Lucy Minchum

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Lucy Minchum



Crack!

James wobbled as he landed on his feet in the kitchen of Number 12 Grimmauld Place, Kreacher's hand still fisted about his wrist, Maryrose right beside him. The place was just as grim and old as he recalled, everything dark and tight, the walls narrow and high, as though looming over him, dark magical artefacts and horrid house-elf heads leering from high shelves and along dark green wallpaper and black trim and wainscoting. Kreacher immediately shoved them into a pantry, closing the door hurriedly as footsteps echoed through the entry hall by the door and Walburga Black herself entered the room.

"What was that sound, Kreacher?" she demanded.

"Kreacher dropped a pan, Mistress, Kreacher is most sorry, Kreacher will burn his fingers with an iron as punishment, Mistress," he murmured.

Walburga stared at him and looked around the room, assessing everything. After several long moments, she said, "Go and fetch the Minchum girl's bags. Lucius wishes to send them 'round to the Manor with his house elf."

"Yes, Mistress, Kreacher will get the girl's belongings for Mr. Malfoy's elf," he bowed low, his ears rolling against his head, "Kreacher will go and get them, yes."

"Very good." Walburga turned and started toward the door. She paused in the center of it and looked back, "And do be more careful in the future with the pans." With that, she stepped out the door and Kreacher listened as she took the two wooden steps into the entryway and across it into the parlour, where the Dark Lord must still be...

Kreacher turned and let James and Maryrose out of the pantry cupboard and James, who'd been leaning against the door to hear what was said, nearly fell as he wrenched the door open. Kreacher looked up at them with big glassy eyes, a bit of disdain upon his face - after all, James Potter was a pureblood, yes, but to a family who were bloody traitors and, as far as Kreacher knew from what Walburga had taught him, that was as bad as any muggleborn filth.

He didn't know anything at all about Maryrose.

"Kreacher must go and get the girl's things," he said croakily.

"Can you show us where she is?" James requested.

Kreacher glanced back, cowering slightly, and then waddled carefully across the kitchens, his wide bare feet scraping over the stone with a distinct shuffling sound. James and Maryrose followed, careful not to make a sound. Luckily, the parlour door was closed and Kreacher beckoned them up the steps just outside it and Maryrose closed her eyes and held her breath as they rounded the bannister and took one steps at a time, Kreacher pointing out steps that creaked in the middle and James carefully tested his weight on each one to check for creakage before stepping upon it, keeping his eyes on the door of the parlour as well. Kreacher waited at the landing by the second floor door, which James knew was the library where the fireplace he and Lily had flooed in last year was located.

Rounding the corner, they started up the second flight of stairs and at the top he could see the promised door with the R.A.B. name plate adhered to the door. He looked up out of curiosity to see the stairwell went on another three or four levels - and he wondered which was the one Sirius's room was off of and he marvelled at how bloody dark it all was. The walls seemed to feed on light, as though no matter how many torches were lit along the corridor, the darkness was still all-consuming because the walls ate it up before it could reach the eyes of passersby.

No wonder Sirius hated it here.

They reached the R.A.B. door and Kreacher clicked his fingers to unlock it, and the door swung open and they stepped inside quickly, eager to get out of the stairwell, where Walburga or the Dark Lord himself could come upon them at any moment. It felt safer being within the enclosure of the bedroom. It was exceedingly nice in there, though a bit Slytherin for James's taste. The bed was hung with thick green velvet curtains and taller than the four posters in Gryffindor tower, and the blankets upon the bed were plus and down-filled. The walls were dark with green wallpaper and covered with a Slytherin banner, a banner for Regulus's quidditch team, and spello taped ads for several different models of brooms and articles on various famous quidditch players and their techniques. Regulus had hung his chocolate frog collection up on the wall with spellotape as well - in numerical order with gaps in the set for some of the ones he was missing, though he seemed to have most of them, only a couple gaps existed in the set. The little table held a gobstone set, not set-up, but the board and the bag of stones beside it, and his desk was adorned with stationary and stacks of textbooks from prior years.

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