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"Hey, Black, you work in an Alchemic place, not a library," Arya called out to a very distressed Aquila, who was rifling through the books in the library of the Alchemic Academy. Some books there were older than even Hogwarts, which was surprising, because Hogwarts was practically the champion of old things.
Aquila shrugged. "Doesn't mean I can't utilise the wonderful sources I have."
Arya gave her a tight-lipped smile and left silently.
What's up with her? Regulus asked in her head.
Aquila's smile turned forced. Get a job, busybody.
Her finger trailed down the words on the book, scanning the worn page for a mention of the dark objects which were supposedly the secret for immortality.
"Aha!" Aquila exclaimed, cheering in her head as her eyes fell upon the word written in slanted handwriting.
A Horcrux is an object in which a wizard or witch has hidden a fragment of his or her soul in order to become immortal. Horcruxes can only be created after committing murder. The process for the creation of a Horcrux involves a spell and a short ritual is performed soon after the murder has been committed. Given that Horcruxes are precious to those who make them, there are usually protective measures made to prevent them from being stolen or destroyed, such as Counter-Charms and curses.
The book mentioned nothing about Dark Magic or anything of the sort. A spell or an act only turned dark when used for the wrong purposes. This was one of the older texts that believed in the ideology of 'nothing is dark except the intentions of the user'.
- - -
"Okay, Kreacher, I need you to take us very carefully, okay?" Regulus was speaking quietly but firmly to Kreacher.
Aquila paced the living room, her nail between her teeth. "Shouldn't we tell someone about this? I mean, we're barely nineteen, Reg, let's tell Dumbledore." Regulus gave her a look, and she shook her head. "Fine, we should tell Sirius. I don't wanna die before turning twenty!"
Regulus shook his head, securing his wand inside his robe pocket. "We're not telling anyone, especially not Sirius, who'll turn up with his whole gang and Dumbledore, who'll try to heal everything through love."
Aquila grabbed his shoulder and pulled him down to her eye level. "Listen to me. I am not dying out there, and I'm not letting you die either. We're not talented enough to take on a trap set by a very powerful wizard. What if he comes back to check on his locket?"
Regulus gently removed her hands from his shoulders. "You think I was sitting idle while you researched?" he asked, and reached into his pocket to take out an exact replica of the locket they'd seen in Kreacher's memory. "You'll be surprised at how talented Borgin can be if he's properly inspired to do his work."
Aquila took the locket from him. "So, you threatened him?"
"With the closing of his shop and confiscation of all his goods," Regulus said, turning back to Kreacher.
"So, ready?"
- - -
It was so dark. So dark, that even the two Slytherins who had grown up in a dungeon dormitory, found their eyes begging for light. Aquila held up a hand encased in flames to bring some light while Regulus ordered Kreacher to go back and tell Sirius of their whereabouts if they didn't come back in two hours.
"Ready to destroy a piece of someone's soul?" Aquila asked after Kreacher had left.
Regulus grinned at her, his face dancing with the hues of her fire. "Jokes on you, you've been eating my soul since we were in the womb."
Aquila scrunched her nose and gingerly approached the cave wall.
Regulus gently pricked his finger and put it on the stone. Blood sacrifices never do mention how much blood, do they?
The stone wall disappeared and revealed an open area, a dark lake with an island emanating a green hue from the centre of it. Aquila squinted at the island, trying to make out what was in the centre. Regulus stood a bit behind her from where the cave wall was supposed to be.
"Wonderful Charm work, you have to admit," he marveled, tracing the rock, looking for any errors.
Aquila gave him a wry smile. "I suppose it's a necessity to be a good wizard to be an evil overlord."
Regulus smirked, and looked at the island. "So there's a boat," he said, rather stupidly, Aquila thought.
"There's also water," Aquila helped him. He shot her an irritated look, and raised his hand.
Nothing happened.
He tried again.
"So, uhm, magic is blocked?" Regulus asked, scratching the back of his neck. Aquila shot a questioning look at her flame-encased hand, which she had obviously not lit on fire. Regulus shrugged and tried again, and still, nothing happened.
"Maybe it's on specific objects," Aquila murmured, approaching the boat and climbing into it, holding out a hand for Regulus' way to be lit.
"Does James know you're here and might potentially die?" Regulus asked, his voice cutting through the inky silence.
"Does Adrian?" Aquila bit back, an edge to her voice. Clearly, Regulus was trying to make her feel better about coming here with no back-up, and clearly, it wasn't working.
Regulus looked away, the fire in his hand (copycat) shadowing his face and making his cheeks look hollow. For a terrible moment, Aquila imagined his face as a skull, dragged under by whatever creatures lurked inside the water.
She shook her head as the boat stopped at the edge of the island. The greenish hue in the centre revealed to be a basin, filled with some green potion (how typically Slytherin of Riddle), and the locket at the bottom.
"Drink of Despair. Looks promising," Regulus murmured, leaning close to the basin to gently sniff it.
Aquila stepped closer to the basin. "So we can't dispose of it. Bottoms up?" she asked, conjuring up two cups.
Swift as lightning, Regulus knocked one into the lake and dipped his cup in the potion and took a small sip. "I'll toast to that."
"Don't bring your stupid courageous complex into this, Regulus. Both of us have been treating this like a joke -"
"You could've fooled me," he murmured, dipping the cup again, taking a sip and scrunching his face.
Aquila grasped his shoulder in desperation. "We can die here, Regulus. We don't know what happens to the magic core of the other one if one of us dies. I can't bear the thought to living without you," she said, her voice trembling.
Regulus' face softened. "Listen to me. Neither of us is dying today. We live, we live together, we die, we die together."
Aquila lightly snorted. "Is this because we don't know how the magic would work if one of us dropped in the coffin?"
"It's because only you know how to make my preference of tea," Regulus smiled. His smile was wan, though, slightly drained from the mere two sips he'd taken.
"So it's an Emerald Potion, and a strong one at that," Aquila murmured, holding her fingers on top of the basin and snapping them lightly. A three dimensional image of the potion rose in the air, and Aquila pinched the image this way and that, looking for a loophole.
Regulus held up a hand. "It's no use, Aq. I'll drink it, you guard. Merlin knows what's in the water."
Aquila felt dread creep up her spine, settling in a nervous pit in her stomach. Nonetheless, she feebly nodded and took her wand out, which served little purpose other than something physical to hold on to.
Slowly, painfully, painful to the point where Aquila could feel his strength fading, Regulus drank the potion. He was kneeling by the basin now, his face ashen, his sobs echoing around the space. Aquila felt her heart clench at her inability to go to her brother, and she felt herself weakened by a significant amount as well.
"Aq," he gasped from behind, one hand clutching the top of the basin, the other at his own throat. "Water, please," he sobbed out.
Aquila steeled her heart. Yes, Regulus needed water, but he would never forgive her if she didn't exchange the lockets before the potion reappeared. She grabbed the locket from his pocket, and gingerly took out the one inside the basin.
A cold feeling shot up her arm, curling around the place her Dark Mark used to be. Poisonous whispers clouded her head, and she shook them away. Dropping the fake locket into the basin, she took the original one and placed it in an AntiMag case Regulus had previously bought from Borgin.
She went near the water and filled a cup with water.
And then the dangers of the water revealed themselves.
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THE END
lmao no jk
our jamesypoo still has to die amirite
how misleading is the chapter title?
i still havent decided which one of the twins i should kill :evilgrin:
sorry for the lack of updates, i suck ik
anyhoo, hope you loved it, or at least liked, im halfway done with the next chapter, and im so anxious at the amount of stuff i have to put in the book