Chapter 79: Kreacher Black
The room was pleasantly quiet and dark as Kreacher lay skin to skin with Regulus. Though Dora was still likely looking through the library, the manor was nearly silent save for the occasional creak of the house settling...which it always seemed to be doing. Kreacher squeezed his eyes shut, simply enjoying the feeling of Regulus against him, wanting to close out all else from intruding into his senses. Regulus had truly been shocked and annoyed at Kreacher's questions concerning any attraction to Dora, the elf silently marveled. The Roman vampire was beautiful, interesting, witty and had saved Regulus from the lake of Inferi when Kreacher had not been there to do so. Yet he still preferred Kreacher. His body still quickened for Kreacher alone. Though the afterglow still clung to them, Kreacher found himself to be in the mood for more reaffirming. Trailing his lips across the soft skin and firm muscles of Regulus's slender shoulder he worked his way down the flat toned muscles of his chest and stomach, tongue trailing over his half engorged member. Regulus made a small murmur of surprised pleasure, lips parting in a sigh as his hand trailed across Kreacher's back. At the touch, Kreacher felt his own desire springing fully to life. Taking Regulus into his mouth, he thrilled in the feel of his rapid hardening. Regulus writhed on the bed, soft gasps and groans encouraging Kreacher's ardent motions. When Regulus cried out and went limp, Kreacher slowly rose. Placing hands on Kreacher's waist, Regulus drew him close.
"I want to taste you,"," he murmured. Kreacher heard a low sound of eager desire slip from his own parted lips at that. He was more than ready to gladly become a meal. Rising onto his knees on the bed, he straddled Regulus's head, his own throbbing erection proudly announcing his needs. Snatching up a pillow and pushing it behind his own shoulders, Regulus straightened to a half seated half reclining position and drew Kreacher into his mouth. One hand cupped Kreacher's testicles, stroking lightly as Kreacher's hips thrust forward while low sounds of need escaped him. Desire washed over his entire body from ears to toes and unlike back in the old days, he did not have an ever present worry in the back of his mind that he would be summoned to do some chore or other while in the throws. The gods knew this passion with Master Regulus was definitely worth dying for, but it was far more enjoyable without that ever present threat of death looming. As Regulus's skilled mouth drove him to completion, Kreacher threw his head back and cried out.
"Master Regulus!" With a sigh, he collapsed across Regulus and the two slid down into the bed together.
"Do you truly have to call me that," Regulus muttered disconsolately.
"Mmmm," Kreacher wondered. Briefly he struggled to open his eyes in order to regard Regulus, but they were so heavy with satisfaction, that he allowed them to drift closed again.
Regulus sighed. "You know it's always been bloody weird for me when you call me Master Regulus, especially during..."
"Kreacher dislikes it when his beautiful Master Regulus ruins a precious moment by complaining," the elf noted and Regulus fell silent. They lay for several pleasant moments in spent stillness before Regulus sprang up so suddenly that Kreacher was startled. He started up as well, one hand reaching for his tunic as he asked, "What is wrong?"
"Oh nothing," Regulus assured hastily. "There is just something I would like to do...Wait here, please. I shall be back directly." He bent to kiss Kreacher before rushing out. Bemused, Kreacher knelt on the rumpled bed, staring at the half open door Regulus had just dashed through. He could still feel the soft silken pressure of Regulus's lips against his own. Kreacher possessed him in a way no one else ever would. No one else even if he loved them like Miss Dora, because he would never love them the way he loved Kreacher. He would never want to touch them and cause them to cry out in ecstasy. No, that was reserved only for Kreacher. Satisfied with his own reassurances to himself, the elf lifted a hand to his lips and smiled, fancying he could still taste Regulus there. Regulus was gone for longer than Kreacher expected, and he was growing mildly impatient by the time he heard his soft footsteps returning.
"Sorry I thought I could find it sooner," Regulus said, words coming out in a rush as he slipped inside and softly closed the door behind him. "Lumos," he added and the large round candle on the bedside table sprang to light. It sat within a sparkling black crystal candle holder which added extra light of its own as the candle glowed within the shelter of its facets.
"Whatever is Master Regulus on about," Kreacher demanded, unable to help sounding a little peevish as well as curious.
