Chapter Thirty One - The Battle
Heart racing, Hermione peered around the corner of the shelves to see Harry backed up against them about halfway along, clutching one of the orbs. She cursed mentally – now the prophecy was off of the shelf, it would be much harder to protect, and their task was hardly helped by the fourteen masked figures facing him.
“Hoods up.” She whispered, more for Draco’s sake than anything – they wouldn’t be able to hide his presence from Lucius for long, but the longer the better. “These rows aren’t very long. Ron, Luna, Ginny, Neville, sneak down to the other end and signal us when you’re ready. On the count of three, smash those shelves,” she pointed to the row behind the Death Eaters, “and join Harry from either side.”
The four she had indicated hurried down the row behind Harry, ducking down so they couldn’t be seen by the Death Eaters.
Hermione fidgeted nervously, waiting for Ron’s head to appear past Harry and the Death Eaters. When it did, peering around the corner of the shelves as she was, she held up three fingers, dropping them one by one.
When her last finger fell, seven voices rose as one, the incantation for the Reductor Curse echoed from the walls, and the shelves behind the Death Eaters were blown into pieces, glass and wood showering them, ghostly echoes of prophecies clamouring with each other to be heard.
Under the noise and taking advantage of the distraction, the students sprinted along the narrow row, crowding in beside Harry, flanking him, as Hermione pushed his wand into his hand.
“Well, well,” one of the Death Eaters cooed, a baby-like tone to her voice, “Potter’s little friends are here to help.”
“Aunt Bella.” Draco hissed in Hermione’s ear, and she grimaced. She had heard more than one horror story about Bellatrix Lestrange, and she was not someone Hermione had ever wanted to meet.
“No matter.” Lucius responded coolly, having dispelled the shield that had been conjured to protect them from the falling debris. “They are hardly a threat to us. If anything, this gives you more reason, Potter – give us that prophecy before we decide which of your friends to kill first.”
Harry’s hand tightened on his wand, lifting it slightly, and he cradled the orb still closer to his chest, as though he were protecting a child.
But it was Ginny who spoke. “What does Voldemort want with a dusty old orb anyway?” She asked. “He’d still want Harry dead, it won’t change anything.”
“How dare you, you insolent little bitch?!” Lucius hissed. “You do not question the Dark Lord!”
“No, father, you do not question the Dark Lord.” Draco corrected, startling Hermione slightly, but then he had said he was done hiding. “She’s not insolent, she’s sensible. I don’t know how to tell you this, but I refuse to bow at the feet of a half-blood hypocrite, get tortured every time I so much as breathe at the wrong time, and then kiss his robes and say “Thank you, master, I am not worthy.”” He paused, lowering his hood. “Apparently, I did know how to tell you.”
“Really, Lucius?” Bellatrix sneered. “This is your pure and noble Heir? I expected you to raise him better than this.”
“I thought I had.” Lucius said coldly, removing his mask to give his son a disgusted look. “When did you become …?” His eyes travelled over the other students, all of whom were removing their hoods as well, but seemed unable to formulate a decent collective term. “When did you become one of them?”
Draco smiled, a genuine smile that almost completely wiped out his resemblance to his father. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”
“Enough!” Bellatrix screeched. “You can deal with him later, Lucius – Potter, give us the prophecy!”
The Death Eaters began to close in, and the eight students formed a tighter group, allowing Harry to press down on Hermione’s foot.
She sucked in a breath, but didn’t look at him. “What?” She breathed.
“Smash shelves.” He murmured under his breath. “When I say now.”
Hermione repeated this to Ron in a hushed whisper, just hearing him pass it on to Ginny.
Lucius seized Bellatrix’s wrist as she raised her wand, levelling her with a cautionary look. “Now, Bella, the Dark Lord wants the prophecy in one piece.” He looked back at Harry. “Did Dumbledore never tell you, Potter, that the reason your parents are dead lies in the orb in your hands?”
Harry lifted the orb to examine it. “In here? This is why?” He swallowed hard. “I’ve waited fifteen years …”
“I know.” Lucius said, almost sympathetically. “Why don’t you hand it over and find out what it is?”
“I’ve waited fifteen years.” Harry repeated, his eyes hardening. “I think I can afford to wait a bit longer. NOW!”
“REDUCTO!”
The shelves around them exploded, and the students bolted, gaining only a few seconds advantage with the distraction.
Given the chaos surrounding them, it was inevitable they would become separated, and they bowed to this with grace, splitting in half almost instinctively.
Hermione followed Draco, Neville and Harry back into the room with the time-turners, spinning on her heel to point her wand at the door. “Colloportus.”
“Nice.” Draco said. “But that won’t keep them out.”
