A/N: A huge apology for the long delay! Truth is, this story is proving harder to write than I thought it would. I keep putting it off because to be honest it's baffling me! I even thought of giving up, but I don't think I could do that. It would be a shame as I have a plan for it and everything. Perhaps I'll write the end as a means of encouragement.

About this chapter...once again it's full of dialogue. I, personally, have found it very hard to read. It confuses me and I wrote it! Please, if something doesn't make sense, review and tell me so. I'll try to explain in the next post.

I will try to update in a weeks time, but no promises! Thanks for reading :)

"Very well, Lupin. What would you like to know?"

The room positively crackled with silent anticipation. Harry suddenly burst out in exclamation.

"Lupin! Are you crazy? You said you wouldn't tell anyone."

Lupin turned to his former student, whose brow was furrowed in a mixture of confusion and betrayal.

"Harry," he said slowly, "Regulus is R.A.B."

The revelation was a slap-your-forehead-in-stupidity moment for Harry, but the boy refrained from doing so. Instead he chose to open and close his mouth several times in quick succession, before turning stiffly to Regulus.

"Huh, I didn't see that coming," Harry said dazedly. Regulus gave a brash grin.

"It's true, kid. Regulus Alphard Black," he announced dramatically. "After my Uncle–"

"Who left all of his money to Sirius," Harry added almost smugly. Regulus grinned at this too.

"Yeah," he chuckled. "That was a kick in the gut, I'll admit it. And I guess the gold belongs to you now. But no hard feelings."

Harry lowered his head to the table to hide his discomfort. Regulus found this rather amusing.

"So…Horcruxes?" Lupin prompted sharply causing the grin to slide quickly from the newcomer's face. He gave a loud sigh.

"Ok, Lupin! Geez! Bear with me, ok? There's a lot for me to explain, and in order for me to gain your trust…I need to get this right."

Regulus took a deep breath and scanned his audience of three; one of course being Tonks, who had already heard the story but remained present nonetheless.

"Let's start from the beginning." ("Good idea," Lupin mumbled under his breath.) "The conversation I, and I emphasise this profusely, accidentally overheard between the Dark Lord and his serpent Nagini was not, as I said earlier, about the cooperation of the Giants. This is what I told your Auror companions, as I wasn't sure I could trust them. This is also what I told Bellatrix…In fact, the conversation was much more personal and significant. It was about–"

"Horcruxes," Harry finished for the man, finally putting the pieces together. Regulus gave a sharp nod.

"Correct. And this was not the kind of information Voldemort wanted overhearing, hence I was sentenced to death. Only he hadn't expected Bellatrix to spare me."

At the mention of Bellatrix again, Regulus fell silent. He chewed on his bottom lip as he relived the memories in his mind; trying to find the best way of conveying his past in words. Regulus had paused to long, and Tonks began to speak. Her voice was low and hoarse, filled with obvious grief.

"This was before your parents died Harry. Before…" She trailed off as Regulus glared at her. Harry spotted it immediately.

"Before what," he prompted eagerly, but Tonks shook her head and fell silent.

"There were seven Horcruxes in total," Regulus announced loudly.

"I know that," Harry said almost impatiently. "Dumbledore told me so." He began to list them on his fingers. "Riddle's Diary, Marvolo's Ring, Hufflepuff's Cup, Merope's Locket–"

"Merope?" Lupin echoed, but Harry raised a hand to silence the professor as he continued.

"Nagini the Serpent, something of Ravenclaw's or Gryffindor's…and the piece that lies in Voldemort himself," he concluded with a sigh.

Regulus' eyes flicked from Harry to Tonks, who had begun to chew her fingers again. She cringed as Regulus spoke.

"That's right. Now, four of these soul-pieces have been destroyed already."

"Four?" Harry spluttered. "Wait a minute. Dumbledore destroyed the ring and I destroyed the diary. That's only two…Then again, you must have destroyed the locket. I read your note." Harry paused for thought. "Does this mean you've destroyed another, too?"

Regulus' patronising grin returned.

