Thicker than Water (Marauders Era)

19 June, 1979 - Goodbye (II)

The world fell apart on a Tuesday.

This was lucky. If Lavinia had had work that day or the next, she didn't know what she might have done.

But it was a Tuesday and Lavinia slept in after her usual night shift. When she woke up to the midmorning light streaming through her window, there was absolutely nothing out of the ordinary except the soft hooting of Paris as he sat perched in his open cage.

Lavinia groaned and rolled out of bed, rubbing the last traces of sleep from her eyes and trying to remember what she needed to do today. There wasn't much. She should probably go to the grocery store because their fridge was starting to get a slightly empty, but she had every intention of dragging either Remus or Sirius along with her because she was feeling lazy and didn't want to have to lug a gallon of milk the whole way back home. She could have apparated, probably, but she liked the walk to and from town and besides, she could never totally shake the feeling that apparating with food might just do something funny to it.

So she put on a comfortable pair of pants and slightly loose shirt and was just about to leave when Paris gave another hoot, this time a bit sharply. Lavinia turned to glare at him, fully intending to tell the bird off for giving her that kind of attitude, but stopped when she saw a letter tied to his leg.

Releasing a little "oh" to no one in particular, Lavinia untied the letter and offered Paris an owl treat which he inspected haughtily before accepting. Lavinia snorted slightly at his superior demeanor before, letter in hand, heading out to the kitchen for coffee and perhaps breakfast.

Remus and Sirius were nowhere to be found, but she'd expected this. There was an Order meeting today, as there so often was on Tuesdays. Lavinia couldn't possibly explain why anyone thought Tuesday was a good day for a meeting, but apparently Dumbledore did. Maybe they were trying to throw the Death Eaters off. After all, no sensible person would expect meetings happen on Tuesdays.

Giving up on trying to riddle out Dumbledore's reasoning, Lavinia tossed the letter onto the living room table to read after she had coffee, then glanced at the clock as she entered the kitchen. Just past 10 am. So they'd be home any minute now. Good, she thought absently, pulling a mug out of the cupboard. She wanted to get something for dinner at the store and it seemed foolish to leave that to the last minute. But she also didn't have any good ideas, so maybe she'd get Remus to help come up with something.

Stifling a yawn, Lavinia poured herself coffee and sat down on the couch to wait, sipping blearily at her hot beverage and watching the sun stream through the windows. It was shaping up to be a lovely day and that walk to the supermarket was looking more and more inviting.

Once she was about halfway through her mug, Lavinia picked up the letter and flipped it, inspecting the seal. It was nothing particularly notable, but that didn't mean much. The only two people who consistently wrote her letters didn't use their own seals, for safety's sake.

Setting her mug momentarily, Lavinia slid her finger under the edge of the envelope, snapped the wax and pulled out the parchment inside. It was from Regulus. A wave of relief washed through her. It had been more than two months since Regulus had last written to her and she had been more than slightly worried about it. True, he'd said he wasn't sure how often he'd be able to write and yes, she'd rather he was safe than risk writing her if it was dangerous, but even so. She'd worried plenty.

Picking up her coffee and holding it in one hand with the letter in the other, Lavinia tucked her feet under her on the couch and began to read.

Dear Vin,

I'm sorry it's been so long. A lot has happened in the past few months and I honestly didn't know where to begin writing. I made a decision recently and I'm afraid it's not one you're going to like. Still, I hope you understand that for perhaps the first time in my life, I'm doing something I can say I'm proud of.