Nine
The conversation with Kreacher turns out to be helpful. It seems the elf had gathered a little more information than he had told his master. Voldemort spoke of another place, another item and whether it would be productive to find a target to test the traps there as well.
Kreacher had said nothing to the younger Black, because he was too shaken from his experience in the cave and feared his master wouldn't survive if he went to another place like it.
He has no issue though, sharing it with them. They can go and die, if they want.
The only problem: there was no mention of a location, only a name -Gaunt. To Severus, it's a name like all the others, but Black says he knows them.
"Tutoring for ancient pure-blooded houses from the age of three makes you remember things." He says with a smirk.
"I didn't have the pleasure." Severus replies.
"I didn't say it to gloat." Black rolls his eyes.
Severus knows this. If anything, the man hates anything that involves the pure-blood society.
"It's a waste of resources." He says. "And money. Having a tutor could provide for a variety of knowledge, not just a history of a few families." Severus read the few books that his house had and anything Lily brought him from hers, again and again, until he learnt the lines by heart.
"Maybe if we meet my parents you'll lecture them." A smirk. "It will be funny to watch. Lecturing old Walburga about the upbringing of her children and how she spends her galleons."
"If we meet your parents, Black, I imagine they will kill me on the spot."
Black laughs. Half truthfully, half a lie. There's tension underneath it, his thoughts of killing Pettigrew are there still, the anger of betrayal. It exists in the silences, in the way he stares at nothing with a focus. But he keeps it hidden, just barely under his skin, but hidden nevertheless.
They have a lead, he can direct this restless energy somewhere else for now.
"I think they're all dead." He says after a while. "The Gaunts. They were marrying only their cousins to keep the blood pure. Crazier than my family. Even though, the whole bunch of pure-blood shit are somehow related."
Severus hums.
"We have to learn where they last lived." Severus tells him. "There should be a record."
"You want to go to the ministry and ask for something that relates to you-know-who, without knowing anything else." Black tells him. "You always preach that everyone has their goals and being a Ministry employee doesn't mean anything. There are followers of him there." Black has stood up now. He seems as if he lectures him, but his tone suggests that he wants to go. He wants to do something. He's thrilled with the rush of danger.
"I know." Severus stops him, because he finds no pleasure in pointless self-destruction. "We won't go to the ministry." He stares at Black. "We will talk with someone whom I deem unlike to join the opposite forces. I'll ask him to provide us with the needed information, if there are any."
"Someone that you trust." Black mocks. "Who's this person?"
"Trust is a strong word." Severus tells him. He has no time for mindless entertainment.
Black's previous light tone swifts, as if he suddenly thought of something. He grows more serious.
"You trust I won't betray you." He says.
"I trust that you won't betray Potter." Severus corrects him.
Black titls his head. Another stare.
"So James' survival matters more, even if I throw you to the dogs." The floor creakes beneath his feet.
Severus shakes his head.
"Potter's survival means Lily's survival and their son's. I believe we have already established that."
"Even if you die." Black speaks barely after Severus finishes his sentence. And it's both a statement and a wonder.
"Is there a point in your questions?" Severus loses his patience. "If you're scared that I will betray you somehow, rest assure that it will happen only as a last resort. And I would be already dead, so there's no point in arguing."
Black remains still. The silence of the house reaches the room. His breath sounds too loud for the place, Severus thinks he would be able to hear the blink of his eyes if they moved.
They have to get going. Black's pointless questions have stalled them long enough.
"Okay, let's go with the plan that involves your death." Black says. A move of his hand as a prompt.
"I assure you, I don't plan to die. It would be easy to do so, if I ever wanted to. I expect it though, in the chance we will get caught. The Dark Lord and his Death Eaters are searching for me as the Potters' Secret Keeper. The entire purpose of saying the lie, is for the real answer, you, to survive. So in the chance that we do get caught, I don't plan to betray you for my survival."
"You assure and you command and you plan and you expect," Black raises his voice just enough to disturb, just enough for a frown to appear on Severus's forehead. "But in the end you are a self-sacrificing fool."
