breakfast, and then Inferi everwhere.
Chapter 45: Little expedition
Regulus blearily blinked at his brother, a vague "morning" on his lips. He had, unsurprisingly, spent a terrible night, knowing what was to come.
At least he'd been able to take some dreamless sleep potion before going to bed. It hadn't stopped him from waking up six times in as many hours, but there hadn't been any dead hands dragging him down in his sleep either – and at least he had fallen asleep each time. Given how tense he'd been...
Sirius stared at him for a moment... before handing him a small glass vial with crushed powder in it.
"Tonic tea, perhaps?"
His brother's exact meaning took longer than necessary to reach Regulus' brain.
"...Why is the powder pink?"
A tonic tea seemed like a good idea, but trusting Sirius not to pass some other potion powder as tonic powder might not be wise. Even if Regulus' brother had never been big on outright pranking, that didn't mean he was above it... Tonic powder was, as far as Regulus knew, yellow – with a sunny warmth for winter – blue and red – like berries – or light blue – for a refreshing feel in summer.
Then again, this was an important day and Sirius never joked about those.
"Apparently Witching Whims broadened their tonic selection while I was in Azkaban and you were amnesic. They added six new variants. This one..."
Sirius squinted at the small label tied around the cork.
"...is 'Floral Focus'. I also bought 'Citrus Cheer' and the time-tried 'Boisterous Berries', if you'd rather. I must admit to some curiosity in regards to 'Unabashed Unicorn', but I suspect a muggle joke at work there, and since I haven't been able to keep up with pop culture, I'll refrain for now."
Regulus was still staring at his brother, who helpfully added:
"Unicorn flavor is a shiny white powder with sprinkles of all the other colors, if you must know."
"I... Wait, no, I don't care. Hand over the pink one, I need focus today."
Sirius obliged with a smirk – at worst, Regulus reasoned, whatever was in the vial would have a terrible taste and still wake him up, because, as he'd already thought, Sirius wouldn't jeopardize either their safety or their goal for a prank – just as Amanda entered the kitchen and went to sit next to her husband. She, unlike him, looked ready to take on a mountain troll.
She might even win, at that.
The kettle whistled on the stove and Sterhn hurried over to serve them cups of white tea – the best to use tea tonics with, according to Witching Whims – as well as toasted brioche and scrambled eggs. Regulus seasoned his tea with the pink powder, making it bubble slightly with a pink tint. So far, it acted like the usual tea tonic...
He threw a last suspicious glance at his brother – and tasted the drink. Not a prank.
...Regulus could already feel his head clearing, the fretful night he'd spent half-forgotten. This particular tonic was, perhaps, something he should buy for himself, when they'd find an actual house to live in. He had enough foggy mornings on average for it to be a worthwhile indulgence...
Amanda pushed her eggs on her toast as she asked:
"Are we still going today?"
Sirius shrugged and gestured at his brother.
"As long as you're both game, yes. Better now than later on, honestly."
Regulus winced – it was true, the whole point of the endeavor was to keep him from being discovered as a deliberate traitor, so wasting time was not a good idea.
"Don't give me time to reconsider, please."
"Eh, I'm just checking. Your wife did volunteer to go through excruciating pain and mental upheaval, and you are going to relive a traumatizing experience. I'd rather not force you if you think you'll break in the middle of it."
Regulus pinched his lips and didn't ask to reschedule.
Amanda, as her husband had already noted, wouldn't shy away from a mountain troll that morning.
Sirius waited a tick – and nodded approvingly.
"Perfect. And good news for you, Amanda, I did find a way to circumvent the damn potion."
He didn't give his younger brother the time to ask, only paused half a moment before continuing:
"See, our goal isn't to retrieve the fake horcrux. We only want to make sure that Voldepants won't get the message in it, and, if possible, for him not to realize the locket is a fake, correct?"
Regulus frowned. He was very in favor of any plan that didn't have his wife drinking that potion, but he didn't have the slightest idea of what such a plan could entail.
