Chapter 41 – A Sacrifice
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On Christmas morning, Izzie found Regulus unconscious in the bathroom. Remus had just left to get his presents to give them on boxing day when she heard him fall. After a few minutes, she was able to wake him.
"I thought it would be just me." Her voice trembled as she held Regulus in her lap. "I didn't think your parents would actually kill you with this spell."
"Please, don't tell Remus."
"I won't." She wiped his hair from his eyes. "But we need to take it easy. Try not to use magic of any kind." He nodded. "How do you feel?"
"A bit better. I think I can stand up."
Izzie helped him to his feet, and they walked out of the bathroom, albeit with trembling legs. "I think we best eat breakfast here and just celebrate Christmas eve in the great hall."
Reg hummed in agreement. The two of them sat down on the couch and curled up to each other trying to get a bit a strength back but it was getting weaker.
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That night the great hall was beautifully decorated. Icicles hung between the candles, garlands all over the wall. Twelve decorated Christmas trees scattered around the room. Beside Izzie, Remus and Regulus there were only a handful of other students. Two Ravenclaw brothers and three Slytherins. The four house tables were gone and were replaced by one large round one that could fit the students and the teachers together. It was a fun night and she enjoyed herself immensely. For a few hours she could forget that she and Reggie were practically dying. She was sitting between Remus and Regulus. Slughorn had a few too many and was laughing at everything they said. McGonagall was more poised than that but couldn't help snickering at the round professor. Izzie caught her worried stare on her and Reggie from time to time. Even Dumbledore was more quiet than normal.
After the Christmas dinner, the three of them walked back to their room.
"Why don't I give you some privacy." She hugged them both and didn't want to let go at first, she gave them a kiss on the cheek. "You know I love you both, don't you?"
"Of course. Izzie, what's going on?" Remus asked worriedly, he could see the tears in her eyes.
"Nothing. I just wanted you to know. And I love that you two found each other. You will have great life together."
"Isabelle, you're starting to frighten me."
"Sorry, I just get emotional around the holls. I'm going for a walk; I'll see you two soon." She squeezed their hands before she turned around. They watched her walk away until she was out of sight.
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She knew Madam Pomfrey was still at the great hall with the teachers, so it was easy to slip into the hospital wing. She took the last bed in the room and drew the curtains shut around her. She hopped into bed and pulled out a parchment and quill. She started her letter for Sirius. Two hours later, almost midnight, she had written four letters. She placed the envelopes on the nightstand before she picked up her book. She read Sirius last message.
I hope you have a great Christmas. It's pretty dull without you here. I hope you're feeling okay, I'm worried about you and Reg. James and I will come to school sooner so we can all spend New Year's together. I love you and I miss you. I'll see you in a few days.
With a trembling hand, she wrote Sirius a final message.
Live your best life, Sirius. You deserve it.
She closed the book and put it next to the letters. She breathed in deep and laid down on the bed. She placed a note for Madam Pomfrey on the pillow next to her. Tears were forming in her eyes, but she had to do it. She had to safe Reggie. Remus would have the boy he loved, and Sirius would have his brother, that's all that mattered. With her last thought on Sirius, the way his lips felt against hers, she pointed her wand to her chest and murmured a spell between her tears. The moment the spell hit her; her heart stopped.
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Regulus bolted awake, screaming. Remus was holding him down as he trashed and screamed.
"Reg! Reggie, what's wrong?!" Remus yelled trying to calm him. Reggie was sweating uncontrollably. Then he suddenly stopped trashing, he went limp underneath his hands.
"Isabelle." He breathed out.
"What's wrong with Izzie?" Remus voice shook and his face went pale.
"She's - she's -" Regulus rolled from the bed and retched all over the floor.
"Fuck, Reg!" Remus jumped from the bed and caressed his back. Once he stopped vomiting, he picked his trembling body up from the stone floor and rushed to the hospital wing. He sends a wandless fire message to Madam Pomfrey as he ran through the empty and dark corridors. She arrived at the same time as Remus at the closed doors.
"What happened?" Pomfrey asked as she ushered them quickly to an empty bed.
"I - I don't know. He was asleep and suddenly he woke up screaming. Then he vomited all over the fl-" His eyes caught the closed curtains in the back and his heart sank. "Madam Pomfrey?" He asked slowly and the healer who was checking on Regulus looked up when he heard the strange tone in his voice. "What's behind there?" He pointed at the white curtain. It felt eerie.
The healer frowned at the curtain; she quickly gave Regulus a calming draught before she went over with Remus on his heels. When she pushed the curtain back, she gasped and with her wand drawn went over to the bed. Remus knees buckled when he saw the lifeless body of his best friend. He grabbed on to the bed end and observed the space around her. There were letters on the nightstand, four of them. And he knew what she had done, why Regulus reacted so suddenly.
"Is she?"
"I'm sorry, Remus. She's gone." Madam Pomfrey was tearful as she stepped back.
