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A/N: This chapter includes Regulus. I know that J.K Rowling had the events of Regulus' death happen maybe around a year before Voldemort went to kill the Potters; I can't remember the date exactly. This is my fanfiction and so I am having the events leading to his death happen a day after the Potters went into hiding. Enjoy! :D
Chapter 5:
Eighteen year old Regulus Arcturus Black sat in his neatly arranged and dirt-free room in Grimmauld place, thinking about his past choices and mistakes and what he has to do.
He remembered how naïve he was during his youth, and how eager he was in taking the Dark Mark, serving the Dark Lord Voldemort, preaching his parent's beliefs of blood purity and the Dark Lord's plans for the future and rewarding his faithful followers with all the power in the world and becoming equals in his new rule.
Yes, when Regulus thought about his greatest mistake in life, it was the moment he stood in front of the Dark Lord and took the Dark Mark.
Regulus lifted his sleeve and stared at the gruesome abomination that he allowed to be carved permanently into his flawless pale skin.
How he wished he listened more to his older brother of two years, Sirius Orion Black, instead of his crazy mother Walburga and deranged cousin Bellatrix. Regulus was shocked to his core when Bellatrix and her husband Rodolphus Lestrange announced of their upcoming pregnancy; he didn't think that Bella had a maternal bone in her body or the patience for it.
Regulus clearly remembered how his unyielding faith in the Dark Lord and his empty promises of power and respect all came crashing down a year ago.
Regulus was after all a very curious and studious boy; he still remembered how much he argued with the Sorting Hat, who wanted to place him in Ravenclaw, but his fear of not following in the footsteps of all the Blacks except for his brother, pushed him into arguing to be sorted into Slytherin. Naturally, with the amount of curiosity residing in Regulus and the thirst for knowledge, he started looking into the Dark Lord's past and after six months of fruitful and tiring research, he hit gold.
It turned out, that the Dark Lord wasn't even a Pureblood, as he would have liked all of magical Britain and his Death Eaters to believe.
His talk of pureblood supremacy was a complete and utter farce.
Lord Voldemort was an anagram, cleverly crafted from his true name: Tom Marvolo Riddle. The Dark Lord was the son of a muggle and a squib mother from the family of Gaunt who were obsessed with keeping their blood pure to the point of incest between siblings, which ended up being a disgrace to all purebloods as they ended up living in squalor in a dingy little hut.
While searching for as much information that he could about the Dark Lord, Regulus noticed that the Dark Lord's face was never changing and when compared to the young Tom Riddle from his picture at Hogwarts, the only difference was his eye color. While Tom had light green eyes, the Dark Lord's eye was of the deepest and murkiest red; this struck Regulus as unnatural, after all the Dark Lord wasn't a metamorphmagus.
Regulus also remembered the amount of time the Dark Lord boasted about how he had gone further than anybody to the path of immortality and of how he had many securities tying him to the world. As a proud member of the Black family, Regulus was naturally versed in dark magic, blood magic, vile magic and even spells and rituals unknown to many witches and wizards throughout the world.
Orion and Walburga Black taught their two sons Sirius Orion Black and Regulus Arcturus Black all they knew about dark and blood magic, rituals and potions during their youth, and before entering Hogwarts, they made sure that their two sons managed to read each and every single one of the books that were lying about in the Black Library. Even though his brother was in the light side and disapproved of all things dark magic, Sirius was well-versed in it but kept it locked away except in his moments of need during auror duty.
The answer revealed itself to him one day and Regulus felt bile rising in his throat as he read the one word: Horcruxes. The nature and concept of Horcruxes were so terrifying that it was kept secret from, most of the wizarding world, except for the vast Black library.
A Horcrux was one of the darkest arts in existence that even his cousin Bellatrix wouldn't dare to attempt, even for the Dark Lord, as it involved the splitting of one's soul. Knowing the Dark Lord, Regulus was sure that his goal would be to create seven as it is the most powerful magical number.
After finding out this information, Regulus realized that he was following an abomination and he has regretted his initiation to becoming a Death Eater ever since.
With the information that the Dark Lord couldn't be killed with his Horcruxes hidden and scattered all over the world, Regulus made it his priority to destroy them since he couldn't defect. One cannot escape being a Death Eater, it was either servitude until death or risk defecting and be killed, and here lay Regulus' conundrum.
