The Search Is Over

Chapter 17

Chapter 17: Saint Of The Sinners

Though Regulus clearly recalled Pandora saying vampires could only ingest blood without being sick, he was perfectly willing to become ill to keep Kreacher from having to do so again. Of course he simply tried to reach into the basin before drinking down the foul green concoction. His hand bounced off the water, though, unable to break the surface. He was deflected by whatever twisted spell Voldemort had laid in place to keep his hidden treasure safe. Dumping the basin hadn't worked either because the liquid simply would not spill out. Regulus hoped that Voldemort had only made Kreacher drink the potion to test its effects or to simply be cruel, but no. Drinking the potion was a direct necessity. A punishment for thieves, Regulus guessed. The creativity of that he could almost admire had it not been used to hurt his Kreacher. "I need you to force me to drink this no matter what. I promise I will be alright. Just use magic if I resist," he told Kreacher.

"Please, Master Regulus. Let Kreacher do it!" The elf's gaze was desperate as his eyes raised to meet Regulus's own. "He has done it before. HE knows what to expect and he can..."

Regulus touched Kreacher's lips with a finger. "Please, Kreacher. Allow me to do this, it is important to me. I understand that you wish to do it for me, but I won't stop feeling dreadful about volunteering you into Voldemort's service if you don't allow me to make it right."

"If Kreacher does this thing, will Master Regulus promise to stop feeling guilty about it? Because Kreacher has told him over and over that he does not blame him. Kreacher was eager to serve the Dark Lord as well, yet Master Regulus seems to constantly forget this."

Regulus nodded. "That sounds fair." Bending he brushed his lips across Kreacher's then straightened. One of their passionate exchanges would just feel too odd in this extremely disturbing cave. Later, Regulus would wish more than once that he'd kissed Kreacher longer.

Turning to the basin, Kreacher resolutely took it into his hands and Regulus sank down onto the cold stone floor of the cave. If the potion effected him as it had Kreacher, he'd be falling onto the floor anyway. If this new vampirism kept the potion from effecting him, then that would be brilliant, but at least he was prepared if not. "I want you to take the locket home, and wait for me there. Try to destroy it, and if you can't, we'll do more research," he told Kreacher, who nodded gravely.

"But why isn't Master Regulus returning with Kreacher," the elf asked, biting at his lower lip in concern.

"Because I want to try to get rid of the Inferi in this lake if I can," Regulus said.

"Why can't Kreacher help," the elf asked, confused. "If Master Regulus tells Kreacher how he plans to do it, he can use similar spells to help."

Normally this was how the two did anything, together as a team, so the question was reasonable as was Kreacher's perplexity. Regulus didn't want to say that he planned to use his vampiric abilities or to at least try. He doubted hypnosis would work on Inferi, but he would try that first simply because it was cleaner. If not, he'd simply tear them limb from limb. Dora spoke of how much stronger vampires were than humans, after all. Regulus had decided to make the fact he'd tainted his pure blood by becoming a vampire count for something. "Because I want the locket destroyed before he figures out that we've taken it. We're dismantling all of it together," he told Kreacher. That was actually true, which was why the elf's face relaxed, concern fading as he nodded. He knew Regulus like no one else, and could see that he wasn't lying. Regulus would tell him the rest of the truth later when Kreacher could process it without being in this awful place. For now, though, he wanted to get this over with.

Taking a deep breath, Regulus lifted the goblet and filled it with the disgusting and deadly looking green potion. "What is in this," he wondered with a shudder as he slowly raised it to his face. Did he really want to know? Probably not unless he could somehow use it against the Dark Lord.