Eclipse Tower-
The tower was a cylindrical structure going up merely fifty feet in the air, barely reaching the treeline around the tower. The entire tower was made up of large square blocks of black stone. It didn't look like much on the outside, but on the inside, it was a maze.
The tower went several levels down into the ground and the entire structure was under a massive 'extension'. It may look like a small tower on the outside, but it was big enough to easily hold a reserve force consisting of 500 to 1000 men at all times. Long before the First Wizarding War, Voldemort summoned this ancient tower of unknown age and origin from a void dimension, summoned via a blood ritual sacrifice done under a special eclipse, hence its name.
The tower had a stench of evil about it; even the most decent man would find himself capable of cruel and perverse tasks when inside it. In the beginning, he found himself more prone to violence and often fancied sadistic desires of killing his annoying teammates, but he managed to reign himself once he learned the truth about the tower. It took an enormous amount of self-control to keep his mind in check, but he did it, and by doing so, he even found these layers about himself that he didn't even know he had in him.
Ever since he was made a secondary keeper of the Eclipse Tower, all information hidden under Fidelius about the Tower slowly came back to him, even Voldemort's memories that were hidden in magic. By Voldemort's memories, the magic of the tower was sustained by feeding on the evil of the hearts of men. It triggered the darkness within their hearts and fed on it, the more the people feel hatred, pain and evil, the stronger the tower's magic grew.
Several black jets of smoke-like clouds converged onto the tower. They all flew past the barrier and landed on the leaf-covered ground around the tower.
He landed on the ground in his hooded black cloak along with his teammates. They all immediately strode towards the entrance of the tower. A metal door that was guarded by two men also clad in black wearing a metallic mask. Spencer was the one leading the team, Balthazar following behind Spencer. He was walking second to last, before Wulfric, behind Edmund.
Just as they approached, the men guarding the door opened it and they all walked in. Wulfric brushed past him and Edmund towards the centre. He used the opportunity to slip out a small vial of liquid luck from under his sleeves. And as the metal door closed behind him, he gulped the liquid down in a swig.
And all of a sudden, he was feeling very lucky!
They all went up to Atticus's office and patiently waited in the corridor behind another team. Soon the door opened and a group of men walked out and proceeded to walk away through the other side of the curved corridor. The team waiting before them went in and they waited for their turn.
After about ten minutes, the door once again opened and the team that had gone in before them walked out and went past them. The chatting stopped and his teammates slowly went inside Atticus's office.
As usual, Spencer as the team leader started the briefing, "The target, his home and his family has been eliminated as ordered, my lord."
"Was anything useful acquired?" Atticus asked sounding curious.
"No, sir… His knowledge on the members' back dealings was rudimentary at best. " Spencer replied formally.
Atticus rubbed his beard and spoke as if he was thinking deeply, "Another dead end." After a brief pause, he continued, "I will direct your team to any possible leads if our 'stalkers' acquire any."
Atticus opened a drawer and took out a long piece of parchment and read the name in it, "Edmund, Henry and Avery… You three stay, the rest of you are dismissed."
Slowly his teammates left the office as he stood still along with Avery and Edmund.
"Avery, I've been closely reviewing your performance for the last few months. You've proved yourself capable. But I must ask you; do you feel ready to lead?" Atticus asked the pure-blooded prat.
And the said prat replied proudly, "Yes, my lord."
Atticus was a man who didn't mince his words, and this proved it, "Your father certainly thinks that you're ready, but since he wasn't there to oversee you, I cannot make a decision taking his words alone. In any case, I'm certain that you'll rise up to the task when necessary."
"Yes, sir… I absolutely will…" Avery replied sounding thankful.
"From now on, you'll be leading your own team. Make your Noble House proud, son. You can leave." Atticus ordered and handed him a rolled-up parchment with details about his new subordinates/team on it.
And Avery took the papers and departed with a 'thank you' all the while sporting a smug grin on him.
With the attack on the Ministry imminent, it was no coincidence that Avery was being promoted, someone was using him to improve the standing of their family in the eyes of the Dark Lord. He could see the logic behind it, especially the brilliant use of timing, so he supposed it as a smart move.
He was broken out of his musing, when he heard, "Henry!" Atticus's attention turned on him.
He straightened himself immediately, "I've gotten complaints that you're unwilling to participate in team-building traditions. Is that true?"
