Author: HatefulRodeo

Story: Only Black in Name

Notes: Hola People! The plot is moving forward. Thanks to all that reviewed, fav'd, and followed! Enjoy Lovelies!

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

Previously:

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.

~*~*~*Chapter 7*~*~*~

They touched down in the foyer of an old, dilapidated, house; where they were Regulus had absolutely no idea. It definitely wasn't one of the pureblood manors the Dark Lord seemed to favor. With a slight shake of his head he began to walk in the direction he felt their Lord's overwhelmingly dark presence coming from.

Severus was right by his side and before they reached the room the insane snake was residing in the older man grabbed Regulus' hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze before they pushed the doors open. The sight that greeted them was of a ballroom that at one point must have been beautiful but now looked worn, rundown, and generally uncared for. It was littered with leaves and other detritus from years of being uninhabited.

Sitting in the middle of the filthy room, framed by the high floor-to-ceiling dirt streaked windows behind him was the crimson eyed devil himself. Both Death Eaters approached quickly, lowering themselves onto their knees in deference to their Lord. Regulus waited, breathing deeply and calmly, for Voldemort to address them.

"Regulus, Severus, I assume since you are here that your mission to rid us of Sirius Black's annoying presence was successful?" Severus, with his head still lowered in submission, murmured; "No, my Lord, we were unable to finish him but I know we gravelly wounded him and I am without doubt that Black will be out of our way for weeks while he heals."

The Dark Lord was silent but Regulus tensed when he felt the Dark Lord's magic lash out in anger. After a few minutes of pinful silence the red eyed demon spoke; "You did not succeed in killing him? Then I must ask why you both are here? You did not complete your task so your request to speak to me is useless, a waste of my time. Do you think that Lord Voldemort has time to waste on either of you?"

The Black heir forced himself to relax and not tense in preparation for what may come; the Curses hurt a lot worse when you tensed. It came swiftly with a quiet hiss of "Crucio" and Severus was writhing in agony on the dirty wooden floor, screaming in distress as the Dark Lord cackled with malicious glee. Regulus felt sick watching his love in such pain but he could do nothing to help him nor was he stupid enough to try.

Finally, the monster lifted the curse from Severus; Regulus had not once raised his head to look upon his former Lord the whole time he tormented his partner. All the youngest Black son could do was continue to look out of the corner of his eye and watch his lover attempt collect himself. Severus' bottom lip was bleeding, torn open when he lacerated it with his teeth while he was under the Cruciatus. His lover's body was trembling, almost spasming in residual pain, and all Regulus wanted to do was go Severus' side and help him.

He still knew he could not, no matter how much he desired to; it would not help either of them at this point. If Regulus showed any weakness in the face of Severus' torture Voldemort would exploit it, either right now or later on in the game. He also couldn't forget that his lover would resent Regulus' assistance.

By interfering right now the Black heir would be essentially saying his partner was incapable of handling himself. Sitting back and watching his love's suffering was the last thing Regulus wanted to do but he knew he would have his chance to hover and care for Severus later on when they returned home.

That sibilant drawl brought the grey eyed wizard's attention back on his Lord; "Regulus, Regulus, you failed me as well. But Lord Voldemort is merciful, is he not? I will not hurt you for your failure tonight but if it happens again I will destroy you." The Black heir lowered his head further while tilting it to the side, exposing his neck, showing his ultimate submission to this madman's whims before Regulus spoke the word's his former master would want to hear.

"Of course, my Lord is merciful and kind. Thank you my Lord. I am in your debt." The crimson eyed bastard cackled again; "Yes, little Black, you are in my debt. Remember that the next time you are given a mission. If you fail again I may wish to collect more than you can spare." Regulus nodded but remained silent; he knew his words were not needed or wanted this time.

Severus was now back on his knees but the younger raven could hear his lover's breathing was still ragged. Salazar, Regulus hoped his love hadn't broken a rib in his crazed thrashing. It didn't matter right now, right now the two of them needed to get the hell out of there. The Black heir could attend to his companion's injuries when they were safe.

"Get out of my sight before I regret sparing your pathetic lives." Both Death Eaters rose and bowed to their Lord before hightailing it out of the room. When the Dark Lord said leave he meant leave now and Regulus had no desire to test the devil's patience tonight. Once they left the ballroom the smaller man wrapped an arm around Severus' middle, cautious of his possibly broken or bruised ribs, and assisted the other man in walking back to the apparition point.