"It's not self-sacrificing, Black. Nothing so heroic and noble. I leave those sentiments to you. It's.."
"Efficient." Black says darkly. "Necessary. You can use all the words in your vast vocabulary and the truth will still remain. Lily had said it back then, but I haven't gotten it until now. All these lectures are for everyone else."
Severus presses his lips.
"Even you have said it. What I'm asking is.."
"If you're finished", Severus replies in a conversation that he can't understand. That he finds pointless and he cuts it short.
"I'm clearly not." Black snaps.
"Yes, you are." A flex of his fingers. "Let's go visit Arthur Weasley." Severus tells him and he has already his wand out, ready to apparate.
_____
Snape is already striding forward when they land at the fields outside of the Burrow. The sky is cloudy, but a few rays of sunlight pass through the grey. They create golden patches on the bare fields.
"Can you fucking wait a minute?" Sirius walks faster to catch up to him.
"I listened to your nonsense for far longer than I ought to. Arthur Weasley is a busy man. I wish to speak to him as soon as possible."
Snape's black robes billow as the wind hits them. He looks like he is going for a murder, not for a visit. He's upset -a tight grib of his wand, his hand in a straight line like the rest of his body.
Sirius opens his mouth to argue, but then he closes it again. They're frequent, these swings of his mood, quick to anger, quicker to exhaustion.
The Burrow stands just ahead, a familiar place, where he has shared meals around a table with friends, with comrades.
They are sure to know. Snape has already informed Dumbledore, and the news of Peter's betrayal will have reached them by now. It's the right thing. They have to know so they can protect themselves.
It's just that Sirius doesn't want anyone to ask. If he was in their position, he would have questions too. Did he suspect it, did he know, did he say anything about them, something that he shouldn't have, how could he not know?
They reach the wards -one step and the residents will be alerted that someone breached them.
Snape stops, looks at him, a breath as if to regain himself.
"If Arthur isn't here, you will tell Molly Weasley that you want to talk to him. Not me." He says.
"What? Why?" Sirius asks, but Snape doesn't answer, he just takes the first step forward.
Two, three more and Molly rushes outside, a wand in hand. She's still far, and for a second, her red hair reminds Sirius of Lily. Of her accusations. Of the disappointment she must feel.
But Molly comes closer, and her red is a shade lighter, and she's much shorter. Sirius breaths.
"Sirius! Oh it's you -you gave me a proper scare." She says as she hugs him.
Molly's hugs are warm like her, like an older sister. She smells of baby, of biscuits, familiar.
So Sirius forces himself to wrap his hands around her, because it's not her fault that he got scared, because it's not her fault that his one quarter deformed and he carries it around like a rotten limp.
She untangles her hands, putting them at his arms, giving him a proper look over.
"You're thinner and this beard needs cutting." She says and Sirius chuckles. "But you're still a heartbreaker, aren't you?" She pinches his cheek. "Come on, come on." A smile and then she turns to his right. "Severus." Her tone is polite and there is still a smile, but smaller, more forced.
"Molly." A nod.
And that's it. Molly turns to him.
"Let's go inside. The kids are sleeping, so we can drink some tea without being disturbed."
Molly doesn't wait, she walks back at her house, as if she waits for a fire to have broken on the two minutes she has been outside.
"She doesn't like you." Sirius tells Snape.
"Obviously." A drag of the word.
Sirius spares a side glance. Snape doesn't want to be here. He looks at the house as if it were a formidable enemy.
"Why?" He asks.
Severus sighs. Tired. If it's with Sirius, the brief engagement with Molly, or the rest of it all, he doesn't know.
But he's tired. So he answers.
"Molly Weasley presents herself as the embodiment of kindness. I beg to differ."
"Molly is one of the warmest people I know." Sirius matches Snape's steps; a few more and they'll be inside.
"You must be one of the chosen then." Snape fixes the fabric at his wrist.
"Maybe you offended her." Sirius shoves his hands into his jacket's pockets.
"Oh, I most certainly did." Snape says, brushing off his robes.
Sirius opens his mouth.
"No more questions." A glance, then a step through the Burrow's door.
______
Molly urges them into the kitchen, after checking that her children are all in their beds.
