The Forgotten Riddle: Darkness Descending

Chapter 2: The Black Family Tree

Chapter 2: The Black Family Tree

*dedicated to my cousin Matt* 

Sirius walked around the dusty table and embraced us. He pulled away after a moment, allowing me to get a good look at him. The last time I has seen Sirius, he was thin and pale with long greasy hair (He was definitely working the Snape look), but now he looked healthier and his hair had been washed and trimmed, a dark purple button down and black trousers covering his many tattoos.

"You look great sirius!" I said, smiling up at him. He beamed at me and then turned to my parents, welcoming them in. I looked around the large kitchen while Ron headed up stairs to pick his room with the twins. There was dust coating every surface and cobwebs stretched from the ceiling to the tops of the cupboards. I walked up to the china cabinet and wiped away a patch of dust with my sleeve. Inside were silver goblets with a cress embossed on the front, and porcelain dishes and cups. I leaned in closer, trying to make out the motto on the goblets but the glass was to dirty. I sighed and turned around, joining the adults' conversation.

"-Harry coming?" Sirius was asking as I squeezed I between Tonks and Hermione.

"He should be here next week," Moody grunted, sipping from his hip flask.

"Why next week? Why not now?" Sirius hissed, glaring at the Auror.

"The coast needs to be clear, Sirius," Kingsley said, his voice deep and soothing.

"There are procedures that were established that we need to follow, you know this Sirius," Dad murmured.

"Screw the procedures!" Sirius roared. "Harry's miserable there with those muggles! They don't treat him right!"

"Calm down! You aren't the only one who cares for Harry, all of us do!" mum hissed. Sirius snarled and stormed away to the other end of the kitchen, his arms folded across his chest. Mum frowned and turned away, walking out of the kitchen. "Go pick your room girls and put your things away. And be quiet. We don't want to wake anything up."

"What does she mean by that?" Hermione whispered. I shrugged and picked up my trunk, heading up the stairs to the bedrooms. Walking up the dark stairs, we passed numerous rooms; sitting rooms, bathrooms, drawing rooms, the house was very large and it had probably once been beautiful. On the second floor, I found Ron in a medium sized room with two beds. This room, too, had dust everywhere. The only thing in the room, besides Ron, the beds, and his trunks, was a picture frame with a murky brown background on it.

"Who are you sharing with?" I asked, pausing in the door way, waving Hermione and Ginny ahead of me.

"Harry, of course!" Ron said, rolling his eyes. "Who else would I share with?" I shrugged at him and walked away. It really had been a stupid question. Obviously he would be sharing with Harry. I shook my head at my own idiocy and headed up another flight of stairs, passing Fred and George who were in a room identical to Ron's. At the end of that hallway, I found Hermione and Ginny and a very large bedroom, there were three beds in here and two wardrobes. Everything for comfortably and side and there was still room for three trunks. Another blank portrait was in this room as well but the background was green in stead of brown.

Ginny was pulling some clothes out of her trunk and Hermione was giving the beds and wardrobes a quick cleaning before we used them. "Is their anything in the wardrobes?" I asked walking over to one.

"Just rubbish," Hermione said as she waved her wand, siphoning dust off of the last bed.

I walked over to the bed next to the wardrobe and opened my trunk, pulling out my own clothes to put away. Soon after we were done, mum walked in with a clean set of blankets. "Now, you three get some sleep, alright? We have a lot to do tomorrow."

"What are we doing?" Ginny asked, taking the blankets from her.

"Cleaning."

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I woke up the next morning to mum calling my name from down the hall. I groaned and got up, looking around to see that Hermione and Ginny were already up and gone. "Last one up, as usual," I muttered. Pulling on a jumper and some old jeans, pulling my hair into a low ponytail.

I ran down the stairs and into the basement, heading to the kitchen. "you've missed breakfast," Tonks said, looking up from the papers sitting in front of her.

"damn," I frowned.

"Here, have some toast." she pushed the plate next to her toward me. Thanking her, I grabbed a buttered slice and headed back upstairs. Everyone, besides dad who was at work, Mad Eye, and Kingsley, was in a small living room where it appeared mum had set up base. There were cleaning supplies strewn over the tables and rags piled on the couch.

"Finally!" the twins chorused when I walked in.

"We didn't think you would ever get up." smirked Ron. I ignored him and walked over to mum who was handing out jobs to everyone.

"Ah, Elizabeth, you're going to stay in here. Clean the windows and the floor, the tables and the front of that cabinet over there. Stay away from the drapes though because there's a doxy infestation and we have to wait for the potion to clear them away." I sighed, nodding at her and picking up some cleaner and a rag. Soon, everyone left and I was by myself. I walked over to the window on the far side of the room and started wiping it clean.

Looking around, I noticed a tapestry hanging nearby, rimmed in gold. Curious I walked over to it. The black family motto was embroidered in gold on top and the Black Family Tree was written beneath it. Names and pictures covered the tapestry, linked together by gold. There were burns covering some faces, where it looked like someone had blasted a name away.

Towards the bottom I found Sirius' name, and nearby I found the name Narcissa Black,married to Lucius Malfoy, there son Draco. I smiled when I say Draco's name. No one in my group liked him but were we're friendly to each other. He was very handsome...

Next to Narcissa's name was A burn mark and next to thar was Bellatrix Black, married to Rudolphus. A single line came down from Bellatrix's name, showing she had a child with someone else. "Child unknown," I whispered, reading the words under the line. "Who was her baby?" I wondered, curious.

A moment later, mum called for me and I walked away from the black family tree and the unknown baby. It wasn't important anyway.

*sorry it's short*