CHECK YES JULIET ▷ JAMES POTTER [1]

𝟓𝟐. 𝐎𝐅𝐓𝐄𝐍 𝐃𝐑𝐎𝐖𝐍'𝐃

(52 : AND THESE, WHO OFTEN . . .
DROWN'D COULD NEVER DIE )

✧࿐ ཾ✧

     "NO. HE CAN'T BE DEAD."

     Kreacher dropped a gold locket inlaid with a green letter 'S' in front of her. "M — Master Regulus ordered Kreacher to leave without him. He told Kreacher to find Miss Juliet because she would know what to do with the locket." He paused, sniffling loudly. "The last thing Kreacher saw was Master Regulus being dragged beneath the water and . . . he is dead, miss."

     Her heart felt hollow and her chest tightened. No tears fell. All she could do was shake her head in disbelief. "His wedding ring." It was an out of body experience, her voice was so close and yet it sounded so far away. Each breath she took felt like a knife in the gut, but she managed to mutter, "Tell me he was wearing it."

     "Master Regulus never took it off, miss," Kreacher replied solemnly.

     "You need to take me there." Juliet gasped for air and it was suddenly like she could breathe again. "He's not dead, Kreacher. He's not!"

     The house elf bowed his head. "Kreacher saw it, miss. Kreacher wanted to help, but Kreacher can't refuse orders. He — he is dead and now we must destroy what Master Regulus bravely died for."

     In her rush, the redhead knocked over a pot of ink as she frantically scrambled for her cloak. "There is no bravery in death, Kreacher," she half-spat, struggling to repress the onslaught of emotions that were attempting to claw up through her throat. Her emotions — the grief, the confusion, the hope — were so strong that she could have choked on them. "I — I need you to take me to the cave. Please. Regulus isn't dead! We need to help him!"

     "Kreacher does not wish to go back to that awful place. You are not Kreacher's mistress," the elf said stubbornly.

     "But Regulus gave you an order. You are meant to see that I destroy the locket and to do that, I must return to the cave," the teenager lied cooly as she narrowed her eyes and tilted her chin upwards, daring the house elf to call her bluff. "You are going to take me to the cave and help me pass through if you don't want to risk disobeying your master. Do you understand?"

     Kreacher scuffed his feet against the floor, grumbling. "Yes, miss."

✧࿐ ཾ✧

Juliet hated to be harsh with the house elf, but he wasn't the most helpful creature. Once Kreacher apparated her to somewhere along the coast, she fixed her mind on her friend instead of paying attention to her reluctant companion. Regulus wasn't dead, he couldn't be. Not if he was wearing the ring — the ring she had spent more than a year making on Lord Voldemort's orders.