The Art of Dying - R. Black

forty four

May 14th, 1979

After the events of Friday and Saturday, I spent all day Sunday in Gryffindor Tower and on the quidditch pitch. N.E.W.T. 's are a month away, and I needed to study. We had a two hour practice in the afternoon, which was exhausting. Since the final match is only two weeks away, Jack has been pushing the team harder than usual.

When I walked into potions class with Emmeline on Monday morning, it felt like everyone's eyes were on me. Over the weekend, the "rumor" that Regulus and I had left the party spread like wildfire throughout the castle. This sparked a "rumor" that we're together and we have been since Christmas. They were close enough to the truth, but nobody needed to know that.

I didn't mind that much, but Regulus's mum would murder him if she ever found out that he was hanging around a blood traitor, he would get his shit rocked. Again.

So, I did what I had to do and denied, denied, denied.

It didn't matter, because people were still staring when I sat down next to him in class.

I had barely said hello to Regulus when Evan turned around with a smug look on his face.

"You two are a pair of fucking idiots," Evan teased. "This whole year I've watched you both be like 'no we can't', 'people would talk', blah blah blah. And now, all of the sudden the whole castle is talking about you both."

"Wait-, whole year?" Emmeline interjected.

I brushed her off, mouthing 'I'll tell you later'.

"Yes, the whole year, and I've had a front row seat for all of it," Evan answered.

"Huh, that's weird because I have no idea what you're talking about, Evan," Regulus said. "Do you, Meredith?"

I shook my head. "No clue, such a crazy rumor about us," I said sarcastically.

Evan rolled his eyes. "Idiots I tell you," He muttered to Emmeline.

Emmeline shrugged, "I kind of expected this actually."

Regulus raised an eyebrow.

"It just seemed like something would even happen, and it did," Emmeline explained. "It's hard to explain but it's actually not as surprising as other people think."

I leaned on my elbow, staring at Emmeline and Evan. "And what about you two then?"

"Great question, I've been wondering that too," Regulus added.

Emmeline's cheeks went slightly red, and she looked over at Evan. "We decided to just stay friends," She said.

"Huh, is that so?" Regulus asked, looking at Evan.

"Very much so," Evan answered.

Before I had a chance to pester them for any more information, Professor Slughorn walked into the classroom, the door closing with a bang.

"Happy Monday, class!" Slughorn chimed. "We've only got four weeks left so we're going to get right to it."

- - - - -

May 21st, 1979

The bell rang, and Transfiguration ended. Jack was waiting as I packed my things back into my bag. The classroom was clearing out pretty quickly. It was the last class of the day, and it was sunny and warm outside.

Professor McGonagall approached us and cleared her throat.

I slung my bag over my shoulder, and gave Jack a quick look before looking at Professor McGonagall.