Hermione caught Remus's eye once more and motioned toward the door. He took the hint immediately and, casting one last look back over his shoulder at Tonks, followed her into the hallway. There was little activity beyond Auror Headquarters except a flurry of Interdepartmental memos, which flapped and fluttered over their heads on the way to their separate destinations.
She wasn't sure how to start, but she knew she needed to talk to him. Remus's face was void of color and his large brown eyes held so much restrained pain that she could barely bring herself to meet them.
"So...how are you?"
"That's a fine question, Hermione," Remus said in a light voice, leaning against the wall and following the zigzag path of a pink memo. It disappeared into the lift as it rattled open and he turned back to Hermione. "One I'm not entirely sure how to answer, in fact."
Hermione nodded her head, knowing all to well how Remus was feeling. She looked at him shrewdly and then decided she couldn't not ask him the question burning within her mind.
"And Tonks? I saw the way you were looking at her," she said, pursing her lips. Remus met her gaze and a dark shadow passed over his expression.
"I don't know what you mean," he responded in a stiff voice. Hermione lifted one eyebrow at him and he squirmed at her unspoken gesture of disbelief. He sighed heavily and ran a hand through his gray-streaked hair. "You always were too clever for your own good. I am a foolish old man, aren't I?"
"No, you're not," she said softly, allowing a ghost of a smile to cross her lips. "Does she know?"
"If she does, she makes a fine show of pretending otherwise," he said, a bite of bitterness in his voice.
"She's just grieving in her own way, Remus. She lashes out at anything and everything when she can't handle her emotions and you know that. What she said in there..."
"She meant every word and she was right. I am not an Auror; I merely pretend in order to feel useful these days. Anti-werewolf laws keep me from holding a proper Ministry position, but I like to think my time is better spent attempting to help in some way," Remus replied, rubbing a thoughtful thumb across the light stubble on his chin.
"You know very well that Mr. Weasley is trying to change those laws though," Hermione began, but Remus cut her off.
"I know and Arthur is a good man and a good friend, but I don't think changing laws so I can hold a job is where his time is best spent. We're in a war, Hermione, as you well know. Dealing with minor problems has created bigger ones in their place."
"Harry, you mean," Hermione said shortly, pursing her lips once more. Remus nodded his head gravely.
"Allowing Ginny Weasley to become his Secret-Keeper was foolish of all of us. Harry and Ginny...they talked it over with me before they brought the issue to Ron and yourself. They wanted to know if it was a good idea. I saw them and how happy they were and I was so happy for them...I was blinded by their love. I allowed it. I thought for sure that Ginny was safe--she was rarely at risk and usually in the company of family and friends. And Harry believed so much in her that I couldn't look past his loyalty, his love," Remus said, his gaze misty and far away.
Hermione's stomach knotted up. He was right of course. Completely right. They had all failed Harry by allowing his love for Ginny to cloud their judgment.
"We were all blinded by it, Remus. Not just you, but everyone who saw them together. I was so happy for them, happy that Harry seemed to be throwing the dark cloud off himself and actually living. This past year he's been a different person and...and I'm almost glad he got that before..." She couldn't finish it and she knew she didn't have to. Remus understood her completely.
"We failed Ginny too. Failed to protect her, as we should have. Even if she hadn't been Harry's Secret-Keeper, she was still at risk by simply being herself. She was, is, the Minister's only daughter and that put her at risk. There was no way to know that she was as important to Harry as she was, but I can only imagine that Draco Malfoy was waiting for an opportunity to seize her. And we let that happen," Remus continued, shaking his head. "So many mistakes that could have been prevented and now they're both gone."
But Hermione wasn't listening. The gears in her mind were whirring and clicking again. Her mind flew forward in a flash and then stopped, slamming her thoughts into clarity.
"How did Draco know?" she wondered aloud, chewing on her bottom lip.
"Pardon me?"
"Draco, how did he know where she was going to be and when? How did he know she was going to have a portkey and when to come to her flat?"
Remus looked thoughtful for a moment. "Who knew she was going to Dublin?"
"All the Weasley's, Harry, you, myself, Aphrodesia Shawnessey and...and Marietta Edgecombe. Marietta issued the portkey and she was the only one besides Harry and Shawnessey who knew what time the portkey was supposed to activate."
