A/N: This chapter got so long that I divided it up into two. : Hope you enjoy. It has a LOT of similarities to the Battle of Hogwarts chapters of DH. Intentional.

Declarations of Loyalty

Chapter 7: The Battle of Hogwarts

Regulus hurtled down the stairs ready to join the battle. His mind was racing.

What could the last Horcrux be?

Something of Ravenclaw's? Are there any artifacts of Ravenclaw?

These thoughts ran through his head as he dodged his first fighting pair. He found himself on a landing above the majority of the fighting.

"Quite dreadful isn't it?" someone behind him asked. He turned tensely, and saw the ghost of a young woman standing a few feet away from him.

"Oh! You're the ghost of Ravenclaw tower aren't you?" he asked, an idea having struck him.

"I am, they call me the Grey Lady," she said, smiling a little.

"Do you know of any…uh, artifacts of Rowena Ravenclaw?" he asked desperately.

The Grey Lady frowned. "I do."

"Please tell me about it, it's urgent!" he pleaded.

She glared at him. "Many people have asked me about my m- Ravenclaw's diadem, they only seek to further their own knowledge by wearing it," she told him firmly.

"This isn't like that," he said honestly. "The…the Dark Lord, he used it for something, and I need to find it. So I can defeat him."

Something flickered in her eyes. "I stole the diadem from my mother and hid it away in a forest in Albania."

His stomach hit the floor. "Have you told anybody else this, though?" he asked.

"One boy," she said, looking morose. "He was flattering, he sympathized with my tale, so I told him."

"Tom Riddle," he muttered. "Thank you, thank you so much," he said, sprinting off. He needed to get away from the crashes of battle to mull this new development over. The last Horcrux had to be here, he took it from Albania and hid it in Hogwarts, he was sure of it.

His thoughts were jerked away from the Horcrux by the tail end of an enormous snake flitting past him. Merlin's baggiest Y-fronts, he thought.

"Sonorus!" he said, pointing his wand at his throat. He ran to the banister of the landing. "There's a basilisk loose in the castle!" he screamed, his voice echoing throughout the castle. "If you look it in the eye, it will kill you!"

He tore away from the banister. "Quietus," he said.

He ran until he saw no signs of anyone else. He paced, thinking to himself. Where could he have hidden it? I need to find where he hid it. I need to find where he could've hidden it. I need to find where he could've hidden it.

To his amazement, what had once been a blank stretch of wall had turned into a door.

"That's not something you see every day," he muttered, opening the door. The room was covered in things Regulus had never seen before. All of these things had to have been banned from Hogwarts centuries ago. Forbidden books, cages with skeletons of creatures that probably no longer existed (or were never meant to exist) cabinets and wardrobes full of things that people had obviously hidden over the centuries.

He scrambled over piles of books and baskets and boxes, looking for something that could be the diadem. He had no idea how long he searched frantically, tossing aside busts of ancient wizards he didn't care about, and moldy old wigs that tries to clamp onto his hands. Then he saw it.

Sitting on a wardrobe, was a faded silver tiara. That had to be the diadem. He climbed up onto a pile of books and reached up, his fingers closing around it. The pile of books and things he had been standing on toppled over and he fell with it.

"Good boy, now hand it over," someone sneered. He stood up and saw the sleek blond hair and sneering face of Lucius Malfoy staring at him, wand drawn. Flanking him were his usual cronies, Crabbe and Goyle, who probably weighed as much as half of Regulus' family and could crush him into pieces with one hand.

Regulus recoiled, but didn't loosen his grip on the Horcrux. "You don't even know what it is."

"Irrelevant, it is something the Dark Lord doesn't want a pathetic traitor to have his hands on, that much is obvious," Malfoy sneered.

Regulus' fist clenched.

"It's over anyway. The basilisk will kill anyone that gets in its way," he said loftily. "Most of your pathetic Order friends are dead," he added. He noticed Regulus pale. "You want to get out of here?" he said. "We'll let you leave if you just hand over that tiara," he said, pointing at the diadem.