"Yes, sir..." He replied honestly.
"And may I ask why?"
"I detest those traditions." He replied rather bluntly.
Atticus took a sharp breath and looked at him disapprovingly, "It is necessary that you participate despite your moral reasons."
"Permission to speak freely, my lord..." He requested shortly.
"Granted…"
He took a step forward and said, "I don't see why rounding up unarmed and harmless children and killing them in cold blood should be comfortable."
"It's not about comfort Henry, it's about your teammates trusting you. How will they trust you if you deny their request at a simple cleansing…?" Atticus spoke as he was advising him.
"Sir, I don't see how children could be a threat to us. Besides, if its…" He was about to continue on but the man held his hand up to silence him mid-way.
Edmund who was standing beside him was giving him a look of superiority, having already participated in the final initiation ceremony.
Atticus replied angrily, "Children will grow up, and when they do, they'll stand against us. Despite what you may believe, killing them now is mercy."
He kept a perfect poker face and lied convincingly, "I hadn't considered that."
Atticus was quick to jump on that and mocked him, "Of course you didn't…, you were only concerned about your comfort."
Atticus paused for a moment and continued, "It doesn't matter now. You're adequately trained and tested. Since you don't share your team's taste for missions, perhaps this will appeal to you. I've decided to make you a 'stalker'. Take two days off, you'll be directly reporting to me after that."
'Stalkers' were a group of Death Eaters who were handpicked to investigate and collect intelligence, they were also the ones in charge of collecting the people that the Snatchers captured, and they were not allowed in battle, just reconnaissance. But what interested him about the division was that Stalkers had access to all the Death Eater locations, and that was something he sorely needed.
His new position was a result of his expert manipulation of Atticus. It wasn't difficult getting into Atticus's head, all he needed was to make an impression on the man; he did that by solving the tower's economic crisis. He suggested that after every raid that they steal the Rune Crystal that powers the wards around the homes and to sell it in the black market. Due to the rarity of Rune Crystals, they fetched quite a price for their sale, as it did; it also solved Atticus's money problems.
Two days…, it was obvious that he was being put on standby just in case the attack on the Ministry failed. He figured that they would make him an official investigator once they overthrow the current government and take over the Ministry.
"Yes, sir…!"
"Good, you're dismissed…" Atticus waved his hand dismissively and he was already out of the room.
And just as he walked away, he heard Atticus speaking to Edmund, "Edmund isn't it? Your uncle spoke to me. I've decided that you'll now be in charge of the armoury and you'll take care of…" That was all he could hear before he was out of earshot.
Records Room-
The stone archway enlarged as he walked into the Records Room and it shrunk back down once he was in. As soon as he walked to the counter, the old man minding the room called out to him, "Henry…!"
"Hello, Mister Douglas…" Douglas was the resident records keeper; he was the one who kept the tower running like a fully functioning machine not that anyone knew.
"What brings you down to the lonely records?" Doug asked curiously.
"I was just made a Stalker." He replied carelessly.
"Well, then I suppose congratulations are in order."
He gave the keeper a blank look, "I want you to push the papers through."
Doug's features transformed, he lost the smile and gained firmness, "Henry, I can't do that unless Lord Atticus sends me your file."
Harry reached into his cloak and pulled out a small bundle and placed it on the counter.
The keeper took the bundle and weighed it in his hand, and then he opened the sachet and counted the coins. With that the man gave him a look and his smile slowly returned, and a whisper came about, "I'll put the files through the process."
"It's always a pleasure doing business with you…, Henry!" The old man spoke sounding satisfied by the transaction.
Harry simply turned around and walked out of the moving archway without another word. Practically no one knew of the power Douglas that wielded within the tower; they only thought of him as the old records keeper, but he saw through that 'bumbling idiot' façade and all he had to do was look.
He wasn't taking any chances with the promotion. If Atticus forgets or if someone tried to sabotage it, or if the circumstances change, the promotion would still go through and he would get access to almost all Death Eater Locations.
Safe House 4-
Tomorrow evening the Ministry would be attacked by the Corps and since he's no longer a Hit Wizard; he wasn't allowed to participate in the attack, which was fine by him. He was promoted to a Stalker and the papers had made the transfer. Tomorrow, he would report to Atticus for his first mission.