Snape sits down, after she gestures to the chairs, his back straight, his hands at his thighs, one on top of the other.
"Is Arthur here?" He asks, but Molly is already brewing tea, and the kitchen smells like autumn leaves and honey. Sirius feels like crying.
He looks straight ahead -windows everywhere, a room just like the family that lives in it. Open and endless, like the fields outside.
Molly serves the tea, raising her gaze to the clock.
"He will be here shortly." She tells Snape and then she turns to him. "Do you want to speak with Arthur, dear?"
Sirius nods, takes a cigarette out.
Molly shakes her head, breathes through her nose.
"I will allow it only because the kids are still asleep. I don't approve it, just so you know. You should quit it."
"Thanks, Molly. You're the best." Sirius lights it and he sends a kiss at her direction.
"Drink it, while it's still hot." She pushes the cup towards him. "You too Severus." She says as an afterthought.
"So why do you want to talk to Arthur? Is it about...?" And she stops. She stretches her hand until they reach his own, taking it, caressing it. "We were all very shocked." She says.
Sirius nods. Let's talk about Arthur. Let's talk about the tea, how do you make it? Let's talk about damn Horcruxes. Did you know Voldemort is invisible. If you think about that, Peter's betrayal isn't much of a shock.
"How are you, dear? It must have been difficult for you. Oh, and poor James. He knows doesn't he?" Molly tries to be there, she tries to comfort him, but Sirius wants to run, to be out, to never talk about Peter again.
"He does." Snape answers.
"Yeah, yeah." Sirius realises he's been silent for too long long enough for Snape to reply instead of him. "I.."
"I send him a letter." Snape covers his slip. Sirius can't send him a letter, he isn't supposed to know where James is. Because they have to lie even to Molly, while they are at her house, drinking her tea, her children sleeping upstairs.
"Oh." Molly says. "So Lily decided..."
"She did." Snape confirms.
"Well, you are friends for years." Molly seems like she's trying to understand it, the puzzle of how Lily and Snape could ever be friends. Well, Snape is willing to die for her, so there's that. Sirius has called people friends for less.
Snape taps his finger against his palm.
"Whatever you want dear", Molly squeezes Sirius's, still trapped in hers, still comforted. "Me and Arthur will be here. You can stay at the couch, well the kids are a handful, but you never get bored. And I'm sure when Remus comes..."
"I have a bad smoking habit," He smirks as he points his cigarette, "And I'm sure I'm a bad example for your kids." He tries, but he knows Molly sees right through it.
"Oh, don't be silly." Another squeeze as she speaks. "When you meet the right girl, all this rebellion will melt away. Look at James, he became a proper gentleman after he met Lily."
"He just hides it well, you mean." Sirius begins bouncing his foot. "He still steals quotes from Remus's books to impress her."
It's better. He knows it's better that they stopped talking about Peter. Except, it's forced, it's because Molly is kind and Sirius is a coward, who can not say that he's sorry that he didn't know.
It's better to talk about silly things, but Peter was a part of it, a constant, it's the next thing that they should normally talk about.
Silly things like Peter asking, is it because I'm short and Molly telling him, that he's the most beautiful boy. It's Sirius faking that he's offended by it and turning to Remus asking to compliment him. It's the light hit on his head by a book. It's Peter's fucking laughter.
"But I'm sure he just pretends to steal them. He's secretly searching for the right thing to tell her." Molly is looking at him and Sirius has no idea what she's talking about.
"Is Arthur going to be late?" Snape asks.
A shoe above his. A pressure. Sirius watches as the ripples of the dark red tea subdue, and then vanish entirely. He was shaking the table. Snape removes his foot.
"Is it something urgent?" Molly barely registers Snape's question.
"Yes. Very." He replies and he has her full focus. Molly is anxious. She's been anxious since her brothers died. She looks at the clock again. Snape follows her gaze.
"Interesting construction." He says and it's unclear if he means it or he doesn't believe it at all.
"Yes", Molly says slowly. "Yes, Arthur made it."
"I see."
"He always does one thing or the other...Oh, Arthur." She says and the man walks by the kitchen door.