"...And how do you propose to do that without getting the fake out of the basin first?"
Sirius produced a small gnarled stone with an orange sheen from his pocket.
"Do you know what we call this stone in alchemy, Regulus?"
His brother took one and looked it over for a long time before shaking his head.
"I don't even know what it is. I think Slughorn once showed us something similar in class, saying we should never have that anywhere near our cauldrons, but I don't remember the name and I don't think he elaborated on why..."
"That's a salamander heart, it turns to stone if you take it out of the salamander without proper preparation. And the thing is, it's also called the potioner's bane because it will ruin any magical preparation it comes into contact with. If a salamander heart falls in a cauldron, the potion will ignite immediately, no matter its content. For some reason it also works with muggle bleach and Worcestershire sauce. The fire can't be put out until the potion is entirely evaporated, either."
Regulus seemed to slowly catch on:
"...What would happen if the recipient was enchanted against any other means of emptying than by the potion being drunk...?"
Sirius' lips stretched into a self-satisfied smirk.
"Either the enchantments didn't factor fire in its protections and the potion does evaporate, and then we pick up the fake horcrux, or the fire just keeps burning indefinitely."
Of course, there was no way to know for sure until they tried it – but either way the salamander heart would help them achieve their goal.
Amanda's nails beat against the kitchen table.
"So the idea is to keep it unreachable if we can't take it out, then?"
Sirius nodded:
"Well, we don't care about the fake, do we? If there's a perpetual fire between the dark bastard and the fake locket and no way to get through, that's alright by me. If he can't reach the locket, he can't read Regulus' reckless little note or realize that it's been exchanged for a substitute."
Amanda hummed pensively, her nails still drumming against the wood.
"If he does visit the cave to check on his... horcrux..., he'd realize someone came because of the fire, but he'd likely assume it safe still, that whoever came failed to retrieve it and whatever attempt they made resulted in the fire. It might be even better than him realizing the horcrux was stolen..."
Her nails stopped their staccato.
"Of course, if the salamander heart doesn't work as intended, I can still drink the potion."
Sirius shrugged as Regulus winced. It was very unlikely that Voldemort had found a counter to the millennia-dreaded "potioner's bane", so the only other situation that might go against this plan was that they'd be unable to even drop the stone in the basin.
Possible, but it was hardly the most logical protection to use here. Unlikely, really.
Amanda took her fork once again, intent on finishing her breakfast – after one last question:
"What's my role here, though, if becoming arsonists proves sufficient?"
Her husband answered, his voice quiet, before Sirius could.
"I doubt the inferi in the water will appreciate our meddling. The basin might not be protected against salamander hearts specifically, but... I think any obvious change to the enchantments around the basin might turn them violent."
"I agree with Regulus here. It's much easier to put a what-was-that trigger on an inferius' behavior than to predict every single possibility when planning protective enchantments. So the big challenge here won't be the potion, hopefully, but the swarm of inferi. Regulus brushed up on his fire spells..."
Sirius' brother made a face.
"Sure, I did..."
"Don't sound so confident, please, you'll make me doubt you. Anyway, he's going to be our arsonist, first sabotaging the potion, and then helping out with the dead crowd, long range. You, Amanda, will be guarding him from close range, so here's for you: a fucked-up looking knife made of Sootie's teeth, gotten with her permission, of course. Grims, as I told you both, can tear through and negate the magic holding undead things together."
Sirius pushed the weapon across the table, its uneven blade of fangs and other teeth clinking against Amanda's plate before the woman could pick it up carefully.
"The teeth look well sealed, no particular complaints on the weight... Did you make it yourself?"
Sirius shrugged.
"I have no merit, one of our ancestors had a passion for morbid crafts and left her grimoire in the family library, she's the one who came up with the technical points. Still, given the circumstances it's going to be useful. Shred as many of those inferi as you can, and I did have you befriend Sootie for a reason, if we wait until sunset before getting in the thick of it, she'll be by your side."
