INFERI (REGULUS BLACK)

40

"You," Sirius thundered, "unhand her right now, or else you won't have any hands left to use anymore."

The Quirods tightened their hold on the waitress. She let out a panicked shriek.

Regulus hastily pulled Sirius back. "What?" Sirius fumed, eyes fixated on the waitress.

"We can't just leap into the fray and hope for the best," he hissed. "We need a plan, a proper one. Our main aim is to save the waitress, not get her killed."

Sirius was mutinous, but hung back. On the absence of threat, one of the Quirods bent down to the level of the waitress, and whispered something into her ear. Her eyes widened as she cast a frightened glance at Regulus, and hastily shook her head.

"Sirius," Regulus muttered, taking in the surroundings. "Create a diversion."

Sirius shot him a cocky grin. "That's the thing I'm a master at."

He quickly exited the café, while Regulus skirted around the people watching the scene, wide-eyed. When he had positioned himself behind the Quirods, within an arm's reach of the waitress, the café burst into flames. The muggles shrieked, and trampled over each other to exit. The Quirods vanished in a puff of dark smoke, but not before one of them flung something at his face. Regulus saw a spidery, pale hand before they vanished.

Coughing slightly, Regulus grasped the sobbing waitress, and quickly apparated out.

The waitress vomited as soon as they landed in a deserted alleyway, in which Sirius was waiting.

"Hey, are you alright?" Sirius ran to support her, while Regulus hovered awkwardly in the background, a goblet of water clutched tightly in his hands.

"I — I'm fine," she croaked. "Water."

With clear clarity, a sudden memory flashed through his mind. He was on the small island again, surrounded by Inferi, the burning feeling inside him, slowly shrivelling his insides. "Reg? You okay?" Sirius's worried voice cut through his daze.

"I'm okay," he said, trying to recollect himself. He still felt quite queasy and light-headed. "Here, water." Regulus gave the goblet to the waitress, who gulped it down gratefully.

"Thank you," she said profusely. "H-how did I reached here?" She visibly panicked.

Regulus pulled out his wand and murmured, "obliviate." With a flick of his wand, she vanished, presumably to her café.

"Hey Reg, you sure you're okay? You don't look so good," Sirius asked worriedly.

"There's no need to rub in you're the good looking brother Sirius," Regulus mumbled, trying to divert the topic.

"I am," he said seriously. "But something's wrong. It's written all over your face."

"I'm fine, okay?" Regulus snapped.

Shocked by this sudden outburst, Sirius clamped his mouth shut.

"Why did we come here, anyway?" Sirius asked after they'd covered some ground. The air stank of rubbish due to the bags placed in the alley.

"Father owled. He said that there's something here in France we need to pick up from a shop. It's a scroll, and contains all we need to know about these dark shadows. Father said it's necessary to team up with them. They're possible allies."

Sirius nodded. "Where is this shop located? A French Knockturn Alley?"

"No, it's somewhere in the Muggle world. We're in Paris right now, nearing the Eiffel Tower," Regulus pointed out the impressive structure, which was emblazoned on the Parisian skyline. "Father said it's a dodgy place, it'll take a bit of time to trace it, but it's in this area."

"Where are we going to stay? At one of your acquaintances place?" Sirius asked light-heartedly.

"No," he replied. "At the hotel."

Just then, an owl swooped down, and dropped a letter in front of Regulus. He gracefully grasped it before it fell. Quickly ripping it open, Sirius saw his brother's face harden line by line, before he thrust it towards Sirius.

Quickly straightening it, he scanned the letter:

Dear Reggie,

I'm sorry for such a short letter, but this is important. Orion's been murdered, along with Mr and Mrs Potter. All of us are currently together and on the run, trying to trace the you-know-what's. I hope you're safe, and Sirius is too, even though I thoroughly dislike him. Be safe, and be careful in whatever you do. I'll update you on everything. James, Lily, Harry, Asher (Smith, in case you forgot), Remus and Teddy are with me, so don't worry.

I love you.

Adelaide

(PS, Asher and I'm engaged now! It happened so quickly. You'll be the Best Man, don't worry. Asher misses you too.)

Try not to freak out, but The Dark Lord's after you. With vengeance.
Be safe.

*****

4o chapters! I honestly can't stop smiling every time I open Wattpad.
Who knew I'd be able to write this much?
But as much as I love this book, I love you all too, for reading and making my day.
Only about 40 more to go! (Or less, it depends.)