"Didn't Kingsley already question Miss Edgecombe? And what about Mrs. Shawnessey in Dublin?"
"Shawnessey is a possibility, but she promptly reported Ginny's disappearance. From what I understand, she's fairly reliable. An old friend of Molly Weasley's from school actually," Hermione replied, her mind still whirring and clicking.
"School friends can change, you know," Remus said sourly. Hermione looked at him askance and saw the pain in his gaze. She remembered all too well what had happened the night Dumbledore was murdered. She'd never forget the look on Remus's face when he'd struck down Peter Pettigrew.
She shuddered slightly at the memory and turned her mind forward quickly. "You're right of course, but I think Marietta Edgecombe is the weak link in this chain. She issued the portkey herself and then, when she received the owl from Shawnessey, she took her sweet time notifying everyone of Ginny's failure to arrive. Then she didn't show up for work the next morning and when she came in, she smelled like smoke...and she was acting strangely. She was covering up something," Hermione said, her eyes narrowing. She neglected to mention her suspicions about Marietta breaking into her desk. There were too many variables involved and she wanted cold hard facts.
"That certainly sounds like a case for investigation if you ask me. And knowing you, I imagine you have Ron sniffing around for clues. Am I right?" Remus hazarded. Hermione didn't meet his gaze, but she heard him chuckle dryly. "Always one step ahead of the rest of us, Hermione. So, what would you have me do?"
Hermione looked up and saw him fold his arms over his lean chest, frayed and patched brown robes stretched tight across his arms. Looking him over, she smiled.
"Talk to Tonks," she demanded, enjoying the look of vexation that crossed the older man's face. "She needs someone to talk to about this or she's going to explode. If we lose anyone else she's going to be a wreck and we need her."
"Yes, I noticed how...concerned...she was for Blaire," Remus said wryly, his eyes narrowed as he glanced back down the hallway. "Had her hands all over him..."
"I'm sure it was nothing," Hermione said forcefully, but the sudden thought of Blaire made the hair on the back of her neck rise. She frowned at that. There was no reason Blaire should give her that reaction.
She let it go; it was probably just her nerves acting up anyway. Blaire was fine and safe and that was all that mattered.
"Nevertheless...I think I'll just nip back into the office and see if there's anything I can do..." Remus said, moving to head back down the hallway. He stopped halfway down and turned to face her again. "And Hermione?"
"Yes, Remus?"
"Thank you," he said simply, then turned on his heel and disappeared into Auror headquarters. Hermione stood in the hallway for a moment staring at the doorway and at the fluttering memos like origami cranes near the ceiling. She felt slightly lighter somehow, though why she couldn't say.
The lifts rattled open again and she turned her attention to them, deciding to go and find Ron. As she stepped into the lift, she had the sudden feeling that the day was going to be a long one.
She had no idea how right she was.
Blood mingled with sweat dripped down Luna's face as she crouched beneath the meager shelter of an overturned desk. Colin breathed hard beside her, clutching a smoking wound in his side. The yellow smoke emitted the smell of rotten eggs, which permeated the air. Luna had no idea what the spell he'd been hit with was, but it was taking its toll on the young photographer. His lower lip trembled, but his eyes were hard and determined.
Somehow she'd ended up in a corner of the room with Colin at her side. Several feet away she could just make out the unseeing eyes of Davies, who'd been hit within seconds of the fight, falling down in a heap after the lead Death Eater had thrown the killing curse at him. Luna had no idea how she'd managed to avoid the beams of green light flashing through the room, but she had. The only wound she'd sustained so far was the cut on her forehead from a glass exploding in her face.
After Colin had been hit, she'd thrown him over the desk and hunkered down behind it, hoping its bulk would shelter her until she could catch her breath and actually think. Another scream pierced the air and she shuddered, knowing whomever it belonged to was now dead, or better off that way.
"I know you're behind there, Lovegood!" the lead Death Eater called in a mocking voice. She recognized it, or at least thought she did. "You and Creevey!"
"Draco Malfoy!" Colin breathed beside her, his breath hitching, another gush of smoke curling into the air.
"Must be killing you both knowing about Potter! You were both in his fan club back at Hogwarts, weren't you?" Malfoy called, a shiver of fear running down Luna's spine. "You and that bitch Weasley!"
