to the dark lord
Kreacher hesitated, reaching up to grab his hand, and stared deeply into his eyes, begging him to reconsider.
“You cannot change what has been done Kreacher,” he whispered down at him in the foyer of this house. He did not visit his mother for a final emotionless goodbye, nor did he take a walk around these wretched halls, nor did he spare it even a single final glance. This house of nightmares didn’t deserve that of him.
“You have been a faithful friend, and now I need you to help me, one last time.”
With a pull at his navel, he and Kreacher were gone.
__________
“I wonder where the- oh! There it is,” Pandora smiled as she saw the parliament of owls fly into the great hall, dropping letters left and right much to the students’ delight.
Coincidentally, all three of them, sat at the same table because it was a Saturday, received letters.
“Mine’s from Reg,” Barty smiled, quickly wiping crumbs from his hands on his trousers and eagerly tearing at the envelope to get in.
“Mine too,” Evan mumbled, looking over at hers. His hands nervously thumbed the thick envelope but he didn’t open it yet, already having some sort of odd feeling about it.
She didn’t reply but she didn’t think she had to- hers was from Regulus as well. A sinking sensation, like a stone being dropped into a lake, settled deep in her belly at the feeling of the letter in her hand. Her food turned to ash in her mouth and she quickly took a sip of water to clear it out but that too tasted off. She watched the water slosh around in her cup for long moments.
“It’s about time, I feel like he’s written the least to me,” he huffed playfully, throwing aside the green wax seal, pulling the parchment out of its envelope, and reading it- his eyes dancing from side to side down the length of the page.
She and Evan both watched his face and suddenly, somewhere towards the edge of page one, his face shifted from excited to confused, his brows coming together and jaw loosening. She watched his dark eyes go back up and reread a section before he hastily switched to the next page, the pages trembling in his hands.
At this, his mouth fell open as a shudder racked his body, “Oh gods.”
“What is it?” she urged.
With black eyes filled with tears, he choked out, “He’s-.”
He ran out of the room before he could even finish as heads in the Great Hall turned to watch his escape.
__________
He quickly gained his bearings and took a look around at the beach he was situated on.
The ocean waves rose and crashed violently against the dark sand, the roar near deafening and the water angry and torrential as it threatened to sweep him under. He took a cautionary step backwards, an almost laughable act considering where he was going, but he took it nonetheless.
Seagulls flew overhead under the blanket of grey clouds and a slight smattering of water hit him, from the ocean or the sky he was unsure, but he felt it dry and tighten on his skin uncomfortably.
When he turned to the cliff face, he saw it rise up endlessly, seeming to stretch on beyond the clouds, and right in the centre of it, was a jagged opening. It was a few yards wide and rose high into the mountain like a god had taken a giant cleaver to the cliff and cracked it open.
A slight breeze exhaled from the cavernous space, rustling his hair and he turned away.
Kreacher trembled by his feet, “Don’t worry, it’ll all be over soon,” he murmured.
He took a deep breath to steel himself, and headed inside.
The air was musty and pungent, the smell of death permeating the air here despite the open space from which air could flow. It was infinitely quieter as well, all the noise from outside muted as though cotton had been shoved into his ears and he felt a pressure suddenly weighing on him like he was being pushed back into the earth.
The sand was packed solid here and didn’t mould under his feet as he continued but somehow, Kreacher’s footprints were visible at his side. Regulus could see his shoulders quivering as he looked around at the granite walls.
It was incredibly dark, making him move slowly and carefully but he trusted Kreacher to tell him if something were to appear or if he needed to be warned about something ahead of time.
The corridor slowly widened into a large open space. He leaned his head back but the ceiling was so far up that he couldn’t see it and when he looked back, he couldn’t even see the far wall of this space- it just faded into the shadows. There was a large ink black lake in the centre, the water still and cold, and he almost smiled.
It would be nice, he thought, to die in a familiar place.
