Everything that touched her was cold, seeping into her skin like a thousand icy needles. Her eyes stung, and no matter where she looked, it was a murky abyss. She had no incentive to move, the last burst of energy dwindling when she pulled Sirius out through the Veil.

She could live in this state. Nothing moved her, nothing to aile her but her thoughts. No dangers. For once in her life, there was nothing.

She just wanted to float.

When the disturbance came, she had nearly forgotten her name. She'd forgotten why she got there in the first place, and it took a while before the first her brain sprung to life, acknowledging what was before her. The dark figure grew slowly but surely in shape, the face blurry but clearly a human as she was. It intrigued her – what was this figure in these murky waters?

Finally, she squinted. She could feel the energy back in her body. She remembered that she could feel her toes, move her fingers, then her arms and legs.

She kicked forward and found herself swimming. Voices. They were back, the whispers, the ones she had heard just outside of the Veil.

The dark figure in front of her proved to be a body. His eyes were closed, long dead, dark hair wisping around his face, still slightly curled.

His hazel eyes opened, and he grabbed her hand.

They broke out of the water.

Eliza flopped onto the floor; her lungs were on fire. A hand rubbed her back as she heaved in the air that burnt her lungs.

"There, there," Regulus coaxed.

"What the fuck," Eliza let out. She looked around. They were back in his room at Grimmauld. Only this time, it looked more lively. Cleaner. The sun shone through, and the clippings about the Dark Lord were gone, replaced by Quidditch teams and Astronomy constellation drafts.

He laid a blanket around her shoulders, which didn't do much as her clothes were wet.

"Am I dead?" Eliza asked. It was the obvious question, seeing as Regulus was dead and had been for over thirteen years. Regulus smiled at her.

"No."

He looked exactly the way she last saw him. A cascade of unruly curls framed his chiselled features, one that he had grown out but simply swept back with pomade. His almond-shaped eyes, a mesmerising shade of hazel, held a look she could only decipher as admiration. His slender nose, delicately sculpted, led down to a pair of lips that curved into a subtle yet captivating smile, exuding both warmth and mystery. His cheeks were rounder than Sirius', giving him an ever-youthful look. Some people argued that Regulus was less attractive than Sirius, but Eliza supposed that when you were a teenager, anyone who looked remotely like an adult made people swoon.

"I went through the Veil," Eliza said. "Sirius nearly got in then… I don't remember. Is he alive? Is he out?"

"Yes," Regulus answered.

"Are you only going to answer in riddles?"
"You're asking yes and no questions, Eliza," Regulus pointed out. "So I shall answer in yes and no."

Eliza shook her head and threw her arms around him. She could feel his arms snake around her. He was warm and felt very much alive.

"You're not dying," he told her, not letting go. "You know more than anyone that Death is not the end, but right now, you're in limbo."

"Huh," she looked around. "I didn't think my limbo would be your room."

"Well, I wanted it to be my room. We argued a lot about it. James, Lily and your mother had a lot to say," Regulus reasoned. "And we decided it would be best that I come alone."

"They're here?" She looked around, and eyed the door. Was that the room that would lead to whatever was on the other side?

Something tugged at her heartstrings. Regulus nodded, but gently touched her chin so she would no longer look at it.

"You don't have much time before you need to return," Regulus said. He pointed to a clock on the wall spinning out of control. Who knew how many seconds in here would be outside the real world. "I need you to know that your part is done. You did well."

Eliza broke. The waterworks that threatened to fall the past couple of months, perhaps years, the ones that she couldn't shed for other people, let go. She wailed even, and it was not how she wanted to spend her last minutes with Regulus. If this were the only time she would be able to see the dead when she was alive, she hoped they wouldn't think her pathetic for doing so.

Regulus wiped some of her tears away when he pulled away slightly, but he did not let her go.

"You saved me," Regulus continued. You don't know the full extent; you can't know it yet, but I wanted you to know."

"What do you mean?" she hiccuped.

"The night Voldemort picked Harry as the Chosen One, he set some stones in place. Harry's destiny is pre-destined, all because of that one prophecy," Regulus held up a finger. "We can't change it, but it will be Voldemort's downfall. He picked it. And soon, his Horcruxes will come crumbling down."
"We've killed more?"