"Harry, I have known about Horcruxes for over seventeen years. Since before you were born. Though I was stripped of my memory it was only for a brief period. I've been in hiding, yes, but do you really believe that I've been sat on my backside doing nothing as the war grew closer? No. I researched into Horcruxes as much as I could. And believe me, there is hardly any information on soul-splitting out there. Who would what to break their soul?" He laughed sardonically and then gave a regretful sigh. "Unfortunately, I was only able to destroy two of the Horcruxes before I was forced to relinquish my quest."

The man fell silent and his shoulders shuddered slightly. He cleared his throat, waiting for the inevitable question.

"Why?" This came from Lupin, who had been listening intently. His tone was questioning, but not sharp. He genuinely sounded curious.

"Two reasons, really," Regulus admitted. "My research was lost. I had scribed every detail of Voldemort's known Horcruxes, including ways of destroying them, in a notebook. It was illegible to anyone but myself. But, after retreating from the cave which held the Locket Horcrux, my booklet was lost." He gave a sad smile. "Turns out, a member of the Wizarding public had discovered it months later, read my name on it's front page, and sent it back here where it has been sitting in the attic for years with my ring."

"That's what you were smuggling out of the house?" Harry asked Tonks, who nodded slightly.

"I mentioned to Regulus that I'd seen an old book of his when searching for his ring in the attic. He'd asked me to look for it. It's part of who he is, I suppose." She gave a weak smile to her cousin, who returned it. "I found Sirius' up there too, and I've been wearing it. I hope you don't mind," she added to Harry. The boy crinkled his nose in bafflement, never having heard of such a ring before.

"I've never seen it," Remus remarked.

"He never wore it really," Regulus explained. "It's a symbol of his Black heritage. Not something he was very proud of. But they've come in handy. Dora and I have been using them to communicate; changing the engraved motto to dates, times and places."

"How very 'Dark Mark' of you," Lupin commented gruffly. Harry merely shrugged at the news, thinking back to the DA Galleons and knowing that it was a rather handy method of communication.

"Anyway, back to the notebook," Harry said loudly, sensing tension between the two elder wizards. Tonks nodded and continued, also aware of the men's glares.

"Well Regulus insisted I brought the book to him. It turns out it was the very same notebook he had lost all those years ago," Tonks told them.

"Fancy that," Lupin mumbled. Tonks' dark eyes met with his and she scowled at him. He turned back to Regulus.

"And your second reason? You said you had two; what was the second?"

Regulus held his head in his hands, brushing his dark hair from off his face. He suppressed a sigh and was relieved to hear Tonks speak on his behalf.

"Regulus stopped hunting for Horcruxes when his wife died," she said simply.

"You were married?" Lupin almost scoffed.

"Remus!" Tonks hissed angrily. The man fell silent at the reprimand.

"Her name was Sarah. I went to school with her," Regulus croaked to the table. "She was a Muggle-born."

Lupin laughed at this.

"I'm sorry, but this is a lot to take in. You, Regulus Black, were married…to a Muggle-born?"

"Yes!" he spat at the man. "Yes, I was."

"Blacks don't marry Muggle-borns!"

"My mother did!" Tonks snapped angrily, rising from her seat. Remus stared at Tonks. She was trembling with anger and anguish, but she stood firmly with her gaze locked on the man she loved. She took a shallow breath before continuing. "You wanted to hear this story, Remus. I suggest you shut up and listen to it." The witch sat back down in her seat and crossed her arms heavily over her chest.

Lupin gave an apologetic nod to Regulus.

"Continue."

"Sarah…she was a major part of me gaining my memory. I shared all I knew of Horcruxes with her, and she was willing to help me in my task. It's funny, most newly-weds do up a house together…our project was a little more sinister." Regulus' eyes glazed over bitterly, and Harry thought that the man didn't find humour in it whatsoever.

"We actually destroyed Hufflepuff's Cup first, Sarah and I." At this, Harry sat up, listening intently.

"Where was it?" he asked.

