Chapter 71
"Oh and Elphias sent this for your owl," Regulus said, producing a small paper packet from his pocket which he presented to Severus.
/Yummy...Or at least it better be. Hurry up, Prof and open it!/ Severus was already doing so, so ignored the owl. Once the paper was torn open, he presented the open package to Nightshade who snatched the wedge of what appeared to be dried meat from the wrapping. /This is good shit. It's dried...mouse maybe...or perhaps sparrow...Hard to tell with all the seasoning...Either way real good shit./
"It seems he approves," Severus told Regulus."If we don't see him before we leave, please thank Mr. Doge for us."
Regulus smiled. "Sure."
He settled himself in a wide armchair that matched the sofa on which Mag and Severus sat. Kreacher crammed himself in beside Regulus, and the vampire slipped an arm around the elf's shoulders as if they were about to cuddle up together with a good book. Good if he liked horror novels, considering the conversation they were about to have, Severus thought dryly. "I came to speak with you on a matter of grave import," Severus began, and Regulus turned intrigued blue eyes to him, giving a slight nod.
"I need help...Surviving this thing with Voldemort." Oddly enough admitting this didn't feel as uncomfortable as he might have thought. It was likely due to the fact he was admitting it to friends or at least people he didn't dislike. Saying as much to Potter would've been torture dredged from the depths of the ninth hell...or whatever the worst hell happened to be. Was there even a hell? Was that his thought or Nightshade's? Oddly enough at times he was unable to tell if the thought was something either of them could have. "Mag does very accurate rune readings," Severus began his explanation. "She actually learned from the Bloody Baron himself," he added, unable to keep the pride from his voice.
Mag smiled, green eyes shining with pleasure though she obviously struggled for modesty as she dropped her gaze shyly.
"Really," Regulus said, impressed. "Were you the star of divinations class?"
"Oh no," Mag shook her head.
"I don't ever see anything in crystal balls or tea leaves."
"How did the Baron know you had an ability," Regulus wanted to know.
She shrugged slender shoulders. "Through our conversations, I guess. It's about patterns. Reading the runes and life itself. History repeats and so the past is, in a way, also the future with various alterations that can be made."
"I like that," Regulus said. "Well said and it makes sense." "Also you having conversations with the Baron is rather impressive. He never struck me as the talkative sort."
"She's special,"Severus said, and Regulus nodded.
"I see that."
"No more special than either of you," Mag insisted, meaning it.
"But of course," Regulus nodded, grinning boyishly at her. "It's just that most people can't keep up so we're in good company."
"Yes, even though the Baron never sought us out for conversation," Severus said with a dry smile.
"I started talking to him first," Mag admitted. "I tended to enjoy talking to the Slytherin ghost more than most students at Hogwarts. Like Severus, I am not the most social, at least when it comes to ordinary conversation," she explained with a slight smile.
Regulus nodded in understanding. "I can relate to that. Kreacher was always my best friend, even during my school days. He's far more interesting and wise and insightful than anyone else I know." The elf straightened, round blue eyes shining with pleasure though his expression remained grave. Severus noticed that he looked far less tired and worn down, which caused him to appear far younger. Perhaps the age he'd worn like a heavy cloak was more due to depression and perhaps self imposed malnourishment than actual years. Rather than the old dirty rags he'd once worn, the elf now wore a long black tunic with some sort of archaic looking symbols stitched along the bottom hem. "At any rate," Severus continued. "Her latest reading on the matter of my situation with the dark lord...Voldemort, says that I will not survive it unless I can leave half way through his encounter with Potter. If I leave openly, he will hunt me down, so I have to appear not to have left." Regulus frowned, and Severus nodded.
"Exactly. That sounds impossible, considering the skill of who I'd be fooling." He filled Regulus in on the conversation he'd had with Wolfgang. "If we use a Death Eater so that the dark mark will be there in case Voldemort uses it to summon his followers while I am not present,, of course said Death Eater will not be willing. If we use the Imperius curse, Voldemort could detect it. The only deeper form of compulsion of which I am aware is vampiric."
"So you want me to help," Regulus asked.
Severus nodded. "I would appreciate it."
Regulus smiled. "You can count on me! You are both aware that vampires need blood to survive. I make my meals from those people I feel deserve to die. Murderers, rapists, general abusers, drug dealers...and when I can find them Death Eaters as well. As you can see, I have no qualms if you're using a Death Eater to keep yourself alive."
Severus nodded. "Thank you, Regulus."
