Velvet Bond

The immaculate white building towered above the surrounding houses and shops.
Customers passed through the bronze doors, then silver ones, before entering the atrium where an enormous plaque were posed on the principal door.

Enter, stranger, but take heed
Of what awaits the sin of greed,
For those who take, but do not earn,
Must pay most dearly in their turn,
So if you seek beneath our floors
A treasure that was never yours,
Thief, you have been warned, beware
Of finding more than treasure there.

Regulus breathed in and out various times, then he was bale to stifle a little laugh out of his mouth, because why not?, they were going to do exactly that, stole in the biggest magician's bank.
There was a glint of expectation and anticipation in his figure, like the quiet before the storm.

The ground floor had marble flooring and counters stretch the length of it. The vaults were many miles below, and were accessed through crude stone passages and then by magic carts travelling swiftly along mine tracks. Dragons and other mysterious beasts lurked in the depths as additional precautions.
And they were going through all of them.

Why not?

“Mr. Black, what a pleasure to see you again so soon.” The goblin said and Regulus smiled politely, ice Grey eyes glared at him, trying to impose himself. Not so hard since he had been raised to be exactly like that, a little bitch who liked to take control of everything.

"As for me Unci-Unci." Regulus replied dryly, he wasn't here to make any conversation.

"Do you need your key, or do you have other business here? Do you perhaps need to talk with some of us?"

"I would like my key and nothing else, thank you." There was no need to add something else and Unci-Unci didn't need explanation. Not with him. Not with the heir of the House of Black. Few people had more gold than him in that bank, the Lestrange's family and the Potter's one maybe. He nodded at the goblin and then he proceeded, untile he was not anymore under Unci-Unci's attention.

Regulus passed through the third doors when he obtained the key and he passed it quickly to Barty who was expectantly waiting for him under the cloak, the same for Evan who was waiting for Clankers, the Lestrange's goblin, to finish his turn.

The plan seemed really easy, Regulus thought as he waited for Barty to finish his thing; they would use Clankers to open the door, maybe under an Imperium or something like that - they were now beyond the threshold of correct, after their first avada kedavra they had long since passed that path, but the Order of phoenix was no better than them, it was not a justification but it was something - and then Evan had to bring the goblin in his home, in his bed, obliviate him and make him forget everything for when the others were going to come and collect him asking for proofs.

And for the first part it went exactly like that.

Find a goblin with some security around him was impossible, so the abduction went smoothly, the same for the door, who opened immediately at the contact of the elf hand with his palm.
And now, as they watched Evan that Clankers away, it was time to start their research.

With a deep breath, Regulus pressed his hand against the cool metal, feeling the faint hum of magic pulse through it. Bartemius, ever the cautious one, checked the old scroll they had found in a dusty library that spoke of this vault. It warned of a curse, but the allure of gold was too strong to resist.

The doors slowly creaked open, revealing a cavernous chamber beyond. As they stepped inside, their eyes widened at the sight before them.

"So, this is it, ha?" Regulus said as he looked up at the bland, concrete office building in front of him. "I was expecting something more … deadly looking."
The room was vast and chock-full of objects, mountains of gold coins, jewel-encrusted goblets, and ornate statues filled the room, all gleaming under the flickering torchlight, in a wide variety of colors.
Gold was definitely the one that stood out the most, but Regulus could also observe silver kicks, emerald necklaces, topazes and red rubies that gave a kind of warmth to all those cold and lifeless objects. Surely it would have been complex and difficult to find what they were looking for, especially since they did not know what they were looking for, but for a moment the beauty and disbelief of it all made them stop in place. Not that Regulus had less things in his vault, but he was not used to seeing them, all together and helpless, ready to be used.
That was usually his father's job.

"Isn't this a good thing though?" Barty commented from Regulus' side, turning his way. "I'd rather spend my time in a golden and colourful room than some creepy similar-abandoned warehouse. I've expected to find all black and damned objects."

"Exactly, where's the fun in this? Nothing cruel and smashing" Regulus said with a pout. He tilted his head to the side to reevaluate the vault, not believing that something that had Bellatrix's hands on could be so good and beautiful.
"Maybe it's a death trap in disguise. We go in and it's covered head to toe in black leather and spikes. Now that would be a lot more interesting."

