Chapter 15

Regulus

Both Sirius and Harry needed a good night sleep after the excitement of their first day back from holiday. Harry spent the morning, after their sparring session and Occlumency lesson, sorting through the souvenirs he had bought on their trip and setting the presents aside for Ron and Hermione for when they next visited.

'Harry, I'll have to go to the manor and then the ministry. Want to come with? Or are you still unpacking?' Sirius poked his head in his doorframe.

'I'll be at the Manor in half an hour.'

'OK, I'll wait for you there.'

And Sirius was gone with a pop. Tia had notified him that Bonny and Ronny had finished cleaning Grimmauld place and that there was a trunk of dark artefacts for him to inspect at the manor. Sirius decided to tackle those before Harry arrived. He set the huge mug of coffee he took from the kitchen on the desk in the office and opened the trunk. The dark aura was palpable. He sighed and took out his wand. There was a small Vulcan pot on the desk where he summoned Fiend fire. The pot could easily contain the cursed flames and they usually destroyed anything and everything no matter the magical protection on the objects. He had burned half the contents of the trunk when he magically levitated a golden necklace with a serpent S on it. The dark aura emanating from it was stronger than the other objects. When he set it in the fiend fire it was as if the small contained flames grew ten times larger. Visions of an angry James and an angry Lily accusing Sirius of stealing their son came out and rushed towards him just as Harry entered the room. The two aparitions seemed to have Sirius in a death grip choking the life out of him but when the gold necklace melted moments later the aparitions turned into a serpentine looking man that cried out in agony before vanishing forever. Sirius coughed and tried to regain his breathing.

'Sirius!' Harry rushed towards his godfather and helped the man up from the floor.

'I'm all right.'

'What was that, they looked like mom and dad…but they couldn't be, could they?' Harry was shaken to the core. To come in just as his own parents were choking the life of the man he was starting to view as a father.

'No, they weren't. That was another Horcrux.'

Harry's eyes grew big. 'How?'

'I don't know. Bonny and Ronny cleaned Grimmauld Place and found some objects they couldn't get rid of. One of them was the Horcrux.'

'Why would one of Voldemort's Horcruxes be in your parents' house?' Harry asked confused.

'I don't know. But I have a hunch who does. Kretcher!'

With a pop the house elf arrived in front of them.

'Master called.'

'Do you know of a locket with a serpent S on it?'

To their surprise the elf started to wail and cry that he was a bad elf, that he couldn't fulfil master Regulus's last order, that he couldn't destroy it. All the while banging his head on the floor.

'Kretcher stop that!' Sirius said annoyed 'Stand up, and don't punish yourself until you explain. What does that locket have to do with Reggie?'

'Master Regulus ordered Kretcher to destroy the locket. But Kretcher failed. He tried everything, but the locket couldn't be destroyed.'

'Reg told you to destroy it?' Sirius's eyes grew big.

And then Kretcher explained everything. How Voldemort asked for an elf, how Regulus volunteered Kretcher, how Kretcher returned from the cave and how after learning about the Horcrux Regulus decided to take it from the Dark Lord and try to destroy it. Only he had been the one to drink the potion and because of it his reality became warped and ordered Kretcher to leave him there to die but to take the locket and destroy it all the while never to tell his mother or father about what he had done. At the end of the story Sirius had collapsed on the armchair allowing himself to feel sad and morn his brother's passing. In a way, he had been responsible for his brother's choices, in that he had stopped being his brother after they were sorted into different houses and after their parents' teachings had turned Regulus against Sirius. Granted, Sirius had done nothing to try to convince Regulus of his point of view. Maybe in some way to protect him from his parents' malice. But still, this had led to Regulus becoming a Death Eater under Bellatrix's influence.

'Oh Reggie.' Sirius sighed and Harry settled a hand on Sirius's shoulder.

'I'm sorry about your brother.' The teen said softly.

'He was a fool, a stupid fool. He could have saved himself, he could have come to me for help.' Sirius shook his head and sighed 'It does me no good to think like this. Kretcher. I destroyed the locket.' Sirius pointed at the melted gold in the now cold ashes of the Vulcan pot.

'Master did?' Kretcher's eyes grew big with wonder.

'I did. And I plan to destroy the rest of them, to finish what Regulus started. And when it's all over, you and I will go back to that cave and that lake and we'll get his body back. Burry him in the family crypt.'

Kretcher started crying.

'Kretcher, this is a direct order. You are to speak with no one of this, only myself and Harry. You are to tell no one in any form, written, spoken, mimicked of what we are doing. You will keep this secret for Regulus's sake.'

