The Search Is Over,
Chapter 125, Love is Kinda Crazy With A Spooky Little Boy Like You
Over the next few days, Regulus worked on a set list for the Halloween performance at Durmstrang. When his list was complete, he sent Mag a copy so she could familiarize herself with each in case there were any she didn't know.
He requested a list from her of all the songs she wished to add so that he could do the same. The songs he chose were geared toward the holiday itself, but one in particular, though most definitely a suitable song for Halloween, was chosen as a surprise for Kreacher. Nosferatu by Blue Oyster Cult was a simple yet haunting song, and as Kereston compared Kreacher to the look of that particular vampire, Regulus hoped he'd be flattered.
The other songs he chose were, Spooky by Classics IV, Ghost of John, Night of the Vampire By Roky Erickson, Scream by the Misfits, Play That Scary Music, by Blue Mountain, Spooky Scary Skeletons by Andrew Gold, Thriller by Michael Jackson, and of course Bedlam Boys. When he sent Mag the list she only added one song, saying that he'd covered all the good ones otherwise. It was one he was unfamiliar with, Behind the Mask, by Fleetwood Mac. As he always enjoyed the group, he was eager to give it a listen, so picked up the record while out hunting the very next evening.
For his part, Kreacher got to work right away on the redecorating of 12 Grimmauld. As promised, Kereston's mum sent over a literal ton of catalogs from which Kreacher found everything he wanted to Regulus's surprise. The items arrived no later than three days after the order for them was placed, which was admittedly impressive. Kreacher kept the old Gothic flair of the place, but made it more elaborate. He replaced old ebony chairs with near thrones composed of crouching gargoyles. The heavy antique tables and bookshelves were moved into the attic and replaced with more ornate versions covered in old scroll work. He left the family portraits in their original frames as they were, and of course the troll foot umbrella stand.
To the joy of both Kreacher and Regulus, one of the catalogs that Kereston's mum sent over also offered rare books. They added many exciting new tomes to their library on various topics from ancient lost lore of the Greek Gods to a guide to magical cities buried by earthquakes. According to the book jacket, wizards once had many more places to live where they safely hid away from Muggles until too much use of powerful magic in one area caused the earth to protest.
Regulus ordered five copies of that particular book, as it was never too early to begin holiday shopping. The Westcravens, Severus and Mag, Blaise and Gellert as well as Millicent and Wolfgang would all b fascinated by the prospect of lost wizarding cities.
Who knew, perhaps they could all go on a vacation together to attempt hunting some of the most interesting cities down. If they could manage to apparate some ancient magical items out from under buried rubble, that would be something else indeed! Such a prospect was definitely one that Regulus and Kreacher both found thrilling!
"Perhaps you, Blaise and Gellert can construct some sort of magical dousing rod," Regulus suggested.
"We could pass it over all the ruins we can get to to see if any magical artifacts survived."
Kreacher's face broke into an eager smile as he excitedly threw his arms around Regulus.
"Brilliant Master Regulus! Kreacher shall speak to Blaise and Gellert about it right away...Only he can't explain why until they receive their copy of the book for Christmas," he added, expression going crestfallen.
"It's still a good idea even if they don't know why, though," Regulus said.
"It will make even more sense once they receive the book, but all the same, I think they'd find it a worthy project."
"Very well," Kreacher said, nodding.
"He shall write them about it right now and see when they'd like to get together and begin working on it. The concept is rather complicated, but Kreacher believes we can sort it out."
"Of course you can," Regulus said, giving him an encouraging smile.
"I really like the way both of you believe one another can do anything," Kereston said from the doorway.
"It's the most touching sweet thing ever."
She gave them both a fond smile and Kreacher waved her over.
"Kreacher has ordered so many things already, even books," he enthused.
"I'm glad you're finding everything you want in the catalogs," Kereston said.
"They are very convenient."
They sat in the parlor with open catalogs spread across most of the flat surfaces.
"Have the two of you put any thought yet into what you'll wear to the Halloween dance at Durmstrang," Kereston asked.
"Like are you going to go in costume?"
Kreacher and Regulus exchanged a look.
"No. We haven't considered it. I'd planned to get myself some Bardic robes, hopefully with Mag's assistance on the matter for my first performance, but as it will be on Halloween, perhaps something more fitting is in order," Regulus said.
"And if I dress for the occasion, I certainly shan't do it alone," he told Kreacher.
Kreacher shrugged.
"Very well. Kreacher will wear whatever Master Regulus likes. Perhaps we could match?"
Regulus nodded.
"That could be nice."
He looked at Kereston.
"Any suggestions? Dressing as stereotypical vampires would feel too ridiculous, and ghosts just seem too...basic."
Kereston frowned thoughtfully.
"Hm. Kreacher could go as Dracula and you as Renfield, if you want to be a set. I know you said no stereotypical vampires, but those are classic, and Renfield isn't a vampire."
"Yes but will any of the students at Durmstrang even know who we are," Kreacher asked doubtfully.
Kereston shrugged.
"There's a thought. Well you could both go as the phantom of the opera. The two of you would look dashing in matching half masks!"
Regulus chuckled.
"That could work."
He looked to Kreacher.
"What do you think?"
Kreacher nodded.
"Kreacher is willing. He believes that he and Master Regulus shall make dashing phantoms indeed."
"Brilliant," Kereston said happily.
"I could stop by that costume shop in Knockturn after work tomorrow and grab the costumes for you. If for some reason they aren't in stock, the shop keeper shall have time to order them."
Regulus gave her an appreciative smile.
"If it's no trouble."
"Of course not. That's why I'm here. To help out where I can."
