A Constellation’s Just a Picture in the Sky (5/7)
A CONSTELLATION'S JUST A PICTURE IN THE SKY
Summary: There’s a war on and all is not easy for the young members of the Order of the Phoenix, but Remus - nineteen, in love and sharing a flat with Sirius - is happier than he ever thought it possible to be. …Until one morning a knock at their door heralds an unexpected visitor from Sirius’ past, begging help with a desperate mission.
CHAPTER FIVE
Remus gasped as sharp, cold air hit his lungs and a salty wind scoured his cheeks.
Sirius had Apparated all three of them here on Regulus’ precise instructions, since Regulus himself didn’t have a wand. But the moment they arrived, Sirius yanked his arm away from Regulus, like he couldn’t stand to stay in contact with him another moment. His other arm, still in Remus’ grasp, was tense.
It was night, and the moon was barely a crescent. Remus was glad it wasn’t yet full enough to weaken him. The last thing Sirius needed in all this was a partner not strong enough to be of any help.
“Lumos,” Sirius murmured, and a warm glow illuminated the rock where they stood, on a dark boulder half-submerged in the sea at the base of a high, black cliff that loomed forbiddingly above them. Around them, waves surged and smashed against the rock. Voldemort couldn’t have chosen a more dramatic location to hide a piece of his soul.
“Where’s the cave, then?” Sirius demanded, and if everything hadn’t been so tense, Remus might have teased him for his impatience.
On Sirius’ other side, Regulus flung out a hand towards the cliff face. “There. Don’t you see the crack in the rock?”
It took a moment for Remus’ eyes to adjust, but there was indeed a jagged fissure at the base of the cliff, where black water surged in and out in time with the motion of the waves.
“Do a warming charm,” Regulus instructed. “We have to swim there through the water.”
In the glow of Sirius’ wand, Remus could see Sirius’ face taking on an expression that said he was about to tell Regulus exactly where he could stuff his idea that he was allowed to give either of them orders. Hurriedly, before the two of them could start arguing again, Remus cast a warming charm on all three of them.
“That’ll do well enough for a little while,” he said. “Come on.” Remus stowed his wand safely inside his cloak, then took a deep preparatory breath. It didn’t help at all. He still shouted in shock as he slid off the side of the rock and his body hit the cold water. Even with the protection of a warming charm, it took his breath away.
There were two splashes behind him, then Remus heard Sirius’ harsh breathing near his ear. “Merlin’s bloody balls, it’s cold!” Sirius yelled, and Remus laughed and spluttered out saltwater.
Regulus swam up alongside them with powerful strokes, so Remus let him pull ahead and take the lead. When they reached the crack in the face of the cliff, they could see it opened into a tunnel. Remus and Sirius followed Regulus in, swimming in silence, gasping at the cold. It was perfectly dark now, and the waves slapped and echoed eerily against the tunnel walls.
“Lumos,” Sirius muttered again, and Remus could hear the chattering of his teeth. The light of the wand Sirius held in his teeth as he swam illuminated the sleek, dark rock walls around them as they pushed on, following the splashing sounds of Regulus ahead of them.
Finally, Remus heard Regulus climb out of the water, and they reached a place where rough steps led up into a cave. Remus clambered up the steps, with Sirius behind him, until they all stood shivering and dripping on the wet stone floor. Remus cast a drying charm on all three of them before anyone could argue about it.
“It’s got to be around here,” Regulus muttered. “Straight ahead, Kreacher said.” He strode up to the wall of the cave, and before either of them could stop him, pulled a small dagger from his cloak with his left hand and sliced into the flesh of his own right forearm.
Sirius shouted, Remus darted forward, but Regulus just rolled his eyes at them and shook his bleeding arm so the blood sprayed across the wall. The silver outline of a door blazed into being in the rock, then all the mass within the outline disappeared. They had gained entrance.
“You bloody idiot, give me that,” Sirius snapped, grabbing the knife from Regulus’ hand and tucking it inside his own robes. “What are you trying to do, kill yourself?”
“It’s a minor blood sacrifice,” Regulus snapped in return. “Believe me, I’ve had a lot worse.”
“Episkey,” Sirius grumbled, waving his wand over Regulus’ arm. The skin healed over instantly.
Ignoring their bickering, Remus illuminated his own wand and stepped past them, through the archway that had formed in the rock.
What he saw was an enormous, black subterranean lake. Its far shore was lost in the darkness, but there was a greenish glow emanating from its middle. That, undoubtedly, was their destination.
