𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘦 ; 𝒹.𝒽

thirty-one

Aurora raised her wand to Celestina, "Riddle?!"

"You heard me." Celestina nonchalantly replied, "Now, may I introduce you to everyone else?"

"Who's everyone else?"

"My mom and grandma."

Celestina turned on her heel and continued to lead Aurora. She kept her wand raised the entire time as they walked through two double doors with snake engravings. She saw two women, both older, sitting on dark victorian era couches. 

Aurora tried to disarm the two, but nothing worked. 

The eldest woman raised her wand and runic symbols glowed around the walls, "This house is enchanted, dear. The only one who can use magic, is me." She said, her accent a mix of British and American. 

The eldest woman looked to be no older than 70. Her hair was gray and in a neat and simple updo. She wore a green gown and a black coat, which made it evident that she grew up around pure-blood wizards. 

The second eldest woman, looked to be in her 40s. She looked scarily similar to Celestina, only her brown hair was curly and she looked to be less... lively. 

"Aren't you going to introduce us?" The second eldest woman asked. 

Celestina nodded, "Right. This is Aurora Black."

The eldest woman gave her a small smile as she took a sip of her tea, "Aurora Dahlia Moona Black. What a pleasure it is to finally meet you."

"Who know who I am?"

"Of course we do. I'm Scarlett Riddle, this is my daughter Orinthia. Celestina is Orinthia's daughter, my granddaughter."

"R-Riddle? As in..."

Scarlett stood up, "Come."

She lead her upstairs, and just like 12 Grimmauld Place, this home had an ancestral room. Only this was much more grande, yet so much darker. She looked at the endless portraits on the wall with no names indicating who everyone was. 

"I was married to Tom, or as you know him, Lord Voldemort. He never cared for me, no, he was obsessed with me. Obsessed with my pure-blood status." Scarlett bitterly said. 

"What family do you come from?"

"Vespertine."

Aurora narrowed her gaze, "V-Vespertine?"

"That's right."

Scarlett smiled lightly, "Has the cat got your tongue?"

"We're related?" Aurora quietly asked. 

She nodded, "If it brings you comfort, Aurora, you have no blood relation to Tom. I had a brother, Alvaro, he is your great grandfather. The great pure-blooded House of Vespertine was polluted when your grandfather, Helius, married half-blood Serephina Everson. But I, I've kept it pure-blood, even if I've taken the name of Riddle."

"And Celestina? You're–"

"Pure-blood. Yeah. Just like in the UK, we have pure-blood families here in America."

"Who's your father?" 

"Dead." Orinthia answered for Celestina, "I killed him."

Aurora didn't care to ask why. That was the least of her concerns. She looked at the portraits on the wall, "How did you end up here in America?"

Scarlett sighed, "Sad story,  it is. As I said, Tom didn't love me. It was all obsession. He... he wasn't capable of love. That I know for certain. I was infatuated with him, it was dangerous and I was nearly disowned. I was just 18 when I met him, I got pregnant shortly after. I had Orinthia and Natrix when I was 19, twins. I knew what Tom was doing, but I only stayed to keep Orinthia and Natrix safe. I sent them to private Wizarding schools instead of Hogwarts. I helped Tom create the Horcruxes. And something snapped in 1973. I didn't want to be apart of what he was doing. I stole a Horcrux, the only one I could get my hands on, and I took Orinthia with me. Natrix refused to leave, so he stayed in England." Scarlett sadly said, "This is the holiday home of the Vespertine family. Abandoned over 50 years ago until I showed up here with Orinthia."