Squib On The Run (sequel to Squib In The basement)

46. The Grim Old Place

** tw, for those who have lost children**

As Cassiopeia stepped inside her childhood home with Sirius by her side, she thought she was going to be sick.
The dark green and black interior made Cassiopeia feel so small.
She felt as if the eyes on all the snake ornaments and furniture were watching her as she walked down the hallway.
The brightness of the outside world, felt a million miles away from the darkness inside the building.
Sirius raised his wand that Dumbledore had retrieved for him, attempting to light up the hallway. But 12 Grimmauld Place just seemed to soak up all the light, leaving them in almost complete darkness.

As they approached the grand staircase, Cassiopeia realised she had made a terrible mistake in coming there, for staring back at her was her mother Walburga.
Even though Cassiopeia knew it was just a portrait, the realism of the picture chilled her to the bone.
"You!" Gasped Walburga's portrait, when it locked eyes with Cassiopeia.
Sirius grabbed hold of his sister and pulled her into the kitchen as their mother's portrait began to scream and yell profanities at them.
"Are you ok?" Asked Sirius, once they were out of earshot.
"Now you see why I was reluctant to come home" mumbled Cassiopeia.
"Yeah" sighed Sirius.

"I knew she'd had a portrait commissioned, which was to be put up when she died, but I didn't expect it to look so much like her" admitted Cassiopeia.
"Don't worry, we'll have it taken down straight away. I don't want to have to look at her ugly face every day" replied Sirius.
Cassiopeia shook her head, "It won't be that easy. She planned on having it stuck on using a permanent sticking charm. Mother knew that when she died, the house would go to one of us, so she wanted to make our lives here as uncomfortable as possible".
"Well then, we will just have to cover her up with something. I will not have her tormenting us after her death, for she did enough of that when she was alive".

"Kreacher hears voices. Kreacher wonders why the children have come back".
The siblings turned around and saw that Kreacher the house-elf had entered the room.
Sirius recoiled in disgust, "I can't believe you're still alive".
"You should not be here. You ran away and broke my Mistress's heart. You do not belong here" informed Kreacher.
"My mother did not have a heart. She kept herself alive by pure spite. And don't lie, we both know mother was glad when I left, so that she didn't have to put up with me anymore" replied Sirius.

"Mistress did not want you here. You were a great disappointment" admitted Kreacher.
"Well, she's dead, she's been dead for years, and I am the master of this house now. So, you will do as I say" ordered Sirius.
"Sirius, be nice to Kreacher. I wouldn't be alive without him" reminded Cassiopeia.
"He may have kept you alive, but he didn't make your life here very pleasant" countered Sirius.
"He couldn't go against a direct order from our mother, and you know it. But he did everything in his power to make sure that I was fed and watered. I would have died a hundred times, if it weren't for him"
"Whatever".

"How are you Kreacher?" Cassiopeia asked the elf.
"Kreacher is well... Mistress has not summoned Kreacher for several years" answered Kreacher.
"I know, and I'm sorry for neglecting you. But I've been rather busy lately... However, I am home now, and the two of us will be spending a lot of time together from now on. And now that I am back, there is something I need to do, and I want you by my side as I do it" replied Cassiopeia.
"What is that Mistress?"
"I need to go into the basement".

Sirius's eyes widened, "You can't be serious. Why in Merlin's name would you want to go back down there?".
"It's something I just have to do. I can't live here, knowing my nightmare is just below my feet. I need to face my fears and put the past behind me. And the only way I can do that is to go down there, before having you magically seal it off forever" explained Cassiopeia.
"I don't think this is a good idea" insisted Sirius.
"Neither do I, but it is something I have to do"
"Then I'm coming with you. I won't let you go down there with only Kreacher for company".

Cassiopeia took hold of Kreacher's hand and the two lead the way towards the basement.
As they approached the door, Cassiopeia was hit with many flashbacks of her mother dragging her down that corridor, before pushing open the door and throwing her down the steps.
Before her courage could fail her, she pushed open the door and took a few steps down, gazing into the room.
She couldn't see it fully, so she took a deep breath and descended the rest of the steps, until she was stood on the cold stone floor.