Regulus didn't want to put his mother and brother, who he found out through the grapevine was engaged to the Heiress of the Warrens in danger. Regulus knew that if he went to his older brother for help, that Sirius would drop everything to help his little brother, even though they hadn't spoken for six year and was a known Death Eater. So, Regulus shouldered this huge burden on his shoulders alone.
Regulus recalled how he how found out about one of the Horcruxes due to his faithful elf Kreacher.
A few months ago, the Dark Lord required an elf and Regulus, wanting to be on the Lord's good side in order to gather more information, offered him Kreacher. He ordered for Kreacher to come back once done with the Dark Lord's request and after several hours of waiting, his elf popped into his room looking ragged and worse for wear. Kreacher was shivering and sick and after Regulus took care of him and brought him back to health, he ordered Kreacher to tell him everything that occurred.
Regulus clenched his fists at the fact that the Dark Lord left his beloved elf to die in his childhood cave without a worry in the world. The Dark Lord was a monster, throwing away Kreacher like garbage once he was of no use. But then again, he was astounded by the Dark Lord's arrogance in thinking that he was superior to all creatures. The Dark Lord would never understand that magical creatures have their own sets of powers and brand of magic, and couldn't fathom the fact that Kreacher had his own ways of getting out of the sticky situation he was left in.
Regulus understood though that the Dark Lord wanted no survivors, he didn't want anyone knowing what he carefully placed in that cave and that is why his arrogance shall lead to his destruction.
Regulus sighed as he carded his hands through his hair and he stood up to face the mirror.
Regulus Black was a very handsome man with his aristocratic looks; he looked like the exact replica of his brother except for the fact that he was thinner, smaller and with turquoise eyes instead of his brother's stormy and expressive grey.
It was time.
"Kreacher!" Regulus yelled.
Kreacher popped in front of his master, "Master Regulus?"
Regulus knelt in front of the last person he would ever see and said in a soft, yet demanding tone, "I want you to take me to the cave the Dark Lord took you to."
Kreacher nodded frantically, eager to please his master and do his bidding.
He grabbed Regulus' hand and popped him directly in front of the cave.
Regulus placed a few drops of blood at the entrance just like Kreacher had instructed him, and then upon entrance into the cave, he stretched his magic and pulled as a boat appeared from amidst the murky water. As they set sail to the tiny island at the far end, Regulus looked at his surroundings, finding it to be a dark, gloomy and depressing cave.
Once they landed at the edge of the island, Regulus and Kreacher hopped out and stood in front of the basin which was glowing an emerald green hue. Regulus conjured up a silver goblet and Kreacher lifted his hand expectedly to take it.
Regulus shook his head and knelt down to Kreacher's height. "No Kreacher, I am going to be the one to drink the potion," Kreacher shook his head desperately, but before he could speak, Regulus lifted a hand up, effectively stopping him from arguing with him. He put his hand into one of his pockets and took out a golden locket the size of a chicken egg, with the letter S; it was a replicate of the locket that Kreacher had described to him that the Dark Lord placed inside the basin.
"I want you to take this locket Kreacher, and once I am done drinking the entire potion, I want you to replace the real one with the fake one in your hand. You are then to," Regulus choked a bit, desperately trying not to tear up, especially at the solemn and desperate face Kreacher was giving him, as he silently and frantically shook his head, "you are then to go back to Grimmauld place and destroy the real locket."
"Master –" Kreacher pleaded.
"This is an order Kreacher," said Regulus in a strict yet fond voice, filled with kindness he had always reserved for the elf that took care of him during his childhood and adolescent.
Regulus knew that he could leave with Kreacher and the real locket and live to fight a new day, but Regulus could not stomach anymore muggle and Muggleborn killing, Regulus was not about to join the mass manipulating fool Dumbledore who changed so much since his first year, and spy for the Dark Lord. Regulus wasn't about to place his faith in staying out of Azkaban in Dumbledore. Leaving with Kreacher would lead to imprisonment or death anyways and he was here to atone for all the mistakes he had made.
