The Black Family's Ancestral Home
The original story had hardly described the kitchen at all, but the sight before Rose and Marlene left them speechless.
Candles floated beneath the lofty ceiling, lighting the room as brightly as day. Copper pots and pans of every shape hung on the stone walls, giant pumpkins grown by Hagrid were piled in a corner, and the long tables in the middle of the room held countless ingredients. Rose recognized several that had appeared at the feast.
More than a hundred House-elves were spread throughout the kitchen, each with a clearly defined task.
A young House-elf trotted up to them, looking at them with sparkling, wide eyes. "Is there anything I can help you with?" she asked hesitantly.
"Oh-um, thank you, please let us help ourselves!" It was Rose's first time dealing with a House-elf, and the little creature's gaze and respectful manner made her so uncomfortable that she didn't even notice her grammatical mistake.
Fortunately, Marlene came to her rescue. She first explained that she had missed the feast and asked if she could have something to eat, then asked Rose what she needed to do.
"Could you give me some flour? And eggs, butter, sugar, and chocolate." Rose bent down slightly, trying to bring herself level with the House-elf's eyes.
"Of course! Nina is delighted to serve you, young miss." The House-elf named Nina looked very excited. She was smaller than the other House-elves, and her wrinkled skin had a pinkish tint to it. She looked very young.
Rose saw a bowl of shelled walnuts on the long table nearest her and asked Nina if she could use some of those too.
Nina cheerfully pushed the entire bowl into her arms, then brought Marlene a large plate of food.
"Thank you, Nina, you really are a good House-elf!" Rose said with feeling, holding the cold copper bowl.
Nina was so excited that the tips of her ears turned red. She looked as though she wanted to pile all the food in the kitchen in front of the two of them.
"We can do the rest ourselves. You should get back to work!" Afraid Nina might actually do something overly enthusiastic, Rose hurried to speak.
After coaxing the young House-elf, who had only just started work, away, Rose set about putting her plan into action at a table.
Marlene sat in a large armchair Nina had just brought over, leisurely gnawing on a roast turkey leg as she watched Rose bustle about in a fluster.
"Are you making dessert?" Marlene asked.
Rose nodded. She was a little unsure of the exact order of things. In her previous life, she had loved making desserts, and even during her busy final year of high school, she had made them to relax whenever she had a spare moment.
But that had been more than ten years ago, and her memories of it were rather hazy. Was she supposed to mix the flour and butter first, or the eggs and butter?
"Who's it for?"
"A Christmas return gift, for someone I overlooked," Rose said, frowning as she thought hard.
"Poor guy," Marlene said sympathetically.
She needed to mix the butter and sugar-Rose finally remembered. She planned to make soft cookies.
Following the steps she remembered, she baked her first batch, but the results weren't ideal. She had used a little too little sugar. The cookies were soft, but bland, and not suited to British tastes.
The second time, she added a full three times as much sugar, then chopped the chocolate into chunks and mixed them into the dough. At last, she produced the perfect batch.
"All right, now all that's left is the wrapping!" Rose looked with satisfaction at the soft, sweet, steaming cookies before her and took out the ribbon she had prepared in advance. She stopped before casting a spell.
Then she cut the ribbon in half with scissors and turned one piece silver and green.
"Slytherin?" Marlene looked a little surprised.
"Not Snape-" Rose was a little amused. How well did Marlene think she knew Snape?
"The biggest connection between Snape and me is Lily. He talks to Madam Pince more than he talks to me."
Marlene's good upbringing kept her from asking who the gift was for, but the silver-and-green ribbon had certainly piqued her interest.
Rose cut the other ribbon into several pieces and used a Transfiguration Spell to change their colors to gold and red. Then she tied one of the little gold-and-red ribbons around each cookie. Now they looked festive and very much in the Gryffindor tradition.
Rose then put them in a paper box and wrapped it with the silver-and-green ribbon.
"So—it's Black?" Marlene understood.
Rose nodded and explained that she had received a gift from Black that morning but hadn't prepared one for him in advance. She had also spent her entire Christmas gift budget, so she could only make him some cookies and send them to him.
Looking at the distinctly Slytherin box in Rose's hands, Marlene muttered that the boy was getting off easy.
By the time the two emerged from the Hufflepuff cellar, it had grown dark outside, and the snow in the courtyard beyond the door was gilded by the distant setting sun.
Marlene accompanied her to the Owlery to send off the gift.
She wanted to ask how Rose knew where the Black family lived, but even with the words on her lips, Marlene held them back. Everyone had their own secrets.
The streets were filled with a festive atmosphere after Christmas. Every household had decorated its home with colorful lights and splendid fir trees, and Grimmauld Place was no exception.
A few scraps of paper from Christmas crackers still littered the square. Dim streetlamps dutifully struggled to push back the fog, trying to cast their light farther.
Only 12 Grimmauld Place stood at odds with the festive decorations. Its door was still black and mottled, and hanging on it was not a festive light decorated with fir, but a silver serpent ring that made people uncomfortable to look at.
The interior carried on the style of the door. The whole house was gloomy and oppressive, and the old-fashioned carpet spoke of the building's age and traditions. The door to the dining room on the first floor was half-closed, and snatches of conversation came from within.
"Three days locked up. I hope he's learned something—the Black family's traitor! Ungrateful son!" a shrill female voice screamed hysterically.
"Hmph, everyone's laughing at us." A hoarse female voice spoke through gritted teeth. "Those lowly-"
"Mother, a package came by owl—it's addressed to Sirius Black." Footsteps sounded on the stairs as a boy's youthful voice interrupted her.
"I won't allow anything from a Gryffindor into our house!" The woman addressed as Mother grew even angrier. She opened the kitchen door and snatched the object from the boy's hands, squeezing the paper box flat with her overzealous fingers.
Seeing the wrapping she had already crushed out of shape and the silver-and-green ribbon that had nearly come undone, she made a strange noise in her throat. "At least he's capable of making a few normal friends. Take it to him, Reg. Take it to that ungrateful son, and tell him he can't come out until after dinner. He needs to suffer a little more!"
Regulus answered, took the box, and headed upstairs with his head lowered.
One corner of the box had come open, revealing a flash of gold and red inside. Reg stood outside his brother's bedroom on the fifth floor, silently staring at the color that clashed with the entire building.
He knocked on the door, but there was no movement inside.
"Someone sent you a gift. Mother told me to give it to you."
"Haven't all the gifts already been thrown away by her?" Sirius Black's voice came through the door indistinctly, but his mocking tone was unmistakable.
Regulus said nothing more. He put down the box and returned to his room.
Sirius Black sulked for a while. His mother had thrown the gifts James and the others had sent him out of the house, and he had been in a terrible mood all Christmas.
But he simply couldn't resist his curiosity. He opened his door and saw the misshapen box lying on the floor outside. He lifted his foot to kick it away.
Suddenly, he saw the gold and red showing through the box and bent down to pick it up as if he'd seen a ghost.
Back in his room, Sirius opened the wrapping paper and casually tossed the silver-and-green ribbon under the table.
Several cookies had been completely crushed out of shape, and the gold-and-red ribbons had fallen off them. Crumbs dropped onto the expensive carpet in Sirius's room. He held them carefully and smiled for the first time since coming home.