2 | CONFESSIONS° HARRY POTTER

ACT FOUR, grief
CHAPTER ONE, the chosen one

       A sliver of sunlight made its way past the curtains and into the otherwise completely dark room. Pages of parchment were strewn over the wooden floors of the bedroom, a number of spellbooks were piled high like a mountain a top of the old handmade desk. Seated in the center of the room was Iris Black. Her eyes darted rapidly across the pages of the bound book that floated in midair in front of her.

The pages turned on their own when her eyes reached the bottom of the page, and she continued to read the book that she wasn't even nearly finished with.

A knock at the door was enough to remind her that she had been at this for hours. Her back ached from sitting in an upright position all throughout the night and her neck was stiff. The book dropped from the air and landed in her hands before she quickly slid it underneath her bed; out of sight and out of mind.

She stepped over the pile of books seated on the floor and opened the door. Her mum, Calypso Krane, stood on the other side with a small smile on her face. It had been three weeks since the death of her husband and sister, two since their funerals, and a week since she found his will and decided to busy herself with tasks and hobbies around Krane Manor. So far she had taken to cooking with Minnie; yesterday it was gardening; two days before that it was crocheting; and three days prior she had an obsession with making bread: pumpkin bread, banana bread, sourdough. She had made enough bread to feed several small families and then some.

"Are you coming down for breakfast?" Calypso asked. "Minnie and I made a really big breakfast."

Calypso glanced over Iris's shoulder at the made bed and the completely dark room. Her eyebrows pulled together at Iris's appearance. Her hair was messy and ruffled and she was wearing the same clothes she had been wearing when Calypso went to say goodnight to her the previous night. The circles under her eyes seemed to grow darker and darker with each day.

"Iris . . . how are you sleeping?" Calypso asked, her tone one of motherly concern. Iris shifted uncomfortably.

"I'll be down for breakfast." She said before closing the door.

Calypso let out a sigh and turned to look at Oliver as he leaned against the wall adjacent to Iris's bedroom door.

"She'll come to you when she's ready." Oliver reassured Calypso. She nodded hesitantly before walking downstairs.

Iris pulled the curtains of her room back and winced when the light hit her eyes.

She took a deep breath and said, "Amato Animo Animato Animagus."

Iris went downstairs and saw Calypso sitting down at the table with Minnie and Oliver. The house was notably brighter than it had ever been before. Calypso had added splashes of color to the place and brought over furniture that had been in her and Sirius's old place in Diagon Alley.

Calypso forced a bright smile onto her face when Iris appeared, looking a bit worse for wear. She sat down opposite Oliver and looked down at the plate of food with a grimace. The mandrake leaf in her mouth meant all food and drink tasted disgusting to her. She forced a smile when she noticed everyone watching her before stuffing a forkful of eggs into her mouth.

"Here," Oliver said, handing her a copy of the Daily Prophet. "Figured you'd want to read this."

The last issue of the Daily Prophet that Iris had read had been about her and her mum. It announced to the wizarding world that Calypso Black and her long lost daughter had resurface and that Iris Rosier was, in reality, Amara Iris Black. The article made Iris get a long string of letters from people that she ended up ignoring.