The house wasn't what James had expected. Most old wizarding houses, especially the sacred 28 had prided themselves with their lavish lifestyles. From exotic creatures in their backyards to absurd and ridiculous galas and houses always being the most. Grand mansions with a price so astronomical, they were higher than the stars.

Yes, he had expected ruins but the sight that greeted him after the side-apparition was not what he had expected.

The house shouldn't even be called a house. It was a lifeless shack at the top of a steep hill that seemed to have wards around it. Weak but aparente. The trek up the hill was long and windy, the shrubs leading up to it were nothing but branches and roots, not a leaf in sight.

The shack's door had the skeletal body of a snake nailed to it. Its rotten smell greeted the pair.

"What a warm welcome." He muttered under his breath. The cold brushed up against him, his coat billowing in the wind. He took a deep breath and opened the door, the hinges creaking ominously as the shack's secrets were revealed. As he pushed it further open, the door winced on its hinges.

Stepping forward, the shack slowly came to light. The floorboards beneath them creaked as the duo stepped into the room. It had a fireplace that looked as though it had never been lit in the past twelve years. It sputters out a few embers before dying out completely.

A plump pink chair that had no legs, hole and burn marks that littered the entire thing and slashed on the cushions. Cockroaches and other bugs had made it their home.

He set it on fire. And from the look he received from James. It was the best idea.

The wallpaper was creeping off, he could make up the fading emblem of a snake.

The adjoining bedrooms were unfit for even sitting in. The smell of mold is strong in both rooms.

"Are you sure we haven't gotten the wrong house?" James asked if Regulus might agree with him. Regulus merely shook his head. He moved back into the hallways.

"We're at the right place."

"You're kidding." James looked around baffled. "The descendants of freaking Salazar Slytherin lived like this?"

"It's unusual, yes, we're at the right place though. "

Regulus looked through the wreckage desperate for anything to call out to him but nothing he stepped forward and he felt something odd beneath his feet. He knelt and moved the rug. There layed a ring with a gold band and a black stone that had slightly cracked into two. He used his wand and raised it up and identified the albeit faded, cracked insignia of the house.

Bingo

"We're at the right place indeed." He magicked a bag and put the ring in. He moved around the house but he couldn't find anything that seemed to get him like the ring.

Nothing.

"How do you recognise a horcrux?"

"It calls to you, vyes for your attention, it's the first thing you notice, notice in the way that maje you want to go over and possess it. But be warned, it's a piece of the owner's soul so depending on the owner it would have a sort of protection charm or spam over it."

"Can the horcrux possess you?"

"Yes. And the scariest part? You wouldn't even realise whether it's dipped a hand in your pie or plunged its entire being."

He walked over to a portrait hanging over the fireplace. Three people were in the picture. He assumed the mother died earlier. The Gaunt's very own Marvolo Riddle stood tall and proud standing to his left, beside him was his son Morfin Gaunt, his hair thick and gel back but Regulus knew it was tamed back only for the picture. In the middle seat between the two men was a girl dressed in blue, her skin was pale and her dark hair fell behind her stiff and cold.

They all shared the empty look in their sunken eyes. All wearing clothes of aristocratic material. He wondered just how similar his parents were to Marvolo Gaunt was to them. The three sets of eyes followed their every move.

"Can you tell me if You-Know-Who has been around here?" The portraits just stared back.

"You know, her kid." A flash of anger flashed in Marvolo and Morfin's eyes as they regarded the woman in front of them. They simply looked back at Regulus and made no other movement.

"Can you say anything at all?" Merope slowly shook her head, raising her hand to her voice.

"He did come around here didn't he. Then he hexed you shut." it seemed he hit the nail right on the head.

Before he could say anything else James spoke from behind him. "I'm guessing you've found it?"

"Yeah."

"There's one more place I'd like us to go before we head back."

Godric's Hollow was warm and inviting in contrast to how he left it. He and Regulus walked down the path, as casually as they could without attracting attention. James halted and Regulus looked around, he vaguely remembered how the place had looked before.

Now it seemed as though the house of Gaunt had competition. It seems after James' minute escape the Dark Lord needed a release. The entire place smelled of the killing curse. James walked into the debris flanked by regulus as he made the way into the living room.

The couch has charred along with almost everything else in the room. The smell was stronger in the room. He realised why, a burnt shadow on the wall.

Lily Evans Potter had died in this room.

He honestly had no clue what to say. I'm sorry your wife died? She's gone to a better place? She probably misses you as much as you miss her?

He settled for staying quiet. He followed as Janes went up the stairs. A big gaping hole met him as he reached the landing. James leaned down, taking out a black bag from beneath the bed. It enlarged as James opened it.

After swiping his wand over the top he nodded and closed the bag which returned to its normal size.

"We can go."

With that the two descended down the landing only to come face to face with Sirius Black and Remus Lupin.

The four men stared at each other before wands raised. Regulus at Sirius, Sirius at James and James at Remus.

"Remus, Sirius it's me James." The polyjuice had worn off long ago.

"Bullocks. James is on the run, why on earth would he be back here."

"I had something I needed to take."

"What's so important that James Potter, who is on the run, would come back to get it?"

"The mesh wort." Sirius and Remus lowered their wands, however neither made a move towards James.

"You lot are really breaking my heart you know." James raised his hands. "Ask me anything."

Remus spoke, his eyes locked on Regulus. "Nothing serious really, can you resurrect the dead?"

"With my charms or good old magic? Because the answer is no to both, Moony."

"Yup it's him." Sirius however does react as he keeps his eyes locked on Regulus.

"Regulus…?"

"Brother." Sirius lunges forward and grabs Regulus and both the latter and James for a second that Sirius is going to strangle him when Sirius hugs him instead. Regulus bites his tongue as he slowly pats Sirius on his back.

"Regulus Arcturus Black if you don't hug me like you actually miss me, I will finish the job." Regulus rolled his eyes but wrapped his arms around him, burrowing his face in his neck.

"I missed you." he mumbles just between the two of them. "I'm sorry, I'm so bloody sorry."