Here is the next chapter, I hope you enjoy
Breakthrough - Sirius had taken his wand, landed them in a room of pitch blackness and charged him with a single, seemingly simple task, "try and draw blood from me." That was how all spars and training ended, as soon as first blood has been spilt. With those short words he had left his side and disappeared into the blackness. "I won't use my magic until you do Reg," his voice drifted to him from the far left corner of the room, "think you can do it?"
"How can I possibly do it Sirius?" He complained, not moving and needing a hint to make this seemingly simple task possible, "I can't see you; I don't even know where to begin."
"That's the idea Reg," his voice came from a different direction this time, "can you hear me?"
Regulus perked his ears, "I can, but you're moving," he accused; the voice came from different locations.
"Can you hear me move?" He shot right back.
"No, your footfalls are too light, hey can you see me?"
"Relatively well, my eyesight is sharper than that of any human," he answered, making Regulus growl in annoyance. "Number one rule is too keep your cool, do not lose your temper and make mistakes, if something fails, try it again, if it is futile then think of something different. Don't storm out; I would not have set you this task if I thought you could not do it. I think it is very hard and it would not be disappointing if you cannot do it or you need help, but you can complete it."
"I can only hear where you end up, thanks to your voice, if you keep talking I may able to find you, but you are agile, can move very fast and can see me, you have the advantage."
"But of course. Well if you cannot see me and hearing me does no good, can you smell me?"
"That is probably the weirdest thing you have ever said," Regulus said truthfully, "even you don't smell that bad. Not all of us are dogs who can track someone down relying on following their scent alone. I can't draw your blood Sirius, I can't even find you! This room is enormous!"
"Don't whine so much Reg," he sounded amused, "and that sounds so much like you're giving up, come on, you have not even tried yet! Think about what you can do, if you can't smell me and have too much difficulty hearing me, then look for me."
"It is pitch black Sirius! Again I remind you I am not an animal; I do not have perfect night vision, my eyes are pointless."
"If it is too dark then create a torch to look for me."
"But you took my wand." He did not have any muggle contraptions on his person and the only way he knew how to create a light was 'lumos'.
"How many times do I have to tell you Reg? Again his voice was coming from somewhere else in the room, "magic does not come from some instrument you buy in a shop."
"It comes from deep inside of you, your core" Regulus finished for him; he had heard the lecture enough times before. "Learning to harness one's magic is essentially learning to harness oneself," he recited, "yes Sirius, I know."
"Then do it Reg, you have the knowledge and the magic. Create a light, enhance your eyes and transfigure a knife to get me, come on Reg!"
Reg concentrated, "lumos," he muttered, flicking his hand the way he saw Sirius do so every time he wanted a light. Nothing happened. "Lumos!" He said louder trying to get even a spark, but still, nothing happened. He screamed the word, almost losing his cool but his efforts were still fruitless, he had to try something else.
"There is one useful thing about a wand," Sirius mentioned, "all you need to do is say the word. It is not enough now, you have got to mean it, want it, be able to imagine it. Later, when you are comfortable with it, you won't need words either."
Regulus blocked out his voice, he was a smart man, he knew lumos was not the only way to create light, fire also offered light. He liked fire, he always had, ever since he was a young child, the way the tongues danced together, it was majestic. His eyes half lidded he imagined a ball of flames hovering above his palm, "flagu," he ordered softly and almost immediately there was a ball of fire in his hand and he grinned. He kept calm, that was the most important rule, he did not let himself get over excited, he still had to draw blood. He stretched his hands away from each other at an even sedate pace, the flame he held in his hands grew steadily. Once he was happy with its size he let go of it and stepped away letting it rise to the ceiling.
He heard clapping off to his left and spun around to see if he could view the source. Now the room was bathed in a dim light he could see Sirius standing there applauding him. It was still rather dark so he could not see the expression on his face but he imagined he was smiling, not smirking like usual, but actually smiling one of his rare and wonderful true smiles he reserved for few. Focusing on the task at hand, he did not need to see the expression on his face; he just needed to see an outline and an outline he had. "I can see you," he said incredulously, watching as Sirius simply walked around the room, it did not seem elusive or something to get annoyed over anymore.
