Raven (Fred x oc)

82. Summer Break

"You too," I replied, going on tip-toe to kiss his cheek. Heading for the door, I called, "See you later, George!"

"See you, Val!" he replied, giving me a wave.

Drawing in a deep breath, I fiddled with the key of Grimmauld Place, standing before the door. My heart hammered as I unlocked the door and stepped inside. "Kreacher," I called. With a snap, the house-elf appeared. "Hi," I said.

"Mistress Black," he replied at normal volume before audibly muttering, "Nasty little blood-traitor."

"Kreacher," I said. "Would you do something for me?"

"Of course, Kreacher lives to serve the noble house of Black," he replied with a little bow.

"Good, I need you to stock the kitchen," I said. "I'm staying here for the summer." I rolled my eyes at the sounds of his muttering before going into each room. I tried to ignore the memories of Dad each time I walked into a room. Dust covered most of the rooms I entered. I had decided to use distraction as my main method of coping for the moment.

The rest of my summer was spent with four main goals: cleaning and redecorating the house, getting Kreacher to trust me, spending time with the twins, Lee, Angelina, Alicia, and Katie, and getting ready for my new job. A few weeks into the summer, the house was already redecorated with a much brighter and more modern style.

Soon the only rooms I hadn't redone were the kitchen, Kreacher's room, Dad's old room, and my uncle's room. I was sitting at breakfast looking over some papers and scratching in some forms for work when I called, "Hey, Kreacher." He appeared. "So you know how I've been redecorating the house? I'm going to redo your room. How do you want it done?"

"M-Mistress redecorate my room?" he stammered.

"Yes," I replied, not looking up as I continued to work. "You can keep everything you hid from my father. I'll never be in there so I don't care. Just let me know what you want. Shelves, new flooring, a real bed. Whatever just make a list and get it to me by the end of the day." Without a word he disappeared.

Rubbing my eyes, I set aside my parchment and stood. Raising my wand, I looked at the table. Quickly, I transfigured the old, wooden table into a smooth, black wooden table. I changed the floor into grey-white flooring and the cabinets into the same wood as the table. As I was working, there was a knock on the front door.

Cautiously, I went upstairs and looked out the eyehole to see it was only Fred. Not opening the door, I called, "What is my dearest ambition?"

"To play professional Quidditch," he replied. "What is my Patronus?"

"Magpie," I replied. I opened the door. "Hi."

"Hey," he replied, giving me a quick kiss. "How's redecorating going?"

"Good," I replied, letting him in. "Still haven't figured out how to get rid of my grandmother, but otherwise it's like a completely different house." We went downstairs and he saw the partially done parts. I finished with the cabinets and stared at the counters. "What're you thinking?"

"Hum," he replied, looking at the scheme of colours. "Maybe a grey, but like a few shades darker than the flooring." Imagining it in my head, I transformed the counters.

"I like it," I said, looking at the entire room together. "All that's left now is Kreacher's room."

"Wait, you're actually decorating his room?" Fred countered.

"Of course," I replied. "As far as I'm concerned, he's a part of my family now. I'm going to treat him that way."

"Mistress Black," Kreacher croaked, appearing behind us. I turned, far too used to this by now to be startled.

"Thank you," I replied, taking his list from him. Looking it over, I saw that he just wanted some shelves and a few other things. "Fred, could you go and get me a tiny bed frame and two shelves?"

"For him?" Fred replied. I gave him a look and he sighed. "Okay, I'll be right back."

"Thank you," I said, kissing him quickly. Once he was gone, I went into Kreacher's room. He was in there, staring at a picture of Bellatrix. I swallowed painfully at the sight of her. "Kreacher, could you put your things on the table? I'll let you put them back when I finish with your room."

"Yes, Mistress," he replied, excitedly picking up his stuff and moving it.

"I promise I won't touch any of it," I added.

"Thank you, Mistress," he replied, giving something of a smile. I grinned at him as Fred came back in.

"Wait," I said, taking a step away from him. "What is my dearest ambition?"

"To play professional Quidditch," he replied. "What is my Patronus?"

"Magpie," I replied. "Okay, good. Thanks." In an hour, I had some shelves set up above a small bed and had made the bed. "Kreacher!" I called. "You can move in all your things unless you want the colour of something changed." He came in, looked around a moment, and shuffled back into the kitchen to grab his things.

I smiled, leaving his room and heading back into the kitchen. "So how much left of the house do you have to do?" Fred asked.

"Oh, nothing," I replied. "Nothing that I'm going to do, anyway. The only rooms I didn't touch were my Dad's old room and my Uncle Regulus' room."

"Well, I love what you've done with the place," Fred said, looking around the room.

"Thank you, Fred," I replied, smiling happily.