Chapter 45: To Friends Old And New
A few evenings later Regulus received surprise visitors at Doge's. He and Kreacher had just returned from hunting down Regulus's evening meal which happened to be a Muggle crime boss. Regulus had just finished brushing his teeth when Doge tapped on the door of the bedroom he and Kreacher shared.
"Regulus, you have visitors! Severus Snape, his young lady and their owl. They are in the parlor," he called through the door.
Regulus and Kreacher exchanged a curious look. "Thank you," Regulus called back. "We shall be right down." Hastily he checked his reflection in the mirror, then ran an ornate silver comb through his hair as it had gotten a little windblown from being out in the night air. The comb was a Christmas gift from his Mum on his twelfth birthday, and it meant much to have it, along with all of his belongings, back in his life again. Now that his mother was gone, the comb, in particular, was high in the ranks of his most prized possessions. Doge was waiting at the bottom of the stairs, and handed Regulus a small packet.
"A treat for the owl," he said with a pleasant smile.
Regulus nodded, recalling that Snape had an owl with him the last time they'd met at Hogwarts. When he and Kreacher entered the parlor they found Severus Snape seated on a long comfortable looking sofa beside a pretty young woman who looked somehow familiar. She was tall and willowy with large quiet green eyes and long wavy dark red hair that fell soft and straight to her waist. She wore green robes and a silver silk scarf in her hair, so Regulus took her to be a former Slytherin. A large white owl sat on the sofa behind the two, looking quite as if he belonged there like a living bit of ornamentation. As he and Kreacher came further into the room, Regulus found himself scrambling to remember where he'd seen the red head before. Then it came to him. She was seated beside Severus at dinner the night he and Kreacher had their first meeting with Wolfgang at Hogwarts. From their evident closeness then and the fact that there wasn't even a millimeter of space between them on the sofa now, it appeared the two were a couple. That was a surprise in itself, because Severus had never liked anyone enough to dance with them much less date them! Many of their mutual school friends joked that Severus only dated books. Perhaps this young lady was as interesting as a book, though. He recalled from a comment Sabra Zabini had made that she was the one who made the crystal wands, and she had made one for Grindelwald. Her name was Mag. Curious to test her mental defenses, Regulus did a brief scan of her mind which told him two things. The first was that her mental shields weren't bad at all, if obviously no match for a vampire. The second was that she was the daughter of two other people that he knew. Heather and Raislen WestCraven were former Slytherins Regulus had liked quite a lot. Raislen's family had the biggest library he'd ever seen. He was always bringing interesting books to Hogwarts. A friendly sort, Raislen never minded allowing a fellow bibliophile to borrow any of his books if they promised to be very careful. Raislen, and fellow book enthusiast Heather Knight, now WestCraven, were three years older than Regulus. As such they'd graduated by the time he was in his fifth year, and he was sad to see the influx of rare books end. The two had been very good friends with Severus, at least until Snape chose to become a Death Eater. Severus had shared his bitterness over their ending of the friendship with Regulus more than once during their final years at Hogwarts. Despite popular belief, not all Slytherins were keen to follow Voldemort, and theirs with Severus wasn't the only friendship to end over allegiances. It appeared they had worked all of that out, though. The fact that former school friends, even those three years older, had fully grown children made Regulus feel a bit old...At least for a moment. This did not serve to dampen his pleasure at having guests, though, and he gave Mag and Severus a warm smile of greeting. This was the first time anyone had come to visit him, and he was pleasantly surprised to see Severus.
"It's so good to see you, Severus...And you as well, Mag. I always liked your parents very much, and I look forward to getting to know the girl who managed to snag Severus's heart...or hell discover that he even had one...because frankly the rest of us weren't so sure."
Mag smiled in pleasure, obviously taking to Regulus at once. "Oh and Elphias sent this for your owl," Regulus said, passing the small paper packet to Severus. Severus tore it open and his owl eagerly snatched up the wedge of dried meat inside.
"It seems he approves," Severus said dryly. "If we don't see him before we leave, please thank Mr. Doge for us."
Regulus smiled. "Sure."
He settled himself in a wide armchair that matched the sofa on which Mag and Severus sat. Kreacher squeezed in beside Regulus, and the vampire slipped an arm around the elf's shoulders.
"Because you're a vampire, I won't even ask how you knew my name," Mag said with a soft chuckle and Regulus gave an embarrassed shrug. The owl made an odd coughing sound and Mag's smile grew as she flicked a glance in the white bird's direction. It was as if the two shared some inside joke.
