Reggo My Eggo

Chapter 40

The four boys had fallen asleep on the couches in the lower portion of the library.

The last time they had all fallen asleep at the same time, it didn't end well for them. They had woken up but the sound of heavy boots stomping down the long hallway only to stop in front of the office door, where they had been sleeping at the time.

After fleeing to the library, they had fallen asleep for a few hours but were now being woken up once again by the sound of large bulky boots.

This time, the footsteps were coming down the spiral staircase which was found in the center of the large room.

Remus had woken up a couple of hours earlier and was staying awake to listen in case something were to happen again. He was now found curled up on the couch with a book and a steaming hot cup of tea.

The fire was roaring, heating up the entire library and the lights were dim. 

Remus was enjoying his peaceful silence until he heard a heart wrenching noise that was all too familiar. 

Once Remus heard the thumps getting closer as they came down the stairs, he quickly put his book down and his grip on his cup of tea strengthened as he turned his body to face the stairs. His hand may have been starting to burn from the hot chamomile tea that he had barely taken two sips out of. He was feeling relaxed by the tea until that was all disrupted. 

The other three had bolted awake from the sudden disturbance of the quiet atmosphere. They were all regaining their energy through sleep although all they needed now was a proper meal to give them the protein needed. 

They were all having flashbacks of earlier that morning when they had woken up for the first time to a very simular situation. The four boys had fallen asleep on the couches in the lower portion of the library with the thoughts that they had an escape root in case someone came through on of the doors but that plan was gone from their minds as they attempted to sink lower into their spots on the couch. 

It was too late for them to run as they could already see the legs and boots of the person who was coming down the spiral staircase.

The person wore different boots than the ones that were left in front of the office door earlier that day. These boots were dark dragonhide boots. Based on what could be seen as the person coming down the stairs, their clothes were black formal wear.

The person had finished descending the stairs, revealing the person's whole attire and revealing who they were.

Upon seeing them, everyone froze. Was this their killer or-

"Regulus! I've been searching all over for you, but I couldn't find you anywhere, not even your parents or Kreacher!" It was Barty Crouch Jr. Of course it was, he and his father were joining the Black family for their annual Christmas eve dinner.

"Barty! You scared the crap out of me!" Regulus sighed in relief that it was only Barty and not some random killer.

"Did you forget we were coming? It's the same thing every year," Barty had a fake look of insult on his face from being forgotten.

"I don't even know what hour it is," Regulus excused.

"I see. Weren't they supposed to be staying at school over the break?" Barty asked, nodding his head towards the other three boys who sat on the couch still looking petrified.

"It was a last-minute thing," Sirius told the younger boy.

"Right.. and do Welburga and Orion know about this 'last-minute thing,'" Barty asked curiously.

"They did," Sirius replied.

"Did? So have they forgotten or did you drug them before telling them?" Barty questioned.

"We arrived on Wednesday but," Remus looked between their group before continuing. "Not long after we arrived Welburga was found dead by decapitation," he explained.

"Oh," Bartys eyes widened.

"And then on Tuesday we found Orion dead, he drowned," James added.

"Next, Cygnus, my uncle died from an unknown reason, and then my aunt Druella is missing, we haven't found her body," Regulus finished explaining.

"Druella? Do you mean that was your aunt's body? There was a dead body in the upstairs of the library," Barty shrugged.

"And you only now decided to say something?!" James shrieked.

"Well, I did think it was an odd place for a body but I figured that someone would be coming back for it and bringing it to the dungeons," Barty explained, making Regulus sigh at his friend.

Following Regulus' lead, the group of now five was led up the staircase which led to the upper part of the library.

The group looked around the room but there was nobody in sight.

"Where did you see her body? Regulus asked.

"It was by the window," Barty pointed to a large stained glass window but there was nobody where he was pointing.

"Are you sure?" Regulus gave Barty an odd look before silently looking around to check if they'd missed her anywhere.

"Yes, it was right in front of the window," He insisted.

"Well it's not there now," Sirius commented.

"Maybe the killer took her body back?" James offered.

"Why would they do that?" Sirius questioned.

"To drive us crazy? I don't know," James spluttered out.

Remus stood there still sipping on his tea in silence.

"Where did you get tea?" Regulus asked, giving the taller boy a confused look.

Remus shrugged his shoulders in response and continued to sip his tea.

"Right, anyway, Barty, is your father here?" Regulus asked.

"Yeah, I think he's still waiting in the entryway waiting," Said Barty.

The group caught up with Barty, explaining the events that have gone down the past couple of days and discussed the floo situation as well as the missing wands. All when this was happening, they started making their way downstairs.

Barty explained that they attempted to floo into the manor but it failed so they had to apparate there instead.

He also explained that he didn't have his wand with him because he had attempted to use a transfiguration spell to turn a peacock into a reindeer but apparently that wasn't a real spell and he ended up killing the peacock.

Because of this, his father took away his wand as a punishment, not to mention it was underage magic and his father was now furious for getting in trouble with the ministry of magic, so now he was wandless until winter break ends and he still wouldn't be getting it back until the second the train is about to leave the station

The group was about to round the corner which led to the staircase which they've gone up and down so many times within the past couple of days but before they could, there was a loud crash and the sound of glass shattering coming from the bottom of the stairs.

Once the manor went quiet again, James, Regulus, Sirius and Remus all thought one thing, 'Not again', as Bartys eyes widened as he thought of the worst.