In The Life of Skye Black

By NarnianAslan

Chapter Eight

Author's Note: Website: http: / slytherclawx. webs. com / index. htm (type it in without the spaces) I'm going to make a SKYE website when I get the time… it will include character profiles, and some Author pages (what could have been/almost was, behind the scenes, etc.)

I made a QUIZ!! Go on my profile to find out who you are out of this story. Be warned: contains mild spoilers.

This takes place in Early July.

Reader beware: This chapter is severely dark, angsty, and emo.

XxX

"Shame Harry isn't here," I sighed, looking around the dingy Number 12, Grimmauld Place in all its former glory.

Martin raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

"Because, he's got his Cloak, and we could explore!"

"Why can't we explore without the Cloak? The meeting's going on and we're the only kids here. Kreacher listens to you, he likes you, so if he caught us, you could tell him not to tell."

May I say two things that I loved about that statement? One: he called Kreacher by his name… most people call him 'the Elf'… maybe if he got more respect he'd be more open to new people. Two: that was complete and utter Ravenclaw logic, and it was brilliantly true.

"That sounds pretty good, actually," I said, "where d'you wanna go first?"

"Top floor?" he suggested. "We could work our way to the bottom. Then, if the adults were to catch us, they'd think we were working our way up."

"Sounds good."

We slowly made our way up to the very top landing.

"Shit, it's my dad's old room…"

On the door was the name SIRIUS written in small capital letters.

"Let's go in," Martin said.

It was fully done in red and gold, posters of Muggle bikini models adorned the wall, as well as a picture of my dad and his friends.

"Eugh, Martin, I'm scarred for life," I said, pointing at the bikini girls.

He laughed. "I expected those, actually."

"Thanks for warning me," I said dryly. I turned to examine the picture. "Dude, it's the rat." I pointed to the boy I knew was Peter Pettigrew.

"Damn," he said, looking at it. "Look how happy they all were. Harry really does look just like his father…"

"Wanna go check out the next room?"

"Sure."

Careful to make sure nothing was disturbed, we left, closing the door behind us. Directly facing us was another room, with a hand-lettered sign on the door:

Do Not Enter

Without the Express Permission of

Regulus Arcturus Black

Not hesitating, I opened the door, and Martin followed me in.

It was the exact opposite of my father's old room. Everything was green or silver, even though everything was faded to some extent.

"Skye…"

I looked where Martin was pointing. The Black family crest was painted over the bed, along with the Tojours Pur motto.

"Well that's certainly nice to look at," I said sarcastically. I'd been sarcastic a lot lately, and I was sure everyone noticed it, even if no one pointed it out.

"Hold on," he said quietly. He went to look at the newspaper clippings underneath of the crest. "They're all about him… Vol-voldemort."

I was much more distracted by a picture near the bed. It was of the Slytherin Quidditch team. I looked at the faces. Uncle Regulus was in the middle, he had to have been the Seeker. He looked a little like my dad… but he did look very familiar, and it wasn't Regina who he looked like. She had his coloring, not his facial features.

"Skye? Skye?"

"What?" I asked, coming out of my reverie.

"Was he a Death Eater?"

I looked up at Martin. Suddenly, my heart sort of stopped. No, I'm not saying I'm in love with him, we've already clarified that it's Fred I'm in love with. My heart stopped because, well, that was who my Uncle Regulus looked like. Exactly. I quickly put the picture down. "Uncle Regulus, you mean? Yeah, he was a Death Eater."

And, apparently, Martin's father.

"Emmeline, I'm not so sure you'd want to see this," I heard my dad saying, it sounded like he was a flight below us.

"Shit," Martin and I said at once.

"Wardrobe!" I ordered in a whisper. We quickly climbed into the wardrobe, leaving it open only a crevice.

"I feel like we should be entering Narnia," Martin whispered into my ear.

