Blood Ties
Part 17
Rating, summary and such are same as before.
Note 1: Thanks Joahn for beta-reading the story!
Note 2: Thank you for all your wonderful reviews. I would try to minimize the spelling and grammar mistakes, but well, i'm not really good at it (Computer program? sure. English grammar? um... no thanks). That's why i'm so glad that Joahn's here cos if not the story probably not even readable... (seriously strange though: i think that sentence in ch16 should be something like 'you really do like her, don't you?' or something in that fashion...)
Note 3: The next couple of updates would probably take longer... my exam's in a month and the editing wasn't going too smoothly (namely because i'm too lazy and i've no idea what i was trying to say when i wrote it...)
"Bennu: Egyptian sun bird, symbol of Osiris incarnate, sacred bird of Heliopolis. Cute." Shelia smiled widened. "Let's see how the sacred bird does when it encounters a killing curse, shall we?" She turned around, and moved towards the other end of the altar.
"NO!" Shelia turned back, and found herself staring at two black orbs.
"NO!" Willow screamed, her eyes instantly turned black as they burnt into Shelia's green. "Hissing, writhing, striking near!"
Two snakes stretched out from the floor and wound themselves around Shelia's legs, pinning her on the spot. The older redhead looked down, but didn't seem too worried. She swung her legs, hard, and as quickly as they appeared, the two snakes dissolved into dust and exploded into thin air. "Cute trick." Shelia looked up at her daughter. "I'll give you that." She smirked, and raised her wand. "Crucio!"
"Defendo!" Willow cried. The curse from the mother's wand hit directly on the white shield in front of the daughter, shattering the shield into pieces before disappearing itself. The young redhead then turned towards the hands that were holding her. "Extermino!" Immediately, fire engulfed both hands, forcing them to release Willow and drop her to the ground. Willow crawled away from the portrait as the fire quickly spread to the whole painting, and held out her hands. "Comburo!" The portrait exploded into pieces.
"Reducto!"
Willow spun towards Shelia's voice, but not fast enough to counter the spell before it threw her towards the wall once again. The young redhead cried out as her back hit the stone wall, and she pushed herself up when she saw Shelia stalking towards her. "Contego!" She called, and a bright green energy bubble quickly surrounded the girl, separating her from the older redhead.
Shelia frowned. "So you can do magic without a wand. I have underestimated you." She pointed her wand at the bubble. "Finite!" Nothing. "Finite incantatem!" Still, the bubble was firmly in place. "Ah." She blinked, her lips slowly curved up. "Oh well," she shrugged before waving her wands again. "Avada kedavra!"
Green lights shot out from Shelia's wand and headed towards the young redhead. The smirk on Shelia's face turned into a satisfying-grin as she watched the killing curse punch through the bubble and reach Willow's chest...
... and shoot right past the young witch, hitting the wall behind her. The satisfied grin on Shelia's face turned to full blown horror as the image of the young redhead suddenly disappeared in front of her. "Hallucination!" Realization hit the older woman. "I can't believe it-"
"Believe it." The older redhead spun around, and found Willow standing there, the darkness within her eyes quickly expanded towards the white until her eyes were totally black. Willow held out her hand, and instantly the wand in Shelia's hand flew into Willow's waiting palm. The young witch then held out her other hand, the palm facing the older redhead. "DEO!"
Before the older redhead could register what was happening, she found herself being fastened to an invisible crucifix, her arms spread out, her left foot pressing backward against her right, the tip of her shoes barely touching the ground. "LET ME GO!" She screamed, struggling against the invisible bind.
Willow slowly made her way towards the older woman until the two were face to face. "You want a murderer? I'll give you a murderer." She hissed, and stabbed the wand in her hand right into the middle of Shelia's neck. The older redhead choked as her airway was cut off by her own wand, blood coming from her mouth was spattered onto Willow's face. "I hate when people threaten what's mine." Willow said calmly, watching as the struggle of the older woman became weaker and weaker, until it finally stopped.
When the older redhead finally stopped moving, the redhead waved her hand, dropping the woman's body onto the floor with a thud. As quickly as before, the body of Shelia Rosenberg dissolved into some kind of liquid and then reformed itself into Rose.
Willow took a couple steps back as the giant flower slowly opened her eyes and rolled to her side, her big eyes staring at Willow. "Very impressive." She said, a smile formed on her cartoon-y face.
Willow narrowed her black eyes. "It will be even more impressive when I pluck your petals one by one."
"Hey now. It's your ancestors who designed the test. I only deliver the paper. Don't kill the messenger."
"What test?" Willow shook her head, clearing her thoughts and the darkness that was still visible in her eyes. "What the hell are you talking about?"
"Can you at least help me up first?" Rose asked, and Willow couldn't help but raised an eyebrow as she watched the giant rose start rolling on the ground, failing miserably trying to push herself up with her stubby arms. The redhead would have even giggled if not the fact that the giant rose was trying to kill her just a minute ago. After couple of minutes watching the rolling rose, well, rolled, Willow finally moved forward and helped her up. "Thanks."
"Explain." The redhead took a step back and crossed her arms in front of her chest.
Rose nodded. "Every generation a test is given to the Rosenberg who wants to become the true heir. Only the one who has proven him or herself worthy can inherit the family's wealth."
"First, I've already inherited the wealth. Second, you test us by killing us? You didn't only pretend to be my dead mother but you used a killing curse on me! Now you're telling me it was all a test! I don't even want to be a true heir, whatever that means!" Willow said angrily.
"True, you have already inherited the mansion and your mother's property, but you have not inherited everything. Believe it or not,the Rosenberg's have more wealth than you can even imagine, not to mention all the books and artifacts that are stored here." Rose pointed at the portrait of Willow's great-grandfather, and instantly, the portrait slid to the side, revealing a hidden room.