Kreacher went to give Kereston a hug before returning his focus to the catalogs once more. He still had lots of things to order, after all. He was planning on carpeting a few of the rooms in a thick dark red and installing several new chandeliers to brighten the place up. He'd found some in constellation shapes that suited the manor perfectly, and one that had a skull motif for a darker edge.
"You truly have a talent for decorating," Regulus complimented as Kreacher sent off his last catalog order of the evening.
"Does Master Regulus truly believe so," Kreacher asked, turning to Regulus with a wide liquid gaze that nearly made his stomach drop.
"Of course I do," he said honestly.
"It's just one more thing to add to the list of achievements at which you excel."
Kreacher blushed.
"Master Regulus is of course just as brilliant," he insisted.
"If you say so," Regulus murmured, drawing Kreacher into his arms for a much needed kiss that quickly became heated.
In an instant they were in their bed chamber tugging desperately at one another's clothes.
"Love you," Regulus murmured against Kreacher's mouth.
"Always," Kreacher replied, trailing his lips down to Regulus's throat.
"Kreacher's Master Regulus for always."
Regulus shivered as he drew the elf closer.
"Oh yes."
In these moments, they were both entirely whole, and all was more than right with the world.
The next evening there was a note waiting for Kreacher. Mortis presented it as soon as the two rose from their darkened bed. It was a reply from Blaise and Gellert. Both were eager to work on a magic detecting dousing rod any time Kreacher was able to come to the shop. Kreacher wrote back at once to say they'd be there as soon as they had their evening meal, which would put things at a little after seven.
"I told you they'd like the idea," Regulus said with a grin.
Though he didn't enchant items himself, he enjoyed watching Kreacher and the others work and browsing the shop. It was always nice to visit with Gellert and Blaise as well, so he looked forward to the evening out. He and Kreacher hunted together, making short work of it so they could get to Enchanted Odds as fast as possible. Blaise and Gellert were having their own dinner of roast chicken and rice when the two arrived.
"I hope you don't mind us grabbing a bite before we get to work," Blaise said.
"We wanted to eat here so you wouldn't find an empty shop. That and it gives us longer to talk and such."
"Even if Bramble did get his underpants in a wad from having to bring our dinner here," Gellert smirked.
"Kreacher could've brought Blaise and Gellert some dinner. He cooks for Kereston, Reynaldo and Mortis anyway," the elf explained.
"Next time we'll keep that in mind, and thanks," Blaise said.
Kreacher grinned, nodding.
"Kreacher is always glad to help Bramble out when he is able."
"Thank you," Gellert said sincerely.
"A more or less happy Bramble means Blaise and I are less likely to be killed in our sleep."
Blaise chuckled, then turned to Kreacher.
"This idea you have for a dowsing rod to detect magic rather than water is positively brilliant," he said.
"I was thinking the metal we use to craft it should be silver rather than copper, gold or steel," Gellert said.
"If my instincts are wrong, however, we can try the others."
Kreacher and Blaise were agreeable so Gellert wrote Gringotts requesting several bars of silver be delivered to the shop.
"They're open late so we should have them within the hour," he said.
Regulus listened as the other three began discussing how they planned to go about enchanting a dousing rod to detect magic. Interestingly the process shared some things in common with a portkey and others with a magical alarm system.
As Gellert predicted, the bars of silver arrived in less than an hour. Blaise asked Kreacher to melt the bars into one solid rod, saying he'd make a cleaner smoother job of it. Regulus couldn't help shooting him a pleased smile for noticing his man's outstanding magical abilities. Of course Kreacher made short work of the task. In under three minutes the amount of bars Gellert had sent for had become three long smooth rods of gleaming silver nearly the length of Regulus's arm. Regulus watched as Blaise, Gellert, and Kreacher took turns laying enchantments on each rod.
It was nearly an hour and a half before Blaise finally stood, stretching languorously.
"Now we've only to try them out to see if they work," he said.
"If not, it's back to the grind, but we'll sort it eventually," Gellert said.
Blaise grinned.
"We always give ourselves the little pep talk just in case something doesn't work and we have to wrestle about with why," he explained to Regulus.
Regulus nodded in understanding. This was the first time he'd actually gotten to watch an entire session of the three working together. Before becoming a vampire, Kreacher enchanted items with Blaise and Gellert in the day when Regulus was sleeping. It had given him something to do while Regulus was unavailable as it were, but now Kreacher would have to work at night.
"We could go to Grimmauld and see if the rods pick up the magical items in our basement," Kreacher suggested.
Blaise nodded.
"Sounds good," he drawled.
"Meet you there, then."
He picked up one of the dowsing rods, and passed the other two to Gellert and Kreacher before everyone apparated to 12 Grimmauld.
Kreacher eagerly led the way into the kitchen. He was the first to extend his rod toward a spot in the center of the floor.
"This should be directly above some old family photo albums with anti-fade enchantments on them that Mistress Walburga stored in the basement years ago" he said.
"Kreacher believes there may also be some..."
The elf's words broke off abruptly when the rod jerked in his hand, its tip slamming hard into the old stone of the kitchen floor.
"We did it," he crowed, dancing a spontaneous jig as Blaise and Gellert eagerly rushed to his side to try their rods out as well. Both also met with equal success.
"Blaise and Gellert must stay for a celebratory drink," Kreacher said expansively.
"Besides, Kreacher is sure Kereston would love to see the both of you. He also wishes to show off the new furniture and such that he has recently acquired. He is redecorating."
Regulus smiled. It was nice to have more active socializing going on at 12 Grimmauld. It did much to cheer the heart and lift the spirits.