He'd known from the moment he'd decided to turn against everything he'd been raised to believe in that there would be no going back. He couldn't be what he had been, couldn't stomach the thought of the death that the Dark Lord encouraged, and wished he'd had the strength to be like his brother and turned away from it all before it had gotten this far. Sirius would have welcomed him with open arms he knew, until he decided to become the perfect son. He couldn't change the past, he knew there was nothing to do but go forward. So he began to plan. He could never hope to take on the Dark Lord directly, but the Wizard had trusted him with something, knowledge of what he would do. The Dark Lord forgot that House Elves were only loyal to their families. So Regulus began to plan. If he couldn't fight the Dark Lord directly, he would use what he knew and take the Slytherin approach. First would be planning his own death. There could be no mistakes here, he didn't want anyone to try to find him, it had to be believable, and incontrovertible.

Stealing a Muggle body from the morgue, he worked a small bit of blood magic, changing the inner body chemistry just enough so that if anyone checked, they would believe the body was a Black. Next, he transfigured the body, adjusting its bone structure to match to his own. Finally, he placed a stasis charm on it so it would be ready when he needed it. The body prepared, he headed for Gringotts, removing enough money for him to live on for the ext twenty years if he watched what he spent, including enough funds to purchase a large Muggle house with a plot of land, and changed it all to Muggle funds. While he didn't have the paperwork necessary to open an account in a Muggle bank, a simple Confoundus charm took care of this problem. Next, he sought out an agent to assist him in purchasing a home. He ended up with some farmland in Ireland, along with the six horses that remained. He didn't mind, he'd paid far less than what he had budgeted for. Setting up the wards to make the land Unplottable, as well as some of the nastier intruder wards of the Black family, and finally the wards hiding him from owls, took him the better part of a week.

This done, he summoned Kreacher to assist him in retrieving the item the Dark Lord had his Elf assist him in hiding. It took him three days to recover from the potion with Kreacher's constant care, and even after he felt fragile for weeks to come. While he waited out the illness, he had Kreacher begin moving certain books from the Black library and pick up the large order from the bookstore in the Alley. Once minimally recovered, and making sure to erase all signs of magic on the body, he set it on fire, making certain that it left arm was unrecognizable before having the fire consume the body from the inside out. They would know it was a Black, but further tests would be corrupted. It would be assumed that the body was him. Finally, he port-keyed the body to Diagon Alley; he figured both sides would take it as a warning. Leaving orders for Kreacher to continue bringing him the Daily Prophet so he could track the war, he retreated to his new home to begin research on the locket he had retrieved.

The Prophet only made a small mention of his alleged death, stating that authorities could not be certain. His mark did not burn with summons, leading him to believe that there were other matters the Dark Lord was attending to. He didn't doubt that eventually the Wizard would want to make certain of his death, but for the moment, he was somewhat safe. He wished he hadn't been right about the other matters the Dark Lord was distracted by.

Excerpts from the journal of Regulus Black:

November 1, 1981

Today the Prophet has reported the death of the Dark Lord, giving him the ridiculous moniker of 'He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named'. It disappoints me that they could be so naïve. The Dark Lord has spent his life searching for immortality, and for them to believe that a mere babe in arms could save them… I don't doubt that physically he was banished, but if my research is correct, if the locket contains a soul fragment, the Dark Lord has been reduced to a shade. If that is the case, he will return, and he will take out all of his anger on the boy. While the world celebrates his defeat, his followers, the smart ones, are insinuating themselves back into their mundane lives, adopting a wait and see approach, the better to stab us all in the back.

Stealing a Muggle body from the morgue, he worked a small bit of blood magic, changing the insides to match him so if anyone checked, they would believe the body was a Black. Next, he transfigured the body matching the appearance to his own. Finally, he placed a stasis charm on it so it would be ready when he needed it. The body prepared, he headed for Gringotts, removing enough money for him to live on for the ext twenty years if he watched what he spent, including enough funds to purchase a large Muggle house with a plot of land, changing it all to Muggle funds. While he didn't have the paperwork necessary to open an account in a Muggle bank, a simple Confoundus charm took care of this problem. Next, he sought out an agent to assist him in purchasing a home. He ended up with some farmland in Ireland, along with the six horses that remained. He didn't mind, he'd paid far less than what he had budgeted for. Setting up the wards to make the land Unplottable, as well as some of the nastier intruder wards of the Black family, and finally the wards hiding him from owls, took him the better part of a week.

This done he summoned Kreacher to assist him in retrieving the item the Dark Lord had his Elf assist him in hiding. It took him three days to recover from the potion with Kreacher's constant care, and even after he felt fragile for weeks to come. While he waited out the illness, he had Kreacher begin moving certain books from the Black library and pick up the large order from the bookstore in the Alley. Once minimally recovered, and making sure to erase all signs of magic on the body, he set it on fire, making certain that it left arm was unrecognizable before having the fire consume the body from the inside out. They would know it was a Black, and make, but further tests would be corrupted. It would be assumed that the body was him. Finally, he port-keyed the body to Diagon Alley, he figured both sides would take it as a warning. Leaving orders for Kreacher to continue bringing him the Daily Prophet so he could track the war, he retreated to his new home to begin research on the locket they had retrieved.

The Prophet only made a small mention of his alleged death, stating that authorities could not be certain. His mark did not burn with summons, leading him to believe that there were other matters the Dark Lord was attending to. He didn't doubt that eventually the Wizard would want to make certain of his death, but for the moment, he was somewhat safe. He wished he hadn't been right about the other matters the Dark Lord was distracted by.

Excerpts from the journal of Regulus Black:

November 1, 1981

Today the Prophet has reported the Death of the Dark Lord, giving him the ridiculous moniker of 'He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named'. It disappoints me that they could be so naïve. The Dark Lord has spent his life searching for immortality, and for them to believe that a mere babe in arms could save them… I don't doubt that physically he was banished, but if my research is correct, if the locket contains a soul fragment, the Dark Lord has been reduced to a shade. If that is the case, he will return, and he will take out all of his anger on the boy. While the world celebrates his defeat, his followers, the smart ones, are insinuating themselves back into their mundane lives, adopting a wait and see approach, the better to stab us all in the back.