"It's locked," Aoife tugged at the leather-bound diary's cover. "We'll have to find its key now."
Regulus raised an eyebrow. "I think you're forgetting that you're talking to a wizard."
"So?"
"I can magick the lock open, with a flick of my wand."
"But Belladonna said that Inferi-"
"I know what Belladonna said, but it's a minor spell, negligible. And I don't want to go on finding the key."
"Okay, fine," Aoife resigned, albeit secretly grateful. "But if those corpses come here hunting us, I'll be blaming it on you."
Regulus rolled his eyes but nodded. Quickly pulling out his wand, he flicked it slightly, muttering under his breath: "Alohomora."
The lock opened with a silent click. Aoife stared at the diary, impressed.
"And I thought those magicians were cool."
"Shall we?" Regulus asked impatiently.
"What was the date of that entry on the back of the book?" Aoife opened the diary, flipping through it gingerly. It felt intrusive to read someone else's diary.
"Don't worry about that," Regulus said abruptly, as if he'd read her mind. "I'm sure that Annelise is either dead, or had forgotten about these diaries. Don't feel as if you're snooping. She is your aunt or something."
Aoife nodded, an entry catching her eye.
"Hey, Reg," she exclaimed suddenly. "I think I found something big."
Regulus hurried to her side, peering over her shoulder. She smelled like lemons.
April 30, 1959
I don't understand why Robert did this! Even though Syl's dead, he still has a daughter.
A few hours ago, after Syl passed, Robert went out for some time. I was busy with the funeral preparations, while Sylvia (surprisingly) was entertaining Aoife. I convinced Robert for that, but her middle name is now Bathsheba, a horrible choice.
"Wait," Regulus interrupted. "Your middle name is Bathsheba?"
"Yes," Aoife said stiffly. "Though I got it changed last year."
"Sirius named his bike Bathsheba, you know? She was the Muggle lady who used to sell him records."
It took Robert hours to come back, and when he did, he was in a tizzy. Rushed to his room, packed a case and blew out, yelling that he's going to Syl. I was scared out of my wits and ran after him, but he apparated as soon as he cleared the boundary line. I decided to inform Ignatius, who was out for a business call, and Lucretia, who'd gone to visit her mother. Now all we can do is hope and pray.
Annelise A O'Connor
"Well," Regulus spoke up. "This clears one thing. Why you were left with Sylvia. But then, why didn't Annelise take you in? She seems more fond of you."
"We'll have to see, won't we? Let's check the next one," Aoife's face was passive, as if she was not reading about her past.
"Are you sure -"
May 15, 1959
Aoife cut him off, beginning to read the next entry.
"Why is there such a big gap?" Regulus mused.
I haven't been able to write for so long, such a great tragedy has befallen on us! Sylvia and Ronan decided to adopt Aoife. As much as I wanted to, it was surely not possible due to my profession.
A few days after Robert left, we recieved a bone-chilling letter.
"There's an envelope here," Aoife said.
Regulus removed it, and quickly unfolded the parchment. It was quite smooth, unlike the normal Wizarding parchment, which was characteristically rough.
fecisti vinculum, nunc manete
He will not come back
A look of understanding passed over Regulus's face. He kept staring at the paper, his knuckles whitening.
"Reg?"
He started, lifting his gaze from the paper.
"I get it now," he voice was quiet, triumph ringing in every word.
"Will you explain?" Aoife asked impatiently.
Regulus gestured towards their sofa. Both of them sat down, one victorious, the other slightly peeved.
"When we recieved that letter from those corpses, I was quite puzzled as to why they'd asked you to accompany me. I've thought about that alot, but now, the answer is in front of me," he brandished the letter.
"Will you get to the point?"
Quickly catching the telltale signs of her anger, he hastily explained everything to her.
"When I was in the Lake I told you about," he began, "I don't remember much about it, but one thing stands out. It was this chilling voice, which whispered in my ear 'fecisti vinculum, nunc manete.' And now, the same sentence here ..."
"Which means, Robert struck a deal with them," Aoife finished, her eyes wide. "Just to meet his dead wife."
"And that's why they want you there too. Your father struck a deal with them, and they want to rope you in too."
Aoife buried her face in her hands, tearful.
Regulus hesitated, but slung an arm around her, and pulled her close.
"Family is shit," she whispered quietly, resting her head on his shoulder.
"You got that right."
YOU ARE READING
INFERI (REGULUS BLACK)
Fanfiction"If you ever need me, I'll be at the Potter's." These were the words that kept on rolling around Regulus' head. His brother's last words before he left the house, bloodied and bruised. He didn't blame him of course. It must've been hell living as th...