“It’ll buy us time.” Hermione said, just as the door on the other side of the room burst open. She cursed under her breath, ducking the spell that flew towards them – the Hall of Prophecies must have had another exit. She only hoped the others had managed to get out as well.
“Wormtail.” Harry growled, venom dripping from his voice.
The Death Eater’s silver hand flashed in the candlelight, but he didn’t respond, lifting his wand to his throat, clearly about to cast a Sonorous Charm.
“Don’t you dare!” Harry snapped. “I saved your life, Wormtail, you owe me a debt, remember?”
The Death Eater hesitated, his wand faltering, and Draco lifted his own wand. “Stupefy!”
The red beam of light hit its mark, and the Death Eater crumpled to the ground.
“Brilliant plan, Harry.” He said, picking up the dropped wand and pocketing it. “But not everyone listens to life debts. You need to be a bit more forceful in invoking it.”
“I’ll bear that in mind next time.” Harry muttered.
“Now what do we do?” Neville asked shakily.
“Hey!” A voice shouted from the other side of the door. “This one’s locked! In here!”
“Bombarda!”
The four students dived out of the way as the door shattered inwards, and two Death Eaters entered.
“We fight.” Harry answered.
***
Jen was not paying attention to the Order meeting in the slightest. There was nothing new to report, other than the fact that the fact that they were guarding the Department of Mysteries was still a complete secret at the Ministry, and she had yet to hear from Hogwarts.
Generally, Harry or Hermione checked in at least every other evening, but so far, there had been no word from them.
She hoped they were simply busy with OWL revision, and had just lost track of time, but something about the way Sirius was fidgeting and Remus was gripping her hand under the table told her that they were just as worried.
As the meeting came to a close and Dumbledore dismissed them, leaving almost immediately, Jen caught Hestia’s arm as she stood. “Hestia, when you get back, could you just check on Harry for me? I haven’t heard anything all day, and I’m worried.”
“Oh, Potter’s fine.” Snape dismissed on his way to the fireplace. “Had a little trouble with Mr Malfoy, that’s all. I’ll probably return to a duel.”
“Draco Malfoy?” Arthur asked blankly, as the fire flared and Snape vanished. “I thought he’d turned over a new leaf.”
“He has.” Jen said, the uneasy feeling in her stomach blossoming with every passing second. “Sirius, can I have the mirror?”
“Don’t you have it?” Sirius asked.
Jen stared at him. “No, I thought you did.”
“Then no wonder you haven’t heard from them.” Molly said, retrieving her cloak from one of the hooks by the door.
But Jen was now even more worried. “Winky!”
Winky appeared with a crack, curtseying to her. “Mistress Jennifer called?”
Jen sighed. Dobby was quite happy calling her ‘Miss’, but Winky was such a formal little thing, she’d probably have a heart attack if she tried. “Could you go back to Ravenscroft and find me the two-way mirror please?”
“Certainly Mistress Jennifer.” Winky squeaked. She was back in a split-second, handing Jen the mirror with another curtsey.
“Thank you.” Jen said, managing a small smile. By now, most of the Order had departed, only Moody, Kingsley and Tonks remaining, watching the three Marauders in concern.
“Harry Potter.”
The mirror remained blank. They may have left their mirror lying around sometimes, but Harry and Hermione didn’t have that luxury – one of them always had it on them.
It was possible, of course, that they were in the Common Room, or speaking to a teacher or someone who couldn’t know about the mirror, but Jen had to know for certain.
“Harry Potter.” She repeated, pushing her magic into the request, and forcing the other mirror to activate.
The image that formed was dark, with just a hint of light allowing her to realise that it was in someone’s pocket. Voices were just audible, but they sounded frantic, and one or two sounded too adult to be students.
Suddenly, Harry’s voice rose above them. “Stupefy!”
There was a thud, and then Hermione’s voice, even closer, belying her as the mirror’s keeper. “Oh well done – Oh!” She cut herself off with a scream, and the mirror jostled with an even larger thud.
“Hermione!” Harry’s voice yelled, sounding anguished. There was no audible response, but Harry must have seen or heard something, because he said, “Oh, like you won’t kill us all as soon as we hand it over anyway!”
“Whatever you do, Harry, don’t give it to him!” Draco’s voice shouted. “Petrificus Totalus! Run! It’s you they’re after – get out of here!”
“Hermione?!” Sirius called frantically.
Jen grabbed his hand, squeezing it gently. “Draco?” She called. “Draco, can you hear me?”
There was a pause, then the mirror emerged from the pocket to reveal Draco’s face, pale and drawn. “Hey, Jen. I’m afraid Hermione’s somewhat unavailable.”
“Is she alright?!” Sirius demanded.
“Give us the short version.” Jen added. “What’s going on? Where are you?”