__________
James woke up easily the following morning, stretching out his limbs and when he felt the cold space on the bed next to him, he trailed his fingers over the covers before looking around for Regulus.
The bathroom was empty and the whole house was eerily quiet, as though it were holding its breath.
Regulus was always an early riser so he didn’t find it too odd that he wasn’t beside him. He quickly washed up before heading downstairs where he heard a faint tapping noise, incessant and relentless. He saw an owl waiting by and he quickly opened the window and summoned a bag of treats to leave for him.
The letter was for Sirius and he could tell by the script that it was from Regulus. Sirius was gone already and he wouldn’t be home for at least another twelve hours.
“Opal?” he called out.
She instantly appeared, “Yes Master Potter?”
“Is Regulus still here? I can’t find him,” he frowned.
She shook her head, “He is not being here, he left in the morning Sir.”
Then maybe that’s what the letter was for then.
He sat down on the kitchen counter, grabbed an apple from the fruit bowl, and bit into it as he tore open the envelope.
Sirius,
I wanted to start by thanking you.
I don’t suppose I’ve always been the brother, no, that was always you. I certainly haven’t been the best heir, nor have I been the best student.
But you always made me think I could be a good person. You said I had the potential to be one if I just chose to do so.
I believe I have made my choice.
The apple lay fallen to the side, its innards exposed to the cool morning air while James read.
He went on and on but James had stopped comprehending his words about halfway through. Each fanciful word and metaphor, each curve of a letter and dot of a period was all meant to signify a good bye.
As he dropped the letter to the counter, he felt a bit of his soul pull and tear, irreperably escaping him.
__________
As Regulus floated across the lake in the small dinghy, Kreacher at the helm, slowly propelling them forward, he wondered what was happening outside of this small cave.
For once, his heart was not beating wildly or his breathing out of control, he felt an odd sort of numbness taking over him. He was a bit scared maybe, his heart thrumming within him, but he was still going through with it so he wasn’t a complete coward.
“Master Regulus will be needing to drink the potion to be getting the horcrux,” Kreacher broke out, his fear large enough for the both of them.
“Kreacher, I must ask you to force me to drink the potion just as the dark Lord commanded you. I will beg you to stop but as my elf you are bound to obey me in my sane state so you will do what is commanded of you,” he ordered, ensuring his wording included ‘sane state’ because he didn’t want Kreacher going through some loophole and saving him.
It was a short ride and the lake looked more like a sheet of black silk but they hit the edge of the island soon enough and the two of them dismounted and climbed up to the centre of it where a small circle of light illuminated the space, from some sky hole no doubt. When he turned back, he saw that the dinghy had already disappeared somehow.
The outcropping was rocky and uneven and he made care to watch his steps closely.
When he made it to the small shell wrought bowl, he peered in through the clear liquid and saw the locket curled up at the bottom like a serpent. He dipped his hand through to see if he could grasp it but his hand simply went through it like an illusion, he would be forced to drink the potion to bypass it.
He turned back to Kreacher who was wringing his hands behind him and he breathed deeply as he crouched down so that they were eye level, “When I finish the potion, you must take the real locket with you and replace it with the fake one I had made and leave here . No matter how much I beg you to take me with you, you must leave me here and never come back. You have been a good and faithful elf and my debt to you will never be repaid but I can only hope a time will come where the dark Lord will be vanquished and we will be at peace once more.”
Kreacher was fully crying now and he was surprised to find he was as well, tears falling down his cheeks like rain on marble. He was shaking his head but he remained, mercifully, silent,
“And promise me when the time comes, you will help the One who is Chosen and help defeat the dark Lord that has promised your Master death and bring peace to the House of Black once more.”
“Kreacher promises,” he cried.
He stepped up closer to him and Kreacher hugged him tightly, his small arms carrying the force of a thousand men.
He then crawled up to the podium, scooped up a shell full of poison and gingerly held it up to his mouth, forcing it down his throat as though he was a child in need of cough syrup.
