Does anyone remember how excited I was because of all the new reviews last chapter? Well, I am even more excited now - 505 reviews! Thank you all so much! And a special thanks to Aminta defender who has written the 500th review :D
Previously on A Slytherin Through Time: This chapter starts right were the previous one ended. Dumbledore and Harry went on a mission to retrieve a Horcrux from a cave. Draco meanwhile talked to Curse-Breaker Bill Weasley who promised to help Draco in his quest to heal Astoria. Draco had just walked in on Snape, Remus and Sirius enjoying a glass of Firewhiskey when Dumbledore and Harry come stumbling out of the fireplace.
As always: Read, enjoy and review :)
Their laughing came to a sudden halt when the fireplace flared and two familiar figures stumbled into the room.
Dumbledore was on his knees, clutching Harry's arm to keep upright. Harry looked at the occupants of the room and shouted, "Help!"
Snape was next to them within seconds while the others were still staring at the duo in shock.
"What happened?" barked Snape, looking at Dumbledore, then at Harry.
"Sev...erus," croaked Dumbledore.
Draco was still rooted in place where he was sitting next to Remus. The sight of the headmaster - ghastly pale - filled him with terror. He had only seen the headmaster like this once before - and it had ended with the man's death. Images of the headmaster's last moments flashed before his eyes and he struggled to control his fear of history repeating itself.
"Cave - Inferi - potion-" mumbled Harry, clearly out of breath.
"A potion?" Snape asked. "Did he drink it?"
Harry looked at Dumbledore and nodded his head.
"Foolish old man," muttered Snape. "What potion?"
"I don't know," groaned Harry. "It was green and glowing. We- we couldn't do anything with it. We couldn't touch it. One of us had to drink it."
"The Drink of Despair..." mumbled Snape. "Draco - go get some water for the headmaster. Lupin, Black - make sure he is comfortable. I need to get some potions and will return shortly." With that he strode towards the fireplace, grabbed some close-by Floo powder, threw it into the fire and clearly enunciated "Spinner's End." With that he was gone.
The remaining occupants of the room jumped into action. Remus and Sirius each grabbed one of Dumbledore's arms and Draco hurried towards the kitchen to get a glass of water. When he returned to the dining room, Remus and Sirius had managed to guide Dumbledore towards a sofa and were now, together with Harry, standing next to him.
"I got the water," said Draco and saw Dumbledore reaching for it with pale, shaking hands. Draco didn't think the headmaster had ever looked so old and frail. He put the glass in his hands and held onto them to steady them while Dumbledore drank.
"Thank you... my boy," said Dumbledore.
Draco smiled at him weakly and then turned towards the others. "He is ice cold... and wet."
"Er... we had to swim," replied Harry and only now did Draco notice that the boy was dripping wet and shivering as well.
"What the hell happened?" asked Sirius while Remus cast a drying and heating charm on both Dumbledore and Harry.
Harry first glanced at Sirius and Remus and then at Draco. But he was spared from having to come up with a lie that did not include Horcruxes when Snape arrived with several potion vials in his hands. He ushered them out of the room, saying that, "there is little you can do now besides stand in the way. I will call for you should I require assistance."
"I need another drink," announced Sirius once Snape had shut the door and Draco found himself nodding in agreement. Everything had happened so fast that Draco still had a racing heart and his thoughts had trouble catching up with everything that had happened. A drink would definitely be nice, but he knew Sirius wouldn't give him one.
"I'll go to my room," said Harry quickly, leaving them behind as he sprinted up the stairs.
"I should-" Sirius started, looking after Harry, but then he shook his head. "Being a responsible parent is a lot harder than I thought it was going to be."
Yes, it definitely was, Draco thought bitterly. But he could not think of Scorpius now or he would lose his composure entirely.
"Should I...?" Sirius began again.
Draco shook his head. "I'll go after him. If Dumbledore doesn't want you to know, Harry is not going to tell you."
Sirius looked relieved and nodded.
Draco hurried up the stairs after Harry, trying to collect his thoughts somewhat on the way upstairs. Some days he felt like his life was just one big catastrophe after the other, leaving him barely any time to catch his breath. He wondered if Harry felt the same way - over-strained and somewhat exhausted. They had tried everything they could to avoid disaster but were ultimately unable to stop it. Draco had tried to catch Pettigrew but the rat had still escaped. He had tried to build a better relationship with his parents but had been disowned. He had tried to save Cedric and Cassius had died instead. He had tried to stop the Dark Lord from returning but had failed. Astoria, who he was trying to save, had left him. He could only hope that Dumbledore's death, which he had sworn to prevent, would not end up on his long list of failures.