"So I see," Sirius answered him, well done, but your task is not over yet, come get me Reg!" Go for him Reg did. It was no easy feat, Sirius was a lot more agile and faster than him and he kept diving and rolling out the way of his charges with a swish of black cloak until Reg was feeling more than a little desperate. "Come on Reg," Sirius encouraged, "you've done the hard part, this is just like one of those fights we had as children, your success rate at those was 30-70." Once Sirius decided Reg was taking too long, he doused the flame in water, bathing the room in darkness again.
"For fuck's sake!" Regulus yelled in frustration, "you're making this impossible! This is my first attempt at conscious wandless magic; you know that, could you go easy on me?" He did not like to sound like a petulant child but this was not fair.
"I am going easy on you Reg," Sirius insisted, "I have not shot at you have I? Do you even know how many times I could have killed you by now? Make the fire again."
"Will you just get rid of it again?" Regulus asked sulkily.
"Perhaps..."
"FOR FUCK'S SAKE YOU ARE IMPOSSIBLE!" He raved again.
"Regain your temper," Sirius admonished sternly, "lose your cool and you've lost the task. Honestly Reg you are mere moments from storming out of the room like a child denied a chocolate bar. It was a massive breakthrough when you successfully blocked me out, stayed calm and focused and created fire to alleviate the dark and find me. You managed to do it far quicker than I was expecting and you are not even tired, now make the fire again!"
Reg growled lowly, "I was not going to storm out," he lied, still in a sulk but willing to give it another try. Sirius had mixed the right about of sternness with the right amount of encouragement and he found himself with his eyes closed, blocking all noise around him, focusing on the sound of his heart in his head. He waited for his cool to regain completely, and once he was 100% calm he put his hands together and created another fireball, and let it rise to the ceiling, lighting the room again, and once more the outline of his brother became visible. He created another fireball and threw it at the outline but it was dodged with ease. He threw another and another casually noting that Sirius had still made no attempt to retaliate. He'd been telling the truth, he was going easy on him.
The battle raged on for a while longer, Sirius remaining too fast to catch, but at least he had not destroyed his light again. Regulus felt so much more comfortable when he could see where he was going and what he was doing. "You're going too fast," Regulus complained after a while, bending over, resting his hands on his knees, panting, "I can't catch you."
"Then don't catch me to draw blood, do it from a distance, or, slow me down," he replied as if it was obvious. Reg started to throw fire around wildly, it was tiring, but Sirius was not going to go any easier on him than he was now. His shots got more and more out of control until Sirius was forced to retaliate and shot a jet of water out of his hands. At that precise moment, Regulus threw fire and the water turning into steam. It blew into Sirius' face, making him stagger and clutch his face, hiding his eyes instinctually, it only slowed him for a moment, but that was long enough for Reg to seize the moment, jump forward and punch him square in the nose, drawing blood.
Reg was dragged forcefully and suddenly from his memories and thrust back into reality. The sounds and the flashing light of the spells came back to him, and the slowly dying strength of his brother. Sirius had called that moment a breakthrough, Regulus had called it a mixture of desperation, luck and frustration. But when he thought about it again, he realized Sirius was right; his brother had rebuked him before he lost his cool and stormed out. He had not been desperate because the wandless magic had been a conscious spell. Now here, locked in this little box above the arena, he just wished that magic would come to him again. His brother was done there, with no wand, fighting like a hero, to save him, while he was up here, doing nothing. His core was hardly unlocked, if he could rescue himself even if he did not fight, that was at least something.