"I came to speak with you on a matter of grave import," Severus began. As was his way, he got right to the point. Intrigued, Regulus gave a slight nod indicating that Severus should continue. "I need help...Surviving this thing with Voldemort." As Severus spoke, a look of relief that Regulus understood well crossed his face. He'd probably worn a similar expression himself when coming to Orion, also ironically about Voldemort. Rather than asking questions, Regulus simply nodded again, remaining silent and letting Severus talk. "Mag does very accurate rune readings," Severus began his explanation.
"She actually learned from the Bloody Baron himself," he added, not bothering to keep the pride from his voice. Regulus understood the sentiment well, for he and Kreacher regarded one another with much the same sort of pride for one another's accomplishments. Reading the runes as a form of divining the future was very ancient magic, and nearly a lost art today, so Severus should be proud. Mag smiled, green eyes shining with pleasure though she obviously struggled for modesty as she dropped her gaze shyly to her lap.
"Really," Regulus said, impressed. "Were you the star of your Divinations class?"
"Oh no," Mag shook her head. "I don't ever see anything in crystal balls or tea leaves."
"How did the baron know you had an ability," Regulus asked, curious.
Mag shrugged slender shoulders. "Through our conversations, I guess. It's about patterns. Reading the runes and life itself. History repeats and so the past is, in a way, also the future with various alterations that can be made."
"I like that," Regulus said. "Well said and it makes sense."
"Also you having conversations with the baron is rather impressive. He never struck me as the talkative sort."
"She's special," Severus said, and Regulus nodded.
"I see that."
"No more special than either of you," Mag insisted, clearly meaning it. It was evident that she had a high self esteem, but could also think equally well of others. Regulus found this a good balance. "But of course," he nodded, flashing a quick boyish grin. "It's just that most people can't keep up so we're in good company."
"Yes, even though the Baron never sought us out for conversation," Severus said with a dry smile.
"I started talking to him first," Mag admitted. "I tended to enjoy talking to the Slytherin ghost more than most students at Hogwarts. Like Severus, I am not the most social, at least when it comes to ordinary conversation," she explained with a slight smile.
Regulus nodded in understanding. "I can relate to that. Kreacher was always my best friend, even during my school days. He's far more interesting and wise and insightful than anyone else I know."
The elf straightened, round blue eyes shining with pleasure though his expression remained grave. Regulus knew the elf wouldn't completely relax into the visit until Severus fully explained what sort of help he required from Regulus. If Kreacher deemed it to be too dangerous, Severus was likely to have a Kreacher sized problem on his hands.
"At any rate,"Severus continued. "Her latest reading on the matter of my situation with the Dark Lord...Voldemort, says that I will not survive it unless I can leave half way through his encounter with Potter. If I leave openly, he will hunt me down, so I have to appear not to have left." Perplexed, Regulus frowned, and Severus nodded in understanding. "Exactly. That sounds impossible, considering the skill of who I'd be fooling. I have already spoken with Wolfgang on the matter, and we have come up with at least the foundation of a plan. I must substitute someone for myself when it is time for me to withdraw for my own safety. I have to do it perfectly, though. The Dark...Voldemort cannot know that it isn't me so there must be no cracks in my substitute's disguise." Regulus nodded. The idea seemed complicated, but with the right help, and for a short time, manageable. "If we use a Death Eater so that the dark mark will be there in case Voldemort uses it to summon his followers while I am not present,, of course said Death Eater will not be willing. If we use the Imperious curse, Voldemort could detect it. The only deeper form of compulsion of which I am aware is vampiric," Severus concluded.
"So you want me to help," Regulus asked. He was certain Kreacher would not mind this, which was a relief. It would put him in no particular danger, after all.
Severus nodded. "I would appreciate it."
Regulus smiled. "You can count on me! You are both aware that vampires need blood to survive. I make my meals from those people I feel deserve to die. Murderers, rapists, general abusers, drug dealers...and when I can find them Death Eaters as well. As you can see, I have no qualms if you're using a Death Eater to keep yourself alive."
"Thank you, Regulus," Severus said, tone humble. The look of relief on the other man's face put Regulus once again in mind of how he must have looked when Orion took charge of the situation back in nineteen-seventy-nine. Of course Regulus was not taking charge now, but if he could do anything at all for Severus, or anyone else standing against Voldemort, it gave him a small sense of redemption. Not to mention Voldemort had taken out enough good people...People Regulus cared for. He would not have Severus, if Regulus had anything to do with it. "It's the least I can do, considering," Regulus said with an uncomfortable shrug. Even though this conversation was a positive one, it caused his own shame regarding his past failings to rise, filling his heart with a cloud of depression. "When are we doing this?"
"No time soon," Severus assured. "Several months from now. We still have a lot of preparations to make and issues to sort. I'll be back in touch about it as soon as we've organized it a bit better. We'll be working with Grindelwald as well, considering he successfully switched places with someone a few different times in a few different ways over the years."