“Department of Mysteries.” Draco answered. “Harry got kidnapped off school grounds so we went after him. She’s alive, but that’s all I know, and we’re outnumbered two-to-one.” He ducked as a curse flew over his head. “Gotta go!”
The mirror cleared immediately, and Jen leapt to her feet. “Oh good Merlin …”
“Way ahead of you, Black.” Moody growled. “We’re on our way.”
“Who the hell was on guard duty tonight?!” Jen demanded. “How did they get in?”
“Good question.” Remus frowned. “I thought everyone was here.”
Jen thought back. “They were. So what you’re saying is that guard duty was abandoned to have a meeting about how well guard duty is going?!”
“Apparently so.” Remus said dryly, following Tonks through the floo.
Sirius caught Jen’s arm, pulling her away from the fireplace. “You’re not going.”
“Excuse me?” Jen asked icily.
“I’m not losing you again, Jen.” Sirius said firmly.
“Sirius,” Jen said, trying to stay calm, “you’re a wanted man. And one of us has to go.”
Sirius sighed. “You’re right.” In an uncharacteristic display of brotherly affection, he pressed a kiss to her forehead. “And tell them that too. Stupefy!”
***
Ginny had lost track of where the others were. She had left Ron, Luna and Susan in a room that had contained a tank of what looked like human brains and the unconscious forms of two of the Death Eaters (their wands safely in her pocket). Susan was still unconscious, despite Ginny’s quick Healing spell that had repaired the lacerations across her body. Ron had been hit with some kind of Mind Impairment spell that had left him thinking it was a good idea to play with the brains, so Ginny had Stunned him to keep him safe. Luna was also out cold, although Ginny wasn’t sure what she’d been hit with – her pulse and breathing seemed steady at least.
Once she had checked on her friends, she had staggered out of the room – unable to do anything about her own broken ankle – in time to see Harry, Draco and Neville (the latter sporting a bleeding nose) sprint into one of the other rooms off of the corridor.
She wasn’t sure what was in there, but given the sudden rise in noise, she had a feeling they had run straight into the rest of the Death Eaters.
Electing to stay where she was in case any others appeared out of nowhere, Ginny leaned against the wall, gripping her wand tightly.
One of the doors along the corridor flew open and she jumped, biting back a cry of pain as her ankle jarred, but it was Kingsley and Tonks who emerged, sprinting past her towards the sounds of the battle.
Moody was just behind them, moving a little slower on account of his wooden leg, but equally determined. Ginny slumped back against the wall with a sigh of relief, allowing herself to relax fully when Remus appeared as well, skidding to a halt in front of her.
“Are you alright?” He asked hastily, waving his wand over her ankle. “What happened?”
“That’s the only problem.” Ginny assured him, before explaining what had happened as she understood it, about the coins burning, and the flight to London, and the encounter with the Death Eaters.
“There were about fourteen of them.” She told him. “We took out two, but Ron, Luna and Susan are unconscious. I think Luna hit her head, and Susan was hit with a Cutting Hex, but I healed her. I Stunned Ron because he was becoming a danger to himself, and Harry, Draco and Neville ran through there.” She pointed towards the noise of the battle. “Neville has a broken nose, I think, but I didn’t see about the other two.”
“And Hermione?” Remus asked quickly. “We found her unconscious in the Time Room with two unconscious Death Eaters and one under a Body-Bind, but I can’t for the life of me figure out what’s wrong with her.”
Ginny shook her head, swallowing hard. “I wasn’t there. I don’t know – we split up.” She straightened up, testing her weight, as the door opened again, but it wasn’t Jen that emerged. “Sirius?!”
“What the hell are you doing here?” Remus asked. “Where’s Jen?”
“Back home.” Sirius answered unrepentantly. “I Stunned her.”
“You did what?” Remus asked in shock.
“I Stunned her.” Sirius repeated, a note of defiance entering his voice. “In case you’d forgotten, Moony, she hasn’t duelled since she was twenty one!”
Remus rubbed his forehead. “In case you’d forgotten, Padfoot, neither have you!”
“Hey, hey, hey!” Ginny interrupted, catching their attention. “That doesn’t matter right now – Sirius is here, Jen isn’t, they’re outnumbered – through there.”
“How many?” Sirius asked.
Ginny frowned. “Actually, it might not be too bad now. If we took out two, and they took out three, there’s … nine. So we’ve evened out now you’re here. Except Neville has a broken nose and …”
“And you’re staying here.” Remus finished.
“Yeah, leave her here alone in a corridor where she can get ambushed.” Sirius agreed, rolling his eyes. “Smart plan. Ginny, come with us, but try to stay out of it – if you get hurt, your mother will kill me.”
***
“Jen? Jennifer, are you alright?”
As the sound of her name began to permeate her gradual return to consciousness, Jen’s eyes fluttered open, Molly’s face slowly coming into focus above her. “What happened?”
