Velvet Underground

Regulus nodded, his eyes more on his companion than on what the meeting had been about. He made the appropriate noises with the others, raised his wand when those around him did. When the meeting was over and Lucius was back at their side he felt a wash of relief go over him. He nodded and as someone passed he heard the name of the club they all retired to after meetings.

"To the Underground!' He cried, trying to sound as enthusastic as he could as he looked from side to side. When no one was close enough he whispered loud enough for Severus and Lucius to hear. "It'll be easier for us to disappear from there than anywhere else."

Lucius nodded in agreement. "Sounds like a plan." He murmured to him. He followed the rest of the death eaters to the underground- which was growing in density of how many death eaters were jammed inside. Before he pulled off his mask and cloak, he transfigured his father's glasses into a silver circlet to hide them. He spotted a table in the back and pulled Severus and Regulus over to it.

"....Well?" Severus asked looking at the wild eyed look reflected in Lucius's eyes.

"T...that was the most awkward moment of my life. Given that I cremated my father's body a few days ago, that's really saying something." He hissed quietly to them. He looked pained and flagged down the bartender for a drink. "But I saw something... Let's make our stay here brief. There's much to discuss, coupled with Regulus found. We may have our answer..."

Regulus nodded and when the bartender came round he ordered for them, gruffing out the order and leveling a scowl at the man. A couple of the other Death Eaters stopped by and looked on at Lucius with some sort of Awe at being able to stand side by side next to the Dark Lord and they even clapped his back and spouted something off about beginning bonds with the two of them.

"Well, look who we have here..." Came an annoying voice from the, the high pitched simper easily identifiable. "If it isn't the Dark Lords two new lap dogs."

"Choke on a sock Bella" Regulus scowled without turning around.

"You must tell me how you did it little Reg."

Regulus just pursed his lips and refused to respond no matter what the question was that Bellatrix asked and soon she grew tired and wandered away. Once he was sure she was gone he looked over at Lucius and Severus.

"Lucius you should be the first to leave, then Severus or I will leave five minutes later." He murmured over the rim of his glass; making it look for all the world that he was enjoying the biting fire of the fire whiskey in his glass.

Lucius smiled to them, nodding along with what they were saying, waving to them when they left the table. Thankfully he had his false expression thrown up when Bella came over. "Oh Bella, you're simply jealous! How cute." He gave her a simpering smile and brushed her off the rest of the time she was visiting them.

"...I'm not sure what I need to be more disturbed of- your cousin's jealousy, or your superstar statuses." Severus said giving them an amused look. "Very well." He nodded and reached for his drink. "No one will notice me. Hardly anyone ever does."

"Works for me. I'll take my leave... see you at the manor." Lucius murmured to them and stood up. He started toward the door, shaking hands and joking with those on the way out the door. Once outside, he took a deep breath, apparating with a loud pop back home to the manor.

Regulus scowled at Severus and in a fit of childish playfulness he balled up his napkin and threw it the sulking dark haired man. "I always did." He kinda smirked a bit as he tossed a follow up napkin. "Kinda hard when you were always sweeping bat like through the common room, looking for those students that were breaking the rules." He smiled a bit as he looked at his watch, counting the minutes slowly. "Guess that's why you're going to be a good teacher when you get your certification."

He looked down at his watch one more time and noticed that a few minutes had passed and he stood, nodding his goodbye to Severus and after a murmured ‘See you in a bit’ he headed outside and walked a bit down the street; looking over his shoulder every once in a while to make sure that no one was following him. Once he was certain that no one was watching, he apparated to Malfoy Manor, hurrying up the stone steps and knocking on the door loudly.

Regulus felt as if the night had eyes and every so often he’d turn and look to make sure that he was the only one there. Of course the knowledge that he didn’t see anyone didn’t make him feel safe at all; there were spells and invisibility cloaks that could hide a person from view and no one would be the wiser. When the door opened he bustled inside and put his robe in the arms of the waiting house-elf; nodding at it courteously before going and tracking Lucius down. For now the watched feeling would be pushed to the back of his mind; he had other things to think about than some peeping tom but he made the mental note to keep appearances of a normal meeting between peers.

