The Most Noble House of Black (open)

Karma sighed. It was finally winter holiday, meaning a lonely week in Grimmald Place and maybe a visit from her father, if she was lucky. She could always talk to her grandmother's portrait, if she was feeling particularly lonely, but it didn't beat the company of other humans.
"Lace?" She called, placing Nightmare on the ground. "Lace, did you get my trunk?" When the house elf didn't answer, karma sighed. This would be an unexciting holiday, it seemed. She was almost at the end of the hallway when there was a knock on the door. "Who could that be?" She wondered.

Gene stood outside the door, eager to see a descendant of the house of the Black. He was carryinga fruit basket, Boy, will it be a shock if a student opened the door to see a professor.

Karma opened the door with a smile, expecting it to be her friend Aleesa. When instead she found an older looking man, a professor if she wasn't mistaken, holding a fruit basket, let's just say she was more than a little surprised. In all those years of her living alone no one had visited her but her father, and then only on occasion.
"Hello." She said warily. "May I help you, mr...?"

"Mr Downie, actually. History of magic. Just came to see for myself how the house of the black has faired now..." Gene said, and gave her the fruit basket.

"These... Old families intrigue me. Hope you don't mind." Gene muttered.

Karma smiled. "I do love old families..." She said thoughtfully , taking the fruit basket. "Would you like to come in and rest a bit? I keep the belief that Grimmald Place isn't close to anything. You can be on your way as soon as you wish." An idea popped into her head. "I could show you our family tree. Im not sure if its still accurate, but its close."
Its not as if her father would mind, or rather, its not as if her father would find out. The odds of him showing up on the day of her arrival were less than slim. Lace would be thrilled to have someone else to cook for, and Grandmother's portrait would finally have something to yell about. There was absolutely nothing to lose.

"Brilliant. If I am not intruding, that is." Gene smiled, and stepped into the house.

Suddenly, a huge screaming started and Gene covered his ears.

"Care to tell me what this is? And please show me the family tree, if you do not mind at all." Gene grmaced.

"Do you take History of Magic? I don't recall seeing your face though, embarassingly. Forgive me if you DID join the class. Actually, I have a dream of writing books for old families."

Karma hurried to the portrait of her grandmother, speaking quickly over the screams of "FILTH! IN MY HOUSE! SHUT HIM OUT, KARMA, SHUT HIM OUT!"

"Grandmother! Please calm down!" When the portrait refused she had no choice but to pull the curtains closed over it. "Sorry about that, Professor." Karma said apologetically. "My Grandmother has very strong opinions on everyone who's ever lived, and if she thinks you aren't worthy, she burst out such a racket..." Karma lead Downie to the room beside the portrait.
"I never signed up for History of Magic, I'm afraid." Karma said guiltily. "It must have slipped my mind. I'm a second year, but I spent my first year in the States."
Karma turned the handle of the door and stepped into the "Family" room. Reaching around each of the walls was a portrait of a tree, with the faces of witches and wizards on some branches, and scorch marks on others. The Tree started on the ceiling and branched down, so that there was still a little bit of room on the bottom most part of the wall. Each of the faces were smiling welcomingly at Karma, but seemed more than a bit wary of her companion.
"This is my family. Family, this is Professor Downie."

"Very interesting. I guess I'm in trouble with her anyway." Gene joked, and nodded appreciatively as Karma showed her the family tree.

"You mind... If I take all these down?" Gene copied down the names and branches of the family tree, and he turned to face Karma.

"Uhm... Do you know any notable ancestors on here? I mean... Like... You know..." Gene said uncertainly.

KKarma smiled at him. "I don't really know much about their lives, but im sure they'd love to be interviewed." She nodded at him. "Copy down as much as you want."

"Hmm... notable ancesters? Well there's the Malfoys... im not exactly sure. And they wont be any help." She said with a dismissive wave. "They think they're all notable."

"Malfoys..." Gene muttered, and as he closed his notebook, he sighed.

"Oh well... Uhm... If I am not intruding, may I ask for a cup of tea? I came all the way from Hogwarts by muggle means." Gene said, half-laughing.

"So... What happened to the rest of the Black Family?" Gene asked, and sat down on an armchair.

Karma nodded and almost instantly Lace bustled in with a tea tray. She sat in an arm chair across from Donnie.

"The rest of the blacks? Hmm... well after Uncle Sirius died they all were married off to other families, like Aunt Bellatrix was a Lestrange. I think they all just died. They didn't have any kids as far as I know, so im the last Black." She said thoughtfully. Lace handed them each a teacup and Karma took a sip. "Then again, I could always be wrong. I've never had the chance to go out and look for them. I supposed i'll do it after hogwarts."

"Its a real pity... I do know your other uncle Harry , actually. Thank you for the tea. He... Was a wonderful guy. He helped me with my book you know, before his death. I just feel obligated to come and look at his side of the family for a while." Gene shrugged and picked up his teacup.

"Smells great..." He sipped it.

"Tastes great too."

"I had an uncle Harry?" Karma asked, completely confused. "It would seem that you know more about my family than I do, professor." She said softly, her eyes turning sad. "I was never made aware that I was related to anyone who had been living before fifty years ago." She took a sip of the tea, dismissing Lace with a nod and contemplating going about finding her family earlier than anticipated. "Do you know anything more about any of the realities I still have, professor?" She couldn't help her voice betraying the hope that he had.

"That would depend on what you already know. Harry Potter... The Boy Who Lived..." Gene said sadly, his nose turning sour.

"Your Uncle, Sirius Black, was killed in a battle, I think you know that? Harry Potter, The Boy Who Lived, was his godson. You know all these right?" Gene asked, his eyes narrowing.

Karma shrugged. "Someone might have said something at school... no one really talks about how Voldemort died, they mostly say it was a seventeen year old. I don't really know much about anything, I suppose." Karma said nonchalantly, making sure her voice didn't betray the sickness starting to pool in her stomach. "I did know uncle Sirius died in battle, and my dad died in an act of defiance to Voldemort, but that's about it."

"They might, don't they." Gene said casually.

"Regulus Black, former death eater, betrayed Voldermort, gave his life to hide a piece of the soul that Voldermort concealed. Harry Potter, only person known to have survived the killing curse, killed Voldermort. Sirius Black, killed in a fight with Bellatrix.... LESTRANGE in the Department of Mysteries. Your family mostly had dark wizards and witches. But there are honourable ones as well. People whose names will go down in history as heroes. It is up to you to choose a side now. You want to take Uncle Sirius, Uncle Harry, Uncle Regulus' path, or you want to take the easy road of the dark side, easy at first..." Gene said.

"But a sign of sure death later." He looked closely at the member Black closely.

Karma looked at Downie with something alot like fear but not quite there. "Do I have to take a side right now?" She asked quietly. "Don't I get any time to think about it? It sounds like a pretty big decision from where i'm sitting..." karma downed the last of her tea. When she looked back up, the professor was looking at her. She squirmed a little in Downie's intense gaze. "What side are you on, Professor Downie?"

"Oh... I don't know. I'll state my stand when you choose yours. I only came to see if the descendant of the Black family has the same backbone as that of Sirius, Regulus and Harry." He said, sipping his tea before leaning back to squint at her.

"Well? Whose side are you on?"

Karma frowned at him. "Professor." She said calmly. "I need time to think about this. I just learned that there were sides a few minutes ago. I thought the war was over." Karma stood and stretched, her eyes sweeping over her family. She glanced at her watch and sighed. "Im sorry, professor." Karma said sadly. "But I have to go somewhere. If you'd like, you can stay and question my family. I hope you can get information for your book."