My Godfather

Chapter XLVII: The Tale of Regulus Black

The two brothers found themselves on a beach, right on the shore.

Not the kind of beach where little children came to play during the weekend or the ones which conducted weekly volleyball games.

Oh no, this one was deserted and desolate. The sky was grey and murky and mirrored the water. Although they were inside a memory, Sirius could feel the place to be gloomy and sinister.

"Over there," Regulus nudged his shoulder and pointed to the boat that was swiftly coming towards the shore. From his current position, Sirius could make out two figures in the boat. One was significantly smaller than the other.

When the boat reached the shore, Sirius saw a younger Kreacher levitate the boat to safety. The figure next to the house elf made Sirius gasp.

There stood Regulus, little more than a boy. But to Sirius, he looked so very young. He was probably about eighteen. His hair was longer than he had always kept it, the bags under his eyes clearly stated that he hadn't been sleeping well and he had also lost weight.

"Reggie..." He wasn't sure which one of them he was addressing.

"Master, this is a bad idea. We should get back, Master. It is not safe here. This is bad place. Very bad place. We must not be here."

"No, Kreacher. I need to do this. This is the right thing to do. You-Know-Who is wrong, Kreacher. I should have never joined him in the first place. I probably should have run away with Sirius."

Sirius and Regulus followed the duo towards the entrance of the cave.

All the while, one question was haunting Regulus' mind: What the hell was he about to do?

"Master, if the Dark Lord finds out, he will—"

"Torture me? Kill me? I don't care, Kreacher. My whole life, I've been controlled by my parents and then by You-K —Voldemort. Not anymore. I'd rather die for a good cause than lead a purposeless life under someone's thumb."

"Besides, he doesn't even know that I know. I only know because you told me."

The two brothers didn't say anything to each other, all the while focused on young Regulus and Kreacher.

They reached the entrance which was sealed. Regulus thought that his younger version would probably try and blow it up or something, but that wasn't the case.

The young man took out his wand and in one smooth motion, he slashed his wand across his left palm, making a superficial cut. He tapped his blood covered wand on the boulder that covered the cave's entrance.

With a low rumble, the huge rock gave way, revealing the interiors.

It was dark inside but young Reggie cast a Lumos immediately.

There wasn't much inside the cave. A lake occupied more than three fourths of the area. Other than that, it pretty much looked like any average cave.

But, Regulus wasn't interested in exploring the cave. He went right to the far end of the cave with Kreacher in tow.

"Is this it, Kreacher?"

"Yes, Master. Kreacher had come here with Mistress Walburga, Mistress Bella. and He Who Must Not Be Named! They made Kreacher drink that horrible drink so that they could get the locket."

They moved a rock aside and crouched down in front of the empty space. "Listen, the plan's simple. Empty the potion, grab the locket and get out of this place. Clear?"

The two brothers, who were quietly observing everything, went ahead and saw the dark liquid that had been stored inside a small tank like device.

Regulus frowned at his younger self, wondering what he was about to do now. He had made a lot of dumb choices as a child. He only hoped this wasn't one of them.