Sootie the grim had died the day before, her head in Amanda's lap and Sirius' hand patting her slowly – and when the night had come around, Amanda had indeed seen a ghostly dog appear by her side, keeping watch. Sootie had followed the woman all night, even lying at the foot of the bed.
Sirius' attempt at giving his sister-in-law more tools for survival was a success.
Regulus was only slightly perturbed by his wife's ghostly guardian, which meant he'd grow accustomed to her in time. It wasn't, after all, the worst thing he'd seen in his life – both because of the first war and in more mundane ways with his family.
Sirius finished with a smile full of teeth.
"As for me... I can turn into a grim, so I'm going to bite a lot of cadavers today."
Regulus almost spit out his toasted brioche.
"Please don't say that when I'm eating, Sirius!"
"Then eat faster, we've got some hiking and swimming to do, I'm told."
The younger Black brother tried to glare, but Sirius was already getting up, speaking with Amanda about the tools – magical or otherwise – that they'd need to get to the cave.
A few minutes later, Regulus joined his brother and wife by the cloakroom – and found them, not only with their cloak and coat, but also a picnic hamper by their feet. He stopped, confused.
"I'm sure we got better alternatives to cart around the ropes and chalk and salamander hearts...?"
Amanda smiled at him.
"Of course, Cadfael, but we are going on a picnic first. If we're meant to wait until sunset for Sootie to manifest..."
It was about eight-thirty in the morning and sunset would be some time past seven pm. Waiting while inside the cave for night to come was both unnecessary and unreasonable.
"We'll get to it around six thirty, I think? It'll be long enough to get in the cave and not have to wait much once we're at the basin, from what you told us."
The threat of the evening expedition loomed on their entire day, but Regulus still managed to enjoy the day out. Side-along apparition got them to the right spot – the sea deceptively blue and calm on the horizon – and they wandered away from the cliff for most of the day – they ate by a pond where families rowed around in small boats – under a mostly blue sky.
The closest coastal town, after all, had been where Amanda had found him, wet and hurt and without memories, years ago. He'd severely derailed her vacation, back then.
As the afternoon progressed, the three of them wandered back to the coast. Sirius was asking Amanda if they'd progressed in their house-hunting – they were considering Oulwike, yes, but maybe just outside the village, somewhere Amanda would be able to speak to other muggle spouses with wizarding family as well as find, at least, a part-time job in a neighboring town, somewhere that wouldn't endanger their neighbors if anything happened – and Regulus found himself the only one truly reluctant to approach the cliff.
Then again, he was the one with trauma here.
Eventually the dimming light of the evening revealed, once again, the sea behind the soil.
Regulus might not want to be here, but he hadn't come for no reason: a moment to steel himself, and he was leading his brother and wife to the rocky outcrop from where you could swim into the cave.
"We need to get down there."
There wasn't much of a path, honestly – more like a trail that was just a bit less chaotic and prone to push to you slip to your death. Last time...
"I tried apparating down, seventeen years ago. I... don't recommend it."
Sirius kneeled and took a long look at the rocks down in the water – at the waves tugging and pulling at the dark walls, misleading in their apparent lull – before wincing.
"Let me guess: the stone is wet and slippery and occasionally a wave crashes in and might sweep the feet of whoever was foolish enough to apparate by sight alone?"
"...More or less. All in all, I think climbing down the path is less risky."
They could also apparate further into the water, on one of the bigger – and higher – boulders, unbothered by the waves – but that meant making your way across several smaller boulders down, where the waves were very much a concern. It was difficult to say which way was the best, really.
Amanda sighed as she pinned the picnic basket under a bush with a tillater nail – no one could steal their belongings without resorting to magic, and the hamper wouldn't fly away with a gust of wind either – and took out a length of rope.
"You're lucky you didn't brain yourself with that stunt."
"Oh, believe me, I thought the same thing back then."
