Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters.
A/N: Thanks to SingularityStar, who is my beta for this story.
Chapter Seven
The Locket
Sirius wasn't having the best of days. Harry and the others had left several days ago and life at Grimmauld Place had seriously declined. He knew it would, there was little reason for anyone to stay around, but he had hoped that he would have felt better about it. To make matters worse, it was now time for him to try to convince Kreacher that they were actually on the same side and to be nice to the elf.
It was true that he had been nicer to Kreacher since he had shown up again in the attic a few days before everyone left, but the elf seemed to just grow more and more suspicious of him. It seemed that he couldn't believe Sirius would be nice to him unless there was going to be some kind of punishment afterward. Sirius couldn't really blame the elf though; he would have been just as suspicious if Kreacher was suddenly trying to be nice to him.
"Sirius, you can't put this off any longer," Remus said, as he walked in on his friend sitting in the kitchen looking thoughtful. "We need to know what happen to the locket and we need to make sure Kreacher is on our side or at least can no longer talk to your cousin."
"I know," Sirius sighed and then said, "Kreacher!"
The elf appeared before him moments later; the contempt in his eyes was clear as he bowed. "What is Master Sirius wanting with Kreacher? This is not like Master Sirius, he must be up to something," he added under his breath, looking more suspicious than ever.
Sirius gave a look to Remus, as if he was right about something before he addressed the elf. "So er … how have you been …?"
Remus looked over at his friend shaking his head. This wasn't helping. "Sirius…"
"Right," Sirius frowned. "Look Kreacher, I'm going to be straight with you … I don't like you and you don't like me …"
"Sirius!" Remus groaned and then glared at his friend.
"What? Kreacher is not going to believe me if I suddenly start acting nice to him," Sirius said. "But if I'm honest with the little creep things might work better."
"How about you refrain from calling him names?" Remus rolled his eyes.
"I'll try," Sirius sighed.
"What is it that Master Sirius is wanting Kreacher to be doing?" Kreacher asked, still looking at Sirius with suspicion in his eyes.
Sirius frowned, even after thinking about it for days he still didn't know what he was going to say to this elf. He sighed and started again. "Kreacher, do you remember that locket that the others and I tried to throw away at the beginning of the summer? I want to know what happened to it."
Kreacher's eyes narrowed further.
"Hmph!" Sirius huffed and then sat down at the table. "Great, I made things worse already."
"Kreacher, we …" Remus started to talk to the elf but he shuddered.
"The beast is talking to Kreacher. Kreacher cannot be listening to him," the elf said.
"Kreacher!" Sirius hissed, but Remus put his hand on Sirius's shoulder so that he couldn't move. "I don't want to hear you say that," he said in a calmer voice. "And tell me where the locket is!"
Kreacher eyes went wide and Sirius could tell that he was trying his hardest not to answer the simple question, but the elf couldn't stop himself. "Kreacher is keeping it behind the boiler."
"Thanks, Kreacher," Sirius said relieved that it was there, that it hadn't been stolen or anything like that yet. "You don't know how much this is going to help us having the locket."
"Why is Master Sirius wanting the locket, Kreacher wonders?" the elf mused to himself.
"So I can make sure that my brother didn't die in vain," Sirius answered truthfully and not really regarding Kreacher at all.
"What …?" Kreacher gasped.
"I know that Regulus asked you to destroy that locket," Sirius said looking at Kreacher, his face contorted in pain as he was forced to think about what had become of his brother.
"How is Master Sirius knowing that?" Kreacher asked, still too shocked to look suspicious.
"The same way that I know you left the house and were talking to my cousin," Sirius said frowning at the elf who was now looking as if he was about to have a nervous breakdown. "I don't want you punishing yourself," he added when the elf ran towards a counter and Sirius was sure he was moments away from doing something horrible to himself. "Whatever it is that you did in that visit is already done, but I need you to never go back there unless I order you to."
Kreacher nodded his head in understanding, but he was looking miserable and confused and Sirius was sure that the elf still hated him.
"Look Kreacher, I'm not going to pretend that things can ever change between us," Sirius sighed, "but right now we can work together to destroy the locket …"
"Why is you wanting to help Master Regulus?" Kreacher asked, again back to his suspicious nature.
"I'm sure even you noticed that I cared about Regulus, even if I couldn't stand my parents," Sirius said, he was trying to be completely honest with Kreacher; that was the only thing he could offer the elf that wouldn't seem forced.
Kreacher looked thoughtful for a long time, but Sirius could see that the elf had concluded that he was telling the truth.
"Get the locket please," Sirius said in a softer voice than he would normally use with the elf, "and meet me in the attic."
Kreacher went to the little room that he used as Sirius and Remus climbed up the stairs.
"I don't think that went as well as we were hoping for," Remus pointed out to his friend.
"Probably not, but it's going better than I thought it would," Sirius sighed. "He has never trusted me and I doubt that's ever going to change. Hopefully things can get better between the rest of you though … hopefully we'll be able to see the cheerful Kreacher."
