Saturday, 2 October 1976
Regulus and Lena placed the three keys into the keyholes in the desk. They took a step back from the desk as they heard a mechanism begging to turn. The top of the desk creaked upon, revealing a collection of glass. But the glass wasn't just any glass. It was looking glass, enabling one to see into another place without actually being here. Each section of looking glass peered into a different room. Regulus leaned in to further examine the looking glass.
His eyes widened. "Lena, these are looking into the rooms of the cottage! Look, there's the foyer we were in earlier."
Lena moved in. She pushed her hand on the piece of looking glass that contained people. The looking glass suddenly expanded and Regulus and Lena could hear everything the people in the looking glass were seeing. Regulus and Lena back into the chairs.
Without taking his eyes off the screen, Regulus leaned over to Lena and whispered, "That's my cousin Bella and her husband Rodolphus Lestrange. The blonde one is Lucius Malfoy. He's engaged to my cousin Cissy. The other two are Alecto and Amycus Carrow. They graduated two years ago."
Lena nodded wordlessly and listened to the group of Death Eaters speak.
"Share your news now, Bellatrix," Malfoy said with authority.
Lena doubted that Bellatrix cared that Malfoy was in charge. She had a crazed look in her eyes that told Lena that Bellatrix thought no one was above her, except maybe Voldemort.
Bellatrix rose from her husband's lap and began twirling her wand with her fingers. "Out of my own initiation, I went to Morgana's Mine in search of Increviri to please the Dark Lord. I retrieved it."
A smirk graced Bellatrix's face as her fellow Death Eater's audibly gasped. Lena turned to Regulus. "What the fuck is the Increviri?"
"How should I know?"
"Because you're a Death Eater!"
Regulus bit his lip and scratched the back of his neck. "You know about that, huh?"
"Yeah, I know about that!" Lena whisper-yelled at him before turning back to face the looking glass.
"As you all know," Bellatrix continued, her eyes gleaming with pride, "the Increviri will increase the Dark Lord's power by tenfold…And I intend to give it to him."
Lena whipped out her wand and pointed it at Regulus' throat. He threw his hands up in the air.
"What are you going to do, Lena?" He asked in a low voice.
"I'm going to incapacitate you or something like that. I don't know yet." Lena brought her left hand to her head, as if it would make her think more quickly. Her wand was shaking against Regulus' throat. "All I know is I can't let you stop me from stopping the Death Eaters downstairs from making Voldemort even more powerful."
"I don't want Bella to give him the Increviri! I don't want him to get more powerful! I don't want to be a Death Eater anymore! I want the bastard dead!" Regulus spoke with such conviction that Lena nearly lowered her wand, with nearly being the operative word.
"What the hell are you talking about?"
Regulus closed his eyes and breathed out. He slowly lowered his arms to his sides. He opened eyes and all Lena could see was regret and clarity staring back at her. "I made a mistake. I don't think there's a word that can explain how big a mistake I made. I joined an army of deranged psychos. But I want out now. I don't want to hurt anyone. I don't want to be like Bella. I want to be good. I want to be happy with Layla. I want her to be safe."
"Why did you join in the first place?"
"I joined this summer…just after Sirius left to live with the Potters. All my parents could talk about was how he ruined the family name and that it was my duty to rectify his mistakes. There was so much yelling and I just wanted it to stop. And I remembered how pleased they were when Bella had announced it to the family. And, I just thought that…I thought that if I did the same, then my parents would stop yelling and they would be happy. So I asked Bella to join and I did. My parents, they're so proud that I joined the damn cult. It's all they talk about at home. I had never felt so alone until that summer."
Blood flowed into Regulus' cheeks as his emotions grew. Regulus closed his grey eyes. "I wish I had gone with Sirius when he asked me to. He had it right, leaving, that is. I wished I was as brave as him and left everything I'd ever known behind. I still wish for it. And I miss him, and I doubt he knows it." Regulus spoke, tears leaking from his eyes as he opened them.
Lena inched closer to him and took his right hand in her left hand. She kept her wand at his throat.
"It's hard to be brave. I always want to be more brave than I am. I always want to be more than I actually am." Lena cleared her throat. "He misses you, too, Regulus. He tells my brother about it all the time. He knows how hard it is to leave. He wishes you were with him and that he could help you."
A choked sob came out of Regulus' mouth. Lena looked at his face and saw the pain and mourning on his face. Someone doesn't have to be dead for you to mourn them. They just have to be out of reach from you, Lena thought and her heart broke for both Black brothers. She placed her wand in her pocket and wrapped him in her arms. He embraced her back as he shook in her arms. Minutes passed by and Lena released him. She reached her hands up and cupped his face. "Now is the time to be brave, Regulus."
