Chapter 1

Slippery When Wet

The floor rushed toward their faces as they fell out of the doorway exiting the Hall of Prophesies. Then, just before they crashed into the ground, a cushioning spell softened their landing to gentle thuds.

Where were they? They seemed safe, at least for the moment. Where were the Death Eaters who had been attacking them? How could they get out of here and back to the safety of Hogwarts?

As they looked around, they found themselves standing on a black, rocky mound in a dark, dank enclosure with a seemingly misplaced archway with an ethereal veil lazily waving inside it. Harry and Luna looked into it, hearing muffled, ethereal sounds emanating from behind the veil. It gave this eerie setting, at least for the two of them, an even more unsettling feeling.

"Wh-where are we?" asked Neville, dusting himself off from the landing.

"I have no idea," answered Harry, "But at least we are away from the Death Eaters."

"I wonder what those voices are?" asked Luna, looking into the archway. "They are very curious."

"There aren't any voices, Luna," said Hermione, unable to hear them. The others also looked at Luna like she was hearing things.

"We need to find a way out of here," said Ron.

"Yes. The Death Eaters will be coming. They are bound to find us," said Hermione, frustrated with being at a loss for ideas accenting her voice. "Errrrrrrrr. What can we do?"

Ginny and Luna began walking around sizing up their location and looking for an exit. The place gave the feeling of not having been visited in recent days, if not years. It seemed like an unhappy, sad spot fraught with pain and anguish that would be best off if left alone and forgotten.

Suddenly, there was a rush of black smoke circling them. The Death Eaters had found them. Bellatrix's cackling laugh echoed out of it.

Harry tried to duck but toppled over. As he regained his footing, he saw Lucius Malfoy walking toward him with an outstretched hand. The Death Eaters had all of the others They were hold knives and wands to the throats of the others.

"Did you actually believe, or were you naïve enough to think children had a chance against us?" said Lucius in a condescending, snide tone. "I'll make this simple for you, Potter. Give me the prophecy, now. Or watch your friends die."

Harry stared at him, locked in a classic no-win situation. Should he do the unthinkable and give up the prophecy or standby and watch the others die? Hesitating, he slowly relented and handed over the smoke-filled sphere to Lucius.

Just then a white light flashed behind Lucius. Sirius appeared. He punched Lucius in the face knocking him to the grounds as more members of the Order materialized. The fight was on in earnest.

Curses were flying in all directions. Lucius, who was still on the ground, saw the prophecy fall and shatter on a rock in front of him. Several of the Death Eaters and Order members were flying around the room locked in smoky combat. Others were dueling face-to-face hurling curses back and forth.

Hermione was wrestling to break free of the Death Eater holding her when she was struck by the boot of one of the circling combatants. She fell free of his grip, hitting her head on the ground and passing out.

Sirius gathered Harry as Lucius and another Death Eater moved to confront them. They began exchanging curses among the larger battle. After a protracted fight, the Death Eater was blasted away, followed by Lucius being disarmed. Sirius followed up with a powerful stunning curse knocking him backward, unconscious against the edge of the room.

Hermione was just regaining consciousness as a flash of searing, red light sailed by inches from her head. It was quickly followed by another flash that struck a stunned Sirius in the chest. His face froze into a thousand-yard stare as he toppled, almost in slow motion, back into the arch and disappeared into the folds of the veil.

"NOOOOOOOO!" screamed Harry as he moved to go after him. Remus knew the purpose of the archway, an ancient, rarely-used device for the execution of the darkest, most unrepentant dark wizards. He grabbed him in a tight embrace, preventing Harry from unwittingly killing himself.

Bellatrix chanted "I killed Sirius Black. I killed Sirius Black." As she took off into a hallway, Harry broke loose from Remus and chased after her. He caught her in the main room of the Ministry, knocking her down with the Cruciatus Curse. He pulsed with anger.

As he contemplated how he would deal with her, Voldemort appeared. At first, he urged Harry to kill her, completing his journey to the side of Dark Magic. Then it became more personal. Just before it became a fight, Dumbledore appeared and a fight between him and Voldemort erupted instead.

Their battle raged with great ferocity, both nearly winning a couple of times, until Voldemort shattered to room with a powerful, rage-filled outburst, knocking Dumbledore and Harry backward. Voldemort pulled up the shattered shards of glass and launched them toward Dumbledore and Harry, but Dumbledore's shield spell saved them. Voldemort dissolved himself and entered Harry's body, trying to conquer him from within. A new, different kind of battle began.

Hermione, Ron, and the others entered the room as Dumbledore was on his knees speaking to Harry as he battled Voldemort for control of his body and soul. As Harry finally won this inner conflict, driving Voldemort out and causing him to reanimate, the Aurors began emerging from the fireplaces. Voldemort escaped, but it was finally clear to everyone, including Fudge, that Voldemort was indeed back.

As they left the Ministry for the safety of Hogwarts, Hermione tried to console Harry, who was devastated by being orphaned yet a second time. It was a hopeless task. The pain in his face was agonizing to her. Hermione's strong sense of justice and fairness could not sit still with this tragedy eating at her mind. It was so wrong, so unfair. Harry did not deserve yet another stab in the heart of his already tragedy-filled life. She felt the need to act. She wanted to set things right.

Against her better judgment, she pulled out the time turner she had stashed away in her belongings after saving Buckbeak from the executioner and Sirius from the dementors. It was one thing to use it to attend multiple classes purely out of academic curiosity and desire to excel. It was a completely different thing to use it to change major events with ramifications that could impact the future.

She had resolved not to use it again for anything more than classes. It was far too dangerous of a device. Time, as she was once warned by Dumbledore, is a thing better left alone, a thing best not tampered with. Still, she could not bear to stand by idly and leave Harry in this condition. She felt compelled to go back and save Sirius from his fate. She had to spare Harry from this tragedy. Her heart and mind could not rest until she did.