The Art of Living - R. Black

fourteen

TW: Death

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June 18th, 1996

We were in the middle of an Order meeting at Grimmauld Place when we received Snape's patronus.

The day had started out normally. I got up, Regulus made breakfast, I went to the quidditch pitch to coach for a few hours, I came home, Regulus and I wrote letters to Atlas and Elio, then we left for the Order meeting.

"Voldemort has shown Harry a false vision, he is headed to the Department of Mysteries."

The room erupted into chaos.

"We need to leave immediately," Sirius said. He had a panicked tone to his voice, but it was hidden under the assertiveness of his tone. "Who's going?"

Remus, Tonks, Moody, Kingsley, and Regulus volunteer.

The entire Order wasn't here, only about half of us, and we had no idea what we were walking into.

"I want to go," I said, going to stand by Tonks.

"Like hell you are," Regulus said. "You're going to stay here, and stay safe."

I frowned at him. "No, I'm going. Harry is Marlene's godson, he's practically family," I stated, getting annoyed with him.

"Meredith, you are 16 weeks pregnant. No."

Before I could argue, Tonks spoke. "I think you're forgetting how skilled your wife is. If she wants to go, it's her choice, not yours."

"Exactly," I said. "We don't know what we're walking into, you might need me."

Regulus went to speak up again, but Sirius cut him off.

"We're leaving right now, with or without you guys," He said.

Everyone started to file out of the house and into the street outside of the house. Regulus grabbed my hand as I walked out.

"Meredith, this isn't a good idea," He said.

"I'll be fine. Do you trust me?" I replied.

Regulus nodded, "Of course I trust you, I just don't want you to put your life or our child's life at risk."

I ignored him and followed everyone else out into the street.

Sirius had already apparated away, leaving in a flash of white light. The rest of us got our wands out to follow. The last thing I saw before apparating was Regulus giving me a disapproving look.

When I land, we're all scattered around the Death Chamber in the Department of Mysteries. I've never been here before, but I immediately have an eerie feeling. The chamber is dark, with a rocky floor, and the Veil, an arch with fog rolling around it in the middle of the room.

A spell is thrown and the room breaks into chaos, all of the Death Eaters attention going to the wandfire.

I broke away and reached for Ron Weasley and Neville Longbottom. I helped them off of the rocks and we ran. Spells were ricocheting off of the chamber walls, and the room was illuminated as various curses were thrown back and forth.

We ran into Tonks, who had Ginny and Hermione.

"You kids stay here, okay?" I said, making them all duck down behind the rocks. "We'll get you out of here soon."

After assuring that the kids were safe enough, Tonks and I went to take on some of the Death Eaters.

A green curse is thrown in our direction via Tiberus Nott. I felt like being sick thinking about the fact that I was at his house with Regulus just six months ago.

Tonks blocked the curse while I hit Nott with a stunning spell. Moody saw this and vanished Nott out of the room, presumably to Azkaban.

I looked around the room to see that all of the Death Eaters had been captured except for Lucius Malfoy. He stood on the rocks dueling with Sirius and Harry. I made eye contact with Regulus, who was on the opposite side of the chamber as me. He let out a visible sigh of relief upon seeing me.

"Expelliarmus!" Harry yelled, sending Malfoy's wand out of his hand.

"Nice one, James!" Sirius said.

Sirius proceeded to throw spells at Malfoy, sending his other wand out of his hand, and sending Malfoy soaring back off of the rocks.

Just as all of the Death Eater's were taken care of, Bellatrix Lestrange appeared in a cloud of black smoke. Red light came out of her wand and hit Sirius directly in the chest, causing his body to fall into the archway.

Time slowed as Sirius's body was wrapped up in fog and picked up by the Veil. His body was lifted upwards until he disappeared completely.

Harry yelled, and Remus appeared behind him, grabbing Harry tightly.

Bellatrix laughed maniacally, a grin on her face as she fled the chamber. She was practically taunting Harry.

No one made a move towards her.

I went towards Regulus immediately. I was moving fast, trying to get to him as fast as possible. When I reached him, he was staring up at the archway, silent tears streaming down his face.

"Regulus, Reg-," I said, cupping his face with my hands.

"She killed him," He whispered, not making eye contact with me.

"Reg, talk to me, please," I said, trying to get him to snap out of it. I felt tears running down my face as well, feeling a bit in shock from what just happened.

It all happened so quickly.

Harry screamed, and I looked over to see him. His screams were so loud and so heartbreaking that no one dared move. The only thing holding him up right now was Remus. Tears were streaming down his face as he cried out.

"She killed Sirius! She killed him-, I'll kill her!" Harry yelled.

Harry broke free of Remus's hold and ran out of the chair, following Bellatrix.

"Harry-" Remus yelled.

Instead of following, I focused on Regulus. He looked back at me, his face screwed up in pain. "She killed him, she killed Sirius," He muttered. "My brother is dead."

"Reg-"

He dropped his head onto my shoulder, his entire body slumping against me. I held Regulus as he sobbed into my shoulder. His arms were wrapped so tightly around my waist, like he was afraid that he'd lose me next.

I closed my eyes, tears streaming down my face as I began to process what just happened.

Sirius was killed.

Sirius is dead.

I held onto Regulus tightly as he cried, both of us not caring about the utter chaos that was happening somewhere else in the Ministry.

"I'm sorry, I'm so so sorry," I whispered, trying to offer him any bit of reassurance.

"It's not your fault," He choked. He pulled me even tighter against him, burying his face into the crook of my neck.

I had one hand on the nape of his neck, and began to run my fingers through his hair.

"I'm sorry," I said again.

I felt some slight discomfort in my lower stomach. Of course, this is the time that the baby decides to start kicking.

Then I realized that this is not in fact the baby kicking.

The discomfort in my lower stomach only increased, and I started to feel the cramps. My hand stilled in Regulus's hair and my breathing hitched.

"Meredith?" Regulus asked, letting go of me enough to look at me. "What's wrong?"

I looked down at my bump and then back up at Regulus.

"Regulus, something very very wrong is happening," I said.