All in the Family

Chapter 160: The Lightning Struck Tower

Happy Halloween...

HPHPHP

The green seemed to chase them along. It was still all Sirius could see when he landed. Burnt into his eyes, the odd glimmering stars too close above, the tinge in his brother's face.

"James! Prongs! Innervate!" He'd shot the spell before he even made it to his side, headless of the fact that he'd slammed into a stone banister or the tower room they were in with its crenelated ramparts just waiting for someone to lose balance and fall right over as the majority of them almost did, though they all caught themselves in time nobody had to look down at that frightening drop.

The spell had done its job, James was already trying to choke up water by the time Sirius knelt beside him and rolled him onto his side in abject relief. Sirius got him upright and thumped him on the back as he began to spit out the rest of the filth, shivering nonstop and nearly biting his tongue his teeth were chattering so hard but looking at Sirius in just as much relief, or at least tried to. Sirius reached out and touched his chest for a few heartbeats before he noticed his glasses were still firmly in place but so smeared with water there was no way he could actually see anything, and Sirius hadn't even anything to offer to dry them on. It was hysterical to Sirius and he began a deranged kind of laugh as James took them off.

"You're okay? You didn't drink it?" Despite his trembling voice and fear filled eyes already searching out who did. His glasses had a massive fracture in them from where he'd headbutted one, the crack he'd delivered to its skull had pulsed something all over him he did not want to know and the too dense water hadn't truly washed away. The laughter stopped as abruptly as it started and James couldn't see why.

The seams of Regulus's shirt were torn and stretched in multiple places he'd tried so hard to get free, which showed the already vividly growing hand shaped bruises blossoming beneath. His hair was singed, and he'd probably have some permanent scarring from the fire blistering his skin if they didn't get medicine on quick enough. Peter was beside him but froze, like he'd been fussily checking him over before he'd looked up to do his usual count and, and there were not eight of them moving around.

Frank had immediately crawled back over to Remus's side like he had another goblet full to give him, but he'd cast the cup aside without a second thought, listening to it slam against the wall without care. Remus didn't even stir to open his mouth for another drink this time, his heavy breathing had ceased. Water, it had been the last thing Dumbledore had tried to ask for, though Remus Lupin hadn't even managed that in between his desperate pleas for the pain to end.

James and Sirius were dripping in the stuff, like the growing puddle was mocking him.

He made to summon the crystal goblet back and at least try at what Harry's attempt had failed in, but his movement had instigated something terrible in Sirius. His dark form flew, shoving him so hard away he nearly went off the tower in a mockery to how hard he'd once done the same to Remus himself back in the Hog's Head.

Alice caught him as he listed dangerously against the edge. Lily could only watch Sirius' hysterics with horror for her broken promise. "Water," Frank still tried pleadingly for him to understand his intentions, "maybe-" but they all knew. Harry's desperate attempts to do the same for Dumbledore had not been given but a splash on the face to their old headmaster, they could not know if there even was a way to fix this.

"Innervate! Remus! Moony! No, Remus! Innervate! No, Remus, no!" The spell was not working, and Sirius threw his wand away and held his always pale face, slowly turning as white as the inferius now.

Frank ran forward and grabbed Sirius' bag, ripping it from his back like nothing else in this insane trip had yet done as the straps snapped loose and scattered the contents all around. The others stayed frozen in place, Alice feared he'd gone as mad as Sirius. Frank dived like a fiend, only the orange flash in his hand showed his path as he appeared back and shoved it down Remus' throat too fast for even Sirius to register what had happened.