The basement felt a lot smaller than she remembered, and there was a terrible stench that filled the air.
Her eyes caught sight of the blood stained mattress, and she felt a lump caught in her throat.
"That's where is happened. It's where I was raped, and it's where I gave birth to my son Alfie" she said quietly.
Sirius turned his head away, unable to look at the place where she had been assaulted.

"Kreacher is sorry you were hurt" the elf said, his voice no more than a whisper.
"Thank you Kreacher" replied Cassiopeia.
She let go of his hand and stepped closer to the bed, picking up the blanket that was on there.
It was stained in blood, but she didn't care. She brought it up to her face and breathed in the scent on it.
"Cass, don't" begged Sirius as she stepped towards her.
"This is the only memory I have of my son. I got to spend so little time with him, every second I had with him was precious. This was the blanket I wrapped him in when he was born" explained Cassiopeia, as a single tear rolled down her face.

"Leave it here or bring it with you, the choice is yours. But we are getting out of here now" instructed Sirius, as he placed his hand around her arm.
Cassiopeia took another deep breath of the blanket before placing it back down on the bed.
"It should stay here, with the rest of my memories of him" sighed Cassiopeia.
"Alright then, lets go" encouraged Sirius, as he slowly dragged her out of the basement.

Once all three of them were out of the basement, Sirius waved his wand over the door.
"That's it. No one can go down there ever again. At least not while I'm alive" announced Sirius.
"Good. That is officially the end of that chapter then. We can finally move on" admitted Cassiopeia.
"Yes, we can... Kreacher, now that that's done, you can bugger off to another part of the house, for I don't want to deal with you right now. Me and Cass have things to do" instructed Sirius.

Kreacher disapparated on command, and Cassiopeia frowned at Sirius.
"You could be a little nicer to him".
"Why? He was never nice to me" admitted Sirius.
"Kindness works both ways. You were never nice to him, so he was never nice to you. But when I was locked in the basement, Kreacher was my only source of comfort" revealed Cassiopeia.
"Then you can be nice to him, because I do not intend on being kind to him, for he just reminds me of mother"
"He's only a house-elf. They have limited intelligence, and often take on the views of their masters. If we are both nice to him, then he will become a nicer being to spend time with"
"Maybe... Come on, let have a look around upstairs, and see what state the house is in. Because that elf has certainly not been cleaning anything these past few years, from what I've seen so far".

When the pair left the kitchen, they placed their hands over their ears, so they didn't have to listen to Walburga screaming at them.
"I'm definitely going to get some cloth or something to cover her up" informed Sirius, once they were safely upstairs.
"Hmm" mumbled Cassiopeia.
Sirius placed his hand onto her shoulders, "Hey, it's going to be ok. Remember, it's just a portrait. Mother is dead, and cannot hurt you ever again. All her portrait can do is shout at you, but it can't physically do anything to you".
"I know" muttered Cassiopeia, as she shrugged Sirius's hands off her, and began looking around at the bedrooms on that floor.

"I'm not going to sleep in my old room. It holds too many bad memories" continued Cassiopeia.
"That's fine. You can take one of the spare rooms upstairs, on the floor where our guests will be staying" replied Sirius.
"We don't have enough rooms for everyone to have their own" reminded Cassiopeia.
"I know, but the Weasleys are used to sharing, so I'm sure they won't mind sharing rooms. Harry and Ron will share, the twins will too, and Ginny will share with Hermione. I was thinking about putting Molly and Arthur in the master bedroom. That would really piss off mother, to know that blood traitors are staying in her room" grinned Sirius.

Cassiopeia shook her head, "I don't want anyone staying in there. I want it left as it is. I want this whole floor to remain untouched. You can have your old room of course. But I don't want any of our guests to stay on this floor".
Her eyes drifted to Regulus's bedroom, and then back to Sirius.
A silent conversation seemed to happen between them, as they both agreed that no one would go into Regulus's room. They didn't want to disturb anything it that room, as their deceased brother deserved to rest in peace.