"What is Master planning on doing, Kreacher wonders?" the elf said pacing by the door to the attic.
"Destroy the locket of course," Sirius answered the elf's muttering.
"But Kreacher is trying to do that for years," the elf said almost indignantly. "But Kreacher is not being able to open it. Kreacher knows once it is being open, Kreacher can destroy it, but Kreacher is not knowing how."
"That's okay Kreacher, I know how to open it," Remus said. Harry had taught him the word (it had taken the boy a long time to be able to speak Parseltongue, but eventually he got it), and he remembered the pronunciation.
"And I know how to destroy it," Sirius said, thinking of the fire that would destroy everything in its path, "which is why we're going to the attic. Dad charmed this place to withstand the most powerful curses and Dumbledore has reinforced the enchantments."
"What's the matter, Kreacher?" Remus asked when he noticed the elf's ears drop.
Kreacher eyes bulged and Remus knew that the elf still didn't like being addressed by a werewolf, but was forcing himself not to say anything.
"Kreacher, answer him," Sirius said in a strained voice. He was trying his hardest to be nice to the elf, and it wasn't so hard except at times like this. He couldn't stand anyone or anything treating his friend badly especially when it's only based on the fact that he's a werewolf.
"Kreacher is wanting to destroy the locket," Kreacher replied in a forced voice.
Sirius and Remus looked at each other for a moment until Sirius finally bowed his head and said, "Very well Kreacher, you can have one try but if it doesn't work, I'll be the one to destroy it."
Kreacher nodded his head, a smile almost crossing his features before he remembered who he was talking to and replaced it with a determined look. Sirius sighed, he really wanted to be the one to destroy this locket, but he couldn't deny the elf the chance, especially after he thought of the years Kreacher had been trying to destroy the locket and been driven mad by his failure.
They all walked into the attic and Remus took the locket from Kreacher. He held it on a beaten up looking table. It took him a few times to get the inflection right, and Sirius would have laughed at his friend hissing at a locket if he didn't know what was about to come. Finally the locket was open and, just like the book, it seemed to want to try to make a final stand.
"I know what's in your heart," a high pitched voice said and the locket started to shake.
"Kreacher," Remus prompted the elf, who shot some kind of elven magic at the locket, but it didn't seem to work. Sirius was about to raise his own wand and finish the locket himself when something came out of the locket. The ghostly version of his little brother was now standing in front of him.
"You feel guilty about what happened to me," the locket Regulus said in a high pitched voice that wasn't his own, but both Sirius and Kreacher were transfixed with it. However, the image didn't pay any attention to the elf; even in this form it seemed Voldemort had little regard for house elves.
Sirius shook his head, knowing exactly what was going on but the locket continued to talk and he couldn't stop himself from listening.
"As you should be," the locket Regulus said. "If you had been a little more respectful to our parents I wouldn't have had to please them so much … be the good son that did everything they wanted. I couldn't let them have two disappointments for children."
Sirius scoffed at this, and raised his wand.
"I might never have joined him if it wasn't for you," the locket Regulus continued and that stopped Sirius short. "I tried to talk to you but you brushed me off … you wrote me off before I even had a chance to make a decision! I would be alive right now if it were not for you …"
Sirius's hand shook. He remembered the letter his brother had written to him the summer before his final year at Hogwarts, asking him to meet him. Sirius had plans to go to a Quidditch game that day and he was sure that there was nothing his brother could say that would make any difference. Could he have made a difference? Could he have helped Regulus stay away for the Death Eaters? If he had just agreed to speak with his brother, would it have kept Regulus from dying the way that he had?
"I'm not the only one you let down," the locket Regulus went on mercilessly and Sirius flinched. His mind flashed immediately to James and Lily and how his actions had led to their deaths. "They trusted you like I did, and you let us all down. You have already let your only remaining friend down, believing that he would betray you because he was a werewolf. You hate everyone who judges him because of that, but you, his best friend had condone him … you're the worst hypocrite imaginable."
"SIRIUS!" Remus yelled over the locket's voice; he had been shouting for the last minute but his friend couldn't hear him at all. His friend still didn't seem to be able to hear him so Remus looked to Kreacher, who was looking at Regulus with an awe-struck expression.
"Kreacher, please try to destroy the locket again," Remus said to the elf.
"Master Regulus," Kreacher said, he wanted to smile because he longed to see his master again, but something was terribly wrong with him. Regulus had never been one to be cruel, even to Sirius who deserved it. And Regulus wouldn't have ignored Kreacher as he was now. No, this couldn't really be him.
"Kreacher, Regulus wanted you to destroy the locket," Remus reminded the elf.
Those words seemed to have done the trick, it made the elf more determined than ever and using the most deadly spell that house elves knew, he cast it at the locket. It wasn't enough to destroy the Horcrux, there was no spell known to the elves that would have done that, but it was enough to cause the image of Regulus to fade for a second. It was enough for Sirius to realize what was going on, and he raised his wand and shouted the curse that would be the death of this bit of Voldemort's soul.
