THE NEW HEAVEN AND EARTH | RON WEASLEY [BOOK FIVE]

6. REGULUS ARCTURUS BLACK

Eventually, the night sky grew lighter over the hours, dawn breaking as she watched the sunrise, somehow not feeling any more tired from having little to no sleep from the night before. She very carefully crept out of bed, attempting not to disturb Ron.

He had begun to murmur in his sleep, shifting around, and she could have sworn for a second that she heard her name. It was likely the sleep deprivation, she thought to herself, as she left the living room, making her way to the next room over.

Her hand trailed across the Black family tapestry that hung proudly on the wall, reading Walburga and Orion Black, her grandparents.

After hearing stories of them from Sirius and Aurelia, and avoiding the portrait of Walburga Black, she was extremely glad to have never met them. She followed the branches down, searching for her father's name and smiling once she'd found it, or at least what was left of it.

She traced the scorch mark of where his face should have been with her index finger, making a mental note to herself to fix the tapestry, once everything was over. Or maybe, she would get rid of it completely.

She would make her own.

Gene looked at the name beside his, doing a double-take as her eyes widened, her finger landing on one name in particular.

"Gene! Gene, where are you?" she heard Hermione's voice call out for her, worry lacing it as she grew nearer, "Gene–" she pulled to a stop in the doorway, breathing out in relief as she set eyes on her. "Ron, I found her!" she called back.

"Look," Gene pointed to the tapestry, underlining the name with a small smile. "R. A. B."

They regrouped in the kitchen, sitting at the dining table as Harry opened the locket once more, removing the note and reading it aloud.

"To the Dark Lord. I know I will be dead long before you read this. I have stolen the real Horcrux and intend to destroy it." he said, tearing his eyes from the parchment to look at the rest of them.

"R.A.B. was Sirius' brother?" Ron asked, glancing at Gene who paced the kitchen floor behind them.

"Regulus Arcturus Black. My middle name." she nodded affirmatively.

She had to wonder who had given it to her, considering she shared Regulus' middle name, and he was a renowned Death Eater.

"Question is, did he actually destroy the real Horcrux?" Hermione added, giving them something else to think about.

"Kreacher!" Gene suddenly exclaimed.

Ron and Hermione's eyes went wide, sitting up from their places at the table as they stared at her in horror. Kreacher hadn't exactly been the most welcoming host last time they had been here.

"Are you mad?" Ron asked.

"Course she is." Harry agreed, a faint smile playing on his lips as a loud crack whipped the air, and there Kreacher stood.

He didn't look much different from the last time they had seen him, he wore the same rag around his waist as before, presumably one he had clung onto since he served the Black's.

"Mistress Genevieve Black," he murmured. She noticed how he had dropped her mothers maiden name very easily. "Master Harry Potter," he bowed very slowly, as if he was hoping for one of them to stop him. "back in my mistress's old house with the blood traitor Weasley and the Mudblood–"

"Stop that." Gene frowned at him.

"We forbid you to call anyone 'blood traitor' or 'Mudblood'." Harry glared at him. "We've got a question for you and we order you to answer it truthfully. Understand?"