"I can't believe I'm not the one with the plan this time." Esme said under a hushed voice as she looked around Regulus' old bedroom in Grimmauld Place.

Regulus smiled at her, "I feel good about this one; it really is bulletproof."

"Well that's good, given all the guns that are involved." She retorted with a smirk.

He rolled his eyes, "Alright, whatever."

"You're just happy because it's your plan this time." Esme laughed quietly.

"Let's just do this and get out quickly. I'm not completely certain when my parents will get back." Regulus explained as he slowly creaked open the door to the landing.

It had been only a couple of weeks since that fateful Hallowe'en night. They had been hiding out at Aberforth's, but it was growing increasingly dangerous as the Aurors were hunting down Esme and Regulus. Nationwide they'd been accused of the murders of Gideon and Fabian Prewett - most likely something some Death Eaters had said so the actual murderers could escape without a conviction.

So as their safety was growing less and less secure, they had devised a plan to get out for good. Neither of them could see a way of clearing their names, especially given their familial links to the Death Eaters, and that left them with only one option.

Still, there was one thing left they had to see to before they could leave.

"Kreacher!" Regulus hissed as he leant over the bannister with Esme stood beside him.

Esme didn't know what to do, really. Regulus seemed okay. He seemed to be alright. But he would never bring up his family, and completely refused to talk about Sirius. Esme had tried to broach the subject, but Regulus would either avoid the questions, or quite simply make up some excuse to leave the room.

He had used to sometimes talk about his mother - about how she'd been or what she'd done when he was much younger. Even that had stopped now. He didn't utter a word about any of them.

"Kreacher!" Regulus called out again with a louder voice.

The two of them peered down to the ground floor, and there emerged Kreacher. He looked up in slight confusion, and then when he saw Regulus, his expression lit up and there was even a trace of a smile.

"Master Regulus!" Kreacher replied eagerly before apparating up the stairs to them.

"Is the house empty?" He asked, and evidently relaxed when the house-elf confirmed that.

Esme bent down slightly and asked, "Do you still have the locket?"

"Yes," He nodded, "Kreacher kept it safe, just as you asked."

"Can you fetch it, please?" Regulus asked and with a pop, Kreacher had vanished. A couple of seconds later, he appeared before them again with a louder sounding snap and the locket in his hand.

Regulus took the locket in his hand and turned it over several times, looking at the engravings. Then he handed it back to Kreacher and quietly said, "We need you to destroy it."

Over the past couple of weeks, Esme and Regulus were both starting to grow more sceptical of the people around them. Notably, Professor Dumbledore. After what had happened Hallowe'en night, neither of them particularly trusted the wizard.

Esme reached into her bag to pull out Secrets of the Darkest Art - the old leather book they had purchased from Borgin and Burkes a couple of years ago. "I wish we could be of more help, but we don't know how to destroy it. Perhaps this can be of help to you."

"Kreacher isn't sure." The house-elf shook his head with reservation, "Why can't Master Regulus take the locket? It has a darkness in it."

"It's too dangerous. If we get caught, that locket could fall into the wrong hands. There's already countless Death Eaters weaselling their way out of time in Azkaban. If the locket ends up in their hands, it will never be destroyed. You need to keep it, destroy it, and wipe our memories."

Kreacher stepped back and his face fell, "W-wipe your memories?"

Esme confirmed, "Yes. Again, it's for if we get caught."

"We can't risk telling people we know the Dark Lord made a horcrux." Regulus explained, "I mean... Hypothetically he could still come back. If the horcrux were to be destroyed then he wouldn't get the chance, right? This horcrux is the only upper hand we have, and nobody can know about it."

She confessed, "Truthfully, we don't really know how they work - the horcruxes. If we got caught and were made admit to knowing about the horcrux, it could send people looking for it. If the Death Eaters found it, we think it could be used to bring the Dark Lord back."

"Kreacher must destroy the horcrux?" Kreacher looked down at the locket in his hands. He had held onto it and kept it safe for so long already, and he hated the dark magic he could feel crawling within it. He had hoped that Regulus would come to take it away, but now he was being charged with a task he wasn't sure he could accomplish.