"You have very weird tastes, and strange wishes Regulus" Barty muttered grinning at him. They walked in the room, there was a little path traced, without objects hoovering all around them and it was better to be cautious with them, just because they all seemed pretty and nice it didn't mean they couldn't bite or kill.

"This doesn't look very threatening," Barty commented, eying a golden statue of a monkey and Regulus snorted.

Regulus made an affirmative sound. It certainly didn't seem threatening, but it was better to keep their guard up. This entire vault had an odd air to it.
"Just- let's not touch anything for now, I don't know what others trick there are down here. Did you said that you felt it? At Narcissa's house?"

"Yeah- it's the same melancholic and brute vibe that the diary keeps giving you. It's- it's- I don't know but you can easily feel it. It dark and almost sad. It seems that it hurt somehow."

"To create an horcrux a person must be killed brutally, so I think that the soul who's imprisoned in the object can still feel the hurt and the pain that they received during their life. I think that it's what we can feel of it. Their pain." Barty nodded, scanning in the room with his green eyes and Regulus took a deep breath. This was going to be a fucking long night. Hope to find what they were searching. But they had no place for failure so they must find it.

They ventured deeper and deeper in the vault, Regulus searching something- he didn't know.
"We know that one is the diary, so maybe something similar? A pen? The ruler?"

"You're such a dickhead Bartemius, I swear-" Regulus mumbled, his eyes didn't dare to miss anything that could be important. "Can you already feel something?"

"No." Barty said, quietly, sighing. "Nothing. There is too much shit down here. Fuck with all of this gold someone could easily resolve all the major crises." Regulus hummed, nodding without really thinking until he heard a moan and a familiar sound of tickling gold.

"What? Did you see something?" Regulus asked, hoping that Barty didn't fell on the objects but instead he just found what they were searching.

"No- fuck- I fell." Regulus cursed.
Everything had gone too good that day, the goblin, the key, the cloak.
Everything was almost perfect.
So it was only right for them to fail in this little thing.

"Merde Barty." Regulus said and something started to feel off. The air grew warmer, and the ground beneath their feet began to tremble. Suddenly, the piles of gold shifted and began to melt. Rivers of molten metal started flowing toward them, the heat intensifying with every second.

"They take the stealing really bad." Barty mumbled watching with awe the wash of gold that was coming.

Regulus and Bartemius turned back and run, trying to reach the door who seemed to be so distant, so far. "Come on, come on, come on- right to the door-" he screamed, trying to overcome the crescent sound of gold that run towards them.

Panic set in as the molten gold surged forward like a tidal wave, threatening to consume everything in its path. The boys sprinted to a higher ledge, narrowly avoiding the scalding liquid.
The room filled with steam as the molten gold continued to rise, inching closer to their precarious perch. Regulus looked at Bartemius, fear in his eyes. “We have to find the way out,” he shouted over the roar of the bubbling gold.

"First-" Barty screamed as he run towards the entrance, he pointed with his arm at something near the actual door. Time was running out. The heat was unbearable, and the gold kept rising, what the hell was Barty trying to say to him? They didn't have time! "Regulus!"
Regulus turned his head toward the point Barty was pointing to and suddenly, Regulus spotted Helga Hufflepuff's cup. “There!” he cried, pointing. “That could be it! I- I can-” but he didn't have to finish that phrase because Regulus had already understood him, he could feel the crescent black magic pouring out of the cup as the got nearer. Regulus could even see the darkness that the object contained and- yes- yes fucking yes, yes, yes.

With a burst of adrenaline, he leaped toward the wall, clawing at the stone, near the cup. His fingers found a hidden lever, and he pulled with all his might to stabilise himself. And finally he took the cup into his hands.

Pain.
Like the first time.

Hurt.
Indeed it was an horcrux.

Sadness
He could still hear the scream in it, the life that slowly went out of the body, the stillness after, the pleading gaze on the floor, the mercy that Voldemort didn't have, the craziness around this death.

Regulus gritted his teeth when the glowing gold reached his feet. And then the pain exploded and he screamed. Barty was able to drag him away, near the entrance while Regulus tried to stop the burning feeling he was feeling.
It was just some drop of acid on his shoes but he could already feel all the pain, he didn't want to imagine what it would be like to be completely submerged by it.