"The orphanage where Tom Riddle started his life," Regulus told them. "It takes a great deal of skill to destroy a Horcrux, Harry, but we managed it…but we had to pay for it."

Harry was reminded of the wall in the cave, when Dumbledore had sliced open his own hand and offered blood in sacrifice.

"What did it take from you?" the boy asked quietly. Regulus, however, shook his head.

"No, not me. Sarah. She was stripped of all magic."

This announcement shocked both Lupin and Harry.

"Is that possible?" Lupin asked in a hushed tone. Harry spoke up before Regulus had the chance.

"That can't be right. Dumbledore told me that the obstacles guarding the Horcruxes couldn't be so extreme that Voldemort, himself, would suffer if he were to return for them. That means Voldemort would have stripped himself of his own magic if he were to retrieve the Cup Horcrux back again."

Harry frowned in confusion, and was even more puzzled to see Regulus nodding his agreement.

"I don't doubt that you are correct, Harry. But in Voldemort's case, he would have been merely weakened. He is a lot stronger in magic than my Sarah ever was…she was only a Muggle-born after all," he added snidely, in Lupin's direction. When the elder man refused to respond, Regulus continued. "I have no doubt in my mind that Sarah's magic would have returned to her but she was killed shortly after…I guess I'll never know."

The man's voice cracked emotionally. Tonks laid a hand on his forearm for comfort. Lupin pretended not to see.

"I was persistent in my search. I should have waited for Sarah's magic to return, but I was impatient and selfish. I thought only of the Horcruxes and not of her. In the end, I was her downfall," Regulus ended softly.

"What happened?" Harry prompted, and then immediately regretted it. "Oh, sorry, it's ok. You don't have to tell–"

"It's fine Harry, you're curious. I don't mind talking about it, really. It's in the past; what is done is done. It brought Voldemort one step closer to demise and that's what Sarah wanted." He took a deep breath and told of his wife's murder.

"She was strangled…but Inferi."

"In the cave?" Harry asked and Regulus responded with a simple nod.

"It took us a great deal of time to figure out how to even get through the wall. Once in the cave, we knew that something wasn't right. The atmosphere was eerie…you must know Harry, if you've been there. Anyway, we made it across the lake and onto the dais, where I was forced by Sarah to drink the liquid in the basin, in order to retrieve the locket. It was hard on her, seeing me like that. That liquid, I'm not even sure what it was…there was a point when Sarah almost caved in and made me stop. But she didn't. She was strong, Sarah was. Needless to say, we acquired the locket, and switched it with our own. My plan was working wonderfully. It was in the boat on the ride back when it went terribly wrong. Sarah fell from the boat as she climbed out, awakening the hoard of Inferi that lay dormant under the surface of the lake. I tried as hard as I could to fight them off with fire, but Sarah was still without magic. She was frightened," he admitted softly. "I could see it in her eyes. And there was nothing I could do to stop them. As she continued to struggle, they tightened their grip around her throat. Then the lake went suddenly calm once more, and Sarah was gone."

Regulus stopped; he needed to. Years after her death, the memory still haunted him. Could he have saved her? Probably. Should he have waited for her magic to return to her? Certainly.

"I never meant for it to happen," he said to them hoarsely. He looked up to the two wizards, hoping that they would see the truth in his eyes. But Lupin and Harry avoided eye contact in respect.

"I ran," Regulus concluded. "Away from the cave, and the cliff, and anything that would remind me of what had just happened. I had put Horcruxes before everything in my life, and I regret it even now. From that moment, I swore to myself that I would leave my pursuit of the Horcruxes. My misplaced notebook was a sure sign to do such a thing. And I never expected to even hear the word Horcrux again. I never wanted it to cross my mind. But it did, one evening five years ago, when I read of the Boy Who Lived, and the destruction of one decrepit diary. Then I knew that we might have a chance in defeating the Dark Lord after all. Then I knew that it could be done."

The certainty of Regulus' words hung heavily in the air. Lupin shuffled in his seat and Tonks cracked her joints subconsciously. Harry remained subdued, thinking on all he had been told that evening. It was enough to make his brain ache.