Lena and Regulus had developed a plan to stop the Death Eaters from leaving the Cursed Cottage with the Increviri. One piece of looking glass on the desk revealed hidden tunnels floors of the house. The tunnels could be accessed from the wardrobe in the main bedroom across the study. Where the tunnel led, Lena and Regulus did not know. From the tunnels beneath the room in which the Death Eaters currently occupied, Lena and Regulus would cast the Confundus Charm. It was a difficult charm to master and Lena and Regulus' abilities were limited. They could not have put the idea in the Death Eaters' minds to leave the Increviri in the Cursed Cottage and return for it later. They could have confounded them long enough for the group not to realize Lena had transfigured a single floorboard to vanish for a minute while Regulus summoned the Increviri to them by uttering Accio.
Lena removed the keys from the desk and secured them in her pocket. Neither she nor Regulus wanted to take the risk of someone like Bellatrix Lestrange to find the looking glass. You never know who could be watching you, Lena thought. The group of Death Eaters had no idea they were being watched and Lena feared the possibility that, if she ever ventured back to the Cursed Cottage, someone could be spying on her.
Regulus unlocked the door and the pair crossed the half, entering the bedroom. They pulled the wardrobe open, entered it, and closed the doors behind them. The base of the wardrobe vanished beneath them and Regulus and Lena fell. Lena's first instinct was to scream, but she held it in. She grimaced as they landed. Regulus and her were currently standing knee-deep in some unidentifiable dark liquid. The tunnel was musty and Lena could smell the odor of rotten eggs in the air. Every few feet or so, marble statues of various countries were found along the tunnels' walls. They could feel weeds scraping against their legs as they walked down the tunnel. They walked several before they heard the murmuring of the Death Eaters. There were several small holes in the floorboard, enabling Lena and Regulus to see into the room with their eyes. The Hufflepuff and Slytherin held their wands up to the hole, and nodded to each other. They both exhaled and spun their wands in a circular motion, pointing at five people above him. They whispered Confundo with conviction and heard shrieks and yelps. "What the bloody hell is happening?" Amycus cried.
Lena quickly transfigured the floorboard using Evanesco and Regulus summoned the Increviri. Lena then transferred the apple back into the floorboard. Once again, Lena and Regulus raised their wands to tiny holes in the floor and murmured Obliviate. Hopefully, it would keep the Death Eaters from realizing what happened and slow them down. Regulus and Lena slowly made their way down the tunnel. Their breathing was labored, panicking over the fact they had stolen from Bellatrix Lestrange and her Death Eater companions.
"Stop it, Lena!" Regulus chided her.
"Stop what?"
"Poking my back!"
"Regulus…I'm not touching you."
"Shit!"
Lena and Regulus spun around and came face-to-face with a tail. They moved their eyes down. In front of them was a Kneazle. Regulus' eyes moved to the sides of the tunnel. All the stone statues of magical creatures had come to life. Regulus glanced at his watch. It was twenty past five o'clock.
Regulus swallowed. "Lena."
"Yes, Reg," Lena squeaked.
"I think the curse is real. Because all these creatures weren't here before five and now they are."
"As much I don't want to, Reg, I have to agree with you."
Lena turned her head over her shoulder. A Manticore stood several feet behind them, moving slowly and silently to where her and Regulus stood. Its scorpion tale swung in the air, ready to sting its prey. Unfortunately for her and Regulus, they were the prey.
"Reg, how much do you remember from Care of Magical Creatures?"
The Kneazle did not prove to be the problem for Regulus and Lena. Lena attributed it to the Kneazle deeming Regulus and her trustworthy. Regulus, on the other hand, attributed the Kneazle running off as a result of the looming Manticore. Speaking in its human voice, the Manticore agreed with Regulus.
The Manticore proved to be the biggest Regulus nor Lena knew much about Manticores, as the subject was covered during one's fifth year. Both had dropped Care of Magical Creatures after their fourth year when Professor Silvanus Kettleburn walked into class and casually stated "Not to worry, a Nundu ate it" when asked about his freshly missing left hand.
Lena and Regulus spent ages dodging the Manticores claws and tail. Every spell they threw at the beast did nothing. Regulus assumed the Manticore was one the magic-repellent creatures that existed. They fifth-years came to the conclusion that if they couldn't subdue the Manticore with magic, they could protect themselves with magic. Regulus casted a Shield Charm, preventing the Manticore from reaching them. Under the spell's protection, they slowly moved to go behind the Manticore, giving the pair better access to the tunnel's access. Regulus could feel the spell growing weaker and shared his worry with Lena.
