Chapter 48: Closer Than Brothers

Regulus and Kreacher arrived at Wolfgang's a little before seven in the evening Wednesday. Both were rather excited to work with Grindelwald more and through doing so, to actually get to know what the great wizard was truly about. Regulus had always been fascinated by what he'd read of Grindelwald's abilities and accomplishments. The opportunity to know the real man behind such a giant legend among dark wizards was rather exciting. For his part, Kreacher was just generally curious. One may think neither would be interested in a wizard like Grindelwald after their shared experience with Voldemort, but it was obvious to both that Grindelwald and Voldemort were truly nothing alike. Where Voldemort insisted on leading, Grindelwald would lead, but obviously could work with others as well which was reassuring. Regulus was almost certain he could be trusted. The man's mental shields had been strong those times Regulus encountered him at Hogwarts, but the vampire planned to pick his brain tonight until he got a better look. Not because he did not respect the privacy of others, but because after what he'd experienced, he could not trust until he was certain that a person was who they claimed to be. Once he saw that they were, he stayed the hell out of their head as it was the proper and polite thing to do. He'd looked into Mag that first night, but the next time she and Severus came to visit, he would not do that again. He'd gotten the information he wanted, and he knew she could be trusted and that she was who she claimed to be. If it turned out that somehow Grindelwald was not, Regulus would handle it far more carefully than they had with Voldemort. He would tell far more than four other people and they would plan things out far more carefully. Perhaps they would simply blow up the bloody building the man was in rather than fight him face to face...Which would mean they would have to get Grindelwald into a building alone. That was already getting complicated, so Regulus just hoped the blonde was on the up and up. He was a skilled wizard, after all, and probably not much easier to kill than Voldemort, what with the taking on forty Aurors and winning. On the other hand, Grindelwald likely had his soul in one place, inside of him, which always made it easier to kill anyone. When Adler opened the door to Regulus and Kreacher, he smiled warmly, genuinely pleased to see them.

"Come in. We're having tea in the library."

Bookish wizards like Regulus tended to prefer the library over the parlor for entertaining those of like minds. This made Regulus smile because nothing could make him feel more at home than a library.

"All your packages are here," Millicent told Regulus as soon as they entered the room. "I left everything in the boxes they were shipped in, so like nothing is...visible," she added, giving Kreacher a meaningful look.

Kreacher shot a perplexed frown at Regulus. Regulus put a hand on Kreacher's shoulder and grinned. "I promise you will know when it is time."

Kreacher's frown deepened. "It is about whatever Master Regulus refused to speak of to Kreacher the last time we were here?"

Regulus nodded. Kreacher had already asked about that three times over the past five days, and Regulus kept insisting that the time wasn't right yet. "Let's go sit there," Regulus said, nodding to a sofa near the fire in hopes of distracting Kreacher. Kreacher acquiesced, but the fretful frown on his face clearly said that his thoughts were still on the secret Regulus kept from him. "Thank you so much, Millicent," Regulus said, smiling at the tall dark haired young woman. "Please do tell Kreacher that I am doing nothing that should worry him," he implored.

Millicent grinned at Kreacher. "Really it's all good," she assured. "Why don't you have a cup of tea. It's spiced apple today, all festive and shit."

Kreacher gave Millicent a shy smile. "Kreacher would like that."

Millicent rang a little golden bell that sat on a small round table beside her chair. Soon a small blue creature in a black suit hurried in. Regulus had never seen a Kobold before and tried not to stare lest he offend. This wasn't a consideration for Kreacher. He stared. The Kobold had a round thick nose and a long face. He wore a wide brimmed hat that was tugged down over his eyes in a way that made Regulus wonder if the little creature was light sensitive. If so he related. The room was bright, and though it did not hurt his eyes, precisely, it did feel overly unnecessary. Of course he knew that this wasn't true and that to Kreacher, Wolfgang and Millicent, the light was quite normal and just enough to allow them to see properly. The difference in this sort of perception was only one of many differences Regulus experienced as a vampire among mortals. The one he was most conscious of, however, was his level of strength. He could crush a glass in his hand if he held it too tightly, which meant, he could do the same to a body if not careful. When he and Kreacher were intimate, it was a thing he never forgot. Once, several years back, when out with Dora exploring Rome at night, they'd encountered four other vampires who Dora vaguely knew. They'd invited Regulus and Dora to spend the evening with them and they all sat at a bar talking and watching the mortals around them get drunk. One of the vampires, named Hrothgar, told of accidentally killing his mortal lady-loves during the...act by accidentally crushing them in his arms. Granted Hrothgar was far more muscular than Regulus, but that didn't particularly matter when taking into account vampiric strength. Even then, when he thought Kreacher wanted nothing to do with him, he was filled with horror at the thought of ever accidentally hurting the elf during intimacy. Granted this was an odd thought considering he had no way of knowing that Kreacher would ever wish to see him again, but he knew he would never be with anyone else. Kreacher was the first and the last for Regulus. No one else could ever come close to what they had, the deep friendship, nor the enduring heat that developed later between them, sparked by the slightest touch. Millicent asked the Kobold for another cup of tea and the little blue creature nodded, giving a slight bow before hurrying out.

