Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters and the situations all characters find themselves in. Thanks for reading and reviewing.

Locked Away

"I really, really shouldn't have made that crack about me being locked in here being a goblin's wet dream." Teddy stated as he stared at the door to the vault he was in. The door that had closed while he and Regulus were in the back of the large vault since there was where a large amount of the coins had been placed. The goblin who'd brought them down earlier had closed the door and sealed them inside, casting some sort of spell so that they wouldn't hear the sealing of his potential doom.

"When I see that goblin again I'm going to borrow your wand and permanently turn him inside out."

"Can you really do that?"

"You'll see for yourself that I can once we get you out of here." Regulus stated as he crossed his arms in front of him, his black eyes hot with fury. He didn't know why he was so angry, it wasn't like he was the one who would potentially starve to death inside the vault, but he felt like it was. This was a level of fury he'd seldom experienced before.

He almost felt truly alive.

Not doubting the Slytherin's words Teddy couldn't help but glance in the direction where two goblin skeletons had lain when they'd first opened the vault. The living goblin must have removed them before he closed the door on them, the Gryffindor speculated. That his skeleton would replace them seemed very likely at the moment.

He had his wand, so he could satisfy thirst, but not food. And he needed food to live.

And he couldn't use his patronus to send a message to someone because according to Regulus magic couldn't pass through the vault's doors.

He was royally screwed.

"I'm going to go open the door, wait here and don't touch anything, just in case."

Teddy blinked in surprise. "Wait…what?"

"I said I'm going to open the door and get you out of here. If the goblin has any brains in its hideous head he's going back and telling the others in the main area that the vault closed on you or sucked you in and there was nothing he could do. It wouldn't be a stretch, this vault is infamous and your ability to safely enter it would be questionable to those in the knowing. If the goblins do indeed hold such a grudge against your family it's also likely that they hope to trap some of your relatives in here with you, since they'd try and open it themselves to get you out. Didn't you say a couple of your relatives are curse breakers?"

The look that came into Teddy's eyes said plainly that he was now all for Regulus's plan to cause serious body harm to the goblin.

"My point is that they'll be sending people down here, so I need to get you out there so that they can take you back up. This vault is too deep underground, it would be too easy for you to get lost and I can't risk that they've altered the tunnels since I was last here. I couldn't pay enough attention on the way down."

Teddy shook his head. Only someone like Regulus would be anal enough to pay enough attention to the tunnels in his past life to have even a remote idea how to return to the surface from this far down.

"So stay put and I'll go activate the release hatch. Get out as soon as you can."

Saluting the other man Teddy watched as Regulus walked over to a nearby table where a gold plated typewriter sat.

Solidifying his right hand Regulus began to type out the key string of words, the vault door beginning to open when he tapped the last key.

As ordered Teddy headed out the doorway as soon as it was open enough for him and the tote he was lugging around to fit through. He waited for Regulus to appear and then shut the door behind them. "This is the only vault I've ever heard of that has a built in escape hatch."

"It's been passed down my mother's line for over four centuries. Paranoia…runs in that part of the family bloodline. Rumor has it that one of my ancestors seriously bribed the goblins at that time with a large amount of goblin made armor and jewelry they wouldn't have gotten back otherwise."

Looking around at their new surroundings, which were about as welcoming as the inside of the vault he'd just left, Teddy glanced over at the Slytherin standing protectively at his side. And that was the word for it, he mused, the man's posture and behavior all seem to indicate that Regulus was being protective of him. It was nice.

"So now we just wait for the evil goblin to call his minions?"

"Worst comes to worst you can force them to take you above ground." Regulus pointed out pragmatically. "And there was that blonde you waved to when we were coming into the bank. Would she come down here?"

Teddy nodded, not a doubt in his mind. "When she hears I'm stuck down here wild horses couldn't keep Tori away. Assuming that the goblin let's anyone know where I am that is. But she did see us go down…and she's pretty damn smart. Eventually they'd think to check out all the vaults connected to your family, right? They know about you after all, and they wouldn't find the ring at the house."

"Then you might as well take a seat while we wait."

)

Taking out his pocket watch Teddy consulted the time, knowing he was being stupid but unable to stop himself. An hour sure felt like a long time when he knew that if someone didn't come for him he was a dead man. Looking over at the Slytherin who stood guard over him, Teddy wondered how quickly he'd die. Would he last longer in his human or Animagi form? And what would happen to Regulus, stuck in the ring until it was properly destroyed or exorcized. What if when he died the ring came off his unfound skeleton and tumbled over the side to be lost forever in the dark abyss forever?

