𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔 - regulus black

chapter thirty-six

It took days for Kreacher to wake up. Ariel in the meantime tried to get some sleep as well though the incident with Kreacher seemed to be keeping him awake most of the time. Something serious had happened. He couldn't be at peace without knowing.

Everyday he would update Regulus on the condition of his elf even if it was just a few words.

When he woke up, Ariel fed him first. Or rather asked his own house elf to make up a meal for his fellow. He was very loyal too and could easily keep this a secret from his parents. Elves and children seemed to build up close connections from a young age, he thought as he watched his own elf execute his requests that he knew he would keep secret. And he felt thankful for that.

And obviously there was no other option for the blond boy than to keep that a secret from his parents. There was no need to tell them the Blacks' elf had burst in his bedroom at 3am, drenched, convulsing and covered in blood. So he simply hid it.

When Kreacher finally woke up, Ariel couldn't get one word out of him regarding what happened without him starting to weep. For a moment, Ariel thought it would be impossible.

"Kreacher, I need you to cooperate. This is a serious matter."

"Kreacher is sorry. Kreacher cannot speak."

He decided to let him forget a little and calm down for a few days. He would try later on of course. But for now, he felt that the elf needed to take some distance with whatever had happened. He obviously didn't want to force him too much or threaten him. He wasn't that kind of wizard.

Ariel was right. He only managed to get words out of Kreacher after a few more days of rest. The elf felt safe with this boy that his master liked so much. He learned to trust him over the time he spent taking care of him.

"Kreacher are you ready to talk?" asked Ariel one morning, with hardly any hope left.

It was already December, long days had passed and still nothing so it was a big surprise when Kreacher finally answered affirmatively.

"Y-yes... Yes Mister Ariel..." squeaked the elf in his tiniest voice.

"Great. Thank you Kreacher. So let's start from the beginning, shall we? Where were you that night? Where did the Dark Lord bring you?"

He could see the elf shaking again as the memories of that awful night came back.

"Kreacher doesn't know the location... but it was dark. Very dark. Near the sea..."

"That's a start. Is it the only place where you went to?"

"N-no... there was the... the... the cave."

The elf started shaking even more after this. This cave seemed to be the place that traumatized him.

"A cave... why a cave? What did you do in it?"

"The Dark Lord hurt Kreacher... Poison... poison..." hollowed Kreacher.

"Poison? The Dark Lord poisoned you?" asked Ariel, not hiding his surprise.

"The potion he made Kreacher drink was poison. That awful potion..." sobbed Kreacher as if even the pain was coming back.

"Okay. Please calm down... Why did you drink the potion?"

"No! Kreacher cannot tell more. Please Mister Ariel!" begged the elf as he watched Ariel with teary eyes.

The boy sighed. That was enough for today. He got more information that he thought, he couldn't be mad at Kreacher for not wanting to continue.

He decided to write to Regulus right away.

'My dear Regulus,

I hope you are doing well. Kreacher and I are doing good.

This morning we had a talk and I managed to get a few things out of him. I do not quite understand what happened but it is a start.

He mentioned something about going in a cave, by the sea, where the Dark Lord made him drink a poisoned potion. This potion must have been very strong as it made the poor Kreacher suffer. I wonder what was the Dark Lord's goal by doing such acts. Did he actually want to get rid of your elf? Or was this an experiment? I cannot tell for now but I will update you when I get more information.

Take care,

Ariel'

Ariel tried doing researches right after that with only the few information he had. Kreacher returned to his house after Ariel ordered him to visit him every single day from now on. The boy took his books on Dark Magic. The ones from Hogwarts' library and the ones from his father's personal collection and started looking for information regarding caves and what they could possibly hide, or anything that could be happening on the coast-side. He knew this was in vain as he needed to get more details from Kreacher.

The next day, the elf came back. Ariel was still studying at his desk. But the 'crack!' announcing Kreacher's presence made him divert from the researches.

"Kreacher. I'm glad you came back."

"Kreacher cannot not follow a wizard's orders, especially coming from someone so close to his Master Regulus."

"Yeah, right... Shall we continue then?"

He noticed the creature shuddering in fear barely a second after saying these words.

"Kreacher. What else did you do in this cave?"

"Kreacher offered his blood to enter the cave and then followed the Dark Lord. The Dark Lord travelled by boat along with Kreacher. After that, the Dark Lord forced Kreacher to drink everything of the potion... It hurt but the Dark Lord did not care for Kreacher and Kreacher saw him place something in where the awful potion was. It was at this moment that the Dark Lord left Kreacher, suffering, and then monsters came out of the water to take Kreacher..."

"And then you escaped," finished Ariel as he could see the poor elf couldn't utter one more word.

He felt bad for making him relive this trauma. He wrote down everything Kreacher said and tried making him repeat a few things but Kreacher didn't want to. He sobbed again and begged Ariel to stop talking about that. Ariel obliged and told him he could leave.

The boy wrote again to Regulus everything he had heard that day, offering any hypothesis that could clue them as well knowing Regulus would do the same on his own.

Kreacher came back again and every day, Ariel asked him more and more details that could make him understand the whole situation. It was obvious the Dark Lord had hidden something of very dark magic that was very precious, but what, remained a mystery. Kreacher didn't remember well the object as he was not in his right mind when he perceived it. He got to learn the 'monsters' as he called them, were in fact humans. Dead humans from the description. And Ariel guessed they were Inferi. And everything around the object was meant to protect it from enemies. Not even the Dark Lord could approach it which meant he didn't need it but he needed it safe nonetheless. Everything that kept it safe was meant to make the enemies left for dead as well. Which was supposed to happen to Kreacher if he hadn't managed to escape. It was such a brave act and Ariel suddenly had more esteem for him and his fellows.

Through letters, Ariel and Regulus discussed the situation. Both read tons of books about dark magic in the meantime. This mystery couldn't be left unsolved, the Dark Lord was hiding something. It was serious and most likely dangerous, they couldn't ignore it. And something Ariel didn't feel but he knew Regulus was feeling, was revenge for his beloved elf.

The boys promised each other to get through this and work together once they would be reunited.