The Quartets Query

Regulus POV 

I bent over my history of magic homework spread across my desk. It wasn’t my favorite class by any means, and I was hoping to whip through it before finding Iris. She was desperate to go to the Gryffendor vs Hufflepuff game tonight, and I wouldn’t mind seeing Sirius completely destroyed by Mel, even if we were on good terms now. 

Despite my best efforts, my mind kept wandering to the locket Kreature had identified. Slytherin’s locket. My house. I, of all people, should know what it meant but I didn’t. Hence, we had been locked up in the library researching, again. And once again, we were getting nowhere. I tried to bring my focus back to the goblin rebellions. I was just writing down my final notes when the fire that had been burning low in my dorm fireplace cracked loudly and leapt to double in size. 

I narrowed my eyes and double checked that my dorm door was locked. Sure enough, a moment later a face appeared in the flames. Narcissa’s features came into focus as I went to crouch in front of the flame. Before I could greet her she began talking in a hushed tone. 

“Regulus, listen to me now. The Dark Lord knows someone is after his horcruxes, I don’t know how, but he does. He thinks it’s the Headmaster going after them. He just apparated out of the meeting Bella was in and he’s going to check on them right now. You must lay low, at least for the next few days. I don’t know where you have the cup hidden but don’t go near that thing. Understand?”

“Understood,” I answered, my heart racing. “Thanks, Cissy. I owe you.”

“Don’t be daft. We’re family. You don’t owe me a thing,” she answered, rolling her eyes. 

“Stay alert,” I whispered to her. 

“Always,” she answered. Then she was gone. 

I whirled into action, bolting through the common room and up the dungeon steps. I needed to find Iris. I needed to find everyone. If the Dark Lord truly was checking on the horcruxes and he found two of them missing, who knows what he would do with the rest. In all likelihood he would move them somewhere he deemed safer or even keep them on his person. The window for getting the locket was closing, and fast. We had to get it before he could retrieve it. It was probably our only chance. 

As I made it to the landing in front of the Great Hall luck was on my side. I ran smack into a lively trio of red, yellow, and blue. My friends. 

“Iris! Lyla, Remus, listen. We’re in trouble and we have to move now.” I quickly relayed what Narcissa had told me and Iris dashed towards the kitchen to grab the cup while Lyla took the stairs two at a time to get the diadem from her room. There were traitors within the castle and who knew if the Dark Lord would assign them to start a search. How many dark marks had I seen with my own two eyes, proudly being bared in my common room? We couldn’t leave them unattended. 

“Remus, you grab the sword, just in case. We may not know how it is all related to this but it’s got to be connected somehow. It’s Gryffendor’s most valuable heirloom.”

“On it. And I’ll grab the others too. Sirius and Mel won’t want to miss this, even if it means missing the game,” he said. 

“There’s no time!” I exclaimed. “It’ll take us too long to make it all the way down to the pitch. The Dark Lord could already be there!” 

“Fine,” Remus acquiesced. In a strained five minutes we had met back in the Entrance Hall, trinkets tucked beneath our robes. We took off towards the whomping willow passage to Hogsmeade without a word. 

Lyla POV

The diadem had left imprints on my palm as I clutched it for dear life. My heart was beating out of my ribcage as we ran down the narrow passage, Remus’s wand’s light bobbing at the front of our group. The moment we emerged into the shrieking shack, we all whirled to face each other, panting. 

“Okay,” Remus’s voice was low, an undercurrent of trepidation and fear leaking through. “Everyone grab on.” He reached out his hand and we all clung to it. He glanced at me, his lips pressed into a thin line.

 I offered him a shaky smile. “I love you,” I mouthed. 

“Stay close,” he responded. With a crack we were gone, my stomach somersaulting and my heart leaping to my throat. As quickly as it had begun, the sensation stopped. We landed in a huff and I stumbled, nearly making contact with the ground before Remus caught me. 

“You good, Brains?” he asked, managing a smirk. 

“Yeah,” I breathed, loosening my tie and willing the nausea away. “That’s fun. We should do it again.” 