The muggle woman shook her head and started securing the ropes under the Black brothers' curious eyes. Of the three of them, she was the one who had actual experience with formal climbing – thought she didn't doubt, both from her own observations and from her husband's tales, that Sirius Black had more than once clung to high surfaces without any security whatsoever.
It did help that Regulus had gone with her to purchase a rope spelled to prevent chafing.
With the proper equipment and Amanda spotting her husband and brother-in-law, climbing down the cliff turned, if a bit tiring, mostly uneventful. Sirius stretched before and after the fact and Regulus barely winced when he had to search a bit for better footing.
The three adults ended up safe and whole on the rocky outcrop.
"There, do you see the entrance in the wall?"
Sirius squinted to where his brother was pointing at the black stone – and, uh, maybe? it did look like a fissure – while Amanda took out a pair of binoculars. The woman smiled assuredly.
"I can make it."
Her husband gave her a look.
"Of course you can, Amanda, I'm more worried about myself. I didn't have such a good time of it when I first tried swimming across, even if I didn't fail. What about you, Sirius?"
His brother's mouth twitched, a frown on his face.
"...I did cross about forty miles as a starved man, or, I mean, a starved dog, because the water was cold and the trip long. All that only supported by willpower."
Regulus stared at his brother.
"You... You swam from Azkaban to the coast?"
"Well, I certainly was in no condition to apparate, so, yes."
Regulus shook his head – not the time to wonder about what made Sirius Sirius, and it wasn't as if he'd ever get a real answer to that particular question – and focused back on the problem at hand.
They'd considered a boat, but only briefly. Getting through the rock outcrops was too dangerous, and even if they'd found a spell to conjure a dinghy, there could be boat-sinking wards around the cave's entrance. Something that would activate unless you had the right key – to allow the Dark Lord himself to get in – and drag you under. Regulus certainly would have put some ward of the kind if he'd been the Dark Lord.
Amanda and Regulus had figured it was easier to swim all the way than risk having their dinghy burst into flame, breaking into pieces or being otherwise vaporized and then still needing to swim the rest of the way. Sirius had, of course, agreed with them.
The younger brother looked at the cold water one last time – he'd mostly gotten over his aversion for large bodies of water by now, as long as they didn't have inferi under the surface – and went to look for the aquaetaere potion – the main ingredient was gillyweed and it replicated its effects; it lasted less than the plant itself but also let people use their lungs outside of water – Sirius had bought earlier in the week.
On that matter, Regulus had taken a look at the manor's greenhouse the other day, and someone ought to use it once again. Maybe he'd make it his own project until he moved back out, and then it'd be an excuse to come and visit. Then again, a lot of plants, magical or not, demanded daily care... Ah, well. He'd think about it.
He offered the potion bottle to the others.
Amanda eyed it doubtfully but agreed to make this easier on herself by not having to come up and break the surface for air all the time. She did, after all, trust Regulus, even if the cloudy greenish-grey liquid was hardly something she'd usually drink.
But first:
"For God's sake, Cadfael, do take off those damn robes. Maybe the reason you had such a hard time crossing to the entrance back then was because you tried to swim in these."
Regulus hesitated, uncomfortable – with the scars on his arms and legs, she knew that, but it shouldn't prevent him from staying alive. It certainly wasn't about not wearing traditional wizarding clothes, Cadfael had had a muggle job for eight years and had dressed accordingly.
Sirius threw his brother an amused look as Amanda decided to lead by example, shrugging off her own clothes and revealing a wet suit. Binoculars, this... The muggle had more sense than her husband, that much was clear, and her lack of magic certainly wasn't stopping her.
Regulus eventually complied – not without grumbling that they should have done it earlier and left their clothes with the picnic hamper – so the woman turned to stare at her brother-in-law instead.
Except Sirius had come ready, wearing a t-shirt dating back to his teenage years, bermuda shorts and trainers under his cloak, hair tied in a ponytail. The older Black brother only grinned at her.
