AUTHOR'S NOTE: Sorry for the long chapter, but there was a lot of information that I felt, belonged here.
Diagon/Knockturn Alley, around 1:30 pm, July 2 1979
"Shouldn't we first warn Sirius that we have captured his brother?" Lily asked.
"This man is a criminal. It is our civic duty that we turn men like him in. I'm sure Sirius would agree", James replied.
James Potter was right, Regulus thought. A man who joins the gang of a serial killer can only be thought of as a criminal. Nevertheless he couldn't get himself arrested. To much hung in the balance. Voldemort had a Horcrux at his disposal and only Regulus knew its location. Not that he wouldn't tell the Aurors, but what value would they attach to the words of a criminal. Besides, he didn't want to end up in Azkaban, even if he deserved it.
"You are right, love. But wouldn't Sirius want to have a word with him?" Lily asked.
"Sirius and Regulus haven't talked in years and I'm sure Sirius isn't in the mood to do so now. Besides, Sirius can visit him before he goes to trial", James remarked.
Lily's face turned grave and she shook her head.
"I don't think it's a good idea. I have heard rumours that Bartemius Crouch is sending Wizards straight to Azkaban now. Perhaps a Dementor will suck Regulus's soul out before Sirius can talk to him. We can't do that to Sirius, James", Lily said.
James nodded slowly and said: "Allright, we'll take him home. But we'll get someone from the Order there straight away to interrogate him".
Regulus couldn't believe his luck. He wouldn't go to Azkaban, at least not just yet. His cunning mind started thinking quickly and on moments like these he was happy to be a Slytherin. Even though his plan of destroying the Horcrux would have to be put on hold, he might not have to die after all. James Potter was going to bring someone from the Order of the Phoenix in to question him. It would be foolish to not use this opportunity to tell the Order about the Horcrux. He had always been reluctant to seek out the Order out of fear that they might not believe him, but now he had no choice but to go with the Potters.
James now turned his attention to Regulus and said: "Hand me your wand, or else..."
Regulus slowly moved his hand to his robes, grasped his wand by its tip and held it out in front of James. James looked at Regulus suspiciously as if he hadn't expected Regulus to surrender and then slowly took the wand from Regulus and put it in his own robes. James grabbed Regulus by his arm and they Apparated.
Diagon Alley slowly faded from sight and a small village appeared in front of him. James and Lily led him to a small house on the edge of town. The three of them strided through the hallway of the house and ascended the stairs. James opened the door to what appeared to be James and Lily's bedroom. Regulus and Lily followed him in. James produced magical ropes and managed to install Regulus onto the bed. Lily and James then left the room and Regulus heard the click of the door being locked.
Regulus spend the next half hour admiring the Potter bedroom. It wasn't big, but he guessed it suited their needs. Regulus then heard voices coming in his direction, followed by footsteps on the nearby stairs. As the voices came nearer he could hear the conversation.
"We have captured him this morning. James wanted to hand him over to the Aurors, but with the ruthless methods of Magical Law Enforcement I thought it best for the Order to examine him first", the voice of Lily said.
A man answered in a heavy, grumpy voice: "Yes, you are right. The Ministry has even given us permission to kill Dark Wizards now".
"You can't be serious", Lily replied with a shocked voice.
The man answered: "I assure you I am. Has Mr. Black revealed anything about You-Know-Who?"
James now entered the conversation: "He has said nothing yet. That's why we need your help. You have experience in interrogating Dark Wizards".
"I have, but such skills aren't highly valued by the Ministry these days. Three months ago Mr. Crouch passed a decree which gave us the authority to torture captives"", the man said.
"I won't tolerate anything like that in my house", James said.
The man replied: "Don't you worry, I don't like torture any more than you do. Dumbledore has been quite clear that the Order is not to use it".
The door was being unlocked and Regulus went to sit upright on the bed. The door opened and three people entered. Regulus recognised Lily and James, but not the man who accompanied them. He was covered with scars and his left eye socket didn't contain a normal eye, but an artificial eye which was spinning wildly. The man moved towards him and Regulus noticed he had a limp and used a cane to support himself. When the man stood in front of him he grabbed Regulus's face, pulled it towards him and examined it. Regulus became slightly unnerved when the artificial eye spun crazily and then gazed directly at him.
The man looked at him suspiciously before saying: "You are right, it's Regulus Black. The resemblance with his brother is impossible to miss. Let's take him to the living room to interrogate him".
James untied Regulus and Regulus followed Lily, James and the battered man to the living room. James beckoned Regulus to sit down in an arm chair. James sat down on the sofa. Before Regulus had noticed it, the man with the artificial eye had moved forward, drawn his wand and produced magical ropes to tie him up.
