The Art of Living - R. Black

seven

November 3rd, 1995

The atmosphere of Grimmauld Place felt a lot lighter than usual as I stepped into the foyer, Regulus closing the door behind us. In recent months Grimmauld Place has consisted of lots of closed doors and hushed voices. The whole atmosphere had felt dark, but today it felt more light.

It's Sirius's 36th birthday, though he will claim it's his 26th instead.

I heard Sirius and Remus's voices coming from the kitchen. They were the only ones here right now, which meant that it was a rare moment where there wasn't Order business to attend to.

Regulus took my coat and hung it up with his on the standing coat rack.

We started towards the kitchen only to be disrupted by the portrait of Walburga Black.

"Blood traitor!" She screamed. "Stop letting these half breeds into my house!"

Regulus smacked the edge of the portrait frame. "Shut it," He demanded, continuing towards the kitchen.

"Cunt," I whispered, which only aggravated her more. She let out a frustrated scream before going quiet as Regulus threatened to smack the portrait frame again.

"Darling, have I told you recently just how much I love your mother," I joked, resting my hand on his arm.

He smirked at me before following me into the kitchen.

"Oh, I thought I heard the bitch scream," Sirius said as he caught sight of us.

Him and Remus were standing by the stove, a kettle on the stove.

"Happy birthday, Sirius!" I said, going to hug my brother in law.

Sirius hugged me back, and then I gave Remus a hug. I felt extremely short considering the fact that Remus was almost a foot taller than me.

I sat down at the kitchen table as Regulus said hello.

"So how old are you this year?" Regulus joked, sitting down beside me.

Sirius entertained the thought for a minute before speaking. "Twenty five, would you believe that?" He teased.

Remus rolled his eyes and took the boiling kettle off of the stove. I watched as he poured the boiling water into four mugs.

"Wow, it's like you're aging backwards," Regulus said sarcastically.

Sirius shrugged, "Yeah, I'm just better like that."

I stifled a laugh as Remus handed me a cup of tea and handed a second mug to Regulus before he sat down across the table.

The night went on, and tea was replaced with firewhiskey. Sirius had refused a cake for his birthday, claiming that his glass of firewhiskey could act as a cake and his cigarette could act as a candle.

I had quit smoking right around the time that Regulus and I got engaged at the end of 1982.

Grimmauld Place was drafty and it was making me shiver, so I went upstairs in search of a blanket instead of wearing my coat.

All of the room doors were closed, so I checked each of the bedrooms only to find nothing. By the time I reached the third floor, I was met with the locked door of Walburga Black's bedroom. The door has remained locked since her death in 1985, so no one has any idea what secrets hide behind that locked door.

Sirius and Regulus have never even been inside her bedroom.

I so badly wanted to know what was behind the closed doors of Grimmauld Place, but I think it'll cause too much trouble just to satisfy my curiosity.