Disclaimer: Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to JK Rowling. I own nothing but the original characters I make.
Chapter 147: Inferi
"Do you mean my brother has been fighting Voldemort and I never knew about it," asked Sirius.
Dudley nodded and Sirius looked at Kreacher who are also sobbing uncontrollably after Dudley started recounted about Regulus past.
Sirius's legs finally gave out, he stumbled forward and almost collapsed onto the floor, luckily Harry was there to catch him before his face almost hit the floor.
"Sirius are you okay," said Harry who are worried about Sirius condition.
But Sirius didn't answer instead his fingers curled tightly into fists, knuckles turning white as he dragged one hand up to his face. For a long moment, he didn't make a sound, his shoulders trembled silently, as if he were trying to hold everything in.
Then the sobs broke free, the tears started to fall from his eyes.
"Reg…" Sirius whispered hoarsely. "Why… why didn't you come to me?"
His voice cracked, the words barely holding together as tears slipped through his fingers.
"I was right there," Sirius continued between broken breaths. "All those years… I was alive. I was fighting and you chose to face it alone."
Harry took a hesitant step forward, his chest tightening at the sight. He had never seen Sirius like this, he always reckless and joking with them, last she saw him shattered angrily when he met Peter Pettigrew.
But this time, it is pure sadness.
"Sirius," Harry said softly, his hand touching his shoulder him, "Regulus must have had a reason. He wasn't stupid and he knew what Voldemort would do if anyone found out."
Sirius let out a bitter laugh that dissolved into another sob. "He was my brother," he said. "I should've protected him. I should've noticed something was wrong. Instead, I ran away and left him behind with those lunatics."
Dudley spoke next, his tone become serious.
"It wasn't your fault," Dudley said. "If Regulus had come to you, it would've endangered the entire Black family. Voldemort watched pureblood families closely, especially ones like yours."
Sirius shook his head weakly. "So he chose to die alone," he murmured. "Just to make sure the rest of us survived."
Harry swallowed hard. "He didn't die alone," he said gently. "Not anymore. We know what he did. We finished what he started."
Sirius slowly lowered his hand from his face. His eyes were red, raw with grief but something else was there now, too.
Relief.
"…He was brave," Sirius whispered.
"Yes," Dudley said quietly. "He was and don't forget we still not collected Regulus body in that cave and give him proper burial."
Kreacher and Sirius head snapped up and their tears stopped instantly.
"Yes why I didn't think of this," said Sirius.
"Oh im such a bad elf forgot to bring him proper funeral," added Kreacher.
.
.
.
"Kreacher bring me to the cave where Regulus went with you," said Dudley.
Hearing Dudley words, Kreacher wiped the tears from his face and stepped forward and wanted to hold Dudley hand.
He barely took two steps before Sirius raised his hand sharply.
"Stop," Kreacher froze in place.
Sirius turned toward Dudley, his eyes narrowed a bit anger and also there is a instinctive protectiveness. "Wait a minute," he said. "You're not planning to go there alone, are you?"
Dudley shook his head calmly. "No. I have a way to bring all of us there safely."
Sirius frowned. "What are you talking about?"
"This," Dudley replied evenly, he did circular motion and opened a portal to another location. "I can open a portal directly into that cave. We don't need to dive down to go inside the cave and my magic can directly go inside that cave safely.
"Wait how didn't I know about your ability?" questioned Sirius.
"You never asked," smirked Dudley.
Harry sucked in a breath. "You mean… we can retrieve Regulus body?"
"Yes and didn't we said about Regulus," Dudley said quietly. "And give him a proper burial didn't you catch it earlier that we will go to the cave."
"I... I didn't know that," Harry cheeks become red.
Kreacher breath hitched. His hands trembled as he looked between Dudley and Sirius.
"Master Regulus…" the house-elf whispered.
"Kreacher," Dudley said gently, "bring me to the cave."
But Kreacher didn't move because he couldn't, his ears drooped as he glanced at Sirius. He had been ordered to stop and a house-elf could not disobey a direct command from his master.
Dudley noticed immediately and he turned to Sirius, his expression serious now and no more teasing him. "Sirius," he said firmly, "tell Kreacher to take me there. I swear to you, I won't face it alone and I will open a portal the moment we arrive."
Sirius hesitated but eventually he wanted to see the corpse of his body, Regulus and it would be impossible to get it alone.
"…Kreacher," Sirius said slowly, he turned to the house elf. "take Dudley to the cave."
The order snapped into place like iron chains.
"Yes, Master," Kreacher replied immediately and he hold Dudley hand.
With a sharp crack, both of them vanished.
Silence filled the room and Sirius stood there, staring at the empty space where they had been, his heart pounding and his breath become shallow.
Then it hit him. "Wait....what did I just do?" Sirius muttered, running a hand through his hair.
Before Harry could answer
The air twisted, Golden sparks erupted, forming a perfect glowing circle in front of them. The inside of the circle revealed jagged stone, dark water, and the unmistakable outline of the cave.
Dudley's voice came through clearly.
"Sirius. Harry. Come on."
Dudley stepped aside, gesturing with his hand. "It's safe."
Sirius stared at the portal, his chest tight.
This is about bringing his brother home. He took a deep breath, straightened his shoulders, and stepped forward.
"Let's go," Sirius said quietly.
Harry followed him without hesitation.
Together, they walked into the portal, toward the place where Regulus Black body located.
"This is so dark," commented Harry.
Dudley waved his hand and the floating lumos illuminate the cave.
"I suspect your brother Regulus had turned into one of the inferi," said Dudley.
Sirius face changed with anger but suddenly Harry asked a noob question.
"What is inferi?" asked Harry.
"Inferi is like a zombie or golem, your lifeless body would be controlled to attack others and Regulus died here means his body had turned into Inferi too," replied Dudley.