Meeting their match, chapter 37
Regulus's story and the wizarding Mafia:
A knock came on the headmaster's door and when Dumbledore opened it, Regulus and his elf stood on the other side. "I must have set off the alarms, Headmaster," Regulus said softly, his gaze dropping in embarrassment and discomfort as everyone in the room turned to look at him. "We double checked and all is undisturbed."
"Thank you, Regulus...Kreacher," Albus said politely as he stepped back to allow the two to enter.
"Regulus! Welcome to the dead club,"Sabra said stepping forward to offer the youth a smile. "I'm famous for killing all my husbands, and this one right here has died 7 times for that fun little trick, but it's kept us out of Voldemort's radar. Anyway, vampirism looks good on you. You've not aged a day," she concluded dryly.
"Sabra, isn't it," Regulus said with a polite smile and she nodded. "And let me guess, your husband is an unregistered metamorphagus?" He arched a slim dark brow, intelligent blue eyes a mix of amused and curious.
"That's right," Sabra said, nodding and giving him a smile.
"Master Regulus is the most brilliant wizard there is," the hook nosed elf muttered proudly as if to himself.
"We were in Slytherin together, but he was a few years younger," Sabra explained turning to Gellert who wordlessly nodded.
"You discovered this Voldemort's horcrux," he asked Regulus, more intrigued by this than the man's faked death for the moment.
Regulus nodded. "I did. I went back to the cave once with my father and we worked an identifying charm on it. There is a charm that will tell if an item is a horcrux," he unnecessarily clarified his words.
"But why didn't you come back when everyone believed Voldemort to be dead," Sabra asked and Regulus stiffened as the elf at his side drew in a breath, his face crumbling into a look of abject misery. Gellert found himself looking away in discomfort. Blaise shifted at his side and their eyes met, both silently agreeing that indeed the moment was an uncomfortable one.
"I knew little of vampires when I chose to become one in an attempt to save myself from Voldemort's vengeance. I became very ill from the lake of inferi or rather its water. It was weeks until I could sit up and hold a quill in order to write Kreacher from where my maker had taken me into hiding. I wrote him several times and never heard back so I wrongly assumed he wanted nothing to do with me. I nearly got him killed by choosing to follow a twisted mad man, after all." Regulus said carefully.
"Kreacher would never," the elf spoke, low gravley voice breaking.
Uncomfortable! "Perhaps we should go and work on some enchanted items to win ourselves some points," Gellert murmured to Blaise who hastily nodded.
"As it turns out, Kreacher never received any of the letters," Regulus said as Blaise opened the door to the headmaster's office.
"Oh Gellert I have something for you,"Sabra said as the two turned to go. "It's a crystal quartz wand from Mag. She said she can make you a more personalized one later but she wanted you to have something for the moment. These are twice as strong as wooden wands as quartz amplifies. Mag has made these for everyone working against Voldemort in our group," she said, reaching into a black sequenced shoulder bag with a webbed pattern on the front. She drew out a natural crystal wand banded in gleaming red copper. "She chose this for you and said the copper is healing and amplifying so works well with the crystal," she said, tone obviously implying she had memorized rather than completely comprehended the meaning of the message.
Gellert's eyes widened slightly in interest as he took the wand into his hands. It was around 9 inches long and seemed to hum with power. It felt really good to have a wand in his hands again and the fact he'd never worked with a crystal of any sort before made it all the more intriguing for him. This was a time of so many changes, not all comfortable but those that were made everything worth while. "Thank you...I will thank her personally when I see her again, please pass on the sentiment if you see her first."
"Sure,"Sabra said with a nod.
The two left Dumbledore's office then and Blaise led the way down to the Slytherin boy's dorms. Gellert couldn't help but warm, mind going back to what had happened there last night. He was most definitely ready to relive the experience.
"Those wands are brilliant," Blaise was saying. "I really love mine. And you see how well it cleans us up after sex. Most definitely twice as strong as a wooden wand."
Gellert nodded, recalling how smoothly Blaise's scourgifying spells had been done. Blaise's wand was shorter and unlike Gellert's it was round and unfaceted. Rather than clear it was also nearly black. Smoky quartz.
As if reading his mind, Blaise drew out his wand and chuckled. "It's way shorter than yours, but it's the shit. I love it, and I've got enough in my pants not to feel insecure to have a short wand."
Gellert laughed, eyes warming on the other man. "Indeed you do."
Once they were back in the dorm room with the door closed, Blaise flopped onto the bed they'd shared the previous night, drawing a notebook and pen toward him with a flick of his wand from there they lay on the desk. "Lets make a supply list for the things we think we'll need to get started making a few things. I'll send Bramble to pick them up."
"Sounds good," Gellert agreed. "We'll need at least 9 mirrors and at least 18 live animals for sure."
"What size,"Blaise asked.
"Mirrors or animals?"
"Both," Blaise replied.
It was more than thrilling to work with someone who understood the merit of creating with life and thus making that life mean more. Never had Gellert felt so comfortable and willing to share his more controversial ideas and views, but Blaise was on his level. They both understood that magic was strongest when not kept in a box and restricted by empty moralities. He hadn't even blinked or changed expression when Gellert asked for 18 live animals. He may as well have been asking for 18 feather quills. "Small and small should work for a start," Gellert replied.
"Got it," Blaise said. "And some more silver amulet type pendants for my magic dispersal talismans like the one Bramble wore when he broke you out. Kereston's right. More of those will be useful for a lot of things."
"Indeed," Gellert agreed, but noticed his mind wandering from work to the inviting way Blaise looked sprawled out on the bed, all long lanky elegance. Somehow seeing another man like that felt surprisingly natural and easy. Wandering over he joined Blaise on the bed.
"So why are your relatives coming to stay with you," Gellert asked, lightly taking the notebook and pen from Blaise's hands and placing them on the bedside table.
"Because they're from the Italian Cabal. Rather like a wizarding mob, but I'm sure you're aware of that," Blaise said, hoping he wasn't babbling because Gellert had just begun kissing his neck and...Blaise's mind was finding it difficult to function. Gellert's slender body covered Blaise's own and it felt more than amazing. "Gods, Gellert," he managed, hands tangling in the other man's blonde locks before running over his back and shoulders.
"Familial connections to the magical Mafia," Gellert murmured against his neck. "Nice."
