The Search Is Over,
Chapter 102, If At First You Don't Succeed
"Let's go," the spider whispered angrily as he scampered toward them through the underbrush.
He was only gone for a little over half an hour. Regulus and Kreacher had completed the act of keeping one another warm nearly ten minutes earlier, so at least no one was embarrassed. Regulus honestly hadn't expected Reynaldo to return so quickly regardless.
"Did you have time to look?"
"I looked. I can't see it. There are too many leaves and other things on the stupid ground and the other spiders were mean to me. I want to go home."
The acromantula suddenly sounded young, and Regulus felt a flash of guilt for dragging him into the forest.
"Very well. Of course."
He bent, placing his hand on the spider's warm furred back and Kreacher took his other hand, apparating them all back home to Grimmauld.
"I'm sorry," Reynaldo said.
He sounded ashamed, as if he'd done something wrong, and Regulus sank down onto the floor at his side. Kreacher had apparated them into the library, and they were the only three in the room. There was no sight of Kereston, and Regulus wondered if she was looking for her cat. That was going to be uncomfortable.
"I thought I could do it but it wasn't so easy to see things on the ground with all the leaves and stuff. I should've known better but I've never been in that forest before...or any forest for that matter," Reynaldo admitted.
"It just seemed like it'd be easy. I see so well with all my eyes, I just thought I could do it. Though I was having no luck I was really trying hard when the other spiders showed up. There were four of them and they were mean so I just said screw it and came back to you."
"It's alright," Regulus said, gently patting the spider's furred back in an attempt to make him feel better, hoping that was the proper thing to do.
"You gave it a try and the idea was a worthy one. We never know if an idea works practically until giving it a go, after all."
Though the plan was admittedly a long shot, Regulus never would've guessed rightly about Voldemort's Horcrux without entertaining a potential risk or long shot.
"Thanks," Reynaldo said, giving Regulus a grateful look from three of his eight eyes.
"I've never met other spiders before. I guess I didn't expect them to be so mean."
"What did they say to you," Regulus asked.
"That I smelled like people and I was weak for not eating them. When I said I ate cereal, they laughed at me."
The spider made a face.
"I think eating people would taste bad!"
"Certainly not like cereal," Regulus agreed and Kreacher nodded gravely.
"In a sense, those other spiders are correct, though," the elf said, kneeling down to regard Reynaldo more on the small acromantula's level.
"What they were truly saying is that Reynaldo is not like them. He isn't. Kreacher isn't like other elves. This being different makes Kreacher and Reynaldo special...Better if you ask Kreacher."
"I like that," Reynaldo said slowly after a second or two of silent consideration.
"It occurs to me that they may also be frightened or jealous of you," Regulus added.
Though he did believe his own words to a degree, speaking them gave him a flash of mild horror, for his mother had said the very same thing to him when Sirius treated him unkindly as a child.
"Why would they be frightened of me when I'm so small and only one when they are many," Reynaldo asked, confused.
"And they certainly didn't seem jealous when they were insulting me."
Regulus smiled.
"Well their insults clearly show that they do not understand you. Often people, and spiders are also people, fear that which they do not understand. The unknown is one of the most popular fears, and you are definitely an unknown to them."
He chuckled.
"And perhaps they're jealous because they are curious about what cereal tastes like."
"I never considered that," Reynaldo admitted.
"That makes me feel somewhat better. Are you sure you aren't mad at me for not finding the stone? I did offer, after all. I really thought I could."
"You offered to try to find the stone and you did try," Regulus pointed out.
"I have some other ideas, don't worry."
Later when Kreacher and Regulus retreated up stairs to their bedroom, Kreacher was strangely quiet as he undressed. Glancing over, Regulus was taken aback by the elf's sad expression.
"What's the matter?"
"Kreacher thought he and Master Regulus handled things with Reynaldo very well. It made him consider the fact that we would both be good parents."
Regulus shrugged as he seated himself on the edge of their bed.
"I suppose, though it's not a thing I ever considered or wanted truly. I always wanted to be with you, traveling and doing as we liked even before our friendship became more intimate. A wife would've gotten in the way of that so I never wanted one. I never thought you were interested in settling down with some lady elf either."
"Of course not, but that has nothing to do with the fact that Kreacher and Master Regulus would make good parents. Kreacher is also sad for the house of Black. The line may not carry on, and Kreacher must confess that this breaks his heart."
Regulus frowned, perplexed over whatever had gotten to Kreacher so.
"You're sad that I didn't shag someone else and have children before becoming a vampire?"
Kreacher let out a sound of exasperation as he shook his head.
"Of course not. Kreacher is merely sad that he and Master Regulus can't..."
For once the elf silenced himself by flinging his arms around Regulus and kissing him hard. There were no more words after that, and though Regulus hated to see Kreacher out of sorts, he had no idea how to sort it for him. At least at present, Kreacher seemed very interested in drowning his feelings with other...more pleasant feelings. When Regulus woke the next evening, Kreacher was in far better spirits, almost cheerful.
"Everyone has already confirmed that they will be here for dinner at eight, and Kreacher has prepared a lovely meal," he said, after greeting Regulus with a kiss.
"Thank you, Love," Regulus said.
It was with reluctance that he rose and readied himself to go hunt dinner in order to be at his utter mental best for the meeting. He'd have preferred to dally a while with Kreacher, but that would have to wait until after the dinner meeting.
He deeply felt that the resurrection stone needed to be attended to before it was found by the wrong person. He only hoped such was possible. At least he was fortunate enough to have social connections to some of the best and brightest minds in the wizarding community, so he felt they had a shot.
Once out on the streets of London, he made short work of hunting. As was always the case, it didn't take long to locate a Muggle criminal. With his hunger satiated, he returned directly to 12 Grimmauld where some of the best minds were already waiting in the library, having a pre-dinner drink with Kreacher. Blaise and Gellert were present as well as Severus and Mag and Heather and Raislen Westcraven. They greeted him warmly when he entered, and their presence already made him feel better. The mission of locating the stone suddenly seemed very possible.
"I was just telling Kreacher that my progress on that potion is coming far slower than I like," Severus told Regulus regretfully.
Regulus shrugged dismissively as he went to take a seat in an ornate straight backed chair to Kreacher's left.
"It's alright. It is my hope that the healers can rid me of it without needing to know all its ingredients. I just thought if it could be managed, the more information the better."
Severus nodded.
"Which is wise as a rule."
He sighed in open exasperation, shaking his head as he regarded Regulus from the fireside armchair in which he sat with Mag at his side.
"It is my suspicion that he used some ingredients that we would not normally touch," he said carefully.
Regulus shuddered.
"Which I now have floating around inside of me."
"Sorry," Severus said apologetically.
Regulus shrugged again.
"It's my own fault for my own stupid choices."
"Ill advised choices, and we've all made those," Gellert corrected lightly, giving Regulus a careless smile as he tossed his blonde curls.
"Almost all of us," Severus said, shooting Raislen and Heather a resentful glance.
"As all our guests have not arrived, I would like to speak to you all on a matter of import," Regulus began hastily, before more drama could develop.
He'd decided to speak in defense of the Lestranges after all. While he wasn't comfortable telling others more than Bellatrix, Rodolphus and Rabastan knew themselves, he felt something should be said in order to keep the peace when they arrived.
"I have reasons to prefer not to get into it, but I am asking you all to trust me that the Lestranges aren't as bad as most people think them to be. Things...happened to them beyond their control. Things that are best left alone. I would like to say that all the things they're blamed for aren't completely their fault."
The fact that most everyone in the room aside from Kreacher was gaping at him incredulously didn't help, but the sound of the door chime did.