Bellatrix emerged from the column of black smoke with her wand already drawn, a sneer twisting once pretty features into something manic and cruel, and she spat out the words to a killing curse with purpose, flinging it in the direction of her cousin with a flourish; and Sirius turned, just in time to see the pulse of green come careening toward him-
Only for a weight to slam into his back, tackling him to the ground before the curse could hit, leaving it to instead crash harmlessly against the side of the archway taking up the centre of the room.
The person who had tackled Sirius shoved him over onto his back even as a second figure emerged from behind the tattered curtain, manifesting out of drifting grey light and empty air.
“Circe’s tits, Padfoot, a man would think you’d never cast a bloody Protego in your life! Watch your surroundings, would you? I can’t always be out here saving your arse, you know.” Sirius stared up at the young man crouched over him, at the familiar brown eyes behind round glasses and the broad grin he’d not seen in fourteen years; and James Potter leavered himself and his best friend back to their feet in the same moment that his wife, still as beautiful as the day she died, whorled on Lucius Malfoy, teeth bared.
“What the hell do you think you’re trying to do to my son, Lucius, you prick?” She threw herself at Malfoy as the man gaped at her, and wrestled his wand out of his hand before she hexed him with it; and James, nudging Sirius back in the direction of Remus and Harry, sighed wistfully.
“Merlin, I love that woman,” he breathed; and a third, final silhouette formed from the archway, stepping out from beneath the curtain and shoving a hand back through sopping wet curls, cool grey eyes scanning the men and women scattered around the chamber.
His focus zeroed in on Bellatrix, who stared back at him with an expression of open shock, mouth hanging open; and Regulus Black, still eighteen, soaked through and scowling, broke into a run at her.
It took her a solid two seconds to move, to stumble down off the outcropping of rock she’d been stood atop and stumble toward the exit; but Regulus had been a seeker, once upon a time, and death hadn’t robbed him of that speed, and when he hit her it was with as much force as James had hit Sirius, taking her to the ground and wrestling her wand from her hand even as she screamed and clawed up at him.
“You’re dead!” She screeched, fighting her baby cousin for her wand, and he yanked it fully from her hand before he scoffed down at her, dirty lake water still dripping from his hair.
“Riddle fucking wishes,” he retorted; and then hit her with a curse that manifested in a flash of bright red light, knocking her quite unconscious before he clambered back to his feet.
Back at the arch, James Potter was staring at him with warm, soft brown eyes; and Regulus blushed, cheeks bright pink, and bared his teeth at him.
“Stop gawking and get yourself a bloody wand, Potter, unless you want to go right back where we came from!”
James blinked out of whatever trance he’d been trapped in, shaking his head hard, and then turned back to Sirius with that same grin.
“Sorry Pads, need to borrow this quickly.” He snatched the wand from Sirius’ hand, before - in tandem with Regulus and Lily - pointing it up, at the centre-point of the ceiling.
“Sanguis incarcerous maxima,” Regulus declared, voice even and carrying around the room - and making one or two other people falter, at the familiarity of a voice none of them had expected to ever hear again - and Lily and James echoed him, one after the other, before they each redirected their wands at a Death Eater, Lily at Malfoy, Regulus at Bellatrix, and James at the first one to cross his eyeline, trading curses with Ginny Weasley and Tonks behind where Sirius and Harry still stood.
The tips of each of the wands glowed, a bright pulse of electric blue light; and then there were yelps from all around the room as chains sprang into existence around the Death Eaters, confining them quite effectively and leaving them to thump unceremoniously to the ground.
“Brilliant,” Hermione Granger breathed on the other side of the room, staring at the bound wizard on the floor in front of her; and back at the arch, James let out a whooshing breath, bracing his hands on his knees as Lily and Regulus both moved back to join him.
“Godric, Lils, I know you said it was going to be odd, but this is- this is bloody weird. How long were we dead? Fourteen years? Merlin’s shrivelled ballsack, I never thought having teeth could feel weird. Do your teeth feel weird, love?”
“James,” Lily murmured, wrapping a hand around his elbow while her eyes remained fixed on Harry, half hidden behind Sirius; and it was Remus who raised his wand, pointing it at both of them with an uncertain frown on his face.
“Oh, Circe,” Regulus muttered, and sat down on the edge of the platform; and Remus cleared his throat, and addressed James first.
“The first gift I ever gave to Harry after he was born.” James’ eyes flicked to his, and he looked surprised for a moment, before he sighed, and rubbed at the back of his neck.
“Merlin, Mooney, that’s… I mean the first one I ever counted was the crocheted hippogriff you put in his cot; the lumpy one you cobbled together from one of your mum’s patterns. Original pattern was for a horse, I think you said. The wings were uneven. But I know you saw it as your refusal to be his godfather. So, typical for you two, your first gift to Harry would have been Sirius.” James rolled his eyes, while Remus blinked hard and lowered his wand; and Lily huffed out a soft laugh, leaning against James’ side.
“Idiot. We were always going to make you both his godparents; Mary insisted she’d only be godmother to sprong number two, so she could teach them all sorts of mischief.”
“Because your offspring really need the extra help,” Regulus remarked dryly, looking back over his shoulder at the lot of them; and he locked eyes with his brother, blinking at him impassively even as Sirius visibly ground his teeth together.
“Well? No demands for my proof of identity? You used to wet the bed until you were six. You stole my socks all the way up until you ran away from home. When our mother was pondering marrying you off to Narcissa, you told her you’d rather marry a troll, and walked around carrying the umbrella stand for a week referring to it as Lady Black, until we found out Cissa had been betrothed to Lucius instead.”
Behind Sirius, Harry let out a spluttering laugh, and James grinned at the sound; and Sirius swallowed visibly before he moved to drop to his knees beside Regulus, taking his face in his hands and scanning his face a little desperately.
“Reggie,” he whispered; and it was Regulus’ turn to swallow too hard.
“You’re a fucking idiot,” he told his big brother flatly; and Sirius wrapped his arms around him, tugging him in against his chest for a tight hug while he buried his face in his hair.
“Why are you soaked, Reg?” He choked out, not letting the teenager go, and Regulus laughed humourlessly even as he wrapped his arms around him in return.
“Miscalculated how the magic would work. We all came through in the state we died in; s’why James isn’t wearing shoes. Idiot.”
Back by the arch, Lily had stepped up to Harry, until she was close enough to cup his cheek in the palm of her hand; and when he tentatively leaned into the touch, she pulled him briskly into her arms, James embracing the both of them and propping his chin on top of Harry’s head.
“He’s not wrong,” James murmured, and Lily laughed tearfully, holding onto her son as tightly as she could without hurting him.
The murmur of voices around them had picked up, Harry’s classmates and the handful of Order members who had come to their rescue shuffling closer; and Regulus pressed his face harder against Sirius’ shoulder while Remus stood between the two reuniting families, unsure which to go to but prepared to keep away anyone who tried to disturb them; and then Albus Dumbledore swept into the room, looking windswept and like he’d just been in a fight, Cornelius Fudge hot on his heels.
“Alastor, what happened?” He demanded, looking around the room; and then froze when he took note of the three unexpected pairs of eyes fixed on him.
“Ah, fuck,” Regulus muttered; and Lily Potter threw herself across the room.
“You son of a bitch!” She cried; and punched Albus squarely in the face.