aquila ▶ marauders era {EDITING}

23.

THE TWO ENDED UP SOMEWHERE THAT AQUILA THOUGHT she would never see again, Number 12 Grimmauld Place. It looked the same as it had a year ago when Aquila left and it still gave her the eerie chills that it gave her last year. 

"Kreacher," Regulus called out. The house elf limped to the parlour where the two Blacks were stood and bowed to them both. As children, even though their parents tried to teach them differently, they had still been kind to Kreacher and had befriended the house elf. 

"Master Regulus, Mistress Aquila." 

Regulus knelt down to the house elf's height and said, "Now Kreacher, can you take Aquila and I to the place that you told me about? The cave?"

The creature looked like he did not want to, for he had seen the horrors inside that place, but an order was an order so he had to comply to the boy's wishes. He offered them both a hand each and they took it, spinning off into the unknown. 

The unknown turned out to be creepier than Aquila expected and her heart had begun to creep its way into her throat. After the crack of Kreacher's Apparation and Disapparation, the two Blacks were left in silence.

"You ready?" Aquila said, her voice croaking as she felt for her brother's hand in the dark. He responded by grasping onto hers and squeezing it lightly. Taking that for a yes, the two began their journey into the cave, completely unaware of the dangers that awaited them. 

They approached a stone wall and following the instruction given by Kreacher, Regulus pulled out a small blade and sliced his palm open, pressing it against the wall. The lining of an archway appeared and the stone that had been smeared with blood disappeared, leaving an opening for the two to pass. 

The duo walked in and they were met with a truly terrifying sight. They had come out onto the edge of a vast, dark lake which was so large, Aquila could not see the other side of it from where she stood. There was a distant greenish glow but beside that, Aquila could make out nothing in the darkness. She pulled out her wand and murmured Lumos, Regulus following suit but even the light from their two wands could not make a dent in the obscurity of the cavern. 

"Okay, how do you propose we do this?" Regulus asked Aquila, as he had come up short on answers. The girl pondered their options for a while, starting with the most basic. With a flourish of her hand, she said "Accio Horcrux."

There was a loud bang and something large jumped out of the water before diving back in, causing the entire lake to ripple. Aquila and Regulus stood frozen next to each other, both unsure of how to approach with this new information. There were things in the lake, things that they knew nothing of, and they were both sure these things would kill them both with no hesitation. 

"I guess we'll have to do this the old-fashioned way, then," Aquila muttered. She started to walk on the edge of the lake, Regulus right behind her as they both tried not to step into the water. After a few minutes, Regulus stopped her, "Kreacher said he got a boat out somewhere around here."

Racking her brain for a spell, Aquila stuck her hand out and waving her hand, said, "Aparecium"

As she did so, a chain appeared from the depths of the water and wrapped itself around her hand. Aquila tapped the chain with her hand and just as suddenly, a boat began to come out of the water. The vessel was small, looking like it could only hold one person at a time and watching her brother, Aquila said, "I don't think both of us can go."

They stared into each other's eyes, a silent argument about to take place when they were disrupted by a crack. The Blacks jumped and Regulus would have fallen into the lake if Aquila had not stuck her hand out and slammed him back against the cavern wall. Sitting in the boat was Kreacher who looked up at the two with sadness, "I could not leave Master and Mistress on their own. Dark things reside in this place. Let Kreacher take them out."

Regulus shook his head, "No Kreacher, he is not going to get away with what he has been doing. If you want to help, you could take us to where he's keeping the Horcrux."

The house elf bowed his head and once again, he held out his hands to the siblings and transported them further into the cave, on the island where the Horcrux was. It was not a large span of land, probably the size of the Headmaster's office, but what stood out was at the middle of the room was a basin filled with a fluorescent green liquid. 

Kreacher explained to them that the potion could only be drank and that it causes immense pain. Each sibling volunteered to drink the potion and they compromised, settling to drink half each in order to lessen the effect. Regulus then pulled out a locket that, with Kreacher's help, looked identically like the one that was hidden in the basin. He told Kreacher that the moment they finished the potion to switch them out and quickly, he showed Aquila the note he had written inside.

To the Dark Lord,

I know I will be dead long before you read this but I want you to know it was I who discovered your secret . 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

Aquila all but snorted at her brother's theatrics and a memory from a distant time surfaced. Peter's warm laughter rang out in her head as he spoke, "I know you Blacks are dramatic but there's no need to take your flair out on the door."

"Ready?" she asked him once again as they braced themselves for the potion. He nodded, "Ready."

Gobletful by gobletful, they emptied the basin. Terrible thoughts flooded Aquila's mind, images of the people she cared about sprawled out dead in front of her filling her mind. The pain didn't stop mentally though, as a feeling similar to the pain of the Cruciatus spread across her each and every nerve, making tears burn at the back of her eyes as she bit her lip to suppress the moans from escaping her mouth. From watching the sweat gather on Regulus' forehead, she could tell he was in the same kind of pain and that motivated the girl to drink more and drink faster. 

Kreacher watched in suspense as the basin was emptied and he pulled out the Horcrux, putting it around his neck. He tossed the fake in the basin and with a snap of his fingers, it was refilled with potion. 

Thirsty. 

It was a severe feeling of thirst that Aquila was sure not even water could quench. It looked like Regulus felt it as well because he dived forward to reach the lake water. Aquila only realized his mistake a second too late. A marble white hand broke the water's surface to grab her brother but she pulled him out of the way just in time. 

"Kreacher, take Regulus and go! That's an order!" she yelled. 

The house elf had no choice but to comply and the last thing Regulus saw before he was pulled into darkness was his older sister, being dragged into the lake by Inferi, never to be seen again.