"I hate to ask, for fear of offending, but how can you be certain that Grindelwald is on the up and up," Regulus asked Wolfgang. "I assume that you and Severus checked him out well, but...As a vampire I can get deeper into a person's mind. Considering what my family and I have been through over Voldemort, I planned to do so, but thought to ask what you've already done." He shrugged, for some reason mildly embarrassed by this admission, but feeling it was necessary all the same. "I don't delve into everyone's mind," he assured quickly before Wolfgang could answer his initial question. "I don't misuse my ability on friends. It's just that with Grindelwald being so powerful..."

"Absolutely," Wolfgang agreed quickly. "One can never be too careful! I have in fact worked various truth detect spells on him, as well as identity spells to confirm that he is in his true form, and not someone transfigured to look like Gellert Grindelwald. The man is a brilliant trickster, after all. It would not have surprised me in the least if he'd had someone else rotting in prison for him all these years. But when they finally got him, they got him good and somehow he didn't see it coming. It's really him. He's helping us because he doesn't like the idea of Voldemort's goals any more than the rest of us do."

Regulus nodded, relief washing over him at that news. "Good. That's good to know. I was sure you'd checked into him, but it makes me feel reassured to know just how thoroughly."

"Feel free to check again," Wolfgang said. "More is never too much, and if you discover anything...Interesting in his head...I'd be...interested to know about it. At least for me, he is not an easy man to get to know."

"The Zabinis seem just great with him, though," Millicent said. "Which is odd because though Blaise's dad is rather open and friendly, Blaise himself and his mum are basically ice. He's my friend, but that's still who he is," she said with a shrug.

"Interesting," Regulus said thoughtfully as the Kobold returned with a fresh cup of tea.

"For him," Millicent said, nodding at Kreacher and the Kobold handed the cup over to the elf before departing as quietly as he'd entered. "We checked to make certain Grindelwald hadn't bespelled the Zabinis but, nope," Millicent continued with a slightly bemused shake of her head. "I guess he and Blaise shagging started the ball rolling, then the family suddenly and weirdly decided to basically adopt him or something."

Kreacher and Regulus exchanged a look at that. Grindelwald and the young Zabini were a couple, then. Interesting. Regulus chuckled. "When I first saw Grindelwald with the family, I thought he and Sabra's son were brothers," he admitted. "I feel rather disgusted now."

"Well you didn't know," Wolfgang said, giving him a sympathetic smile.

"You couldn't just see into their heads," Millicent asked.

"I don't look without good reason," Regulus explained. "It feels rude and invasive. I wouldn't like people doing that to me were the tables turned. When I learned that the blonde one was in fact Gellert Grindelwald, I did try, though, and his mental shields are locked pretty tight. I'll have to try harder today."

Millicent made a face. "Be careful you don't get some disgusting image of he and Blaise or something. I swear, they're like animals! Blaise didn't give most people the time of day and when he did shag a girl he was done with her forever directly after. Like once he'd been there and done that there was no appeal. With Grindelwald, though, it's weird. Both of them are so weirdly into one another, and yes we did check that one didn't bespell the other, and nope."

Regulus chuckled. With talk like that, one knew they were in the company of true fellow Slytherins. "Well that's good. That no one was under a spell, that is." He suddenly realized that he felt uncomfortable admitting that he and Kreacher were a couple because of Millicent's seemingly annoyed reaction to Blaise and Gellert. When he'd returned to wizarding society, Regulus sincerely believed that he no longer gave a damn about what people thought. He and Kreacher had been through too much to care about such things. He still felt that way, but now that they had new friends that both honestly liked, he felt more hesitant about sharing their personal life. He was in no way ashamed of being with Kreacher. He thought far more of Kreacher than he did anyone else, but if others were unkind and that hurt the elf, Regulus would consider that to be his doing. It was Kreacher, after all, who'd feared the consequences of their relationship back in the early days and wanted to be careful. Regulus knew he should respect that.

(Dear Reader, If you'd like to know Grindelwald and Blaise's entire story, it's also uploaded here with all of our others, and called In The Dark.)