I straightened, glancing over to see Iris and Regulus clutching hands desperately, a thousand words passing in the silence.

 I bit my lip hard and turned to Remus. “Don’t do anything stupid,” I ordered. “If something goes wrong don't act the hero. Take care of yourself.”

 “You too, Lyla,” he leaned down and captured my lips in a quick, passionate kiss. “I love you. Be smart.” 

“I always am, Remus,” I smiled at him. “Be brave.”

Remus grinned. “That’s my specialty.” 

“Are we ready?” Regulus’s voice pierced the silence. 

I turned to face him, nodding. He was deathly pale, his knuckles white. 

“Our priority is to get the locket,” Regulus announced. “If the Dark Lord gets it…” he trailed off, but none of us needed him to know what would happen. “Just—we don’t know what’s in there. So be vigilant.” He paused glancing at Iris. “None of you have to go in. There’s no shame in turning back.” 

Remus snorted. “We’re coming, Regulus. Don’t be thick.” 

I rolled my eyes, nodding. “We didn’t come this far just to turn back now.” 

Iris smiled. “I’m with you forever.” 

Regulus nodded and turned towards the cave’s entrance. We all followed suit, running our hands over the wall looking for a way to get in. Moments passed in tense silence, my neck cramping and fingers turning gray with dirt as my anxiety grew. We didn’t have time for this. 

Just as I was about to suggest trying to find another way in, Remus straightened. “Here,” he said. “There’s something…Dark.”

 We all gathered around him. There was a simple, small crack in the wall. 

“This?” Regulus asked doubtfully. “It demands payment.” 

I shivered. “What sort of payment?” 

“Life,” Remus had a faraway look on his face. 

“Life?” Iris exclaimed. “Are you sure? That’s a little…severe.” 

Remus didn’t answer, instead pulling back a bandage from his last moon. He wiped his hand along the wound, his fingers coming back stained red. He wiped them along the crack. A deep rumbling sound shook the ground as the wall opened up like a yawning mouth. 

“Oh,” Iris sighed. “That kind of life.” She stepped into the cave without hesitation. We all followed. The dark tunnel until it opened up, revealing a still, green lake. On the far side of the water was a rock. Sitting almost delicately on top was a basin. 

“That’s probably it.” Remus said. 

“Yup,” Iris argreed. “How do we get across?” I approached the lake. 

“Voldemort would have made a way,” I said, cautious. I peered into the murky water, carefully placing my foot onto a jagged rock. “There’s something in there.”

“Don’t touch the water,” Regulus warned. I leaned down. 

“Okay, there’s definitely something there,” I squinted. 

“Don’t touch the water,” Iris repeated Regulus. 

“I won’t,” I reassured. “Lucky we live in a world with magic.”

I reached out my hand confidently over the object buried in the lake. A chain whipped out of previously still water, sending splashes of droplets scattering across the waves. I nearly fumbled the chain, my fingers barely grasping onto the cold, wet metal. I pulled and the object easily surfaced. It was a rickety, old boat. 

“All aboard,” Remus called, voice dripping with sarcasm. We all obeyed anyways. The boat swayed and sagged dangerously under our weight. Regulus had barely stepped inside before it shot off across the once again still lake. We reached the other side quickly and scrambled out, happy to no longer be on the water. 

The basin was a pale, tan stone, ominously standing above us. We hesitant approached it, our wands raised. I peered into the basin. Below a sheet of what looked like water sat the locket, glowing a dangerous green. Regulus sent his wand scattering over the surface of the liquid protection. 

“We can’t get through,” he said, this time pushing his hand in, meeting resistance. I picked up a shell that was balanced precariously on the edge of this basin. 

“This must have something to do with it,” I said thoughtfully. 

“I have to drink it.” I whipped my way towards Regulus. He looked solemn and, worse of all, serious. 

“What! That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard!” I exclaimed the same time my sister shouted, “What do you mean I?”

“It’s the only way,” Regulus said, gravely. 

“Hogwash!” Remus cried. “That’ll kill you!”  