"It's the least I can do, considering," Regulus said with an uncomfortable shrug and briefly shame filled expression. "When are we doing this?"
"No time soon," Severus replied. "Several months from now. We still have a lot of preparations to make and issues to sort. I'll be back in touch about it as soon as we've organized it a bit better. We'll be working with Grindelwald as well, considering he successfully switched places with someone."
Regulus chuckled. "Twice, actually, if you consider how he just escaped from Nurmengard."
Severus nodded. "Indeed."
"So, Mag," Regulus asked, leaning slightly forward in interest. "What else do you excel at other than runes? Are you a potions mistress?"
Mag dropped her gaze, giving a slight smile as she shook her head. "I'm Alright at potions, but nowhere close to Severus's ability."
She told him of her skill with enhancing stones and how she made wands twice the strength of wooden ones from quartz crystal. "Brilliant," Regulus said appreciatively.
"May I pay you to design one for me?"
"Sure. If you need one quickly, I will just make a standard all purpose clear quartz wand, but if you can wait a few weeks, I could personalize it to you a bit more. Once I get a feel for a person, I also can get concepts of the sort of wand that would serve them best."
Severus reached into the holster pocket he'd added onto the sleeve of his robe and drew out the wand Mag had made for him. "This one, for example, is clear quartz and black obsidian with the red oval there in the center being garnet," he said.
"Black obsidian is protective and grounding as well as providing one with a method to connect to their own intuition and inner knowledge. Clear quartz energizes and amplifies not only our magic but any other stones on the wand with it. Garnet cleanses and strengthens us and our energy field, and promotes courage and motivation." "You certainly know your stone lore," Regulus said, impressed.
Severus gave a slight shrug, shaking his head.
"I learned all that from Mag. I'm only repeating what she told me."
"And so well done,"Mag confirmed with a pleased smile, open fondness for him in her green eyes.
"Well I shall wait then and see what sort of wand you come up with for me," Regulus said.
"I'm interested to discover which stones you feel would serve me best. Should I pay you now?"
"Wait until I know what stones I'd like to use, then I'll have an exact price," Mag said and he nodded.
"Whenever you're ready, you know where I am. What else do you enjoy," Regulus asked. "Aside from rune reading and stone lore and wand making, that is."
Severus chuckled. "Indeed," Severus said dryly. "I feel as if I need more accomplishments to keep up."
Mag shook her head, giving Severus a mock frown of disapproval. "Hardly. You are a brilliant spell crafter, and I've never crafted any spells. That's some impressive complex work."
"Regulus held up slender hands in feigned surrender. "Stop...both of you...You're making me feel horribly under accomplished. I've not pursued much for the entire time I've been away. In part due to living among Muggles and not wanting to draw attention to myself from any Ministry by using magic, but also because...I suppose the interest wasn't there." He sighed. "I suppose I've been too depressed to bother with much of anything," he admitted, glancing away toward the corner of the room, an expression of embarrassed discomfort on his youthful features.
"Join the club, but that doesn't mean you can't still do things," Severus said with a frown.
"I do sing and play the guitar a bit if that counts at all," Regulus said with a slight shrug. "It's something I picked up for lack of anything better to do. I got a book on how to play the guitar and studied it until I understood the basics, then just practiced until I was decent."
"Brilliant," Mag enthused. "My grandparents taught me to play the fiddle. We'll have to jam together some day."
"They're bards," Severus bragged.
"She inherited it from them even though it skipped her mum."
"Really!"
An eager light came into Regulus's eyes. "That's some impressive stuff. Want to jam right now? My guitar is upstairs. I'd wait if you want to go get your fiddle."
Mag smiled. "Sure. I'll just Apparate home and grab it. Won't take me three minutes."
/This ought to be interesting, Prof,/ Nightshade said. /Hopefully it won't suck, though. And if you ask me what suck means, I swear to gods.../ Nightshade warned.
/The context was clear,/ Severus responded dryly.
Mag walked outside to Apparate home while Regulus hurried upstairs with Kreacher following as if the vampire couldn't function without him. Soon they were both back, instrument cases in hand. Severus perused the books on a small corner shelf while Mag and Regulus talked music. Eventually Regulus moved to the heavy oak desk on the far side of the room, and sat down to write out some chords. When he was finished, he handed the sheet of parchment to Mag who looked it over and nodded. "I think I've got it," she said, and the two began to play. Nightshade had called it, because it did suck. It sucked in ways neither Potions Master nor owl could've ever imagined. It had its own special place of honor in suckville, although for reasons one would not expect.