Severus was sluggish in his movements and his breathing was still labored; it appeared Regulus would be the one apparating them back home. Before they left this house of horror the Black heir looked out one of the windows that framed the front door, trying to pick up any landmarks or clues on where they were.

If there was something distinguishing maybe Regulus could find a way to alert Dumbledore. Granted the Order was a joke, filled with bleeding hearts, but they could still do surveillance and possibly some damage to one of the Dark Lord's bases. The less options Voldemort had in terms of safe places to go to ground the better off the rest of the world was. He couldn't see much but he noticed the house they were in was on a hill and overlooked a small village in the valley below.

The house itself was old and un-kept. It was also obviously muggle as Regulus had yet to see on magical portrait or trinket around the place. Not to mention that the place didn't feel magical. Regulus knew there were wards up to prohibit anyone getting in that wasn't supposed to but the house itself didn't radiate any ambient magic like most old magical houses did.

So the Black heir deduced the home must be muggle. He would report their meeting to Dumbledore via the notebook and mention the location. He would also preface his explanation about the location with the fact that he didn't know if any other Death Eaters knew where their Lord was at the moment. If Dumbledore showed up here and no other followers were summoned the Dark Lord would know it was either Severus or Regulus who spilled their Lord's position to the Order of the Phoenix.

If that happened Severus' and his lives were as good as gone. And Regulus had every intention of living through this shite so no needless risks would be taken on his part. People like James Potter and his brother could run into danger and court death but Regulus enjoyed living as evidenced by his last second choice to get the hell out of that wretched cave with the Dark Lord's Horcrux.

After he'd looked and catalogued as much as he could about the surrounding area Regulus held Severus a little tighter and murmured lowly into his lover's ear; "Hold onto me, love. I'm going to apparate us out of here."

The taller wizard didn't verbally respond to his words but Severus' arm came up and snaked around Regulus' waist. Once the Black heir felt that his partner had a decent grip on him he twisted and with a crack they returned to their safe house in The Vosges.

When the two men landed in the apparition zone in their home Regulus drew his wand and banished their black Death Eater robes to the closet and led Severus to the potions lab. He situated his lover on the long work table and began to cast a few diagnostic spells on the older wizard. It was as he suspected; Severus' ribs on his right side were bruised and one sported a crack in it.

Other than that most of the damage was painful but superficial; strained muscles from tensing and flexing from the overwhelming torment of the Cruciatus and his throat was ragged from screaming. Regulus just thanked whatever gods were out there that Severus' mind was alright; too many people, both muggle and magical, broke under the force of the Dark Lord's Crucio.

Injuries known the Black heir bustled about, pulling out the required potions for his dazed lover's injuries and came back to force-feed the stubborn man his medicine. He didn't explain what he was giving Severus, the man knew exactly what he was taking and why. Once the liquids were taken Regulus could see his lover's body begin to relax as the potion to heal his muscles began to take effect.

The pain reliever was also doing its job as the taller wizard was able to move without wincing. However, the damage to Severus' throat would take overnight to heel, regardless of the potion given to fix it, so it was best for the onyx eyed male to stay quiet until the damage was fixed.

Regulus looked into his partner's tired eyes and smiled sadly, he hated that this was what they had to deal with. He despised that this was what they were reduced to and it was all because of the Dark Lord and their own stupidity. How could Regulus and Severus have been so stupid and blind?! They should have known better than to believe anything the Dark Lord promised them when they took the Mark.

But they had and know they were stuck with a madman hovering over every part of their lives and a vile stain on their forearm that bound them to said madman. However, they were taking steps to bring the insanity to an end. It was true that their world needed change but not how the Dark Lord was going about it.

Maybe when this was over with Regulus would take his place on the Wizengamot and begin to take steps to make the changes that would help. It wouldn't be easy for him, or anyone from a Dark family, to get any form of support from Light or Neutral families but he had to try. Besides a good idea was a good idea no matter where it came from and, hopefully, the people who would oppose him for his name alone would realize that.