“It’s not the only way,” Iris criticized Regulus. She looked angry and frazzled, almost as pale as the boy she was scolding. She pulled out the Cup from under her robes. “There can’t be anything Darker than horcruxes.”

“We could scoop it out!” I exclaimed, realizing what my sister was getting at. She nodded and dipped Hufflepuff’s artifact into the potion. It cut through easily, reaching the locket quickly. She maneuvered it into the cup and pulled it out. Regulus held out his hands and Iris dumped the locket into his waiting palms. 

Immediately the cave started to shake. I gripped the basin tightly with one hand to steady myself as I pulled out the diadem with the other. It was burning hot in my hand. I looked up to see my friends having similar reactions to the artifacts that were holding. 

“What’s happening?” Remus asked, reaching towards me. Before he could grab my arm, he was jerked suddenly backwards. I screamed, launching myself forwards, but Regulus got there first, sending a spell at something behind Remus. I was about to ask what had happened, but my question was quickly answered as I looked out onto the lake. 

Dead bodies were rising above the surface.

Inferi. 

Before I could even open my mouth, the entrance to the cave started to close, alarmingly fast. I reacted, sending a spell out to the lake, freezing it. I sprinted across the ice, slipping and sliding as the inferi broke through my path. I reached the door with only a moment to spare, diving forcefully and jamming the diadem under the door. It worked, the indestructible horcruxes keeping the stone from trapping us inside. 

I whirled to face my friends. Remus was in the boat wand and sword swinging around his head like a knight. Inferi fell one after another, piling, floating in the water. Iris was standing on top of the basin, giving her the high ground against the living dead creatures as she sent spell after spell at them. I attempted to look for Regulus, but the Inferi were fast approaching. I beat them back and looked towards the island. 

Regulus was there bending over…a house elf? I frowned watching as he pulled back his left sleeve, reaching a shaking hand out. My brain stalled. 

“Wait!” I cried. It was too late. A bang of power sent me to my knees, my palms cutting on the jagged rocks. My body was quivering, fear stealing the air from my lungs. Slowly, hesitantly I raised my head. 

My gaze met the piercing red eyes of Lord Voldemort. 

Iris POV 

I shot another spell at a group of inferni as I spun on the pedestal, constantly trying to keep them at bay. It was a time game, and I knew it. In between spells I frantically glanced up at the others. Remus seemed to be doing decently well with the sword, but I can’t even see my sister through the swarm. Dread pooled in my stomach. I turned to see how Regulus is faring and am shocked to find a house elf standing next to him. If I had to guess, I’d say it was Kreature. Regulus must have called him to help us. A wave of relief filled me. House elves were extremely powerful. He could stop these inferni. 

I was about to call out to him but the words died in my throat as I saw what he was doing. In one swift motion, before I could stop him or warn the others, he shoved up his left sleeve, and pressed his dark mark. My heart sank to my toes. What was happening? Why would he do that? What—? And then I saw him. Appearing out of thin air, was Lord Voldemort. 

All at once, all the inferni went crashing back into the lake, sending waves splashing onto the shore and spraying at our feet. I barely noticed them. I couldn’t take my eyes off of the powerful wizard standing before me. An icy fear settled into my stomach, and I tried to move but couldn't. 

“Come,” he said, in a breathy hissing voice. All at once I shot from the pedestal to the feet of Voldemort, my body and limbs moving without my consent as I bent into a bow. Remus flew out of the boat and landed with a thud next to me, doing the same. He didn’t even bother disarming us. He didn’t need to. 

“You girl,” he motioned to Lyla. “Bring that to me.” She didn’t have to ask what that was. My body was frozen so I was unable to see her but I heard the scraping noise of her retrieving the diadem from the doorway and the stone rolling to shut us in. 

A tomb. This was a tomb. We were going to die here. Soon she was kneeling on the other side of me. We had no choice but to look up. Everything about Voldemort was terrifying; his eyes, his slits for nostrils, and pallid face, and the way he radiated power. I tore my gaze from his, unwilling for him to see the fear in my eyes. 

