Author: HatefulRodeo

Story: Only Black in Name

Notes: Well we have more plot and more slash this chapter! Enjoy Lovelies!

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. I will make no money from the posting of this story.

Previously:

They heard footsteps following them and when Regulus stopped and turned his brother almost ran smack into him; "Sorry, Reg, but Dumbledore asked me see you both out."

Sirius looked a bit nervous, and irritated, as if he didn't want to say what he was about to say; "I, also, wanted to thank you both for helping us. I mean we never would have thought Peter was the spy and I would never know that there was a price on my head."

"I guess I'm trying to say thank you." The two former Death Eaters nodded and continued their trek to the gates. No other words were spoken and that suited the cloaked men just fine; though Sirius looked nervous, almost as if he was waiting for verbal scolding from Regulus. The Black heir had no need to speak to his brother at present and just wanted to get back to their sanctuary.

Once the gates were closed, and secured, behind them Severus hugged Regulus close to him and with a crack they were gone.

~*~*~*~*~*~*Chapter 6*~*~*~*~*~*

Regulus sat on top of the townhome across from his brother's apartment building; Severus was in the alley between Sirius' building and the one next to it. Both were dressed in full Death Eaters garb; terrifying bone white mask included. They were waiting, and watching, for Sirius to exit his building so they could begin their charade to fool the Dark Lord.

He cast grey eyes around and rolled his eyes when he saw the Order members loitering around; couldn't these people even hide themselves correctly? With a sigh he returned his sharp eyes to the front door of Sirius' building; it was now eight o'clock in the morning, hopefully his brother would exit soon so they could get this over with.

A flash of movement from behind the glass alerted him to someone leaving and with a small grimace he noticed it was indeed his older sibling. With a deep breath he turned on the spot and disapparated; Regulus reappeared directly in front of his brother's building and began to cast his first volley of spells. He didn't cast anything to gruesome; he wasn't trying to kill his sibling, but he needed to make this attack convincing just in case the Dark Lord decided to use Legilimency on him.

He and Severus decided to attack in waves; Regulus going first followed by Severus. His bother threw up a shield, causing the younger Black's Curses to deflect into the crowd of muggles milling about. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed Frank Longbottom shielding the muggles, and as much of the structures as he could, from damage. Regulus really couldn't give a damn about any of that at the moment.

The Black heir ducked behind a crar, or was it car? He ducked behind whatever the muggles called those big metal contraptions that carried them around in since they didn't have access to the Floo Network. From his vantage point he saw Severus slide out of his hiding space and begin to hammer Sirius with some very Dark magic; not that Regulus hadn't known his lover would do this. Severus was taking his chance to get his licks in on Sirius while he could.

The battle was very one-sided. From the beginning Sirius wasn't able to return any spells of his own at his Regulus or Severus. The beseiged Order member resigned himself and attempted to shield himself or dodge the incoming spells coming at him. The younger Black son felt quite pleased that he, and Severus, was able to overwhelm his brother with their superior spell casting. A flash of bright purple light flashing through the air brought his attention back on their faux duel.

Regulus grimaced when he noticed Severus' hex, which the younger Black believed to be an extremely painful Expelling Hex, shred through Sirius' shield. The vibrant purple orb of light slammed into his elder sibling's side when the elder Black son didn't dodge completely out of the way in time. He watched in twisted awe as his brother's side was torn open, exploding in a shower of gore, and splattering the sidewalk thickly with crimson blood.

It was at this moment that Sirius whistled, signaling to the two ex-Death Eaters that he was retreating and to stop their attack. Regulus thought it would last longer than this but he couldn't blame his brother for wanting it all to end. Sirius was losing a lot of blood, not to mention the gaping hole in his side, so it was not unexpected that he needed to retreat to seek medical attention as soon as possible. The wound would be difficult to treat; it was steeped in Dark magic, which generally resisted any form of healing.

Regulus remained where he was and watched as his bother withdrew what looked like a chain and mumbled something, within a second Sirius disappeared to the Potter's residence. Ah a portkey! Well that made sense. The Black sheep was hardly in the condition to apparate safely; it amazed Regulus that his brother had the foresight to arrange for a portkey to take him to safety.

Probably someone else's idea. Sirius was the type to run in half-cocked and roll with the punches. His brother would not have considered that he wouldn't be in any condition to apparate at the end of this little farce. But Regulus was glad someone thought of Sirius' escape. His elder sibling would have splinched himself, or possibly ended up in a lake, if he tried to apparate just now.

With their task complete Regulus quickly made his way over to a very smug looking Severus. The younger man rolled his eyes at his lover but let him have his moment to gloat. The onyx eyed man had waited a long time to get a good hit in on Sirius. Regulus knew his brother deserved much more than Severus was able to give him today for all the pain he'd caused the other man during their school years.

