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The Missing Cave


Gideon, Fabian, and James disapparated from the edge of the village of Hogsmeade, outside of the grounds of Hogwarts. Fabian took hold of James and brought him via side-along, since he wouldn’t be getting his own apparition license for another year. They landed on the beach behind the Jenkins’s house, on the edge of the sea shore, the tide licking the sand. Fabian released James’s arm as they landed. The night was calm and relatively warm for the time of year, in an almost eerie sort of way.

“Lead the way,” Gideon said, turning to James.

But the funniest thing was happening. James stood there on the beach, staring about, and found that, quite suddenly, he could not for the life of him think of where the cave was. He rubbed the back of his head, his eyebrows pinched together and glanced first to the left and then to the right, but though the Jenkins’s house was in a sort of shallow valley between two tall cliffs, he couldn’t recall which of the cliffs the cave was cut out of, and from where he stood, there was no sign of it, either.

“Potter?” Fabian prodded, glancing nervously at Gideon, the back to James, whose expression was clearly confused as he looked about, slowly getting more and more frantic.

James was practically panicking. Why couldn’t he think of the location of the cave? What was happening? Was he going mad? Was this the first sign of losing his mind? He didn’t want to completely lose his mind! He was an alright bloke, why would fate be so terrible to him as to let him be driven mad?

“James?” Gideon, too, leaned close to James, waiting for an answer. “Everything alright?”

James blinked at him, then shook his head, clearing his racing mind, and he said, “I… I dunno where it is.”

“What?” Fabian asked, “You said it was --” he stopped. He looked at Gideon. “Oi, mate. Potter’s just told us a moment ago where we were headed... do you, er, remember what he said? About where the location is?”

Gideon shook his head no. The twins shared identical looks of confusion over not being able to remember, staring at one another, distressed.

James rubbed his forehead, “No, no, it was here somewhere… The cave was here somewhere. I know it was. You don’t misplace caves, you don’t just lose a whole place. That’s not possible, it’s got to be ---” he stopped suddenly, completely overcome by fear and confusion.

James wished he’d listened to Lily. Wished he’d never come here. He was beginning to think this shore was jinxed.

Something is happening,” said Gideon darkly, “Something…” and the twins drew their wands in unison and Fabian pulled James closer as they both turned and looked up and down the beach in either direction for a sign of something - anything - some reason why things were not as they’d expected them to be, something that could’ve erased the memory of the cave and it’s location from their minds like this, as though they expected an ambush right there on the sands of the sea shore.

James drew his wand as well.

And that was when he saw it… far off across the beach… nearly as far as his eyes could see... there was a flicker - a bright light of an illuminated wand tip suddenly came into view… and then went out… a dark form falling to the beach sand…

James nudged Gideon, who was closer to facing that direction, “Look there,” he said. “Someone’s just… just apparated, or… or something.”

Gideon turned, squinted down the beach… and the three of them hurried to go and investigate who it was and how they’d come to be there.




The moment Regulus Black’s face hit the wet sand of the shore was the first thing he could remember from when he’d been running across the grounds of Hogwarts after Care of Magical Creatures class. His eyes opened and he stared at the dark tan, speckled with broken shells and tiny pebbles, laying on the ground, his fist clutched ‘round his wand, feeling as though he had been just running by the green houses and suddenly he’d fallen down or something and - and he’d somehow landed here, in wet sand. He could barely breathe, as though he’d been heavily physically active only moments before, but, as far as he could recollect, he had not. He blinked, trying to force his brain to remember, trying to work out what happened to him - why his ankle hurt, why his lungs burned, why there were tear stains upon his face, how had his clothes become soaking wet?

He could hear a roaring… and he turned his head and saw the waves of the ocean… rolling gently, dark blue and white capped in the fading light of winter afternoon, coming closer and closer, the foam only a meter or so away.

He had to be dreaming, he decided. That was the only explanation for the jumbled mess his memory had become. He must never have woken up this morning, or else he’d fallen asleep in Care of Magical Creatures. How else could he have gone from running across the grounds of Hogwarts to this wet, sandy beach without any purpose for having been here? He didn’t know how to apparate and even if he did it wasn’t possible for wizards to apparate in the grounds of Hogwarts. Only Kreacher was capable of that.

Had Kreacher brought him here?

Why?

“Wake up, Regulus,” he whispered to himself. “Wake up.”

Wake up Regulus, wake up… The words echoed in his head from another time. Please…. Please wake up. Please wake up…. You’re sleeping, having another nightmare… and none of this has happened….

If only that were true, he thought now.

He rolled onto his side, every muscle and bone in his body aching horribly and he pushed himself up from the sand to sit and he felt quite dizzy, as though his brain had sat up slower than he had and had to rush to swing itself into place to catch up to him. He clutched his stomach as it twisted and closed his eyes.

“Don’t move! Stay right where you are!” came a voice, shouting authoritatively from behind him.

And another, “Drop your wand and put your hands up where we can see them!”

