The Ministry was a lot smaller then Ginny remembered; of course, that could be because the last time she was here, it was dark and it was her fourth year.
As she followed her friends through the crowded area, she had trouble keeping out of sight and not be jostled by passing witches and wizards.
The redhead vaguely wondered if her father was working today when Harry stopped in front of her. She slipped closer to him and lightly touched his arm through the cloak. He nodded to her slightly, signaling that they had to start the plan. It was now or never.
Ginny pulled her wand out of her boot, clutching it so tightly her knuckles turned white. She glimpsed Hermione muttering something under her breath, and her wand twitching subtly, when utter chaos broke out.
Ron had slipped away and sucked the light away with the Deluminator, while Hermione gestured for Harry and Ginny to find Umbridge's office quickly, before order could be restored.
Harry sprinted down the corridor with Ginny behind him, ducking past Ministry workers as they hurried to the source of all the confusion.
Ginny heard shrieks of orders being thrown around behind her as workers tried to figure out what had happened. Whatever Hermione had done, she had done it well.
"Where's Umbridge's office?" Ginny panted beside Harry, risking the sentence because of the fact that they were alone.
"Uhh…down here." Harry turned a corner and slid to a stop in front of a door. He scowled in disgust as he tore Moody's eye out of the door. He pocketed it and looked both ways down the corridor before opening the door and shoving Ginny inside.
She tore the cloak off and rushed to the desk in the middle of the room; dropping her wand back in her boot. She tugged open drawer after drawer, but couldn't find anything that resembled the Horcrux.
'Bloody hell,' she thought, pulling open the only drawer she hadn't checked. She shoved aside papers, but stopped short when she saw something, a glimpse of a familiar face.
Mad-Eye Moody.
Why—Oh God. There was a giant red X through his picture.
She flipped through the rest of the pile. She saw Hermione, Sirius…Dumbledore. All with 'traitor' written under their name.
The redhead gulped and closed the drawer. There was nothing that she needed in there.
She turned her attention to the top of the desk. It was mostly normal, with quills and ink pots, parchment, tea cups. But there was one thing that didn't belong there.
There was a poster of Harry, with "Undesirable Number One" written across the top in bold letters.
"Ah, crap," she muttered. So now Harry was a wanted criminal—well, okay, she already knew that, but this just confirmed that.
The youngest Weasley heard someone outside calling for order, and gradually it quieted. She had to get out of here.
She pulled the cloak back on and slipped back out the door, hand reaching for her wand. She tugged on Harry's sleeve, and he jerked almost unnoticeably. She found the back of his hand, and slowly traced 'no' into his skin.
Harry gazed down at her visible hand, blocked from view by his body. He sighed and started moving forward, on his way to find Ron or Hermione.
They found Ron first. He was hanging out by the lifts, just like planned.
Ginny crept up behind her brother, placing her invisible hand in the middle of his back. He stiffened, but no one but her and Harry noticed. They all stepped into an empty lift, reaching up to hold onto the grips hanging down from the ceiling.
"Where's Hermione?" Harry asked.
"She had to go down to the courtrooms. With Umbridge." Ron answered, clenching his hand into a fist.
Ginny coughed harshly, rubbing her throat under the cloak. Ron and Harry glanced back at her worriedly, and waved them away—not that they could see her, of course.
The lift stopped, the cool female voice announcing that they were at the courtrooms. Ginny followed her two friends as they walked briskly down the corridor, listening out for Umbridge's voice.
"It's bloody cold down here," Ron muttered, raking his wet hair out of his eyes. Ginny decided not to ask.
They turned down a hallway, and at the end Ginny could see Umbridge sitting up high at a podium at the far end of the court room. There was a woman sitting down in the middle, head bowed to stare at her clasped hands. A misty cat, a Patronus, stalked around the room.
"Mary Elizabeth Cattermole, of 27 Chislehurst Gardens, Great Tolling, Evesham," Umbridge said.
"Yes." The woman said quietly. She didn't look up.
"Mother to Maisie, Ellie, and Alfred. Wife to Reginald." Umbridge continued.