Normally I would have smiled, but I was feeling a combination of things. First, I was surprised that my dad would even come up here, usually he left straight after meetings. Second, I was shocked over the realization that Martin was my cousin, my Uncle Regulus's son. Thirdly, I was pretty nervous. If we were caught here, by my dad and Martin's mum… well…

The door didn't creak open because it was already open.

Shit, I thought.

"Are you abso-bloody-lutely sure you want to see this, Emmeline? It isn't pretty."

"Sirius, I know damn well what this room looks like."

"Wait, what? And second- then you don't have to see it," Dad was saying, well, pleading.

"Sirius Orion Black…"

"Fine," he sighed. "And I wondered why you two were able to keep it up."

I saw Martin's mum enter the room, sidestepping Dad. She looked so out of place, wearing red and gold robes, with her blonde hair and blue eyes. Not to mention that she was a Muggleborn.

"It looks so different," she said quietly.

"If I may inquire, how the hell did you see it before?"

"I think you know damn well."

Dad looked a bit disgusted. "I know that, but how'd you two get past the nutter down there?"

"Your parents, you mean?"

Dad looked even more disgusted. "If you must call them that."

"They were at Malfoy Manor."

Dad sighed. "That explains it. They went there quite a lot, really, now that I think of it. Merlin, we must've seen the Sex Pistols at least five times before I left…"

"Sirius?"

"Yes?"

"That time, when I was fourteen, and Remus was trying to drag me to Screen on the Green to see the Sex Pistols… were you two trying to set me up with him?"

"Honestly? Yes. He, well… he fancied you."

"Why didn't you lot tell me?" Emmeline asked.

They were acting like teenagers, rather than thirty-some-year-olds; arguing like they were.

"Because we didn't know you fancied him. Well… we did. But, we didn't think you'd have gone. I certainly didn't tell him. I had to threaten him, actually. Told him I'd tell them –our parents– that he was the one who drank an entire bottle of firewhiskey, not Bellatrix, who they thought had."

"When did he drink a whole bottle of firewhiskey?" she asked, looking around the room.

"Christmas, when I was twelve, and he was eleven."

"Is what he and Aza said true, then? You did get along outside of school?"

Dad sighed. "Of course we did, Emmeline. Being brutally honest, if he hadn't made that stupid mistake, and had left, he'd probably have been a better person than I am. He always was, at school, at home…"

So Dad didn't hate him? Why the hell was I learning more this summer than most of the school year combined?

"He was your little brother."

"Yes, he was. Emmeline, when he died, you wouldn't believe how badly that messed me up. It had a worse impact on you, I'm sure, but… for all I acted… that's just what I did, I acted. I acted like I hated him, I acted like I was better than him, I acted like I didn't give a damn… the last time I saw him was at Gerard and Annie's wedding in the middle of June. I… I just said 'hello' to him, completely formal, how I talked to the people I had no idea who they were. I've got him to thank for everything that's good in my life… Emmeline," he lowered his voice to a serious calm, "if it weren't for Regulus, I'd have never asked Aza out, we would've never gotten married, never had Skye… I would've gone after Peter, and I would've got landed in Azkaban. I'd be dead or worse by now without him."

She nodded slowly. "I just… I miss him. How would you feel if Aza died…?"

"I'd have killed myself. You're a lot braver than I am."

"So, if, if I'd just…" her voice broke. "If I had just gone to the blasted Screen on the Green instead of watching Monty Python… it might've all been different. He might be alive… damn Remus for not telling me. You lot know I would've gone…"

"I know," Dad said, putting a hand on her shoulder. Unless I was mistaken, he was close to tears himself.

Damn. And all this time I just thought he was a Death Eater and my father's brother, but apparently, I have him to thank for existence. There's so much irony in my life.

"I loved him… I couldn't help it... I was stupid and I… I shouldn't have gotten involved, I knew I'd wind up with a broken heart."

"Do you want to know something that might cheer you up?"

"Hmm?"

"Snivellus says the Muggle Studies classes this year are doing Gone With the Wind."

