Meredith Black

August 25th, 1989

I'll ever get tired of waking up next to him. We've been married for six years and I love waking up beside him every single day. The morning sun shines in through our bedroom window, a small breeze coming in through the window that had been left open last night since it was raining.

I don't think life can get much better than this.

Life was rough for a while. There were a few years during the war where it felt like grief was threatening to consume me. I still vividly remember the weeks following October 31st, 1981.

I received a letter from Jack. James and Lily had been killed, Sirius was the spy and had been taken to Azkaban. The news was shocking to both me, and Regulus, who had been reading the letter over my shoulder. It took me several months to come to terms with the fact that Sirius was probably the other Death Eater involved in the murder of my family. Harry was sent to live with Lily's sister. I tried to fight for him, considering that Marlene was his godmother, but I was considered "too unstable" to raise him at the time.

I wrote to Dumbledore, informing him that Regulus was alive. I was very adamant about him granting Regulus protection from the lingering Death Eaters.

One month later, I received a letter from Alastor Moody. He told me it was safe to come back. That it was time for Regulus to have his trial. Regulus's trial was quick compared to the other ones. He wasn't guilty for anything other than bearing the Mark. Regulus was given a truth serum and in detail explained his time as a Death Eater and his findings on Voldemort's Horcruxes, and even handed over the Horcrux that he had found.

Jack and I never rekindled things, but we remained friends. It was awkward at first, but over time our friendship started to repair itself.

Regulus and I started dating again, being official boyfriend and girlfriend for the first time, and we got engaged on New Year's of 1982. We eloped five months later in May.

"Morning, love," Regulus whispered groggily.

His voice snapped me out of my thoughts. His hand tightened around my waist, bringing my body closer to his.

I turned to face him, brushing his messied hair out of his face.

"Good morning," I whispered.

"What time is it?" Regulus asked, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

I sat up slightly, glancing at the clock on the dresser.

"Just after seven," I replied, resting my head on his chest.

Regulus groaned, "They should be here any minute then."

Just like clockwork, the sound of small hurried footsteps could be heard through the door. There was a pause in the footsteps, and the door knob started turning.

"Pretend to be asleep" Regulus muttered, kissing me on the forehead.

I stifled a laugh into his chest as our bedroom door was pushed open. There was the sound of two pairs of footsteps, and our bed dipped slightly as they climbed up.

"Mummy, daddy, are you awake?" Elio whispered, although he wasn't very good at whispering.

My lips curled into a small smile.

Atlas was sitting beside me, leaning in. "Are you still sleeping?" He whispered.

I reached out and grabbed Atlas just as Regulus reached for Elio.

The room erupted with giggles as I hugged Atlas close to me, ruffling his curly black hair. Regulus was tickling Elio, making both of them laugh.

"Hey-, you tricked us!" Atlas said, pointing his tiny finger in my face.

Regulus stopped tickling Elio and smiled at our son.

"I did no such thing, we were sleeping," Regulus claimed.

"You need to wake up!" Elio said, grabbing the sleeve of my t-shirt.

I smiled, "And why is that, darling?"

Elio glared at me, then looked at Regulus, only to glare at him. Out of our two sons, Elio definitely has more of an attitude. Marlene would've gotten a kick out of it.

"Mummy-, it's my birthday!" He claimed.

"What? No way," Regulus teased, ruffling Elio's dark hair.

Atlas rolled his eyes at his younger brother, leaning his head against my shoulder.

Atlas and Elio both have Regulus's curly black hair, and Elio has Regulus's silvery-blue eyes, but Atlas has my eyes.

"Happy birthday!" I chimed. "How old are you?"

"I'm three," Elio announced, holding up four fingers instead of three.

Regulus gently pressed one of Elio's tiny fingers down so that he was now holding up three fingers. "Happy birthday," He said, "Now you've got three."

"And how old are you?" I whispered to Atlas.

He grinned at me, "I'm four."

"Yes, you are," I affirmed.

"Daddy, how old are you?" Atlas said, gravitating towards Regulus.

Regulus shook his head, "Old."

"How old?" Elio asked, wedging himself to sit between Regulus and me.

"Twenty eight," Regulus answered. "So is your mum."

Elio frowned, "You're old."

I stifled a laugh as Regulus had a fake look of hurt on his face.

"It's okay, love," I said, running my hand through his hair. "I guess we're both old then."

Atlas perked up. "Not mum, just you," He said, pointing at Regulus.

"Oh shush," Regulus said, shaking his head. "Where's the dog?"

"Halley, come here!" I called.

Soon after, she came padding into the room, jumping up onto the bed. Halley gave both Atlas and Elio a kiss before she laid down right on top of my legs.

I pet her behind the ears, and Halley leaned into my hand.

Halley is our six-year old golden retriever. Regulus and I got her about a month before we got married. He claims that he's her favorite, but I personally think that she likes me more.

After everything, Regulus kept his promises to me. I'm so happy with our little family. My dog, my husband, and our two amazing children.

Atlas and Elio were so much like Sirius and Regulus, like Marlene and I. Neither of them were planned, and being less than two years apart, they were best friends. I think it scared Regulus a bit at first. He thought that somehow he was going to fuck things up like his mother did, that he wasn't going to be a good father. But he has so much love for those two boys that it makes my heart melt.

When we first found out that I was pregnant, Regulus suggested we upheld the Black family tradition and name our kids after astronomy-related things. I quickly agreed, partially because I knew that it would have Walburga rolling in her grave.

Regulus cupped my jaw, brushing his thumb across my cheek. He leaned in and pressed a chaste kiss against my lips, only to pull away and smile at me.

"Gross!" Elio yelled, nudging us apart.

Atlas made a disgusted face.

Regulus rolled his eyes jokingly. "You're lucky that your parents are so in love," He said.

Atlas ignored this statement. "I'm hungry," He complained, gently resting his head on Halley's back.

"Come on, let's go make breakfast," Regulus said, pulling back the covers to get out of bed.

Halley was the first to follow, heading right towards the kitchen where she knew she was going to get hand-outs. Elio was next, his small feet pattering against the hardwood.

Atlas grabbed my hand and dragged me with him to the kitchen.

When we reached the kitchen, Regulus was already grabbing the things to make pancakes, and Elio was standing on a stool so that he could actually reach the counter. Halley was sitting in the corner of the kitchen, wagging her tail. Atlas dropped my hand and stood beside his brother, both of them watching as Regulus set the ingredients out.

I watched the three of them get to work on making breakfast. The whole process consisted of lots of food ending up on the floor, and a flour handprint on Regulus's cheek, courtesy of Elio.

I watched the three of them and felt so content with my life. I was so happy.

"Mer, you want to come help us out, angel?" Regulus asked, holding out a whisk.

I smiled and grabbed the whisk out of his hand, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek.

We survived the war together. We got everything that we dreamed of. We lost so much along the way, but we gained two beautiful children out of it.