The instant it slipped down his throat, it burned and made his throat swell and close up. It was the most wretched and disgusting thing he’d ever tasted that he didn’t even have words for it. He cringed away from Kreacher, his body needing to get as far away from that horrid thing as possible but wherever he went, Kreacher’s dutiful hand followed to force more down.
He shut his eyes against the potion and when he opened them again, the world tilted on its axis, shifting and bending as shapes and colours blurred into an amalgamation of chaos.
He jerked his head to the side and he saw the dark Lord, staring down at him, eyes blood red, his crooked wand held out at him. His face was torn apart, blood spilling from open wounds, and his mouth was ripped open and saying words he couldn’t hear. He shied away but the only thing awaiting him was Kreacher’s hand,
“No,” he ground out, shaking his head, his hands digging into the rocks under his hand. “Please Kreacher, no no no,” he begged.
“Kreacher must,” he heard from very far away.
He saw nightmarish creatures crawl up around him, jump out of the shadows, rattle around in his head.
His mind wasn’t his own anymore, hijacked by the monsters around him.
There was a roaring all around him as his throat closed up, “Make it stop, please ple-,” he cried.
More and more poison slipped down into his stomach, turning it inside out. He thought it had to be acid that was tearing him apart from the inside out.
After what felt like a million years later, Kreacher came into view and he was crouched down before him. He dug around in his side and dangling from his weak grip, he saw the locket. Now that he wasn’t shoving poison down his throat, he finally felt like he could try to catch a breath but he was so unbearably thirsty now.
He watched Kreacher crawl up to the podium, pull the horcrux out of the shell bowl, and drop in the false one.
Finally.
__________
“No, no, no,” James murmured as he threw the letter down, “Fuck!” he finally shouted as he reread it.
It was a gods damned goodbye letter.
He ran up into his room in search of the disc.
__________
“Go Kreacher, leave me!” He hoarsed out at the still trembling elf, “I order you!”
And finally with a long, lingering, and sorrowful look, Kreacher apparated away, leaving him alone in the cave.
He turned back to the Lake, his vision continuing to spin, and he steeled himself enough to crawl down on his hands and knees down to it, needing a drink of water.
He’d read on Inferi before- corpses that had been animated and bewitched to work for the dark Lord. To even create a single one was horrible but from what Kreacher described, there were dozens if not hundreds lingering under the water.
He only hoped they would be gentle with him.
He stared at his own reflection on the onyx surface of the water and he imagined it was Sirius instead. He’d need a friendly face with him.
Oh James, what must he be thinking now?
He knelt down and scooped up a single handful of water. He brought shaking hands back up to his mouth and savoured the clear and cool taste of the water slipping down his throat but it wasn’t enough- the need for water overwhelmed him and he leaned down even further, scooping up another handful.
In his haste, he hadn’t noticed the creatures slowly rising from the depths of the lake and when he was halfway up to his mouth, a skeletal hand lunged from within and gripped his wrist tight. He tried to pull back back but it was impossible with the hand following him out and soon, a bashed in face came up to peer at him, milky white eyes boring into his own.
He cried out, trying to get away but soon another hand jutted out and circled his ankle and this time, it began pulling him in with more force than he had put into scrambling away.
He looked around for something suddenly terrified, his human spirit begging him to keep fighting, but it was impossible. It was like a domino effect the way the Inferi suddenly doubled and tripled around him, dragging their wet bodies over the rocks in their haste to get to him. Their grumblings echoed off the walls and grated against his ears like chalk on a board.
His hand tore open on the edge of a stone and he cried out as his feet broached the surface of the water.
The one with its’ hand around his ankle looked to be no more than a child with its’ small frame, but the one next to it, a woman, seemed much older. He couldn’t tell why he was focusing on the details but he supposed he wanted to give Death a face as it began dragging him under.
He was crying now, tears falling in a torrent down his face to mix with his blood pooling on the floor from his scratched palms, and his heart thudded as his skin burned and magic tore. He felt his body giving out as his knees touched the water’s surface.
