Author's Note: This is my first Harry Potter fan fiction so I hope you all enjoy it! I'll try my hardest to post a new chapter every week, either on Thursdays or Fridays. Thanks for everyone who checks out this story and all reviews are appreciated. :)
Disclaimer: All characters, locations, objects, belong to the brilliant J.K. Rowling.
Chapter 1: The Discovery
Summer, 1979
Death Eaters: The cruelest individuals, who pose all the qualities of Salazar Slytherin, would be the ones to carry out the bidding of the Dark Lord. They have to be cunning, resourceful, ambitious, and powerful; otherwise, they wouldn't make it into Lord Voldemort's ranks. And if anyone questions the Dark Lord's actions or beliefs would find themselves dead. No one defected without being killed.
During the very start of Lord Voldemort's rise, sixth and seventh years students in Slytherin at Hogwarts were willing to join Voldemort. Since most Slytherin came from pure-blood families, they saw what the Muggles and Muggle- borns were-scum. One of the most famous families was the Black family. They believed in Lord Voldemort's ideas, to cleanse the world of Muggle-borns and pure-bloods were the ones who should hold the power. The youngest son of Walburga and Orion Black, Regulus, joined the Death Eaters since his family supported Voldemort-with the exception of Sirius, Regulus's older brother. Regulus had been a fan of Voldemort since his youth because his mother and father both were. He had newspaper clippings and pictures of Voldemort hung in his room. Regulus wanted to please his parents by being at the Dark Lord's side.
Once Regulus turned sixteen, he received the Dark Mark on his left forearm. Walburga and Orion were proud to see their favorite son become a Death Eater, helping cleanse the world of Muggle-borns. However, after two years of service to the Dark Lord, Regulus came to realize Voldemort wasn't anything what he expected. He was cruel, he never seen anyone more cruel than him. He could barely go the day without killing someone, even if it were a fellow Death Eater, or a couple of hours of not hearing the screams of someone being tortured.
Regulus knew he was in too deep just to back out. The Dark Lord trusted him completely. He wasn't sure if Voldemort knew that Regulus was planning to quit his ranks- after all, he is very skilled at Occulmancy- or if Regulus was a very good actor. After each day of service, he began to realize how wrong he was about everything. He wished he followed his older brother's example and stood up for his beliefs. Regulus missed Sirius every day since he left their home. They were best friends, even if they kept it secret at Hogwarts-Sirius didn't want to ruin his reputation by hanging out with a Slytherin, even if it was his own brother- Regulus didn't mind though.
Now since Regulus was a Death Eater and Sirius was a member of the Order of the Phoenix, they haven't seen each other in over two years. Sirius only wrote on Christmas, and Regulus did the same. He didn't think Sirius hated him, Regulus sure didn't hate him, but they couldn't be caught in contact, otherwise they could be made out as traitors. Regulus really wanted to write to Sirius, asking for advice but wasn't sure how his brother would respond. He wasn't sure if his brother would be happy about him seeing the wrongness of Voldemort, or if he would think he was just wanting into the Order to be Voldemort's spy.
Regulus thought he would take his chances and write to his brother anyway. He took out some parchment and a quill and began to write:
Dear Sirius,
I know I only write during Christmas, and I'm sorry about that, but this is urgent. I'm beginning to rethink my decision of joining the Dark Lord. I always admired his ideas, but had no idea of how he was going to achieve them. I need your help. You've always been there for me, and I hope you are willing to forgive me for my decisions. I want to defect; I don't want this life any more. What should I do?
Your brother,
Regulus
Before he was able to call Aquila, the family owl, he was interrupted by a loud bang from behind him. Regulus turned around to see the house-elf, Kretcher, standing behind him. The elf looked shaken. He was nervously shaking and looked like he would nearly fall over. Luckily, Regulus jumped from his chair to catch the elf before he smacked the ground.
"Kretcher, what happened to you?" Regulus crouched down and held the elf in his arms. He knew that Kretcher was being borrowed by the Dark Lord for a task, he wasn't sure what it was, but by the state of Kretcher he knew it wasn't good.
Kretcher just shook his head, still shaking and beginning to cry. Regulus tried to calm him, but it wasn't working. He stood him up on his feet and gripped him by the shoulders and shook him shouting, "Kretcher! Tell me what happened!" Regulus wanted to help the elf; he always liked Kretcher, especially as a child. Kretcher would be there for Regulus, especially when Sirius wasn't- either shut up in his room by mum or at Hogwarts. The elf wasn't necessary fun to play with but, he was someone to talk to.
