Velvet Underground

"We shall see, Regulus- do not plot your burial yet. We have one big ace up our sleeve and that is Lucius's ability to charm others- including the dark lord. It may be our saving grace you know- should our activities draw suspicion. For if it's one thing that can be certain it's that he enjoys flattery, and Lucius can give that out easily." He pointed out.

When everything had been reduced to ash and cinder, Lucius stood quietly reflecting on his father. The shorter man had always projected a sense of mass and authority three times the size of his small person. Lucius had always tried to do that, but it was far more difficult than it looked. It was difficult to live in the shadow of a man like Abraxas, but now he was lord of the manor, and had to act accordingly.

Not only that, but he had to be prepared to deflect any suspicion away from them. If there was one thing he was good at, it was that. Manipulation, flattery, using his looks to get his way- playing sides against each other and playing sides in his favor. His father was a straight shooter, there were no games to be played like those his son was an expert at playing.

Slowly he collected himself and started back toward the manor. He approached the other two men in the parlor, clearing his throat though it was still thick with emotion from having to give last rites to his own father. "Gentlemen- it's been a very long night. Please- let me show you to a room. Follow me."

Regulus looked down and sighed. "Perhaps Severus, but I'm nothing if a realist and I don't see much of a future for myself. Call it my sixth sense if you will."

Regulus was going to say more but Lucius entered the room and he stood; watching the other man with sad eyes. It was as if the light that been blossoming inside and lit Lucius within was gone and in it's place a washed out facsimile had been left. Regulus cleared his throat as they started walking.

"Unless you're desiring some time to yourself Lucius; would it not be better if we spent the night in the same room for comfort? One may cry alone and it'll leave one cold and unfulfilled; but if one has friends that can share the burden it helps ease the pain. We may not have known each other before our first mission Lucius but I count you amongst my friends; same with Severus. We're a band of brothers we, and if brothers can't console the other then there is no bond of brotherhood." Regulus blushed a bit as he looked down. "I gleaned that bit of knowledge from the Muggle Story of 'The Three Musketeers'. And I can't help but think that they were on to something."

Lucius nodded slowly as he played around with that thought. "Yes... yes. I agree. We'll all stay the night in my bedroom then. It's good enough for three people and... I don't want to be alone, that was fairly perceptive of you Regulus to suggest that. We are a band of brothers, but we need a plan. We'll have to spend our time researching anything we can about the dark lord."

"Such pleasant subject matter." Severus frowned and followed Lucius up a flight of ornate stairs to the second floor. After a long trek down the lengthy hallway, they arrived at Lucius's room- a massive vaulted room with two large doors leading to a balcony.

"I know." He said grimly and set his father's glasses down on one of the tables. "But hey. I know this is dangerous, but let it be in our day so that maybe if we are lucky to have a family of our own, that our children will know peace. That alone is worth trying, hm? Besides... it's... it's our chance to show the world that Slytherins can be brave in the face of incredible odds. Can't let the Gryffindors have all the fun all the time, right?"

Severus just shook his head, sitting on a large chaise in front of the fireplace. "Clearly, we'll do it better than Gryffindors. We're smarter. More clever."

"Less fool hearty!" Lucius added, grinning proudly.

"And we don't smell like moldy quidditch socks!" Regulus added with a little laugh.

It seemed odd to him that he could make such a joke under the circumstances but Regulus had the feeling that if he didn't something then he was going question everything and end up fracturing into a million little pieces. Regulus flopped back onto the large bed, the feather ticking swallowing him whole until he didn't think he'd ever be able to get back up. With a barked laugh he struggled up and with his wand transfigured his clothing into a pair of comfy flannel lounge pants and a Slytherin seeker's shirt. He gathered his hair back into a queue and finished if off with a black satin tie. He resumed his spot and looked over at Severus and Lucius.

"If we're going to do this then at least I'm going to be comfortable. You can't study and plot a great mutiny all dressed in tight clothing." He clapped his hands, a boyish sense of wrong doing bubbling up in his chest as if he was merely sneaking down to the kitchens in Hogwarts to nick some late night snacks. "So men, where do we start?"

"I suppose you're right." Lucius snapped his fingers- his clothes melting into an emerald set of pajama pants and shirt. "Much better. Severus?"

