Hiraeth | Regulus Black

Chapter One Hundred and Five

"I don't... I... There-wh-what?"

"My-I don't... Have any words."

Esme and Regulus stood side by side, looking up at the house that only several hours earlier had been occupied by a happy young family.
Now, it was fair to say, things had changed.

"How is this even possible?" Esme mumbled weakly, unable to tear her eyes away from the wreckage of the house in front of them, which was barely even recognisable as a building anymore.

Regulus gulped, "We're too late."
She scoffed, "Just a little, yeah."

It was as though the house had exploded from the inside, and everything was now just charred and black. Any sign of life had been effortlessly wiped away, and all that remained was this dark pit of nothingness.

Then, rustling.
Then a yelp and a crash.

Esme grabbed ahold of Regulus, squeezing his hand tightly as she asked, "What's that?"
He stood up on his toes to peer over some of the rubble, and then slowly said, "I think... That's Hagrid."

"Rubeus Hagrid?" She frowned in confusion, and this only deepened as Hagrid moved into her eye-line and made his way closer, carrying a small bundle of something in his arms.
"Hagrid!" Regulus hissed, leading the way towards him and off the empty street.

The half-giant looked bewildered for a moment, nearly tripped over some debris, and finally he locked eyes on the young couple. "Oh!" He called out, "It's yer two, isn't it? Er, Regulus and Esmer'ilda, yeah. Wha-what are ye doing here?"

"Hagrid," Regulus nodded his head once, "What happened? We were here only a few hours ago."
Hagrid gulped, adjusted the bundle tightly in his arms, and attempted to explain, "It-it were him, you see. Tha'-that He Who Must Not Be Named. He..." Hagrid lowered his voice dramatically, "Killed them. Those Lily and James Potter, he did."

Esme took a step back, dropping Regulus' hand as she turned back to look at the obliterated house. "But when?" She asked, "I don't understand how this happened."

"He er... Must'a found out where them two were stayin'. Here, you see. This lil one - Harry, 'ere - stopped You Know Who. 'E's gone! Almost didn't believe it a' first, meself, but it's true!"

"Harry - as in the baby? Lily and James' son? How could he stop the Dark Lord?" Esme almost laughed in complete and utter shock.
Hagrid stammered slightly before saying, "I don't know. Nobody seems ta know. But 'e's gone. Destroyed. Thas' the prophecy, for ya."

Esme turned back to Regulus and admitted, "We must have just missed it."
He sighed sadly and combed a hand over his hair as he mumbled out, "I know. Just."

It wasn't that they'd missed the downfall of the Dark Lord, which of course they would have liked to have seen. But they'd gone to Godric's Hollow with the sole intention of guarding the Potters until Dumbledore and the Order could arrive and do something.
They'd failed.
Esme and Regulus had fled from an ambush by the Death Eaters, Dumbledore had never turned up, and now Lily and James were dead.