"You aren't a Ravenclaw, Teddy. Thinking that hard could cause your head to explode." Looking down at the Gryffindor Regulus fought the urge to touch the other man. For one thing it just wasn't in his nature to touch and two he wasn't entirely sure how to comfort someone which meant he'd probably do it wrong and make a fool of himself, the Slytherin thought as he continued to watch over the other man.

Lips twitching Teddy worked up a small smile for the Slytherin. "Thanks for that."

"Look, if no one comes down here for you within the next hour I'll see how far from your side I can get. The vaults around us are very old and probably aren't visited regularly, but the ones higher up will be and I'm likely to run into people there. People who would be inclined to help you, hopefully."

"You're going to leave me?"

Raising an eyebrow at the man's tone of voice Regulus was taken aback at the guilty feelings the Gryffindor's question elicited in him. "I…I wouldn't be gone long. And I'd come back." He blurted out without thinking. "I'd never leave you here alone to d-."

"To die." Teddy finished, knowing that that was what the Slytherin had been about to say.

"I didn't say that." Though that was what he'd been about to say, Regulus silently admitted.

"Oh really, then what were you going to say?"

Thank Merlin for Slytherin intelligence. "I was going to say that I'd never leave you here alone to disgrace our family by crying over the fact that I left your side for an hour or two."

"Right." Teddy drawled out, not believing that for a second. "And we're both still virgins. Try pulling the other leg a bit, Regulus, no sense in having one longer than the other."

"Your generation's obsession with discussing personal, private matters is disgraceful and uncouth." Regulus huffed as he crossed his arms in front of him, staring across the way to the rock walls illuminated eerily in the strategically placed torches. "And given that we have no idea as to the quality of air you are currently breathing it would probably be in your best interest to save your breath."

Teddy was silent for a couple minutes before he spoke again. "I…I wouldn't want to die alone. If I do die down here, I'll be grateful for your company. Even if you are a sarcastic, cynical, know it all Slytherin." There was a real hint of a smile on his lips then.

"Hmph."

The silence that descended once more was a comfortable one, the lack of noise allowing Teddy's sensitive ears to pick up on the unfamiliar sound coming from his right. Instinctively getting to his feet the Gryffindor looked in the direction the sound was coming from, crouching down to place a hand on the rail track. "It's vibrating a little. I think the track is being used nearby."

"I'm going to go invisible then, in case we need the element of surprise."

And then the cart came rolling into view, the light from its lantern bouncing off the golden hair of one of its occupants, giving Victoire a sort of halo that anyone who knew her would agree she would never earn.

"Tori!"

"Teddy!"

As soon as the cart rolled to a stop Victoire all but flew out of the cart and into her best friend's arms, hugging him close like she was a drowning victim clutching a life raft, the girl mumbling all sorts of things that didn't make sense but Teddy's got the feelings behind them and hugged her back just as tightly. The hug became a group hug as Victoire's father joined in the celebration.

Stepping out of the car as well were two goblins, one so old and frail looking it was a wonder he was still breathing, the other mature looking and obviously none too pleased to see that Teddy was out of the vault.

It was the older goblin that spoke once the two Weasleys finally turned Teddy loose. "We were informed you'd been trapped in the vault. How is it you got out? For that matter, how is it you were able to enter it in the first place?" The eyes were old and faded, but a great deal of cunning lurked in the creature's eyes.

"First of all the goblin who brought me down here trapped me inside the vault by closing the door when I was in the back of it, and second, if you know anything about this vault you know there's a way to open it from the inside."

"You were trapped inside!" Whirling around to face the goblins the look on Victoire's face would have killed them both if looks could kill. And even with the diluted Veela blood she was a sight to see when she was as pissed as she was at that moment. "Your man trapped my Teddy inside there to die? I'll kill that little gobshite!"

"Your Teddy has no right to the contents of that vault." The younger of the two goblins sneered. "The contents within it belong to us. Thieves often end up trapped and dead down here, as they deserve. Though given your heritage, girl, you probably wouldn't understand that."

"Let's not get into another discussion of how my brother, his wife, and my brother in law are thieves." Bill Weasley stated firmly, his eyes cold and commanding. "And how is it that the contents of the vault belong to you, exactly? I heard the goblin who reported the situation say quite clearly that Teddy was trapped in the vault. If it was yours there's no way he could have entered it."

