Several Miles from the Sun

CHAPTER SIX: R.A.B.

Six people were gathered around the kitchen table in Chadwick, having a hearty lunch provided by Kreacher, who showed that, despite everything, he was a magnificent cook. There was a good turkey that someone, probably Mrs Weasley, had supplied with jacket potatoes and a colourful salad that only Remus and Hermione touched. Cold Butterbeers had also been brought, right from Madam Rosmerta who was still sorry over the events that had happened during the school year, and some wine for those who preferred it.

Despite the good food, however, the mood at the table was quite the opposite - cold and repressing, and despite Ginny's attempts to make conversation, no one wanted to follow. Harry was picking at his food, giving Ginny half-smiles and trying to follow her train of thought. Ron had been given a thump on the nose by Kreacher before lunch (not intentionally, Kreacher had claimed), and was in a horrible mood over it. Remus, the adult whose turn it was to supervise them, tried to enter a few jokes in while the food was served ("What did the pencil say to the sharpener? Get to the point!"), but became quiet as they refused to laugh, mostly because half the table did not know what a pencil sharpener was. Regulus was also in a bit of a strop because Dobby had refused to go buy him potion ingredients ("Harry Potter said you weren't allowed to have any sorts of ingredients! Dobby obey Harry Potter first!"), and had alerted Remus of Regulus' intentions, which had left both wizards in a very sour mood.

Hermione finished her turkey and looked around the table. She had been holding an important piece of information all day, and she had been dying to tell Harry immediately. Would now be the best time? The people around the table were all confidants, and it concerned Regulus so it wouldn't matter that he was here as well. It was a stressing matter; one that had to be clearly thought out properly. She could be wrong, of course. She had no proof, only theories. But she was sure! It made sense, and she had checked beforehand--history books, records, and old files. None of them were fool-proof, but they hadn't hinted towards another lead.

And that was what she had, a lead.

"Your second name is Augustus!" she blurted out suddenly at Regulus.

Ron's bottle had toppled over, and he muttered something about nerves.

"Yes, it is," Regulus said, looking at her in a funny way.

"That's a very pretty name," Ginny piped up, and shrugged when Harry gave her a scathing look.

"Hermione, are you all right?" Remus asked, patting her hand.

Hermione felt herself get flustered. She turned to Harry. "He's Regulus Augustus Black! Oh, Harry, don't you see? R.A.B.!"

Harry's eyes widened in surprise and Regulus gave a start, tipping his bottle which collided with Ron's and spilled over again.

"Who," began Remus calmly, "is R.A.B.?"

"I am," Regulus said. "But I've only signed my initials like that twice...."

Harry rose from the table and left the room. Only Ginny returned to her meal, pretending that nothing out of the normal was happening. Harry came back, holding a torn piece of paper. Hermione knew what it said, but Remus read it out loud just the same:

To the Dark Lord,

I know I will be dead long before you read this

But I want you to know that it was I who discovered your secret.

I have stolen the real Horcrux and intend to destroy it as soon as I can.

I face death in the hope that when you meet your match,

You will be mortal once more.

R.A.B.

Remus's eyebrows rose. "You... you did this? You found out about Voldemort's Horcruxes?" He sounded beyond incredulous.

Regulus looked unsure of what to answer at first, his face a dead giveaway of the conflict within himself, but most of all, and Hermione was surprised to see, he looked nervous. "Yes," he finally answered, but he didn't explain how.

"And you didn't tell us?" Harry said, his voice growing slightly hysterical.

"Well, you weren't born then, were you?" Regulus said, in a tone that sounded a lot like Malfoy's or Zabini's.

"I meant now!" Harry roared.

But Regulus had already found a thread to yank. "So the Order knows about the Horcruxes, do they?" he said, ignoring Harry. "You mustn't have been very good if You-Know-Who is still roaming around."

"We've very go--" Ron closed off as Ginny stamped on his foot.

Remus had gone pale during the spat, and he looked like he was going to be ill. Hermione felt she knew why. While people had been killed, the answer to Voldemort's powers had laid in Regulus--idiotic, stupid, cowardly, no-good, Muggle-hating Regulus, as Sirius had described him.

"Is that--is that why you were killed?" Hermione asked. "At least, we were told that you were killed by Vol--Voldemort."

"I was," Regulus said stiffly.

"Do you know where we can find the other Horcruxes?" Remus asked.

"No." Regulus stood up. "Now if you'll excuse me, I think I'll retire from this delightful party."

Harry opened his mouth to object, but Remus softly shook his head.

"So--so he knew all along?" Ron said when Regulus' door had slammed shut.

