Between Fine Lines

One.

He glances away for the briefest second-this is his first mistake.

Dumbledore's head is lolling off to the side and the aguamenti charms Harry is casting are not filling enough water in this tiny shell to help the Headmaster rid the taste of poison in his throat. It's just a quick pinch of water, just from the edge, he won't get too close, won't scoop too deep.

The next thing Harry knows, he's being dragged underwater.

The ice cold liquid is a shock to his system as he feels himself struggling to stay afloat, hand after hand grabbing him as he tries to scramble for the edge of the rocks, pull himself back out and away from the Inferi, get back to Dumbledore. He finds himself sinking, further and further, the hands of the Inferi pulling him down harder and harder, deeper into the darkness where they hope to keep him forever.

As the water fills his lungs and Harry struggled to remain conscious, everything is suddenly warm and bright, the magic from Dumbledore's spell felt like it was wrapping around his body, pulling him with force back to the top of the water. Harry sputtered and gasped, grabbing for Dumbledore's hand as the Inferi fled to different corners of the cave, desperate to get away from the fire in the water that only affected them.

"Harry, are you alright?" Dumbledore questioned, the flames settling on the water, keeping the cave lit up with a soft glow. Harry nodded as he tried to steady his breathing, backing himself up from the edge as much as he could, his glasses dangling from one ear, vision blurry as he reached for his wand to dry his glasses off.

His clothes could wait, he needed to be able to see.

"Professor, what is that?" Harry questioned as the cave began to rumble quietly, causing them to look around-could it be another trap set up by Voldemort? He struggled to rise to his feet, green eyes wildly searching the area.

"I am unsure, Harry," Dumbledore spoke calmly, but his wand was still gripped tightly in his hand. The water in the cave began to part, farther and farther as it crashed up into the walls, being held back with an invisible force, the Inferi floating around, pressing up and trapped against the glass like hold.

"Professor?" Harry watched a soft white glow as the ground under the water made itself shown, shielding his eyes as the glow became bold and bright, the strength of it could still be felt by Harry even as he squeezed his eyes shut, the warmth radiating around him.

"It can't be possible..." Dumbledore whispered, carefully lowering himself down from the ledge they stood on to the ground. He moved cautiously to where the middle of the water would be, the spot where Harry thought he would have surely drowned just mere moments before, standing over the body of what appeared to be a teenage boy.

"Who is that?" Harry questioned anxiously, scrambling down to follow Dumbledore without hesitation. "Is it another form of Tom Riddle? Is it a trap?"

"No... Harry, I do not believe this is an act of evil and deceit, I believe this was an act of loyalty and love," Dumbledore replied, his eyes studying the unconscious form of Regulus Arcturus Black.

"Professor, what are you talking about?" Harry questioned, peering down at the young man. "Who is that?" Harry eyed the raven-haired male, his eyes widening as he saw Regulus' chest move, his lungs beginning to take in air.

"This, Harry...is how you're going to defeat Tom Riddle."

—

"Harry, Harry slow down! Where are we going?" Hermione questioned, doubling her steps to keep up with Harry, who still firmly had her hand locked in his, Hermione reaching behind her to grab for Ron.

The three of them were bloody, bruised and cut up. More than half the school stood in the courtyard, mourning over the headmaster. Draco Malfoy had let death eaters into the castle, Severus Snape had murdered Albus Dumbledore, the school was in shambles. Ron tried to regain his footing as he almost slipped over the spilled rubies from the Gryffindor hourglass.

"I have to show you something," Harry insisted, stepping over broken pillar bits as he pulled them farther into the castle.

"Yeah, mate you said that outside, that's why we followed you-but what do you want to show us?" Ron questioned, using his free hand to wipe the blood that was trickling from the cut above his eyebrow and into his eye.

"You just have to see it, we can't talk about it out here, I don't want somebody to hear us." Harry stopped outside of the large Griffin statue that led up to Dumbledore's office... or well, what was Dumbledore's office, now that he was dead, Harry assumed Mcgonagall would take over. "Licorice tails, " Harry muttered, watching the griffin move its wings and make way for the three of them to climb the staircase.

Hermione and Ron exchanged glances as they followed Harry up the steps, watching him push his way past the closed door, bringing them into the main office where a young male sat unconscious in Dumbledore's large chair.

Hermione was the first to gasp, her wand already out from her pocket. "Harry! Who is this?" she questioned, her eyes wide as she looked at her friend. "Did you harm him?"

"Is he a deatheater? Did they leave him behind?" Ron questioned cautiously, his wand also in his hand now, edging a bit closer to the desk.

"Its-" Harry paused and the trio looked at each other as they heard footsteps on the stairs leading up into the office. The three of them whipped around as the door opened, wands pointed and ready to attack-still on edge from the night's events.

"Don't! It's just me!" Remus threw his hands up, his fingers still wrapped around his own wand. "I came after you to make sure you were alright and I-" Remus' voice froze in his throat as he looked past Harry, Ron and Hermione to the boy in the chair.

"What did you and Dumbledore do?" He questioned Harry, coming into the room and closing the door. Hermione watched Remus mutter an incantation, warding the room.

"We found him," Harry explained. "Well not found him, but-" Harry paused as a groan came from behind them, four sets of eyes darting over to look as the boy shifted and began to cough.

"Who is that?" Hermione questioned. "Where is he from?"

"Dumbledore took me to find a horcrux," Harry explained simply, his eyes darting from Regulus to Remus to Hermione. "And after we grabbed it, the locket," Harry pulled it from his pocket, "the water in the cave parted and there was this blinding white light and then there was him," Harry pointed to Regulus.

"I have a name you know," a hoarse voice joined the conversation and they turned once again to look at the raven-haired male. He coughed a few times, sitting up from his slumped position that Harry had left him in, his eyes immediately traveling to Remus' face.

"Wow... Lupin. You still look like shit," Regulus coughed again, pushing his hair from his face. "I bet my brother doesn't look much better, eh? I was always the better looking one," he joked weakly.

"Brother?" Ron questioned, alarm in his tone.

"You're Regulus Black," Hermione realized, her voice soft and in awe.