"I wanted to make things more official if not specifically legal," Regulus said, coming to sit beside Kreacher on the bed. "I love you so much, Kreacher. I can't even put into words...how much I love you and how much I want to spend forever making you happy." He paused, drawing in a deep breath while Kreacher blinked in confusion that was slowly turning into an excited tension thick with anticipation that he could not quite explain. The look in Master Regulus's eyes was intense in a way that thrilled him and made him want to hold his breath for whatever was to come. This was something new and different, though he had no idea what and thus he had no idea what to expect. He trusted Regulus with his life, though, so whatever it was, he was ready. "Kreacher...Please...Will you marry me." Regulus's hand was shaking slightly as he took Kreacher's. In his other he extended a heavy silver ring. It was familiar to Kreacher. It had a wide band carved with ornate scrollwork and in the center rested a huge grape sized faceted black diamond. The few times Kreacher had seen it before, Master Orion was wearing it on his right little finger. It was a stunning antique that Master Orion only wore a few times. He'd always complained that rings for the little finger weren't his style. Instead he'd favored the family crest ring that evil Master Sirius had thrown out. Though the thought tore at Kreacher's heart he could not allow it to detract from this moment. He blinked at the ring in astonished awe as his mind struggled to comprehend Regulus's words.
"I thought that it would fit your ring finger, and if not, we could use a shrinking spell on the band," Regulus said, words coming out so rapidly that Kreacher smiled. His darling Master Regulus was nervous. Not until the tears began to spill down Kreacher's cheeks did he realize just how touched he was. "I have written Raislen and asked him to perform a ceremony for us if you say yes," Regulus continued. The pleading in his voice made Kreacher wonder if dearest Regulus thought he could possibly say 'no.' He knew he should remind Regulus that this would not go over well with wizarding society, and he opened his mouth to reluctantly do so but instead all that came out was the word, "Yes!" Regulus laughed with joy and placed the ring on Kreacher's finger before drawing him close. It was nearly like some unreal dream, but a very pleasant one for all that. Kreacher's gaze dropped to stare at the ring on his very own finger. He stared for several seconds before lifting his gaze to Regulus's joyful face. "Oh yes, Master Regulus! Yes, yes and a thousand times yes! Kreacher will be yours in all ways possible!" As he spoke, he clung tightly to Regulus, and Regulus clung back. "It's only a shame so many dreadful things had to happen first," he said with a regretful sigh and Kreacher nodded against his shoulder. "Mother once said she would give me my great grandparents' wedding rings when I got married, so I found them in her jewelry box as well," Regulus added. "I shall need you to shrink those down for both of us if you're able else they won't fit properly."
Kreacher grinned in delight. "Of course Kreacher is able. That shall be simple. Let Kreacher see them now." Regulus reached into a pocket of his green robe and passed over two smooth shining gold bands, both encrusted with sparkling emeralds. Kreacher caught his breath, because they were lovely. At once, he slipped one onto his left ring finger. It was so large he could even pass it over the huge black diamond without having to remove it first. Taking Regulus's slender hand he slid the other onto his third finger as well. Both were far too large for them so Kreacher could not tell which had belonged to which great grandparent, but he supposed it didn't matter. Clasping their hands together, because it just felt right to do it that way somehow, he cast a spell of shrinking, stopping when the rings touched their skin. "Check to see how it fits now," he instructed, gently disengaging his hand to do just that for his own ring.
"It's perfect," Regulus said with a pleased smile before bending to give Kreacher a tender kiss. "As are you." Kreacher grinned again, blushing. "Master Regulus is too kind," he murmured.
"But correct," Regulus said with a chuckle and Kreacher nodded. "Kreacher supposes," he said modestly. He had done a grand job, after all. His ring fit perfectly as well, and he was quite pleased with his work, considering he'd never shrunk jewelry before. Both of the great grand parents in question had been of substantial size so it was no wonder their rings were rather large. Gauging by family portraits, they were the largest members of the Black family for generations. They enjoyed their food far too much in Kreacher's humble opinion. "We must take them off until the actual ceremony," Regulus said, slipping his own off as he spoke. Nodding, Kreacher did the same and was just passing his ring back to Regulus when the door chime sounded. Regulus sprang up eagerly, an excited smile on his face as he reached out a hand for Kreacher.
"That will be Raislen," he said eagerly, excitement flashing in his blue eyes. Kreacher nodded, noticing only then that he hadn't yet gotten dressed. Grinning he snatched up his tunic and hurriedly drew it on before turning for a hasty glance in the mirror. "You look grand," Regulus told him, deep sincerity in every word.
"Good," Kreacher said. "Because Kreacher is about to get married, and he wishes to make his dear Regulus proud."
Regulus smiled, blue eyes sparkling with pleasure. "I notice you left off that Master bit."
Kreacher nodded. "Kreacher is pleased that Master Regulus noticed. He can consider it a wedding present." Shaking his head, Regulus chuckled, flinging open the bedroom door. The two met Dora in the downstairs hall.
"Good," she said. "I was worried you hadn't heard the doorbell."
"I was about to come and find you," Regulus told her with an excited smile. "You must come to the wedding."
Dora blinked. "What? What wedding? When?"