Harry had not cared to close the door behind him. When Draco entered his room through the open door he saw Harry lying face-down on his bed.
"What happened?" Draco asked carefully.
Harry groaned. "Everything," came his muffled voice as his head was pressed against a pillow.
"The Horcrux was not lying around the cave unprotected, then?" Draco asked. Perhaps he should have gone with them.
Harry sighed into his pillow. "To enter the cave you had to swim through icy water, make a blood sacrifice, drink poison and fight Inferi."
Draco let that sink in. He had questions - a lot of them. But he didn't even know where to start. Blood sacrifice? Poison? Inferi? Each of those things could have been the end for both Harry and Dumbledore. But all of them? It was nothing less than a miracle that both of them had made it back alive. "W-Wow... Just wow. He doesn't do things by halves, does he?"
Harry laughed bitterly. "No, Voldemort really doesn't."
Draco decided to forego the questions he had about the things protecting the cave. There were more important things now. "Do you have the Horcrux, at least?"
Harry turned around and looked at Draco. "Yeah... But I can tell that something's off about it."
"Off?"
Harry sat up and pulled something small out of his pocket.
"A locket?" Draco asked, remembering something Harry had said a while ago.
"Is it just me or does Voldemort have a thing for jewelry?"
Draco laughed. "Maybe another aspect we could base our educated guesses on. We already have a ring and a crown, maybe one of the next Horcruxes will be a bracelet or a necklace?"
"The Brooch of the Bloody Baron - it's got a nice ring to it," laughed Harry.
"Looks like you weren't so far off with your jewelry theory," Draco said, amusement fighting its way through the whirlwind of emotions he was feeling.
The corner's of Harry's mouth twitched into something that was almost a smile. "The locket of Salazar Slytherin. But something's wrong. It doesn't feel the same way the others did. And it's... I don't know. I'd have expected it to be bigger and more ornate."
Draco took the locket into his hands and knew right away what Harry was talking about. No ornate S, no snakes, nothing to indicate this thing was anything special. And it did not feel the way gold should. He knew a thing or two about family heirlooms. This wasn't one. "It's fake."
Harry groaned.
Draco opened the locket. There was nothing inside but for a scrap of folded parchment wedged tightly into the place where a portrait should have been. Automatically, without really thinking about what he was doing, he pulled out the fragment of parchment, opened it, and read aloud:
"To the Dark Lord,
I know I will be dead long before you read this but I want you to know that it was I who discovered your secret. I have stolen the real Horcrux and intend to destroy it as soon as I can.
I face death in the hope that when you meet your match you will be mortal once more.
R.A.B."
"You know what this means?" Harry asked.
"That this is not the Horcrux?"
Harry nodded. "So Dumbledore nearly died... for nothing!"
Draco didn't know what to say to that. They'd been so close. But now all the advantages they had through knowing the Dark Lord were gone and they'd have to start their search from scratch. His gaze fell onto the note in his hand and he felt the numbness that usually accompanied hopelessness spread within him, quenching all other emotions.
Draco retreated into the library, doing some more research on Astoria's ancestors. After the blow from earlier it helped him regain a sense of agency. Things weren't hopeless and there was plenty they could do, he just had to remind himself of that again and again.
Sifting through some old diaries, Draco found out about some of her relatives' deaths. He didn't think any of them were the source of the blood curse, but being able to eliminate names from the long list was a step in the right direction.
Draco wrote down the names and causes of death on a piece of parchment. Once Snape would bring him the notes he had left in school, he would be able to create a family tree that only showed branches of her family in which the blood curse had shown up.
While writing his list, he wondered whether he and Harry hadn't been looking at this new problem the wrong way. Perhaps they could apply the same method to both problems. They did not have to look for the locket all around the world. Whoever had the locket had clearly lived in England and had known the Dark L-
Draco's eyes widened. He jumped up and hurried back into Harry's room. Harry was still sitting on his bed, but had grabbed a book from a shelf and was now lazily flicking through it.
Draco grabbed the note that they had found inside the locket off the desk and read the first line out loud: "To the Dark Lord."
Harry looked up at him in confusion.