“I don’t know.” Molly said, helping her to her feet. “I came back to see if you needed any help cleaning up and you were unconscious. Did you get hold of the children?”
“Yeah, I got hold of Draco and …” The conversation came rushing back and she swayed dangerously, collapsing into one of the chairs. “They’re at the Department of Mysteries! Harry got kidnapped and … they went to rescue him …”
“They?!” Molly repeated sharply, white-faced. “Who’s they?”
“Hermione and Draco.” Jen answered absently. Now she had worked through the initial rush of fear, she was able to push it to the back of her mind and focus on forming a plan. “I’d be very surprised if Ron wasn’t there too. Hopefully, they’ve had the presence of mind to take more than three people along.” Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Molly inhale sharply – either out of worry or to yell at her for being talking about the children like soldiers so calmly – but before anything could be said, she suddenly realised what had happened seconds before she blacked out. “Sirius! He Stunned me! That …. When I get my hands on him …!”
“To do that, Jennifer, you will need to get to the Department of Mysteries.”
Jen shot to her feet at the calm voice coming from the kitchen doorway. Biting back the urge to snap at Dumbledore for being so calm and for calling off the guard for even a second, she nodded. “I agree, sir. How do you propose we get there?”
Dumbledore gestured to the phoenix perched on his shoulder. “Fawkes. Since so few phoenixes are bound to humans, and, of course, phoenixes are truly creatures of the Light, the Unspeakables have never taken the precaution of warding the Department against their entry. Shall we?”
Jen didn’t like that idea at all, and she doubted the Unspeakables did either, but said nothing, opting instead to grab hold of the offered tail feathers.
With a flash of fire, they appeared inside the ring of doors inside the entrance.
“Take us to the fight.” Jen said hastily, causing one of the doors to open.
They hurried through, Fawkes flying behind them, down the corridor and into what Jen knew to be the Veil Room. She had never seen it, but had heard enough about it to give her nightmares.
The huge circular room looked almost like a circus, with the benches circling the walls surrounding the sunken pit that contained only a stone archway that held a thin veil that fluttered in an unfelt breeze.
It certainly would have been a circus on execution days, before the Ministry destroyed the tradition of executing prisoners (and relying on the obviously more humane Dementor’s Kiss instead), but that would at least have been organised chaos.
There was nothing organised about this.
Three Death Eaters were on the floor, and not moving. As they watched, Tonks and Kingsley managed to Disarm and Stun the Death Eaters they were duelling.
Mad-Eye was down, but not unconscious, as was Draco by the looks of things, he was lying near the dais the archway was on, moving but very feebly.
Sirius was nearby, exchanging taunts as well as curses with Bellatrix, and Jen’s brow creased in concern. That was an accident waiting to happen if ever she saw one.
Ginny and Harry were trying to carry Neville (who was conscious but seemed unable to walk) up the steps towards them, and she moved forwards enough to catch Neville’s attention. He said something to Harry, who looked up, relief crossing his face, as everyone else seemed to notice their arrival as well.
The Death Eaters froze, allowing the two aurors to put two more down, and Jen helped Neville on to a bench. “What happened?”
“Cruciatus.” Harry said through gritted teeth. “Only one – Bellatrix. Sirius stepped in.”
Fury coursing through her, Jen glanced towards her cousin, realising that, unlike her cohorts, Bellatrix hadn’t stopped with Dumbledore’s appearance, forcing Sirius to continue duelling as well.
Automatically, Jen rose and ran towards them, seeing Remus do the same out of the corner of her eye. She was vaguely aware of Harry and Ginny following her, but her entire focus was on the fight she was heading for.
“Come on, you can do better than that!” Sirius laughed, ducking one of Bella’s curses.
Bellatrix’s face contracted in fury, and a red beam of flight flew towards him, striking him in the chest. Jen darted forwards as he began to fall towards the archway, raising her wand, a green light illuminated the room (from where, no one could tell), and when it cleared, Sirius had vanished.
“NO!” Jen lurched forwards, feeling Remus grab her around the waist to stop her from doing just that. The oxygen in the room seemed to have vanished; she couldn’t breathe; there had to be some mistake; the legends were wrong; they had to be, because Sirius couldn’t be … her brother couldn’t be …
“Harry, you can’t!” Remus said suddenly, his voice shaking. She could feel his pain swirling through her mind just as deeply as her own, and he released her in favour of grabbing Harry, who had moved forwards with Ginny as though to pull Sirius back.
Jen wrapped her arms around Ginny, partly in restraint, partly in comfort. “You can’t.” She repeated softly, her words thick with tears. “You can’t do anything.”
“Jen, it’s a curtain!” Ginny protested, fighting her arms. “It was just a Stunner; he’s fine!”