"I don't have-"

Lucius pointed at Severus- making his clothes change from his usual robes to a black set of comfier looking bed clothes. "There. All or nothing."

"I suppose." He sighed. "And as for plotting... I think we should find out what those glasses of yours will tell us about the dark lord. They're a tool we've been handed that could be most vital in our understanding. So we should bide our time until we are summoned again, find out what they say, and work from there."

Lucius nodded. "I do have my father's notes. Hang on. I'll go fetch them. Maybe there will be something on the glasses- or even on the dark lord himself. They were school mates, he must have dished on something." Lucius left the bedroom for his father's study- pulling out many leather bound books and journals his father kept. He floated them behind him, stacking the books on the bed. "Take your pick gentlemen." He grabbed one off the top, though this one was by his grandfather- who apparently gave them to Abraxas through a will.

He paged on through it, growing confused at the increasingly erratic scrawl- sometimes a whole word taking up a page. "I'm hoping these don't have some sort of side effect."

Regulus hesitantly took a book; the leather bound tome shaking slightly in his hands. He slowly opened the book, squinting his eyes at the blank page. It perplexed him to a slight degree. What person would have a book that was blank on the inside. He looked over at Lucius and then Severus but both were engrossed in their respective books and he was loathe to interrupt them.

With a sigh he set the book to the side; making the mental note to take it home and take a closer look at it. He pulled the next book into his lap and flipped it open, scanning the contents of the pages quickly. They seemed to be nothing more than a day to day accounting of life at Hogwarts. But if it was one thing that Regulus knew; was that nothing was quite the way it seemed when it came to Hogwarts and he paid more attention to the passages; wondering what the book would reveal to him.

Most of the dates were mundane- Abraxas's writing speaking about Quidditch matches and strategies. There were a few devoted to the injured British soldier they found one day, and hid at Hogwarts till he was healthy again. One date seemed to jump off the page, being set in Abraxas's tidy scrawl, dated June 13, 1943. The tidy scrawl melted into a scene depicting the second floor of Hogwarts.

-

"Abs, I swear- you'd make a right good Gryffindor." Charlus grinned as the two fifth year students strolled amongst the halls beneath the cover of the invisibility. They clinked their ill begotten butter beers in a toast before pausing.

Abraxas held up his hand to stop them, watching the commotion of several professors and Headmaster Dippet standing outside of the girl's bathroom. They watched silently as a stiff looking girl was pulled out.

"Isn't that Myrtle?" Charlus whispered.

"Shh." Abraxas held up a finger to his lips, his hand curling around Charlus's as the two made their way up to the group of professors.

"The chamber has been open." Dumbledore frowned. "This poor girl, poor Myrtle is it's first victim."

"But who would have done it!" Dippet scowled. "No one is capable of doing it here-- except for maybe that Hagrid boy. He's always hanging around with creatures. He must have opened it!"

"You're a fool if you think that Rubeus Hagrid could have done this-"

"You're out of order, Albus! This is serious, the chamber has been opened, they could close the school..."

Abraxas shook his head, ushering Charlus down a hallway away from the commotion. Charlus ripped the hat off his head and threw it down on the ground in frustration. "Hagrid didn't do that, that's nonsense! He wouldn't hurt a fly!"

"No, you're quite right. Dippet is a fool. Rubeus Hagrid is no killer." Abraxas pursed his lips together. "There is only one person I know who is capable of murder on this campus. And I believe my grandfather's glasses will be of service in figuring that out."

Later on in the diary, the story continued.

"I was right!" Abraxas scowled as he paced back and forth in front of the headmaster's office. "Riddle did it! His soul is diminished, it no longer glows bright blue- while Hagrid's is whole! But Dippet refuses to listen to reason! He gave me a month's worth of detentions for insubordination! He's a fool and a half!"

Charlus watched him move back and forth in the hallway. "So what will happen to Hagrid then?"

Abraxas stopped and looked at him with an unreadable expression. "They're going to expel him."

"What! But Dumbledore-"

"He believes us sure, but there's nothing he can do. He tried the glasses on, he understands that Tom Riddle is a monster."

The scene faded back into Lucius's bedroom, no longer in the Hogwarts during the early forties. The last paragraph was written in obvious anger as there were dots of ink and page tears from the quill.