"Does this mean we can trust him?" Ginny also wanted to know.

"No," said both Remus and Harry immediately.

"We don't know if he's really R.A.B.," Remus added. "It seems logical, Hermione, but it may be a lie."

"If he is, then we need to get the truth and see if he really doesn't know where the rest of the Horcruxes are," Harry said.

"Veritaserum?" offered Ginny. "I'm sure Hermione can whip us up a batch. Or Slugdehorn even!" Naturally, Snape was no longer an option.

"Isn't that a bit unethical?" Hermione said.

"It would be for the greater good." Remus scratched his nose, looking thoughtful. "Why don't we give him a bit of time to see if he comes to his senses? I'll try and see if I can find anything else behind his death."

"Perhaps I could have a word with him?" asked Hermione, thoughtfully.

"What for? He doesn't even like your kind," Ron faltered off, looking aghast. "I mean! I'm sorry, Hermione, you know what I meant."

Hermione glared at him. "Yes, I did," she snapped. She stood up, apologised for not cleaning away her plate and left the kitchen. She would have slammed her door, as well, but the library one was too heavy to even move.

"You're such a prat," Ginny muttered to her brother, giving him a swift kick in the shins.

*

Regulus knew that somebody would come after him, and it made him feel like a child about to get a scolding for misbehaving. He hadn't thought about the Horcruxes, not really. The thought of going up against Voldemort was petrifying. He had done his part, ensured himself a bit of redemption upon his death, and he had done it out of spite. He hadn't, however, done it for the greater good in the end, and he really didn't care.

There was no knock and Harry came in, unannounced. Regulus was a bit surprised; he had expected Remus.

"How did you find out about the Horcruxes?" Harry asked. He was staring intently at Regulus, but his tone was neither malicious nor angry.

"I did a bit of dirty work and came across my own conclusions. After overhearing something I wasn't meant to, I confirmed my own suspicions," said Regulus, and he left it at that.

"Did you destroy the Horcrux?" Harry said. He was, Regulus noted, trembling slightly, but he didn't know why. How could the hero of the Wizarding world be someone so young?

Regulus' answer was simple. "No."

Harry lurched, looking strained. "What? Then where is it?"

"Here, somewhere, I suppose," Regulus answered. "I was going to destroy it, do my good deed, but due to other circumstances, I was cut off. I left it here until I could get back."

Harry shook his head and gave a cold, hysterical laugh. "Nothing's left. They--they threw everything out. If Sirius didn't, then Mrs Weasley did. The necklace could be anywhere."

Regulus kept quiet as Harry paced the room angrily. He couldn't believe that Sirius had thrown out the locket. After all the trouble he had gone to! He had... well, died. It was always Sirius, wasn't it? Messing things up because he had the good genes, and the charm and... the friends. Regulus gritted his teeth.

Harry shot one scathing look at Regulus, muttered something under his breath, and marched out of the room. Regulus saw a sliver of someone, Hermione perhaps, go after him.

"Feisty one," his mirror murmured.

Regulus grunted and pretended to go to sleep. Did Voldemort know that he had failed to destroy the Horcrux? No, probably not. The only way Potter could have found the note was if Voldemort hadn't touched the place. Regulus had been so careful in getting it, making sure that he, unlike others, didn't spill the information. He had kept it to himself, his only victory. And now... now Sirius had blotched it.

Just like he always did.

*

Harry had called a meeting of the Order. It had been urgent, and everyone had gathered quickly, taking a seat at the round table like Arthur's knights had centuries ago. Harry sat in his chair, flanked by Ron and Hermione on either side, staring at the crumpled note he had kept by mistake, thinking, thinking and thinking.

Remus usually presided over the meetings, even though Harry had been accepted as the leader. This time he presided again, looking weary and jittery, calling order. Slowly, he explained about the events, making sure to turn in every detail, presenting the note as evidence, and then briefly allowing Harry to mutter about his own conversation with Regulus at the end. Mundungus tipped over his glass due to nerves, and Mrs Weasley gave indignant little hisses every so often.

"What do we do, then?" Bill asked. His face looked healthier. The scars were almost gone, but would probably leave behind a trace.

"What happened to all the things we threw out?" Harry asked, looking at Mrs Weasley.

She looked slightly flustered. "Destroyed, mostly," she said. "Sirius said he didn't want them to survive. We can't blame him. I would have down the same. They weren't safe!"

Mundungus let out a sharp intake of breath. "Well... if it's destroyed, then," he said.

Hermione thought carefully, trying to remember. She thought she knew which locket Regulus had meant; it had to be the one that refused to open. The one that Sirius had disregarded without a second thought. Was it truly destroyed? Were they safe to move on to the cup?

