine. But we will solve it! I'm not Black if I don't think of a way out!"

Aurora nodded and gave me a weak smile in return. She has always been like a sister to me, I have to protect her too. And I will do it, no matter what the cost.

We chatted until midnight, after which, saying good night, I went to sleep in my room.