"Your magic is strong. You can do it." Regulus knelt down time eye level with the house-elf, "It might just take some time to figure out, is all. And you need to wipe our memories of anything to do with the horcrux."

"E... Even the cave?" He asked.

Esme nodded, "That too, yes."

"You can't tell anyone about this." Regulus warned, "You can only reinstate our memories if we ask, alright? For whatever reason that may be. Don't tell anyone about this."

Kreacher bowed his head, "Of course, Master Regulus. Anything."

"So you'll destroy the horcrux, yeah?" Esme double checked.

The house-elf nodded his head in confirmation.

Regulus smiled, "We'll be back. We'll see you again."

"Kreacher looks forward to it greatly." He responded, tightening his grip on the locket in his hands.

Kreacher had been in Regulus' life since before he could remember. He'd been the one to provide snacks when his parents had been too busy to think about it. He'd been the one to sit with Regulus when Sirius and his parents were screaming at each other in the other room.

Kreacher had been a friend and practically a brother to Regulus.

"You'll be happy here, will you?" Regulus asked.

The house-elf nodded again.

Esme had suggested freeing Kreacher, seen as otherwise he would be left behind in Grimmauld Place for so long.

Regulus knew that wouldn't help. He had broached the topic with Kreacher once before - about tricking Walburga into providing him with some clothing to earn his freedom.

Kreacher had been horrified at the suggestion. He didn't want to leave. Grimmauld Place was the only home he'd ever known and if he couldn't live there, he'd have nothing. He wanted to serve the household that kept him warm in the winter and safer than other house elves in other households.

He was never met with violence. The Black family was his family, and Kreacher didn't want to be pushed out.

"Okay," Regulus straightened up and grasped Esme's hand, "We're ready then. Whenever you are."

She nodded and squeezed his hand.

Kreacher looked up at the two of them - the now young adults who treated him like an equal. Like a friend. How he would miss them.

He took this locket one one hand and extended his other arm towards them. Without uttering a word, he twisted his wrist around slightly and a trickle of white and blue light started to flow from both Esme and Regulus and into his fingertips. Slowly, the light moved and shimmered through the dust in the air.

It only took a moment, and then the light faded and Kreacher took a step back.

Esme and Regulus looked at each other, and then took more of their surroundings.

"Are we in Grimmauld Place?" She frowned, dropping his hands and turning around to examine the pictures on the wall.

Regulus slowly replied, "What are we doing here?" Then he turned to the house-elf, "Oh, Kreacher. What's going on?"

Kreacher swallowed the lump in his throat and clasped his hands, containing the locket, behind his back. "Master Regulus and Miss Avery came to visit Kreacher before their big trip. Kreacher is most grateful for the visit. Master Regulus was just leaving."

"Oh, of course. Must be the apparition messing with my memory. I feel like I've been hit in the head." Regulus shook his head slowly, "Well, we best be off then. Before they return."

Kreacher and Esme were both fully aware of who he was referring to. They couldn't risk being trapped by Walburga and Orion again.

"Back to Aberforth's?" Esme asked.

"Suppose it has to be." He confirmed, "Not for long though."

"I can't believe this is all done." She admitted wistfully, "I mean, the war is over. That chapter is closed on our lives."

It wasn't.

But that's a story for a later time.

Regulus nodded solemnly, "We were just kids when that all started. I was so afraid and so naive. I'm still afraid, don't get me wrong, but I think I'm perhaps a fair bit wiser now."

She responded, "We're barely even adults. But we've got the rest of our lives now."

That they did. They had escaped, and now they had the future to plan for and look forward to.

They'd made it out with each other, and that was all they needed to make it through, to make everything bearable.

"We'll see you soon, Kreacher. All the best." Regulus smiled warmly, then took ahold of Esme's hand and, whilst waving farewell to the house-elf, the two of them disapparated from Grimmauld Place, not to return for a very long time indeed.