She smiled. "I remember that… it was ironic because…"

"Because you were Carreen and he was Brent? Yeah. Charity Burbage, who's the bloody Muggle Studies teacher now, put a charm on you two so you had to be within ten feet of each other at all times until opening night, didn't she?"

"We didn't act enough in love for her liking… the irony of it still gets me."

"He really did love you, you know that? He had me sitting in here one day, he must've been around thirteen, going on and on about you for hours… I offered to set him up with you, but he said no, he could ask you out himself, he didn't need my help." He paused. "Should've done it anyway."

She smiled.

"You knew, didn't you, that he was going to back out?"

She nodded, her smile disappeared. "Yes… I told him to go to Dumbledore so many times, Sirius, but… he wouldn't. He wouldn't have gone even if I dragged him there. He made me promise that I wouldn't be Carreen to his Brent. But, I wouldn't have gone off to a convent anyway… I would never have been able to use magic again."

"Yeah… I don't know how I'd survive without magic."

"Because you're a Pureblood," Emmeline said. "I'm a Muggleborn, I could survive without magic, but I love it too much to give it up."

"Good point."

"Sirius, if I went to Screen on the Green that night, what do you think would've happened?"

"Being completely, brutally, abso-bloody-lutely honest, I think that you two would have hit it off. You probably would have gone out, and I like to think that he would have left this place like I did…"

"You miss him too, don't you?"

"Yes," Dad said. "Every day. And, I know I could've saved him, I could've helped him… but I was far too caught up in being a Gryffindor and my own affairs, which seem so bloody trivial, now that I'm comparing them to my baby brother's life."

Baby brother? And, given everything I know about him, Uncle Regulus would've been too prideful to accept Dad's help.

"Now, you need to go home, Emmeline. Remus is staying back for a little longer, I'll send Martin back with him."

Emmeline nodded, swallowing. "Goodbye, Sirius."

She left.

"All right. You two, out of the wardrobe," Dad said.

Martin opened the wardrobe, and we stepped out.

"First and foremost: I wasn't lying, so don't either of you think I just said those things to make Emmeline feel better."

He took in a deep breath. "Skye, I could ground you for life, and Martin, I could tell Remus and Emmeline both, but I won't."

"When did he die?" Martin asked quietly.

"July '79. Don't ask me the exact day, because I don't know. It was around the middle of July, is all I know."

"Explains why Mum hates July…"

"You're almost exactly like him," Dad said. "And that's not a bad thing, given as you have the right influences. By the time he actually told your mother, Martin, he couldn't go back. He played Quidditch, too. Though, he was a Seeker. Regina Montague, also, is his daughter, and Emmeline knows it. Her mother, Meissa, is awful. Apparently she threatened him with death…"

Normally, all three of us would've found this amusing.

"I really might have been able to save him, too," Dad said, sinking to sit on the floor.

Martin's face was unreadable and Dad was like a bloody zombie, repeating that same sentence over again, in different variations.

I was the only one with my wits about me. That's when you know it's bad.

"Look… we can't change any of this, and I'm sure we'd all love to. I mean, bloody hell, I've got him to thank for my existence. But, we can't change anything… and it's not like we won't ever see him, I mean, we're all gonna die, aren't we?"

That, I think, was the set-up for the beginning of Martin's —for lack of a better word— emo-ness. One more thing, and I knew he'd be depressed over pretty much everything.

"Yeah. Though whether we go to Heaven or Hell is a different matter."

"Just like him…" Dad muttered.

"Look, either you two snap out of it, or I'm getting Remus."

"What's been with you, lately?" Dad asked in a monotone.

"Nothing," I said. "But I'm getting Remus."

Neither of them responded so I went downstairs. I wasn't going to get Remus, I wasn't stupid. I was going to get Mum.

"Skye, what is it?" Mum asked, stopping me halfway down the stairs.

"Dad's lost it, and Martin's father's Regulus, and they both know it."

