"We were in the dining room while Moony looked at the newspaper. Last night we had a mission and were given the day to rest.
Peter was on a reconnaissance mission on the outskirts of London and wouldn't be back for a couple of days.
"Prongs, pass me the jam," said Sirius.
"Here you go, Pads."
He grabbed the jar from James' hand to spread some on his toast. "Moony, do you want some?" he said, reaching the jar towards him.
"No, thanks—" He was interrupted by a crunch next to Sirius, making him turn instantly and finding Kreacher, the house elf of his family. He had always been reluctant towards him, unlike his brother Regulus, who seemed to adore him since they were children. Before he could say anything, the elf was grabbing his arm.
"Get your hands off me, elf—"
"Master Regulus needs you," he said desperately, almost pleading, tightening his grip on his arm.
Noticing the appearance of the elf—his clothes were wet and his skin seemed a bit paler—Sirius realized Kreacher would never appear like this in front of him, in fact, he would never appear in his presence. Understanding the elf's words, he felt a knot form in his stomach. The idea of Regulus in danger made him nauseous, and the fact that Kreacher came begging for help was not a good sign. He knew it.
"Where is he?!" Seeing the worry in the elf's eyes. 'Reggie. No. Please. Not you.'
"Take me to him now, Kreacher!" The concern now turning into desperation.
Looking up to see his friends, watching as they nodded and grabbed their wands to go with him.
"We'll always go with you, Sirius," James said, grabbing his shoulder and giving it a squeeze, while Remus took his hand to Apparate wherever Regulus was.
Kreacher didn't wait any longer and Apparated them to what seemed to be a cave, feeling it emanate a very powerful dark magic. Sirius took out his wand and cast Lumos to light the way, realizing it barely illuminated around him. He turned to see his friends, noticing they were confused by the place they were in; there was nothing but darkness and dark magic.
"Kreacher, where's Regulus?" he asked the elf, watching as he started to go deeper into the cave. He couldn't help but think if this was a trap, with doubt taking over his body. For a moment, he considered going back to his flat and leaving Remus and James safe from this. He couldn't put them in danger, not when he had dragged them here.
"You don't want to go back to the dep—" he said, turning to his friends, but Remus didn't let him finish as he moved forward and took his hand. "If you think we'll leave without you, then you're dumber than I thought."
"Don't worry about us, Sirius. We're here because we want to be, right? You didn't drag us into this, did you?" James said, looking him in the eye and making sure he heard him.
"Thanks, Prongs, Moony."
At the end of the cave was a lake, and in the center was a small island that emanated a green light. You could see someone lying on the shore of the island, as if trying to reach the water. He almost made it when a skeletal hand emerged from the water, followed by more hands. Before he knew it, he saw the person on the island was Regulus, his little brother, his star.
Sirius ran to the shore to jump, but a hand stopped him, turning to see James.
"Just don't touch the water, or about to, more will appear, and we won't be able to reach Reggie," he saw him say before taking his hand and running to a boat on the shore.
In the boat, he prepared to cast spells at the Inferi. He remembered Remus talking about them once in the library; he knew their weakness was spells of light or fire. He began casting spells around Regulus, fearing accidentally hurting him. He saw him seem a bit disoriented but still fighting the Inferi, who kept coming out.
James, Remus, and Kreacher were keeping those who approached the boat at a distance; they were already close, about 7 meters or less, just a little more, when Regulus was moving them away from him. There were already few left; he turned to see James, who was keeping away two who were trying to board the boat, helping him before they did.
"Thanks, Pads—" He saw him look behind him, only for his face to turn to pure fear.
"Augh!" A scream echoed across the lake; Sirius would always recognize that voice. He could distinguish his brother's voice no matter how many other voices there were. He had always been glad he could do it, but now he hated it, wishing just this once he was wrong, that it wasn't his younger brother's voice. But fate is cruel; he knew it when he turned around and saw his brother with a hand on the right side of his torso. He could see the blood seeping through it, looking down at the ground and finding a puddle of blood. This time, he couldn't do anything; he couldn't protect him, he could only watch as Regulus's body fell to the ground. He heard someone shout, too distracted to register who it was from, he could only watch as the puddle of blood grew larger each time. 'Mother was right, I can't always protect Regulus; I didn't protect him before, I didn't protect him now.'
A voice pulled him out of his thoughts; he looked up only to see Reggie crying. This was what he needed to jump off the boat and run towards Regulus, casting fire spells at the Inferi trying to drag him into the lake, throwing himself to the ground when he reached him.
"Reggie, it's me, Sirius, please hold, please," he spoke as he placed him between his legs.
"Let me see, please, Reggie, move your hand," he couldn't see the depth of the wound because of Regulus' hand on it.
"Augh!" He saw Regulus groan and try to push him away when he tried to put his hands on the wound.
"I know it hurts, Star, but hang on, please," he pressed his hands on the wound, trying to stop the bleeding.
"I know, Reg, I know," he saw Regulus' eyes begin to cloud with tears. "Don't leave me, stay with me," as he tried to press harder on the wound.
"Don't you dare close your eyes, you can't leave me alone, you can't," tears streaming down his cheeks. 'Why is he crying? There's no reason to cry, right? Regulus will be fine, right?'
"Why isn't it working!" No matter how many healing spells he tried, none of them stopped the bleeding, feeling desperation take over his body.
Sirius kept repeating "I know" while feeling bile rise in his throat and his eyes clouded with restrained tears, but he couldn't break down, not when Regulus was bleeding out in his arms.
"James, help me!" only to see him on his knees, looking at Regulus, his face distorted with fear and sadness, his eyes empty, lacking the light that always shone in them.
Turning his gaze back to Regulus, feeling his body grow colder with each passing moment, only to see his form grow paler.
"I'm here, Reggie, do you hear me? I'm here, I'm not going to leave you, okay? So don't leave me, please," he said, cradling him against his chest, just as he had when they were small and Regulus was scared, clinging to him like a lifeline. Now, he clung to Sirius's chest as tightly as he could, needing to hear his heartbeat, his labored breath, needing him to be here.
What was Sirius without Regulus, without his brother, without the boy he had raised like a son? He was nothing, there was no universe where Sirius existed without Regulus. He had always known that, but he had been so resentful of him for staying, always shouting at him whenever he saw him, wishing death upon him. Perhaps it was his karma for wishing death upon his brother, for saying that he wasn't important in his life, that he was just a stranger he had once known better than himself. But it didn't matter anymore how much he took back his words, how much he begged that they were lies, that he never truly meant them. No one would hear his pleas to bring back his brother, that he was nothing without his star.
"Don't die before me, please, don't you dare die before me!" he pleaded as he held Regulus's lifeless body. "Don't take him away from me, please!" "Please... no."
You can't always protect what you love, Sirius. You won't be able to protect Regulus. Everything you touch ends up dead or destroyed. Don't forget my words.
"I'm sorry... I'm sorry. Forgive me for being useless, I didn't protect you like I said I would. Please, forgive me, please." Maybe that was all he could say, asking for his brother's forgiveness, words he never said out of fear that he wouldn't hear them or would ignore them, now saying them to the corpse of his younger brother, knowing he could no longer hear them.