From Kreacher's description, he knew the potion to be the Drink of Despair. The Drink of Despair induces fear, delirium, intense stomach pain and extreme thirst in the drinker. It was a very difficult potion to make, passing NEWT level and so he knew that Severus was the one who had made it for the Dark Lord for the purpose of hiding one of his Horcruxes.
Regulus dipped the silver goblet into the basin and filled it up with a good amount of the potion.
Ignoring Kreacher's muffled sobs, Regulus spoke for the last time, "You are to tell nobody what happened to me, understood?" Kreacher hugged Regulus tightly around his knee and nodded his head in submission; there was nothing he could do as his master forbade him from trying to save him.
"You are a great elf Kreacher. Do me one last favor, please treat Sirius and his family well for me," Regulus said softly and with one last smile, he chugged the potion in one huge gulp.
His stomach started churning and he felt a few painful stabs, but he didn't pause as he immediately dipped the goblet into the basin and drank. Four more times he repeated his actions before he started hallucinating and yelling. He started to recall his initiation and his arguments with his brother.
Kreacher hated himself for doing this, but his master ordered him to, and so he kept refilling the goblet and forcing the cursed potion into his master's mouth, ignoring his pleading not to.
Regulus started remembering the last time his brother spoke to him, which was coincidentally after he took his mark. He recalled the horrible things he said to Sirius and the last thing he saw was the look of extreme disgust and contempt on Sirius' face when he realized that his little brother was a Death Eater.
Regulus suddenly felt thirsty as he slumped down the cave floor and dragged himself to the lake, desperate for a few drops of water.
Kreacher switched the lockets and saw as his kind and brave master was dragged away by the inferi, and pulled down into the depths of the murky water. Kreacher stared at the empty cave for a minute with a horrified expression etched on his old and wrinkly face before apparating back to Grimmauld place. He went into his tiny cupboard, hid the locket under the sheets and sobbed his heart out at the loss of his master.
Regulus' tried to escape from the clutches of the inferi, before remembering that he was supposed to die as there was no other way.
His last thought was of his brother Sirius, how he hoped he would be missed by him and that he would have a wonderful life with Warren, before everything went dark.
***THE FORBIDDEN POTTER***
Hela Lokidottir sat on her throne as she jammed her head up and down with the beat of the song she was listening through her earphones.
Unlike the Asgardians, Hela loved Midgardian technology and found them to be fascinating and extremely enjoyable.
On her plasma TV, there was Gilmore Girls playing while two of her favorite demons were laughing at something Rory did. Hela enjoyed the immortal life her grandfather King Odin sent her to as Goddess of Death and Queen and ruler of Niflheim, but the only thing she hated was how little she could see her father Loki Odinson Prince of Asgard and her brothers Fenrir, Jormungand and Sleipnir.
But right now Hela was waiting for the soul her future Mistress wanted her to save.
Just as she was getting a tad bit impatient, a figure of a man appeared in front of her looking healthy yet a bit pale and dry as opposed to the horrible death he had suffered through while he was drowning in that inferi infested lake.
Hela shuddered at that.
Regulus looked around slowly as he inspected the place he was in. He saw two men with runes etched on their faces and yellowing teeth laughing at a muggle contraption in the form of a box with moving pictures, and in front of him stood a figure dressed in a hooded black cloak that covered its face, yet he could see clearly the muggle fabric he knew to be a jeans miniskirt and green t-shirt that told him that the person was female.
Slowly the female let down her hood so that he could see her face clearly.
She looked to be eighteen years old, but what was so odd about her appearance, was that one half of her was extremely beautiful with jet black hair, a bright green eye and healthy smooth skin, yet the other half of her body was decayed with a bit of skeleton showing, some rotten flesh and the other eye was empty showing a deep black hole where the eye should have been. The other side of her lips showed the deep gorges of teeth which should have been covered with skin. Also, the flesh of her nose was a bit gone, leaving the boy tip visible.
"Crokun, Gunju, turn the TV off and leave us be," demanded the female
The two men bowed down and croaked, "Yes my Lady," before turning the box contraption off and retreating, the wide and tall golden ornate doors closing behind them.
The lady turned to face him and smiled brightly. "Hello Regulus Arcturus Black, my name is Hela Lokidottir, but you can call me Hela. I am the Goddess of Death and Queen and ruler of this realm, Niflheim."
