HP • Legilimency | 𝐍. 𝐌𝐀𝐋𝐅𝐎𝐘

𝐊𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐫𝐮𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠

Did you really think there wouldn't be a chapter this week, eh? I'm on holiday! So relax, I'll try to get back to my absurd pace of frequent updates.

⚠️Oh, be aware that there is a small descriptive mutilation scene at the end of chapter ⚠️

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On the night of Noctua's departure, I mustered the courage. She despised me; the pain of betrayal was evident in her eyes. It took all my strength to get her on the ship, with Narcissa providing crucial assistance. So, I set sail with the fake locket in my pocket.

Later that night, I approached Kreacher. I fetched him from the cupboard, weary from the battles but determined to protect those I love. Kreatcher noticed; he always sensed when I wasn't well, tending to my wounds after Mother's punishments when Sirius left.

I asked him to guide me to the cave, where he had been with the Dark Lord. We departed together. The sea roared that night, furious waves crashing against the boat. With each wave hitting, all I could think about was my family and how wrong I had been about everything I was taught.

Kreacher knew the hidden entrance to the underground cave and could raise the boat. Together, we reached a marble basin filled with the liquid that nearly killed him.

The old elf looked at me in terror. But I could never make him endure the same torment twice; I would never harm someone I considered family.

I took the locket from my pocket, instructing Kreatcher to fetch it. "Once the basin is empty, swap the lockets. Leave me here if necessary."

Terrified, Kreacher tried to stop me. "But Master Regulus... Young Regulus, please, sir..." pleaded the elf in tears.

I did not yield. I ordered him to flee, never to tell my mother, and to destroy the locket, believing elf magic would be more effective.

I conjured a goblet and slowly drank. I never imagined greater terror. The things I saw—Noctua, Sirius, Bella, Narcissa, even Andy. It was too much to bear watching them die, killed by Voldemort.

I now believe the potion reveals our greatest fear. Mine was losing my family to the Dark Lord's wand.

I failed them all. Forced Kreacher to make me drink the entire potion, and then he swapped the lockets. It didn't take long for the Inferi to appear. Their cold hands gripped my wrists. Tears of remorse stained my face when I realized I would never see my daughter grow up, never have my brother's forgiveness.

Sirius.
How I missed Sirius.

When I fell into the lake, the last thing I saw was Kreacher's panicked and tear-streaked face, futilely trying to save me. My own eyes closed. I had accepted my end.

"How did you escape?" Harry asked, his voice tense, gripping Astria's right hand tightly.

Regulus smiled, a smile that barely reached his eyes.

Dark, melancholic.

"When I thought it was the end for me, bolts of fire struck my chest, where an Inferius clung. On the lake's surface, waves and more waves of fire whirled endlessly. That's when I felt being pulled back. My lungs gasping for air. And atop the rock, with wild black hair around the fire, was Bellatrix."

Several moments passed as everyone in the kitchen barely dared to move. Astria blinked incredulously, looking from Regulus to Narcissa, then to Harry, before exclaiming, "EXCUSE ME?!"

Narcissa visibly shuddered, her eyes closing, perhaps from guilt or ear pain, so loud and high-pitched was Astria's scream.

"Wait, wait," said Harry, standing up and pointing an accusing finger at the two older wizards. "Why didn't you come back?"