2 | CONFESSIONS° HARRY POTTER

2 | HEL HOUSE

ACT FIVE, love
CHAPTER TWO, hel house

     Hel House was nothing like Iris had expected. For starters, it seemed to be easily accesible to anyone who knew how to open a gate. She had no problem stepping onto the grounds and, judging from the way the passing Muggles stared up at the large structure of the house in awe, it wasn't enchanted to be invisible to them either. The exterior reminded her of Malfoy Manor, except it was more elegant and pristine. That was another thing that confused Iris; it looked extremely well taken care of for a house that had been abandoned since the death of its owner many years prior. 

Iris walked up the cobblestone path, staring around at everything and trying to imagine what it would have been like back when Rhea Krane lived in it with her family. Veles moved on the ground beside her, hissing as he looked around the place. With Calypso dead and unable to accompany Iris, she ventured off on her own, private quest to find and destroy Rhea's Horcruxes with Veles to keep her company. 

"Dumbledore mentioned something about this place being different from any other house. What did he mean by that?" Iris asked Veles as she stood in front of the grand doors, glancing at them apprehensively.

"The House has a mind of its own. It's been known to trick those with the sharpest minds. And stay away from the cellar." Veles warned. Iris frowned.

"What's in the cellar?" she asked.

"Think of the cellar as the heart of the house. It's where the darkest parts reside. Spending too much time down there could make a person go mad." Veles said. Iris clutched The Black Book in her hand. She took a deep breath and pushed the door open.

She stepped inside and looked around at the brightly lit foyer. Even the inside was pristine and the furniture looked as though it had just been bought yesterday. Iris marveled at the still paintings on the walls of her ancestors. The faces of Caliope and Cauius Hel stared down at her, giving her an eerie and sinking feeling.

Iris tried not to waste much time in departing on her journey to Hel House. She had suffered through Calypso's funeral with the other guests before everyone returned to their respective homes, and she had spent the last few days helping to prepare Remus and Tonk's rather small and intimate wedding ceremony. In fact, it was so small that Iris was one of the few people in attendance and Remus had asked her to be his "Best Man", so she stood beside him at the ceremony. She was glad Remus had asked her, but she couldn't help but feel like she was standing in a spot that should've been someone else's and there had been a few times where Remus would look around, as though he were expecting to see his friends in attendance at his wedding. By nightfall, Iris left and made her way to Wiltshire. Remus had grown into a sort of paternal figure to her and he had lost everything because of Rhea and Cordelia. She would do this for him too.

Now, Iris understood what Dumbledore meant when he said that he could sense that Hel House was different from other homes. In a way, it reminded her of Grimmauld Place, but there was something different about Hel House. It was like she could sense the death and darkness that dwelled in the place.

"Where's Rhea's room? We should probably start there." said Iris. Veles led her up the staircase and Iris looked around at her surroundings. She felt like the painting's eyes were trailing her and that she was being watched by someone she couldn't see. 

Veles led her to the door in the middle of a hallway lined with more doors on the second floor. Iris pushed the door before her open and examined the room. The walls were bare and white with no pictures or memorabilia on them. There was nothing visibly personal in the bedroom, as if no one had lived inside of it all and it was nothing more than a guest room. But, the oddest part about the whole place was that the bed looked like it had been slept in recently. The bed was made; the pillows were sprawled out and the sheets were ruffled.