The Day The Sun Stopped Rising
“James! James! Come see!!” Regulus called out excitedly, turning his gaze away from the stunning scene of the night sky. “It's b- beautiful…” His sentence ended in a sigh as the realization hit him, knocking the air out of his lungs. How could he have forgotten… the memories washed over him, pulling him back in time.
Regulus was lying flat on the ground, still recovering. The locket clasped in his palm seemed to writhe in his grasp. The screams echoed in his ears as though he was still in the cave and tears flowed freely from his eyes. He didn’t know how but Regulus had survived, he was one step closer to saving James.
Kreature hovered over the boy, wringing his hands with worry, he was quite fond of Master Regulus and feared what would become of him if he were lost. The tears and breaths, even ragged as they were, were a good sign but Master Regulus’ eyes remained glassy and blank and his limbs showed no signs of movement. Kreature had done all that he could to help Master Regulus while following the orders he had been given but feared it might not be enough. Kreature wanted to fetch Miss Cissy to check on him but she had warned him he must not be seen with her.
Regulus watched as Kreature grew ever more worried, he wanted to comfort the elf, to let him know that he was here, he had survived and he would be okay but he still had no control of his body. It must have been at least another thirty minutes when Regulus’ body began to obey him once more, Tom’s defences had affected Regulus much more than he had expected them to. He reached out a hand towards the pacing elf.
“Master Regulus! Master Regulus is awake! Kreature was not sure Master Regulus would wake but he has!” Regulus smiled at the elf and let out a hoarse chuckle.
“I am Kreature, we did it.” He tried slowly to sit up unsure if his strength had returned enough to complete the task. His breathing had smoothed out and he could feel himself returning to full strength. His thoughts returned to James and his smile grew, ‘I will keep you safe, love.’ He thought to himself. Everything was falling into place, the ‘marriage’ of Lily and James had gone off without a hitch, any association between the boys had been covered and now Regulus had successfully taken possession of the artefact which would bring about the fall of the ‘dark lord’ and finally free Regulus to return to his love.
The room surrounding him faded away as a new memory took hold, the day he found out. Regulus had learned that Tom was pursuing the potters much more intensely; he had rushed to his brother’s to ensure the charm was still intact.
“Sirius, the push on the potters has increased, you have to be on guard, they’ll be coming for you.”
“Reggie, calm down, I’ll be fine, besides they won't-” Sirius clamped his mouth down, hard.
“Siri, this is important, not a good time to joke around” Regulus scoffed. “You’re in serious danger. James is in serious danger, Harry and Lilly are in serious danger! Grow up, this is war.” The second the words left his mouth Regulus knew he shouldn’t have said that, Sirius was just trying to cope.
“For your information I am very grown up, so grown up in fact, that I made a strategic decision, knowing I would be the prime suspect I relinquished my place as secret keeper.” Regulus went pale.
“Shit, Sirius… who was made secret keeper in your place? For Merlin’s sake please please say Remus!” Connections were starting to form in Regulus’ brain, connections he hoped were merely coincidences.
“Uhh… er, no… it uh, it was…” Sirius was rubbing the back of his neck nervously and Regulus began to sweat knowing the name he was about to speak. “Pete.” The brothers spoke in unison.
“Shit, of course, how did I not see it! Oh my god! Sirius! We need to get to them! They’re not safe! Pete made his way to the inner circle, he must have told Him!”
“My bike, it’ll be fast enough! Let's go, when we get there I can fly harry somewhere safe and you can get them out. No need putting the little lad through an apparition if we don’t have to.” The brothers rushed to the residence of the Potters.
Everything seemed quiet in Godric’s Hollow and, from a distance the Potter residence seemed undisturbed. Regulus let out a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding only to realize as they got closer he had reacted too soon, the massive hole came into view and Regulus’ mind began to race, he’d never seen anything like it, maybe it wasn’t as bad as it seemed. Tom would have used the killing curse of course, that couldn’t be what caused this, maybe they were safe. Sirius gently brought the bike to the ground. Regulus dismounted and the brothers shared a worried glance before, Regulus in the lead, one by one, they headed for the door.
He took a breath steadying himself before closing his eyes and slowly turning the knob. Releasing the breath he took a step into the doorway and opened his eyes. The familiar walls stared back at him, a comforting sight to be sure but as he looked around he spotted it, the only proof he needed. On the floor lay the wand of the man he loved and sure enough, mere feet away from the wand lay James Potter, lifeless. Regulus rushed to his side dropping to his knees. Sirius was close behind staring down at his best friend in shock. Suddenly from the second level came the cry of an infant, Sirius snapped into action though Regulus did not even notice, he saw nothing but James, heard nothing but the echoes from the cave returning to haunt him and the sole thought he could find ‘I failed you,’ spun around his mind at dizzying speeds.
Regulus was pulled from his trance by his brother’s hand on his shoulder. “Reggie, it's Harry.” Regulus quickly shut his eyes.
“No, Siri, I can’t… I-” Sirius cut him off.
“He lived, Reggie,” Sirius turned his brother's head towards him. “Look.” Regulus slowly opened his eyes and came face-to-face with little Harry, James’ twin. “Here,” Sirius gently positioned Regulus’ arms and placed the bundled baby boy into them. The dark-haired boy looked directly at Reggie and smiled, James’ smile, before reaching for his face and letting out contented sounds. Regulus on the verge of tears choked out a quiet promise.
“I won’t fail you again. I will protect you, Harry.”