"To the Dark Lord," Draco repeated. "How many people do you know who call Him the Dark Lord?"
Harry raised an eyebrow in confusion. "You do that. And Snape. Neville, sometimes, which is really weird..."
"Why is it weird when Neville says it?" Draco asked, knowing that comprehension was dawning. He knew that Neville occasionally used that name when he spent too much time around Draco. But Draco couldn't bring himself to use the name Voldemort. And "He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named" and "You-Know-Who" just sounded ridiculous, so the best Draco could do was calling him "He", but he'd often forget and still call him the Dark Lord.
"Because he's not..." Harry's eyes widened. "Whoever wrote this was a Death Eater!"
Draco nodded enthusiastically. "And we know the initials. R.A.B." Something about them felt familiar to Draco. He knew that he knew the name they were looking for, but he couldn't recall it.
"So do you know any Death Eaters with those initials?"
Draco sighed. It was there. On the tip of his tongue, but... "No."
Harry's shoulders dropped. But then he looked up again with new hope, "but perhaps Dumbledore does. Or Snape."
Draco thought this over, then nodded his head. "Let's ask them then. We should probably check up on them, anyway."
Harry hesitated. "Do you think..."
"I think he's okay," Draco replied, just as much to reassure himself as to reassure Harry. Everything else was simply unthinkable. "Snape knows what he's doing. And he didn't look too worried when he figured out what potion that was."
Harry nodded and followed Draco back downstairs. There they found Remus and Sirius sitting at the kitchen table around a bottle of Firewhiskey. Gone was the good mood he had encountered earlier today, instead the two were looking rather glum.
"Did anything happen?" Harry asked.
"No," replied Remus. "No news yet. But it's only been an hour."
"We've been reminiscing," said Sirius.
"And by that you mean talking about everyone who's died since the beginning of the last war?" Draco guessed. He knew that. A lot of gatherings after the war had turned into drunken reminiscing when almost everyone had lost someone.
Sirius sighed and nodded his head.
"Anything you want to share?" Harry asked, sitting down next to them. Draco followed his example.
"That's nice of you, Harry," Remus replied, "but we are the adults. We should be looking after you and not the other way around."
"Don't be ridiculous," Harry said.
It was then that they could hear a door being opened and a few seconds later Severus Snape was standing in the kitchen with them. He looked exhausted but... satisfied, Draco thought. He smiled at his godfather then, knowing that he had again saved the day.
"How is he?" Harry asked as soon as he caught sight of their Professor.
"He needs rest now... but he will make a full recovery," Snape said, sinking down in one of the chairs. He conjured a glass, filled it to the brim with Firewhiskey, and then emptied it in one go.
The others all sighed in relief while Snape refilled his glass.
Sirius raised his glass and said, "to our very own Potion's Master. Who'd have thought that potions can actually be useful in fighting the Dark Arts?"
Snape groaned, "you almost managed to say something nice," but chose to otherwise ignore the comment and clinked glasses with Sirius and Remus.
They sat in companionable silence, but Draco noticed some tension between Sirius and Remus. Remus kept on giving Sirius looks that Draco couldn't interpret, and he constantly motioned his head in Snape's direction when he thought Snape wasn't looking.
Sirius looked apprehensive, but ultimately took a deep breath and said, "S-Severus... I was wondering... I hoped... I want to know what happened to Reg. You were friends and... I never knew." Longing, sadness, the yearning for closure. It was all there on his face. "Who else do I have to ask?" he continued bitterly.
"Reg?" Harry asked, "Wait - your brother Regulus?"
Sirius nodded his head. "He died but I never knew how or why..."
"Should we leave?" asked Harry.
Sirius shook his head. "Stay."
Snape studied Sirius for a few long seconds. "I don't know everything, but I'll tell you what I know."
"Thanks," mumbled Sirius.
"What do you know?"
"Not much," Sirius began, his gaze drifting off into the distance. "My mother sent me a howler informing me of his death. With Reg's death, the last shred of my mother's sanity left, so I never found out anymore than that."
Snape stared at him. So did everyone else. "A... howler?"
Sirius just shrugged his shoulders.
"Is that all you know?" Snape asked.
Sirius looked uncomfortable. But then, he started to tell a story.
Sirius was alone in the muggle flat he had rented after leaving Hogwarts, when he heard a soft knock at his door. It was late at night and the number of people who knew his address could be counted on one hand.