Regulus nodded. "Nagini was one, but there is still more to go. There are seven in all. But, I'm afraid of the next ones… Dumbledore knows it well. He's taking the steps needed for Harry to find more, but Dumbledore will die. That I can tell you much. Dumbledore needs to die for us to win this."

Eliza let that information sink in.

Dumbledore must die for us to win.

He was supposedly all that stood between Harry and Voldemort, and as long as Dumbledore lived, Harry was safe.

Eliza asked, defeated. "And what will become of Harry?"

Regulus put his hands behind his back, standing in that way that made him seem like he had some authority. "He will also die but he will be as dead as you are right now. Just for a bit, that is all. James and Lily wanted me to tell you that it will be okay."

She took in a sharp breath.

"So… all of this is predestined? Is there ever free will?"

"What people do and not do is up to us, but yes, Harry will have little choice in this matter. That is Voldemort's doing."

"And… what will become of me? If you say my part is done."

There, Regulus smiled and moved a piece of her hair out of her face. He tucked it behind her ear. His hand lingered on her cheek as he spoke.

"Eliza Soraya Luna Shafiq," each name was pronounced how it should be—not the anglicised way that was given to her when she came to England, not the shortened one that cut out her father's legacy. "You are free to do what you want to do. I release you from any obligations you feel towards the ancient House of Black." Regulus' voice sounded older when he said this—even stoic.

"You've been living a life that was thrust upon you, first for your mother, then for the House of Black. Your love towards my brother and my brother's towards you are born out of an obligation to protect me –" he held up a finger as Eliza started to protest.

"–I am not saying it wasn't genuine. However, you have to admit that I was and still am, the third person in your relationship. And I do not trust my brother enough for him not to have started liking you simply because it would have spited Mother. If it wasn't so, Sirius has a dumb way of showing it. And even when I was dead, this war came between you two. Then prison, and now… you two need freedom. No more being stuck in houses or pulled apart. One more step.

"You sought out what you wanted to do most. You protected me, you protected Sirius…and you protected Harry. He has a tough road ahead of him, but he will have so much love—more than he could gather in a bowl," Regulus chuckled.

Eliza felt a lump form in her throat and stood up. The blanket fell from her shoulders. She was no longer cold. The coldness left her body, and it was like she had been dry all along. As she got closer to the mirror, she shrieked. Her left eye was gone; in its place was just blood and red flesh.

"There's no fixing that," Regulus said solemnly. "But, you can get a good eye with gadgets for a galleon down at Knockturn Alley if you want."

Bellatrix… did that to her. She had violently taken away something that had always been a part of Eliza, a part of her body that had been there since birth. And now it withered away like a trophy.

"Regulus?" Eliza felt weak. She thought of her loss, his loss. "How did you die? Kreacher never wanted to say why."

Regulus contemplated.

"I drowned," he finally said. "I died getting the necklace. He let it slip one night. The secret to how he will live forever and if you've read up a thing or two about the Dark Arts… it wasn't hard to find out, but how he'd do it is draconian and unheard of," he trailed off. "You know that muggle children's book you told me about? The one with the Ring? Something like that."

Eliza blinked.

"Are you equating Horcruxes to the One Ring?"

"Not quite, but you understand what I am trying to say."

Regulus was not one to make muggle to see him standing there, a smirk on his lips as he cleverly deflected telling her what stood in their way, was far more rebellious than anything Eliza ever knew from him.

"Why the change of heart?"

Regulus's voice became tighter as he watched Eliza cover her left eye, feeling the areas where Bellatrix had marred the left side of her face. " I remembered something you told me years ago: none of this makes sense. All of this killing and fighting… what for? A wizard is a wizard, a wizard is also human. Muggles are human. I did and said a lot of bad things and I know this won't change any of that, but I supposed I cared enough to realise how wrong everything is."

"Oh Regulus," again, she threw her arms around him. "You didn't need to die for it. You should have come to us."