The older goblin spoke once more. "It is ours because the owner's family line is dead. It died when Mrs. Walburga Black passed away with no designated, living heirs. The contents of any vault in this bank belong to us when no one has been specified as heir to its contents. Mrs. Black died leaving the vault to her son, Regulus Black, who as you know was dead, little though she would accept it. Upon her death the contents of the vault became ours." The curve of the goblin's lips could only be called crafty. "So few people read the fine print on the contracts they sign with us."

"And I've worked for the bank long enough to also know that while that is true, the fact that you couldn't get into the vault means there is a designated heir still alive." Bill countered, putting himself firmly between his family members and the goblins. "If what you're saying were true than all enchantments on the vault added by its owners would have dissipated so that only your charms and wards would have remained. That's part of the contract too. And if the owner's protection spells weren't still in place you would have cleaned the vault out long ago."

"The former owners of this vault were very dark wizards and witches." The younger goblin stated with a dark look in Teddy's direction. "They must have added something that remained after their deaths, ones that allowed the key to deactivate them upon use." Now he pointed a long, threatening finger in Teddy's direction. "But that doesn't change the fact that key or not, the boy broke our laws and is subject to appear before OUR courts for his crimes."

"Touch one of those filthy fingers to that boy's person and I'll disarticulate it and use it to gorge out your greedy little eyes, Goblin." Appearing before them after issuing his chilling statement Regulus gave the younger goblin a hard look before turning his gaze to the second one with recognition in his dark, Black eyes. "Hello, Agni."

Eyes widening, the older goblin stared at the Slytherin for several heartbeats and then cocked his head to the side slightly. "You are not alive, a ghost, nor completely dead, Mr. Regulus Black. That is why the vault didn't allow us entry after your mother's passing. You are the one who gave the boy access to the vault and showed him how to get out?"

"I am."

"And gave him permission to remove items from said vault?" The goblin added, gesturing towards the nearby tote, which lay propped up against the stone wall where Teddy had left it.

"I have." And now it was Regulus's lips that curved into a harsh, arrogant smile. "Now get my heir and his friends back up to ground level before I borrow someone's wand and see to it that it's your bodies that are never found rotting down here."

Victoire whistled low under her breath. "Damn. Now you're definitely one of the hot Blacks."

)

Everyone getting into the cart after Teddy retrieved the tote, the Gryffindor explained to his best friend and her father what had happened as they zoomed up towards the main level while the two goblins conversed amongst themselves in their own language while pretending they weren't trying to figure out where exactly Regulus was. The Slytherin had gone back to being invisible in order to conserve his energy and to keep the goblins off balance since they didn't know what he could or couldn't do to them.

Allowing the bond between him and his ring to pull him along Regulus scowled down at the blonde girl with her arm through Teddy's, not liking the level of closeness between the two one little bit. Of course Teddy had made it quite clear that he wasn't interested in women in that way, but that probably didn't stop the annoying creatures from hitting on the Gryffindor on a regular basis. Not that it looked like the blonde was interesting in Teddy in that way, Regulus grudgingly admitted to himself. No, their bond actually reminded him more of the one that had existed between his brother and James Potter. That total trust, die for each other, nothing can break it kind of bond.

Which was probably why it annoyed him so much. He'd hated that bond between Potter and Sirius, the fact that people were always saying how the two were practically brothers. Sirius had been his brother…but had replaced him with that four eyed blood traitor.

He'd never been good enough in Sirius's eyes.

When they arrived at the main level and entered the brightly lit bank the Slytherin looked around, frowning when he failed to spot the goblin who'd lock them into the vault in the first place. Moving to hover behind Teddy Regulus whispered in the Gryffindor's ear. "Do you see that goblin?"

Teddy didn't have to ask which one, the Slytherin's tone of voice said it all. "Leave the goblin alone, Regulus."

"Leave who alone?" Victoire asked, trying to figure out where the invisible man was without success. He did have a surprisingly sexy voice though.

"He wants to turn the goblin who locked me in the vault inside out. Literally."

Victoire raised an eyebrow at that and then spoke in Teddy's direction since the Slytherin was probably close to her best friend. "Well aren't you just Teddy's knight in silver and green armor, Mr. Black. Or may I call you Regulus?"

"Since I'm old enough to be your father it's Mr. Black."

"You let me call you by your first name and you're old enough to be my father." Teddy pointed out, since he wanted the two to get along.

"You're different."

Victoire grinned and gave her best friend a little hip check. "Hear that, Teddy bear? You're special to him."