A/N – Good news everyone, I am just one chapter away from finishing Shattered Trust. Yesterday I worked on what I always find to be the hardest part of the story (any sort of battle scene), and even though it turned into 2 chapters, I know now there's only one more chapter to go. So in order to get this story finished before Christmas updates will be every weekday this week and next.
Kingsley sat in a meeting at the Ministry, with a scowl on his face. The new band of Ministry employees, whose loyalties were to Voldemort, were trying to push through some new laws, most of which made it legal to practice the Dark Arts. Surprisingly, they were going through official channels, but Kingsley knew it was merely a pretence. The new laws were going to be passed no matter what objections were raised.
"This is pointless," he muttered to the Head Auror. "Our objections are just going to be ignored. These laws will be passed whether we like it or not."
"Maybe we should try and appeal to the Minister himself," the Head Auror suggested.
"You mean the Minister who chose not to attend the meeting," Kingsley snorted. "Fudge's power is waning daily. He's far too scared to stand up to this new group."
"I'm not sure we can blame him too much for being scared," the Head Auror muttered. "These are scary times we live in, Kingsley."
"They are," Kingsley agreed. "But they won't last."
"I wish I had your faith," the Head Auror sighed. "But from where I'm standing, our world is doomed to darkness."
"You should never give up hope," Kingsley advised, not wanting to say more and give the game away about the resistance group he was a part of.
The Head Auror opened his mouth to reply, but before any words came out the floor shook and a loud rumbling noise filled the air.
"What was that?" Kingsley demanded as everyone jumped to their feet. Sounds of screaming were starting to filter through the Ministry and a sense of panic was building.
"Everyone down to the Atrium," one of the new officials ordered, a devilish smirk on his face.
"It's an attack," the Head Auror hissed to Kingsley as they departed the meeting room with everyone else and found the entire floor in chaos.
"Downstairs," the same official barked as he and his other colleagues started to herd everyone towards the stairs and the lifts.
Sliding his wand out of his robes and into his hand, Kingsley tried his best to keep people calm as they headed down to the Atrium. Even though his instincts were to fight, he knew it was pointless to try and resist until he knew what the exact situation was. At the moment it looked like an attack, but he couldn't be sure until they reached the Atrium and he saw what exactly was happening.
What was happening in the Atrium was complete and utter chaos. The Atrium was filled with acrid smoke and people were running around in a panic. As he took in the scene, Kingsley became aware of dark figures guarding the exits. It clearly was a Death Eater attack, and the Death Eaters were keeping the Ministry workers, and anyone else who happened to be at the Ministry, captive.
"Enough!" one of the Death Eaters bellowed, waving his wand and dispelling the smoke. "Just keep calm and no-one will be hurt."
Slowly silence fell around the Atrium, and Kingsley anxiously waited for the Death Eaters next move. What happened was the Death Eaters began to spread around the Atrium, pushing everyone back against the walls and forming a circle around the large fountain that dominated the Atrium.
"I want the Minister of Magic," the Death Eater who had spoken earlier demanded.
After a moment of hesitation the Minister himself edged forward from the crowds.
"What do you want?" he shakily asked.
"It's time you stepped down as Minister. Cornelius Fudge, I challenge you to a wizard's duel," the Death Eater growled.
"You don't need to challenge me to a duel, I'll step down," Fudge stutteringly offered.
"Coward," the Death Eater hissed. "Stand up and fight like a man."
Knowing full well that Fudge had been a bureaucrat for too long, and would never last in a duel, Kingsley made to step forward. However the Death Eater closest to him reached out to stop him and subtly shook his head.
"Don't," he whispered.
"Severus?" Kingsley questioned in a low voice.
The Death Eater once again subtly nodded his head, confirming his identity.
"Is that Draco?" Kingsley asked, nodding his head in the direction of the Death Eater who had challenged Fudge to a duel.
"Yes," Severus replied. "Don't interfere Kingsley, this has to be done."
"He's going to kill Fudge, isn't he?" Kingsley whispered.
"Yes."