"Follow me, love," Mum said, going past me up the stairs, "I might need you."

Once she was in the room, she saw how bad it was.

"How'd he die, though? I mean, there's a million and one ways, not literally, figuratively. Literally there's more…"

Luckily Martin was talking to himself and not Dad, because Dad was now repeating, "He's gone… it's all my bloody fault."

"I told them they shouldn't have come up here," Mum sighed. "Sirius?"

"Aza, what d'you want?"

"What're you on about?"

"Regulus… he's dead… I mean… my baby brother."

"Sirius, what day is it?"

"13 July 1979."

He was in a delirium. They'd always seemed amusing enough on the telly and in movies, but now it was sort of frightening.

"And Regulus is dead?"

Dad nodded. "My little brother. You know I didn't hate him 'Za, I loved him… I could've saved him…"

Of course, it'd fit that Mum was pregnant, too. She'd been pregnant with me when he'd died, so that didn't help.

"Wonder what James'll say? Lily liked him… she'll be upset."

This was a bit too much.

"I don't know why, but Moony liked him too… Wonder what Reggie did with Leo… he took that thing everywhere."

"Martin, don't… don't let him see you right now, all right? Go down in the drawing room, please?"

Martin nodded and went behind Dad's back and down to the drawing room.

"Who's Martin?"

"One of Emmeline's friends."

"Oh, she'll be upset… she loved him…"

"I know she did, love," Mum said.

"Still does, prolly. Why couldn't he have sucked up his pride? If he'd gone with me… if I'd listened to him… 'Za, I could've saved him."

He was crying. I'd never seen my father cry before, and this was just too bizarre.

"We'll never know what might've happened, Sirius, love, and we probably never will, but I think we should get you home and to bed…"

Dad nodded numbly.

"Maybe if he was hurt, he could've owled Lily… she's a healer."

The fact that my dad was mentioning his and Mum's dead best friends was upsetting Mum.

"Tomorrow, d'you reckon they could come over, 'Za? I know it's not safe with the war, but Prongsie always cheers me up..."

"Skye," Mum whispered to me. "I need you to take the Floo to the Burrow, I'll write an owl to Molly the second I get him in bed… Wait ten minutes and then go."

I nodded. Mum grabbed hold of Dad and Disapparated.

"Well, this has certainly been an interesting day," I said as I descended the stairs. Martin and Remus had already left.

"Young Mistress Skye?" I heard a voice croak behind me.

"Kreacher!"

"Kreacher heard people up in Master Regulus's room."

"Yes…. Sorry about that… we didn't touch anything except for the picture of the Quidditch team and the wardrobe."

"Why is young Mistress Skye so nice to Kreacher when her father Master Sirius hates him?"

"Because…" I thought for a second. "I don't think I'm that much like him, Kreacher. I know you've got feelings just as much as I do, and I know that your feelings can be hurt just like mine can. I realize that you're a being, Kreacher, and I don't think my dad does…"

"Master Sirius never liked Kreacher."

"I'm sorry about that. If it makes you feel better, I never didn't like you."

"What does young Mistress Skye think of Master Regulus?"

"I think… that he was right to treat you kindly, and I would have loved to meet him. Kreacher, my dad was burned off of the family tree the same as Andromeda… how come you don't listen to her daughter?"

"Master Sirius is the last of the Blacks, except for you, Kreacher is bound to serve the Blacks until he dies."

"Right. Thanks, Kreacher, I have to go… er, keep up the good work, the place looks better than it did a year ago."

Kreacher might've smiled had the praise not come from me, a Blood Traitor.

I grabbed some Floo powder and Flooed over to the Burrow, thinking hard.

XxX

Author's Note: Oh. My. God. I got this done right after I finished and posted chapter 7… that's serious work, people. 3000 words!

Now, for some sleep. It's 11:49 at night on a Friday…

And my sister is coming home tomorrow… oh joy.

Please Review, it brings Sirius out of his delirium and makes me very happy!