He tried to ignore the sheer exhaustion his brother was suffering, it would only panic him, he was now on his 6th ministry official, but there were two left. If it ever got down to Fudge, all he would have to do was push him. He already did not have the energy to apparate, it would be up to Reg to get them out of there, although he was not sure if he could do that after the energy it would take to escape his prison. But he was a fighter, he always had been and that meant he could run. The sadistic bastards were taking pleasure out of watching Sirius fight until his breaking point, desperately trying to save his younger brother. He'd shown them by defeating so many, but this was probably his last stand, even Sirius had boundaries to his magical and battle prowess.
Regulus focused on Harry like he and Sirius often did during grueling training sessions, he was safe, he was free, that counted for something, in fact, that sweet, innocent little boy counted for everything. He blocked everything out by closing his eyes, steadying his breathing and focusing on the sound of his heart in his head like before. All noise and light around him soon faded and when he was feeling absolute calm he opened his eyes, put his hands together and muttered, "flagu." Flames erupted in his hands and he smiled in triumph just like the last time he did it. He wished Sirius could see him now, but his attention was elsewhere, and so was every else's, he was so strong the ones left awake were transfixed with the spectacle, perfect.
He put the fire to the thick glass and watched as it tried to melt, he frowned; this was going to take ¾ of an hour, easily. He threw a fireball at the glass and that it made it tremble dangerously, causing a hairline scratch, there, that was better. He was going to have to work solidly for quite a while to create a hole in the glass big enough for him to get through though. He worked quickly, firing fireball after fireball at the glass to get to Sirius in time, he was about 5 minutes from breaking through when Sirius' opponent got a few good shots in. One obliterated his shield; the next knocked all remaining strength out of him. He doubled over, holding his stomach as that was where he was hit and threw up, a mixture of vomit and blood sprayed the ground.
He staggered on his feet for a moment, getting away from the sick, gave a woozy groan and then his eyes rolled back in his head. He fell forward and did not move. "No," Reg could seem to manage anything more than a whisper. "No, hold on, I'm almost through," he said and desperately fired a few more fireballs in quick succession desperately. Just before Sirius fell forward face down in the dirt he cast a quick glance at the box Reg was still trapped in with sorrowful eyes. 'I'm sorry Reg,' they called to him, 'I was not strong enough', but it wasn't his fault, it was Reg's, his, all his, and he had to fix it somehow, he had to, he had to, he had... but Sirius had already fallen down to the ground. For the third time since the battle started the world stopped for Reg.
There was absolute silence for a moment, while everyone still capable of doing so just stared. Then all of a sudden everything snapped back into action. Regulus could hear the other opponents who had not had to fight laughing and joking and congratulating each other. They tried (and failed) to revive Dumbledore and the other fallen opponents, much to Regulus' pride, at least Sirius had knocked them out good. Then suddenly he could see their mouths moving but no sound was coming out, and if it was coming out then he could not hear them, indeed, he seemed to be the only one affected. All he could hear was the sound of the blood pounding in his ears and his eyes were burning and every muscle in his body was tensed and then he was screaming.
Reg could not believe this was happening to him, that the prone form of his brother was lying there motionless on the ground before him, defeated. He sank to his knees, put his hands over his ears and screamed for all he was worth, a wordless cry of anguish and pain, and then the fury set in. They were taking Sirius, how dare they, how dare they take the last member of his blood family away from him? His crazy cries and threats in Dumbledore's office were going to ring true, he was going to kill them all himself for what they had done to his brother. Nobody strikes his brother and gets away with it. How dare they hurt such a brave and innocent man? How dare they mar his beautiful skin? How dare they try and take him away? They had no right!
Then Reg could feel something stir in the pit of his stomach and he had no idea what it was but it was bloody uncomfortable. That feeling grew and intensified until it was encompassing his full form and he was swelling with this strange new feeling until he felt like he was going to burst. It was a bit like the feeling one gets when reaching their orgasm, but a lot more powerful than that. There was nothing he could do but scream and scream he did, long and loud. He could not stop, it felt like he was trying to rip his lungs from his body out through his mouth, they stung and burned, but still he continued. Those left conscious turned their attention from Sirius' still figure to him, surprised one human could make so much noise using only their lungs.