Regulus laughed, the sound joyful and free. Kreacher hadn't heard him laugh like that since...before Voldemort. "Our wedding and right now!"
Dora gaped for a few seconds, then gave a surprised laugh, throwing her arms around both of them at once. "Oh you darling sweet magical people. Will you ever stop surprising me? I didn't know that was possible, but I suppose the wizarding world is different." Her honest pleasure at their happiness made Kreacher feel a bit rubbish for his earlier behavior and suspicions involving Regulus's affections. Dora was a good person. Good enough to understand that he and Master Regulus belonged together for always and to be happy about it.
Regulus shook his head and shrugged. "Not exactly possible in the traditional sense, but we are having the ceremony nonetheless and when we set things back to rights with the family home, we can arrange everything legally at the bank so that Kreacher has full rights to all our belongings just as he would were we legally married. That means if I sign the proper documents, Kreacher and I will have the same rights of attorney as married people."
"Ah that makes sense," Dora said, nodding. "What a sweet idea!" The door chime sounded again and Regulus hurried down the hall to fling the door open.
"Oh Raislen, thank you so much for coming!"
Raislen nodded, giving a bemused smile. "Sure? I'm always glad to help, but what's this about? I'm curious."
Heather stood behind Raislen with their colorfully dressed elf Mira at her side. "We came along in case you needed witnesses," Heather said. "Mag and Severus are already in Bulgaria."
"As it can't be legal, witnesses aren't technically necessary, but as I bet this is a first, I'm happy to have you both here anyway, just for posterity," Regulus said. The happy smile he'd worn almost constantly since Kreacher had said 'yes' remained on his face and that made Kreacher's heart sing.
"What are the two of you doing anyway," Raislen asked. The expression he gave them was both curious and amused. "This some sort of joke you're playing on someone?"
"No," Regulus said. "We haven't told many people, because we feared they would not understand, but for a very long time, Kreacher and I have been a couple very much in love and we just wish to make it as official as possible." Raislen's eyes practically bugged out of his head and Heather's rounded in shock, but it was the look on Mira's face that struck Kreacher and made his heart sink. The other elf looked horrified and disgusted. Kreacher hated her at once for that. What right had she to look at them as though they were doing something abhorrently wrong? Who was Mira anyway? She was a silly elf who, for some ridiculous reason, decided to wear several painfully colorful scarves as a dress. Silly stupid Mira! She judged them silently with her eyes, condemning them in a single glance. Rattled and openly disturbed, she turned away staring everywhere but at Kreacher and Master Regulus.
"Well...Congratulations? Yes, congratulations."
In those few words, Heather seemed to have come to terms with Regulus's announcement. A pity Mira could not be more like her mistress, Kreacher thought venomously, for the other elf remained painfully silent.
"Yeah...sure...okay," Raislen said. Still Mira said nothing and Kreacher glared daggers at the side of her head.
"I guess you two were always weirdly close," Raislen observed. "Like that time at my party when Kreacher was drunk and dancing on the table. After that he was sitting in your lap, Regulus, and I just didn't think anything of it."
Regulus shrugged. "Neither did we. We weren't shagging then. We were just very close. I suppose in hind sight though..." he shrugged and chuckled.
"I brought a scroll with a version of the oldest wizarding marriage ceremony," Raislen said, carefully drawing a rolled scroll from his pocket. Their ceremony would be even more special with the added touch of old wizarding ways, Kreacher thought, pleased. He would not focus for another second on stupid Mira and her condemning looks. Not on this marvelous day of all days. "This is nine-hundred years old," Raislen continued. "But as you can see it has a brilliant preservation spell on it." Regulus nodded. Kreacher did as well, but he could easily see the age through the preservations. The form of ink used was obviously nothing like what they had today.
"Where should we hold the ceremony, Kreacher," Regulus asked.
Kreacher took a moment to consider. "Why not the library?"
Regulus nodded, smiling. "It is everyone's favorite room, isn't it?" Kreacher and Regulus led the way to the library hand in hand while the others followed.
"Someone must serve as a parent of sorts, passing one off to the other," Raislen said, peering studiously down at the scroll as Heather, Dora and Mira seated themselves on the long sofa set against the far wall. The library was filled with candlelight from the gargoyle wall sconces, and to Kreacher it all looked beautiful and magical.
"I'll do it," Dora said, rising and going to stand at Regulus's other side.
"You're handing Regulus off to Kreacher then," Raislen asked and she nodded. "Fine. Kreacher, you walk toward me, while Dora and Regulus stay put," Raislen said, walking down the long center isle of the library, bookcases flanking him to either side towering over them all.
"It's a pity Mag isn't here to play something," Heather said.
"And I can't play and get married at the same time, but perhaps after," Regulus said.