Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

A/N - I am so sorry for the late update. I underestimated the business of the start of term and Regulus was not cooperating with me. I will do my best to update weekly, but RL does keep me busy so I might switch to fortnightly updates.

"So, did you have a plan beyond kidnapping me?"

The sarcasm dripping from the aristocratic drawl of the younger Black brother made Hermione smile helplessly and shrug her shoulders. "Nothing detailed. Just, you know, save your life."

Regulus rolled his eyes. "Idiot Gryffindors, always charging in…"

Hermione huffed, crossing her arms over her chest. "What makes you think I was in Gryffindor?"

"Please! You admitted to running around the country in a tent searching for bits of the Dark Lord's soul. That sort of obvious disregard for your life and lack of planning could only be found in Godric's house."

Before the youngsters could get any further with their verbal sparring, Moody interrupted. "The plan was to get you away from the train and your Death Eater buddies and ensure that our idiotic Gryffindor was right about your allegiance. So, tell me boy, are you a loyal Death Eater? Or will you help us kill the bastard?"

Regulus eyed the old auror cautiously. He knew this was his only real chance to get out – he didn't really fancy death-by-inferi. He spoke with carefully chosen words. "Master Moody, when I realised the depths of depravity that madman had reached, I lost what little loyalty I had ever felt to the cause. Our time travelling friend is correct that I was branded on my 16th birthday, though I will not say I was entirely unwilling at the time. I thought it an honour for myself and my family.

"My first mission made me realise it was no honour. Now, I feel nothing but disgust. I would gladly see the halfblood scum dead."

Hermione nodded with satisfaction as Moody moved forward to shake Regulus' unbound hand. "Welcome to the team, lad."

With a smile twisting his gnarled face, he swished his wand and the remaining shackles fell slack to the floor. At Regulus' obvious confusion over his seemingly easy release, Hermione grinned and mock-whispered "truth wards!"

Regulus nodded in understanding and slowly made to stand, rightfully wary of making any sudden moves around the infamous auror. He took Hermione's hand, bowing over it as he raised her knuckles to his lips. When he stood again, he smirked at the light blush staining her cheeks. "Might I know the name of my saviour?"

Blushing darker, she managed a mumbled "Hermione"

Regulus seemed to be enjoying her embarrassment, for he continued in his most charming tone. "A fitting name, for truly your mother must have been the most beautiful woman in the world to have borne a daughter so stunning!"

Hermione achieved a shade of red that was usually reserved for Ron. Despite (or perhaps because of) spending all her time with two boys, she had never been so thoroughly charmed. Moody apparently took pity on her, for at that moment he thrust the firewhisky bottle between the younger two.

"Portkey," he grunted, "we need to make a plan."

Nodding, Hermione retrieved her hand and placed it on the bottle. A sharp tug behind her navel had the dismal shack disappearing in a swirl. They landed steadily in a much larger room, soft carpet on the floor and two pairs of overstuffed armchairs surrounding a large coffee table.

Moody indicated that they take a seat, and suddenly the teasing atmosphere that had developed between them in the shack vanished. They all felt the seriousness of the situation settle around them – they had formed a team to destroy the Dark Lord and now they had to get down to business.

Moody leaned towards his young comrades and got straight to the point. "Express gets into London in four hours. We have that long to work out what to do about you, lad. Best for all if they think you dead, but if we could make them think someone on their side did it, all the better."

Regulus nodded. "I thought as much. Hermione, what happened last time?"

"You went with Kreacher to get the horcrux and vanished. Your mum saw the tapestry and knew you were dead. Both sides blamed the other. That's all I know, really."

"Shit. The tapestry. We can't fake my death unless we can figure out how to trick it. Bugger. I'll have to go on the run, instead."

Moody added his two knuts. "Family tapestry? Tricky things. I might have a book on them somewhere. Meantime, running isn't a bad option. Can you send a message that you have learned something you shouldn't and had to go into hiding?"

"I don't know. Not to my parents, they would insist I was safe at the manor. My brother would just gloat and say I deserved it."

Hermione scowled at his opinion but held her tongue. She remembered how devastated Sirius had been over the death of his brother when he had believed him to have run scared. She knew that Sirius would help him in a heartbeat, but that wasn't what they needed right now.

