Before Remus could reply, could look for Harry, Regulus let out a small cry. Sirius had casted a curse that shattered Regulus's shield. Before Regulus could create another or dodge, Sirius casted another curse, something that flew with a purple light and tore Regulus's chest open in one large gash. For a moment, Regulus gaped, his mouth opened and then closed once, and his hand found the gash. Remus watched, frozen as blood ran over Regulus's hand, over his clothes, onto the floor until Regulus, chest heaving, fell to his knees. He tried to hold his wand up, but his hand was trembling too much. Sirius let out a loud laugh and stepped forward towards Regulus. His hand was outstretched, almost as if he would help his brother back to his feet. It proved to be a gruesome parallel to the action as Sirius grabbed Regulus by the hair and tilted his head back. Then he laughed.
The sudden sound broke everyone's trance. Wilkes casted a strong stunner at Sirius, who was forced to step away from his gasping brother and dodge. As Sirius reacted, Wilkes raced forward and stood in front of Regulus, erecting a shield as Sirius began to cast curses. Dorea also reacted, but her response was something else entirely, something riskier for herself and the others in the Order of the Phoenix. In that moment, she trusted the other Sirius, the one who was innocent of the crimes of the madman who stood before them, and she handed him his wand. It was clear that there would be one hell of a fight coming, and Remus couldn't help but acknowledge the fact that he was wandless. As Wilkes stood up to Sirius, it was clear that even though Wilkes was a talented dueler, Sirius's dark spells were too much for him, especially as he wasn't doing anything offensive, only defending Regulus for a few precious moments.
Sirius was cutting through Wilkes's shields with a methodological, insane precision. Remus noticed that Regulus had pulled something out of his pockets, something in a small vial, and the fallen man drank it quickly. It must have been some sort of potion, Remus realized. Regulus was attempting to heal himself. Wilkes had had to step back from the force of Sirius's curses, and he stood next to Regulus now, rather than in front of him. The man was pale and shaking from the effort, and Remus desperately wished he could do something better than just stand and watch. Next to him, Sirius stood unsurely, holding his wand out. Dorea had her hand on his arm, and she whispered something that Remus couldn't hear to him. It seemed to make Sirius a little more comfortable waiting though, which comforted Remus. The Order must have had a plan in the event of this happening. It was clear from Regulus's response that he had been injured before in fights like these.
Regulus had pulled out some sort of salve and was spreading it over his wound. Remus realized that he had never known of a healer who could heal themselves as Regulus was doing; healing, even salves and simple treatments, generally required spells and wand-waving from the healer. Regulus didn't even have his wand in his hand.
Sirius shot a final curse at Wilkes's crumbling shield, and Wilkes dropped the spell before it hit, side-stepping the curse. Remus watched in disbelief as Regulus pulled himself to his feet again and casted a shield, which caused Sirius to let out a roar.
"Sirius, stop this!"
The voice had come from the opposite side of the room, and Sirius hardly spared a glance in that direction. That is, he would have only glanced had it not been Harry standing there. The sight of Harry, who Remus just realized was the age that James had been when he had died in this world, caused him to freeze.
"James?" Sirius said. "No – you're not James. You aren't him. You're different than him. Even if you are the one the Order talked about, it's wrong. You aren't James." Sirius raised his wand at Harry, who stood there calmly. Remus realized that Harry probably didn't have his wand on him.
"I'm not James, Sirius," Harry said. "James was my father." Harry was standing by a large ledge within the room, and Remus hoped that if Sirius cursed Harry then he would have time to duck under there.
Sirius stepped closer to Harry, and Remus saw Wilkes turn to Regulus and whisper spells at his wound. Regulus swayed slightly on his feet, but other than that, he seemed okay. Whatever Regulus had used on himself had worked miracles – perhaps literally, as a wound like that would have caused Regulus to bleed out in only minutes. Now, however, Remus saw that the large wound was just trickling blood, a rate that showed the wound was painful but nowhere near deadly anymore.
"You're their kid – James and Lily – they had you," Sirius looked Harry up and down. "You look a lot like him. You have the same hair." The madman was shockingly calm, but Remus could see him trembling.
"Everyone always told me that," Harry said quietly. "Even strangers." Sirius suddenly lunged forward and grabbed Harry by the arm, dragging him closer.
Remus heard him whisper something harsh at Harry before yelling out, "You're a trick." Sirius raised his wand at the defenseless Harry, but James knew exactly what to do to get the madman's attention.
Padfoot!" James yelled, running out towards the man who looked like his friend but was so twisted. Mid-run, James became Prongs, and the stag galloped at Sirius, forcing him away from Harry. Harry stumbled a few steps back, tripping and falling onto the stones. He was safe though, certainly safe because Sirius had frozen at the sight of the stag. And when the stag stamped his foot and lowered his antlers at the man in front of him, snorting at the one whom he perceived to be an enemy, Sirius stepped back, away from James and Harry and a couple of steps closer to the Veil of Death.