"Yes." Mary moved her hands to clench the arms of the wooden chair. Harry shoved Ron forward to stand behind Mary.
"Thank you, Albert," Umbridge said, smiling in a sweetly sick way.
Ginny glanced around the room, spotting Hermione sitting to Umbridge's left. She looked terrified. The redhead could also see the Horcrux hanging down from around Umbridge's neck, glinting in the weak light.
"Mary Elizabeth Cattermole," Umbridge said.
"Yes." Mary said, her voice a bit stronger now that her 'husband' was here.
"Upon your arrival at the Ministry, a wand was taken from you. Mrs. Cattermole, is this that wand?" Umbridge held up a wand.
"Yes."
"Mrs. Cattermole, would you please tell the people gathered here from which witch or wizard you took this wand from?"
"I didn't take if from anyone. I got it at Diagon Alley, at Ollivander's, when I was eleven." Mary said quietly, voice choked with her tears of fear.
"You're lying." Umbridge stated.
Harry stepped forward, wand raised.
"Albert, what are you doing?" Umbridge questioned, shocked.
"You're lying, Dolores." Harry said, biting back his anger. "And one must not tell lies."
His face started shifting, turning back into the normal Harry as the Polyjuice Potion wore off.
"Stupefy!" Harry cried. Umbridge slumped back in her chair, and Hermione leaped forward and ripped the Horcrux off her neck.
"It's Harry Potter!" Mary said as Ron pushed her down the corridor, sprinting to get away from the Dementors that had appeared when the cat disappeared.
"It is! This will be one to tell the kids!" Ron said.
Ginny tore the cloak off again to run faster. She clutched it in her hand, the silky fabric streaming behind her, as she slid to a stop in front of the lift, hopping in just as Harry slammed the lift door shut.
But that wasn't enough to stop the Dementors.
They reached through the bars, inhaling, sucking away the good thoughts.
Harry somehow managed to raise his wand arm, shouting something Ginny couldn't hear over the shrieks she heard from Mary. But then the Patronus appeared, streaking towards the cloaked creatures, driving them back.
By the time they got to the main floor, Ron was the only one who's Polyjuice still hadn't worn off. Mary was clutching his arm tightly, muttering to herself as Ginny, Harry and Hermione fought their way through the crowded area.
They stopped when they realized that Ron had fallen back, talking to Mary quietly. And then Mary was kissing Ron, oblivious to the fact that he wasn't her husband.
Ron shuddered as he returned to his normal body, Reginald disappearing as Mary broke away from him, staring at him in shock.
"Mary?" someone called from behind Ginny. She turned to see the real Reginald Cattermole striding towards his wife, wearing just his undershirt and boxers.
"Nice meeting you," Ron said hurriedly, glancing behind him, searching for any sign of someone who was after them.
He caught up to Ginny and the others, when a wizard called, "It's Harry! Harry Potter!"
"Crap!" Harry shouted, sprinting forward towards the Floo. Shouts of 'Harry Potter!' and 'Get him!' followed them as they dodged stunned people. Security guards chased them, flyers flew at them, and Yaxley, having finally caught up to them, fired curse after curse at Ron and Ginny, who had fallen behind the others in their game of dodge the people.
Harry lurched forward, falling into the last Floo fireplace open; Hermione followed him, just barely missing a curse sent after her. Ginny jumped in at the same time Ron did, and they both felt the hand on their wrists as Yaxley lunged at them.
The next few seconds were filled with pain-filled screams as Ron and Ginny fought to get the man off of them, and they were wrenched place to place due to Apparation. Then Ginny was thrown to the ground, screaming next to her equally-in-pain older brother.
A/N: God this took a while! I had to keep referencing the movie, and when I finally had everything I needed, my mom stole the computer from me. But I have finally finished, and I am extremely proud of myself. This is almost FOUR PAGES LONG PEOPLE! I deserve a treat for sitting through this pain.
Anyways, I probably would have split it in half, if it hadn't been for the fact that I wanted the whole Ministry thing to be one chapter.
But please, review! I worked hard to finish this for you, I deserve some feedback!