He then turned to James and bellowed: "Never leave a suspect unconstrained. Constant vigilance, Potter! Too many Order members have lost their lives because they were careless".
James and Lily were taken aback and James answered: "OK, Alastor. That point is taken, but you don't have to get all worked up about it. Besides, I have the boy's wand".
Alastor, as the man was apparently named, snorted, before Lily asked him: "Can I get you something to drink?"
Alastor shook his head, saying: "No thanks. You never know what's in it".
Lily's face grew sullen, failing to hide the disappointment of being so grossly distrusted by this Alastor. When she saw Regulus, she managed to put up a polite smile.
"Can I get you something to drink, Regulus?", Lily asked.
Regulus, who hadn't had anything to drink since having breakfast that morning, wanted to accept the offer, but Alastor yelled at Lily: "What do you think this is? A tea-party? We are dealing with a Dark Wizard here. For all we know, he may have killed someone. The last thing I want for my suspect is to become too comfortable, lest he won't tell us anything. Constant vigilance, Mrs. Potter!".
Lily was visibly shaken and James rose from the sofa and said: "Do you always get so tense when interrogating a suspect, Alastor? Whatever the reason, I don't want you to upset my wife, so please keep it civil".
Alastor replied: "I understand you don't want your wife upset, but I don't need to remind you that interrogations aren't meant to be civil. Besides, I know those Dark Wizards. They'll lie and scheme to stay out of jail, those Slytherins. You have to come down hard on them if you want to know the truth. Now, if you'll let me do my job?".
"Be my guest", James said while he sat down on the sofa again.
Even though Alastor had voiced his opposition to torture only minutes ago, Regulus wasn't so sure of that after he had heard his last words. Alastor limped towards him.
"My name is Alastor Moody, also known as 'Mad Eye' Moody for obvious reasons. I am an Auror at the Ministry of Magic, so you would be wise not to mess with me because I know every trick from the book. You are Regulus Black, right?", Alastor said.
Regulus replied: "My name is Regulus Arcturus Black".
"You are a Death Eater. How old are you and when did you join?", Moody asked.
"I am seventeen years old. Next week I will turn eighteen. I joined the Death Eaters little under a year ago".
"What is your task whilst serving with the Death Eaters?"
"I gather information about potential recruits at Hogwarts and deliver messages and items to other Death Eaters and associates of the Dark Lord", Regulus answered.
"So you are basically an errand boy?"
Regulus nodded.
"How many people have you killed?", Moody asked.
"None at all".
Moody almost choked on hearing Regulus's answer and asked:
"Do you want me to believe that a Death Eater with one whole year of service hasn't killed someone yet? I have captured many Dark Wizards before, Mr. Black, and they all tell me the same thing: killing your first Muggle is something of an initiation rite amongst Death Eaters. Tell me the truth: How many people have you killed?"
Regulus got frustrated and repeated: "Nobody. I haven't killed anyone".
"I am surprised You-Know-Who hasn't gotten rid of you yet because your 'career prospects' as a Death Eater are clearly limited. If you speak the truth, which I don't believe you are doing now", Moody said.
Before Regulus could respond to the allegation, an impatient Moody suddenly raised his voice and said: "I'll ask you again: How many people have you killed?"
The interrogation wasn't progressing well at all, Regulus thought. He had hoped that this would be an opportunity for him to prove his innocence and to help the Order, but this Moody asked too many questions and gave Regulus too little room to give his own account of the situation. That he didn't believe a word Regulus was saying didn't help either.
Regulus yelled at the top of his lungs: "I DIDN'T KILL ANYONE!" Regulus breathed heavily and took the time to calm down a bit before adding: "I only witnessed a killing".
"What killing?", Moody asked.
"The Thorntons, the parents of Anne Thornton. She's a Hufflepuff girl from my year at Hogwarts", Regulus answered.
"What happened?"
"Nine months ago I was added to a Death Squad to raid Muggle homes. New recruits are selected to join these squads to get used to killing and torturing. I was put under the supervision of Avery and Mulciber. We then traveled to the Muggle home of the Thorntons".
The memories of that night were returning to Regulus's mind as he spoke. The nausea of that night was also coming back.
"Continue", Moody commanded.
"The barking dog was killed when we approached the home. When we entered Anne's father walked towards us and Mulciber struck him down. Avery and Mulciber proceeded with torturing Anne's mother. She started screaming and..."
Tears had filled Regulus eyes while he had been speaking and he found it increasingly difficult to keep on speaking as the most horrible memory of that night came back to haunt him.
The eyes of the woman were fixed on his own. Tears fell from them as they pleaded.