"I wonder -" began Regulus again. "Maybe I should send a note to my cousin. That husband of hers has dragged her in deep enough that she will understand the danger I might be in if I upset the wrong person… I think that would be best. She always was my favourite cousin, so it wouldn't seem odd that I wrote to her…"

"Who's your cousin, lad?"

"Narcissa Malfoy."

Hermione's face lit up. "That would be perfect. She defected to save her son, so we can at least trust her with a note. How would you send it, though? Owls can be traced."

Regulus looked thoughtful for a moment before resuming his 'arrogant pureblood' expression. "I shall send my elf, of course."

The gears of her mind were very obviously turning at a ferocious speed, conducting a new and outrageous plan. "Yes, we can use Kreacher!" Declared the muggleborn time traveller.

Regulus looked at her, intrigued. "You know my elf?"

Hermione shuddered. "Unfortunately. He's a rather unpleasant, bigoted little thing isn't he? But he's loyal to you – even twenty years after your death. I think he can be entrusted with this mission."

"Delivering a message to my cousin is hardly a mission."

"No, but it gives him access to Malfoy Manor. I am right in thinking that he is permitted to be within the manor? At least where it comes to delivering messages to the Lady of the manor? And that once he is there then he can enter any part of the building?"

Regulus thought for a moment, struggling to understand what she was getting at. "I would think so. Unless they have spelled an area to keep out elves, which is unlikely as I can't imagine Lucius cleaning anything himself. Why?"

"I am fairly certain another horcrux is hidden there. His mission will be to swap it for a fake so that we can destroy it."

Moody spluttered in disbelief. "You would trust an elf – one that is bound to the Black family at that – to retrieve a piece of the Dark Wanker's soul?"

Hermione shrugged. "He did it before, in the future. He helped Regulus get the locket and when he failed to destroy it, he kept it safe and secret even from his mistress, despite it being displayed within Most Noble and Ancient House of Black. I may not like him much, but he has my respect. If you can think of a better way to steal one of the most prized possessions within Malfoy Manor without anybody even noticing it is gone then please, share it."

Moody huffed, crossing his arms over his chest, but said nothing. Regulus was looking at her with a sort of bemused awe.

"That's settled then," Hermione said with a satisfied smirk on her face. Things were looking up – saving Regulus had given her the perfect opportunity to gain access to the diary.

The unlikely threesome spent the next hour hashing out a plan. Regulus wrote multiple notes for Narcissa, Hermione and Moody eventually selecting one that they agreed had the right tone of genuine fear for his life and cautiously vague facts.

Once the note was ready, Hermione removed her beaded bag from the pocket of her jeans.

Despite the war having been over for more than a year, and spending most of that time in the safe haven of Hogwarts, Hermione had been unable to shake several of the habits she had picked up during the war. The most prominent being the grasping, incapacitating dread that consumed her when she didn't have her beaded bag on her person. Only behind the wards of Grimmauld Place had she felt secure enough to let the bag out of her sight. Now she was glad that she hadn't listened to Ron's taunting that she just 'get over it'.

From the depths of the bag, Hermione removed a small, blank notebook. She transfigured the cover to a black leather and hoped that it would be enough. She had never had the chance to really look at the diary during her second year.

"What is that?" Regulus asked when she laid the diary on the table in front of them.

"A copy of the diary that Kreacher will be sent to retrieve. I hope it is close enough that Malfoy won't notice the difference."

Regulus scoffed. "Malfoy will know the second he gets within a few feet of it. I thought you had been around Horcruxes? Could you not feel the dark magic from them? This is just a plain notebook."

Hermione looked crestfallen at the criticism. "What do you mean? The locket made us depressed and angry when we wore it, but I didn't notice anything particularly evil about it. It was just a locket."

"Just a locket?! What did they teach you in your time? Detecting dark objects is fifth year defence!"

Hermione chuckled wryly. "That would explain it, then. Although I think the curriculum might have changed a bit, I'll tell you about the disaster of my fifth year defence teacher later." She indicated the fake diary on the table and continued. "How would you suggest we fix it, then?"

After much debate between Regulus and Moody, the diary had been infused with several dark spells that the men assured her made it feel incredibly dark. Finally, they were ready for Kreacher to make the switch and Regulus called the elf.