He opened the door a crack, hand hovering over his wand pocket should trouble greet him. At first glance he did not recognize the boy in front of him. But even though he was thinner than he had ever been and had dark rings under his eyes, he soon recognized him as his little brother, Regulus.
"Sirius," Regulus croaked. He looked over his shoulders, before his haunted eyes settled back on his brother.
Sirius' eyes hardened. "What do you want?" he growled. If Regulus knew where he lived, a group of Death Eaters was probably already on its way for a surprise late night visit. He shouldn't have opened the door. He should have cast more privacy charms around his flat. If it came to a fight, many innocent muggles would be caught in the crossfire.
Regulus flinched at the harsh tone. "Just... talk."
"I don't talk to Death Eaters," barked Sirius and shut the door.
"Siri," Regulus yelled, knocking at the door. "Please. I need your help."
Fury grew inside of Sirius. When he opened the door again, Sirius' eyes and tone were cold, as he said, "you've chosen your way. I've chosen mine. If you need help, ask one of your murderous Death Eater buddies. Now leave before I call for the Aurors."
Regulus looked dejected. In a desperate last attempt, he took a step towards his brother.
Within seconds Sirius had his wand drawn and pointed at Regulus' heart. "Don't," he growled. "Leave."
Regulus took a step back. Sirius shut the door.
"That was the last time I ever saw my brother," finished Sirius.
Everyone had grown quiet, staring at Sirius.
"Why didn't you listen to him?" Harry finally asked.
Sirius averted his eyes, looking at his glass in front of him rather than the people. "Two Order members had just been brutally murdered that week. Meadows and McKinnon. I wasn't in a good place, mentally. And Reg was a Death Eater. It could have been a trap."
"It wasn't," said Snape matter-of-factly, "I don't know exactly how Regulus died, but I do know that he had been having second thoughts."
Sirius inhaled sharply and closed his eyes.
"Maybe I should start at the beginning," said Snape. "Regulus took the Mark when he was sixteen."
"Sixteen," groaned Sirius. "That's so young."
Draco flinched. Another parallel between him and Regulus. He had been sixteen as well when he got the Mark.
"It wasn't uncommon back then. He wasn't the only one," Snape replied.
"You as well? No wonder he turned Dark surrounded by all this Death Eater scum."
"Sirius," reprimanded Lupin.
Snape stared at Sirius nonplussed. "If you want information I would advice you not to insult me. And I assure you, your parents were not any less of a bad influence than anyone in Slytherin."
"Right, right. Sorry. Old habits..."
"Right," drawled Snape.
"I wish I'd known about the Mark back then. Would have known what to look for."
"It would have changed nothing," Snape said. "Had Lupin been the spy, the Dark Lord still wouldn't have branded him. It's a blood brand. He would never connect himself by blood to a werewolf. And as far as I have gathered, Pettigrew only got his when he offered up the Fidelius."
"Wait - he wasn't a Death Eater before? He only became one... He murdered James and Lily to become one of you."
Snape's eyes narrowed.
"Did you know?"
Now Snape outright scowled. "Of course not."
Sirius raised his hands. "Sorry. Sorry."
"If you remember, it looked like the Dark Lord would win at the time. Pettigrew thought he was changing to the winning side. Quite ironic, if you consider that his act of treachery led to the downfall of the Dark Lord..."
Apparently, Sirius did not appreciate the irony. "Which was my fault. I told them to use Peter. James and Lily would still be alive if not for my stupidity."
"You trusted a friend. You can't blame yourself for that," Snape said. Draco was sure that a few days ago, his answer would have been less comforting. "It wasn't you who betrayed them. It wasn't you who spoke the Killing Curse. And it wasn't you who relayed the Prophecy to the Dark Lord..." he trailed off, seemingly lost in thought. Then he cleared his throat and continued,"as I've mentioned already, he took the Dark Mark with me and some others when he was sixteen. He wasn't like the others, though. You knew him, he wasn't cruel or unkind. Arrogant, perhaps. He wanted to prove himself. Believed all of the Dark Lord's ideas on blood purity... But he was never cruel... He wanted to prove himself. And when the Dark Lord needed one of us for a special mission - he volunteered. I never knew what it was that he had to do, but he returned a different man. He became increasingly appalled by what the Death Eaters did. I think he was close to deflecting. That's when he disappeared. The Dark Lord later told us that he was dead."