"Then you contacted Tonks?" Lupin spoke up, trying to predict the rest of the man's story. How did his shared past, link with his presence now?

"No, then I contacted Dumbledore," Regulus corrected.

"He never said," Lupin replied bluntly.

"He didn't know it was me. I tipped Dumbledore off about the remaining Horcruxes. Yes, I wanted them to be destroyed, but after everything that had happened to Sarah, I was reluctant to get involved once more."

"So you passed the job on?" Lupin sneered. Tonks squinted at him testily, and was surprised when Regulus agreed.

"Yes I did. I trusted Dumbledore to understand the importance of the task in hand. He wasn't a man who did things by halves. I knew that, by informing Dumbledore of the Horcruxes, then they were as good as destroyed."

"But you weren't expecting him to die," Harry commented dryly.

"No. No, I wasn't. Were any of us?" Regulus asked rhetorically. "After Dumbledore's death, I knew that I would have to become involved with the Horcrux pursuit once more. I had no choice. We are so close now. I'm not willing to let all that Sarah and I, and Dumbledore, fought for go to waste. I understand now that I must finish the job I had started." He turned abruptly to Harry. "If I have your help in this matter, then I thank you for it. If not, then I will do it alone. But know this Harry, I will not rest until the remaining Horcruxes are destroyed. You have my word."

For all that's worth, Lupin thought bitterly, but kept quiet for Tonks' sake. The witch had been through enough that evening. He only hoped he could hold his tongue, until Regulus took his leave.

"And what of the final Horcrux? The unknown one?" Harry asked eagerly. "Something of Gryffindor's or of Ravenclaw's. Do you know which?"

Regulus smiled his all-knowing smile once more.

"Harry, not only do I know that it is in fact Godric Gryffindor's possession, I also know of it's whereabouts and precisely what the item is."

The man sat back arrogantly in his chair, waiting for Harry to respond in awe. The boy blinked several times, and his jaw dropped open on hearing this news.

"Really? What is it?" he asked desperately. Regulus raised both palms in deterrence.

"Not now Harry. It's late and I'm shattered. I've done more than enough speaking for one night. I'll tell you in the morning, if my voice holds."

Harry looked pleased to hear this, but Lupin was silently fuming. Great, he thought, he's coming back.

Then Lupin heard five words, which caused his jaw to clench in obvious disapproval.

"You can stay here tonight."

"That's very kind of you, Harry."

"It's no problem. It's your house anyway, I suppose. And the sooner I hear of the next Horcrux, the better."

Regulus chuckled at the boy's enthusiasm. He was quickly silenced by Lupin's unexpected comment.

"He can't stay here."

All eyes turned to him in disbelief.

"Remus, come on!" Tonks reasoned.

"I said he can, it's fine," Harry assured him.

"No Harry, it's not fine! He once worked for Voldemort, how do we know he's telling the truth. He'll probably kill us in our sleep."

"Remus, stop this!" Tonks huffed. "Please! I trust Regulus, why can't you?"

"Perhaps you'd prefer me to stay over at Dora's place?" The corner of Regulus' mouth tugged up into a smirk. Remus glowered at the man before pointed an angry finger at him.

"See! This is why I don't trust him!"

"Because he deliberately winds you up? Come off it Remus," Tonks scoffed. "He's staying and that's final."

Lupin looked from Tonks' determined stare, to Regulus' satisfied smile and Harry's pleading gaze.

"Fine, then I can't." Remus rose and headed for the stairs.

"Lupin, don't be a fool. It's 1.30 in the morning," Harry reasoned. "Where will you go?"

Tonks quickly crossed to him, her expression hurt.

"Remus, don't go. I need you," she begged. The man refused to look down into her tear-filled eyes, dark from sorrow and fatigue.

"You have him," he mumbled, before climbing the stairs and leaving the manor house.

A/N: Please review and let me know if it makes sense. Should I continue with the whole action/adventure scene or give up and return to my normal fluff? Please let me know.