The Kind Hufflepuff

Chapter 17: The Guest Room

A/N: The amazing @neuropsychology made the amazing cover that you now see set as this story's cover design. It is absolutely amazing and we all must bow down to this utter QUEEN.
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The Kind Hufflepuff - First Year
Chapter Seventeen: The Guest Room
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The guest room that Cali resided in looked nothing like a place that would make her feel welcomed, nothing like her own bedroom at home or even the Hufflepuff common room that she spent hours in. It was dark, darkened walls that were dusty from the lack of use, the emerald and silver decorations that aligned the entire room that clearly announced what house the entire family had been sorted into until recently. The guest room alone allowed her to recognize the cold atmosphere that she never experienced firsthand, the kind that allowed the fear to creep into Sirius' blood at the mere thought of returning home. Even though she had made sure to bring blankets that made her feel warm, even convincing her mother to accio a stuffed animal from back home to make the room feel more welcoming.

None of this prevented the never-ending cold temperatures that the entire house adorned and surely didn't prevent her from hearing the screaming between Orion and Sirius, who seemed to have no mind that the Higgs family had come to visit. It was only the first night at the Grimmauld home and yet she was already dreading the entire break. She laid in the middle of the massive bed, wrapping herself in her yellow blanket with Bas laying in her lap as she listened to the screaming that she had never expected to hear spill from her friend's mouth. She wanted to get up, every part of her wanted to march right out of the room and reprimand the entire family for allowing such treatment of an eleven-year-old child. But she listened to the screaming, the cries of pain from the eldest child, and no part of her could be convinced to stand up from her bed. There were tears in her eyes, cringing whenever the screams would vary in volume and almost screamed in fear when she heard the soft knocking of her door.

She did not dare to say a word, pulling the blanket further up her body despite the cat's complaining as she stared at the door in fear, watching as it slowly opened to reveal Regulus, his eyes wide and his body trembling as they made eye contact from across the room. Bas immediately darted out of the room, noticing the light streaming out despite Cali's protest. "I can leave, if you'd like," Regulus finally muttered after he failed in stopping the cat's escape.

"No, don't." Her voice raised, trembling which revealed the fear as Regulus nodded. He slowly closed the door, doing it as quietly as possible which Cali appreciated, afraid that any sort of sound would reveal the existence of the other members in the house. He slowly moved across the room, getting into the bed as Cali threw the yellow blanket around him as he wrapped his arms around the small girl. They laid there, listening to the screams of pain for a few moments before the volume increased and Cali slowly maneuvered her body so that she could look at Regulus. He looked uncomfortable, clearly not used to the close contact of a female. "Tell me something?" Her voice was small, and he momentarily forgot that she was older than him as they made eye contact before he quickly looked away, gulping.

"They've never done that before," He finally whispered, blinking away the tears that threatened to escape.

"They haven't?"

"They were never kind; they were quick to punish him. And me. But they had never made him scream like that. I think they always hoped that Hogwarts would prove something. That he would be sorted into Slytherin and prove that he was not as bad as they viewed him. They have lost all hope for that. He used to protect me, like if I were to talk about a muggle or if I got caught reading one of their books, he would take credit. Tell them that he found it and gave it to me, he never wanted me to feel the pain that he endured. Even if it was just a slap or no dinner for the night. I would bring him rolls and I never noticed until years later that he never ate the rolls at dinner. I never asked him why," Regulus whispered, so quietly that he was not sure she could hear every word he even said but felt no desire to raise his volume.