“There’s a hidden boat somewhere along the side,” Regulus said. Remus hadn’t heard him approach from behind. “We have to walk along the edge until we find it. Kreacher said we’d feel it when we got to it. I’ll go first.” He set off along the narrow rim of rock between the water and the cavern wall. In the dimness beside Remus, Sirius made an annoyed noise, but had no choice but to follow.
They walked for a long time, Regulus then Sirius then Remus, along the never-ending curve of the lake’s dark shore. The green glow in its middle never got closer or further away. They were simply tracing a slow circle around it.
In the small light his lit wand cast in this great expanse of darkness, Remus watched the tense curve of Sirius’ back ahead of him. He knew Sirius didn’t trust Regulus. Regulus could be leading them into a trap. And yet, somehow, Remus didn’t think he was. The fear he saw in Regulus was real. The conflicted emotions jostling for prominence in his voice when he talked about his “Dark Lord” and his house-elf, those were real.
But at the same time, Remus felt sure Regulus hadn’t told them everything about his plan. It all went very vague after they got to the island in the middle of the lake. Regulus hadn’t been clear at all about how they were supposed to get at the Horcrux itself, let alone take it away with them. Voldemort must have unbreakable precautions in place, or precautions Voldemort considered to be unbreakable, to prevent his enemies from finding his treasure and walking away with it. Regulus surely knew what magic protected the Horcrux, but he was being maddeningly vague on the details.
“Here!” Regulus called out from ahead of them. “Got it.”
Sirius stopped a couple paces short of where Regulus appeared to be pulling at an invisible rope. Remus came up next to Sirius, rested a hand against his back, and was glad when Sirius leaned into it, just a little, accepting comfort rather than shrugging it away.
“One of you needs to use your wand to make it reveal itself,” Regulus said. Sirius, snorting at him in irritation, stepped forward and performed a Revelio Charm. A heavy, greenish metal chain appeared in Regulus’ hands, stretching away into the depths of the lake. “Yeah, that’s it,” Regulus said softly. He sounded nervous, but he braced his feet and began to haul on the chain.
Sirius leaned in to help, and Remus did too. The clanking of the chain piling itself in coils on the stone floor beside them filled the air, bouncing ominously off the cave walls that arched away above them and out of view. Their breath, too, sounded loud in the damp air.
Then a little boat, glowing a ghostly green, rose up out of the water, barely making a splash as it broke the surface and bobbed towards the shore where they stood. It nudged the edge of the bank, like an animal asking to play. A sinister, phosphorescent animal.
All three of them stood and stared at it.
Finally, Remus spoke what they all must be thinking. “We can’t possibly all fit in that.”
“No,” Regulus said, staring at the boat like he couldn’t tear his eyes away. “It’s designed, in terms of magic, to hold only one. Kreacher got across too, but then, Kreacher isn’t a wizard.”
Sirius rounded on his brother. “So, now what? One person goes alone to fight whatever magic Voldemort’s got protecting that thing while everybody else waits? Yeah that sounds like a great plan, Regulus, well done!”
“I think,” Regulus said softly, still not looking at them, “that I don’t count. I don’t have my wand, because I lost it in a fight. I let myself be disarmed, which is a disgrace to the Dark Lord. So I don’t think I would count to him at all.”
Silently, Remus took in the meaning of what he’d just said. Regulus could cross to the island in the middle of the lake, together with one other wizard. No more.
Sirius turned to Remus, and with horrible, inevitable foreboding, Remus knew what he would say. Sirius’s eyes were wide and dark. “It’s got to be me, Remus. You understand, right? I’ve got to be the one go with him.”
Remus swallowed hard. The last thing he wanted, the last thing he ever wanted, was to send Sirius into danger, not without Remus there to watch his back. Sirius and Regulus, alone together on an island in a dark lake full of unseen horrors put in place by Voldemort himself to keep intruders out - that was worse than anything Remus could have dreamed in the nightmares that sometimes shook him awake at night, even when Sirius was lying safely by his side.
But he knew Sirius was right. This was Sirius’ brother. Remus couldn’t tell him not to go.
“I’ll wait here,” Remus said, keeping any hint of a wobble firmly out of his voice. “But be careful, all right?”
Sirius stared at him, his features illuminated from below by the light of his wand, rendering his nose strangely long and his eyes dark. “Yeah,” he said, his voice sounding husky. “Of course I will. Remus, I -” He broke off again.
“It’s fine,” Remus said. Whatever Sirius wanted to say, whatever he was struggling to express in front of Regulus, Remus already knew. He found Sirius’ hand and squeezed it once. “Go on.”
Sirius squeezed back, then released Remus’ hand. “Right,” he said to his brother, pointing at the boat with his wand. “You first.”