“Ginny, that veil is a gateway.” Jen told her heavily. “You can’t do anything. He’s dead.”
“Hoods up.” She whispered, more for Draco’s sake than anything – they wouldn’t be able to hide his presence from Lucius for long, but the longer the better. “These rows aren’t very long. Ron, Luna, Ginny, Neville, sneak down to the other end and signal us when you’re ready. On the count of three, smash those shelves,” she pointed to the row behind the Death Eaters, “and join Harry from either side.”
The four she had indicated hurried down the row behind Harry, ducking down so they couldn’t be seen by the Death Eaters.
Hermione fidgeted nervously, waiting for Ron’s head to appear past Harry and the Death Eaters. When it did, peering around the corner of the shelves as she was, she held up three fingers, dropping them one by one.
When her last finger fell, seven voices rose as one, the incantation for the Reductor Curse echoed from the walls, and the shelves behind the Death Eaters were blown into pieces, glass and wood showering them, ghostly echoes of prophecies clamouring with each other to be heard.
Under the noise and taking advantage of the distraction, the students sprinted along the narrow row, crowding in beside Harry, flanking him, as Hermione pushed his wand into his hand.
“Well, well,” one of the Death Eaters cooed, a baby-like tone to her voice, “Potter’s little friends are here to help.”
“Aunt Bella.” Draco hissed in Hermione’s ear, and she grimaced. She had heard more than one horror story about Bellatrix Lestrange, and she was not someone Hermione had ever wanted to meet.
“No matter.” Lucius responded coolly, having dispelled the shield that had been conjured to protect them from the falling debris. “They are hardly a threat to us. If anything, this gives you more reason, Potter – give us that prophecy before we decide which of your friends to kill first.”
Harry’s hand tightened on his wand, lifting it slightly, and he cradled the orb still closer to his chest, as though he were protecting a child.
But it was Ginny who spoke. “What does Voldemort want with a dusty old orb anyway?” She asked. “He’d still want Harry dead, it won’t change anything.”
“How dare you, you insolent little bitch?!” Lucius hissed. “You do not question the Dark Lord!”
“No, father, you do not question the Dark Lord.” Draco corrected, startling Hermione slightly, but then he had said he was done hiding. “She’s not insolent, she’s sensible. I don’t know how to tell you this, but I refuse to bow at the feet of a half-blood hypocrite, get tortured every time I so much as breathe at the wrong time, and then kiss his robes and say “Thank you, master, I am not worthy.”” He paused, lowering his hood. “Apparently, I did know how to tell you.”
“Really, Lucius?” Bellatrix sneered. “This is your pure and noble Heir? I expected you to raise him better than this.”
“I thought I had.” Lucius said coldly, removing his mask to give his son a disgusted look. “When did you become …?” His eyes travelled over the other students, all of whom were removing their hoods as well, but seemed unable to formulate a decent collective term. “When did you become one of them?”
Draco smiled, a genuine smile that almost completely wiped out his resemblance to his father. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”
“Enough!” Bellatrix screeched. “You can deal with him later, Lucius – Potter, give us the prophecy!”
The Death Eaters began to close in, and the eight students formed a tighter group, allowing Harry to press down on Hermione’s foot.
She sucked in a breath, but didn’t look at him. “What?” She breathed.
“Smash shelves.” He murmured under his breath. “When I say now.”
Hermione repeated this to Ron in a hushed whisper, just hearing him pass it on to Ginny.
Lucius seized Bellatrix’s wrist as she raised her wand, levelling her with a cautionary look. “Now, Bella, the Dark Lord wants the prophecy in one piece.” He looked back at Harry. “Did Dumbledore never tell you, Potter, that the reason your parents are dead lies in the orb in your hands?”
Harry lifted the orb to examine it. “In here? This is why?” He swallowed hard. “I’ve waited fifteen years …”
“I know.” Lucius said, almost sympathetically. “Why don’t you hand it over and find out what it is?”
“I’ve waited fifteen years.” Harry repeated, his eyes hardening. “I think I can afford to wait a bit longer. NOW!”
“REDUCTO!”
The shelves around them exploded, and the students bolted, gaining only a few seconds advantage with the distraction.
Given the chaos surrounding them, it was inevitable they would become separated, and they bowed to this with grace, splitting in half almost instinctively.
Hermione followed Draco, Neville and Harry back into the room with the time-turners, spinning on her heel to point her wand at the door. “Colloportus.”
“Nice.” Draco said. “But that won’t keep them out.”
“It’ll buy us time.” Hermione said, just as the door on the other side of the room burst open. She cursed under her breath, ducking the spell that flew towards them – the Hall of Prophecies must have had another exit. She only hoped the others had managed to get out as well.