But at the moment, he was enjoying himself with his little sluts. Three naked blonde sluts in bed with him, it was hardly his fault for not resisting the temptation.
He was comfortably seated with him resting his back on the cushioned headboard of the king-size bed. Rita was sitting on top of him fully naked, her eyes blindfolded in a black satin sash and her soft warm cunt milking his tool. Sally was hunched over in between his thighs; he could feel her warm mouth and tongue slurping on his bollocks, occasionally going up on his shaft to Rita's occupied slit. Narcissa was on the bed right beside him.
All three blondes looked a little alike, it was like fucking a family, Narcissa being the mother, Rita being her sister and Sally her daughter. The story in his head and the picture in front of him was so arousing that his libido was at an all-time high and not plummeting.
'Slap…' Narcissa gave Rita's pregnant belly a light slap and watched it bounce.
"Oooohhh…" Rita groaned again.
'Slap…'
"Move, whore, who said you could stop…?" Narcissa ordered and Rita once again improved her pace and sped up as she bounced in his cock.
Narcissa turned to him, "Master, why do you need this pregnant whore? She's all but useless…"
He grabbed Narcissa's chin and pulled her closer for a passionate kiss, which made her wet her own lips with her tongue and grin at him in lust, "Be gentle with her, my dear. I have plans for her."
Narcissa pressed herself against his side and leaned closer as she whispered lustily, "Master, I could bear you all the children you want."
"I've already filled your womb with my seed twice and you still want more? I'm impressed, my little minx."
Narcissa replied instantly, "I feel so empty without you inside me, sire."
Her response earned her another soft kiss, he smirked as he circled his right arm around Narcissa and pulled her close as she snuggled into him and rested her head on his shoulder. That's when he felt the pain from Rita's mind that was connected to his and he realised that she was at her physical limit, her thigh muscles were about to give out, in fact, he was impressed that she lasted for three whole hours of various positions, so he decided to give her some rest.
"Enough…" He said as he reached his left hand up and grabbed her by the scruff of her neck from behind and he pulled her backwards. She stopped riding his cock and just as he pulled out of her cunt, she fell back. She was breathing raggedly, covered in sweat as all her limbs ached. He embraced her as she fell and held her weight as she slowly slipped down to the bed, latched-on to his left side and rested her head sideways on his chest, her pregnant belly pressed against his side.
Narcissa slipped her finger in between the blindfold and pulled it over Rita's head, "I still don't get why you need this whore?" Rita eyes slowly adjusted to the light and she stared at Narcissa in fear and eased only a little at his embrace.
Meanwhile, Sally found her favourite throbbing tool unoccupied and kissed the tip. He watched as she opened her mouth wide and engulfed the tip, and he felt it. It only took a moment for her to swallow it as she started deepthroating it in style.
As soon as he heard Narcissa speak, he gave her arse a sharp spank, 'SPANK.' He asked her as she groaned, "Do I have to repeat myself, slut?"
"…ahhhh…" Narcissa groaned in lust, "No, sir!"
He grabbed her by the hair and pulled her up from his shoulder, "…schhh…" she winced in pain.
"You will treat her as lovingly you treat me, is that clear?" He asked in a commanding tone.
"Yes, master!" She cried out.
With that, he let Narcissa down and got up with Sally's mouth still attached to his cock. He saw her winking her eye at him, grinning wide even with his cock buried down her throat. He twisted himself and stood sideways and Sally adjusted herself by moving on her knees, all the while determined not to lose the feeling of her master's cock inside her throat.
"Narcissa, show Rita how much you appreciate her." Harry ordered the milf and watched as Narcissa obediently moved towards Rita and started molesting her tenderly. Their tits squeezed together and Cissa leaned in capturing Rita's lips. As the two blonde milfs started kissing in heat, he returned to the task at hand. He grabbed Sally's head on both the sides and he drew back his pelvis and he started spearing his cock down her throat.
"ARGH…" Harry groaned as Sally's eyes rolled to the back of her head.
Sally couldn't breathe; she felt it, the engorged hot meat moving in and out of her throat at breakneck speeds, which sent electrifying waves of pleasure down her loins. Her stomach buckled down and her knees slipped, she grabbed her master's arse with both her hands as if she would fall without the grip. And just when she was about to lose consciousness, she felt her master grabbing her head even tighter than before and thrusting in as deep as he could and held the pleasure rod in place. She felt his cock expanding and throbbing violently a number of times as his seed went down her throat. The pleasure was overwhelming as she lost control of her bladder and her abdomen convulsed and each time it jolted, she sprayed piss like a fountain.