"I-I d-didn't k-know w-w-hat he did t-t-o m-me," Kretcher cried, "He-he made K-Kretcher d-drink a-a terrible p-p-potion."
"Why?" Regulus was still griping the elf's shoulders, wanting to know more.
"To-to t-t-test h-his defenses g-guarding a-a l-locket."
Regulus stood up with a shocked look that turned into a worry expression. Once he stood up, he fell back into the kitchen chair and buried his face into his hands. He knew what Kretcher meant. He knew what locket he was talking about. A week ago, he overheard the Dark Lord talking to his most trusted Death Eaters- and some of the first- Nott, Lestrange, and Mulciber, about a weird kind of magic called Horcruxes and showed them a green and silver locket with an 's' on the top.
At the time, Regulus didn't know what a Horcrux was. Once he returned home to his parent's house, he looked in their library looking for some reference of a Horcrux. It was hard, but finally found an article about Horcruxes in a very tarnished looking book called The Path to Immortality. Regulus learned that the Dark Lord was able to hide a part of his soul into an object, so if his body was destroyed he could live on. That freaked Regulus out and it made him hate the Dark Lord even more. By the sound of the conversation he heard, he had five so far, but was planning to make more.
Regulus looked up and saw Kretcher still standing, staring up at his master. "What was the potion you drank?"
Calming down slightly, Kretcher responded nervously, "Kretcher, d-doesn't know. It made Kretcher feel awful and terribly t-thirsty. W-when it was g-gone; the Dark L-lord left K-Kretcher to die. The Inferi al-almost g-got Kretcher, b-but Kretcher was able t-to use his e-elf mag-magic to escape."
That was when Regulus Black made the best decision on his life. He was going to put a stop to this. Putting Kretcher through something like that, and leaving him to die, was enough to make him quit. "Kretcher, get some rest," Regulus told the elf sympathetically. The house-elf did what he was told and walked away to his cupboard.
Regulus immediately went back to the library and pulled The Path to Immortality off the shelf and flipped open the page to Horcruxes and looked for how to destroy them. He read that for in order for a Horcrux to be destroyed, it would have to be beyond magical repair and there were only two known ways- basilisk venom or Fiendfyre. Basilisk venom is extremely, extremely rare- basilisks haven't been seen for centuries- and Fiendfyre was a dangerous and difficult spell to control- not even the best duelists could.
Regulus knew what he had to do. He had to grab the Horcrux and destroy it, making the Dark Lord one less step to becoming immortal. Luckily, Regulus knew a very complex spell that could duplicate any object. The spell could make a copy of the locket, so the Dark Lord would never know. The copy wouldn't look very close to the original close up, but he didn't think the Dark Lord would be trying to retrieve his Horcrux anytime soon.
Afterwards, Regulus returned to the kitchen and sat back down to write a letter to the Dark Lord, telling him that he knew of his secret and wished he would be mortal once he met his match then signed the letter 'R.A.B', his initials. He folded up the piece of parchment so it would be tiny enough to fit inside the locket and placed it in his pocket for now. Shortly after, Regulus's parents came home, and Regulus quickly took the other letter addressed to Sirius from the table, if his mother saw it, she would've thrown a fit.
Regulus never told his parents about what happened to Kretcher. He never told them that he volunteered him for the Dark Lord. His mother was suspicious though, she was wondering why the elf hadn't started dinner yet and why he was acting mad. She didn't ask any difficult questions though, which relieved Regulus.
After dinner, Regulus went to his room for the night and took The Path to Immortality with him. The book didn't go into much more detail about Horcruxes. After the section about Horcruxes, it went on to the Philosopher's Stones, Unicorn blood, and different kinds of potions that made the drinker younger. He gave up and threw the book on the floor. Nearly forgetting, Regulus found the letter he wrote to Sirius in his pocket. Regulus reread it again and debated whether to send it still or not. Not sure what to do anymore, he placed it on his night stand and went fell asleep.
Regulus woke up very early the next morning. Neither of his parents were up yet, so it gave him the perfect opportunity to leave without questions being asked by his mother. His mother always worried about him, which he didn't blame her. Regulus called Kretcher, and the elf immediately came to his side. "You're going to take me where the Dark Lord took you."
The elf opened his mouth to protest but Regulus put his hand up to stop him, and he quickly shut his mouth. Before they apparated out, Regulus quickly scribbled down a note to his mum, saying that the Dark Lord had called him and he had told Kretcher to run an errand for him. He then put the note on the kitchen table and grabbed Kretcher's arm. Then with a crack, they left their home and ended up on a giant rock in the middle of a sea.
