The Art of Living - R. Black

one

July 20th, 1995

"Are you fucking kidding me?"

The Thursday post had just arrived, and Regulus was holding an opened letter in his hands. I stepped beside him, peering over at the letter in his hands.

"What is it, love?" I asked.

Regulus handed me the letter before running his hands through his hair and starting to pace throughout the living room.

My eyes scanned over the letter, my blood running cold.

Dear Mister and Missus Black,

We are on the brink of a second war and it's time to reassemble the Order of the Phoenix. I would like both of you to be a part of it. It is up to you of course, however, we will not be able to guarantee protection for you and your sons if you decline.

I look forward to hearing from you both shortly.

Regards,

Albus Dumbledore

"Shit," I muttered.

I looked over at my husband, who had an irritated look on his face.

"They're making us fight in another war if we want to protect the boys," Regulus said, a twinge of anger in his voice. "They barely kept us alive in the first war, and now they want us to go to war again?"

I frowned, "Well, we have to do it."

"I know," Regulus replied. "We have to protect them at all costs."

The sound of the back door swinging open interrupted our conversation. Soon after, Atlas and Elio came walking into the living room with flushed faces, carrying their brooms.

The irritated look on Regulus's face went away, and he smiled at the boys.

"Mum, I'm almost as fast as Atlas now!" Elio said, a grin on his face.

I folded the letter back up and smiled at him. "That's great, darling," I cheered.

Atlas groaned, "No, it's not. He might be able to beat me soon."

"That's okay, you win some, you lose some," Regulus added, the anger disappearing from his voice.

"Why don't you boys go clean up before dinner?" I suggested.

With an eye roll from the both of them, Atlas and Elio left the room, their footsteps loud on the staircase.

"I'll write Dumbledore back then," I muttered. "And then I'll see who else is rejoining the Order, but I figure that there'll be quite a few new people."

"Meredith-"

I frowned, "They don't even know that there's a war going on, we have to keep them out of this at all costs. It was already bad enough that Atlas had to see that poor boy Cedric die."

"Should we even send them to Hogwarts this year?" Regulus asked.

I shrugged, "It's going to be the safest place for them to be at the moment."

"I sure hope so."

"Plus Elio would be so upset, he's been waiting to start at Hogwarts," I added.

Regulus stepped closer to me, kissing me on the forehead. "You're right, angel," He said, "I'm just worried about them."

"I know, I am too."

I folded the letter and read it over again before going to grab some parchment to write our reply.