Sirius gulped. "Did... did he kill him?"
"Perhaps. But I don't think so. The Dark Lord would have made an example of him, had he defected. I don't think he knew what happened either."
"So he really changed sides? Or at least thought about it?" Sirius smiled, but then his smile faltered. "And I sent him away. Maybe he'd still be alive if I had just talked to him..."
Draco's mind was running high wire. What had Regulus' mission been? What happened to him?
On the other side of the table, Harry was trying to catch his attention, probably had been for a while before Draco had finally noticed him. Harry mouthed "R.A.B." at him and suddenly, it clicked. He had seen the initials in Regulus' room. He cursed himself for not realizing this sooner. But what good was knowing this if no one knew what had happened to Regulus? Sirius was the only family member alive and he did not know. Snape did not know. Perhaps they could ask the portray of Walburga Black, but Draco doubted that would lead them anywhere. And otherwise the house was empty and no one close to the family was alive or willing to talk to them. Or was there? An idea hit him and before he could change his mind, he yelled, "Kreacher!"
There was a loud crack and the house-elf appeared out of nowhere in front of them: tiny, half human-sized, his pale skin hanging off him in folds, white hair sprouting copiously from his batlike ears. He was still wearing the filthy rag which Draco had also seen him in last summer.
"Yes?" croaked Kreacher in his bullfrog's voice, and he bowed low, muttering to his knees, "back in my Mistress's old house with the blood-traitors—"
"What blood traitors are you talking about?" Draco interrupted him. "All I see are Sirius Black, your pure blood master; Severus Snape, the Dark Lord's right hand man; Harry Potter, descendant of a powerful pureblooded family; and me - a Slytherin who is half Black and half Malfoy." He chose to ignore Remus Lupin. There was no misrepresentation of any of his traits that would endear him to the elf.
The elf looked at him with wide eyes but said no more.
"I've got a question for you," Draco continued, his heart beating rather fast as he looked down at the elf, "and I, as a member of the Black family and ward of your master, order you to answer it truthfully. Understand?"
Kreacher's eyes darted to Sirius, before he replied, "Yes, sir." He bowed low again.
Draco took a deep breath. "Do you know how Regulus Black died?"
There was a moment's silence, during which Kreacher straightened up to look Draco full in the face.
"Draco, what-" started Sirius, but was interrupted by an unmistakable "Yes," coming from the house elf.
Draco could hear Sirius gasp, but did not dare look away from the elf.
"What happened?" whispered Draco.
Kreacher closed his eyes as though he could not bear, he shivered and he swayed. "Master Sirius ran away, good riddance, for he was a bad boy and broke my Mistress's heart with his lawless ways. But Master Regulus had proper pride; he knew what was due to the name of Black and the dignity of his pure blood. For years he talked of the Dark Lord, who was going to bring the wizards out of hiding to rule the Muggles and the Muggle-borns... and when he was sixteen years old, Master Regulus joined the Dark Lord. So proud, so proud, so happy to serve... And one day, a year after he had joined, Master Regulus came down to the kitchen to see Kreacher. Master Regulus always liked Kreacher. And Master Regulus said... he said... he said that the Dark Lord required an elf."
"Voldemort needed an elf?" repeated Harry incredulously.
Kreacher was gulping for air: His hollow chest was rising and falling rapidly, then his eyes flew open and he uttered a bloodcurdling scream.
"Kreacher!" yelled Sirius, clearly distressed. "Finish the story. That's an order."
"Yes," moaned Kreacher. "And Master Regulus had volunteered Kreacher. It was an honor, said Master Regulus, an honor for him and for Kreacher, who must be sure to do whatever the Dark Lord ordered him to do.. and then to c-come home," gasped the elf as tears poured over his snout and into his mouth full of graying teeth. "So Kreacher went to the Dark Lord. The Dark Lord did not tell Kreacher what they were to do, but took Kreacher with him to a cave beside the sea. And beyond the cave there was a cavern, and in the cavern was a great black lake..."
"A great black lake?" gasped Harry. "Then R.A.B. really stands for... Regulus Black?"
"Regulus Arcturus Black," replied Sirius, not taking his eyes off the elf. "Why?"
Harry shook his head. "Later. Kreacher, was there a boat?"
"Y-yes," replied the sobbing elf.
