Chapter 14: Bet you didn't think I'd take it that far
As the truth about the Dark Lord unfolded through the information Kreacher, then Regulus shared, Bellatrix and the two Lestrange brothers listened in silence. They even wore similar expressions as they processed what was being revealed to them. Surprise faded to numb shock, then disbelief, fear, and at last horror.
"Please tell us that this is some sort of sick joke," Bellatrix pleaded.
"It is indeed sick, but there is no joke involved, I am afraid," Orion said grimly.
"He...was going to just leave Kreacher to die...for no reason," Bellatrix breathed, looking as though she would be sick. "He asked you for something, then...did that," she told Regulus, as though he weren't aware. "That's how he treats loyal service! For all we know, we could be next!" She shook her head, horror giving way to grief as she seemed to draw in on herself, huddling down into her chair.
"Yes," Regulus said. "We gave him so much of us...I gave him Kreacher's services because I trusted and adored him. He repaid that trust by nearly killing the person I love most."
"And even if he doesn't think all that much of elves, you'd think he'd at least find it fitting to return property to those who trusted him enough to lend it," Rabastan said. "Mum always says if someone wants to borrow money and never repays it, that says a lot about their character...and a family elf is worth far more than a few galleons."
"Shut up, Rabastan," Bellatrix snapped.
"Well it's true," Rabastan persisted.
"I didn't say that it wasn't true," Bellatrix snapped, glaring at her future brother in law. "I merely said that I wanted you to shut the fuck up!"
"Language, Bella," Orion chastised mildly.
"Sorry, Uncle. I just thought what with the discovery that the Dark Lord is a soulless monster, it may not fucking matter so much if I swear!"
"Respecting one's elders always matters, Bellatrix," Orion said sharply. "And my soul is still very much intact so you will respect it."
Bellatrix flushed, lowering her head, properly chastised. "Apologies, Uncle," she murmured, this time in seeming sincerity.
"So what now," Rodolphus asked, finally speaking up.
"He must be stopped," Regulus insisted. "If he notices that Kreacher is still alive, he may suspect that he's told us something. We could all be in danger as a consequence of his paranoia. He obviously doesn't value anyone's life, not even his own if you ask me. He values being alive, but that isn't the same thing. No one valuing true life would bloody fracture their own soul. Who knows what that has done to his sanity? It's surely done something, else he believes us all to be stupid. Didn't he think I'd wonder where Kreacher is and perhaps mention it to all of you," he demanded. As Regulus spoke,he found himself getting more and more worked up. This was a surprise because he thought he'd processed the situation and at least gotten the initial reaction over with. Telling the Lestranges and Bellatrix had set the fire of anger off in his chest again, however, and he felt consumed by it just as he had when Kreacher first came home with the world shattering news.
"Likely he assumed you'd be willing to sacrifice anything he asked you to without question, which in a sense indicates that decrease in sanity you mentioned," Bellatrix said. "We all like Kreacher, but the point is you really love that elf and for him to just throw something away that you love...it's unnecessarily cruel and shows that he cares nothing for his followers when it comes down to it." She shuddered, hands rubbing up and down her slender arms in an open gesture of self soothing. "Gods now I'm wondering why he gave me those private lessons! I thought I was so accomplished that I even impressed him, but now I wonder. Was he setting me up to do something twisted for him and then take the fall?" She shook her head. "And to use Kreacher in such a way...One must wonder what sort of mind would even come up with that potion...and use it on someone who was entirely loyal...We can't trust him for that if nothing else! Not to mention knowing the regard in which you hold Kreacher, Regulus. He saw you with him, and it only takes a few seconds for anyone with eyes to be well aware of how you dote on that elf. To throw away that which is beloved by a loyal follower...why that's no leader we can ever trust! What will he do to us next?" Her gaze flew to Rodolphus, then back to her uncle as she continued to verbally attempt to process what happened. "He repaid Regulus's loyalty by taking something from him that he loved. I don't want to give him the opportunity to do that to us."
"You don't think he knew about the...shagging, do you," Rabastan asked. "Because if he did, perhaps he thought it was so nasty that he..."
"Of course he did not know," Regulus snapped. "And had he known, and believed it was so dreadful, why take Kreacher to that horrid black lake and show him the locket and make him drink that evil potion," he demanded.
"Alright, I was just..." Rabastan trailed off.
"It is obvious that you're trying to make some sort of sense of that which has none," Orion told the youngest Lestrange with a slight smile of understanding. "What we must do now is work together like a well oiled machine to stop him. My suggestion is Bellatrix calls him, and we all strike as one on the count of three, hitting him with the killing curse. If the six of us attack as one, he can't win no matter his skills."
"Where do we go to do it that such use of the killing curse won't be traced by the Ministry," Rodolphus asked in slight concern.
"We can use your manor...The one your parents are giving you when you and Bella are married. It is empty now so should be safe," Orion replied. "And I can place my particular specialized brand of masking charms on our wands so that their activity won't be detected for some time. That will keep any curses we use from being traced."
"Alright," Rodolphus nodded. "Are we doing this tonight?"