Harry felt Sally's grip on his arse loosening and her arms falling limply, he pulled out of her mouth and released his hold on her head, and she fell prone on the bed, her eyes still rolled to the back as she was still uncontrollably urinating on the sheets beneath.
He was spent, he stepped down the bed and he walked to the door, "Clean this up…" he ordered on the way out. Meanwhile, he wandlessly used the 'cleaning spell' to clean himself and 'Accio-ed' the bathrobe and wore it as he left the room.
Downstairs in the kitchen, he poured hot water into a mug and bounced the tea bag a few times until he got the desired strength, then he added milk and some sugar. He opened the cupboard above his head and fished out a small black vial. He dropped three drops of the vial's contents into the tea and placed the vial back into the cupboard.
It was a Vilczal Elixir; he usually consumed a dose of it after sex. As soon as he took the first sip, he felt the effects, the irritation in his groin disappeared, the friction burns on his skin healed, his aching muscles ceased to ache, and the dull soreness in his bone joints vanished. He finally relaxed a little, the more he drank the tea, the more he started feeling his body returning to its maximum.
There was a time long ago when he could just rejuvenate himself with a spell to his heart, but nowadays it no longer worked, he had to redo the spell each time after an ejaculation to keep going further. And furthermore, after the third time, the spell no longer had any substantial effect, the fourth and fifth times were hard, it really pained him to keep going. Satisfying three women in bed was taxing, rather too taxing indeed. That's why he needed the Elixir, to heal and adapt, to improve his body even more so that he can perform better in the future.
He heard footsteps; he knew exactly who it was, so he lazily took another sip.
Narcissa walked down completely naked, it was liberating, the freedom. Being naturally dominant, she never shared her man with another woman, the entire idea of sharing was completely out of the question, yet here she was, having shared a bed with two women and the man of her dreams. As a pureblood lady, being naked outside the bedroom was taboo, yet here she was walking down to her lover with nothing on her body, she was at ease around him. Harry had changed her, she felt free and safe in his presence, no worries, no responsibilities, leg trembling orgasms whenever they shared a bed. She was truly enjoying life.
She limped towards her master who was sipping his tea as he was staring off into space. She walked behind him and hugged him; her head leaned on the back of his neck.
"Hope you had a happy birthday…" She greeted blissfully.
It was past midnight, and Harry's birthday was already over, she had wanted to greet him before the day had ended, but as soon as she reached the safe house a few hours earlier, she found out that her master was already in the middle of something with Sally and Rita, so she had just joined in without a word.
He took another slow sip and replied sounding unhappy, "Birthday…? There's nothing happy about it."
She stood on her toes and kissed him on the back of his neck and whispered, "You have me."
"That I do." He replied carelessly.
As soon as he finished his mug of tea, he straightened his posture and flicked his wrist in a smooth wave, his wand appeared out of thin air, and with that, he gave another wave over his body. Silver flakes of dust fell on top of him and his blue bathrobe transformed into a comfortable white shirt, sharp fit brown blazer, thin black trousers with undergarments beneath. He summoned a pair of shoes, he gave another wave and pair of socks appeared around his feet, he quickly stepped into the shoes as the laces tied themselves.
"Get me my wallet, will you? It's on the coffee table, I think…"
Narcissa walked into the living room, found his wallet and walked back into the kitchen and found him tightening the buttons on his cuffs, she felt a need to ask, "Where are you going? I thought you were coming back to bed?"
"I have some things to take care of; this is the perfect time to do it."
"Can I ask you where you're going?" Narcissa felt a sudden need to be possessive.
Harry gave her a stare with a half-smirk tugging on his lips, "Don't ask questions you don't want answers to." He dissuaded her in an imposing tone.
He walked towards her and gave her a peck on the side of her head, and gave a slight slap on her arse, "Get back to bed."
Narcissa turned around, eyed him, bit her lower lips and whispered huskily, "Come back soon, I'll be waiting."
Harry leaned in close to her face, his eyes not for a moment breaking contact, their lips met and their tongues danced, and when he detached, "I will be back soon." The milf breathed in content and quickly hurried up the stairs to join the others.