That pressure inside of him that started in the pit of his stomach and now pressed against all of his skin grew painful to maintain through. He just wanted to be relieved of it and screaming was doing little to nothing and as they all put their hands over their ears, he understood. With great difficulty he reigned in his screams and reached inside of his being experimentally trying to grab onto that pressure with invisible hands but it was too large. His brows knitted together and he forced the invisible hands to go into the very center of the pressure within him. With an almighty shove that pressure shot out of him through his skin, but it did not hurt him, in every direction in one huge destructive wave, the magical glass confining him shattered.
The remnants of the wave threw many against the wall, which dazed three and knocked one unconscious, but he'd already been tired out in his fight with Sirius moments earlier. With one jump he landed over his fallen brother protectively, snarling in a feral manner. Now that there was a new threat, the remaining fighters focused on him, wands raised. It was too much for him, he was not going to try and deceive himself otherwise, he was outnumbered three to one and he was malnourished, thirsty and tired anyway. But he did not need to be able to beat them, he just needed a distraction, a spare moment so he could pick him up and run and run until they were far enough away to apparate them to safety and nurse him back to health.
He felt slight warmth against his calf, Sirius was breathing, he was alive, he was alive! That is, of course he was alive, he never had any doubts. He resisted the urge to bend down and kiss him or just draw him into a hug and hold him until he was better. He could do that once they got out of here; he needed to get them to safety first. He was breathing, he could save a dying man, but not a dead one, but it was shallow, he was awfully still. "Hold on Siri," he whispered to his unconscious body lying beneath him, "hold on, I'm going to save you, I'm going to get us out of here, I promise, I'm so, so, sorry Siri, just hold on, hold on, hold on."
As he was standing over him he felt the last remnants of pressure that had stayed in his stomach twist out of his body to meet Sirius' magic. It sunk into him and twirled with a long golden transparent thread that emitted from Sirius' chest. His eyes widened and he could tell he was the only one that could see it. He'll survive; his golden threat connected to his own stomach whispered to him assuredly, everything is going to be ok. This... was his magic, his core, though not as unlocked or as powerful as Sirius', was whispering to him just like Siri's magic often whispered to him.I'll save him, he promised and the two golden threads twined together firmly and hummed in content, yes, he too believed they belonged firmly together.
Everything was going to be ok, he was sure of it. He would find a spare moment, they still weren't firing because they were intimidated by this snarls, but if he moved to pick Sirius up then they would open fire for sure. He had erected a shield anyway, but it was just a normal protego, and he was tired, it would not last long. He was going to take him to Grimmauld Place as it was actually never found seeming as Dumbledore had the brilliant idea to take him here instead, he had seen him cast a patronus after all and it did not take a genius to work out where it was going. Maybe he would take him to the Bahamas, the hot weather and ocean spray may help him recover quicker. Maybe he would take them somewhere completely new.
Yes, a holiday sounded like a fabulous idea, he would take them somewhere away from this revolution for a while; he would take him anywhere he wanted to go. They would find Kreacher and Harry wherever they had gone to hide and be safe. They would be a family again, everything would go back to normal, everything will be ok, "everything will be ok." They would take that holiday and have a wonderful time and then they would carry on their revolution. They would put the death eaters in Azkaban where they belonged then go to Azkaban and kill them. They would reveal how corrupt the ministry and Dumbledore was loved so much were and get the world turned against them. They would have Rita write how they defeated Dumbledore and a few others and they'd catch Peter soon and Fudge will resign and do no more harm to this world.
"Everything is going to be ok now," he said softly to the brother who could not hear him anyway, "I'm going to make everything ok." At that moment as if to echo this promise, Severus and Remus burst into the arena and landed either side of him looking just as fierce and feral he. Oh, that helped, for the first time since he started whispering to his brother, he believed his words. Three against three was so much easier than three against one; well it was soon going to be three against two as he was as good as out of here. Do not be afraid to unleash everything you have, his magic ordered, pack is here, make sure the evil ones know what it means to hurt the brother of a Black. No, it was an enticing idea, but not now, he could do that later.