"The sooner the better," Orion replied. "If no one objects I'm free right now." No one objected, so Orion cast the masking charms on each of their wands. The six of them apparated to Raven's Nest, the name Bellatrix and Rodolphus had given the manor that the Lestranges planned to gift them upon their marriage. At present, the place was even devoid of furniture. As the six of them walked into the front room, their steps echoed hollowly off the walls and high ceiling. "We'll stand shoulder to shoulder in a row to be at the ready to strike him when he arrives," Orion instructed. "That way it won't put our spells at risk of bouncing into one another." Wordlessly they all fanned out, Regulus and Kreacher together with Orion at Regulus's other side, then Bellatrix, Rodolphus and Rabastan. Taking a deep breath, Bellatrix pushed up the long bell sleeve of her black dress and pressed a finger to her dark mark. This signaled Voldemort to their location. Death Eaters did not randomly summon their lord. They were only permitted to do so in cases of emergency or great import. Dryly, Regulus thought that this situation fit both of those rather nicely. In less than ten seconds, the crack of the Dark Lord apparating in echoed off the walls of the empty room, and he stood before them, an expectant expression on his face. Orion Black rapidly counted to three and their wands were up as one in a single smooth gesture. Kreacher did not need a wand, but as they all shouted the killing curse the elf pointed a long finger directly at the Dark Lord's chest. "Avada Kedavra!"
Just as the sound of their steps had earlier, the sound of their voices echoed off the walls. Then something happened that Regulus could not comprehend. The Dark Lord remained standing, and his father fell. Other than the fury blazing in his eyes, Voldemort's face was nearly blank. "You seek to murder me? YOU? My most loyal," he hissed, glaring first at Regulus and Kreacher, then Bellatrix and the Lestranges. "What is the world coming to when a Dark Lord can't trust his most trusted," he wondered with a small, incongruous smile. Bellatrix's eyes were round with horror, fastened on Orion Black's fallen body. Regulus attempted to kneel and check if his father still breathed, but found himself unable to move. "It appears elves are harder to kill than I expected," Voldemort observed almost cheerfully. "That is just as well, for I have uses for the both of you...I think I shall let you do what you enjoy best. It may help me to better chart the course of an experiment on which I am working," he said, gaze sliding like snake oil over Regulus and Kreacher before he turned to the Lestranges and Bellatrix. "And as for the three of you..." He gave a sudden benevolent smile. "Why I'm going to forgive you," he said in a tone that Regulus could only describe as eerily kind. "Kneel," he ordered and the three did. Then Voldemort actually knelt among them, reaching out his arms to embrace all three at once. Bellatrix's mouth opened in a silent scream at his touch. Regulus wanted to help...to strike out at him again, but he still could not move. A glance at Kreacher showed the elf in the same predicament, frozen in place, face twisted in misery as he stared from Orion to Regulus to Bellatrix. "You know what they say...Keep your friends close and your enemies closer," the Dark Lord said. As Regulus watched in fixed horror, the stunned looks of terror faded from the faces of Bellatrix, Rodolphus and Rabastan to be replaced by blank looks of open adoration as they turned their gazes to regard Voldemort. It was as if Regulus, Kreacher, and the dead body of Orion were no longer there.
"It has been a long night for all of you," Voldemort said soothingly. "Your uncle has unfortunately died in my service, but rest easy in the knowledge that he died well. Now go home and sleep." The three nodded mechanically, apparating away without question. Voldemort had obviously compelled them to make them forget, but Regulus had a feeling there was more to it than that. And now he was turning back to Regulus and Kreacher.
The rest of what happened was lost to Regulus and Kreacher's memory. They woke on the floor of the empty manor, and Orion's body was gone. The room was full of a predawn glow rather than the bright light Kreacher had filled the darkened room with the past evening. Hoping that it was all a nightmare and that his father was at home, Regulus scrambled to his feet. When he and Kreacher arrived back at Grimmauld Place, however, Orion was not there. They couldn't tell Regulus's mother anything, because Orion hadn't wanted her to know until it was over. He'd felt it was safer for her that way, and this was definitely still the case, considering the Dark Lord still unfortunately lived. So when she asked if they'd seen Orion, both silently shook their heads. Once up in Regulus's room with the door firmly locked, both could fall apart, clinging together in wordless misery. "What ever shall we do now," Kreacher moaned. "Does Master Regulus believe the Dark Lord also killed Miss Bella and Mister Rodolphus and Mister Rabastan? It is all Kreacher's fault for failing to protect his family!"
Regulus stared blankly. "How was it your fault? We all tried to kill him and failed! You tried just as hard as anyone else. I can't understand how he turned that killing curse around on father...but he will pay and we shall live. I just need to...to get a bit of help. We have to destroy that Horcrux, then he should be easier to kill," Regulus said, realizing this even as he spoke the words. "He has left us alive and with our memories in tact, knowing that we know, so we are most certainly in danger. As far as he must see it, our days are surely numbered. He is playing with us like a snake with a mouse that it plans to have for dinner." This would be even more terrifying were the fact of Orion's death not so numbing to the emotions. Kreacher's eyes widened in sudden comprehension.
"Does Master Regulus believe the creation of the Horcrux made it too difficult to kill the Dark Lord?"
Regulus nodded. "It seems to be the case. So we destroy the Horcrux and then kill him."
Kreacher shook his head, clinging to Regulus in sudden desperation. "If we fail again, Kreacher could lose Master Regulus...He can't bear that!"
"Alright," Regulus said. "So we destroy the Horcrux, then run away until someone else kills him. Perhaps if we get the information out there while in hiding, we can orchestrate something."
Kreacher's expression brightened at that and he nodded slowly.
"Kreacher approves of that."
Bending, Regulus drew him close and kissed him hard, suddenly needing to feel the connection. "Good. Because I have a plan."