Chapter 45, A Failed Bargain
After dinner, Sirius stomped back upstairs, presumably to his room. Severus, Regulus and Kreacher returned to the library. Kreacher had vanished the empty dishes to the kitchen before they left the table, and once again Severus found himself impressed at the seeming effortless ease of the elf's magic. He had never seen the elves at Hogwarts working, though Raislen assured him there were a ton of them keeping the place running smoothly. Never seeing them, it was easy to forget. Raislen had never seen them either, but his father had assured him that they were what kept Hogwarts running, and Severus figured anyone working in The Department of Mysteries knew what they were talking about. Mr. WestCraven was likely exposed to tons of fascinating secrets that he couldn't talk about. "Is it hard to do that," he asked Kreacher suddenly.
Kreacher blinked, looking up from his book. "Hard to do what?"
"Well like getting rid of all the dishes, for example, or putting the food on the table that you clearly had ready even before I arrived or,"
"No," Kreacher replied, then returned to his reading. Severus gave a sigh of pure envy before doing the same. He was sort of book hopping, due to not quite finding precisely what he was after for his cutting hex. He could have settled down with any of the books he'd sampled, but he was a boy on a mission at present. Perhaps if he had not finished reading all of the books he found interesting before the visit was over, Regulus would allow him to borrow them and return them when term at Hogwarts began.
"I want to be a Prefect, but I don't think Slughorn will make either of us one." Regulus spoke suddenly. Shifting in his chair, he sighed listlessly.
Severus glanced up. "I considered that. Were we Prefects, we would have more power with which to fight back, but as we are always in scraps with those Gits, other professors may object even were Slughorn so inclined. He went out on a limb with Heather, but she is better at laying low and keeping out of trouble."
"Mostly because they are rarely coming after her directly," Regulus interjected.
Severus nodded. "All the same, though. It is a vicious cycle for us. We could use our Prefect power, but the fact that we must constantly defend ourselves insures that we are part of the perceived problem so we are not going to get it."
"It is unfair," Regulus said darkly. "I am beginning to hate that school. I so wanted to attend Durmstrang, but my parents did not wish me to go so far from home at such a young age. I could have achieved so much at Durmstrang!"
"Yes," Severus agreed wistfully. "I never thought of it because I would not want to lose Heather and Raislen, but aside from that, I am right there with you." On that note, they both returned to their books.
After a while, Severus asked, "So does Sirius always kindly stay in his room?"
"Mostly," Regulus replied.
"Good." That was nice to know. The less Sirius was making himself a bother on Severus's vacation the better. Severus rose to replace the book on forgotten hexes and see what else he could find. Though interesting, the branches of magic with which that book worked, would not suit his purposes. Then it struck him! His hex was for cutting, so it could somehow perhaps link indirectly to healing. If he could work a coagulating charm, he could keep the damage more controlled, from getting out of hand.
"Say, do you have anything on healing," he asked, excited over his new line of thinking.
"Sure," Regulus said, waving a hand toward the other side of the library. "Over there, second shelf from the right."
"Brilliant," Severus breathed as he rushed over. Knowing nothing of healing, he wasn't exactly certain where to start. Trying not to feel overwhelmed, he scanned the titles, hoping for guidance. In this case, it would be very helpful if he could judge a book by its cover at least to some degree, or at least tell by its title if it may hold the information he needed. One called The Simple Healing Craft, From Cuts To Broken Bones, felt promising.
"What are you looking for anyway," Regulus asked, peering curiously at Severus over his own book.
"I am not precisely certain," Severus admitted with a frustrated sigh. "Probably something on blood coagulation."
"Sounds yummy," Regulus said with a titter and Kreacher snorted with laughter before sighing and closing his own book.
"Kreacher should go and attend to the dishes before the hour grows later than it already has." The elf stood, covering a yawn with one hand.
"Didn't you just magic them clean when they vanished earlier," Severus wondered.
"Of course Kreacher did, but he still must put them away, then prepare for tomorrow's breakfast. The clean dishes are on the kitchen counter at present, and Kreacher does hate to leave things sitting about."
"I would offer to help, but no one can do anything properly but Kreacher," Regulus said, looking pointedly at the elf, who only grinned as he left the library without comment.
"It must be nice to have so powerful a best friend," Severus observed wistfully. "Heather and Raislen are great, but they're still human. He's more."
Regulus nodded. "It is rather brilliant at times. Kreacher restrains himself often enough, though, when if I were him, I most definitely would not."
"You mean like with Sirius," Severus wondered.
Regulus made a sound of agreement, his gaze staring momentarily into space as if distracted by his own musings on the matter. "Though my parents have never chastised him nor indicated that he should not defend himself, he limits himself when it comes to his reactions to Sirius. I think it's the elf slave thing, though my family has never treated him as such. Mother says we all have roles in the family and Kreacher merely performs his. She has never directly commanded him or punished him or treated him anything like the Malfoys treat that Dobby so I honestly do not understand it," Regulus ranted, face suddenly alive with active frustration on the matter.