Without a second thought, Regulus and Bartemius dove through the opening just as the molten gold reached again their feet, and Regulus didn't want to feel that sensation again. Never again. They tumbled down a dark tunnel, the heat from the gold searing their backs, until they finally landed in the cool, damp cavern.

Breathing heavily, they lay there for a moment, grateful to be alive. But it was not enough. Obviously it was not enough. There was a fucking dragon waiting for the at the exit and Regulus almost cried in pain in seeing that.
"What the actual hell?" Barty screamed and the tiredness of before was completely gone, replaced by a new rave of adrenaline.

The door of the vault closed behind their back, as if to show them that they were trapped there. The dragon was waking up, synonymous of the fact that it had been a while since anyone had tried to get into the Gringott, especially into the Lestrange safe.
"Alright Barty, you'll take the cup and the dragon out of the cave, when you're outside you'll find easily how to get rid of him" Regulus whispered quickly.
"Use your magic or whatever, in the meantime I'll stay here to-" the dragon moved, opening his large mouth to incinerate them and the dodge it for a miracle.

If Regulus wasn't so busy keeping himself and Barty alive he would take some time to see how the magical creature was wonderful.
Everything about the dragons was magnificent, their grandeur, strength, intelligence. Regulus had never had the pleasure of seeing one, there were not many of them there in London, they were more scattered around Eastern Europe, where there were more suitable spaces to grow crops of such large and strong animals.
"I'll delete your magical track and then I'll come back."

"You can't stay here Regulus, Bellatrix will be here in a matter of time you-"

"If they find your magical track we'll be good as dead so it's a necessity Barty." Regulus replied bitterly, there was no time to discuss about this, they were surrounded And the dragon was about to start flying.

"I'll stay here instead-"

"Shut up Barty and go! I'll be back-" Barty nodded, even though regulus could clearly see the uncertainty in his gaze, there was no going back if Bellatrix would have seen him.

"We'll be expecting you at home lad." Barty said then, a little whisper above the the thunder of the dragon and with that he started to grab his attention, not too difficult since Barty was the one who got the cup, so in the dragon's eyes he was the thief so the one who he must follow.

With the whisper of Barty's promise in his heart he started to hear Bellatrix's voice and footsteps at the end of the cave, accompanied by Unci-Unci who seemed a lot distraught and stressed. Regulus was almost sorry for him.
Almost.
There was no time to pity him when he was on the verge of being discovered.

They're expecting me at home. I must go back safely.
Or at least in one piece

"I didn't know what happened here my lady, but everything seems to be normal." Regulus heard the goblin say as he was deleting the last track of magic he could find on the vault's door, their fingertips would not be found down there, and Barty's magic was forever gone. He looked at his shoes, the tip was burned but the tiredness he was feeling right now bypassed even the pain.
Never, never, never try to enter the Gringott again.
Never.

"I don't care about normality. I want to see the thing that set off my alarm." He just hoped that Evan had been able to put Clankers to sleep and obliviate him, before they went to claim his presence tonight.

"We went to get Clankers, so when we'll open the door you'll see that everything it's in his right place. But in my opinion, my lady-" Regulus closed his eyes, he doubted that if they opened the vault everything had returned alright.
Maybe.
But maybe not.
He just had to create a distraction.

"I hope that your next word will be worth of my time or I'll kill you and I don't care if you're the head of this damn place, I'll make you suffer."

"I have the key to enter your vault, Clankers was peacefully sleeping at home and you know that without his hand no one could enter and the dragon is right there." He finally saw the two approach the vault and Regulus almost jumped when he turned and saw the dragon behind his back.

"For God's sake." But the dragon seemed to be completely out of himself. Like he was seeing and not seeking. "What the hell Barty was able to do this time?" He admired the dragon who was tame like a little dog and his eyebrows almost reached his hairline.

"So are you saying that my alarm is damaged?" Bellatrix asked, his voice low and Regulus could see that she was near the exploding point.

"No miss, errors can happen. What can't happen is someone breaking in your vault." Regulus almost snorted at that, a little bit of pride in his gut but it was time to disappear, so later.

"What-" Bellatrix said and Regulus froze in place.
Was she able to sense him?
He couldn't disappear or he would leave a track of his own. He didn't think about that. He was screwed. Totally and utterly screwed.
He had to wait until they were both gone.
"What is that?" Bellatrix pointed at the dark, where he was hiding.