"He can't," Kingsley hissed. "He's better than that."
"In what world could he say no to The Dark Lord?" Severus retorted, gesturing across the Atrium.
Kingsley turned his attention to the part of the Atrium where Severus had indicated. At first all he could see was more Death Eaters, but then he realised that there was something off with a couple of them. Instead of keeping the Ministry workers captive, the taller of the two Death Eaters had their hand securely wrapped around the arm of the shorter Death Eater.
"Hermione," he breathed, guessing that she was the Death Eater being held onto, likely by Voldemort himself.
"Hermione," Severus confirmed. "And that is The Dark Lord with her. If Draco fails, or if you try and interfere, she'll die."
"Sweet Merlin," Kingsley gasped, understanding the awful dilemma Draco was currently facing. Either he duelled Fudge and killed him, or else Hermione would die.
Turning his attention back to the centre of the Atrium, Kingsley realised that things had progressed while he'd been distracted. Fudge had clearly agreed to the duel and he and Draco were beginning the formalities which took place at the start of a wizarding duel.
As the pair backed away from one another, Kingsley held his breath as the first shots were fired. Surprisingly, Fudge was initially able to hold his own against Draco. For almost five minutes shots were traded and the duel was an even battle field. However, Kingsley could sense that Draco was holding back, and that when he turned it on Fudge wouldn't stand a chance. However, Fudge wasn't going down without a fight, and Kingsley was proud by the tenacity the Minister was showing.
Slowly the duel began to heat up and gasps and cries emanated from the crowd as Draco took a firm foothold in the battle. Time and time again, Fudge was knocked down and hit with curses, while Draco was barely mis-footed by the spells Fudge was sending his way. As the duel wore on the result started to become inevitable, and Kingsley wasn't too surprised when people in the crowd began to cry. After all, it wasn't exactly easy to watch the battle knowing full well that the Minister was going to fall. And even those people watching who didn't know who Fudge was fighting, did know that he was fighting a Death Eater and that most Death Eaters were ruthless.
Kingsley did wonder why Draco didn't just end things quickly, especially as he clearly had the advantage over Fudge. But he seemed content just to torment Fudge and drag out the duel. As he wondered why Draco was dragging out something that must be torture for him, Kingsley got his eye on Voldemort and Hermione and realisation suddenly struck him. If all Voldemort wanted was for Fudge to be killed, he could have arranged it with a snap of his fingers. He even could have arranged it for Draco to do the deed. But what he obviously wanted was a display. He wanted Fudge's death to be a spectacle, and for all of wizarding Britain to know that the Minister of Magic was killed by a Death Eater.
"Twisted monster," he muttered to himself. As if it wasn't bad enough what he was making Draco do, he had to turn it into a macabre production that no-one would ever forget.
Longing for the day when they could take Voldemort out, and rid the world of his evil, Kingsley reluctantly turned his attention back to the duel. Draco was gaining even more of an advantage, and as he sent Fudge tumbling to the floor again, he pounced on him. Kingsley wasn't sure, but he thought that Draco said something to Fudge as the Minister seemed to nod his head in grim understanding. However, he wasn't privy to what exactly was going on in the midst of the duel, so all he could do was watch as Draco backed off and Fudge stumbled to his feet. But before Fudge could regain his footing, Draco shot a spell at him which turned him upside down and dangled him in mid-air.
"I think you're done, Minister," Draco said as he picked up Fudge's wand, which had fallen from his hand when he's been strung upside down. "Look at this people," he called loudly, turning to the traumatised crowds. "This is what happens to people who stand in our way. Let this be a lesson to you all."
Even though Kingsley knew what was going to happen, he still couldn't help but wince as Draco turned back to Fudge and very clearly cast the killing curse. As the jet of green magic hit Fudge in his chest, extinguishing his life, several people collapsed and the noise in the Atrium reached fever pitch. Instinctually, Kingsley gripped his wand tighter, hoping that the afternoon wasn't going to descend into a devastating battle. However, Voldemort clearly wasn't in the mood for more bloodshed as a spell was shot into the air which created a loud bang and another cloud of acrid smoke, which the Death Eaters used as cover to vanish.