"Regulus," Remus said, half turning to him, "you need to get about ½ a mile away before you can apparate." He placed a hand on his shoulder and reinforced the now flimsy shield he had around himself and Sirius. "Get him out of here, get him safe and make him better," he ordered, his steely eyes holding him steady leaving no room for argument. "And when he wakes, tell him that we came for him eventually, that we are on his side and that we are sorry, well, I am sorry, for everything and I'd be honored," he shook his head, "forget it there's no time, just go." Regulus could do no more than nod as he bent down and heaved Sirius onto his shoulder. At the physical contact their cores called out to each other once more. Do not fear brother, we are safe now, pack has arrived.
Their cores entwined in their golden coils where their bodies made contact and they thrummed in contented harmony. "We'll hold them off," Remus said with a sad smile, "for as long as we can," he amended with a shrug, "now GET OUT OF HERE!" He could not argue with that tone, with one more nod of gratitude and promise Reg pushed away his hunger and tiredness and took off running as fast as he could towards freedom, towards life. Remus and Severus Snape stood back to back, magic joined to form a shield that covered the both of them. They were outnumbered and outmatched but they did not have to win this battle and they would not be killed or imprisoned when it was over, they just had to hold them off for long enough to allow Regulus and Sirius to get away.
They would do what they had to, because Remus had a lot of making up to do and Severus owed him a life debt, and that was no easy thing. They fought as best as they could, doing rather well, getting a few good shots in, and their shield held out admirably. They knew they could flee soon so thy only felt fear when Dumbledore started to come round. Seeming as he was evil now they could not rely on him to recognize them and vouch for their lives. There was no way they could past him and run to safety, even if he had only just come round from being under, he was still stupidly powerful and wise. He seemed disorientated at first but then his eyes locked onto them and a glassy complexion passed over them, turning them from their usual blue to milky white.
"Apprehend the traitors," he ordered, despite that was what they were already doing, he did not need to join in.
"Merlin, what has gotten into you, you old coot?" Minerva McGonagall appeared out of nowhere and with absolutely no hesitation at all struck Dumbledore with Stupefy in the middle of his chest. He flew back a few paces before winding up flat on his back, good for her. He struggled to his feet but she did not wait for him to regain his bearings before she shot him again, and again and again, forcing him to stay on the ground, he was still weak from his recent fight. "I swear you better be under a pretty strong imperius curse or so help me..." she left the threat hanging. Severus and Remus could not stop grinning at the unlikely scene, seeing Dumbledore have his ass handed to him by Minerva was a once in a lifetime experience. She hit him one more time and something small and black flew off from around his neck and clattered to the floor.
Just then she felt an arm wrap around her middle, trapping her arms against her sides and her body flush against another and a wand tip press against the small of her back and she froze. Severus and Remus were busy dealing with the ministry official and Fudge, leaving one to come after her. "I've got you now traitor," he said quietly, a smile in his voice. It was too late to cast a shield as the wand was pressed against her back.
"Stupefy!" She looked up in surprise, she knew that voice, and indeed, Dumbledore was standing there, usual pale face red with fury, eyes wild. The man behind her went limp, releasing her and fell to the floor, "they day you hurt my Minnie is the day you die," he growled darkly. Minerva looked at him in shock as he kicked the man in the head, knocking him out cold. He pulled Minerva into a hug, utterly confusing her, as this was a 180 from his previous behaviour. "I'm so sorry Minnie, but I'm better now, I'm going to fix this."
"I don't understand, Albus, what got into you?"
"Dark magic Mineva, I was being controlled by very powerful, very dark magic, but you knocked it off me." He held up a ring with a black gem to inspect in the light, "do you know what this is?"
