Chapter Twelve
Currently everyone was seated around the dinning room table eating their eggs and bacon. It wasn't much for the night before Molly had made a lot to eat for dinner and everyone, that morning, voted against Molly so she had to fix something light. Harry looked around the table and eyed Hermione and Ron. They nodded and each of them stood up and left the room. No one stopped them because they knew Harry was leaving for Reign's sake and Hermione and Ron left for Harry's.
Remus looked at Bill, who was quietly eating his eggs and not looking at anyone. Remus knew what he was thinking and he couldn't help but think the same thing. Just as Remus was about to ask Bill something the dinning room doors opened again. They thought it was Harry at first, but when the person who pushed the door open to begin with stepped into the room they were soon proved wrong. Reign stood there, no expression placed on her face. Everyone in the dinning room stopped what they were doing and watched her. She immediately turned her gaze to Remus and stared at him.
“Why,” She quietly. “The bloody hell did no one fucking tell me?!” She finished, all innocence and confusion left her eyes and were replaced by anger. Her stare could freeze your soul and yet no one in that room doubted that she could make that worse. Remus stood up to talk to her, but she turned on her heel and headed out of the room, though she did not turn to go up the stairs she went straight towards the covered portrait at the end of the hallway. Remus, Bill, and a few of the others followed her out to see what she was up to. She pulled as hard as she could on the curtains covering the woman that had ruined her life and yanked them completely off the wall.
“Reign what do you think you're doing!?" Remus yelled from a few feet away.
“Leave me alone Remus.” She glared at the portrait of the woman and then smirked. She grabbed the corner of the frame tightly, never looking away from the angered woman's face. She was shrieking at her, but Reign didn't care, she just gripped tighter to the frame. Everyone standing in the small group to the left of her watched her with confusion until the wood of the frame began to smoke ever so slightly.
“Reign..” Bill stepped forward, but was stopped when she pushed him back. He winced and brought his hands up to his chest. Reign looked at Bill and he thought that he saw her give him guilty and sorry look for what she had done to him, but if it had been there it had left just as quickly as it had shown up.
Ron, Harry, and Hermione came running down the stairs at the sound of the shrieking, fingers in their ears to stifle the horrid sounds of that woman's voice when they saw the picture smoking. Soon Reign let go of the frame and placed her hand flatly on the picture itself. The part her hand was resting on turned black and began to burn through the rest of the picture. The woman's terrified screaming subsided as the charcoaled pieces sprinkled to the ground. She ignored everyone's eyes and she spoke one last time before running up the stairs. “Never under estimate the power of a Black you fowl, sorry excuse for a grandmother.”
“Well I guess that went well.” Remus stated. Molly stared at him as if he was a few screws short of a working machine.
“How can you say that went well?”
“Well for one, she got rid of that annoying picture and two she didn't kill anyway and that's always an upside to things.”
“Look what the little terror did to my son!” Molly yelled as she pointed to Bill.
“Honestly mum, I am just fine.” He smiled at her and ignored the slight pain in his chest.
“How can you say that Bill?” Molly watched her son in disbelief.
“Because I love her. When will you accept that?”
While everyone talked quietly in the lobby Ron quickly and quietly left the scene in search for a very distressed young woman. He knew she wouldn't be in her regular room because it would have have been too easy to find her there. So he walked down to the end of the hall and opened the door. Sure enough Reign was propped up against the back wall, sitting in the shadows. He could tell she was ignoring the fact that he was there and he was okay with that. He would make himself and his presence known.
“I understand how you feel.”
“Oh please Ron, how could you possibly...”
“I didn't say I knew how you were feeling, I said I could understand. There's a difference.”
“And when did you become such a know it all.”
“Too much time hanging around with Hermione.” He said plainly. “You think you missed out on a lot now that you realized that Sirius is gone and we all had a few good years more with him don't you?” She said nothing so Ron took that as a yes.
“Well I am not going to tell you that you haven't because in a way you have. You missed those three years, BUT..” He added when he noticed she was about to retort. “You also got seven years with him, when he was younger and happy. So in a way you really didn't miss out on those years.”
“Your attempts to make me happy are very sweet Ron, but you aren't really helping.”
“I was there when you talked about your father that night. I know how much you loved him and I could hear, from what you said, that he loved you just as much. And it had to be hard for him to live those years without you, missing you grow up and everything.”
“Still not helping.”
“Hear me out.” He watched her. She looked at him and rolled her eyes.
“Go on.”
“Well I've had this idea in my head ever since it happened. It took a while for me to figure out why it was there, but now I know. If you could change one thing in your life what would it be?” Reign gave Ron an obvious look.
“I know, just answer.”
“I'd bring him back to me.” Ron nodded.
“What if I found a way that you could do that, would you take it?”
