metanoia

Chapter Fifty-two

Regulus Black had begun to have doubts about serving as a Death Eater, but was reluctant to act against the Death Eaters and Lord Voldemort. One day, Voldemort asked Regulus for the use of Kreacher, his family's house-elf, and, despite his reservations, Regulus agreed because he still wanted to please his master.

The Dark Lord used Kreacher to test the defences he'd set for his Horcrux, the locket of Salazar Slytherin, leaving him behind to die afterwards. Kreacher managed to escape using house-elf magic, and told Regulus of what had happened. Regulus worked out that the locket was a Horcrux and was the reason behind Voldemort's immortality.

Furious that Voldemort used Kreacher, only to leave him to die, Regulus created a duplicate of the locket and placed a note inside for anyone seeking to destroy the Horcrux to find.

I HAVE STOLEN THE REAL HORCRUX AND INTEND TO DESTROY IT AS SOON AS I CAN. I FACE DEATH IN THE HOPE THAT WHEN YOU MEET YOUR MATCH, YOU WILL BE MORTAL ONCE MORE...

-R.A.B

"Kreacher, take me to where the true locket is hidden," Regulus ordered and Kreacher obediently took them to the Cave.

Kreacher carefully guided his Master Regulus past the cave's defences until they reached the island. At the island there was a basin of potion containing the locket, Regulus looked to his companion, ordering, "Kreacher, once the potion is gone and you can take the locket, replace it with the fake one and leave. Do not come back for me. You are to leave this cave without me and you are to find a way to destroy that blasted locket. Do you understand?"

Kreacher grimly nodded his little head, knowing the fate that lay ahead for his Master "Yes, Master Regulus."

Regulus Black, barely eighteen years of age, forced himself to drink the lethal potion, every last drop, until Kreacher could remove the locket. Regulus went to the island's edge to get a drink of water from the lake but he was dragged under the water by the Inferi. 

Alex lifted her head from out of her hands, gasping for air as Regulus Black was dragged to his watery death in her latest dream. Not knowing if she should tell Sirius about the dream she just had about his brother, she quietly left her dormitory and rushed to Headmaster Dumbledore's office. After nearly twenty minutes of arguing with the stone Hippogriff that it was an emergency, Alex ran up the spiral stairs and into his dark office.

Dumbledore looked up from his roll of parchment, seeing the blonde in her pajamas standing in the doorway. Alex didn't give him anytime to acknowledge her, nor time to question her presence at such a late hour. She stormed across the room to his desk, announcing, "He has Horcruxes."

"Who?"

The old man was quite caught off guard by the randomness of the declaration.But he was also curious as to how she knew about such dark magic.

"Voldemort, obviously. Who else would we be talking about? Anyways, I just had another dream, and I know where at least one was. Is? Will be? I don't exactly know when it's happening but I know where one will be soon," Alex explains, confusing herself with the concept of when the locket will be in the Cave.

Dumbledore isn't quite as shocked to hear that The Dark Lord divided his soul into Godric knows how many pieces. Dumbledore smiled, overjoyed that he now knows something Voldemort doesn't want anyone to know, "Okay, what is it? Where is it?"

"It's in a Cave. There's an island in the center of a Lake full of Inferi. Voldemort sent Kreacher, the Black Family House-elf, to put it in a basin full of deadly potion. It's a locket, the Locket of Salazar Slytherin," Alex tells him, providing him with all the important details.

Alex replayed the dream in her mind, remembering another important detail, "Regulus Black betrays Lord Voldemort. Voldemort pissed him off by leaving his house-elf to die. So he makes a fake, leaves a note telling the reader that he's trying to destroy the actual locket. And Regulus died in that Cave, being dragged to his death by the Inferi after Kreacher took the locket from the Cave."

The two share a prolonged silence, both taking in that even Voldemort's followers will betray him. Yes, it's sad that the boy will die but he'll die finally doing something for the right side. Dumbledore realizes that everything she gave him was good information except for one crucial variable, "But do we know when this is going to happen? Because if Kreacher did succeed in destroying that locket then that's one piece of Voldemort's soul that's destroyed and he's that much weaker."

Alex shrugged, remembering no indication from the dream that gave her a clue as to when it was, "I don't know but he didn't look that much older than he is now. So my guess is that within the next year or so, Regulus Black will die."

The two again sit in silence before Professor Dumbledore sends her back to bed. As Alex walked back into the Gryffindor Tower she stopped, staring at the staircases leading to the dormitories. She had a few options: she could go up to the Marauder's room and tell them everything, including her latest dream about Sirius' little brother dying; she could go back to her own dormitory and sit in silence until it was early enough to get breakfast in the Great Hall, or she could wake up James, take him to the Kitchens and confess her biggest secret to her cousin.

"Let's keep this between us, we wouldn't want this information to get into the wrong hands," Dumbledore's voice rang in her mind, advising her to take option number two and leave everyone to their sleep.

"Oh piss off. I need to tell someone," Alex hisses to herself. "Great, now I'm talking to myself. I'm going mad."

"You're not going mad," a voice behind her assures her, scaring her. "Now, what is it you have to tell someone?"

Alex turned around slowly to find Remus Lupin on the couch near the fireplace. She plopped down on the couch beside him, resting her head on his lap, looking up at him, "That I'm driving myself crazy with these bloody nightmares. Every night, I see someone I love die and I can't help but wonder why I'm getting them or if they'll come true."

He looked down at the girl as she laid her head on his thigh, feeling badly that her dreams haunted her. Remus hears the hesitation in her voice, wondering why she's only seeing her friend's death. "Who have you seen?"

"James, Lily, Fabian, Gideon, Letti and Regulus Black. All killed in some way because of Voldemort. I've even seen Amos' son, Cedric, die," Alex whispered, allowing the crackling fire to calm her down.

"Well, it's very unlikely that it's going to happen, Light. Dreams are just a way our bodies manifest it's fears," Remus assured her as she sat up from his lap.

She chuckled to herself, deciding to keep her so-called "gift" to herself for the time being, "Yeah. You're probably right, they're just dreams. Did you just call me Light?"

"Yep, seems fitting doesn't it? You love watching fires and you light up our lives," Remus chuckled lightly, pushing her shoulder with his own.

Alex rolled her eyes and walked toward the staircases, "Wow, that is quite possibly the cheesiest thing I've heard in my life. If I didn't know any better, I would think you were flirting with me, Remmy."

Remus' cheeks got warm, the blush that has taken over his face barely hidden in the dim room, "Goodnight Light."

"Goodnight Moon," Alex sighed, shaking her head.

"Isn't that a Children's book?"