"I don't like rule breakers." He said simply and nodded when Regulus left. He lingered for awhile later, taking his time with his drink until it was all but gone. He bid those around him goodbye with a curt, clean nod.

-

Lucius was waiting for them in his father's study, his hands neatly folded across his journal which had his notes from what he had just seen at the meeting. Judging by what little Regulus had explained to him, Voldemort was up to some kind of soul magic. A piece of his soul was in that snake for whatever reason. He glanced toward the clock, then back to his hands which were now shaking.

There was a shot- a chance. A real chance.

-

Severus finally arrived at the manor- walking straight past the house elf- spying Regulus up ahead of him. "Regulus! There you are. Hold on, wait for me." He said coming up alongside of him. "Lucius is most likely in his or his father's study... Come on, this way." He said and motioned for him to follow.

Regulus nodded and followed behind Severus solemnly. They went down a few twisting hallways and Regulus was thankful for the older man's company and guidance. He was sure that if he'd been left to wander the halls himself he would have been lost.

Finally they made it and he stepped just inside the room, looking around the rich expanse of leather and wood that took precedence in the room. Sitting behind a large desk was Lucius with plenty of paper at his elbows and in front of him.

He offered a wan smile as he took a seat across from the desk. "So Lucius, what did the glasses reveal to you tonight?" Despite the serious of the situation he couldn't help but feeling excited.

"Gentlemen- good evening. This is far more appropriate of a setting for a meeting than where we just were." He picked up the glasses from the desk, holding them by the arm. "These have told me a great deal of information today. Our dark lord has... nearly nothing left in regards to a soul. We all grow bright blue when we put these on- but... not him. It's very faint."

"I once read that by committing a violent act such as murder damages the soul. Our dark lord has done plenty of that." Severus suggested with a shrug as he sat back in the chair.

"Ah yes, but that is not all. Animals and non humans seem to have a soul that looks orange. When I gazed upon that damned able snake... I saw the orange soul, coupled with a small fragment of blue light- that of a human soul. I'm not sure what that could mean. I was trying to see if I could understand more but... I did not want to make myself look obvious."

"How could that be, that a snake has two souls...?" Severus clicked his tongue. "That doesn't make any sense."

"No, it doesn't. Curious, isn't it? Well- Regulus. You said you had found something as well. What information do you have for us?"

Regulus nodded and looked from Severus to Lucius and said simply. "Horcrux." He waited a moment before going on when it looked as if neither man had heard of the word. "A Horcrux is a complicated piece of extremely dark magic. You fracture the soul and place the pieces in something of value to you or something inconspicious so that you never really die. Certain bits of the spell can enchant an object to allow it to take a person's mind over and allow the bit of soul to carry out what needs to be done. That was the only thing I could find of any importance with dealing with the soul, everything else was complete drivel."

Severus and Lucius exchanged glances. For awhile neither of them spoke.

"That... makes sense. That would be why there was a piece of human soul in the body of the snake." Lucius said slowly. "It's a horcrux!"

"Then we have to get rid of the snake. We have to stop him from being immortal." Severus said with a frown. "Bloody impossible, really... That snake's always beside him."

"Well, that and there's something else on my mind. ...There has to be more than one. His soul is vastly depleted- I don't know how many more there could possibly be." Lucius looked a little deflated. "OR... what they could be for that matter."

"If he made the snake one, then he must have gone about putting them in items of importance to him. He says he's the heir of Slytherin. Maybe he's gotten a hold of one of Slytherin's artifacts." Severus said slowly.

"They're well documented, all save for I think one is unaccounted for- if we can find it an destroy it..." Lucius trailed off, picking up his father's glasses again. "We do have these on our side- we can see what bits of souls are trapped in objects. It may not be hopeless after all."

Regulus sat there and just took it all in. The Dark Lord was making it so that he wasn't going to be easy to fall from power by splintering his soul. He blinked as he looked from the two men.

"What artifacts could he be using? I don't know a lot about those that belonged to the founding fathers and sisters but they're stored in Hogwarts aren't they? Surely HeadMaster Dippet knows what they are. Perhaps he can help us? Or surely there is some teacher at Hogwarts who can help us in this mission."