Remus didn't know how he managed to get over to her bed, but he crashed on it, pulling her close to his chest as he cried. She couldn't be gone, she couldn't. He thought she was acting weird earlier, like she was saying goodbye. She did this. She did this to safe Regulus. When he moved to caress her hair, he heard something crunch. He reached behind his back and pulled out a piece of parchment. He opened it and his eyes flew over the paper.
Madam Pomfrey.
There is no foul play here. I did this to myself to save Regulus.
Please check if the bond between us is broken. This was the only way for at least one of us to have a future.
When it is completely broken, and not too much time has passed, there is a small chance of bringing me back. But you can't try to bring me back before the bond it completely gone, it would kill Regulus too. If it doesn't work, I wrote letters to the ones I love to explain everything that happened. I wished there was another way but...
"Pomfrey!" Remus called out, jumping out of the bed. He saw a spell on the bottom of the page, he had never heard before. But he hoped to Merlin, Pomfrey had. Pomfrey, who was over with Regulus, came back wide eyed. "Izzie!" He couldn't say more and thrusted the parchment in her hands.
Her eyes quickly scanned the paper, and her hand flew to her chest. Remus needed to inform Sirius, he needed to know. He quickly grabbed a piece of parchment and jotted down a note before sending it on its way. When the message burned away, Pomfrey had already pushed Regulus bed next to Izzie's. The door to the infirmary flew open and Sirius, James and Lily stormed in, all with white chalked faces.
Remus stepped before the bed, blocking the view from Izzie to the others. "How did you get here so fast? I just send the message."
"The book, it turned black again. I knew something must've happened. Where is she?" Sirius voice was hysteric.
"Sirius - she's -she's." Remus started crying uncontrollably again. Lily cried as buried her face into James's chest, who looked close to tears himself.
Sirius face was blank. "No! No, she's not dead. She can't be! She said Dumbledore gave her more time. What about Reg, is he-"
"Reg is okay." He took the parchment from Izzie from the table and handed it over with shaking hands. "At least he will be if it works."
"I knew she was up to something." Sirius voice broke. "Why would she do this, Moony?"
Remus stepped forward and engulfed him in a hug. "To save Reg." He whispered. He knew the moment Sirius saw her in the bed because his knees started to tremble, and Remus had to hold on to him otherwise he would collapse to the floor. Sirius pushed away from him, his eyes red and tears already streaming down his face as he walked over to Izzie. He climbed up next to her, not even thinking about the force that had pushed them away for the past four months and gathered her lifeless body in his arms. But nothing pushed him away anymore. Sirius shook as it hit him that she was gone. Lily cried even harder when she saw how limp her body was. Madam Pomfrey was making the most complex movements over Regulus and Izzie, streams of all colours emerging from them. Regulus was awake but it looked like he was stuck in a trance, his eyes on the streams coming from his chest. There were three prominent streams, a purple one connected to Sirius, a red one connected to Remus and an icy blue one connected to Izzie. Or at least it was connected. It started to fade away.
"The connection is broken! You need to bring her back!" Sirius cried.
"I'm sorry, Mr Black, not yet. The connection must be completely gone before I can try to bring her back." She said not taking her eyes away from the icy blue stream. James had guided Lily to one of the beds across from them, trying to comfort her. Remus was shaking badly as he sat down at Regulus bed-end.
"Hold on, Izzie. Please, hold on. I can't lose you." Sirius was whispering to Izzie. Remus knew she was gone, not just fighting a losing battle. But he couldn't wrap his head around that she was gone, she couldn't. So, he hoped, just like Sirius, that Pomfrey was able to bring her back. They all tried to focus their eyes on the bond between them and not the dead girl in Sirius arms. They saw it fade more and more, but it felt like hours passed in the meantime. Sirius felt her turn colder and panic was rising, his chest heaving rapidly. Then the bond was broken. It was like something cracked in the air and Regulus bolted up in his bed.
"Isabelle."
Remus lunged for him and hugged him tight while Pomfrey quickly went over to Izzie and Sirius. "Mr Black, I need you to move. She needs to lie flat on her back."
Reluctantly he let go, and with shaking knees stood next to the bed. "Have you preformed the spell before?"
"No." She said as she started complex movements over her chest. "I've never even heard of it. But her explanation was extensive. She was always so talented in Charms. It wouldn't surprise if she invented the spell that ki-" She shook her head. "And the spell to revive her. Let's just hope we're not too late."
Pomfrey muttered a long incantation, in a language none of them had ever heard. She raised her wand high above her head before bringing it down in fast speed, stopping just above Izzie's chest. Izzie's back arched up from the bed, her chest rising in the air. Then she fell down again. She was still dead. Pomfrey did it again. Sirius kneeled down next to her bed and gathered her hand in his.
"Come back to me. Come back to me, please." He kissed her hand. "I love you." He said just as she arched from the bed again. Nothing. It didn't seem to work, and Sirius buried his head in the bedcover, the cover becoming wet from his tears quickly. He couldn't look at her anymore, not as she arched from the bed and became lifeless again when she fell down. He wasn't the only one, everyone had their eyes averted from her, all their heads buried in someone's shoulder.