With that, he walked to the fireplace and placed his hand on the cold stone and he mused, "Stun wheel…" And suddenly, flames sparked in the fireplace and turned green. It was a password to protect the house from unauthorised usage. He had added an extra feature to the security, from now on the passwords needn't be said out loud; just reciting them in mind was enough. This was to prevent someone else from mimicking the words in his voice to enter this location via the floo like he had done to enter Rowle's Shack.
He grabbed a handful of Floo powder and he stepped into the fire and threw it at his feet just as he spoke clearly, "No. 12, Grimmauld Place." He disappeared inside the green flames that engulfed him.
12, Grimmauld Place-
The fireplace lit up and through the floo, Harry stepped out into the dark house. He pointed his wand up in the air above his head and all the chandeliers in the house lit up and enlightened the house.
He hadn't been here much in a while, but in any case, he had stashed something in Sirius's room a while back, he was about to get it. He walked up the stairs, ignoring the burned portrait of Walburga Black; he had used a 'reductor' curse on it just to shut the woman up.
Within moments he was inside Sirius's bedroom, he opened the drawer by the bed and retrieved two parcels. He conjured a piece of decorated parchment and wrote a short greeting on it. He attached the greeting on top of the parcels and tied a red ribbon over both. It was a gift.
He walked back down the stairs to the fireplace by the kitchen and he placed the gift inside the fireplace and showered some floo powder on top of it. And then he took his wand and pointed it at the gift inside the fireplace and muttered the name of the location with the image of it in mind, "The Burrow."
The gift disappeared within the engulfing green flames and with that, his job was done. This was the only time he could use the floo to transport objects and not be detected. He didn't want to disturb the Weasleys and furthermore, he didn't want to trigger a search, at this time of hour, the Ministry's floo monitoring personnel will be long gone, any temporarily recorded abnormality in magical floo signatures will be erased from the records by the time the Ministry starts the day with literally hundreds and hundreds of officials floo-ing into the Ministry Atrium for work. This was why whenever Sirius wanted to talk to him via the floo without being monitored; they scheduled their calls around or after midnight.
He gave out a long breath of relief and was about to walk into the floo himself and that's when he heard it, a long hooting noise. He was sure that it belonged to an owl, a rather familiar owl. He ran up the stairs in delight and opened the room in which the sound emanated from and he found it, the snowy white owl sitting by the open window hooting ruefully.
"Hedwig…?" He called out almost in tears.
The bird glided into the air and almost tackled him into his chest, he embraced it in tears as he cried, "It's you. It's really you. I missed you, girl. I missed you so much."
"Hoot, hoot, hoot…" She rubbed her head under his chin as if she was familiarising with him again.
"I'm so sorry that I left you in Hogwarts, I'm so sorry." The owl bobbed her neck as if she understood his every word and accepted his apology.
"Let's go home!" He exclaimed in delight and he got an enthusiastic long hoot.
She perched on his shoulder and he walked out of the door. But three steps out into the hallway, he stopped short. He slowly turned sideways and noticed something by the corner of his eye.
He walked back to the door and noticed the neatly lettered hand-written sign on it, he almost read it out loud, "Do Not Enter Without the Express Permission of Regulus Arcturus Black."
"Regulus Arcturus Black…" Harry repeated slowly in doubt, "R…A…B"
"Could it be…?" He muttered under his breath to himself.
He searched his wallet and he took out a piece of folded parchment that he kept inside it, he smoothed it out and read it, "To the Dark Lord. I know I will be dead long before you read this but I want you to know that it was I who discovered your secret. I have stolen the real Horcrux and intend to destroy it as soon as I can. I face death in the hope that when you meet your match you will be mortal once more. R. A. B."
Harry pressed the parchment by the sign on the door and he compared the two pieces. The handwriting was identical, the o's, the e's, the elongated tail on the y's and the overall slanting strokes of the letters, "Merlin's beard." He gasped out.
He felt like a fool for noticing this earlier, he had been to Sirius's room twice in the last month, but not once did he notice the sign or the name on the door nearby. He felt like kicking himself if it was possible to do so.