"What did you do to her?" Colin demanded through tears of pain. The smell from his wound was getting worse. Luna could barely breathe as she clutched her wand tightly in her fist.
"What did you do to her?" one of the Death Eaters mocked, laughing shrilly. The others followed. Luna glanced around the corner of the desk, catching a quick glimpse of the Death Eaters. They were all standing in a group, wands pointed at the desk. There was no other movement in the room.
Which meant she and Colin were the last ones left. Everyone else was dead.
"How did you capture her?" Luna insisted, her reporter's mind insisting on the details. Malfoy laughed again.
"The Dark Lord has many loyal followers, Lovegood. Even in the Ministry of Magic itself," he said and Luna frowned. She was about to ask him who it was, aware that she probably wouldn't get an answer, when Colin coughed and his lungs gave a loud suck.
A viscous yellow liquid showed on his lips and he swiped it away with a pale, trembling hand. He glanced at Luna and she saw the fear in his eyes. Neither of them were going to make it out of there alive and knew it.
"Apparate out of here, Luna," Colin said softly as the Death Eaters jeered at them again.
"I can't, I've already tried. They've put an Anti-Disapparation Jinx on the building," she said just as softly, seeing the desperation in his eyes. Colin coughed again and more liquid showed, coating his teeth. The smoke came thicker from the wound and she could see the skin around it bubbling.
"I'm sorry..." Colin began, but she touched his arm, tears swimming in her large, silvery eyes.
"I'm tired of waiting on you, Lovegood! This doesn't have to hurt, you know! And Creevey got hit with a pretty powerful curse. One my father invented and there's no way to stop it from eating him alive! He's going to die soon and you're going to be all alone. There's no telling what we'll do with you," Malfoy called, several snickers rising from the crowd.
The sound of his smooth, oily voice made Luna's blood run cold.
"Just smash the desk!" a female said with a bite of impatience in her voice. "I'll do it!"
"Yes, but make sure you don't smash Lovegood into bits--I want to have some fun with her..." someone said. Luna and Colin exchanged glances. Luna knew full well the stories of what Death Eaters had done to the people they'd caught. She'd even reported on the aftermath and seen some of it first hand. It was horrible and if you managed to live through it, you wished you hadn't.
Colin must have been thinking the same thing, because he gave a whimper and grabbed her hand. His hand was hot and soft, like his bones were turning to liquid beneath the surface of his skin. Luna's stomach gave a terrified lurch.
"Enough waiting then!" the female screeched again. There was the sound of whistling and then the desk was rocked by a powerful blast. The wood to Luna's back splintered and split into two and several drawers went flying out of it. The hard edge of one of the drawers hit her across the head and she saw sparks for a moment.
"ZABINI!" Malfoy barked in warning, but Luna wasn't paying attention to him. Colin had picked up something from amid the scattered contents of the drawers. She saw immediately what it was and sucked in a lungful of foul-smelling air.
A full jar of Floo powder lay in Colin's soft, trembling hand. Luna glanced to her left, where the large fireplace the iDaily Prophet/i employees used for travel was located. It was perhaps twenty feet away and there was a low fire crackling in the hearth, awaiting someone to use it.
And there was no way the Death Eaters could stop them from using the Floo Network; they had no control over it.
Colin thrust the jar at her.
"Go, I'll cover you," he said in a low, mucous-choked voice. Luna shook her head.
"No! There's more than enough for two!"
"I'm dead already, Luna! You have a chance without me!" Colin said, furrowing his brow. Yellow liquid seeped from his nose, but he ignored it as it ran down his lips.
"I can't leave you!" she protested as Colin shoved the jar of Floo powder at her. She took it, but she wasn't about to leave it at that. "We're both getting out of here, Colin. And we're going to do it right now." She quickly pulled the cork out of the jar of Floo powder and cradled it in her hand and gripped her wand hard in the other.
"Lovegood...are you alive over there? Is Creevey a sack of mucous yet?" Malfoy called, but Luna wasn't concerned with him now. All she saw was the fireplace twenty feet away. She measured the distance and how many spells she could block.
"Can you use your wand?"
Colin nodded. "I...think so."
"Okay, use the Shield Charm and Stun anything that moves. One the count of three we're heading for the fireplace. When you get there, throw in a handful of the powder and go to the Ministry. We'll be safe at the Ministry!" Luna said, hoping she was right. She also hoped Colin could even get up.