But that only resulted in my gaze landing on Regulus standing next to him, Kreature at his side, and I could feel the hysteria building in me. How could he? How could he betray us? I loved him and had trusted him. I felt tears prick at the corner of my eyes and I swallowed hard. I could not cry here, no matter how devastated I might be. I was an idiot. He had the Dark Mark for Merlin’s sake. And had just let him explain it away like a fool. I had wanted to believe him and so I had. 

But he had always been so committed to finding these horcruxes. Why go to all the trouble of collecting them from places Voldemort deemed valuable if you were just going to give them back to him? It didn’t make sense. 

“Take them all,” Voldemort ordered. Regulus silently obeyed. He grabbed the diadem from Lyla’s hand and the sword from Remus. As he rifled through my robes for where I had tucked the cup in the haste of the battle, shame burned on my face. I could barely meet his eyes but when I did he looked directly at me, not breaking eye contact for a second, almost as if he was trying to tell me something. I couldn’t for the life of me figure out what. 

He grabbed the cup, and I stared at his hands that held all four houses' magical objects. All our months of hard work piled into his grasp to be returned to the most dangerous wizard on the planet. Voldemort examined the objects, his gaze landing on the sword. 

“The sword of Gyffendor,” he mused. “An excellent host for a horcrux. Of course, it can only be given to a Gryffendor in need which makes obtaining… difficult. But you children have done lovely. And what better way to establish the house of lions’ horcrux than to kill a Gryffendor?”

In one swift option he pulled his wand and pointed it at Remus. Lyla screamed and for one terrible moment I thought he was dead. 

But then he started yelling and thrashing and sweating, and I knew that it was nothing so merciful. Just as suddenly as it had started, it stopped. 

“I will need to know who you told about your little theories,” Voldemort said conversationally. “Why not begin with you?” 

I was terrified he was going to torture Remus again but this time he tucked his hands into his robes and closed his eyes. Remus began breathing heavily and had his face screwed up in pain. How much would Voldemort learn? Would he go after Mel? Narcissa? Our parents? Surely he would stop at nothing. The others may be able to resist him for a while but I wasn’t sure I could. How did one even fight against Occlumency? 

My thoughts were interrupted by a sudden movement to my right. Regulus was lunging at me- to kill me? But instead he slammed me sideways into Remus, who slammed into Lyla. Before I knew what was happening, he fisted the front of all our robes together in one hand, held the four artifacts tightly in the other, and shouted “Kreature, now!” 

The house elf shot out one spindly hand towards Regulus’s arm and suddenly the world was spinning out of control. 

Remus’s POV

My knees cracked against the stone floor of Dumbledore’s office and I collapsed to the ground. 

My whole body was screaming, every breath I sucked into my lungs feeling like it was killing me rather than giving me life. My brain felt like it was oozing out of my ears. Voldemort had been inside my mind. 

I shivered against the cold stone, my robes, damp from the cave, clinging to my skin. I had seen Voldemort. Voldemort had seen me. I gasped. 

“Remus!” 

Hands pulled at my robes, ripping them off of me. My bloody, stained button up shirt was yanked off, simply torn down the middle instead of unbuttoned. A thick warm something was thrown over my shoulders. It was scratching and smelled musty, but I pulled it tighter around myself anyways. 

“Remus! I’m so sorry! I’m so, so sorry!” 

I managed to pull my head up and found myself staring into Lyla’s eyes. Thank goodness she was safe. I collapsed into her arms in relief. 

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry,” she kept repeating, rubbing her hands up and down my body in an attempt to warm me up. 

“Shut up, Lyla. It isn’t your fault,” I assured her, wondering how someone so smart could be so stupid sometimes. I looked up at her, shifting what I could now see as a rug tighter over my shoulders. 

“My goodness, Brains. You were in quite a hurry to get my clothes off.” I smirked. 

It was Lyla’s turn to tell me to shut up, but a ghost of a grin flitted across her face. 

The door to the office banged open and all four of us jumped. Regulus and Iris pressed closer to us and we all huddled there on the floor, Kreature planted in front of us like a guard. 

