Maia Pegasus Black

Chapter 5: Guess

Halfway through the Christmas holidays, a few days after the start of 1979, Reg and Maia figured out what it meant. What it all meant. What exactly a horcrux is, that Voldemort has them, what they can do to get rid of them, etc. Kreacher told them in as much detail as he possibly could about the place Voldemort brought him to. It was confusing for them, cause there had to be a catch somewhere.

Right?

How Kreacher explained it to them, it seemed too easy. Step one, get to the rock, spray some blood on it and get in. Two, grab the boat. Three, row to the island. Four, get the locket. Five, get back.

"Kreacher thinks The Dark Lord told Kreacher not to touch the water."
"That can be it!" Said Maia, a little too loudly. Regulus closed the door quickly. It didn't really matter what all happened, as long as Walburga didn't find out. "Maybe we can confide in Sirius?" She suggested. "Maybe he knows what to do? I'm certain he would want to help." "No!" Replied Regulus. "We can't tell him anything. If we tell him, he will tell us to stop, he will want to protec4 us. We don't need protection, we can do this." "Your awfully confident." Noticed Maia, she raised her eyebrow. "What if we can't? What if something goes wrong. It's The Dark Lord we're talking about. There's always something you don't expect and which is probably insanely dangerous." Reg nodded. "Mhm," he mumbled.

"So, tomorrow?" He said.
"Yes."

That evening, she was lying in her bed, going over their plan again and again. She didn't know if it helped against her nerves or if it only made them worse. The one point that was for certain, was that she knew every little detail by heart. The immense dangers would keep a mystery until they arrived at the cave. Worrying about those would definitely make her even more nervous. After all, there was a significant chance she or her brother might not return. The biggest worry on her mind was some kind of water Kreacher kept talking about. He says Voldemort made him drink it and it made him feel incredibly bad. They hadn't found anything about something of the sort in the library, so they figured they would find a solution on the spot. Hopefully.

The next morning, they woke up at what felt like the middle of the night. It was pitchblack outside when Maia was out in the common room, waiting for Regulus. He finally came out of his dormitory, wearing one of his best outfits and his hair all done. "What on earth did you do that for?" Asked Maia, "You do know what we're doing today right?" "Course I do," replied Regulus, "but if I'm going out today, I'm going out looking pretty for eternity." Maia rolled her eyes, turned around and left the common room with Reg on her heels.

They walked in silence for what felt like forever, but after only an eight minute walk they had finally left the Hogwarts grounds. "You can apparate, right?" Regulus had already turned 17, and took the class as soon as he could. "Of course I can. We've been planning this forever and you think I'd forget the most important part." Now it was his turn to roll his eyes at her. They knew how to roll their eyes before they could even walk. Their mother did it constantly.

They walked to a small path outside the grounds, where they figured they had the least chance of being seen. It was around 5am, nobody would be awake, but just to be sure. Regulus grabbed Maia's arm and together they were pulled into more darkness.

They arrived at the side of the cave and summoned Kreacher. "This the right place, Kreach?" Asked Regulus softly, though nobody would be able to hear him, since there was nobody around for miles. Kreacher nodded gravely and walked in front of them in the direction of the cave. When he stopped, he pointed his boney arm to a piece of rock that stood out in Maia's eyes, but she couldn't really explain why. "Masters, one of you has to spray some blood on here." Screeched Kreacher, rubbing the old wound from the time he was the one to do this. Before Maia could intervene, her brother had already cut himself in the arm. Blood sprayed onto the rock and it opened. "Episkey." Muttered Regulus softly. His wound immediately healed, but there still was a visible scar. Maia watched him in astonishment and relief. Astonished that he cut himself without saying anything at all, but relieved the rock did open. Hopefully everything else would also turn out the way it was expected. Maybe even the liquid wouldn't be that bad? She doubted it.

While walking through the cave, they looked around them in amazement. It was gorgeous from the inside. Maia found it ironic Voldemort chose a place like this for his horcrux. After wandering through the cave, they reach the water line. "Masters should not touch the water!" shrieked Kreacher. Regulus and Maia looked back at him and continued pulling up the chain. When eventually the boat appeared, they entered and rowed towards the tiny island in the water. Maia looked intriguingly at the water. Wondering why she wasn't allowed to touch it, according to Kreacher, she held her hand above the tempting, forbidden lake.

Regulus was the first to step off the boat. He set foot on the island and offered Maia his hand. After he helped her up they stared at the statue-like rock in the middle. It looked somewhat like a bowl. It had a liquid inside with something to scoop the stuff with next to it. They looked each right in the eye until finally Regulus said: "I'll do it." Maia glanced at him. "What do you think you're going to do?" She answered, "I'm not just going to let you drink it! We don't know what it is, or what it does!" "Doesn't matter," he said softly, "somebody's going to have to do it." Maia looked hopefully at Kreacher, hoping he would bring something up, but he just stood there, terrified.

Reg walked towards the bowl and picked up the cup. He scooped some liquid and put it to his mouth. Maia kept staring at him with the same frightened look on her face. She had never been more scared in her life. She didn't dare to think about what might happen to her beloved brother.

As soon as he took a sip of the liquid, he started squirming in pain. "Mother, no!" He screamed over and over again. Though, after a minute he screamed for Maia to give him more of the liquid. "What? No!" She replied quickly, "I won't do that to you, look at you!" She panicked, completely clueless on another option. Their plan seemed amazing, but turned out as good as worthless. "Do it." Whispered Reg in pain. "We have to empty the bowl. Otherwise it will be all for nothing." "Reggie, please know whatever happens, I love you so much," She whispered to him, "and I know Sirius does too." Maia noticed a tear streaming down his face while she scooped more of the liquid. She felt tears streaming down her own. The cup went from his mouth back to the bowl multiple times until the bowl was finally empty. While Regulus was still crying out because of the pain, he started gasping for air. "Water," he muttered, "Maia, please. Water." Yet clueless of the future repercussions of her actions in the present she ran towards the water with the little bowl and scooped. "Master, no!" Screeched Kreacher's high-pitched voice. But it was already too late.

Weird looking bodies emerged from the water. White as a sheet, lifeless as a corpse. "Kreacher," whispered Regulus, "take the locket and destroy it." He almost couldn't get the words out. "Kreacher," he groaned again, "take Maia. Save Maia. Destroy the locket. Don't tell on us, please." "No!" Screamed Maia, tears streaming down her terrified face, "We cannot leave you here!" The corpses were getting closer. Kreacher grabbed the locket in one hand and Maia's arm in the other. "No, Reg," she cried, "I will love you always." she whispered to him one more time. When she disappeared into the darkness she saw the creatures get ahold of him. She saw him mouthing the same words.