"And put you more in danger? Put Kreacher even more in peril?" Regulus shook his head. "By the time I was drowning, all I wanted was for Kreacher to get home safely. And if he at least knew what happened, and if you found out, it would work out."

Dumb luck, considering Kreacher was not willing to say anything about Regulus dying or how he died. Kreacher, though violent towards the others, could barely even let out a coherent sound about Regulus when Eliza asked. But she remembered the last time she saw Kreacher, how he screamed for her.

"Tell me where you die, and we'll bury you."

He shook his head. "You'd die. You would really die this time if you tried to retrieve my body. And trust me, you have a good many years left."

"Where will I be when I wake up?" Eliza asked. "They said that there is no way in and out of the Veil."

"Well, the Veil has a door at the MACUSA, but I am sure you'd have me killed –again– if I put you at the American ministry. No, I have a better idea. You'll love it."

She looked at him sceptically.

"And what do I have to do?"

"Go to sleep," he pointed to his bed. Eliza nodded and laid back. The wet feeling was slowly returning to her —an utmost disgusting feeling with socks. She could hear the whispers, the ones that she heard from the Veil. But only this time, it felt like the voices of the living.

"Regulus?"

"Yes?"

"Is this really limbo or am I just imagining this until I wake up?"

"I'm very much real, Eliza."

"Oh," she felt her eyes go heavy as sleep threatened to take her. It wasn't there seconds before.

"You know, maybe in another lifetime, you are the one," Eliza sounded the thought. If she hadn't fallen for Sirius, Regulus would have been more than fine. Regulus smiled, and she saw the tear that fell down his face.

That was the thing she never told him. And now she could.

"Who said I wasn't in this one?" Regulus pulled the blanket up to her chin. He took her hand and brushed his lips against it before kissing it. They'd never kissed, and it felt too much of a betrayal to do so now. Perhaps another lifetime, Eliza decided.

"Do me one favour, my love."

"And what would that be?" Eliza looked into his eyes one last time. She wouldn't know if she'd see them again until she herself died.

"Give them hell."

She fell asleep.

Eliza felt something push her to the edges of the shore, and when she came to, the night sky was out. She could see the brightest star in the sky and needed to laugh once she realised where she was.

The Black Lake at Hogwarts.

Regulus had but a peculiar sense of humour.

Her body floated to the top, and she felt the squid of the Black Lake push her to the shore, right by the tree they'd always hang out. She was exhausted and passed out right on the shore.

"There's a body! Call for the Headmaster!" she heard.

Gasps of horror. She felt herself float onto a stretcher and hurried footsteps against the stone floors.

"It's been two weeks! How could this be? No one has ever gone through the Veil and come back!"

Eliza soon realised it was Minerva who spoke. Minerva was holding her hand, rubbing as much warmth as she could into it as though it was the only thing keeping Eliza alive. The longer she was conscious, the more she knew that she was in absolute pain.

"Do we tell them?" Madame Pompfrey asked. "It's late –"

"Dumbledore would want to know first. The others… won't let her out of their sight. But we need to be extra careful. What if… what if it isn't her?"

Eliza's voice was hoarse, but she finally found her vocal chords.

"Minnie, eye… hurt."

"We're nearly there, Eliza."

Madame Pomfrey set to work, and Eliza could only remember short bursts of what was happening until the double doors burst open.

"Now is not the time, Albus!" Madame Pomfrey said. "Please tell me the Order doesn't know."

"I only need to know one thing, and Miss Shafiq may sleep until morning and tell me what she wants me to know," Dumbledore promised.

The old professor came into her view, though she only saw half of him.

"What did they say to you?" Dumbledore whispered. Eliza, with what energy she had left in her hurtful body, summoned her wand and pointed the tip at her temple. The silvery string of memory that she was willing to share, knew she had to share, dangled. She felt the old man take her wand away from her, and then she fell into a nice, wonderful sleep, dreaming of strawberry cakes on a hot Summer's day.

A/N: I broke up this and the last chapter into two for dramatic effect, I guess.

We have two chapters left :)

Weirdly, I am ending this story nearly two years to the day it was published. Damn.