Reflections - Mattheo Riddle

Chapter 11

Mrs. Weasley kept them all working very hard over the next few days. There had been a few times where someone had tried to bring up what had happened with the whole 'Emily situation' but the adults all agreed that it was best that it was just kept among the adults, the younger wizards and witches didn't need to be let in on what was happening or what they knew so far. 

Mattheo, Jasper and Theodore hadn't let Kirra out of her sight, their almost constant 'you alright?' and 'ya feeling okay?' were beginning to drive Kirra slowly insane, though she did appreciate their concern. It was rare to see Mattheo more than a meter from the girl, his eyes constantly darting over to her to make sure that she was still... well... her. 

Jasper had taken it among himself to bake her just about every sweet or pastry that could be found in any cookbook, though he decided to leave the disgusting sounding ones out. 'Merlin J, you keep giving me all these lollies and I'm gonna die' Kirra had muttered to him the night before as he handed her some rice pudding with strawberry on top, though her smile was enough for him to grin widely and begin to plan what he would make her next. 

Theodore had been spending time in the library, looking through the large selection in an attempt to find any books that he thought Kirra might find the slight bit interesting, though he hadn't been able to find a large selection. He had practically begged Remus to let him go down to a book store, but he had been denied, told that it would only cause problems and everyone thought he was in Hogwarts right now so it would be silly to let him out and about. So Theodore spent his time reading the back of many many books, even though it was boring, he was determined to find her something good to read. 

And surely enough, he found a handful of books that he thought she would like, leaving them on her nightstand. 

Still, despite the worry of the three Slytherins, Molly had been keeping them up to date and busy with all the house work. The drawing room took three days to decontaminate; finally the only undesirable things left in it were the tapestry of the Black family tree, which resisted all their attempts to remove it from the wall, and the rattling writing desk; Moody had not dropped by headquarters yet, so they could not be sure what was inside it.

They moved from the drawing room to a dining room on the ground floor where they found spiders large as saucers lurking in the dresser. The china, which bore the Black crest and motto, was all thrown unceremoniously into a sack by Sirius, and the same fate met a set of old photographs in tarnished silver frames, all of whose occupants squealed shrilly as the glass covering them smashed.

Snape might refer to their work as "cleaning," but in Kirra's opinion they were really waging war on the house, which was putting up a very good fight, aided and abetted by Kreacher. The house-elf kept appearing wherever they were congregated, his muttering becoming more and more offensive as he attempted to remove anything he could from the rubbish sacks. 

Sirius went as far as to threaten him with clothes, but Kreacher fixed him with a watery stare and said, "Master must do as Master wishes," before turning away and muttering very loudly, "but Master will not turn Kreacher away, no, because Kreacher knows what they are up to, oh yes, he is plotting against the Dark Lord, yes, with these Mudbloods and traitors and scum. . . ."

At which Sirius, ignoring Hermione's protests, seized Kreacher by the back of his loincloth and threw him bodily from the room.

The doorbell rang several times a day, which was the cue for Sirius's mother to start shrieking again, and for Kirra and the others to attempt to eavesdrop on the visitor, though they gleaned very little from the brief glimpses and snatches of conversation they were able to sneak before Mrs. Weasley recalled them to their tasks.