James became human again, and for a moment, he and Sirius just stared at each other. Sirius's shock was clear; he may have known that James Potter was among the travelers, but he certainly hadn't been prepared for dealing with his old best friend face-to-face.
But then James's anger overcame him, and he shook as he confronted the copy of his best friend.
"How dare you attack my friends in my name? How dare you try to attack my son?" he yelled. "How dare you kill Remus? Hurt Lily? Join Voldemort?" He stood with his hands clenched in fists, glaring at Sirius, who still held his wand but pointed at the ground.
"James – no. No, you don't understand," Sirius said quietly. He held up his hands as if trying to placate his dead friend.
"No, I understand perfectly," James screamed. "I know you, Sirius. I know how you think – or how you don't. You were angry at my death and desperate to blame someone. You didn't think at all, did you? You never did after that!" James's face had gone bright red, and Remus was reminded of the yelling matches that James and Lily had occasionally gotten into. But even in those, he had never seen James this irate. Not even when Sirius had led Snape towards Moony did James become as anger as he was now.
He seemed to fully disregard his safety, wandless and only a couple steps in front of a murderer. But Remus could understand why. Sirius was trembling, and from the back Remus could see that he wasn't even holding his wand threateningly. It seemed as if he had forgotten that he was fighting.
"No, James. I had to; you don't understand. The Ministry killed you!" Sirius's wand slipped from his hand and clattered to the ground.
"The Ministry didn't kill me! I chose to protect you rather than let you die! I chose you, Padfoot, and look how you repay me!"
"No – no," Sirius shook his head. "I never wanted to betray you." He took a step towards James, but the wizard's glare stopped him and caused him to step away again.
"You did!" James yelled. "How could you kill Remus? How can you attack my Lily? You would kill her if you had a chance, wouldn't you? You would kill the woman I love?" And with those last questions, Sirius Black, bane of the Wizarding World, grabbed his wand and ran from the room, leaving behind everyone who had seen what had just occurred. And then it was over.
Remus noticed that Sirius's followers were gone as well, as was the Unspeakable. Presumably, the Unspeakable had taken them to cells at some point.
For a moment, there was silence as the whole room stared at James as he breathed heavily and clenched and unclenched his fists.
"Why didn't someone curse him?" James demanded, and Remus realized that James was right. They had had the perfect moment to capture or kill Sirius, and none of them had taken it.
"He's protected," Wilkes said. "We couldn't have cursed him without him realizing and retaliating. And anyway, I was rather hoping that you would scare the hell out of him."
"What?" James demanded. "You were planning on this?"
"Not planning, per se, but I knew it would be one of the better outcomes if Sirius showed up."
"Better outcomes?" Lily said indignantly. "Regulus nearly died! You nearly died!"
"Nearly is nothing, sweetheart," Wilkes said. "We're all okay?"
"How is he okay?" Lily demanded. "You can't heal a wound like that that quickly." Remus could tell that the stress had gotten to her, and he could imagine why, considering how long it had been since she had had to worry about such things.
"Reg can," Wilkes said sharply. Then he turned to Regulus, who stood with a hand on Wilkes's shoulder to help support him. "Speaking of, take this." He offered Regulus a dark green potion in a vial, which Remus recognized as a Blood Replenishing Potion. Regulus took it with a look of disgust.
"I told you my salve handles all this," he said, nearly pouting at Wilkes.
"Drink it," Wilkes said sharply. "You know very well that we never finished studying that salve, and I refuse to risk your life over you trying to avoid a bad taste."
"Alright, alright," Regulus said, drinking the potion in a large gulp and then shuddering and looking up at everyone. "Well, come on, let's not stay here all day."
He stumbled forward for a few steps, holding onto Wilkes, until something caught his attention. Regulus released Wilkes and stepped away from him, nearly falling as the pain shot through him. He managed to make it a few steps further, and he approached the Veil of Death.
"Stop, Regulus," Sirius said suddenly, stepping forward towards the injured man. "Even if they're talking to you – you can't listen."
"Why shouldn't I?" Regulus asked, taking another step forward. The Veil stood, its tall dark arches ominous, almost as ominous as the emptiness within the Veil itself.
"Because if you listen to them, then you will join them," Sirius said. "I know what they sound like, talking about the past. You can't listen to them." Regulus turned and looked at Sirius.
"How do you know?" he demanded. "No one knows what happens to those who step through this Veil."
"I do know," Sirius said. "That's how I died. I fell into the Veil. That's why I know you can't listen to them." Regulus nodded, and with one final glance at the Veil, he turned from it, and Wilkes stepped forward to him, carefully taking his arm and leading him away. Regulus complied, and the group left the Department of Mysteries, finding that Bill was waiting for them near the fireplaces. When he saw Regulus, he paled, but Regulus assured him that they were okay, and that that was the easiest fight with Sirius that he'd had since Sirius had gotten a wand.
"I didn't even need to make him run away!" Regulus exclaimed to a still pale Bill. "The last time that happened was when he still lived with mother."
