epiphany ♕ | 𝗷𝗮𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝗽𝗼𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿

52

REGULUS BLACK WAS PERCHED AGAINST a windowsill, patiently waiting for Leonardo Nott. There were some things he wanted to discuss with him. Ever since that day when he went to the cliff, he hadn't stopped thinking of the necklace. It tugged at the deepest parts of his soul, curiosity getting the best of him.

"What are we here to talk about?" Leonardo's voice echoed through the classroom as he closed the door. Regulus slid off the windowsill, approaching the dusty table in front of him. He motioned towards a chair that was on the other side of him. Leonardo followed promptly with a curious glint in his eyes.

"I feel like this matter is going to shock you." Regulus let out an amused laugh while shaking his head. He didn't know how to begin with the topic that took up his thoughts. "I wanted to speak to you about..." Regulus trailed off, not daring to look at Leonardo's face.

"About?" Leonardo quirked an eyebrow. Regulus let out a shaky breath. He was afraid of what the boy would think about his foolish endeavor, but he wouldn't falter now.

"About the Dark Lord." Regulus firmly let out. Leonardo's eyes widened at the name he hadn't heard in a while. "I know it must be a surprise, dreadful to be exact. But—well, there is no way to come across this." Leonardo pressed his lips together, not knowing how to react.

"I haven't heard that name since I decided not to show up to the meetings." He whispered towards the end. "When I graduate from Hogwarts, they'll come to find me. I'm a blood traitor, a muggle lover, someone who will get killed once I step foot off this castle."

Regulus leaned back into his chair. "If they ever found out about my plan, I'd get killed." He thought for a moment. "I'd taint the Black family name permanently. It'd somehow be worse than when my brother left." Leonardo furrowed his eyebrows.

"I don't understand."

"My plan." He licked his lips, slightly leaning forward. "I want to destroy this necklace. It belongs to the Dark Lord, by the way." Leonardo listened attentively. "He said it was a part of him. I suppose it has a connection, possibly?"

Leonardo remembered the time Siobhán and him found a book about Dark Magic. There were several pages about Horcruxes, the devious acts, and what you had to do to create one. It said that the Horcruxes contained a part of one's soul for immortality. Leonardo thought he could've been going nowhere with this theory. A long shot in the dark, that's what it was.

"I have a theory," Leonardo spoke after a long moment of silence. Regulus placed his hand under his chin, watching him. "It's a long shot, but what if it's a Horcrux?"

"A whore cross?" Regulus's eyes widened in disbelief. Leonardo froze in his seat once he heard those words. He quickly composed himself. "What is a...whore cross?"

"No, no." Leonardo shook his head. "A Horcrux." Regulus gave him another puzzling look. "H-o-r-c-r-u-x." He spelled out for the boy in front of him.

"Oh, a Horcrux?" Regulus titled his head slightly. Leonardo nodded, trying to fight back a laugh. "What is a Horcrux?"

"From what I can remember, a Horcrux is something that contains a hidden piece of one's soul." He tried to remember the rest of the conversation from a couple of years ago. "To create it, you have to do the supreme act of evil."

"Which is murder..." Regulus added but trailed off. Everything was starting to connect in a way that he never thought would. The necklace they hid that day. It was a Horcrux, connected to the Dark Lord. What if there were more? How would he destroy them? Regulus thought about the different possibilities, the chances he had. He couldn't do it by himself. The boy needed support, and the only help was Leonardo Nott. The two were Death Eaters, well, one an ex.