"I'm...ready..." Colin breathed thickly.
"Count of three," Luna said. She got to her feet, still crouched behind the desk. Malfoy was talking again, but she ignored him, ready to send Stunning spells in every direction. "One...two...three!"
She threw two Stunning spells as she ran for the fireplace. She was dimly aware of Colin at her side. He didn't move very fast and smoke belched from his wound, yellow mucous splattering the ground from every hole in his body.
"Stop them!" Malfoy bellowed and she turned, narrowly avoiding a jet of red light as it sped toward her. She shot another Stunning spell in his direction and hit someone square in the chest. They keeled over backward, but she didn't stop to watch.
She reached the fireplace with Colin in tow. He wobbled on his feet, but managed to use the Shield charm to deflect someone's Stunning spell. Knowing she had no time, she grabbed up a handful of Floo powder from the jar and held it out to Colin with the hand that held her wand.
Colin reached for it, but a flash of purple light slammed into the jar and it shattered. Glittering Floo powder and jagged bits of clay exploded in all directions. Luna screamed as pain went through her hand. She pulled her hand back and saw her wand was in splinters. Blood sprang up from her mangled, cut fingers as she drew them to her chest.
Colin looked up at her with his liquid-looking eyes. Their gazes locked for a moment and then someone hit him square in the face with another spell. Moments later, Luna was hit with something she could only describe as pure pain--her bones were on fire and her nerves were live wires under her skin, trying to escape through the pores in her body.
She screamed and tumbled backward, trying to get away from the pain. She tripped over something warm and soft and fell backward. The pain lessened slightly but she was now surrounded by searing warmth and smoke...
She opened her eyes and saw she had landed on the fire in the hearth after she'd tripped over Colin's fallen body. The Death Eaters were approaching, shouting, wands raised. Colin's liquid eyes turned in her direction. There was dark black blood on his lips now and he mouthed two words.
"GO NOW!"
Crying inwardly, Luna threw the remaining handful of Floo powder in her fist onto the fire around her body, which immediately turned green and stopped burning her robes. She looked one last time at Colin Creevey, ducking another spell that came shooting through the flames from Draco Malfoy's wand.
"MINISTRY OF MAGIC!" she screamed, ash swirling into her lungs. Seconds later she was swept away in a tornado of wind, ash and green flame.
Ron watched as the Ministry owl carrying his letter to Fred and George swooped in a circle and then fluttered out the large open window leading to the outside. The Ministry's owlery was larger than the one at Hogwarts and his footsteps echoed as he walked across the bone-littered stone floor toward the exit.
As he opened the door to walk out, he slammed into a solid body and jumped back in surprise. His eyes narrowed as the startled gaze of Marietta Edgecombe turned in his direction. The color seemed to leech out of her face as she took a step back and clutched her letter in her hand.
"Edgecombe! Just the witch I was looking for," Ron said evenly as Marietta moved to walk around him.
"You were...looking for me? And why is that?" she said, tossing her curly hair over her shoulder as she approached a tawny owl near the door. She prodded it with one finger and it immediately lifted its feathery head from beneath its wing, blinking sleepily for a moment before holding out its leg.
"Oh, no particular reason," he said, attempting to make his voice more conversational. If he attacked her, she'd get defensive and there was no way he'd get anything out of her. Besides, you caught more flies with honey than vinegar. "I was concerned about you."
Marietta glanced at him quickly as she finished tying her letter to the owl's leg. "Concerned? Why?"
"Well I thought maybe you'd be upset about what Hermione said to you yesterday. I'm sorry about that. She's going through a lot right now. We all are."
"Yes, I know. It's a shame what happened to your sister. I had no idea she was Harry's Secret-Keeper. And Harry! What a terrible tragedy!" Marietta said as the owl launched into the air and soared out the owlery window. Ron's brow furrowed at the tone of her voice. She sounded sorry enough, but the look on her face was distant. Her eyes flicked over the room and settled somewhere to the left of his face.
Ron had been very good at reading body language when he'd trained to be an Auror. He was much better at it than Hermione, in fact. He knew when someone was lying and Marietta was doing a convincing job of it right then.
He thought perhaps Hermione was on to something. Marietta knew something they didn't.
