You Only Live Once

CHAPTER 34

 MARCH 2Oth 1979

"Mira! Wake up!" someone hissed urgently in her ear, making her jump up from her bed , startled.

"What's wrong Evan?" she questioned concerned. Her eyes quickly traveled to the clock on her nightstand. It was 3:40 in the middle of the night.

"I need your help" was all he said before taking her hand and leading her out of the dorm. They walked down the stairs and out of the common room , running around the hallways without even thinking about the possibility of getting caught, until they reached the Whopping Willow. Evan seemed to know his way around it because in just a few seconds they were inside, sprinting through the tunnel. When they arrived at the Shrieking Shack Mira could hear someone groaning from the inside. When Evan opened the door she was shocked by the sight of Regulus on the floor, a puddle of blood around him.

"What happened?"Mira asked in horror , rushing to Regulus' side and trying to find where all that blood was coming from.

"Mission gone bad." Evan followed her steps and took Regulus' shirt off revealing a huge scar across his abdomen. "Now , I need you to hold him Mira, use all your strength." he instructed and Mira did as she was told, holding Regulus' shoulders against the wall. Barty began chanting an incantation, his wand hovering around the scar. But nothing seemed to work. He tried again and again and again and Mira held Regulus back as he hissed in pain but nothing seemed to work.

"We need to get him to Madam Pomfrey" Mira said, tears starting to form in her eyes. If he didn't get the help he needed soon who knew what would happen to him.

"No" Regulus said suddenly before closing his eyes from the pain he felt.

"He's right. We need to find another way" Evan agreed , pacing back and forth in the room.

"Have you both gone mental?" Mira questioned, looking between the two, feeling livid by the adrenaline. "Reg" she whispered , taking a hold of his face in her hands. "Please. Let us take you to the hospital wing" she said, looking at him pleadingly.

"And what will we say happened exactly?" Evan looked at her, questioning her request.

"I'll lie. Leave it to me"

"And they're still wondering why you were put in Slytherin" Regulus commented in a weak voice with a soft smile on his face nonetheless.

"Shut up, Black" she said with a smile mirroring his.

"I'll go if you promise me something" Mira just nodded, eager to get him to the hospital wing. "You'll play Quiditch tomorrow"

........

As soon as madam Hooch blew her whistle and every player's feet were off the ground ,Mira's heart started pounding harder than ever before. This was a huge responsibility, the risk of letting her house down too heartbreaking. The risk of letting Regulus down too devastating. So she focused on her goal like never before in her life. Looking for the snitch was much harder when it had to be done under pressure. James and Sirius were in the stands, cheering her on despite her being in Slytherin. They had arrived after receiving a letter from Mira, informing them of the situation, probably to boast later on, if Slytherin won, for the effectiveness of their lessons that summer. It had been twenty minutes and the February air with the cheers from the stands were buzzing in her ears. The score was now 20-50 with Hufflepuff on the lead. That's when she spot it. She gave Evan a look, the same one she had given Theo a year ago, and he caught on immediately. So he approached her pretending to be whispering something in her ear to which Mira nodded, turning her head on the opposite direction of the snitch. Amos Diggory, who was watching them intensely, smiled triumphantly to himself before going to the wrong direction. That, just like Regulus, had distracted him long enough for Mira to follow the right path and catch the snitch, giving Slytherin the win.

"And Potter has done it! Slytherin wins 120-50!" the commentator, a fifth year Ravenclaw, announced and the crowd went abuzz, with James and Sirius being the loudest of them all. When Mira's feet touched the ground, they immediately carried her back inside the castle, leaving everyone else behind.

"Reg!" she shouted as soon as she was at the corridor outside the infirmary. Regulus , who was up pacing back and forth from anticipation, stopped his pacing and looked intensely at the doors. Moments later they opened, revealing Mira.

"I did it!" she announced with a huge smile on her face before running to him. Regulus held her by the waist and spun her around, his smile and excitement matching hers.

"That's my girl!" he kissed her temple, letting her back on the ground. "I knew you could do it"

"It's the best feeling ever!" Mira exclaimed enthusiastically. "Thank you, for believing in me" she said, her expression turning soft.

"Always" he replied, putting a strand of her that had fallen out of her ponytail, behind her ear. "Now let's go out and celebrate"

It had taken them longer than usual to reach the Quiditch pitch, due to Regulus still being weak, but when they did everyone cheered for both of them, congratulating Regulus on his choice and Mira for pulling it through.

"Where's my cousin?" a voice sounded behind her.

"I don't know. Maybe a recruit has already whisked her away" another one said and Mira's smile grew even bigger, if possible.

"Did you see me, Jamie? I did it!" she exclaimed excitingly, turning around to face them both.

"You sure did, little one." he replied with a proud grin on his face , lifting her off the ground in a hug , making her chuckle. "Awesomeness runs in the family anyway"

"Yeah, yeah. Everyone's awesome. Now where's my hug at?" Sirius complained making both Mira and James shake their heads at him.

"I always knew he'd be that kind of guy" Mira mumbled under he breath.

"What?"

"I said...come and get your hug, you idiot"

"Is he alright?" Sirius asked Mira in a whisper while they were hugging. Mira knew exactly who he was referring to.

"He's fine, all things considering" Sirius nodded his head, finally letting go of the hug.

"Look at that! You can make good choices too" was the last thing he said, walking past Regulus, James hot on his tail. Regulus kept looking at his brother while he was walking away, unable to speak.

"I'll make sure there come a day when you can talk to him in public again" Mira promised , putting her hand on one of his shoulders.

"I have no doubt"he smiled knowing that she would truly do anything in her power to change everything. "What did you tell madam Pomfrey last night?"

"That you were playing with your potions homework and the recipe went bad"

"Ah, of course"