Regulus chuckled. "He's a trickster for sure."
Severus nodded. "Indeed."
"So, Mag," Regulus asked, curious and eager for a pleasant distraction from feelings of the past. "What else do you excel at other than runes? Are you a potions mistress?"
Mag gave a slight smile as she shook her head. "I'm alright at potions, but nowhere close to Severus's ability. The skill that I personally value the most is my affinity to enhance stones. Each type of gemstone has its own special magic. For example, Jet promotes a person's physical safety and protection while hematite promotes good health and quartz crystal amplifies."
"That's why you use quartz for wands," Regulus realized, and Mag nodded, smiling in appreciation of his understanding. Her large green eyes shown as she spoke of gemstones. For Regulus, this was a clear indication that other than Severus, this form of magic was her true passion.
"Brilliant," he said eagerly. "May I pay you to design a wand for me? I saw the one you made for Grindelwald and was fascinated at once." Recalling that Sabra said Mag's quartz wands were twice the strength of a wooden wand, he very much looked forward to trying spells with one.
"Sure," Mag agreed readily. "If you need one quickly, I will just make a standard all purpose clear quartz wand, but if you can wait a few weeks, I could personalize it to you a bit more. Once I get a feel for a person, I also can get concepts of the sort of wand that would serve them best."
Severus reached into the sleeve of his robe and drew out a wand Mag had obviously made for him. It was two thirds as long as his forearm and made almost entirely of gemstone. It had six facets or sides and gleamed. The texture appeared very smooth. One half was clear quartz and the other was a shiny black. A wide band of silver in the middle held the two stones together, and in the center of the silver band was a red oval. The wand was truly the most striking Regulus had ever seen. "This one, for example, is clear quartz and black obsidian with the red oval there in the center being garnet," Severus said. "Black obsidian is protective and grounding as well as providing one with a method to connect to their own intuition and inner knowledge. Clear quartz energizes and amplifies not only our magic but any other stones on the wand with it. Garnet cleanses and strengthens us and our energy field, and promotes courage and motivation."
"You certainly know your stone lore," Regulus said, impressed.
Severus gave a slight shrug, shaking his head. "I learned all that from Mag. I'm only repeating what she told me."
"And so well done," Mag confirmed with a pleased smile, open adoration for him in her green eyes.
"Well I shall wait then and see what sort of wand you come up with for me," Regulus said. "I'm interested to discover which stones you feel would serve me best. Should I pay you now?"
"Wait until I know what stones I'd like to use, then I'll have an exact price," Mag said and he nodded.
"Whenever you're ready, you know where I am. What else do you enjoy," Regulus asked. "Aside from rune reading and stone lore and wand making, that is." The red head was one of the most interesting people he'd met in quite a while.
Severus chuckled. "Indeed," he said dryly. "I feel as if I need more accomplishments to keep up."
Mag shook her head, giving Severus a mock frown of disapproval. "Hardly. You are a brilliant spell crafter, and I've never crafted any spells. That's some impressive complex work."
"Regulus held up slender hands in feigned surrender."Stop...both of you...You're making me feel horribly under accomplished. I've not pursued much for the entire time I've been away. In part due to living among Muggles and not wanting to draw attention to myself from any Ministry by using magic, but also because...I suppose the interest wasn't there," he sighed. "I suppose I've been too depressed to bother with much of anything," he admitted, glancing away toward the corner of the room, struggling with embarrassed discomfort.
"Join the club, but that doesn't mean you can't still do things," Severus said with a frown.
"I do sing and play the guitar a bit if that counts at all," Regulus said hopefully. "It's something I picked up for lack of anything better to do. I got a book on how to play the guitar and studied it until I understood the basics, then just practiced until I was decent."
"Brilliant," Mag enthused. "My grandparents taught me to play the fiddle. We'll have to jam together some day."
"They're bards," Severus bragged. "She inherited it from them even though it skipped her mum."
"Really!" An eager light came into Regulus's eyes. "That's some impressive stuff. Want to jam right now? My guitar is upstairs. We can play together if you want to go get your fiddle."
Mag smiled eagerly. "Sure. I'll just apparate home and grab it. Won't take me three minutes." She walked outside to apparate home for her fiddle while Regulus hurried upstairs with Kreacher following.
"I've never played with anyone before," he told the elf excitedly. Soon they were both back, instrument cases in hand. Severus perused the books on a small corner shelf while Mag and Regulus talked music. Eventually Regulus moved to the heavy oak desk on the far side of the room, and sat down to write out some chords so that Mag would be able to follow along with the song he planned to play. There was one in particular that he thought would sound amazing with a fiddle added to the mix. When he was finished, he handed the sheet of parchment to Mag who looked it over and nodded.
"I think I've got it," she said, and the two began to play.