"Aw, Malfoy," Crabbe said softly. "Let's kill him."

Lucius glared at Crabbe, who ignored him.

"Avada Kedavra!" the lumbering man cried, brandishing his wand, Regulus ducked behind the huge wardrobe to dodge it.

He heard Malfoy screaming at Crabbe, and then he heard another incantation and the room burst into flames. Regulus looked around for some means of escape. He got up so fast and forcefully that he knocked the wardrobe over.

"Accio Brooms!" he called. Two thick old broomsticks flew at him, and mounted one and flew over the flames towards the door. He doubled back when he noticed the trapped Malfoy. He tossed him the second broom. "You are so lucky you married my cousin," he muttered, flying closer to the door, but a wall of flames shot up in front of him. He threw his hands up to cover his face and felt his arms get burnt; he swallowed hard and sped through the wall of flame, towards the door. He dismounted and stumbled out of the room.

He looked down at his raw, burnt hands, and the diadem. He read the inscription on the front. Wit beyond measure is a man's greatest treasure. Suddenly, the diadem gave a great vibration and a tiny shriek, the same odd, blood-like substance that had leaked from the cup covering his hands. He grimaced and threw the destroyed Horcrux down, running to join the battle.

"One more to destroy," he told himself, flying down the stairs, the pain of his injuries forgotten at the surge of adrenaline.

James Potter ran in front of him, pursuing a Death Eater he vaguely knew as Evan Rosier. He saw the Prewett brothers fighting four Death Eaters, standing back to back, grinning and laughing. He saw one of the Death Eaters crumple and fall.

Then he saw Fawkes plummet from the ceiling. He looked for what the phoenix was diving for and saw the basilisk. The basilisk that was pursuing James Potter. Fawkes' clawed feet met with the basilisk's left eye, clawing and tearing at while the basilisk shook his head, attempting to get the bird off of him. Fawkes was blinding the basilisk.

Regulus grinned to himself as he ran into the hall. He hit the first Death Eater that came toward him with a Stunning Spell and jumped over the enormous tail of the basilisk. Fawkes had done his job, and James was casting spell after spell at it, stumbling back to avoid its fangs. Fawkes swooped down low over James' head, and Regulus peered up and saw that James was wearing the Sorting Hat.

Then he saw the sword. James grabbed the hilt and pulled it from the hat. He looked up at the phoenix and smirked. "Thanks, Fawkes."

"No time for thanking, Potter, kill the basilisk before it bites you!" Regulus screamed, ducking and weaving through the battle.

James was knocked off his feet by the gigantic snake, the sword clattered to the floor. He grabbed it again and when the snake was right on top of him, he drove the sword up through its open mouth. The giant snake fell, dead, on top of James.

"Bollocks, a little help?" James said to no one in particular. Regulus hurried forward, pushing the body of the dead snake off of James. James stood, wrenching the sword out of the basilisks head. Regulus remembered something, and jerked out two of the basilisk's biggest teeth. "Is there a purpose to that?" James asked as he pocketed the fangs.

"Yeah," Regulus said, nodding and running back towards the headmaster's office.

"Well, well, baby cousin," some said as he got to the top of the staircase leading away from the fighting.

"Bella!" Regulus gasped, finally aware of the pain in his arms. Bellatrix, Rodolphus, Rabastan, and (with a stab of fear) Barty were standing in front of him, blocking his path.

"The wittle puppy isn't so brave without his big dog is he?" Bellatrix said, again in that horrid baby voice. "Scared without your big bwother here to pwotect you?"

"Rabastan, Rodolphus, hold him for me," Bellatrix purred, raising an eyebrow. They obeyed her, each taking one of his arms, restraining him from moving. "Now, little cousin, ready to play?"

Regulus struggled hopelessly against the bigger men, staring pleadingly over Bellatrix's shoulder at Barty, who turned away, staring at the wall.

