Chapter 106, Necromancer
An hour later, and the birds circled back to them, all three shaking their heads, indicating that none had seen the five nifflers picking up anything that looked to be a Resurrection Stone.
"Well we waited about fifty minutes longer than we planned to, so shall we call it a night and try again in a few days after the little buggers have had time to truly dig deep," Rabastan asked.
Regulus's lips twitched, and he nodded.
"Wisely stated, Mr. Lestrange," Albus said, giving Rabastan an amused look.
It must be odd for the old headmaster to see Rabastan as a person rather than a thug ready to torture someone,Regulus mused. Then again Albus had seen Rabastan as a student as well and the headmaster was ever astonishingly astute more so than most others.
He saw all the facets of a person, so he could see that Rabastan was a multi dimensionally layered person just as the other two Lestranges were. Perhaps Regulus was one of the few to steadily support the Lestranges no matter what, but they were his family. Family should always be loyal, and they'd always stuck by him. Not to mention, in spite of their admittedly rough edges, all three were truly brilliant wizards.
Just to test it out, Regulus activated his retrieval charm and all the nifflers were suddenly at his feet looking quite confused. Murmuring an apology, he quickly bent to check their pouches. Moving with vampiric speed so as to disrupt them as little as possible, he was done in nearly a flash.
Four only had the coin he'd given them thus far and the fifth had found a rusted pocket knife that, after a quick check, proved to have no magical attributes. With a shrug, he returned the dull blade to the niffler...in case it ran into anything nasty in the forest, he thought with a slight smile.
Everyone agreed to meet up in two days, same place and time, before apparating away to their respective homes. As he entered 12 Grimmauld with Kreacher, Kereston and Reynaldo, Regulus found his mind turning back to the odd interplay between Gellert, Millicent and Kereston.
"You and Millicent have a strange relationship with Grindelwald," he told the little blonde with a side long look in her direction.
Kereston chuckled, shrugging.
I suppose we're a bit like siblings at times."
Regulus glanced away, admittedly uncomfortable at the thought of sibling interactions.
"My interactions with my git of a brother were never normal so I am afraid I can't relate."
Sirius had always been such a prat, it never occurred to him to wonder how it was with others, though he knew most siblings did not dislike one another. Some were even close like the Lestrange brothers.
"I think Gellert will be five forever, though," Kereston said with a laugh and a bit of an exasperated eye roll.
"He's brilliant, but can be so immature at times."
Her eyes softened.
"He's a good person, though and fiercely loyal."
Regulus nodded, mind returning to his earlier thoughts of family loyalty.
"That, I can always appreciate."
When everyone reconvened in the forest two evenings later, Regulus used his charm on the coins to summon the nifflers. He felt an eager thrill as he carefully searched each pouch, because there was a distinct possibility that one would hold the actual Resurrection Stone. A few had found rather pretty shiny pebbles, one pink and one green and even a black one, but Albus confirmed what Regulus already knew. None were the Resurrection Stone or even a magical stone at all.
"They are picking up stones, though, so given enough time, they'll find it," Bellatrix assured.
"Should we give it longer before we check again," Mag asked.
"Every two days seems reasonable, and it doesn't take long to meet here and check," Albus said thoughtfully, and everyone nodded in agreement.
"Right. And the sooner we meet up again, the sooner we hear how it goes with Regulus and Kreacher meeting the Necromancer," Rodolphus said.
"I'm a bit curious as to who her father is."
"That's tonight, right, Regi," Bellatrix asked.
Regulus sighed and silently debated on the point of asking her yet again not to call him Regi.
"Well," she prodded.
"Yes, we meet her tonight, Bella."
"Well then we won't keep you. Let us know how it goes two days from now, and good luck."
With that the three Lestranges apparated away without another word.
"Oh I shall miss them so," Severus drawled sarcastically.
"They're," Regulus began and Severus held up a hand to stop him.
"Yes, yes, your family and you are very attached to them, but other than you, they were never good at making friends with anyone but one another which is fine."
He shrugged.
"I never set any popularity goals either, so I don't hold that against them."
Regulus nodded. He believed Severus and the Lestranges may have been friendlier but for the fact Severus wasn't a pure blood. That and there was always a bit of competition in the Death Eater ranks which never led to close friendships if you weren't already friendly going in.