Albus Dumbledore looked at us with wide shocked eyes. I belatedly realized I’d never seen the headmaster surprised before and felt a strange sort of victory from accomplishing the foreign task. 

“I—students?” Dumbledore approached us like we were frightened unicorns about to dart away. I, for one, was in no position to do any darting and found his almost frightened position humorous. 

I choked out a giggle as his eyes sprang from us huddled in center of the floor to the pile of house artifacts on his desk to the bloody, dirty heap of clothes by the pensieve to Kreature standing on an overturned bowl of lemon tarts to give himself height and finally back to us once more. 

Regulus looked at me like I was losing my mind, but Lyla snorted, attempting to smother the sound with her hand. The noise ended up sounding something like a pig and I giggled again. 

“Merlin’s beard! Merlin’s beard,” Lyla whispered. “We are insane.” She laughed a little hunching in on herself. 

“Well, you certainly are,” Iris said, elbowing her sister and smirking. “Running across a lake of inferni like you were ice skating.”

“Hey!” Lyla cried. “I had to keep the cave entrance open with the diadem. It was perfectly reasonable!” Lyla frowned, seeming to realize how unreasonable her words seem. She snorted again. 

“Oh my goodness,” Regulus sighed, using the hand not wrapped around Iris to cover his face. His shoulder started to shake and he began gasping, sobs ripping out of him with startlingly viciousness. I felt awful for having just been laughing. 

“Regulus, no,” I said, attempting to get closer to him. “Don’t cry! We’re okay now.”

Regulus didn’t answer, instead throwing back his head and cackling. It took me a moment to realized he hadn’t been crying at all, only laughing. I hit his arm.  

“You idiot!” I cried. “I thought you were having a meltdown or something!”

“Can’t you tell that I am?” Regulus said, still cackling like a maniac. 

Lyla snorted her pig-like snort again sending Iris into a fit of giggles. I snickered at the cacophony of sound the laughing made, and soon the four of us were rolling on the floor of Dumbledore’s office in a heap of howls and tears, chuckling and crying. 

“Children, please,” Dumbledore looked on the verge of begging. “I implore you to explain.”

So we did, taking turns in between fits of laughter and bouts of tears, overlapping and repeating and circling back to wind together our tales into something understandable. 

By the time we finished I had a stitch in my side and was thoroughly dehydrated. Dumbledore looked like he might keel over.

I let out one last sighing chuckle that sent Dumbledore into action. He crossed the room talking to a portrait about ordering a Phoenix around and contacted aurors. 

He faced us again, face firm yet tinged with a bit of…excitement? Remus couldn’t be sure of much of anything right now. 

“And these four objects,” Dumbledore gestured to the pile. “They are the ones Voldemort is…how are you saying it? Filled in?”

“Just the three. The sword isn’t,” Lyla said cautiously. Dumbledore bent to pick them up. 

“Wait!” This cry came from all four of us. 

“What are you doing with them?” Iris asked, narrowing her eyes at the Headmaster. 

“I will destroy them of course, Miss Zemen,” said Dumbledore placatingly. “As I have with a certain ring and diary. We are so close.”

Lyla crossed her arms over her chest. “Then do it. Right here. Right now.”

“Miss Zemen, the events that took place today were clearly very harrowing and you need medical attention. Please, allow me to—“

“You are right,” Regulus cut the headmaster off. “What we went through was harrowing. We got the horcruxes. We faced Voldemort. We kept him from getting them back.”  

Regulus rose to his knees. It wasn’t a begging position like what we’d done in the cave. It was that of a prince being crowned. 

“We are going to see this through to the end and be sure they are destroyed.” Regulus raised his chin, a motion copied by the sisters. 

Dumbledore looked at me, his expression unreadable. I didn’t know what he wanted from me. 

“Go on,” I said. 

Dumbledore paused and nodded his head, resigned. He picked up the three horcruxes and tossed them into the empty fireplace in the corner of the office. He raised his wand. 

“Fienfire,” he whispered and the artifacts burst into flames. 