The flames started out relatively calm, but Remus knew they only had a few seconds to get out of there before escape would be made almost impossible.
"Sirius, come on!" Remus pushed his friend toward the door and then grabbed Kreacher, who was frozen in horror at the image of the locket Regulus being overcome by the flames. Once outside, Remus closed the door and cast a charm on it that would make it impossible to open until the fire had died out.
"Well, that's one more Hor … one more down," Remus sighed as he leaned against the wall. He didn't want to mention the Horcrux in front of Kreacher, still not sure what the elf will do in the future.
Sirius didn't say anything as he slumped down the wall and sat covering his face. The locket sure did know how to bring out all of his insecurities, but it had been right, he had let everyone down. His brother, James and Lily, Remus … he even let Harry down.
"Sirius," Remus sighed and then sat next to his friend, "you have to let yourself off the hook about all of that … it wasn't your fault."
"Yeah," Sirius said in a would be indifferent voice if it wasn't for the fact that it was so glum.
"You don't know what would have happened to your brother if …" Remus started.
"He did write me, and I blew him off," Sirius said. "What kind of brother does that?"
"I don't know, Sirius," Remus sighed. "I can't answer that, but you still don't know if anything would have changed if you had talked to him. Not to mention I'm not sure if Regulus could have refused to become a Death Eater …"
"What makes you think that?" Sirius said momentarily too shocked to look sad.
"Your family is full of Death Eaters, Sirius," Remus said. "I doubt they would have let him choose anything but that."
"Maybe," Sirius frowned, this didn't make him feel any better.
"And you didn't let James and Lily down," Remus frowned, "or at least you weren't the only one. We all played a part in that," he added his eyes growing incredibly sad.
"I'm the one who suggested that the rat take my place as secret keeper," Sirius said bitterly, which was directed mostly at himself but some of it was at the rat too. "And I did think you were the traitor."
"I know," Remus said. "Did I tell you that I thought you were the traitor, too … I mean even before … that day. I thought that you were the one who was feeding Voldemort information."
"You did?" Sirius said, it was odd how that made him feel better, if only slightly.
"Yeah, though I have no idea what I was thinking," Remus sighed, shaking his head. "I knew how much you cared about James. There was no way that you would do that, but we knew that someone had to be passing Voldemort information and … I thought of that time that you used me as a prank…" Sirius flinched at the memory, "and then I thought of your family and how cruel some of your family members could be and what could be crueler than to betray your best friend. It never sat well with me thinking this, but after everything that happened I thought it was true and I wondered how much of our friendship was real …"
"You thought of my family," Sirius said with a shaky laugh, "that's just as bad as me thinking that you could betray us because you're a werewolf."
"I know," Remus said giving a similar laugh as Sirius. "You tried so hard to be different than them and I still thought that you might have been like them."
There was a long silence after that until Sirius said, "I didn't really think it was because you're a werewolf you know. It was the people that you were around that made me think that you might be betraying us."
"It was part of my Order mission to hang around questionable characters," Remus pointed out. "Dumbledore thought that because of my status as a werewolf, some of the other werewolves and other unsavory characters would feel more comfortable talking to me."
"Did it work?" Sirius asked.
"Not really," Remus sighed.
"I wish we would have just talked about this before," Sirius sighed, his guilt starting to get the better of him again.
"Me too," Remus sighed, "but we can't change the past and we've all paid for what has happened …"
"Do you think it would have been better if I didn't go after the rat?" Sirius asked.
"Maybe," Remus said thoughtfully. "You might have had a trial then."
"But who knows if anyone would have believed my crazy claims," Sirius sighed.
"Well, they might have … Peter," Remus said, forcing himself to say the name and finding it coming out bitterly on his tongue. "… would have had to either be at the trial or vanished from sight … either way it might have been enough to get you off."
Sirius didn't say anything, wondering what his life would have been like if he had never chased the rat. He wondered if he would have gotten custody of Harry. Maybe Harry never would have had to suffer through living with his horrible relatives; the two of them could have lived together in peace. Probably Remus would have lived with them too … or at least been a big part of their lives. It was nice to think about, but nothing could make that real.
Sirius then looked over to the house elf who was sitting by the door that could not be opened. Kreacher seemed to be crying. Sirius thought about the last image that he had seen as the door had closed … his brother being engulfed by flames and thought he knew what that was about.
"Kreacher," Sirius sighed and the elf looked at him reluctantly. "It wasn't him, Kreacher."
"Kreacher is knowing that, sir," Kreacher said still weeping.
"You did good, Kreacher. If it wasn't for you, the locket never would have been destroyed," Sirius said honestly. "Thanks."
"Kreacher is doing as Master R-Regulus asked," Kreacher said starting to cry harder than ever.
"And he would be very proud of you," Sirius said. The elf didn't say anything to him, but Sirius was sure that things between them had changed. No, they would never exactly like each other, but things had gotten better.