Everyday after that, I saw his soul and it was never whole again. But no one listened to us. It's like the whole school is under his spell, except for Charlus and I- and a few select others. Some in my house rejoiced at the attacks on muggle borns from the creature from the chamber, but I did not. Is no one capable of thinking forward in time! It's an omen, an omen of things to come. Riddle some how opened the chamber. Who knows what he will do next? Do they not understand that Riddle spells danger for not only muggle borns, but pure bloods as well? It is endlessly frustrating.

"Have you found anything yet?" Severus looked up at Regulus. "I've found a very interesting recipe for crepes, but not much else."

"Same here. I've got a whole book of Quidditch seeker strategies..."

"What about you Lucius?" Regulus asked as he looked up from his book.

He wasn't really interested in the subject matter though there were a few tricks that he'd hadn't heard of and was itching to try out. The look on Lucius's face was enough to make him close his book and focus completely on Lucius. His mind wandered back to the book that didn't have any writing but he pushed it to the side; wanting to know what was making Lucius's face drain white.

"I've... I've got it, I think. See for yourselves." Lucius murmured and laid the diary down flat in front of them as the story he just read played out in front of his fellow Slytherins like it had done for him, of his father and Charlus.

"They're soul readers." He murmured. "Our souls are bright blue- we haven't killed anyone. So then, it's true... When you kill someone it tears a piece of your soul off. The soul is never the same. But what could that possibly mean to the dark lord. He's killed many. He must not have a soul left." He shook his head in disappointment. "But how does that help us? What difference does it make how much soul Voldemort has left? Unless... there's some magic and reason behind souls that is beyond our understanding."

"That could very well be." Severus said slowly. "Regulus- that is where you will come in. Hogwarts has a whole area of forbidden books... Maybe there is something to explain it in there."

Regulus nodded gravely. "Siri has this invibilty cloak that he nicked from James Potter. I kinda nicked it from him and it's hidden in my trunk. Next week is the Ostra Holiday. The school will be deserted so I can use the cloak to gain access to the library."

Regulus's eyes started to droop but he tried to fight it hard. He didn't want to let Lucius or Severus down when the entire Wizarding world seemed to be on the line. He pulled another book into his lap but the words started to blur together and before he realized it he was slumped over the book snoring lightly.

"Owl us then, if you find something." Lucius nodded as he exchanged a glance with Severus. "And we'll arrange a meeting." After awhile more of studying, he spotted Regulus falling asleep. "I suppose he has the right idea."

"Quite." Severus nodded and stacked the books up on the floor and out of the way of the bed. Together, the two older men helped Regulus get to a more comfortable laying position on the bed.

It was getting late and it had been a long day for all of them. Lucius's bed was so massive it didn't matter where they all laid. Severus was laying toward the end of the bed, sprawled out on the expensive mattress and blankets. Lucius was up toward the pillows, fast asleep on his side.

Regulus didn't feel the other two men move him, all he knew was that he was laying on something that felt like only a cloud could. His dreams weren't really dreams at all; but more like nightmares. All he seen were the blank white pages of the book he'd first picked up. Only this time when he reached out to touch the yellowed parchment thick red lines crawled down the page as if it were bleeding.

He pulled his hand away and watched as the red spread from fingertip to elbow and he shook his hand frantically; calling out into the black void for some help. Still the sluggish trails crept upwards until it was on his face and he clawed at his skin until trails of his own blood seeped down. At his feet the book lay; his blood being sucked into the book until there was nothing left. The book glowed blue for a moment before it just lay there.

Regulus woke with start; his breathing heavy as he blinked furiously and stared at his hands. There was no red in sight so he lay back against the bed. As he was closing his eyes he looked over and seen that Lucius had tears running down his cheeks. The blonde man didn't seem to be awake or aware that he was crying so Regulus rolled close and laid his head on Lucius' arm as he placed a hand on Lucius' side. If in the morning Lucius demanded an explanation...well, people move in their sleep. It was an accident. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

The next morning, Lucius woke up in a heap of limbs. He didn't question it, because well- there were three men in his bed, including himself. His eyes felt tired still, and he chocked it up to crying for most of the evening. In one night, he witnessed his father die in front of him, burned his body in the solitude of the forest, and planned his own suicide by going against Lord Voldemort with two close friends.

