The Life and Lies of Cassiopeia Rosier- Regulus Black

.only what is right.

.hope begins in the dark. the stubborn hope that if you just show up and try to do the right thing, the dawn will come.

I didn't quite make up my mind to attend the interview until mere minutes before I was supposed to leave.

I didn't go home that night after my meeting with The Dark Lord. I couldn't bring myself to go back there where there were so many reminders of what I had lost. Instead, I stayed at the Leaky Cauldron while I made up my mind.

I had nothing holding me here. No one left in my life. It would be so easy to pick up, and to run. Maybe to somewhere in America. I could be done and disappear before anyone would even know to look for me. I could have the child, and we could live a life away from all of the fear. Away from all of the pain. Away from all of the grief.

It was so incredibly enticing that I nearly had one foot out the door to leave.

But something held me back. A thought that clawed at my conscience for two days. Something that demanded that I couldn't leave and kept me firmly rooted to where I was.

Evil prevails when good does nothing to stop it.

I wouldn't say I was necessarily good. Far from it actually. But I did have the power to do something that would help. I had an opportunity before me that could lead to innocent lives being spared. It could lead to weakening The Dark Lord. Wasn't I duty bound to take the opportunity? Someone braver than myself would have immediately seized it.

But I was not brave. And I was not strong.

Those thoughts plagued me. I couldn't eat. Couldn't sleep. Food was delivered to my room, but I just pushed it around my plate unable to stomach anything.

I wasn't sure how I was even still functioning. A steady ache had burned its way into my heart. I couldn't rid myself of it.

But somehow...somehow I continued on.

And finally, only a few minutes before the interview, I decided I would go.

The fight with my own mind to get there had been fierce. But I couldn't stomach the idea of running away and hiding while others were suffering. Not while there was something I could do.

Most of all, I wanted to be brave. Wanted to be brave like Regulus was. Wanted to be courageous enough to do something that mattered. Something that could save lives.

So I took a deep breath and apparated from The Leaky Cauldron into Hogsmeade.

It was colder there, and I had to pull my cloak around me to keep the chill away. Snow blanketed the town as it had mere days before. It was fresh, as if another storm had blown in from the hills.

The Three Broomsticks was crowded when I arrived. I wasn't late, but I wasn't early either. And when I told the barkeep why I was there I was directed to hallway in the back of the pub.

I nearly stopped short when I saw how many people lined the wall, waiting for their turn to be interviewed.
Many looked up as I approached, and most of the applicants eyed me quizzically. I was sure that it was because I was so young, only a year out of school. Most looked to be in their early thirties at least. Some older.

It was an open interview. The date and time given in The Daily Prophet so that anyone who desired to apply could show up. Dumbledore had no idea to expect me, and I was nervous. Not necessarily about being interviewed. More nervous because I wasn't exactly sure I was doing the right thing.

It took a while. Some stayed in the room with Dumbledore longer than others, but gradually, they all filtered in and out. In and out. Some looked hopeful, others looked absolutely crestfallen.