It was a longshot to hope for but he had to hope. Most of what he was doing lately was on the hope that they would destroy the Dark Lord. He ran on the hope that one day he and Severus could be free to do as they pleased with no one to tell them they were wrong for how they felt. True, some people would always put too much emphasis on blood but Regulus knew better now.

He knew that Severus, a half-blood, was on his level power wise so how could he in good conscience continue to believe that his pure blood made him better than Severus? He couldn't and he wouldn't; the rest of the bigots would have to deal with it and open their closed eyes to the reality of the situation.

A low moan from Severus shoved Regulus into action; with a flick of his wand he had his lover levitating from the table. He made his way to their bedroom and after he pulled the blankets back he gently lowered Severus onto the soft sheets. He banished his lover's clothes to the wash, placed his lover's wand and holster onto the nightstand, and cast a few cleansing charms on his body, hair, and mouth. The charms would do until the older wizard could take a proper bath and brush his teeth.

After Severus was as clean as he could get him using magic Regulus pulled the blankets back over his injured companion's nude body, tucking him in tightly before he left the room to bring them something to eat. He selected a large bowl of cut up fruit and soup that he reheated; nothing too heavy but enough to satiate their hunger until the morning.

He returned to the room to see his lover leaning against the pillows while he waited for Regulus to return. When those dark eyes saw the food hovering on a tray next to him Severus smiled and waved the younger man into the room. The grey eyed wizard was pleased that his lover had an appetite at all, it was a good sign that he was healing.

Together they ate in silence; both just enjoyed the other's company after a long day. But it was a good day even with the summons to the Dark Lord. They had found a way to get rid of the insane bastard and that was a great thing. Tomorrow Regulus would request for the goblins to begin searching for the needed number of obolus; how hard could it be to find three silver coins? He didn't think it would be too complicated but only time would tell.

When they were done eating he sent the tray of food back to the kitchen; Kreacher would deal with it when he came during the night to tidy the house and do the laundry, and stripped out of his clothes for a quick bath. He entered the bathroom and flicked his wand to fill the tub up, once the bath was filled his cast a warming charm on the water and entered the tub with a sigh of pleasure.

It was delightful and Regulus enjoyed the feeling of the warm water swirling and caressing his achy and tired muscles. After a few minutes of luxuriating Regulus began to wash his body and hair. Once he was clean and rinsed he stood and exited the large tub. Several drying charms later and after brushing his teeth the Black heir was leaving the bathroom and slipping naked in between the sheets of their bed.

Severus was in a light doze but roused himself enough to grasp Regulus and tug him over to his body. The smaller wizard was careful about where he laid his head; he didn't want to hurt his lover by putting any weight on his healing ribs and muscles. In the end he placed his wand and holster under his pillow before he nuzzled into the crook of Severus' neck, threw his leg over the other man's and waved his hand for the lights to go out.

Sleep claimed Regulus quickly; thoughts of summonings, rituals, and Horcruxes swirled around in his mind, fueling strange and sometimes nightmarish dreams.

~*~*~*Time Skip~*~*~*

As it turned out finding the required oboli was not as easy as Regulus would have thought. A week later and the goblins weren't any closer to obtaining one, let alone three. Apparently, the silver coins were hard to come by due to the fact that over the years they'd been melted down and used for other things, such as jewelry, statues, or weapons.

But Regulus was not giving up, not at all. He could wait for a bit but if it looked like they wouldn't find the required three oboli the Black heir would request for the goblins to make them for him. This was the last resort as the oboli made by the goblins would not be true Athenian produced money and who knew if Charon would sense the difference when they summoned him.

At least they had a backup plan if the oboli were elusive in being found. However, Regulus had faith in his goblin; the creature always managed to come through for him, it may take a little while but eventually whatever Regulus wanted Ironcaw would find. He'd even instructed the goblin to continue searching for Hydra and Basilisk venom. So with three things being sought he was hopeful that at least one of them could be found soon.

On the bright side Severus' injuries from his torture at the hands of the Dark Lord were all healed and the onyx eyed wizard was back studying for his Potions Mastery. Regulus was busy researching things for the summoning ritual and keeping up with business dealings for the House of Black. Today he would have to visit Grimmauld Place and put in an appearance with his Banshee of a mother.

Before he dressed to go back to his childhood home he checked the charmed notebook from Dumbledore to make sure no messages were written for them. The book was clear, showing no new information or meeting times. Regulus had already reported their meetings with the Dark Lord to Dumbledore the morning after it occurred a week ago.

