Breaking Black (A Sirius Black Love Story)

Chapter 78

"Professor Malkin is dead," Dumbledore announced to the whole Order. Everyone who was crammed in Sirius' house went silent, confirming the rumors they'd been hearing.

The news still caught me as unbelievable. I practically witnessed the murder of Hogwarts' divination professor. I never took divination, but I knew the Muggle-born witch didn't deserve her death. Professor Malkin was simply running to help in the defense against the dark arts classroom when she stood up to White and attempted to stop him. The whole school already attended her funeral at the castle, but it still didn't seem real. My heart felt empty and I kept a straight face while watching Dumbledore speak. As horrible as it seemed, I was still relieved all our friends survived.

James, Sirius, Remus, Lily, Marlene, and I sat in a line at Sirius' dinner table, listening to the lecture which was like the one Dumbledore gave to the whole student body of Hogwarts. Only Peter didn't attend the meeting, due to his concern over his N.E.W.T. exams. The rest of the Order congregated in the conjoined living room.

Remus and Marlene, besides Peter, seemed to be the least affected out of anyone in our group. Watching the torture was horribly memorable and scarring for everyone involved, but Remus and Marlene stayed happy for each other, just like James and Lily and Sirius and I did for each other. Peter was the odd man out.

For being tortured and used as a pawn against James yet again, Lily was doing surprisingly well. She was physically okay immediately after the fight, so she didn't have to stay the night in the hospital wing. Lily was also being conscientious of Madam Pomfrey, who had so many patients who were attacked by the Death Eaters or Dementors that some critical patients were transferred to St. Mungo's. Lily insisted she was fine and that near-death experiences were just another part of our job description. However, she still decided to join us in the boys' dormitory for the first night of many, unable to bear the thought of sleeping without James anymore.

As Dumbledore droned on, I stared at Sirius. The gash on his forehead was just beginning to heal, but I knew it would leave a scar. I tried to get him to let me heal it with a spell, but he wanted to leave it. He weakly joked that it would make him look more like Remus, who he considered to be the most handsome specimen. The smile lines from years of laughter, smirking, and sarcasm pulled against the frown on his face, which seemed to be the only expression he had for the whole week.

Sirius had been looking forward to this particular Order meeting at his house. He was filled with questions he needed answers to, although I doubted Dumbledore would give him any. Most of the questions revolved around Regulus. I knew the Death Eaters fleeing Hogwarts probably affected him most. However, he did a great job of trying to stay level-headed and optimistic. Still, an old photo of Regulus and Sirius hung on the dining room wall and I caught Sirius wistfully staring at it.

"White taught students Dark Magic during his time employed at Hogwarts," Dumbledore explained. Mad-Eye snorted as if doubting Dumbledore's judgement of character. I wanted to bitterly laugh too. If White was never employed, I wondered how many problems could've been avoided. "It seems he was an even more talented wizard than I suspected."

"Did you know he was a Death Eater?" Sirius suddenly questioned. His grey eyes were still focused on the picture of Regulus. Alice and Frank Longbottom looked at Sirius with sympathy. It was rude to interrupt Dumbledore when he addressed the Order. The rumor that Regulus Black was a Death Eater spread quickly through the Order and people kept looking at Sirius in pity, which he did not appreciate.

"He was not a Death Eater when I hired him," Dumbledore disclaimed. "He might have had ideas of wanting to be a Death Eater at the time, but Voldemort never approached him. However, I believe there is nothing stopping him now."