Unci-Unci looked right at him, into his eyes and he felt they gaze in his bones.
Was too late to pray?

"It's- a cat?" Unci-Unci said and Bellatrix almost laughed at the figure.

"What is a cat doing here? How did he enter the impervious and safest vault in all the magic world?" She asked ironically and the goblin looked at her with an arched eyebrow. Regulus had to say that the goblin was really brave, not a lot of people replied to him like that.

"I think that the cat was the one who set the alarm off." He continued and Regulus thanked his brother and his need to show Sirius that he was able to became an animagus too.

"Ohoh- that little gross thing?" Bellatrix took out his wand and started to play whit his animal figure and Regulus wondered why she had to do that, he was already feeling nauseous. He tried to meow but it only set her up more, laughing bitterly at the cat who was now flying through the cavern.
This fucking bitch
"This is what woke me up tonight? I'll kill it slowly and painfully." And then she slammed him on the rock near the cavern. Strong. Roughly. The rock dug a fucking hole in his chest and he growled in pain and fear as he understood that bellatrix was not happy with it.
In fact she did it again. And the cat whined in pain as he felt some ribs crack and the blood flow down, Bellatrix was riled up, almost happy to the sound, she probably couldn't kill the head of the Gringott so she had to settle with a simple cat.
So then she did that again.
And again.
And again.
Until Regulus wasn't even sure he was still breathing, if Bellatrix didn't kill him on the spot probably the pain would do the remnant.

"It's just a cat-" Unci-Unci said, his look still glacial, his tone still hard but a little bit of worry in his eyes. No one could feel good after all that, after seeing that.

"That disturbed me." She explained with a shrug like it was the most normal act towards an animal. But Regulus was not a stupid.
He could take a chance when offered.
And he was expecting it since the very start, with the head foggy, the body in pain and the ribs cracked he was able to sneak away in the very moment Bellatrix posed his wand to respond to Unci-Unci.

"Look! You made it go away!" he could still hear her voice, another episode to add at his already frequent nightmares. This was not going away. This was remaining.

"A misfortune, really-" it was the last thing until he found the last bit of force to disappear. He didn't know if it was enough, he just hoped for it, but he fell unconscious even before reaching his house, so he didn't know.
Regulus really didn't.
He just expected his body to not give him up like this.
He was not so weak anymore.
He killed Orion black, everything else was just practice.

---------------------------

January, 1978

Regulus had tried.
He had really tried to avoid them, to lie to them, to not care about their constant gaze.
But the talk with the McGonagall was the final straw. He couldn't wait anymore, they didn't deserve that, they deserve to know and maybe- maybe they will-
No.
No forgiveness was out of his way.
They would never forgive him for that.
And their thing was going to be finished soon. Too soon. Those months had been the best he could have dreamed to have. And he ruined everything.
The ink on his harm was enough proof of that.

"Reg hey." James was the first one to arrive, as always loud and cheerful, not for long. When the boy tried to kiss him as a greeting and he shifted away his smile dropped significantly.
"What's the matter?" But Regulus couldn't watch him in the eyes.
He had always been a coward as Sirius always reminded him of that, but never like this, he wasn't capable of lifting his gaze, his hands were trembling, his lips wobbling, his heart race was too fast, he couldn't, he couldn't, he couldn't-

He didn't want to lose all of this.
He wasn't ready.
But he would never be ready, so- better before than after.

James was able to feel that something was off with him and tried to scoot over but Regulus grabbed his hand, forcefully, like a crazy man caged by his own thoughts, by his own mind, by his own action. It was impossibile to escape but he tried nonetheless to avoid the storm.
"Please, say you won't let go, please-"

"Regulus what-" this tike was Lily voice who came worried and scared.
He didn't deserve that.
He didn't-

"I love you- I love you- I love you. I hope you know, alright?" He squeezed his hand even more, his look frantic and out of him and it was not like him, the usual so cold and put up boy, the one who couldn't express his feeling, he was better than this.

"Reg what are you-" James took his arm, probably to make him let go of his hand, but obviously, because obviously it had to be like that, it was the arm with the newest addition and Regulus hissed in pain.

The entire room froze.
James looked down almost scared, with his mouth open and his eyes big with fear.
"Regulus-" and then- the black ink appeared and james gulped, scooting away. "Don't touch me."

