The Art of Dying - R. Black

forty eight

June 25th, 1979

I am practically buzzing with excitement. I get to see Regulus today. It's his eighteenth birthday and I get to spend the whole next 24 hours alone with him.

The first two weeks of summer have been a drag. I went to my first Order meeting. Marlene was not happy about it, but gave up once Lily gave her a look. My first mission is next week, with Benjy Fenwick. He's two years older and seems like a very nice guy, Sirius doesn't like him for some odd reason.

I've spent a lot of time with Jack. The two of us have fallen into a training schedule to prepare for the start of the quidditch season in August. I even helped him dye his hair brown. Jack said he wanted a change, that and the fact that Thomas bet him 10 galleons that he wouldn't do it.

Regulus and I have been writing back and forth every single day without fail.

He seems terribly bored in that house. Regulus said that he and his house elf, Kreacher, have started playing chess every night after dinner.

I had asked him what he wanted to do for his birthday, and he said he had "taken care of it", which sounded very cryptic. He just told me to pack an overnight bag and bring something nice to wear.

When I heard the crack of apparition coming from the front yard, I slung my bag over my shoulder and started towards the door.

"Bye mum," I called.

My mum had just gotten home from a long shift and St. Mungo's and was in the kitchen making herself something to eat before she slept all day.

"Bye honey," She called back. "Have fun and be safe!"

I had told my parents that I was going somewhere overnight with a friend. They both gave me odd looks but didn't ask any questions. That was until Marlene was over for dinner last night and asked if I was going somewhere with Jack. Then proceeded to ask if I'm dating him.

I brushed her questions off because I didn't want to tell the truth.

Closing the front door behind me, I met Regulus where he was standing in the yard. I had to restrain myself from running through the grass and jumping into his arms. He had a bag slung over his shoulder, and extended his arms once I was closer to him.

I wrapped my arms around him, and Regulus hugged me tightly.

"I missed you," I murmured against his chest.

Regulus tilted my chin up so that I was looking at him. "I missed you, angel," He said, with a smile.

He pressed a quick kiss against my lips before pulling away and brushing my hair out of my face.

"Come on, let's get going," Regulus suggested.

"And where exactly are we going?" I asked.

Regulus grinned, "Do you trust me?"

"Of course-"

"Perfect," Regulus said, interlacing his fingers through mine. He took my bag off of my shoulder and slid it onto his, grabbing his wand out of his pocket. "We'll get going then."

Before I could object, we were spinning and twisting out of the yard. When we landed, it took me a second to gather myself. We were standing in an alleyway of what seemed to be like a big city. The sun was slightly higher in the sky than at my house, so something told me that we weren't even in England anymore.

"Reg, where are we?"

Regulus pulled me out of the alleyway and onto the busy street. Cars were stuck in traffic and people walked by, talking in what sounded like French.

"I know you want to travel, so we're in Paris," Regulus said, leading us down the sideway. "It's my favorite city, so I wanted to bring you here."

My heart just about melted.

"You brought me to Paris?" I asked. "For your birthday?"

Regulus kissed me on the cheek. "Yes, I did, love," He said.

We turned off of the sideway, stepping into a nice hotel. A man in a suit held open the door for us and nodded at Regulus.

The lobby that we were in just looked expensive. The ceilings were tall, the floors immaculately clean, and the people were dressed in expensive suits and dresses.

Regulus walked right up to the reception desk.

"Bonjour, nous avons une réservation pour Black," He said, the French flowing easily from his lips.

It was extremely attractive.

The receptionist nodded, getting up to grab the room key.

"Voici votre clé, profitez-en," She replied, handing Regulus the key. "Votre chambre est au dixième étage."

"Merci," He said, giving her a polite smile.

Regulus led me through the lobby and towards the elevators, pressing the button to call the lift.

"You just trying to get me in bed, Black?" I teased, keeping my voice quiet.

Regulus smirked, "That's the hope, but I'm going to take you to dinner first."

The elevator dinged and we both stepped inside, Regulus clicked the button for the highest floor.

"How'd you even find this place?" I asked. "Because it seems very muggle."

Regulus shrugged, "I did my research. I wanted to bring you somewhere nice."

I kissed him on the cheek, holding onto his arm as the elevator doors opened on the tenth floor. I don't know if it's the French talking or that I haven't seen him in two weeks, but all I want to do is touch him and be close to him.

We walked down the expensive-looking hallway, and passed expensive-looking people until we reached our room. Regulus unlocked the door and opened it, resting his hand on the small of my back as he gestured me inside.

Just like I had expected, the hotel room itself looked just as fancy as the rest of the hotel. There was a large bathroom with a big shower and a bathtub. Further into the room, there was a king-sized bed and a large television on the opposite wall. There were glass double doors leading out to a small balcony. But, it was the view that took me by surprise.

I crossed the room and opened the doors, stepping out onto the balcony. We had a clear view of the Eiffel Tower, which stood tall in the sky.

Regulus dropped our bags on the floor and followed me out onto the balcony, wrapping his arms around my waist and resting his head on my shoulder.

"It's your birthday, I'm supposed to be spoiling you," I said.

Regulus hummed in response.

"I'm serious, Reg,"

"It's my birthday, and I wanted to spend the day spoiling you," Regulus replied. "So let me spoil you. Wouldn't want to disobey my birthday wish, would you?"

I sighed in defeat, staring in awe at the city in front of me.

"Let's get settled in, then I want to take you to some of my favorite places around here," Regulus said. He brushed my hair to the side and kissed me on the neck. "Then I'm going to take you out for a nice dinner."

I turned around in his arms so that I was facing Regulus. He had a contented look on his face as he stared down at me.

"Okay, but then I'm going to do something nice for you after dinner," I said.

Regulus smirked at me. "Yeah?"

I quickly kissed him on the lips.

"Yeah, I am."