The Facade

Chapter 38

I was frozen to the ground, skeptical, I wasn’t even aware of when did Malfoy begun to talk besides me.

“You alright, Edens?” Malfoy asked me and squeezed my hand.

My gaze kept staring right at the building. “I just can’t believe my eyes.” I admitted.

“That’s right, this is where the Order has been hidden for the last three years.” Malfoy said. “Welcome, Edens to 12 Grimmauld place. My ancestors house.”

I knew quite well what this place was. The old house from the Black family.

I heard that when Sirius Black died in 1996, he passed the custody of the house to his godson, Harry Potter, including the house elf Kreacher. I never cared to know to whom passed the house after Potter died, I thought it had been to Bellatrix at the time, since Narcissa had also died, and Andromeda had been uninherited.

If Harry had been smart, he would have taken precautions and leave Tonks as the next owner of the house Black. But of course, like he didn’t tell anyone else that the last Horcrux was the snake he also let the future of the house by chance.

“I don’t understand, who is currently in the possession of the house, in whose name?” I asked and finally turned to glance at Malfoy.

“Mine.” Malfoy replied.

I kept staring at him, hoping he would give me a further and deeper explanation at his answer, I was someone who liked the details of the stories and he knew that.

“Bellatrix refused the custody of the house, she said that it would be infested with Mudblood’s smell and trails of her traitorous cousin and so the custody passed onto me.” Malfoy explained.

“That makes sense.” I said aloud.

I glimpsed Malfoy swallow a hard lump in his throat and I grabbed onto his hand tightly. He took a deep breath, in order to bring security to his walls, his aunt would be inside that house, injured and at risk of losing her life, he needed all the mind protection he could get. He began walking forward and I accompanied him at the same rhythm.

I glanced back at the house and studied its structure; it had a worn set of front steps that lead to a battered door. I could notice a silver knocker in the shape of what seemed a twisted snake, however I spotted no keyhole, or even a handle, nothing that could indicate that it was a front door at all, which told me it was obviously opened with magic.

We climbed the stairs leading to the front door as Malfoy immediately went to get his wand. He flicked it and in an instant the door opened slowly, and I peeked inside curious by what I would find inside.

I saw myself facing a long hallway first thing, lit with what seemed to be gas lamps, and a large antiquated overhead chandelier, it seemed a bit gloomy, it even seemed like derelict house, which wasn’t even remotely surprising. The smell of damp quickly caught up to my nose without even needing to step inside. A lot of mixed voices and rushing feet filled my ears, it was obvious the Order was in a rush as it probably was every day, but that only made my anticipation at seeing Tonks worse, and I couldn’t even guess what it made to Malfoy.

The lamps along the walls sputtered into life as we stepped inside and the door closed itself behind us, they casted a flickering insubstantial light over a threadbare carpet and the peeling wallpaper draping the walls that were also filled with portraits of old Black ancestors.

I could spot the people rushing between rooms and doors, and specially in the end of the hallway.

Malfoy and I walked hand in hand throughout the long hallway, much of the decoration in the entry hall had the form of a serpent. As soon as we begun to reach the doors along the sides of the hallway, it was when the people rushing from one side to the other really acknowledged us and some stopped halfway through what they were doing.