Amanda rolled her eyes and bundled their leftover clothes together.
"Here, you can deal with that since you're feeling so proud of yourself."
Sirius somehow managed to stuff the entire bundle in his shorts' right pocket – Amanda suspected magic, because men's pockets weren't that much bigger than a woman's that they could also break the laws of physics – and turned the button three times before looking back at his sister-in-law.
"The pockets are waterproof if I do this."
Of course they were.
He was, unsurprisingly, the first one to jump into the water, the moment he drank his share of the aquaetaere potion – followed closely by Amanda, and less enthusiastically by Regulus.
The three swimmers emerged from the underwater tunnel – high tide, right, thanks aquaetaere – into an actual cave with no discernible path opening up. This was, Regulus knew, the part he remembered the less. Blood was needed, yes, but where exactly...?
The fact that he was dripping wet distracted him, a shiver going through his body. Regulus made a face and took his wand out to dry himself off – and then Amanda, because he was a good husband.
Sirius, he noticed, smirked at him as he did so, and thus Regulus feared the worst. Still, he asked:
"Do you intend to stay soaked?"
"Oh, no, I'm just laughing ahead."
His brother turned into a dog before Regulus could try and dissuade him – and the next thing he knew, Amanda and him stood dripping again, smelling of wet dog as Padfoot shook himself dry.
Regulus scowled at his brother – human and barely showing the water he'd been soaked with a moment ago – and waved his wand once more to get rid of the many water droplets they'd just been gifted with.
"Asshat."
Sirius didn't contest the insult, only fished out the chalk sticks his brother had asked for when they'd been planning this from his bermuda shorts' waterproof left pocket.
Regulus huffed and went to work, drawing perthro runes – with a side-order of a smaller laguz rune inside perthro's opening – all over the cavern's wall, from one side to the other and every other foot. He didn't remember where the arch had been exactly, but that didn't mean he couldn't draw it out.
Behind him, he heard Amanda ask his brother what was going on exactly.
"...Eh. I took a runic course after Hogwarts to learn about wards, but Regulus took Ancient Runes at school for five years, he knows a lot more than I do. What I can tell you is that those two runes, perthro and laguz, have to do with secrets, amongst other things. We'd use them to make a hidden ward, or one that has to hide something. I guess he's trying to make the already hidden path resonate with the runes so that we can pinpoint where we need to focus?"
Regulus hummed as he added a line between each set of runes.
"We do know there is something hidden, we need to know where. And Sirius is right, most people use Nordic runes only for warding, but there's a reason Hogwarts starts teaching that subject through translation and understanding of the meanings and concepts behind each rune. Elder Futhark is one of the few writing systems that conduct magic almost perfectly, like Latin is a good oral medium for spells. What that means is that you can use the appropriate runes to enchant objects so that the magic will last, and you can also, like I'm doing right now, force the magic to radiate and clash with other enchantments. This..."
He put the chalk down, clasped his hands so that the white residue would be on both palms – and put both his hands on the wall, each on a connecting line between the runes.
"...should make the chalk glow brighter near the hidden arch. Aparecium!"
Magic pulsed along the chalk, the white runes and lines taking on a brighter look – and two of the perthro-laguz combo, to Regulus' right, glowed even stronger for a handful of seconds.
The wizard took a step away from the wall, catching his breath. The moment he stopped touching the chalk, all the lines and runes fell off the rock, white dust gathering at the intersection of the wall and the floor. Regulus needlessly pointed at the space that had lit up with his little trick.
"There."
Sirius looked at him as if to make sure he was still standing.
"Alright. Blood, then? How did you figure it out the first time around, actually?"
"I didn't need to, Kreacher remembered all the steps. He didn't know how any of it worked, of course, but he did know that it worked. You don't need lots, just enough to smear the rock."
"No problem, it's only blood."
