Sirius POV
We got to the cliffs at dawn. The sea crashing on the rock was loud enough to rattle my teeth. The Cave mouth was gaping wide and black; the walls were slick with salt and old rot. Kreacher shuffled ahead of us with a Lantern clutched like a lifeline muttering about dark masters and his lost master Regulus.
The wards Voldemort used still held after all these years unfortunately. It took a smear of blood from my own palm on the jagged seal carved into the rock face for the stone door to open. It groaned as it slid, granting us access, the stench that rolled out was rancid, it smelled of salt mildew and something worse. The old magic in the air pressed heavy against my lungs, the kind that wanted you to choke before you ever crossed the threshold.
We set our defensive line on the shore. Nicolas drove a crescent of radiant rune-stakes deep into the shore of the underground lake. Their glow being the only thing pushing back the black inferi filled water like sunlight through fog. Newt followed with jars of enchanted Bluebell flame; it was a cold fire that hissed against the damp air adding an extra layer to our defense. Remus inked a binding circle around the coffin, his quill scratching fast in urgent strokes. Runes flared to life one by one until the lid post with restraint, stasis, and preservation wards. While Lucius and Narcissa stood at the center, wands ready, with looks of determination on their faces in expectation of the fight to come.
The inferi-filled lake spread wide before us, its surface was too smooth and too silent. On the far island, the not so empty basin still glimmered faintly, the false locket glinting there. We ignored it. The mission wasn't that Regulus had already handled that. Today our mission was Regulus himself.
The standard reveal charms showed nothing. So, Nicolas switched to an anima-residuum sweep, runes spread out over the water like veins of light. The lines shook once, then froze over a patch of lake where the ripples didn't match the rest.
Kreacher's voice came out a broken whisper as he said, "That's where Master Regulus fell."
Water stirred as a pale shaped rose; it was wrong in color and wrong in movement. It was Regulus, his skin was waxen, his eyes clouded, and his body was warped by undeath. He was different but we would save him. He pushed against the water as if he knew we were waiting.
I stepped up to the ward line with Kreacher at my shoulder. My throat was tight, but I forced the words out anyway, the only way I knew how. "Oi, Reg, stop being difficult and getting the damn box already. Or I am telling Mother you missed curfew."
He froze. It was just for half a second, but it was there… there was a hitch in his movement and a flicker in those ruined eyes. But I saw it, I saw his recognition.
"Now," I barked.
Newt didn't waste any time as he cast the loop. The rune etched line snapped out across the water and dropped over regalia's shoulders without touching anything but him. Remus yanked it tight, locking the binds with the flare of silver. The surface of the lake rippled as faces and hands pressed against The warded line of light. Their teeth bared in silent screams as their movement rolled through the water as if it were boiling.
"Pull!" Remus shouted.
Kreacher and I dragged the line back straining as the wards groaned against the pressure. Alius stumbled forward, half fighting, half following, but he came. It took one last heave, and we finally yanked him over the stone lip, never once letting him touch the water closest to our ward line.
Narcissa flung the coffin lid open as the circle blazed brightly. Regulus dropped inside with a thud, the latches snapping shut as the runes sealed him in place. We made it just in time as the shore began to shake and the lake boiled as the swarm surged up. Dozens, maybe hundreds of hands clawed at the warded edge, pressing into the line of heat and flame until it bent under their weight.
"They'll keep coming," Nicolas warned, his voice grim. "We can't leave them here. They'll find a way out eventually."
"Then we end this here and now." I growled.
Lucius didn't even hesitate. He raised his wand, his face was pale but had fury written all over it as he shouted, "Pestis Incendium"
The curse fire erupted from the tip of his wand like a living flame. It twisted into the form of a raging dragon tearing across the water with hungry jaws. Inferi screamed voicelessly as they burned, thrashing, and clawing, only to be swallowed whole. The light seared the cave walls in a hellish brilliance, steam rose as the fire scoured the black lake for any soul it had left to take.