Lena took a deep breath and imagined she was back in her DADA class. She thought of what she did to them, being with Remus, and cast her Patronus. Artemis, her wolf, shot out of her wand and began to fight Manticore. Regulus grabbed her hand and dragged her down the tunnel, casting another Shield Charm behind them. They came across a Hodag and a Murtlap, but they paled in comparison to the Manticore.
When they reached the end of the tunnel, they found a golden vault door covered in algae. Regulus and Lena put all their weight on the wheel to open the vault door. They slammed the door behind them.
The tunnel exit had led them to the fountain commemorating Merlin, which was located in the village entrance of Hogsmeade. It was nine thirty when Lena and Regulus exited the tunnel, which was well past curfew. Lena knew her friends would question where she was, but she didn't want to think about it. Regulus and Lena had been in the Cursed Cottage since about five o'clock or so. They gathered that they must have spent nearly two hours in the study, searching for the keys and planning their escape. Since Lena and Regulus couldn't enter Hogwarts through the normal path without getting caught, they were currently walking through the secret passage that led to the fourth floor of Hogwarts.
Lena looked up at Regulus and playfully nudged him and wiggled her eyebrows suggestively. "So, Layla? How'd that start?"
Regulus' cheeks burned red and a starry look came into eyes. "It's so embarrassing."
"It can't be that embarrassing," Lena assured him.
"No, no. It is. It was right after I joined the Death Eaters this summer. I wanted to clear my head so I went on a walk and went to this Muggle park. And these Muggles where kicking some sort of odd-looking ball—"
"I'm going to assume it's a football."
"I still don't know what that is. It doesn't really matter. So, the ball hits me in the face…And I fell on my arse…In the mud."
Lena started laughing, unable to hold in her laughter. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! It's not funny! I'll stop laughing!"
Regulus shot her a doubtful look as he smiled. "Anyways, Layla was there at the park with her little brother. She came over and brought me to her house to wash my clothes. We talked for hours. She was nice. Her family was so nice, so much nicer than mine. After that, I'd go to her house twice a week."
Lena gushed. "Aww, Reg! That's so sweet!"
Regulus waited until his cheeks returned to their normal color before speaking. "So what about you?"
"What about me?"
"Anyone special in your life?"
Lena blushed. "Yeah, I mean my family, my frie—"
"We both know that's not what I meant," Regulus said with a raised eyebrow.
"No, I don't have anyone like you have Layla."
"Do you have someone in mind?"
Lena bit her lip. "Yeahhh."
"It's not Sirius, is it?"
A horrified look appeared on Lena's face. "NO! Why the hell would you think that?"
"I don't know! You always blush when you're with him and his friends!" Regulus paused and a miniature epiphany came to him. "Oh! It's one of his friends. Lupin or Potter, which one is it?"
"Remus," Lena mumbled.
"So, are you going to do anything about it?" Regulus, asked cheekily.
"Nope," Lena made a popping sound. "I am too much of a wimp."
Regulus stopped walking and put his hands on Lena's shoulders. He nodded as he said, "Now is the time to be brave, Lena."
Lena cocked her head to the right and gave him a pointed look. "That's not very original, Reg."
"Well, that explains the smell," Dumbledore said, his eyes twinkling as he examined the Increviri on his desk.
"What?" Regulus cried. He and Lena had just recounted the adventure from today and all Dumbledore could say was they smelled. Unbelievable, Regulus thought.
"Oh, you smell," Dumbledore repeated in a monotone voice.
Lena sniffed her collar and gagged. "Shit! We smell worse than that time James and Sirius set off the dungbombs in the dungeons!"
"Yes, yes you do," Dumbledore agreed.
Lena and Regulus stared at him blankly. He was not being helpful.
Regulus swallowed the lump in his throat. He had just told the headmaster that he was a Death Eater. "Sir, can you help me get out of the Death Eaters?"
The twinkle in the old man's eyes dimmed. "I'm afraid I can't Regulus. That is beyond even me."
Lena squeezed Regulus' hand in support as his head fell. She shot Dumbledore a glare and mouthed "say something."
Dumbledore nodded and winked, as if to say "I got this." Lena narrowed her eyes even further. Dumbledore winced.
"But, what you and Lena achieve today, Regulus, is something you can continue doing as a Death Eater. You can undermine the organization and act as a spy as you did today. You can help so many people."
Regulus lifted his head slightly and said he would think about it.
Lena reached over and hugged Regulus. "You were so brave today, Regulus. Sirius would be so proud of you right now," Lena whispered in his ear.
They pulled apart and Regulus nodded. Lena turned her attention to the headmaster of Hogwarts.
"So, what do we do now, sir?" Lena asked.
"I recommend a shower and then a goodnight's sleep."