Upside Down Mirror: Free Falling (Harry Potter Fanfic)

What Known

Seeing Regulus eat brought some form of relief.

What Arcturus didn't expect was for Regulus to argue for this concept of nutrition to be taught to young witches and wizards, yet he did understand Regulus' confusion regarding the way Arcturus responded. There was no getting around his daughter-in-law's stance regarding Muggles, which would be confusing for any child growing up.

Arcturus felt even more relieved in hearing Regulus speak his mind regarding what being superior meant to him, but the words Regulus spoke were certainly coming from the same warm-hearted child Arcturus always knew Regulus to be. The sound of footsteps was heard coming down the hall leading to the dining room and he looked up in time to see Nymphadora hurtle through the door.

"Walk, don't run." Arcturus watched the girl come to a halt just like Sirius did when he was younger, but Lyra arrived soon after, ever so quietly, much like Regulus did. "Please take a seat young ladies."

He watched the two girls head over to random chairs as Andromeda stepped into the room, but she walked over to Regulus and placed a paper down in front of him. "You can have this back now."

She took her seat next to her husband, which made him notice how their daughter sat on one side and Lyra next to Nymphadora, almost as if trying to stay away from everyone as much as possible. Out of curiosity, Arcturus decided to ask. "So, what is that piece of paper Regulus?" His grandson flinched, looking up at him with a guilty expression. Arcturus sighed. "Andromeda?"

"Not a clue."

"Regulus. Please, for my peace of mind."

'Horocruz."

"I told you not to think of those things."

"It was hard not to, and..."

"He was a bit leery of falling asleep," Andromeda said, reminding Arcturus how every child of their generation except Bella had the habit of defending Regulus, the youngest unless one counted the times Sirius did what brothers typically do as brothers, which Arcturus did not.

"Alright then. There's nothing we can do about that now. That said..." Arcturus narrowed his eyes. "Tell us, my dear grandson, what exactly is on your thoughts." Regulus looked up at him, rather horrified. "I've already told you that I'm not letting you do this on your own."

"It caught me off guard, hearing that there are more than one, but I'm not sure if I took the time to figure out how to destroy it. I simply tasked that to Kreacher thinking I'd die."

"So, now that you know that there is more than one, what are your thoughts."

"There are seven of them."

The sound of a utensil dropping made Arcturus look at Lyra, who had all of the answers. "I'll take that as a yes answer, but I've got the feeling the answer you have regarding those damn things lies with this girl here." He called for a House Elf, asking them to bring Regulus a quill, knowing full well it would be better to let the boy jot down his thoughts. "What else had you surmised?"

"I believe four of the Horocrux will have something to do with each of the four Hogwarts houses and three will have something to do with a Deathly Hallow."

Lyra's eyes blinked rapidly. Arcturus sighed, not liking the fact his grandson was so spot on. For sure, he loved the fact Regulus was as intelligent as he was, yet it didn't escape him the kind of mess the boy managed to get himself in—trouble far worse than Sirius ever managed, if he was honest with himself. "Lyra?"

"There's Slytherin's locket, Hufflepuff's cup, and Ravenclaw's Diadem," she said as Regulus scribbled down the items.

"What about Gryffindor?"