It was no wonder he felt more exhausted waking up. However- he was hoping by throwing himself into this project, it would take his mind off of everything else that had just happened.

He felt warmth pressed against him, and he welcomed it like nothing else. He took Regulus's hand and pulled it forward enough so that he could wrap their fingers together. "Regulus..." He murmured quietly. "Regulus are you alright?"

Though he had tried to sleep, it never returned to Regulus and he spent the night watching over his companions. When he felt Lucius pulling his hand and curling their fingers together he forced a sleepy murmur from his lips; making it seem as if he'd been slumbering.

"Hmmer? Yeah...I'm alright." A light snore sounded in the room and Regulus fought the urge to laugh as it could only be Severus. He moved his head so he could blink what he could only hope were sleepy eyes at Lucius. "What about you? Did sleep find you well?"

Remnants of the nightmare still clung to Regulus's mind like spiderwebs and he bit his lip as he wondered if he should tell Lucius about it. In the end he kept it to himself; chalking it up as a nightmare due to the events of the evening before. Surely signing ones own death warrant was enough to cause nightmares and after all a dream was just a dream; they didn't hold the power to hurt anyone. At least that's what he believed, or at least what he forced himself to believe.

Lucius didn't answer right away, as he was contemplating how to answer that question. He didn't want to worry Regulus any with the truth, so a lie would do fine in this case. He opened his mouth to say something but was greeted by the sounds of Severus snoring. He chewed on his lip, fighting a laugh but in the end let it escape anyway. "Oh Sev, snoring- I never would have thought- but then again, the nose..."

He gently turned to face Regulus better and sighed. "Sleep found me, but no dreams. Only blank, restless thoughts here and there. But it is good to wake up amongst friends after a night like last. ...Father didn't have many friends. After school, he kept around the manor, going out only when he had to. He got a job writing for the ministry to keep him busy. He always said he had to do his duty to protect the manor from the wrong hands. I suppose he would consider my hands in that category since I made the wrong choices. But it was his choice to become so isolated. I think... friends make the difference, Regulus, between noble questing and becoming a shut in. ...And I think I may be in danger of losing two of them, should I not offer some kind of breakfast." He teased and leaned in a bit closer to Regulus.

"What would you like?"

Regulus pretended to think, his face screwed up in concentration. "Well, I think some Bangers and Mash would be delicious, or even just some muffins and jam. Really anything you can come up with Lucius."

Severus snored again and he laid his head against Lucius's laughing lightly so as not to wake up the dark haired man. It looked like he didn't get much sleep and Regulus always worried about him when they were in school together too. He looks up and noticed how close he and Lucius's faces were and he blushes before moving back and clearing his throat.

"I-can--uh help with breakfast if you want Lucius, I used to help at home on the weekends when I was younger."

Lucius blinked at him in confusion. "Reg, are you serious? Me? Cook? I"ve got house elves for that kind of thing!" He laughed- and couldn't help it. The sheer thought of him getting his hands dirty cooking food? Oh no.

"I'll have the house elves make up enough breakfast for the three of us." Slowly Lucius pulled out of bed, throwing on a green robe that matched his pajamas from the night before. "Wake up Sev, would you? He should eat too. He's too skinny as it is." Lucius smirked at Regulus before heading down to the kitchen to order something for them all to eat.

Severus stirred beside Regulus, uttering a sleep laden "I am not too skinny. What does his highness of the manor want at this time of morning anyway...?"

Regulus jumped a bit and out of habit that had formed in his second year when his dorm mate would fall drunkenly on his bed and wake up in the morning in a similiar state to Severus, he reached over and let his fingers slide through the dark locks.

"The princess requests that we have breakfast." He replied, looking down and away when he noticed he was petting Severus. "Ahh, forgive my lack of realization Severus. I didn't mean to touch you without your leave." His face was devoid of a blush for once and he was glad for that small favor; though he'd spent some nights at School with those of the same sex he spent even more with the girls. 'To even things out'.

School! Regulus slapped his forhead and growled. He's forgotten that today he was to return to school from Holidays. He hurried and rushed getting dressed, saying a quick goodbye to Severus and conjuring a note to leave for Lucius.