“Wormtail.” Harry growled, venom dripping from his voice.
The Death Eater’s silver hand flashed in the candlelight, but he didn’t respond, lifting his wand to his throat, clearly about to cast a Sonorous Charm.
“Don’t you dare!” Harry snapped. “I saved your life, Wormtail, you owe me a debt, remember?”
The Death Eater hesitated, his wand faltering, and Draco lifted his own wand. “Stupefy!”
The red beam of light hit its mark, and the Death Eater crumpled to the ground.
“Brilliant plan, Harry.” He said, picking up the dropped wand and pocketing it. “But not everyone listens to life debts. You need to be a bit more forceful in invoking it.”
“I’ll bear that in mind next time.” Harry muttered.
“Now what do we do?” Neville asked shakily.
“Hey!” A voice shouted from the other side of the door. “This one’s locked! In here!”
“Bombarda!”
The four students dived out of the way as the door shattered inwards, and two Death Eaters entered.
“We fight.” Harry answered.
***
Jen was not paying attention to the Order meeting in the slightest. There was nothing new to report, other than the fact that the fact that they were guarding the Department of Mysteries was still a complete secret at the Ministry, and she had yet to hear from Hogwarts.
Generally, Harry or Hermione checked in at least every other evening, but so far, there had been no word from them.
She hoped they were simply busy with OWL revision, and had just lost track of time, but something about the way Sirius was fidgeting and Remus was gripping her hand under the table told her that they were just as worried.
As the meeting came to a close and Dumbledore dismissed them, leaving almost immediately, Jen caught Hestia’s arm as she stood. “Hestia, when you get back, could you just check on Harry for me? I haven’t heard anything all day, and I’m worried.”
“Oh, Potter’s fine.” Snape dismissed on his way to the fireplace. “Had a little trouble with Mr Malfoy, that’s all. I’ll probably return to a duel.”
“Draco Malfoy?” Arthur asked blankly, as the fire flared and Snape vanished. “I thought he’d turned over a new leaf.”
“He has.” Jen said, the uneasy feeling in her stomach blossoming with every passing second. “Sirius, can I have the mirror?”
“Don’t you have it?” Sirius asked.
Jen stared at him. “No, I thought you did.”
“Then no wonder you haven’t heard from them.” Molly said, retrieving her cloak from one of the hooks by the door.
But Jen was now even more worried. “Winky!”
Winky appeared with a crack, curtseying to her. “Mistress Jennifer called?”
Jen sighed. Dobby was quite happy calling her ‘Miss’, but Winky was such a formal little thing, she’d probably have a heart attack if she tried. “Could you go back to Ravenscroft and find me the two-way mirror please?”
“Certainly Mistress Jennifer.” Winky squeaked. She was back in a split-second, handing Jen the mirror with another curtsey.
“Thank you.” Jen said, managing a small smile. By now, most of the Order had departed, only Moody, Kingsley and Tonks remaining, watching the three Marauders in concern.
“Harry Potter.”
The mirror remained blank. They may have left their mirror lying around sometimes, but Harry and Hermione didn’t have that luxury – one of them always had it on them.
It was possible, of course, that they were in the Common Room, or speaking to a teacher or someone who couldn’t know about the mirror, but Jen had to know for certain.
“Harry Potter.” She repeated, pushing her magic into the request, and forcing the other mirror to activate.
The image that formed was dark, with just a hint of light allowing her to realise that it was in someone’s pocket. Voices were just audible, but they sounded frantic, and one or two sounded too adult to be students.
Suddenly, Harry’s voice rose above them. “Stupefy!”
There was a thud, and then Hermione’s voice, even closer, belying her as the mirror’s keeper. “Oh well done – Oh!” She cut herself off with a scream, and the mirror jostled with an even larger thud.
“Hermione!” Harry’s voice yelled, sounding anguished. There was no audible response, but Harry must have seen or heard something, because he said, “Oh, like you won’t kill us all as soon as we hand it over anyway!”
“Whatever you do, Harry, don’t give it to him!” Draco’s voice shouted. “Petrificus Totalus! Run! It’s you they’re after – get out of here!”
“Hermione?!” Sirius called frantically.
Jen grabbed his hand, squeezing it gently. “Draco?” She called. “Draco, can you hear me?”
There was a pause, then the mirror emerged from the pocket to reveal Draco’s face, pale and drawn. “Hey, Jen. I’m afraid Hermione’s somewhat unavailable.”
“Is she alright?!” Sirius demanded.
“Give us the short version.” Jen added. “What’s going on? Where are you?”
“Department of Mysteries.” Draco answered. “Harry got kidnapped off school grounds so we went after him. She’s alive, but that’s all I know, and we’re outnumbered two-to-one.” He ducked as a curse flew over his head. “Gotta go!”
