occasus [regulus black]

𝐱𝐱𝐯𝐢𝐢.

When Regulus woke up the next morning Estelle was already gone. He looked around the room searching for her, while patting on the mattress next to him, trying to find a sign of her. His slender fingers got hold of a piece of parchment. Looking at it, he read one word. Goodbye. Now he started realizing what he was seeing. All of her stuff was gone and her scent already started to fade. She left.

It felt weird for her to come back to her house, that once was her home. Now it was just a building. Her steps carried her to the fountain of Hero and Leander. It was as beautiful as ever, but let her heart feel heavy. When she told her brother that she could understand Hero, who killed herself after Leander died for her she meant it, but looking at it now she felt different. There was an undeniable connection and her heart knew why. Her heart knew who she cared about so much that if he would turn into Leander she would be Hero, but her head was fighting against it.

Fighting against her heart, against Regulus.

The walls of the house felt like they were caving Estelle in, trying to make her a prisoner. Because of that she spend most of her time outside, trying to find out more about horkruxes. The idea that Voldemort was using them to lengthen his live, was not originally hers but from the notebook she had found. The medallion however was her idea. According to tales surrounding it, it has been Salazar Slytherins, and because she couldn't think of anyone more proud of his Hogwarts house, it would be quite fitting for him to have turned it into his Horkrux. During her research she figured that it would not only be enough to find the medallion, but to also destroy it. Basilisk venom was the first thing that came to her mind. The most deadly venom and she still had something in the vial Regulus gave her for his antidote. Estelle drew in a sharp breath, the memory of him presenting her poison to Voldemort, vividly in her mind.

"Estelle!"

She shrugged frightened and drew her wand, ready to defend herself, when she turned around. Recognizing Regulus she lowered her wand slightly and looked at him confused. He could feel her being even more confused when she saw Kreacher clinging onto his leg next to him, twitching on his whole body.

"You have to help him. He drank it. Your poison."

Both of them felt her heart sink. Then she stepped forward and kneeled down next to Kreacher eying him carefully.

"Why'd you drink it? Did he make you do it?" She asked looking at Regulus angrily. He clenched his fists and she could feel how deeply her words insulted him.

"The Dark Lord commanded me to do so."

"It's a miracle that you are still alive."

"House elfes work different then humans."

The three of them entered the house and Regulus could feel her body tense, when they walked past the living room into something that looked like a ballroom. Hurrying herself over to the drawers she gestured Kreacher to sit and came back shortly after with multiple vials and pots, filled with leaves and pastes.

"Here eat that." Kreachers spasming hand reached out towards the dried petals she offered him, but Regulus stopped his hand halfway through. He wanted to trust her, but he also knew how deep his betrayal had hurt her.

"What's that?" He tried to not make his suspicion to obvious, but the moment Regulus looked up at her, he could feel their minds connecting again and saw the slightly amused look on her face, while also feeling her disappointment.

"Lavender, Rosemary, Peppermint and Cloves to ease the pain. But after what he just drank I doubt that anything else I could give him would permanently hurt or kill him."

Regulus now felt stupid for even considering that she would hurt Kreacher in order to make him pay for what he did to her. Kreacher ate the mixture slowly and it looked like some of the tension got lifted off of his body. Then Estelle reached over to a plant on the window shelf and carefully took off a small leave.