The dragon's roar sent dust and stalactites raining down on the ceiling, her sizzling breath catching them into sparks that singed at Padfoot's fur as he howled right back for the pain being worse like this, the sound going right to his core as he tried to turn and run, get away from this beast, but the cart had already left and Bellatrix was laughing-

No, that was Regulus screaming. His little brother had his hands pressed to his ears like they were weeping blood and was trying to stagger away up the tracks but making no more progress as the blind eyes roved hungrily for a target, inhaling for another breath, even as a tiny brown rat tried to squeak and capture her attention Wormtail was too small, she didn't even notice him. Padfoot tackled the kid to the ground just as the jet of flames smothered the oxygen from the air, the dog yowling its displeasure for his fur catching just a flicker and rolling off, changing back to bat at himself while hauling Regulus upright and pushing him into a crevice he only knew of its existence from experience.

It was smaller now for some reason, had it shrunk after years of being trapped down here? Only Regulus fit, and they would come back for their little prince and then he could slip in. Chains keeping her pinned from following, she let out a deep belly scream and both Black's cringed at the noise, Sirius pressing Regulus farther into the rocks as much as he could while he'd moved to cover his own ears- but something was wrong. Regulus wasn't supposed to be here- he gasped and looked wildly around as memory collided with reality. Where were James and Remus?!

Peter was suddenly there, tugging on his arm desperately, "Sirius, come on we've got to go, I ran up the tunnel pretty far, we can get out of here!"

Sirius was sweating, shaking and retching for her roar rattling the room, she could keep going like that for hours and his ears were already ringing so much he wished to rip them free, it was too hot- dammit focus! He shoved Regulus towards him and snapped, "get him out then!" If he even heard through the ruptured eardrums they all must have.

He took off at a run again, the heavy treads of his boots covered in soot in moments. She could still hear him, hear Peter trying to pull Regulus away, hear Frank shouting as he pounded on a door where more shouts were coming as she opened her maw with a million glittering teeth like diamonds coated in saliva for a fresh bout of flames, the room was more hot than the inside of an oven. Her head whipped around so fast, she seemed determined to broil them all to perfection with one spat as he pulled Frank to the ground just in time to avoid the new brightly colored flames while Peter pulled Regulus up the bend just out of reach in time.

"Run!" Sirius wasn't giving him a moment to argue, Frank was just a bit bigger than him but Sirius had the raw power to wrench him to his feet and get him moving, feet dancing carefully an awfully familiar path back to his little crevice, but it was too narrow for both of them. He tried to turn back to where Peter and his brother were but she was screaming as loud as all of them were and he stumbled from vertigo, the horrible deja vu his only thought he could not escape, the carts were the only way free-

Frank was the one pulling him now, her call an echo of death none readily survived, her wings beat the air and caused them to cough and buffet no straight path, the chains kept creaking in place as they held her down, she sounded like she was dying as well as promising their death as they stumbled up the incline away from her milky gaze.

They stopped at the waterfall, all panting from exertion and terror.

The book finally began, and Sirius tried to spin around on pure instinct to hear Lily reading and know where she was. That vault was full of silver, Moony could be burning alive just like he nearly had-

"Sirius, stop!" Regulus tried to grab his arm.

"Padfoot, don't-" Wormtail tried for the other, but he shook them both off impatiently.

Frank jumped right into his way, glowering at him, hand fisted up to take a swing if he went back. "Don't you dare Sirius! They're safe in that damn vault, trust me, I couldn't get it open! You'll die if you go back, and for what?!"

He trembled on the spot, a physical need to keep him safe, behind him. James was in there though...he gave himself a mental slap, even shaking his hair out furiously as he remembered the look on Remus's face as his boyfriend scolded him for being too controlling. How could he ever expect Moony to get confidence in himself if he didn't trust him first? Remus was a perfectly capable wizard who would be just fine, and he had Prongs and those formidable girls for backup.

