"Her mother? But she's dead, right?"
"Well, she's not dead, 'cause she's around here somewhere. I promise, I'll explain this all later," Shafiq added quickly, seeing Regulus's mouth open. "First, we've got to find her."
He just stifled a sigh of frustration. Knowing half the truth was quite dangerous, but Shafiq was right. Even if Aoife's mother wasn't here, they still needed to find her. He checked his watch: it was 2am now.
"Let's get to it then."
For a few minutes, they probed around the room, trying to find an opening. Regulus, on the floor trying to find a hollow spot, heard a muffled thud. From below him.
"Shafiq!" he whisper-shouted, trying to see where he was. "I think I've found something."
"Where?" The voice came from behind. It was him. Shafiq knelt down next to him, while Regulus pointed at the dusty floor.
"I heard something from under the floor. Think she's there?"
"Or there may be something potentially worse than what we want. Like some evil, wicked witch," Shafiq twirled his wand anxiously. "But I don't think we have any choice, do we?"
"Don't think so," he answered grimly. "So, subtle or like my brother?"
"Let's just blow the floor apart."
Regulus nodded, tracing a circle with his wand on the floor, murmuring under his breath. The floor melted soundlessly, opening a large, ominous circle.
"You first," Regulus gestured, pocketing his wand.
"How 'bout we both enter at the same time?" Yes, he was scared.
"Sure," he shrugged. In one sudden move, Regulus had pulled both of them through the hole.
"You've been spending too much time with your brother ..." was the only thing he yelled as they whooshed down for who knows how long.
"Yell a little louder, will you?" Regulus grunted. "I don't think your father quite heard you."
Ouch. His father was dead.
"Are you kidding me?"
Complete silence from Shafiq's companion.
"You did call for backup, right?"
"Theia should've received the message by now," came the answer. "She'll use her magic to locate us. We'll be saved, don't worry."
Suddenly, he felt himself slow down, and landed on a dirt floor, his legs humming at the impact. Soon afterwards, he fell down.
Compared to him, Regulus floated down gracefully, touching the ground softly.
"Couldn't do that for me?" Shafiq asked, getting up. The thudding grew louder now, and both of them shared a look before moving towards it, keeping their eyes peeled for potential threats.
The growing anxiety the both of them were feeling was palpable. What the hell was happening? Why was there an underground cavern under the Black's ancestral home being used without any indication of what was happening?
Shafiq knew exactly what was going on, and it did not help his mounting tension about his old friend.
Regulus tried not to focus much on what his heart was saying, trying to keep a cool head. There was no need to mess up his concentration.
The thudding turned to deafening banging when they neared an iron barred cell. Carefully, they inches closer, illuminating the cell.
From the inside, Aoife was trying to open the lock by using a penknife. When nothing happened, she slammed into the bars, trying to loosen them. She didn't even notice the two idiots gaping at her until one of them opened his mouth.
"How in Merlin's name did you get here?" It was Shafiq.
She glared at them, her eyes softening a bit on spotting Regulus. "Like I fecking know. You two okay?"
"Are you okay?" Shafiq countered. Regulus just sunk a bit into the shadows.
"What do you think?" she shot back. "Can you hocus-pocus me out of here?"
He tried Alohomora! but the lock didn't budge even a bit. Aoife just groaned.
"This'll never work! What if we poof these iron bars out of the way? Regulus?" Aoife raised an eyebrow at him.
"Don't think so, but worth a try. Get back from it," he took out his wand, but the iron just hissed when the spell came in contact, leaving it unscarred.
All three of them swore at the same time.
"Did you really think that would work?" It was that voice again, venom dripping from every word as she attempted to shatter their eardrums. Regulus winced inwardly while Aoife just yelled something at the walls, her voice inaudible against the reverberating hum caming from the walls. "She has no way out until I let her, remember that. And I'm not quite done yet."
"You spineless coward!" Shafiq shouted, his words a bit muted. "Talk to us face-to-face!"
That voice laughed, sending shivers down everyone's spines. "Just give me a few minutes, dear," she crooned. "The traffic's awful here."
The vibrations stopped, causing them all to release an audible sigh of relief.
"God, this is horrible," Aoife moaned, resting her head against the cool iron bars. "Life sucks. And right now we could probably be sleeping instead of being trapped in an evil lair."
"We can get you out," Shafiq said like the hopefully optimist he was. "Before you die or something. Can we do an underground tunnel or something?" He was looking at Regulus, who felt oddly uncomfortable under his gaze.
"Sure he can!" Aoife spoke up. "He's like the -" Suddenly, she staggered back, almost falling over, her face paling.
"What happened?" Regulus asked urgently. Shafiq just looked at her with mild panic, as if he knew what was happening.
"I don't know, but it feels like I'm - I'm draining."
*****
Hope you all enjoyed Holi!
YOU ARE READING
INFERI (REGULUS BLACK)
Fanfiction"If you ever need me, I'll be at the Potter's." These were the words that kept on rolling around Regulus' head. His brother's last words before he left the house, bloodied and bruised. He didn't blame him of course. It must've been hell living as th...
