Lacerta Black -- James Potter --

20

trigger warnings: mentions of blood, vomiting, death/dying, depicts violence

"I can't believe we're doing this," Sirius hissed quietly as he and James creeped along the hall leading to the door of Number Twelve Grimmauld Place. James knew the boy better than he knew himself and the mere fact that he came here to rescue his siblings let him know that no matter what, he still loved Regulus and Lacerta. 

They had been sleeping peacefully in their beds when a horrifying house-elf appeared at their feet with a rushed letter and tears in his eyes. Sirius recognized him at Kreacher, his parent's elf, and didn't trust the letter. He told James to ignore it and go back to sleep, but that wasn't the person James Potter was. 

He left a quick note for his parents to let them know where they went before, they flew their brooms to London, walking the streets until they got to Grimmauld. Thankfully, the two were both of age and could legally do magic outside of school as they cast a disillusion charm around the two.

"So," he said, not feeling as brave when he was right in front of the door, "we just open it?"

"That's how you get inside a house, James," Sirius snapped, twisting the knob and waltzing in while James flinched.

"There could've been a million spells on that you bloody lunatic!" 

Grimmauld Place was cleaner than he'd imagined, but then again, he'd always thought of one of those Muggle haunted houses. It was just as dark and twisted as his dreamt of. The curtains moved with different skeletal faces. The portraits eyed the open door with pinched expressions and the dismembered heads of previous house elves seemed to stare right at him.  

"This is where you three grew up," he whispered. He felt in his pocket for the invisibility cloak, needing it for the younger two since they couldn't do magic. His wand was grasped firmly in his other hand. 

"Let's just get out of here as quickly as we can," Sirius had a grey looking face as they began their ascent up the flights of stairs leading to the fourth floor. Years of sneaking around did them well as he knew exactly which spots creaked, having James mimic his every step. They treaded extra lightly along the third floor where his parents resided, whispering a silencing charm around their room so they couldn't hear anything going on. 

They still felt uneasy about being louder, not wanting to risk it as they finally reached the topmost landing. There were three doors with each sibling's name embroidered on the front. Sirius walked to his own, tracing the letters with an almost sad expression before he moved to his brother's. 

His hand hovered over the knob, not fully touching it. "What are you doing? Open it," James ushered. 

"If we touch it," he hissed back, "we get electrocuted."

Sirius muttered the countercurse, then had James test it out since he was feeling annoyed with his mate. Thankfully, it worked, and they eased the creaking door open to a dark room. It resembled the Slytherin dorms and one wall had once been plastered with headlines of Voldemort was messily painted over with the beginning of a phoenix. The curtains of the bed were drawn as they crept forward.

"Reg," James whispered, not wanting to spook the young boy. "Reg?"

He pulled the curtain back only to receive a kick to the nose. He staggered back; it was certainly broken as blood gushed down his face. 

Regulus sat up quickly. His face was coated in sweat, and he was breathing heavily, indicating a very heavy nightmare. "Fuck," he rubbed a hand through his hair. "James I'm so sorry!"

With a quick episky, his nose was set in place once more. He wiped the blood of Regulus's bedsheets since they would be leaving anyways. It stung slightly but not enough to be more than annoying. "It's fine. Start packing whatever you want while we go get Lizzie."