Remus and I stood ready to counter, but Lucius controlled it like a whip, carving wide arcs that devoured every pale body until nothing was left but ash drifting on the surface. With a sharp flick, he cut the spell and the flames died, leaving the cave echoing with silence.
I blew out a breath I hadn't even realized I'd been holding and said. "Remind me to never get on your bad side, cousin in law."
Lucius just straightened his cuffs while maintaining his cold and immaculate face as he said. "See that you don't."
Together we lifted the coffin, Narcissa steadying it with the levitation charm as we walked back through the wards and out of the cave.
Outside the sea wind hit us, it was sharp and clean. Kreacher pressed both hands to the coffin with tears streaking his grimy face as he said. "Master Regulus will not be alone this time."
I just laid my palm flat on the lid as I whispered, "Home little brother."
Grimmauld Place – That Evening
The library was lit by a dozen of Nicolas's floating orbs. The coffin sat in the center of Remus's binding circle, with wards layered so thick they hummed in the air. Regulus laid inside stilled by the preservation runes but still carrying that faint wrong tension of undeath.
Nicolas set up a table next to him with the things needed for the ritual on it. He was arranging them with a precision that only centuries of life allowed when he said. "We'll need both blood vials now."
Narcissa stepped forward without hesitation adding her vial next to my own. Nicolas then mixed them with a drop of the perfected Elixir; the liquid glowed a fait golden hue before it settled into a transparent blue.
"I will need the anchor now," Nicolas said softly as his eyes shifted to the portrait hanging in the corner.
Mother's painted hand pressed shakily to the frame, but her voice was steady when she said. "Take it Sirius. I have nothing else to give."
The air shimmered as Nicolas drew the shard from her canvas. Her soul burned white and cold in the light of the ritual room. He then dropped it into the potion. The liquid hissed, then steadied, pulsing faintly as if it were alive.
Remus laid his wand on the runes around the coffin before he asked, "You ready?"
"Do it." I rasped.
Nicolas poured the potion over Reggi's chest. His binding flared as the stasis shattered. His body began to convulse as his skin rippled, shifting between life and death. The sound of his bones cracking and his muscles reforming filled the room. Then his screaming started as the magic began to clash tearing through the room, making his screams grow in volume as he writhed inside the coffin.
I gripped the side of the coffin my voice raw when I said, "Come on Reg. You've been late enough already. It's time to come home little brother."
The glow that had surrounded him surged, then steadied. The grey faded from his skin as his chest heaved once, then again and finally he opened eyes. They were no longer clouded and dead. He was back, he was alive.
Kreacher collapsed to his knees sobbing. Narcissa clutched Lucius' arm hard enough to leave marks. While Remus let out a strangled laugh and Nicolas just exhaled, his shoulders dropping.
I just bent low and pressed my forehead against his. Grasping the back of his neck I said. "Welcome back, baby brother."
His arms lifted, weak but sure as he clutched me like he had when we were boys after a bad dream. My throat closed up as I wrapped him in a tight hug.
He pulled back just enough to look at me, confusion clouding his features. His voice was hoarse and broken when he said. "Sirius…? What's going on?"
I swallowed hard, as tears stung my eyes. "It's a long story, little brother. But you're safe now. You're home." I murmured.
Regulus blinked at me, confusion swimming in his dark eyes. His grip on my sleeve tightened as his voice rasped out, raw and unsteady.
"The last thing I remember… the lake. The potion. Hands—so many hands. They dragged me under."
I pulled in a shaky breath, forcing myself to meet his gaze when I said. "You're not there anymore. We pulled you back."
But Regulus shook his head, a flash of his old fire breaking through the haze when he all but shouted at us. "No, tell me what happened, Siri. Did Kreacher destroy the Horcrux? What happened to the ponce parading around like he's invincible? Please tell me someone killed him. And how the hell am I alive? I need to know." His eyes flicked across the room, catching on the blonde figure at the edge. His brows drew tight. "Also… what's Cissi doing here? I thought you two hated each other?"
