Harry Potter and the Heir of Slytherin

A Meeting with the Bones, Part II

Aside from his parents old house, Harry Potter had never been in a magical household before. This went doubly so for a household like Bones Manor. Harry had to admit that if this was the standard most pureblood households held themselves to, than he would be impressed.

It probably wasn't, since the Bones' were a Founding house, but that was besides the point.

Bones Manor was a Baroque-style mansion. It had exactly five floors and four-hundred and sixty-two rooms. According to Susan, who led Harry on the tour, the mansion was built in 1756, after the original Bones Manor was destroyed during a siege by the Dark Lord of that time.

The hallways they wandered were a combination of commanding imposition and spartan elegance. There was very little in the way of decoration, but the floors, walls and ceiling were made of bone-white marble, a highly polished surface that glittered brightly in the light. The few decorations the halls did have were the Corinthian columns that lined either side of the walls, the bronze oil lamps that gleamed as the light reflected through them, and the few magical portraits of past Heads of the Bones family.

Susan did not show Harry many of the rooms, as there were far too many to show in a single sitting. Instead, she showed him a few of the more important rooms in the east wing, where she and her aunt lived. Apparently, the west wing was for political guests and the like. So far, she had shown him her Aunt's study, the dining hall, the kitchens, the foyer, several guest rooms, a billiards room, and last but not least, her own room.

The room of Susan Amelia Bones was about what he expected from someone whose aunt was Amelia Bones. It was girly, yet spartan. The soft carpet held the same bone-white color scheme as the rest of the house. The walls were bare of posters like Lisa's room, but it did have a few magical photos featuring a young couple (Susan's parents, he presumed), a baby Susan, and a younger, less worn-looking Amelia.

She had a large walk-in closet on one side and a door leading to what he presumed was a restroom on the other. Her room only had a few commodities; a large queen-sized bed with yellow and black striped sheets and pillows with a badger on it (the Bones family has been predominantly Hufflepuff since 1762), an antique dresser that looked like it had been carved out of bone, a nightstand, a bookshelf, and a desk with a comfortable looking chair.

"So... um... this is my room," Susan said softly, looking embarrassed by her room for some reason. Was she afraid he would think it too bare? "It's not much, I know, but..."

"I like it," Harry interrupted, casting his gaze around the room before focusing on the slightly surprised girl standing next to him. He smiled. "There's no clutter and everything is neatly organized. It does have a few personal touches, but you don't overload the walls with posters and pictures. It's nice, I think, and it suits you."

"Ah... um... thank you," Susan mumbled, suddenly finding her toes to be infinitely more interesting than anything else at the moment.

"So what other rooms does this house possess?" Harry asked, deciding it may be a good idea to change the subject before Susan's head exploded. He didn't know why she was embarrassed; it could have just been due to her natural shyness, but thought it best to switch topics so they could continue conversing. "This mansion is awfully large."

"Aunty told me that Potter Manor was actually bigger than this," Susan informed him with a slight smile. That smile turned into a sad frown a moment later as another thought seemed to occur to her. "Although that was before it got destroyed during the war against You-Know-Who."

Harry could sense her apprehension about bringing up a topic that should have probably been a sore spot for him. While some part of Harry was depressed at the knowledge of his family's ancient roots being destroyed, he couldn't really find it in himself to mourn the destruction of a place he'd never been to. Only one thing truly bothered him. The thought of all the potential knowledge the Potter's held, knowledge that was now lost to time because a psychopathic dark lord decided to destroy his family legacy.