"Right, okay," he agreed breathlessly, just as they heard an awful noise none of them would have expected to hear in here. The sound of a chain snapping lose.

Sirius now looked as if he'd just accepted his death, but for an entirely different reason as he snapped at them, "run!"

They didn't argue the point as they splashed under the running water, Peter trailing behind too slow and Regulus lagging to stay beside him, Sirius and Frank had their wands at the ready for any more terrors down here they could be activating as they checked each new bend; but none of them were exactly sprinting for their lives as they went just a little farther up because Lily's voice was stuttering over the words. They could hear the pain lacing her voice as Harry's plan to get in here was going awry in every way it could, the Goblin's information was good but incomplete. They'd added duplication and burning charms to the items inside, and they all stopped with a gasp of horror to realize their danger wasn't the only thing to be wary of.

"Can I go back now?" He spat at them, actually pacing back and forth in frustration as he fought with himself against the absurd statement. Sweat trickled down his face as he panted for how bloody hot it was, his feet kept at the erratic movement in a dazed kind of horror, and not for the dragon's den right behind him. He would do no good to them hiding in his niche just to hear their screams, but he couldn't just do nothing, but the dragon would kill him if he went back and he knew that, but he had to open that thing and get them out!

They know what they're doing-

You can still help-

He's going to die because your useless arse could never do anything right!

James and Remus's faces blurred together, he didn't know who he was more afraid for in that moment, just that they needed him- but nobody needed him-

"Sirius!" All three of them shrieked as he hadn't made a backwards turn. He stopped and snarled in frustration, he wished he could change back into Padfoot just to clear his head.

"You think we're any more happy!" Frank was still shouting, Sirius had never seen him so upset and it helped steady him immensely. "You're not the only bloody one who gives a damn here Sirius," Alice would probably laugh for seeing him curse like that, "but I will bloody sit on your arse if you don't-" Lily was much better at threats-

Faintly, just under their shouting, came another roar...but this one sounded strange. Almost, triumphant, he'd swear it. More high pitched, a shriek of surprise, her wings were beating again.

Sirius went cold. The book seemed a little off-kilter, as usual. The trio were in terrible pain inside the vault, Lily's voice was wavering back and forth as she told of their torture in detail, but clearly, his godson wasn't getting out of here the way they'd planned. There was just the smallest snapping noise of more chains coming loose...

"Wormtail, change!" Sirius whirled on the spot and by the time his flying feet were level with them Peter had heeded him, Sirius was already scooping the little brown critter off the ground and truly running for his life now, Frank and Regulus heralded into motion with no needed explanation for why he would be running away at a time like this.

Regulus was actually faster now, that would have been infuriating under better circumstances but Sirius kept pace fine on his heels as Frank kept up but it was getting hotter than ever, as if her life itself was radiating out to boil their blood before she could catch up and devour them all, just a snack on the road-

Something snatched him so bodily back for a moment he thought they were being yanked away, free to another location, but the book had actually gone silent. Instead, he stumbled to see Frank had pulled both of them into an off tunnel, just as the dragon's hide was barreling past with more force than a train as she roared her triumph and they all cringed one last time for the loud horrible noise. Her tail thrashed into the tunnel, the tip whipping about their feet as if one last bird to the lot before it became eerily silent, and all three cussed in fear and ran back.

He was squashing Wormtail in his fist with stress by the time they made it back to the waterfall and Lily had kept reading by then, her voice dazed with pain as she read out Harry's ride to freedom on that monstrosity, he'd kill his godson himself if he ever tried to pull a stunt like this again. The four of them were alive though, sprawled out in a heap of burns, but mostly intact as James finally dropped a shield charm that had been staving off the majority of the impact, a golden cup clutched in one hand he was not releasing no matter how his fingers blistered or what duplicates scattered around him. Lils didn't even notice their approach, she was so intent on getting them out, none of them quite putting together the terror their companions must have been in as they fell into an empty room.