"It must be destroyed," Remus agreed. "Nothing was taken." He looked pointedly at the twins.

"We didn't take any locket!" Fred promised quickly.

"Only a doxy or two," added George, earnestly.

"Nothing was taken?" Hermione repeated to herself, mulling over the thought.

"Are you feeling all right, Dung?" Tonks asked the thief, who had overthrown his glass again.

"Yes, yes, just a bit of... er, a rough tummy. Not your cooking, though, Molly!" Mundungus assured her rapidly.

Harry glared at Mundungus, but made no comment. It was no secret that Harry had wished to keep Mundungus in Azkaban.

"Are you sure Regulus didn't know anything about the other Horcruxes?" Mr Weasley asked.

"He could be lying," Harry admitted.

"I say we hex it out of him," Mad Eye said. He looked keen on the idea, too.

Suddenly a variety of comments spurted up on what to do with Regulus, very little of them were good. The small crystal in the middle of the table blurred rapidly. It was in charge of signalling who had the right to speak, and in the outrage, lost track of whether it was Fred or Shacklebolt who suggested that they throw Regulus into a volcano.

"Quiet!" ordered Remus. "Quiet!" A loud bang came from his wand, and the noise immediately died down.

The crystal happily whizzed until "Remus J. Lupin" shone as the speaker.

"Our object is to find the Hufflepuff cup," Remus said. "We'll have to dismiss the locket as destroyed, and hope that is the case. Was there any record in the Ministry of the cup being turned in?"

Shacklebolt and Tonks shook their heads. "No cup of any kind was retrieved in any search since He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named left Hogwarts," Tonks assured him. "I think we should have a nice little chat with Borgins."

The crystal turned from "Nymphadora Tonks" to "Alastor Moody".

"We can't do that without alerting the Death Eaters we're on the hunt," he grunted. "And unless we have a valid reason to throw Borgins into Azkaban...."

"What if Voldemort himself has the cup?" Hermione asked.

"No, he seems to hide the Horcruxes," Harry said. "I doubt the cup would be with him. It has to be somewhere safe, somewhere he thinks no one will really look. A place that's tied to his life."

"I've personally checked Albus' collection of Pensieves, and I've found nothing that seems suspicious," McGonagall spoke up. The crystal whizzed happily.

There was a silence for a few seconds, as people thought about what to say next. The crystal hummed in despair.

"Could You-Know-Who have given it to someone?" said Bill. "He gave the Diary to Malfoy, didn't he?"

"And he saw what a mistake that proved to be," Remus answered. "No, I don't think he has any more trust to ensure it to someone. He can't risk those mistakes any more."

Ron was staring intently at the crystal as Mad Eye recalled some old dark sites that had been used during the first war. Hermione tried to catch his eye, but he seemed to have zoned off, which wasn't strange because he usually didn't talk during meetings.

"Kreacher," Ron said suddenly, interrupting Remus, who in turn had interrupted Mad- Eye. The crystal gave an exhausted sigh. "Wasn't Kreacher hiding away things that Sirius wanted to destroy?"

Everyone looked at him confusedly. He flushed, not used to the attention of the Order. "I mean," he continued, "maybe we should check that Kreacher didn't make off with the locket."

"That sounds quite silly," Mundungus said. "If the house-elf had it, wouldn't we know by now?"

"It doesn't sound so silly," said McGonagall, looking at Ron with something like pride.

"I thought Dumbledore had taken away everything from the house-elf that would rekindle his obsession with the Blacks," Mundungus continued. Someone else agreed with him.

"It wouldn't hurt to ask," Hermione said, smiling at Ron. Ron flushed a deeper shade of scarlet.

Harry called for Kreacher, who took his time in appearing. He sniffled, disgruntled. He looked unhealthier than usual, skinnier and with a certain blue hue over his greenish skin.

"Master called?" he snarled.

Harry looked ready to give him a swift kick, but instead asked him if he had made off with a locket. "And you're not allowed to lie!" he warned.

Kreacher rubbed his hands. Finally he said, "Yes, yes, Kreacher make off with locket before that traitorous son of Mistress could destroy it."

"Well, where is it?" Mad Eye demanded.

Kreacher eyed the crowd cautiously, settling his gaze on Harry. "Kreacher does not have it any more." There was a sigh of surprise throughout the room, and then the house-elf added, "Kreacher doesn't have it any more, because the dirty thief stole it from him, Master."

Mundungus gave a nervous chuckle, as one by one the members of the Order turned to look at him. And then Harry pounced.