The mirror cleared immediately, and Jen leapt to her feet. “Oh good Merlin …”
“Way ahead of you, Black.” Moody growled. “We’re on our way.”
“Who the hell was on guard duty tonight?!” Jen demanded. “How did they get in?”
“Good question.” Remus frowned. “I thought everyone was here.”
Jen thought back. “They were. So what you’re saying is that guard duty was abandoned to have a meeting about how well guard duty is going?!”
“Apparently so.” Remus said dryly, following Tonks through the floo.
Sirius caught Jen’s arm, pulling her away from the fireplace. “You’re not going.”
“Excuse me?” Jen asked icily.
“I’m not losing you again, Jen.” Sirius said firmly.
“Sirius,” Jen said, trying to stay calm, “you’re a wanted man. And one of us has to go.”
Sirius sighed. “You’re right.” In an uncharacteristic display of brotherly affection, he pressed a kiss to her forehead. “And tell them that too. Stupefy!”
***
Ginny had lost track of where the others were. She had left Ron, Luna and Susan in a room that had contained a tank of what looked like human brains and the unconscious forms of two of the Death Eaters (their wands safely in her pocket). Susan was still unconscious, despite Ginny’s quick Healing spell that had repaired the lacerations across her body. Ron had been hit with some kind of Mind Impairment spell that had left him thinking it was a good idea to play with the brains, so Ginny had Stunned him to keep him safe. Luna was also out cold, although Ginny wasn’t sure what she’d been hit with – her pulse and breathing seemed steady at least.
Once she had checked on her friends, she had staggered out of the room – unable to do anything about her own broken ankle – in time to see Harry, Draco and Neville (the latter sporting a bleeding nose) sprint into one of the other rooms off of the corridor.
She wasn’t sure what was in there, but given the sudden rise in noise, she had a feeling they had run straight into the rest of the Death Eaters.
Electing to stay where she was in case any others appeared out of nowhere, Ginny leaned against the wall, gripping her wand tightly.
One of the doors along the corridor flew open and she jumped, biting back a cry of pain as her ankle jarred, but it was Kingsley and Tonks who emerged, sprinting past her towards the sounds of the battle.
Moody was just behind them, moving a little slower on account of his wooden leg, but equally determined. Ginny slumped back against the wall with a sigh of relief, allowing herself to relax fully when Remus appeared as well, skidding to a halt in front of her.
“Are you alright?” He asked hastily, waving his wand over her ankle. “What happened?”
“That’s the only problem.” Ginny assured him, before explaining what had happened as she understood it, about the coins burning, and the flight to London, and the encounter with the Death Eaters.
“There were about fourteen of them.” She told him. “We took out two, but Ron, Luna and Susan are unconscious. I think Luna hit her head, and Susan was hit with a Cutting Hex, but I healed her. I Stunned Ron because he was becoming a danger to himself, and Harry, Draco and Neville ran through there.” She pointed towards the noise of the battle. “Neville has a broken nose, I think, but I didn’t see about the other two.”
“And Hermione?” Remus asked quickly. “We found her unconscious in the Time Room with two unconscious Death Eaters and one under a Body-Bind, but I can’t for the life of me figure out what’s wrong with her.”
Ginny shook her head, swallowing hard. “I wasn’t there. I don’t know – we split up.” She straightened up, testing her weight, as the door opened again, but it wasn’t Jen that emerged. “Sirius?!”
“What the hell are you doing here?” Remus asked. “Where’s Jen?”
“Back home.” Sirius answered unrepentantly. “I Stunned her.”
“You did what?” Remus asked in shock.
“I Stunned her.” Sirius repeated, a note of defiance entering his voice. “In case you’d forgotten, Moony, she hasn’t duelled since she was twenty one!”
Remus rubbed his forehead. “In case you’d forgotten, Padfoot, neither have you!”
“Hey, hey, hey!” Ginny interrupted, catching their attention. “That doesn’t matter right now – Sirius is here, Jen isn’t, they’re outnumbered – through there.”
“How many?” Sirius asked.
Ginny frowned. “Actually, it might not be too bad now. If we took out two, and they took out three, there’s … nine. So we’ve evened out now you’re here. Except Neville has a broken nose and …”
“And you’re staying here.” Remus finished.
“Yeah, leave her here alone in a corridor where she can get ambushed.” Sirius agreed, rolling his eyes. “Smart plan. Ginny, come with us, but try to stay out of it – if you get hurt, your mother will kill me.”
***
“Jen? Jennifer, are you alright?”
As the sound of her name began to permeate her gradual return to consciousness, Jen’s eyes fluttered open, Molly’s face slowly coming into focus above her. “What happened?”
“I don’t know.” Molly said, helping her to her feet. “I came back to see if you needed any help cleaning up and you were unconscious. Did you get hold of the children?”
