I woke up early the next morning. I looked out the window and saw it was still dark outside. I cast Tempus and saw it was only six thirty in the morning. I walked into the common room with some parchment, ink and my quill and started writing out a plan for what was needed to accomplish the first part of my task to get rid of Voldemort. I was writing furiously everything I needed to know.
"Rasalas." I jumped at the sound and looked up to see who disrupted me.
"Sirius! You gave me a fright. You do know you shouldn't be sneaking up on people like that don't you?" I said as I looked down at the almost finished note for Regulus.
"I did try calling you. Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." Sirius said, looking down at his feet.
"It's fine." I said as I finished writing the note for Regulus.
"What have you got there?" He asked casually.
"That, my dear brother, is our plan."
"Good, when do we start?" He asked, rubbing his hands together.
"Later on today. Breakfast will almost be starting and I need to go send this off to someone." I said as I stood up holding the note. I started heading towards the portrait when Sirius grabbed my arm. I turned around to look at him questioningly. "What is it Sirius?"
"Would you like me to walk with you? Keep you company?"
"I would love you to Sirius."
"Alright, can you hold on just a minute and I'll be right back." He said as he let go and ran up to the boys' dormitory. I only had to wait a minute before he came back down, a smile on his face. "Right lets go." He said moving towards the portrait.
"What was that about?" I asked my brother curiously.
"I just went up and let the guys know I was going for a walk with you, they freak out a bit if one of us isn't there and they don't know what's going on. Remus wanted to come with us."
"Is he coming then?" I asked as I looked behind us.
"He wanted to but I told him to stay."
"Why did you tell him that?" I asked as I stopped and looked at Sirius. "He can come if he wants to." I said as I pulled out my wand.
"Sorry Ras. I just wanted to have some time with my sister. I haven't had a proper chance to since you got here."
"It's alright Sirius." I said as I waved my wand and my patronus shot out of my wand. I whispered to it quietly enough so Sirius couldn't hear what I was saying and watched it bolt off up the stairs. "Come on, let's go." I said as I motioned Sirius to follow me.
"So who are you sending that of too anyway?" He asked curiously.
"That, dear brother, is for me to know and you to find out." I said, smirking. We walked in relative silence to the owlery, talking quietly there. I called for an owl to come down, whispering to it to take it to Regulus Black during breakfast. I walked back to Sirius and started walking down with him to the great hall. He threw his arm over my shoulder as we walked.
"Are you going to tell me who that was for yet?"
"Nope, you can wait, just like the person who I sent it to."
We arrived in the great hall, it was already half full. We scanned the room and looked for the rest of the Marauders. We found them sitting half way down the Gryffindor table.
"Hey Ras, did you get that note sent off?"
"What note?" James asked, looking at me curiously.
"That's for me to know and you to find out." I said to him.
"Did you send it off to where it was needed?" Remus asked.
"Yes, I did. Thank you for asking Remus." I said, smiling.
"Wait, he knows and I don't?" Sirius asked.
"Yes of course he knows."
"How does he know?" Sirius asked. "You were only writing the note this morning.
"I sent him a patronus on our way down."
"Was that your patronus that was swimming around him? It followed him around until he went into the bathroom then after he left the bathroom it was gone."
"Yes, because I told it to. That message was for his ears only."
Before anybody else could say anything, owls came swooping in from outside carrying the post. I looked over at the Slytherin table and watched Regulus take the note off the owl. The owl flew off again straight away. He read the note and looked up towards me. As soon as he spotted me he nodded his head slightly in response. I smiled back warmly.
"What's that smile for?" Remus asked, looking at me knowingly.
"He's in." I said vaguely.
"That's great, so when are we going to go see this person and where? I'm assuming we are coming with you if it has to do with that."
"Yes Remus, all four of you will be coming."
"Good so when are we going?" Sirius asked looking excited.
"Finished your breakfast first Siri."
The other boys looked at each other for a minute before laughing. "Siri?" James spluttered. "Where did you come up with that?"
I shrugged in response as I finished my breakfast. I saw Regulus leave and after I was satisfied enough people had gone for it not to be suspicious I sent my patronus with a message telling him ten minutes to meet in the suggested location. "Come on boys, let's go."
I got up and started walking towards the door; I looked behind me seeing the guys walking slowly behind me. "Hurry up, or we will be late." They rushed up to me.
"Will we be taking the shortcut?" Remus asked.
"Of course. We wouldn't get there in time if we didn't." I dragged Remus over to the same shortcut we used the other day and went through it.
"How did you know about that? We don't even know about it."
"No, you don't know about it, I do." Remus replied as he smiled.
"You didn't tell us?" James cried out affronted.
"I added it to the map; if you looked on it you would see it."
"Where does it come out?"
"Right here." I said as I pushed it open at the other end. We walked out near the entrance to the Gryffindor portrait and went along to the seventh floor and saw the Room of Requirements was already there, the door slightly open. "Come on, let's not wait around, we have lots to do today." I said as I walked into the room, the boys followed closely behind me.