The older Black brother already had his dagger in hand, and before Regulus could add anything, the wall revealed the arched passage towards the final cave – its lake, its inferi, its treasure. The place where Regulus had almost died.
Sirius took out a bottle of essence of dittany to heal the cut, leaving no more than a temporary scar.
He then looked into the darkness, past the arch, and whistled.
"You weren't kidding, when you said Voldepants must have done something to the luminosity. I can't see five feet away..."
Amanda and Regulus joined him by the passageway.
"Lumos barely helps, either. Go slowly, watch your feet. Didn't you say something about a lantern?"
The miraculous bermuda shorts' pockets struck again, this time letting out a medieval oil lantern, rectangular with a round handle on top. Sirius tapped on the foggy glass with his wand, light starting in its center and shimmering around several colors.
"I went and looked around the storage room in the basement. The fire doesn't only light up, it also reveals the presence of wards and magical restrictions, there was even a manual. Needless to say, you don't want to know what's used in place of oil."
"...I don't?"
"Nope, you don't. It was in the basement, Regulus, and I'm only using it because it was already stocked up. I'm not saying the idea isn't good, but I'd work on finding a better alternative for later."
Regulus didn't ask for more – he knew what went into storage in the hidden basement of Black Manor, and it wasn't a matter of expensiveness – as they stepped into the bigger cave, suddenly surrounded by unnatural darkness, a greenish and sickly mist far in the distance.
The lantern's glass panels flashed with several symbols in various colors – anti-apparition, anti-attraction, anti-levitation, anti... according to Sirius, as expected. Most spells and magical bypassing of the obstacles towards the horcrux' cache were rendered effectively useless.
They'd known that already, but having confirmation didn't hurt.
The three adults carefully put one foot after the other, Regulus in the lead with the lantern – but he faltered when he first set eyes on the edge of dark water. On the lake.
Amanda moved around him, paused – and put herself between Regulus and the lake itself, a hand against his back, almost guiding him around. He felt grateful for the support, too.
Behind them, Sirius stopped to stare into the depths of the water. He knew, of course, what lay in there, waiting – his brother had told him several times – but even without that knowledge...
Something deep inside him was aware of the writhing heap of dark magic down there. He wouldn't have been able to tell what it was, had he not known, but this was...
Instinct. The usual with the Dark Arts, for him.
Except that particular problem had barely failed at killing his younger brother, once upon a time.
They advanced on the bank of the lake, getting closer to the green mist, slowly, ever so slowly.
Walking into the water by accident wouldn't be a good idea. Of course, they would most likely have to battle the inferi later on, anyway, but in some places the bank was much too narrow, forcing Amanda to let go of her husband for a moment, and fighting there would be too much of a risk.
Then Regulus whispered – feeling the oppressive silence and the weight of his own memories:
"The boat is about... Ah. Here."
The younger Black brother held onto something invisible for a moment – just long enough to use his wand and reveal a copper chain, long turned green. Some tugging, and then a boat, indeed, crossed the water to stop at their feet.
There was just enough space for the three adults to stand around the small boat – and they wouldn't all fit in. They'd need to do it in two rounds. Regulus with his dangerous wife first, if Sirius had anything to say about it. The first one was traumatized and the second one a muggle who didn't necessarily know what to expect or do even if she could probably handle a few inferi on her own.
"Okay, so..."
"Wait."
Amanda and Sirius both looked back at the third member of their little expedition team: Regulus was kneeling by the boat, looking under the edges, his fingers running along the wood.
"There are runes. It's enchanted."
Sirius kneeled down too, curious – and, of course, wary.
"I have no idea what those are for."
Regulus winced, focused enough that the anxiety he'd been dwelling in during the last minutes didn't matter for now.
"It's not just runes used as a focus, but actual words... It's been a while since I had to translate anything, I hope I remember enough. That's, uh... human, or matured soul? Unique, here. That I don't know. This one is protection...? No, allowance, permission, of course. And..."