“Yeah, I got hold of Draco and …” The conversation came rushing back and she swayed dangerously, collapsing into one of the chairs. “They’re at the Department of Mysteries! Harry got kidnapped and … they went to rescue him …”
“They?!” Molly repeated sharply, white-faced. “Who’s they?”
“Hermione and Draco.” Jen answered absently. Now she had worked through the initial rush of fear, she was able to push it to the back of her mind and focus on forming a plan. “I’d be very surprised if Ron wasn’t there too. Hopefully, they’ve had the presence of mind to take more than three people along.” Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Molly inhale sharply – either out of worry or to yell at her for being talking about the children like soldiers so calmly – but before anything could be said, she suddenly realised what had happened seconds before she blacked out. “Sirius! He Stunned me! That …. When I get my hands on him …!”
“To do that, Jennifer, you will need to get to the Department of Mysteries.”
Jen shot to her feet at the calm voice coming from the kitchen doorway. Biting back the urge to snap at Dumbledore for being so calm and for calling off the guard for even a second, she nodded. “I agree, sir. How do you propose we get there?”
Dumbledore gestured to the phoenix perched on his shoulder. “Fawkes. Since so few phoenixes are bound to humans, and, of course, phoenixes are truly creatures of the Light, the Unspeakables have never taken the precaution of warding the Department against their entry. Shall we?”
Jen didn’t like that idea at all, and she doubted the Unspeakables did either, but said nothing, opting instead to grab hold of the offered tail feathers.
With a flash of fire, they appeared inside the ring of doors inside the entrance.
“Take us to the fight.” Jen said hastily, causing one of the doors to open.
They hurried through, Fawkes flying behind them, down the corridor and into what Jen knew to be the Veil Room. She had never seen it, but had heard enough about it to give her nightmares.
The huge circular room looked almost like a circus, with the benches circling the walls surrounding the sunken pit that contained only a stone archway that held a thin veil that fluttered in an unfelt breeze.
It certainly would have been a circus on execution days, before the Ministry destroyed the tradition of executing prisoners (and relying on the obviously more humane Dementor’s Kiss instead), but that would at least have been organised chaos.
There was nothing organised about this.
Three Death Eaters were on the floor, and not moving. As they watched, Tonks and Kingsley managed to Disarm and Stun the Death Eaters they were duelling.
Mad-Eye was down, but not unconscious, as was Draco by the looks of things, he was lying near the dais the archway was on, moving but very feebly.
Sirius was nearby, exchanging taunts as well as curses with Bellatrix, and Jen’s brow creased in concern. That was an accident waiting to happen if ever she saw one.
Ginny and Harry were trying to carry Neville (who was conscious but seemed unable to walk) up the steps towards them, and she moved forwards enough to catch Neville’s attention. He said something to Harry, who looked up, relief crossing his face, as everyone else seemed to notice their arrival as well.
The Death Eaters froze, allowing the two aurors to put two more down, and Jen helped Neville on to a bench. “What happened?”
“Cruciatus.” Harry said through gritted teeth. “Only one – Bellatrix. Sirius stepped in.”
Fury coursing through her, Jen glanced towards her cousin, realising that, unlike her cohorts, Bellatrix hadn’t stopped with Dumbledore’s appearance, forcing Sirius to continue duelling as well.
Automatically, Jen rose and ran towards them, seeing Remus do the same out of the corner of her eye. She was vaguely aware of Harry and Ginny following her, but her entire focus was on the fight she was heading for.
“Come on, you can do better than that!” Sirius laughed, ducking one of Bella’s curses.
Bellatrix’s face contracted in fury, and a red beam of flight flew towards him, striking him in the chest. Jen darted forwards as he began to fall towards the archway, raising her wand, a green light illuminated the room (from where, no one could tell), and when it cleared, Sirius had vanished.
“NO!” Jen lurched forwards, feeling Remus grab her around the waist to stop her from doing just that. The oxygen in the room seemed to have vanished; she couldn’t breathe; there had to be some mistake; the legends were wrong; they had to be, because Sirius couldn’t be … her brother couldn’t be …
“Harry, you can’t!” Remus said suddenly, his voice shaking. She could feel his pain swirling through her mind just as deeply as her own, and he released her in favour of grabbing Harry, who had moved forwards with Ginny as though to pull Sirius back.
Jen wrapped her arms around Ginny, partly in restraint, partly in comfort. “You can’t.” She repeated softly, her words thick with tears. “You can’t do anything.”
“Jen, it’s a curtain!” Ginny protested, fighting her arms. “It was just a Stunner; he’s fine!”
“Ginny, that veil is a gateway.” Jen told her heavily. “You can’t do anything. He’s dead.”
