Regulus (chapter title will change)
Chapter 2 - Regulus
Regulus hates this.
He is sitting in a Dehundra meeting at Malfoy Manor and is bored out of his mind. He would much rather be out and fighting. Yes, that would be dangerous, but it would definitely be better than listening to Lucious Malfoy and Corbon Yaxley gossip with each other. Riddle hasn’t even showed up. Yet, the meeting started over an hour ago.
He rolls his eyes again as Yaxley and Malfoy laugh about some snide comment Rodolphus Lestrange makes. It wasn’t even a funny comment so Regulus has no idea why they were laughing so much.
Regulus was just about to stand up to leave when Riddle himself strides into the room, looking far too pleased with himself.
“I have news,” He simply says as the room falls quiet. “The Potters have been captured and are being held.”
The room breaks out into hushed whispers. Regulus knew what everyone was thinking.
‘What happened?’
‘How did some of the most powerful people in the Phoenix get captured?’
‘Where are they being held?’
‘What about James, their son?’
Riddle raises his hand slightly to silence everyone again and says, “I know you must be confused,” He pauses as everyone nods their heads and looks towards him expectantly. “The Potters will be taken to Grimmauld Place,”
Riddle kept talking, but Regulus wasn’t listening anymore. 'Really?? I’m supposed to keep the Potters in my basement?' Regulus had never agreed to that, and based on the looks of Riddle’s closest followers, they didn’t seem to agree with that arrangement either.
Eventually, the meeting ends so Regulus starts to walk towards the exit but gets stopped by Riddle. Regulus huffs a breath before turning around to face him.
“Yes, my Lord?” He says, a cold mask falling into place. He always keeps his emotions under control, especially around Riddle whom is able to read emotions as easily as someone reading a book.
“Regulus,” Riddle says cooly, “You are needed to escort the Potters to Grimmauld Place. I understand that this is unexpected, but I trust you as my closest follower to be able to handle this task.”
Regulus nods his head stiffly and follows Riddle out of the meeting room and down a dark hallway to where the Potters are supposedly being kept.
The wood floors were creaking loudly and the doors all looked rotted and old. It was clear that the further down you go that hallway, the less used the rooms were. Regulus could hear someone humming a cheerful tune in one of the doors further down, and was surprised to see that Riddle was taking him to that room.
He watched as Riddle rolled his shoulders back and huffed an annoyed breath before unlocking the door and walking in. Regulus followed him and saw Euphemia and Fleamont Potter leaning against the wall in the far corner of the small, dark room. It smelled like an awful mix of mold and sweat.
Regulus coughs slightly from the foul stench as Effie looks up from where she’s sitting, still humming a cheerful tune as if she wasn’t being held captive. Riddle snaps his fingers twice and the room is immediately illuminated with a bright fluorescent light. With the new lighting, Regulus can see that Effie is injured. There is a large cut on her arm and there is dried blood around her right ear. Monty looks like he suffered the brunt of the impact from the crash.
Regulus walks forward towards them and kneels next to Monty to further inspect his injuries.
“Regulus,” Riddle calls, causing Regulus to look up from where he was hunched over. “I will give you a full report on their injuries and other things. We don’t want them dying as they will be useful later.”
Regulus nods and stands back up. As he turns to leave the room, he sees something out of the corner of his eye. Regulus looks at Effie, who is still humming, and sees that she has a gold necklace with a small locket.
“What’s in the locket?” Regulus asks, turning to step closer to her.
Effie smiles softly and says, “A picture of my baby. My sweet James, whose birthday was today.” She closes her eyes and resumes humming a song that Regulus finally recognizes as a special version of Happy Birthday.