_____
Arthur Weasley removes his coat, presses a kiss to his wife's cheek -making her blush- before finally acknowledging the extra people in his house.
Severus isn't offended, because he knows that the motion isn't meant to be interpreted as such. It's -all things that Arthur does- the way he places his priorities.
The man is unapologetic for what he likes, who he is, a confidence in himself that's sometimes is shadowed by his kind-hearted nature. In contrast with his wife, Arthur isn't biased, on the contrary, the open way he views the world and its singular details is almost fascinating.
He is a father that his children should be proud to have.
"Hello, lads." He says and smiles. "What are we drinking?" He smells around, looks at the cups. "Oh, it's a conversation for tea." He says, sitting down. "Good, I had a busy day at work."
"He has a case of enchanted teddy-bears, whole boxes of them." Molly provides, because she wants to point out how important her husband's job is. It's a protective gesture, in case someone even thinks of mocking him, but unnecessary because Arthur Weasley likes his job and he doesn't care about what anyone thinks.
"Severus, did you bring me what I asked you the last time?" He says with the same glint children have before they open their gifts.
Severus takes out his bag, returns it at its full size and he's searching for the hand watch Arthur had asked.
It's nothing much, a cheap little thing, but Arthur is delighted all the same.
"Look at it", He says as Severus puts it around his wrist. "No wand needed, you just look down and aha, there's the time. Fascinating, isn't it?"
It's a wonder, how can something so small, so insignificant, can make someone happy. Severus had bought it, months before, had hidden it inside his mattress, just in case. He often thought that he wouldn't be able to give it to Arthur.
"How much was it? Tell me in Muggle money, I need practice."
"Nothing." He says.
"Come on, if you keep this up, I won't be able to ask you again." Arthur is already digging through his pockets.
"There is a place in Muggle towns, where every month they give away things that their owners don't use anymore. I happened to pass by." Severus tells him.
"Oh, how helpful." Arthur replies, but his attention is at the watch on his hand.
Severus taps his finger on his thigh. He can see from the corner of his eyes, Black staring at him.
"So", Arthur says and when he raises his stare, he is focused. "How can I help?"
Black exhales, the sound between a breath and a laugh.
"Straight to the point." He says.
"I imagine, you didn't come here for a chat and tea." Arthur tells him. "That would be great, and I hope there would be a time for that in the future."
Black tries to respond, flatters, and stays silent in the end.
"We want information on a specific name. Gaunt. Black says they are no alive descendants who carry the name."
"Yes, that's true," Arthur frowns. "Old family, like my mother's, but I don't know much about them." He looks between him and Black. "Why do you want to know about them?"
Severus stays silent. Black looks at his half finished tea.
"Oh, I see." Arthur says with a sad smile. "You can't tell me."
"It's nothing personal, Arthur, it's not like we don't trust you, you or Molly, just..." Black rushes to explain, but the man raises his palm to stop him.
"It's the cruelty of times that makes us distrustful. I'm not angry."
Black shrugs at his seat.
"What do you want to know exactly?"
"The last location they were seen. A house, a place, anything." Severus answers.
"And I imagine, you want me to search about it in secret." Arthur asks, yet he's not asking at all.
"You could lose your job." Molly interrupts. "Sirius what's going on? Arthur says, you missed the last few Order meetings." A side glance at Severus. "Is everything alright?"
"Mollywobbles, they can't tell us, love." He looks at his watch. "I'll try to find anything I can. It's a fair trade for the gift."
"It wasn't a..." Severus starts.
"How can I contact you?" Arthur doesn't let him finish.
"I'll write down a location." Severus replies.
"Good. Be careful." A smile. "We'll have a feast here when this is all over."
Severus gets up, takes his bag, while Molly fusses over Black. Hushed words that Severus can't quite catch. Warnings and pleadings, empty reassurances as a response.
Black mourns the death of a person that's still alive. Molly Weasley's love falls on deaf ears.
______
Severus waits three days for the letter to come. It's another muggle location, a town at the base of a mountain where an owlery shelter is located. It's less suspicious for when the reply comes.