"A cave," Snape muttered, eyes boring into Harry. "Ice cold water? Is this where the headmaster has taken you today? Will this story continue with a certain potion?"
Harry shrugged his shoulders.
"A potion?" Kreacher asked. "There was a b-basin full of potion on the island. The D-Dark Lord made Kreacher drink it..." The elf quaked from head to foot. "Kreacher drank, and as he drank, he saw terrible things... Kreacher's insides burned... Kreacher cried for Master Regulus to save him, he cried for his Mistress Black, but the Dark Lord only laughed... He made Kreacher drink all the potion... He dropped a locket into the empty basin... He filled it with more potion. "And then the Dark Lord sailed away, leaving Kreacher on the island... Kreacher needed water, he crawled to the island's edge and he drank from the black lake... and hands, dead hands, came out of the water and dragged Kreacher under the surface..."
"How did you get away?" Harry whispered.
Kreacher raised his ugly head and looked at Harry with his great, bloodshot eyes.
"Master Regulus told Kreacher to come back," he said.
"I know — but how did you escape the Inferi?"
"Inferi?" hissed Sirius. "Where did Dumbledore take you?"
"Not now," replied Harry.
Kreacher did not seem to understand. "Master Regulus told Kreacher to come back," he repeated.
"I know, but —"
"He's a house elf," Draco interrupted Harry. "He probably disapparated."
"But . . . you couldn't Apparate in and out of that cave," said Harry, "otherwise Dumbledore —"
"Elf magic isn't like wizard's magic, though, is it?" replied Draco, although he thought it unlikely that someone like Voldemort did not know about it. "They can Apparate and Disapparate in and out of Hogwarts when we can't."
"Of course, Voldemort would have considered the ways of house elves far beneath his notice... It would never have occurred to him that they might have magic that he didn't," said Sirius.
"The house-elf's highest law is his Master's bidding," intoned Kreacher. "Kreacher was told to come home, so Kreacher came home..."
"So what happened when you got back?" Harry asked. "What did Regulus say when you told him what had happened?"
"Master Regulus was very worried, very worried," croaked Kreacher. "Master Regulus told Kreacher to stay hidden and not to leave the house. And then... it was a little while later... Master Regulus came to find Kreacher in his cupboard one night, and Master Regulus was strange, not as he usually was, disturbed in his mind, Kreacher could tell... and he asked Kreacher to take him to the cave, the cave where Kreacher had gone with the Dark Lord..."
"And he made you drink the potion?" asked Harry, disgusted.
Kreacher shook his head and wept.
"M-Master Regulus took from his pocket a locket like the one the Dark Lord had," said Kreacher, tears pouring down either side of his snoutlike nose. "And he told Kreacher to take it and, when the basin was empty, to switch the lockets..." Kreacher's sobs came in great rasps now; Draco had to concentrate hard to understand him. "And he ordered — Kreacher to leave — without him. And he told Kreacher — to go home — and never to tell my Mistress — what he had done — but to destroy — the first locket. And he drank — all the potion — and Kreacher swapped the lockets — and watched... as Master Regulus... was dragged beneath the water... and..."
Abruptly, Sirius stood up and left the room.
"Should we-" Draco started, but stopped when he saw Harry shake his head.
"I will go after him," announced Remus and left the room. Draco was glad. Sirius shouldn't be alone right now, but he and Harry really needed to hear the rest of this story.
Harry turned towards Kreacher once Remus was gone. "So you brought the locket home? And you tried to destroy it?"
"Nothing Kreacher did made any mark upon it," moaned the elf. "Kreacher tried everything, everything he knew, but nothing, nothing would work... So many powerful spells upon the casing, Kreacher was sure the way to destroy it was to get inside it, but it would not open... Kreacher punished himself, he tried again, he punished himself, he tried again. Kreacher failed to obey orders, Kreacher could not destroy the locket! And his Mistress was mad with grief, because Master Regulus had disappeared, and Kreacher could not tell her what had happened, no, because Master Regulus had f-f-forbidden him to tell any of the f-f-family what happened in the c-cave..." Kreacher began to sob so hard that there were no more coherent words.
Draco looked behind him at the table, where Snape was still sitting. His expression betrayed no emotion, but Draco was sure he had plenty of questions.
"Severus," Draco began and it felt rather weird addressing him like that in front of Harry, "could you fetch Dumbledore? I know he needs rest but... I think he will want to hear this. We'll explain everything later."