Regulus stared at her dumbstruck. He was under the impression that this realm and by extension, herself, was all a myth. He cleared his throat and said, "So you are to send me to the afterlife then?"
Hela smirked and vaguely said, "Yes, and no."
"What do you mean? I died," said Regulus in confusion.
"Yes, you did, but as I am the Goddess of Death, it is up to me and someone of higher importance whether to send you off into the afterlife and my future Mistress – who is the one of higher importance that I spoke of, has asked me to send you back to the land of the living," said Hela, a smirk still plastered on her face. Hela was obviously enjoying Regulus' confusion.
"I d-d-don't understand my Lady, what do you mean by Mistress?" asked Regulus.
Hela offered him a seat and said, "You see young one, I am Death and I answer to no one but my Mistress, who so happens to be the Mistress of Death. In the future, she spoke to me, asking me to save you when you enter my realm. My Mistress is very invested in seeing you alive as you mean a great deal to her somehow."
"Who is your Mistress?" asked Regulus, his cursed curiosity getting the best of him despite the situation he was in.
"You may know of her, but you have never met. My Mistress is still a youngling so she never knew you, but apparently in the future she knows of you and has made it my utter priority to not let you move on," said Hela brightly, before she suddenly turned serious, her one eye piercing him. "Now, I have come to the conclusion that you went to that cave with every intention of dying. You are stupid you know? You have family and loved ones and if you just went to them with your problems, you could have survived and lived happily with them," Hela put a hand up, cutting him off from interrupting her. "You don't want anyone in danger I understand, yet magical Britain is already in danger. Your older brother, Sirius is an auror; he faces Death Eaters nearly every single day and already is in Voldemort's shit list."
The way Hela spat the Dark Lord's name showed Regulus that she wasn't a great fan of his and he couldn't help but chuckle. "You're not a fan of the Dark Lord, are you?"
"No," said Hela in an icy tone, causing the temperature in the room to lower drastically. "That bastard split his fucking soul in his attempt to avoid me! I collect souls, so as you can see, Voldemort evading death has greatly pissed me off. Though, I applaud your actions in trying to retrieve one part of it, and you have my sincerest gratitude for trying to destroy it."
Regulus blushed, "Your welcome, my Lady."
Hela looked at him amused before she said, "Now back to business Regulus. My Mistress has offered you a choice, but it is up to you; either I send your soul on to Valhalla, which is where the heroes and brave of heart dwells after death or you can go back to Midgard. Do not misunderstand me though; you will not be going back to magical Britain, my Mistress has another place in mind for you and if you desire to go back then, know that you shall one day be reunited with your family. So what say you?"
Regulus was stumped, whoever this Mistress of Death was, she was clearly someone of importance to him in the future. He decided to die because he saw no escape from his life of servitude, and it was the only way of redeeming himself for his mistakes and past sins, but this Mistress of Death and Hela were offering him another way out, a way where he would one day be reunited with his family – with Sirius.
Regulus knew what his answer would be and so he looked at Hela and said with conviction, "I accept your offer. I want to go back."
Hela flashed him a bright smile, showing pearly white teeth, "I was hoping for you to choose that option. Now when you're back in Midgard there shall be someone waiting for you to give you instructions." Hela strode up slowly to Regulus, motioning for him to get up and said, "This may be a tad bit uncomfortable," and before Regulus could say another word, Hela placed both hands over his chest and pushed hard, causing him to fall backwards through thin air and with a flash of bright white light, Regulus Black disappeared from Niflheim.
Hela giggled as she went back to sit on her throne, putting her earphones back into her ear, she said to herself, "I like him. Till we meet again, Regulus Arcturus Black."
***THE FORGOTTEN POTTER***
Regulus Black staggered as he tried to keep his balance, before he finally succeeded in standing straight on his own two feet and looked at his surroundings. He gaped as he found himself upon a lavishly decorated hall with crystal chandeliers and antique paintings and furniture.
Each step made by Regulus echoed loudly in the seemingly empty manor and he walked stealthily until he reached what looked to be the drawing room.
