Written for:

Hogwarts: Apocalypse Studies task 2

QLFC prompt bingo: "Didn't expect to see me here, did you?"

OoO

"But I got this far, didn't I?" I spoke, slowly, trying to ease my own fear as I did. "They thought I'd die in the attempt, but I'm here… and you're in my power… I'm the one with the wand… you're at my mercy."

It had been one hell of a night. I couldn't even tell you how I got here, to be honest. But Dumbledore is in front of me, not knowing what I'm capable of. I disarmed him, I got him to this position. And now, well. I'm going to do something that nobody will expect. Not the Dark Lord, not Dumbledore, not even my boyfriend, Harry Potter.

I stepped closer so the old man had nowhere to turn. I used my wand to put a protective bubble around us, so it delayed them even further when the Death Eaters joined them. It's something I've been learning whilst in the Come and Go Room. I've been protecting myself, from everyone.

"Draco… come over to the right side, I can save your mother, you're not a killer."

I laughed shakily and shook my head. "No, I'm not."

"Then, why not help us?"

"Because! No one would believe me that I've been trying to bide time, that I've been failing the task, so that you could leave. No one would believe me when I say I'm going to save the world from everything bad. I'm tired, Sir. And I need to do something right so that we don't have to live in fear anymore," I blurted out all at once, lowering my wand. I took the time turner that had been hanging on my neck.

"July 1981… that's the year Harry was born. If I take it back a bit further…"

"You don't know how to kill Tom, Draco. You won't be able to come back after that. There's another way…"

"No. I'm doing this—" I started, but froze as I heard footsteps, heavy ones, up the stairs. They couldn't be here already. Please, no. But as I got ready to turn the time-turner, I saw Harry and that made me worry all the more.

Had he been here the whole time? Why is he always where the danger is?

"Let me do this, Potter," I said before he could say anything.

"I'm doing it with you, Malfoy," he replied, determinedly. "Let me. I've done time travel before, you don't know the rules."

"Boys, don't do anything. Let's think this through," Dumbledore's voice was there, fading in the background.

I let Harry put the necklace around his neck, too.

"We don't have time to think, Sir," Harry stated, before looking at me. "Together?"

I didn't even hesitate.

"Together."

OoO

It's dark, I noticed at first. And it took a while for my eyes to adjust. I was then being pulled down behind a rock, without much notice. Before I could say anything, a hand was put over my mouth to stop me from making any noise. My eyes widened as Harry moved my head so I could see what was happening. We're in a cave, that I could tell, now that my eyes have adjusted.

A cave with water all around us.

It's cold.

So cold.

There was a small boat near us and not far in front of us was a young boy, probably a year older than them, looking a little bit like Sirius, drinking water from a bowl-like structure. Harry removed the hand from my mouth and I leaned in to whisper in his ear.

"I think I know who that is…"

Harry didn't take his eyes off the scene as he replied, unsurprisingly anxiously. "Who, Draco? And where are we? This isn't what was supposed to happen!"

"Regulus Black. He died while my mother was at school. But they never knew why," I explained, a hint of confusion in my voice.

What was he doing here, of all places? Wherever 'here' was? None of this made any sense to me.

I made my way to stand up but Harry pulled me back down again, shaking his head. I groaned internally.

"Stop, Dray. We can't be seen."

"We have to do something! This is where he dies!" I say passionately, still in a whisper. I've heard stories about him, but this was so different from anything my family said about Regulus.

It's quiet for a moment, I could practically hear Harry's thoughts, trying to think about what they could do about it. I bet he's thinking about his Invisibility cloak, but we don't have it.

And then, I heard Regulus call for Kreacher.

We stayed quiet.

What else is there to do?

Think!

"Take the locket, Kreacher. It's a Horcrux, and you have to destroy it,"

"Master Regulus, you are in trouble, I cannot leave–"

"I order you," His shout echoed through the cave.

I could hear the pain in his voice and I looked at Harry, hoping my eyes conveyed the emotion to save him. To stop this moment from happening. Maybe this is what we needed to do, to change fate.

I've made my mind up.

But then, when Kreacher goes, there's a change in the air.

A ripple through the water.

I saw hands, and bodies, swimming towards him. What the hell is happening? I paled drastically as I tugged on Harry's sleeve. He intertwined our fingers tightly, and we looked at each other with terror.

They're aiming for Regulus.

"Inferi. This is how he dies," I whisper, "It… we… we have to do something, Harry. Please."

"I don't know what to do, Dray, there are so many of them, and there are consequences of doing this. Messing with time…"

"Then I'll live with the damned consequences."

I raised my wand and took a deep breath, before pointing towards the water, the Inferi. I hoped that I could get to them before they got to Regulus. I say, powerfully and determinedly, "Evanesco."

It all went black.

OoO

I woke up with a splitting headache.

"Ouch," I muttered, rubbing my forehead as I tried to move.

"No, Dray, don't move. You did a powerful spell and fell heavily. Give it a moment," Harry advised softly before grinning. "But hey, look beside you, you saved him!"

I turned my head and saw Harry was right – there Regulus was, sitting opposite him with an expression of care and curiosity filled with something else. Fear.

Harry was scared too…

What were they scared of?

"That was incredibly stupid," Regulus spoke, with a hint of pride in his voice.

I couldn't believe how similar he looked to Sirius Black. It was almost like they were twins, yet he could tell the differences too. Where Sirius had curly long hair, Regulus had short and wavy. Sirius had bluey grey eyes whereas Regulus had light, bright blue ones. I could go on, but something tells me I don't have time to.

I furrowed my eyebrows, looking between them.

"What happened?"

"Your vanishing spell was perfect, little one. Too perfect. It vanished the water instead of the Inferi. Now, well, see for yourself." Regulus says, rolling his eyes as he moves out of the way.

I looked where he had been sitting and I moved back in fear. Shit.

The Inferi…

Oh god.

He'd unleashed them.

All of them.

Hundreds, all heading to the exit of the cave, like some horror movie.

And then one was staring at me, popping out from nowhere, his eyes dead of emotion. The smell was of rotten eggs. I coughed to try and get it out of my system. But that's not what scares me. No. It's who it is that scares me. Tattoos all over his body, the way he's smiling, the way there's one gold tooth in the mix of his grin. I didn't like it, not at all.

"Didn't expect to see me here, did you, Regulus?" he spoke, danger hinting in his voice, grunting as his smile widened. "Thank you for freeing me from this hell."

Regulus stepped in front of us protectively before I even had a chance to reply.

"You are not getting out of here, Wilkes, I swear."

"Oh yeah? Just watch. Tell you what, Black. I'll make a deal. I won't kill you or your them if you let me free."

"Kill us all then," Regulus spat at the man.

"Hmm… no. I like the idea of the Dark Lord finding out you betrayed him. I like you suffering from our apocalypse, wishing you never set us free. I'm not letting you go so easily, Black."

The Inferi, man… zombie, whatever I should call him, weakly mock saluted, his arm bending in ways that shouldn't be possible, before joining the last of the Inferi to leave the cave, climbing up the walls and to the outside world.

Fuck.

What did I do?

"We'll save everyone," Harry says, squeezing my hand.

How did he have so much optimism? So much hope at the end of the world? It was my fault. It was all my fault.

But I looked at Harry and believed him, even if it seemed impossible. I run my thumb over his knuckles as I looked at him with determination.

"Together?"

Harry was about to reply to me when I heard a dramatic groan.

"Enough sitting around and being cringy," Regulus grunted, sounding disgusted, before grinning as he stood up, clapping his hands together. "Let's go and save the world!"