(Continue to CHAPTER SIX)
Summary: There’s a war on and all is not easy for the young members of the Order of the Phoenix, but Remus - nineteen, in love and sharing a flat with Sirius - is happier than he ever thought it possible to be. …Until one morning a knock at their door heralds an unexpected visitor from Sirius’ past, begging help with a desperate mission.
CHAPTER FIVE
Remus gasped as sharp, cold air hit his lungs and a salty wind scoured his cheeks.
Sirius had Apparated all three of them here on Regulus’ precise instructions, since Regulus himself didn’t have a wand. But the moment they arrived, Sirius yanked his arm away from Regulus, like he couldn’t stand to stay in contact with him another moment. His other arm, still in Remus’ grasp, was tense.
It was night, and the moon was barely a crescent. Remus was glad it wasn’t yet full enough to weaken him. The last thing Sirius needed in all this was a partner not strong enough to be of any help.
“Lumos,” Sirius murmured, and a warm glow illuminated the rock where they stood, on a dark boulder half-submerged in the sea at the base of a high, black cliff that loomed forbiddingly above them. Around them, waves surged and smashed against the rock. Voldemort couldn’t have chosen a more dramatic location to hide a piece of his soul.
“Where’s the cave, then?” Sirius demanded, and if everything hadn’t been so tense, Remus might have teased him for his impatience.
On Sirius’ other side, Regulus flung out a hand towards the cliff face. “There. Don’t you see the crack in the rock?”
It took a moment for Remus’ eyes to adjust, but there was indeed a jagged fissure at the base of the cliff, where black water surged in and out in time with the motion of the waves.
“Do a warming charm,” Regulus instructed. “We have to swim there through the water.”
In the glow of Sirius’ wand, Remus could see Sirius’ face taking on an expression that said he was about to tell Regulus exactly where he could stuff his idea that he was allowed to give either of them orders. Hurriedly, before the two of them could start arguing again, Remus cast a warming charm on all three of them.
“That’ll do well enough for a little while,” he said. “Come on.” Remus stowed his wand safely inside his cloak, then took a deep preparatory breath. It didn’t help at all. He still shouted in shock as he slid off the side of the rock and his body hit the cold water. Even with the protection of a warming charm, it took his breath away.
There were two splashes behind him, then Remus heard Sirius’ harsh breathing near his ear. “Merlin’s bloody balls, it’s cold!” Sirius yelled, and Remus laughed and spluttered out saltwater.
Regulus swam up alongside them with powerful strokes, so Remus let him pull ahead and take the lead. When they reached the crack in the face of the cliff, they could see it opened into a tunnel. Remus and Sirius followed Regulus in, swimming in silence, gasping at the cold. It was perfectly dark now, and the waves slapped and echoed eerily against the tunnel walls.
“Lumos,” Sirius muttered again, and Remus could hear the chattering of his teeth. The light of the wand Sirius held in his teeth as he swam illuminated the sleek, dark rock walls around them as they pushed on, following the splashing sounds of Regulus ahead of them.
Finally, Remus heard Regulus climb out of the water, and they reached a place where rough steps led up into a cave. Remus clambered up the steps, with Sirius behind him, until they all stood shivering and dripping on the wet stone floor. Remus cast a drying charm on all three of them before anyone could argue about it.
“It’s got to be around here,” Regulus muttered. “Straight ahead, Kreacher said.” He strode up to the wall of the cave, and before either of them could stop him, pulled a small dagger from his cloak with his left hand and sliced into the flesh of his own right forearm.
Sirius shouted, Remus darted forward, but Regulus just rolled his eyes at them and shook his bleeding arm so the blood sprayed across the wall. The silver outline of a door blazed into being in the rock, then all the mass within the outline disappeared. They had gained entrance.
“You bloody idiot, give me that,” Sirius snapped, grabbing the knife from Regulus’ hand and tucking it inside his own robes. “What are you trying to do, kill yourself?”
“It’s a minor blood sacrifice,” Regulus snapped in return. “Believe me, I’ve had a lot worse.”
“Episkey,” Sirius grumbled, waving his wand over Regulus’ arm. The skin healed over instantly.
Ignoring their bickering, Remus illuminated his own wand and stepped past them, through the archway that had formed in the rock.
What he saw was an enormous, black subterranean lake. Its far shore was lost in the darkness, but there was a greenish glow emanating from its middle. That, undoubtedly, was their destination.