Dearest Lucius,
I'm afraid time has flown my mind. I have to return to school. But keep in touch with me via owl. Hecate is a good owl and won't let anything happen to any correspondence. Stay well.
RAB

With a smirk he waved his wand and put the charm on the parchment that his brother had invented and looked over at Severus with a mischevious grin.

"Severus. I trust you to give this Lucius. I know it looks like and average piece of parchment. But tell him to utter 'mischeif managed'."

He waved one last time to Severus and headed out to the gardens od Malfoy Manner to apparate back to Hogsmeade so he could walk up to the school. The walk, though not long kept his mind occupied and he wondered dully if they could pull it off.

Severus eyed Regulus and nodded. "Very well, Regulus. I will indeed give this to Lucius. He'll be disappointed you couldn't join us, but I understand your commitment to school whole-hardheartedly. Make haste- Don't be late. We will keep in touch... Do what you can to find out what magic could be gained through the use of the soul." He nodded and watched Regulus go before joining Lucius in the massive dining room for breakfast.

-

It wasn't until late that afternoon, after many parchments and personal letters to finalize his late father's affairs, that Lucius could dream of messing around with the piece of parchment from Regulus. But when he did, he was no less than impressed by the hidden message that revealed itself to him.

Immediately, he began to work on a letter to Regulus- but didn't bother to send it until the day of their next meeting. It read:

Dear Regulus,

I appreciated the bit of magic used to conceal your letter greatly. How novel! I'm sorry for the delay of my reply. I had to bring my father's final affairs to a close and that took a long and painful amount of time to do.

Have you found anything at Hogwarts yet? I'm excited to hear your answer- but dreading the meeting tonight. I am not sure what will happen, but I will wear my father's glasses beneath my mask. Maybe they will lead to greater insight.

Yours,

L.

The return to school had been anticlimatic. Other than a few heated snogs with his Hufflepuff lover he'd not been able to find anything out about what would impact doing magic without a soul. That was until he was flipped a page boredly in his Defense Against the Dark Arts text book.

Horcrux's - a Brief Overview

The use of Horcrux's are an ancient art that imbues the wizard or witches spirit into an inanimate object so that they may enable a return at any given time or place. A horcux takes on the physical shape of the caster at the time that the horcux is created. ie if a wizard is 17 the physical shape of the piece of spirit used to create it would be 17, and so on and so on.

The Horcrux is a very powerful object in which a Dark wizard or witch has hidden a fragment of his or her soul for the purpose of attaining immortality. Creating a single horcrux allows one to gain the ability to resurrect themselves if their body is destroyed, but the more horcruxes one creates, the closer one is to achieving true immortality. Creating multiple Horcruxes is suggested to be costly to the creator, by both diminishing their humanity and even physically disfiguring them. It is possible to put the wizard's or witch's soul back together, but it is excruciatingly painful.

Regulus tapped his quill against his book in deep thought. If Lucius's glasses and let us see souls....I wonder if it can see the fragmented parts....

He pushed it to the side, there was no way that the Dark Lord would think of that, besides all he was trying to do was rid the world of muggles and other impurities to the Pure Blood Race. Still it was the only thing that he could really find on the use of spirit and soul in magic other than the regular information about the making of certian spells that brought love or luck.

Someone sat down heavily besides him and he grinned when a hand ghosted over his thigh. Without looking he knew who it was and he smirked as he reached under the table and repositioned the hand somewhere more intimate.

"Looks like your hand got lost Ronan." He glanced about then over at the broadly grinning Hufflepuff. "You're daring to be caught feeling up a Slytherin by the light of day?"

"Aye. Wot do I care iffn anyone catches us?"

Regulus grinned and opened his mouth to set a time but an owl swooped down and pecked at his book, holding out it's leg impatiently. He untied it and before he could give the owl a treat it flew away with a disgruntled hoot. He unfolded the paper and paled when he seen that they had a meeting tonight. Next to him Ronan tried to catch a peek but he quickly stuffed it away; grinning at Ronan.

"Sorry, sweet cheeks, secret, Slytherin information." He pulled him close and kissed him hard before pullng away and standing. "Tomorrow, the Astronomy tower."

He didn't want for an answer before he sprinted back to his room and got ready. He donned his cape with the star and started through the hidden passways until he could get to hogsmeade and apparate to the meeting place.