Sea water splashed against the rock, and mist filled the air, making their skin wet. The smell of the sea was refreshing after being stuck inside all week. Regulus and Kretcher walked into the dark cave on the side of the cliff. Inside the cave, there was a strange green glow and water dripped down the rocky walls. Regulus took out his wand and lighted the tip of it, "Lumos."
Regulus and Kretcher continued to walking through the cave until they reached a dead end, completely sealed off by rock. "One must make a payment," said Kretcher, holding out his arm. Regulus knew what he meant by 'payment.' The payment was blood. There was a big, long scar up Kretcher's bony arm.
"No, Kretcher, I'll do it. You had to do it the first time." Kretcher looked worried; he didn't want to see his master cut himself. Regulus waved his wand over his right arm, opening his skin. He jumped a little from the pain, but then ignored it. Regulus shook his right arm over the rock, allowing some drops of blood fall on to the rock. The rock wall opened like a door, allowing them to pass on to the next room. The next chamber opened up into a lake, with an island in the middle. "It's there," Kretcher pointed at the island.
Regulus nodded at him and walked up to the edge of the water. It was hard to see, so he flicked his wand that was still ignited, and a ball of light flew up to the top of the cave, lighting up the entire cave. "How do we get over to the island?"
"Boat," Kretcher pointed, but nothing was there. "The chain is invisible," he added. Regulus reached into the air and grabbed onto what felt like a chain. He pulled the boat in, until it reached to the edge where he and Kretcher were standing. Both of the climbed into the boat, and it carried them to the island.
The island was tiny, with crystal white rocks. In the middle, there was a basin filled with a light purple looking potion, it must've been the one Kretcher was talking about. They got off the boat and Regulus had a look at the potion. "I'm ready to drink it again, master," Kretcher said, looking terrified and shaking madly.
"No, Kretcher. I won't let you drink that stuff again." Kretcher looked up at Regulus thankfully, but guilty because he knew what that potion was going to put his master through.
"B-but Master Regulus-,"
Kretcher started but stopped when Regulus quickly turned around and gave the elf a stern look. "I won't hear anymore. Kretcher, if something happens to me, you need to take the locket back home and destroy it. You won't let anyone know of it, okay?" Kretcher nodded slowly.
"C-can't we use side-by-side apparition? Using my magic?" Kretcher asked hopefully, he didn't want to leave Master Regulus to die, he would never admit it out loud, but Regulus was his favorite. He always treated him the kindly.
"I highly doubt that would work with me apparating at your side, but you can get out and save yourself." Regulus turned back to the potion and stared into it, hoping it would disappear if he just stared at it- but it didn't. He used a seashell to scoop some of the potion and brought it close to his mouth. "Kretcher, make sure I drink all of it, even if you have to force it down my throat." Before Kretcher could respond, Regulus already took the first drink.
Regulus felt terrible and screamed with pain, it felt like he was being attacked with the Cruciatus Curse. He collapsed to the ground, dropping the shell. Regulus quickly got up again, grabbing the shell and getting more of the potion. He poured it down his throat once again and shouted at it to stop. This time he was reluctant to get more.
Kretcher picked up the shell and forced it into Regulus's hands, but Regulus wouldn't take it, "Don't make me drink it!"
"I'm sorry, Master, but you told Kretcher you had to drink it," Kretcher cried, he didn't want to force pain onto his master, but he couldn't ignore his order. The elf went over to the basin and filled it with more of the potion and walked over to his master. Regulus reluctantly opened his mouth to allow Kretcher to pour the potion down his throat.
Bad images appeared into Regulus's head, making him mad. He saw his parents lying dead on the floor, he saw Sirius hexing him and shouting that he was a traitor and didn't want him as a brother, he saw his two cousins torturing him, the images scarred him, and they wouldn't leave his head.
Kretcher feed Regulus another shell-full, and another, and another. It felt as the pain would never stop. Regulus kept throwing fits of anger because of the pain. "MAKE IT STOP!" Regulus bellowed and his words echoed in the cave.
"One more, master." Kretcher was still crying but trying to reassure his master that it would be over soon. Kretcher showed Regulus that this was the last one, but Regulus kept his mouth closed, shaking his head. "One more master," he repeated, "please, master." Regulus cracked his mouth open and the elf poured it into his mouth.
All of a sudden, the pain was gone. Regulus smacked his lips, his mouth was dry, and he needed water. He struggled to get up, once he did, he limped over to the basin. There was the locket. The green and silver jewels glimmered from the dim lights. Before, Regulus picked took it; he waved his wand over the locket. Out of thin air, an identical locket appeared. It didn't look as brilliant as the real one, but was a convincing copy. Regulus took his note and placed it into the fake.
