The Art of Living - R. Black

twenty three

Authors Note: Cassiopeia aka baby #3 is the FINAL child of Regulus & Meredith, I pinky promise. So no more pregnancy scares.

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March 8th, 1997

The quidditch stands are filled with people as spectators pile in to watch the Gryffindor versus Hufflepuff match.

It's weird being back at Hogwarts and back on the quidditch pitch. It feels like I've been thrown back in time to twenty years ago. Except this time, James Potter isn't the Gryffindor quidditch captain, it's Harry Potter. And instead of Marlene and I playing, it's Atlas.

I hold onto my husband's hand and let him lead us through the crowd. Regulus has Cassie strapped to his chest with a baby carrier. She's smiling and laughing at just about everyone who passes by.

"Oh, there he is," Regulus says, gesturing towards the right of the locker rooms.

I spot Elio at the same time he spots Regulus, Cassie, and I. He smiles and waves us over.

"Elio," I say as I pull him into a hug. "We missed you!" Surprisingly, my son hugs me back and doesn't seem embarrassed by the fact that I'm hugging him in front of his friends.

Regulus hugs him next, and Cassie gets stuck in the middle of them but doesn't seem to mind it. She reaches out for Elio's hair, and he catches her tiny hand before she goes to pull his hair.

"Hi, Cass," He says, leaning closer to let his little sister grab his finger.

She laughs and babbles something unintelligible. Cassie is a fairly happy baby, which is a relief.

"Hi Meredith and Regulus," Natalia says, coming to stand beside Elio. "And Cassie," She adds, waving at Cassie.

I smile at Jack's daughter. "Hi, Natalia. How are you?"

She's wearing a Hufflepuff quidditch jumper and sporting some yellow and black face paint.

"I'm good. Excited for the match?"

"Very," Regulus interjects. "Especially since we missed the first one."

Atlas's first match of the season happened to be six days after Cassiopeia was born, so Regulus and I couldn't come to cheer our son on.

"I saw Atlas this morning and he had that stupid look of extreme concentration on his face for the entirety of breakfast. It's the same facial expression on match days," Elio explains. "He didn't even tease Cormac McLaggen."

"McLaggen?" I ask, looking at Regulus. "Do we know a McLaggen?"

Natalia answers, "My dad said that his dad was a Gryffindor the year above you guys."

Suddenly I remembered exactly who she was talking about and I stifled a laugh at the thought. "I know his dad then," I say. "Is his son just as much of a cocky prick as his dad?"

"Probably," Elio says with a shrug.

"Nat, Elio, we're going to go get seats," Someone calls from the group of their friends.

Natalia grabs Elio's arm. "Come on, the match is starting soon."

"I guess we better go find seats too," Regulus says. "We'll see you after the match, okay?"

Elio gives a thumbs up in response and then gets swept up by his friends as they rush off to the quidditch stands to go find seats.

"He looks happy, right?" I ask Regulus.

He smiles, "Yeah, he really does. I think it's a good thing that him and Natalia are friends."

"Yeah, I think so too," I say.