Why was he so scared? He thought he could do it but he underestimated his subconscious will to live.
He pushed at the Inferi crowding him from the sides with their gnashing teeth and scaly hands and he threw his head back and stared at the smallest circle of light, barely visible. Ice cold shock ran through him when, with a great tug, his hips met the water, freezing him to his core.
He could feel the Inferi grip his thighs with pure viciousness, piercing the skin and using his flesh as a grip to yank him further down but the stronger the burning sensation was, the deeper the numbness from the icy water pierced.
Nonono was a chant in his mind but it was too late.
His back continued to scrape and suddenly, an Inferi landed on top of him, growling into his face, its grating teeth begging for the side of his face, and he turned away as he struggled against it.
“Regulus!” he heard, shouted across the Lake and it echoed across the chamber louder than anything else.
He turned wildly as a bright flame erupted around the hall and he saw a figure standing on the edge of the shore by the entrance but he didn’t have any time to look deeper because the job was done and he could only take a deep gasping breath before he was pulled underwater.
Rippling red light burst over the surface of the water like flames and it illuminated the hordes of Inferi beneath him. It was quite frankly terrifying as now, in what seemed to be their natural element and the weightlessness of the water, they encircled him like moths drawn to a flame.
Dozens of hands roamed his body as bursts of light after light tore at his eyes. His eyes already burned from the icy water but he couldn’t bear to face death with his eyes closed, he needed to accept that this was his choice and he would meet his inevitable fate.
So he stopped fighting as his body was dragged further down, the pressure building up stronger in his ears and pulsing in his head. His sodden clothes only served to make him heavier and he went back to the place he had all those years ago when he first drowned in the Lake at Mulciber’s hand.
He went into that lighthouse in his mind, protected on all sides by the cylindrical walls, and realised how much easier it would all be if he didn’t struggle. He let his body go slack and weightless and his heart slowed as his extremities numbed.
He had lived well and had died for something he believed in. He had loved and been loved in return. He had experienced friendship and happiness and loss. He had seen the sunrise on a winter morning and the sunset over a summer evening over a wide open field. He had laughed with his brother and cried with his mother. He had experienced so much life had to offer in such a short amount of time he thought he ought to have been grateful to have been given at least that.
It would be okay .
The urge to breathe was strong, but his own willpower was stronger, and his brain had gone a bit fuzzy, the Inferi a mass of grey around him, the black of the Lake wrapping around him like the night sky, like a weighted blanket, like the womb.
His mouth fell open as his heart, rotten and tired as it was, finally stopped.
He was now one of them.
__________
She sat on the grey upholstered chair in the side of the room, her hands torn raw and trembling in her hands.
The radio was playing but Walburga couldn’t hear it, she couldn’t bear to focus on it when Regulus was still gone. He had been gone for two days now and she felt like she couldn’t breathe.
She wasn’t sure if Regulus realised how he had looked that last night she saw him, sneaking off to the Owl in the wee hours of the morning. His eyes were black and sunken in, his skin grey and pallid, his body frail and trembling. He wasn’t the strong boy she once thought she had.
She always knew he was smaller than Sirius, meeker, more scared of the world but his fear made him easy to control- a blessed mercy she was given compared to Sirius. But she knew how dangerous an obedient dog could be when backed into a corner with no way out.
“Kreacher!” she shrieked.
“Mistress,” he popped in, instantly bowing his head.
“Did Regulus say when he will be back?” she sharply questioned, her heart thudding in her chest. She may not know what his favourite colour or subject was, but she knew when something was wrong. Whether it was a trait she inherited, some magical push to keep the pureblood lineage safe, or because she was a mother- she was unsure.
“No Mistress,” he replied quietly, a sad look taking over his face- the elf was always rather fond of Regulus, she thought.
She turned away to look out the window and the dreary day beyond and she thought Kreacher had dismissed himself until she heard a choking noise from the doorway.
She looked back to the elf who had curled in on himself, fat tears dripping all over the floor,
“What is it?” she spat, the annoyance in her voice palpable but she couldn’t help how on edge she was.