Putting that train of thought aside, he immediately recalled any information about Sirius's brother; he didn't get much from other sources, every memory he had from the Death Eaters' side portrayed him as a loyal servant to the Dark Lord during his early days of conquest. But he remembered Sirius saying to him that his brother had joined as a Death Eater too early in life and that he became disenchanted from the lifestyle fairly quickly and wanted to leave, and that they had killed him for wanting to leave. It didn't fit at first, the Death Eaters didn't kill him, and even Voldemort thought highly of Regulus, enough to accept the house elf that Regulus had volunteered to give, the same elf he took to Horcrux placement ritual. Regulus had simply disappeared one day and had never returned. As he mused more it became clear, with the key piece of information in his hand, the pieces of the puzzle fell in place.
Hedwig nipped his earlobe, he winced a little as he broke out of his daze, "Of course, it all fits. Regulus joins when he's too young, he gets cold feet and wants to leave, he learns of the Horcrux, steals it. It all fits." He spoke to Hedwig as he had made a breakthrough.
Suddenly, his image grew sullen as he realised that he had held the Horcrux in his hands two years ago, he had thrown it out among other things when they were cleaning the home that summer, "FUCK…!" He roared in anger. The locket's colour was faded and it was covered in dust, so he hadn't conjugated the two images at first, but now, he felt like the biggest idiot to ever exist.
"It was all for nothing." He thought to himself rather miserably as he walked down the stairs to the dining room.
His anger only grew the more he thought about it, "It was all for fucking nothing." He had no one to blame this on, but himself, which made things all the worse.
He slumped into a chair and stared off into space, but as he was wallowing in despair, he noticed something odd, there wasn't any dust anywhere, not on the furniture or on the flatware, nothing. It was as if someone was cleaning the house regularly in his absence.
Harry thought of the only name that made sense, he uncertainly called out, "Kreacher?" He hadn't used Kreacher's services in a while, it had indeed been months. The last time he could think of was when he had used the elves to monitor Draco's movements in Hogwarts.
There was a loud crack and the house-elf that he had so reluctantly inherited from Sirius appeared out of nowhere in front of the cold and empty fireplace, a tiny, half human-sized, his pale skin hanging off him in folds, white hair sprouting copiously from his bat-like ears.
"Master…" Kreacher croaked in his bullfrog's voice, and he bowed low.
"Thank god!" He thanked in his mind, "I've got a question for you Kreacher, and I order you to speak the truth and nothing else."
"Two years ago…" Harry began, his heart now hammering, "…there was a big gold locket in the drawing-room upstairs. It was thrown out. Did you by any chance steal it back?"
There was a moment's silence, during which Kreacher straightened up to look him full in the face. Then the elf said, "Yes."
"Thank you, thank you, thank you, god… I almost gave up on you. I'm sorry…" He felt like a weight had been lifted off of him.
"Where is it now?" He asked in absolute interest, desperately hoping that the elf still had it.
"Hidden…"
"Kreacher, I order you to find it and bring it to me." He spoke his words very clearly.
The elf snapped his fingers and disappeared into thin air, but a few moments later, he reappeared in the exact same spot with the locket in hand.
He held out his hand and the elf wordlessly handed him the locket, he took the locket in disbelief as he sat back into the chair and inspected it closely. It was the real one, he was sure of it. He couldn't believe it, not only he had found Hedwig; he had also found another Horcrux the same night.
He wasn't a superstitious man by any standards, but this series of events happening just a few hours after his birthday somehow seemed lucky.
"Kreacher, what happened in the cave after the Dark Lord abandoned you after making you drink the potion?" He asked as some things still needed to be filled in for the truth.
"Kreacher needed water, he crawled to the island's edge and he drank from the black lake... and hands, dead hands, came out of the water and dragged Kreacher under the surface"
"How did you get away?" Harry asked curiously, while not at all surprised to hear about the Inferi.
Kreacher raised his ugly head and looked Harry with his great, bloodshot eyes. "Master Regulus told Kreacher to come back…" The elf said.
"I know, but how did you escape the Inferi?" He asked urgently.
"Kreacher came back, Master Regulus told Kreacher to come back." The elf repeated the same thing again and again.
Then it dawned on him, "Of course, Elf Magic, it worked in the cave, you disapparated and came back." Harry paused for a moment in deep thought and then he asked, "So what happened when you came back and told Regulus?"