"What on earth is he doing here?" Sirius growled as he closed the door behind him.
"We need him. He's important for my mission to succeed. He knows what he needs to do in the end, except I won't let it finish the same way it did before."
"Thank you." Regulus said looking grateful.
"You're welcome Reg." I said as I walked up to him and gave him a tight hug. "Do you think I would let anything happen to my family after I just got them back?"
"Alright, should we get everybody updated on what needs to be done today?" He asked quietly.
"He even knows and we don't?" Sirius asked affronted.
"Yes he does know. Now, before we go any further what do any of you know about the Chamber of Secrets?"
James scoffed. "It's a myth; you don't really believe in that do you?" I raised my eyebrow challengingly.
"It was made by Salazar Slytherin wasn't it? It's said to have a monster living in the chamber." Remus said quietly.
"Yes, that is what it is."
"But- but it's just a legend isn't it?" James asked.
"The chamber was built by Salazar Slytherin back when the school was first built. It is the home of a monster, a huge beast called a basilisk. When the heir of Slytherin returns to the castle the chamber will be opened again and the monster unleashed on the school to purge the school of mud bloods." I ignored the flinch from the other occupants in the room at the name and continued. The monster kills by people looking it in the eye. If you're not looking at it in the eye it petrifies you. The only way to get into the chamber is to be a parselmouth."
"How do you know all of this?" James asked, looking at me wide-eyed.
"Don't forget where I'm from James. I was friends with your son after all. I know all that because in my second year the chamber was opened and I was one of the one's that was petrified. Your son saved me James and me doing all this is repaying the favour. You get your son. I get my friends back even though it won't be in the same way and I also get my fiancé back." I said, the last part looking at Remus.
"So what are we going to do?" Sirius asked.
"We are going to kill that monster in the chamber."
"How are we going to do that?" Regulus asked. I turned to look at him.
"This is where you guys come in. I need you to get a hold of some rooster down by Hagrids hut."
"What do you need roosters for?" Peter squeaked out.
"Well young Peter, the crow of a rooster kills a basilisk."
"Ok, so how are we going to do this?" James asked quietly.
"You and Sirius will be going to go get the roosters in this bag." I said as I pulled out a bag from my pocket.
"It's enchanted to be able to hold as many as you need but won't get any bigger. You need to grab as many as you can and bring it up to the girls' bathroom on the first floor corridor."
"Alright, what will the rest of you be doing?"
"Reg, Remus, Peter and I will be going to the bathroom there and getting ready."
"How do you expect to get in if only people who are parselmouth can get in?"
"It's a good thing your son talks in his sleep isn't it James?" I asked.
"Yeah, I guess it is." He said quietly. "Come on." He said to Sirius as he grabbed the bag off me as he headed to the door to go to Hagrid's.
"Are you guys ready to go?" I asked them. They all nodded in agreement. "Alright let's go."
We walked down to the first floor in silence and towards the bathroom. "Peter I need you to wait and get James and Sirius when they get here and bring them to this door. Can you do that?"
"I can do that." He said excitedly at the thought of being helpful. He ran off to go find them and bring them back to the bathroom.
"Alright, let's do this. Just be careful, there is the ghost of Moaning Murtle that resides in this bathroom. She was the first person that Tom Riddle killed to make the first horcrux before he became Voldemort." I said as I walked into the bathroom. Remus and Regulus followed me in quietly. "It's over here." I said as I pointed to the basins. I looked at each one carefully till I saw the one with the snake on the tap. Just as I was about to say something else the door opened. I looked around to see Peter, James and Sirius walking in. Peter was looking extremely proud of himself.
"Did you get enough?" I asked.
"We managed to get three before Hagrid saw us. Will that be enough?"
"That will be fine." I said. I looked over at the tap and spoke in parseltounge the same words I had heard Harry speak heaps of times in his sleep. "Now I can't stress enough to be careful. I have a potion with me to help purge poison from the body but I don't have much. Are you all ready to go?" I asked. All of them nodded in agreement. "Follow me then boys." I said, smiling as I jumped in the hole to get to the chamber. I landed on the bottom in a pit full of bones. I stood up carefully looking back up to see them looking down.
"Rasalas are you alright?" I heard Regulus ask.
"I'm fine Reg, come on down and we will get started." They started coming down one by one. James jumped down first followed by Peter after some persuasion from Sirius and Remus. Regulus jumped down next with Sirius and Remus following. Remus instantly came to my side after he landed.
"Are you ok?" He asked quietly.
"I'm fine Remus." I replied just as quietly. "Let's go." I said to the group in front of me as I started walking along the tunnel till we got to a huge metal door. I spoke the same thing in parseltounge and walked through. All the guys followed after me. We went and stood near the statue of the head of Salazar Slytherin.