Willow slowly made her way towards the entrance and peeked inside, and found herself staring at a room filled with books and different artifacts - room that was even larger than the family library. "Wow." Her anger forgotten, and her mouth dropped open in awe.
Rose smiled at her reaction and continued. "This room is now your own personal library. You and only you, the true heir of the Rosenberg estate, will be able to access it." She thought for a moment. "What I would like to know though, is how can you be so sure that was not your mother earlier? How can you be so sure that it was not your mother, or at least part of her?"
Willow turned back towards Rose. "Mum's dead. I was there when nana identified the body." She shrugged, her eyes dropped a bit. "She might not be the most attentive mother in the world, but I know she would never try to kill her own daughter." She said quietly.
Rose studied the redhead for a moment. "If you say so."
Willow looked up, her eyes narrowed as Rose moved away.
Rose moved away and picked up Willow's broken wand from the floor. She then held up her finger and waved. Instantly, the blood and dirt on the floor disappeared, the portrait that Willow had blown up earlier restored itself as if nothing had happened. The giant rose turned towards the younger redhead and threw the broken wand to her.
Willow's hand shot out, barely catching the wand in time. Her eyes widened when she found instead of two broken pieces, she was now holding a whole wand, without even a mark on it. "What the..." She looked up at Rose, and found the giant flower was now standing in front of the hidden library, studying the new portrait that had appeared from no where.
The young Slytherin took a couple steps closer, her eyes widened as she recognized herself in the new portrait, standing in front of a full-length mirror with her hand reaching out for the reflection. It wasn't her own face that caught most of her attention, but the blood that was dripping from the hand of her portrait-self and the black orbs of her reflection-self that seemed too cold to be human. The dream she had at the start of the semester came back to her in full-force.
Rose turned her attention back towards Willow, seemly not noticing the look of almost-horror on her face. "Every true heir of the Rosenberg's family has a portrait in here, as well as in the family book." The giant flower explained. "Being a true heir does not only mean that one has control over the whole family, but that he or she has the responsiblity to maintain the family's glory and prestige. I know you also bear the name of Slytherin, but people will always remember the Rosenberg's blood in you, as will you."
Willow forced herself to look away from the portrait. "It's always about blood, isn't it?"
Rose nodded. "Let's move on, shall we?"
Willow took a step back as Rose moved closer to her. "Don't worry. Here." The redhead was perplexed when Rose showed her a golden key that was linked to a necklace. "C'mon." She bent down a bit, and let Rose put the necklace around her neck. "This is the master key to all the properties that belong to the Rosenberg family, including this mansion. It is also the key to the all the vaults Rosenberg's have in Gringotts Wizarding Bank. Including the one belonged to the true heir: vault 911."
The young Slytherin blinked. "911? Emergency call?" Rose stared at her in confusion. "Nothing."
Rose shook her head a bit before continued. "As I said, it is the master key of everything that belongs to the family. Keep it with you at all times. It is charmed to be used only by the true heir. Anyone else attempting to use it will be electricuted." Rose paused before continuing. "As the matter of fact, do not tell anyone about the key or anything about this room. We don't need people poking around thinking that they might find something valuable. The whole mansion is warded and anyone who tries to get in without an invitation will only get himself killed."
"Sounds dangerous."
"It is." The giant rose nodded at the burns on Willow's arms. "You should get those taken care of."
"Um?" Willow looked down at her arms. "Oh. Ouch." She was so busy trying to take everything in that she wasn't aware of her injuries until now. The burns on her arms when she tried to free herself from the portrait; the bruises that she could feel forming on her back and knees when she was thrown against the wall. "Yeah."
"The house-elves are waiting outside. They will tend to your wounds." She pointed, and the wall on the other side slid open, revealing an exit. Willow looked between Rose and the exit. "Go on."
The redhead nodded. She walked towards the exit, but stopped before reaching it. "What she said... what the fake Shelia Rosenberg said? Is that true?"
"Does it matter?" Willow turned, and found Rose smiling at her. "You passed."
Willow opened her eyes and groaned when she felt sunlight shinning through the window, binding her. Slowly pushed herself up, she looked around, and found herself sitting on the super-size bed that had once belonged to her great-grandfather. The house-elves had moved her from the smaller room to this super-size master bedroom after she had passed the 'test'. According to Zuerst, only the true heir would be allowed to move into this room - even though Willow would rather stay in the smaller room: the size of this room was simply too large for comfort.
Sighing, the redhead leaned back against the headboard, when she noticed an owl resting near the night stand. "Hedwig?" She immediately recognized Harry's snow white owl.
Hedwig flipped her wings a bit and took a step closer to Willow, her leg holding a small jewelry box and a short note. Accepting the offer, the redhead opened the jewelry box, and found a silver ring: two hands holding a heart that was wearing a crown.
"Willow," Willow opened the note and started reading. "People call it a Claddagh ring. The heart of the ring represents love, while hands represent friendship and the crown represents loyalty. When people wear the ring on the right hand with the heart pointing outwards, it means they are free; if it is facing inwards, it means they are taken; and when people wear it on the left hand, it means they are committed. I had someone engrave our initials on it." The redhead turned the ring a bit and saw 'H' and 'W' engraved inside the ring. "I hope you like it. Miss you. Harry."
The redhead Slytherin smiled, even though her eyes were suddenly filled with tears. She quickly put the ring on her right hand, the heart facing inwards.
Harry was just about to leave for breakfast when Hedwig came back and dropped a small note into his hand. Harry quickly opened it, and grinned brightly when he saw the three words on the small note. 'Miss you too.'