The elf didn’t reply, only raised a trembling and pointed hand and normally she would punish the elf for his insolence but curiosity overcoming her, she followed to where he was pointing,
He was pointing at a spot on the tapestry on the far corner of the room, right to where they were.
She stood, smoothed her skirts down, and crossed the room, trailing her fingers along the faded green fabric.
There, right under her own name, and next to the burned and charred spot over Sirius, was a skull hanging over Regulus’ name and portrait which had turned grey and lifeless.
“No,” she gasped out, the air escaping her. Her hand drifted to her abdomen subconsciously as she fought to compose herself, the other reaching up to rest over his spot. The branch under his name had lifelessly curled up in on itself, knowing there would be no fruit to bear.
Where there once was magic humming over their small family, there was nothing. She wanted to believe it was wrong but wouldn’t delude herself in false hopes- the moment someone died or was disowned, the tapestry modified itself to represent that change, setting itself in stone- it was never wrong.
She shook her head though there was no one to see her, her hand clenched over the spot where her womb held a phantom pain that tore at her insides.
The glass she was still holding in her hand felt like a weight and she turned and threw it at the wall, watching it shatter into a million pieces.
“No,” she began shrieking as she dropped to the floor. The windows burst open, glass raining over her and the portraits in the room began fleeing from the space as she screamed, over and over, tearing at her own vocal chords.
The house remained still and silent as Walburga shrieked herself hoarse.
The Most Ancient and Noble House of Black now ended with her.
__________
“I- I can’t,” she whispered, trying to put some distance between them.
“Sybill please? Can’t we just talk?” Peter urged, taking another step forward.
She could almost see the blood splattered across his face- the same face she saw in her nightmares, bearing down on her with pure malice in his eyes.
“You’re being unreasonable,” he spat, his stress turning into anger that she could taste, bitter and burning on her tongue.
“And you’re a liar,” she hissed back.
He stopped, tilted his head as his once kind blue eyes narrowed on her, “And what’s that supposed to mean.”
“What happened in that forest Peter?” she asked as bravely as she could but she was sure he’d be able to hear her heart thumping against her ribcage if he tried hard enough.
She’d initially been interested in him because she saw herself in Peter back in school, a bit shy, maybe an outcast, but when they’d been partnered together for an assignment, she saw that he was kind and funny and they matched well together. Though she would be remiss in not acknowledging the way the energy shifted when he entered the room, the way colours would bleed dry, and sulphur would tinge the air.
She’d spoken to her divination professor as well as Pandora, the only other Seer she knew, and the way her visions manifested was much different to hers. When she had these episodes, she could only manipulate and sense energies but that was enough to tip her off about Peter, a man she thought she could trust.
But the way red spots burst over his face like blood when she saw him in the night- it was finally enough to call it quits.
“What are you talking about?” he hissed, quickly advancing and pushing her up against the wall of his bedroom, there was no one else home, she’d have to do this herself. “Who did you talk to?” he spat, caging her in his arms on either side of his head.
“So I’m right aren’t I?” she spoke back with equal harshness. “I knew something wasn’t right from the moment you told me that story but you’ve just confirmed my theory- something went down in that forest that you’re not telling me about.”
“Don’t mess with things you know nothing about Billie,” he whispered into her ear, his hot breath singing her skin.
“Don’t call me that Peter,” she warned, turning away.
He leaned and pressed his lips to the crook of her neck and she finally found the strength to push him back, unwilling to let herself be manipulated by him anymore, “What have you done?”
She felt his eyes stare at her retreating form but she was gone before he could do anything else to hurt her.
__________
He finally found an answer to his question.
Nothing but darkness met him on the other side of the veil between life and death.
__________
“James, I’m sorry it took me so long to get to your missive,” Moody said gruffly upon his arrival and James could tell he was genuine just from the look on his face and the mountain of paperwork crowding his desk.