Regulus did as he was told, his wand hitting the sand beside him and he brought his palms up, his arms hooked over his head, and he tried to catch his breath as fear poured through him.

“Regulus?” this third voice was familiar, and an immense comfort to hear. It was James Potter. “Regulus is that you?” and suddenly there was James, kneeling beside him, his face one of confusion. “Blimey what’s happened to you?”

Regulus stared blankly up at James, “I dunno,” he replied, his voice trembling.

James reached into the pocket of his robe and he drew out a handkerchief and with a wave of his wand and a muttered spell, he’d dampened it, and he brought the handkerchief to Regulus’s face and begun to wash dirt and dried blood from his cheek, where Regulus had not even noticed yet there was a gash.

And suddenly there was Fabian Prewett - Gideon ran past and started walking back and forth, sort of pacing at a certain point, looking around, trying to find something, but clearly not having any luck. Fabian asked, “Where’ve you just come from?”

“I dunno,” Regulus stammered. “I… I was running back to the castle from Care of Magical Creatures class… just a moment ago… and… and now I’m here.”

James looked at Fabian, then back to Regulus with concern. “Reg, it’s Saturday. You wouldn’t have had Care for Magical Creatures class today.”

Regulus shook his head, “No, no it’s Friday. It’s Friday. I’ve just left Kettleburn’s class!” he looked from Fabian and back to James… “I’ve just left it. I’ve still got my books here, look, --” but he didn’t have his books. He looked up at James, “My books are gone. I must’ve dropped them on the grounds. I had them just a second ago.” His bag had been ‘round his shoulders, he could still feel it, practically…

James’s eyebrows were tight. “Reg… you can’t have done. We’re… we’re hundreds of miles from Hogwarts, mate, we’ve just apparated here, after Patronus class. Which you missed.”

Regulus’s voice was firm, pleading to be believed, “I swear to you, James, I was just on the grounds. I was just going - to - to my dorm… and I was going to go and clean my face and go to lunch…” His stomach growled loudly as though to emphasize the fact. But James was shaking his head, James was saying no. Regulus felt sick. If it was anyone but James Potter that had knelt before him now, saying no like this, Regulus would’ve never believed it. But James Potter had more than proven himself as one of the few people that could be trusted. “But how could I have lost an entire day? How come I don’t remember… anything…?”

James bit his lower lip.

“But what’s happened? Where am I?” Regulus began to cry.

“You’re behind the Jenkins house,” Fabian said quietly.

“Maryrose’s,” James supplied. “Somewhere near the cave where -- where --” he stopped.

Regulus felt even sicker, “I - why - why would I be there?” he demanded. “Why would -- how could --?” he shook his head in disbelief, “What’s happening? Am I mad? I’ve gone mad. I’m mad.”

“You’re not mad,” Fabian shook his head and whispered, “Obliviated. Whatever’s happened, he’s been obliviated of it.”

Panic filled Regulus, “Obliviated!” he looked to James.

James was looking to Fabian, “Who would’ve --?”

“Dunno,” Fabian replied.

Gideon suddenly returned, “I can’t find anything,” he said, kneeling down on the other side of Regulus, “There’s no cave here. None that I can find, at least.” He looked to Fabian, “What’s the story here?” he nodded at Regulus.

“Obliviated, I think,” Fabian answered.

“By who?” Gideon looked about - they were alone, the four of them, the beach empty as far as the eye could see.

“Dunno,” said Fabian, looking about as well. “Someone who’s disappeared, as our missing cave has, it seems.”

“But you can’t just misplace a cave,” James said, “You can’t just lose a whole place!”

But even as he said it, something rang in the words that made him realize -- you could.

You could just lose a whole place, he thought. His home was an example. That place was there but it also was not, not to anyone who didn’t know the secret - who hadn’t been told by the Secret Keeper. Even the Potters themselves could not speak its address anymore because of the Fidelus Charm. And though they could speak the name of the place, before Orion Black had been killed none could see Grimmauld Place, it literally disappeared from sight, erased right out of view…

“Could it be a Fidelus Charm?” James asked, looking at Gideon and Fabian.

“Cast since we’ve left the castle?” Gideon questioned.

“The irony of the timing would be… most incredible…” Fabian murmured.

James said, “But it makes sense, doesn’t it? How it was here, it was, and we just discussed it - we discussed it being here in order to get here from Hogsmeade - in order for you to apparate us here.”

Fabian and GIdeon exchanged glances once again. “I s’pose,” Fabian murmured.

“But the timing…” Gideon said, “It would mean the Dark Lord is here now.”

“Yes it would,” Fabian said.

Regulus stared from one to the next to the next, “The Dark Lord?” his voice trembled, “Do you reckon it’s him who’s obliviated me?”

“P’haps,” answered Gideon, who was rising to his feet protectively. He looked at Fabian. “Let’s go.” He grabbed onto James and disapparated.

Fabian grabbed onto Regulus and followed.

And the beach lay empty and still once again…

The missing cave just meters from where they’d been…

Magically concealed.