He heard the musical thrill of a bird, one that sounded suspiciously like a phoenix. Regulus froze thinking that the owners of this house would think he barged in uninvited and only wizards and witches of pure heart or from the light has a phoenix as a familiar.
Where in god's name did Lady Hela drop me?
Regulus felt a presence behind him and quickly turned around, only to drop his wand and gape at the magnificent sight in front of him.
It was a phoenix! Not just any phoenix, and not any phoenix, but a Daemonion phoenix.
A Daemonion phoenix was said to be a myth, tales spoken to frighten children of its existence. It was said that a Daemonion phoenix was last sighted by Merlin himself, but that was a myth too; and here stood Regulus Black staring a myth right in the face.
The phoenix was fully black, with a grey outline and hues of silver and gold surrounding it causing a glow, and shadows emanating its contours as if it were a spirit or a fog. Its eyes were bright silver, emanating power and death, as if staring right at his soul, but Regulus for the life of him, couldn't break eye contact.
It was said that the Daemonion phoenix traveled amongst spirits and demons; it could only be the familiar of one that was truly evil and one that carries too much darkness. But that was a myth as well, since Merlin was one of the greatest and pure wizards to have ever walked on earth. Also, a phoenix was a creature of hope, light and good and so therein laid the contradiction.
The Daemonion phoenix trilled a musical note again before it transformed slowly in slow motion, and right before his eyes into a beautiful, regal-looking woman.
She had black hair resembling her color in phoenix form, with gold highlights, and silver eyes that so resembled its phoenix form, and a round face with a sharp aquiline nose. She was dressed in black robes that looked like they were made of the shadows themselves. The Lady raised an eyebrow seemingly amused at the expression on Regulus' face, giving him a soft, friendly smile, showing that she bore him no harm. "Hello, Regulus Arcturus Black."
When Regulus was still unable to form a word or any thoughts, a tinkling laugh that sounded like her phoenix thrill, escaped through her silver lips as she said, "Come now, where is that curiosity I have heard so much about?"
Regulus bent down in order that he could pick up his wand and said slowly, "Who-who are you? How is this possible, you're a Daemonion phoenix, it is said to be nothing but a myth."
"Yes, just like Lady Hela was supposed to be a myth, hmm?" stumping Regulus further. "And I suppose it is also said that a phoenix, which is known to be a creature of the light, yet I travel amongst spirits and demons which is anything but light," scoffed the Lady. "You may call me Divus. It is the name my Mistress christened me with; ironically it means god, deity and spirit in Latin."
"Yes, very, uh, very ironic – Divus?" said Regulus unsure if he could call such a highly powerful and regarded creature by her given name by someone equally as powerful. However, Divus nodded approvingly. "Your Mistress?"
"Another myth I'm sure you heard of – The Phoenix Queen," Divus said bluntly and was rewarded with Regulus almost dropping his wand again due to his second, or was it his third shock of the day?
"I must be hallucinating. First I die, only to be saved by Hela who I thought was a myth, in a realm where I was sure was a myth. Now I see a Daemonion phoenix that has a Mistress which is the famous myth of all myths, The Phoenix Queen," Regulus ranted breathlessly as Divus watched, amused by his theatrics. Regulus looked up sharply and said, "Let me guess, the Mistress of Death is the Phoenix Queen as well… am I correct?"
"You assumed correctly, bravo Mr. Black," Divus squealed, clapped her hands vigorously like a child would do. "My Queen was right; you are quite the smart one."
"Lady Hela told me that we've never met," Regulus said blandly.
"She's obviously heard a lot about you young one, otherwise she wouldn't have went through all of this trouble to save your soul," said Divus sarcastically. "Now onto business dear, you obviously cannot return to Britain at the current moment. You are in New York City, America and there is a lovely wizarding district nearby that goes by the name, Liberty Lane, as I'm sure you know?" Regulus nodded. "My Queen has set aside funds for you in the American branch of Gringotts under your name, so there is no need for aliases, and the money shall last you more than a lifetime should you decide not to have a career. Also, you are cleared of all charges and regarded as an innocent citizen in America, however my Queen has placed a spell that makes it impossible for anyone to recognize you from your previous life so you are able to work in the American Ministry should you so desire."