"Yes, its horrible. But that's not what I wanted to talk about. I wanted to know how you are. How is your flu?" Ron said, testing her.
"Fine, thank you for asking," she responded, not looking at him as she walked past him and out the door. He followed close on her tail, noticing the stiff line of her shoulders and the way her hand went nervously through her hair. They made their way down the stairs to the door leading into the Ministry's main hall, where witches and wizards bustled to and fro on business.
The golden symbols on the ceiling caught Ron's eye for a moment and when he looked down he saw Marietta hurrying across the main hall toward the lifts. He jogged to catch up with her and grabbed her arm.
"About Hermione, I know she can be a little forceful sometimes, but she didn't mean any harm," he said, knowing full well that she had. Marietta pulled her arm free and took off in the opposite direction.
"Well, at least one of you is polite enough to apologize to me! I was just doing my job!" she sniffed indignantly, pulling at her robes as she looked around for an exit. Ron had a feeling he was making her very uncomfortable.
"I know and I thank you for that," he said as she looked around, blowing out an impatient breath. "Are you in a hurry?"
"Yes, actually! I have...I have a lot to do!" she scanned the ceiling and fretted in place.
"Such as? Are you waiting for something?"
"The iDaily Prophet/i isn't here yet, if you must know...I...I wanted to get the Saturday edition. Now if you'll excuse me, Weasley..." she said, trailing off as a loud commotion from the opposite side of the room suddenly broke the air. Someone screamed and he saw that the neat lines of witches and wizards waiting to use the Floo network had broken and everyone was now grouped around a dark figure on the floor.
Ron hurried over to the commotion, elbowing his way through the gathering throng of people. He easily towered over most of them and they let him pass rather than get charged down. Pushing aside a dark-haired witch, he looked down at the woman on the floor and gasped.
Luna Lovegood's soot-blackened face and large, misty silver eyes stared up at him from her sprawl on the floor in front of one of the Ministry fireplaces. She had one hand to her chest and he was horrified to see that the hand was mangled, blood flowing down the front of her blue robes.
"Ronald! Ronald, thank Merlin you're here! I..." Luna started in her misty, tear-choked voice, but she broke off with a hiss of pain. He fell to his knees beside her and half-lifted her head into his lap.
"Get a healer! Someone get a healer, quickly!" he shouted and saw several people break away from the throng and charge off toward the fireplaces. Ron turned his attention back on Luna, who was shaking slightly, sweat and blood from a cut on her brow running down her face. He pressed two fingers to the cut and said her name, trying to make her distant eyes focus. "Luna? Luna can you hear me? What happened?"
Luna's eyes focused and she hissed with pain again. "The iDaily Prophet/i! Death Eaters attacked this morning! They killed everyone in the building. I only just managed to Floo out!" she ground through her teeth, reaching up with her unharmed hand to clutch at Ron's arm. "Colin was still alive! Ronald, he was still alive back there! Malfoy is going to kill him!"
Ron's blood ran cold at her words. Acid burned on the back of his tongue at the sound of Malfoy's name. "Why were they there, Luna?"
"They're putting the word out! They want everyone to know he's dead!" Luna said, her voice hitching in her throat. Her eyes burned into his and Ron knew immediately what she meant.
"Oh God...the iProphet/i! If everyone finds out, there's going to be a panic! We can't--"
"Let me through! Let me through! Oh my--Luna!" Ron's head snapped up at the sound of Hermione's voice. She shoved the last milling wizard out of the way and fell down next to Ron, grabbing Luna's uninjured hand in her own. "What happened?"
"Death Eaters attacked the iDaily Prophet/i." Horror grew in Hermione's eyes and her mouth opened on a gasp of terror. "Luna said they're spreading the word."
He didn't have to say anything more. Hermione understood immediately and her mouth snapped closed, her eyes hardening into dark points of light in her face. She looked back down at Luna, who hissed again as a fresh wave of pain throbbed through her hand.
"The wizarding world will panic if they find out he's dead--we can't let this happen," Hermione said, breathing hard.
"Colin's still alive, Hermione! You have to hurry!" Luna gasped, attempting to sit up. Ron pushed her back down and looked around at the worried faces of the witches and wizards in the crowd around them.
