Nicholas frowned, "What do you mean?" Harry just smirked and pointed at the conjured box he placed on the end table. "Put that with the goblet would you?" Before he disappeared in a flash of flame.
Harry flamed back to the outcropping of rock and found Regulus right where he had left them. Harry crouched down over the still unconscious Regulus. He turned to Kreacher who hadn't moved away from his master. "Kreacher, can you get to Draco at Hogwarts?"
Kreacher scowled and glanced at Regulus and then nodded. "Kreacher can get to Hogwarts."
Harry nodded, "Go on then, I'll join you with Regulus shortly." Kreacher gave one more look at Regulus and then glared at Harry for a moment, a glare that dissolved into a puzzled frown before he disappeared with a soft snap. Harry had been tempted to apparate or have the elf teleport Regulus to Hogwarts. But given the shape he was in, Harry felt that Regulus might be hurt when they tried to travel that way, neither was a particularly gentle way to travel.
Flame travel was far more comfortable but when Harry traveled with someone it was far more taxing. It wasn't magically exhausting, but it was physically draining. When he was by himself, it was as easy as breathing, he could flame pretty much non-stop. However, when someone else weighed him down, Harry emerged feeling like he'd run a marathon. Harry was already winded and knew this would probably exhaust him but didn't see a way around it.
For just a moment he was tempted to enervate Regulus and get him to change to his animagus form. Harry paused a moment and snorted at that internally. For as much as the Sirius Harry remembered seemed to dismiss his brother, Harry couldn't help but be amused at some of the very stark and striking similarities between the two.
Harry took out his wand and disillusioned Regulus with a quick wave of his wand. Another odd quirk of flame travel they had discovered through trial and error. While Flame travel didn't dispel glamours, it did cancel out the effect of a disillusion spell on the person who flamed, but not on anyone else. Yet more quirks that he had always wondered about but never got around to trying to figure out.
Then Harry stunned him for good measure, so that he wouldn't wake up and panic and cause problems. Harry leaned down and awkwardly picked Regulus up. He tried holding Regulus bridal style, and couldn't balance the older man, and ended up dropping him twice.
Harry would have transfigured Regulus into a small animal to make the trip easier on himself, but given Regulus' state, Harry wasn't excited about the idea of inflicting that sort of change on Regulus' weakened body.
Thankful for the foresight to stun Regulus, Harry finally just tossed Regulus over his shoulder, thankful that Regulus didn't weigh much after a long stay in Azkaban. After one last look around, ensuring that they hadn't left anything behind, Harry disappeared in flame once more.
Harry appeared in flame at the edge of the wall of Hogwarts. He immediately staggered forward and caught the nearest tree to keep himself from falling over gasping for deep breaths of air. Harry's vision swam for a minute and Harry thought he might lose consciousness completely. His entire body felt like he had gone a dozen rounds with a bludger.
Harry had been tempted to try and flame right into the chamber, but given how many times he had flamed with Regulus this evening, he didn't want to tempt fate and risk ending up half lodged in a wall, especially when he hadn't had a chance to examine all the wards of that place..
He managed to focus long enough to look up and see that he had reappeared close to their initial departure point. Just at the edge of the forest between the lake and the castle. Harry began to stagger toward the secret entrance. The dark of the night would keep him relatively safe and at the moment the only battle Harry was capable of fighting was the one to retain consciousness. Harry did his best to keep upright and keep from tripping on random roots as he walked along the edge of the forest. He kept moving as dark spots fought for dominance in his vision.
In his hurry, he was completely unaware that he was now being followed as he carried the invisible weight of Regulus along the edge of the forest. Harry was more concerned with getting to the secret passage and not passing out from exhaustion.
He finally arrived at the entrance and, before he said anything, the passage opened up. Draco poked his head out and saw Harry. "Where's Black?" Draco quietly demanded, looking puzzled.
"Disillusioned," Harry muttered in reply as he shifted his shoulder slightly for emphasis as he stumbled forward. Harry didn't think he would ever be grateful to see Draco in his entire life. But for the briefest of moments he was as he staggered into the passage.
Draco didn't say anything but quickly shut the passage behind Harry. Harry's entire body was drenched with sweat and his eyes were glassy and unfocused as he still breathed deeply, as if he had just played a particularly exhausting game of quidditch.
"Kreacher…" Harry stated after Draco had shut the door, his own voice sounding empty and vacant to his own ears.
"Kreacher here! Master is okay?" Kreacher demanded insistently.
"Yes. Catch us." Harry said as he finally lost the battle to remain conscious. His eyes rolled up in his head and he toppled forward. Fleur walked back toward the entrance gates, completely lost in thought. She had gone for a walk in the evening, along the edge of the lake. She felt unsettled and waved off offers from Aimee to join her on her walk. She had also managed to avoid one of her classmates who was one of her more stubborn suitors. It was late enough that Madame Maxine had raised her eyebrows when Fleur had departed the carriage, though the she had ultimately held her tongue.
Madame Maxine was relatively relaxed with her older students about their comings and goings. Beauxbatons trusted them to know when to come and go, and when to go to bed. Those privileges worked on an individual basis. If someone abused them by going out and then made a habit of missing class or their work suffered, or they got into trouble, then they lost those privileges. Fleur had spent the time since she had departed the carriage circling the lake. Her mind had been unsettled ever since the World Cup. The physical effects from the cruciatus exposure were no longer present, but the mental after effects were still very much affected her. Fleur vividly remembered the agony of the curse as it coursed through her body.
The only thing that Fleur was relieved by was the fact that her little sister hadn't been on the receiving end of the spell. Gabrielle was still upset by what she had witnessed while Fleur had protected her. Her younger sister was plagued with worries for Fleur's health and safety, and now almost compulsively checked up on Fleur regularly.
Another downside of their mutual experience was that Gabrielle had been plagued by nightmares every night for the past week. Fortunately, she had actually slept through the night for the first time two evenings prior. However, Fleur suspected that was from sheer exhaustion on her sister's part.
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