The Black heir also detailed the environment the Dark Lord's house was located in and explained that he had never been there before. Regulus also explained that the Order would need to be covert if they wanted to spy or attempt to take the hideout down since as far as he knew only Severus and himself had been summoned to the rundown muggle manor.

The aged Headmaster agreed to keep the new location quiet for the time being. Most of the Order members were probably busy with their real lives and jobs to drop everything and go hunting the country for the muggle house the Dark Lord was using as a base. But for some reason Regulus had the feeling that the old coot knew exactly where the Dark Lord's muggle manor was.

Of course the aged Headmaster had not said as much but it was practically screamed at Regulus from in-between the lines of the man's last missive. However, that was not the Black heir's concern; if Dumbledore knew where the house was then it was all the better. The Dark Lord would attribute any Order spies found around the property as sent by Dumbledore's knowledge.

He would, hopefully, not attribute the presence of Order members at his place of operations to Regulus or Severus. And even if the Order members knew where the house was it was unlikely that they could overcome the wards and enter the property before the Dark Lord and any Death Eaters left the place, taking any and all information about their plans and attacks with them.

It also could go the other way; the minute the Dark Lord knew the Order was there he could summon his servants and start a bloody battle. Regulus knew the Order was outmatched against the Death Eaters, not because the Dark was stronger. It was because the Dark would use any means necessary to win and fell their opponent.

Avada's were preferable to Stupify's in the Death Eater ranks unless they needed to capture someone for interrogation. And in those cases the person they captured didn't need their legs or arms for speaking; many prisoners of the Dark Lord had missing limbs, eyes, and organs. The Death Eaters could, and would, do as they pleased as long as the prisoner could still speak and answer questions clearly.

The Order preferred to stun and bind their adversaries and while this was nice and sweet it was a weakness. Especially when you're in a fight with people who have no issue with killing you. It was also ridiculously simple to undo a stunning spell and body bind; it only took a few seconds to execute the counter charms and then the once out of the way fighter was back in the game.

Regulus, Severus, and maybe Mad-Eye Moody, Sirius, Potter, and Lupin would have no issue with casting some of the more unpleasant hexes and curses but the rest of the Order would continue to fight with gloves on. To win this war they would have to take the gloves off and strike back as harshly as the Death Eaters. It wasn't desirable as they would be no better than the monster they wished to beat but in the end they needed to win.

The Order couldn't just keep surviving on luck and chance. Eventually their luck would run dry and their chances would be taken from them. It was better to kill one Death Eater than let them escape and kill countless innocents. Regulus would take the staining on his soul to keep others safe and so would Severus; their souls were already compromised due to murder and the Dark Mark.

With a sigh the grey eyed wizard shut the notebook and prepared himself to visit the vessel that gave him life. He took great pains in making sure nothing about his appearance was out of place; Regulus couldn't give the bitch anything to harp on.

No doubt she'd be unbearable today. He knew she'd heard about Sirius' injuries in the attack by Death Eaters and would take great joy in screeching about how Sirius was unworthy and a disgrace and deserved all the pain he got at the hand of her beloved Dark Lord.

Regulus would need all the control he had not to throw her down the stairs but he would endure just like he always did. He was happy that Sirius was healing well at the Potters' home. Dumbledore reported that in the notebook the day after the attack took place on his brother as well. Sure his elder brother was missing a large chunk out of his side but he would live and Severus got a bit of his own back; Regulus counted that as a success.

Fully prepped and dressed the youngest Black son went to the potions lab to say goodbye to his lover. Though he probably could have skipped it for all the attention Severus was paying him. It seemed the man was on a mission to find another way to destroy the Horcrux now that they knew how hard it would be to find the venom and oboli they required.

Regulus placed a kiss to his love's temple before he made his way to the apparition point in their home. With a resounding crack he apparated to the home of his childhood; Merlin and Morgana give him strength to endure his mother!

Alright, next chapter we will destroy our first Horcrux but not in the way you all are thinking we will. : ) Oh and Narcissa will make an appearance, too. Teeheee stay tuned lovelies. Also, I think we only have three chapters left before I wrap this baby up.

All Mistakes Are My Own!