"Crucio!" Bellatrix cackled, her wand on Regulus. Regulus had never been hit with the Cruciatus Curse before. He felt like he was on fire, there was nothing but pain. He was sure he was screaming, but he couldn't hear his own voice over the pain. Then she stopped. "Barty dear," she cooed. "Won't you come help me? Prove to me once and for all where your loyalties lie?" she asked. Barty looked at her with wide, pale eyes. He walked over, wand clutched in his fist. "Crucio!" Bellatrix giggled. But it stopped sooner this time, and he fell to the floor, Rabastan and Rodolphus had let him go. He saw two larger figures rush in, his vision was hazy, but he clearly picked out Frank Longbottom dueling Bellatrix.

He pushed himself to sit against a wall, his breathing shallow. He saw a tall, bald black man dueling both Rabastan and Rodolphus. Kingsley Shacklebolt, he thought was his name.

The Barty's face came in view, and he felt an arm around his aching shoulders.

"You should be," Regulus groaned. "Helping them, shouldn't you?"

"Irrelevant," he muttered, looking concerned. "You're okay right?" he asked, wiping a smudge of ash off his cheek.

"But you're fighting with the Death Eaters," he whimpered.

"That doesn't mean I'm going to hurt you, don't be stupid," Barty said.

Sirius Black bounded up the stairs, his robes torn, his face cut and bleeding, but none of that mattered. "Regulus!" he said, seeing his brother propped up against a far wall, just beyond the three Lestranges, who were battling to the death, it seemed. Regulus was against the wall, Barty Crouch kneeling next to him, his arm around his shoulders, whispering in his ear.

"You," he growled. "Get away from him, now," he said, pointing his wand at Barty.

Barty turned on him, though not removing himself from Regulus' side, his wand pointed up at Sirius, the expression on his face quite deranged. "Get back," he said.

"That's my brother," he said possessively. "You get away from him."

"Sirius," Regulus said, pushing himself to his feet, leaning against the wall for support. "Sirius go back and help your friends," he said, still breathing heavily. "I'm almost done. There's just one more," he said.

"Are you okay?"

"No, but the sooner this is over," he said pointedly, stepping away from the wall and leaning against Barty. "The sooner this is over, the better off we all are."

Sirius nodded, and turned to rejoin the battle, but froze, Regulus' eyes widened. There was a huge blast, and they saw Bellatrix tumble down the stairs, her face frozen in shock. Frank Longbottom turned and joined Kingsley in fighting the two remaining Lestranges.

"I need to go to the Headmaster's office," Regulus told Barty. Barty nodded and helped him walk towards the stone gargoyle. "Please let me in, it's urgent," Regulus pleaded with the gargoyle. To his delight, he was allowed in. They opened the door to the huge circular room and Regulus dove for the diary.

"Why are you doing this?" Barty asked him suddenly, as he fumbled to pull the basilisk fang out of his robes.

"I feel like I have to. I've come this far," Regulus said, taking the fang and driving it into the diary. The soul in the diary screamed in pain, as it bled out black ink. He left the basilisk fang in it and turned to leave the office.

Barty had gone.

It didn't bother him that Barty wanted to fight with the Death Eaters. He hobbled down the spiral staircase and walked back to the stairs leading down to the fight.

Then he saw him. Dumbledore and The Dark Lord engaged in a fierce battle. Many casualties were strewn across the floor of the Great Hall, the basilisk the most obvious among them. He saw curses and spells flying that he'd never seen before. He watched, enthralled.

"It's over, Voldemort!" he called, speaking the name without a second thought. "It's over! Your Horcruxes are gone!"

Voldemort parried a spell that Dumbledore had just thrown at him and turned to look at him. Regulus was prepared.

Voldemort raised his wand, but was forced to dodge another spell from Dumbledore; he turned full towards Regulus and pointed his wand up at him, and several things happened at once: something huge and black hit Regulus, knocking him off his feet, someone screamed Avada Kedavra and everything went black.