Lily had spoken about it during a distant Christmas when she and her parents visited it. Severus had searched obsessively in maps for it, convinced the owlery was just a cover for a wizard living among Muggles. He hadn't found anything.
They buy food suited for camping, as the little money he had managed to gather has vanished by now. They were for emergency anyway. For emergencies and Black's cigarettes apparently, since he does nothing but smoke outside the tent. It's fine Severus thinks as he buys them, at least he is quiet.
Severus has finally time to think in silence.
"One more day and then we leave." He informs him. Black barely nods. "I suggest you cut down on how much you smoke. We don't have any more money."
"I have money." Black says. "Galleons just for me at Gringotts. My parents liked to show off our wealth, so they opened two separate vaults, one for me, one for Reg. It gave them an extra delight to mention this at gatherings. Worked for me in the end. When I left and they wanted to take it back, the Goblins wouldn't let them." A drag. An exhale of smoke.
"While hearing about your struggles brings me joy -a poor heir stripped of his position is truly tragic-going to Gringotts is risky. You can live a day or two without smoking."
"I'm sure you had it worse." Black mocks, still looking away. "No money, a father beating you..."
"Don't you dare.." Severus feels his breath stop. He should have known. He was waiting for it. There would be a time, when Black will use it, he has already accepted it, he has already decided that he doesn't care.
"You started it." Black turns, looks at him. "You had it worse, but living at my house wasn't fun."
"I'm sure..."
"No, you can't be sure, because you don't fucking know." He scratches his head. "And the thing is, they are proper pieces of shit, my parents, awful in every way, and yet they are right in their assessment of me. They are wrong about everything else, but they got that right."
Black gets up. It's constant. A fight, then withdrawal. Severus needs to do something about it. The letter could come at any time. They would need to move, and Black would be a setback instead of an asset.
"What is the right assessment? I'd love to hear what two bigoted, privileged people managed to get right ." Severus mocks him.
Black throws his cigarette down, crushes it with his foot.
"There." He says. "I'm done for today." He walks to the tent and falls asleep at the far left edge.
Arthur letter arrives the next morning.
____
Little Hangleton is a small village with no significance. A place to pass by like many others, no landmarks or otherworldly view. Flat for its most part, small hills, just high enough to hide the horizon.
It's the place Arthur Weasley pointed as the last residence of Gaunts.
Severus passes through an opening between fallen rocks -a wall long crumbled to dust. The Gaunts -all three of them- died one after the other. The last male carrier of the name was considered mad, after killing an entire Muggle family and he died in Azkaban, like his father before him.
Severus read the letter until he was sure, he had learnt it by heart. They were poor, nearly mad and from what Arthur could gather abusive to the third member of the family.
And he still couldn't understand why Voldemort would want to come here. The Gaunts considered themselves descendants of Salazar Slytherin and that was the only connection he could find.
As they are leaving the village behind, taking the road to the house these people probably lived, he questions if this is indeed a mistake.
If Kreacher is deceiving them somehow, if the elf isn't as loyal to Regulus Black as Severus believes.
"It's like we're walking to a part of the Forbidden Forest." Black says. A step forward and the vines are starting to grow in size, the barely there sun dims.
Black's right. Severus stops him, as he spots the fourth snake.
"Keep your eyes open." He says and the sentence tastes like a long-lost nostalgia, like an omen.
"It's the right place." Black answers. "Everything about it feels wrong." A side glance. "It feels like the cave."
And he's right in that too.
They're out, the sky above them, they can run in any direction. And yet, the claustrophobic feeling of that cave comes back to him -enemies coming from wherever he looks. The vastness of their surroundings isn't freeing, it's suffocating.
"Fuck." Black says. "Everything screams for me to run."
Severus understands the sentiment. He feels it in his bones. So he takes another step forward.
"We are at the right place." He says.
"It's maddening, you know." Black's wand isn't loose -a posture he favours- it's in front of him, a tight grip. "How calm you seem."
"Would you like for me to panic? Run around, asking for help?"
"Forget it." Black tells him and he walks just a step in front of him.
"Preparation for the upcoming danger isn't calmness." Severus breathes through his nose.
