The Hunt | Regulus Black

A Long Road

It's nearing midnight, Regulus Black and Theodora Maddox find themselves in a forest on the edge of Scotland attempting to destroy a locket.

A locket that seems to be indestructible...

Cold and eerie, the forest stands silent and imposing, a landscape of towering trees coated in frost. Trunks that are dark and rugged, their bark cracked and rough to the touch, with patches of ice clinging to them like crystal. The ground is hard and frozen, covered with a thin layer of frost that crunches with each step. Underneath, the soil is locked in October's grip, cold and unyielding.

The air is sharp and biting, cutting through layers of clothing and chilling to the bone. A faint, thin mist clings low to the forest floor, swirling around the bases of the trees like a ghostly veil. The branches overhead are bare, reaching upward like skeletal fingers, some of them heavy with snow, others coated in delicate layers of frost that glisten faintly in the pale light.

A sense of stillness pervades the forest. There is little sound save for the occasional creak of a branch shifting under the weight of snow, or the distant call of a crow echoing through the trees. The cold seems to dampen all noise, absorbing everything into a quiet, almost eerie calm. The forest feels ancient and untouchable, a world caught in the timeless chill of winter. The light is dim and grey, casting long shadows across the frozen landscape, making the forest seem vast and impenetrable.

"I can't do this anymore" Regulus sighs as he sits against a tree utterly exhausted.

The sheer difficulty of this mission is beginning to set in for the both of them, as they quietly accept that this will result in great success or...death.

Theodora sits down next to him, resting her head on his shoulder "We can't give up now, there's too much at stake".

Regulus is taken aback by the sudden affection, he decides to lean into it, finding comfort in the one other person in this world that knows the truth.

The cold air of the October night is settling in, the locket is laying in front of the pair as they ponder if this mission was truly a good idea. The fire that they set up isn't having as much of an impact against the bitter Scottish weather as they had hoped.

A sudden spark appears in Regulus' eyes, "We need to think of how we destroyed the previous horcruxes... We know that the diary was destroyed by the basilisk fang by James Potter, who wasn't aware the diary was really a horcrux".

"We can't just get a basilisk fang Reg" Theodora sighs, then the idea comes into her head and she stands up... "However, the sword of Gryffindor was used to slay the basilisk... the sword takes on only that is strengthens it".

"We need the sword" Regulus smiles picking Theodora up and spinning her around, "You're brilliant, what would I do without you?" He laughs as he places her down.

"You'd probably still be a deatheater for one" She laughs.

"So how do we get the sword?" Regulus thinks out loud.

The pair realise that the sword only reveals itself to a 'true Gryffindor', which neither of the two are.

"I hate to say it, and I know you don't get on, but maybe it's time to contact Sirius..." Theodora suggests.

Regulus looks at her with a saddened look on his face, "I know" he sighs.

Regulus and Sirius Black have always had a rather strenuous relationship, it especially didn't help when Regulus followed in the Black family footsteps and joined Voldemort.