Regulus took the real Horcrux, and as soon as he touched it, he jumped. The Horcrux was strange; it felt alive, like it had its own heartbeat. He didn't bother to look at it further right now, he pocket and placed the fake inside the basin. The basin automatically refilled itself as the object was placed inside.
"Water," Regulus mumbled quietly. He cupped one of his hands and held his wand in the other. "Aguamenti." Water spilled from his wand and into his hand. Once the water hit his skin, the water evaporated. Regulus looked surprised when this happened. He tried again, "Aguamenti." The same thing happened again. Regulus gave up and walked to the edge of the water. He dipped his hands into the water to pool some of it into his cupped hands.
"Master! No! Don't touch the water!" Kretcher shouted. However, it was too late. A hand popped from the water and grabbed onto Regulus's arm. He jumped up and clutched his wand. Dead bodies walked surfaced from the water, crawling towards him and Kretcher. The dead bodies were Inferi. They were coming from all around the island. There was no escape. Forgetting about his thirst, Regulus jumped up with his wand held out. He shouted different spells at the Inferi, pushing them back and making them fall back into the water.
Regulus and Kretcher were pushed back to the middle of the island as hundreds of bodies came limping towards them. One of them grabbed a hold of Kretcher and started dragging him back into the water. Regulus saw and realized there was no hope to stop all the Inferi. "Stupefy!" Regulus hit the Inferi trying to drag Kretcher into the water. It fell back in the lake and Kretcher scrambled to his feet. Regulus continued to curse the bodies, "Kretcher! Take the locket!" Regulus took the locket from his pocket and threw it to Kretcher. The elf jumped and caught it securely in his hands. "Get out of here Kretcher!" Regulus was getting tired; he couldn't keep up much longer. "Don't tell anyone anything! Let them believe the Dark Lord killed me."
"B-but-," Kretcher croaked, still scared.
"GO! NOW!" Regulus shouted at Kretcher. Kretcher took one last long look at his favorite master and disapparated from the cave.
Regulus blasted a few more Inferi until one jumped on his back and wrapped his hands around his neck. He started to choke out stunning charms, but nothing came out of his mouth. The Inferi who had him, dragged him back into the water. Both he and the dead body fell in with a splash. A couple more Inferi dragged him deeper and deeper. Regulus was out of air; his world was closing around him. But then he thought of Voldemort, and his hatred for him. He thought of the Prophecy and the Chosen One. He thought of his mother and father. He thought of Kretcher. He thought of Sirius. No, he told himself, no, I'm not going to die like this.
Inferi were still stuck to him, but Regulus was able to kick them off. With his wand still tightly held in his hand, he shouted, "Ascendio!" Only bubbles came from his mouth, but the spell still worked. He shot threw the water and landed back on the island.
Breathing heavily, he stood up clutching his side, looking around. All the Inferi were gone, he was alive. Regulus limped back to the boat, rubbing his neck were the Inferius was holding on to him. He walked back through the first chamber of the cave, using the rocks to support his wobbling legs. His head pounded and his chest ached, he felt terrible. Once he finally made it outside of the cave, he had nowhere to go. He was able to apparate now, by was too weak. Instead, he passed out right before the entrance of the cave. Regulus Black was exhausted both physically and mentally.
Sirius Black slept in late Sunday morning; he was awakened by his best friend, James Potter who was shouting for him downstairs, "Oi! Padfoot, get down here before Lily has a fit!" Sirius moaned as he rolled out of bed. He pulled on a T-shirt and ruffled his already messy black hair. Sirius was staying with James and Lily for the weekend since they were on relieve from Order business, which was nice.
Sirius walked out of the guest bedroom and down the stairs and into the kitchen to find James drinking his tea at the table and Lily cooking breakfast. "Morning, all!" Sirius said, in a somewhat surprisingly good mood. "Ah, the food smells great, Lils."
Lily chuckled, "Thought you'd never get out of bed," she handed him a plate with eggs and bacon on it. "It's your own fault if it's cold." Sirius thanked her and joined James at the table.
"I'm surprised to see you all cheery this early in the morning," James smirked at Sirius, stuffing his face with eggs.
Sirius just shrugged, "I suppose I just got my mind off things this weekend, Prongs." Sirius had been pretty sour lately, especially in the morning. The war was taking a toll on him, the thing he hated most was seeing his friends and family-not his family, he didn't care so much about them, but his friend's family- die. Sirius never took death well. He would normally shut himself up for a day or two- or more if it was someone close- and mope around the house, feeling guilty as though he'd killed them. He'd supposed he felt better today since things were going very smoothly with the Order; they've been winning more and more battles against the Death Eaters.