The clearing was already filling up and he hoped he could find Lucius in the melee.

Lucius quietly put his father's glasses, looking at himself in the mirror for a moment before sliding his mask firmly over his face. He pulled his robes over himself, preparing himself to leave for the meeting.

Once there he heard the whispers from other deatheaters about what happened to his father- about how he deserved what he got, and how dare he defy the greatness that was the dark lord?

How indeed.

He saw the star on Regulus's robes, touching his shoulder. "Regulus- it is me." He murmured. "We are the hot topic of the night. Hopefully we will get a chance to see another day."

Voldemort stepped into the middle of the group, looking around at his faithful followers. "So good to see so many of my friends here tonight after the tragedy that had become of my old school mate. I think we need to clear the heaviness of this great loss by... clearing the air. May I have Lucius Malfoy and Regulus Black front and center please? There is something I need to address."

Regulus swallowed and nodded to Lucius. "So we are, but there are things that more interesting than us." Slowly so that the action was barely visible he looked around to see how close any of the others were. The ring around them was nearly two feet on each side so he lowered his voice even more. "I could only find interesting thing about soul magic.." Before he could go on Voldemort took his place and called for him and Lucius.

With blinking, wide eyes behind his mask he turned and looked at Lucius before woodenly making his way to stand before the Dark Lord. He inclined his head in what he hoped was sincere act of deference, murmuring a low, "Yes, my Master?"

"Last week, you deemed it 'acceptable' to leave the meeting without my permission." He began as a whisper went through the crowd of death eaters. Some laughed, others just stood and waited for what the dark lord was about to do. "This would normally be met with extreme punishment. However, you left because you were worried about the state of one of our brethren. That is the type of behavior I would like the lot of you to emulate. We are a family here- and we should treat each other with some decency. After all, we are better than the rest of society aren't we? I am going to give you a pass for your behavior, and remind all of you to form a bond with each other like the kind young Regulus and Lucius have here. If we are separated, no useless auror can get to us then due to our bonds, hmm?"

Lucius let out a breath, looking relieved behind his mask. Not only did Regulus sound like he had found something, but the youngest member of their organization was going to survive unharmed.

"Regulus, you may return to the crowd." He then turned his sights on Lucius. "Lucius- how have you been holding up? I know you and your father were close."

Lucius swallowed and stepped forward on wobbly legs. At first he thought his tongue would fail him but it didn't and he could speak. "I am doing as well as to be expected, my lord." He murmured and bowed at the waist. "My manor is vast and empty without the sound of my father and his cello. But I am taking it all in one day at a time."

"Ah, good... good. Come then, and stand beside me for the duration of the meeting."

Lucius felt sick doing so, but he joined Voldemort at his side. Through his father's glasses he saw the outline of the dark lord- but he barely had a soul left. Only a glimmer of bright blue remained. However, down at his feet- he saw the orange outline of Nagini's soul- oddly with a bit of bright blue inside of her long body. He tried not to let his sights linger on the snake for too long.

Meanwhile, Severus quietly approached Regulus placing a hand on his shoulder. "Regulus- are you alright? That was lucky." He murmured to him.

Regulus's heart was in his throat as he melted back into the group of Death Eaters. A few of them patting him on the back and murmuring about how lucky he was. When a hand landed on his shoulder he jumped a bit until he heard Severus's low voice.

"Y-yeah. I'm alright, but right now, I'm more worried about Lucius. I've never seen him take a Death Eater to stand at his side."

He looked back up at the main area and watched Lucius with interest; he seemed to be staring at the snake and he waited impatiently until he could ask what seemed to have his entire attention span.

"No, me neither. Poor Lucius. Look at him, standing so rigidly like that." Severus whispered grimly as they watched the third member of their group getting led around by the dark lord himself. Every time Lucius shifted or tried to make a move away, Voldemort's hand was on his shoulder, bringing him back into the fray. Severus made a noise of sympathy while other death eaters were muttering about being jealous at the special attention Lucius was receiving.

Finally the meeting was over, and Lucius was released back into the crowd. He instantly sought out Regulus and what had to be Severus due to the worn shoes he always wore.

"B-back to the manor." He mumbled to them. "We leave separately... to avoid suspicion. There is much to discuss."