Assumption // Regulus Black

56

Regulus

 I stepped into the dark cave and muttered a lumos spell. We were surrounded by large stone walls stretching as far as my light would reach. I walked forward and pressed my hand to the cool stone of the nearest wall, finding it to be wet. I assumed it was from the ocean spray, though the source of the water could be the lake Kreacher described. I stepped away from the wall and began walking into the cave with Kreacher close behind. Our footsteps echoed off the dark walls as we entered further into the cave, the sounds of the ocean growing fainter.

"Mysterious dark cave in the middle of nowhere? Are you sure this is right?" I muttered sarcastically as we walked, my voice echoing off the walls.

"Kreacher is sure," he nodded grimly. I would've laughed at the elf's inability to understand sarcasm if it wasn't for the fact that I was on a life-threatening mission.

After three minutes of walking through the dark cavern, Kreacher and I arrived at a dead end, blocked by a large stone wall.

"The Dark Lord took Kreacher's blood," the elf shuddered. I looked down to see him reaching for a jagged stone on the ground, but I stopped him.

"I'll do it," I said.

"But master-" he started.

"I'll do it," I repeated firmly. "Diffendo," I muttered and dragged the tip of my wand over the palm of my hand. I winced as the cut formed on my hand but didn't want to worry Kreacher. I placed my palm over the wall and let the blood seep into the stone. 

Slowly, the wall slid open revealing a large chasm. Both Kreacher and I stepped into the dark room. I heard the sound of water lapping, but it was far too dark to see anything.

"Lumos Maxima," A beam of light shot out of the tip of my wand and soared towards the ceiling of the room, illuminating everything. There was a massive black lake spreading as far as I could see. I didn't even want to know what was lurking in the water. There was also a small island in the distance. Other than that, there were a few large rocks on the ground and huge stone walls like the others in the cave. 

"The Dark lord summoned a boat," Kreacher croaked and pointed to the water. I glanced around the chamber, looking for any sign of a boat. "Here," Kreacher pointed to a space above the water and held out his hand. I followed suit and held my hand over the water. Nothing happened for a moment or so, but soon small bubbles began to form on the surface. The bubbles intensified and started furiously foaming. Suddenly, a chain shot out of the water. I grabbed it and began pulling the heavy chain onto the land. 

After what seemed like minutes of pulling, the mast of a boat poked through the surface followed by a small wooden boat. 

Once the boat was completely afloat, Kreacher climbed in. I pulled the chain into the boat and sat down across from him. The small boat rocked unsteadily back and forth, threatening to tip over at any moment.

"This does not seem safe," I muttered to myself. A memory flashed briefly through my head- Thalia assuming that I didn't like boats because I got seasick. She was right. Of course she was. I almost smiled at the thought. Unfortunately, the fleeting moment passed quickly as I remembered where I was. 

Without any warning, the boat began moving forward. I tried to contain the nervous pit in my stomach. In my head, the mission had felt so simple. But now that I was in person, I thought of all the ways it could go wrong. I had assumed that the effects of the potion wouldn't be as strong as they had been for Kreacher due to his size. I could only hope I was right about that. 

The boat floated through the dark water as we drew closer to the small island. I looked back over at Kreacher to make sure he was still wearing the locket. He was. I felt the weight of the canteen in my bag as the potion sloshed around.