"Thank you." Black responds. "Was that so hard?" As if the mere admission of imperfection helps him, as if a ripple on a still surface is something to celebrate.
"Would you be contempt if I was anxious?" Severus mocks him.
"Delighted." Black bites back.
"An excessive reaction for something so small." Severus pass by a dark leaf, he isn't sure he can tell its colour.
"It would be", Black barely turns, "if it was anyone else. But Severus Snape doesn't get anxious, he doesn't panics. So, yeah, delighted, I'm sticking with my choice."
"Do you want to fight with me here? Now?" Severus clenches his jaw.
"I want to fight with you everywhere." Black raises his voice and it's too much for the air of this place. He realises it too, a shake of his head, two exhales.
"Obsessive." Severus scoffs.
"No, you're just too much of a bastard."
A halt.
"The path is getting smaller." He says. "And the snakes are everywhere."
"It's a trap." Severus replies, intertwined with Black's. "Probably a trap."
They are watching, without moving, the entanglement of gliding snakes and vines that almost feel alive.
"We can burn them." Black proposes, his wand raised.
"If someone is in that house, usage of magic could alert them."
"If we die, before we get there, it doesn't matter."
Severus thinks that there's probably another way. Something they are missing, something they can use that's more subtle. But he can't find it. Like a piece of a puzzle that's lost.
"Try not to burn us alive." He says and Black looks ahead, a feral smile on his face.
Severus feels his magic, ready to burst and burn, yet it doesn't happen. One of the snakes land around his wrist, ready to bite him. A reflex, an instinct craved after many fights and it bites Black's wand instead.
"Magic agitated them." Severus says.
"Are you going to say that's my fault too?" Black tries to reach for the snake, as if to crush it with his bare hand, but another wraps itself around his throat. "Hit them." Black says. "Now."
What he asks for requires precision. A wrong move and he'll hit him.
"Do it, Snape, now." There are teeth pointing at his face, so Severus moves. The animal fall to the ground, another move and Black's hand is free.
"Shit. We need.." He starts, but Severus never learns the end of that sentence. There's a grab around his waist and he falls down hard.
He watches as the paths closes entirely, as the black lines glidetowards him.
Black points his wand.
"No." Severus says. "We need a plan. Pointless attacking will exhaust us."
"You are going to be eaten alive, for Merlin's sake." Black says, and he casts anyway. "I won't carry you back, half dead again."
"You utter idiot." Severus gets up, the snakes have circled Black now, few around his feet, more at his hands. Larger ones looming to bite the top of his head. Black takes a step back, the ground pulses under his feet -it's not the ground. There is no ground anymore. Vines, dark like the snakes, move, bending his knees. Black's body falls down.
"Devil's Snare." Severus says and he knows it's not right, not exactly. The plant isn't attacking the snakes, only Black, who starts to choke.
"Stop moving." Severus says and there's an edge at his voice. He hasn't time to think, that's the point of the trap, constant attacks to disorient them, to make them a feast for the snakes. "It will strangle you."
Black can't stop moving, of course be can't. The snakes have started biting him.
Black will die. Right there in front of him. Choked to death, poisoned, deformed from the countless bites.
"Run." He says, a choked word, a pale face.
Severus doesn't need to run. He needs a plan to get them out of here.
"Shut up." Severus says, he needs a moment to think. Blood is dripping from Black's face. A bite enough to tear his arm.
"I'm delighted", is what he chooses to go with, a cough next. "You're panicking." And the larger snake hides his face, or it's the snare.
Severus take a breath, one breath for three thoughts.
If he attacks, the snakes will release Black, but the plant will still hold him. Two deaths.
If he doesn't attack and run, the snakes and the plant will kill Black. One death.
Black's greatest advantage is his raw strength. A gamble.
"Cast a shield." Severus tells him. He isn't sure that Black hears him, if he can even do it, or if he's already dead within the few minutes this mess has unfolded. "Hold it and then stay still."
His voice sinks, as if it's devoured. Severus hears the pulse of the veins on his wrist. Two deaths, he thinks and he raises his wand. He almost speaks, almost feels his magic at the tip of his fingers, sets of yellow split eyes on him.