"Someone get my dad! Death Eaters have attacked the iDaily Prophet/i!" he shouted in a loud voice and the people at the back of the crowd gasped loudly.
"I'll do it!" a familiar voice said and Ron looked up and met Percy's eye. His older brother was pale and the bruise on his cheek was dark and splotched with purple. Ron felt a stab of guilt as he nodded and Percy immediately Disapparated. Ron looked back at Hermione.
"We need to get as many people together as we can and go to the iProphet/i before they can send out the papers. Luna?" Ron looked back down at Luna and winced at the lines of pain on her face. "How long does it take for the newspaper to come to print?"
"Not long...I...the presses are magical. They'll be out soon!"
"How soon, Luna?" Hermione pressed.
"I'm not sure!" Luna's distant voice said and she squeezed Hermione's hand. There was a crack to Ron's left and the Minister was suddenly there, his eyes heavy but bright as people moved out of the way to let him through. Arthur Weasley's face was grave as he crouched before Luna, eyeing her wound before turning back to Ron.
"What happened?" he asked and Ron relayed what Luna had told him as quickly as he could. The more time they wasted, the less likely it was they could stop the Death Eaters from spreading the news of Harry's death. Arthur took a sharp breath and swore colorfully under his breath. "Get the Aurors and the M.L.E's--we need to go in right now."
"Right," Ron said as Percy knelt down next to him. Ron met his eye once more and caught a glimpse of the bruise on his face. "Thanks Perce."
"Go, I'll stay with her and see that she gets to St. Mungo's," Percy said softly and then lifted Luna's head and cradled it on his lap.
"Thank you Percy," Hermione said, touching his arm for a moment before looking back down at Luna. "Luna..."
But evidently Hermione didn't know what to say. Luna took a deep breath, her misty eyes swimming. "Just help Colin...I left him..."
"We will, Luna," Ron promised, knowing it was too late to help Colin. Luna knew it too, but it had to be said. "Be safe."
"Go!" Luna said, letting go of Hermione's hand. Ron stood and heard several cracks behind him. The healer from St. Mungo's bustled through the crowd carrying a black medical bag. Ron didn't stop to watch as they knelt over Luna. He Apparated directly into Auror headquarters with Hermione one step behind. His father Apparated several feet away and at the noise and sudden appearance of the three of them, the Aurors still in the office turned, looking up from paperwork.
"Death Eaters attacked the iDaily Prophet/i this morning," his father announced gravely, meeting each face in turn.
"WHAT?" Tonks roared, her eyes turning round as saucers in her heart-shaped face. Remus stepped forward, a hand falling on her shoulder as if to restrain her.
"Why?" he asked calmly.
"They're spreading the word of Potter's death," Blaire said from his desk. His dark eyes were shrewd as he looked at them all. Ron frowned and looked back at his father, who nodded.
"Exactly right. We need to go now and see if there are survivors and if we can stop them from putting out the papers--" Arthur began, but choked off when a large brown bird swooped into the room.
Instinctively the Minister held out his hands. The owl dropped the object into his hands and lighted on a filing cabinet, holding out its leg for payment. Arthur ignored it and unrolled the newspaper, which seemed to consist of only one page. His haggard face screwed up in defeat immediately as he looked at the large black headline.
"Dammit," he breathed, slamming the newspaper down on the desk before him, his teeth gritted. Ron leaned forward slightly to read the black words and felt his stomach clench.
"POTTER DIES AT THE HANDS OF THE DARK LORD, DARK LORD UNSTOPPABLE" it read. A short article appeared beneath the headline, but Ron didn't have the stomach to read it.
"That's it then. The word is out and we can't stop that now," Arthur said bracingly, looking up with burning eyes at them all. "Every witch and wizard in England is going to get this paper shortly and they're going to panic. Which is exactly what Lord Voldemort wants. Damage control, people. We need to start it now before we have a full scale riot on our hands. I want all of you to go the iProphet/i and see if there are survivors. The Death Eaters have what they want now and I doubt they're still there. Still, do what you can."
Ron nodded and with a glance at the others, he headed toward the lifts, feeling Hermione at his elbow and hearing the footsteps of the other Aurors as they followed. He had no idea what he'd find at the iDaily Prophet/i, but as he ducked another owl with the newspaper clutched in its beak, he fervently hoped the Death Eaters were still there.
Especially Malfoy.