Deciding his love had gloated enough Regulus nudged the taller man's side; "Severus, let's go. We need to get out of here before the Aurors show." His partner nodded and grasped his arm; together they disapparated back to their home in France.

When they arrived they removed their masks, banishing them into the closet in their bedroom. Once unmasked Severus raised his sleeve and jabbed his Dark Mark with his wand, sending a pulse of magic into the disgusting brand. This action let their former Lord know they needed to speak to him.

With that done all Severus and Regulus needed to do was wait to be summoned to his side. Regulus smiled at the man he loved; "Well that went pretty well and if he asks to see our memories we won't have anything to hide. What hex did you use to do that much damage to Sirius' side?"

Severus smirked maliciously; "Latrocinor, pity it didn't hit him where it was supposed to." Regulus huffed and glared at his lover; "Sev, you weren't supposed to kill him. Salazar! If that hex hit where it was supposed to he would have been eviscerated in the middle of the sidewalk! As it is he'll have a massive crater in his side for the rest of his life."

His onyx eyed lover did not look sorry in the least. Actually, he looked like he could give a damn about any of the lasting effects caused to Sirius' body. Well that wasn't a surprise, really. Severus despised Sirius Black and that would never change. With a sigh he turned to remove his heavy black robes and hung them on the hook near the front door. There really wasn't a point in putting them away. They would be summoned soon to report in.

Severus followed suit, shrugging off his robes and hanging them beside Regulus'. Together they both entered the library; nowadays they spent most of their time here, or in the potions lab, trying to figure out a way to destroy the Horcrux in their possession. He felt like he'd been through almost the whole damn library! And after all that searching he'd found, or come up with, almost next to nothing. The only idea, or hope, they had to destroy a soul container was Basilisk or Hydra venom.

Unfortunately, his goblin manager was having an issue locating either. Not a shock but it was a bit disheartening. Regulus just wanted to kill the damn thing! As long as his insane former Lord had his Horcruxes he would not die; Salazar that madman needed to die! Taking a deep breath he refocused his mind and entered the rows of books.

Severus was already seated by the fire, perusing a book he pulled earlier. The Black heir continued through the stacks, going deeper and deeper into the rows of books until he came to the section that housed the book relating to Rituals and Summoning; most of these books weren't just considered Dark but Black.

Most of these tomes detailed things to horrid to fathom. However, they were dealing with something equally against nature so maybe these books would detail something that would help their cause. Intelligent grey eyes scoured the titles until he found Summoning Hell; Bringing the Darkness to You.Well that looked as promising as any of the other titles.

With a shrug he pulled the book and returned to the chair opposite Severus. He began to browse through the book, grimacing at some of the summoning rituals and what one needed to procure to make them happen. Regulus wasn't the most moral man, not by a long shot, but even he would not sacrifice a child to summon some of these creatures.

He continued to look through the book, reading more about ritual summoning despite his repulsion. The book, so far, detailed how to summon several denizens of the Underworld; Thanatos, Hypnos, and Melinoe to name a few. But so far none of these summoning rituals were of help to Regulus' mission so he moved onward. He stopped when he stumbled on the chapter for summoning Charon; the ferryman who brings newly deceased souls across the river Styx and Acheron.

According to the text Charon could be summoned to their world via ritual but one needed to have a sacrificial offering for the ferryman. The sacrifice was three obolus, which were small silver coins used in Athens. The three silver pieces would symbolize the placement of the coins on the deceased's body; one in the mouth and two over the eyelids. Three was also a very powerful magical number, using three obolus as the book directed would add latent power to the ritual.

And while the Dark Lord's Horcrux wasn't technically a newly deceased soul it was still a piece of a soul. Regulus deduced that Charon wouldn't split hairs; he was there to collect a soul and a soul he would have. The soul being offered wasn't a whole, untarnished, offering but it was a soul nonetheless. The Black heir hoped that would be enough to call Charon to them.

Aside from his reservations about the soul being taken the sacrificial offering was simple. However, the workings, and production, of said ritual were not; the Arithmantical and Runic translations were unfathomably complicated but not impossible. This avenue of destroying the Horcrux would take a while to set up but Regulus believed it would work if they accomplished it.

He finished reading the instruction on the placement of the offering and the instructions on how to set up the ritual but he skipped the exact words he would have to speak to enact it and went straight to the purpose of the ritual. According to the book Charon would be summoned and once the offering was accepted he would take the soul of your enemy back to the Underworld with him.

Once the soul was taken it would cease to exist in the mortal realm, thereby destroying it forever. The Black heir smiled; "Sev, I found it, I found something to get rid of it!" His lover's dark eyes widened and he extended a hand for the book; Regulus willingly handed it over and let his partner read through the text.

When Severus was done he looked up at Regulus; "It appears this could work. It would take a while to set up the ritual but if done correctly it should work. Merlin Regulus we actually found it!" The grey eyed male beamed; "We did and aside from the obolus the other necessary items for the ritual are a bit hard to find but we'll probably find those before we find Basilisk, or Hyrdra, venom."