Regulus slumped down into a royal blue armchair with gold linings, as he croaked weakly, "Why? Why would she do all this for someone like me? A murderer."
Divus smiled sadly at him, "You don't deserve death my dear, you were misguided at such a young age and you picked the easiest way out. My Queen has no desire for you to rot in that inferi infested lake. Let me continue and you may ask any questions you have afterwards."
Regulus nodded and sat up straight.
"This manor belongs to you – believe me, my Queen has many riches and no shortage of money, all that she has done for you has not even made a tiny amount of dent in her bank account. That wonderful and quite informative tapestry sitting in Grimmauld place that shows how the family fares; under your name, the date of death clearly states that you have died today. You are still dead in magical Britain; the only records that says you are still alive and kicking as the yanks say, is with the goblins, and the goblins have sworn a goblin oath with my Queen to not let the information be passed on to anyone, even the Lord Black, until she so deems it fit to be. That is all I have to say my dear, speak if you wish."
"How did your Queen succeed in doing all this?" asked Regulus curiously. "Goblins do not take a goblin oath lightly, they despise all wizarding folk."
Divus smirked as if she knew something he didn't. "My Queen said that you would inevitably ask me this. She is The Phoenix Queen and the Mistress of Death, but she is also much more, oh so much more. My Queen has many other titles and plenty other gifts that I cannot inform you off at the current time. Of one of the gifts she has inherited, was the gift of time – with no use of gadgets and gizmos such as a time turner. It runs through her veins just like magic courses through yours, and so after speaking with Lady Hela, she passed the information to her past self and then sent me through a portal of time to you."
"Will I ever meet her? I must express to her my sincerest gratitude," said Regulus sincerely, his eyes shone with so much gratitude as he spoke.
"You shall young one, but not for a long time. You have more than a decade before she will make her presence known to you since she is naught but a toddler right about now and has no idea what we are speaking of or her titles," Divus laughed, before her tone changed to one of betterment and disgust – such a contrast to her bubbly look and voice, "She is alone, scorned by her so-called family, being mistreated and abandoned. You may think she is evil because of my phoenix form, but do not misunderstand, after all, most myths are notorious at being incorrect. My Queen is dark with a pure heart; however she can have malicious and evil intents to some with equal intents, and sometimes the life of other mortals mean nothing to her."
Regulus nodded solemnly as he said, "I think I understand. I cannot wait to meet her then."
"And so you shall Regulus Arcturus Black. I shall be taking my leave, but let me leave you with one last message verbatim from my Queen," Divus said as she turned back to look at him abruptly and said in a serious tone, "Live life to its fullest, have fun, and never think of the magical war in Britain. Go out and start a life for yourself, get married and have many children, do not let your past affect your present or your future, for I have given you another chance at life and happiness."
Regulus, for the first time since resigning himself to death, smiled widely, thanking whatever deities for sending this angel who saved his life and said with conviction, "I will. I promise, I'm sure by the time she comes to visit me that I will be having quite a few children running around the manor."
Divus smiled approvingly, "Don't waste it; after all, second chances are hard to come by."
Suddenly Divus transformed back into her Daemonion phoenix form and with a last trill of music, flashed away in a huge orb of shadows.
Regulus Black looked around the house as he started to make plans of how to start the first day of his second life. He trudged up to the master suite, tucked himself in bed and slept. His dreams were filled with future jobs, a wife and children and the mysterious, faceless Mistress of Death and Phoenix Queen that saved his life, giving him the second chance he never thought he deserved.
Over in Grimmauld place, Walburga Black called out for her favorite son Regulus.
After finishing her breakfast, she called for Regulus again as she strode into the drawing room, and just as she was about to ask Kreacher where her youngest son was, she saw the tapestry and screeched so loudly that the people on the street would have been able to hear if it wasn't for the magical wards protecting number 12.
Walburga Black keeled over on the floor and died immediately from a heart attack.
It was ironic that the biggest believer in pureblood supremacy died from a muggle's disease. The last thing Walburga Black saw before her untimely death was the image of her handsome son, underneath it in cursive writing was date of death: 25/11/92.
A/N: Did anyone see this coming? I just couldn't bear to kill off Regulus as well. He was such a misunderstood character, and I hated the fact that in order to redeem himself, he had to die.