Chapter 66: Family Always

For the first time in ages, Regulus felt as though some higher power may just be on their side when it was indeed quite rainy Thursday. The bedroom he shared with Kreacher at Doge's was nearly dark when the elf shook him awake at noon. Less than half an hour later they were meeting with Kereston Boxwood behind Borgin and Burkes. The small blonde was leaning against the building with a mildly pensive expression on her face. Kreacher reached a hand from beneath the invisibility cloak under which he and Regulus were draped to lightly touch her arm in way of announcing their arrival.

"Thank you, Kereston," Regulus said quietly when she turned in their direction. "My family and I owe you much for this, and trust me when I say that your kindness shall not be forgotten."

"Well," Kereston said, her expression mildly flustered. "It is a bit difficult to tell Kreacher no."

Regulus chuckled. "I know this better than anyone else." He could tell from the fond expression in Kereston's gray-blue eyes that she liked Kreacher quite a lot. Anyone who appreciated the wonderful person that Kreacher was, was stellar in his book.

"Everyone will be back from lunch soon, so I should get you into Auror Headquarters now," she said.

Suddenly Regulus could sense nervousness coming off her in waves. Though he greatly needed her help, he also understood how frightening giving such help could be in current circumstances. Placing her job on the line was certainly stressful enough but with the Dark Lord basically running the Ministry any risk was ten times more dangerous. "Rest assured that we will not put you in danger," Regulus said, hoping to soothe the poor girl's concerns. "I can make anyone forget if you happen to be spotted, though we shall be certain that you are not."

Kereston let out a breath and nodded. "Yes. I know. Kreacher promised as much before I would agree to help." She chuckled. "It's just that everything is so insanely stressful at work these days with HIM being in control. Everything feels weird, it seems that everyone is acting unnaturally. We're all on pins and needles, that's for sure."

"I'm sure it's quite dreadful," Regulus said sympathetically.

"Kereston is a wonderful friend, and we promise to keep her safe at all cost," Kreacher said loyally.

"Okay." Kereston gave a shaky smile. "We'd better go before someone comes along and notices me talking to myself!"

In spite of himself, Regulus chuckled. "Just tell them the job is getting to you."

Kereston smiled dryly. "It would be true!"

"Alright, let us get this over with," Regulus said, glad to at last be taking an action to truly redeem himself when it came to the mistakes he'd made that had affected his family. "You get us into Auror Headquarters, then you can apparate back out while still hiding under the cloak of invisibility. You won't be seen at all."