"Master Regulus was very worried, very worried." Kreacher almost croaked out, "Master Regulus told Kreacher to stay hidden and not to leave the house. And then it was a little while later Master Regulus came to find Kreacher in his cupboard one night, and Master Regulus was strange, not as he usually was, disturbed in his mind, Kreacher could tell…and he asked Kreacher to take him to the cave, the cave where Kreacher had gone with the Dark Lord. . . . "
"Did he make you drink the poison?" He asked inquisitively.
But Kreacher shook his head and wept, "M…m, Master Regulus took from his pocket a locket like the one the Dark Lord had." Kreacher said, tears pouring down his eyes.
"And he told Kreacher to take it and, when the basin was empty, to switch the lockets... And he ordered Kreacher to leave without him. And he told Kreacher to go home and never to tell my Mistress what he had done but to destroy the first locket. And he drank the entire potion and Kreacher swapped the lockets and watched…as Master Regulus …was dragged beneath the water…"
He being shocked was an understatement; Sirius's brother had been killed by the Inferi, not by the Death Eaters or by anyone else. In any case, he now had the locket, and the diadem was in his trunk that Dobby had transported from Hogwarts, he needed the Hufflepuff's cup, but he had no idea where to find it. The only thing he knew about it was the fact that Voldemort had given it to Bellatrix for safekeeping around the same time he gave Malfoy his Diary.
The easiest way he could think of getting the cup was capturing Bellatrix. Of course, that was easier said than done. Obviously, that was going to be the next course of action.
The Burrows-
Former Auror Alastor Moody looked mollified a little. He had checked the items a number of times with every possible spell he could think of and he couldn't find anything unsavoury with the items in question.
Mister Weasley with George, Ron, Ginny and Fred were watching Alastor expectantly. Finally, Mister Weasley asked the most obvious question; "Is there something on it, Alastor?"
"No…" The man replied curtly, "Outside the obvious charms of protection against theft and such, there's no hidden curse on it."
"That means it is from Harry." George said to everyone around him, Ron, Fred and George grinned at his comment and Mister Weasley looked impressed.
Bill walked into the home from the marquee outside and gave them all a questioning stare. Mister Weasley handed one of the boxes to Bill. The other one he gave to Ginny and whispered something in her ear. Ginny immediately ran up the stairs with the box in hand.
Bill opened the box and found a simple but stylish platinum bracelet inside, its appearance was of like a watch's strap, but cross-stitched in a metallic chain, all in lustrous white. One look at it, they could all tell that it must have cost a fortune. Bill beheld his brothers with a wondrous gaze, clearly impressed by the piece of jewellery.
Ron excitedly asked his brother, "Are you going to wear it or not?"
Bill had no words, he looked lost, also torn as to whether he should wear it or not. He wasn't one to wear jewellery, he was very impressed by the gesture but at the same time clearly at a junction of indecision.
Meanwhile, upstairs in front of the mirror, Fleur too was at a loss of words. Her gaze was fixed on the beautiful platinum necklace with dark blue sapphires etched into it. Her veela cousins and her sister were all mesmerized by the beauty of the necklace as well. With Aunt Muriel's tiara nestled beautifully in her stylised hair and Harry's necklace on her neck, she looked breath-taking.
The Wedding-
The ceremony was over, and the bride and groom were dancing elegantly, the guests were having a good time inside the marquee. Dancing couples, gossiping conversations, men drinking to their heart's content. Ron was dancing with Lavender whom he had invited for the wedding. Viktor Krum had taken an interest in Ginny and was dancing with her after having charmed her with his fame and good looks. Fred and George had long ago disappeared with three of Fleur's Veela cousins. Mister Weasley, Amos Diggory, Xenophilius Lovegood were talking amongst each other.
All was well until something large and silver came falling through the canopy over the dance floor. Graceful and gleaming, the lynx landed lightly in the middle of the astonished dancers. Heads turned, as those nearest it froze absurdly in mid-dance.
Then the Patronus's mouth opened wide and it spoke in the loud, deep, slow voice of Kingsley Shacklebolt.
"The Ministry has fallen. Scrimgeour is dead. They are coming." "The Ministry has fallen. Scrimgeour is dead. They are coming." "The Ministry has fallen. Scrimgeour is dead. They are coming." "The Ministry has fallen. Scrimgeour is dead. They are coming."
The voice emanating from within the Patronus repeated again and again.
