Chapter 7 - Back In Business
However much Regulus would love to stay in bed with James on their anniversary, there was much to be done.
Regulus had arranged a meeting to buy a venom that would destroy the horcruxes.
It was the venom of a basilisk.
The venom was rare and only sold through a dark market of sorts.
Regulus had no intention of asking the seller how he'd obtained the venom as the seller had no intention asking what Regulus needed it for.
The dark market was a 'don't ask, don't tell' place.
Most people were somewhat disguised, as not to be recognized in such a place.
Voldemort didn't take holidays, which meant James and Regulus couldn't either.
So that meant, the couple heading into town to meet a stranger in a dark alley with the intention of a trade off, on their anniversary.
They were both dressed in dark cloaks with hoods that hid them.
The strange man appeared out from- what seemed to be- nowhere.
Regulus stepped forward towards the man.
The man looked at him and then towards James as if wondering why Regulus had brought someone along.
"My apprentice. He's here to observe." Regulus explained, although his voice was not his own, rather deeper.
Regulus was a terrible liar, but an outstanding actor.
James was there because the boy was prepared to go feral if anything were to happen to Regulus.
But the man needn't know that.
The man nodded, handing Regulus the few bottles of venom as Regulus handed him the pouch of coins.
He seemed to weigh the coins in his hands, as to make sure he was paid in full, before he disappeared back into the shadows.
Regulus seemingly let out a breath he didn't know he was holding.
He spun on his heels towards James and they made their way back out into the open.
By then they ditched the cloaks.
"You think it'll work?" James questioned.
Regulus shrugged, "It has to."
A little while later they arrived back at the castle.
Ivan and Claudette had been waiting for them in Ivan's dorm- with the horcruxes.
They planned to destroy them all.
Claud and Ivan were glad the pair had both made it back in one piece and with the venom.
"How do we go about doing this?" Ivan asked, twirling the venom around the bottle.
"We have to coat something with venom." Regulus explained.
"But what?" James quizzed.
"What about that shark tooth your roommate has?", Claudette said to Ivan, "It's sharp enough."
"A shark tooth?!" James exclaimed.
"Yeah, he's kind of an odd ball." Ivan explained as he got up to look for the thing.
"I don't think I've ever talked to any of your roommates." Regulus muttered.
"To be fair, I haven't talked to any of your roommates." Ivan muttered.
"I don't even talk to my roommates." Regulus quipped.
"It's true", James added, "Besides talking to the two of them is like talking to a stone wall."
"I'll have you know I had a lovely conversation with Evan the other day." Regulus started.
James raised his eyebrows curiously, "Oh? What about?"
"Wouldn't you like to know." Regulus said with a knowing smirk.
"Found it!" Ivan exclaimed.
He walked back over to the group with a tooth bigger than Regulus' forearm.
"Whatever you do- no one touch the venom, got it?" Regulus warned.
Claudette carefully coated the tooth- being that she had the steadiest hands.
She opened the diary before stabbing into the pages.
A deep red, blood-like liquid oozed out.
She stabbed it again, resulting in more blood.
Then she closed the cover and stabbed it once more for good measure.
Ivan was given the tooth next to stab the cup, since he was the strongest.
He winded up and stabbed right into the metal.
The cup shattered into a million pieces at the action, causing them all to shield themselves from the fragments.
When the tooth made its way to Regulus, he stared at the locket.
The same locket that had caused him so much physical and emotional pain.
The locket that tormented him.
The tooth connected with the glass, cracking it.
A black fume spilled from it causing the group to cough as it tried to infiltrate their lungs.
Regulus hit the tooth further in, stabbing clean through.
At the action, the black mist seemed to dissipate into the air.
"How can we be sure they're destroyed?" James asked.
They all observed the chaos that was the objects before them.
A blood stained diary, the fragments of a gold cup, and the locket with a hole through its center.
"We can't", Regulus muttered, "We can only hope."
It wasn't the answer they wanted to hear, but it was the most honest one.
"What's left?" Ivan quizzed.
"We destroyed the diary, the locket, and the cup. Dumbledore destroyed the ring- which means the diadem is remaining." Regulus explained.
"Where do you supposed we are to find Rowena Ravenclaw's diadem?" Claudette questioned.
"Your guess is as good as mine." Regulus shrugged.
So they'd hit a temporary dead end.
But that had never stopped them before.
It had grown dark by the time they said goodbye to their friends.
James and Regulus had merely been walking in the halls, holding hands.
James swung their hands, much to Regulus' dismay, but he didn't stop him.
The boy just seemed so excited.
For what?
Regulus did not know.
They were about to reach the hall to their room but came to a stop as Regulus went to keep walking towards the room and James moved to head down a different hall.
Regulus furrowed his eyebrows at the boy.
"What kind of mischief are you up to?" Regulus quizzed, but still allowed James to pull him away from their room.
"What ever do you mean, my love?" James retorted innocently, but the smirk on his face said otherwise.
Regulus followed along at James dragged him through the halls and out towards the quidditch pitch.
They didn't stop until they reached the middle of the pitch.
James plopped down into the grass before dragging Regulus down beside him.
He pulled Regulus into his lap before pressing a kiss to the side of his head.
James pulled a book out, one Regulus hadn't notice.
In the light of the stars, Regulus could make out the title, 'The Catcher in the Rye'.
"This is your plan?", Regulus questioned, "Stargaze and read The Catcher in the Rye?"
"Yup." James answered popping the 'p'.
Regulus leant his head back on James' shoulder as he read from the book that had started it all.
James held the book in one hand and the other was wrapped around Regulus' waist, tracing shapes on the younger boy's stomach.
Regulus wasn't sure how long they'd been out there, but it didn't matter- not as long as Regulus was with James.
The boy was still reading through the book, when Regulus spoke.
"James?"
"Yeah?" He hummed, pausing his reading.
"I'm crazy about you." Regulus mumbled.