Regulus Black: The Boy Who Regrets

Chapter Six

For the past few years, Regulus served Voldemort well. He followed with pride as his twisted mind embraced the darkness. His mind still echoed with the feelings of the past, but the darkness appeared to be taking over. He had completed every mission he was assigned with a professional ease. He found himself surprisingly adept at the tasks he was given, which was both a blessing and a curse. He served him well, earning him a place of trust within the ranks of the Death Eaters who could so easily kill him on command. But it was a constant reminder of all that he was doing and how far off it was from the person he wanted to be; the person he was at his core. One day he was summoned by the Dark Lord just after a mission completed. He was worried. What could be the reason for summoning him so soon after a mission? Had he made a mistake? He apparated to the current secret hide out, yet another cave hidden somewhere Regulus did not recognise, and confidently strode inside. Finally reaching the inner most room of the cavern, he found Voldemort standing there, waiting. "Ah Regulus, how good to see you have answered my call so promptly." His voice was enough to send shivers down Regulus' spine. Regulus bowed and said "Of course my lord. It is only natural for a servant to appear when summoned." Voldemort laughed at his response. Clearly he was pleased that all was going according to his plan. "There is a matter of utmost importance I must deal with, and I shall require a house elf." He stopped and grinned as Regulus' voice rang out. "My house elf would be perfect for any job you require! He would only be happy to serve this cause!" Again, his inner self twinged with pain, as he imagined all the wrong that will happen. This was likely to end terribly, but Voldemort grinned and said "Good. Bring me this elf." Regulus bowed once more and said "At once, my lord." Leaving the cave, he began to worry. He truly cared for Kreacher and wanted no harm to come to him, but it was too late to turn back now. He went down to the kitchen to find Kreacher. Keeping up the roose, he said "Kreacher! I have a job for you. You must go to the Dark Lord. He requires an elf, and I volunteered you. It's a great honour for me and for you to serve. Kreacher, I order you to do whatever the Dark Lord orders you to do, and then return home." Kreacher, the old elf that he was, was startled at first. Then he swiftly bowed and said "Yes, Master Regulus." He then disapparated. Regulus sighed, and went to his room in search of a distraction as he waited. He tried to read, failing to read beyond the first sentence as his mind went blank with worry. He paced the room, eyeing the wall that led to Sirius' room, and hoped that all was well. He started to imagine the worst possible scenarios. While he had played the willing servant, he was worried about just what lengths his new master would go to just to achieve his goal. That was one thing Regulus had learned early on as a Slytherin student, ambition was a double edged sword. It was helpful in driving a person to achieving their goal, but it could also blind them. It had blinded Regulus for a time, but now he was finally beginning to wake up. Just as he thought he would implode from the force of his worry, there was a crack as Kreacher reappeared.

He rushed towards the aged, and clearly weakend, house elf. "Kreacher? Kreacher! Tell me everything that has happened!" Kreacher took a shaky breath and said "The Dark Lord took Kreacher to a cave. There was a cavern, and a dark lake. Then there was a boat, a boat that rose from the lake. On the island there was a b-basin full of potion. The Dark Lord mad Kreacher drink it.... All of it... As Kreacher drank he saw terrible things, Kreacher felt sick, Kreacher cried for Mistress Black and Master Regulus. The Dark Lord laughed. When the basin was empty, he dropped a locket into it... Then he filled it with more potion and sailed away. Kreacher was left on the island. Kreacher was so thirsty.... Kreacher dragged himself to the edge of the island to drink the water from the black lake... Hands... dead hands came out of the water and dragged Kreacher under.... Then Kreacher returned home..." Kreacher shook as he spoke. Regulus was very worried, his feelings evident in his eyes. He quickly helped Kreacher into his cupboard and said "Stay hidden. Don't leave the house!" and returned to his room. Taking a piece of parchment and a quill, he quickly drew out the locket that Kreacher had described to him. He knew there would be a lot of work to do if his plan was going to work. A few days later, he had a completed locket that was the duplicate of the original. He placed a note inside it and went down to Kreacher's cupboard once more. He was on edge, but his mind was made up. His dream would never happen, but at least he could try to do some good before the end. Waking Kreacher he said "Kreacher, please, take me to the cave you went to with the Dark Lord." Kreacher was frightened, but obeyed him and took them to the cave. He opened the concealed entrance, which Regulus would have never found on his own, and led the way to the island. Once they reached the basin of poison, Regulus took the locket out of his pocket and handed it to Kreacher. He said "Take it, Kreacher, and when the basin is empty, switch it with the locket inside. Once that is done, go home without me, and never tell mother or any of the family what I have done. And make sure you destroy that locket!" When Kreacher had nodded his understanding, Regulus began to drink. He drank and drank, seeing the terrible visions and feeling his insides burn with a terrible and unnatural fire. He hesitated, trying to remember why he was torturing himself like this. Then he looked at Kreacher, and saw the memories of his time with Sirius and Alex flash through his mind. His resolve hardened, he continued to drink. The poison potion seemed never ending; the torture it brought was great. He saw every vision of his nightmares, battling with the great memories he tried to hold on to. Finally, the poison potion was gone from the basin. He watched as Kreacher switched the lockets, before turning to the lake to quench his thirst. The poison had left him so drained, and so thirsty, that he had no other options. He slowly made his way to the edge, kneeled down, and brought his hands down to gather the water. As he brought his hands back up to drink, these strange, dead hands began to rise out of the water. He tried to move, survival instinct kicking in, but he was too slow. The hands grabbed him and dragged him under before he could do anything more than turn around. He smiled as Kreacher turned toward him, glad that at least someone had made it out of this terrible adventure alive. The hands pulled him under and, as everything grew dark and he lost consciousness, he smiled as he saw the happy faces of Sirius and Alex. With that last image in his mind, he could only hope that he had managed to do some good with his actions, and quietly embraced death.