“There’s a hidden boat somewhere along the side,” Regulus said. Remus hadn’t heard him approach from behind. “We have to walk along the edge until we find it. Kreacher said we’d feel it when we got to it. I’ll go first.” He set off along the narrow rim of rock between the water and the cavern wall. In the dimness beside Remus, Sirius made an annoyed noise, but had no choice but to follow.
They walked for a long time, Regulus then Sirius then Remus, along the never-ending curve of the lake’s dark shore. The green glow in its middle never got closer or further away. They were simply tracing a slow circle around it.
In the small light his lit wand cast in this great expanse of darkness, Remus watched the tense curve of Sirius’ back ahead of him. He knew Sirius didn’t trust Regulus. Regulus could be leading them into a trap. And yet, somehow, Remus didn’t think he was. The fear he saw in Regulus was real. The conflicted emotions jostling for prominence in his voice when he talked about his “Dark Lord” and his house-elf, those were real.
But at the same time, Remus felt sure Regulus hadn’t told them everything about his plan. It all went very vague after they got to the island in the middle of the lake. Regulus hadn’t been clear at all about how they were supposed to get at the Horcrux itself, let alone take it away with them. Voldemort must have unbreakable precautions in place, or precautions Voldemort considered to be unbreakable, to prevent his enemies from finding his treasure and walking away with it. Regulus surely knew what magic protected the Horcrux, but he was being maddeningly vague on the details.
“Here!” Regulus called out from ahead of them. “Got it.”
Sirius stopped a couple paces short of where Regulus appeared to be pulling at an invisible rope. Remus came up next to Sirius, rested a hand against his back, and was glad when Sirius leaned into it, just a little, accepting comfort rather than shrugging it away.
“One of you needs to use your wand to make it reveal itself,” Regulus said. Sirius, snorting at him in irritation, stepped forward and performed a Revelio Charm. A heavy, greenish metal chain appeared in Regulus’ hands, stretching away into the depths of the lake. “Yeah, that’s it,” Regulus said softly. He sounded nervous, but he braced his feet and began to haul on the chain.
Sirius leaned in to help, and Remus did too. The clanking of the chain piling itself in coils on the stone floor beside them filled the air, bouncing ominously off the cave walls that arched away above them and out of view. Their breath, too, sounded loud in the damp air.
Then a little boat, glowing a ghostly green, rose up out of the water, barely making a splash as it broke the surface and bobbed towards the shore where they stood. It nudged the edge of the bank, like an animal asking to play. A sinister, phosphorescent animal.
All three of them stood and stared at it.
Finally, Remus spoke what they all must be thinking. “We can’t possibly all fit in that.”
“No,” Regulus said, staring at the boat like he couldn’t tear his eyes away. “It’s designed, in terms of magic, to hold only one. Kreacher got across too, but then, Kreacher isn’t a wizard.”
Sirius rounded on his brother. “So, now what? One person goes alone to fight whatever magic Voldemort’s got protecting that thing while everybody else waits? Yeah that sounds like a great plan, Regulus, well done!”
“I think,” Regulus said softly, still not looking at them, “that I don’t count. I don’t have my wand, because I lost it in a fight. I let myself be disarmed, which is a disgrace to the Dark Lord. So I don’t think I would count to him at all.”
Silently, Remus took in the meaning of what he’d just said. Regulus could cross to the island in the middle of the lake, together with one other wizard. No more.
Sirius turned to Remus, and with horrible, inevitable foreboding, Remus knew what he would say. Sirius’s eyes were wide and dark. “It’s got to be me, Remus. You understand, right? I’ve got to be the one go with him.”
Remus swallowed hard. The last thing he wanted, the last thing he ever wanted, was to send Sirius into danger, not without Remus there to watch his back. Sirius and Regulus, alone together on an island in a dark lake full of unseen horrors put in place by Voldemort himself to keep intruders out - that was worse than anything Remus could have dreamed in the nightmares that sometimes shook him awake at night, even when Sirius was lying safely by his side.
But he knew Sirius was right. This was Sirius’ brother. Remus couldn’t tell him not to go.
“I’ll wait here,” Remus said, keeping any hint of a wobble firmly out of his voice. “But be careful, all right?”
Sirius stared at him, his features illuminated from below by the light of his wand, rendering his nose strangely long and his eyes dark. “Yeah,” he said, his voice sounding husky. “Of course I will. Remus, I -” He broke off again.
“It’s fine,” Remus said. Whatever Sirius wanted to say, whatever he was struggling to express in front of Regulus, Remus already knew. He found Sirius’ hand and squeezed it once. “Go on.”
Sirius squeezed back, then released Remus’ hand. “Right,” he said to his brother, pointing at the boat with his wand. “You first.”
(Continue to CHAPTER SIX)