"Something you were wearing round your neck... that was controlling you?"
"It's a horcrux."
Minerva shrieked, knocked it from his hand and yelled, "avada kedavra!"
"That won't work Minnie," he said, picking it up with a cloth, "but now I know it is too difficult to keep it on my person, I'll put it in the mirror of erised with the others until I find a way to get rid of them for good."
"What on Earth possessed you to wear the thing?"
"The ring itself, its allure was powerful and only needed to work long enough for me to slip it round my neck before it could sink its dark tendrils into my mind. At least I did not put it on my hand, if i had, it would have killed me."
"Not that the reunion you are having over there is not touching," Severus spat out as he felt to his knees, only having enough power to keep their shield up, "but a little help over here would be greatly appreciated, like now."
"Of course. Fudge, you already know you are going to lose your job and support over the whole Black scandal. I may be able to keep you alive though if you leave now!"
"This is not over Dumbledore."
He just smiled, twinkle back in his eyes, "yes it is, go, now."
He did not need telling twice, he knew when he had lost a battle.
Regulus readjusted his grip on Sirius as they ran so he did not drop him. He knew he should apparate about 20 places to throw people of his scent but he did not have the energy to do so that many times. He knew the others would hold off the ministry for a little while and were only in serious danger if Dumbledore came round. The trace disappeared after a while; the best thing to do was to run further than expected before going. He was surprised nobody called for backup, or maybe they had once he left, or maybe there had been more people, they had just been hidden, waiting to jump in if needed. It seemed unlikely but he could not take any chances, if that were the case then Remus and Severus had already been apprehended. With this unsettling thought in mind, he pictured Grimmauld Place and apparated.
He landed in the empty house on his hands and knees, panting, Sirius, whole thankfully, beside him. He did not have the energy to walk so he crawled to the kitchen, heaved himself up by the counter and turned on the tap. He drank like a staring man straight from the tap, not bothering to even get a glass out, he'd need to eat soon too, but unless there was something that could be eaten as it was, then that would have to wait. The cupboards were surprisingly bare, hardly any food, perishable, raw or ready to be eaten to be seen. Eventually at the back of one cupboard he saw two lonely packets of chomp powder which is essentially the magical equivalent of a muggle ready meal but tastier, just add water.
He tore open one of the packets and poured it onto a plate, pointing his wand at it he said aqua and there was slurping sound and on the plate was a ham and cheese sandwich. He picked it up and bit into it greedily, feeling infinitely better than before but wanted to sleep for about a week. He walked back into the lounge to see Sirius' eyes were open and he rushed over to him and sank to his knees by his brother's side. "Sirius! You're awake, you're alright! Do you want anything? A drink? Something to eat, there's some chomp powder left. Sirius I have so much to tell you, it's about my core..." he trailed off when he realised Sirius didn't seem to be able to hear him. His eyes were open, but rolling around in their sockets, he looked to be in a daze.
"Reg," he whispered finally in a croaky voice, he had pushed himself to exhaustion, he needed to actually sleep for about a week. Regulus touched his hand to show that he was there and was listening, Sirius grabbed it. "How? Reg... you?"
Having known Sirius since he was a baby he knew what he was getting at, "I'm fine Sirius, I got us out of there, we're safe now."
"Harry?"
"He's safe too, he's with Kreacher," he assured.
Sirius croaked his concern a few more times before falling to the ground, asleep, still clutching Regulus' hand. Reg knew he was not going to wake for a long time, but would survive a little longer without sustenance. Not feeling the desire to carry him upstairs to bed he lay down on the floor next to him and wrapped his arms around Sirius' waist, burying his head into the older man's warm chest. "Do you remember how we did this all the time as kids?" He asked out loud even though he knew Sirius was out cold and could not hear him. "I always crept into your bed when I was feeling ill," he mentioned, "and you did the same." His own exhaustion crashed down on him and he quickly joined his brother in slumber.