“No, I completely understand,” he nodded, awkwardly sitting in the chair across from him.
He dropped back down into his seat, “So what can I do for you then, your letter was a bit vague,” he asked, brow raising as he leaned back and stretched his neck to the side, rubbing at a sore spot.
“I was wondering if you might possibly be able to get me another one of those gold coins we use for communication in the Order,” he asked, nervously wringing his hands under the table out of his view.
“For?” he asked, patience already running thin.
He couldn’t say the truth.
Ever since Regulus left, he’d been ruminating on the what-ifs. Mainly, what if he had drilled Regulus more- asked what he was doing, where he went, forced information from him every time they spoke on the phone so that he’d have some sort of direction but he hadn’t, wanting him to be comfortable more than anything else.
And the longer his absence had drawn out, the more desperate he became.
And he wasn’t proud of himself for doing this, but he knew he had to do it for his own peace of mind.
Fabian’s death had reminded him how key the coins were in alerting others on whether they were in mortal danger or not and he needed to ensure Regulus’ safety.
So here he was-
“I can’t say,” he answered lamely.
Moody sighed deeply, blatantly rolling his eyes, “You want me to give you a coin- some of our best spellwork, to give to someone random?”
He nodded, “Yes.”
“Okay, request denied,” he fronted.
“But you don’t understand- this person wants to be in the Order, they just- can’t be open about it yet,” he reasoned.
The Auror across from him leaned forward in interest but he cut him off before he could begin grilling him- “I can’t give you any more information than that.”
“James, you’re an adult so I’m going to put this plainly. I cannot just give you some of our most valuable resources to waste on whoever it is that has caught your attention. Should it fall into the wrong hands, they could compromise the magic within it and whoever the coin is linked to, which I imagine is you. Now you can tell your friend to come down here or let it be, with the way things are- they need to be brave.”
He hated how condescending he was being without even knowing the full story- just immediately writing him off as some emotional child. He needed to get this for Regulus.
“Alastor, please . I understand this would be a huge risk and I take complete responsibility for it. I trust this person with my life and will link myself to them so should they try to trap me or whatever it is- I’ll have to deal with it. I’ve never given you a reason not to trust me, so please don’t start now,” he begged, “I’ll even return it after its usefulness has been fulfilled.”
He levelled him with a long look before he came to a resolution. He leaned over and, using his wand, unlocked a drawer hidden under the desk. He pulled out a shiny gold coin and slid it across the desk to him but didn’t let him take it just yet, “I hope you know what you’re doing boy.”
“I do Sir, thank you,” he breathed deeply.
“And James?” he said when he had reached the door,
“Sir?”
“Get a new cloak, you look ridiculous,” he chided.
Once he was done there, he slipped into a spare bedroom of the safehouse upstairs, locking the door and using the spell he was instructed to to link the coins together.
Now, should he ever be in mortal danger, Regulus would be alerted, and vice versa. He didn’t need to track Regulus’ every move, allowing that much privacy, but he needed to be there should something go wrong- consequences be damned. He would do anything for Regulus, even risking his own life didn’t seem all too great if it meant Regulus would be safe.
If Sirius could hear him now he’d probably slap him across the face or pinch him to wake him up but he’d never been more alert in his life.
Then, he took Regulus’ cloak off, and laid it flat on the bed. Regulus rarely went anywhere without it so he reached into the pocket and, using his wand, carefully sewed in a false pocket in the side, just under the real pocket. He slipped the coin in and sewed it shut so he’d never be able to find it unless he really looked around in there. He usually kept things in his pockets anyways, even now there was some sort of wrapper, a pocket watch, and a pen, so adding the coin wouldn’t add any odd weight that wasn’t already there.
On his way out of the house, he passed by Dorcas and Alice.
“Hey Dorcas, do you have a minute?” he asked, turning around to quickly catch them.
She looked to Alice who nodded and walked up to him, “What’s up?”
“I just wanted to let you know that Regulus is okay.”
