A/N: Woo! An update! I think that this story will be (and I'm quite happy to say) done within three more chapters (and possibly an epilogue)
Declarations of Loyalty
Chapter 4: The Malfoy Manor
Regulus thought this plan was stupid, not even stupid; it was impossible, reckless, moronic. If he had a month to plan, it still would've been. Who knew how many Death Eaters were hanging out at Malfoy Manor? Even at three o'clock in the morning, it was stupidly reckless.
He knew there was an outside door that led into the lowest level; he walked around the side of the house, as quietly as he could manage. Why hadn't Dumbledore given him an Invisibility Cloak or Disillusioned him or something? He found a set of stairs dug into the ground, leading towards a door. He followed the stairs and pulled the door, it was locked.
"Alohomora," he muttered, the lock clicked and the door swung open. He thought the Malfoy's were very arrogant to think no one would attempt to break in. He looked around; the walls were covered in artifacts that were probably worth more gold than even Gringotts had seen.
He looked around, on desks and shelves, for the little diary, hoping he wasn't making too much noise. After about five minutes he heard something he had dreaded to hear.
"I was just going down to check on some disturbance," the voice of Lucius Malfoy drifted through a crack under a door too close to where he was standing.
"I'll check it for you, Lucius, go back to bed," said another, all too familiar voice.
"It's probably just that wretched house elf," Lucius said, but his voice sounded distant and Regulus was sure he was leaving.
Not that his leaving solved the problem of the slowly opening door. He ducked behind a large wooden wardrobe and drew his wand. He knew he'd be caught. He held his breath as he saw a pair of feet coming towards him.
He looked up, ready to curse whoever it was. Unfortunately, words were beyond him when he did.
Barty Crouch paid no mind to Regulus, as if he didn't know who he was.
"Barty," Regulus said, shrinking into the small corner beside the wardrobe.
He raised an eyebrow. "What are you doing?"
"I'm looking for something," he hissed. "You saw it, the Dark Lord gave it to Lucius, a black book, a little leather covered black diary. It didn't have anything in it; do you know where it is?"
Barty didn't answer, but jerked his head towards the other side of the room, and turned away from him. "I didn't betray you before. I won't now, but don't expect me to cover for you again." He walked out of the room.
Regulus' first instinct was to chase after Barty, the voice shouting at him to do it sounded a little like Sirius. He shook his head and then directed his attention to the area of the room where Barty had (in his own, offhand manner) gestured.
And he saw it. The Horcrux. It was lying in the middle of a table; nothing was too close to it, like it was sacred. He hurried over to it and grabbed it, expecting some kind of defense to be on the little book. There was none. He ran out of the large storeroom, looked the outside door back behind him and Apparated back to the patio of Sirius' flat.
"Where have you been?" Sirius asked impatiently when he shut the glass door behind him.
Regulus paled. "I was, uh, doing something for Professor Dumbledore," he said, hiding the book behind his back.
"What's that you're holding?"
"Professor Dumbledore asked me to get it for him."
"At three in the morning?"
"It's pretty important. But I can't tell you," Regulus said. "Just, please, I can't tell you!"
"Fine, fine," Sirius said, looking sullen. "I'm going to bed."
"You were…waiting up for me?" Regulus asked, looking uncomfortable.
"If I was?" he asked, standing. "Get some sleep."
He nodded and waited for Sirius to disappear into his bedroom before grabbing the Floo Powder from beside the fireplace and kneeling down. He flicked his wand at the grate and a fire burst up, crackling merrily. He threw the powder into the fire and it turned bright emerald green. He sighed, sticking his head in, and saying "The Headmaster's Office, Hogwarts!"
From his vantage point in the fire, he could see the bottom of Dumbledore's desk. "Professor?" he said.
"Ah! Regulus, I almost wasn't expecting you until morning," Dumbledore's voice said from somewhere above him, the Headmaster came into view, kneeling down beside the fireplace. "So, how was your little jaunt into Malfoy Manor?"
"I nearly got caught," he said uncomfortably. "But I got the diary."
Dumbledore smiled, peering at him over his half-moon spectacles. "Ah, good, hold on to that, but I must urge you not to write in it," he said. "Now the task of finding the last two Horcruxes is upon us," he said thoughtfully. "Do you have any theories as to where they could be?"
"Hogwarts, one is in Hogwarts."
"But where in Hogwarts?"
Regulus shook his head. "I just know, if Voldemort considered Hogwarts his first real home, he would've hidden it at Hogwarts."
"And the other one?"
Regulus thought very hard. He had given Malfoy the diary, so possibly…he had given another Horcrux to another loyal Death Eater to hide…
Regulus paled at the thought. "I think…" he started slowly. "It's in my cousin's Gringotts vault. I overheard her one day, telling my mother, about being entrusted with something, something valuable of the Dark Lord's."
Dumbledore looked thoughtful. "I do not think that is a mission you should go on alone," he said.
"Would you go with me?" Regulus asked stupidly.
"No, no, my dear boy," he said. "I do believe it is time you told your brother about what you're up to. The entire story," he said, with an air of finality. "As rash as your brother has proven himself to be, he is also loyal to his loved ones. And will take a secret to his grave."
"But how will we break into Gringotts?"
"That is up to you, Regulus," Dumbledore said. "But it is high time you got some sleep, good night."
"Goodnight, sir," he said, pulling his head out of the fire.
"Breaking into Gringotts?" someone asked from behind him. Regulus stood and turned around, his eyes wide.
"Sirius! You scared me," Regulus said. "Uhm, yes, about that. I think you need to sit down, I have a lot of things we need to talk about."
Sirius sat down and Regulus told him his story, from the cave to Barty's lie, to the diary and the Horcrux that was hidden in the Lestrange vault.
"So, we're going after it then?" Sirius asked, with an eager look in his eyes.
"We'll need a plan though," Regulus said desperately. "We can't just barge into Gringotts, and it's impossible to open those vaults without a Gringotts goblin, Sirius."
"The Lestrange vault is right near the Black family vault isn't it?" Sirius asked.
"Sirius, I'm dead and you're disowned," Regulus pointed out.
"Does anyone other than the Death Eaters think you're dead?" he asked.
"Okay, so I can pretend to need to go to my vault," Regulus said, rolling his eyes. "But that doesn't solve the fact that we need a Gringotts goblin to open the vault, and if you came strolling in there with me…"
"They won't have to see me," Sirius said slyly.
"You can't become invisible," Regulus argued. "And, we should be worrying about the goblin! What am I going to do, Imperius him?"
The look in Sirius' eye said it all.