"Dippet is a fool." Severus muttered. "He won't know what to do, and according Lucius's father in those journals Dippet loved the dark lord. However... there is one man I believe who can help us. Albus Dumbledore-"

"Head of the Order! Are you mad!" Lucius sputtered. "That would be like turning ourselves in!"

"It is the only way." He muttered. "He would know, he is... well... plainly put- Dumbledore. I doubt he would have us turn ourselves in as we are willing to search and destroy these horcruxes ourselves."

Lucius fell back in his seat. "...I suppose you're correct. Regulus, my dear friend- we will need you to speak with Dumbledore then. Tell him... you know of some associates who are in need of great assistance-"

"Tell him who we are, there's no need to dance around it." Severus said rather bluntly. "We are three men-three disillusioned death eaters- who wish to help. Tell him what we know."

"And take these." Lucius slid the glasses over to Regulus. "He will know what they are. ...I am sorry to put all of this on you, Reg. I don't... Merlin, you haven't even graduated yet. You're very brave- do not let anyone tell you differently."

Regulus took the glasses and gingerly put them in his pocket, not wanting any ill to befall them. The weight of the secret that they were going to share with Dumbledore was one that he felt fall heavily on his shoulders but he nodded, forcing a smile on his lips.

"Aye. I'll see Professor Dumbledore the moment I get back to school. I'm easily the best in his class so it won't seem out of place for me to hang back and talk to him. I just hope he can...err rather be willing to help us. I know that Sirius's mate Potter and his wife are part of the Order so maybe..maybe I can even see if they'd be willing to help."

Lucius's words warmed his chilled skin and he blushed a bit as he looked down; playing with his fingers for a moment. It wasn't that he'd never been called brave, he'd heard from others in his house after a match when he'd pulled off a spectacular dive. But this was something different. This was praise from Lucius Malfoy. With a throat clear he stood, nodding to both Severus and Lucius.

"Until we meet again. I'll send word by owl with Professor Dumbledores' answer. Goodevening Severus, Lucius. May the night treat you well." He bowed and headed for the door nodding his thanks to the house elf that had shown up to take him back to the front door.

"Reg-- wait." Lucius said and got up from the desk, heading over to him. He brushed his long blonde hair back, looking at the younger man with a slightly unreadable expression. He hesitated for a moment- he wouldn't have normally but given everything that happened it made him less sure of himself.

"This friday- I think we need to unwind. Will you join me for dinner?" He offered. "We can have it here in the manor. It'll be something positive to use my home for... If you're not interested I'll understand."

Severus blinked in surprise. Lucius sounded unsure- he never sounded unsure. He frowned at the thought. All of this secretive business must be getting to him.

Regulus stopped and turned, his eyes blinking slowly as his brain tried to comprehend what Lucius was asking of him. His mind had been full of intrigue and the words, so hesitantly offered had stabbed a hole into his preoccupation.

"I-I.." He looked over at Severus and seen the contemplative look on his face before looking back at Lucius. "I'd love too. But Severus must accompany us, if any of us need to unwind it's him." He offered Severus a small grin. "Unless off course he has other pressing business to attend too..."

"Unfortunately, Regulus, I have a seminar on rare roots and mountain fungi to attend to this weekend in Romania." Severus said and sighed. "I suppose I'd rather be here eating a decadent dinner than be traipsing around in the cold. However, some time away will do me good. Let me know how dinner goes. I will owl you when I have returned." He gave them both a nod, and slowly stood to his feet. He apparated out of the room to head back home.

Lucius turned back to Regulus. "I suppose then- that it's just you and I. I promise I won't bore you to death." He teased. "Come around seven. I'll make sure dinner is prepared for us promptly. See you then?"

Regulus nods. "I understand Severus. I hope your seminar is stimulating to you and that you get the most out of it. Stay safe and try to unwind...a bit." He grins and looks over at Lucius, shaking his head a bit. "I highly doubt that you could bore me to death Lucius..besides there are worse ways to go."

He nods as he makes the mental note of the dinner. The clock over the mantel starts to chime and he turns towards the door again. It was getting late and he didn't want to get caught.

"Until then Lucius. Good evening." With a nod he takes his leave, disapparating to the town of Hogmeade before heading back up to the school.

Lucius bid both his guests farewell, heading off to his father's study again to think. He had taken time off from the ministry to get himself and his father's affairs in order, but he was beginning to miss the constant amount of work. It always kept his mind off of things.

