The Godmother || Sirius Black

━ 16. Dark days

The air inside Hogs Head, an isolated pub in the Hogsmeade village, was thick with the pungent smell of firewhiskey and other alcoholic beverages.

It was already dark outside despite the fact that it was only 5 pm. Inside the silent, empty pub, an auburn haired woman and a black haired man were sitting face to face at a table in the furthest corner of the room.

"Reg, I'm telling you, I saw absolutely nothing! Harry's going to be fine, Lily's gonna be fine, James's gonna be fine! Heck, everyone's gonna be bloody fine!" Diana exclaimed, barely keeping herself calm. "No one's number turned red. I don't understand why Dumbledore, out of all the people in the world, is freaking out over what Trelawney said! I'm telling you that woman is a bloody fraud!"

Regulus slowly passed a glass of water towards his infuriated friend who was slightly trembling after her long rant. She took the glass with a sigh and took a big gulp.

"I'm already aware of all this. You told me all this last time, Dia." Regulus said in a soft tone. "How everything is going as of now and if Trelawney's prophecy comes true then...the dark lord is going to be defeated... once and for all. And Harry is our only chance."

Diana heaved a sigh as she looked downwards trying to stop her trembling hands. "Reg, there are some things I haven't told you yet."

He frowned. "What is it?" He already had his suspicions about it but he chose to give her time.

She remained silent for a moment before continuing in a hushed tone even though they were the only ones in the pub. "The day- the day Harry was born my parent's numbers became red..." her voice trembled. "And up until now, the numbers are still red. But no one's number in the order has changed colors."

Regulus remained silent, looking at her with terrified eyes.

"You know what my power- or should I say curse- is. People always die when their numbers turn red; there was never any exception. This fucking curse would have been a lot more useful if I could see their death date but no, no- I just see their birth date. Fucking birth date!" She inhaled a shaky breath. "But why are only my parents going to die?... why? Why mine? Why me?" Diana's voice was becoming frustrated and angrier by the second. "Yes, Voldemort is gonna lose but at what cost? My parents have nothing to do with it. Are they in danger because I'm their daughter- because they gave birth to me? Are my parents going to die because of me? Because I'm Harry's godmother or is it because I became Lily and James's secret keeper?... Why me? I can't even do anything to protect them since I don't even know the exact time of their d-death... I just know that their time is up. That they're going to die because of me and I can't do anything aside from watching. I wouldn't be able to prevent it. I never could. I'm spending every single day in nothing but fear, Reg... What should I do? What am I supposed to do?"

Regulus reached out and slowly held Diana's shaking hand who was on the verge of having a mental breakdown. She was panicking, sweating and trembling in sheer terror. He held her sweaty hand tightly in his cold ones as she looked up at him with her teary hazel eyes. Regulus tried to smile. He had his own share of problems right now but he didn't want to share his burden with her, especially when she was already crashing down like this. He hardly ever saw her like this but he understood her completely- her parents were her weak point.

"Dia, breathe," he said calmly.

Diana took a deep breath obediently.

"Calm down."

She nodded, still shaking a little.

"Have you told all this to anyone else?"

"No."