As the smoke began to clear, fear and chaos reigned in the Atrium, and Kingsley was momentarily frozen to the spot as he took in what had happened. Fudge had been killed, and now there was nothing and no-one to stop Voldemort taking full control of the Ministry. Kingsley just hoped that his reign was a short one and that Draco and Hermione were still prepared to go up against the dark wizard who was currently ruining all of their lives.
"Very impressive, Draco," Voldemort remarked, clapping Draco on the shoulder as they removed their Death Eater garb.
Even though he felt sick and wanted nothing more than to shrug Voldemort's vile hands off him, Draco remained stoic. He accepted Voldemort's praise as if it was only deserving and he acted as though what he'd just done meant nothing to him. Although the worrying thing was that only a few months previously, what he'd just done wouldn't have affected him at all. He could have taken out Fudge without batting an eyelid, but now all he could think about was the fact he'd just killed a man in cold blood, and worst of all, Hermione had witnessed the terrible act.
"I have to say, I've had my doubts about you these last few weeks," Voldemort confessed.
"I told you that nothing had changed," Draco replied.
"Now you've proved it," Voldemort said. "And what about you?" he asked, whirling to face Hermione. Even though she'd been by his side all the time at the Ministry, he had no idea what her reaction had been. "How did it feel to witness just what Draco is capable of?"
"He did what needed to be done," Hermione remarked, nonchalantly shrugging her shoulder. However, her voice wavered slightly and she knew Voldemort noticed as he smirked knowingly at her.
"As long as you keep this up, Draco, we'll be just fine," Voldemort said, turning back to the young blond wizard.
"And does this mean you're going to allow us to take part in whatever you've got planned for Black?" Draco asked.
"I'll think about it," Voldemort remarked with a smirk. "But right now, I've got a new Minister to find."
Hearing the dismissal in Voldemort's tone, Draco gently took hold of Hermione's hand and steered her out of Voldemort's presence. Until they were back in the safety of Draco's wing of the manor, neither of them uttered a word.
"I feel sick," Hermione muttered, collapsing onto the bed the second they entered Draco's bedroom.
"Sorry," Draco muttered, stalking over to the window and gazing unseeingly out into the manor grounds.
"How much more do you think he's going to put us through?" Hermione whispered.
"Knowing him, that was only the beginning," Draco replied with a sigh. "He's going to keep pushing us. He knows as long as you're here, he can get me to do whatever he wants. My guess is that he's going to use me for all his dirty work."
"We have to stop him before that happens," Hermione insisted, shakily getting to her feet and walking over to Draco. "I don't think I can watch you do that again," she confessed in a low voice.
"I'm not sure how much more I can do knowing you're witnessing my every depraved action," Draco admitted. "I feel dirty, Hermione. I don't feel worthy of your love."
"You are worthy," Hermione said, sliding her arm through Draco's and resting her head on his shoulder. "This changes nothing, Draco. I meant what I said earlier, you did what needed to be done. If you hadn't duelled Fudge today, I wouldn't be here."
"But yet an innocent man is still dead," Draco remarked. "Can we live with that?"
"We have to," Hermione said. "And we can honour Fudge's memory once we've gotten rid of Voldemort. It sounds harsh, but Fudge was one man. We can save so many more people if we stay in Voldemort's good books. We have to stay alive, so we can get rid of him and free the world from his darkness."
"We need to think of the bigger picture," Draco concluded.
"We do," Hermione agreed with a nod. "I know it's not easy Draco, but we can handle this together. Even on terrible days like today, at least we have each other. And just to clarify, I'm not going anywhere. You're stuck with me."
Aware of how lucky he was, Draco pulled Hermione into his arms, and onto the bed. Sex was a good way of numbing the pain of the day, but Draco was well aware that the only way to really deal with it was to eliminate the cause of the pain. They needed to get rid of Voldemort, and the sooner the better. Maybe then he could be free, and he would finally get a chance to live a normal life.