"Pass me the bag." I whispered to James. He handed it over and I pulled the roosters out one by one.
"How are you going to get them to crow?" Sirius asked.
I held my finger up to my lips and held out my wand casting a spell to imitate the rising sun. The roosters started crowing instantly and we heard the distant shriek of the monster in the head of Salazar Slytherin. "Stand back." I called out to them as I stepped back silently. The basilisk slithered out of the mouth of the statue and was shrieking at the roosters, not sure which way to go to get away. All of a sudden it started swinging around in all directions. I stood frozen to the spot of the basilisk started swaying in my direction. I barely registered the sound of people calling my name until Sirius and Regulus jumped in front of me and Remus tackled me to the ground just as the snake swung in my direction before falling on the ground dead.
"Is everybody alright?" I asked looking around at everyone. Sirius and Regulus slowly turned around as they held their hands over wounds on their arms. "Oh no." I said jumping up and moving to them as they collapsed on the ground.
"Do something." I heard James call as I reached into my bag and reached for the potion vial and poured a bit onto their wounds as well as in their mouths. "Why did you put it in the mouth and the wounds?" James asked sounding worried.
"Putting it on the wounds will make it work quicker than putting it in their mouths so I did both." I said as tears clouded my eyes.
"What are we going to do?" Remus asked.
"You and I are going to take them to the infirmary. Peter and James I need you to get the fangs." I said as I threw a pair of gloves at them.
"What about Sirius?" James asked annoyed.
"Get the fangs or this would have all been a waste. We will help them."
Remus and I levitated Regulus and Sirius to the entrance of the chamber and slowly levitated them up the hole to the surface. I pointed my wand at Remus and levitated him up the hole as well then he levitated me up as well.
"Hurry, we need to get them to the infirmary." I levitated Regulus while Remus levitated Sirius and we rushed to the infirmary. "Madam Pomfrey!" I called out. She came out of her office ready to scold us for being too loud when she saw the two boys in front of us.
"Put the on the beds here." She said as she rushed over. She waved her wands over them. "What happened?"
"Basilisk venom." Madam Pomfrey looked over, looking like she was about to say something. "Don't ask, just work." I said through gritted teeth. "I've already given them a potion to dispel the poison from their systems but they haven't woken up yet."
Madam Pomfrey finished her scans and looked up at me. "There is nothing I can do. If they wake up by the morning they will survive."
"And if they don't?"
"I'm sorry; there would be nothing I can do." She said as she took in my crestfallen face. "I'll keep doing the diagnostic spells to see how they are but I can't do more than that." She said as she walked away.
"What were they thinking? I told them to keep out of the way of the basilisk so they don't get hurt. I didn't have much potion. I hope it works, I can't lose my brothers just after I get them back." I said as I leaned into Remus and he wrapped his arms around me, letting me cry into his shoulder.
"What's going on?" James asked as he ran into the room.
"They might not make it. Ras already did everything that can be done for them." Remus said quietly.
"Why did they have to jump in front of me?" I asked.
"They wanted to protect their sister." James spoke softly as he put his hand on my shoulder.
"It should have been me. They should have let it get me." I cried.
"I know Sirius wouldn't have done that. Family is everything to him. He would do it again if he had to."
"No, he can't. He needs to survive, they both do."
"What makes you less important than them?" James asked looking stern.
"Sirius has you, Regulus has people. They are needed. I only just got here. If I died there are people to carry on my mission. If they die some things won't happen that are meant to still happen to help save the world. They can't die."
"What do they do to help save the world then?"
"Well maybe not the world, but England at least. Regulus sacrifices himself to get a part needed to destroy him. Sirius is needed for the times to come. He is one of the ones that help prepare Harry for what's to come."
James looked at me blankly. "So you're just wanting to Sirius alive to train my son and Regulus alive to die anyway?" He asked coldly.
"No, because if it all goes to plan Harry will have both you and his mother there for him and I won't let my little brother die neither."
James expression softened slightly.
I sat there between their beds the whole night refusing to leave. Madam Pomfrey came over a few times to scan their bodies a few times. Before I knew it morning came. I sat there watching them carefully. All of a sudden I heard groaning form the bed to my right. I looked over and saw Sirius trying to sit up. I stood up and pushed him down carefully.
"Shh. Stay down Sirius, you need to rest."
"What happened?" He asked groaning.
"That's not important right now." I said as I called Madam Pomfrey over. "Thank god you're alright." I said as I looked at my twin. "I love you so much Sirius, I can't lose my brother."
Just then James and Peter walked in and saw him awake and walked up to him. "You're awake." James whispered.
"Of course I am." Sirius said smiling. I headed over to Regulus' bed. Sirius looked at where I was heading. "Regulus?" He called out. "Is he ok?"
I walked over and laid my hand on his head. All of a sudden his skin started going cold.
"No, no, no, no." I said quietly before I screamed. "Regulus! No! Regulus!"