Flora And Fawna [HARRY POTTER]

16

Rosie had taken to wearing one of Regulus' large sweaters over her school uniform, something none of the professors heckled her about. It was slytherin green, and had Regulus' name and quidditch number on the back. Penny hadn't been sure at first why Rosie had chosen that specific sweater out of all the sweaters of Regulus's she now owned, Mr. and Mrs. Black had made no move to come and collect the remainder of their dead son's belongings. Honestly, the sweater Rosie had chosen probably got her into more trouble than it was worth. None of the slytherin elitists wanted to watch a little muggleborn walk around in their colors.

But Rosie either didn't notice, or paid them no mind.

Before his death, Regulus had told her that he had done something for her, done something to stop the Dark Lord. Rosie was ignoring the fact that it had gotten him killed, if only for a moment. He had also said that she would be taken care of, something which baffled her. Of course she would be taken care of, living with her sister. But somehow Rosie knew that wasn't what Regulus meant. Rosie puzzled over her dead friends words for almost five months, before some of her questions were finally answered.

Kreacher, the Black's house elf, appeared in Rosie's bedroom one night, long after she had given up going to sleep, not startling her as much as his appearance probably should have. The house elf didn't look at all pleased to be there, but he wasn't sneering at her like she had just wrinkled one of Regulus' pressed shirts either so Rosie didn't feel the need to get her wand. He wasn't there on a mission to kill her from his mistress.

"What are you doing here, Kreacher?" Rosie's voice had gone flat since Regulus' death, one of the few things that had changed to show that his death did in face affect her in some manner.

The house elf scowled, before he reached into his dirty pillowcase smock and pulled a locket out of some hidden pocket. Rosie didn't want to think about it.

"Master Regulus left this to you. Master Regulus told Kreacher to give the locket to the mudblood and to tell her that she must keep it hidden. That if she can, she must destroy it." Kreacher rasped, taking several steps closer to Rosie's bed, which she had made no move to get out of. "Master Regulus told Kreacher to tell the mudblood that it is a horcrux."

That got Rosie out of bed.

Rosie had read about horcruxes before Christmas break, she hadn't stepped foot into the library since Christmas break, so she was familiar with the concept. A horcrux was an object that stored a piece of someone's soul, so that if something were to happen to them they could be revived. That sounded innocent enough until one read how a witch or wizard made a horcrux.

To make a horcrux, one had to split their soul, through the intentional murder of an innocent.

It was very dark magic and there was very little information on it in the restricted section, where Rosie had been browsing when she had come across the term. The house elf came closer to where Rosie was standing, holding the gold necklace out to her as an offering. Rosie didn't take it, just looked at it.

The necklace itself was beautiful, even Rosie could tell it was made of real gold. There was also a slytherin emblem on the front. Looking at it closer, Rosie found that she was actually able to recognize it. The locket was a slytherin artifact, one Rosie had seen in Hogwarts A History. There was also a powerful aura of dark magic around it, understandable considering what it was, that made Rosie even more reluctant to touch it. The feeling made her skin crawl.

"Did your master tell you who's horcrux it was?" Rosie questioned after she decided it was, in face, a relic from Salazar Slytherin.

Kreacher nodded, his big dark eyes meeting Rosie's with a serious expression.

"Master Regulus told Kreacher that it was the Dark Lord's Horcrux."

*******

Rosie hadn't known what to do with the horcrux when Kreacher had left it with her, warning her that he would be back to check on her later in the week. She hadn't wanted to hide it in her room, where anyone could find it but she also didn't want to wear it on her person. The dark aura that surrounded the beautiful piece of jewelry made Rosie feel dirty. The kind of dirty that couldn't be washed off in the shower.

The piece of the Dark Lord's soul that was stuck in the locket made Rosie's own soul feel like it was fighting a losing battle to stay pure, or as pure as it had been left in the wake of Rosie's grief. She didn't like the feeling but she didn't see another choice, not wanting Regulus' last effort to stop the Dark Lord to be in vain.

She had spent the entire night working to destroy the locket like Regulus had apparently asked her to do. She had used every spell she could think of, and even a few she hadn't known she would ever use. Her thought had been that if she destroyed it before the sun rose then she wouldn't have to think of something to do with it. Her efforts had been for naught thought, as when the morning came she was no closer to destroying it than she had been when she began.

So she reluctantly put it on on top of one of Regulus' sweaters. Almost as soon as it came to rest on top of her sternum, she felt it begin to affect her. Rosie was hardly ever irritable, it was something she prided herself on. However it appeared that the Dark Lord was often very irritable, because as soon as the necklace fell into place everything seemed to irritate her. Her feet were too cold, her hands felt dusty, the tag on her sweater itched the back of her neck and she didn't feel at all comfortable.

If that was what the Dark Lord felt like all the time Rosie was a little more understanding as to why he was such an evil man. His actions were inexcusable, but with every second with every stimulant making Rosie was to hex someone they were a little more understandable.

Rosie looked at herself in the mirror in her room, recognizing the fact that she was presentable. She was sure Penny would notice that her brows were furrowed and her jaw was clenched, she always did, but she also knew the girl would accept the changed with grace. And in the state Rosie was in, that was all she could really ask for.