An owl tapped on the kitchen window with the Daily Prophet in its beak. "James, can you pay the owl, please?" Lily asked her husband as she was flipping more bacon on the stove. James told her he would and got up and took the newspaper from the owl and put five bronze Knuts in the owl's brown pouch.
"Anything interesting today?" asked Sirius with his mouth full and trying to peak his head over James's shoulder as he looked over the Prophet.
James shook his head. "Just some bloke at the ministry trying to pass a law about restricting werewolf rights," James gritted through his teeth.
Sirius gave a nasty look, "Those people disgust me," he bitterly said. "I bet it won't pass. They always want to pass another stupid law about werewolves, but they never go through," he paused for a moment, "Is Moony and Wormtail coming over today?"
"When will you guys ever stop calling each other those names?" Lily piped in, half laughing.
"Lils, that's like asking us to stop being us; stripping our personality away," Sirius retorted at her. Lily just shook her head and grabbed her tea to sit down next to her husband.
James smiled at his best friend and then to his wife. "Moony is coming over for lunch and Wormtail can't, his mum is sick or something." James put particular emphasize on their Marauder names and put the Daily Prophet on the table.
James and Lily got into a conversation about planning a trip to Diagon Alley to pick up some potion ingredients; Dumbledore apparently asked her to make some healing potions since she finished with top marks in her N.E.W.T. potion class. Sirius picked up the Daily Prophet and flipped through it. He flipped through to find the deaths section. It had three columns, 'Muggles', 'Witches/Wizards', and 'Death Eaters'.
Sirius scanned the Muggle section- of course he didn't know any Muggles, but wanted to make sure none of Lily's relatives were mentioned- no one. He let out a sigh of relief, then moved on the witches and wizards column. Only three names were listed, Garret Monte, William Schultz, and Brianna Walters, again, no one that he knew. Sirius gave a little smile, he felt bad for the three who died and their families, but was glad it wasn't Peter or Remus or Andromeda or anyone in the Order. Now his eyes glanced over to the 'Death Eater' column, now to his relief got to celebrate over who died. Sirius knew that sounded awful but it was true. Only one name was in that column and it was, 'Regulus Arcturus Black.'
Sirius's mouth hung opened and he froze, just staring at the name. His blood boiled, he felt angry enough to take down a dragon. The paper said that Voldemort had killed him. Sirius stared at his brother's name for another two minutes. He felt terrible. Regulus was too young to have died, he was only eighteen years old; he had just got out of Hogwarts. "Anyone we know?" James asked quietly, both him and Lily finally realized he wasn't listing to their conversation. Sirius didn't respond- he was too angry and sad to do so. James craned his neck around Sirius's chair to see the paper and Lily stood up and walked over to him to get a good look at it. Right away both Potters saw which name he was so shocked about. Lily gasped and put her hands to her mouth. "Pads," James said quietly and put his arm on Sirius's shoulder.
As much as Sirius loved the comfort of his two friends, he'd rather be alone right now. He stood up from his chair. "I think I'll go on a walk," he mumbled and walked out the front door. Lily and James exchanged worried looks, but didn't follow him.
Sirius didn't know exactly who he was angry at. Regulus for being stupid and getting himself killed, Voldemort for actually killing him, Bellatrix for not looking after him- then again, why would she? She was just as vile and cruel as Voldemort- or at himself. Maybe if Sirius tried to keep the friendship between him and his brother more lively, he may haven't joined the Death Eaters at all.
Continuing down James and Lily's street, Sirius saw all sorts of children playing with each other, siblings and friends. It reminded him all the stuff he and Regulus used to do. He remember that they'd play Quidditch with each other, even though Sirius was a terrible player, and they'd have pretend duels and play Gobstones or Exploding Snap. It's entirely my fault, Sirius kept reminding himself. Maybe if I was kinder to him and didn't argue with mum so much; he'd be in Gryffindor too. He should've talked to him more at Hogwarts or have written to him more often.
Sirius continued walking and kicked a stone as he walked. He wondered what Regulus could've possible done to get himself killed. Sirius could see Regulus getting into a stupid argument with Voldemort or perhaps it could've been Regulus stealing one of Voldemort's books about dark curses. Sirius didn't think Voldemort read much during his spare time, so he wouldn't know if a book was missing, so that might not be right. But maybe it was some dark secret weapon. Whatever it was, it was probably stupid and selfish, because that's how all Death Eaters are.