With the dinner on Friday, that gave him something nice to look forward to- it was something he would have thrown normally. He decided then to throw all of his efforts into it, to keep his mind off of everything.

-

When friday came, Lucius had the house elves make plenty of things for them to eat- as he wasn't exactly sure what Regulus would want to eat. Asking probably would have been an appropriate idea, but it never occurred to him. He waited in front of the massive foyer staircase, wearing all black. He had a knee length coat on, and a buttoned up shirt that went nearly up to his chin. Normally he wouldn't wear so much black, as he wasn't Severus- teasing himself about the notion. But he was in mourning still, colors weren't appropriate quite yet. He let his long hair hang loose as he waited for any sign of Regulus.

The week had passed slowly, Regulus putting off speaking with Professor Dumbledore until he could no long do so and after one particular grueling Transfiguration class he waiting and shuffling from one foot to another he approached the desk.

"Er...Professor...a word if you please."

In his quiet way Dumbledore looked up and with a flick of his wand the door as closed to provide them some privacy.

"Forgive me Regulus, but the look upon your face says that you wish no one to intrude on what you're going to say." He said gently as he looked over his half-moon glasses.

"You're right Professor, I have...ha...I need to have a few words with you concerning the Order." Regulus's voice dropped a bit as he looked around, his eyes looking around as if waiting for one of his fellow Death Eaters to jump out at him. "Myself and a few fellow...followers of the Dark Lord want to give our aide in taking him down." Once the words were out of his mouth he waited on pins and needles for Dumbledore to speak.

"My boy, you do know what you just said...you're proposing munity. Are you sure?"

Regulus nodded. "I...and my associates made a mistake Professor and we wish to atone for it."

Dumbledore rose with a head nod. "Then so be it, I'll speak with others of the Order this eve and bring it before them. You do understand that they more than likely won't look favorably on this, they'll think you're looking to take inforamtion back to Voldemort."

"I understand, but I can only state that I don't part of what he's doing. While I do believe in the purity of Wizarding blood this is not the way...I don't descriminate against those without."

Dumbledore smiled a bit as he looked past Regulus. "Of course you don't Regulus, your attachment to a certain Ronan McDougall is evidence enough of that."

"H-how?"

"You're not very quiet in the Library Mr. Black, something that I know for fact that Madam Pince is very strict about. Try a bit harder next time."

The words were said with an air of joking but it still made Regulus blush as he nodded. The words also served as a finality to the meeting and with a bow Regulus left the room, feeling not certain that Dumbledore would help but leaning more to the side that he would.

As he readied himself for dinner with Lucius he looked at himself in the mirror, telling himself mentally that what they were doing was for the greater good and that even if they had joined of their own free will they were now trying to right that wrong. He caught sight of the clock in reflection of the mirror and seen that he was going to be late; grabbing slate grey cloak that accentuated the black and midnight blue robes he wore he hurried as fast as he could down to Hogsmeade before disapparating to Lucius's manor.

It felt like hours before he appeared and he jogged up the stone steps and knocked; out breath and holding his side as he waited for the door to open.

Lucius quickly opened the door, rather than having a house elf do it- which was out of the ordinary for him. "There you are! I know we didn't really have a set time. I was growing fairly worried. Irrational, I know." He ushered Regulus inside and shut the door, throwing a magic lock on it.

"Welcome Regulus, to the manor. Of which you are familiar with already." He said and gestured toward the grand dining room. "Come and join me for dinner in our needlessly huge dining room." The sentence was said in a light hearted way, as if poking fun at the excess of the manor.

"I trust your week at Hogwarts went uninterrupted and well... uneventful." Lucius drawled and slid down into one of the high backed chairs. He had dinner set wisely on the end of the table- so they could at least sit together, rather than being at opposite ends of a profoundly long table. "Did you speak with Dumbledore?"

Regulus took his seat and nodded. "I did, he said that he'd speak with the Order to see if they want to use our information. I didn't give any names other than my own so you and Severus are safe if they turn us down. It's hard to read the old man, but I think he was happy with the knowledge that someone was going to stand up against the Dark Lord. I did try to do more research on the Horcrux but there was nothing else to be found and none of the teachers wanted to reassign a pass to get into the restricted section; I think I might have go to Knockturn Alley to find some more information--either from word of mouth or by other; older books." He nudged the fork with his fingers as he wondered if their help would be accepted. "How as this week found you? I trust no one has come to interrupt the solitude of the manor other than business partners?"