Severus knew little of elves as the Prince family had none for whatever reason. Grandfather Prince paid servants who he considered to be lesser born wizards to cook and keep the manor in order. They were only about a few hours a day, and when Severus was home, he rarely if ever had interactions with them. "It is odd," he murmured, hoping this was the proper supportive friend thing to say.
"It's bloody frustrating is what it is," Regulus grumbled darkly. "If Kreacher would only just unleash on Sirius a few good times, the git would learn his bloody lesson."
Severus considered this for a time before replying. "Perhaps he would, or perhaps he would only get worse and lash out at you more and harder when Kreacher is not around simply to punish Kreacher through you. He knows that Kreacher cannot kill him, after all. Any time Raislen and Heather have gotten those gits but good, I always end up paying for it in some way. This is how they operate, and Kreacher is smart enough to see as much."
Regulus scowled darkly, but made no comment, so Severus gladly went back to his book on healing. By the time Regulus was yawning and proclaiming himself to be ready for bed, Severus had a few ideas for how to incorporate a mild coagulation charm into his cutting hex. He would have to practice, of course, whenever Kreacher had time to allow him into the kitchen where the Ministry would not be able to trace his magic. His mind was still on his hex and how to incorporate blood coagulation into it as he followed Regulus out of the library and up the stairs. They were passing Sirius's room when his door suddenly sprang open.
He must have heard their footsteps approaching and decided to use the opportunity. But for what? Severus sighed, one hand reaching for the wand in his robe pocket before he recalled that Sirius probably would not be stupid enough to use magic on them. "How long are you here for," Sirius demanded. Clearly he was addressing Severus, because Regulus lived there, so that answer was obvious, even for Sirius. Severus opened his mouth to tell him to wait around and find out when a stroke of genius hit him.
"I will tell you if you tell me why Lupin is always leaving Hogwarts once a month." There! Finally he had something that Sirius wanted and if he was lucky, he would get a bit of information in exchange.
Sirius snorted. "Fat chance of me telling you that, Snivellus. Nice try, though."
"Fine," Severus bit out. "Fatter chance of you learning how long I shall be here."
"That is hardly the same thing," Sirius growled. Severus just bet he was itching to hex him and Regulus both. It must be such the torment not to be able to use magic. How he must detest having Severus here where he could not torment and bully him with his little gang of gits! Severus allowed himself to bask in the knowledge of Sirius's frustration. Then genius struck once again. "How about this, Sirius. Tell me what I want to know and I'll cut my trip several weeks short."
"Several weeks," Sirius barked out incredulously.
Severus smiled, feeling sweet success drawing ever closer. "I said that I could cut my trip short. Tell me what I want to know, and I will leave after a week. I swear."
"But Severus!" Regulus exclaimed angrily. "You promised to keep me company for longer than that! We had so many plans to make his life miserable! You're just going to break your word for some stupid information?"
Regulus was playing into Severus's game perfectly without even knowing about it. He was a good friend. Severus kept from giving him a smile of thanks with a vast effort. "I'll make it up to you," he said."I'll do your homework all year." Regulus sighed, scowling darkly at Sirius, but he made no further protest..
A long silence stretched out as Sirius considered. It was all Severus could do not to jiggle in place with excitement as he felt victory drawing so very close. Not only could Sirius get rid of Severus far sooner than planned, as he surely saw it, but he could also make Regulus quite unhappy in the process! Surely he had to be extremely tempted. Surely it was an offer he would not be able to refuse. "I can't," Sirius muttered.
"Son of a bitch," Severus groaned. He wasn't talking about Sirius as much as cursing his own bloody luck.
"Fuckhead," Sirius snarled back. Severus ignored him, considering his expletive had not truly been for him anyway.
"I shall be here for most of the summer, if you must know," he said smoothly. "Now leave us alone." Sirius gave a growl of rage or perhaps it was frustration as he slammed his bedroom door. Severus smiled in spite of his failure, because he had succeeded in at least upsetting Sirius with his lie even if he had not gotten the information he wanted.
"Come on," Regulus said, tugging at his sleeve. He allowed Regulus to tug him down the hall and into what was presumably his bedroom. Regulus shut the door and sighed. "I didn't want to risk talking in the hall where Sir Git could overhear us," he said in a hushed tone. "That was good going! Now he'll be upset until you go home. It's a pity you can't stay longer, but if Sirius is miserable for a week, at least that's something." He chuckled happily.
Severus nodded. "Yes. I figured that was the least I could do. Thanks for playing along, by the way."
Regulus grinned."Sure. I'm always glad to help a friend, particularly if it involves upsetting His Gitness."