"We should leave," Wilkes said, interrupting Regulus's account of the fight. "We can't risk anyone else from the Ministry seeing us here." Wilkes stepped into the fireplace first and held out a hand to assist Regulus so that he could step in as well. Regulus initially protested that he was well enough to travel, but his shaky voice just proved that he wasn't well enough to say the clear pronunciation, let alone handle the rough trip. After the two had left, the dimension travelers went, and finally Bill and Dorea. They landed back in Dumbledore's office, where a nervous Lily ordered Regulus to lay down. Wilkes finally stepped in and said that Regulus would lay down after they discussed what had happened.
"And that was?" Lily demanded. "What happened to him? Did Sirius show?"
"No Sirius, no Death Eaters. I just tripped." Regulus said, rolling his eyes at Lily. The older woman glared at him and then turned away from him to Wilkes.
"I think they just proved that they're not Death Eaters," was all Wilkes said. "That was some pretty hard evidence right there."
"The theory lines up," Bill added. "I was speaking with a couple Unspeakables and one has read about something like this before."
"We need to call an Order meeting," Dorea said.
"Of course," Regulus said, and to the surprise of nearly all those present, he pulled up the sleeve of his right arm, and he touched a small phoenix tattoo on his wrist.
Within five minutes, Order members began to arrive for the meeting. Once again, several Weasleys entered the office, as well as some unknown people. In total, there were about fifteen people who came for the meeting. They took one look at Regulus, seeing the blood covering his clothes and his pale face and began to ask if he was alright. Remus didn't like their tones though. It was different than what he would have expected. Once again, Remus was hit by the fact that Regulus wasn't their friend. Other than Wilkes and the dead Remus, he didn't seem to know any of them particularly well. Once again, Remus wondered how Regulus fell into this crowd and into the Order.
"So what's the news?" Charlie asked. "The call felt really urgent."
"My brother," Regulus began, "Attacked us in the Department of Mysteries at the Ministry. Oh, and by the way, we also think that everyone here was telling the truth." Regulus finally took a seat, wincing as he did.
"You need the infirmary," Bill said to Regulus. Other people around them nodded.
"Merlin, people," Regulus swore. "I'm a healer. I know my limits. Not to mention the fact that I am the healer that works in the infirmary. Who do you expect to heal me?" Remus raised his eyebrows when he heard that. Another piece of the puzzle: Regulus worked at Hogwarts as a healer.
"Back to more important matters," Lily said, nearly refusing to look at Regulus. "Leon, how did they convince you?"
"Well, James here certainly freaked out Black. Reg needs to answer if Harry could pick up the prophecy though; I'm afraid I missed that part. I was babysitting."
"The boy could pick it up," Regulus said. "Something meant only for Harry Potter and Voldemort. It was rather impressive to listen to as well. I guess that's what makes people think you'll kill Voldemort?" He directed the final part to Harry, who nodded, staring at the fallen hero as he got off track once again.
"So where to from here?" Dorea asked. "I'm afraid there's no obvious plan anymore."
"We need to go on the offensive," Wilkes said. "We finally have something that'll throw Sirius off. We need to take advantage of it."
"And how do you propose that, Wilkes?" a woman asked. "It's not like we can find out where Sirius is. We've tried that."
"We have bait now," Regulus said. "I say we lead Sirius into a trap by using them." Remus felt a shock go through him. Did the man really plan on using them like that?
"Hey, hey, hey," Sirius said. "We may be familiar faces, but we are people too."
"You saw how Black reacted to Potter here," Regulus said. "I say we use that."
"No," Lily said suddenly, standing up. "But I do have an idea. You're right that we've peaked Sirius's interest. I say that we should bring the fight here. We need to let the wards down, and entice Sirius into a final battle."
"I won't say that's not possible, but we would lose the castle if we lost," Charlie said. There was silence as everyone tried to comprehend honestly losing Hogwarts as their Headquarters.
"We could move the headquarters to our house," Molly Weasley said suddenly. "It's not all that big, but the property around it is. We could make it work."
"Are you sure, Molly?" Lily said softly. "We would put your whole family into danger."
"We need to end this," Molly said. "It's time for this to be over. That man has ripped my family apart." It was suddenly and glaringly obvious to Remus that neither Arthur nor one of the twins was there. The remaining twin carefully set an arm on his mother's shoulder to comfort her.
"Then we'll need to clear my stores as well as Reg's. There's a lot here; that'll take us at least a week, I would say. Not to mention packing, for those of us who live here."
"Is this really the plan?" Dorea asked suddenly. "We can't rush into this. Remember what happened at Potter Manor." Several of the people there froze, and Regulus turned from the group and stood, taking a few pained steps away from the group.
"We don't need a reminder of that, thank you, Dorea," Wilkes growled. "We need a stand, now. With these people here and assuming that they will fight, then we have the most strength that we've had in years. I suggest that we use it."
Hey, everyone! Two quick updates! Woohoo! Anyway, please review and thanks for reading. I don't own Harry Potter