The Art of Dying - R. Black

six

She Knows - J. Cole

- - - - -

November 4th, 1978

The walk to Hogsmeade was cold, especially since winter is approaching. My nose was red and my hands ice cold as I stepped into the crowded pub.

I had parted ways with Maggie and Emmeline once we reached the village, but we were planning to meet up later to go get ready for the Slytherin party tonight. As much as I didn't want to willingly spend any time with the Slytherin's, they throw a good party.

I looked around the crowded pub for a bit before spotting a familiar head of curly blonde hair.

Marlene spotted me and came flying at me, arms wide. She hugged me tightly, and I returned the gesture wrapping my arms tightly around my sister.

Her hair had gotten longer, her tan from the summer was gone, only a few freckles remaining on her face.

"I've missed you so much," I admitted, resting my chin on her shoulder.

Marlene pulled away, grinning, "I've missed you too, Meredith."

We found a small booth in the corner of the Three Broomsticks, and Marlene went up to the bar to order us drinks.

The pub was filled with lots of people that I knew.

Pandora waved to me from across the Three Broomsticks. She was on a date with her fiance, Xenophilius Lovegood.

"Hey there, McKinnon."

I turned my head to see Evan Rosier leaning against the table, smirking.

"Rosier," I acknowledged.

"Where's your pretty sister?"

"Where's your master? I'm sure you couldn't have strayed far from Black," I retorted, grinning at him.

Evan dramatically clutched his hand to his chest. "Ouch, I'm hurt, Meredith," Evan said, "And last time I checked, Reggie was getting blown by the Shrieking Shack."

"Oh god, you're being serious," I replied, slightly disgusted, but intrigued.

Someone cleared their throat, and we both looked up to see Marlene right behind Evan, holding two butterbeers that she would pour on his head in a moment's notice.

"Good to see you, McKinnon," Evan said to Marlene. He turned back around to me. "I'll tell Reggie you said hi, but I'm pretty sure he's alright thinking about you."

He winked at me and disappeared somewhere into the crowded pub.

Marlene, who was never good at hiding her expressions, looked disgusted as she sat down across from me, passing me a butterbeer.

"What'd he want?" She asked.

I shrugged, "Just saying hi, probably bored."

"Ugh, I never liked him," Marlene admitted. "What'd he say about Black's younger brother?"

"Oh, he's Head Boy, so we're kind of forced to get along."

Marlene scrunched her nose before taking a large sip of her butterbeer. She swallowed, setting her mug down on the table.

"I can't believe Dumbledore made a Death Eater Head Boy."

I raised an eyebrow at her, "He's a Death Eater?"

Marlene shook her head, "I'm not sure, probably. You know their family is pretty high up in You-Know-Whose ranks, so he probably got marked when he came of age."

"That's sad," I muttered.

"Yeah," Marlene agreed, "Unless he wanted it. If that's the case then I have no sympathy for that boy."

I took a large sip of butterbeer, trying to piece things together in my head.

"Anyways," I shook it off, "How's Dorcas? Are you guys doing well?"

Marlene smiled widely, "Things are great. We love living together-, we got a cat."

"Really?" I asked.

"Yeah, he's a Bengal," Marlene asked, "We named him Bowie."

I laughed, "That's amazing, I'll have to meet him over the Christmas holiday."

Marlene gave me a recap of the past few months, mentioning very little about what they were actually doing. I know that my sister is a part of some sort of group fighting against the Dark Lord, but she never talks about it. Ever.

"Well, Frank and Alice got married a few weeks ago, so now there's two married couples out of the lot of us!" Marlene exclaimed, rolling her eyes a bit. "Me and Lils barely get to have girls' days anymore, oh-, did I tell you that Sirius and Remus got a flat together in SoHo?"

My mouth dropped open. "They did?" I questioned, "Well, I guess it was only a matter of time."

"That's what I said," Marlene replied, "Those two are as gay as the night is dark, and it's been going on for a long time."

I laughed, "I'm glad that they're happy though."

"Me too," Marlene agreed, "They deserve it."

Time went by, and by the time that my drink was nearly finished, Marlene was still recapping everyone's lives that I missed.

"Peter got some job at the Ministry, he's literally never around anymore. He always goes "I can't, I have to work", it's getting quite annoying actually." Marlene explained, rambling on. "I miss Mary too. She got a job as a muggle secretary, says she doesn't want much to do with the Wizarding World because of everything that's going on. She started dating this muggle dude named Paul, he's an accountant, whatever the fuck that means."

After spending a couple hours catching up, our drinks were gone and there was no more drama to share.

"I've got to run," Marlene announced, "It was so good to catch up, Mer, I miss you loads."

I hugged my older sister tightly. "I'll see you at Christmas."

When we broke apart from the hug, Marlene's face softened.

"Be careful, okay?" Marlene asked. "Bad things keep happening."

I nodded, "I will. You better be careful doing whatever it is that you're doing."

Marlene smiled, "Oh, I'll be so careful."

She gave me a kiss on the head. "Love you, see you at Christmas."

"Love you too."

Marlene winked at me as she left the pub, drawing the attention of a few men and women as she let the door swing shut behind her.

Merlin, I miss having her here.

I miss having all of them here. It's too quiet without the four boys wrecking havoc wherever they went, without Lily's laugh, without Mary's stories, without Alice's laugh, without Dorcas's infectious smile.

Sighing, I got out of the booth, heading towards the door.

"See you tonight?"

Regulus Black had joined his friends, nursing a butterbeer. The three of them were seated at a table by the door, watching everything.

I nodded at him, trying not to think about what Marlene had said.

There's no way that he's one of them.

"Yeah, see you tonight," I answered, opening the door.

The door of the Three Broomsticks closed behind me, and I was met with the chilled autumn air.

There's no way.