But Black is stubborn, unpredictable even in death.
His shield is repelling the snakes, until his face emerges. They tried to bite him, try to break it, they are drawn by the magic, seething to devour the caster.
The vines are still around his neck.
"Relax." Severus tells him. He gets a glare instead of an answer, Black's hand twitch at his side. "Whatever vile gesture you're thinking of doing, save it for later."
He needs numbers, Black can still keep going, but Severus doesn't know for how long.
"Avis." He says with force and birds are flying around, numbers and then direction, the intent to harm."Oppugno." He feels the swift as the dark creatures start to come at him, but the birds block their path, scatter them, eat them.
"Take down your shield." Severus commands and when he is sure is the single target, that Black is safe, he speaks, evenly, almost relaxed. "Bombarda." Again. And again. Until the ground is visible and scorched, until there is nothing else alive except Black resting still on the evil plant.
"Lumos." Severus says and the vines retreat, hiding to whatever darkness they came from.
"The cave was better." Black coughs, blood dripping from his mouth.
"I disagree." Severus tells him, searching his bag for an antidote.
_____
Severus expects a mansion -like the one Lucius has, something grand to accompany the old pure-blood name -but the place is barely a house. It's more of a cabin, a decaying hut, vines surrounding its door and the rest of the building.
They are exhausted. If there are more traps in here, he isn't sure they will make it through.
He's expended much of his magic in the previous attack, leaving him nearly drained.
Black isn't bleeding anymore, a hasty check and he isn't poisoned either. Yet, the attack took a toll on him, the skin around his neck is still red. He's drained too.
"Let's go." He says roughly. "Get this shit over with."
"We don't know what's inside." Severus warns him.
"Yeah, that's why we have to go in." He's on edge.
"Black, if there's something similar to the trap in the forest, we are in no condition to face it."
"Do you want to leave?" He turns his head. "After all that?" A gesture with his hand, pointing behind Severus's back. "You said it yourself, we are at the right place."
"I would prefer if neither of us died." Severus frowns.
"I told you to run." Black throws charms at the door as if daring it to attack him, as if his frustration alone could ward it off. "No traps." He says and he opens it.
Severus thinks of the most efficient way to inform of their findings if they die. Who does he trust enough to complete this task?
"I will run the next time." He says and he follows the man inside.
The room -that's all there is, a room, a miniature of a house- has a table, a mattress on the floor, a bed and the remnants of a kitchen.
No ones's there. Black checks, Severus does it too, after him. The darkness though, the true darkness comes from here. From a cabin in the middle of nowhere, in a village that even its residents forget its name.
"Do you feel it?" Black asks. "It's like the basin. Like the locket." Then he turns absurdly. "Take the locket off."
"What?"
A step towards him.
"Take the locket off. We don't know what the fuck they do if they come close to each other."
"What difference does it make if I keep it in my pocket?" Severus argues, but he's exhausted, so he takes it off.
"Thank you." Black says and it feels like a curse instead of appreciation.
They search the small space, trying to summon the three remaining artifacts with words. Mad men with expectant hands that contain nothing.
"Maybe they cannot be summoned." Severus thinks loudly. A step, his hand on Severus's pocket, then a throw of the locket at the other end of the room.
"Are you mad?"
Black ignores him.
"Accio Salazar's Slytherin locket." He says and the item comes into his hands. He looks at him. The glint in his eyes is half-crazy, half victorius. "I just confirmed two things."
"Congratulations." Severus tells him. "I know how you like to be praised."
"As much as you like to be right." He raffles his hair. "Where the fuck are they?" A bouncing leg, a creak. Familiar sounds—except this time, Black laughs and starts tearing at the floor
"Wait." Severus tells him, but he doesn't hear him. It's as if he's watching an animal trying desperately to be freed from a trap.
"There." He says. "There." Louder. Unbeaten. Manic.
Before Severus looks, he knows. There, on a hole between floorboards, rests a box that contains another Horcrux.
They check, as much as they can, without ever being sure and they take the box out. Black opens it -he can't be hurt, he finds himself invisible right now- to reveal the item.