Severus nodded; "It good that none of the required things are illegal, well not too illegal that one can't get their hands on them." Regulus smirked; "Nothing is impossible to get your hands on when you have the right amount of money, love." His onyx eyed lover smirked back at him before speaking; "Indeed, now that we found this we should get started on it."

"If the ritual works and the soul within the locket is removed by this Charon we should approach Narcissa for the diary. We may not even have to involve her in the way we were going to before; which I think is for the best. Using your cousin was a risky move and I'd like to avoid any more risk than necessary."

Regulus nibbled his lip in thought for a minute; "I agree. However, I'm still going to secure her dowry just in case Lucius goes down for Death Eater activities. But I may need to explain a bit as to why we need the diary if we intend for her to risk her neck to get it. The only plus about Narcissa is I know she is not thrilled that her husband is working with the Dark Lord."

"She doesn't like that her husband could be arrested for his more illegal activities. If that were to happen Lucius could lose his wealth, title, lands, and freedom. Cousin Cissa likes her comfort and riches. She would not be happy to be suddenly poor and left shackled to a disgraced husband rotting in Azkaban."

"So I believe she'll be agreeable to help us procure the diary if I promise that she'll have access to her dowry if Lucius goes down. I may, also, allude that what we're doing could bring an end to the Dark Lord. If she is resistant to helping us that little tidbit may sway her over to our side." Severus tapped his chin with his pointer finger while looking thoughtfully up at the ceiling.

Finally he looked at Regulus; "I can see that working, quite well actually. So let me summarize; we will collect what is needed to work the ritual. Once we are satisfied that the ritual removed the soul piece from the mortal plane you will contact Narcissa about getting us the diary." Regulus "Hmmm'd" in agreement and held out his hand for the book to be returned to him so he could review the information again.

Just as he was about to take the book from Severus' hand his lover hissed in pain and grabbed his forearm, causing the book to fall to the floor with a heavy thunk. Regulus looked at his lover, immediately understanding that Severus was being summoned to their former Lord. The Black heir stood as did Severus and side by side they made it to the apparition point in the foyer.

Once they were swaddled in their heavy Death Eater robes Regulus grasped Severus' bicep. The grey eyed male nodded to his lover, letting him know he was ready to apparate to wherever it was their Lord was residing at that moment. The older man spun on his heal and with a crack they left the safety of their home.

All Mistakes Are My Own!

Translation:

Latrocinor = Exenterate

Exenterate: disembowel

Well we have found a way to destroy a Horcrux. I haven't seen anyone actually write about it this way but I could be wrong. Bear with me while I hash out the ritual and all that.

Below is a bit of information on Charon and the other Underworld residents. Sorry if I didn't use the appropriate accents in the chapter but I don't really feel like dealing with them...

Charon;

In Greek mythology, Charon or Kharon is the ferryman of Hades who carries souls of the newly deceased across the rivers Styx and Acheron that divided the world of the living from the world of the dead. A coin to pay Charon for passage, usually an obolus or danake, was sometimes placed in or on the mouth of a dead person. Some authors say that those who could not pay the fee, or those whose bodies were left unburied, had to wander the shores for one hundred years.

I decided to use three coins in this story instead of one, obviously.

Thanatos;

Thanatos was regarded as merciless and indiscriminate, hated by—and hateful towards—mortals and the deathless gods. But in myths which feature him, Thanatos could occasionally be outwitted, a feat that the sly King Sisyphus of Korinth twice accomplished. When it came time for Sisyphus to die, Zeus ordered Thanatos to chain Sisyphus up in Tartarus. Sisyphus cheated death by tricking Thanatos into his own shackles, thereby prohibiting the demise of any mortal while Thanatos was so enchained.

Eventually Ares, the bloodthirsty god of war, grew frustrated with the battles he incited since neither side suffered any casualties. He released Thanatos and handed his captor over to the god. Sisyphus would evade Death a second time by convincing Persephone to allow him to return to his wife stating that she never gave him a proper funeral. This time, Sisyphus was forcefully dragged back to the Underworld by Hermes when Sisyphus refused to accept his death. Sisyphus was sentenced to an eternity of frustration in Tartarus where he rolled a boulder up a hill and it would roll back down when he got close to the top.

Hypnos;

In Greek mythology, Hypnos was the personification of sleep; the Roman equivalent was known as Somnus. His twin was Thanatos ("death"); their mother was the primordial goddess Nyx ("night"). His palace was a dark cave where the sun never shines. At the entrance were a number of poppies and other hypnogogic plants. His dwelling has no door or gate so that he might not be awakened by the creaking of hinges.

Melinoe;

Melinoë is a chthonic nymph invoked in one of the Orphic Hymns and propitiated as a bringer of nightmares and madness. She may also be the figure named in a few inscriptions from Anatolia, and she appears on a bronze tablet in association with Persephone.