“In a heartbeat.”
“Even if it meant that you may not ever see him again if something went wrong?” Reign looked down at the dust covered floor for a moment. She slowly ran her finger across the dust, clearing a line where her finger had been.
“You better believe it.”
“All right.” Ron put his hand in his robe pocket and pulled out a chain. Ron handed her the trinket. “Go see Dumbledore.” Reign nodded and looked down at the trinket. Could I do this? She nodded and got up off the floor.
Reign arrived back at Grimwauld Place late that night. It was cold outside and her cheeks showed it. They were tinted pink along with the tip of her nose giving her an innocent child look, but she was far from it. She had walked around muggle London before she decided to go see Dumbledore.
She was now standing in the door way next to the spot where her grandmother's picture used to be. She was listening to the clatter of dishes and the joyful chatting that was drifting from the dinning room area. She smiled barely at the fact that they were happy.
Without second thought she climbed up the stairs to the study. She had been there many times before and it was always her favorite room in the house. Though it now looked creepy and unkempt she still felt the familiar emotion towards the room. Even if she hated the tapestry on the wall above the mantel, the one that said she no longer belonged to any family.
She walked along the walls of the room, running her hands along everything they could touch. A lamp or curtains, it didn't really matter. In some way she knew that this room held her father's presence more than most of them. Except his room of course, but she didn't want to go in there. Every time she stepped in there she could feel all the pain her father endured while he lived here, but more than that she could see it. That room held so many bad memories for him, but also many happy ones. Unfortunately the bad out weighed the good.
Reign sighed as she sat down in one of the armchairs. She could never understand how something could be so comfortable and warm when it made home to a place that was so cold and full of hatred.
“Why does this have to be so hard?” She asked out loud to no one in general. Not even she had an answer to that question and that made her want to smack her head up against the door in frustration. She was supposed to have the answers to everything. She pulled her legs up underneath her and curled up comfortably in the armchair. She laid her head on the arm and stared at the wall. She unknowingly played with the rings on her fingers. She was going to do it, but she also didn't want to. She closed her eyes and lied there for what seemed like an hour when she heard the door open again. She opened her eyes slowly and looked the intruder in the eye.
“I thought I'd find you in here.”
“Good guess.”
“Nah, it's the power of elimination.”
“You look everywhere to find me or something?”
“Just about.” Bill smiled.
“Why?”
“Why what?” He walked up to her and sat down on the floor next to her.
“Why do you love me? Why did you look so hard to find me? Why are you not mad I hurt you?”
“Well the last two can be answered by your first and to answer you first because I just do.”
“That's not an answer.”
“Okay well then tell me why you love me and if you come up with a better one then I will try harder.”
“What makes you think I love you?”
“Because I am not stupid, now go on.”
“There are many reasons.”
“There you go. Many reasons and in my case, too many to say.” Reign frowned at him, she hoped that he hadn't seen her, but luck wasn't with her. “What's wrong, love?”
“Nothing.” He knew she was lying, but didn't say anything.
Bill was making it really hard for her to keep with her decision. “Bill?”
“Yeah?” Reign stood from her seat and walked over to the mantel.
“It's all too sweet to last.” Bill looked at her with confusion written all over his perfect face. “I have to go Billy. I have something I have to do.”
“All right, you can go and I'll talk to you later.”
“No you don't understand. I wont be back.”
“What are you talking about.”
“I went to see Dumbledore today. There's a way I can bring back my father.” Bill's confused face grew more confused as she spoke.
“You don't mean..” She nodded. “You can't do this.”
“I have to.”
“Do I mean nothing to you?”
“Billy don't say that you know mean everything to me.”
“Then why?”
“Because you can't possibly think that I could just ignore this. I could bring my father back Billy!”
“He's dead Reign. He's great man I know but why can't you just leave things be?” He pleaded with her. He stood up and walked over to her. “Why can't this be good enough for you?” She grabbed his hands and looked up at him.
“I can't just sit here knowing I could do something about this and not do it. It would eat me alive and you know it.”
“What about us? Did you think about that?”
“You won't remember so you won't feel bad about anything.”
“That's bullshit Reign and you know that! You must be one thick person if think I only started loving you then!! You can't just go and change the past without thinking about what will happen in the future Reign!”
“I'm sorry, Billy, but there is nothing else I can do.”
“Yes there is. Stay here, with me.”
“I wish it was that easy.”
“Did you even think about what could happen to you? What would happen to me?”
“I've already decided what I'm going to do.” She walked up to him and kissed him and ran her hand against his cheek then turned to leave.
“I hate you for this Reign.” She paused, but she would not turn around and show him how it hurt to hear him say that or how much it hurt to leave him. She had to do this and with that she walked out of the room and his life.