The relief on her face was palpable as the ghost of a smile lifted her lips, “You’ve spoken to him then?”
He nodded, “I have and he said you should receive a letter from him sometime soon.”
She lifted a tentative hand to his shoulder, “Thank you James, for- for everything you’ve done for him.”
He didn’t need it but appreciated the sentiment anyway.
When he finally got back home, hands full of food for the three of them, he knew he had made the right choice when Regulus looked up at him, smiling wide, his soul seemingly light.
He would stand with Regulus wherever he went.
He quickly hung the cloak back up on the rack by the doorway and entered, pleased his plan had gone so smoothly.
__________
He didn’t know where he was.
All he knew is that one moment he was standing in his bedroom and the instant the coin started ringing, he answered the call and was whisked away to this dark and musty cave.
He had barely gotten his bearings about him when he saw Regulus, strewn about the centre of a small island as though he were a rag doll with a swarm of what he could only describe as monsters, attacking him from every angle.
“Regulus!” he screamed, desperately trying to get his attention.
Instantly, his first thought was fire. As his heart thrummed and sweat beaded across his entire body, as his ears rang and body shook, all he could do was release streams of fire to try and give Regulus a godsdamned chance. He was so scared that he could taste his fear, almost poisonous in its intensity.
He didn’t even know why they were here but he couldn’t think through anything else- his entire being was consumed by thoughts of trying to save him.
But all too quickly, he was dragged under the water and now that he was out of view, James knew a clock was ticking above his head for how long he’d be able to go without air.
He stared at the Lake that was licking at his feet and didn’t know what to do. His first instinct was to rush in but the minute his foot connected with the water, something lashed out and brushed past his leg so he instantly retreated.
He wouldn’t be able to go in the water- he’d be no help dead, and the fire wasn’t reaching the creatures lurking under the surface. He didn’t even understand how Regulus had gotten across in the first place.
What would Regulus do?
He tore at his hair as he waited for his mind to regain its faculties and focus and he gasped when an idea formed and he leaned down to the shore, all the while making sure no part of his body touched under the water- only the tip of his wand. Long minutes had passed though and he wasn’t sure if he’d even be alive anymore…
He cast Regulus’, seemingly, favourite hex- “Funem fulgur!” He shouted the words as they were pulled from his very soul and he didn’t think he had ever cast a spell more powerful than this as he literally felt the magic being pulled from his core, through his arm, and out from his wand in one steady onslaught.
Ropes of cobalt tinted electricity flew out from him and ran through the water like a spiderweb stretching from shore to shore. He could hear the broken screams of those human-like creatures under the water but the ones that were half-in and half-out cried like banshees, tears coming from their ripped vocal chords as though they could even feel pain.
He grunted as he held the spell, begging it to work.
Regulus was down deep but if he could just clear the water, at least from the surface, he’d be able to save him.
He clenched his jaw, never having cast a spell like this- but while he did so, he put to use all the occlumency Regulus had taught him and tried something else.
____________
“ Regulus! ”
His eyes shot open as he was electrified awake and he unconsciously gasped, water filling his mouth and throat, drowning him from the inside out.
“ I don’t know if you can hear me but just- swim damn it!” he heard James crying and pleading in his head.
He didn’t even know if it was real but all he knew was that the Inferi weren’t dragging him down anymore and James’ voice was kickstarting all of the lessons he had ever taught him since fifth year. He wasn’t going to waste this opportunity he had been given.
He kicked like mad , up towards the brighter half of the lake, being propelled up by some sort of invisible force and his own legs, fighting for life. His lungs burned as the need for oxygen overwhelmed him but he had survived this long, he could make it a few more seconds.
After what felt like an eternity later, he broke the surface of the water and gasped down a lungful of air.
Gods, he had survived.
__________
To the Dark Lord - I know I will be dead long before you read this, but I want you to know that it was I who discovered your secret. I have stolen the real Horcrux and intend to destroy it as soon as I can. I face death in the hope that when you meet your match, you will be mortal once more. - R.A.B.