The Search Is Over

Chapter 34

When Regulus woke at sunset, everything came rushing back to his mind in an unreal flood. He was truly back with Kreacher...His mother was dead! Bella, Rod and Rabastan were rotting in Azkaban! All of that was his fault, and he knew it no matter what Kreacher or Dora said on the matter. Kreacher, though...he was truly here...The two of them had spent several pleasant hours in one another's arms in Dora's guest bed. That had all been real, hadn't it?

What if it was only a dream and Kreacher wanted nothing to do with him? Regulus's hand shot up to push the coffin lid aside so forcefully that it slammed back against its hinges. Kreacher made a startled sound and shifted closer. "Is Master Regulus well," he asked, concern thick in his voice.

"Oh yes..." Regulus reached for him, drawing him into his arms, and pressing his cheek to Kreacher's own.

"Dora is right," he murmured. "Your skin is so soft."

"What happened to cause Master Regulus to throw the lid back with such force," Kreacher asked and Regulus sighed.

"I...for a moment I wasn't certain that you were truly here," he admitted. "I thought I may be alone again."

"Master Regulus thought Kreacher would leave?" Kreacher scowled but before he could continue Regulus shook his head.

"Of course not! I feared you were never here...that I only dreamed finally having the courage to come to you."

"Ah," Kreacher nodded. "Kreacher understands that. If he had not woken in such a strange place, he may have feared the same."

He brushed his lips across Regulus's and his blood stirred at the soft touch. "Want to try it in the coffin, or should we return to the bed," Regulus half growled against Kreacher's mouth. Kreacher smirked against his lips.

"Kreacher has experienced both and he finds them both equally satisfactory, so it is up to Master Regulus."

Regulus's eyes flew wide. "You did what?" He laughed. "Please do not tell me you shagged me while I was asleep!"

The elf's expression was sly as he glanced briefly away. "Was it wrong of Kreacher? He just wanted to see how Master Regulus looked when he slept...He wondered if being a vampire made him appear different in slumber. He did not wish to open the coffin and expose Master Regulus to even the slightest hint of indirect sunlight, so he performed an enlargement charm on the coffin, then apparated himself inside to join Master Regulus."

He sighed happily, eyes half closing at the apparently pleasant memory. "Of course he reversed the charm when it was over," he concluded dreamily.

"Go on," Regulus prompted, half horrified, half amused.

"Well Master Regulus looked so beautiful. Kreacher kissed him, and then he had to kiss him again, and...he had very great needs so he satisfied them."

"Bloody Gods," Regulus broke into incredulous laughter, shaking his head at the elf. "Did I respond?"

"Master Regulus made sounds," Kreacher concurred, a smirk of satisfaction on his face. "He also finished. Kreacher cleaned up for both of us, of course."

"I...In my sleep?"

Kreacher nodded. "So even though Master Regulus does not remember it, he still enjoyed himself. Kreacher likely made certain he had very pleasant dreams."

"I only wish I could remember them," Regulus said wistfully.

"Well then the coffin it is," Kreacher decided. "For we must recreate them so that Master Regulus does not feel left out."

Regulus laughed again even as he drew Kreacher closer. "Wicked elf."

"Kreacher is a good elf," he corrected and Regulus chuckled again.

"Very, very good," he agreed.

As it turned out, the coffin was decent for shagging after all. Later they lay together in silence, simply enjoying the closeness. Eventually Regulus's mind returned to Kreacher's confession of shagging him in his sleep.

"So...What sounds did I make," he asked, grinning in spite of himself. "Did I call out your name or anything? I honestly had no idea vampires could respond at all in their sleep."

"Oh Master Regulus responded," Kreacher assured, tone pleased. "No, he did not call Kreacher's name, he just made soft murmurs, but that was enough for Kreacher."

"So glad," Regulus said dryly. "I certainly would not wish to leave you bloody lacking while I sleep."

Kreacher took the sarcastic comment entirely seriously or at least pretended to do so, nodding gravely. "Good."

"Did you eat today," Regulus asked, sitting up reluctantly. His own body was calling for sustenance.

"Kreacher did," the elf said. "He shared the garlic breadsticks with Mortis. He is a very nice bird. Kreacher likes him quite a lot," the elf murmured as he began to pull on his clothes again while Regulus did the same.

"Do you want to go with me while I feed or would you prefer to wait here," Regulus asked.

"Kreacher does not wish to separate from Master Regulus," the elf said hastily and Regulus smiled. He felt the same, but would not have pushed Kreacher to watch him hunt down someone dreadful and take their life for his sustenance if the elf wasn't ready to do so.

"Though it is distasteful, I am trying to avoid wizarding territory as much as possible until I speak to Dumbledore. I am still very wanted by Voldemort, I'm sure and the last thing I want is to get us hunted down. With that in mind I will place a shadowing spell on you combined with a look away charm," he told Kreacher. "So when I am hunting among the Muggles they won't notice you with me."

The shadowing spell would make Kreacher's features more vague and less noticeable and the look away charm was as close as one could get to a disillusionment spell without performing one. Regulus had yet to master it but the look away charm made the eye of the beholder just skim over whatever it was cast on. This meant that anyone seeing Kreacher with him would not really take in what they saw, gaze just sliding off, uncomprehending. This charm was particularly potent for Muggles.

The elf nodded gravely. "Kreacher understands. Master Regulus is wise."

"Past experiences beg to differ," Regulus couldn't resist pointing out with a melancholy sigh.

Moving to the mirror he combed his hair, then went to the bathroom to wash his face and brush his teeth. When he emerged, ready to go, Mortis was sitting on the curtain, waiting for him. The phoenix came to land on his shoulder, and the three of them left the bedroom together.

As they headed downstairs, Regulus warned Kreacher about the loud Muggle cars that they would encounter on the street. The elf frowned in distaste but merely nodded his understanding, staying close at Regulus's side as they slipped out of Dora's house and into the evening.

Regulus chose a very violent angry Muggle man for his meal. Hunting was different with Kreacher present, for he had to walk at an ordinary human pace, but the job got done with no complications. He glanced at Kreacher a few times while feeding. He couldn't help it. He needed to see if his friend would be disgusted, but Kreacher was not. At first the elf looked nervous and then mildly fascinated at the process.

"What shall we do now," Kreacher asked as Regulus turned away from the Muggle's body, abandoning it in the convenient alley in which he'd fed.

"I suppose we should go to Hogwarts. We're out of sight here, so it's as good a place to apparate as any," he said taking Kreacher's hand.