Kreacher returned to the house as he was ordered, and hid himself away in his cupboard. He silently mourned the loss of his beloved Master Regulus. If he grieved out loud, it could cause trouble for the Mistress. She would find out soon enough about what happened to her favourite son, but for now Kreacher remained silent. He would obey Master Regulus' final order no matter what. The next day, he began working on destroying the locket. He tried striking it, he tried opening it, but nothing was working. He tried to use house elf magic on it, but even that was not enough. He punished himself after each failure before trying again. No matter what he tried, it would not work. His Mistress soon found her son missing, and Kreacher had to lie about his cause of death. Kreacher felt bad about hiding the truth, but it was Master Regulus' wish to keep the truth hidden. He had ordered Kreacher not to tell the family, so Kreacher would make sure no one in the family knew the truth. His Mistress was devastated. Kreacher stopped caring for the house, leaving it mostly in ruin. And with that, the House of Black faded. Sure, there were cousins who were now married. Miss Bella had married the Lestrange boy, and Miss Cissy had married that Malfoy. Their sister had gone off and married a muggle, according to the Mistress who burned Mistress Andromeda off of the tapestry just as she had Master Sirius and Master Alphard. Kreacher wandered the house like a ghost, taking care of small things, like the Mistress' portrait after she passed away. It was not long after Master Regulus' death that the Mistress grew ill and died as well. With her passing, Kreacher was the only one living in number twelve Grimauld Place. As he was performing his daily cleaning regimen, there was a knock on the door. Kreacher grumbled and opened the door to find a young man with shaggy brown hair standing there. Alex looked down and said "Oh, Hello there! I'm a friend of Reg's, is he here?" Alex looked worried, though his tone was friendly. He had not heard from Regulus in far too long, and now he feared something had happened to him. Kreacher froze for a second, trying to figure out what to tell this friend. He had seen the pictures on Master Regulus' wall. This person was special to Master Regulus. And Master Regulus had not forbidden him from telling this man the truth. Kreacher sighed, led Alex inside, and took him to Master Regulus' room where his Mistress' portrait would not be able to hear. "Master Regulus is dead. He defied the Dark Lord, stole something, fought back. Master Regulus died for it, but his body cannot be found. Kreacher tried, but he cannot return Master Regulus' body..." Kreacher trailed off, tears forming in his large eyes as he saw just how heartbroken the young man was. Alex was stunned. He had no idea what Regulus had been up to, but whatever it was had been dangerous enough to take his life. Alex could only hope that Regulus had managed to achieve what he wanted to before the end. He rose from Regulus' bed and said "Thank you for telling me, Kreacher. I'm so sorry that he is gone. May he rest in peace." With that he left the house and headed off on a mission of his own. He went into the forest near his home, and made up a grave marker with some of the stones. He carved in the message "Regulus Black; Beloved friend, loving brother, eternally missed." From that day on, every birthday, holiday, and on the anniversary of Regulus' death, he would return to the grave stones. There he would share a drink with his old friend and tell him all about what was happening in the world and in his life.