Snape considered them for a while, before he nodded. "I will see what his current condition is and fetch him should I deem it well enough to get up." He left the room.
It was several minutes before Kreacher hiccuped himself into silence. Then he pushed himself into a sitting position again, rubbing his knuckles into his eyes like a small child.
"Do you still have the locket, Kreacher?" asked Harry.
The elf bopped his head.
"Could you fetch it for us?" Harry asked, and Draco did not think he had ever heard anyone speak so politely to the vile little creature.
The elf hesitated.
"We'll destroy it for you," Draco assured him.
"It's really important," Harry added. "We want to finish the work Master Regulus started, we want to — er — ensure that he didn't die in vain."
With a loud pop the house elf disappeared.
"It's been here the whole time," growled Harry.
"There was no way we could have known," replied Draco.
"We could have asked the stupid elf!"
"There's no way we could have known," repeated Draco, but he was annoyed as well. They could have gotten rid of that thing ages ago had they known. The whole cave fiasco with Dumbledore drinking poison was entirely unnecessary.
A few minutes later, Dumbledore entered the kitchen, holding on to Snape's arm. He looked a lot better, Draco thought. The color had returned to his face and his was able to stand and walk with little support.
"It's good to see you out and about, headmaster," Draco said. He considered his next words carefully as Snape was standing next to Dumbledore, but ultimately decided to speak them anyway. "We have good and bad news."
"Is that so?" asked Dumbledore as he sat down on the nearest chair.
"Bad news is - the locket in the cave was fake."
Dumbledore's expression soured. "And the good news?"
"We found the real one."
It was perfect timing as Kreacher apparated into the room with a resounding pop right that very moment.
Harry pulled out the fake Horcrux, the substitute locket in which Regulus had placed the note to Voldemort. "Kreacher, I'd, er, like you to have this," he said, pressing the locket into the elf's hand. "This belonged to Regulus and I'm sure he'd want you to have it as a token of gratitude for what you —"
The elf took one look at the locket, let out a howl of shock and misery, and threw himself back onto the ground.
Draco laughed. Once Kreacher, who was so overcome to be presented with a Black family heirloom for his very own that he was too weak at the knees to stand properly, had calmed down somewhat, he exchanged the real locket with the fake, made low bows in front of all the room's occupants and apparated away.
Harry held up the real locket, grinning from ear to ear, "Tada."
Draco rolled his eyes, but grinned. What had seemed close to impossible only an hour ago had fallen right into their laps.
Dumbledore motioned for Harry to hand him the locket. Harry complied and Dumbledore carefully examined it, before he smiled at them and said, "well done."
"What do we do with it?" Harry asked. "You don't happen to have the sword with you?"
"I will take it back to Hogwarts with me. The two of you will visit me at the school once the students have left. Perhaps I will fetch you. Or maybe Severus can accompany you."
Snape nodded. Draco thought him to be suspiciously quiet, his eyes never leaving the locket. Draco thought he would probably ask his questions, which he undoubtedly had, once he was alone with Dumbledore. That, or he had figured out what dark piece of magic they were talking about all on his own.
A few minutes later, Dumbledore dismissed Harry and Draco. It wasn't particularly late, but the day had been long and eventful and Draco was longing for his bed. Walking upstairs, however, he was unsure of whether he would be able to find rest in the old room of Regulus Arcturus Black.
TBC
A few days late, but merry Christmas everyone :)
A new year is approaching and even though there's a few days left, I am rather confident that this is the second year in which I am unable to fulfill my New Year's resolution of finishing this story. But I am rather hopeful for next year. We're at chapter 83 and there's only a few Horcruxes remaining. Draco and Harry already destroyed the cup, the diadem, the diary and now they have found the locket. Now it's only the ring and the snake (and of course Harry) that we are missing. There's about 10 chapters missing (maybe I'll manage to make it 17 because wouldn't it be cool to end with 100 chapters?). I am reasonably certain that I'll manage to finish it next year :) Fair warning, though: There's still a few shocking plot twists ahead ;)
So, what did you think of this chapter? It's a lot longer than I had planned, but I really wanted to write a scene in which Sirius asks Severus about Regulus. And I really wanted to write a scene in which Regulus tries to talk to Sirius. Poor guy, he already has so much to feel guilty about and I only keep adding to it. I really love how the scene turned out, I hope you guys enjoyed it as well :) Let me know with a review :)