Many people were only just realizing that something strange had happened; heads were still turning toward the silver cat as it vanished into thin air. Silence spread outward in cold ripples from the place where the Patronus had landed. Then somebody screamed from within the crowd. Moments later, guests were sprinting in all directions; many were Disapparating away near instantaneously; the protective enchantments around the Burrow had been broken.
"Protego…!" The spell could be heard in many directions. Tonks, Lupin, Alastor and other Order members were fighting off Death Eaters who were flooding into the marquee.
Alastor hurried towards Remus parrying two spells simultaneously with skilled precision, he yelled out, "LEAVE NOW!" With that, Alastor disappeared within a swirling image of warping space.
Tonks and Remus shared a brief look and she grabbed Remus's hand and they both disapparated as well. One by one all of them escaped the clutches of the Death Eaters.
Death Eaters hurried towards the bride and groom, surrounding them from all sides and held them at wand point, for some reason none of them felt like casting a curse or hurting the two newlyweds. No one realised it but the dark blue sapphires on Fleur's necklace were dimly glowing, not that it could be seen unless in the darkest of nights.
Within minutes, the entire Weasley family and Delacour family including Fleur's cousins the twins were having fun with were assembled inside the home at wand point. And with that, the interrogation began, the only question they asked was 'where is Harry Potter?'
Among the crowd, under the watchful eyes of Death Eaters, in the corner of the crowded room, by the fireplace, Fred slowly and inaudibly crunched the note that Harry had attached to the wedding gift. He quietly slipped the crunched-up piece of parchment into Charlie's hand, which he slowly transferred it into his other hand and readily threw it into the fire without question.
Eclipse Tower-
It was around nine o'clock at night; he was in a rather good mood, considering how he had found another Horcrux early morning today. He was so happy that even the news of the Ministry being successfully overthrown by the Death Eater Corps wasn't enough to bring his mood down.
He flew into the tower's shield wards in a stream of black smoke and he swiftly passed through it and marched towards the metal door as he landed. The two men who usually guarded the door was absent, he was a little surprised by the lack of security.
The door opened and he walked in, almost gliding across the empty hallways as he went up towards the topmost level of the tower. The closer he got, the louder it became, all the Death Eaters assigned to the tower, that's over three hundred men in number had reported to the castle on time, responding to the call. All of them were inside the 'extended' hall; he could feel all the magical signatures. As he was reaching towards the entrance, deafening roars and applause almost made it impossible for him to hear Rodolphus Lestrange's speech.
As soon as he entered the loud hall, he looked up to the gallery and noticed several inner circle Death Eaters there. Rodolphus Lestrange, Augustus Rookwood and Mulciber Snr. Atticus was missing, he had a feeling that he would find out why soon enough.
He tuned into Rodolphus's loud speech, "…ON THIS DAY, WE HAVE TAKEN OUR FIRST STEP TOWARDS GREATNESS…" the hall roared in applause as Rodolphus kept going, when the applause died down a little he was once again able to hear the man speak, "…WE WILL WEED OUT ALL THE MUDBLOOD FILTH WHO HAVE STOLEN OUR MAGIC AND WE WILL LEAD THIS GREAT NATION TO SUPREMACY."
'…ROAR…' Men were screaming and applauding louder than ever before. Trays with full bottles of desired poisons were floating across the hall, and one of them came floating by him and he randomly pulled a bottle of mead from the tray. He bit the rubber cork, pulled it out of the bottle and held it up above his head to feign his support just as he spat the cork away.
Seeing him raise the bottle, many nearby him raised their own, and soon the entire hall was holding the bottles of liquor up. Rodolphus was holding a golden goblet in his hand he raised his hand up to his subordinates and continued, "THIS NIGHT WE CELEBRATE TO OUR MIND'S CONTENT. THIS IS THE WILL OF THE DARK LORD, OUR BENEVOLENT MASTER."
The moment the Lord of the Lestrange House said that all men, women and Lycans in the hall roared, "YEAAAAHHH…"
The speech ended and the men in the hall started drinking like there was no tomorrow. He wondered to himself a little disappointedly, if only he had access to all the other hidden locations, he would have murdered everyone in this hall tonight. It was the perfect venue to do it, everyone was drunk and in a daze, and the entire population was concentrated on the top floor, making it the perfect occasion for an unsuspecting attack. If only a he got the access a day earlier, if only…
With that, he gulped down the entire content of the bottle in a single swig and smashed the bottle into the ground.