Kereston nodded. "Sounds good." She drew in a deep breath, obviously to fortify herself, then reached out for the cloak. She quickly slipped under it with Regulus and Kreacher. Placing a hand on the arm of each, she apparated them into the Ministry and into Auror Headquarters. "Good luck," she breathed, then released their arms and apparated away as planned under the shelter of the cloak. She was wise to bring them in when she did, because even the sounds of apparating were not at risk of standing out due to the fact that everyone was apparating back in from their lunch break. Regulus moved with Kreacher to stand out of the way against the nearest wall, then opened his mind to search for the head Auror. Kereston had told Kreacher last week that the man's name was Gawain Robards, so Regulus searched the minds of other Aurors who may be thinking about their boss. It seemed the man was good at confounding charms. One Auror was thinking that he'd like to learn a few from him for cleaning up messes. Something about the slimy way that particular bloke thought made Regulus uneasy. A pity he didn't have time to hunt right now or he would've delved deeper into the man's mind to see what he needed to hide. Later, then. Regulus almost relished the idea of bending the will of someone who excelled in confounding charms. It should give him a bit more of a challenge than average minds, but in truth he doubted it. Confounding well did not mean one could not be confounded. He was betting the man didn't expect it from others and in that case, his mental shields would be lacking. Shields that would protect him from other wizards should present no challenge for a vampire because the method of invading the mind was a bit different in that it did not involve spells. Instead the act was achieved on more of a subtle primitive level that slid around magic quite nicely. Except when it came to Grindelwald's shields, Regulus suddenly recalled in some mild annoyance. He really should just brooch the subject with the man. They were at least friendly if not yet friends and Regulus very much wanted to know what sorts of shields he used! For now, though, he had to get past the shields of Gawain Robards, and something told him the man was no Grindelwald. As it happened, someone across the room spoke the man's name aloud before Regulus saw an actual image of him in anyone's mind. Following the voice with his gaze, he saw two men standing together in a corner of the room. The speaker was burly and intense. The man he was addressing, Gawain Robards, was tall and lithe with short dark hair and a hard cleanly shaven jaw. As soon as he was able, Regulus planned to get him alone and have the one sided conversation that would keep the Lestranges alive. He was prepared to have to wait until it was time for everyone to go home, but fortune was still smiling on him. In less than fifteen minutes Gawain Robards left his desk and headed for the men's room. Regulus started forward eagerly, only pausing to catch Kreacher up into his arms so as not to leave the elf behind as he threaded through the room with vampiric speed. Due to said speed and the cloak of invisibility, not a single Auror noticed his progress. While this did make him feel safe, Regulus couldn't help experiencing a mild flash of contempt. No wonder Voldemort was able to infiltrate with such ease. Once in the men's room, he waited for the head Auror to do his business. When Gawain Robards exited his stall, Regulus moved in a flash to stand in front of him. Lowering Kreacher gently to the floor he tossed back the hood of the invisibility cloak in order to catch the man's gaze and hold it. The head Auror was slightly taller than Regulus, so the vampire had to tilt his head up slightly to lock gazes. "Go back into the stall, please," he commanded and Gawain Robards obeyed at once. As he did, the man's eyes glazed over in that way that told Regulus the Auror's mind was completely in his control. Though he'd expected as much, it was satisfying nonetheless, considering all that was on the line. He followed Robards into the stall and Kreacher squeezed in after, closing the door behind them. If anyone else entered to relieve himself, they were no longer in open sight. "You shall inform all of your Aurors that you have made a decision for the betterment of the Ministry," Regulus began. He still held the Auror's gaze as he spoke, and as expected the man remained quietly placid. "You have decided that the Lestranges should be kept out of prison when Voldemort is taken down. This is because you now understand that their talents and abilities should not go to waste. You understand that wizards like the Lestranges can and should serve the Ministry. Had they been on your side, you would've captured Voldemort by now. You feel this very strongly. Just as strongly as you feel that the Ministry has been far too lax in how it has handled this entire situation. You are aware that you cannot trust everyone, so you will only speak to those Aurors that you feel can be trusted and only they shall be exposed to the Lestranges when they make their presence known in Voldemort's army." Regulus paused for a beat to allow the man's mind to process his words, then continued. "You have decided to use the Lestranges for the benefit of wizarding society by allowing the three of them to work Shadow Ops. No one will do better. You can make them take an unbreakable vow to serve the Ministry and never to betray it to ensure they can be trusted to never defect or turn on you. You feel quite brilliant for this plan and you know it will go leagues in making certain another situation like this one with Voldemort never happens again. You will have wizards who can and will get the job done on your side." "Do you understand," Regulus asked. Gawain Robards face broke into a dreamy smug smile as he nodded.

"Good," Regulus said, feeling a surge of satisfaction. "Then go about your day and know that you never saw us and that these ideas are entirely yours."

Gawain nodded. Regulus took Kreacher's hand and the elf apparated them directly into their bedroom at Doge's. "We did it," Regulus whooped, scooping a grinning Kreacher into his arms for a happy embrace.

For the first time in ages, he nearly felt like a school boy again, overjoyed at a brilliant accomplishment.

"Master Regulus did it," Kreacher corrected, beaming with pride. "Kreacher knew he could."

Regulus shook his head. "No," he insisted firmly. "We did it together. Your friendship with Kereston made it possible. It was you who talked her into helping. I could never have done it without you."

"Kreacher believes Master Regulus could have, but perhaps with more difficulty," the elf admitted with a pleased grin.

"The Lestranges should be safe now," Regulus said, reveling in the sense of satisfaction this gave him. He'd at last been able to do something to help those he'd wronged if inadvertently with his actions.

"And there is something else almost as wonderful," Kreacher murmured, arms tightening around Regulus. "We still have several hours until evening. Kreacher can think of very many things we can do with all of that extra alone time."

Regulus smiled, thrilling with anticipation. "I'm all yours, and quite literally up for any and all suggestions that you might have."

Kreacher gave a low chuckle, then covered Regulus's mouth with his own.

(Dear Reader, Want to read more about the Lestranges and their time working for the Ministry? Check out their story, Bad Romance, also uploaded here with all of our other stories.)