"James-"

"Regulus don't ever touch me again. I can't- I can't believe that you-" james huffed, like he was restraining himself from crying. "I can't believe- I was so fucking blind- how- you were-" the boy stuttered as if he wasn't even able to create a simple thought in his mind.

"Regulus- you didn't right? You- you couldn't- not after everything-" this one was Lily, her voice broken, she still couldn't believe him even after the evidence he brought on his arm. " you can't do this to us, to me-"

"I'm not doing anything to you Lily! I swear! There is a logic behind all of this!"

"Regulus." James warned, imposing his figure in front of Lily, like protection her from a danger. And in this case the danger was Regulus. The boy who trusted and loved.
"I don't want to hear from you anymore. I can't hear this things from you anymore."

"You don't understand! I must believe in something or I'll kill myself this instant, I must believe that instead of ruining the entire world the Dark Lord just wants changes and will stop what he is doing once he achieves his goal." He must believe in that. He must. He had been forced by his parents to take the mark but he wasn't forced to follow a crazy man, if only- if only Voldemort wasn't-

"You are just a foolish Regulus. A fucking stupid child who thinks he is better than any of us but in the end can't even tie his own shoes without the help of his parents. Change you say? Killing half the world's population because they are not descended from wizards? Do you hear yourself?"

"You don't understand! I have tried! I have tried but I was almost-" killed. He wasn't able to say that. His parents wouldn't have reached those limits. He was useful to them. They somehow had to love him.
Somehow.

"What Regulus? Better dead than under him! Why don't you understand? You let me down, I can't even look you in the eye. In the end you are like all of them. You are just a liar. And a murderer, too."

Regulus opened and closed his mouth several times not knowing what to say. But maybe it was what he deserved. Maybe it was what he was destined for. A future of disappointments. Although he had tried, really tried to fight, to stand up, in the end it had not been enough. Death was better.
"J-James- " he whispered.

"No James nothing. You-you don't understand. You will never understand. You are on their side. On the side of the murderers. I don't even know why I wasted all this time with you. All the sleepless nights worrying about you, trying to figure out what to do, how to save you, useless, useless, useless."

And Regulus smiled. A wistful smile, almost harsh, rough.
He had always told him that he could not be saved.
He had always pointed it out.
if Sirius had escaped, regulus could not.
regulus was bound to them, either dead or under them. Because the black family could not bear another disgrace like that. Because the black family could not be outdone. And Regulus was their last chance. Plan b without plan c. Sirius the plan a failed. "I told you that. I always told you that there was no safety for me."

"You deluded me, you don't want to be saved. It's different. My parents were ready to take a bullet for you!" and the tremor in James's voice was the last thing he needed.
His heart was breaking repeatedly.
Crack.
Crack.
Crack.
Breaking, the last pieces he had left had been trampled away.
The person he had realized he loved had told him that his death was better first and that he was associating with a gang of murderers.
"I was wrong to say I loved you."
I was wrong to say I loved you.
I was wrong to say I loved you.
I loved you.
I loved you.

What could have been worse?
Lily's look.
That was worse.
Because it was a look of fear and regret.
as if she was regretting the time she too had spent, as if now she had turned into a monster.
and maybe that was it.
now he was the monster they were so terrified of.
he had finally managed to become everything they were most afraid of.
finally.
finally what he had warned them about had come true, and once again he had been right. How was he supposed to love them when he didn't even love himself?
He had always been a fucking ship destined to sink.
A meteor intended to collapse.
A man fated to fail.

And finally James and Lily had left with tears in their eyes without seeing that he had fallen to the ground on all fours, trying to mask his sobs.
Because by now what could he do but cry and move on?

He had had no choice.
He had allowed Sirius the choice he had not been able to have.
She had given Sirius what he had not been able to have.

Regulus did not have James's parents.
They would have killed him if he had not joined the cause.
And as noble as the idea of dying for something greater was.
He was still terrified of it.

Not-
He couldn't-
He didn't know-
He was only sixteen years old- He wanted to see the world- He had dreams-

He probably wouldn't have realized them anyway.
Probably death would have been better.
Yet some times, some days, he wanted to try to live, he just hoped that hope hadn't died the exact moment James and Lily had given him their backs without turning around. He just hoped that he would find a new goal forward.

And if Regulus wasn't able to do that, to find something else-
He would burn away every emotion until he had finished that war for them.