"Calm yourself, Regulus," Narcissa said coolly from her place beside Lucius.
And just like that, my ass-hat little brother shut up. "Figures." I huffed, earning myself a sharp look from him.
Cissi chuckled, shaking her head. "I swear, you both might as well be children again. Just tell him what he wants to know so we can send him up to shower. He smells like death."
"Fine," I muttered. "Moldy Shorts is… well, kinda dead. He made six Horcruxes. We've already found four. First was the one in Hyacinth's scar but the goblins burned that one clean. The second was in Rowena Ravenclaw's crown, the fucker had it hidden inside Hogwarts. The third was in Helga Hufflepuff's cup in our darling cousin Bella's dowry vault. The fourth was in the locket Kreacher dragged back, which I still need to hand over for cleansing. That leaves the diary…"
I turned my eyes narrowing in on Lucius as I asked, "By the way, where exactly did you say that little trinket ended up?"
He went pale instantly. His hand twitched on his cane, and he actually took a half-step back from Narcissa. That's never a good sign.
"I… ah…" His eyes flicked toward Narcissa, then away. "I may have some… bad news. Perhaps you should all sit."
"Spit it out," I snapped.
He swallowed, his Adam's apple bobbing like a schoolboy caught out when he said. "At Flourish and Blotts, that day with Lockhart…"
Narcissa stiffened beside him, her chin lifting dangerously.
"I was… selling off some of the more obscure artifacts from the vaults. Ministry crackdowns have made certain items… inconvenient to store. The diary was among them."
My stomach dropped even before he said it.
"When I saw Arthur Weasley there, I… well, in the chaos of the crowd, after you were fired upon, I might have… slipped it into his daughter's cauldron."
The air cracked.
"YOU DID WHAT?" Narcissa's voice wasn't human. It was a banshee's shriek, all fury and betrayal, and then she was on him. She smacked him across the chest, hard enough his cane clattered to the floor. "YOU… YOU ABSOLUTE FOOL! YOU LET THAT THING… THAT ABOMINATION WALK INTO A SCHOOL FULL OF CHILDREN? DRACO IS THERE!"
Her hands shook, pale with rage, and then she smacked him again while screaming. "MY BABY IS THERE! AND YOU HANDED THAT MONSTER'S SOUL SHARD TO A CHILD!"
Lucius tried to catch her wrists, but he didn't dare strike back. "Cissa—"
"DON'T YOU DARE 'CISSA' ME!" she roared, her eyes alight with the madness that runs deep in our blood. "If anything happens to Draco… if anything happens to any child because of your arrogance…" She broke off, while she shook like she'd hex him into oblivion.
I wasn't much calmer than she was. My fists were clenched so tight my nails bit into my palms. "For fuck's sake, Lucius," I snarled, "another one of those things has found its way next to Cinthy. Do you have any idea what you've done?"
The bile in my throat nearly choked me. One of those cursed shards was slithering around Hogwarts. Slithering toward my daughter.
Narcissa shoved Lucius back, her voice dropping into that eerie calm only true fury can forge. "Sirius, you must get that book back. Do you hear me?" Her eyes glittered wet, sharp as glass. "Bring it to me. I want to stab that grotesque thing myself."
Lucius had the sense to flinch at that.
I forced air into my lungs, effectively forcing the room back into focus. My hands were already reaching for the mirror. "First thing's first," I muttered. "I warn her. If that diary's still in the Weasley girl's hands, we may have a chance to pull it out before it does any real damage."
The mirror pulsed faintly in my palm, the glass shifting into a dull glow. Hyacinth's face blurred into view, the familiar comfort of her eyes cutting straight through the fury boiling in my chest.
"Princess," I said, forcing my voice steady. "We need to talk. Now."