Amanda made a small sound, drawing the brothers' attention:
"So, only one adult in the boat, then."
They both stared at her for a moment – Regulus about to contradict his wife, then looking back at the runes under the edge of the boat, frowning, realizing that no, she had a point, it did make sense.
Amanda continued:
"What happens if there's more? Does it not leave the bank, or... sink in the middle of the lake?"
Where the inferi waited.
"Hmm, I... I don't know. It might be one of the words I don't recognize. I didn't have that problem last time, I was alone with Kreacher and he isn't an adult human..."
Sirius made a face.
"Yeah, better not to risk it, then."
Amanda looked back at the boat, at the chain, at the green mist it disappeared in.
"If the chain remains, we could still go one at a time."
"But what if the boat only stays in the middle of the lake when it's not in use? If there needs to be someone in it for it to move all the way? Maybe the chain does disappear when there's someone on the central island. However..."
Sirius trailed off, an idea obvious on his face.
"What are you thinking?"
"When you took Kreacher with you, Regulus, did he get in first or did you? Did the boat start moving on its own or did you do something?"
Regulus didn't get what or why his brother was asking, but answering might prompt him into further explanations, so...
"Kreacher insisted on getting in first, and the boat started moving as soon as I was settled?"
"So... We can assume it starts moving when an 'adult human' is properly seated, and in that case..."
"What do you..."
Sirius gave them a large smile – of the kind that didn't tend to reassure anyone, gryffindorish and reckless, no matter how some people swore the risks were calculated.
"I'll swim back if I'm wrong, and don't worry, I can bite off inferi."
Then he turned into a dog and jumped in the boat.
Regulus barely had the time to splutter before his wife grabbed his left arm, holding him back from instinctively reaching for the damned madman – current dog – who called himself his brother.
A second passed, and then another.
The boat didn't move.
Padfoot the dog – Sirius preferred to be referred to as either 'Padfoot' or 'Sniffle' when transformed, apparently it helped keep the conversation straight or something like that – jumped back out of the boat and turned back into a man.
"So, that's settled."
"What's settled, you damn...!"
Amanda's grip on Regulus was the only reason he didn't try and get in his brother's face.
Sirius didn't seem to mind and only continued on, explaining as if this was all very obvious:
"You go first with a dog by your feet, that's only one adult human. Then I cross back as a human and it's Amanda's turn, once again with Padfoot in the boat. Oh, and..."
Sirius turned towards his sister-in-law and handed her the knife from earlier in the morning.
"Protection, just in case. I don't think it needs to be said, but... No one touches anything except the boat until we're all back together, of course."
Regulus rolled his eyes – they weren't stupid, thanks – and waited for Padfoot to get back in that boat first, lips pursed. He'd forgotten how aggravating doing anything with a Gryffindor – alumnus, now – could get. Not that they were stupid, but Circe, could they play with your nerves...
As the boat slowly advanced within the lake, he stared at the bear-sized black dog with its head on his lap and grumbled:
"I wish you could have been a cat, like Mcgonagall. Or a snake, a toad, a mouse, a parakeet. Anything smaller than that."
Padfoot only showed him his teeth – not growling, not like a true dog would, not in threat – and yes, point taken. Those teeth would be useful against the inferi.
As it was, when Sirius found himself alone and human in the boat on the way back to Amanda, sight closed by darkness and green mist, the writhing dark magic under his feet kept him on edge until he saw his sister-in-law's silhouette on the bank.
Only when the three of them stood on the central island, back together, did he truly calm down – well, as much as the anticipation for the big fight ahead would allow him to.
Regulus looked at his silver pocket watch: on the dial, a small moon shone stronger as the night got closer, and the little sun dimmed accordingly.
"Eight minutes until sunset."
They waited in tense silence, Amanda with her grim knife, Sirius already a grim and staring at the cold dark water, Regulus with three salamander's hearts in his left hand and his wand at the ready.
