2 | CONFESSIONS° HARRY POTTER

2 | NUMBER 12 GRIMMAULD PLACE

ACT THREE, loss
CHAPTER TWO, number twelve grimmauld place

       There was a part of Iris that liked 12 Grimmauld Place. It was certainly different from the Rosier family home she had grown up in her entire life. It was darker, damper, dustier with a cobweb chandelier and a serpent knocker that greeted you at the door. Aged portraits of a family that she hadn't known she was apart of until two years ago lined the walls. The one person she did know was Druella Black. She had been a Rosier before she married Cygnus Black III and gave birth to Bellatrix, Andromeda, and Narcissa Black. Rhea Krane had spoken to Iris about her once--before everything changed. She and Druella had been friends back when Rhea went to Hogwarts, supposedly, though Iris doubted whether or not her great-grandmother had any real friends.

Iris sat on one of the twin beds, deep in thought, and holding the diary of her other great-grandmother, Astrea, in her hands while Ron and Hermione talked to one another. The Order of the Phoenix was meeting in the kitchen downstairs and (thanks to Mrs. Weasley) Iris was being forced to sit with the other teenagers that hadn't been allowed to attend.

Her parents had fought for her presence in the room, arguing that they hadn't been much older than she was when they joined the original Order, but Mrs. Weasley put up a fight and Calypso had yet to master the art of convincing Molly to change her mind. It wasn't just Mrs. Weasley either. No one really thought that someone of her age should be hearing what they were discussing even though Iris vehemently disagreed. Perhaps, not that Harry was here, they would change.

In the meantime, Iris had spent a few evenings shifting through the diary of Astrea Rouse. Ron and Hermione (specifically Ron) now tolerated her presence and Iris had become the fill-in third member of their group while Harry was away. After sitting through a few conversations with Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, Iris came to the conclusion that the pair liked one another. She'd see the way Ron would mask his obvious attraction to Hermione by poking fun at her and Hermione seemed to be oblivous (a first) to her own feelings towards him. Iris chose not to get involved or mention it, she wanted to see how things would play out on its own.

However, Iris thought it was nice to befriend someone that wasn't in her house. Sure there was Elissa, but Iris and Elissa hardly ever talked outside of the few classes they had together since Elissa had her own group of Ravenclaw friends that Iris wasn't apart of. As for her Slytherin friends, she recognized the inauthenticity of their friendship. They didn't know anything about her and she never really took the time to learn anything about them either. They didn't know that she thought the whole idea of purebloods being superior was completely stupid. They didn't even know who her parents were.

At least with Ron and Hermione around it felt like she didn't have to hide anything anymore. And despite Ron complaining about the lack of another male in the group, Hermione seemed grateful enough to have a female companion, at least for the summer. 

The door opened, yanking Iris out of her state, and causing her to turn her attention to the sight of Harry Potter stepping into the room.

Hermione was up before he had even set foot through the door. She threw herself on him in a hug that nearly caused them to topple over while Ron's tiny owl, Pigwidgeon, zoomed through the room.

"HARRY! Ron, he's here, Harry's here! We didn't hear you arrive! Oh, how are you? Are you all right? Have you been furious with us? I bet you have, I know our letters were useless — but we couldn't tell you anything, Dumbledore made us swear we wouldn't, oh, we've got so much to tell you, and you've got to tell us — the dementors! When we heard — and that Ministry hearing — it's just outrageous, I've looked it all up, they can't expel you, they just can't, there's provision in the Decree for the Restriction of Underage Sorcery for the use of magic in life-threatening situations —"