"Yes, yes it is. I am hoping they want our information- because without what they may or may not know, our quest is a bit stagnant." Lucius sighed. "The dark lord has split his soul- a good amount of times. We don't know how many, and what he could have used other than his dear pet snake."

Lucius picked up his fork and knife, looking contemplative. "If that's the case and they don't wish to speak to us, or help us- we should try that. Knockturn Alley... However, we'll have to be careful. I wouldn't go there as Regulus Black or Lucius Malfoy looking for information about the dark lord. I think a polyjuice potion would be a more apt way about doing such business. I can only imagine how eager some might be to tell the dark lord what we were asking- or how happy they'd be to extort money out of us."

He shifted in his seat, tapping his fork on the side of the plate. "I am... well... my week? Lonely. It's been lonely. Regardless... I think we need to speak less of terrible things and more of... oh... pleasant things. That's what this dinner was all about. Tell me, Regulus- I want to know. How are things at Hogwarts? My time there was grand."

Regulus nodded, he could see where Lucius was heading with the use of polyjuice, if he were to be found out sniffing around for the use of Horcrux's and if anyone had any knowledge of what the Dark Lord was doing it would spell his death.

"Hogwarts? Ha, yes. Hogwarts. Well...the hat still does it's normal song at the beginning of term...of course this year I'm Seeker on the house team. Something my mother was pleased about seeing as how I not only made it to Slytherin but also on the team. Says I took after her in that regard. Classes...well Professor Dumbledore has a new student teacher for Transfiguration, Professor McGonagall, she looks like she'll be terribly strict if she becomes a teacher."

Regulus stopped and thought for a moment, trying to see what would appeal to one such as Lucius Malfoy, seeing as how the blonde was seven years his senior.

"They're thinking of doing a beginning of Spring Dance, depends on how the house cups goes I think. Slytherin and Gryffindor are tied, and surprisingly Hufflepuff has a bid in on the cup. Of course with Ronan playing as their Keeper I can see why, he's tenacious when it comes to the game...among other things. I think he'll be Head Boy next year, he's already a prefect and naturally a Head Boy is culled from those precious few. Hagrid is still a groundskeeper, he still manages to bring the biggest Pumpkins for Halloween and the nicest Christmas Trees for the Yule Celebrations. For all intents, the school is well....despite certain things happening outside it's walls."

"It sounds wonderful, Reg."Lucius said slowly, fond memories of Hogwarts drifting on back to him. "...I'm sorry it's been tainted by all of this mess." He looked guilty, even though Regulus joining was his choice. However, the fact of the matter remained- the dark lord became the dark lord because of pre-existing prejudice.

"You're the seeker then! I think I'll come and watch a match then. Especially if it's close between Slytherin and Gryffindor. As a governor of Hogwarts I can do those kinds of things. I'll have to come and root you on." He paused to continue on his dinner.

"Oh... Well then, I'm not surprised about Hagrid and his Christmas trees. I'm tempted to order one for the manor, but... it will be just me this year. Maybe I will go on holiday for the holidays." He looked at Regulus. "A spring ball? We barely got one dance out of the school." He made a face. "It was hardly fair, as I love to dance."

"You should. For all the friendship that everyone said existed between Godric and Salazar there is much hate between the houses and Quidditch allows us to take a little out on one another." He laughed a bit as he moved his food around on the plate. "As for the ball, they don't know yet. I'm hoping that they do, a Spring Dance would break the monotony of the revisions for exams. Surely there is somewhere around here that you can go to dance, some club or another? I'm rubbish at dancing, I look more like a chicken having a twitching fit."

"Going away on holiday sounds like fun. I don't think that Mum is going to go anywhere this year; she's become such a home body anymore, but...I think some time abroad would do you wonders, maybe see some more of the world than just our little slice. I think maybe once I graduate Hogwarts I want to go abroad for a few years, see the sights of the world, meet other wizards and witches see how customs differ from place to place."