When a ghostly black dog with fumes instead of fur materialized by Amanda's side – growling at the darkness almost immediately, aware of the abominations beneath – they knew it was time.
As expected, nothing happened until Regulus dropped the gnarled stones into the basin – granting his fake locket no more than a glance – and a slow fire spread across the emerald potion within.
In a matter of seconds, the small island was crawling with bewitched corpses, inferi with cold skin and nothing in their eyes. Regulus and Amanda hurried back to back, him conjuring a whip made entirely of flame from the tip of his wand and her ready to shred through anything that would creep behind her husband's back. Sootie the black dog prowled by her charge's feet, ghostly fangs gleaming a pure white whenever an inferius came a bit too close – and then...
Padfoot didn't wait – pounced on the first animated corpse he could see, aiming for the throat whenever he could. Gold-glowing lines appeared where he bit into the cadavers, causing the curse that kept them moving to short-cut – and, with sufficient damage, the corpses fell down, exorcised and just as dead as they'd always been.
No doubt the same happened to those that came too close to Amanda's knife.
It took a long time to get rid of all the inferi – someone had been busy killing people during the first war, but they'd already known that – and when it finally ended, Regulus fell on his ass, exhausted, while Padfoot sat for a bit before turning back.
Amanda remained standing, a wary eye on the piles of corpses around them, Sootie by her side.
It stank of wet flesh and death.
The moment he transformed back, Sirius put cautious fingers on his right forearm, where an inferius had scratched him bad enough to draw blood even through Padfoot's fur. Essence of dittany, again.
He'd say his eyes wandered to the corpses around them while he searched for the healing essence, but they were everywhere and very hard to miss. Sirius wondered how many were Voldemort's enemies, how many were victims who hadn't even been offered a chance, how many were muggles who hadn't even known to fear the dark bastard.
If things were better, he'd be calling the Ministry and have them handle what was left of the inferi. Identify the corpses. At least get them a proper, if anonymous, burial if all else failed.
"The point isn't to let the asshole know yet..."
Sirius gnashed his teeth and ignored the questioning – vaguely alarmed for his brother – looks the other two sent him. There was no point.
He staggered back up – tired – and threw the bottle of essence of dittany at Regulus.
They still had to go back.
Once everyone could stand on their own feet again, Sirius levitated a few cadavers to reveal the boat – it had been swarmed over like the rest of the island. Behind him, Regulus tripped on something – a body, most likely, considering the circumstances.
Before Sirius could turn back, his younger brother was pushing past him to throw up in the lake.
A look at where Amanda stood staring explained it all: this one, under the emaciated corpse of an elder woman, was a classmate of Regulus. A pureblooded Slytherin, at that, someone who shouldn't have been thrown here to be forgotten amongst Voldemort's heap of victims.
Not unless he'd refused the dark wizard.
More proof that, in the end, the asshole's promises were empty and convenient only for himself.
Sirius turned back towards the boat.
"Wait. I... Sirius, can you... Please. For Obsidian's sister."
It was obvious why Regulus was asking him. His younger brother wouldn't be able to do it himself – Regulus wasn't nearly as inhumane as Sirius when it came to that – and while Amanda seemed hardened against those types of things, she wasn't problematic like him either.
James and Lily's cadavers had barely made him flinch, back then. The loss, of course, was a different matter – but corpses weren't a problem for him.
Mostly they made Sirius angry, when they came from murder.
"...You can't give her anything, can't tell her where or how. You're amnesic and this is all a secret, Regulus."
Regulus' eyes flittered back towards the pile of cadavers – he swallowed but didn't look away.
"I know. I know, but... Just his watch. I can't, but... If it's you, she'll get it. She'll guess enough."
Sirius almost didn't do it – why should he take that risk when he'd refused to do it for all the other victims here? – but still. He walked back to the body, pushed off the dead woman and started rummaging through Obsidian Thomas' damp robes. Everything stank.
His hand closed on something round and cold and just the right size, and he stood back up.
"Let's go."