A/N: I don't own Harry Potter. I do own the characters I made up though. Anyway, on to the story and review please!
Chapter 4: In the Meadow
Romilda Lupin had gotten used to being dead. She found a large castle about thirty yards from the white meadow. The castle was made of white marble. All the furnishing was white as well. Even the food and water was white.
As the days became weeks, Romilda discovered many things. She was never hungry or thirsty, but she ate and drank to pass the time. She seemed to have enhanced taste buds; all that she consumed seemed sweeter than when she had been alive. She never gained weight either, so all the eating did nothing, it just got consumed. She never aged, she remained sixteen. No pimples, no wrinkles (though she wouldn't discover this until much, much later), no blemishes at all. She didn't need to breathe either, though the motion of her lungs was comforting, if unnecessary. She didn't need sleep, nor did she want to, for she would have nightmares that her brother hadn't gotten away, or that she had survived and been a monster, expelled from Hogwarts, abandoned by her family.
She was the only thing of color there. Her skin, which she had expected to look grey with death, was a healthy pink, as if blood still flowed through her veins. Her hair was still silky and never tangled or fell out. It was still the chocolate brown it had been in life. Her nails didn't grow (nor her hair) and clothes were clean and whole as if she had never torn them or rolled in dirt or her blood. Her robes were still emerald, her shirt still lavender, her skirt still black. Even her shoes were clean and green. The one thing that shocked her was her eyes. When she looked into a white mirror, she found her eyes were no longer blue, but brown. It was the only proof she really had of being bitten by a werewolf; she had no scars.
There was no day and no night. There was no way to distinguish the time. The days blended together into one long continuous day. Romilda would have given anything to see a star. She and Remus loved to go star gazing, now she couldn't even do it alone, wondering if Remus was looking at the same star. She never saw a sun or moon either, everything was just white. It was like being trapped on a blank sheet of paper.
As the weeks melted into months and years (too much time had passed not to be years), Romilda began to get frantic. People were dying left and right. Flashes of white light indicated when someone died. There was a war, Romilda thought that has to be it. People in these numbers didn't just die. She knew it was coming, her father was telling her mother of the danger. He was part of some group that was fighting the dark wizards. They had a long name so Romilda could never remember what they were called. Still, they instilled fear in her parents and now they had finally come out in the open…or so it appeared.
One day (or was it night?), Romilda grew bored and went out to the meadow to pick some daisies. She dearly missed green grass and yellow dandelions and the blue sky. Anything but white. She had picked some many flowers, daisies, tulips, sunflowers, pansies, but all were white. What happened to the color in this place? Had it ever had color?
Then it happened, something that would change her afterlife. A flash of white light lit up her meadow from behind her. Romilda stood abruptly and spun around. Terrified, that it might be Remus or one of her parents, Romilda looked at the person lying in the grass. She gasped. It wasn't a family member, but it was someone she knew. She hadn't seen the man since he had been a fourteen-year-old nuisance in Ravenclaw. He opened his eyes and gaped at her.
"Todd Riley?" Romilda asked.
"Romilda Lupin?" Todd blurted. Romilda dropped her flowers.
"You remember me?" she asked.
"Of course, you were the prefect who kept putting Ted and I in detention." Todd said with a small grin. "When you didn't come back after Easter Break, I thought you had dropped out or something because Black and Rowle were together once school started up again. Apparently, I was wrong."
"I was murdered." Romilda said bluntly. "Thorfin set me up. I think he wanted to kill my brother, but he got away. I saved him…at least, I hope I did."
"He's safe." Todd assured her. Romilda looked at him tearfully.
"Really?" she asked.
"Yeah, he should be in the middle of his third year at Hogwarts."
"It's been seven years since I died?" Romilda asked after a quiet pause. Todd nodded.
"He's a handsome boy. I met him the year I graduated. He's really smart. I wouldn't be surprised if he's the best in his year." Todd said smiling at Romilda's watery grin.
"I'm glad he's okay. I was so afraid the werewolves would get him."
"Werewolves? Is that what killed you?" Todd asked. Romilda nodded.
"I think one of them was Greyback, he had a run in with my father and he didn't come out happy."
Todd frowned. "Seems reasonable, after, Thorfin is a Death Eater. So they have the same boss. That would explain why he helped set you up."
"Death Eater, what is that?" Romilda asked.
"They were once called the Knights of Walpurgis." Todd explained. Romilda nodded in recognition.
"So, they changed their name when they came out in the open?" Romilda asked.
"Yeah, I mean, they've been around since the late fifties, but it wasn't until they got a real leader that they revealed themselves. He's some nutter who calls himself Lord Voldemort. He's a real wack job, doesn't even look human." Todd said.
"How lovely," Romilda said in distaste.
"That's not even the worst part. They are attempting to "purge the wizarding world of all things unnatural." Load of tosh." Todd spat.
"What does that even mean?"
"It means they're killing Muggles and Muggleborns and anyone who protects them."
"That's awful!" Romilda exclaimed thinking about her mother. She was a Muggle after all.
"Yeah, tell me about it. That's why I was killed." Todd said sourly. Romilda gaped.
"But you're a pureblood! Why would they want to kill you?" she asked.
"Because, my best friend is a Muggleborn and he eloped with a pureblood."