'Master has Kretcher's loyalty in this matter. No one will know of the evil object, Kretcher will guard this secret with his life.'

'Good. Now, do you know of other objects like this? Did Regulus leave any other information that can help me find out more?'

'Master Regulus kept all that he knew in a hidden compartment of his old school trunk but Kretcher knows of two other objects. One was a book given to Mistress Cissy's husband and another a cup given to Mistress Bella.'

'Were they the only objects?'

'Kretcher doesn't know.'

'Very well, you did good Kretcher. Bring me Reggie's trunk.'

Kretcher bowed low and popped out presumably to Grimmauld Place.

'Are you OK?'

'No, not really. This is confirmation that Margot's theory about more Horcruxes is correct.' Sighed Sirius.

'To think your brother was hunting them…'

'He was such a contradiction.' Sirius sighed for the tenth time that day, but no matter what, the heaviness in his chest seemed to linger.

'Do you think the book Kretcher spoke of could be Tom Riddle's diary?'

'The one in your second year?' Sirius arched a brow. 'It did act unusually. And no dark magic could try to possess another living creature. It had to have been a part of the soul. But if that's true.'

'It means we're two down, three if we're counting me.'

'Let's not count you.'

'Agreed.'

Kretcher returned with the trunk. Soon they were piling newspaper clippings and pieces of parchment. Regulus's research was not going to be light reading. After a preliminary sorting, they decided to send the documents to the Den. Both Harry and Sirius agreed this information was to be kept strictly between them for now. They needed to find out the exact number of objects they had to hunt down and they needed the information not to reach Voldemort before they were through with destroying all of them. Kretcher promised to keep an ear out for any additional information before returning to Grimmauld Place.

'Weren't you going to visit the Ministry today?' asked Harry.

'I was, but I think I'll leave it for tomorrow. My head isn't in it.'

'Sorry about your brother.'

'So am I. Come on, let's see if Hughes has any new information on Death Eaters.'

'Do you think he just gave Horcruxes to every Death Eater?'

'Not likely. Malfoy and Bella seemed to be high ranking even then. But I doubt even those two were told what the objects were. Although Bella probably figured it out.'

'How?'

'Her father was darker than my father, surprisingly it was possible. Anyway, the man taught his oldest very dark magic.'

'How do you know?'

'I heard her talking at one of the family gatherings back in fourth year.'

'Lovely dinner conversation.'

'That's Bella, making everyone lose their appetite since she could learn to talk.'

'You really don't like her.'

'She's everything that was worse in my family and then some.'

It was later that day in the library that Harry remembered about Hermione wanting to visit Black Manor.

'I was wondering about Hermione actually.' Sirius answered as they were preparing to depart for the Den for the night.

'Wondering about what exactly?'

'Well, about her parents really. She staying at Headquarters gives her a safe place from Voldemort but her parents are still very much exposed.'

'I never thought about that. But who would know to attack the Grangers.'

'The Malfoys.'

Harry's face grew grave. Sirius was right. Draco was sure to have spoken ill of Hermione to her father, and from there it was only one step further from Voldemort knowing.

'Can we do something to protect them?'

'I wanted to meet with them and offer them protection. But I wanted to run it by you and Hermione first.'

'We could go talk to her tomorrow morning then.'

'I was thinking the same thing.'

'What did you have in mind?'

'Well, ideally they would move to the Manor, but that would mean they are to put their lives on hold until we deal with Voldemort permanently.'

'Which is proving to be a much more arduous task.' Sighed Harry.

'Yes, if they wish to stay at their home, I'll raise some protection wards around it and assign a look out to them.'

'Would it be enough?'

'If Voldemort decides to really target them, most likely not. But they would stand a better chance at surviving.'

'Let's see what they decide.'

'My thoughts exactly.'

'The day after tomorrow Narcissa and Draco are due to arrive.'

'Yes.'

'The Manor will be very crowded for the last week of August then…'

'Maybe, we still don't know what everyone will choose to do. And it's no use thinking about it now. Come on, I have to get dinner started.'

'What are you making?'

'Pork chops.'

'I am going to end up like my cousin if you keep cooking like this every night.'

'Would you prefer a salad?'

'I'm not a rabbit.'

'Did you decide on your Animagus form then?'

'Not yet, there are two that I think would work well for me.'

'Only two.'

'I narrowed it down. Anyway, I'll let you make dinner and meditate on the terrace.'

'On an empty stomach?'

'I can't meditate after eating. Stomach won't let me.'

'That's the first I heard about stomachs doing that.' Sirius chuckled.