The woman started begging, her words seemingly directed at him: "Please! Make them stop! Please!"
As she kept on wailing he felt the urge to intervene, but Mulciber and Avery were strong, and instead he turned his own eyes away from the woman's. A convenient way of abdicating responsibility. Avery raised his wand and said: "Avada Kedavra!". A green bolt of light passed from the wand to the woman and all life was extinguished from Mrs. Thornton. An end to her torture, but not as she had intended.
"Well, go on!", Moody asked harshly.
Regulus tried to keep talking, but instead found himself fighting the urge to vomit.
"That's enough, Alastor! Can't you see he's had enough of it", Lily interceded.
Moody objected: "He could be faking it."
"I don't think so, Alastor", James said.
Lily and James looked at him, their eyes revealing compassion, but also curiosity. They patiently waited for him to continue his story.
"She...she looked at me. Directly at me. Straight into my eyes. Then she begged me to stop...them...from harming her. I just stood there, frozen to the ground. All I did was avert my eyes. They killed her as if she were some kind of animal. I could have saved her but I did...nothing. I just let her die!, Regulus sobbed loudly.
Lily got up from the sofa, put an arm around Regulus's shoulder.
"What a horrible experience that must have been. But there was very little you could have done. It would have been two against one. The most important thing is that you are sorry", Lily said.
James, gobsmacked by what he had heard, drew his wand and untied Regulus.
"I think that was enough for one day. Don't you think, Alastor?", James said to Moody. Moody, unhappy that 'his' interrogation had been cut short by James, nodded curtly.
Regulus wanted nothing more than to agree with James, but he had to tell them about the Horcrux. Voldemort could be making more of them at this very moment.
"No, there is more", Regulus sighed.
"Oh my goodness, more?", Lily gasped. Regulus nodded.
"Three months later the Dark Lord gave me an assignment. He needed my house elf, Kreacher. He wanted something hidden. After what happened before I no longer trusted the Dark Lord and ordered Kreacher to return at all costs. Kreacher did return, but he barely made it", Regulus said.
"The Blacks have always been careful with their property", Moody remarked.
Regulus gaze rapidly shifted to Moody and he must have looked really angry, for it seemed Regulus detected a glimmer of fear in the old Auror's eyes.
"No matter what other wizards may think, Mr. Moody, Kreacher has always been and will always be family to me. House elves are capable of much more than being slaves. Kreacher is my friend", Regulus said.
"What did Voldemort do to Kreacher?", Lily asked.
"I wondered exactly the same thing when Kreacher got back. The Dark Lord had brought him to a cave and forced him to drink a vile potion. A poison of some sorts. I guess it makes the drinker extremely thirsty. Kreacher only returned to normal after he had drunk a lot of water. The potion had to protect the object the Dark Lord wanted to hide", Regulus said.
"What object?", Moody asked inquisitively.
"A locket, but after careful research I discovered it is much more than that."
"What do you mean?", asked Moody.
"I've discovered the locket is a Horcrux", Regulus informed them.
"A what?", James asked.
"Never heard of it and mind you, I've seen quite a lot of magic", Moody remarked.
Regulus was disappointed that nobody else seemed to know what a Horcrux was.
"What is a Horcrux?", Lily asked.
Regulus explained: "It is some kind of storage device. Dark Wizards can use it to store parts of their soul. If the body of the wizard is destroyed, the other part of the soul can be taken from the Horcrux and used to resurrect another body. It is a way for a wizard to become immortal".
"But that requires murder!", Lily exclaimed.
Regulus nodded.
"And you are saying You-Know-Who owns such a Hor- whatever its name is?", Moody asked.
"Horcrux", Regulus clarified.
"Yes, and is it operational?", Moody asked.
"I've done some research and it seems that a Horcrux is operational as soon as it's created. Everything, including living objects, can be turned into a Horcrux and things can become a Horcrux as soon as someone utters a spell after having murdered someone. I don't know the spell, but it seems the Dark Lord turned the locket into a Horcrux. I don't know whether there are more Horcruxes, but I assume the one I've discovered is fully operational. I was going to destroy the locket tonight, but now that I am here I thought it best to tell you about it", Regulus said.
"I have to take this up with Dumbledore. If the boy is right we have serious trouble on our hands. I only wish I had Veritaserum, so that we could separate the truth from the lies. Alas, that stuff takes ages to brew", Moody said.
"I don't think Regulus was lying, Alastor", James replied.
"We'll let him stay here", Lily added.
"Allright, but don't let him out of your sight. It could be a few days before I get news from Dumbledore. He's attending a conference of the International Confederation of Wizards.", Moody said.
With a loud bang Moody Disapparated.