Severus's age gap with the Lestranges meant they'd never met until Snape became a Death Eater. Bellatrix had never truly trusted him and as Snape had always played double agent for Dumbledore, she'd been right. All of them had been wrong about nearly everything else, though, Regulus thought with a despondent sigh. If only their instincts hadn't allowed Voldemort to charm them into thinking he was the greatest thing ever, the lives of the Black and Lestrange families would've been entirely different.
"If there is nothing else to discuss, we shall see everyone in two more days," Regulus said.
The Lestranges had left abruptly, but their business was done, and there was no reason to hang about the forest, so he was ready to follow in their lead. They still had a few hours before they were to meet up with the Necromancer at Kings Cross, but having time to ready themselves was always a good thing.
Albus nodded.
"Yes it seems there is nothing else to be done at present. In two more days, then."
With a cheerful wave, he apparated away with Severus and Mag, presumably back to Durmstrang and everyone else departed as well.
"Apparating makes me belch," Reynaldo complained after letting out a long belch as the four of them headed into the manor.
"You can stay home next time if you like," Kereston offered sympathetically.
"Can't," the spider objected.
"If you lot run into trouble out there, there won't be anyone about to eat it."
"Kreacher supposes Reynaldo could certainly eat any trouble we may encounter," the elf agreed with a chuckle.
"I prefer cereal, but I'll eat trouble for my friends," Reynaldo said.
Idly Regulus wondered what the other Acromantulas would think if someone simply offered them a giant bowl of cereal if encountering them in the forest. Somehow he doubted it would go over well. Reynaldo was most definitely one of a kind, and Regulus was glad to have him about.
"Well thank you," Kereston said, bending to give the spider a quick hug, pressing her face into his furry body. For his part, Reynaldo squirmed in delight, making a small chittering sound as he patted Kereston's long blonde curls with a foreleg.
"How are you two going to find your necromancer at the train station," Kereston asked, straightening to peer curiously at Kreacher and Regulus.
"I thought to make a magical sign in the air with my wand," Regulus said.
"You know with a writing charm. I'll use a lumos layering charm over that to light up the letters that spell out her name."
"Master Regulus is brilliant," Kreacher murmured, nodding in approval.
"It is a good idea," Kereston said.
"It will be attention getting, but if she's not trying to hide her presence, that shouldn't matter."
"I considered that," Regulus said, nodding.
"But she made no mention of her visit being a secret so I should think she won't mind. She should assume we'd need a bit of help locating her. She didn't exactly send along a photo with her note."
He chuckled.
"Well good luck," Kereston said.
"I can't wait to hear how it goes, but unfortunately that won't be until tomorrow, for I shall be in bed by the time the two of you head off to King's Cross."
She lifted a small hand to cover a yawn as if the very thought of bed was already making her sleepy. As the hour was growing late, Regulus assumed it was.
"That's the drawback of working a day job at the Ministry, but some day hopefully it shall all be worth it," she said.
"Kreacher is sure it will," the elf said, smiling encouragingly at his friend.
Regulus nodded. At least Kereston had goals, and those were things he couldn't seem to find for himself.
"Thank you both for the encouragement," she said with a light chuckle as she ducked her head of blonde curls.
"May I let none of us down. And for now, I'd better be getting up to bed."
She waved as she headed for the stairs, Reynaldo scampering after.
"Good luck," she called and the spider waved a foreleg and echoed the sentiment in his small raspy voice.
"Yes, good luck!"
"Thank you both and good night," Regulus said as Kereston turned and bent to scoop the spider into her arms so he'd not have to struggle to manage the stairs.
"Yes," Kreacher added.
"Sleep well."
He smiled fondly after the little blonde as she vanished up the night darkened staircase.
"Kereston is a very good friend to Kreacher. He is very fond of her."
He turned his smile on Regulus, the look becoming mildly bemused.
"Kreacher supposes he never truly expected to have a friend other than Master Regulus," he admitted.
"But Kereston was a welcome if unexpected surprise."
"I suppose I can share your friendship, as I have all your affections," Regulus said, bending to draw Kreacher into his arms for a kiss.
Kreacher murmured something inarticulate against his mouth, twining his fingers through Regulus's hair to pull his face even closer. The two clung together there in the front hall for several delicious seconds before reluctantly parting. They couldn't afford to become too distracted, as if they did, they were quite likely to be late for their meeting with the Necromancer.