The Art of Living - R. Black

forty

One Week Later

The damage has been done, and now it's time to reap its consequences.

Following the Battle of Hogwarts, a day that will remain engrained in my brain for the rest of my life, Regulus and I left with a body and had to break the news to Elio.

Elio has cried himself to sleep every night for the past week.

We all went to see Andromeda to pick up Cassie. Regulus was the one who broke the news to her. Andromeda wept over the loss of her daughter and son-in-law. She too knows what it's like to overlive your child.

The three of us came to the agreement that it's best for Teddy to live with Andromeda as of now. Our house is too heavy with grief and Teddy deserves better than that right now.

We went home as four instead of five.

We all cried and mourned Atlas. Even Cassie, not even two years old, knew that something was wrong.

It has been the hardest week of my life.

I was the one who broke the news of Jack's death to his sister, Katherine. She didn't believe me at first, but once she processed it she couldn't stop crying. Katherine put together a small funeral for Jack two days ago and he was buried in next to his mother and late wife, Evelyn. His daughter, Natalia, was there with red eyes and a puffy face from crying. Katherine is her legal guardian now, so Natalia is moving to the suburbs of London with her aunt.

Elio and Natalia have always been close, so they've promised to visit each other often. They're going to be leaning on each other a lot over the next several months.

As for Tonks, she was buried next to her father. Andromeda didn't hold a funeral but Regulus and I went by to say a few words and have tea with Andromeda.

Everything feels so heavy right now like we're never going to feel okay again, but it will pass. Everything must pass.

I knock softly on Elio's bedroom door.

"Come in," He says, voice muffled through the door.

I open the door and lean against the frame. Elio is standing in front of the mirror, dressing in all black, fixing his tie.

"How are you?" I ask my son.

Elio briefly makes eye contact with me in the mirror. "I'm fine," He says.

"It's okay if you aren't," I tell him. "No one is expecting you to be okay right now."

Elio sits down on the edge of his bed and rubs his face. "Atlas wouldn't want me to be sad," Elio says.

My heart falters at that.

I move across the room and go sit down next to Elio. I put my arm around my son and he leans into my embrace. "Atlas would want you to feel, he wouldn't want you to bottle all of your feelings up," I explain. "It's only been a week. It's okay to be sad, it's okay to cry. It's important to grieve so that you can heal."

Elio sniffles. "Is this how you felt when Aunt Marlene died?" He asked.

"Yes," I answer, willing my voice not to waver. I can feel tears brimming in my eyes. "And it's how your dad felt when Uncle Sirius died. It's devastating to lose a sibling. And it's even more devastating to lose your child."

"I miss him so much," Elio mumbles.

I hold him a bit tighter. "So do I," I say.

We stay like that for a few minutes until Elio stops crying. My heart hurts at the fact that Elio is feeling exactly what I was feeling seventeen years ago when Marlene and our parents were murdered. My heart hurts at the fact that my oldest son will never get any older, that he'll never finish school, and that I'll never see him again.

"Are you ready?" I ask Elio.

Elio nods and turns to face me. His eyes are bloodshot from all of the crying.

I wrap my arm around his shoulders, which proves to be difficult since he's almost the same height as me now. Elio leans into my side and we walk downstairs to join Regulus and Cassie. The four of us are all dressed in black.

Regulus looks up when Elio and I enter and he gives a soft smile. He smiles but there's so much hurt behind his eyes.

He has three bouquets of flowers and hands one to Elio, one to me, and holds the other one.

"Come on, Cass," He says. He holds Cassie's hand and lets her walk all the way out back with us.

We walk far enough back into the property where Sirius's gravestone is. This time, there are three gravestones instead of one.

Elio sets down a bouquet of flowers on his brother's grave.

Atlas William Black. 13 March 1983 - 2 May 1998. The bravest Gryffindor.

What Atlas did was reckless, but it was also undeniably brave. He took down three Death Eaters before he was killed.

Regulus sets down a bouquet of flowers on his brother's grave.

Sirius Orion Black. 3 November 1959 - 18 June 1996. Mischief Managed.

I still miss Sirius every day. Regulus misses his older brother so much. It pains me to know that Elio will live his life feeling the same way. He will miss Atlas in the way the Regulus misses Sirius, in the way that I miss Marlene.

I set down my bouquet of flowers on my dearest friend's grave.

Remus John Lupin. 10 March 1960 - 2 May 1998. When the moon is not full, the stars shine more brightly.

I miss Remus so much. He was my best friend, one of my only remaining friends, for almost two decades. Remus always said he wanted to be buried here, regardless of where life took him. He loved Tonks, he truly did, but it wasn't the same type of love he had for Sirius.

Now, the moon and the stars are together again. They're up in the sky, shining brightly with the sun.

They're finally all reunited after sixteen years apart.

All three gravestones are in a line, two of them are used as place markers for bodies, and one of them is used as a place marker for where a body should've been.

I kneel down in front of the graves and stare at them.

The world seems darker now.

- - - - -

No Perspective

Time continues to pass.

Everyone grieves everyone and everything that they lost.

Regulus and Meredith never get over the loss of their child. Elio turns fourteen and spends the day wishing that his brother was still alive. Cassiopeia grows up with no memories of her older brother.

Time continues to pass.

The Black family never does move back to London. They permanently move into Black Manor. Meredith paints the shutters to Atlas's favorite color. Regulus continues to cook dinner for five instead of four. Elio gets help and begins to heal.

Time continues to pass.

The world never is as bright again.