"So, I don't see the problem." Romilda said confused. Todd laughed.
"Remember Bellatrix's little sister, Andromeda?" he asked. Romilda scowled.
"Yes, how can I forget the one person who cursed me nearly every week?"
"Well, that's who Ted married." Todd said. Romilda's jaw dropped.
"He married a Black? Is he crazy? That's practically planning your own death." She shouted. Todd chuckled.
"Believe me; we all told him so, even Andromeda, but he wouldn't hear it. So after school, he and Andromeda simply disappeared. The Death Eaters assumed I knew where they were, but I didn't. So, they killed me. Or, Bellatrix did at any rate."
"I'm so sorry Todd. Ted must be heart broken." Romilda said.
"Forget Ted, my wife is going to be worse." Todd said bitterly.
"You have a wife? Oh, the poor girl." Romilda said putting a hand comfortingly on Todd's shoulder.
"Yeah, Cecelia. Do you remember her? She's Andromeda's best friend." Todd said.
"Oh, she was a horrible girl. I always wondered how Andromeda put up with her." Romilda said before she could stop herself. She blushed but Todd just laughed.
"Yep, that's her. She was a pain, but it turns out, it was all an act. That's why Annie could put up with her. She was trying to be different from her siblings. After all, being the youngest of fifteen is hard work."
"Oh, well, I suppose it would." Romilda said.
After that, the two spent every day together. Todd told Romilda everything that had happened since her death. Romilda in turn told him all she knew of the strange white home they inhabited. The two decided they ought to finally get to know each other. Todd wasn't nearly as annoying as Romilda had thought, nor was Romilda as overbearing as Todd had thought. They both quite enjoyed each other's company.
"Todd…does Remus have friends?" Romilda asked. "It's just; he's so shy around people that I thought it might be hard for him at school."
She was lying on the grass while Todd was floating in a pond in their meadow.
"Yeah, he's three very close friends. Er, one is James Potter."
"As in Charles and Tallulah Potter?" Romilda asked. "Aren't they a bit old to be having a kid?"
"You'd think, but it happened, and he's quite spoiled." Todd said. "Not in a bad way though. He doesn't get everything he wants, but he's never been neglected."
"I see, well, go on, who else is Remus friend's with?"
"Er, Peter Pettigrew. His dad owns a baggage shop in Diagon Alley."
"Hmm," Romilda said uninterested.
"He's really quiet and kind of slow I think." Todd said shrugging. "His last friend is Sirius Black."
Todd said this kind of reluctantly. Romilda shot up from the grass into a sitting position.
"Sirius Black? As is Bellatrix Black?" she asked venomously. Todd shrank to the other end of the small pond. He may have been older, but Romilda still frightened him.
"Now, don't take this the wrong way. Sirius isn't like the rest of his family. For one, he's in Gryffindor, that's how Remus knows him. Second, he doesn't believe in the whole blood purity crap."
Before Romilda could respond, there was a flash of white light on the far side of the pond behind Todd in the meadow. Todd hopped out of the water immediately and hurried over to the boy on the ground. Romilda followed a little more slowly. When she got over to them, Todd had already helped the boy sit up. He was no older than Romilda. He had shoulder-length black hair, blue-gray eyes and pale skin. There was something familiar in this boy's face, yet Romilda was sure she didn't know him.
Then he looked at her. Romilda fidgeted uncomfortably under his steady gaze. No one had ever stared at her that way. She heard Todd speak, but she didn't listen to what he said. The boy was still gazing at her. Romilda felt herself blush.
"Did you say Lupin?" the boy asked. He had a silky voice like none she had heard before. Who was he?
"Er…yes, I did." Todd said. The boy finally looked away and turned to Todd.
"Remus never mentioned a sister." The boy said. "At least, Sirius never mentioned Remus had a sister."
Romilda's daze broke. "You're a Black?" she asked. The boy turned back to her.
"Yes, I'm Regulus Black." He looked at her suspiciously. "Is that a problem?"
Romilda didn't know what to say. He wasn't angry, and he wasn't threatening her.
"No, I suppose not." She finally said.
"Good, because the three of us are stuck together, so we better make the best of it." Todd said. "So, what happened to you?"
"Er…well, I kind of drowned." Regulus blushed. Romilda couldn't help but think it was an adorable blush.
"How does a wizard drown?" she asked. Regulus glared.
"Inferi, possibly that I'm underage, and because, if I had lived, the Dark Lord would have murdered me himself."
"Who?" Romilda asked.
"The Dark Lord, it's what Death Eaters call Lord Voldemort." Todd said glaring at Regulus. Romilda gaped. Regulus frowned in annoyance.
"I'm not a Death Eater. I died trying to stop them. Thing is, I don't know if anyone will be able to stop the Dark Lord." Regulus stood up.
"Why not?" Todd asked.
"He made a Horcrux and if I'm right, more than the one my house-elf is trying to destroy."
"What's a Horcrux?" Romilda asked.
"You don't want to know." Regulus said. "It's dark magic that even the darkest of wizards usually avoid."
Romilda and Todd exchanged looks of horror.
"And he made more than one?" Todd asked with a slight squeak. Regulus nodded.
"That is so wrong." Todd said.
There was another flash of light.