I jerked backwards into Lyla. I could feel the darkness being ripped and destroyed from inside the object. I could hear screaming and screeching and—

The noise stopped as suddenly as it had come. I realized Lyla had her hands over my ears and was hunched protectively over my body. 

“I’m okay,” I told her. “It’s stopped.” 

Regulus stood up and approached the fireplace, anticipation and apprehension hunching his frame. 

“You don’t feel it?” He asked me. 

“No. It’s gone,” I replied with a sigh of relief. 

Regulus peered into the ashes of the fireplace. The diadem, cup, and locket sat gleaming among the soot, looking somehow plain and dull. 

Regulus picked up the locket opening and closing it before reaching for the cup and diadem. These he inspected closely. The sisters and I held our breath, waiting for his verdict. 

Regulus turned towards us. “He’s not in them. They’ve been destroyed.”

I leaned back into Lyla and she held me. I could feel her tears falling from her cheeks onto my neck as she reached for her sister’s hand. 

“We did it,” Iris sounded almost disbelieving. “We actually did it.”

“You did,” Dumbledore said from where he was watching us from the other side of the room. “I will escort you to the Hospital Wing and then join those attacking against Voldemort.”

“No,” I said, struggling to my feet with the help of Lyla. “Fight now. The sooner you get to it the less prepared Voldemort will be. We can walk ourselves.”

“As you wish, Mr. Lupin.”

The four of us awkwardly filed out of the office, half dressed in our uniforms and a rug tossed over our shoulders. Lyla supported me on my left, her other hand still clutching Iris’s. The blonde was brushing shoulders with Regulus, who held on tight to the other end of the rug. Kreature led the way in front of us. 

Outside, the sounds of the Quidditch match could be heard. How long had we been gone? An hour? Less than an hour? I felt slightly nauseous at the thought, but that could have just been the torture. 

“Why did you call Voldemort?” Iris asked into the silence as they slowly made their way down a moving staircase. 

“He was coming anyway,” Regulus responded. “Kreature had just apparated into the cave to tell me.”

“Oh,” Lyla frowned. “I had assumed you’d called him.”

“No,” Regulus sighed. “I knew Voldemort would kill us when he came, so I thought if I called him first we’d at least have some time. He’d see past my ruse eventually, but at first I’d be able to pretend to be on his side.”

“That makes sense,” I said. “I guess I would have done the same—“

I was interrupted by Iris completely throwing herself at Regulus, wrapping him in an enormous hug. Regulus melted into her embrace, and they held each other tightly. 

Lyla shifted closer to me and turned her body to face mine, a triumphant grin in her face. We edged away from them, giving them as much space as we could while still sharing the rug and stifling giggles. 

It took a while for us to get moving again, and by then my whole body was one big bruise. When we reached the Hospital Wing we practically fell into the doorway. 

Madam Pomfrey nearly had a seizure when she saw us, gasping and choking on air. She herded in us like lambs to the bed and bustling around, making us comfortable. 

While she was in the back room getting potions, we pushed our beds together, snuggling into each other for warmth and comfort. Thankfully, the Matron didn’t argue, only tucked the blankets around us and disappearing the rug after giving it a good, hard glare. 

Before Pomfrey had even been close to being done with her fussing, Mel, the Marauders, and the Ravenclaw twins burst into the Wing, falling over themselves in astonishment and worry. 

“Did you really fight Voldemort?”

“The match was stopped because we’re in lockdown—”

“You look like death! Here let me give you another blanket.”

“Are you hurt? Please don’t be hurt!”

“What in Merlin’s pants happened?”

“Is it true You-Know-Who is defeated?”

The voices pounded in my head until Madam Pomfrey told them to be quiet or you’ll have to leave. My eyelids grew heavy weights and I shifted in the bed. 

Lyla’s head was on top of my arm and she was already fast asleep, breathing softly. I decided I would very much like to join her. 

I glanced one more time around the room, taking note of our friends huddled in chairs around us, guarding us from evil. We were safe now, perhaps the most we’d ever been. 

My eyes slipped closed and my consciousness floated away with the knowledge that when I woke up I would be greeted by my family.