Upside Down Mirror: The Man-Who-Lived (Harry Potter Fanfic)

Living Will

Regulus should have died.

Regulus should have died, and not have lived.

In the back of his mind, Regulus knew he should have died, yet for some reason, he couldn't decern he was instead alive.

That, and he knew there was this undying and unyielding need to quench his thirst as he found himself lying on the floor somewhere he struggled mentally to recognize, all in hopes of finding some source of water, or something else to take care of the dryness plaguing his throat. He opened his mouth, memories of the lake, the potion, everything coming and going in a manner that didn't seem as if it would remain.

Something, no, someone touched his shoulder catching his attention and thin, knobby fingers lifted him, turning him so he no longer rested on his side. His lips felt as if they were cracking, his eyes about to pop out of his head as his senses went into overload. He felt as if his entire body was on fire, yet he wasn't sure if this was some kind of illusion. Whoever was helping him tugged him into a sitting position.

A cup of water was lifted to his lips, and he swallowed the cold water down, finding himself grateful, yet he also didn't feel as if he could get enough water quick enough, but he heard someone say, "Slow down Master Regulus."

Regulus' eyes blinked open. Everything around him swam, yet he knew who was speaking with him. "Kreacher?"

"Kreacher is here Master Regulus. Master Regulus will be alright. Kreacher will not let Master Regulus die."

It was then that Regulus realized something. "You disobeyed my order. You've never disobeyed my orders.."

"Kreacher will punish himself once Master Regulus is taken care of."

"Please don't tell them." Regulus didn't want them to know, yet in the back of his mind, he didn't want any of them to see him like that. He'd wanted to protect his parents from whatever might come from him having taken one of the Horcruxes, but even that felt as if it were fading from his memory along with the need to destroy the item, nor did he feel the strength to tell Kreacher not to punish himself.

It was then that he heard her scream.

The scream pounded through his head, yet he'd not heard her yell like that in four years, not since Sirius left the house. Regulus remembered how much he hated the sound of her voice when she yelled, yet at least this wasn't as bad as the fingers of the Inferi reaching for him, right before he passed out.

~

To any sensible House Elf, disobeying an order from their master was illogical and Kreacher considered himself a very sensible House Elf who took great pride in the fact he never disobeyed a master's direct order, not even that treacherous Master Sirius. He simply found loopholes in what his master ordered of him which in turn let Master Sirius know just how much he did not like him.

Yet, for once following the order given by a master felt the illogical choice. After all, Kreacher knew in the back of his mind the only reason he was alive was because of an order his master gave, to return to his side once Voldemort finished with him, for the potion he was made to drink – that his master drunk, robbed him otherwise of his free will. As such, logically the same would hold for his master which meant Master Regulus was not making the order of sound mind and thus said order was not actually of his master's bidding.

There was also the logical sense that any punishment he might receive including the boiling of his head in oil could compare to losing Master Regulus, which in turn made disobeying the order and receiving punishment a far more desirable outcome. Kreacher also watched his master suffer and in the back of his mind wished it was himself suffering instead, but there as also the issue of the order going against another part of the House Elf code of protecting one's master, but the protection of the master could in itself be seen as an unsaid order.

As such, for once it made logical sense to disobey, mostly because the death of Master Regulus was the worst punishment ever.

When Master Regulus started crawling towards the lake in the same manner Kreacher did, Kreacher grabbed onto his master and Disapparate them both from the location. They arrived in the kitchen of the Black family home with poor Master Regulus on the ground, still aching for a drink of water. There was no question of helping his master into a sitting position, let alone making sure the water would touch his lips.

And, Kreacher did in fact fully plan on punishing himself once he knew Master Regulus fully taken care of.

He'd not expected on hearing the mistress of the household to scream, but his small body cringed upon hearing her begin to yell at the top of her lungs. "Mistress?"

She of course let out a string of curses regarding the situation in front of her. "What happened to him?"

"Kreacher cannot tell mistress."

"Because you don't know?" Her voice remained quite firm.

"No mistress."

"Then why can't you tell me." What she said made her voice go slightly louder.

"Because Kreacher cannot."

"Tell me what happened Kreacher."

"Kreacher cannot tell mistress what happened to Master Regulus even if mistress orders me to do so, but if mistress wishes to punish Kreacher for such, Kreacher will gladly take his punishment."

"Please tell me that my son didn't order you not to tell me?"

"Master Regulus did indeed do so."

"Help me in getting him up to his room so we can place him in his bed."

"Yes, Mistress." Kreacher did just that, yet even felt Regulus looked slightly better for it. He watched her look at the collage of newspaper clippings with disdain, almost as if she directed her anger at them, almost as if she knew without Kreacher telling her who was to blame for Regulus' current state. "Shall Kreacher fetch a healer, mistress?"

This was of course what a House Elf should ask of their masters in such a situation. "No. I don't know yet who I can trust."

"Yes, mistress."