"Master?" The foul little being croaked, looking uncertainly at the other occupants of the room before settling on Regulus with a look of devotion. "You is not being on the train. Young Master should be coming back from Hogwarts today. Why is you here with the nasty wizard?"

"Kreacher, I have learned a very dangerous secret. I need you to swear that you will keep my secrets, even from Mother. I am dead if anyone finds out."

"Kreacher swears. Kreacher will not let a single person know anything that Master Regulus tells him. Kreacher will keep his master safe. Kreacher will die before letting harm come to his master."

Regulus winced as he felt the elf's binding oath take hold of his magic. Swearing silence would have been enough; what Kreacher had sworn amounted to an unbreakable vow. The elf would now literally die if any action of his led to Regulus being harmed.

"Thank you, Kreacher. Your loyalty is greatly valued." He put a hand on the old elf's shoulder, making his small body shiver with delight and the level devotion in his gaze to dramatically increase.

"I am not on the train because Hermione and Master Moody brought me here. If I had stayed on the train, the secret I know would have led to my death." Kreacher gasped, his expression showing inappropriate levels of shock and fear.

"Kreacher, I learned that the Dark Lord has been using soul magic."

The elf's expression grew impossibly more shocked and fearful at the statement. "But Master, that is being the blackest of magics. No proper pureblood wizards is being so foolish as to damage their souls!"

"Voldemort is no pureblood, Kreacher. He has lied to us, persuaded even the proud Houses of Black and Malfoy to grovel at his feet, yet he is but the filthy bastard son of a squib and a muggle."

Hermione was looking at the elf with great concern. From his expression, she was certain that this shocking news would lead him to have either a stroke or a heart attack.

"Riddle has made several Horcruxes, Kreacher. We," he indicated the three humans in the room, "are going to find them, destroy them and then kill the bastard. And we need your help."

The old elf looked at his master with an expression of amazement, pride shining in his eyes. He stood straight, shoulders no longer stooped and bent, chin up and face set in determination. "Kreacher is being proud to be serving, Master Regulus. Kreacher is doing everything young master needs to kill the filthy mudblood that is being tricking the House of Black. Kreacher be happy to help, even nasty auror and mudblood girl if it be getting rid of evil soul magic."

Hermione shuddered and ran a hand over the hidden scar on her arm at the word mudblood.

"Thank you, Kreacher. I am happy that you want to help. However, I would ask that you treat everyone in this room with respect. They have saved my life and deserve respect, no matter what my mother would say about them."

Kreacher nodded seriously and the next hour was spent explaining Regulus' situation to the elf and making sure he understood clearly what his mission in Malfoy Manor would be. Once they were certain that Kreacher understood completely what he was to do, as well as how he was to behave around Narcissa (it took a long while for them to convince him that keeping Riddle's identity a secret was necessary for them to safely hunt the horcruxes and thus he could not say a word against him while in the presence of the Malfoys).

Hermione handed Kreacher the fake diary, which he hid within his loincloth with a grimace. Regulus passed him the note.

"Kreacher, I order you to take this note to Cissy. Say as little as possible and leave as soon as she has accepted it. You are to find the horcrux that Malfoy has hidden, switch it for the fake and return immediately. Only Narcissa is to see you in the Manor and only when you hand her the note. Do you understand your orders?"

Kreacher nodded solemnly and disappeared with a pop.

Hermione huffed. "Why did you order him like that? He had already agreed to do everything – there is no need to dominate him like that!"

Regulus looked at her shrewdly. "Hermione, how much do you know about House Elf Magic? The magic of the house elf bond is what sustains their life. This magic will ensure that an elf will follow his orders to the letter and such orders take precedence over almost any other magic. By ordering Kreacher, I have not only ensured he is not tempted to blow our cover and tell Cissy about Riddle, but I have ensured his access to the horcrux despite almost any wards Malfoy has to keep it safe. I have ensured that his magic will keep the other elves away. I let him decide to take the mission of his own free will, only then did I order him and doing so will keep both him and us safe from discovery."

Hermione, House Elf Activist, looked very thoughtful at that revelation. Before she could further the discussion and start a debate on the subject, Kreacher appeared between Regulus and Moody with a loud pop. In his hand was a black diary.

A/N - Please don't forget to review - I love to hear what you think!