"It's a ring." Severus says.
"Don't you fucking dare to wear it. I'm gonna lose it." Black tells him and Severus wants to argue that he's already there.
They stare at it in silence. The first time, he barely registered what was happening, what was looking back at him at the end of that basin. He only wanted it to end. Now, staring at it, he understands the repulsion. All this for something as small as a ring. They almost didn't make it. For a piece of a rotten soul.
Wearing the locket meant that he won -his nightmares, Voldemort's trap, he won, nothing broke him. Now, it doesn't feel like a win.
"It's a ring." Black whispers.
"Observant." Severus says and he senses that something is wrong.
"It's a fucking ring." Black gets up, his eyes glued to the item. "Not a sword, not a diadem, not a fucking cup. A ring." He puts his palm on his head, almost pulling his hair. "Fuck." He closes his eyes. "Fuck. Fuck." A groan to suppress a sob.
Black is falling apart.
Severus tries to grab him, to apparate them away from here, but Black resists, takes a step back and he stares at him.
"Do you understand what this means?"
Severus opens his mouth.
"I convinced you for one thing, one fucking thing and it turns out I was wrong in that too." Black yells and it feels unsuitable for this place, for this decaying quietness.
Severus takes a step forward and Black backs one down.
"I was so certain, so fucking full of myself that I was right." He continues and the ring is just an excuse, the last drop on an ongoing disappointment.
"Here", he says and he opens his right palm -an offering, "take it. Fucking take it." A sob. "Wear it. Go find him and rub it to his face." Another one. "Fuck. Fuck." He pulls his hair this time. "Utterly disappointing." He says, with too much force to be a cry.
"Keeping two Horcruxes at the same place isn't wise." Severus tells him. "I already have the locket."
Black tries to wipe his tears, but it seems like he scratches his skin.
"And because logic and deduction aren't your strongest suits, I will explain to you what the discovery of the ring means. Firstly you were wrong and the other three items have nothing to do with the other Founders. Secondly, you were right, but only to an extent. Gordic Gryffindor's sword might be disgusting for someone like the Dark Lord and he chose the ring as the fourth item. Thirdly, which is highly likely, you were right, but there are more Horcruxes than the ones we thought -the four you mentioned plus an unknown number."
Black lets out a shuddered breath. He grabs the box tighter.
"Trusting Pettigrew and..."
"Shut up. Shut up." Black screams.
"Trusting Pettigrew and not trusting yourself are two different things. Learn to separate them."
A scream, an agony too raw, too real to be heard by four walls that have consumed only darkness. A momentary disarray and Severus strides forward, grabbing Black's arm.
"Follow." Severus dictates, yet he isn't sure where he's taking them. Black grabs the fabric around his arms anyway.
Utterly disappointing, Black had said, and Severus thinks it really is. The only place he could think of. The only resemblance of safety. As fleeting as it was, like the moments he spent under every sky in that park with Lily.
Dull, always, even in the sunny days. Smoke and pollution and grey clouds. Sad enough to accept him. Empty, because it's not a park -they called it that, but it's not- it's a land with no property. A barely there grass.
It's here that Severus takes him, as the sun begins to set. Empty and dull and utterly his.
Black still clenches onto his robes. Hard breaths, between sobs, another cry.
Severus drags him behind a tree.
"How can you do that?" Black doesn't look at him, he can't, he's ashamed, he's vulnerable. "Being supportive at the same time you behave like a huge dick."
"I'm not supportive. I am stating facts." Severus tries to move away, but Black doesn't let him.
He tries to stop the tears, but every time he breathes they come back stronger. Severus feels them on his neck, where Black's face is hidden.
There is no stopping now. It's a long-awaited funeral. For Pettigrew and for the person Black was when he trusted him.
"You can sit down." Severus says. "Nobody comes here anymore."
A shake that starts from the man's chest and ripples at his own.
"Let me have this." He tightens his grip, hides further. "Just..let me have this."
Severus does. He stands straight as a wall as Black mourns a friend, a self that was lost, at a park where Lily had first taken his hand.